[Guest Post] Homemade Biscotti by Dina-Marie

If you are like me and love your coffee, be it morning, afternoon or night, you also enjoy biscotti. But also like me, you might not enjoy it as often as you would like because of the price. Besides that, most recipes are too involved and do not turn out quite right. Here is a wonderfully easy and good recipe. I will first give the basic recipe and then some variations.

Pecan Biscotti

1/4 c. butter                             1 whole egg white

3/4 c. sugar                              2 c. flour

1/2 tsp salt                                1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla                               3/4 c. chopped pecans

1 whole egg                               1 egg white beaten (to brush on top)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix butter, sugar, salt and vanilla.

Add egg and egg white - mix well.

Add flour, baking powder and nuts. Stir well adding a bit more flour if needed to make a sticky but workable dough.

Form dough into a long log about 3/4 inches high and 2 1/2 - 3 inches wide and 15 inches long. Brush top with beaten egg white.

Bake in preheated oven 350F for 30-35 min.

Remove from oven and after a couple of minutes, lift log off pan to cutting board. Cut into bars about 1/2 inch thick.

Place bars cut side up on cookie sheet and return to oven. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes longer.

Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Variations: I have used all white flour and also used half whole wheat and half white flour.

Substitute maple flavoring for vanilla.

Add 1/2 c. dry fruit such as dried apricots to batter.

Any nut may be used such as hazelnuts or almonds.

Bio: Dina-Marie has 10 children and blogs at Dimes2Vines.com. She lives in west Texas and enjoys working with her family in the vineyard, blogging about their life experiences and their lifestyle change from the corporate world to farm life.

Aglio Olio Linguine with Roasted Bell Pepper, Bacon and Portobello Mushroom

Aglio Olio Linguine with Bell Pepper, Bacon, Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients (Serve 2 pax)

1. Linguine
2. 2 Big Portobello Mushrooms cut into thin slices
3. 1 Yellow Pepper
4. 1 Red Pepper
5. 5 Strips of Streaky Bacon
6. 200 ml of White Wine
7. 50 ml of Olive Oil
8. 4 tablespoon of Chopped Yellow Onions
9. 2 tablespoon of Slices Garlic (approx 6 cloves)
10. 1 teaspoon of dried Parsley (eg. Brand Masterfood)
11. 1 teaspoon of Salt

Preparations

1. Cut Red and Yellow Pepper into 2, Remove the seeds
2. Put Bell Pepper into preheat oven, 200 degree celius, approx 15 minutes
3. Peel off Bell Pepper skin once Bell Pepper is roasted
4. Cut Bell Pepper into thin slices.
5. Put Pasta into boiling water (follow the pasta package instruction)
6. Once cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to stop heating process
7. Leave pasta aside.
8. Fry Bacon on hot pan for approx 30 seconds on each side
9. Once done, cut it into small slices and leave it aside.

Steps

1. Add Olive Oil into hot pan
2. Once hot, add Garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, before it turns brown
3. Add Onion and stir-fry until it become translucent
4. Add Mushroom and stir-fry for approx 2 minutes
5. Add Bell Pepper and stir-fry for approx 2 minutes
6. Add Bacon and stir-fry for approx 2 minutes
7. Add White Wine and stir-fry for approx 2 minutes
8. Add Salt slowly, try if taste is right
9. Simmer until Mushroom is soften
10. Add Pasta and stir to mix well
11. Add Parsley and stir to mix well
12. Cover and simmer until sauce is 90% dry

Tips and Comments:

• Garlic is an important factor in Aglio Olio Pasta, hence, it is important that the right amount of garlic is added.
• Adding Onion increase the taste to this dish as I have to say that it is not easy to master a plate of tasty Aglio Olio.
• I prefer Linguine than Spaghetti for Aglio Olio but this is a personal preference!

Serve while Hot!

Baked Garlic Prawns with White Wine and Parsley

Baked Garlic Prawns with White Wine and Parsley

Using White Wine for a light marination to the prawns bring out the sweetness of the prawns. And by baking it with Garlic and a dash of parsley infused a delicious aroma fragrant that after a day, my oven still smell of baked prawns! =)

As I do not have large prawns, hence, I am using a Medium ones. But it is recommended for the best result, large prawns are used instead.

For seafood lovers, I am sure that you will like this dish as much as I do.

This dish can be served as a Chinese dish or a Western dish as a Side. If large prawns are used, it can even be served as a main course. Placing the prawns on a nice plate, this dish will definitely be good to be serve in an intimate event.

Ingredients

1. 12 Medium Prawns (Deveined)
2. 2 tablespoon of Chopped Garlic
3. 3 tablespoon of White Wine
4. 1 tablespoon of Dried or Fresh Chopped Parsley (eg. Brand Masterfood)

Preparations

1. Slice the prawn in the middle without cutting it into 2 to make space for the Garlic
2. Marinate the prawns with White Wine for 30 minutes
3. After Marinating, add Garlic on the slice part of the prawns
4. Sprinkle a little Parsley on the Prawns
5. Place Prawns on a Baking Tray/ Aluminium Foil and use a Aluminium Foil and lightly covered it on top of the prawns

Steps

1. Place Prawns into a preheat oven, 220 Degree Celius for 15 minutes
2. At 12 minutes, check if the prawns are cooked and adjust the timing accordingly

Serve while Hot!

Tips and Comments:

• Large Prawns are recommended to be used for this dish.
• Using a kitchen scissor to cut the prawn's shells starting from it's head to the tails, then use a small knife to devein it.

[Guest Post] Homemade Doughnuts with Chocolate Coating by Dina-Marie

One of our family favorite delicacies is homemade doughnuts. You can not go wrong with them. Whether you glaze them, fill them with creme, use an icing, or eat them plain, they please everyone.

They are:

• fun to mix up
• fun to roll out
• fun to cut out
• fun to cook
• fun to eat

They are just a FUN food! They are a must for everyone to try! The following recipe reportedly makes about 2 dozen doughnuts. I am not sure about that because we triple and sometimes even quadruple it! And now, for the recipe ...

Homemade Doughnuts

1 qt milk warmed

10 Tbs sugar
8 Tbs oil
1 Tbs salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg (opt. more or less to taste)
7 Tbs dry yeast
4 c all purpose flour
4 c whole wheat flour

Preheat deep fryer.

Pour milk into the bowl of your mixer. Add sugar, oil, salt and nutmeg. Add yeast last (the other ingredients help cool the milk so it does not kill your yeast).

Add the whole wheat and all purpose flour and knead until well blended and dough does not stick to the sides of the bowl.

Place on oiled surface and prepare to roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness. You do not need much oil, just keep the dough from sticking. We place oil on our stone dining table. This makes easy access for all the little helpers.

Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thickness and cut out. See what I mean about the little helpers!

We use a plastic glass for the large round and a smaller container for the holes. Just use whatever works!

Deep fry in oil at 375F. We use a deep fryer so I don't have to worry about the temperature - the fryer does that for me. The doughnuts will float, so, after a couple of minutes, turn them to cook the other side. You want a nice golden brown.

We use a utensil such as a plastic cooking fork - not the small white plastic ones!

Drain on paper towel. That is what the recipe says anyway, but we use a clean towel on a cookie sheet (emphasis on clean!). Use the icing or glaze desired. We dip the hot doughnuts into a warm chocolate icing allowing it to drip and then place on a platter. Unless of course, a quality control test must be done and then it ends up in a mouth. It is definitely a family affair!

Then again, who needs a doughnut to dip - fingers work great!

Mmmm! There is nothing like a freshly dipped finger!

Bio: Dina-Marie has 10 children and blogs at Dimes2Vines.com. She lives in west Texas and enjoys working with her family in the vineyard, blogging about their life experiences and their lifestyle change from the corporate world to farm life.