Buttery & Flaky Blueberry Scone

I adapted this blueberry scone recipe from America's Test Kitchen. I made this and it was delicious! I've never made scones before but this recipe is pretty easy, you just need to work quickly and have to keep everything nice and cold.  

Ingredients

2 cups All-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar (I used xylitol, a “sugar-free” sweetener)

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp grated lemon zest

½ cup whole milk

½ cup sour cream

8 Tbsp or 1 stick grated, frozen butter

1 ½ cup frozen blueberries

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, whisk milk and sour cream together.

2. Add the grated frozen butter into dry ingredients and quickly toss them together until they are coated. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture. Stirring with rubber scraper until dough forms. On a floured surface, knead until it just comes together about 6 to 7 turns.

3. Roll the dough out into a 12-inch square. Fold into thirds to a little square. Place onto a dish and freeze for 5 minutes.

4. Again, roll the dough out into 12-inch square. Press the frozen blueberries into the dough. Roll the dough up into a nice tight log. Flatten the log just about 4 inches wide.

5. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 4 equal pieces. Then cut each quarter piece into triangles.

6. Place each piece onto the baking sheet and brush them with butter. Sprinkle with sugar.

7. Let it bake in a 425F degree preheater oven for about 18-25 minutes or until golden brown.

8. Let it cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Serve.

Vegetarian Pot Roast

Ingredients

2 cans frichik original, cubed, (you can substitute frichik with tofu, and other vege meat)

2 red bell peppers, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 lb red potato, chopped

1 Tbsp soy sauce

¼ tsp garlic salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp flour (for thickening)

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat oil over a medium high heat. Add onions and cook until caramelized.

2. Add potato, frichik and frichik broth. Cover and let it come to a boil.

3. Add in carrots, bell pepper, soy sauce, salt, and black pepper. Cover and let it cook for about 8-10 minutes

4.Stir occasionally. Check potatoes and carrots for doneness, once those are fully cooked but not mushy, the pot roast is done. Remove from heat and it is ready to serve.

5. Serve this with a nice crusty bread, or brown rice if desired.

Light and Fluffy Filipino Fruit Salad

This is a lighter alternative from the traditional Filipino fruit salad. I used almost the same ingredients just like you would use for a typical Filipino fruit salad, except I left out condensed milk and nestle cream. Instead, I used heavy whipping cream and Stevia, which is a diabetic friendly sweetener that you can find at your local health food store. I made this twice now and both times it has been a big hit!   

Ingredients

1 jar (12 oz) Red palm fruit

1 jar (12 oz) Green palm fruit

1 jar (12 oz) Nata de Coco 

1 can (30 oz) Tropical fruit cocktail in light syrup

1 jar (6 oz) Maraschino cherries (without stem)

1 pint Heavy whipping cream

2 young coconuts 
¼ tsp Vanilla

dash of Stevia or 1 tsp Sugar

Directions

1. Drain the red and green palm fruits, nata de coco, fruit cocktail, and cherries in separate colanders for at least 2 hours. While draining, cut young coconuts open and shred the coconut meat with a hand-held shredder or you can just scoop it out and sliced the meat into thin strips.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine fruit cocktail, young coconut meat, cherries, red and green palm fruits, nata de coco, and maraschino cherries together. 

3. Using an electric mixer, whip the whipping cream, stevia and vanilla together until fluffy. (Make sure you don't whip the cream too long or it will turn to butter.)

4. Fold the whipped cream into the fruit mixture. 

5. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. 

Vegetarian Prime Stakes with gravy

I came up with this recipe one day, when I came home from a long day of babysitting. I just wanted to have something quick and easy to make for dinner. I knew I had a can of Prime stakes and some packages of gravy that I bought earlier that week. Just then I decided to make vegetarian prime stakes with gravy, steamed vegetables and rice on the side.

Ingredients

1 can (13 oz) Worthington prime stakes(drained and dried with paper towel )  

2 cups of uncooked white rice (I used Jasmin long grain rice)

1 head of broccoli (cut into bite size)

1 carrots (julienned)

For Gravy

1 pkg Savory Herb gravy mix

1 pkg brown gravy

2 cups water

Directions

1. Cook rice according to package direction.

2. Gravy. In a saucepan, whisk 2 cups of water, brown and savory herb gravy mix together. Stirring frequently, bring to a boil over medium high heat.Simmer 1 minutes. Set aside.

3. Steam the broccoli and carrots for 5-7 minutes, or until tender but crisp. Set aside.

4. While the broccoli is cooking, arrange the swiss stakes in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour gravy over it and simmer for 5 minutes or until swiss stakes is heated through.

5. Serve with rice and steamed broccoli and carrots.

Tips: Sprinkle salt on the vegetables when you are steaming them, this will bring out their flavor.

Sea Shell Pasta with Spinach, Sausage & Tomatoes

I had to try making this recipe after i saw it in a cookbook because it looked so good. But I put my own twist on it by substituting meat with veggie meat and instead of orecchiette pasta I used sea shell pasta, and then French bread on the side. This is one of my husband's favorite dishes that he's always asking me to make.

Ingredients
1 package Morning star sausage links
1 can(14.5 oz) Italian-herb diced tomatoes, divided
2 jars(8.5 oz) sun dried tomatoes with Italian herbs (with extra virgin olive oil)
12 oz uncooked small sea shell pasta
2 1/2 cups water
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups grape tomatoes
1 oz parmesan cheese, grated ( about 1/4 cup)
5 oz fresh baby spinach

Direction
1.Cook sausage. Cook sausage in skillet over medium-high heat 8-10 minutes, breaking into crumbles. Drain canned tomatoes using a colander into a large bowl; reserve 1 cup of the tomato liquid for later use in the recipe.


2. Cook Pasta. Add drained canned tomatoes, tomato liquid from large bowl, pasta, water, pressed garlic, pepper flakes, if desired, and salt to skillet. Cover and cook for 13-15 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. 


3. Add remaining ingredients and serve. Meanwhile, cut grape tomatoes in half. Grate cheese. Add grape tomatoes, spinach and reserve 1 cup tomato liquid to skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes or until spinach is wilted, stirring constantly. Sprinkle with cheese. 

I hope you try making this and let me know how it turns out! 

Spicy Fried Marinated Tofu

I'm mostly vegetarian, but I do eat fish occasionally. Just because I mostly eat vegetarian doesn't mean food should have little flavor. My goal is to guide people that choose to be vegetarian on food choices that will quench their thirst for flavor. I have an eclectic list of food combinations that I choose from and am always adding new and unique varieties of food. 

Here are recipes that I have tried and some of my personal recipes. Try them out and see for yourself. Please don't forget to leave your comments.

This recipe would make a good appetizer or side dish.

Ingredients

1 block Extra Firm organic Tofu ( cut into bite size)

1/2 cup Brewer's yeast or nutritional yeast flakes (you can get it at any whole food store)

1 tbsp cayenne pepper (adjust to your taste)

olive oil cooking spray

Marinade

3/4 cup Bragg liquid aminos soy sauce 

1  cup lemon juice 
3 cloves garlic

3 bay leaves

(Add 1 cup water if you want tofu to marinate overnight)


Direction

1. Arrange tofu in a rectangular  container. In another container, combine nutritional yeast flakes and cayenne pepper. Set aside.


2. Marinade.  Combine bragg liquid aminos soy sauce, lemon juice, water, garlic, and bay leaves together. Pour over tofu and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 15-20  minutes.

3. Spray a large frying pan with olive oil, turn heat on medium high. Remove the tofu from the marinade and dredge in the brewer's yeast mixture until evenly coated.

4. Fry tofu in the pan for about 2-3 minutes each side, or until golden brown. Serve hot. 

NOTE: Spray each side of tofu before turning them.

Terms:

Tofu or bean curd - is a food made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. 

Brewer's Yeast - is made from a one-celled fungus called Saccharomyces cerevisiae and is used to make beer. It can also grown specifically to make nutritional supplements. 

Bragg liquid aminos soy sauce - is a healthy substitute of soy sauce.

Spicy Fried Marinated Tofu