Saturday, December 26, 2009

Oven-baked Meat sauce and cheese pasta--VERY Similar to the one in Pizza Hut!!

First of all, WOW...can't believe it was so long ago since we last posted. Sorry for not updating for a while. It has been a busy end-of-the-year for all of the authors of the blog. But we're still here. Struggling, but still here (I hope. At least I am).

Pizza Hut spaghetti

My version of it :)


So, I went to Pizza hut a month ago and tried their meat sauce spaghetti. They called it spaghetti, but it was actually the rottini pasta. Anyways, I fell in love with it immediately after the first bite. So good, so good. Sorry for the lack of word to describe the tastiness. It was, however, not cheap.

I dreamed about it even in my sleep. I hungered for it for a few weeks and I decided to search for the recipe online. Nope. Couldn't find the exact same one. I mixed a few of the recipes of pasta and spaghetti sauce I found online to make the pasta so close to the one in Pizza Hut it made me cry...well, almost.

So here we go.

Servings: 4 people
Ingredients:
1. Rottini Pasta: 1 bag
2. Hunts Meat sauce: 3/4 of a can.
3. Mozerella chesse: 1 cup
4. Parmesan Chesse: 1/2 cup
5. Ground beef: half pound.
6. Half of an onion, diced.
7. 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, diced.
8. 2 table spoon of Olive oil
9. pepper and salt to taste


Instructions:
--Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit).
--Boil a pot of water and cook the pasta with a teaspoon of salt. When the pasta is cooked, dump the hot water and rinse the pasta in cold water. Drained the pasta.

Sauce:
1. Heat the olive oil in the pan on medium high fire.
2. Stir in the garlic and onion. Fry til the onion gets soft.
3. Pour in and stir fry the ground beef til it's not pink anymore.
4. Pour in the meat sauce and stir the mixture evenly.
5. Keep stirring til the mixture starts boiling.
6. Mix the drained and cooked pasta into the mixture and mix them evenly.
7. Add the parmesan cheese and stir.
8. Add in some pepper and salt to taste.
9. Turn off the fire and pour the pasta and meat sauce into the 9x13 tin-foiled baking pan.
10. Sprinkle and cover the pasta with the mozerella cheese.
11. Put the pan in the preheated oven and let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Voila! Pizza-hut style "spaghetti".


Happy Cooking!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

S'more Cookie Bars!

These are great because you get to eat them without actually needing to go camping! haha.

S'more Cookie Bars

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up ad spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Scrumptious Seafood Soup


My own creation. Sorta. In Malaysia, there's this soup called Sea cucumber soup, which is expensive and not home-made usually. I love sea cucumber soup so super much and everytime I eat it at the restaurant, I would be paying attention to what ingredients the chefs used. I would try to cook the soup at home, substituting sea cucumber for other seafood, such as crab meat and shrimp. I love it so much I can eat it everyday! Now, let's see you have a try.

Ingredients:
-- 2 sticks of artificial crab meat (usually in a packet, it comes in 8 sticks), chopped finely.
--6 to 8 large shrimps, deveined and peeled, cut into small pieces.
--2-3 shiitake mushroom, soaked in a bowl of water til softened. Then, cut them into small pieces.
--About a cup of ground pork.
--2 cloves of garlic, diced.
--4 cups of water or more depending on how much soup you want to cook
--1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
--1 teaspoon of salt, or more, to taste.
--Some black pepper (optional)
--1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoon of water, mixed.
--1 egg, beaten.

Instructions:
1. Heat the oil on medium-high fire in a non-stick pot.
2. When the oil is warm (put your hand over the pot and if you can feel the heat, it's warm enough), stir in the garlic til they turn slightly brown.
3. Then, stir in the ground pork and stir-fry it til it's no longer pink.
4. Stir in the artificial crab meat, shrimp, and mushroom. Stir fry them for about 30 seconds.
5. Pour in the water and turn the heat up to high.
6. When the soup starts to boil, turn the heat down to medium and pour in the cornstarch mixture. Stir lightly and you will see that the soup has thickened.
7. Pour in the beaten egg and stir immediately and vigorously for a few seconds. Be careful not to spill or burn yourself.
8. Turn off the heat and season the soup with salt and pepper. If you use chicken granule, it's okay too.

Tips: 1. This soup needs your attention almost constantly. You have to be careful of the heat so as to not let the soup boil over. I had to remove my pot from the heat a few times because the soup was boiling over. to prevent that from happening, try cooking it at medium or medium-high fire and not let it boil too long after you pour in the cornstarch mixture.

Feedback and questions are always welcome. Happy Cooking!

Sharon ~

Mapo Tofu

So I tried to write about a dish on my iphone just the other day but for some reason iblogger quit on me and I didn't get to save what I was typing! Sorry for taking so long to blog about the things I cooked recently but I had been quite busy with school and had not been very diligent in cooking. Anyways, I have a few more posts coming up soon.

A couple of years ago I tried cooking a Sze Chuan (a province in China) dish called Mapo Tofu. I failed horribly. The tofu and ground pork turned out tasting pretty nasty for whatever reason I can't recall now. I ended up throwing the whole dish away because just the smell of it was enough to cause nausea. I never tried cooking it ever since, that is, until a few weeks ago I came across the Mapo tofu paste in a chinese shop in Provo, Utah. I decided since my cooking skill has improved since the failed attempt two years ago, I should redeem myself this time.

A couple of days ago, I finally took out the paste sitting in my pantry and used it. I was pretty nervous about it but it turned out to be DELICIOUS! My jaw dropped when I tried a tiny piece of tofu. It was a miracle!! My husband and mother-in-law loved it too.

On the side note, Mapo tofu is a great way to take away the blandness of the tofu. It's so worth the try.








Ingredients:
--A packet of Mapo tofu paste (there are many kinds. It doesn't matter which kind you use).
--A packet of extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1 inch cubes.
--4 oz or a cup (if you must know the exact measurement, check the converter on the side) of ground pork.
--Some spring onion, chopped.
--A teaspoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoon of warm water. (If the paste that you buy has already included a small bag of potato starch, then skip this).
--2 teaspoon of vegetable oil/ cooking oil

Instructions:
1. Heat the non-stick pan with the oil on medium-high fire.
2. Stir fry the ground pork til it starts to turn from red to brown.
3. Stir in the tofu and the packet of Mapo Tofu paste.
4. Stir fry for about 3 minutes.
5. Pour in the cornstarch (or potato starch) and stir the mixture.
6. Throw in the spring onion and stir fry for about 30 seconds.
7. When the paste is boiling, remove from heat.


Happy Cooking!! This is a must try!


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Dutch Pear Pie



I have never had a pear pie before, so I thought I would try this recipe. It was actually pretty good! Not my favorite, but good! I would recommend at least trying one good pear pie in your life.

Makes: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Start to Finish: 1 hr 40 min

CRUST
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed by box

FILLING
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, beaten
3 cups coarsely chopped fresh pears (2 to 3 medium pears)

CRUMB TOPPING
1 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate; do not prick crust. Carefully line pastry with double thickness of foil, gently pressing foil to bottom and side of crust. Let foil extend over edge to prevent excessive browning. Bake 10 minutes. Carefully remove foil; bake 2 to 4 minutes longer or until crust just begins to brown and has become set. If crust bubbles, gently push bubbles down with back of spoon.
2..Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix filling ingredients. Pour into warm baked pie shell. Mix crumb topping ingredients with pasty blender or fork until mixture looks like fine crumbs; sprinkle evenly over filling.
3..Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until top is light golden brown. After 30 minutes of baking, cover top of pie with foil to prevent excessive browning. Cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

I try to make one dessert a week, so I have two more to show! Stay tuned!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Chicken and Rice Casserole

This dish is so easy and so good to make. It is so delicious, even my husband loves it. The first time I ate this I fell immediately in love with it. I spent years looking for the recipe because I was so dumb to not ask for the recipe when I had the chance to at first. Now that I have this recipe, I just can't wait to share it with you guys! Definitely give it a try.




Servings: 4-5 people
Ingredients:
--1 cup of celery, diced. (If you hate celery, use broccoli)
--Half cup onion, minced.
--2 tablespoon butter
--2 cans of cream of chicken soup. (You can use chicken and mushroom soup too!)
--Half cup milk
--1 1/3 cup of mayonaise or salad dressing

Combine and mix thoroughly all the above ingredients in a large bowl.

--3 or 4 chicken breasts or fillets
--3 cups rice, washed.
--4 cups water.

Instructions:
1. In a 9x13 pan or a baking dish, pour in rice and water. On top of the rice, arrange 3 or 4 chicken breasts or fillets.
2. Pour the mixture evenly over the top of the chicken and bake in oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees farenheit.


Tips: 1. If you are pressed for time, you can cook this dish in the rice cooker using the same method. It only takes about 40 minutes.
2. If you are cooking for 2 people, cut all the ingredients measurement in half.

Happy Cooking!
Sharon


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Onion Beef

This dish I am going to share is one of my tried and true recipes. It's something I would bring to a potluck dinner and get praises from. It's also really easy to make.




All you need to have are (for marination):
--beef, chopped into bite size pieces.
--2 to 3 cloves of garlic, diced.
--1 teaspoon of soy sauce
--half teaspoon of garlic salt, if you don't have it, just use normal salt.
--a few dashes of black pepper

If you can, marinate all of the above items in a bowl overnight. If you are pressed for time, then just dump everything in a bowl, mix them well before you cook it.

You'll also need:
--half of an onion, chopped into small pieces.
--1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Instructions:
1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a saucepan on medium high fire.
2. When the oil is warm enough, stir fry the onion til it gets soft and slightly yellow-brown.
3. Dump in the marinated beef and just stir fry til the meat is cooked.

That's it! Very easy and delicious. It should only take about 10 minutes to cook this.

Have fun cooking!

Sharon

Monday, October 5, 2009

Tom Yam Pork and Veal Meatballs with Mushroom

Asian food is my favourite. Therefore, I love creating my own Asian food even though some of the original recipes are Western food. LOL. This dish was supposed to be tossed with creamy mushroom sauce. However, I choose to use Tom Yam. If you love some spicy and sour food, Tom Yam paste is good to go with.

Ingredients:

Pork and Veal Meatballs ( You can find it in Woolworth if you’re in Australia)

Mushrooms

Tom Yam paste (any Asian store)

1/3 cup of water

Chives

Let’s Cook:

1) Cook meatballs on a preheated frying pan with some cooking oil at medium heat until cooked thoroughly.

2) Add the mushrooms when the meatballs turn golden brown.

3) Add the cooked meatballs with Tom Yam paste and the 1/3 cup of water.

4) Make sure to continuously stir until boiling.

5) Top dish with chives and serve.

It is a simple dish. Hope you like it!!


There are many types of TomYam paste. Choose anyone if you don't have your preference.





Enjoy!
Ivy ~

Friday, October 2, 2009

Peanut Butter Cookies

I know I post way too many desserts...but they are what keep my buoyed up in life! I can't live without the sweets. :)

Here is a favorite family recipe of mine; peanut butter cookies!


Makes: 3 dozen

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix margarine, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar together.
2..Mix in egg.
3..Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in with mixture.
4..Place on cookie sheet and press down balls of dough with a fork.
5..Bake about 7 1/2 minutes.
6..ENJOY!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Celery and Shrimp

I love seafood and shrimp is my favorite! I could eat shrimp all my life and not get tired of it. There are so many ways of cooking shrimp and they are all so tasty! Anyways, the recipe I am going to share today is one of my mom's. I used to eat this dish without ever thinking how she cooked it. So I tried really hard today to emulate the same recipe. Of course the taste is not exactly the same but it's close and it's as good :) *If you are allergic to shrimp...sorry!*






What you need:
-- 20 large shrimps, peeled and deveined (you can buy shrimps that are peeled and deveined in most grocery stores)
-- 1 cup of celery, washed and diced
--3 cloves of garlic, chopped
--1 teaspoon of garlic salt (or more if you like it saltier)
--1 teaspoon of corn starch

gravy:
Mix and stir the two items below in a bowl.
--2 cups of water (less if you want the gravy to be thicker)
--1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Instructions:
1. Heat the saucepan over medium-high fire. Then, pour in the oil.
2. Stir in the garlic after the oil is heated. Fry for roughly 30 seconds.
3. Stir in the celery and fry for 1 minute.
4. Throw the shrimps in. Stir-fry them til the shrimps turn red.
5. Pour in the gravy and keep stirring til the gravy boils.
6. Turn the fire off and season with the garlic salt.

*Serve this dish with steam rice.

Happy cooking!
Sharon

Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies


So I was a hankerin' for some cookies and just happened to have all the ingredients for this Fall Cookie recipe! And let me tell you something, these are one of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted. I love the cinnamon and ginger in these. It really gives them a tasty flavor. Try them and they may become your favorite as well!

Makes: 5 dozen
Prep Time: 20 min.
Start to Finish: 1 hr 15 min.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1 cup chopped walnuts -- again, I didn't add nuts

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. On low speed, beat in remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and walnuts. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
2..On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart.
3..Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Pesto!

So this weekend I made pesto for Sunday dinner and it was delicious. The wonderful thing about pesto is that it's incredibly easy to make, but it's hard because since it's so easy I can't give an exact recipe! (at least, I've never used an exact recipe, but I'll try). This recipe is for a pest pasta. I don't think it is thick enough to spread on bread like I know a lot of people like to do.

Ingredients:
1 bag of pine nuts (it seems like all the bags you can buy in the baking section of the store are about the same size)
1 large clove of garlic
salt and pepper (to taste)
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese, shredded (1 cup-ish)
1 bunch cilantro (you know the size they sell the bunches in the store)
2 cups packed fresh basil

** this is for about 1 box of pasta, I prefer penne pasta, but I guess you can use whatever you want! Cook the pasta first. I won't give directions since I think everyone knows how.**

Okay, once you have the ingredients, this is so easy. What you need is a food processor. And then you pretty much just blend everything together! Start with the garlic and the pine nuts (if you have time, roast the pine nuts a little first, and start processing. Add the cilantro and basil, while adding a little bit of olive oil at a time. You'll end up adding about 1/2-1 cup olive oil. Once everything has been processed, mix it up with the pasta and add as much parmesan cheese as you'd like. You'll want to add some salt and pepper, but you might just want to let people add it themselves as they eat.

The wonderful thing about pesto is that it's so versatile. I like to make it with basil and cilantro the best, but some people make it with spinach, argula, etc . . . Warning: argula makes it quite bitter. Also, if you want it creamy, instead of olive oil, try some cream.

Sometimes I like to chop up some roma tomatoes to throw in the pasta, or grill some chicken.


Sorry if this "recipe" was confusing. Next time I'll try measuring while I cook so I can have a better idea what to tell you guys!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars


Another Betty Crocker recipe that turned out to be delicious! My husband really loves it. The sad part is...we left these bars sitting outside the fridge all night so now we have to throw it away. It makes us REALLY sad because they are SO yummy! Not to mention they took a little while to make. :'( Hopefully next time we will remember to stick it back into the fridge! If it weren't for the cheesecake I think it would have been fine.

Makes: 24 bars
Prep Time: 20 min.
Start to Finish: 3 hrs 40 min.

INGREDIENTS
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine -- I used margarine
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts -- we didn't add these as we are not nutty people :)

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, place cookie mix. Using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through mixture in opposite directions), cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture; press remaining crumbs in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
2..Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
3..Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked crust. In medium bowl, mix pie filling and cinnamon. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over top. Sprinkle with walnuts.
4..Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool about 30 minutes. Refrigerate to chill, about 2 hours. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Cover and refrigerate any remaining bars.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Banana Lumpia, a filipino dessert :)

The first time I tried Banana Lumpia was at the Jackie Chan Restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. When my friend and I ordered this dessert, we didn't know what to expect, except we know banana is involved. When the dessert arrived, it looked really good, as were all the restaurant food. The bananas were wrapped in the spring roll/lumpia wrap and fried. I took a bit and fell instantly in love with it. It is best served with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream. The hot and the cold created such warmth in our mouth it was hard to describe the feeling.
Tastiness: 5 stars.

Tips:
1. Banana is really filling. So if you're the only one eating the lumpia, you should consider using only 1 or 2 bananas.
2. This dessert is best served immediately. If you leave it overnight, it's not going to be crunchy at all.
3. If you have ice cream at home, serve it with a scoop of ice cream.

Ingredients:
--1 banana, halved. (if you are using those really small bananas, you don't have to cut it in half)
--2 spring roll/lumpia wrappers. (Can be bought in most Asian food store at the produce area. If you live in St. George, Utah, try Harmon's.)


--Some powdered sugar
--Some water
--Oil (as much as you need to fill your frying pan half way up)

Instructions:
1. Wrap each banana in a spring roll wrappers like the pictures below shown. Use the water to seal the wrapper in the final step of the wrapping process.









2. Heat the oil on high over the stove.

3. Fry the wrapped bananas in the pan til the wrappers turn golden brown. Stir them while they are being fried so they can be fried evenly.

4. Remove the banana lumpias from the pan and use the paper towels to drain the oil from the lumpias.

5. Sprinkle the powdered sugar on the lumpias.

6. Serve immediately.



Banana Lumpia





Happy Cooking!
Sharon










Thursday, September 24, 2009

Enjoy longevity!

Hi there,

Chicken and mushroom soup is perhaps one of my favorite food in the whole world. I get the worst case of nostalgia everytime I eat it. Most commonly, our family eat the soup with the Chinese long-life noodles. They go so well together. It's like yin and yang, the perfect harmony.
The reason why the noodles are called long-life noodles is, you guessed it, they are so long and the symbolize longevity. The more authentic ones are super thin, sun-dried, and rolled into coils. The Japanese called them "somen" and they eat them with sauce, not soup. Anyways, the long-life noodles are usually eaten during the Chinese New Year and birthdays. It is a tradition that my family and many other chinese have practiced for years and years. Give it a try, it's scrumptious.

p/s: The Chinese long-life noodles can be bought in China Town and the Japanese "somen" can be bought in most stores that sell Asian Foods.





Ingredients:
--2 pieces of ginger, chopped finely. (If you don't have the real ginger root, use the ground ginger powder--a few dashes of it is sufficient).
--3 boneless chicken fillets/2 boneless chicken breasts-->thawed and cut into bite size pieces or bigger.
--2 big bowls of water/350ml
--4 pieces of shitake mushroom, softened in some water
--1 tablespoon of cooking oil
--1 teaspoon of salt or more (some people like the soup saltier)
--1 coil of long-life noodles (per person)

Instructions:
1. Heat the pot over medium-high fire. Pour the oil into the pot and wait for it to heat.
2. When the oil is heated, turn the fire down to medium. Put in the chopped ginger and stir fry the ginger for roughly 30 seconds.
3. Throw the chicken pieces in and stir fry them for 1 minute.
4. Pour in the water and turn the fire up to high.
5. Throw in the shitake mushrooms.
6. Sprinkle in the soup salt and some MSG(just a tiny bit of MSG will make the soup tastier. It's okay to go without the MSG too.)
7. Wait for the soup to boil.

---------------------------------------------

8. To cook the long-life noodles, boil a pot of plain water.
9. When the water is boiled, throw in a couple coils of long-life noodle.
10. Let the noodles cook for about 30 seconds. Them, use a fork or chopsticks to separate the noodles.
11. When the noodles is soft, it is ready to be served in a large bowl.
12. Pour in the soup, chicken pieces, and mushroom onto the noodles. Serve hot.

Tips:
1. Don't cook the noodles for too long. When the noodles float to the surface of the water, it is basically ready. The longer you cook, the fatter the noodles get.
2. Most people cook the soup with chinese rice wine (it's more authentic). You can pour in a tablespoon or two of the wine while stir-frying the chicken.
3. For most Chinese food, you have to taste it to see if you have gotten the level of saltiness/taste you like.
4. Eat the chicken pieces with Soy Sauce. It always taste good on plain meat.


Happy Cooking!
Sharon

Cinnamon-Topped Zucchini Bread


I made this recipe from a Fall Recipe book I bought about a week ago. It is super delicious and super moist. I did change a few things around so please see my notes in italic.

BREAD
3 cups shredded zucchini (2 to 3 medium) -- I used one large zucchini which is about 2 and a half cups
1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups whole wheat flour -- I used white flour because I don't have whole wheat
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

TOPPING
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cold butter

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Move oven rack to low position so tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottoms only of 2 (8x4-inch) loaf pans or 1 (9x5 inch) loaf pan with shortening, or spray with cooking spray.
2..In large bowl, stir zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs until well mixed. Stir in remaining bread ingredients; mix well. Pour into pan(s). In small bowl, mix topping ingredients with fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter in pan(s).
3..Bake 8-inch loaves 50 to 60 minutes, 9-inch loaf 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan(s) on cooling rack 10 minutes.
4..Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove, and place top side up on cooling rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

I cut our bread about 20 minutes after it was done because my husband and I love warm warm bread. Mmm mm good!!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Welcome!

Hello fellow food-lovers,

Welcome to "I Eat. Therefore, I Cook." This is where we will share recipes, cooking tips, and everything about food. We will have recipes from all around the world. As good things are better if shared, we invite you to share with us your valuable experiences in cooking and contribute recipes if you feel like doing some good deeds. Have fun hunting for the recipes you have been dying to try and tell us if you like them.

Oh, I forgot to mention, we only post recipes that our contributors have tried.

Happy cooking!