Perfect Guacamole Recipe

Perfect Guacamole Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• A dash of freshly grated black pepper
• 1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.

METHOD

1 Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. (See How to Cut and Peel an Avocado.)

2 Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.

Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.

Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.

3 Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.

4 Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

Variations

For a very quick guacamole just take a 1/4 cup of salsa and mix it in with your mashed avocados.

You don't need to have tomatoes in your guacamole.

To extend a limited supply of avocados, add either sour cream or cottage cheese to your guacamole dip. Purists may be horrified, but so what? It tastes great. In fact, guacamole with a little cottage cheese added to it is my favorite.

(Source)

Perfect Couple Pie

Perfect Couple Pie

Ingredients

For the pie:

1 chocolate graham cracker crust
1 cup peanut butter
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1 tub (12 ounces) Cool Whip, divided
1 jar (11.75 ounces) hot fudge topping, divided
½ cup sugar

For the topping:
2 tablespoons hot fudge
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Method

• In large bowl, beat peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar until creamy. Fold in 3 cups Cool Whip. Spoon mixture into crust and smooth to edges.

• Remove 2 tablespoons hot fudge from jar and reserve in zip-loc plastic baggie for later. Heat remaining hot fudge according to package directions. Spread on top of peanut butter layer. Refrigerate pie until serving time.

• At serving time, carefully spread remaining Cool Whip on top of pie. 

• Knead hot fudge in baggie with hands; cut tiny hole in corner of baggie and pipe over pie. Repeat with 2 tablespoons peanut butter and pipe on pie in opposite direction.

• Serve. If that isn’t making love to your tastebuds, I don’t know what is.

(Source)

Perfect Roast Chicken

Perfect Roast Chicken

To prepare your chicken • Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven • Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9 • There’s no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them • Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled • Pile all the veg and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil • Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird • Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour) • Put the lemon inside the chicken’s cavity, with the bunch of herbs To cook your chicken • Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven • Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes • If you’re doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking • Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning • When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so • Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside. Now is the time to make your gravy To carve your chicken • Remove any string from the chicken and take off the wings (break them up and add to your gravy for mega flavour) • Carefully cut down between the leg and the breast • Cut through the joint and pull the leg off • Repeat on the other side, then cut each leg between the thigh and the drumstick so you end up with four portions of dark meat • Place these on a serving platter • You should now have a clear space to carve the rest of your chicken • Angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other • When you get down to the fussy bits, just use your fingers to pull all the meat off, and turn the chicken over to get all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath • You should be left with a stripped carcass, and a platter full of lovely meat that you can serve with your piping hot gravy and gorgeous roast veg • from Jamie's Ministry of Food ingredients • 1 x approximately 1.6kg chicken, preferably free-range, organic or higher welfare • 2 medium onions • 2 carrots • 2 sticks of celery • 1 bulb of garlic • olive oil • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1 lemon a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture

Perfect Pizza Crust and Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza

Perfect Pizza Crust and Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza
The Perfect Pizza Curst
Source: Annies Eats (great blog!) orginally from Baking Illustrated
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) instant yeast
• 1 1/4 cups water, at room temp
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plug more for dusting
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• Cornmeal
• olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing bowl

Directions:

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes.Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook.Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
3. To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
4. Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza Adapted from Annies Eats

Ingredients:

• 1 perfect pizza crust (recipe above)
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto (store bough or homemade)
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. To roast the garlic: Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed. Remove garlic gloves and smash with a fork.
2. Spread roasted garlic over pizza dough. Do this to taste. I used almost the whole (small) bulb, but I LOVE roasted garlic.
3. Spread the pesto on the pizza.
4. Add the sliced, cooked chicken.
5. Sprinkle with mozzarella.
6. Top with fresh grated parmesan.
7. Bake on preheated pizza stone for 8 - 12 minutes.