Top 10 Easy Food Making Ideas

 Top 10 Easy Food Making Ideas

01.Strawberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars

I had seen a few recipes for berry oatmeal bars such as this recipe for strawberry oatmeal bars that looked really good. The strawberry and rhubarb jam was calling to me and I could not resist using it along with some fresh strawberries in some oatmeal bars. The strawberry and rhubarb oatmeal crumble bars were really easy to make and taste great! The only problem that I had was that the bars crumbled easily and did not come out of the pan looking much like bars. Though I did not realize it before making it, the oatmeal crumble recipe was really similar to the topping that I often use on my crumbles and crisps. In fact the strawberry and rhubarb oatmeal crumble bars tasted almost exactly like a strawberry and rhubarb crumble only with a higher ratio of crumble to filling. I think I might have to try one warm with some vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter (melted)
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup pecans (chopped)
1/4 cup of strawberry rhubarb jam or strawberry jam
1/2 pound strawberries (sliced)

Directions:
1. Mix the butter into the brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, rolled oats and pecans until it resembles a coarse meal.
2. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking pan.
3. Spread the jam on top.
4. Place the strawberries on the jam.
5. Crumble the remaining oat mixture on top.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

02.Strawberry Danish Braid

This months Daring Bakers challenge was a Danish braid and I was really looking forward to making it. The Danish braid is made with Danish pastry dough which is made by folding dough with butter into many layers. The Danish dough should bake up nice and light and buttery and flaky. I had been wanting to try making a multi-layer dough that puffed up when cooked for a while. As coincidence would have it I had also recently bookmarked a cheese danish recipe that I had wanted to try.

One thing that I really liked about this challenge was that we were allowed to choose the filling. Since strawberries were in the peak of their season I could not pass up on the chance to use some fresh strawberries. I had just made some strawberry and rhubarb jam and I though that it would go well in the braid as well. Since I still had the cheese danish on my mind I also decided to add some cream cheese. In the end it turned out to be a strawberry Danish braid with cream cheese and strawberry and rhubarb jam.



As with most Daring Bakers challenges the Danish braid was no walk in the park. There are a lot of steps and it took a lot of time. I was hoping to get the whole thing done on one day of the weekend but I ran out of time and had to finish it the next day. Overall each step was pretty easy though. The only problem that I had with the recipe was that it said that while folding the dough that you roll it out to a particular size each time but then after letting it sit in the fridge over night you were supposed to be able to roll out the same dough to over double the size that you were rolling it to the day before. My dough rolled out to the same size as it did the day before and I rolled it a bit thinned so that I could have some extra to make some cheese danish. Maybe the yeast was supposed to have more than doubled the size of the dough while it was in the fridge? Maybe my yeast was not as active as it could be? The dough did expand while proofing before baking... The Danish braid baked up well, though I could have pulled it out of the oven a minute sooner.

Danish Braid

Ingredients
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 orange (zest)
3/4 teaspoon cardamom (ground)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean (split and scraped)
2 eggs (chilled)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg (lightly beaten)

Directions:
1. Whisk the yeast into the milk in a bowl.
2. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix.
3. Sift the flour and salt onto your working surface and form a bowl.
4. Pour the liquid into the middle of the bowl.
5. With your hands, mix the flour into the liquid starting from the inside and working out until combined.
6. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, about 5-7 minutes.
7. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
8. Pulse the butter and flour in a food processor until combined.
9. Let the butter sit at room temperature until the dough is ready.
10. Roll the dough out to about 18x13 inches and about 1/4 inch thick.
11. Spread the butter over the right and center thirds of the dough.
12. Fold the left third of the dough over the center followed by the right third and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
14. Place the dough on the work surface lengthwise with the open ends on your left and right.
15. Roll the dough out to about 18x13 inches and about 1/4 inch thick.
16. Repeat steps 12-13 until for a total of five times.
17. Chill in the fridge overnight or for a minimum of five hours.
18. Roll the dough out to about 18x13 inches and about 1/4 inch thick.
19. Slice the left and right thirds of the dough at an angle and parallel to the other side into 1 inch wide slices.
20. Spread the filling on the middle of the dough.
21. Fold the slices of dough from the left and right sides of the middle, alternating and forming a braid.
22. Fold the top and bottom flaps over to hold in the filling.
23. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 2 hours.
24. Brush the egg onto the top of the dough.
25. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.

In the end I was really pleased with both the Danish braid and the cheese Danish! They were both really good! The Danish pastry was nice and light and flaky and buttery and good. In the pictures you can see the layers and that it puffed up nicely. The pastry itself was full of flavour from the vanilla and the cardamom. The cream cheese and strawberry and rhubarb jam and fresh strawberry filling was perfect. I enjoyed both the Danish braid and the cheese Danish for breakfast last week and they both disappeared quite quickly! I am really glad that I got to make the Danish pastry and I look forward to making it again.



Take a look at the other Daring Bakers danish braid creations.

03.Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam

Last year I made some strawberry jam that I really enjoyed. With all of the fresh strawberries around I wanted to make some more but I still had some left from last year. Since I really like the strawberry and rhubarb combination I decided to make some strawberry and rhubarb jam this year. The jam was easy to make, I just followed the instructions in the pectin crystal package. One thing to remember when making jam on the stove is to use a really large pot. The jam expands when it reaches a hard boil and you don't want if spilling over the sides. Of course I could not help myself and I opened up a jar of the jam right away to try. The strawberry and rhubarb jam turned out really good! The tartness of the rhubarb balanced out the sweetness of what otherwise would have been a sweet strawberry jam.

Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries (hulled and crushed)
2 cups rhubarb (chopped)
1 box Certo pectin crystals
5 1/2 cups sugar

Directions:
1. Bring the strawberries, rhubarb and pectin crystals to a boil with high heat in a large pot.
2. Add the sugar.
3. Bring to a hard boil for 1 minute.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Stir and skim foam for 5 minutes.
6. Pour into sterilized jars.

To sterilize the jars:
1. Wash in hot soapy water.
2. Keep the lids in boiling water until ready to use.
3. Place jars in 225F oven for 10 minutes and keep warm until ready to use.

04.Jamaican Red Beans and Rice

While I was searching for jerk chicken recipes I came across the a Jamaican red beans and rice side dish that sounded interesting. I though that having a bean and rice side dish with the jerk chicken would be a nice way to cool off the tongue in between bites of the spicy jerk chicken. The red beans and rice were also cooked in coconut milk which I really enjoy. The most interesting part of this recipe is that you cook the rice with a whole scotch bonnet pepper in it to give it the flavour of the scotch bonnet without too much of the heat. Rice is pretty easy to cook on the stove top or I would think that this would work well in a rice cooker. I decided to use brown rice to make it a bit healthier. The red beans and rice turned out pretty good. It was nice and tasty and even though it was spicy, compared to the chicken it was nice and cool and refreshing.

Ingredients:
2 cup uncooked rice
1 can red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 scotch bonnet pepper (whole)
3 green onions (sliced)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 can coconut milk
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring every thing to a boil reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is cooked, about 20 minutes.
2. Remove the pepper and serve.

05.Jamaican Jerk Chicken

I had been wanting to try exploring Jamaican cuisine for a while and a jerk spice was the first thing on my to try list. A jerk spice is spicy marinade for meats that primarily consists of allspice and scotch bonnet peppers. I had heard a lot of good things abut the scotch bonnet pepper, mainly being that it was nice and hot, and I had been wanting to try it. The remaining ingredients in the jerk mix can pretty varied. I found a bunch of recipes and picked and chose what I liked from them and I came up with this one. Because the scotch bonnet peppers were supposed to be really hot I started the marinade with just one and tasted it. It was pretty mild so in went a second followed by a third. I was thinking that the spice level would go up as the marinade sat and did its job so I stopped at three. Although the final result was nice and spicy I think I will go with five the next time that I make this.

For the first use of the jerk marinade I decided to do a jerk chicken dinner. I Marinated some chicken thighs in the jerk marinade overnight and roasted it in the oven. A nice and simple dish. The jerked chicken was nice and tasty. I really enjoyed the combination of flavours in the jerk spice mix. The jerk seasoning was spicy but not as hot as I would have liked. I served the jerked chicken with a simple mango and red pepper salsa to cool things down a bit and some Jamaican red beans and rice. Overall it was a really tasty meal!

Jerk Marinade

Ingredients:
1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper or 3 jalapeno peppers (seeded and chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 green onions (chopped)
1 tablespoon thyme (chopped)
1 tablespoon allspice
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 orange (juice and zest)
1 lime (juice and zest)

Directions:
1. Puree everything.

Jerk Chicken

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken (skin on)
jerk marinate

Directions:
1. Marinate the chicken in the jerk marinade for a day turning a few times.
2. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 40-50 minutes turning once in the middle.

06.Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

It has been almost a year since I picked up an ice cream maker and I have been enjoying home made frozen treats since. So far I've made a few ice creams and a sorbet and I now wanted to try something different. I realized that I have not tried making one of my favorite frozen dishes, a frozen yogurt. I had to fix that immediately. Strawberries were the obvious choice since they are in season and looking so good. One of the things that I like most about making my own ice cream is the simplicity of the recipes. There are only a few ingredients and you can pronounce all of them. This recipe is a perfect example with only four simple ingredients. One thing that you may want to watch out for in this recipe is the sweetness. Plain yogurt can be a bit tart so you will want to test the mixture for sweetness before freezing it. The strawberry frozen yogurt was good! I really enjoyed the texture of the frozen yogurt and the strawberry flavour. Next time I think I will leave some bigger chunks of strawberries in.

Ingredients:
3 cups strawberries (sliced)
1 lemon (juice)
1 cup sugar
2 cups yogurt

Directions:
1. Heat the strawberries, lemon juice and sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Remove from the heat and mash the strawberries.
3. Let cool then mix in the yogurt and test for sweetness.
4. Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.
5. Freeze according to the instructions for your ice cream machine.

07.Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

Chimichurri is a parsley based sauce from Argentina that is commonly used to season steak and other grilled meats. Over the last while I have been seeing some mouth watering posts about steak with chimichurri sauce and I had to try it. Though parsley may not be my favorite herb, it is probably the herb that I use most often and I liked the sound of a steak dressed simply with a tasty parsley sauce. I could not get the thought of a medium rare steak out of my mind so I decided to make steak with the chimichurri sauce. I seasoned the steak simply with just salt and pepper to allow the chimichurri sauce to be the star of the show. Ideally you would grill the steak but I do not have access to a grill so I pan seared the steak in a bit of oil until just medium rare. The steak with chimichurri sauce was good! The chimichurri sauce was nice and cool and refreshing and at the same time it had a touch of heat.

Chimichurri Sauce

Ingredients:
1 bunch parsley
6 cloves garlic (peeled)
2 tablespoons onion (chopped)
1 small carrot (grated)
1 lime (juice)
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 jalapeno pepper (chopped)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
1. Chop the parsley and garlic in a food processor.
2. Add the onion, carrot, vinegar, water, oregano, chili pepper flakes, salt and pepper and process some more.
3. Stream in the olive oil and process.

08.Arancini di Riso (Rice Balls)

I had been wanting to try making arancini di riso for a while now. Arancini di riso are fried balls of rice. The balls of rice commonly contain things like ragu, mozzarella, peas, etc. You can make the rice from scratch for the arancini but it is a great way to breath some fresh life into your leftover risotto. Normally risotto disappears before I think about making arancini but this time I made sure to leave enough of the pea barley risotto to make the "rice" balls. I decided to keep it simple and just add a cube of mozzarella cheese since my risotto already had peas in it. I had some leftover marinara sauce in the freezer and I though that it would be a good idea to serve the rice balls on some of it. The rice balls are fairly easy to make. It is pretty much the same as any other breaded fried food; You dip the rice balls into the egg, then the bread crumbs, and then you fry them. I used the risotto directly from the fridge so it was cold, easy to work with and it held together. The arancini on marinara sauce were really tasty! They were nice and crispy on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside. Both the mozzarella and the parmigiana reggiano in the risotto had melted.

Ingredients:
* leftover risotto
* mozzarella cheese cut into cubes
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/4 cup parmigiana reggiano (grated)
1 cup bread crumbs
vegetable oil for frying
* leftover marinara sauce

Directions:
1. Form the rice into balls and press the cheese into the middle.
2. Roll the rice balls in the egg to coat.
3. Roll the rice balls into a mixture of the the parmigiano reggiano and the bread crumbs to coat.
4. Heat the oil in a pan.
5. Fry the rice balls in the oil until golden brown on all sides.

09.Strawberry Cheesecake Crepes

 

The farmers market was flooded with fresh local strawberries this weekend and I picked up a bunch of them. I just couldn't pass up on making a decadent strawberry breakfast and I thought that strawberry crepes would be great. Cheesecake had been on my mind and I was thinking that using a cheesecake like filling would be a great idea. For the cheesecake like filling I folded cream cheese into whipped cream. I still had some of the strawberry jam that I made last year and I decided to add some of that for even more strawberry flavour. The strawberry cheesecake crepes were really good. They were nice and fresh and cool and sweet and full of strawberry flavor. I enjoyed the taste and texture of the cream cheese and whipped cream filling. The crepes were a perfect Sunday breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese (softened)
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream (whipped)
1 batch crepes
4 tablespoons strawberry jam
2 cups strawberries (sliced)

Directions:
1. Mix the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla in a bowl.
2. Fold in the whipped cream.
3. Spread 1 table spoon strawberry jam onto a crepe.
4. Add 1/4 cup of the cream cheese mixture and some strawberries in the crepe, roll and serve.

01.Thai Lemon Shrimp

In my never ending search for tasty shrimp recipes I came across this recipe for Goong Maa Now or Thai lemon shrimp. Like many Thai dishes this one is a perfect melding of sweet, sour, hot and salty. This recipe calls for kaffir lime leaves which were a bit difficult to find. Luckily they keep really well in the freezer and the bag that I picked up has lasted a long time. This is another super quick shrimp dish that takes almost no time to make. The lemon and coconut milk added an amazing flavour and aroma and of course this dish would not be complete without my favorite herb, cilantro. These lemon shrimp could easily be served as an appetizer or as a meal along with some rice or pasta.

Ingredients:
1 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
1 lemon (juice and zest)
3 kaffir lime leaves (sliced, substitute lime zest)
1 teaspoon chili sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 teaspoon palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)

Directions:
1. Marinate the shrimp in the sweet chili sauce, lemon juice, lemon zest, kaffir lime leaves, chili sauce, fish sauce, garlic and sugar for 10 or more minutes.
2. Heat a pan.
3. Add the shrimp, the marinade and the coconut milk and simmer (not boil) until the shrimp are cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and mix in the cilantro.