Cake decorating with fondant- Monday

Dawn will be teaching us to decorate cakes with fondant! 11am this Monday (the 8th). 149 Icicle Court.

Pancit & Fina' denne' Chicken

Dawn McClucky was kind enough to teach us about a favorite food she grew up on in Guam. Pancit and Fina' denne' Chicken. It was fabulous! This is one dish you are going to want to add to your repertoire. Thanks Dawn!

Pancit


1 pkg Rice noodles

1 Sm Onion- diced

2 Cloves Garlic- minced

1 C Cabbage- shredded

1 C Carrots - julienne

2 Celery stalks - chopped on a bias

1 Can baby corn

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 C Green Beans

1 C Chicken Broth

Saute the onions, garlic, and celery until translucent. Then add green beans and bell pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the cabbage, carrots, baby corn, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then add the rice noodles. Simmer until noodles are tender.


Fina' denne' Chicken

1 pkg Chicken breast

2/3 C Soy Sauce

1/2 C Lemon juice or Vinegar

6 Tbsp Green onions - diced

6 Tbsp White onions - diced

Marinate the chicken for at least 3 hours but no more than 8. Then grill until juices run clear (or bake in oven at 350 for 20 minutes). Slice and lay on top on the Pancit.

Monday September 13- Guamanian Food!

Dawn McClucky will be teaching us how to make Guamanian food! It will be delicious! 11am at Cari Osborne's house, 149 Icicle Ct Radcliff.

Join us Monday for Homemade Ice Cream!

This coming Monday (the 9th) we'll be making ice cream for cooking group. Starts at 11am at Sis. Osborne's.

Also- FYI- Music Makers has changed from Thursdays to Wednesdays at 10am at the church. Music Makers is held anytime Hardin county schools are in session and is a free music introduction for moms/grandma's and their preschool aged children. Just bring a puppet and musical instrument. There will also be a lunch & linger once a month after music makers, to be announced. If you want to be included on future Music Makers email list please email Annemarie Lowe at dnalowe at yahoo.com

Cooking Group- Meatless Main Dishes

Thanks to those who came Monday to the cooking group. We talked about ways to use grains or beans rather than meat. The Word of Wisdom cautions us to eat meat sparingly and whole grains and beans provide many nutrients that help prevent many diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Here are a few of the recipes that were shared and some information about the nutrient value of certain grains/beans: Meatless Recipes

Grilling

Thanks to those who came on Monday! We made Strawberry Chicken Salad with Poppyseed Dressing and Grilled Pizza. The basil pesto pizza was definitely the favorite.

Here are some tips & recipes.

Grilling Tips

• Marinade/rubs/sauces are very important for flavor- it’s best to marinate for 15 minutes to two hours. Some of my favorites are the Montreal Chicken/Steak marinade for chicken or steak, for Mexican meals I love to marinade in zesty Italian dressing and lime juice, hamburgers taste great mixed with some Lipton Onion Soup Mix. If you’re using bbq sauce, wait until the last 10 to 15 minutes of grilling to baste.

• Kabobs: soak wooden skewers in water for 20 minutes to avoid burning. For best results grill vegetables separately from meats- meats cook slower and the vegetables can burn.

• Meats: the biggest mistake you can make is to overcook meat. You want chicken to be cooked just until the pink is gone but it is still tender and juicy. Steaks should be cooked until light pink inside and juicy. For best results heat the grill on high, sear both sides of the meat then reduce heat to a low flame and slowly cook until done. New York strip steak, beef loin porterhouse and filet mignon are very tender meats for grilling.

• Vegetables: lightly coat in oil, place peppers or other vegetables directly on flame and cook just until charred. You can also place vegetables in tin foil, seal and place on the grill to cook.

• Corn: open corn- leaving husks attached- wash and remove hair. Add seasonings if desired. Cover with husks and soak in water for 15 minutes. Place corn on grill and turn the ears every 5 minutes until done (husks will be black and charred when it’s ready). If you want grill marks on your corn open and place directly on grill just until blackened.

• Pizza: lightly oil grill, cook until golden brown, flip- add toppings and cook until brown and toppings are melted. An alternate is to grill both sides then add toppings and continue cooking under the broiler in the oven. Thinner crust cooks better and you must use fewer toppings or your dough will be soggy and cheese won’t melt.

Pizza Dough- Forno Bravo

4 cups flour

2 cups warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Mix warm water and yeast until bubbly. Add all remaining ingredients until soft dough forms (should not be sticky), rise 1 hour until double in size. Roll into a ball and rise again until double.

Prepare your toppings and have them out by the grill ready to top. Form dough into small, thin circles. Grill over medium heat just until bottom is firm and has nice grill marks- 2-3 minutes, flip, add toppings, close lid and continue cooking until bottom is firm and cheese is melted (if cheese is still not melted move to top rack or you can broil in the oven).

I use this dough for pizza & breadsticks and if you want to add yummy flavor to your crust- just mix in 1/3 cup or so of pesto when you add the flour.

Favorite combinations:
Basil Pesto, Grilled Chicken, Cheese, Broccoli

Lighthouse Ranch Dressing (or other fresh ranch), Spinach, Tomatoes, Cheese, bacon bits

Grilled Chicken Strawberry Salad

1-2 chicken breasts, marinated

1 carton strawberries, sliced

1 large package mixed salad greens

poppyseed dressing (for an excellent homemade recipe click here)

sliced almonds

Marinate chicken for at least 15 minutes in your favorite mix (I like the montreal chicken mix). Heat grill to high. Grill chicken until both sides have nice grill marks- about 5 minutes. Turn down grill and continue cooking just until pink is gone- about 10 minutes. Slice into thin strips. Toss lettuce with poppyseed dressing, strawberries & almonds. Add grilled chicken breast and enjoy!

Cooking class- June 14, Grilling

Those who missed the canning class- you missed some YUMMY strawberry jam!

On Monday the 14th at 11am, Sister Osborne's house, we'll be learning tips for cooking on the grill!

Cashew Chicken

Thanks to all those who came on Monday! We made yummy cashew chicken, fried rice and fortune cookies. The recipes for all of these are located here: http://ldsbaker.blogspot.com/search/label/Asian

In June we'll be cooking on the grill!

Cooking Class next week

We'll be having our cooking class next Monday the 17th and will be making Cashew Chicken & Fried Rice! It's at Sister Osborne's house, 11am. We will be scheduling date night dinners, if you would like to participate in the date night dinner but aren't able to attend next Monday send an email to me at carisosborne@hotmail.com and I will give you the details.

Sharon's Famous Cheesecake!

Wow! Thank you to everyone who attended our cooking class yesterday! If you weren't able to make it you missed an AWESOME class!

Sharon Garcia taught us the tips and tricks to making her famous cheesecakes! Lucky for you, she is willing to share her superb recipe with all of us! THANK YOU Sharon!!! Our husbands will thank you too!

Sharon Garcia's Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/2 coconut cookie crumbs (or graham crackers)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar

Filling:

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 8oz packages cream cheese, softened (can use generic and 1/3 fat)
5 eggs
16 oz sour cream
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons corn starch
2 teaspoons Mexican vanilla (or pure vanilla extract)

For crust, Sharon recommends using crushed coconut cookies because they have lots of flavor as compared to a graham cracker crust. You can use a food processer to grind crumbs, or just place cookies in a ziploc freezer bag and roll with rolling pin. Mix cookie crumbs with sugar then add melted butter (if crumbs don't stick together, add more butter). Cover bottom of springform pan with wax or parchment paper so cheesecake can easily be lifted out of the pan. Firmly press cookie crumb mixture on bottom and sides of pan.

For filling: place softenend cream cheese in large glass mixing bowl. Add sugar and mix until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time just until well blended and creamy (over mixing incorporates too much air in the cheesecake and can cause cracking. Sharon's tip for getting bubbles out is to pound the bowl against a table until the bubbles pop). Stir in sour cream just until blended.

In a separate bowl mix lemon juice and corn starch until smooth, add to cream cheese mixture. Add vanilla and mix just until combined. Pour over crust and bake at 350 for one hour. Do not overcook. If the cheesecake begins to inflate or "poof" on the edges, take it out immediately. The center of the cake (approximately 2" diameter) will look soft or damp and may be like thick jello, but not liquidy. Let cool for about an hour before placing in the fridge (editor note- I turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven to cool- it usually takes an hour and then I don't see and smell the cheesecake and be tempted to cut into it early).

Chill before serving, best if chilled overnight.

We swirled raspberry sauce into some of the cheesecakes we made yesterday. You can use frozen raspberries (or any fruit) and heat in saucepan- we added strawberry jam to sweeten them up, but you could also add sugar, the sugar in either form will cause the fruit to "bleed" making it a thin syrup- if you want it thicker just sprinkle a little flour or cornstarch in and mix until it reaches desired thickness. You can then swirl it in the cheesecake just before baking or use it to serve on top of the cheesecake.

Cheesecake class!

Join us on Monday April 12 at 11am, Sister Osborne's home (149 Icicle Court) to learn about making cheesecakes! Sister Garcia will be teaching how to make her famous rich yummy cheesecakes and I will show you how to make "light" cheesecake. And of course there will be lots to sample, so come with your sweet tooth!

Bread Recipes

Thanks to all who came to our bread class! Here are links to the recipes:

Whole wheat bread  http://ldsbaker.blogspot.com/2010/03/light-soft-100-whole-wheat-bread.html 
Soft white rolls http://ldsbaker.blogspot.com/2010/02/soft-dinner-rolls.html 
White sandwich bread http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/white-sandwich-bread-recipe

Breadmaking class- Monday, March 8th 11am

Join us on Monday the 8th at Sister Osborne's house (149 Icicle Ct). We are going to learn all about making bread! There are few things in life more heavenly than the smell (and taste!) of fresh baked bread. If you haven't made bread before it may seem intimidating- but it really is simple, anyone can learn to do it! Even if you have been making bread for years, you might enjoy sharing your tips (it has taken more than 12 years of baking bread to perfect my recipes)!

We will be making fresh ground whole wheat bread (if you typically don't like the texture of whole wheat bread- you will LOVE this recipe- it has NO added white flour but is just as light and soft as 1/2 white 1/2 wheat bread- it's not dried out like store-bought wheat bread); we will also be making white sandwich bread; and super soft dinner rolls.

Once you've learned the basics of breadmaking it's easy to modify this same dough recipe for almost any yeast-based food- pizza, sweet rolls, caramel pecan sticky buns, fry bread, calzones, herb bread, dinner rolls, cinnamon raisin bread, you name it.

Children are welcome, with supervision. There is a large playroom the kids can play in while we bake (and we will feed them).

Soup Recipes

Today we made fabulous white chicken chili, black bean veggie chili and chicken tortilla soup. We also made yummy molten lava cakes with praline sauce. You can print all the soup recipes here or visit my food blog http://ldsbaker.blogspot.com/

Next month we will be making whole wheat bread and soft white rolls. Children ARE welcome- I have a large playroom they can play in while we cook, and we'll feed them lunch!

   

Cooking Group- Monday February 8th, 11am

Join us on Monday, February 8th at Cari Osborne's home for our first cooking class!

We're going to be making quick and easy (not to mention healthy and delicious!) soups! The perfect 30 minute dinner on a cold night.

We'll also be making these ooey gooey molten chocolate cakes with chocolate filigree hearts- a perfect dessert for Valentine's Day!

The cooking group will be meeting the 2nd monday of each month at 11am. Children are welcome, with supervision.