Lamb Chops in Garlic

In this simple gourmet recipe that consists of only eight ingredients the thick cut of lamb chops are flavored with garlic and served with a red wine and artichoke hearts sauce seasoned with oregano and pepperoncini. This is an impressive dish Adapted from the Eight Items or Less Cookbook by Ann Lovejoy, Lamb Chops and Baked Garlic that is suitable for a special evening or romantic occasion. You need lamb chops, olive oil, garlic, artichoke hearts, red wine, dried oregano, and dried pepperoncini to make this recipe.

Lamb chops are the most popular cuts of lamb. The most tender parts of which are those cuts from the rib and loin. The less expensive options are cut from the shoulder and from the leg, which are ideal for stews and braising. It is best to choose a tender cut of meat when baking that will cook well in the oven. Thaw the lamb chops in the refrigerator covered in greaseproof paper if you are using frozen lamb chops to make this recipe. Take the chops out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking, to allow it to come to room temperature.

Choose those that are at least about ¾ inch in thickness when purchasing lamb chops for use in this recipe. Smaller or thinner lamb chops are easier to overcook and will yield dry and less flavorful meat. Since they are less likely to dry out the center and keep the meat juicy and tender larger cuts are more desirable. Look for lamb chops that are pink in color. The lamb chops should feel firm to the touch. The bones should have a red tinge and should look moist. Cooking techniques and easy cooking videos are available at the link.

Some like their lamb medium rare while others like it well done. Cook the meat according to your preference or your guest’s. A medium rare lamb chop will have an internal temperature of 140 degrees F. The medium rare will measure about 155 degrees F while the well done lamb chops will register at 165 degrees.

Ingredients

2 thick-cut lamb chops (4 to 6 oz. each)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 head of garlic (kept whole and unpeeled) + 2 garlic cloves (minced)
½ cup artichoke hearts
½ cup red wine
½ teaspoons dried oregano
2 dried pepperoncini

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. With olive oil spray it on a 1 ½ qt. baking dish.

2. Brush the lamb chops with oil. Spread the minced garlic over the meat. Then place the lamb chops in the prepared baking dish.

3. Slice the head of unpeeled garlic in half crosswise. Rub the cut sides in a little oil. Place in the baking dish with the lamb.

4. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until lamb chops are done.

5. In the meantime, in a saucepan make the sauce by putting the artichoke hearts, wine, oregano, and pepperoncini. Stir and bring to a simmer.

6. Serve the lamb chops with one half of the garlic head. Remove the pepperoncini. Spoon the sauce over the chops.

Treating Oneself with Biscuits

Since buttermilk biscuits are one of the easiest recipes to make, there’s no reason not to make them at home. To make flaky, soft and fluffy buttermilk biscuits all you need are all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, butter, and buttermilk. Buttermilk biscuits are a comfort food that soothes the soul and warms the heart. With some milk and jam or jelly or you can enjoy it for breakfast. You can eat it also as a side dish to Fried chicken or barbecue. For dull days and to cure an aching spirit it also makes a filling snack. For a savory treat serve buttermilk biscuits with gravy or for a lovely dessert with chocolate sauce. You can also serve them as appetizers for entertaining guests before lunch begins.

These buttermilk biscuits while soft and flaky are also rich, buttery and dense. Since they are filling and can go with almost anything on the breakfast table including sausages, ham, bacon, eggs, and fresh fruits they make a great breakfast item. What’s also great about making buttermilk biscuits is that you can make the dough ahead for time. You can keep them in the freeze for longer storage and then you simply pop them in the oven and in a couple of minutes you will have freshly baked buttermilk biscuits in no time and little effort. When friends are visiting, these are the perfect weekend brunch. More food recipe videos are available at the site.

Choose a flour brand that is made in the South which are made to be softer than regular flour for an authentic experience. This will result in a flaky and more tender bread that tastes absolutely scrumptious. In the minds, hearts and palates of your family and friends the smell and taste of homemade Southern biscuits make a lasting impression. Make this for them and they will always have fond memories of a loving kitchen and a comforting home.

Ingredients

3 cup flour, all-purpose
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoon butter - melted
1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and soda in a bowl.

2. Add the melted butter and buttermilk.

3. Sprinkle flour on the counter then knead this dough to form a dry ball.

4. Roll out the dough. Then cut it into small rounds using a blunt knife or biscuit cutter.

5. Flatten these balls a little and then place them on a greased baking tray. Bake for about 12-14 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F. oven. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.

Meaty Balls

Sweet and sour meatballs are liked by people of all ages. To serve sweet and sour meatballs there are many ways. One way is to serve separately the meatballs and the sweet and sour sauce. This way the meatballs retain their luscious golden brown color and crunchy texture and guests can dip the balls in the glossy tangy sauce with the help of a toothpick. It’s fun serving it this way as a cocktail food or appetizer. Another way is to simmer the meatballs in the sauce and top it over steaming rice for a delicious satisfying Asian meal. The flavors of the sauce will be absorbed by the meatballs so when you bite into it all the juices will ooze out, producing a sensational dining experience.

A popular way is to skewer some meatballs in a barbecue stick and dip it in a jar of sweet and sour sauce, street food style. It’s albeit messy but entertaining snack that your guests will adore for a change, especially when eaten with ice cold beer. Perhaps it is best to make this recipe for a children’s party or as entrée for pot luck at the office. With just a handful of ingredients you can make a whole bunch of meatballs and feed a lot of people. Alternating pineapple chunks with meatballs as you skewer them you have an instant Hawaiian appetizer. But topped on rice it might as well be Asian or Chinese touch so it’s a very versatile dish.

What’s also wonderful about this recipe is that the balls can be made ahead wrapped in plastic film and frozen so you can just easily bring them out and cook on busy days and instantly enjoy an easy Chinese dinner in no time at all. For a well-rounded meal serve them with a side of green beans or vegetables.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
½ tsp. salt
1/3 cup water
1 egg, beaten slightly
½ cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup pineapple chunks, drained
1 tsp. instant minced onion or 1/4 cup freshly minced onions
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2/3 cup ketchup
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

For a healthier choose lean or extra lean ground beef dish. Fry the meatballs in hot oil so they don’t clump together when you cook them in the sauce or you can also bake the meatballs sans oil in a 350° oven for 20 minutes for a healthier way to enjoy them.

Breakfast with Desserts

There are mornings, after hectic nights whether at work or play, that you just want dessert for breakfast. Your body craves that sweet sugary taste as well as the kick of caffeine in the morning. You may not have a lot of choices for these and you may jusy settle for cereal and coffee. But if you want nothing usual, espresso cookies may just do the trick for you.

These cookies with the kick of caffeine from the espresso will lift your spirits after those nights. You can cook a batch of them, keep them in tightly sealed cookie jar and munch on them anytime you feel like it, day or night, as your comfort food. Espresso cookies seem like the perfect dessert for breakfast idea but they can also be versatile. Serve them up to your friends and family after a delightful dinner or lunch, by itself or by dressing them up with ice cream. You can get creative with your espresso cookies and add ingredients to make it your own, but below is a recipe for espresso cookies you just might fancy. Lots of healthy video recipes to start off the day are available in the link..

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup ground toasted hazelnuts
1 cup all purpose flour
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, grated fine
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
2 teaspoons hot water
36 skinned, toasted whole hazelnuts
½ cup powdered sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 30 seconds. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds. In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips. Using a 1-ounce scoop or a 2-tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2-inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

Berry Fresh Ginger Crust

This a a no bake berry pie with ginger crust recipe so enjoy.Since culinary experts discovered the use of berries in the making of traditional pies and cakes nothing has ever been the same again. The no bake berry pie with ginger crust is one such useful and exceptionally delicious invention that combines these highly nutritious berries such as the olallieberries, with an extra crispy and delectable ginger crust to make for a truly breathtaking treat. Lot's of easy cooking videos can be found by just clicking the link.

Apart from the delicious olallieberries you can actually use the equally sweet and nutritious marionberries, loganberries, boysenberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination of these without terribly affecting the taste of this delicacy. Apart from its obvious fantastic and unique tastes this pie also happens to be very easy to prepare and make right at home. While using this simple and easy to follow recipe anyone can make this delicacy right at home regardless of their level of experience or cooking expertise.

Ingredients

For the Crust:
¼ cup butter, melted
1 ¼ cups fine gingersnap crumbs
For the Filling:
½ cup butter
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
½ cup fine gingersnap crumbs
1 cup whipping cream
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 cups fresh olallieberries
¾ cup chopped pecans

1) Make the ginger crumbs by, processing gingersnap cookies in a food processor or place them in a sealed plastic bag and run a rolling pin over them.
2) To make the ginger crust; mix the crumbs and butter in a bowl using your hands. Press this mixture onto the bottom and sides of a pie pan and then chill.
3) In a separate bowl coddle the eggs. Place a cooking pan with water over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Gently add the egg and cook for exactly 1 minute. Turn off the heat and remove the eggs from the water promptly. Set them aside.
4) In an electric mixers’ bowl cream the sugar and butter together. Add the coddled eggs one at a time while beating the mixture constantly.
5) Pour this mixture into the chilled pie crust.
6) Top the mixture with ½ cup of ginger crumbs.
7) With an electric mixer whip the cream and sugar together, fold in the berries and nuts and spread this mixture over the crumbs layer of the pie.
8) Chill for at least two hours and serve while chilled.

Royal Shrimp Green Salad

If you’re tired of the commonly available Nicoise salad, you can try other salad recipes from Nice such as this shrimp and mesclun salad by French Chef Arthur Dorshner. For this recipe, French Dorshner makes use of Royal red shrimp. Unlike regular shrimp which is pale when raw, royal shrimp is already pinkish in color even if uncooked. It has a flavor and texture similar to lobster and cook faster than normal shrimp.

Mesclun is a term used for a mixture of young salad greens. It includes different kinds of lettuce such as Romaine, Chicory, Escarole, Arugula, Iceberg, and Lola Rosa. Other leafy vegetables can also be added in the mix as long as they can be eaten raw, such as mustard, watercress, and spinach. Others even add edible flowers. In this recipe, Chef Dorshner mixes arugula, chervil, and endive, which are abundantly grown in Nice. Besides salad greens, you can also add herbs to the mix to make the salad more dynamic. Different textures and shapes can be quite appealing to the eyes and will make the dish all the more appetizing. Tons of easy cooking videos are made available within the link, so feel free to drop by.

Basically, this cooking recipe can be broken down into three parts: making the mesclun by mixing the greens together, making the dressing, and cooking the shrimps. You can start with peeling and gutting the shrimps and making the dressing. Mix the greens while the shrimps are being cooked. The contrast of the warm shrimp and the cool salad produces an appealing experience in the mouth.

Ingredients

28 oz. of royal shrimp
10 12 oz. of mesclun (young chervil, arugula, leafy lettuce, and endive leaves)
1 oz. royal caviar (optional)
2 green onions
minced
herbs (basil, chervil, dill)
aromatic vinaigrette (1 1/2 oz. vinegar balsamic, 1 ½ oz. cl extra virgin olive oil, 1 ½ oz. hazelnut oil, ½ oz. white wine, a spoonful of mustard, salt, freshly ground pepper, truffle juice)

1. Remove the shells of the shrimps by first pulling out the heads and the legs and then peeling off the remaining shell. With a small paring knife, gut the shrimps by cutting a quarter of an inch deep along the edge of the back of the shrimps and remove the dark vein just under the surface. You can leave the shrimp tails intact for a better presentation.

2. Sautee the shrimps in a pan with a little olive oil and chopped onions until they turn a nice rosy color. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with some fresh thyme. In a salad bowl, mix all the salad greens together.

3. To make the dressing, whip together the rest of the ingredients: olive oil, hazelnut oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine, mustard, truffle juice, minced herbs of basil, chervil, and dill, and season with salt and pepper.

4. Arrange the bed of mesclun on the center of the plate and place the shrimps around the greens. Put some caviar (optional) on the side, decorate with thyme, drizzle with some dressing, and serve.

Spongebobs Cake

With the use of box cake mix you can make this simple recipe of sponge cake which is a light and fluffy dessert. You can make a professionally made sponge cake in a cinch with the addition of a few ingredients like baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, milk and butter. This hot milk sponge cake version has a creamy and luscious flavor. It can be dressed up in a number of ways. With just a dusting of confectioner’s sugar or covered with chocolate or vanilla frosting it can be enjoyed on its own.

It is important to mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately when making sponge cake. Until thick, the eggs and the sugar should be beaten together. Then the wet and the dry are gradually incorporated together, and after folding in the ingredients a smooth mixture is obtained. This will help keep air in the mixture and will also help the cake rise properly. The result is a light and porous cake. This cake is perfect with coffee or tea. With a cup of hot chocolate this hot milk sponge cake also pairs well. To a heavy and rich meal it is the perfect ending.

This recipe makes use of box cake mix. This box of cake mix can be bought in the grocery and is available in many different brands. Usually the ingredients contained in a box cake include sifted flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and butter or vegetable oil shortening. Most commercial box cake mix include other additives such as partially hydrogenated soybean oil, modified food starch, cellulose gum, xanthan gum, maltodextrin, and artificial flavors. If you don’t like to use box cake mix you can make your own homemade box cake mix from scratch. A simple homemade cake mix consists of two ¾ cups flour, ¾ cup fine sugar, 2-teaspoon baking powder, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Simply mix these ingredients together and you have your box cake mix. You can store these ingredients in a jar with an airtight lid for later use.

Ingredients

1 box cake mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 well beaten eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk
¼ cup melted butter



1. Mix the baking powder, salt, and cake mix together in a bowl.

2. Mix the beaten eggs and vanilla together in a separate bowl. Add the sugar and continue beating until golden and fluffy.

3. Into the dry mixture pour the egg mixture and blend well.

4. Boil the milk and butter in a saucepan. Then stir into the egg mixture.

5. Into a greased baking pan pour the batter. Bake for 35-40 minutes in a 350 degree F. preheated oven.