Cooked From the Heart » Archive
Chocolate Eclairs Part I
This month’s Daring Bakers Challenge is hosted by Tony Tahhan and MeetaK of What’s for Lunch, Honey? This time around they chose to challenge us with Chocolate Eclairs from the cookbook, Chocolate Desserts By Pierre Hermé. I was excited when I first saw the challenge, I’ve always wanted to make cream puffs but was always intimidated by the Pâte à Choux or Cream Puff dough. I’ve had pretty good results from previous Daring Bakers challenges so I really had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, it was too good for my winning streak to keep going. So I’m naming this part one because I refuse to give up. I’m definitely making this one again, if only to get it right finally. So here’s the recipe and my notes. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Daring Bakers, desserts
Filipino Style Spaghetti
My girls have always liked their spaghetti with the usual bolognese sauce. Their dad doesn’t like sweet spaghetti sauces so I never really made it for them. That is, until now. When we went to the Philippines a couple of years ago, they had a taste of Filipino spaghetti which is on the sweet side and has sliced hotdogs in it. I was afraid they wouldn’t like it, but surprise, surprise, they liked it! So now, once in a while they will ask for ‘spaghetti with hotdogs’, especially The Clone who can eat spaghetti every day. I must admit, they like my Filipino Spaghetti but they say it’s just not the same as what they had over there but will do. Oh well, I guess I just can’t beat the … Read entire article »
Potato, Carrots & Peas Soup
Still cleaning out my photobucket pics Here’s another easy peasy soup. You know how my daughter, The Clone just loves soups. This is another one of her favorites. We cooked this up for lunch this summer when they were all home and we decided to clean up the freezer. While digging into the recesses of the freezer, guess what we found? A turkey carcass that I had wrapped up I think, from our Easter dinner! Well that thing had to get out of there, so in a stock pot it went along with a large onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, a couple of carrots and celery, and enough water to cover it all. Boil this down for about an hour or so and you’ll end up … Read entire article »
Filed under: soup
Recipes to Rival: Tamales!
These tamales were delicious! I love tamales, but I don’t usually order them when we go to restaurants. Why? because restaurant tamales usually suck. They are dry and taste like cardboard. The best tamales I’ve had were homemade ones; the kind someone’s mom or grandma made. And growing up in California, I didn’t have a shortage of friends with tamale making moms and grandmas. I always knew what I was going to get for a gift on the holidays So if the only tamales you’ve tasted is from a restaurant and you’ve sworn to not like them, I suggest making these and maybe you’ll change your mind. This month’s challenge for Recipes to Rival is Tamales! and it is being hosted by The Healthy Vegan Kitchen. Since the ‘meateatarians’ … Read entire article »
Candied Sweet Potatoes
I actually cooked this sometime last fall when we havested sweet potatoes from our garden. I just realized, while sorting through my photobucket pics that I never posted it on this blog. I also suddenly got a yearning for some sweet potatoes, which unfortunately, we didn’t get to plant this year. I guess I’ll be going to the farmer’s market soon to get some. The recipe is very easy. It gets so I don’t really measure anything out anymore, I just eyeball and guestimate Saves me from washing up measuring cups and spoons. LOL! I also inherited this recipe from my mother-in-law, Momma Dot, and she never measured anything either. This is the basic recipe. Adjust according to how much sweet potatoes you’re planning to cook. If you’re … Read entire article »
Filed under: side dishes, Southern, thanksgiving
La.Pi.S. – Breakfast
The theme for Lasang Pinoy Sundays (LaPiS) this week is BREAKFAST. Filipino breakfast traditionally always includes rice be it sweet or savory. Most of the time, breakfast is an opportunity to use up left over rice for fried rice. In this case, this Bittermelon with Eggs is served up with garlic fried rice. A great way to start the day! See oufr list of egg dishes perfect for breakfast. To see other LaPiS entries, visit Ces Spices for the roundup. … Read entire article »
Filed under: LaPiS
Tilapia in Pesto Sauce
This easy and very delicious dish was borrowed from the Pinoy Cook. I didn’t change much of the recipe except for the nuts and type of fish used. Since this first try, we’ve made it a regular on our menu, changing up ingredients depending on what we have. I used this dish on king crab legs, for instance, and it was delicious! I’ve baked salmon with pesto before and it was delicious. This one, however, is not baked but rather poached in the lemony pesto sauce. All I can say is, you’ve got to try it. Here’s the basic recipe: … Read entire article »
Mushroom Soup
My youngest daughter loves soups, especially blended soups lately, so you’ll be seeing more of these type of soups until she gets out of this phase She also doesn’t want any meat in her soups. This was her latest favorite. I used cremini mushrooms for this but you can use any variety of fresh mushroom available. INGREDIENTS 16 oz. Cremini Mushrooms, sliced 4 Tablespoons Butter 3 Garlic Cloves, roasted 1 onion, sliced & roasted 1 Tablespoon fresh Thyme 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 8 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth 1 cup heavy cream Salt & Pepper to taste Start by roasting the garlic and onions in the oven. Toss the peeled garlic and sliced onion in the Olive oil and place on a skillet or baking pan. Turn the oven setting to ‘broil’ and place the onion and garlic … Read entire article »
Filed under: soup, vegetables
Donna Hay Meringue
With all the cake baking I’ve been doing lately, I have been using a lot of egg yolks leaving me with egg whites. I just hate to waste food so I look for ways to use up left over ingredients. Meringues are a great way to use up egg whites and you end up with something light and elegant for dessert or a quick sugar high They will keep for a few days if you keep them in an air tight container. This recipe is again from Donna Hay’s Modern Classics cookbook. I had 8 egg whites so I doubled the recipe below. … Read entire article »
Filed under: desserts
Shrimp Ceviche
I had some left over cooked shrimps from a shrimp cocktail tray from Costco so I decided to ‘repackage’ it by making a ceviche style salad. Ceviches usually involves something raw and letting it cook in the acidity of the dressing. Even though the shrimps are already pre-cooked, the flavors and spiciness of the lime dressing comes through beautifully. This one is really easy and flavor packed. INGREDIENTS: Cooked Shrimps Juice from 2 Limes ½ cup of Green Onions (scallions), chopped ½ cup of Cilantro, chopped 1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped Salt, to taste Mix all the ingredients together and toss. It is best if you let the salad chill about 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to blend. … Read entire article »
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