BANANA-APPLE CRUMB MUFFINS

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2014-11-26 17.33.22

BANANA-APPLE CRUMB MUFFINS

These are the fluffiest muffins I have ever made. Use those over ripe bananas (you otherwise would have trashed) for this exotic flavorful banana taste.

 

1 ½ cups flour

2 Tsp baking powder

½ Tsp baking soda

½ Tsp salt

2 ripe bananas

1 small apple (cut in small pieces)

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup oil

For the crumbs:

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp flour

1 ½ Tsp cinnamon

1 Tsp butter

 

Preheat oven to 180 °C. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Blend wet ingredients with banana and apple in a medium bowl with a stick-blender. Mix dry and wet ingredients. Pour into buttered muffin forms. Mix crumb ingredients with your fingers until small crumbs form. Sprinkle over muffins and bake for about 20 minutes.

GONG BAO CHICKEN (Chicken Sichuan Style)

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gong bao chicken

GONG BAO CHICKEN (Chicken Sichuan Style)

I love real Sichuan Style Chinese food! In Austria we just don’t get anything that is even close to Asian food! This recipe is easy to make and you don’t need out of this world (country) ingredients.

150 g raw peeled peanuts

500 g chicken breast cut into 2 cm cubes

1 egg white

½ Tsp salt

3 Tbsp starch

4 garlic cloves cut into slices

10 dried large chilies seeded

2 Tbsp Soy sauce

2 Tbsp white wine

2 Tbsp white (rice) vinegar

1 Tsp sesame oil

1 Tsp sugar

50 ml neutral oil

 

Soak peanuts in water. Mix chicken, starch, egg white and salt in a medium bowl. Mix soy sauce, wine, vinegar, sesame oil and sugar in a small bowl. Drain peanuts completely. Heat 1 Tbsp’s oil in a frying pan and fry peanuts until browned about 3 minutes. Remove peanuts, add rest of the oil and fry marinated chicken until browned about 2 minutes. Remove chicken and drain oil until only a slight film of grease is left at the bottom of the pan. Add chilies and garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add chicken and fry for one more minute. Mix in sauce mixture and remove from heat. Mix in peanuts. Serve with rice.

NO SMUDGE HOME-MADE MASCARA

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mascara

NO SMUDGE HOME-MADE MASCARA

Honestly, I didn’t think this will work. After I had read (as it felt) about 1 trillion web sites and books I was very discouraged before even starting to try my own. The recipes either called for some frickingly toxic stuff (please, please, please don’t use dissolved shellac…that stuff is for cars!!) or they were reported to make you look like an escaped mad(wo)man. Well, in the end I gathered all my scientific logics and designed my own formula with ingredients I had at home. Problem to solve: The mascara should be non-toxic, non smeary, non- crumbly, rather gooey, strong in color and long lasting, but it should not harden before I can apply it….

Hahaha…well, challenge accepted! I was soooo surprised and absolutely did not expect my second result to come out just great!! I am fascinated! It makes my lashes look just like with any good volumizing black mascara.

The consisteny is of a paste. So, what I do is I apply it with one brush and with a clean macara-brush I separate the lashes by brushing through once more. It doesn’t even come of when rubbing your eyes or with plain water. Use make up remover or oil to take it off.

Let me know what you think!!

 

1 Tsp Tegomuls (combines the fat phase and water phase. Yes, you need it.)

½ Tsp bees wax

1 Tsp castor oil (or jojoba oil)

½ Tsp hydrous wool fat (Lanolin)

3-4 Tbsp Rose water (or distilled water)

¼ Tsp Agar-Agar

3 Tablets active charcoal (from the pharmacy), ground in a mortar to fine powder

 

In one glass combine Tegomuls, wax, oil, lanolin. In a second glass combine rose water and agar-agar. Place both glasses in a pot filled with 2-3 fingers high water. Bring water to a boil until the wax and lanolin is molten. Take both glasses out of the water bath. Now under fast stirring movements mix in the water phase into the fat-wax phase and mix until it has a creamy consistency. Mix 2 Tbsp of this cream into the charcoal powder one table spoon by a time and mix to the consistency of a paste. Fill into small containers or with a syringe into a cleaned mascara bottle. That is it! J

OVEN BAKED PUMPKIN

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pumpkin
OVEN BAKED PUMPKIN1-2-3 and your one pan, delicious, autumly side dish is ready!

1 small butternut pumpkin (peeled, seeded and cut in wedges)
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tsp dried rosemary
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200 °C. Mix everything on a backing paper lined backing pan and spread everything out so wedges don’t touch too much. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until soft in the middle. Season to taste. Done!

CLASSIC FRENCH TOAST STICKS

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french toast sticks

CLASSIC FRENCH TOAST STICKS

I have a hard time writing this add ’cause my mouth is watering by the thought of this amazing and easy breakfast….I neeeed to have it now!

Toast slices (the thicker the better!)
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 Tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
Oil or butter
Maple syrup (lots and lots and lots of it!)

Beat together milk, egg and vanilla in a deap plate. Heat oil in a large pan to medium high heat. Pull toast through egg mixture until it is covered from all sides (not too long or the toast gets soggy) and fry until golden brown. Keep warm in a prewarmed oven until you have made all toasts. Cut into sticks and drown in lots and lots and loooots of maple syrup… mmmmmhhhh

MAPLE-APPLE CAKE (GUGELHUPF)

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maple apple cake

MAPLE-APPLE CAKE (GUGELHUPF)

This is a moist and light delicious cake for a cozy Sunday afternoon and especially in the Advent of Christmas. And it is done so fast that I just made it in between.

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour

2 ½ Tsp baking powder

2 Tsp cinnamon

3 apples grated with peel (sour apples are the best)

1 cup walnut oil (you can use any other neutral oils too, but walnut oil is healthy and gives a great nutty taste)

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup maple syrup

4 eggs

More maple syrup for the top

Preheat oven to 180 °C. Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix in dry ingredients until well combined. Bake cake for 40 – 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool and serve drizzled with more maple syrup.

 

HOME-MADE SMOKED SALMON

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smoked salmon (2) (480x640)

HOME-MADE SMOKED SALMON

I was blown away by this idea of a Japanese friend of mine. This is THE BBQ hit! It is easy to make and tastes so delicious people will be crowding around to get more…this is the right stuff to forget your good manners.

 

Raw salmon filets (also sausages or hard boiled peeled eggs are great!)

Wood chips (cherry)

Charcoal

Grill

2 large deep aluminum trays

1 small aluminum tray

 

Light charcoal in a grill until glomming. Punch lots of holes in the small tray. Fill one large deep aluminum tray with ½-1 cm wood chips and set small tray upside down in the middle. Place on the grill and wait until smokes starts to form from the burning wood chips. Now place raw salmon filets, skin facing down, on the small tray and cover with the second large tray. Let smoke for about 30 minutes. The salmon will be of the consistency as oven baked salmon just with a smoky flavor.

MAMI’S APPLE STRUDEL (Apfelstrudel)

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APFELSTRUDEL (640x446) (2)

MAMI’S APPLE STRUDEL (Apfelstrudel)

I am from Austria! And this is THE taste of my home. My wonderful handywoman mother even started a little business when we moved to the USA in the 80ies selling Apple strudel to local restaurants. Well with two toddlers and a household to manage a rather great challenge. Whatever my mother touches turns to gold, so the business took off and everybody was craving real Austrian Apple strudel. Therefore our house was always filled with the smell of cinnamon and baking apples. Thank you Mom for such a wonderful childhood!

This is the no fuss version (to make the dough is a whole other story!!)

For the filling:

6 apples (more on the sour side like Prinz Rudolf or Fuji

6 Tbsp sugar

1 Tsp cinnamon

½ cup raisins

4 cl dark rum

Juice from ½ lemon

For the

1 Pack frozen Strudelteig (or frozen Fillo dough), completely thawed

½ cup real unsalted butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1 cup bread crumbs

Confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 180 °C. For the filling peel apples, quarter, cut out cores and slice into 1-2 mm thick slices. Mix all ingredients for the filling and set aside (it is best if it sits for about 1 hour. A lot of juice will form. The taste of the filling should be mildly sweet, not too bitter from cinnamon and you should be able to taste the apples. Please resist the urge to put in tons of more sugar.

Meanwhile to easily roll the strudel spread out a clean table cloth or a surface of paper towels. Carefully take Strudelteig/Fillo layers apart and place 5 sheet-layers overlapping on the paper towels forming an about 60 cm x 60 cm surface. Then top with an inverted layer. God, this sounds so much more complicated than it is..well, it is all about making a non-leaky surface…you will figure it out…lol.

Brush the whole surface with a lot of butter. Heap bread crumbs on the side facing you about 40 cm long. Now mix the apple filling one more time and spread it on the whole surface leaving 10 cm on left and right side. Using the paper towels as support fold over left and right side to the middle. Now using the paper towels as support roll the strudel to get a 40 cm long and about 20 cm wide strudel. With the open side down place on a baking-paper lined baking sheet. Brush with lots of butter and a little bit of egg on top.

Bake for 40 minutes or until brown and crisp. Let cool and sprinkle with lots of confectioner’s sugar.

MAPLE SYRUP COOKIES

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Maple syrup cookies

 

MAPLE SYRUP COOKIES

This is for my dear Canadian friend back home in Graz and all the home sick Canadians out there…<3

 

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup real maple syrup

1 Tsp vanilla extract

1 Tsp baking powder

1/4 Tsp salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

For decoration: 1/3 cup granulated sugar

 

Preheat oven to 200 °C. In a medium bowl mix together liquid ingredients (yes, eggs are also liquid) until combined. In a small bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt. Mix dry ingredients into liquid ingredients and mix until combined. Make balls out of one tablespoon dough and roll in sugar until coated. Place on a baking paper lined baking sheet about 10 cm appart, press flat and bake for 10-15 minutes. Feel like home…

BOSTON – SOL AZTECA (MEXICAN)

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Travel with The Nici Farm

Boston – Sol Azteca (Mexican)

This beautifuly decorated Mexican restaurant located in Brookline is authentic, has high quality food and the service is especially friendly! Try the Shrimp fajitas with fresh Guacamole or chicken with typical Mexican Mole sauce. It will make your taste-buds dance Merengue. Their large variety of Margaritas is so tasty that it is easy to have one or two to many….

www.solaztecarestaurants.com