Tag Archives: Recipe

May 02 2013
2 Comments
Food

Perfecting Lemon Sorbet

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I love making desserts, even though I don’t enjoy eating them. I have made ice-cream before, but it was a total disaster. It tasted like ice, without any signs of cream. This time I thought of making sorbet. I fell in love with sorbet the first time I went to Italy in 2008. I remember going to every restaurant and ordering lemon sorbet for dessert. Five years later, I decided to give it a shot and make my own.

Here’s something to empress your friends with at your next gathering.*

Lemon Sorbet:

5-6 lemons

1½ Cup Granulated Sugar**

1½ Cup Water

Preparation:

  1. Zest 2-3 lemons or until you get  ⅓ cup of  lemon zest.
  2. Juice the lemons until you get 1 cup of juice.

Procedure:

  1. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine sugar and water until the sugar dissolves.
  2. Add the lemon zest.
  3. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil.
  4. Boil for 2 minutes.
  5. Add the lemon juice and stir the mixture for a minute.
  6. Remove the pan from the heat.
  7. Allow it to cool for 30 minutes.
  8. Strain the mixture to get rid of the lemon zest.
  9. Pour the mixture into a container, cover it and put it in the freezer.
  10. After 4-5 hours, or when it becomes semi-solid, mash it up with a fork and refreeze again.
  11. When frozen, place in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
  12. Cover and refreeze until serving time.

*This recipe is from Cuisine Magazine.

**When I first read the recipe, I thought granulated sugar meant powdered sugar, but it’s actually the normal white sugar. I used powdered sugar and the sorbet turned out fine.

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Mar 24 2013
2 Comments
Food

Cinnamon Toast Rolls

I love it when desserts contain cinnamon. I never thought of making a “cinnamon-y” desert until I found this recipe. It’s so easy! All you need are 3 ingredients.

  • a dozen or so slices of very soft, fresh white bread
  • melted butter
  • cinnamon sugar

Here are the instructions from Cirlce-B-Kitchen

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Cut the crusts from a slice of bread and roll until very thin.
  3. Spread both sides of the bread with melted butter and then sprinkle one side with the cinnamon sugar, making sure to cover very well.
  4. Fold each side into the middle and then gently roll up and place in a buttered mini muffin tin.  Spread a little more melted butter on each roll and sprinkle with a little more cinnamon sugar.  Alternately, you can fold the bread into a triangle, and then fold into another smaller triangle and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet.
  5. When all of the rolls are made, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are just starting to turn golden brown and get a little crisp.  Remove from the muffin tin to cool.
  6. If desired, drizzle with some icing made with powdered sugar that’s been moistened with a little milk.
  7. These freeze really well.  To reheat, place briefly in a microwave to thaw and then bake in a low oven (250 or 300 until warm and slightly crisp.  Alternately, you can reheat them in foil in the oven.

Whenever I decide to do these I’m posting the results on Instagram! But for now, here’s what they’re supposed to be like.

cinntoastrolls58

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Mar 13 2013
1 Comment
Food

Basic Cooking Techniques

There are basic cooking techniques that are rarely mentioned in recipes. That’s why when following a recipe, it’s very rare that the food turns out the way it’s supposed to be. These posters can be used as a guide to help you with your cooking. I found them on a website on Stumble Upon. There were a total of 22 posters that you can find here. I only posted the ones that I would use (click the pictures below to enlarge). I’m considering on printing them to make a cooking booklet for myself.

Grain to Water Ratios
Juicing Basics
Knives of the Kitchen
Mixing Methods
Eggs
Mass & Volume Equivalents
Volume Conversions
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Jul 02 2012
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Food

McDONALDS FRENCH FRIES – VIDEO RECIPE

Okay, I promise that this will be the last food related video for now. It’s just that it’s so cool. I have always wanted to do that and it’s the first time I actually “youtube it” and find an easy recipe.

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Mar 16 2012
3 Comments
Food

Making The Perfect Brownies

I never mentioned this before, but I LOVE to cook. I really enjoy the process. I hate it when it ends because I rarely eat what I have made, so I must watch others devour it. I’ve tried making many dishes, but mostly simple things like sandwiches, salads, cakes, and pastas. The other day, I was craving brownies, so after long research I found a good recipe. I altered it a bit, so here’s how to make Summer’s Perfect Brownies:

1½ cups sugar
¾ cup flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
3 eggs
¾ cup butter, melted
½ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or melted chocolate)

You’ll notice the list of ingredients is very short. That means the quality of the chocolate makes a huge difference. The chocolate flavor is very important — not the sugar, not the richness, the chocolate. I used Nesquik cocoa powder and Aero chocolate (instead of chocolate chips). I would not recommend that if you’re looking for something chocolate-ly because my combination turned out very light (which can be a good thing). Use Hershey’s chocolate chips and Cadbury cocoa powder for a sweeter taste.

  1. Combine the sugar, flour, salt (if using unsalted butter), and cocoa. Then add the eggs and the melted butter to the mix.
  2. Mix it by hand, until the dry ingredients are just incorporated into the wet, and stop. You don’t need to beat it, and in fact try to avoid producing gluten from the flour. (Kneading flour produces gluten, the springy protein that makes bread chewy.)
  3. Stir in the chocolate chips (or melted chocolate bars).
  4. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment.
  5. Pour the batter and spread it out. Use a rubber spatula to try to even it out.
  6. Bake at 325° for 20-30 minutes. It’s done when a toothpick inserted in the tallest part comes out clean. Keep in mind you’ve got chips in there. If you hit one with the toothpick it will have melted chocolate on it. You might need to poke a couple of spots to make sure you aren’t hitting a chip.
  7. Very carefully lift the parchment out of the baking dish. Get a spare set of hands if you can.
  8. Peel the edges and let cool for a few minutes before slicing.
  9. Optional: Add powdered sugar using a strainer and you may want to have some Nutella on the side (as a dip) and don’t forget to pour yourself a glass of milk.

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