Garlic Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

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Mashed potatoes are a great side dish for many different meals. They pair well with any type of protein and they offer a blank pallet for customizing. Mashed potatoes can have many herbs, spices, and surprises added into it. The options for mashed potatoes are limitless, but here are just a few options, truffles, spinach, garlic, sage, thyme, ginger, parsley, rosemary, chili powder, paprika, or vanilla. Beyond flavoring, you can also make chunky mashed potatoes or smooth. This all depends on how long you cook your potatoes. I use the fork test to see how tender the potatoes are. If you can stab a potato with a fork and it breaks cleanly in half then they are done, this will give you smooth mashed potatoes. If you can stab it but doesn’t break apart immediately, but it still breaks, then that is a good texture for chunky mashed potatoes. For this recipe I also made some alterations from what I did. First, you will need to break up the rosemary with a grinder or mortar and pestle if you use dried like I did. The needles are just a bit too large to be enjoyed at that size. You could also use fresh rosemary and avoid the problem all together. And second, I minced my garlic, but it should have been grated. Hitting pockets of raw garlic was not a fun experience. Having it grated you still give strong flavor, but it will be mellower from being stirred more thoroughly through the potatoes. This makes enough for 4 large adult sized side servings.

What You Will Need

  • 5-6 Medium Potatoes, Peeled and Diced
  • Dutch Oven
  • Mixing Bowl
  • 4 Tbsp Butter
  • 2 Cloves of Garlic, peeled, and grated
  • Dried Rosemary, Ground/Crushed
  • 1 Cup Evaporated Milk with 1/2 Cup Warm Water

Directions

1. Prepare your potatoes. Place in a Dutch oven, cover with 2-3 inches of water and place over medium high heat. Boil for 15 minutes or until form tender. Strain.

2. In mixing bowl, add butter, rosemary, and grated garlic. Add potatoes, evaporate milk and water. Mix until potatoes reach your desired texture. Plate and serve with butter.

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Pork Dumplings

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These dumplings are far from beautiful. Like pies and my prior attempts at pierogies, I am still bad a sealing foods. Don’t let these dumpling’s appearance fool you though, because these dumplings were very tasty! This recipe takes a while to make, so give yourself an hour of just prep time if you plan on making your own wrappers. You could also just by store wrappers and that will help a ton. Learn from my mistakes by taking the advice next. First, make sure your dough isn’t too sticky for your wrappers. If the dough tries to stick to your hand, add more flour. Finally, these will stick to the pan once all the liquid is out, so use a stiff spatula and scrape the bottom of the pan to get that nice crisp bottom. You could also steam them, but I don’t have a decent steamer basket, so this faux steaming will work for me. These dumplings are savory and have so much flavor. The soy dipping also helps even out the flavor and is necessary for this recipe. This recipe makes 20 dumplings or 3 adult servings.

What You Will Need

Wrappers

  • 1 1/2 Cups Flour
  • 1/2 Cup Warm Water
  • Rolling pin
  • Cling wrap

Filling

  • 1/2 lb Pork, ground
  • 1/2 Medium Onion, finely diced
  • 2 Garlic cloves, minced
  • Ginger paste
  • Sesame Oil
  • Mixing Bowl
  • Frying pan and Lid
  • Stiff Spatula
  • Soy sauce, for serving

Directions

Making Wrappers

1. Mix together in a bowl flour and water until the dough comes together. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough should not be sticky. Once dough is formed, wrap in cling wrap for 30 minutes to rest.

2. Once rested, turn out onto floured work surface. Divide into 20 balls and cover with cling wrap when not working with them. Roll out each ball into a 3 inch circle. Set aside on floured surface.

Making Pork Dumplings

  1. Mix together in a mixing bowl, pork, garlic, onion, ginger, and sesame oil.

2. In the center of your wrappers, add 1 Tbsp pork mixture. Fold in half and seal edges. Begin heating your frying pan over medium heat.

3. Once hot, add enough dumplings to fit in pan without touching. Add 1/3 cup water, and cover for 5 minutes and cook undisturbed. Remove the lid and cook until all the water disappears and the bottom of the pan begins to turn a dark brown. Remove from heat. Using spatula, free your dumplings from the pan, plate and serve.

Chicken Lo Mein with Cabbage

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I have done many posts about lo mein, but I have yet to post about the standard, chicken lo mein. This chicken lo mein is full of savory flavors, tender chicken, sauteed but crunchy onions, and cooked cabbage which adds a whole new texture. Lo mein is a classic oriental dish that is easy enough to make at home. This recipe makes 4 adult sized servings.

What You Will Need

  • Wok/Large Dutch Oven
  • 2 Tbsp Oil
  • 1 Medium Onion, sliced
  • 2 Cups Rough Cubed Green Cabbage
  • 2 Frozen Chicken Tenders, Cut into Strips
  • 8 Oz Vermicelli/spaghetti
  • 2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
  • 3 tsp Sesame Oil, Divided
  • 5 Tbsp Tbsp Soy Sauce, Divided
  • 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
  • 2 tsp Dried Ground Ginger
  • (Optional) 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Directions

  1. Add your oil to your pan and heat over medium heat until hot. Add your Cabbage to the oil, add 1 tsp sesame oil and 2 Tbsp soy sauce, and cook for 5 minutes. Also begin boiling your spaghetti, cook until al dente, then strain.

2. Add your sliced Chicken and cook on each side until both sides are cooked (it will finished cooking with everything else). Add onion and cook until beginning to soften.

3. Add remaining sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, then stir together to coat. Add your noodles and stir until everything is coated, then remove from heat. Let cool for 5 minutes before eating.

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Shrimp Stock

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Shrimp stock is easy to make and versatile in many recipes. Shrimp stock can be used in soups, sauces, and additional flavoring in many recipes. First, stock should be seasoned to your liking. I added some of my seasoning to the recipe below, but I also added additional garlic powder and salt to taste once strained. Second, if you are using a finer shell for your stock, you could also strain through a cheese cloth and I would recommend that. I froze my stock. I froze about 2 cups in a larger container, and I froze another 4 cups as cubes. You can boil your broth longer to boil off more liquid which will make a stronger broth. I also didn’t strain off any fat/oil from my stock. If that is a concern of yours, you can remove your oils before preserving. This recipe makes about 5-7 cups of stock.

What You Will Need

  • 1/2 to 1 cup Shrimp Tails/Shells
  • 1 Medium Onion, halved
  • 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Butter
  • 9 Cups Water
  • Large Sided Frying Pan / Dutch Oven and Lid
  • Strainer
  • Freezer containers/Freezer Bags/Canning Jars

Directions

  1. Heat a frying pan/dutch oven over medium high heat. Add butter and shrimp shell together, and cook for 1-2 minutes or until butter begins to brown. Add Onion and 1/2 of water. Bring to a high boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium, add remaining water, and return to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 3 hours stirring occasionally.

2. Once cooked, place strainer over another container and strain out your stock. Discard shells and onion. Use right away, or let cool for 1 hour.

3. Once cooled, you reach the preservation stage. You could place it in the fridge, pressure can it, or freeze it. If you plan to keep it in the fridge, move the stock to several Quart Jars and store for no more than 4 days. If you choose to freeze, there are many approaches. You can freeze in 2-3 cup increments in glad containers, freeze your broth in glass jars with the lid off then add the lid when it’s fully frozen, and/or freeze your broth in ice cubes trays then transfer them to a freezer bag. There are many different choices, but these are the most common I’ve seen.

Red Sauce with Onion Pizza

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This recipe makes enough dough for 2 pizzas, but the rest of the ingredients are for 1 pizza!

This was the second pizza I made with my broccoli and shrimp pizza yesterday. This pizza is a classic pizza topped with onion, but it has a fun and delicious twist! The spices you would usually mix into the sauce, I sprinkled evenly over the dough, and it was a great idea! In sauce, the herbs become mellow and blend with one another more, but sprinkling them means more herbs, and more not being baked by the sauce. I also liked the baked onion on top. It cooked long enough the raw flavor was gone, but it was still crunchy on the pizza.

What You Will Need

  • 3 1/2 tsp Active Dried Yeast
  • 2 Cups Warm Water
  • 6 Cups Flour Separated
  • 3 Tbsp Oil
  • 2 Baking Sheets, 13 x 18in, 1/2 Baking Sheet
  • 1/2 Medium Sliced Onion
  • 1 Can 8 Oz Tomato Sauce
  • Dried Crushed Basil, Italian Seasoning, and Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 Bag Mozzarella, 16 Oz
  • Non-stick Spray

Directions

  1. To Make Dough: In a bowl, mix together Yeast, Warm Water, Flour, and Oil. Mix until a smooth dough forms, then set aside and let rise til double in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn out onto a greased countertop and divide into 2 portions for 2 pizzas.

2. Heat oven to 400 F. Spray both baking sheets with non-stick spray, add dough and spread evenly over the bottom to edges. If dough pulls back from the edges, let rest for 5 minutes before trying again. Once pulled to edges of pan, sprinkle spices over the whole pizza, top with tomato sauce, and spread to 1 inch from edges of crust. Bake for 10 minutes then remove.

3. Add mozzarella then onion over 1/2 baked pizza. Return to oven and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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