Top Secret Restaurant Recipes

Posted on July 11, 2011 by admin

I love eating out. But it’s kind of expensive to do that very often. Sometimes when I enjoy a delicious meal I say to myself: “This must be a top secret restaurant recipe!”. But guess what? There’s no such thing as secret restaurant recipes.

I also noticed that restaurant prices keep going up, so what if you could cook those restaurant recipes at home? You might think they have specialized chefs there, with a lot of school, but if you have the right ingredients and the right method everyone can do it. You don’t need to be an expert.

I’m sure you were in the situation where a friend with no experience cooked dinner and you were very amazed like he was a professional chef knowing all the secrets behind the art of cooking. And you probably asked him to give you the secret recipe. For sure he gave it to you, because it wasn’t that secret after all.

What happened when you tried it home? You made a tasty and good looking dish without going to any fancy schools. Why? Because you knew the ingredients and the method how to combine them.

What about a fancy named dish like peri sauce with fish fillet?

http://i51.tinypic.com/15z5ez4.jpg

Looks tasty and complicated I know. But as you can see, if you know the secret recipe is not that hard to cook it at home!

But some of you might not like fish! What about stake? Everyone loves stake! What a wonderful thing would be to cook mix and match steak recipe like in your favorite restaurant. Well, just check the recipe.

I love desserts! There are a bunch of delicious cakes you can cook at home! Doesn’t matter if you love apples, cherries, bananas, mango, peaches, chocolate or vanilla! You can combine them as you wish into some splendid recipes!

For the pasta lovers out there, maybe some tasty spaghetti and meatballs will do the trick for you! It’s so easy to cook, that even a ten years old kid can do it if you give him the recipe. Even more exotic names like shrimp pasta are easily done with the right instructions.

There’s really no magic or a complicated process behind cooking some great dishes that you might have eaten only on restaurant or that you might have seen only at TV. Some recipes are indeed time consuming to cook, some of them require some exotic ingredients, but there’s nothing that you can’t buy at your supermarket if you really want to do it. It’s really up to you how far you want to go after you get hold of the secret restaurant recipes you want to cook!

Posted in Restaurant Recipes | 3 Comments

Easy Apple Cake

Posted on July 6, 2011 by admin

“Wiener Apfelkuchen” is an easy apple cake recipe with a shortcrust, chopped apples and a custard or cake filler. This German apple cake is a great change from pie.

Easy Apple Cake Recipe

Preparation time needed: 50 minutes

Cooking time needed: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Total Time needed: 1 hour, 65 minutes

So what do you need?

  • ***Crust***
  • 1 2/3 c. flour (200 grams)
  • 1 T. sugar (12 grams)
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 9 T. butter (125 grams)
  • 1 large egg beaten with 1 T. water
  • ***Apple Filling***
  • 2.2 lb. apples (1 kg)
  • Juice from 1/2 lemon
  • ***Cake Filling***
  • 2/3 c. sugar (125 grams)
  • 13 T. butter
  • 1 egg
  • Zest from 1 lemon
  • 3/4 c. flour (100 grams)
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 15 T. cream (200 ml) – a little less than 1 cup
  • ***Topping***
  • 4 T. sugar
  • 2 T. sliced almonds
  • ***For the Form***
  • 1 T. butter
  • 2 T. breadcrumbs (or flour)

How to Make Crust like a Pie Crust

Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Cut cold butter into dry ingredients until small crumbs form.

Beat the egg with the water and use 4 – 6 tablespoons on the crumbs to moisten. Stir just until the mixture forms a ball. Gather into a ball and refrigerate about 1/2 hour.

Chop Apples for Cake

Cut each peeled, quartered apple into four, long pieces, then cut crosswise into small trapezoids.

Sprinkle with lemon juice and toss.

Make Cake Batter for Apple Cake

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and lemon zest.

Mix flour with baking powder. After that add to creamed butter mixture. Beat the mix until smooth.

Add table cream and beat between additions.

Assemble and Bake Apple Cake

You need to preheat your oven.

Butter a springform pan and sprinkle it with flour.

Roll out crust to fit springform cake pan and line pan, piecing crust as necessary to form a lip.

Add your drained apple slices into the crust.

Spoon cake batter over apple slices, then smooth over apples to edges.

Add 3 tablespoons almond slices then 4 tablespoons granulated sugar evenly over batter.

Bake the mixture for one hour in the preheated oven. After that turn off the oven, but keep the cake in there for another quarter of hour. This is for the crust to turn golden brown.

After the cake is completely cooled down, you can feel a better taste.

Now you’re ready to serve it with whipped cream!

Posted in Cake | 4 Comments

Apple Cake

Posted on July 6, 2011 by admin

What you’ll need:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 cups apples, pared, cored and quartered
  • 1/4 cup non-hydrogenated Crisco or other shortening
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon dark rum
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (or 1 teaspoon freshly grated)
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 1/4 cups whole pecans

First you need to preheat your oven.

Process pecans by pulsing twice to leave nearly whole pieces. Add a cup of cored and peeled apple pieces. Pour salt, vanilla, sugar and baking soda. You can also add cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Process briefly so that chunks remain. Add your second cup of apples, processing one pulse only. This makes the apples have different consistencies. Add raisins and butter, then pulse once.

Add flour and process only until combined, some lumps will remain.

Turn into a well greased and floured 9x9x2 inch baking pan.

Bake 42-53 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Now you’re ready to serve it with whipped cream flavored with little vanilla or rum. Add a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.

Posted in Cake | Comments Off

Original Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

Posted on July 1, 2011 by admin

What you need:

  • 1/2 pound bacon, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound fresh spaghetti
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • Salt
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

You’ll need a large pan for this. Cook the bacon until it’s crispy in over medium heat. 6 minutes should be enough. After you remove the bacon drain it on a paper towel. Pour off all the oil, but keep 3 tablespoons. Add the garlic. Use the black pepper. Saute fore 30-40 seconds. Mix the crispy bacon and the pasta. Saute for 2 minutes. Season the eggs with salt. Remove the pan from the heat and add the eggs, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but be careful not to scramble. Add the cheese and you’re ready to serve!

Posted in Pasta | Comments Off

Tasty Spaghetti and Meatballs

Posted on July 1, 2011 by admin
Spaghetti and Meatballs

Who doesn’t love spaghetti and meatballs? Spaghetti and meatballs has to be the most efficient dish ever invented, at least if you’re lazy at cooking.

This is an adaptation to another recipe. So you don’t have to add the last to the sauce or cook the onions before adding the garlic. But you can experiment more too.

What you need:

For the Sauce

  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ chopped sweet yellow onion
  • 3 cloves chopped garlic
  • 1 cup very finely chopped carrots
  • 1 cup chopped crimini brown mushrooms
  • 2 28-oz cans Italian plum tomatoes
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste concentrate in tube
  • ¼ cup grated parmesan-romano cheese blend
  • Salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
  • ¼ cup red wine

Meatballs

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • ½ lb fresh bulk Italian style pork sausage
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • ½ cup finely chopped crimini brown mushrooms
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ cup unseasoned bread crumbs
  • ¼ cup grated parmesan-romano cheese blend
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • Red wine

Spaghetti

  • 1 1/2 lbs dry 100% thin spaghetti

Method

Step 1 We start with the sauce. Heat olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook them for 2 minutes. Cook the garlic for 2 minutes. Add carrots and mushrooms, blend together for 2 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, stir together. Add basil and parsley, stir tomatoes with a potato masher until sauce starts to thicken about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Add tomato paste concentrate, stir to blend. Reduce heat and simmer while preparing meat balls, stirring occasionally.

Step 2 Now let’s prepare those meatballs. Mix by hand in a large bowl beef, Italian sausage, basil, parsley, mushrooms, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, herbed salt, and pepper until well mixed. Use small melon baller, or teaspoons to form 1-inch round meat balls. Roll and compress into tight balls.

Step 3 Heat frying pan on high heat. Add olive oil. Sear and brown meat balls on all sides. About 2-3 minutes. Depending on pan size you may need to brown two batches of the meatballs. Do not crowd the pan by stacking the meatballs. Cook in a single layer. Do not over-cook. As meatballs are finishing, add a little bit of red wine to de-glaze pan.

Step 4 Add ¼ cup red wine to the sauce. Then stir in ¼ cup cheese. Add salt to taste. Add meatballs, gently stir. Simmer sauce and meatballs for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 5 While the sauce is simmering, bring a large pot with 4 quarts of water in it to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add 1 Tbsp of salt. When the water returns to a boil add the pasta to the pot. Leave the pot uncovered while you cook the pasta on high heat with a vigorous boil. Put a timer on for 8-10 minutes, or whatever your pasta package directions say is appropriate for al dente (cooked but still a little firm). Drain.

Step 6 Place thin layer of sauce on plate, add pasta, add sauce and meatballs, sprinkle with grated parmesan-romano cheese.

Step 7 Enjoy!

 

Posted in Pasta | 1 Comment

Cook Asparagus for Dinner

Posted on June 29, 2011 by admin

http://startcooking.com/public/IMG_3942.jpg

For dinner at home, with or without company, I like to serve asparagus because fresh asparagus can get cleaned, trimmed and steamed in the microwave in less than 10 minutes. I steam the “spears” just to the point where they are tender but still have a bite to them. Then I just add a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and sometimes a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and the asparagus is ready to serve.

The best asparagus is the one with nice bright green stalks and not dry or shriveled. The thickness of the asparagus can vary depending on the season you buy it. It can be thin like a pencil or even 3 times thicker! The thicker one is easier to peel.

Asparagus is sold by the bunch. There are approximately 14-18 spears of asparagus per bunch. Count on about 3 to 5 spears per serving.

Make only what you are going to eat for dinner. Asparagus cooks really fast in the microwave so there is no point in making enough for leftovers.

If you are not going to use it immediately, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator. It should keep about 3-4 days.

Ingredients for 3-4 servings:

  • One bunch of asparagus
  • 1 Tablespoon of water
  • Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

Wash one bunch of asparagus under cool running water.

Trim away the bottom 1/3 of the stalk. The tip of the asparagus is very tender, but the further down you go on the stalk, the tougher it gets.

If you bend the asparagus it will naturally snap at the point where it goes from tender to tough.

http://startcooking.com/public/RoastedAsparagus2.jpg

Now use the shorter asparagus piece you have as a ruler to cut the rest of it.

Peel the stalks so that they are the same width as the tip. This ensures even cooking. Really thin stalks of asparagus do not need peeling.

Lay the asparagus two to three deep in a rectangular dish.

Add one Tablespoon of water.

Cover the dish with plastic wrap. Leave a small vent in the corner for steam to escape.

Set the microwave on high heat and cook the asparagus about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. If you want your asparagus to be more tender, cook it for another 30 seconds or so.

Don’t forget about your asparagus. Overcooked asparagus has an unappealing shade of green and doesn’t taste that good.

Serve your asparagus hot or cold. If you want it cold, then cool it off quickly not to loose the beautiful green color. You can just put it into a bowl of cold water.

…or in a colander and run cold water over the spears.

Posted in Veggies | 1 Comment

Easy Chicken Curry for Home

Posted on June 29, 2011 by admin

This is a very easy instructional video how to make chicken curry in your own home:

Posted in Chicken | Comments Off

Peri Sauce with Fish Fillet

Posted on June 29, 2011 by admin
A very simple, but tasty sauce for your fish…

The ingredients are for 2 portions. You can scale it up if you need to:
The fish:
  • 500 g fish fillet

And for the sauce:

  • 1 red capsicum, chopped
  • 4 clove(s) garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp ginger, chopped
  • 3 small red chilli, chopped
  • 100 ml olive oil
  • 55 ml fresh lime or lemon juice
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp paprika powder
  • 1 tsp cumin, ground
  • 2 dash(es) Angostura
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Method:

Process the sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor.

Rub a part of the sauce in the fish, cover and marinade for about one hour in the fridge.

Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the fillets until just cooked through, turn over once.

Serving Suggestion: Serve the fish with the remaining sauce.

Tip: delicious with king prawns.

Posted in Sauce | Comments Off

Fresh Mandarine Orange Cheesecake

Posted on June 29, 2011 by admin

Mandarin Orange Cheesecake is the perfect treat for you and your family. If you have never made a cheesecake before, this is the first cheesecake you should make. The crust is made with digestive biscuits which are like sweet cookies, if you don’t have these, you could use your favorite graham cracker crust recipe.

This is a simple recipe to make. The crust is very easy to put together, simply crust the cookies, add melted butter, and then bake your crust. The cream cheese and the sweetened condensed milk are simply mixed together. easy to make cheesecake

The secret in this cheesecake is to allow it to sit at least 8 hours before serving. That’s it, so this recipe is perfect for kids, or the beginner cook.

Now how to make the Mandarin Orange Cheesecake

Yield: 16 servings.
1 1/2 cups crushed digestive biscuit cookies
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
2 packages (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
3 mandarin oranges
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush the digestive biscuit cookies in a food processor, process cookies until they are crushed into fine crumbs. Pour cookies into a bowl, and add 6 tablespoons of melted butter and nutmeg and stir to combine. Press the crust into an 8 inch spring-form pan. Bake crust in for approximately 12 – 15 minutes. The crust should be a golden brown color.
In a medium sized bowl combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and one teaspoon vanilla stirring into the cream cheese. Mix cheesecake mixture until very smooth, this can be done by hand or with a mixer. Peel two of the mandarin oranges, and cut the segments into small pieces over the bowl with the cheesecake mixture. You will want any of the juices to fall into the cream cheese batter. Stir the orange pieces into the cream cheese. Spread the cheesecake batter over the crust, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.
Before serving, peel the last orange and use to decorate the top of the cheesecake.

If you need more information about biscuits take a look at this recipes:

King Arthur Flour has a recipe for Digestive Biscuits

Swirl and Scramble has a recipe for Digestive Biscuits too

I like using digestive biscuits here because of the different texture given to the cake. And since the biscuits are already sweet, there’s no need for extra sugar.

Posted in Cake | Comments Off

Secret mix and match steak recipe

Posted on June 29, 2011 by admin

mix and match steakEveryone loves steak. Here’s a mix and match steak recipe!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what do you need?

  • 1 steak
  • oil
  • 1 whole garlic clove
  • herb sprig
  • butter , for fillet or rib-eye steaks

Now let’s start!

  1. Choosing your steak
    Rib-eye: The chef’s favourite. Allow 200-250g per head to allow for trimming. This cut used to be quite cheap, but is now creeping up in price. It has an open-fibre texture and a marbling of creamy fat. Cook with the surrounding fat still attached, then remove after cooking, if you prefer. The fat adds flavour as well as basting the meat during cooking.
    Fillet: The most expensive cut. Allow 100-125g per head. It is very lean and, because it has short fibres, very tender. Ask for a piece cut from the middle of the fillet, not the end. Also, ensure that the butcher removes the sinewy chain that runs down the side. I like to cook my steaks split in half lengthways, not the usual round medallion shape.
    T-bone: Generally 350-400g each, including bone. It has a good marbling of fat with a layer of creamy fat on one side – this should be left on for cooking, then removed if you like. You get about 200-250g of meat, with a sirloin on one side of the bone and a fillet on the other. You also get some marrow in the bone which can be spread on the cooked meat.
  2. To cook your steaks, heat a frying pan – to a moderate heat for fillet, hot for T-bone or very hot for rib-eye. Add a swirl of oil, with a whole garlic clove and a herb sprig. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and cook for 1½-2½ mins on each side. For fillet steak, cook the rounded edges too, turning to seal them well.
  3. If you’re cooking fillet or rib-eye steaks, add a knob of butter to the pan, allow to foam a little and baste the steaks. T-bone steak has plenty of fat, so simply spoon it over the meat as it renders down. Remove steaks to a plate and allow to rest for at least 5 mins. Trim off any unwanted fat.
  4. Slice fillet or rib-eye steak along the grain, then arrange on a plate with your chosen sauce and side dish. My personal preferences are for rib-eye with mushrooms and the shallot & red wine sauce; fillet steak with oven chips and bois boudrin; and T-bone with wilted spinach and mushroom sauce.
The next steps are:
Resting

The freshly cooked stakes needs to rest about 5 minutes. It will retain all its heat in a warm place for at least 10 minutes.

Tongs

It is important not to turn the steak in the pan until it has at least a few minutes of cooking each side. This way you’ll keep the delicious flavor.

The pan

Choose a heavy-duty frying pan with a thick base and, ideally, a non-stick coating. Don’t overcrowd the pan – cook the steaks one or two at a time, then heat them through in the sauce later.

Oils to use

Use groundnut oil for cooking steaks as it can withstand high-temperature cooking without burning and spoiling the flavor. You can finish with a little butter at the end of cooking.

Seasoning

Don’t season a steak until just before cooking, as salt draws out moisture from meat. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper onto a dinner plate and presses the steaks into the seasoning just before cooking them.

Posted in Steak | Comments Off