Recipes on the way!

It has sadly (pathetically on my part) been months since I have added a recipe to my blog.  I have been cooking, not as much as I would like, but I have been doing it as much as I can and writing down the recipes as I go so I can put them on my blog when the time permits.  Hopefully some new recipes will be added today for your enjoyment! :)

Tomato Spinach Frittata

This recipe is the perfect recipe for those nights when you don't have a lot of time to cook anything. It is simple and does not require a lot of preparation time. It is also great because you can substitute the tomato, spinach and pepper for other veggies or even meat, such as ham or bacon. I don't have a picture of this meal because the night I made it I had to run out the door to go to class.

Serving size 6-8
Preheat oven to 350°F

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
6oz package fresh baby spinach or about 2-3oz frozen spinach
3 medium sized tomatoes, diced
1 cubanelle pepper, diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
12 large eggs, beaten or 6 large eggs + 1 cup All White egg whites
1/2 cup crumbled tomato basil feta cheese

Preparation
-Heat olive oil in a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

-Add garlic, and saute 1 minute. Stir in spinach, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute or just until spinach begins to wilt. If spinach is frozen, defrost it in the microwave and add it to the skillet with the tomatoes

-Add tomatoes, cubanelle pepper, salt,and pepper to the skillet. stir frequently for 2 to 3 minutes. If using fresh spinach, make sure it is wilted before continuing to the next step.

-Add beaten eggs to the skillet and sprinkle with feta cheese. Cook on the stove for 3 to 5 minutes, gently lifting edges of frittata with a spatula and tilting pan so uncooked portion flows underneath.

4. transfer skillet to the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

I hope you find this recipe as simple and delicious as I did :)

Eggplant pizza

So I had an eggplant and I didn't want eggplant Parmesan, sooo I had a go at making eggplant pizza...or my first pizza for that matter. It was really easy too. When I made this I was rushing to go to class, I prepared the dough before hand but the toppings only took a few minutes to prepare, and the pizza only takes minutes to cook so it is the perfect thing to make when short on time.



Making the crust:
1 1/4 tsp yeast
1 Cup warm water
Dissolve these two ingredients together and set aside; add 1 tsp. olive oil
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

In a food processor place remaining ingredients in and turn on to blend. Continue to blend as you gradually add the yeast liquid. Blend for about 2 minutes or until dough forms a ball. If you do not have a food processor you can also mix ingredients in a bowl. Add additional flour or water to get the right consistency for the dough.
Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl, covered with greased plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Shape dough to fit pie pan and set the oven to 500 degrees.

Toppingsss!!
Tomato sauce
Pepper
Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
Eggplant, chopped into 1 inch pieces

Once the dough it fitted to the pan, cover it with tomato sauce, leaving about an inch around the edges for the crust. Season the crust with a little bit of ground black pepper and Italian season. Sprinkle the mozzarella over the sauce, covering it completely. Add the chopped eggplant to the top of the pizza pie. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Peach Crostata

This is such a great an easy recipe to make with fresh fruit in the summer.

Making the crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 pound butter
2 tablespoons ice water

Place the flour, and sugar in a food processor. Pulse it a couple of time to combine. Add the butter (in diced pieces) and pulse 12 to 15 times, until the butter is the size of peas. Add the ice water and continue to hit the pulse button until the dough is almost combined. Before the dough becomes a solid ball, place it onto a well-floured board and form into a disk. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out into an 11-12inch circle.


Making the filling:

3-4 large peaches
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar

In a large bowl mix the peaches, flour and sugar together and place onto the dough leaving a 2 inch border around the edges. Fold the edges over the peaches. Beat 1 egg and lightly brush it onto the folded edges and sprinkle with cinnomon sugar.

Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the peaches are tender. This Dessert takes GREATTTT warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

This is for Boo

So today Boo kindly brought to my attention that I haven't updated my blog in a while now. It is not because I haven't been cooking, though I have been lazy and cooking a little less, I have not been posting anything I have made. So here's another update of what has been going on in my kitchen...

Kyle's 21st Birthday was August 26th so I made him a chocolate Oriole's cake to go along with the Oriole's tickets I got him as a gift. I can't share the recipe for the cake though because it is a family secret. Maybe one day you will be lucky enough to taste it if you haven't already :)


For Kyle's birthday he was given a bushel of crabs. Some we ate with friends, the left overs we cleaned and made crab dip with. Had I known the dip would be so good I would have taken a picture before I ate some of it :) I don't remember exactly how I made it but here is what I think I did.





Crab Dip Ingredients

2 8oz packages of cream cheese
16oz of crab meat
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
2tsp mustard
1 T Old Bay
A couple of drops of Hot sauce (I like Frank's)
1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar cheese
2 T lemon juice
Paprika

Mix all the ingredients together except for the paprika. Transfer mixture into a 9X9inch pan and sprinkle the top with the paprika. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20minutes.

Crab Cakes

In search of a Summery dinner I decided to make crab cakes. Having never made them though I found this recipe online, I found them to be pretty delicious. The only thing I would changed next time I make this recipe is to add some kind of creamy sauce to top the cakes. I meant to make sweet potato fries along with the dinner but I forgot so we just had coleslaw and broccoli with the crab cakes.






Servings 5-6 cakes

Ingredients
1 pound crab meat
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (see Note)
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons minced chives
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco, or to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Mix crab, egg, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, chives, mustard, lemon juice, celery seed, onion powder, pepper and hotsauce in a large bowl. Form into 6 patties.
2. Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until the butter stops foaming. Cook the patties until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.

Note: Panko breadcrumbs, also known as Japanese breadcrumbs or bread flakes, are coarser in texture than other dried breadcrumbs. They produce a crispy crust and are less likely to become soggy than finely ground breadcrumbs.Look for panko in the Asian food section of large supermarkets and in specialty Asian markets.


*** Last night my mom and I re-made this recipe. What we did differently was we added about a tablespoon of Old Bay to the mix and we also made the cakes without breadcrumbs. However, after the cakes were formed we covered them in breadcrumbs. To cook them we put them in a sizzling hot frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and butter until each side was browned (about 2 mins each side) and then we put them in the oven in a pan for 10-15minutes on 300F. We also put the crab cakes on rolls with coleslaw once they were out of the oven I liked this recipe a lot more But both tasted very good.

Back in action.

I just got back from Australia a week ago and had the time of my life! I tried a lot of different food while I was over there, such as Kangaroo, camel emu and crocodile. But none were really worth photographing. Since we were on a $15 a meal budget, the places we were eating at were just ok and nothing any of us were really wild about, so my Australian food experience was dissappointing. One meal I really enjoyed was a burger with beats,tomato,avacado.."the likes" as they called it. Some burgers also came with a fried egg on top! Another great meal I had was pumpkin quesadilla. I don't know if it was the time of year or just a normal thing for them but pumpkin was on a lot of menus. The only time i got the opportunity to cook while I was there was one of our lasts night after we went fishing and I grilled up the Snappers with the limited supplies we had.
Burger


Pumpkin Quesadilla in Canberra


Kangaroo Tails!



Grilled fish in Darwin (1)



Fish (2)

Fish (3)








Before I left I made some food I forgot to post on here..and because I forgot to post them, I forgot how I made them! So some dishes I am hoping to recreate and put up here within the next month or so are pulled pork sandwhich with coleslaw, Shrimp fettucini alfredo, and buffalo chicken wrap. I hope SOMEONE, ANYONE out there is looking forward to the dishes coming and I hope people will start truely following me and cooking some of the recipies I make. I have no idea if these recipies work, I made them as I went along and have guessed on all the mesurements, so I would really appreciate it if people tried the recipies and let me know how they turn out.

Cheers :)

Rachel