Cooking in Pajamas

1 c. Unsalted butter (room temperature) 1.5 c. Sugar 4 Eggs (room temperature) 2-3/4 c. Flour 1-1/2 tsp Baking powder 1/8 tsp Salt 3/4 c. Strong brewed coffee 1/4c. Milk 1 tsp Coffee grounds [Makes 24 cupcakes] Beat butter until soft, about 30 sec. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 min. Add eggs one at a time, beat each egg with mixture for 30 sec. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Combine coffee and milk. Add 1/4 flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat to combine. Add 1/3 coffee mixture to the butter mixture, beat to combine. Continue to alternate the addition of the flour and coffee mixtures, ending with flour mixture. [Note: Be careful not to overmix, otherwise the cupcakes will not be fluffy.] Fold in coffee grounds. Scoop into cupcake papers to about 1/2 - 3/4 full. Bake for 22-25 min at 350˚F until toothpick comes out clean. Completely cool cupcakes on rack before spreading frosting. Vanilla Buttercream frosting 1 c. Butter 6 c. Ici...

1/2 - 1 c. Homemade spicy peanut sauce 1 c. Egg noodles 1 Carrot, medium size 2 Mushrooms, sliced 1/2 Cauliflower, cut small 1 Cooking onion, sliced 1 Green onion, sliced 1 tbsp Toasted sesame Slice carrots into thin strips using a peeler. Soften all vegetables on a large frying pan. Add water to vegetables to prevent sticking. Prepare the egg noodles as instructed on the package. Once the noodle are cooked, drain the hot water in a colander and rinse with ice cold water. Set aside. Drain the excess liquids from the cooked vegetables. Add peanut sauce to the vegetables and egg noodles. Mix well. Stir in the toasted sesame. Chill for 1 hour before serving. Garnish with toasted sesame and green onion. My comments: I had lots of peanut sauce leftover from the Vietnamese Spring Wrap and I remember once upon a time, I ate a cold noodle served with peanut sauce that I really liked. I couldn't remember exactly what was in the dish, so I sort of made up my own recipe and it turned out pre...

3/4 c. Homemade teriyaki marinade 1 c. Egg noodles 2 Mushrooms, sliced 1/2 Cauliflower, cut small 1 Cooking onion, sliced 1 Green onion, sliced 1 Red hot chilli pepper, small, minced 1 tbsp Toasted sesame 1 Grilled chicken breast, skinless and boneless, sliced [Vegetarian option: Omit the chicken or replace it with firm tofu.]1 Carrot, medium size Cook the chicken breast on a BBQ (or frying pan), sliced and set aside. [Firm tofu can be pan fried with a little bit of olive oil and teriyaki marinade.] Slice carrots into thin strips using a peeler. Soften all vegetables, except for the green onion, on a large frying pan. Add water to vegetables to prevent sticking. Cook the egg noodles as instructed on the package. Add the noodles, chicken (or tofu), green onion and toasted sesame to the vegetables and stir-fry for a few minutes. Pour in the teriyaki marinade, stir well and cook for 5 minute. Garnish with toasted sesame and green onion. My comments: My husband loved these teriyaki noodles...

Teriyaki marinade 1 lb. Striploin steak, sliced thin and long 2 Carrots, medium size, julienned 1/2 English cucumber, julienned Vermicelli noodles, cooked, drained Rice paper wrap Spicy peanut sauce Marinade the steaks overnight with the teriyaki marinade. Fry the steaks on a pan and set aside. Soak the rice paper in warm water until it begins to soften (approximately 15 seconds). Place the rice paper on a flat surface and place the meat, carrots, cucumbers and vermicelli noodle on the wrap. Carefully fold up the two sides and then roll to wrap, as tightly as possible without tearing the rice paper. Serve with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce (or Teriyaki Dipping Sauce ). My comments: This Vietnamese rice wrap turned out pretty well. Both my hubby and I enjoyed it very much. I got this recipe from Mrbunsrocks * and I have made several modifications to suit our tastes. My Spicy Peanut Sauce (a slightly modified version of Mrbunsrocks's recipe) was super tastey...definitely a must try....

1/2 c. Natural chuncky peanut butter 1/2 c. Hot water 2 tbsp Soya sauce 3 tsp Honey 1/2 tsp Chopped garlic from a bottle 1 Small chilli pepper, chopped Sesame oil In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter and hot water. Stir until smooth. Add the soya sauce, honey, garlic and chilli pepper. Drizzle a little bit of sesame oil before serving. My comment: I got this recipe from Mrbunsrocks whose blog I stalk on a daily basis. Her recipes (and photos) always look absolutely amazing and I have always wanted to try them out. Finally, I found something that I've always wanted to make and looks easy to do: Spring Rolls. I was particularly interested in this recipe because I like to order this when I go to a Vietnamese restaurant. My hubby can't eat the fish sauce that comes with these rice wraps but he found the wraps a bit bland on its own. So I thought if I can make this at home, I can make a sauce my hubby can eat! I have adapted her recipe and made my own Vietnamese spring rolls...

1/2 c. Soya sauce ( Kikkoman ) 2 tsp Sesame oil 2 tbsp Honey 1 tbsp Brown sugar 2 tbsp Ginger, peeled, minced 1/2 c. Green onion, chopped 2 tsp Garlic, minced 2 tsp sesame seed, toasted Juice from 1 large orange Combine all the ingredients. Refridgerate for overnight. 1 tbsp Cornstarch 1/2 c. Cold water In a small sauce pan, slowly bring the sauce to a boil. Mix the cornstarch and water. As the teriyaki sauce begins to thicken, stir to mix the cornstarch quickly and slowly pour into the teriyaki sauce, stirring constantly. Only add enough cornstarch to achieve desired consistency in the teriyaki sauce. My comments: I wanted to make teriyaki steak and I thought it'd be nice to make our own teriyaki marinade. So I looked up a few teriyaki sauce recipe online and found this one from the Food Network . I made a few adjustments to the recipe since I did not have everything it required in my kitchen. I marinaded the steaks overnight and it was really good!! I put the steak strips in my r...

Cracked Pepper & Olive Triscuits Sandwich ham Provolone cheese , light Spicy garlic and curry dipping sauce Green onion, chopped Place a small piece of ham on the triscuits and overlay the ham with a piece of provolone cheese. Toast in a toaster oven for 3 minutes. Drop a dollop of dipping sauce on the cheese and sprinkle with green onion. Spicy Garlic and Curry Dipping Sauce 1 c. Hellmann's light mayo 1-2 tbsp Chilli garlic sauce 3 Green onion, chopped 1 clove Garlic, minced 1 tsp Curry powder 1 tsp Dill 1/2 tsp Crushed chilli pepper 2 tsp Lime juice Ground pepper Mix all the ingredients together. Chill for 1 hour before serving. My comments: This dipping sauce is a variation of the sauces we made for our meat fondue and it's really good dip for crackers, bread or veggies. It has a lot of flavour and you can adjust the ingredients to your preference. The whole snack was delicious and flavourful. This is a great recipe because you can play around with the type of meat, che...