Author: lynley

lynley http://imwiththebandlfarris.wordpress.com i bake cookies for bands i make art i play the accordion i hunt graffiti i knit i dj i cook i am process driven i love whiskey i had a spiritual moment at graceland the past is our present its the whole karmic enchilada

Perfect Fish & Chips

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Fish & Chips is one of my favorite dishes. The last go around of battering and frying just was about perfect.  Now I have a philosophy when it comes to making this dinner:  1. always have a green salad with it to balance out all that fired-ness  2. only pick one item to make from scratch, I usually go for doing the fish myself and finding some yummy frozen chips to bake up.

RECIPE: SAGE BEER BATTERED FISH

Serves 4

4 med-large Tilapia fillets cut into 4 strips each

Flour 2 cups

1 pint of beer — I prefer a brown ale or stout

1 egg

1 TBSP chopped sage

1 Tsp pepper

1/2 Tsp chopped tyhme

1/4 cup vegetable oil

 

*First make your batter. In a medium size bowl whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour with sage, thyme and pepper. Beat egg into flour mixture, gradually add in beer till a thick batter forms, almost as thick as pancake batter.

*Dust Tilapia strips in remaining flour. Add Tilapia to beer bater coating heavily.  I often leave the strips in the batter till I need them.

*Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Once heated add in Tilapia from batter. The key to frying perfectly, don’t get your oil too hot, once heated lower temp to low-med-low and don’t over crowd the fish in the pan.

*Cook Tilapia till fish is heated thru and batter has become a golden brown color, roughly fry each piece for 10-15 minutes depending on size of fish.

*Serve with Malt Vinegar and tartar sauce!

 

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A little sprinkle coated luck for 2018

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Make the New Year ripe with good fortunes that taste yummy too. Try these easy and delicious white chocolate dipped cookies!  Happy New Year!

 

RECIPE: White Chocolate Dipped Fortune Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

24 fortune cookes

4 squares white almond bark

2-4 different sprinkle colors of your choice

 

*layout wax paper onto the counter top. Place sprinkles into individual ups, this helps with dipping

*In a double boiler, melt almond bark.

*Dip end of fortune cookie into melted chocolate, then immediately dip into a bowl of sprinkles, place on wax paper to cool. Repeat with all fortune cookies!

 

1,2,3 of Pumpkin Beer Cheese Soup

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This I’ll happily admit is my own take on fellow Hearty Eater, Steph’s Pumpkin Cheese Fondue which you can find on the blog. Me I like to go for more of a Beer Cheese Soup with this one. No need to through out those perfectly good pumpkins that have been decorating your porch!  Just turn them into some roasted goodness throughout the winter months.

For this soup I like to toast up pretzel bread to go with it and some apple slices too!

RECIPE: Pumpkin Beer Cheese Soup

Serves 6

1 3-5 lb Pumpkin

1 cup vegetable broth

1 cup heavy cream or whole milk

1 bottle of beer — pumpkin or any fall ale will work

2 cups sharp shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded gouda

1 1/2 cups goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp nutmet

*Adjust oven racks to fit pumpkin with stem into oven.. trust me do this first. Preheat oven to 450.

*scope out the insides of the pumpkin…mainly get all the seeds doesn’t have to be super clean.  Place pumpkin on a foil lined baking sheet.

*add ALL ingredients into the pumpkin, place lid on top. Bake pumpkin for 60-90 minutes. Cheeses will melt and pumpkin will roast. Stir in the roasted pumpkin from the sides. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving!

My own personal British Pub…Turkey & Sweet Potato Shepard’s Pie

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Always feels like when late fall early winter rolls around my menu planning takes on a bit more of a British Pub theme.  The fridge gets stocked full of brown ales and stout beers and The Chieftains are played on heavy rotation throughout the house. One of my favorite versatile go-to dishes for this is Shepard’s Pie. Here’s my latest take with Turkey and Sweet Potatoes.

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RECIPE: Turkey & Sweet Potato Shepard’s Pie

2 cups shredded cooked turkey

2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (4 sweet potatoes…boiled and mashed)

1/4 cup milk

1 cup peas

1 cup carrots

1/2 cup onions

1/4 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese

2 TBSP butter

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1 tsp thyme

salt and pepper to taste

 

*Preheat oven to 350, grease 12 inch pie plate.

*Boil Sweet Potatoes in water till tender. Drain water, slightly mash potatoes, add butter and milk, mash until creamy.

*In a skillet sauté onions, carrots in butter  and salt & pepper until tender over medium-high heat. Add in turkey, peas, and thyme with broth, bring to a simmer, simmer for 15- 20 minutes.

*Transfer turkey and vegetable mixture to pie plate. Spread mashed sweet potatoes evenly over top of turkey mixture.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of sweet potatoes.

*Bake for 20 minutes till Cheese is melted. Enjoy with an extra stout Guinness!

 

 

I put some whiskey in my whiskey……

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Yes taking some sips of spirits I believe is always a good thing to do while cooking.  So why not put some of your drink of choice into your recipe.  Thus was born this Spicy Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake with Whiskey Whipped Cream…..a little bit of whiskey to your whiskey, ya know.

 

Makers Mark Whipped Cream

makes 3 cups

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp Makers Mark Bourbon

 

*combine all ingredients together, with electric mixer whip until stiff peaks form. to make this process go a little faster put your bowl and mixers into the freezer, chill and the whipping process will go much faster.

OMG its the holidays and family are arriving! Here’s a quick and easy lasagna to feed the masses!

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Got family coming and going during the holiday season?  Here’s a quick and easy lasagna to help feed the masses.

quicklasagna

RECIPE: Quick Meat Lasagna 

Serves 12

2 jars spaghetti sauce — I prefer Paul Newman’s Tomato Basil

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

16 oz ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese

no boil

salt & pepper

oregano & basil

  1. mix together ground pork and ground beef, salt & pepper to taste, cook till all meat is done. stir in jars of sauce.
  2.  in a bowl mix together ricotta cheese, eggs, salt & pepper.
  3. coat a lasagna pan with spray pan.  place cup and a half of meat sauce on the bottom. layer lasagna noodles across length of pan.
  4. add cup and 1/2 of ricotta cheese mix on top of noodles, spreading evenly. Layer lasagna noodles on top of ricotta.
  5. repeat layers. last layer top with remaining meat sauce and cover with shredded Italian cheese blend. Sprinkle top with a mixture of dried oregano & basil seasoning.
  6. bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Allow to set 5-8 minutes before cutting.

 

 

 

What’s this? A Honeynut Squash?

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Stick to the list….that’s the motto when grocery shopping. Then out of the corner of the eye you see something…..what is this? This tiny adorable looking butternut squash?  On sale 99 cents 100% organic Honeynut Squash, sign suggests roasting with butter and cinnamon. Ha we can probably do better than that.  Roasted curry maybe?  Pureed for soup…no?  What about twice baked and topped with bbq chicken……hmmm, might be onto something. Goodbye list, and 4 Honeynut Squashes go into the cart. The excitement and anticipation of a new cooking adventure…. a new found item that could only mean a yummy new recipe.

honey nut squash

 

Honey-Pecan Apple Scones

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honey-pecan & apple scones

 

Its another scone recipe!  When in doubt about what to have around for breakfast, scones are becoming my go-to.  So versatile, they can be savory, they can be sweet, they can use up ingredients in the house.  The latest connection I attempted is a Honey-Pecan Apple scone.  What made these a success…..all the honey, lots of honey.

 

RECIPE: HONEY-PECAN APPLE SCONES

6 Scones

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp butter –  melted

3/4 c milk

1/3 c honey

1/2 chopped strawberries

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 TBSP cinnamon

 

In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt together, toss in apples, pecans and cinnamon.  Add butter, mix in milk & honey, need till forms a dough.  Roll dough out till 1/2 inch thick, cut scones into traditional triangles, depending on size desired makes 6-12 scones. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes.