Christmas Spread

I'm beginning to feel rather silly that I posted no pictures of Christmas dinner. In my house we don't do the regular turkey shin-dig- we just buy a lot of fancy cheese and crackers and have ourselves a good old time. My personal favorite was the mango ginger stilton.

Tortillas

This is just about my favorite thing to snack on. I like to slather these guys up in honey and eat about 10 of them.

Mix up:

2 c any kind of flour (i like a mixture of whole wheat and white)

1/2 t (or more) salt

1 t baking powder

-mix until a ball forms. pat/roll out tortillas (they arn't going to look like the kind from the store- i make them smaller and thicker)

-fry without oil on a very hot pan, preferably cast iron

Nonnie's Fried Chicken

My great grandma Nonnie was a legit southerner. She knew her stuff; while I'm not a huge fan of the fried stuff in general, this seems like a dish that one ought to have in their repertoire (and its pretty damn good anyways)

Cut up:

3 lbs chicken

Sprinkle with:

2 1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Shake in a bag with:

1 1/4 c flour

-Fill a skillet halfway full with cooking oil

-Heat the oil until a drop of water pops when dropped into the oil

-Put chicken in (don't crowd, work in batches)

-Place a lid over the skillet and WATCH IT! when the bottom of the chicken turns brown, turn it over (it takes about 15-20 minutes to cook a pan of chicken)

-Take up the chicken on a paper towel.

YOGURT!

EVERYBODY loves yogurt. what's better? HOMEMADE YOGURT! and its easy! Heres whatchagottado:

Heat: 1 quart of milk to boiling for 1 minute

gently mix in: 2 Tb yogurt (I like greek yogurt for it's thickness)

pour it into a crockery bowl, cover with tight plastic wrap and put somewhere thats 110 degrees overnight, then switch to your fridge. GOOD TIMES!

Avocados with Thai Peaunut Sauce (or anything with Thai peanut sauce)

Hey hey hey! I'm on brief return from my cooking hiatus caused by a disturbing lack of oven in my dorm room. I'll try to work around it next semester (please co-op, get the the key to the community kitchen!). Anyhow, I'm celebrating my glorious return the the kitchen with this tastiness I made the other day (yes my mother and I ate 4 avocados together, stop yelling) oh and p.s. , the idea of an avocado and peanut sauce salad is admittedly stolen directly from Seasons in White Plains. Also: the measurements are approximate (guess-and check-method baby) so adjust as needed because I just threw in what looked good as I went along.

1 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

3 T sesame oil

2 cloves garlic

3 T ginger

1/4 c water

2 T Soy Sauce

(or maybe a little coconut milk if you have it?)

Put it in your blender and go! (until its smooth- it should have a ranch dressing-esque consistency

Slice up about 4 avocados and drizzle on top. Eat right away so you don't face that brown-avocado problem. You WILL have leftover dressing with this number of avocados- so put it on something else!

Cottage Cheese Griddlecakes

(Makes 12)

Beat:

3 Eggs

Add: 

1 c cottage cheese 

2 T melted butter

1/4 c flour 

1/4 t salt 

Mix no more than needed to blend

Fry on a hot buttered griddle

Blum's Chocolate Sauce

This chocolate sauce is EVIL.  My grandma makes it and it is just one of those addictive substances that tastes divine on almost anything you put it on.  Personally, my favorite combination is this sauce with fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and toasted whole almonds.  

In a double boiler, cook until smooth (stirring constantly):

8 oz baking chocolate (melt)

1 can evaporated milk

4 c sifted powdered sugar

Add and cook 'til butter is melted:

6 T butter

1/4 t salt

1 t vanilla