Raspberry Tartlets

Ingredients:

3 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 c. all purpose flour
1 pinch salt
1 12-14 oz. jar of raspberry preserves
1 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbls. sugar
milk (if needed)
fresh raspberries (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Mix cream cheese and butter
- Add flour, salt, orange zest, baking powder and sugar to cream cheese and butter
- Add vanilla extract and milk (if needed) to make a crumbly dough
- Roll into balls and make an indentation to place the raspberry preserves in
- Mix raspberry preserves with fresh raspberries
- Place tartlets onto a floured baking sheets
- Place raspberry preserves in the tartlets
- Bake for about 10-15 minutes










I really suck at organizing my blog post to make it look prettier... how do I make the pictures line up side by side?  Anyway, I've found a lot of pictures I have taken of food but I just never got around to posting them online.  Unfortunately, I don't always write down the recipe so having the pictures don't really mean anything if I can share the recipe with everyone either.  Fortunately, this was one recipe that I happen to write down and have pictures of so I hope you enjoy it!

Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:
2 c. broccoli florets (if fresh, steam them; if frozen, let them thaw- no need to use a steamer)
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese + extra cheese for topping
1 c. milk
2 tblsp. flour
salt and black pepper for taste
olive oil
1/2 c. onion chopped
bread crumbs

Optional ingredients:
Red pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
Heat oil in pan
Place chopped onions in pan, wait until translucent, then add milk
Add flour through a sifter to make sure no clumping occurs
Add desired spices
Stir constantly
Add grated cheese
Mix in broccoli
Place in casserole dish or loaf pan
Sprinkle cheese on top
Sprinkle bread crumbs over cheese
Bake for ~45 minutes


Yum! delicious!  I don't really like broccoli (bad experience once with Chinese food and broccoli) but if you drench it in cheese, it tastes really good!  Definitely making this again!  Although, probably not that healthy for you.  I tried to minimize the amount of cheese used as much as possible.  You can also add some Parmesan cheese if you want to use less cheese since Parmesan has a stronger flavor.  As you can see from the picture, I already dug in before I could take nice artistic pictures... it turned out that well!

Stuffed Mushrooms

~20 white mushrooms stemmed
1 c. plain bread crumbs
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
2 tbl. parsley flakes
1 tbl. onion powder
1 large roma tomato diced
3 garlic cloves
black pepper to taste
olive oil

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
Grease baking sheet with olive oil
Mix all ingredients, add a little bit of olive oil to mixture.
Place in mushrooms.
Place on sheet.
Bake for ~20 min.

I don't really have a very good picture of the stuffed mushrooms... and as you can see, they were eaten before I could get a picture.  This is a really easy recipe.  The secret to good stuffed mushrooms is removing the stem and NOT using them for the stuffing.  Enjoy!

Cauliflower Curry

It has been ages since I've posted and unfortunately I didn't take pictures of all the stuff I have made since I stopped posting... but here are the recipes for stuff that I have pictures for!!!
Cauliflower Curry (Flower Nu Shak)

Ingredients:


2 c. cauliflower cut into florets
1 c. frozen peas
2 tsp. cumin and coriander seed powder (dhana jeeru)
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
~ 1 tbls.oil
salt and chili pepper to taste

Directions:
Place oil in pan on medium-low heat, add cumin seeds.
After about 1 min, add flower and peas.
Then add the rest of the spices.
Mix and cover the pan until cauliflower is cooked.


Note: I'm pretty sure this is how the recipe goes... I'm kind of guessing off the top of my head right now from what I remember when I made this about five months ago.  And no, I didn't write the recipe down... I wasn't exactly following a recipe when I made this.  I will make this again in the future and update this accordingly!  (Don't be worried about using this recipe though, the only things I would probably change are maybe adding mustard seeds and maybe using less dhana jeeru... two things that will not significantly alter the taste into something inedible).

Blueberry Muffins

Another recipe from a friend.  I'll post it later.  For now, here are the pictures.  I'm thinking of moving my food blog over to tumblr because it's easier to format words and text... hmm... we shall see...

Honey Oat Bread

Ingredients

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup quick oats

1 Tbsp oil

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp salt

1 tsp. yeast

a pinch of sugar

1/4 cup warm water

2 cups flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F.

1. In a large bowl, mix 3/4 cup water, quick oats, oil, honey and salt.

2. In a smaller bowl, activate yeast in 1/4 cup water and a pinch of sugar.

3. Add the yeast mixture to the wet ingredients.

4. Add the flour and mix well. If you’re going to attempt to knead it, do it on a lightly floured surface.

5. Cover the dough lightly with oil and transparent wrap, and let it rise in a warm place for an hour. What I do is heat a cup of water for about 4 minutes in the microwave, push it to the corner and put the bowl of dough in the microwave as well.

6. Deflate the dough and form a loaf, or loaves if you’d like and place them in loaf pans. Let the dough rise again for 40 minutes.

7. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden.

8. When the bread comes out, brush the top with honey and sprinkle quick oats on the top.

THIS RECIPE IS TAKEN FROM ONE OF MY FRIENDS!!!!! (And it's delicious!)

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar (splenda)
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Mix in the grated zucchini oil. Then the baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
4. Add the flour in slowly while stirring.


















Notes: This won't be very sweet so if you want to put more sugar you can. The bread will be very moist and will stay moist for days. I might use one less egg next time...