Nicole Wilker

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Archive for category Recipes

Grilled Eggpland and Yogurt Dip

Feb 8

Posted by nwilker in Recipes | 2 Comments

I needed to find a gluten free vegetarian appetizer that i could make with what I had in the house…  arg…

But then I came across this recipe and with some modifications made an amazing yummy dip!!!

The recipe calls for roasting the eggplant, I had already cubed and fried mine up for something else, so i used it in that fashion.

Grilled Eggplant and Yogurt Dip

Ingredients

  • 1  eggplants
  • 1  medium minced fresh onion, divided
  • 3  minced garlic cloves, divided
  • 1 1/2  cups  plain low-fat yogurt
  • 1/4  teaspoon  salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8  teaspoon  cayenne pepper
  • 1/4  cup  chopped fresh mint (or parsley)

Preparation

1. Prepare Eggplant:  peel eggplant, slice in 1/4 – 1/2 inch slices. Place on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for 30-60 minutes.  Flip over, sprinkle with salt again and let sit for another 30-60 minutes.  Pat dry and wipe off the salt. Cut each slice in little cubes.

2. Spray frying pan with non stick spray. “Fry” the eggplant till it has a char, spraying and stirring as needed. Set aside to cool or cool over night.

3. Spray frying pan with non-stick spray. Add 2/3 of the diced onion and garlic to the pan. Stir the onion and garlic till complete.

4. Meanwhile, mix the remaining onion and garlic with the yogurt; then season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne.

5. Once the eggplant, onion and garlic is cool a bit, mix with the yogurt dressing. Chill if time allows, or just serve at room temperature; garnish with mint or parsley.

It had a great flavor and made a ton!!  Yummy as a sandwich filler!

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Instant Chai Tea

Dec 30

Posted by nwilker in Recipes | No Comments

I made this for my sister, MIL and SIL for Christmas. I put it with bags of black tea because i couldn’t find the instant unsweetened tea, until right after i packed the box and shipped off the presents! I found the recipe on Busy Cooks It makes a ton, so get a big bowl!!!  And i could never find vanilla powder in the store and on line it was more money than I wanted to spend, but using liquid vanilla is fine, just let it try before putting everything in the blender!

I also limited the sugar, figuring more could be added later, but couldn’t be taken out.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 2 cups powdered non-dairy creamer
  • 2 tsp. vanilla powder  (see bottom for options)
  • 2-1/2 cups sugar  (i used stevia or splenda from the bag – less than 2 cups)
  • 1-1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea  (leave this out and add the mixture to a cup of black tea or earl gray)
  • 2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 tsp. ground cardamom

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. In a blender or food processor bowl, place 1 cup at a time, and process until mixture is blended and the particles are fine.Add 2 heaping serving tablespoons Chai tea mixture to a mug of boiling water and stir to mix well.

*If you can’t find vanilla powder, mix 2 tsp. vanilla extract with some of the sugar until blended and dry. Then process with remaining ingredients in blender or food processor.

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Popcorn!

Dec 27

Posted by nwilker in Crafts, Ramblings, Recipes | No Comments

Popcorn!

So quickly we forget!
Prior to Christmas I found an awesome caramel corn recipe and made it the first time with a microwave bag of popcorn.
After that first time and how yummy it was I determined I needed to find a different way to pop popcorn.
Then i went back in my memory banks and recalled a time when there was no microwave and we have a big metal contraption to pop the popcorn and corn came in a bag… Oh yeah.

I did some research and to my joy I found one could pop popcorn in the microwave without a brown paper bag nor oil! Woohoo!

Basically you get 2 soup bowls, shift then just a tiny bit so the steam can escape, pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes and 45 second for 2 tablespoons of kernels and whala – you have a bowl almost fully popped! Sweet!

It was just a sad state that we had come so far as to forget how to pop popcorn…  Didn’t the pilgrims and native americans do it ages ago, over an open fire even…

Technology just might kill us!

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Caramel Corn

Dec 27

Posted by nwilker in Recipes | No Comments

Caramel Corn

Ingredients

    Cooking spray
    1 cup packed dark brown sugar
    1/2 cup light-colored corn syrup
    1/4 cup butter
    1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    12 cups air-popped popcorn (6 T kernels)

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a large jelly roll pan or baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a medium or large heavy bottomed saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring 3-4 times to scrape down the sides of the pan and keep the mixture from bubbling up. If you have a pastry brush, dip it in cool water and use it to brush down the sides of the pan. Be careful; the mixture will burn you if it boils over. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Place popcorn in a large bowl; pour sugar mixture over popcorn in a steady stream, stirring to coat.  (find a second person or spouse to stir while the other pours!)

Spread popcorn mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven; stir to break up any large clumps. Cool 15 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

Let the popcorn cool completely before storing. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Serving size is about 2/3 cup.

Number of Servings: 18

(for some extra umph – melt chocolate in the microwave and sprinkle it over the popcorn – put the tray in the fridge to harden the chocolate)

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Mocha Fudge

Dec 24

Posted by nwilker in Recipes | No Comments

Mocha Fudge

This was a Sunset recipe that i gutted due to what I have in my house. But it turned out tasty and could be very bad to my “bottom” line! I’m sure the recipe creator is rolling in their grave since I removed the whole essence of the fudge, but we like it!

Time: 30 minutes, plus at least 2 hours to chill. There are few treats in this world better than a smooth, chocolaty, decadent morsel of fudge, and this recipe is one of the best we’ve tried.

Yield: Makes 36 pieces (1 in. square)

Ingredients

  • 1  pound  bittersweet chocolate, chopped 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 3/4  cup  unsalted butter, at room temperature 3/4 cup margarine, at room temperature
  • 3  tablespoons  instant espresso powder
  • 2 1/2  cups  sugar
  • 1/4  cup  corn syrup
  • 1  can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
  • 2  cups  chopped toasted almonds

Preparation

1. Line a 9- by 13-in. pan with foil, letting foil hang over edges. Set aside. In a bowl, combine chocolate, butter, and espresso.

2. In an 8- to 10-qt. pan (i’d suggest bigger than 10), combine sugar, corn syrup, and milk, then bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon to prevent boiling over, until mixture reaches 235° on a candy thermometer, about 15 minutes.  (use the thermometer! more like 20-30 min)

3. Remove pan from heat and pour chocolate mixture into hot milk. Stir until smooth. Pour fudge into prepared pan, smoothing top with spoon. Chill at least 2 hours.

4. Invert fudge onto a cutting board and peel off foil. Cut fudge into 1-in. squares.

Make ahead: Up to 1 week, chilled airtight, or up to 2 months, frozen.

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Cayenne Beer Brittle

Dec 24

Posted by nwilker in Crafts, Recipes | No Comments

This is a conglomerate of 2 or 3 different recipes!

I like how it turned out. Up or remove the heat to your taste!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 cup beer

1 tbl butter

1 tbl Cayenne peppter

1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

1 tsp Sea Salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preparation:

Line a jelly roll pan with a silpat

Combine sugar, corn syrup, beer , cayenne and butter in a heavy sauce pan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar disssolves.

Cook 30 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 275.  (use the thermometer)

Stir in the peanuts.

Remove from heat, stir in baking soda and salt. Mixture will thicken, bubble and turn opaque

Quickly pour mixture onto prepared pan.  Spread to a 1/4 inch thickness using a wooden spoon coated with cooking spray (or just use the one you used to stir everything with!).

Cool completely.

Break brittle into bite sized peices.

(while still setting  the brittle can be scored for more even breakage once hard)

Other options:

Chardonnay Brittle – replace beer with wine, remove cayenne, add 1 tsp vanilla

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Spicy Almonds!

Dec 23

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I finally re-created the recipe i used last year! Yeah!!!

Ingredients

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp cayene

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 rounded cup of almonds

Preparation:

Spray pan with pam. Add spicy olive oil – a drizzle or 2.

Once oil and spray is heated over medium heat, add spices to pan.

Move around the pan till it forms small clumps.

Add another drizzle of spicy oil

Add almonds

Combine almonds with spices until almonds are toasted. Stiring occasionally

Cool on aluminum foil.

Store in an air tight container.

Enjoy!

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Spicy Almonds!

Dec 22

Posted by nwilker in Recipes, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

I finally re-created the recipe i used last year! Yeah!!!

Ingredients

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp cayene

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 rounded cup of almonds

Preparation:

Spray pan with pam. Add spicy olive oil – a drizzle or 2.

Once oil and spray is heated over medium heat, add spices to pan.

Move around the pan till it forms small clumps.

Add another drizzle of spicy oil

Add almonds

Combine almonds with spices until almonds are toasted. Stiring occasionally

Cool on aluminum foil.

Store in an air tight container.

Enjoy!

Mocha Chips ‘n’ Bits

Nov 14

Posted by nwilker in Recipes | No Comments

Mocha Chips ‘n’ Bits – another gem from my Great American Cookie Cookbook!

Could be made with or without the coconut.

Some people might be seeing these under their Christmas tree this year!

Mocha Chips 'n' Bits

Ingredients:

1 cup butter flavor shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbl milk

1 tbl instant coffee

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/3 cup flour

1 1/2 tbl unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup coconut

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 375. Place sheets of foil on countertop for cooking cookies

2. Combine shortening, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk, instant coffee and vanilla in a bowl. Beat until blended. Beat in eggs.

3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix into creamed mixtre until “just” blended. Stir in chips and cocnut. Drip rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to foil to cool.

Yields: 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

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Getting the oven to 180

Nov 13

Posted by nwilker in Ramblings, Recipes | 1 Comment

I enjoy cooking and baking etc, but have shied away from bread because it always says to let it rise for 2-5 hours at 180 degrees.

Well, i don’t know about you, but my oven does not allow me to set it to 180, so how the heck and i supposed to do this stupid rising business. So forget it, no bread in this house!

Flash forward to lunch with my friend deb. I had some biscuits and beer bread for lunch with her and we got to talking about baking bread.

I went into my normal rant of how the heck am i supposed to find a place to let this stupid dough “rise” for hours at 180…

She says – Oh, easy.  (WHAT? easy, well get on with it, how is this accomplished?)

Preheat the oven to 200.

Let it sit there for 10 minutes.

Shut it off.

Whala – you have 180

Well dagnabit, couldn’t all my cookbooks mention that little ditty?

Bread is on the adenda this weekend!

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