Leahs French Fried Onion Circles Recipe

Everyone loves onion rings, and since I was splurging and doing a coconut shrimp last week, I went ahead and made these – my take on an old favorite. This batter is great for veggies too, so if you have your fryer out, and are already making something naughty, you can also quickly make these as a nice side treat.

The onions come out sweet while the batter makes for a nice zest due to the jerk seasonings. This is the batter I used to make the shrimp, so I had left over batter that I used to make my onion circles...Soaking onions in milk first will help the onions be extra sweet.

Ingredients:

One large yellow or vidalia onion for each 2 people
2 large eggs
1/8 cup corn starch
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 good shakes of red chili peppers
2-3 tablespoons jerk seasonings
1 teaspoon freshly cracked tri-colored pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup water/milk

Directions:

Despite the amount of spices, these are not hot, yet they have some zest.
Slice onions 1/4 inch thick, do not make into rings, but try to keep slices ‘whole’
Place into batter and carefully flip them over to coat.
Place bowl with batter and onions into refrigerator until ready to fry.
These cook up quickly, and I did them last after frying up my shrimp I had made for dinner.
Take onion slices out of batter, let excess batter drip off, and carefully place into hot oil.
Flip over when one side has been browned and let cook on other side.
Let cooked onion slices drain of fresh paper towels, and sprinkle with a little kosher salt once right out of the hot oil.
Serve as a side dish and garnish with fresh chopped parsley or chives for added color if you so wish.

Onion Circles are shown at back of plate, served up on the delightful and extra naughty dish of coconut jerked shrimp and rosemary garlicked fries.

Butterscotch Pecan Soufflee - Best Recipe from Scratch

OK, Who would like another dessert? I do, I do!

So here is my version of a butterscotch pecan soufflé - yes it's soufflé day at my house...cheers! This is similar to the others I have posted, but has a few changes...so do take note.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup flour
2/3 cups firmly packed BROWN sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
4 eggs separated (separate when cold, much easier to do when eggs are cold)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter to stabilize egg whites
1-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped and toasted pecans
Well pre-heated oven at 425 with oven rack placed low in oven (not on the lowest, but not in the middle either)
1 UN-greased casserole dish 1-1/2 quarts size

Directions:

Note: you can bake this at two different oven temperatures...
If you want a soufflé that is evenly moist, then bake it at 325 for 50-60 minutes.
If you want a soufflé that has a thicker crust and a soft moist interior, then the quick baking method is for you: bake your soufflé at 425 for 25 minutes.
The above baking techniques work for all fruit soufflés that I post.
In a saucepan on top of stove on medium low heat, combine flour, sugar, salt and stir in milk a little at a time stirring with a whisk.
Cook stirring constantly until the entire mixture is smooth and thick.
Beat egg yolks under mixer until thick and yellow. Gently fold into cooked mixture and allow to cool on counter.
While that is cooling, add extract and toasted finely chopped pecans and stir that in.
Wash out your mixing bowl really well and beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add cream of tartar and mix in.
Fold one half of the beaten egg whites into the cooled down cooked mixture to lighten up the 'batter', then add remaining egg whites and gently fold in.
Pour into un-greased casserole dish and put into preheated oven at your chosen temperature.
Try not to peak as this can upset the soufflé from rising. Let it do its thing. I know! - Patience is a virtue and a perfectly baked soufflé!
Sprinkle a little sifted confectioner's sugar on the top of the baked soufflé.
Once baked, bring to table at once and serve it up with a soft dollop of whipped cream - to go extra fancy, add a little drizzle of butterscotch or caramel sauce along with your homemade whipped cream and add a fresh spring of mint on the serving for that "Martha look".
And as I mentioned above in the description, you can do all the preparing, and throw your soufflé into the oven when you are sitting down to eat your dinner. By the time you have finished dinner and you are making coffee, your dessert will be ready to eat!

Rice Surprise

Colorful wonderful tasting basmati rice is a great way to sneak in extra veggies. Now I love one pot cooking, since it makes for a quick and easy clean up. But speaking of cleaning up, you will be cleaning up this side rice dish rather quickly as you and your family gobbles it up. Heats up the next day perfectly as well...

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice
1 large onion sliced
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3-6 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
3 stalks scallions, chopped
2-4 good shakes of red chili flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon or more of freshly cracked pepper
1 and 3/4 cups water
2 tablespoons or less of olive oil
Pot with tight lid
1 clean dish towel or paper towels

Directions:

Put olive oil in pan and add onions.
Let onions sweat not sautée in pan till translucent (cook on medium low – you do not wish to brown the onions) (heck, it’s ok if some browning occurs)
Add chopped peppers and garlic, let sweat for five minutes
Add rice and all spices. With wooden spatula or spoon, stir till well combined.
Let rice get coated with the olive oil and spices.
Then add water, stirring once and put up heat and allow to come to a boil.
Once boiling, turn down heat to low and put on tight lid on pot.
Set timer for 12-14 minutes. (Don’t peek! – you will let important cooking steam out)
Once timer chimes, take off lid, and with spoon, pull away rice and see if any water still exists on bottom of pan. If so, allow to cook for another few minutes.
Once water has evaporated, turn off heat under pot and place folded clean dish towel (or paper towels) just over pot and just under lid. Let rice’s extra steam be soaked up by towels and let sit for at least 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
When ready to serve, fluff up rice with fork and add freshly chopped scallions to rice.
Serve up your rice surprise along with your favorite main course. Photo provided shows my rice surprise side dish along with my version and take on Noir’s chicken with garlic and lime that I made with pork chops.

This is yet another little trick to sneak in some vegetables for your family to consume, the color of this rice dish is amazing and the taste can't be better.

Leahs Coconut Jerked Shrimp

Now if you haven’t yet made your own coconut shrimp, this recipe couldn’t be easier. I adore coconut shrimp, and since it is so easy to make at home, I can save my money on something else with the way prices are soring these days from everything like eggs to gas. This is great to make as a party appetizer as well!

Ingredients:

4-6 shrimp per person- deveined, cleaned, shells removed, tails intact
2 large eggs
1/8 cup corn starch
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 good shakes of red chili peppers
2-3 tablespoons jerk seasonings
1 teaspoon freshly cracked tri-colored pepper
1/4 to1/2 cup water
1-2 cups of shredded coconut, spread out in shallow pan
Vegetable oil to fry shrimp in
wax paper and plate or plater that can go into freezer
paper towels for draining shrimp after cooking
Fresh lemon wedges to serve with shrimp
Dipping sauce of your choosing – I used my ‘Best Homemade Tartar Sauce’ (already posted)

Directions:

After cleaning shrimp, drain and place on paper towels to pat shrimp dry.
In Bowl, put all other ingredients except coconut to make batter, With whisk, stir till all well combined. Let sit for five minutes so ingredients can ‘get to know’ one another. If batter is too thick, you may add more water to thin it out, it should be less thick than pancake batter, yet not thin like crepe batter.
Line your plate or platter that will go into freezer with wax paper and place next to bowl with coconut.
Dip shrimp holding to tail into batter, let excess drip off, then place battered shrimp into coconut. Flip over once, so that coconut has coated shrimp. Use fingers to gently throw coconut onto batter on shrimp to coat.
Next place shrimp onto waxed paper. Continue with all other shrimp.
Once compete, place coated shrimp that is sitting on platter with wax paper into freezer to ‘set up’ for one hour or more.
I used my wok to fry the shrimp since it would allow me to fry six at a time – have at least 1/2 inch of oil.
Heat up oil to 350 degrees – or to test if oil is hot enough, place a small cube of bread in, and see that it browns quickly.
Cooking times may vary depending upon size of shrimp you are using.
So add shrimp carefully to hot oil, and let cook for about 4 minutes on each side depending upon the size of your shrimp – the shrimp I cooked were the colossal sized ones and extra huge, so you may want to adjust the time accordingly.
Once each shrimp is done, using tongs or slotted spoon, take out of hot oil, let drain a bit and then place on paper towels on a plate to further drain.
Serve your shrimp up with fresh lemon wedges and your dipping sauces could be anything from a mustard apricot jam concoction, to my tarter sauce (already posted) which is what I did. This dish I served last night also includes with Notyourmomma’s Garlic French Fries with added rosemary and Leah’s French Fried Onion Circles (just posted) as photo shows.

Best Homemade Crazy for Chocolate Souffle Is Super Easy to Make

Crazy for chocolate? Then get in line for this dessert to come out of your own oven! This is a great easy to make version of a vanilla soufflé.

If you like great desserts, this is one to try for your next party or for when you are craving your chocolate but bad!









Ingredients:

1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
4 eggs separated (separate when cold, much easier to do when eggs are cold)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter to stabilize egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Well pre-heated oven at 425 with oven rack placed low in oven (not on the lowest, but not in the middle either)
1 UN-greased casserole dish 1-1/2 quarts size
2 squares of unsweetened chocolate

Directions:

Note: you can bake this at two different oven temperatures...
If you want a soufflé that is evenly moist, then bake it at 325 for 50-60 minutes.
If you want a soufflé that has a thicker crust and a soft moist interior, then the quick baking method is for you: bake your soufflé at 425 for 25 minutes.
The above baking techniques work for all fruit soufflés that I post.
In a saucepan on top of stove on medium low heat, combine flour, sugar, salt, chocolate and stir in milk a little at a time.
Cook stirring constantly with a whisk until the entire mixture is smooth and thick.
Beat egg yolks under mixer until thick and yellow. Gently fold into cooked mixture and allow to cool on counter.
While that is cooling, start on your egg whites.
Wash out your mixing bowl really well and beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add extracts and cream of tartar.
Fold one half of the beaten egg whites into the cooled down cooked mixture to lighten up the 'batter', then add remaining egg whites and gently fold in.
Pour into un-greased casserole dish and put into preheated oven at your chosen temperature.
Try not to peak and open up your oven, as this can upset the soufflé from rising. Let it do its thing, I know patience is a virtue and a really good soufflé.
Once baked, bring to table at once and serve it up with a soft dollop of whipped cream - to go extra fancy, add a little of a chocolate flavored liquor to your homemade whipped cream as flavoring) and add a fresh spring of mint on the serving for that "Martha look" or a squirt of your favorite chocolate syrup.
Sprinkle and sift a little of confectioners sugar on top and voila.
And as I mentioned above in the description, you can do all the preparing, and throw your soufflé into the oven when you are sitting down to eat your dinner. By the time you have finished dinner and you are making coffee, your dessert will be ready to eat!
Photo credit belongs to gastronomicaljourney.wordpress.com (though I edited and brightened it), but recipe is 100% Divaliscious!