Pico de Gallo

As I promised I have the Pico de Gallo! I know I said I would post this a few days ago, but things have been crazy! I feel like my weekends are sometimes busier than the rest of my week. I threw this dinner party Saturday, it was basically my final for my International Foods class. We had to cost out, decorate and throw an international dinner for 6 people. I chose Thailand and it was so much fun! I will have recipes and pictures for you next week and I will go more into everything I did then! Anyway I spent most of Friday and Saturday prepping for that. I did most of the cooking myself! Like I said...crazy!

                                       

So Pico de Gallo....easy peasy (spelling? I don't think I've ever written that out before haha). Here is the most simple recipe you will ever encounter!

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:

5 jalapenos-chopped

                    seeded or not. your choice. Seeded will make it less spicy, but where's the fun in that?

3 tomatoes-chopped

1/2 white onion-diced

1/4 bunch cilantro-chopped

1-2 cloves garlic-minced

garlic salt to taste

1 lime juiced

1-3 cubes of ice

                  depending on how big your cubes of ice are. The ice is the key to enhancing the flavors. It helps bring everything out and just taste amazing!

Alright..here's the hard part....

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir. Let sit for 10-20 minutes in the refrigerator. 

 AND...done. Told you it was hard! (yes, there is heavy sarcasm there). Seriously easy and seriously amazing. Try this tonight!

HAPPY EATING!!

Customize your Casserole

Casseroles make easy and quick dinners, not to mention tasty! Honestly, do you want to know how casseroles were invented? Some Mom out there had no clue what to make for dinner so she threw what ever she had in a Pyrex and threw it in the oven and called it good...true story. Seriously, though its that easy. Here is an awesome chart for you to make your own custom casserole!

CHOOSE ONE INGREDIENT FROM EACH COLUMN

Protein Food 1 ½ to 2 cups	Sauce 2 cups white sauce seasoned OR 1 can condensed soup + 1/3 cup liquid	Cooked Vegetables 1 ½ cups	Cooked Pasta, etc. 1 ½ to 2 cups	Topping 2 – 4 Tablespoons
Cooked ham, slivered Cooked or canned chicken or turkey Cooked beef, veal, lamb or pork Hard-cooked eggs Frankfurters Cheese Canned tuna or salmon Canned luncheon meat	Cream of celery & milk Cream of chicken & buttermilk Cream of potato & sour cream Green pea & tomato juice Cheddar cheese & vegetable juice Tomato & water Cream of mushroom & cream	Cooked or canned green beans Cooked or canned peas Cooked or canned carrots Cooked or canned asparagus Cooked broccoli	Noodles Rice Macaroni Potatoes Spaghetti Corn Sweet potatoes Cooked Beans	Crushed potato chips Fresh bread crumbs Fried onion rings Pine nuts Potato sticks Cracker crumbs Slivered almonds Crushed stuffing mix Crushed corn flakes

EASILY SERVES 8 PEOPLE                               Bake 30 minutes @ 35

Happy Eating!!

Panda Express on a Dime!!

Do you love Panda Express as much as the rest of us?!? Do you crave it, but can't afford to go out to Panda Express EVERY night?!

                                     

Well why don't you try out my version of Panda Express Orange Chicken?! 

This picture was taken with my iPhone and has NO ALTERATIONS! Yup its just looks that good, and let me tell it was even prettier in person and tasted twice as good as it looks!!!!



My recipe coming this Wednesday night!! Watch for it!!!

Update: This recipe has been posted!! Check it out here

Basic Pie Making Tips

Pie Making Tips

1. Brush the edges of your pie with water just before putting the top on. This will help seal them together.

2. For a beautiful golden top, brush it with cream before baking using half and  half, evaporated milk or regular milk. Sprinkle generously with sugar.

3. Make 4 – 8 pies at a time. Bake and then freeze, placing them in gallon zip lock bags.  Once they are frozen they can be stacked on top of each other.

4. Frozen pies can be used anytime. When you have company, it is especially fun to put an uncovered frozen pie in a 350 degree oven for 35 – 40 minutes. You’ll have a nice warm pie and no mess in the kitchen.

5. Keep pie shells from shrinking by always pricking holes in it first and then do one of the following:

                        a. Bake them on the bottom of an upside down pie tin.

                        b. After lining the pie tin with dough, line it with tin foil and then pour beans,                      wheat or rice about half way. Bake it for half the baking time then lift out the foil and continue the baking.

                        c. Bake at 375 for 12 – 15 minutes.

6. Bake fruit pies at 375 for 35-45 minutes; rather than the 425 for 5   minutes and 350 for 35 – 40 minutes. This prevents the crust from getting so dark on top.

7. Bake pumpkin pies at 375 for the entire baking time. Baking time could be somewhat longer at this temperature. This will help eliminate the dark spots on the top.

8. Check for doneness of pumpkin pies with a room temperature table knife. If you are   checking more than one pie, use a different knife for each one. The knife should slide in   easily and come out clean. If the filling sticks to knife, leave it in for 2 more minutes then check it again. It finishes baking faster than you think.

9.  Pumpkin pies can be make and baked, then frozen like the fruit pies.

10. Over baking pumpkin pies will cause the filling to shrink away from the side of the pie shell.

11. Pumpkin pies should be covered and refrigerated. Some shrinkage is due to the moisture         evaporating from the filling.

12. Soggy pumpkin pie crust happens most often because of improper storage. They should be covered and refrigerated.

13. The key to nice looking and great tasting pies is practice! Practice! PRACTICE!

14.  HAVE FUN PRACTICING!!!

Happy Eating!!

Chocolate Plastic Roses

 Want to learn how to make this?! Check out my blog next week because I will be doing a post on how I made this and how you can too! These roses are great decorations and look beautiful on cakes, cupcakes or any other dessert you can think of! These are cheap, fun, and gorgeous....what more could you want?!?!

Come back next week at this time and I'll show you how you can make them yourself!! 

Culinary Skills

How to Peel a Tomato

 The first Culinary Skill I want to teach it really simple, but I didn't realize how many people don't know how to do this! I want to make your life easier! Usually this is because you really haven't had the need for a peeled tomato, but you should! If you grow your own tomatoes it can be super cheap and easy to whip up a delicious pasta sauce or you can can them so you can have fresh tomatoes all year round. Both of these recipes plus others call for peeled tomatoes.

Have you ever thought to yourself "there is no way I am peeling a tomato! That's impossible! Skipping that part". Because I totally have! Then, when I started in the Culinary program I learned this and it has changed my life!!

Step 1: Start by putting some water on the stove to boil. Next, get a bowl of ice water ready. Make it large enough to fit all your tomatoes in at once. Wash the tomatoes. Then take them, one by one, and using a knife cut a shallow x in the bottom of the tomato. Like so...

Step 2: Once your water is boiling and you have slashed all of the bottoms of the tomatoes, place all the tomatoes into your pan of water. Let the tomatoes sit in the water for about 30 seconds. 

                                             

Step 3: Spoon out your tomatoes and place directly in the bowl of ice water (also called an ice bath). Let the tomatoes sit in the water until they have cooled. You can pull one out before it has cooled completely to test. Sometimes the tomatoes need to boil longer. 

To test: pull out one tomato out of the ice bath and try to peel the skin off with your fingers. If the skin does not immediately start to peel place that tomato back in the boiling water and try another. If the second does not peel, put all the tomatoes back into the pot of boiling water. If, however it does peel off, put in back in the ice bath and let cool. 

Step 4: Once you have tested your tomatoes and they have peeled properly and they have cooled completely you can pour out the ice bath. Take each tomato one by one and peel off the skin. They should peel off really easily and look something like this....

                              

Finish peeling and you are done! Congrats you have successfully peeled a tomato!! Questions? Comment on this post and I will be happy to answer!

Happy Eating!!