Food Minia

I just ha d to share these cute bunny rolls that I made for Easter dinner.  Everyone loved them they were a huge hit.  The dough recipe is from a previous post by my sister, Lynn, and si nce the recipe has be en pinned over 250,000 times w hy use a nother ?  She call s it Best Rolls Ever.  Now, I can't claim that I came up with the bunny design all on my own.  Nope that's what Pinterest and Google are for.  Bunny design came from Taste of Home . Though the design and a different recipe is used at Taste of Home they didn't have pictures of step by step instructions which I will include here. After you make Best Rolls Ever recipe you will need to let your dough rest for 30-60 minutes. Punch down your dough and with a rolling pin roll out your dough to at least 20 inches long one way (see picture below). Using a pizza cutter you will cut horizontal 1/2 inch strips.  Then cut the strips vertically 10 inches, 5 inches, two 2 inches, and then one inch....

I had this sweet salad first in a little restaurant in Edmond, Oklahoma, my home town. It was in the space where I had my first job, a clerk in a doughnut shop. We clerks got all the doughnuts and ice cream we could eat. Great perks. I lost the job when my hair got too long and I refused to cut it. Ah the Sixties! The restaurant is now kind of shishi. Like Edmond now. Now I eat sweet salads instead of doughnuts. Ah, my sixties! If you have the walnuts and bacon ready, this is five minutes to put together. If you don't--and have an oven on for something else--you can cook the bacon and the walnuts while other things are going. Sugared walnuts are kind of a pain to make, and messy gooey to clean up. So an easy (and easy clean-up) method is to simply put eight ounces of walnuts (whole or pieces) on a Silpat in a baking pan, spray with cooking spray, and toss with two tablespoons of sugar. Bake in a 370 to 450 degree oven (depending on what else you are cooking) for five to ten m...

 I used to love to make this for the kids. We had a little heart-shaped wicker basket, which I would fill and let drain overnight. The kids loved this like cheesecake. And it's so much healthier. The basket fell apart. So Amazon.com came to my rescue with a purpose-made dish that drains neatly. It's just enough for two, really, 12 ounces. Very romantic as a dessert to share. With proper prior approval by the sharee, of course. (Ms Manners has the final word on people who expect one to share when one does not want to). Edouard de Pomaine ( French Cooking in Ten Minutes p. 140) has this in a much faster form than mine, above. "Beat some heavy cream into farmer's cheese or soft cream cheese. Stir in some sugar and a little powdered cinnamon. This is a super-quick dessert and it's excellent [italics mine!]. You can serve it either with or without vanilla wafers." 1/2 package of Neufchatel (low fat cream cheese) 1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream 1 tablespoon h...

There are all kinds of 'abats'--organ meats. (French for slaughterhouse is abattoir .) But liver is the easiest and fastest and healthiest and, well, easiest to take for many people. Julia has liver exactly right when she says it "cooks hardly more than a minute on each side. Overcooked liver is gray, dry, and disappointing—perfectly sautéed, it is a rosy pink when you cut into it. " The photo shows pork liver, my favorite, cut by the Meat Lab into lamelles, a little thicker than the usual. So it took about two minutes a side. A lot of paper towels or newspaper will help--to blot the liver and dredge it. If you put it on the counter it makes a huge mess. 4 slices (about 1 pound) calf's or pork liver sliced about ½ inch thick Salt and freshly ground pepper ½ cup or more seasoned breadcrumbs or flour in a plate 3 tablespoons butter and olive oil combined, or clarified butter Heat the butter and/or oil over high heat. Season the liver on one sid...

The best things are the simplest. I write this in early March, when there is a lot of snow on the ground. And it is barely above freezing days. And I hate Iowa. Next pic, please. And I do dream of summer tomatoes. Heirlooms, sure. But also just Burpee garden variety tomatoes. With some basil. No vinaigrette. Maybe some salt and pepper. Maybe not. And then maybe some cucumbers. On the deck. (next pic please). Overlooking the miserable tomato vines that I try to grow almost every year, from the glorious smelly young plants the farmers at the market sell before there's anything else to sell, except maybe rhubarb or greens. And then, about the fourth of July, I realize, again, that I am no farmer, nor even a vegetable gardener. I am just a tomato eater. And a pretty good one. I am, however, an excellent tomato slicer. And that is really all it takes. Some say it doesn't even take that. Some eat tomatoes like apples, whole, just biting into them, and letting the juice go where it...

Cupcakes always look so beautiful when you add a lot of height to them.  However, I'm not a huge fan of a ton of frosting.  To solve my dilemma,  I came up with the simple idea that you can have a little bit of frosting but then pile it high with flavored whipped cream.  You get the gorgeous look while keeping it light and airy.  These started out as an experiment but have been a HUGE hit with friends and family so I love to make them for special occasions. If you have a chocolate cake recipe that you already like, feel free to use it.  I used to use box mixes for this but I recently fell in love with a recipe from my friend Ali's cookbook called "When Life Gives You a Chocolate Craving" .  She has given me permission to post it here for all you fine folks.  Enjoy! Ingredients for the batter: 1 c water 1 c butter 6 Tbsp cocoa 2 c flour 2 c sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp basking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 c sour cream Directions for the batter: Boil the water,...

I know I saw The French Chef episode called "Elegant Eggs" ( the video in a new window ) with these cool eggs. But I had forgotten it (as I have most things I saw in the 1960s). So it was with a sense of revelation that I discovered a new (to me) way to fix eggs. And super fast (MAFC I p. 122) and so versatile. You can throw anything on them, almost, including chicken livers!--Julia puts this first!  Plain (or with cream and cheese) it takes only 5 minutes. With sauteed chicken livers it takes 10 minutes. And they really do come out "perfect," as she says in the video. Serves two as a first course 2 eggs olive oil cooking spray [optional:] 2 tablespoons cream or crème fraiche [optional:] 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese [optional:] chopped herbs or scallion tops Heat the broiler and place the rack in the closest position to it.  Place a half sheet or shallow pan over two burners on high heat and add 1/4 inch water.  Spray small two shallow dishes (3-4...