Pineapple Steaks

These steaks were so juicy, tender and mouth-watering! We served it up with Stuffed Mushrooms, Grilled Potato Skins, 'Hint of Mint' fruit salad, and slow-cooked Gingerbread Cake. It was all amazing and the meal as a whole was definitely restaurant quality.

Pineapple Steaks
Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4-1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp. ginger
5-6 Fresh pineapple chunks per steak
2 lbs of steak (cut however big or small you want for your portions)

Directions:
1. Combine sauces, garlic, and ginger.
2. Put steaks in a plastic bag or bowl. Pour most of marinade over the steaks (reserve some for grilling). Place the pineapple on the steaks and let marinade at least 4 hours for best results.
3. Grill over medium heat for 10-12 minutes per side. In the last 5 minutes, baste steaks with a little bit of marinade.
4. Grill the pineapple too because it's amazing!!

Pumpkin or Banana Pancakes

These are very tender and delicious pancakes. The original recipe came from one of those copycat books, but I changed it a little.

Pumpkin or Banana Pancakes
Ingredients:
nonstick spray
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (or just use milk with 1-2 T. lemon juice or vinegar)
4 T. butter, melted
3 T. canned pumpkin or 1/2 a banana
1/4 cup sugar or honey
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice

Directions:
1. Preheat skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine all ingredients in blender or mixer.
3. Cook pancakes and eat them!

I have used all wheat in this recipe and it works out great. It is a different texture, but I like them. I also really like 1/2 and 1/2. If using wheat, I suggest using honey and not sugar. For some magical reason, honey is just wheat's best friend. I have also used all dried ingredients including milk, butter, and egg powders. It turned out great too. The amount of pumpkin or banana just makes them really tender and yummy. It's become a favorite recipe here at our house!

BAGELS!!

Yummy Yummy! These are super easy and it only takes about an hour from start to finish! Mine usually look pretty ugly, but they taste good. Abe's look really amazing and taste better! Here's what you do:

Bagels
Ingredients:
4 cups flour (I've used from all white to all wheat in this but prefer to do 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white)
1-2 Tbs. sugar or honey
1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. yeast (I've used both bread machine and active dry)
1 Tbs. oil
1 1/4-1 1/2 cups warm water

Directions:
1. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Then add liquids.
2. Knead 10 minutes. (It takes a couple of minutes just to get it in a ball, so DO NOT ADD MORE WATER! Keep kneading either by hand or in a mixer. I know this works. I've done it here and in Texas. It just gets more and more pliable as you work it.
3. Cut into 6 balls and let rest 10-20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 425
5. Shape balls into bagels. (Here I often just poke a hole in the middle and then stretch it out. Abe rolls his into a snake and then attaches the 2 ends and they are way prettier. Do whatever suits your fancy. There are all sorts of bagel rolling videos on the internet you could watch.)
6. Rest 20 minutes
7. Boil bagels in water for 1 minute on each side then place directly on a greased baking sheet. (Suggestions for boiling include using a honey-water or adding a little baking soda to the water which helps with browning. There is a significant color difference between using baking soda or not.)
8. Bake for 10 minutes on each side (20 total).

The bagels are the best texture if you wait for them to cool before slicing into them. I thought that making bagels was only for professionals before I tried these, but these are easy and fun. I've added dried  blueberries and nutmeg before or just some cinnamon and extra sweetener. I'm going to try some jalapeno ones sometime soon. If anyone has an even better recipe for bagels, let me know. This is the only recipe I've tried. Just FYI, the 100% whole wheat ones turned out a lot different but still really good. They did not get as big. I would suggest trying it your first time with all white flour and then add more wheat according to your taste buds the next time.

For original recipe and instructions, go to Hub Pages Bagel Blog

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Alright, I got super busy with my last semester and then just didn't get back into the swing of things...including cooking and stuff. But, I've been cooking and baking a lot lately and am ready to share some really awesome recipes that I've recently tried out. Here is an easy, money-saving recipe for Sweetened Condensed Milk. Perfect for recipes and eating! :)

Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup hot Water
3/4 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Low heat, Non-Instant Milk Powder or 1 cup + 2 T. Instant Nonfat Powdered Milk

Place water in bowl or blender and add dry milk. Mix well and add sugar. Mix until smooth. If using a bowl and mixer, you may put the bowl in a pan of hat water to help dissolve sugar.

I just put all of the ingredients in my blender and mixed in up and it turned out perfectly. I was using the non-instant milk powder. I have not tried Instant yet, but will let you know if/when I do. I don't usually have it around. I prefer non-instant for my baking. As for the Sweetened Condensed Milk, it was delicious and I used it in my recipe and it turned out great!

Potatoes-Bake the Whole Bag

This is an old post from another blog, so I thought I'd just put it on here. If you're going to wait 45-90 minutes for a couple of potatoes to bake, why not bake a bunch? This is a method from Serious Eats For a perfect baked potato-Rinse, scrub, and dry the potatoes. Pierce with a fork on all sides to let steam vent out during baking. Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with course salt. Bake for 45 minutes as 400, 60 minutes at 350, or 90 minutes at 325. If the only thing you're cooking in the oven is the baked potatoes, you can even do 500 for a nice crispy peel. Use them throughout the week in a variety of meals. Here are some of my favorites:

• Potato Bar-Dress it up with butter, sour cream, chili, cheese, onions, green onions, chives, parsley, rosemary, cottage cheese, peppers, green chilies, olives, etc. Use any combination that suits you.
• Potato skins-Cut each potato in 4 wedges. Cut away some of the white insides (eat it or store it for later). Make a mixture of butter, salt, pepper, and rosemary; brush it over the wedges. Grill potatoes, skin side up, uncovered, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn and cook 2 more minutes. Top with cheese and put back over heat until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with bacon bits and green onions and serve with sour cream! If you don't want to grill these, you can certainly use your oven or stove top for a similar affect. They are so yummy!
  
• Potato salad-peel and cube up the baked potatoes. Use in any potato salad recipe you like.
• Hash browns-I like to just cube them up and fry them in butter until they're browned and season with salt and pepper. You can also shred them and do the same.
• Side for any other meal you have. You could even eat them just with a salad and have an easy and delicious lunch.

Licorice Caramels

I'm not a fan of black licorice for the most part because it's just way too strong, but these Licorice Caramels are delicious and have the perfect blend of flavors. I like caramel better with anise than with vanilla now!

Licorice Caramels

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups white sugar

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed

milk

1 cup corn syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon anise extract

 

 Directions:

1. Line a 9x9 inch dish with buttered foil.

2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar, milk, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Continue to heat, without stirring, to 242 to 248 degrees F (116 to 120 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball. Remove from heat and stir in anise and food coloring. Pour into prepared pan. Let cool completely, several hours.

3. To cut, turn out of pan and peel away foil. Cut with a buttered knife. Wrap pieces in waxed paper or candy wrappers.

 

Recipe retrieved from All Recipes

Birthday Custard

We went to a restaurant a few weeks ago and had 'pot de creme' for dessert. It was so yummy, so I wanted to make something similar to that for my birthday instead of cake. So, it was basically a creamy custard with blackberries and whipped cream on top. Here's the custard recipe I got from All Recipes:

CUSTARD
Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gradually add cream and lemon peel until blended. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks. Return all to pan; bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into four parfait glasses or dessert dishes. Cool. 

I just served it with blackberries just like the restaurant. It was really creamy and delicious!