Heavy Cream Substitute

Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
Preparation:
1. Melt the butter.

2. Pour it into the milk, and stir.

3. Use in place of one cup of heavy cream.

Note: This substitute while not whip.

Tip: If you use low-fat milk, add a tablespoon of flour to the mixture to thicken.

Indian Naan

Ingredients

2/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ghee
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 teaspoons kalonji (onion seed)

Directions

Whisk the warm water with the yeast and sugar until the yeast is dissolved. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes.
Sift flour and salt three times into a large bowl add the yeast mixture, half of the ghee and all the yogurt. Mix into a soft dough then knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until the dough is doubled in size .
Punch down dough then knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece out into 8 inch round naans.
Cover an oven tray with foil and grease the foil. Brush the naan with a little of the remaining ghee and sprinkle with some of the kalonji. Cook naan one at a time under a very hot grill for about 2 minutes on each side or until puffed and just browned.

Lemon Cake

Preheat oven to 350, grease and flour bundt or tube pan (you may want to use Bakers Joy instead if your bundt pan has extensive design work. I wish I’d had some when I baked this)

Cake:

1 box yellow cake mix
2/3 c Mazola corn oil
2/3 c Apricot Nectar (can be found with juices, I got mine at Safeway in a can, Kern’s I think the brand was)
1 Tbs lemon extract
4 egg yolks (reserve whites)

Mix the above ingredients at medium speed for 4 minutes

Beat the 4 egg whites until stiff (it should start to peek similar to a meringue, I use an immersion blender tool with whisk accessory)

Fold egg whites into mix.

Pour batter into prepped pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Don’t over bake. The thinner the walls of your pan, the shorter the cook time, cake tester or toothpick should come out clean.

Let cake sit for 5 full minutes. Do not remove cake from pan yet.

Glaze:

Juice from 2 lemons (don’t pick the tiny ones)

2 cups confectioner’s (10x) sugar

The original recipe said to use a toothpick and make 25 holes in cake to allow the glaze to soak in, but I found making shallow (maybe ¼ inch) radial slices (like bicycle spokes) every inch or so around the cake with a sharp knife worked better at allowing glaze to soak into cake.

Plug the hole in the center of your bundt/tube pan with a piece of folded/rolled paper towel (I learned from experience and a very sticky stove top, this is a very good idea).

Slowly pour the glaze evenly over the cake while still in the pan, try not to leave any dry spots.

Allow glaze to soak into cake while remaining in pan for one (1) hour.

Invert cake onto serving plate and your ready to devour all that yummy goodness.

Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

1 (19 ounce) can black bean soup
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16 ounce) can vegetarian baked beans
1 (14.5 ounce) can chopped tomatoes in puree
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil

Directions

In a slow cooker, combine black bean soup, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, baked beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, bell pepper and celery. Season with garlic, chili powder, parsley, oregano and basil. Cook for at least two hours on High.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup warm water (must be between 110-115 degrees)
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
3 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup raisins
8 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted (approx.)

Directions
1 Warm the milk in a small sauce pan on the stove until it just starts to bubble, stirring occasionally.
2 Remove from heat.
3 Let cool until lukewarm, about 120-125 degrees.
4 Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside until yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes or so (make sure your water is at the correct temperature or the yeast won't activate.) Then mix in eggs, sugar, butter salt and raisins (stir in the cooled milk slowly so you don't cook the eggs.) Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
5 Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth.
6 Place in a large, buttered, mixing bowl and turn to grease the surface of the dough.
7 Cover with a warm, damp cloth and let rise (I like to let my bread rise in the oven with the light on. It has just the right amount of heat and keeps the bread out of drafts.) Allow to rise until doubled, usually about 1 1/2 hours.
8 Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick.
9 Moisten the dough with 2 tablespoons milk and rub all over the dough with your hands.
10 Mix together 1 cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the moistened dough.
11 Roll up tightly (the long way).
12 The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter.
13 Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends and pinch bottom together.
14 Place loaves into well greased (you can use Crisco or butter for this) 9 x 5 inch pans and lightly grease tops of loaves.
15 Let rise in warm place, uncovered, again for about an hour.
16 Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped.
17 Remove from oven and let cool on rack.
18 Take melted butter and spread over tops of loaves.
19 After about 20 minutes, lay loaves on their sides and remove from pans.
20 Allow to cool before slicing.

Southern Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening (they make healthy kinds)
1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

Corn on the Cob

We found this AMAZING recipe for corn on the cob. The best corn I've had. Reminds me of the ones they sell on the street in the middle east.

INGREDIENTS:
corn on the cob
large bowl of water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Carefully peel back husks of corn. Make sure they stay intact and connected to the corn itself.
2. Remove the silk underneath the husk.
3. Put the corn and the husks back together again.
4. Soak the corn in a bowl of cool water for 1 hour.
5. Barbeque for 8 minutes on each side.

Enjoy this at your next summer barbeque.