Insalata Caprese

My whole family loves Insalata Caprese, a simple tomato and mozzarella salad. We first enjoyed it while stationed in Vicenza, Italy. It makes for a delicious, light and easy meal. Perfect for brunch. Or maybe even a tea party. Come on, I’ll show ya how to make it.

Put on your apron! Gather up some big, beautiful red tomatoes. Grab a big ol’ hunk of mozzarella cheese, the soft and squishy kind that comes in a ball. Get some olive oil and red wine vinegar. Put it in some cute little vintage oil and vinegar dispensers if you like. And you’ll also need some parsley and Italian seasoning. You’ll notice that I went all out and broke the grocery budget with expensive and fancy brands. OK, not really. I just went to the Wal-Mart. To make up for your generic brand groceries, get out your prettiest platter.

Everything tastes better on some pretty burgundy china. Now slice the tomatoes up. Make them a little on the thick side. And place a single layer of them on a platter.

Next, cut up the mozzarella into some thick, chunky slices. Doesn’t it look just like butter? It almost tastes like butter. It incredibly smooth and creamy. And it practically melts in your mouth.

Put a slice of cheese on top of each tomato. Then drizzle olive oil over everything. Don’t be shy. Don’t be afraid to drown the tomatoes in the olive oil.

Next, drizzle some red wine vinegar over everything. I just have to say- I love setting a pretty table. Fancy china. A nice tablecloth. It takes a simple meal and turns it into something special. A vintage Wilendur tablecloth will make anything taste better. You should try it some time. Go ahead. Spoil yourself a little.

Then sprinkle everything generously with parsley and Italian seasoning. You can plop a few Kalmata olives on there too if you like. Stick it in the refrigerator for a bit to chill it and to let the flavors all mingle together for a bit. Doesn’t this look just lovely?

You can substitute Insalata Caprese for your typical tossed salad. Or you can make a meal of it all by itself. It makes a wonderful brunch. Which is how we served it. It goes well with Cucumber and Onion Salad, cantaloupe melon slices with slivers of prosciutto and focaccia bread. And don’t forget a tall ice cold glass of sweet tea to wash it all down with.

Buon apetito!

Guest post by The Apron Queen herself, a mom of 3 children and wife to paratrooper. You can find her blogging about Texas life at Confessions of an Apron Queen and see her very cool vintage aprons at Rick Rack Attack!

source : My Wooden Spoon

Merry Cheery Cheesecake

Here’s a delicous recipe from the Eat, Shrink, and be Merry ladies that you WON’T find in the cookbook! Some very good, light, cheescake!

Ingredient all :

• 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 pkgs Philadelphia light cream cheese (not fat free)
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cups light sour cream (not fat free)
• 1 can low-fat sweetened condensed milk
• Grated zest of one lemon
• 2 cans each light cherry pie filling

To make crust, combine graham crumbs and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add melted butter and stir using a fork until crumbs are moistened. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Press crumb mixture firmly and evenly over bottom of dish. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling. The make filling, beat together cream cheese and lemon juice on high speed of electric mixer until smooth. Add sour cream, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon zest. Beat again until well mixed. Pour filling over prepared crust and spread to edges of pan. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours. Spread cherry pie filling over cream-cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cooking Tips: Take the cream cheese out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you make the cake. It’s easier to beat cream cheese if it isn’t cold. Don’t omit the lemon juice from this recipe—it’s what makes the filling “set.” (If you leave it out, the filling will be runny.) Don’t forget to grate the zest from the lemon before cutting it in half to squeeze out the juice.

Makes 18 cheesecake squares

source : My Wooden Spoon

Beef Satay ala Original Indonesian Recipes

Ingredients:

1. 300 gr beef
2. 5 shallots
3. 2 spoons of sweet soy sauce
4. 1 spoon of vegetable oil
5. 1 lime
6. salt
7. pepper.
   

Direction:

• Slice beef into bite sized pieces
• slice shallots
  Mix everything evenly
  Put beef in skewers
  Barbecue in medium heat until desired level (medium rare recommended).
• Ready to serve

see my recipes in other site
and my links, satu

Perkedel Original Indonesian Recipes

Ingredients:

1. 1 chicken
2. 250 gr of bread flour
3. 40 gr of sagu
4. 80 gr of onion
5. 8 pieces of shallots
6. 1 egg
7. salt
8. pepper.
   

Direction :

• Remove bones from the chicken cut very thinly.
  Cut onion into very small pieces
  Grind shallots
  Evenly mix all the above with bread flour
  Add salt and pepper
  Make mix into small discs about 2-2.5 inch in diameter
  Heat oil on a pan
  Put each disc and fry until dark golden and Ready to serve

How to make 5 minute Appetizer

5 Minute Appetizer - Tex Mex Dip

September 3rd, 2008 by A Cowboy's Wife
Got company coming over unexpectedly? No problemo people! I got you covered with this super fast easy to make Tex-Mex Dip. In fact, if you’ve got 5 minutes and 3 ingredients, you’re good to go!
There are several variations of this and my sister-in-law, Bell, was the one that introduced this one to me. It’s extremely simple and people who don’t even like cream cheese, love it. While I prefer to eat this creamy dip with Fritos, it’s also good with Lay’s Ruffles. Shoot, eat it with whatever!
Even though this is a small helping, I still used my Kitchenaid Mixer because I love to feel like a professional, despite being far from it.
5 Minute Tex Mex Dip
Makes enough to feed 2 men, 2 hungry teenagers, 1 toddler, and me!
3 pkgs cream cheese (softened)
1 can Ro*tel Tomatoes & Green Chilies (your choice of mild or hot)
About 2 cups of Corn (or ever how much you like)
1. Simply mix all three ingredients together until creamy. Yes, use the whole can of Ro*tel with juice. What? You don’t have Ro*tel where you live? That’s okay, add some your favorite salsa instead!
Now invite some friends over, watch a chick flick and eat some dip!
Got a great appetizer of your own? Please share it in the comment section below!
You can find me (Lori aka A Cowboy’s Wife) and more easy to make recipes over at at My Wooden Spoon.

Grilled Chicken and Corn Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

Serves 4; makes 8 wraps

• FOR THE CHICKEN
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut lengthwise into 1-inch-wide strips
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice (from about 4 limes), plus lime wedges for serving
• 1 jalapeno chile, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, plus sprigs for garnish
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• FOR THE CORN
• 2 ears of corn, husks intact
• 1 bunch scallions, trimmed
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• FOR THE LIME YOGURT
• 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• Freshly ground pepper
• FOR THE LETTUCE WRAPS
• 1 avocado, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 8 large leaves iceberg lettuce

Directions

1. Make the chicken: Place chicken in a large bowl. Add lime juice, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, and oil, and turn chicken to coat. Cover and refrigerate, turning occasionally, for 1 hour.
2. Make the corn: Preheat grill to medium-high. Soak corn in cold water for 15 minutes, and drain. Grill corn and scallions, turning both occasionally. Cook scallions until tender, about 5 minutes. Cook corn until husks are brown but not black and kernels are cooked through, about 12 minutes.
3. Let corn cool slightly, and then husk. Cut kernels from cobs, chop scallions, and combine with oil, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
4. Remove chicken from marinade, and season with the salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.
5. Make the lime yogurt: Stir together yogurt and lime juice in a small bowl. Season with pepper.
6. Assemble wraps: Divide chicken, corn, yogurt, and avocado among lettuce leaves. Serve immediately with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs.

source : marthastewart.com

Kalyn's Kitchen: How to Make and Freeze Tomato Sauce The Green Blog Project

I was completely captivated about the idea behind The Green Blog Project when I first heard about it. It was the brainchild of LG from Ginger and Mango that every food blogger should try to grow some kind of food themselves, and then post about what kind of dish they made from it on their blog.

I had written about the Green Blog Project for Blogher clear back in June when my garden was little more than a few sprouts. Now that the garden is bursting with produce, I was afraid I had missed the deadline. I've posted about so many recipes using garden produce and I haven't sent even one to the Green Blog Project.

But when I went back to Ginger and Mango to check, I was happy to see that the deadline has been extended to September 25. (There's also another deadline for those in the Southern Hemisphere in March.) If you have a garden or even a pot of tomatoes on the deck, there's still time to post about what you made from the food you grew yourself and send it to The Green Blog Project!

A lot of people are into canning tomato sauce, but I've been able to successfully avoid the home canning impulse for quite a few years now, even though most of my family has that gene. I prefer the flavor of frozen tomatoes to canned, and always freeze slow roasted tomatoes and Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce every year which I make from garden tomatoes. The recipe I'm posting here is for the sauce that I make when I've made roasted tomatoes, marinara sauce, and eaten fresh tomatoes by the handfulls and the garden is still producing tomatoes! It's nothing more than plain tomato sauce, but oh what flavor when you make the sauce yourself from tomatoes still warm from the sun and picked the day you make the sauce.

The most inspiring thing about my recipe is the flash of brilliance I had when I realized that you don't have to peel the tomatoes. You can put them in a food processor and puree everything, and then when you cook them the peeling disintegrates into the sauce for brighter tomato color and more flavor. This method will produce a rather rustic tomato sauce which still has the seeds. You can always use a food mill to remove seeds when you defrost the sauce if you're making something where you want a more pure type of sauce. Read more about that below.

"Just Tomatoes" Sauce for the Freezer

It's important to use tomatoes that are well-ripened and it's best to pick them the day you make the sauce if that's an option. I'd estimate that it takes about 6-8 large tomatoes to make a cup of sauce, but make as much as you can because this tastes wonderful in the winter when you're dying for the flavor of fresh tomatoes.

Put tomatoes in the sink and rinse well with cold water. Cut out stem area and discard. Cut each tomato into pieces about 1 inch square. (Don't make the pieces too large or the tomatoes won't puree easily.)

Using the food processor with the steel blade, puree diced tomatoes in batches and add to large heavy stock pot. The puree should be nearly all liquidized when you add it to the pot.

Turn the heat as low as you can get it and cook the mixture until it is reduced by at least one half and as thick as you want it. I usually cook my sauce at least 6-8 hours to condense it down to the thickness I want. Your house will smell delightfully tomatoey while you cook this. I like to use a rubber scraper to scrape off the carmelized tomato that sticks to the side of the pot as the level decreases and do that about once every half hour.

When sauce is condensed and thick, put into individual plastic containers and let cool on the counter for an hour or so. When sauce is cooled, snap on plastic lids and freeze. This will last for at least a year in the freezer.

When you're using the sauce, if you want a more pure tomato sauce that doesn't have any seeds you can put it through the food mill after it's thawed. Freezing the sauce this way with no added seasonings at all creates endless possibilities for using it. Add garlic, oregano, basil, or any other seasonings you want when you use the sauce to create soups, stews, pasta sauces, or other dishes this winter.

Tomorrow I'll be posting about something with the taste of pure summer that I created with a bit of my "just tomatoes" sauce.


Kalyn's Kitchen: How to Make and Freeze Tomato Sauce <The Green Blog Project

Mix Madness Indonesian Vegetables Recipes

How to make the original recipes from Native Indonesian Recipes by call it with Mix Madness Indonesian Vegetables.

Here the Ingredients as follow :

1. Tofu
2. 100 gr soyabean cake
3. 2 eggs
4. 5 pieces of red chili pepper
5. Lettuces
6. A small bunch of long beans
7. Young cabbage
8. 1 cucumber
9. 100 gr peanuts
10. Lemon
11. 5 pieces of small chili pepper (jalapeno or scotch bonnet)
12. 3 pieces of shallots
13. Brown sugar
14. Salt as needed

Direction to make as follow :

• Fry an egg and soyabean cake
• Peanut sauce
• Fry peanuts
• Cut into small pieces
• Boil one egg and slice it
• Boil young cabbage, long beans, and slice them
• Slice shallots, and brown with chili peppers
• Mix and grind all these with brown sugar, lemon, salt and pepper, and boil with a little bit of water. (Use this sauce with Beef Stick as well.
• Ready to serve.
  

Fantastic New Crab Soup

Feel free to taste our new recipes "Fantastic New Crab Soup"

Ingredients as follow :

1. 2 liters of fish stock
2. 2 medium-sized crabs
3. 100 gram ginger
4. 50 gram scallions
5. 50 gram Indonesian parsley
6. Salt as needed
   
7. Pepper as needed to taste.

Direction to make as follow :

• Make fish stock by boiling fish bones in 8 cups of water
• Remove these bones after a few minutes.
• Wash crabs, split into several parts
• Cut ginger into very thin slices
• Cut scallions and Indonesian parsley
• Reheat stock for about 5 minutes, put everything into the stock
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Ready to served.
  

Lasagna for Vegetarian

we just improved our latest recipes in our kitchen for :

Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe

The ingredients as follow :

• Lasagna Noodles

• 10 ounce Pk frozen chopped Broccoli

• 14 1/2 ounce Can Tomatoes

• 15 ounce Can Tomato Sauce
• 1 cup Chopped Celery
• 1 cup Chopped Onion
• 1 cup Chopped Grn/Sweet Red Pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Dried Basil crushed *
• Bay leaves
• Clove garlic minnced
• Beaten Egg
• 2 cup Lo-fat Ricotta or Cottage Ch
• 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

For substitute you can use as follow :

• 1/2 t dried Oregano for 1/2 t of the dried Basil Cook noodles.
• for additional you use broccoli separately according to their package directions.
• drain well. Set aside.
• for sauce, cut up cannes tomatoes.

Beginning to make :

1. Put all in a large saucepan stir together undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, celery, green or sweet red pepper, basil, bay leaves, and garlic. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.
2. Simmer, uncover, 20-25 minutes or till sauce is thick, stirring occasionally.

3. Remove bay leaves.

Meanwhile, in a bowl stir together egg, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese,

and 1/4 t pepper. Stir in broccoli. Spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce in

a 13x9x2" baking dish. Top with half the noodles, half of the broccoli

mixture, and half of the remaining sauce.

4. Repeat layers, ending with the sauce.

Bake, uncovered, in a 350 deg F oven for 25 minutes;

sprinkle with Mozzarella.

5. Bake 5 minutes more or till heated through.
6. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
7. Ready for served.

Where could you find a good and fresh Seafood

All for your good recipes

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Our fresh seafood is vacuum packaged and blast-frozen within hours of landing on the docks to seal in the pristine freshness of Alaska's icy-cold waters. This process ensures that the fish and seafood you receive remains as fresh as the day it was caught. At Captain Jack's online seafood market you can buy the finest halibut, wild salmon, giant red king crab, succulent golden king crab, smoked salmon strips, and jumbo scallops; all wild, all natural, all Alaskan!