Blog Makeover

Happy Birthday to my blog!

It's been a year since I first posted Turkey-Parsley "chinese" Pancakes and Dipping Sauce!

 Loaf is in need of a makeover so in the next week/weeks, I'll be editing some of my past recipes to a more simple and easy to follow format.  There will also be exciting changes that I plan to include in my Loaf posts in the coming months.  Wishing everyone an amazing 2014!

Baked Cheese Wontons

A less greasy version of these yummy, crispy treats.  You can add anything to the cream cheese such as chopped ham, bacon, chives, etc.  The first time I made baked cheese wontons, I did not use egg, grated cheese, or flour. These are optional but I found that these three ingredients not only extend the recipe, allowing you to make more wontons (great for parties) but also add flavor to the recipe.

Ingredients:
4 oz Cream Cheese (1/2 block)
3 tbs Finely Chopped Onions
3 tbs Finely Chopped Pitted Green Olives
1/4 cup Grated Cheese (mexican)
1/4 cup flour
1 Egg
1/8 tsp salt (optional)
Wonton Wrappers
water for sealing wonton edges
Oil and pastry brush
Lightly greased baking pan

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix Cream Cheese,Onions,Olives, Grated Cheese,Flour,Egg, and Salt in a bowl
3. Place about a teaspoon of the cream cheese mix in the middle of the wonton
4. Wet your fingertip and run it around the four edges of the wonton
5. Fold over into a triangle and seal by gently pressing the edges of the wonton
6. Place on baking pan and lightly brush each wonton with oil
7. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes or until edges brown

The pictures are actually from the 1st batch but I'm featuring the recipe from the second batch since they turned out scrumptious!

Lazy Apple Tart

I've been so so so lazy to post recipes lately even with a kitchen that's constantly in use!  I wanted to share an easy bread recipe with you today since I've been baking bread for months but when I checked pictures I've taken, there weren't any. Lol,I guess I was snapping mental images in my head while making the bread.

Anyway, here's my take on the easiest Apple Tart ever.  Cutting and coring apples will take a little of your time and I've been tempted to just bake whole apples on top of a pie crust but we all know that's just silly.

The apples I used were a mix from the Graves Mountain Apple Harvest, they were different sizes and types of apples so you're going to have to eyeball how many sliced apples you need to fit a flat 9 inch pie crust.  I found out that baked apples will shrink, you'll see in the picture below so go ahead and stuff em tarts! ;-D

Ingredients:

9 inch pie crust (thaw if frozen)

4-5 Apples (cored and sliced, peeling is optional)

1/4 cup Honey/sugar  (add more if you want it ultra sweet)

Butter (about 1 tbsp, add more if you want it buttery)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Grease baking pan/sheet large enough to fit a 9 inch pie crust

3. Cut an apple in half right through the stem and core or cut the seeds and stems off 

4. Lay the half pieces down and cut/slice thinly across

5. Place pie crust on greased cookie sheet and overlap apple slices on top of the pie crust, drizzle with Honey or sprinkle with sugar.
6. Fold remaining sides of crust over the apples and put small pieces of cut butter (or brush melted butter) over the apples and crust. 
7. Bake for 45 to 50 mins or until crust is golden brown

Enjoy!

Beef Stew

Beef Stew over Steamed White Rice

A handy tool for making beef stew is a small chopper featured in one of my posts, Basil Pesto. If you don't have one, just chop the carrots, onion, and garlic as finely as you can since these three ingredients are the flavor base for the beef stew.

The base flavors: Chopped Carrots, Onions, and Garlic

Before browning the beef, I season the meat and toss with bread crumbs in a big resealable freezer bag. 

I also added beef bone since stews and soups are more flavorful when cooked with bone-in meat or with "soup bones".

The spices I used in this stew were paprika and italian seasoning.  I also added fish sauce or vietnamese "nuoc mam" but this is optional.

Just remember to layer your spices, salt, and pepper a little at a time until you get the flavor to your liking.

Ingredients:

1 medium size onion

5 cloves of garlic

3 med size carrots

1/2 cup bread crumbs 

2 lbs stew beef or chuck

1 lb Beef bone

Salt

Pepper 

Oil

1 small can Tomato Paste

1/2 can from 425 gram canned Tomato Sauce
Water 

1 tsp paprika (optional) 
1 tsp italian seasoning (optional)
4 medium sized potatoes (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cut beef into 1 inch pieces

2. Lightly Salt and Pepper the pieces of beef

3.  Toss the beef and beef bone/s in a resealable bag with the 
   bread crumbs. Seal tightly and shake lightly, making sure each
   piece of beef is coated with crumbs.

4. Heat the oil in a large pot/dutch oven on medium heat and

   brown the beef on both sides. Set aside.

*Don't scrape the bread crumbs stuck to the bottom of the pan. It will dissolve once you mix in the tomato sauce and water.

5. Add oil and Saute the chopped onions, garlic, and carrots 

   until tender. 

6. Mix in the tomato paste and tomato sauce and add water 

   depending on how thick you want the sauce to be. 

7. Lightly scrape the bottom of the pot until the bread crumbs

   dissolve in the sauce.

8. Add the beef, salt, pepper and spices to the pot. 

9. Mix and simmer on low heat for 2 hours.

10. Add the potatoes in after an hour and a half or until tender

 

Ingredients

Step 2: Lightly Salt and Pepper the pieces of beef

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5