Combine ingredients pepper through sesame oil and set aside. Combine cornstarch and water and set aside. Combine oil, garlic, and ginger in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until oil begins to simmer. Whisk in soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in cornstarch mixture and cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
Cook macaroni in salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse to remove starch. In a large mixing bowl, combine the macaroni with the eggs, cucumber, onions, and tomato and toss to mix well. Stir in mustard, mayonnaise, and pepper. Chill until ready to serve.
I’m not one to load up on new fangled appliances that will crowd my kitchen counter, but this air fryer has stolen my heart. These little nibbles were delicious by themselves, and for supper, I chopped them up and added to a tossed salad. YUM!
Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus AIR FRYER
12 spears of asparagus
2 teaspoons Olive oil
Salt and pepper ; to taste
12 slices Prosciutto
Select Preheat on the air fryer. Adjust to 300 and press start.
Cut off woody ends of the asparagus spears and discard.
Drizzle and coat the asparagus spears with oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Wrap 1 slice of prosciutto around each asparagus spear, top to bottom, and place into the preheated fryer.
Select Vegetables, set time for 10 minutes, and press start.
Yummy little bars that would be perfectly portable for a picnic! I made them for a refreshment for a long day of filming our affiliates for the Board of REALTORS yesterday and my kids came downstairs to sneak them upstairs! Quiet on the set!
Peanut Butter Bars
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 t. vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
–ICING–
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 T. creamy peanut butter
2 T. milk
In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugars, and peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a smaller bowl; stir into cream mixture. Spread into a greased 13x9x2 pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes. Combine icing ingredients; drizzle over bars.
These little bites are a little labor-intensive, but so worth the effort. Really delicious. I envision making these for a tea party or a bridal shower, as they feel pretty fancy. Here’s how it went:
First, gather your ingredients. Check my pic…I do this for every recipe. Arrange it all nicely on a cake stand. I’m fancy like that.
Next you have to do your mis en place. Chopping up your stuff: garlic, rosemary and tomatoes. Also important: get your garbage bowl ready. I line mine with a Walmart bag for easy cleanup.
Next, you’ll be cutting your dough into rounds using a cookie cutter…which I didn’t have. So I used a Mason jar lid dipped in flour and it worked like.a.charm. Improvisation!
I re-rolled my dough scraps and made more circles. Waste not, want not.
Next, you’ll combine all of your filling ingredients EXCEPT TOMATOES and milk. As you can see, I didn’t do that. It still came out delicious, so you do you. Just get it all together and you’ll be ok. Except for the milk. You’ll need that later.
Now, time to get your Mise en place together again. We’re getting ready to fill these circles.
Take a rounded teaspoon full of your creamy tomato mixture and place it on half of the dough circle, like so:
Brush those edges with your milk, fold them over and seal with a fork.
Repeat 23 times, then place on ungreased cookie sheet (I use parchment..they do it on Food Network, I don’t know) and brush the tops with milk to make them look shiny.
Bake them up and serve them with your favorite adult beverage and feel fancy!
Cheese and Tomato Appetizer Turnovers
Source: Pillsbury
1 15 oz pkg refrigerated pie crusts
3 ounces chevre ; (can use all cream cheese but why?)
Allow both crust pouches to stand at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes. Heat oven to 425. With floured 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut 12 rounds from each crust, cutting rounds close together.
In a small bowl, combine all filling ingredients except tomatoes and milk; mix well. Stir in tomatoes. Place 1 rounded teaspoon mixture on half of 1 pastry round; brush the edge of pastry with milk. Fold the other half of the pastry round over filling. Press edges of the pastry with a fork to seal. Repeat to make remaining turnovers. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet; brush lightly with milk.
Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
I love fancy food, fancy restaurants, little plates, and tapas…but sometimes you just want good old country cooking. When you do, here are the best dishes I’ve found and where to get them:
Growing my own herbs gives me a wonderful pioneer woman feeling. I kind of suck at it for the most part, but the ones that do survive my tending I love to use in delicious recipes. This one was perfect for a lazy Sunday. Comes together surprisingly quick too!
Herbed Shrimp and Pasta
8 oz dried angel hair pasta; uncooked
1 cup butter
1 1/2 lb peeled medium-size shrimp
4 clove garlic
2 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon dill weed (or 3/4 teaspoon dried dill)
INSTRUCTIONS
COOK pasta according to package directions. Drain set aside and keep warm
Meanwhile, melt butter in a large heavy skillet over med-hi heat add shrimp, garlic. Cook stirring constantly, 3-5 minutes or until shrimp is pink. Remove shrimp, set aside, reserving garlic and butter in skillet.
ADD Half-and-half to skillet, bring to a boil, stirring gently. Reduce heat and simmer 15 min. or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp, parsley, salt, pepper, and if desired fresh chopped dill weed stir until blended. Serve over pasta.