News about a spice that can help to cure diabetes

Hi all,

I found this blog that talks about how Cinnamon can help cure diabetes and how it works. Here's the website: http://earthsorganicnews.blogspot.com/2010/07/ancient-spice-cures-diabetes.html

I usually put a few sprinkles of Cinnamon in with my coffee grounds and it makes it taste really good, I think. You might want to try it. :) For every tablespoon of ground coffee grounds, I add about 1 sprinkle of Cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Butter Pecan Ice Cream!

I found a recipe for my husband's favorite ice cream and I thought I'd make him some. Here's the recipe I found:

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Ready in: 45 minutes

Serving Size: 16 | Original Recipe Yields: 1 quart

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a small skillet over medium heat, saute pecans in butter until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, stir together brown sugar, eggs, and half-and-half until smooth. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in cream, vanilla and pecans.
3. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturers' directions (for mine, KitchenAid Mixer extension, I kept the mixer on Stir for about 30-35 minutes).
4. (Now, I didn't make the ice cream until I refrigerated it overnight. Within the last 5 minutes of churning the ice cream, I put in the pecans.)
5. (After transferring the ice cream from the maker to it's final container, I froze it overnight to let it harden even more. If you plate it without this step, it's just like frozen yogurt consistency.)

Enjoy, "from my kitchen to yours!" ~ Quote by Paula Dean

Blackened Red Snapper

So yesterday, My husband came home with some Red Snapper and said "Honey? can you cook these for dinner?" So of course, I agreed. I didn't know how to cook it so I did some searching online and came up with this recipe. (The original had some ingredients I couldn't have so I made some changes).

Blackened Red Snapper

Ready in Under 30 Minutes | Difficulty (1=easiest :: Hardest=5): 3

Serves/ Makes: for 2

Ingredients:

• 2 (4-oz size) red snapper fillets, skin and pin bones removed
• 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1/2 tablespoon oregano
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/8 cup heavy cream
• 1 sprigs thyme
• 1/2 clove garlic
• salt
• black pepper
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Mix thyme, oregano, paprika, chili pepper, 2 tsp black pepper, and 2 tsp Kosher salt in a small bowl and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine cream, thyme sprigs, and peeled garlic. Reduce cream by half then remove thyme and garlic. Simmer for five minutes until just cooked through. (The original recipe calls to add 1/2 cup shelled fava beans and 3/4 ear of corn, kernels removed. Then to add them after you remove the thyme and garlic, but i'm allergic)
3. Heat a heavy pan over high flame. Coat one side of each snapper fillet with a generous amount of the spice rub (made in step 1). Place fillets on hot pan seasoned side down. After one minute, drizzle one teaspoon of olive oil over each fillet then coat the unseasoned side with the remaining spice mix.
4. After 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets, flip to the other side, drizzle with the additional teaspoon of olive oil per fillet. Cook fish until flaky.
5. To serve, place 1/4 cup of succotash (made in Step 2) on each plate topped with a fish fillet. Garnish, if desired, with a thyme sprig and a dusting of paprika. (I just topped each fillet with the cream/garlic/oregano mixture made in Step 1.)

Baked pork chops w/ sweet BBQ red wine sauce

So I made dinner last night and it was a recipe that I created a few months ago. I may have some creative cooking skills from my mom, apparently. So here it is...

Liz's Sweet & BBQ Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 4 Bone-In Pork Chops (about an inch thick)
• 4 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon of Smoked Paprika
• 1 tablespoon of Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon wine

Wine Sauce Ingredients:

• Other 1/2 of the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon wine (red wine)
  
• 1 teaspoon of Smoked Paprika
• 1 teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups of Brown sugar (I used light brown)
• 1/8 teaspoon of Garlic Powder
• 3/4 cup of heavy cream

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a large pan, place enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan (about 1 tablespoon) and set at medium high temperature.
3. While the oil is heating up, sprinkle the pork chops with half of the Smoked Paprika and Ground Cinnamon.
4. Place the pork chops in the pan, seasoned-side down, then sprinkle the other side with the rest of the seasonings. (If some misses the chops, its okay. You'll end up putting more of the seasonings in the pan soon.)
5. Sear each side for about 4-5 minutes, or just until they brown on the outside.
6. While they are searing, line a large glass oven-safe casserole dish (I used Pyrex) with heavy duty aluminum foil and add enough of the Cabernet Sauvignon to have about 1/2 inch in the bottom.
7. After each side is pan-seared (step 4), place the pork chops into the dish and cover with another sheet of heavy aluminum foil.
8. Cook for about 40-45 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly. (Having the Cabernet-Sauvignon will steam them while they bake, making them cooked but still juicy.)

Sauce Directions:

1. Keeping the drippings from pan add other ingredients except the heavy cream.
2. Put on medium-low to low heat and stir occasionally. (Make sure it doesn't get to a heavy/fast boil, if it boils.)
3. Continue to slowly cook sauce until about 5 minutes before the chops are done.
4. At this point, add the heavy cream while stirring to keep from cooking the cream. You just want to heat the cream in the sauce.
5. Allow it to warm until the chops are done baking.

After you plate the pork chops, spoon on some of the sauce or even grab a little dish of it to dip the bite-sized pork.

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Pan-fried Green beans

Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 1 lb. fresh green beans
• 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
• 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper

Directions:

1. Using either a Wok or saucepan, heat the olive oil (and optional butter) on medium heat.
2. Wash and snap the ends of the green beans and place them in the pan/Wok.
3. Add garlic salt and pepper and cook tossing occasionally to avoid burning.
4. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the green beans turn a brighter green.

Enjoy! From my kitchen to yours!

Baked Tilapia

Every time I've tried Tilapia, I was never really fond of it. Though this recipe that I found on the Foodnetwork.com, makes it towards the top of my list! Here goes!

Baked Tilapia with Tomato and Basil (recipe courtesy of Paula Deen)

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes

Level: Easy | Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 (8-ounce) tilapia fillets
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a shallow 1-quart dish with nonstick spray.
2. Sprinkle the fish evenly with salt and pepper.
3. Arrange the tilapia in a baking dish and sprinkle evenly with basil, oregano, onion powder and garlic.
4. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
5. Arrange the tomato slices evenly over the fish, and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
6. Bake until fish flakes easily with fork, about 20 to 25 minutes.
7. Squeeze lemon juice over fish and serve immediately.

Enjoy! From my kitchen to yours!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream w/ homemade chocolate sauce!

So...Another recipe I found! I definitely prefer vanilla bean over just vanilla or french vanilla ice cream. After searching and testing 2 other recipes for Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, here's the one I've approved for my blog, as well as my personal recipe stash!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (brought to us courtesy of www.ericasweettooth.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 pinch of salt
  
• 3/4 cups white granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions: (Make sure your ice cream maker has been in the freezer for at least 12 hours)

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, salt, and sugar.
2. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk and add it all, including the pod, into the milk mixture. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit for one hour.
3. Set up an ice bath by placing a medium-sized bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour cream into that bowl.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk for a few minutes and then gradually pour about 1/4 of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk.
5. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly (this is important!) and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Be careful not to let the mixture curdle.
6. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, then add the vanilla extract. Chill mixture overnight.
7. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in the ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Recipe yields 1 quart

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For the Chocolate sauce:

Lee Lee's Famous Chocolate Sauce for Ice Cream Recipe (courtesy of www.food.com)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
• 1/4 cup water (more or less, as needed to make a stirable consistency)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine sugar, cocoa, and salt in a small saucepan.
2. Add enough water to make into a stirable consistency.
3. Add butter to the cocoa mixture.
4. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly.
5. Allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Add vanilla extract.
8. Serve over ice cream.
9. Add sliced bananas and chopped walnuts if you really want a treat!

Chocolate Ice Cream homemade!

I know I haven't written on my blog in just over a month, and I apologize. Life took hold of me and has finally loosened up a bit so I could take some time to recreate some new recipes I've found. Also there is one I haven't made in a while but it's a goody! So here goes.

So, I have a giant....no, I mean GIANT sweet tooth and I was craving some homemade ice cream. I was able to get the ice cream maker attachment to my KitchenAid stand mixer and did some searching online. Here's what I found:

Chocolate Ice Cream (recipe courtesy of Alton Brown, 2005)

Prep Time: 8 minutes | Inactive Prep Time: 8 hrs | Cook time: 10 minutes

Level: Intermediate | Serves: 1 1/2 quarts

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 cups half-and-half
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 large egg yolks
• 9 ounces white granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place the cocoa powder along with 1 cup of the half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Add the remaining half-and-half and the heavy cream. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added. Pour the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. (I didn't check the temperature, I just proceeded). Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough to not form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below. (I just left it overnight in the refrigerator and continued on the next day).
3. Pour into an ice maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

More to come! Enjoy!