Hot Toddy

I know its been way too long will try to not let it happen. Been so busy not time to experiment just eat to serve purpose. So sad. Well I have been ill congested and etc. One of my profs recommended a hot toddy. I have to say I am feeling better at least I will sleep! Here is the recipe I used and the modifications you can use. And yes I have a beaker glass. Nerdy all the way.

Hot Toddy

Gather all of the supplies needed to follow the hot toddy recipe.

1 shot of Bourbon, whiskey or brandy (Did brandy in photo)
¼ cup boiling water
Lemon slice
Lemon Juice
1 tbsp. Honey
1 Cinnamon stick (Optional but I dig it)
2 cloves(optional I don’t because of an o chem experiment)

1. Decide which alcohol you want to use.

2. Boil a cup of water and set it aside. Mix your one shot (1 oz) of your alcohol of choice with a tablespoon of honey. Cut a slice of lemon to put into your hot toddy and squeeze the juice of the rest of the lemon into the mixture.( I was cheap and used lemon juice at the store didn’t have a fresh lemon on me tonight.)

3. Pour your hot water over the mixture and stir until the honey is fully dissolved. Drink and enjoy. You will feel better in no time. (at least I thought I did)

The Quick and dirty

So its been an insane few weeks and I have left you folks hanging. Will try and not let that happen again and I apologize. Moving on, so with all the crazy I have come up with the quick and dirty and very delicious food. (can even be made healthy)What you will need:
 2lbs ground turkey or chicken or beef for heavier fare
0.5lbs frozen corn
1 can black beans
Taco seasoning (I prefer McCormicks but any will do, I also add in red pepper flakes to make it more spicy, amount varies on brand read back)

Literally this easy, Cook ground meat till browned on a a skillet, add beans and corn and taco seasoning (see on pack of packet but usually about a 1/2 cup per 1lbs of ground meat)
1 cup water , turn heat to high and uncover, let liquid soak and boil off, when liquid is gone take off heat and voila, done. Can be eaten alone, with salsa, hot sauce, on a tortilla or even thrown in dip. Tasty quick and simple, the way life should be. If you use turkey instead of beef, even healthy too.

Side Car Cocktail

This is a wonderful yummy cocktail involving Cognac and Cointreau. I passed a very important exam today and am celebrating by mixing myself something good. And no productive studying. I rimmed the glass in sugar and used the alcohols in the picture, I simply left out the orange peel. Enjoy

INGREDIENTS:

• Sugar
• 1.5 oz VS or VSOP Cognac
• .75 oz Cointreau
• .75 oz Fresh lemon juice

Garnish: Orange peel

Glass: Cocktail/martini

PREPARATION:

Coat the rim of a cocktail glass with sugar and set aside. (Do this a few minutes ahead of time so the sugar can dry and adhere well to the glass.) Add the remaining ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

Random Pork Loin

Yes, yes it is random. So my mum bought a pork loin and gave it to me. I have no idea what to do with one. She gave me some suggestions and then I went off on my own tangent. First you put some spices on it. You can modify to taste but this combo ended up being wonderful. First sprinkle a little salt (kosher if you have it for the granule size.) Some marjoram, cayenne red pepper powder (I love spicey), dried sun roasted tomatoes, tumeric, black pepper, and then freshly minced garic. Throw a very light layer of olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil and let it sit over night (you can do this for a few hours too if pressed for time) Then put into baking pan fat side up (self basting wonderfuness) and pre-heat oven to 350F(180C). You should cook loin for 25 minutes per 0.75lb (0.34kg) loin. If you have a meat thermometer check and middle should get to about 155F(68C) when done. Pull it out and let it rest about 15 minutes. Slice and serve. I found this very yummy and served it with a side of peas,carrots, corn and green beans sauteed in a tablespoon of olive oil with some red pepper flakes and garlic herb spice from Mrs Dash. I cheated a little with spices, suck it. The flavours melded well together. I advise while making the marinate to drink cognac, I really think it helped in my creative process here. Happy with my dinner tonight.

Blog Frequency

Hello Hello,
  Since I don't want people to feel I am posting randomly I have decided that I will be posting with new recipe and fun once a week either on Saturday or Sunday. There may be weeks with extra inspiration and I will post more but everyone that follows can count on at least one post per week. Thanks for reading! Any special requests let me know.
    

Chicken Curry

This was a recipie my friend's boyfriend gave me and I checked its ingredients with and Indian Grad student I teach with. She claimed authenticity. Though I admit I didn't use my own spice mix. I used hot red curry powder and lots of red pepper flakes. I did not use chicken stock but used a bouillon cube in the water. Instead of canola oil I use extra virgin olive oil, and whole wheat King Arthur's flour instead of all purpose white flour and for apples I used fuji apples. That should be all the changes I made to it. It can be served over rice or eaten as a soup. I enjoyed this greatly.

Chicken Curry

1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

3 tsp. canola oil, divided(Probably vegetable oil works just as well, this recipe is from a healthy cooking magazine)

3/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup chopped peeled apple

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 cans(14.5 ounces each) chicken broth. [I used chicken stock instead of broth, I always do. You're probably familiar with stock, but if not it comes in a box as opposed to a can and the boxes are usually 32 ounces, so a little more than what this calls for. I used the whole box and did not find it to be too much liquid, of course I used slightly more veggies than it calls for to avoid leftover pieces of them hanging out in my fridge. In my opinion stock is WAY better tasting than broth and well worth the upgrade, makes a ton of difference]

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 to 3 tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley. [At the time my store was out of fresh so I used dried and it came out ok. Would probably be better with the fresh though. If you do used dried just remember to use less of it. Dried spices are far more potent than fresh]

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook chicken in one tsp. oil for 4-5 minutes or until juices run clear. Remove chicken and set aside

2. In the same saucepan saute the onion, carrot, celery, and green pepper in the remaining oil for 4 minutes. Add apple; cook 2 minutes longer. Combine flour and salt. Sprinkle over vegetable mixture; cook and stir one minute. Gradually stir in broth and tomato paste. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1-2 minutes longer until slightly thickened. 

3. Stir in the curry, ginger and pepper flakes. Return chicken to saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

Done
!

Happy New Year

In the spirit of New Years I have compiled 3 Champagne drinks that a few of us were having last night. Champagne is versatile !

So one morning after a long night of partying my friends and I came up with this drink. It has no name yet. Also maybe someone has tried it out there. Its a perfect morning after drink. And in the spirit of new years it was one of 3 drinks we made of champagne last night. This one is pictured. First you need good champagne(I personally prefer a Brut but a sweeter one will do), Campari and an orange. In a champagne flute pour a little Campari in the bottom enough to cover the bottom and little more (Not too much) Then pour in the champagne. Take the orange and zest it and cut some of the peel into your drink. If you want squeeze a little juice into it. Voila you are done.


I apologize for lack of pictures for the next two.

French 75 

2 oz gin or brandy or cognac
1 tsp sugar (superfine if possible) or simple syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
5 oz Brut champagne

In a cocktail shaker, combine the gin, sugar and lemon juice and shake well with cracked ice. Fill a Collins glass partway with ice and strain the gin mixture into it. Top off with champagne.


For the base we used Remy Martin Champagne Cognac. Very delicious and I used simple syrup I made 2:1 Ratio Sugar to Water. Easiest was is to boil water add sugar stir till it dissolves and let it cool. Should keep for a few weeks. Make sure to refrigerate and seal container well. Mine fermented.

Flirtini Martini Recipe

Ingredients

2 pieces fresh pineapples
1/2 oz orange liqueur
1/2 oz vodka
1 oz pineapple juice
3 oz Champagne

Place all ingredients except for pine apple wedges and champagne in a shaker with ice. Shake it and pour into a martini glass and then top off with champagne and garnish with pineapple. 

This is a tried and true recipe for those that like sweeter drinks but with more kick than champagne