Little Kitchen Girl's Cookbook

Corn Fritters by Paula Dean

cookerygirl — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:59:31 +0000

This dish is soo easy and sooo good, especially with honey on top of the corn fritters. I made 4 plates of this stuff while my boyfriend and his friends were playing DnD, and they ate all of it! We ran out of honey too!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cus self-rising cornmeal mix
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 (15.25 ounce) can corn, drained
Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

Heat oil to 325 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal mix, flour, sugar, and salt. In a small bowl, combine milk and eggs. Add milk mixture to cornmeal mixture, stirring well. Stir in butter and corn.

Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches in a Dutch oven, or use a deep-fryer. Drop by tablespoons into hot oil. Cook 2 to 4 minutes, or until golden, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

Posted in American Cooking

Deviled Eggs

cookerygirl — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:57:07 +0000

boil 3-4 eggs (about 20m boiled)
cut eggs in half
take out the yellows and mash them up really well
add 2/3rds the amount of mayonnaise
squirt some mustard on
stir thoroughly
put the mixture on top of the egg white halves

Posted in American Cooking

Samosa Variation with Tortilla Wrappers!

cookerygirl — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:52:41 +0000

The super easy way to make a samosa-like dish!

Ingredients:

Potatoes, Peas, Tortilla Wrappers covered with a damp cloth

Spices: yellow curry spice.

Directions:

Boil cubed potatoes in salted water until fork-tender–strain.

Get a large pan, add oil

Add yellow curry spice, and stir in the oil for several seconds.

Add potatoes and peas(frozen or otherwise).

Stir thoroughly and salt to taste.

Mash while cooking or afterwards.

Tortilla part:

Heat up a small pan with oil covering the entire bottom of the pan, but not *tons* of oil. (Medium Heat)

Put the mashed mixture in the center of a tortilla skin, and pull up each corner going clockwise until it makes a nice square.

Fry on one side until golden, then flip and fry the other side.

Personally, I’m not ecstatic about this recipe, but my boyfriend loves it and it’s super easy!

Posted in Indian Cooking

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

cookerygirl — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:38:37 +0000

I did a little variation on Bobby Flay’s Chicken and Dumplings Soup–my boyfriend loved it!! He usually doesn’t like soups, but he said I really did it for him this time.

Ingredients

Soup:

1 large onion, diced
small bag of baby carrots, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
Meat from 1 chicken, cooked and shredded
3 cups chicken broth
half a handful of fresh parsley
1/2 bottle of white wine
2 bay leaves
egg noodles

Dumplings:

1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cupall-purpose flour
3 eggs

Directions

Chicken:

Cut the medium sized chicken to pieces(a huge kitchen cleaver is best). Try to peel off the skin and fat as you go. The bones and giblets and everything else should further flavor the soup. Put all of the chicken parts into a large pot and pour all the white wine in–this will make the chicken nice and tender instead of stringy. Fill the rest of the pot with water until it covers the chicken well–keep in mind the boiling off of the wine that needs to be done. Keep boiling the chicken until it’s nice and tender, and the stew has the right taste you are looking for. Since I’m small, I can’t take the alcohol content, so as soon as the alcohol is gone, it’s ready. (Don’t add salt!! Wine and salt don’t really like each other, so either do one or the other–both are significant flavors)

Then, strain the broth from the chicken and set it aside.

Shred the meat from the chicken into another container–keep it covered so it doesn’t dry out!

Note: with leftover bones/meat, etc you can boil it into another chicken broth for use in this soup or later.

Soup:

In a small amount of cooking oil sweat the onion, carrots and celery.

Add chicken, 3 cups more broth, carrots, and bay leaves–boil for 10 minutes.

When pot is boiling, add egg noodles and set the timer for however long the egg noodles take on the instructions – usually 7 minutes.

add celery, parsley, and put in dumplings at 4 minutes.

put in dumplings at 3 minutes till completion.

Make dumplings:

Bring the milk and butter to a boil, add salt and nutmeg. Remove from heat and immediately add flour stirring until dough leaves the sides of the pan. Incorporate the eggs, 1 at a time, forming a sticky dough.

Season the soup, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add spoon sized balls of dumpling dough and simmer until dumplings rise.

Posted in American Cooking, Made-Up Soups

Crispy-ish Super Juicy Fried Catfish

cookerygirl — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:48:51 +0000

Ingredients: Catfish Fillets, Corn Starch, Salt.

Some catfish fillets! Yum!

Wash catfish of strange marketplace goop.

pat dry with a towel–but not too dry!

salt the fish front and back and let sit for most of your kitchen prep-work or at least 10 minutes.

take cornstarch and rub it all over catfish–get it on thick! not so it’s translucent but parts are almost all white, but not too much!
fry on a griddle with butter

keep little cubes of butter ready, so you can add more whenever the fish needs it!

keep frying until the fish is completely done!

it should come out slightly crispy on the outside just for a little crunch and really supple and juicy on the outside!

You may want to add some lime or lemon juice on top and garnish with something green!

Posted in American Cooking

Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw, Tomato and Avocado Salsa and Pineapple Hot Sauce

cookerygirl — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:38:38 +0000

Ingredients

4 (8-ounce) mahi mahi fillets
2 tablespoons canola oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Citrus Vinaigrette, recipe follows

8 (6-inch) flour tortillas, cut into 2 1/2 to 3-inch circles, and deep fried

Red Cabbage Slaw, recipe follows

Tomato and Avocado Salsa, recipe follows

Pineapple hot sauce, store bought or recipe follows, for drizzling

Preheat grill.

Brush fillets with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Remove from grill and drizzle with some of the Citrus Vinaigrette. Let rest 5 minutes and then flake with a fork.

Fill each fried tortilla with some of the mahi, top with the Red Cabbage Slaw, Tomato and Avocado Salsa, and drizzle with Charred Pineapple-habanero Hot Sauce.

Citrus Vinaigrette:

3/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lime juice

1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 heaping tablespoon honey

1/2 cup canola oil

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend for 1 minute.

Red Cabbage Slaw:

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 head red cabbage, finely shredded

1 large carrot, cut into fine julienne

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Tomato and Avocado Salsa:

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted and diced

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

1 serrano chile, finely diced

1 to 2 limes, juiced

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 to 2 teaspoons honey

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Gently combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Charred Pineapple-Habanero Hot Sauce:

1 ripe pineapple, preferably Golden pineapple

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 large Spanish onion, coarsely chopped

1 container frozen pineapple puree, thawed

2 habanero chiles, chopped

1 cup rice wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Honey

Heat a grill to high or preheat the broiler. Place the whole pineapple (do not peel it) on the grill and grill until the entire surface is completely black and charred. Remove from grill and let cool slightly. Peel the pineapple, remove the core and coarsely chop the flesh.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; add the onion and cook until soft. Add the pineapple, pineapple puree, habanero and vinegar and cook until the mixture is completely soft, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt, pepper and honey, to taste. Strain the mixture into a bowl.

Posted in Want to Make Recipes

Vegetarian Bean Burritos

cookerygirl — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:33:28 +0000

soft shell toasted on griddle
heated up re-fried beans
sour cream
medium shredded cheddar cheese

toasted shell on the bottom, put beans on top in a small strip, add sour cream, add lots of cheese, fold bottom then sides.

Posted in Mexican Cooking

Creamy Garlic Pasta

cookerygirl — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:30:23 +0000

Cook pasta as usual
Add: cut up pieces of butter/salt to taste – stir thoroughly!
Stir in: garlic powder, mayonnaise, mustard to taste!
top with shredded cheese!

Posted in American Cooking

Paula Dean’s Shepards Pie

cookerygirl — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:04:39 +0000

Ingredients

* 1 small onion
* 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
* 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
* 1 1/2 cups mixed vegetables or niblet corn, prepared
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 8 to 10 medium red new potatoes
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 12 tablespoons butter
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 2 cups instant biscuit mix

Directions

Beef Layer: Saute onions in 2 tablespoons butter. Add ground beef. After beef is browned, add tomato sauce; Mix in vegetables. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Potato Layer: Peel and slice potatoes 1/4-inch thick. Cook in boiling water for approximately 15 minutes or until fork-tender. Whip potatoes with electric mixer; mix until moderately smooth. Don’t over beat them; a few lumps are nice. Add 1/2 cup heated milk, 1/2 cup butter, and sour cream. Salt and pepper, to taste. Whip until mixed. Adjust thickness by adding more milk, if desired.

Biscuit Layer: Combine biscuit mix and 1 cup milk. The mix should be thinner than normal biscuit mix but not runny.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9 by 9 by 2-inch pan, or any similar casserole dish. Layer half way up with the mashed potatoes. Next, spread a layer of mixed vegetables or niblet corn on top of potatoes. Then add a layer of the meat. Pour biscuit mix over meat. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter and drizzle over top. Bake for approximately 35 to 45 minutes until top is golden brown.

Note: Leftovers make this dish easy to put together. So if you have leftover pork roast or beef roast with gravy and mashed potatoes from Sunday dinner then this is an easy mid- week meal that will take only a few minutes.

Posted in American Cooking

Guacamole – Alton Brown

cookerygirl — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:02:34 +0000

Ingredients

* 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
* 1 lime, juiced
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
* 1/2 medium onion, diced
* 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
* 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
* 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.

Posted in Want to Make Recipes