Shortbread "Serpentine" cookies recipe

Today I tried to make cookies from this Web site: www.say7.info. If you speak Russian – go ahead and try some recipes there, whatever I tried work well for me. If you don’t speak Russian, all you can do just look at the pictures and read my recipe trial post :) .

These shortbread cookies turned out to be very tasty and delightful. But I’ll need to work on presentation a little bit more. Baking is not my strong quality, so if I could make it, anyone can do it too.

You need:

- 8 oz (1 cup, 2 sticks, ½ pound) sweet unsalted butter
- 1 cup of granulated sugar or 1 3/5 cups of powdered sugar (7 oz. or 200 g.)
- 1 teaspoon of vanillin or 2 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3.5 cups of all purpose flour (15-16 oz., 420-450 g.)
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 tablespoon of cocoa



Leave butter at room temperature until fully softened. Mix butter with sugar and vanillin. I didn’t have powdered (confections, icing) sugar and used regular one. I used artificial vanillin, which is not the best choice. It leaves bitter aftertaste sometimes. It is better if you find natural vanillin for most of the meals, but synthetic one worked well for me in this recipe.


Add 2 eggs, mix well.

Add flour and baking powder, make dough. You can substitute baking powder with baking soda and vinegar mixture. Instead of 1 teaspoon of baking powder you’ll need ½ teaspoon of baking soda which must be mixed with some vinegar.




Divide dough in two equal parts. Stir cocoa into one part.

Roll out light (yellow) dough into a square. I put some olive oil on the cooking surface before rolling out dough. It might be a good idea to use foil or parchment paper, because dough came out pretty sticky.

Take aluminum foil, cut it in dough’s square size, and then place chocolate dough on it and roll dough out.






After chocolate square is ready, place on the top of vanilla one and put foil away.

Make a roll. This was not the easiest task for me because dough was not firm and was too sticky. This step must be done patiently and carefully. I messed something up and my cookies didn’t come out as pretty as they should. But they were tasty ones!

Place the roll into freezer for 10-15 minutes. I placed it first on the foil and then on the cutting board.

After dough had firmed a little, cut it in about ½ inch (1 cm.) slices. Place on a cooking sheet. Make sure you use parchment (baking) paper or slightly oil cooking sheet beforehand.

Bake cookies for 15-20minutes at 350 F or until browned.

Cool the cookies or serve them warm with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!






Ala

What’s better than food? Food and a Beer!

The third most popular drink after water and tea!
So whenever you go overseas here is how to order beer in 10 languages!

Chinese Ching gay woh ee bay pee joh
Dutch Un beer, ahls-yer-bleeft
French Oon bee-air, seel voo pleh
German Ine beer, bitt-uh
Irish Byohr awoyn, lyeh doh hull
Italian Oo-na beer-ra, pair fa-vo-re
Japanese Bee-ru ip-pon ku-da-sai
Portuguese U Oo-ma ser-vay-ja, poor fa-vohr
Russian Pee-vah pah-zha-loosta
Spanish Oo-na ser-veh-sa, por fa-vor

…but if you decide to stay home you can just use the good old “gimme a bud”

DD

Recipe: Russian "French style meat"

Here is the Russian recipe I’d like to share with you. I just want to warn you before you go on reading through it that Russian kitchen is pretty rich. You’ll find a lot of recipes with mayo, butter or fatty pieces of meat. But the meals are very good and delicious! You don’t have to eat them all the time, but you can indulge yourself sometimes, right?
The recipe of baked under mayo and cheese meat we, Russians, used to call “French meat”. Don’t be fooled by the name. This recipe has nothing to do with French kitchen. This is probably because in native Russian kitchen sour cream, not mayo is often used (yes, famous Russian salad Russians don’t consider to be Russian: )). And there is not a lot of cheese in the original Russian recipes.
For this recipe you can use any type of meat, chicken or even fish. Most popular is pork, some use veal, some chicken. Meat will be tender and juicy and absolutely delicious. Try it!
 This recipe has a lot of variations. Besides different types of meat some may add potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini or bell peppers. You can pick any type of cheese you like, but I would recommend choosing medium or sharp one.

For 5-6 servings you need:

-2 lb. of lean pork

-3 medium onions

-8 oz. of shredded cheese

-About 2 cups of mayonnaise

-Salt

-Pepper

I bought thin sliced lean pork chops. If you have regular ones, you’ll need to cut them lengthwise.

Tenderize each piece of meat with meat tenderizer.

Put salt and pepper to your taste and place meat on a tray slightly oiled beforehand.

Slice onions in a half rings.

Spread onions on the top of meat evenly. This is a step where variations exist. Some people put onions on the bottom of a tray, others add thin sliced potatoes, or mushrooms, or zucchini, or bell peppers. Whatever you like more and think that will go really good with your meal - just add it and see how it goes. Or just try simple and well-tried by me way.

Cover meat and onions with cheese. I picked Colby Jack mix.

Cover cheese with mayonnaise. Mayo doesn't let cheese to burn too fast, thus it is better when it covers cheese, not the other way. But you can find plenty of recipes that tell you to spread mayo first and then cheese. So, you can do it either way. Just remember: I'm sure my way is a better one :)

Cook in the oven for about 40-45 minutes at 375 F. You can set the oven at 350 F and cook for one hour, or set it at 400 F and reuce time a little. Longer cooking time will make meat more tender.

Serve hot with your choice of side.

Enjoy!

Your Ala

STRAWBERRY GELATIN DESSERT

A favorite dessert of me. I made it for every time when my friends come over and was loved by everbody. It's very good and easy to make! It takes about 10 minutes to prepare.



Ingredients

1 (6 oz.) pkg. strawberry gelatin
1 lb. pkg. strawberries
2-1/2 cups boiling water
1 pt. cream, cool whip


Stir in two and a half cups boiling water into 2pkg. gelatin in bowl 3 minutes until dissolved. Do not add cold water. Place the block of strawberries in that hot mixture. As the strawberries melt, the mixture will start to thicken. Place bowl in refrigerator and allow to thicken to about a strawberry jam stage. It takes about 3 hours until firm.

Special Extra: When strawberries at proper stage, pour whipped topping over gelatin dessert.

Makes 8 servings. Post by C.A.

Pot Pie - That you will love!

Try this recipe and then come back and share your comments. Every time I have made this pot pie for somebody new they say "Pot Pie---I hate pot pie!" And then they proceed to eat half the pie and ask when I am going to make it again.

The first time I made this pot pie, I emptied my refrigerator with leftovers. It can't be something you don't like because you only add the things you do like to it---and anything goes.

Ingredients

1 Philsbury Pie Crust

6 oz Meat of Choice, cooked
1 pkg Frozen Vegetables (or empty your refrigerator using all leftovers)
1 can Cream Soup of Choice
1/3 can Milk
1/4 cup of Cooked Pasta or Rice
3 oz Cheese of Choice (about 5 slices)

Place pie shell in pie dish. Cover bottom with bite-sized pieces of meat. In separate bowl, mix vegetables, pasta or rice and can soup with about 1/3 can of milk. Stir well. Pour mixture over meat in pie dish. Cover top with cheese. Put top pie shell on and pinch outer edges together. Vent top by making 3-5 slices in crust. Bake 45 minutes at 400 F or until golden brown. Let stand for 5-10 minutes so the juices won't run. Enjoy!

Posted by PAR

Meryl Streep provides a stunning performance on Julie & Julia talking about post war France and her passionate love for cooking, outgoing personality and life while producing the book that would change several lives. The movie is a perfect date night movie that talks about food and how the life of two women cross in the most unpredictable of ways. By DD.

All you need to know about chocolate!

Did you know that there is a chocolate museum in Bruges, Belgium? It is called Choco-Story and is located in the historical Huis ‘de Crone’ building, "one of the largest medieval houses in Bruges". Museum walks visitors through the history of the chocolate, tells them secrets of making chocolate, lets them taste different sorts of chocolate and has all the variety of Belgian chocolates.

Check out their Web site at http://www.choco-story.be/ENG/

You'll find there recipes, history of a chocolate, health facts and much more.

You can find some Things You never Knew About Chocolate in the Choco-Story' Press Kit (under downloads), such as:

Did you know that ...

… in bygone days chocolate was served to ladies of nobility during mass?

… the church banned the consumption of chocolate at one time because it was deemed to be an aphrodisiac?

… there are over 800 (!) different constituents in chocolate?

… chocolate contains antioxidants (e.g polyphenols) that help prevent heart disease and cancer?

The information and picture are taken from http://www.choco-story.be/ENG/

A.S.

Study Finds Chocolate has Anti-Depressant Qualities

Professor Gordon Parker from the Black Dog Institute said that the opoids found in chocolate are morphine-like and lower pain and that also flows through into mental well being. You can read more at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/02/2049304.htm?section=world
Posted by PAR

Yes-You-Can Easy Layered Cookies

Ingredients
2 pkgs Nabisco Graham Crackers
1 stick Butter, melted
1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup Baker's Shredded Coconut
1/2 cup Mini M&Ms
Any other toppings you like Alternate Toppings

For these easy layered cookies, graham crackers make the base. Pour the butter over the crushed cookies. Now add your layers. For a chocolate decadant cookie, use chocolate graham crackers. Then add a touch of coconut (the coconut helps give the cookies firmness). Add chocolate chips and mini M&Ms. (You can always add dark chocolate chips and white chocolate chips too. At Christmas, add the red and green chips.)

For a variation, use cinnamon graham crackers and then add all kinds of nuts: pecans, pistachios, cashews, walnuts etc. Or make a pina colada cookie and use coconut, pineapple and cherries.

Kids love to make these because there is a lot of sprinkling and they get to add all the things they like such as peanut butter chips and marshmallows.

Start with crushed graham crackers. Use chocolate graham crackers for extra chocolate. (I use the cinnamon graham crackers when I make nutty cookies.)

Pour the melted butter over the crushed graham crackers.

The second layer is coconut. If you think you don't like coconut then just add 1/4 c. If you really like coconut, add a little more.

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! Add mini M&Ms.

After drizzling the entire can of the sweetened condensed milk over the layered ingredients, bake for 25 minutes at 300 F. Cut cookies in to squares and let cool. Eat and Enjoy!

Posted by PAR

Chocolate Dipped Fruit and Nuts

Chocolate Dipped Fruit and Nuts are light, easy and so delicious that are surprisingly easy to make. The flavor combination can't be beat.

These bite-sized treats taste sophisticated and none too sweet, since they are made with fresh fruit, unsweetened dried fruit and dark chocolate.


Ingredients

Fruit - strawberries, pear slices , apple slices , pineapple slices, pear slices, apricot halves , banana chips , peaches slices , plums.

Nuts - Cashews , Brazil Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans, Hazelnuts 1 pound of bittersweet or white chocolate and finely chopped.

Procedure

1. In heavy saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate; stir until smooth.
2. Allow mixture to cool slightly. Rinse the fresh fruits and let dry completely.Dip fruit slices or nut about 2/3 of the way into chocolate mixture.
3. Place on wax-paper-covered tray. Refrigerate, uncovered, until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.
Posted by C.C.