Foodie Heaven

This is an easy recipe that makes a yummy, smooth toffee that’s perfect to give away as a gift as it also looks incredibly pretty with the chopped walnuts over the top. You could substitute the walnuts for any other nut that you prefer.

Ingredients:
225g butter
200g caster sugar
150g chopped walnuts
150g plain chocolate
3 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. golden syrup

Directions:
1. Grease and line a 23 cm baking tin and then grease again.

2. Melt the 225g butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the sugar and the syrup into the butter and stir. Heat together until it reaches 145C on a sugar thermometer.

3. When this temperature is reached, stir in 2/3 of the walnuts until combined.

4. Pour into the baking tin.

5. Leave it to set.

6. Once set, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

7. Spread the chocolate over the toffee and then sprinkle the walnuts over the top.

8. Once the chocolate is set, break into pieces.

Source: Toffee Recipes.

A peppy take on the stroganoff, this dish uses prepared pesto to kick up the flavor. Use cilantro for a particularly Brazilian fusion flavor.

Ingredients:
1 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
½ cup sliced onions
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 beef stock
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup prepared pesto

Method:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Steak and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil and butter in skillet; add onions, mushrooms, and garlic; cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring.

Add wine and cook until reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring. Add stock and reserved steak. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in pesto, and serve.

Source: Stroganoff Recipe.

List of needed ingredients:

2 ounces of beef flank steak
3 tbsp water
3 tbsp of thawed frozen concentrate orange juice
2 tbsp of lime juice
1 tsp of fresh ginger, grated
½ tsp oregano, dried and crushed
1/8 tsp of salt
1 garlic clove, minced
4 10 inch garden vegetable flour tortillas
¾ cup red and yellow sweet pepper slices
1 small onion, sliced in to rings and separated
¼ cup plum sauce
1 cup of shredded Napa cabbage

Preparation instructions:

You want to score your meat by making shallow cuts every one inch diagonally across the steak into a diamond shaped pattern. Then you are going to repeat this process on the reverse side of the steak. Place the meat into a plastic bag which is then set into a shallow dish. For your marinade, take a small bowl and combine the orange juice concentrate, water, ginger, lime juice, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, and garlic. Pour this over your meat and seal the bag. Marinate it in your refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Now you are going to drain the meat while reserving the marinade. Place the meat on the unheated rack of your broiler pan. Broil 3 inches from the heat for approximately 15 minutes or until medium doneness. You are going to want to turn it once. Thinly slice the meat diagonally going across the grain. Wrap the tortillas in foil and place them beside the broiler pan for the last 7 minutes of the time you are broiling the meat. Pour the reserved marinade into a sauce pan and stir in the onion and sweet pepper. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer. Simmer it covered for about 5 minutes or until your vegetables are nice and tender. To serve it, spread each tortilla with some of the hoisin sauce. Top it with the Napa cabbage and beef. Spoon the pepper mixture over the beef. Roll it up and serve it.

Source: Tortillas Recipe.

Here is a delicious recipe for fried shrimp

Ingredients list:

20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined.
Salt and white pepper, to taste.
2 eggs.
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
1 cup of Rice Krispies cereal.
3/4 cup of Corn Flakes cereal.
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour.
Vegetable oil, for frying with.

Method:

Season the shrimp with the salt and white pepper.

Lightly beat the eggs with the mustard.

In a medium-sized bowl, crush the Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes into very small crumbs.

Dip each shrimp into the flour, then the egg/mustard mixture, then the cereals mixture.

Set aside on a plate until ready to fry.

Pour 1-2 inches of the vegetable oil into a deep pot and heat to 350F, as measured by a deep fat frying thermometer.

Fry the shrimp in batches for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

Remove and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

Source: http://www.shrimprecipes.org/fried-shrimp.html

List of ingredients:

2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar replacement.
Dash of salt.
1 cup of skim milk.
1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
2 cups of fresh blueberries, rinsed.
12 rich crepes.
1 cup of low calorie whipped topping, prepared.

Method:

In a saucepan, combine the cornstarch, sugar replacement, salt, milk, lemon juice and vanilla.

Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened; then remove from heat.

Crush 1 cup of the blueberries and add to the cream mixture.

Return to heat, and cook and stir until thickened.

Allow to cool.

Fold in the other half of the blueberries.

Divide between the crêpes, then fold or roll.

Top each with whipped topping.

Source: Blueberry Recipes.

List of needed ingredients:

1 cup of biscuit mix.
2 teaspoons of paprika.
1/2 teaspoon of salt.
1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning.
1/2 teaspoon of sage.
1/3 cup of chopped pecans.
3 lbs of chicken, cut up.
1/2 cup of evaporated milk.
1/3 cup of melted butter (or margarine).

Directions:

Combine the biscuit mix, seasons, and pecans; mix well.

Dip the cut up chicken in milk, then coat generously with the pecan mixture.

Place in a lightly greased 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

Drizzle the melted butter over then chicken.

Bake, uncovered, at 350F for one hour or until done.

Source: Fried Chicken Recipes.

Ingredients

1 medium egg, well-beaten.
1 1/2 cups of lobster meat.
1 cup of milk.
1 cup of soft breadcrumbs.
2 tablespoons of butter.
1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard.
Crushed cornflakes.

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a baking dish, combine all of the ingredients and top with crushed cornflakes.

Bake for one hour.

Source: http://www.lobsterrecipes.us/lobster-casserole.html

Inspired by this virtual fortune cookie, I set about looking for how to make real Chinese fortune cookies. Here is a great recipe I found:

Ingredient List:

1 medium egg white.
1/4 cup of sugar.
1/3 cup of flour.
2 tablespoons of melted butter.
1 tablespoon of water.
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Grease cookie sheets.

In a suitably sized bowl, add the egg white, sugar, butter, water and vanilla; mix together.

Add flour and stir.

Drop by teaspoonful onto cookie sheets.

Swirl the batter around with a spoon back until cookies are spread thinly and are close to transparent.

Bake for about 4 minutes or until lightly browned on edges.

Remove from the oven and quickly place a fortune in the cookie, then fold in half, then in half again, making the classic fortune cookie shape.

Allow to cool.

Source: http://www.cookierecipes.org/fortune-cookies.html 

Ingredients:

12 Bagels.
8 ounces of cream cheese.
6 ½ ounces (1 can) of canned crab meat, drained, flaked and cartilage removed.
1 tablespoon of chili sauce.
1 teaspoon of prepared horseradish.
Snipped chives or parsley.

Preparation Instructions:

Toast bagels lightly under the broiler until golden brown.

While the bagels are toasting, stir together the cream cheese, chili sauce, and horseradish in a suitably sized mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.

Stir in the crab meat.

Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl and garnish with snipped chives or parsley.

Serve the spread with the toasted bagels.

Ingredients:

8 oz (one can) of crab meat.
4 avocados, peeled and seeded.
1 medium onion, finely chopped.
4 cups of chicken stock.
2 cups of heavy cream.
4 tablespoons of butter.
1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour.
½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Preparation Instructions:

Mash together the avocados and crab meat.

Sauté the chopped onion in the butter.

Add the all-purpose flour, garlic powder and chicken stock, then whip until smooth.

Add the avocado / crab mixture to the liquid and simmer for twenty minutes.

Add the cream and salt and pepper.

Serve as desired.