Sesame ginger ribs

Combine 1/2 cup Epicure Sesame Ginger Grilling Sauce with 1/2 cup water. Add 1 tsp Lousiana Hot'nSpicy dip mix and just a shake of salt.
Brown a pound or so of ribs with about 4 cloves of garlic.
Place in a glass baking dish and pour the sauce over it. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake at 325F for an hour, turn the heat down to 275 for another hour and a half. Baste a couple of times. Remove the foil for the last half hour.

Served with rice cooked with 1/2 tsp of Louisiana Hot'n'spicy, and stir fried veggies. MMM!

"Margarita" Punch

2 cans frozen limeade
2 L club soda
24 ice cubes
1 orange, sliced
1 lime, sliced
Sophie says theoretically it should also include Tequila, but that is optional.
Not too sweet. Great with Mexican food.

Triple Bran Muffins

Combine
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oat bran
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup chopped dates

In another bowl, combine
1 cup apple juice
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup molasses
2 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt (more or less)
Whisk together

Combine wet and dry ingredients and spoon into 12 muffin tins. They will be full.
Bake at 425F for 20 minutes.

I like to fool around with this recipe to produce different kinds of muffins. Basically, the dry ingredients stay the same (except for the dates which could change to raisins, craisins, chopped apples, oranges - whatever, and you can be creative with the wet ingredients, as long as the total volume is roughly the same. That's what I like about muffins, you can be very rough in your ingredients indeed. Try: mashed bananas with raspberry juice and frozen raspberries; chopped apples with a tsp of cinnamon and substitute a cup of oats for one cup of the flour; use your imagination and whatever you happen to have on hand.

Ziti with Broccoli and Blue Cheese

So I tried this out of the student cookbook Jody got me for Christmas. I love blue cheese and actually like broccoli, despite being convinced otherwise for many years. It's a pretty simple recipe, though this is the first time I've ever used flour to make a sauce. A whole new world may have opened up.

6 oz. Macaroni (or ziti in this case)
8 oz. Broccoli florets
Knob of Butter (I had to use the Internet to figure out how much this is supposed to be, and I'm still not entirely sure.)
1 T Flour (I've never bought flour before, but there are 32 more ounces where this came from, so watch out.)
7 oz. Vegetable stock (I used chicken stock instead.)
Grated rind and juice of half a lemon (I skipped the rind, as I just had a plastic container of lemon juice.)
2 oz. crumbled blue cheese

Cook pasta for 7 minutes and then add broccoli to water and cook for another 5 minutes.
Heat butter in a small pan, add flour, and beat together with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Gradually stir in stock and bring to a boil.
Add lemon juice and simmer gently for one minute.
Put drained pasta and broccoli in a dish and pour over the sauce.
Sprinkle over the blue cheese and toss well.

Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad, though I had some serious doubts before starting to eat. It was rather soupier than I would have liked. I suspect this was because the broccoli was overcooked and still a bit soggy after I drained it. (Five minutes over a gas stove might be too long for broccoli.) Any other ideas?

Tzatziki Salmon

Okay, here it is - my first post!

Tzatziki Salmon

Mix 1 Tbsp margarine with 1 Tbsp white flour in a glass measuring cup.
Heat in microwave until melted, stir and heat again to cook a little.
Add 1 cup milk, and 1 tsp Epicure Tzaziki dip mix, and salt to taste (not a lot). Stir well and nuke again for about 2 minutes, whisking from time to time.
When it has thickened, almost boiling, remove and pour over salmon fillets in a glass baking dish.
Microwave for ten minutes if thawed, 20 if frozen, or bake in a 400F oven a similar amount of time.
Serve with rice (parboiled, with 1/2 tsp of Louisiana Hot'n'Spicy dip mix) and steamed broccoli.

A family favourite.

Gateau D'Adieu - Goodbye Cake

This was requested of me, so I must oblidge. The name Gateau D'Adieu literally translates to "Goodbye Cake", although mentally I am reading it like "Goodbye, Cake", as it disapears into my tummy.

I found this recipe in the forever reveared and mysterious all-that-is-good "101 Cakes And Bakes" and prepared it at my sending-off party before I left for Sweden. Lest I digress, it was a smashing sucess and I would much enjoy making it (and eating it) again. The lime and fresh blueberries add a certain...je ne sais quoi.

Gateau D'Adieu

225g self-raising flour
1 t. baking powder
200g caster sugar
200g. butter, softened
4 large eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1 T. milk

Icing
400g. cream cheese
grated zest of 2 limes + juice of 1
100g icing sugar
blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350.

Put the flour, b. powder, sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla into a large bowl and combine all ingredients. Stir until no lumps are present and incorporate the milk.

Spoon the mix into your choice of baking tins (it looks specacular as a 3-tiered cake) and bake for 50 - 60 minutes.

to make the icing, beat the cheese with the lime zest, juice, and the icing sugar. Spread onto each layer and the rest on the top. arrange the blueberries in tight circles on the top of the cake.

GD'A will keep for about a 8 days in the fridge, 5 on the counter and indefinatly in your freezer.

** Editorial Note: To see a picture of this gorgeous cake click here**