Linguine Noodles from scratch

 

Store bought pasta noodles may be cheaper and convenient but I say there is nothing better than a fresh homemade pasta noodles. They are satisfying and fun to make too! 


Note: You can make either of the three linguine recipes below or you can make them all but in separate batches.


Ingredients

Spinach Linguine

1 1/8 cup All-purpose flour plus additional for kneading

1/4 cup semolina flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup fresh spinach juice

1 egg

Bell pepper Linguine

1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading

1/4 cup semolina flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup fresh red bell pepper juice

1 egg

Regular Linguine

1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading

1/4 cup semolina flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

Direction

1. Place all ingredients except for additional flour in food processor. Process until mixture just forms a ball (do not over-process).

• By hand: Blend together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make mound with the dry ingredients and scoop out a well in the middle. Beat together the wet ingredients and pour into the well. With a fork, whisk and incorporate the flour from the edges a little at a time. Try not to let the egg spill over the sides. Keep whisking and then mixing by hand until all the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough lightly for 7-8 minutes until dough is smooth, elastic and not sticky. 

2. Take out the ball from the food processor or bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for about 7 or 8 minutes, incorporating a little extra flour from time to time so as to keep it from sticking. Knead it until it is smooth, elastic, and no longer sticks. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. 

3. Separate the dough into two equal parts, keep the non working dough covered to keep them from drying out. Set pasta machine rollers on widest setting, flatten portion of dough into a rectangle and feed through rollers 4 or 6 times, folding rectangle in half each time and then feeding through the rollers again. Sprinkle with flour as necessary to keep from sticking. Set machine rollers to next narrower setting and feed dough through several more times, without folding. Keep setting machine rollers narrower and narrower until desired pasta thickness is reached. Hang sheets over a dowel, or let them hang off edge of counter to dry somewhat. Roll remaining portions in same manner. Cut as desired when still somewhat soft.

Cooking: Cook pasta for 3 to 4 minutes. Do not overcook! 


Serve with your favorite pasta sauce.

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.

Baked Samosas

Traditionally, samosas are fried but I like mine baked, I think they are healthier that way. I serve my samosas with sweet and sour dipping sauce. 


Ingredients

Dough

1 cup Wheat flour (Maida)

1 tablespoon Semolina flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoon lukewarm water

Filling

4 medium size steamed red potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 diced green chiles

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1 1/2 teaspoon amchur powder

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup green peas

Direction

Dough

• Mix maida flour, semolina flour, and salt in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and rub until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Slowly add about 3 tablespoons water and knead the dough for about 3-4 minutes or until it is smooth. Cover it with a damp cloth and set aside for 20 minutes.

Filling

• Steam , cool and peel the potatoes. Dice it into quarter inch size.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil over a medium high heat; add cumin seeds and stir for a minute. Add green chiles, coriander powder, green peas, potatoes, and stir fry about 4 minutes. Stir in garam masala, amchur powder and salt (adjust salt to taste).
• Let the filling cool to room temperature.

Making Samosas

• Take 2 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of maida flour to make a paste. Set aside.
• Knead the dough again. Divide it into18 balls. Roll each ball into flat round shape with about 6 inch diameter. Cut into half. Brush the edges with the paste and make each half into a cone by sticking seam together. Fill each cone with 3 tablespoons of filling. Stick the top of the cone together to seal it up. 
• Heat about 1-1/2 inch of oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, carefully fry the samosas until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot.

Fried Cream Cheese Wontons

These wontons make a great appetizer that's  delicious and easy to make. I made these several times for my husband and his friend. They absolutely love them every time. 

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped finely

1/4 teaspoon salt

wonton wraps

1 eggs plus 1 egg beaten

oil for frying

Direction

1. Combine cream cheese, green onions, chestnuts, salt and 1 egg in a medium size mixing bowl. Mix well. 

2. Brush the edges of the wonton wrapper with egg; put a teaspoon of filling in the center of the wrapper, then fold the wrapper in half, diagonally, shaping into a triangle. Seal the edges well.

3. Heat oil to 375F degrees and fry the wonton until golden brown. Remove and drain excess oil on some paper towel. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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.

Sweet Potato Pancake

Make your own breakfast treat without buying a mix. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup sweet potato, mashed ( 1 big sweet potato)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup canned milk

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon olive oil

butter

Direction

1. Wash the sweet potato and cut into quarters. Bake at 400F degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let it cool completely. Scoop out the sweet potato into a bowl and mash.

2. Combine milk and vinegar to make a buttermilk substitute. Let it stand for 5 minutes.

3. Add egg, vanilla, olive oil, vanilla, and milk mixture to the mashed sweet potato. Mix well. 

4. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and mix just until the batter is blended. 

5. Grease iron skillet with butter. Pour batter onto skillet to make circles of batter.

6. Flip pancakes when bubbles begin to form on top side of pancakes. Cook until the other side turns golden brown.

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.

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 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to your taste)

1/2 cup oil

Marinade

3/4 cup Bragg liquid aminos soy sauce

1/2  cup lemon juice

3 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

Direction

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

2. Marinade.  Combine bragg liquid aminos soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, and bay leaves together. Pour over tofu and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Remove the tofu from the marinade and dredge in the brewer's yeast mixture until evenly coated.

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

Note: This is also good deep fried or baked. 

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

Scrambled Tofu

This makes an excellent breakfast in place of scrambled eggs. It would be good by itself or with some toast and on tortillas with salsa and beans, and some veggie cheese.

Ingredients

1 block extra firm tofu, mashed 
1 small onion, chopped

3/4 cup diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon Olive oil

Direction

Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and cook for another 15 minutes. Enjoy!