Sweet Sesame Bread

Jake and I have been eating this for breakfast the past few days... the recipe makes two small loaves... one for you and one to give away! (That's what I did anyway.  Or you could just eat them both)

It has a really interesting flavor... it's sweet, but with the distinctive sesame flavor added in.  I like it.

You'll need

2/3 c. toasted sesame seeds

2 c. flour

2 1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

4 T. butter/margarine, at room temp.

2/3 c. sugar

2 eggs, at room temp.

grated rind of 1 lemon

1 1/2 c. milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Take two loaf pans (8x4 or something around that) and grease them.  

Stir together your flower, salt, and baking powder, and then add in the sesame seeds -- but reserve 2 T of the sesame seeds for later.

Separately, cream the butter or marg. and sugar together until fluffy.  Beat in your eggs and then stir in the lemon rind and milk.  The consistency will look strange... that's okay, it's just the milk and lemon reacting.

Pour the milk mixture over your dry ingredients and just blend with a spoon.  Pour half of the batter into your pan and sprinkle 1 T of your sesame seeds over the top.  (Then you can either repeat for your second pan, or bake this one and reuse it.)

Bake your loaves until a knife/fork/toothpick/cake tester comes out clean, about 35-40 min.  Let cool about 10 min, and then enjoy!

Asian Spicy Honey Grilled Shrimp

I made this delicious dinner for my boyfriend and mom last week, and it was a hit so I thought I'd share it with you all.

What you'll need:
2 lb. raw, shelled, de-veined shrimp
1 T. minced garlic
1/4 c. minced ginger (I used that kind that comes in a tube)
a little less than 1/4 c. hot chili paste (Sriracha)
about 1/2 c. sweet chili paste (I used an entire 4 oz. jar of Thai kitchen roasted red chili paste - found in your international foods aisle)
1 c. honey
1 c. lime juice
1/2 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1 c. canola oil

Combine marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.  Whisk it together until it is a cohesive substance.  At this point, taste the marinade and see if it is to your liking.  If you want it spicier, add more Sriracha.  Set aside about a cup of the marinade and then pour the rest over shrimp (which you have rinsed thoroughly).  Refrigerate for a few hours (preferably over night).

When ready to cook, place your shrimp on skewers.  Put them on the grill and quickly brush more marinade on each skewer (from your reserve).  Allow to cook only a couple of minutes before quickly flipping and marinating the other side.  You will be able to tell they are ready because they'll turn completely pink.  Should only take about 3 minutes on each side.

Enjoy!  It's that easy.

Blueberry Streusel Bread

I went to the lake over the 4th and we had a lot of guests at our lake house, so I thought I'd lighten the load on my mom a little and bring down a little something to munch on for breakfast.  This is what I came up with, and it was a HIT.  Enjoy!

You'll need:
a square baking dish (8x8 or 9x9)
4 T. butter at room temp
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg at room temp
1/2 c. milk
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 cup fresh blueberries
(and for the crumble topping:)
1/2 c. of sugar
1/2 c. flour (ish)
1/2 t. cinnamon
4 T. butter cut into small pieces

Preheat your oven to 375 F.  Grease your baking dish.
Cream the butter with sugar until nice and light.  Add in your egg and beat it.

This is after I added the milk, before the dry ingredients.  I thought it looked weird, so I wanted to assure you all that it should!

Mix in the milk until blended and, and then add in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and stir to blend.  Add in your blueberries, and stir to distribute.

Pour all that into your baking dish and then even it out at least a little bit.
To make the topping, but the topping ingredients into the bowl.  I started with about 1/3 c. of flour and added more in until the consistency was right: you'll need to sort of knead the ingredients together with your hands until it starts becoming more crumbly.
Once you've gotten a good consistency, spoon the topping over your batter.
Stick it in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until you can stick a knife (or fork or toothpick or cake tester if you're really fancy) into the middle and it comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Apple and Brie Panini

I recently found out that my mom has this panini maker she never uses.  It's so cute (light green and for the stovetop), so I decided I had to find a reason to use it.  What I came up with turned out DELICIOUS, so I thought I'd let you all in on the recipe!  It's inspired by the Fideaux sandwich at Fido in Nashville, TN.

What you'll need:
Some kind of bread (I used a multi-grain for health's sake, but Italian would be delicious)
a Fuji apple
Brie cheese
apple butter (can use homemade or buy, next to apple sauce at the grocery store with jams + jellies)
butter

Spread apple butter on one side of each slice and regular butter on the outsides.  Thinly slice your apple and put those on top of the apple-buttered side of one of the slices.  Place thin slices of the brie on top (or spread it if it's the spreadable kind).  Put the top of the sandwich on, and once that's done place it in the panini maker!  (Could do stovetop too, like a grilled cheese).  Flip after just a minute or two and let it crisp up (you want the cheese to be melty).

Then... enjoy!

I forgot to take a picture of the final result until I had already eaten half!  Whoops! Yum :)