Homemade Beef-flavoured Rice-A-Roni

When I was a kid I enjoyed eating Rice-A-Roni, the 'San Francisco Treat'.  I loved the flavour of the chicken or beef flavoured rice ladden with bits of vermicelli or noodles and seasoned perfectly with those little seasoning packets that came with the kit.  Rice-A-Roni is one of those American favourite staples I miss.  I've learned to make my own using a few ingredients.  This is a one pot meal.  It only takes about 45 minutes to enjoy this savoury meal.  The fact that it's a one pot meal appeals to me all the more!

Homemade Beef-Flavoured Rice-A-Roni with Sausages

Ingredients

2 cups long-grained rice, washed
1/3 cup vermicelli rice or thin spgahetti
4 cups good beef stock
1 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon each:  salt, pepper, ground parsley
4 good sausages, cooked and chopped
2 TBS butter
1 TBS vegetable oil

Method

1. Cook susages until brown and cooked through.  Let cool and then dice.  Set aside.
2. Heat a saucepan on medium heat.  Add oil and butter.  Swirl the butter until it sizzles.
3. Saute the onions until translucent.  Add the rice and vermicelli and stir to coat rice. Add the seasonings.
4. Add the stock and stir once.  At this point  cover the pan, lower the heat to medium low.  Let the rice simmer for twenty minutes.  
5. Once rice has absorbed the water, uncover and fluff up with a two-pronged fork.  Cover the rice again and let it sit on an on-lit hob for approximately 10 minutes to steam.  
6. Add the diced sausages, fluff up again and enjoy.

Beef Flavoured Rice-A-Roni with sausages

Holy Cannoli, Batman!

Every Thursday at our place is Italian Night.  I learned how to make my own Pizza bases, so we have a Meat Lover's Pizza at least once or twice a month.  To vary our Italian Night, I alternate meals.  One Thursday I serve Pizza, another Spaghetti and Meatballs, yet another I serve baked manicotti and then pizza again.  Next Thursday it will be Chicken Caccitore.  For dessert tonight I made cannoli. I am out of ricotta so I'm just filling it with Chantilly Creme.  I will add some chocolate chips and sprinkles to decorate the cannolis.

Cannolis

Ingredients

For the cannoli shells

2 cups all purpose flour

2 TBS icing sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 egg whites (you can reserve the yolks for another recipe)

1/2 cup Marsala wine or a good red or white wine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 TBS butter, unflavoured

extra flour for dusting 

Canola oil for frying

For the Filling

 8 ounce container of good quality Ricotta cheese or Mascapone

8 ounces whipped cream

1/3 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For decoration: 

Chocolate chips
Sprinkles
icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Make the Cannoli shells.  In a bowl, mix the egg whites,  butter and Masala.  Beat until well combined.
2. Add the dry ingredients into the liquid and give everything a stir until the mixture forms a ball.
3. Wrap the dough in a few layers of food wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
4. Have everything you need on hand before cooking:  Oil the cannoli forms and place them on a platter ready to use.  Dust the countertop and a rolling pin with flour. Heat the oil to 350 degrees in a large pot or deep fat fryer. Have a small bowl of water and a pastry brush at hand.    Cut the dough into four parts.  One portion makes 12 cannolis.  You can wrap the rest of the dough and freeze for later use.  Roll the portion of the dough into a thickness of about a quarter inch in diametre. The dough must be thin or it won't blister when frying.  Cut with a round cookie cutter.  Wrap the dough around the cannoli form.  Secure the ends with a bit of water.
5.   Fry the cannoli shells in the deep fat fryer until they blister and become a beautiful golden brown...but not too brown.  Remove from the fryer with tongues making sure not to burn yourself.  Drain on a dish lined with a  paper towel.  Once the forms are cool, remove the cannoli shell off the form.  Place the cannoli shells in an air-tight container until ready to fill.  Before filling preheat an oven to 350 F and re-heat the shells for a few minutes (5 Minutes) until they are crispy again.
6. Make the filling:  Into a large bowl, add the ricotta or mascapone cheese.  Add the sugar.  Beat the whipped cream in a seperate bowl until stiff peaks form.  Add the whipped cream to the cheese mixture.  
7. Fill a piping bag with the filling.  Pipe filling into each cannoli shell.  Dip the cannolis into a bowl containing the chocolate chips.  You can also dip the cannolis into a bowl of sprinkles.  Another alternative is to dip one end of the cannoli into melted chocolate.  Dust icing sugar over the cannolis.  Serve.

Tip:  Fill your cannolis before serving.  Otherwise you end up with a soggy, sorry-looking cannoli which is very unappetizing.  

You can find Cannoli forms in speciality kitchen stores or online.  I got mine at Lakeshore   You can also find them on Amazon

Cannoli moulds

 

Afternoon Tea

I am fascinated by the English tradition of Afternoon Tea.  Nothing says opulence and elegance than the ceremony of Afternoon Tea.  From the dainty finger sandwiches to the fruit scones, sometimes served with dollaps of Jam and Devon clotted cream,  to  the beverage itself, Afternoon Tea is something out of the pages of history.  It was Anna Maria Russell, the Duchess of Bedford who started the custom of Afternoon Tea.  Often left ravenous between breakfast and supper, which was customarily served between seven O'clock and nine O'clock,  she asked her Butler to bring her a tray full of sandwiches,cakes and a pot of tea to her room at 4PM each day.   Little did she know that she would start a long-standing tradition in England.  

The first tea houses in London appeared in 1706 when Thomas Twining opened its first Tearoom.  Afternoon tea is often a light meal between the hours of four to six O'clock.  A proper English Tea is served in a china Teapot and follows a very orderly ritual with its own ettiquette. Afternoon tea is not to be confused with High Tea, which is an evening meal served between six and seven O'clock, often accompanied with a wide selection of hot meals, cold meat, salads and cakes.  It is, in theory, a form of supper.

How to brew a proper Tea

1. A proper tea starts with proper water.  Always use filtered water when brewing.  The water from the tap contains flouride and minerals that can result in a flat taste.
2. Pour the water into the kettle and let the kettle come to a full boil.
3. Once the water boils, place a bit of the boiled water into a tea pot.  Swirl it around to warm the teapot and empty it in the sink.
4. Fill the teapot with tea.  Place one heaped teaspoon of loose tea per every six ounce of water.  Don't forget to add 1 extra heaped teaspoon for the teapot. You can also use one teabag per person and one for the pot, if preferred.
5. Pour the boiled water from the kettle into the teapot.  Let it steep according to the proper brewing time of a particular tea.  For example, black Tea needs to be steeped for a period of four to five minutes.  Darjeerling tea needs only to be steeped for three minutes. Jasmin tea should be brewed no longer than one to three minutes (See below for guide).
6.  As soon as the correct amount of brewing time is reached, a clever hostess removes the tea strainer or bags. The tannins in the tea, if the bags are left for long, makes the tea bitter.
7. You should already have arranged a tray with teacups, sugar bowls, milk pitcher, lemon wedges (if serving fruit tea), napkins, teaspoons, etc.  Place a Tea cozy over the teapot so the tea doesn't get cold.  Take the tray to the table and place the teapot with the spout pointing to the host.  Each guest should be served first.  Sugar or Milk first?  It doesn't matter.  The tradition of putting the milk in first and sugar last started when households had only china teacups which were very fragile and broke with the coldness of the milk hitting the hot beverage. Today teacups are much more sturdy and can withstand the temperature change.  Always serve tea with milk and never cream.
 

Tea Brewing Guide

Type of Tea                   Steeping Time

Black Tea:              4 to 5 minutes (Depending how light or dark you want it)

Green Tea:              2 to 3 minutes

Oolong Tea:            3 to 5 mintues

Jasmin Tea:            3 minutes

Darjeeling Tea:       3 to 5 minutes

Grey Earl Tea:        3 to 5 minutes

 

Peanut Butter Cookies

The first time I made these cookies was on Halloween two years ago.  I never thought they could be so delicious!  Peanut butter cookies originated in the United States around the first half of the twentieth century.  George Washington Carver is attributed for putting peanut butter in the palate of the American public.  He wrote a cookbook that featured this delectable cookie along with other types of recipes that incorprated the humble peanut. His book was called, 'How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption'.    In 1913 an issue of Reading Eagle (Pennsylvania) featured an article about Woodrow Wilson's wife and her recipe for peanut butter cookies.  The 1932 edition of Pilsbury's Balanced recipes  first mentioned flattening the cookies with a fork and making a criss-cross design on the surface of each cookie.  This would ensure even baking.  This started the tradition of making the famous criss-cross pattern on the cookies.


Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1/2 cup Peanut Butter either smooth or chunky, it doesn't really matter
 (I personally like crunchy peanut butter)
1/2 cup Mascavado sugar or light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 F  (170 C)
Line two cookie sheets with parchment

1. Into a large mixing bowl cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in egg.  Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.
3. Stir in flour and stir until well combined.
4. Transfer cookie dough into smaller bowl and chill in fridge for one hour.
5. When cookie dough is chilled and firm, roll out 1/4 inch balls using a Teaspoon or Tablespoon as a guide, depending on how large or small you want them to be. With clean hands and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, making sure each cookie is at least two inches apart.
6. Lightly flatten each ball with hand.  Take a fork, dip it in a bowl of sugar and make criss-cross patterns onto each cookie.  
7. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven until edges are golden. Let cool on wire rack.  Dust a little powdered sugar while cookies are still warm for extra flavour.

Yields:   About 31 cookies

Nutrition Facts (1 cookie)

Calories: 90

Fat: 4.5g

Cholesterol: 10mg

Sodium: 100mg

Carbohydrates: 11g

Dietary Fiber: 0g

Protein: 2g