Vanilla Sauce

This one is for you Mandy... Its the closest thing to the boxed kind you can get here... I made it last night and Then put it over strawberries.  Dont judge... Rikard is out of town and I am lonely! (and bored!) I have to keep reminding myself I have to fit into a wedding dress in a few months. CRAP!


Ingredients (serves 4)

1 cup milk
1 cup thickened cream
1 vanilla bean (see note)
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/3 cup caster sugar

Directions:
1. Combine milk and cream in a small saucepan. Using a sharp knife, split vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out seeds. Add bean and seeds to milk mixture. Place over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat.


2. Whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Remove vanilla beans from milk mixture. Pour hot milk mixture over egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.

3.Return mixture to saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 15 to 20 minutes or until custard thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon (do not allow custard to boil, as it might curdle).

4. Serve custard warm or cold over stewed fruit, pancakes or crumbles.


Notes:
You could use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder instead of the vanilla bean.

If cooling custard for later use, cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Here is another winner.... Rikard said it goes in the top 3 so that has to mean its pretty good!  I can never tell if the things I make really taste good, or I just think they do because I work so darn hard making them. So Rikard is my test dummy, I swear he would try poop if it looked good enough... Just saying!

The only thing I might change with this is I would rather a graham cracker crust, I am not a big fan of chocolate... Maybe due to the fact that the night before I made this I ate an entire pack of Oreos... YUCK! I have had my feel of chocolate cookies!!!

Ingredients


• 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs

• 3 tablespoons white sugar

• 1/4 cup butter, melted

• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries

• 2 tablespoons white sugar

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1/2 cup water

• 2 cups white chocolate chips

• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream

• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 3 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.

2. DOUBLE THIS PART ITS WORTH IT TRUST ME! SO GOOD! In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds. (I didn't strain mine...)

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth. (Honestly I just threw them in to the microwave... Worked just fine!)

4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

AND how can you resist fresh whipped cream with vanilla bean in it! Oh God the little fat kid inside of me is screaming to get out...

Yummy Brownies

Rikard and I had a sweet tooth the other night so I found this pretty yummy recipe for brownies... The honey makes the frosting to die for! I think I ate half of it before the brownies were even out of the oven.  I am sure you could do the brownies with spray butter os something healthier, but you know me I am all about the butter! Mmmm!


Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder



3 tablespoons butter, softened

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners' sugar









Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

4. To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey (I did 2 tablespoons and it made it even better) , 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Applesauce Bread

Ok, this I my own little baby (insert proud smile here)!
I was sleepy and wanted some sweet bread, but I had run out of shredded frozen zucchini and my bananas were not ripe enough for bread yet. Soooo, this is what I came up with.

3/4 c Fat Free Sour Cream
3/4 c Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
3 Egg Whites
1 c Applesauce
2 c Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Allspice
1 c Craisins or Raisins

Mix brown sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Add egg whites and applesauce and mix well. Add remaining ingredients, except Craisins, and mix until combined. Stir in Craisins and fill loaf pan. Cook at 350 for 60 mins. I usesd mini loaf pans and only cooked them for 30 mins. So yummy and pretty healthy!

Korean Fire Meat

I think both Brandon and Rikard will like this one because it's lots of red meat. Not to mention its really yummy too.
My friend Julianne made this for our book club a few months ago. I think she originally got it from Good Things Utah.

2-3 lbs beef roast, well trimmed (she suggested having the butcher trim it really thin, but I just sliced it really thin myself)
1 c sugar

Marinade
3/4 c Soy Sauce
2 tbs Sesame Seeds
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 tbs Sesame Oil
1 Bunch Green Onions, thinly sliced
Red Pepper Flakes (optional for a little kick)

Combine beef and sugar in a bag or bowl and let sit for 10 mins. Combine ingredients for marinade and pour over beef. Mix and let stand overnight.

Cook in heavy pan or Dutch Oven in small batches over medium-high to high heat.

Serve over rice as a main dish. Or as an appetizer, serve on Boston lettuce leaves with matchstick carrots and cucumbers.

I ended putting the cooked meat into a crock pot to keep it warm, and with my last batch of meat I poured the remaining marinade in to cook and it made a nice sauce.

And knowing me, I forgot to take a picture so please use your imagination until I make it again and take a picture :)

Banana muffins

Last week I decided to master Banana Muffins... Here in Sweden they don't really know what a good muffin is. So I was on a mission to show them what a REAL muffin is. When I say muffin I am talking about a Big muffin with an even Bigger top, broke in two with butter melting on both pieces! SO good! I had 2 recipes I wanted to try and I still cant decided which I liked more, Rikard preferred the first recipe. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2.     In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3.     In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean


This next one makes like 3 pans of muffins... They have a more cake like consistency.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks Butter
• 1-½ cup + 2 TBLS Sugar
• 3 whole Eggs
• 1-½ cup Mashed Ripe Bananas
• 4 cups + 2 TBLS Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1-½ cup Sour Cream

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease muffin pan.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating for a few seconds after each addition. Add mashed bananas and beat.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients and sour cream alternately to the mixing bowl. Beat well until all combined.

Pour into muffin pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Invert on a cooling rack and allow cake to cool slightly before slicing and serving with softened butter.

I also put the brown sugar crumbs on top of these and it made them delicious!

So, let me know which one you think is better! Good luck

Lettuce Wraps

I have been craving lettuce wraps like crazy lately. I searched for recipes, and then took the stuff I liked from several and combined them to fit my tastes. What I came up with was super tasty and I got lots of compliments on it.

Chicken Marinate
3 tbs lime juice
1 tbs curry powder
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbs crushed garlic

Mix all together and marinate for at least 4 hours.

2 heads lettuce, romaine or butter
4 chicken breasts

1 pkg mushrooms, diced
1 lg onion, diced
1 can water chestnuts, diced
1 bunch green onions, just the green partsB sliced
1/4 c hoisin sauce
2 tbs crushed ginger
2 tbs crushed garlic
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil

Toppings
Fried rice noodles
Thinly sliced carrots
Hoisin sauce
Sweet chili sauce
Chopped cashews

Remove chicken from marinate and discard the remaining marinate. Rough chop the chicken and place 1 breast at a time in the blender and pulse until its nicely chopped up. Heat pam or cooking oil in a large skillet and brown chicken. Remove chicken and set aside. Add onions and mushrooms to the same skillet, cook until onions are soft. Add garlic, water chestnuts, and ginger, stir and add soy sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil and green onions.

Scoop into lettuce leaves and top with your favorites.