Spirited Spirits

Stellar Mojito 

Makes 2 drinks:

20 mint leaves, plus mint sprigs for garnish
4 tbsp. fresh lime juice (2-3 limes), plus 2 lime slices for garnish
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. white rum
crushed ice
1/2 c. club soda

In tall glasses, combine 8-10 mint leaves with 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice and 1 tbsp. sugar. Crush mint leaves into the mixture. Add 1/8 c. white rum to each glass and lots of crushed ice. Top each glass with 1/4 c. club soda and stir. Garnish with mint sprig and lime slices and serve!

Watermelon Margarita

Makes 4 drinks:

3 c. chopped watermelon
Juice of 10 limes (3/4 to 1 c.)
1/3 c. sugar
2 cups ice cubes
1 c. tequila
1/2 c. Grand Marnier or triple sec

Blend watermelon, lime juice, sugar, and ice and blend until smooth. Add tequila and Grand Marnier/ triple sec and pulse to mix. Fill tall glasses with more ice and serve.

White Sangria

Makes 4 drinks:

One 750 ml bottle of dry white wine (sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio will do)
1/2 to 1 c. brandy, to taste
1/4 c. sugar
2 limes, sliced into wedges
2 lemons, sliced into wedges
1 orange, sliced into wedges
1 green apple, sliced
1 small bunch of white grapes and sliced in half
1 c. seltzer
ice cubes

Combine wine, brandy, and sugar in a large pitcher until sugar is dissolved. Add fruit and seltzer to the pitcher and let it sit for 1 to 2 hours in refrigerator before serving. Add ice before serving!


These are from 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know by Cindi Leive and the Editors of Glamour Magazine

Leive, C. (Ed.). (2010). 100 recipes every woman should know. New York, NY: Hyperion.

Lemonade with Strawberries

Perfect Lemonade with Strawberries

Serves 6 to 8:


2/3 c. sugar
5 cups cold filtered
Zest from 2 lemons
1 c. fresh lemon juice (5-7 lemons)
1 pint strawberries (fresh or frozen), chopped in half and with hulls removed
2 dozen ice cubes

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, 1 c. water, and lemon zest. Simmer gently over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

2. Strain the syrup into a 2-quart serving pitcher. Stir in lemon juice and remaining 4 c. water.

3. In blender, puree strawberries.

4. Pour strawberry puree into the pitcher, stir in the ice, and serve.


These are from 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know by Cindi Leive and the Editors of Glamour Magazine

Leive, C. (Ed.). (2010). 100 recipes every woman should know. New York, NY: Hyperion.

Enchiladas

I never seem to have store-bought enchilada sauce when I need it, so I've experimented with making it myself an awful lot. And now, I think I've finally got it how I like it. This might not be how they do it in Mexico, but I'm in Virginia, so that's how I feel about that.  

If you don't have enough tortillas, then instead of rolling the meat up in them, you can create a casserole with layers of tortillas, meat, and cheese. I typically find that I am short on tortillas, so it's a nice way to use them up. Also, flour tortillas are fine, but corn tortillas REALLY make this dish a winner because they are infinitely more flavorful. On the other hand, corn tortillas are tiny and harder to roll, so they work better for me in casserole form. One last note -- when I make enchiladas, I typically make one for that night, and one to stick in the freezer for a fast dinner when I don't feel like cooking, so the recipe makes a lot of food.

Enchilada Sauce 

Makes 1 9x13 pan and 1 8x8 pan. Use a pie pan if you want to. Casseroles can come in any form you want them to!

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ sweet onion, finely chopped

1 ½ quarts crushed tomatoes

1 ½ tsp. cumin

1 ½ tsp. chili powder

Dash of oregano

Dash of parsley

Sprinkle of cinnamon (do NOT be heavy handed!)

5 oz. of tomato paste, for thickness

2 TBSP white vinegar

Brown garlic and onion in the oil in a pot over medium. When onions are clear and browning, mix in tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, oregano, parsley, cinnamon, some tomato paste, and vinegar. Use as much tomato paste as you need to thicken it. Bring mixture to a boil, and then turn down to simmer on low as you make the enchilada meat.

Enchiladas

1 lb. sausage 

1 lb. ground beef

Cumin

Chili powder 

Water

1 oz. or so tomato paste (reserve some from the enchilada sauce)

Some leftover crushed tomatoes (enough to make it look tomato-y)

Enchilada sauce

Cheeses, shredded - use cheese to taste. Monterey Jack and Mild Cheddar are my favorites here.

Beans are optional. Refried black beans would be my choice if I was throwing them in a layer.

Make the sauce in a small pot. While it's simmering, brown the meat in a pan. Drain fat. Turn down heat to a simmer, and add in cumin and chili powder to flavor the meat a bit. Add in the tomato paste and some leftover crushed tomato to make it tomato-y. Then throw in some cheese, stir until it melts, and turn it off. 

Turn on the oven to 375 degrees.

Arrange the tortillas, meat, and sauce altogether in an assembly line to make it easy to put together next to your casserole dishes (1 9x13 and 1 8x8 or so)

For a casserole-style, throw enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pans so tortillas don't stick. Layer tortillas in the bottom. Add a meat layer next, and then sauce on top of that. You can add cheese now if you want to, or to make it a little less fatty, don't. Add another layer of tortilla, meat, sauce, (cheese). Finish it off with more tortillas if you have extras. Top with sauce and cheese for the top. If you ran out of tortillas, you can leave it at 2 layers of tortillas.

For rolled enchiladas, put enchilada sauce in bottom of pans so tortillas don't stick. Fill tortillas with a little meat and then lay in bottom of pan with seam on the bottom. Do this until you run out of tortillas, and pack them in. Throw sauce over the top and then cheese, and bake.

Bake both for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. And enjoy!

Perfect Caramel Icing

This truly is the most perfect caramel icing in existence. I threw this overtop of a delightful home-made spice cake, and the pairing was beautiful.  I can't take credit for the icing itself, but the pictures are all mine. You can find where I got the original recipe below. This icing freezes well, too, so if you find that you have too much for the job, you can save some for later.

Perfect Caramel Icing

2 1/2 c. sugar

1 slightly beaten egg

1 stick of butter

3/4 c. milk

1 t. vanilla

Melt 1/2 cup of sugar in iron skillet slowly, until brown and runny. Mix egg, butter, remaining sugar, and milk in a saucepan and cook over a low flame until butter melts. Turn the heat up to medium and add the browned sugar. Cook until it reaches the soft ball stage or until mixture leaves sides of pan. This takes about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and add vanilla. Beat until right consistency to spread. If it gets too thick add a little cream. This will ice a 2 layer cake.

Looks a bit like an oversized donut, I think. 

This recipe originated here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1913,157162-225195,00.html

A Savory Recipe: Rosemary Walnut Oven-Fried Chicken

This post is recycled from my Digressions of a Sponge for Knowledge, but I've transferred it here so that all my recipes can live in one place -

 

¼ c. low-fat buttermilk OR ¼ c. milk with 1 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar(stir thoroughly)

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

4 6-oz. chicken cutlets (or use bone-in chicken, thighs are a good size but other cuts work too)

1/3 c. panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) – substitute saltines if no panko

1/3 c. finely chopped walnuts (I ground in coffee grinder) and then leave some larger pieces for good texture

2 Tbsp. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

¾ tsp. minced rosemary

¼ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

Cooking spray

1.       Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2.       Combine buttermilk and mustard in shallow dish. Coat chicken pieces in buttermilk.

3.       Mix panko, nuts, cheese, rosemary, salt, and pepper in shallow dish. Make enough to coat all your pieces thoroughly. Dredge chicken in panko mixture.

4.       Arrange chicken on a roasting pan or on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Coat rack with cooking spray. Coat chicken with cooking spray (crisps the coating).

5.       For boneless chicken cutlets - Bake for 13 minutes or until done. For bone-in chicken thighs -  Cover with foil and bake for approx. 40 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees. Remove foil 10 or 15 minutes before it’s done.

Boneless, skinless chicken cutlets: 287 cal., 9.4 g. fat, 42.7 g. protein, 6 g. carbs.

See the original post here: 

http://spongeforknowledge.blogspot.com/2012/05/savory-recipe-rosemary-walnut-chicken.html

The Sponge Reorganizes

So, as my interests are maybe getting a big too broad for just my Sponge for Knowledge blog, I decided to create a separate blogosphere just for food, to be linked to the original blog account when I've got enough recipes. Although my Kitchen is still being renovated as I tweak it here and there, and make it resemble the original blog, I hope to get some delectable recipes up soon. But as you are the first to see it --

Welcome to the Sponge for Knowledge Kitchen! Here I'll post all news related to food and cooking, and recipes will hopefully be a little easier to find. Cheers!