Monday, February 18, 2013

Zucchini Bread


Yields 1 loaf

2 cups all-purpose flour 
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1  cup chopped walnuts
 

 DIRECTIONS:
  1. Grease and flour pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
  3. In another large bowl, beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
  4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Panko Chicken Nuggets

Easy alternative to the dip-fry chicken nuggets.

1 lb chicken breasts cut into small nuggets
1/2 cup mayo
1-2  cup panko bread crumbs

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Prep by putting mayo in one bowl and bread crumbs in another.
 
3. Dip to coat chicken with mayo then dip the chicken into the bread crumbs.

4. Place on a baking sheet. 
 
5. Spray with EVOO.

6. Bake until brown and cooked through.

Tofu Scramble

This is a good alternative to scrambled eggs. Filling and healthy! You can play around with any vegetable. I like to add something red and something green for aesthetics. I hate vegetables going bad so I usually scrounge up leftover veggies and scramble away. Try to stay away from veggies that give off a lot of water BUT you can always boil it off.

1 package of tofu (soft or firm)
sweet bell peppers and/or tomatoes
broccoli
mushrooms
onions
ham
salt & pepper
hot jalapenos (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Drain water from tofu. Cut into small pieces especially if using firm. Cook on high heat and smash with a spatula to make it look like scrambled eggs. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt to season the tofu. You can always add more later. Cook until cooked through and all water has evaporated, approximately 10 minutes.

2. I would next add mushrooms because they give off water. Cook until the water has evaporated.

3. You can add all other ingredients but I would prioritize in the order of cooking time. From the ingredients above, I would next add bell peppers, broccoli, and onions. Tomatoes don't need to be cooked and ham gets dry so leave those two 'til the end.

4. I like a bit of heat to my tofu scramble. Add about 2 tablespoons of the jalapeno juice and chop in 3-4 jalapenos.

5. Add pepper and salt (if necessary) to taste.



English Toffee

This is so easy to make. I can no longer justify paying per pound price at the farmer's market. 

The following recipe will yield about a pound. 



1 cup butter (only real butter can be used in this recipe)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 semi-sweet chocolate baking squares or 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely broken pecans or walnuts

DIRECTIONS:


1. In heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, water, and salt. I like to use a pan with non-stick coating. There's no need to scrape the sides or bottom- the finished product will slide right out!

2. Cook to hard-crack stage (300°F) on LOW stirring CONSTANTLY and watching carefully. You have to be patient here. It will take approximately 20-30 minutes to reach  this stage. You will notice the color change from the buttery color to eventually the brown toffee color we're familiar with. If you do not have a candy thermometer, you can test the hard-crack stage by dropping a little bit of the molten syrup in cold water and it will form hard brittle threads that break when bent. Be sure to let it cool down to avoid burns.
(http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html)

3. Immediately pour into ungreased 13"x9" pan. I like to use a pizza pan with parchment paper. You can also use foil.

4. Let it cool from its scorching temperature (but still warm and maleable) and take a pizza cutter or knife and cut the toffee into bite-size pieces.

5. Melt chocolate and spread over the toffee.

6. Sprinkle with nuts, pressing them into chocolate.

7. Let stand 2-3 hours or chill 30 minutes.