Navy Bean Soup

1/2 pound dry navy beans
water
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 large onion chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup celery chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 cups ripe tomatoes, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 cup ham, cubed

Place beans in a large Dutch oven; rinse well and drain. Return beans to pan; cover with water and soak overnight. The next day drain beans; add 2 quarts of fresh water. In a sauce pan heat butter. Add flour; cook until golden. Add onions, green pepper and garlic. Cook until wilted. Add mixture and remaining ingredients to the beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 1 hour or until the beans are tender. Serve with hot crusty bread.

*Add more water and cook longer if beans are not tender.

Basic Chicken Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

2 medium celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth, skimmed of fat

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 medium skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves (10 ounces)

Directions

In a 4-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender and lightly browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add carrots, celery, chicken broth, pepper, and 3 cups water; heat to boiling over high heat. Add chicken to saucepan and reduce heat to low. Cover saucepan and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until chicken just loses its pink color throughout and carrots and celery are tender. Remove saucepan from heat.

Using slotted spoon or tongs, remove chicken from saucepan to plate; cool slightly until easy to handle. With fingers, pull chicken into shreds.

Return chicken to soup; heat through.

Vanilla Ice Cream

5 egg yolks

2/3 cups sugar

1 cup half and half

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup whipping cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat yolks and sugar until blended. Pour in top of double boiler. Stir in half and half. Cook and stir over boiling water until thickens. Set aside - stir in butter. While cooling on a rack, stir occasionally until room temperature. Stir in whipping cream and vanilla. Freeze according to manufacturers directions.

Fruit Tofu based Ice Cream

2 1/2 t Unflavored gelatin

1/8 t Salt

1/2 c Sugar

1 1/4 c Frozen fruit and/or berry -juice concentrate, thawed

10 ea (oz) soft tofu or silken -tofu, drained

1/4 c Safflower oil

3 T Fresh lemon juice

1/2 t Vanilla extract

Sprinkle gelatin over 3/4 cup water (in saucepan) and allow to sit 3 minutes. Cook over very low heat until gelatin is dissolved. Mix in salt and sugar and cook, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. In blender, or processor, combine juice, tofu, oil, lemon juice, vanilla, 3/4 cup water and process until very smooth. Add gelatin mixture. Freeze in ice cream machine, according to manufacturers, instructions, or freeze in ice cube trays and follow manual instruction as noted above. Makes 1 quart.

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Coffee Ice Cream

1 cup milk

1/4 cup ground coffee

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

1/8 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. vanilla extract

3 cups half and half

Heat milk in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat. When bubbles form around the edges of pan, remove from heat. Stir in coffee and half the sugar. In a slow and steady stream, whisk hot mixture into bowl with beaten eggs, whisking constantly. Return to saucepan. Add remaining sugar and salt. Stir constantly over medium high heat 3-4 minutes until mixture is thickened. Stir in vanilla and 1 cup half and half and chill in refrigerator. Strain through a very fine sieve or cheesecloth. Add remaining half and half and freeze in an ice cream maker 20-30 minutes until frozen.

Almond Ice Cream

1/4 cup blanched almonds

2 cups milk

2/3 cup heavy cream

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

Reduce the almonds to a powder. Add the milk and heavy cream, mix thoroughly together. In a saucepan, heat the almond mixture and bring it to a boil. Remove from heat and reserve.

In a bowl, mix the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the almond mixture and mix well with wooden spoon. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon, do not boil.

Strain custard into a clean bowl and refrigerate until cold. Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instruction. Transfer to covered container and freeze until firm.

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How to Make Caramel Banana Cookies

Ingredients:

• A cup of plain flour
• A cup of self raising flour
• A mashed banana
• 2 egg
• 1/3 cup of castor sugar
• ½ tea spoon vanille essence
• 80 gram butter

Preparation of caramel:

Make cream by mixing the sugar and butter. Beat vanille essence, sugar and butter until the cream becomes light and fluffy. Add eggs and stir them in banana and flours. Mix to a firm dough and later put the fluffy mixture into refrigerator for half an hour.

Cut your cookie as circular pieces with 5 mm slices. Bake them in a moderate oven for 15 or 20 minutes until it becomes brown. Your cookie is ready to be tasted. Here is the result;

How to Make Caramel Corn

1. Step 1

   Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

2. Step 2

   Use the air popper to make about 8 cups of popcorn. Weed out any husks and unpopped kernels. Do not add butter or salt.

3. Step 3

   Mix in about 1/2 cup of nuts with the popcorn. If you are not adding nuts, skip this step and move on to Step 4.

4. Step 4

   Put 1/3 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup light corn syrup in a small saucepan. Add a small pinch of salt.

5. Step 5

   Heat the mixture on high. Be sure to keep stirring. Bring the mixture to a boil and allow it to boil for 2 minutes.

6. Step 6

   Pour the liquid mixture over the popcorn. Using a large wooden spoon, gently stir the popcorn until all of the pieces are coated.

7. Step 7

   Spread the popcorn onto a cookie sheet that has been coated with non-stick spray.

8. Step 8

   Bake the caramel corn for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure that the pieces are baked evenly.

9. Step 9

   Remove the popcorn from the oven and give it a final stir. Enjoy! Any leftovers should be stored in an airtight container.

Cake Brownies

Cake Brownies

These flavorful chocolate brownies can be topped with the chocolate frosting.

Ingredients:

• Brownie Ingredients:
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• .
• Chocolate Frosting:
• 4 ounces butter
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 pound (about 3 1/2 cups) confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 to 6 tablespoons evaporated milk or half-and-half, heated

Preparation:

Grease and flour a 9x13x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350°.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa. Add dry mixture to the first mixture, stirring until blended. Fold in nuts. Spread in prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on rack.

Frosting:
Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat; stir in cocoa until smooth. Sift confectioners' sugar; add to the cocoa mixture along with vanilla and enough hot milk or half-and-half to make the mixture soft and spreadable. Spoon evenly over brownies and spread to cover thoroughly.

Donuts Receipe

Ingredients for Donuts

• 3 tablespoons shortening
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups flour
• 5 teaspoons baking powder
• Powdered sugar

[edit]

Instructions

1. Cream shortening and sugar.
2. Add the beaten egg.
3. Stir in the milk.
4. Add the nutmeg, salt, flour and baking powder.
5. Make a dough stiff enough to be rolled.
6. Roll out on floured pastry board to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.
7. Cut out with doughnut cutter.
8. Fry in deep hot fat.
9. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Ayam Betutu (Balinese Grilled Chicken)

Today, the special dish comes from Bali...

Ingredients :
- 5 tablespoons Oil
- 100 g Young cassava leaves, boiled until tender, cut into serving pieces
- 1.5 kg Chicken
- Banana leaves or aluminum foil for wrapping Spices (ground)
- 7 Red chilies
- 5 Bird's eye chilies
- 5 Candlenuts, roasted
- 10 Shallots
- 1 teaspoon Dried shrimp paste
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Coriander, roasted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Sliced lemon grass
- 2 teaspoons Peppercorns
- tablespoon Chopped galangal
- 1/2 teaspoon Powdered nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons Chopped turmeric
- 4 Kaffir lime leaves
- 2 teaspoons Chopped ginger
- 2 teaspoons Chopped lesser galangal
- Salt and sugar

Instructions :

1. Heat oil and sauté the ground spices until fragrant and dry.Set aside and allow to cool.
   
2. Divide into 2 parts.Combine 1 part with cassava leaves.Stuff the mixture into the chicken and secure with toothpicks.
3. Rub the chicken with the remaining ground spices.Wrap the chicken with banana leaves and tie with a string.
4. Grill in the oven at medium heat (180oC) for 2-3 hours or until cooked.Remove from heat and cut before serving.
5. Note : Another way to cook the chicken is to steam it for about 45 minutes before grilling in the oven for 1 hour.
6. Betutu is a special dish from Bali. Usually the Balinese use duck wrapped in banana leaves, and wrapped again with stalks of palm leaves.
   
7. The duck is then buried in the ground and covered with hot charcoal for 6-7 hours until cooked.

The recipe is originated from :
http://asiatourismtravel.net

How to Make Pasta

There is nothing intrinsically hard about making your own pasta. Not only is it worth the effort, I venture that it will be the best pasta you've tasted. You may be quite unhappy about buying commercial pasta ever again–so beware.

I find making my own pasta, as with my own bread, a relaxing, therapeutic activity, and not a chore at all. Well, that's not really true–it is a chore–but one with a delicious reward. There are many electric pasta-making machines on the market that can make this process easier. But remember that there are two kinds of machines. One both mixes and kneads the dough and is fitted with extrusion devices for making tubular pastas such as macaroni. The other simple is an electric roller. You need to prepare the dough by hand and then flatten it to get through the roller. I prefer this second type of machine as I mix and knead the pasta dough by hand. The electric extrusion machines generally do not knead the dough sufficiently to develop the gluten in the durum wheat. Still, if you want to make any kind of tubular pasta you will need this machine. You may be reluctant to make your own pasta because of the time required or past failures. I know this feeling, since I once was a beginner and regularly failed at making pasta. After much experimentation I have come to this recipe, which works for me every time– and it should for you too.

Most failures in pasta making come about because too much liquid is used. When it appears that the dough won't hold together many people add more water and/or eggs, too much, and the pasta becomes brittle when dried. At first, when kneading the dough with water or eggs, my recipes may seem like they are lacking in liquid. But they are not. You will still have to flour the dough once you are rolling it to keep it from sticking.

Unbleached durum wheat and water pasta is the hardest to manipulate so many people use an electric mixer. The durum wheat dough becomes harder and drier than with all-purpose bleached flour. With that proviso let's move on to pasta making.

Equipment and Ingredients for Making Homemade Pasta

• A counter top at least 30-inches wide by 24-inches deep.
• A hand-cranked or electric pasta rolling machine or, if you don't have such a machine, a matterello , a rolling pin 24-inches or longer.
• A standard rolling pin.
• Wax paper or plastic wrap.
• Paper towels, white kitchen towels, a white top sheet or an expandable spare window screen.
• A kitchen table that no one will be using for about 2 hours.
• Durum wheat flour and/or all-purpose bleached or unbleached white flour
• Eggs
• Water
• Salt
• Olive oil
• A knife for cutting the lasagne sheets.
• A large baking tray for dredging the pasta in flour.

Basic Technique for Homemade Pasta

There are five basic steps in making your own pasta:

mixing
kneading
rolling
cutting
drying

Everything by Machine

There are several machines on the market that mix, knead, and roll pasta dough--and they are very convenient. But if you don't have one--read on.

Mixing by Hand

See the instructions to Homemade White Flour and Egg Lasagne below.

Mixing with an Electric Mixer

Attach the flat beater to the mixer. Pour in the flour and start on low. Add 1 egg (or 1/3 of the required water) and continue mixing for 2 minutes. Continue adding the eggs (or 1/3 measures of water) at these intervals. When the last egg (or 1/3 of water) has been incorporated the dough will be lumpy.

Dump the dough onto a surface and finish kneading by hand until you have a ball that is elastic but firm and shiny. If the dough ball is too hard, wet your hands and knead some more. If it is too soft, dust with flour and knead some more. Wrap the ball in wax paper or plastic wrap and leave for 1 hour.

Rolling with a Pasta-Rolling Machine

Pasta-rolling machines, as opposed to pasta-making machines, are hand-cranked or electric rollers that roll thin the pasta previously made by hand or in an electric mixer. They are widely available, not expensive, and worth having. The rolling process continues, in a fashion, the kneading process, meaning that you need to knead less than when doing everything by hand.

Unwrap the resting pasta dough and push down with your hand. With a rolling pin continue rolling until the dough is about 12 inches in diameter. Divide in thirds, covering two-thirds with the wax paper or plastic wrap. Take the remaining third and roll it through the widest setting of the roller. After reducing by another notch and rolling it through, fold in thirds so you have a nicely shaped rectangle. Reduce the setting another notch and continue rolling, ratcheting down the roller until you have your desired thickness. As you roll remember to flour both sides at the slightest sign of stickiness.

In a large baking tray spread some flour. Cut the pasta into your desired shape or the shape called for in the recipe, either by hand for lasagne or pappardelle, or with the spaghetti/vermicelli/fettuccine cutting attachment that comes with the roller. Drag the larger pasta shapes in the flour to dust and set aside at one end of the tray while you continue rolling and cutting. Dust all pasta with flour as you make it so it doesn't stick together. Remember--always dust with flour. Otherwise the pasta may become hopelessly stuck together . Arrange the cut pieces of pasta on paper or kitchen towels or a white sheet to dry.

For fresh pasta ( pasta fresca ), let the pasta dry for 1 hour, then you can use it. For dry pasta ( pastasciutta or pasta secca ) let it dry completely over 2 days and then package and store for later use as. You can speed up the drying process by directing a fan to blow on the pasta.

Rolling the Pasta Dough by Hand

You must be a complete fanatic to want to roll pasta by hand. It's a pain in the neck and I can't see the point of struggling with a rolling pin when a pasta roller machine will do the job, unless of course you are following the "therapeutic" concept above. Should you wish to roll the dough by hand you need a long (at least 24-inches) rolling pin called a matterello , rather than the standard rolling pin with handles. Dust the work surface with flour and flatten the ball of dough with the palm of your hand. Start rolling away from you. Rotate and roll. Rotate and roll continuing in this manner so the dough is circular. Continue rolling until the dough is very thin, about 1/16-inch.

At this point the dough needs to be stretched (a job the pasta rolling machine does magnificently). Place the rolling pin at the top of the circle of dough--at 12 o'clock if it were a clock face. Make sure the dough is dusted with flour. Grab the very tip of the dough and pull it over the rolling pin. Roll the pin toward you until you reach the 10 o'clock-2 o'clock line. Place the palms of both hands together in the center of the rolling pin and press down hard, rolling back and forth as your hands travel to the outer edge of the rolling pin, as when you made snakes with play dough as a child. Do this three times. Now roll another half of the dough up and repeat. Unroll the dough and turn it around so the 6 o'clock position is now at 12 o'clock. Repeat the rolling process again. Do this entire process about 4 times, making sure you dust with flour.

Which Pasta to Make?

In Italy, pasta has always been traditionally associated with the south. Northerners have been rice and polenta eaters for the most part. Southerners have been so closely tied with the eating pasta, people in Naples were know as mangiamaccherone (macaroni-eaters). In the south pasta is usually made with fine durum wheat flour (semolina) and water and nothing else. When cooks in the north make pasta, as they do in Bologna, for example, they use soft wheat or bread wheat such as the fine white flour sold in our supermarkets as all-purpose flour, and they mix it with eggs not water. Things change, of course, so today you find cooks in the south who might use a mixture of durum wheat flour and fine white flour, and sometimes they even use eggs.

The Recipes

Homemade White Flour and Egg Pasta

3 cups all-purpose bleached or unbleached white flour 3 large eggs 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional) Water as needed Flour for dusting

1. Pour the flour onto a surface. Make a well in the middle, forming the walls like the lip of a volcano crater. Break the eggs into the well, sprinkle the salt and drizzle the olive oil, if using. (Add any other ingredient used for colored pasta at this point. See below). Break the yolks with your fingers and begin to incorporate the eggs with the flour, a little at a time, with your fingers, drawing more flour from the inside wall of the well. Make sure you don't break through the wall otherwise the eggs will run. Scrape any dough on your fingers off and knead into the dough. 2. Once the flour and eggs are combined and you can form it into a ball, knead for about 8 minutes (see note below) until you can form a smooth ball. As you press down while kneading use the ball to pick up any clumps of dough. Knead for at least 3 minutes before you decide you need more liquid. If you must add more water, do so by wetting your hands only, as many times as you need. If the dough is too wet, meaning if there is any sign of stickiness, dust with flour. Continue kneading, pressing down with the full force of both palms, until a smooth ball is formed. Wrap the dough in wax paper or plastic wrap and leave for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature. 3. Unwrap the ball of dough and dust with flour. Place on a floured surface, pressing down with your palms to flatten. With a rolling pin roll the pasta out until it is about 12 inches in diameter and cut into thirds. Roll each third with the rolling pin until it is thin enough to fit it into the widest setting of a pasta rolling machine. Roll once at the widest setting. Close the setting one notch and roll again. Gather the sheet of pasta and fold in thirds and roll through the roller so you have a nice rectangle. Continue ratcheting the setting narrower and narrower until it is the thickness you prefer or called for in the recipe. Dust the dough on both sides with flour at the slightest sign of stickiness. If necessary continue to dust with flour as you roll through narrower and narrower settings otherwise the dough will become hopelessly stuck together. By this time you will have a very long thin sheet of pliable dough that looks, and even feels like a velvety chamois cloth. 4. Cut the ribbon of dough into the size you prefer or roll through the spaghetti cutter. Lay some flour in a large baking tray and dust the pasta with the flour and leave to rest in an airy place on paper towels, white kitchen towels, or a white sheet reserved for this purpose for 1 to 2 hours before cooking, refrigerating, or freezing. Leave for 48 hours for completely dry pasta. Note: Ten minutes of kneading is sufficient if you plan to use a hand or electric cranked pasta rolling machine. If you are rolling by hand knead for another 8 minutes.

How to Make Spaghetti

4 boneless chicken breast
8oz Velveeta
1 can Rotel
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 package spaghetti
milk
salt
pepper
garlic

Boil chicken (Cooks Note: for more tender chicken, don't boil; simmer slowly over low heat instead). Drain broth into a bowl and reserve.

Boil spaghetti according to package directions.

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Combine: chicken, spaghetti, Cream of Mushroom, Rotel (not the whole can), salt, pepper, garlic.

Melt Velveeta in microwave. Stir in milk, just enough to make it as creamy as desired.

Combine Velveeta with remaining ingredients, season to taste and serve.

How to Make Pizza

This basic bread and pizza dough can be used for any empanada, pizzette , pizza, bread, and calzone recipes. For recipes calling for bread dough, just leave out the olive oil. For recipes calling for pizza dough, make sure to include the olive oil. To make dough in a mixer, see the Basic Bread and Pizza Dough in an Electric Mixer. The range of salt given is to your taste. This amount of dough will make five very thin 14-inch-diameter pizzas, the kind of pizza you are most likely to find in Italy.

One 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast 1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F) 3/4 to 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, to your taste

3 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose unbleached flour, sifted 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (only add if making pizza)

1. In a large metal mixing bowl, previously warmed under hot running water, then dried, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then add the salt and shake gently.

2. Add the flour and olive oil (only if you are making pizza) and mix until you can knead it with your hands. The dough should stick a little bit for the first few minutes but will then form itself into a ball with more kneading and folding. Once it is formed into a ball, dump it onto a lightly floured wooden surface and knead for exactly 12 minutes. If making bread, do not add flour or water, if needed, until at least the eighth minute of kneading.

3. Once the ball of dough is smooth, place it in a lightly floured or oiled bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and let rise in a warm (80 degrees F) place, such as inside a turned-off oven, for 2 hours.

4. Punch down the dough after 1 hour, cover, and let rise another hour. For more flavor, let the rising process go on longer: cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight (this is called a cold rise), but let the dough return to room temperature before working it again. Now it is ready for making into a pizza. If you are making bread, go on to step 5, otherwise, use this dough for any recipe calling for Basic Bread and Pizza Dough.

5. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Transfer the dough to a baking stone, form into the shape you wish, and score with a razor blade or very sharp knife. Place a pan of water in the bottom of the oven, then the loaf on the baking stone on the center rack. If you have another baking stone or baking tiles, you can line some in the oven for better tasting and textured bread. Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and bake until golden brown on top, about 40 minutes, spraying it with water at first. Let cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Variation : Use 6 tablespoons milk and 3/4 cup water instead of 1 cup water for a richer flavor.

Makes 2 thin-crust 16-inch pizzas, 5 very thin 14-inch pizzas, or 4 slightly thick 12-inch pizzas, 10 pizzette , ten 4-inch empanada or calzone disks, or 1 large round loaf bread

Basic Bread and Pizza Dough in an Electric Mixer
Read the instructions to your mixer. This recipe was tested on a KitchenAid mixer.

One 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast 1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F) 3/4 to 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, to your taste

3 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose unbleached flour, sifted 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (only add if making pizza)

1. In a large metal mixing bowl, previously warmed under hot running water, then dried, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then add the salt and shake gently.

2. Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour and the olive oil (only if you are making pizza dough) and attach to the mixer affixed with the dough hook. Run according to the directions of the manufacturer, about 2 minutes, adding the remaining flour in 1/2-cup increments. Let the mixer run until the dough is pulled off the walls of the bowl and is being pushed by the dough hook.

3. Once the ball of dough is smooth, remove the mixer bowl and remove the dough from the bowl. Place it in a lightly floured or oiled bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and let rise in a warm (80 degrees F) place, such as inside a turned-off oven, for 2 hours. Proceed as the recipe instructs.

Secrets of Baking Pizza
There are many different ways you can make pizzas, beyond the topping. They can be cooked at temperatures ranging from 350 degrees F in a home oven to 900 degrees F in a commercial wood-burning brick pizza oven. High heat gives the best results. I tend to make pizzas in three different ways. Sometimes I make pizza on a large 16-inch pizza pan, either solid or perforated, or directly on a baking stone. The dough is about a third of an inch thick, and I bake it at either 555 degrees F for just a few minutes or at 450 degrees F for a little longer. Or I make a thinner pizza, about 1/8 inch thick, which I cook for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees F. Best thing is to experiment, but without a doubt your pizza will taste better if you are using baking stones, preferably 2, one on the rack above the pizza and one either directly under the pizza dough or on the rack under the pizza.