Tinfoil Chef

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A large majority of people require at least one good cup of hot coffee before they’re able to function first thing in the morning. If you want your coffee to give that instant energy and mood improvement, Espresso can be an ideal solution. There’s a lot of ways to make Espresso to suit your personal taste.

Espresso was first produced in Italy and it’s been very popular all over the world since. making great espresso is something of an art form, and without the knowledge of coffee it can be difficult to do.

Espresso is made using a special espresso machine. It’s basic function is pretty much the same as ordinary coffee makers. You put coffee grounds into it, add hot water and start it up.

Some espresso machine’s have a measure to insure that you use the right amount of coffee. If yours has one then it’s a good idea to use it. Smaller Espresso machines need water added a cup at a time. Larger machines can hold enough water for several cups.

Once the water tank is filled and the coffee grounds are loaded in the machine you simply press a button and hot water runs through the coffee grounds and into your cup. For the true espresso lovers among us, it’s is ready to serve at this point. If you decide you don’t want your coffee quite so strong theres a few things you can do.

You can put a little bit of milk and foam in the espresso to make it a Macchiato. For a weaker espresso, called a lungo, more water is used. Doubling the amount of coffee grounds in an espresso, sure to give a serious energy rush is called a Doppio.

I think almost everyone knows about cappuccino, which is made from an espresso with froth and milk. If you add milk to an espresso without the froth you have a cafe latte where the milk is warmed up and floating on the top of the drink. Those with more of a sweet tooth, you’ll like a mocha with chocolate and milk added.

Espresso, with just a little milk is called a Cartado, there’s also an Americano, an espresso that is diluted with hot water.

No matter what your taste you can find an espresso coffee to suit your taste.

Technorati Tags: coffee, european coffee, macchiato, espresso machine, strong coffee, espresso, italian coffee, cappuccino

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Cold winter mornings are already there for a lot of the country and the rest of us are staring them in the face. On a morning like that, of course you want to have something hot before getting in gear for the day. However just a hot breakfast alone, while good for you and great to have, doesn’t alwasy quite hit the spot by itself.

The key for many of us is in our morning coffee. These Apple Nut Muffins, served warm with that coffee can make that coffee just that much better. I believe I’ve seen this recipe or one like it on Mr. Food some time back and while I’m not going to use his particular catchphrase, they are certainly a good idea. In fact I wouldn’t mind finding one of those steel buildings in our backyard stocked full of goodies like this.

Start out Preheating oven to 375 degrees. Then Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with your favorite non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, a half cup of sugar, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and a half teaspoon of salt.

In another bowl, beat 2 eggs with 3/4 cup of milk. Stir in a cup of chopped apple and 6 tablespoons of melted butter. Add the apple mixture to the flour mixture and stir until it’s just moistened all over. (the batter will be really stiff.)

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter, distributing evenly.

For the nut topping, combine 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix well and sprinkle the nut mixture evenly over the batter.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test (a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). Remove them from the muffin pan right away and serve warm.

You can also mix some confectioner’s sugar and a little milk to make a thin glaze and drizzle that over the warm muffins.

Muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped (about a cup)
6 tablespoons melted butter

Nut Topping:
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Technorati Tags: morning coffee, apple nut muffins, winter morning, recipe, cold morning, breakfast, apple muffins

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I’ve been told on more than one occasion that my tastes are … um … a tad unusual. Personally I don’t see it. For example whats so unusual or weird about a hot dog with tuna salad on it? It’s a fantastic combination. I believe that this breakfast is equally good and no, it didn’t come out of a collection of Mexican recipes, it’s just and old fashioned sense of “use what you got.”

It’s a simple enough sort of omlete wannabe, but very tasty. I started out as usual with an egg cracked into a bowl and add a touch of milk and a bit of shredded cheese. Then beat that together and add a bit of sauteed mushrooms.

The part that I half expect people to shake their heads at is where I sauteed some chopped onion and then added some leftover chili and let that heat through. I added that to the egg mixture and mixed thouroughly and popped it into the microwave for 4 minutes. Top it with some more shredded cheese and let that melt and bingo, one taste filled breakfast.

Technorati Tags: onion, omelet, recipe, chili, breakfast

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After spending some time reading through a host of goodies of all kinds I’d have to say that not only does The Pioneer Woman Cook, but she’s also got a way with words that’s really refreshingly “just folks” and often funny to boot.

She also uses a lot of pictures to illustrate every step of a recipe, something I’d like to do but up until recently haven’t had access to a camera with enough system memory to take a decent number of sufficiently high resolution pics that still look good when you crop out everything but the star of the food show.

A great example is a recipe my wife found there for Biscuits and Gravy. This down home favorite is one that has eluded many an otherwise good cook for a long time in spite of the fact that it’s actually pretty simple (sometimes simple isn’t enough is it?).

She takes the whole thing step by step with a picture or two for each one. I honestly believe that most, if not all, of the people who have difficulty with making a basic white gravy would do a lot better after reading that recipe. It’s definitely a site I’ll be revisiting as there’s a bunch of great looking dishes that my wife and I would like to try.

Btw- The only changes I’d make with the Biscuits and Gravy would be to crumble the sausage into the gravy and use good old fashioned homemade cat-head biscuits to host generous ladles of the sausage gravy.

Technorati Tags: pictures, recipes, easy directions, cooking blogs, biscuits, biscuits and gravy, gravy

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This is something that I sorta threw together one morning when I was in a mood for something that was a bit different and packed a little bit of a kick. At the same time I wasn’t wanting anything so hot that it’d make itself known on the blood pressure monitor either.

What I ended up with was very satisfying and tasty with just a bit of crunch and with the aroma of curry that I’ve come to love quite a bit. There’s really nothing quite like the smell you get when curry powder first hits hot food. What’s really great about it is that it tastes very much like it smells.

I was rummaging around and found some frozen bits of breaded “popcorn” chicken and decided to use that. I started the skillet heating up with some olive oil in it. (butter works good too)

While that was warming up I chopped a couple stalks of celery and added it to the skillet. Then I diced up a medium onion and tossed it in with the celery. We also had some green bell peppers that I had chopped up and frozen a few days earlier so I added roughly half a cup or so of that.

Next came the popcorn chicken, roughly half to 3/4 cup of it added to the mix. I gave this a good stirring to make sure nothing’s sticking and let it cook on a medium heat while I got out some fresh spinach. I chopped up a good size handful and stirred it into the skillet.

When it’s just about done I give it a liberal sprinkling of curry powder and stir that in and let it cook another minute or so. I consider this to be one of my own variations on a “Breakfast of Champions”. Though it would also make a perfectly good addition to any meal (or midnight snack!).

Technorati Tags: curry, chicken, veggies, stir fry, breakfast, breakfast of champions, recipe

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This casserole is a great breakfast dish when served with a side of eggs but it also works just as well for lunch or supper with whatever side dish you prefer.

While you’re doing the prep, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Saute a chopped onion over medium heat until it’s just beginning to caramelize. Then two pounds of breakfast sausage (we use the one pound rolls of mild but you can use whatever kind suits your taste.) Once the sausage is cooked and crumbled, drain away as much grease as possible. and then stir in eight ounces of cream cheese until it’s melted.

In a 9×13x2 baking dish, open a can of crescent rolls and press them together to make a crust and spread it across the bottom of the baking dish.

Spread the sausage and cream cheese mixture over the bottom crust. Use another can of crescent rolls to make a top crust and spread it across the to of the sausage and cream cheese mixture, stretching it to reach the sides of the dish. Then melt a stick of butter and drizzle it over the top crust.

Bake for about 25 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees. When it’s done the rolls will be a golden brown color.

Cut it into squares and it’s ready to serve.

Technorati Tags: lunch, main dish, crescent rolls, baking, breakfast sausage, side dish, sausage, butter, casserole, crust

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It’s called Bakers Banter according to the heading at the top of the page and this blog from the folks at King Arthur flour is positively chock-full of every sort of baked goodies you can imagine.

I leaned of it when my wife sent me this Puff the Magic Pancake recipe on StumbleUpon. Frankly, I defy anyone to read that all the way through, check out the great pictures of the whole process of making it and still not at least WANT to run right out and make up a batch of ‘em!

I’ve never actually heard of King Arthur Flour before but I can say that I’ll be back to visit this blog again, anticipating more baked wonders.

Technorati Tags: baking, baking+blog, cooking+blog, food+blog, blog+review, breakfast, dessert, treat, recipe

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Anyone that knows me will quickly agree when I say that my tastes are not always what you’d call “mainstream”. It’s not that I actually like genuinely nasty things, however some of the concoctions I’ve come up with over the years has left more than one family member shaking their heads in … um … wonder. Yeah, wonder.

This little breakfast treat is something I came up with a few years ago because I thought the taste combinations would be interesting and I was right. However few have dared to give it try. That’s ok I say, more for me. “You can have it!” they declare in unison.

Ok, enough of the drama, now to unveil a little gem I call the “Tunafish Omelete“.

It’s pretty much a normal (for us) made in the microwave oven style omelet. I like to start out by dicing some onion (about half to a quarter of a medium small onion per serving you’re going to make) and saute that in some olive oil with a bit of diced green pepper.

As the onions begin to caramelize, dice up about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of whatever kind of mushroom you like. I’m partial to Portabella when we have them but the basic white button mushrooms are great too. Once this is done crack an egg into a microwave safe bowl, add a dash of milk and the onion, mushroom & green pepper mixture. Add in some shredded cheddar cheese or grated parmesan cheese.

Now comes the part that has made family members shudder and go “Ugh!”. Open a can of tuna packed in water and pour off the water. Take about half a can or so, give it a rough chop to break up the pieces and add this to the bowl. Stir this vigorously to mix everything up and work some air into the egg mixture.

Put it into microwave with a loose cover on it and cook on high for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes. When it’s done all of the egg should be cooked through with no raw spots. I like to add some cheese to the top and give it another 30 seconds in the microwave and then let it sit for a moment with a cover on it for the cheese to melt.

I like to have this with a variety of condiments on it ranging from ketchup to spicy brown mustard or horseradish sauce. I’ve even used the sauce packets from Taco Bell or Arby’s.

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I know that probably most people in the US have heard of (and had) that wonderful creation, The Corn Dog. You know the one I mean, it’s the hot dog on a stick that’s dipped in a cornbread batter and then deep fried? Yeah, I know, they’re not supposed to be “good” FOR you, though they are just plain good.

Best served with a dollop of mustard or perhaps a swirl of mustard and ketchup. Or any number of other sauces work great too. I’ve even seen some people cook them so “well done” that they look like they’d taste like a warm length of CAT5e network cable. Not appetizing for me but I guess it’s all up to individual taste.

I had a thought though and I don’t know if anybody has thought of this before, but why don’t we see sausage versions of it next to the corn dogs in the freezer section? I mean, it’d have to taste just as good but with the flavor of the sausage (of whichever variety) mixed with the cornbread.

I can envision a whole line of “corn dog sausages” or somesuch made with every variety of sausage from little breakfast links to kielbasa corn dogs or even summer sausage corn dogs.

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When I ran across this recipe I was reminded of a recent entry I did about coffee and the fact that there are times that I consider it to be not only an incredibly great way to start the morning but that I also consider it to be something that could conceivably contribute to longer life.

Of course, I don’t have any hard science to back up a claim like that, it’s entirely my opinion. On the other hand, another thing about coffee is simply that I really enjoy it. I also don’t stick with just a plain old cup of Joe. I’ve found that I really like trying different varieties of flavored coffees as well as the flavored creamers. Both the dairy and non-dairy kinds. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of extra flavor to take something like a morning cup of coffee and turn it into an semi-exotic taste treat that you might ordinarily only expect to get while on vacation someplace staying in Condo Hotels on a beachfront somewhere in the Caribbean.

This recipe is one that falls into that category. It’s easy to make and yields enough to make a very tasty pot of coffee. Start with about a third of a cup of whatever coffee grounds you normally use (not a flavored variety this time though). Add a teaspoon of Chocolate extract, a half teaspoon of Mint extract and a quarter teaspoon of Vanilla extract.

Mix this in a food processor or blender. Stop to scrape down the sides with a spatula and give it another whirl. If you’re making it up ahead of time store in the refrigerator in a sealed plastic container. To use it just put it in the filter basket and brew a pot of coffee as you normally would. Then pour yourself a cup and sit back, relax and pretend for a while you’re far away from stress and pressure.

That’s almost as good as a vacation isn’t it?

Technorati Tags: caribbean, chocolate+coffee, chocolate+mint+coffee,, coffee, Drinks, mint, mint+chocolate+coffee, mint+coffee, pressure, recipe, relax, stress, Treats, vacation

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