Idaho-Style Finger Steaks

Found at:http://www.grouprecipes.com/97480/idaho-style-finger-steaks.html

Ingredients:

1 egg
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons grill seasoning, such as McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 1/2 pounds boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into 2 1/2 x 1/4 inch strips (cut across the grain!)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups oil for deep frying

Directions:

1. Beat together the egg, buttermilk, grill seasoning, and 1/2 cup of flour in a large bowl until smooth. Add the beef, and toss until well coated. Cover with plastic wrap, and place into the refrigerator to marinate at least 2 hours.
2. Sift 2 1/2 cups flour with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper into a large bowl. Remove steak strips from buttermilk batter and allow excess to drip off. Dredge each piece with seasoned flour and place onto a baking sheet. Place in the freezer and freeze until firm, 1 hour to overnight.
3. Heat oil to 370 degrees F (185 degrees C) in a deep fryer or cast iron skillet. 4. Drop a few frozen steak pieces into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on the outside, about 5 minutes. Do not overcrowd the frying oil, and do not allow the steak strips to thaw before they are fried. Once golden brown, remove to drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Make Buttermilk

found at http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm

Put 1 T lemon juice or white vinegar into a liquid measuring cup and add enough milk to make 1 cup.  Let set 5 minutes.  Presto, buttermilk!

Egg Drop Soup

Egg Drop Soup
from: http://baskersfunfoods.blogspot.com/2008/05/egg-drop-soup.html

4 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp. corn starch
3-4 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
2 eggs, beaten

I would also throw in a handful of corn niblets, even better if you have some left over from last night!

Set aside 1/2 cup broth, bring the rest of it to a boil. Whisk together reserved broth and corn starch, then whisk that into the boiling broth. Add food coloring. Drizzle the beaten eggs over the soup, stir gently to break it up, and serve. Garnish with green onion or chives, if desired. Easy and delicious!

Chocolate Explosion Cake

from Dawn’s kitchen!

1 box Super Moist Devils Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup chocolate milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 eggs
1 container (16 ounces) sour cream
1 small package (4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding mix
1 bag (12 ounces or 2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare pan.

Gently mix milk, butter, eggs and sour cream until eggs are incorporated. Add dry cake and pudding mixes. Mix until well blended. Batter will be very thick (almost like like brownies, but it will bake up like a cake- really!!). Fold in chips. Spoon into pan(s).

Bake 55-65 minutes or until top springs back (toothpick will not be totally clean with this cake). Cool in pan 10 minutes and turn out on wire rack and cool completely.

I pour ganache over it — no real recipe I just put chocolate, a chunk of butter and a splash of milk all in the microwave and voila, ganache!

My sushi rice recipe

I half the recipe that I have so I just wanted to make a note of it here.  If you are interested in making your own sushi/sushi rice, check out:

http://happilybarefoot.com/2009/01/sushi-its-easy-frugal-yummy-

http://japanesefood.about.com/od/rice/ss/howtocookrice.htm

For rice in the cooker:

1-1/2 c. short or medium grain rice
1-1/2 c. + 1/8 c. water

For vinegar sauce

50 Ml (1/2 of 1/3 c.)  rice vinegar
1-1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Fried Rice

from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook
Makes 6 side-dish servings

2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 t. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1/2 c. thinly bias-sliced celery (1 stalk)
1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups cooked white rice
1 med. carrot, shredded
1/2 c. frozen peas, thawed
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 c. sliced green onions (2)

In a small bowl combine eggs and the 1 tsp. soy sauce
Pour the sesame oil into a large skillet. Preheat over med. heat. Add the egg mixture and garlic; stir gently to scramble. When set, remove egg mixture from skillet and cut up any large pieces. Remove skillet from heat.
Pour the cooking oil into the skillet. Return to med high heat. Stir-fry celery in hot oil for 1 minute. Add mushrooms, stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes more or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Add cooked rice, carrot, and peas. Sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Cook and stir for 4 to 6 minutes or until heated through. Add cooked egg mixture and green onion; cook and stir for about 1 minute more or until heated through.

Shrimp Fried Rice – prepare as before except add 12 oz. peels and deveined fully cooked shrimp when adding the rice. Makes 4 main-dish servings.

Mandarin Almond Chicken

found this over at www.cooks.com.

1/2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. seasoned salt
6 boneless chicken breast halves
1 stick (1/2 c.) butter
1 c. orange juice
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Salt to taste
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. ginger
1 can mandarin oranges
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. almonds, sliced
1 tbsp. soy sauce
Combine flour and seasoned salt. Evenly coat each piece of chicken with mixture. Melt stick of butter. Brush small amount over bottom of rectangular baking dish. Place chicken in a single layer. Brush each piece with melted butter. Bake chicken at 350 degrees F. 1 hour.Combine orange juice, brown sugar, honey, cornstarch, lemon juice and ginger in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sauce is thick and smooth. When chicken has cooked, spoon sauce evenly over each piece. Sprinkle mandarin oranges over all and bake 15 minutes more. Saute almonds in 1 tablespoon butter until light brown. Lightly salt. Sprinkle almonds and parsley over all. Serve with rice.

Spritz Cookies

2cup butter
8ounces cream cheese
2cup sugar
2egg yolk
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla
1tsp salt
Food coloring, optional
Sugar sprinkles or other decoration, optional

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and cream cheese together until combined and fluffy. Add sugar, egg yolk, flour, vanilla, salt, and optional food coloring. Mix well.
Apply desired cutting plate shape, and fill cookie press with dough. Press cookies on to ungreased baking sheet. If; you are using those little ball sprinkles, add them before baking.  It is best to use cookie sheets vs. PC Stones, or use parchment on the stone.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges. Decorate as desired.

Just wanted to add that this recipe makes me love my cookie press!

Corn Casserole

from Paula Deen
Recipe Link

1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8-ounce) package cornbread mix (recommended: Jiffy)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with Cheddar. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.

Lisa’s Avalon Chicken

Mix together One can Cream of Musroom and One can Cream of Celery (or chicken).

Layer like this:

One layer soup
Chicken breast
Layer sliced Jack Cheese
Remainder of soup

Melt 1 stick of butter and mix it into a pack of stuffing mix.
Spread stuffing mix on top.

Bake at 350
30 minutes covered
30 minutes uncovered.