Green tea Martini

Another refreshing martini from the Martini Chronicles website.  Depending on the green tea you use you may or may not need to use the honey.  I made mine with Sobe green tea and no honey and it was plenty sweet.

1.5 Oz of Your Favorite Gin
4 Oz of Brewed and Chilled Green Tea
2 Tsp of Honey
Lemon Wedge (For Garnish)
Ice

Shake ice, gin, tea and honey in a shaker.  Pour into a martini glass.  Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon slice on top and garnish with the other 1/2 of slice.

Coconut Mojito Martini

I just discovered a great new blogsite: The Martini Chronicles.  If you are a martini lover you need to check this site out.  Lots of great martini recipes.  Today I tried out this one.  Lip puckering good!  Would be great with Mexican food!

3 Mint Leaves

3 oz of Coconut Flavored Rum

1 oz of Lime Juice

1 Teaspoon of Sugar

Ice

Lime Wedge (For Garnish)

Mint Leaves (For Garnish, optional)

 

Muddle the mint, lime juice and sugar in the bottom of a martini shaker.  Add rum and ice.  Shake shake shake and serve!  Cheers!

Easter Food

I thought I might repost some of the wonderful past posts for delicious Easter food.  Enjoy!

I have some beautiful green and blue eggs from my chickens..perfect to use for Easter.  When I saw this recipe for Easter bread I knew I had found a perfect match for my eggs.  You do not need to hard boil the eggs before using them in this bread as they will cook in the oven as the bread bakes.

 1 package yeast, about 2-1/4 teaspoons
1.1/4 cups milk
pinch of salt
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
3-4 1/2 cups flour (approximate)
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
6 dyed  eggs
1 undyed egg
sprinkles or sugar

Heat the butter and milk together in a saucepan just until the butter melts.  In a large bowl combine the salt, yeast and sugar.  When the milk is just warm..not hot..add to the yeast and whisk well.  Whisk in 2 eggs and then 2 c. flour.  Stir in  at least 1 more cup of flour..or enough that the dough is not longer sticky.  Knead for 5 minutes.  Put in a large buttered bowl, place in a warm spot and allow to rise for one hour.  It will look like this after rising:

Punch down the dough and divide into 12 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a rope about 14" long like this:

Twist two ropes together and form in a circle.  Place on a cooky sheet covered in parchment paper or silipat.  It should look like this:

Let rise for one hour.
Take the one undyed egg and  whisk with 1 T. water.  Brush over your bread "nests".  Place an egg in the center.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

OK super yummy sugar cookies

3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
Cream these well together on medium speed with your mixer.  Then
(This is the weird part)
Mix 1 c. milk (cold) with 1 t. baking soda
In another bowl mix 3 c. flour and 3 t. baking powder
 Alternately, mix flour and milk mixtures into the creamed egg/sugar mix.  Add
1 t. vanilla
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. zlmond
1 T. lemon zest
Add enough flour to make the dough thick and no longer sticky (about 3 more cups).  Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Roll out on a floured surface. Cut into shapes and place on greased cooky sheet,  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Cool, frost and decorate.


I know you all love chocolate mousse, and I am certainly never one to downplay the taste of chocolate.  But this is another light mousse..light and airy, tasting of summer to come.  Put a few ladyfingers in a martini glass, put this mousse in the middle, top it with whipped cream and you have a wonderful fancy dessert....how about for Mother's day?

Strawberry Mousse

2 pints fresh strawberries, pureed
1 c. sugar
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 egg whites
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
Combine puree and sugar in a medium bowl.  Soften gelatin in lemon juice, dissolve over hot water.(Stir over another bowl with hot water in it, or over a pot with hot water in it.)   Stir gelatin into puree.  Beat egg whites until foamy and add to puree.  Place mixture into the freezer.

When partially frozen, about 45 minutes later, beat in a food processor or blender until pale pink.  Transfer to a bowl.  Whip 1 c. of the cream and fold into berry mixture.  Place in serving sidhes.  Decorate with more whipped cream and and a strawberry.

Easy German Rollatin

Rollatin is a German dish that my grandmother used to make.  Basically it is steak coated with horseradish mustard, cooked bacon bits and cooked onion then rolled and baked.  Recently I had it again at my Aunt Jane's and it got me thinking about the dish.  This version uses cube steak-often found at a good price.  I served it up with some baked potatoes and lettuce dressed with oil and vinegar-heavy on the vinegar.  It is a delicious dish and easy to prepare.

4 cube steaks
1 T. horseradish mustard for each steaak
2 pieces bacon
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2- 2/3 c. beef bouillion
Chop bacon into bits and fry with onion until bacon is almost done.
Spread mustard on the surface of the steak.  Put about 1-2 T. of the bacon and onion mixture on one end of the steak.  Roll up and secure with toothpicks or kitchen twine.  Put in a baking dish.  Pour in broth, and cover with foil.  Bake at 350 for one hour.  You can make gravy from the broth-add a little mustard to it for an authentic flavor.

Parmesan Baked Tilapia

I am working hard at trying to incorporate a bit more fish into our diets.  This recipe from Food.com is a great working night dinner.  It takes about 10 minutes to prep and about 20 minutes to bake.  Dinner in 30 minutes!  What's not to like about that?

Ingredients:

2 lbs tilapia fillets
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup breadcrumbs
2/3-3/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon parsley

Beat the eggs in a bowl, add in lemon juice and mayonnaise.  Beat well again.  On a plate mix the breadcrumbs, cheese, and spices.  Dip the tilapia fillets in the egg mixture, then the breadcrumb mixture.  Place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam.  Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Lemon Yogurt Poundcake

This last week I went to visit my aunt and uncle in Syracuse, N.Y.  My Aunt Jane served this delicious pound cake after lunch just as it was.  No special garnish or topping needed.  This was a recipe she got from Ina Garden's website.  It is light, lemony and just the thing to celebrate spring.

1 1/2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. plain yogurt
1 1/3 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 t. grated lemon zest
1/2 T. vegetable oil
1/3 c. lemon juice
Grease a loaf pan and line with parchment paper.  Grease and flour pan with paper in it.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  In another bowl whisk together yogurt, 1 c. sugar, eggs, lemon zest and juice and vanilla.  Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients.  Pour into pan.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Glaze:  Mix remaining sugar and 2 T. lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to boil.  Cool and add 1 c. of powdered sugar.  Pour over cooled loaf.