Quick salmon fish cakes

This goes fast...  ready?

    .  

Ingredients and Method

In a large bowl
1 14.5 oz tin of salmon, with the liquid (pick the skin and bones if you have to, I leave them in)
1 xl egg
3 green onions sliced thin
2 TB cornmeal mix
8 TB self raising flour
salt, pepper, whatever other seasoning you love like garlic or onion

MIX with a fork till no dry bits left

Heat 1/4 inch oil in a skillet, on medium/medium/low till 350 OR until it browns a small chunk of bread or a small sample of the mix.

Place spoonsful of mixture in hot oil, do not mess about with it, leave till the bottom is beautifully brown.  IF it takes longer than 3 minutes, the oil is too cold, if it's faster than 2 minutes, the oil is too hot.

Flip carefully and brown the second side.  Total fry time should be 5 minutes.  Drain on paper towels, serve with whatever you love.

Allow leftovers to cool and place in ziplock bag in freezer.  Reheat from frozen in air fryer (oven style) 400 for 5-6 minutes, middle rack.

/enjoy!!!!

SUPER easy flaky Biscuits... there's a video too :)

Ok, you want biscuits?  I can get you biscuits on the table in 30 mins if you focus :)


This super quick and easy biscuit recipe can be completed in just 30 minutes! Recipe below! --- --- RECIPE 3 cups all purpose flour 2? TBS sugar, more or less to taste 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (knife tip worth :)) 2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 sticks butter/margarine combo (3/4 cup) I like a combo but you can do all butter or all margarine if you want, I won't judge pinch of salt RUB it all together, float and drop method, yeah, i invented that term ADD 1 cup of milk with 1 egg mixed in Mix with knife, be nice pat on floured surface and roll to a long rectangle fold a couple of times, flip and repeat Pat to about 1 inch, cut biscuits with a straight sided cutter, don't twist!, yeah this is one of those times it really actually matters BAKE in preheated 450 for 15 mins

IF you need to, brush them with butter when they come out of the oven.
Throw them in a basket, be prepared to make more... they're delicious.

EAT!!!

here's the youtube link if you'd like to check out the other videos too...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86yMnLdKoDk


Thanks for all your support, I'm trying a new thing trying to link the blog and the YouTube channel which finally has MY name on it, so I'm Tracy Cooks in Austin everywhere!!!

/tracy

Cold start Yogurt in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker, Duo 6qt

This is less a recipe than a method:

    

YOGURT in the PRESSURE COOKER

It's easy,
52 oz Fairlife Milk, 2% or whole 1 generous tablespoon unflavored, greek style, yogurt

Combine in a cold cooker, put a lid on top and set YOGURT button to 8 hours When it's done, transfer liner, covered, to the fridge and leave to chill completely (I do overnight) Transfer the yogurt to containers or strain it. Save the whey to use in cooking in place of any liquid in a savory dish. It will stay in the fridge for a couple of weeks, then make more!

I did a video of all the steps:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQP0x-v5u6Y

/enjoy

You need Hollandaise right NOW, this is how you can get it.....

This is a quickie, driveby recipe.  I have a video on youtube with the recipes as well, the link is below. 

While I have you, here's the hollandaise I make:

  

TRACY'S QUICK CHEATERS HOLLANDAISE

Make it with a stick blender

In a narrow jar

2 egg yolk

2 tsp each of water and lemon juice

pinch of salt, pinch of cayenne

In a 2 cup measure, microwave till boiling

1/2 cup unsalted butter (I measure 120 gm)

*IF you use salted butter, omit the salt in the egg.

Blend the egg and water/lemon then slowly drizzle the boiling butter in while you blend the whole time. 

It's thick and creamy and delicious. It keeps in the fridge for a long time, I scoop some out and put in a hot jar to reheat as required

Enjoy!! 

Here's the video! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPxBoun5zak&t=13s

thanks for watching, enjoy! 

InstantPot Fried Rice, yeah, you sure can fry rice in a pressure cooker without having any old rice ready to go...

So, I'm back on a pressure cooker kick and after my week of nothing but pad thai noodles I thought, hey, I've never shared my fried rice in the electric pressure cooker.

No, you don't have to wait to have old rice, just make this, it's quick, easy and absolutely delicious. It's infinitely customizable so add what you like!! it freezes beautifully, if you can get any to save, so make a ton... healthy and yummy! DO IT!

TRACY'S PRESSURE COOKER FRIED RICE

IN THE INSTANT POT

This is another one of those more of a method than a recipe, add what you like, remove what you don't, but try it, you're gonna love it RECIPE: 10 oz (weighed!) each of water and rice 1/2 lb ground or sliced meat, pork or chicken or whatever you like 1/2 cut up onion sliced up green onion (the white parts) garlic/ginger paste or fresh chopped some chopped up carrot, celery, cabbage, bean sprouts, peas, corn if you like, whatever you have that you like, chop about a handful of each and have it ready when you start 2 eggs oil light soy sauce oyster sauce sesame oil hot chili oil (optional) green onions
METHOD
Fry the veggies in some oil with whatever protein you like, I used 1/2 lb ground pork Add the rice and fry it for a few minutes add the soy, oyster sauce and water, stir to combine Lock and load, high pressure, 3 minutes, let rest for 10 Add peas and bean sprouts if you're using them. Stir well. Push rice to one side, set to saute and when it's hot, add a little oil and the eggs to one side of the pan, scramble and cook them then mix in with the rice. Add a little sesame oil and green onions and serve and eat eat eat

Here is the link to the video on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPWmckwtiMw

I hope you like the rice, let me know how to shush it up for your family!?

/enjoy

My cheeseburger sliders, yeah, they're 5 minutes of actual effort then just pop then in the oven to reheat when you need them and you get just joy and cheesy meaty deliciousness

  

Everyone loves cheeseburgers, everyone makes cheeseburgers, everyone makes sliders, they're the groovy food fad of the day.  There's a slider for every occasion the ore you can make the better, the easier.

I've been making these for years.  I sort of morphed my take on the best qualities of a white castle skinny burger and leftover meatloaf sandwich day  I frequently have to cook multiple meals a night and this is the best way to get me in and out of the kitchen and I can whip up servings to order, there's nothing at all wrong with that.

This is my take on the current fad.

TRACY'S CHEESEBURGER SLIDERS 

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 lb ground beef
1 thick slice bread
1 egg
1/2 grated onion
1 grated garlic clove
salt
pepper
whatever cheese slices that make you happy

METHOD

Dump it all in a bowl and mix.
How easy is THAT?

Flatten the mix into a 1/4 sheetpan or a 9x13 pan.  I line the pan with parchment paper so I can get it out in one piece but that's not necessary at all

Poke the meat with a fork, you're making steam channels so poke and push a bit to make tons of little holes all through it.  I sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top before it goes into the oven.

Bake the meat at 350 for 20 minutes, top third of the oven.

Leave to rest a few minutes then drain any fat away.  Divide the meat into 12 pieces with a spatula or knife or bench scraper, cover with foil and wait till someone is hunry.

As needed, put one square in each open bun, put cheese on top and top with the top of the bun, brush the top with butter if you like (yes, you like) and wrap in foil.  Toss in the oven or toaster oven for about ten minutes or until the cheese melts.

VOILA

burgers to order...

Here's the play by play

    

   

Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes

Drain the fat and divide the meat into 12 squares, put cheese on if you want, cover with foil and let it sit there till someone is hungry.........

   

OH and as a side, I make potato wedges.

DRIVEBY METHOD FOR POTATO WEDGES

Take as many potatoes as you need, cut them in quarter or 6ths ? and throw them in a dry sink.

Throw salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika on them, drizzle well with oil and put on a rack in the oven.  Bake at 400 for about 20 then flip them all over and bake till they're done.  eat eat eat


Back to the sliders:

Put the bottoms of the buns on a sheetpan, top with a square of the meat and cheese.
Butter the tops and put them beside the bottoms.  Bake till the cheese melts and the buns toast, about 5 minutes at 350 or so.

Assemble, eat, repeat

    

oh yummy

   

   

There ya go, dinner.  I made a couple for the child, then a couple of hours later, i made a couple for me and in a few hours, I'll make a few for the husband.  Dinner across the whole evening and nothing needs to be nuked! 

/enjoy

DRIVE BY RECIPE; make your own sweetened condensed milk... it's a quickie, don't blink

   

I try to remember to have Sweetened Condensed Milk on hand because I cook with it fairly regularly.  Sometimes I fail miserably at 'keeping things in the pantry that I need".  I like to think I'm not the only one.

I have an EASY fix is to make your own; truly it's dead easy.  You're going to love this.

This stuff works just like the stuff in the can and it's a fraction of the cost and really, it's delicious.

DRIVE BY RECIPE:

TRACY'S HOMEMADE SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK

INGREDIENTS;

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 T butter, (I use salted, if you use unsalted, then add a pinch of salt)

splash of vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS;

Combine the milk and sugar in a heavy pan, set on a medium flame and cook (simmer and stir often) it till it's pale yellow, super thick and and bubbling like lava.

Take off head, add the butter and vanilla.  Transfer it into a container with a lid, leave to chill on counter then pop it in the fridge till you want to use it.  It technically lasts weeks but in practice, a couple of days before it's used up :)  

THAT'S IT!  go on, take it off your 'to buy' list and put it on your 'to make' list!

I'll get more play by play pics up later today but I wanted to get this driveby up for you. 

/enjoy

Hot Cross Buns, you don't need to wait till Easter or Christmas, no, you need to make them NOW and I have developed the perfect recipe. You're welcome, go make them now, go

I love hot cross buns.  I always have.  It sort of bugs me that I only seem to eat them at Easter.  I think I need to start a revolution and say it's OK to eat them anytime.  They are sweet and savory and spicy and not and soft and tender and absolutely delicious.

OK, I combined some old and some new recipes and this is what I came up with.  I've made it a couple of times and it keeps working and they are so wonderful. I think you need to make them now.  You don't need a kitchen aid to make it but it makes it easier.  If you don't have one, put it all in a bowl, mix till it's tiring then take the dough out and knead.  I've made them by machine knead and I've done them by hand.  They work either way.  I am doing this as a drive by because it's a dump and run, truly, only one rise, how easy is THAT?

I will devour this batch and make another with better play by play pics but for now, this is the drive by recipe, you can do it!

DRIVE BY RECIPE:  TRACY'S HOT CROSS BUNS

INGREDIENTS

Dry:  dump in the bowl of a Kitchen aid mixer

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
(you'll need extra for adding if needed and for the bench when you form the balls
1 Tb yeast (you can also skimp and use a packet which is 2 1/4 tsp which is close enough)
2 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon sugar (or plain cinnamon if that's all you have)
2 tsp mixed spice (recipe below)
1/4 cup currants (these are small raisins, I don't like bit raisins but if you do, have at it :) add more or less depending on how much you love/hate dried fruit

Wet:  No need to mix these separately,

1 cup very warm tap water
1 TB butter
1 egg
splash vanilla (if you feel the need)

METHOD

Dump all the dry ingredients into the bowl of your Kitchen aid mixer or a large bowl.  Mix to combine, add the wet ingredients, no need to premix...

Use dough hook and let it mix on medium until it's a smooth lovely dough.  Add little bits of flour at a time, after 5 minutes if the dough needs it to clear the sides and become a smooth tender ball

Remove hook from dough in bowl, leave it there and cover with a plastic bag.  Let it rest about 10 minutes.

Divide the dough in 12 equal balls and place on a parchment lined sheet pan.  Spray the tops of the rolls, cover the whole thing with a gigantic plastic bag and leave to double.  It should be about 1-2 hours.

Spray with milk or brush with milk.  Add a cross if you want, I make a thin paste of water and flour and draw on with the side of a spoon.

Bake in a PREHEATED 375 oven for 20-30 minutes, spin half way through.

Remove to a rack immediately and leave to cool for as long as you can stand it.

ENJOY!

here's a few beauty shots.  These are before they went into the oven

 LOOK! at these beauties.  The crumb is amazing, tender and flavorful, yeah, I delight myself sometimes

   

So I broke in to one, butter and golden syrup.  Usually I toast them but that'll be later, I had to show you the crumb after a bite, it doesn't collapse into a goo, no, look at it! WOW!  so tasty, fabulous crumb, are you running to make them yet?

 

MY MIXED SPICE RECIPE

1 TB of each of the following: 

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Allspice

1 tsp of each of the following: 

Cloves

Coriander

Ginger

2 tsp of 

Mace

Combine all the spices in  jar and mix, it lasts a really long time because you only need a little bit.  Be sure to go to the bulk area to get the spices, you'll save a FORTUNE doing it that way. 

Make these rolls, I'm dying to know what you think

/enjoy

tracy

•  

QUICKIE DRIVE BY dinner idea for leftover chicken... wrap it in a crepe, throw sauce on it and call it dinner

Oh, fancy drive by leftover chicken time.

I had about half a leftover roast chicken, I picked the meat and threw it in a ziplock in the fridge. That's where we start

QUICKIE DRIVE BY -  CHICKEN CREPES WITH GRUYERE CREAM

Make 10 crepes, use a family recipe or google it or buy some, it's pretty easy either way.  Don't fret about how they look or if they're too thick, they are merely a vessel to carry chicken and gruyere cream to your mouth.

I will update this with my crepe recipe but i'm in a hurry to get this posted so it'll wait for now.

IN a heavy bottom sauce pan, make bechemal sauce.  Start with about 2 Tb butter and melt it, when it foams, add 2 T flour and fry it around for a moment, don't let it brown.  Add cold milk about 3cups at all once.  Do not fret or get all chefy and add a dribble then whisk then a dribble more, just dump it it.  I've been dumping milk into my cream sauce for 183 years and it's never been lumpy, just do it.

Dump the milk in and whisk until it comes back to the boil and thickens.  Add more milk if it's too thick.  Add salt, pepper and grates of fresh nutmeg.  When it tastes lovely and is a consistency you like, take it off heat and add a handful of whatever cheese you have.  I had Gruyere so that's what I used.

Keep a little of the sauce back to use on top and Mix the cooked, shredded chicken to the remaining sauce.

Fill each crepe with the cooled mixture and lay in a buttered pan.  Pour remaining sauce over, add more grated cheese.

Bake for about 20 minutes in a hot oven till it's bubbly and heated through.

Serve with rice and something green.

  

:D

QUICKIE DRIVE BY recipe - Mini Donuts because DONUTS!

Sometimes you want donuts and sometimes you realize that you always have the ingredients for donuts in your house, I'm about to ruin you for all time, you're welcome.

I treated myself to a mini donut pan because I had a weird coupon for it and, well, mini donuts have no calories, especially if you eat them standing up. I think any mini donut pan would work so I'm not recommending one or another.  *IF you make donut pans and you want me to try yours, email me :)



ANYWAY, this is the batter I settled on as my favorite.  I tested a bunch for you, you're so very welcome, I'm selfless like that.

QUICKIE DRIVE BY BAKED DONUTS

PREHEAT oven to 335

Ingredients

1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
CREAM TOGETHER LIKE MAD then add all at once
1 XL egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
a few grates of fresh nutmeg
WHIP TOGETHER, IT WILL LOOK LIKE A CURDLED MESS, that's perfect
DUMP in all at once:
1 1/2 cup a/p flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
FOLD together with a spatula

The batter is thick and lovely.  Put it all in a Quart size ziplock bag and cut a tiny corner off so you can pipe this super thick batter into your mini donut pan. Grease the pan well with spray and only fill them about 1/2 full...  or else you'll get muffins, ask me how I know....

Pop the pan into a preheated oven and bake for 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and leave in pan about a minute then bang the pan on the counter, upside down and they all pop out.  Put the little darlings on a rack to  cool and cook the rest.

I make a glaze of

1 cup icing (confection) sugar  with enough melted butter to turn it the consistency of peanut butter, thick peanut butter.  Then drizzle in evaporated milk until it's the consistency you like for dipping the donuts, thick to top or thin to dip, your choice :)

When the donuts are cool you can top glaze them or dip them in icing sugar or you can butter them then roll in cinnamon sugar or you can dip glaze them if you make the glaze thinner or you can make ganache or ice them with icing sugar and lemon juice; the possibilities are endless.  Here's the beauty shots from the testings.  All delicious, all eaten :)

Go make some, now!

ENJOY!