Miso Ramen Soup

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Ingredients

For the protein
1 lime or small lemon
4 oz. shrimp, tofu or chicken breast
Dash of coarse salt
Several cranks of fresh pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable, olive or sesame oil

For the broth
1 package ramen noodles
1 tablespoon miso paste or 1 packet instant miso soup
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Two or three green onions, chopped (optional)
1/2 can bamboo shoots or 1/4 cup fresh sprouts (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley, cilantro or basil
1 egg, hard-boiled and sliced or crack it into the ramen (optional)
Hot chili sauce

Method

Cut the lime or lemon in half. Juice one half into a bowl large enough to hold your shrimp, tofu or chicken. Cut the other into small pieces and set aside. Toss with the salt, pepper and about half the oil and let rest for a few minutes. Add the rest of the oil to a small saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat and saute the shrimp or chicken until cooked through.

Bring 3 cups of water to boil. Add the noodles and cook as directed by the package. If using a raw egg, carefully crack it into a corner of the pan and poach it in the water as noodles cook. Remove from heat and add the miso paste or soup mix plus the soy sauce and let steep for a couple of minutes.

Portion the soup into two bowls. Add the green onions, shoots and greens and stir through. Top with the egg and shrimp, tofu and the reserved lemon or lime pieces. Add Sriracha to taste if that’s your thing.

Nutella Puff Pastry Rolls

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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 12 rolls

Ingredients

3 puff pastry squares, thawed
12 tsp nutella
Castor sugar for garnish, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven at 180C.
2. Roll the puff pastries with a rolling pin to make them thinner.
3. Cut each of them into 4 strips.
4. Spread 1tsp nutella on each strip and roll them up.
5. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
6. Place puff pastry bites on it and bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

7. Sift castor sugar over them when serving, optional.

Dukkah Lamb Chops

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Recipe type: Dinner, Meat, BBQ, Grilling

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time:  15 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 8 rib chops, approximately 2cm thick
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ cup dukkah
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Drizzle the oil and lemon juice over the chops.
2. Sprinkle over the dukkah and the salt and rub into the chops, making sure they’re well covered.
3. You can cook the chops on a hot braai (barbecue), grill them in a griddle pan or fry them in a very hot frying pan.
4. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side until they are golden brown and the fat has started crisping but the meat is still blushing pink inside.
5. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Korean Mandu Dumplings with Bok Choy

Ingredients

1 tsp sesame oil
3 tablespoons sliced green onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
3 cups beef broth
1 tsp soy sauce
1 (16 oz) package Monterey Gourmet Foods Chicken Mandu Dumpings
4 baby bok choy

Instructions

1. Heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

2. Add in 2 tablespoons of the green onions (reserving 1 tablespoon for garnish), crushed garlic, ground ginger, and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute.

3. Pour in the beef broth and soy sauce and bring to a boil.

4. Add in the dumplings and boil for 1 minute.

5. Reduce heat to low and add in the baby bok choy. Cover with a lid and steam for 2 minutes.

6. Serve the dumplings in a shallow bowl with a bok choy and a ladle full of the broth. Top with reserved green onion slices to garnish.

Peanut Butter Yogurt Pie

Ingredients

• 32 ounces vanilla Greek yogurt (I’m partial to Chobani)
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 9-inch crust of your choice (Oreo, graham cracker, etc.)

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, stir the yogurt and peanut butter with a wire whisk until blended.  Spread into the prepared pie shell.  Chill the pie overnight (the pie will be thicker the longer it is chilled).  Serve with chopped peanut butter cups or whipped cream, if desired.

Tilapia Croissant

- Tilapia
- Croissant Sandwich Bread
- Living Lettuce Leafs
- Tomato
- Sliced Cheese
- Tarter Sauce
- Zatarains Fish Fri
- Salt/Pepper

Pan fry instructions
1. Pour 1 inch of vegetable oil into lark skillet. Heat oil to 350 on medium heat. Rinse fish in cold water. Drain.
2. Pour seasoning into plastic bag. Add fish. Shake fish in Fish Fri.
3. Fry fish until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
4. Season tomato w/salt and pepper. Toast bread and build sandwich.

Homemade Snickers Bars

Homemade Snickers Bars

makes one 9×13 pan

bottom chocolate layer

1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

Thoroughly grease you baking pan. Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour into the baking dish and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.

nougat layer

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cup salted peanuts chopped, roughly chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved and bring to a boil. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in fluff, peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Turn off heat and fold in peanuts, then pour over bottom chocolate layer. Let cool completely.

caramel layer

1 14-ounce bag of caramels

1/4 cup whipping cream

Combine ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth – this took about 10 minutes for me. Pour over nougat layer and let cool completely.

Top chocolate layer

1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour over caramel and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving, then cut as desired. These can stay at room temperature, but they do get gooey. I like them refrigerated best!

Chocolatey Red Velvet Pull-Apart Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze. Click for recipe :)

Chocolatey Red Velvet Pull-Apart Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze

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Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking, adapted from Chocolate Bread by Paula Oland of the Balthazar Bakery.

Yield: 2 loaves

Pull-apart loaves are downright addictive. Each layer is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. This loaf is made from yeast dough with a sweet chocolate flavor, hunks of melty chocolate throughout, and a bright red hue! The cream cheese glaze kicks it right over the top. Schedule out the recipe in advance to allow for the rising/resting times and enjoy!

Bread Starter Ingredients:
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water (100-110 degrees F)
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Red Velvet Yeast Bread Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) red food coloring plus 1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup minus 3 tablespoons lukewarm water (100-110 degrees F)
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
vegetable oil for lightly oiling bowl

Filling Ingredients:
3/8 – 1/2 cup granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you like things)
2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli’s 60% cacao)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cream Cheese Glaze Ingredients:
2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
about 3 tablespoons milk as
mini chocolate chips for sprinkling

Directions:
Note: In recipes that call for hunks of rising/resting time like this one, I like to draw out my schedule with different size boxes representing “hands on” and “hands off” prep time to get a visual feel for how long it will take. If you’re a visual person like me, drawing out your schedule is a great technique to try! Otherwise, a good old fashion list of what you’re doing at what time would also be beneficial.

Make bread starter: Dissolve the yeast in the 100-110 degree water for about 10 minutes. Completely mix in the flour. Cover the bowl loosely and leave it at room temperature to proof for around 6 hours.

Make red velvet yeast bread: Mix the cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 tablespoon water into a paste in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, mix together the paste, flour, 1/3 cup sugar, yeast, water, and 1/4 cup of your bread starter (save the rest to use for other recipes). Let this mixture rest for 15 minutes.

Knead in the salt and butter and then knead for about 10 minutes by hand or about 4 minutes on a mixer fitted with a dough hook, or until smooth and elastic. Scoop dough out into a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with a dish cloth. Let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Leave the dough in the bowl at this point but fold it in thirds like you’d fold a letter. Recover it and let it rest for 30 more minutes.

Shape and bake pull-apart bread: Prepare two 7″x 3″ x2″ loaf pans by greasing them (I use Wilton’s Cake Release, but you could also butter and flour them). Flour a large work surface. Use a dough scraper or sharp knife to help you cut your dough into halves. Turn out half of the dough onto your floured surface, keeping the other half covered.

Roll your dough out to a 15 inch long and 12 inch wide rectangle, lifting corners periodically to make sure it’s not sticking. If it seems to be snapping back, cover it with your damp towel and let it rest for 5 minutes before continuing.

Spread the melted butter over the surface of the dough with a pastry brush and then sprinkle the sugar and chocolate chips over the top, patting them down to ensure they mostly stick. Some will inevitably fall out as you do the following steps — just stuff ‘em back in and don’t worry too much about perfection.

With the long edge of the rectangle toward you, cut it into 6 strips (do this by cutting the rectangle in half, then cutting each half into equal thirds. I used a pizza cutter). Stack these strips on top of one another and cut the resulting stack into 6 even portions (again, cut it in half, and then cut the halves into equal thirds). Place these portions one at a time into your greased loaf pan, pressing them up against each other to fit them all in. Cover the pan with your damp cloth and place it in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour to double in size. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the second half of dough.

While the dough rises, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (or 325 if you have a glass loaf dish instead of a metal pan). When it’s risen, place the loaf in the center of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until dark on top (if you take it out at light brown, it’s liable to be raw in the middle, so let it get good and dark). Cool until just warm on a cooling rack in the loaf pan while you make the glaze.

Make the cream cheese glaze: Beat the cream cheese until fluffy, and then add sugar and vanilla. Add the milk to thin it to drizzling consistency. Drizzle some of the glaze over the slightly warm bread (save the rest for drizzling over individual slices) and sprinkle it with mini chocolate chips. Serve immediately.