Hmm...I do cook a bit. Not as much as I used to.
Here are some of my recipes -
Golden Rum Cake Cake- 1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds or whatever you like
- 1 package Pillsbury yellow cake mix - get the kind with vanilla pudding added
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup fat free milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup dark rum
Glaze- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup dark rum
Rum suggestions: Use Appleton Estates for the glaze. Use Bicardi or whatever you like for the cake. But Appleton Estates is the best for the glaze!
DIRECTIONS1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.
2. In a large bowl, sift cake mix (and pudding mix if you must). Mix in the eggs, 1/2 cup milk, oil and 1/2 cup rum. Blend well (whisking works best!). Pour batter over chopped nuts in the pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
4. To make the glaze: in a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum. Be careful - it may boil over. Expect lots of steam when you add the rum!
5. Turn cake out over a plate, and with a toothpick, poke small holes everywhere. Pour half the glaze into the pan and then reinsert the cake. Poke more holes into the bottom of the cake, and then pour the rest of the glaze over it. Let it sit for at least an hour like this before turning it over onto a plate, where it should sit for a few more hours (still in the pan is best) to let it soak up the glazey goodness. If you can let it sit a day, it will taste best, but I never have the willpower.
Baklava Syrup- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Baklava- 1 pound chopped nuts (whatever kind you like; I always use just almonds)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
- 1 cup butter, melted (you may need more)
DIRECTIONS1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in honey and vanilla, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. You can begin to assemble the baklava while it's simmering. Once it's done, let it cool for about 10 minutes, and then place it in the fridge for additional cooling.
2. Toss together cinnamon and nuts. Unroll phyllo and cut whole stack in half to fit the dish. Cover phyllo with a damp cloth while assembling the baklava, to keep it from drying out.
3. Place four sheets of phyllo in the bottom of the prepared dish. Brush generously with butter. Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons of the nut mixture on top. Place two sheets, butter, place another two sheets and add nut mixture. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used, but make sure there is at least 6 non-nutty layers at the top. Using a sharp knife, cut baklava (all the way through to the bottom of the dish) into four long rows, and then turn pan and cut another four rows, then (nine times) diagonally to make 36 diamond shapes. Actually, I always end up with only 24 because I only cut three rows the long way. But whatever!
4. Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes, until golden and crisp.
6. Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately spoon the
cold syrup over it (important: you MUST pour cold syrup over hot baklava or hot syrup over cold baklava). This will keep it from getting soggy! Let cool completely before serving. Store uncovered.
Slow Cooked Pork Chops Brine- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns, slightly crushed
- 1 pound ice
Chops- 4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) bone-in pork chops (you can use boneless, but it falls apart)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 cups dried apple slices (or however much you think you may like)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large sweet (Vidalia) onions, julienned (how to julienne an onion)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
DIRECTIONS1. Combine the vegetable broth, 1/4 cup kosher salt, brown sugar and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until the salt and sugar dissolve, then remove from the heat and add the ice. Place the pork chops into a 2-gallon zip-top bag along with the mixture and seal. Place in a plastic container and refrigerate
overnight.
2. Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Season on both sides with the kosher salt and set aside
3. Place the apples in the slow cooker.
4. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch stainless steel saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the pork chops on both sides until golden brown, approximately 5 minutes per side. Once browned, place the pork chops into the slow cooker atop the apples. Cover and set cooker to high.
5. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan followed by the onions and saute until they begin to brown and become translucent. Add the chicken broth to the pan and whisk the bottom to deglaze. Add the black pepper and thyme and stir to combine. Transfer this to the slow cooker and cook on high for 1.5 hours. Decrease the heat to low and continue cooking for another 4.5 hours or until the pork is tender and falling away from the bone (you'll smell it when it's done).
Strawberry Spinach SaladWarning: Eating poppy seeds WILL test you positive for opiates if you have any upcoming or random drug screenings.
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced onion
- 10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
- 1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
- 1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
DIRECTIONS1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking furiously! Cover, and chill for one hour.
2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
In the fall, how about I take pictures and do a step-by-step from scratch pumpkin pie?
