Linguini & Clam Sauce

I've had this ever since I was a baby. Mom made it because it was so cheap and good. It was the first dinner I made by myself and now I make it all the time when my parents ask me to make dinner, It's tasty :)

1 clove garlic minced

1 tablespoon butter

2 cans chopped clams drained (keep 2/3 cup clam liquid)

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1 cup sour cream mixed with 1 tablespoon flour

8 oz pack linguini

Basic Necessities:

Large pot

Medium pan/skillet

Small bowl

Start boiling water for linguini. Follow instructions on package.

Mince garlic into pan and melt butter. Sauté until golden.

Add clam juice, wine, pepper, and parsley.

Simmer for 5 min.

Mix sour cream with flour in small bowl.

Add to pan and simmer until thickened.

Add clams and heat.

Serve over Linguini.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

(Under construction. Will edit later)

1 cup Onion

1 cup Celery

Box of Minute Rice

2 Packages of Chopped Broccoli

1 can Cream of Celery Soup

1 can Cream of Mushroom or Chicken Soup

3/4 block Velveta Cheese (the small block)

1 Can Frenches Onions

Cheddar on top

Bake for 350.

Crispy Stir-Fry Chicken Chow Mein

Interesting, crispy, noodly and really good. It's a fun dish to make with a friend if you have time to kill.

The celery, onions and mushrooms make it more of a stir-fry, and a distinctly good flavor is the ginger. If you're a ginger lover, you can add a little more as needed :)

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar

12 oz. refrigerated chinese egg noodles

5 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 teaspoon sesame oil, salt + pepper

1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

10 thinly sliced mushrooms (baby bella, shitake, or crimini)

1 scallion, white and green minced

1 piece of ginger (a very small piece)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup peanut oil + 2 tbsp peanut oil

Basic Necessities:

Large boiling pot

Whisk

Medium bowl

3-4 Small bowls

Cutting board

Large skillet

Wok (or extremely large skillet)

Prep:

Start boiling water for the noodles. Boil water according to package.

Whisk together first 5 ingredients in small bowl. Set aside

Cut chicken into bite-sied pieces. Place in small bowl. Season with sesame oil, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Get a sous-chef to thinly slice onion, celery, and mushrooms and set aside on a plate or bowl. While they do that,

Mince scallion, ginger, and garlic. To mince ginger, peal with potato peeler, put through garlic press, and measure out a tablespoon (make it a heaping tablespoon if you love ginger). Set all 3 aside on plate or bowl.

Fry Noodles:

Let noodles cook in boiling water according to package (about 3 minutes) Stir Frequently. Drain noodles.

Get your sous-chef to heat 1/4 cup of peanut oil in large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add noodles, spread evenly over skillet. Fry for 4 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Do not stir. Flip large patty of noodles. Line a plate with a paper towel. Take tongs and gently pry off the crispy noodles on top layer, and set them on a plate. Keep cooking other noodles for another 4 minutes. Repeat the flip process untill you have a mix of crispy and soft noodles. Dot make every single noodle crispy. Set aside.

Stir-Fry Veggies and Chicken:

While they are doing the noodles, heat wok (or extremely large skillet) over high heat. Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil until very hot. Add ginger, garlic, and scallion and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned, about 1 1/2 min.

Add sliced onion, celery, and mushrooms. Stir-fry until crisp/tender, about 2-3 min.

Pour chicken broth mixture into wok. Bring to a boil and stir to coat stir-fry. Remove from heat. Season generously to taste with pepper. Add fried noodles and mix everything together. Serve immediately. Add more soy sauce at table if desired.

The Bomb Buttermilk Pancakes

These are so flipping delicious. The rule is, if you're gonna have pancakes, you may as well make them as good (and bad) as possible. They taste so featherlight and buttery and creamy and amazing. These may clog your arteries, but it's SO worth it. If you want a healthier but still pretty tasty alternative, try the boxed buttermilk pancakes from Trader Joe's. Those are pretty bomb too, but these are like heaven. It makes a lot but you can freeze and microwave later.

The secret to these amazing pancakes is the lumpy batter. Do not overmix the batter! When making pancakes you should use a heavy large griddle so you can easily flip them and cook lots at once.

Whisk in large bowl:

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1/4 cup Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Salt

Whisk in another large bowl:

2 cups Buttermilk

2 cups Sour Cream

2 large Eggs

4 teaspoons Vanilla

Serves: 18 pancakes

Basic Necessities:

2 Large Bowls

Whisk

Griddle or Large skillet

Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk last 4 ingredients in another large bowl. add to dry ingredients. Stir until batter is just blended but still lumpy.

Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter on griddle over medium heat. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle, spacing 2 inches apart. Cook until bubbles break on surface (about 3 minutes) Transfer to plates. Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to skillet as needed.

Serve pancakes immediately with butter and warm maple syrup.

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

These are everyones favorite! Oh my gosh they are so good. I brought a bag into class once and gave some to a few friends, and soon enough the WHOLE large zip lock bag was gone! They are tastier when they are little :)

Ingredients:

Combine in medium bowl:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine in 2nd medium bowl:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Serves: 36

Total: 1 hr 20 mins

Basic Necessities:

2 Medium bowls

1 Small bowl

Egg beater

Grab stick of butter out of fridge and slice into tablespoon slices to let soften. Preheat oven to 350.

In medium bowl, combine flower, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture. Beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

Bake for 15-20 min in preheated oven.

While cookies are cooling, make the glaze.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in microwave. Combine powdered sugar, milk, and melted butter, and vanilla. Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.

Drizzle glaze on each with fork. Let the glaze dry onto the cookies and enjoy.

Easy Crème Brûlée

Haven't tried this, but the other version I have serves 8 and has a much more complicated and tasty recipe (with REAL vanilla bean and half and half and superfine suger, etc). This easy one is just for at home after dinner.

Ingredients:

4 Eggs

4 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Pint Heavy Cream

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Salt

6 Ramekins

Whisk

Small (enough for 4 egg yolks) + Medium Bowl (Microwave Safe)

Roasting Pan

Tea Kettle

Torch (or broiler if you don't have one)

Serves: 6

Prep: 40 min

Cook: 40 min

Total: 1 hr 20 min

Preheat oven for 350.

Seperate 4 eggs. Set aside in small bowl. Put 4 tbsp. sugar in medium bowl. Add 1 pint of heavy cream. Stir gently with whisk and microwave for 2 min to dissolve sugar.

While that's going, whisk egg yolks just enough to break the yolks up smoothly. When the sugar-cream mix is done, stir a bit to make sure the sugar's dissolved. Stir in eggs and whisk well. Add a dash of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla.

Pour into ramekins and place in roasting pan.

Put some hot water from the faucet into the tea kettle and pour into roasting pan, enough until it comes up halfway agains the ramekins.

Bake for 40 min. They should still be jiggly. Let cool for a bit and then pop them into the fridge for a few hours, or overnight.

Sprinkle a little pile of sugar in each ramekin. Torch them, or melt sugar under the broiler. Let cool for a minute and enjoy.