Double Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

175 grams of dark chocolate
2 Tablespoons of butter
4 eggs- separated
2 1/2 Tablespoons of Castor sugar (more depending on your taste)
2 1/2 dessert spoons cream
Cherries & chocolate shavings for decorating

Preparation

1.Break the 175 grams of chocolate into quarters & melt them over a hot bath, (this is when you simmer water in a large pot & place a bowl on its rim, so that the chocolate is gently melted through steam).
When the entire chocolate melts, take off the bowl from heat & add 2 tablespoons of butter. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Add two egg yolks one by one, keep stirring. You may add a dash of hot water if the mixture begins to harden up.
Spoon in 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, then the two left over yolks. Stir until well combined & the sugar has completely dissolved.
Mix in 2 1/2 dessertspoons full of cream, stir well & set aside.
Now take the 4 egg whites in a large clean bowl, whisk well until foamy & stiff peaks are formed. (This usually takes about 10-15 minutes when using spiral whisk)
Start adding the whipped egg whites gradually in the mousse, mixing until just combined using soft folding strokes.
Pour out in tall glasses & let set in refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.
Decorate with whipped cream, chocolate shavings or cherries on top.

source: gr8archer45.hubpages

Potato Fish Cakes

Ingredients

• vegetable oil
• 2 fillets of salmon or any other fish, about 12 oz. (375 g) in total
• a sprinkle or two of sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 large baking potatoes, peeled
• 2 eggs, whisked together
• 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) Dijon mustard
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp. (30 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1-2 Tbsp. (15-30 mL) butter

Preparation

1. Preheat a sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add a splash of oil to the pan, enough to cover the bottom of the pan with a thin film. Season the salmon filets with salt and pepper and carefully place them in the pan. Sear the fillets on both sides until they’re golden brown, crispy and cooked through.
3. Boil or steam the potatoes. Toss hot potatoes into a mixing bowl. Using a potato masher, mash them until smooth. Add the salmon, eggs, mustard and green onions. Season with more salt and pepper. Beat with a wooden spoon until everything is well combined and then form the mixture into evenly shaped cakes. Dredge them in the flour.
4. Clean out the skillet and preheat over medium-high heat. Add another splash of oil and this time 1-2 tablespoons or so of butter. When the butter melts and sizzles, add the fish cakes. Pan-fry them until they’re golden brown and crispy on both sides.

Source : 99cooking.com

Shrimp Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 3/4 pounds Penne Pasta
• 1 pound Shrimp
• 3 TBL Butter
• 1 whole onion (I used half an onion)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Fresh parsley – to taste
• Fresh basil – to taste (I don’t use basil, not always a big fan of it)
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Cook the penne pasta until al dente.
2. Peel, devein and rinse (use cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 TBL butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until just opaque.
3. Do not overcook shrimp. Remove from heat and let cool. When cool to touch, place on chopping board and cut into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
4. Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.
5. In a large skillet, heat 2 TBL of butter and 2 TBL olive oil. Add garlic and onion and saute, stirring occasionally.
6. When the onion is translucent, add the white wine (you can use chicken broth instead).
7. Add your 8 oz can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Add 1 cup of heavy cream. Continue stirring. Turn heat to low and let simmer for a few minutes.
8. Chop the parsley and basil (remember the herbs are to taste)
9. Add herbs and shrimp to tomato cream sauce. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Add penne pasta and stir.

Source : 99cooking.com

Mom’s Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked white rice (starting from about 3/4 to 1 cup raw white rice)
• 4 to 6 bell peppers (red, yellow, or green), use 4 large, or 6 medium sized
• 1 to 1 1/4 lb of ground beef (ground chuck, 16% fat)
• 6 large fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil)
• 1/2 teaspoon dry summer savory
• 1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram (or 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped)
• (Can substitute herbs with other herbs such as an Italian herb mix)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Paprika

Preparation

1. If you haven’t already made the rice, start cooking the rice following the package instructions (usually 1 cup of raw white rice plus 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes.)
2. Cut the tops off of the bell peppers. Remove and discard (compost) the stem and seeds. Place bell peppers cut side up on a steaming rack over an inch of water in a large covered pot. Bring to boil, let steam for 10 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl mix together the ground beef, basil, summer savory, marjoram, salt, several turns of black pepper, and rice.
4. Remove bell peppers from steamer pan. Place cut side up in a pyrex or other oven-proof casserole. Gently stuff the peppers with the ground beef rice mixture. Drizzle olive oil over the stuffed peppers, along the outside of the peppers, and into the pan. Rub the oil over the outside of the peppers; it will help with browning. Sprinkle the tops generously with paprika.
5. Place on middle rack and cook for 35-50 minutes, or longer, until the meat is cooked through.

Source : 99cooking.com

Crescent Mummy Dogs

Ingredients

• 1 can (8 oz) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 2 1/2 slices American cheese, quartered (2.5 oz)
• 10 large hot dogs
• Cooking spray
• Mustard or ketchup, if desired

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. Unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal.
3. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).
4. Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like “bandages,” stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate “bandages” so hot dog shows through for “face.” On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
5. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on “face.”

Source : 99cooking.com

Barbecue Italian Sausages

Ingredients

• 4 uncooked Italian sausage links
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup dry red wine or beef broth
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 teaspoon Liquid Smoke, optional
• 4 hot dog buns, split

Preparation

1. Grill sausages, covered, over medium heat for 5-8 minutes on each side or until no longer pink. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute green pepper and onion in oil for 3-4 minutes or until tender. Stir in wine. Bring to a boil; cook for 2 minutes or until liquid is evaporated.
2. Stir in the ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, cumin, chili powder and Liquid Smoke if desired. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Place sausages in buns; serve with sauce.

Source : 99cooking.com

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Original recipe makes 2 dozen cupcakes 

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 14 drops red food coloring, or as needed - divided
• 22 drops yellow food coloring, or as needed - divided
• 6 drops green food coloring, or as needed
• 2 cups prepared white frosting
• 12 pieces of yellow, orange, and white candy corn

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.
2. Place cake mix in a bowl, and pour in water and vegetable oil; add 3 eggs. With electric mixer on low speed, beat the cake mix with water, oil, and eggs until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes. Pour half the cake mix into a second bowl; divide the remaining cake mix in half, and place into 2 separate small bowls.
3. Color the largest portion of the cake mix orange by mixing in 4 drops of red food coloring and 6 drops of yellow food coloring. Into a second, smaller bowl of cake mix, mix in 10 drops of red food coloring, 12 drops of yellow food coloring, and 6 drops of green food coloring, to color that bowl brown. Into the last remaining small bowl of cake mix, stir in 5 drops of yellow food coloring to color that bowl yellow.
4. Spoon yellow cake batter into the bottoms of 12 prepared cupcake cups, filling them about 1/3 full. Spoon the brown batter into the bottoms of the remaining 12 prepared cupcake cups, filling them about 1/3 full. Spoon orange cupcake mix over the yellow and brown layers, filling the cupcakes about 2/3 full. Try not to jar or shake the filled cupcakes, to avoid mixing layers.
5. Carefully place cupcakes into the preheated oven, and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Allow to cool.
6. Frost each cooled cupcake with the white frosting; place a piece of yellow, orange, and white candy corn on top of each yellow and orange cupcake. Place a brown, orange, and white piece of candy corn on top of each brown and orange cupcake.

Original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Candy-Corn-Cupcakes/

Sunday Morning Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes

PREP 10 mins

COOK 10 mins

READY IN 30 mins

Ingredients 

Original recipe makes 8 pancakes

• 3/4 cup milk
  
  
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
  
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
  
• 1 egg
  
  
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons white sugar
  
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  
• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
  
  
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  
  
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Stir the milk, vinegar, and lemon juice together in a bowl; let stand 10 minutes to curdle. Whisk in egg, butter, and vanilla extract.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds, and lemon zest until well combined. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk a few times until the batter is mostly free of lumps.
3. Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cup of batter per pancake into the skillet and cook until bubbles appear on the surface, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes over with a spatula and brown the other side, about 2 more minutes.

Original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sunday-Morning-Lemon-Poppy-Seed-Pancakes/

Spicy Rapid Roast Chicken

PREP 15 mins

COOK 1 hr

READY IN 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients 

Original recipe makes 8 servings

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken

  
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil

  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

  
  
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Rinse chicken thoroughly inside and out under cold running water and remove all fat. Pat dry with paper towels.
3. Put chicken into a small baking pan. Rub with olive oil. Mix the salt, pepper, oregano, basil, paprika and cayenne pepper together and sprinkle over chicken.
4. Roast the chicken in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Lower the oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and continue roasting to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), about 40 minutes more. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes and serve.

• Original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spicy-Rapid-Roast-Chicken/