Welcome to Alex’s Cookbook!

Welcome to my recipe book. These are all the things I know how to cook or reheat.

Appetizers

Orange Pecans

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 teaspoons orange peel
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground corriander
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups pecan halves
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.
3. Add orange peel, cinnamon, corriander, cloves, and cayenne.
4. Stir until aromatic, approximately 30 seconds.
5. Add pecans, sugar, and salt.
6. Stir until coated evenly.
7. Transfer nuts to a baking sheet.
8. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

Cooking

Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• Butter
• Milk
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions

1. Put butter in pan, and pan on medium heat.
2. Crack two eggs into a bowl.
3. Add a tiny tiny bit of milk to bowl.
4. Beat with a fork or whisk.
5. Pour mixture into pan.
6. Let sit for a minute or so, until it begins to solidify.
7. Mix it up with a spatula until all the pieces look cooked.
8. Serve on a plate with some salt and pepper.

Egg Salad

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• Mayonnaise
• Mustard powder
• Paprika

Instructions

1. Place two eggs in a small pot of water (water should cover the eggs).
2. Heat on stove at high heat for 20 minutes.
3. Peel eggs.
4. Slice-and-dice eggs.
5. Add a glob of mayonnaise (one large spoonful, approximately).
6. Add a pinch of mustard powder and paprika.
7. Mix with fork.

French Toast

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 2 hearty slices of Challah
• 1 cup of milk
• Vanilla extract
• Butter

Instructions

1. Place egg, milk, and vanilla extract in a bowl.
2. Mix with a whisk (“I can’t just use a fork?” “Truthfully, you can”).
3. Place slides of bread in a glass pyrex container and pour mixture ever.
4. Ensure the bread is soaked in the mixture, stab the slices with a fork.
5. Leave to soak for 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350.
7. Place butter in a frying pan on medium heat.
8. Place slices in frying pan.
9. Cook until one side is brown, flip, cook until both sides are brown.
10. Place in the oven for 10 minutes.

Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 4 small red potatoes
• 1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1-3 teaspoons chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons Roasted garlic and Parmesan Newman’s Salad Dressing
• 2 tablespoon of frozen peas

Instructions

1. Fill medium-sized pot half full with water.
2. Add salt.
3. Rinse potatoes in water.
4. Cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces (approximately quarters).
5. Place pot on stove at high heat, leave for 20 minutes.
6. Pour salad dressing into large bowl.
7. 17 minutes into the 20 minutes, pour peas into the pot.
8. Take pot holders and drain in collander.
9. Pour into bowl with salad dressing.
10. Mix.
11. Let sit for at least 15 minutes.
12. Mix in onions.
13. Mix in mayonnaise.
14. Serve.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• 4 medium Idaho or Yukon Gold potatoes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup hot milk

Instructions

1. Peel potatoes.
2. Cut into 1/16ths or so.
3. Put into pot of water, add some salt.
4. Boil for 20 minutes on high heat.
5. Drain water.
6. Rice potatoes.
7. Add butter and milk.
8. Mix until smooth.

Meat Pie

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs ground beef
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1-1.5 cups stock/water
• Salt and pepper
• Worcestershire sauce.

Instructions

1. Purchase deep dish pie crust.
2. Turn oven to 375.
3. Line frozen pie curst with foil.
4. Put bag white beans in to weigh it down.
5. Put in oven for 20 minutes.
6. Take foil and beans out of pie crust, remove from oven.
7. Keep beans for next time.
8. Put oil in frying pan.
9. Turn on stove to medium/medium-high.
10. Add the onions when oil is hot (putting onion in will make noises when hot).
11. Cook until onion is soft (onions turn more translucent).
12. Add ground beef.
13. Cook, chop, and stir until beef is brown.
14. Take frying pan off heat.
15. Stir in flour.
16. Pour in stock/water.
17. Add some salt and pepper (don’t add much salt if the stock isn’t sodium free)
18. Put frying back back on heat.
19. Cook until boiling (it will bubble).
20. Cover the frying pan.
21. Turn heat to low, cook for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally (every 10-15 minutes), should be thick and creamy.
22. Stir in Worcestershire sauce (a couple of shakes), and taste.
23. While cooking on low heat, make Mashed Potatoes.
24. Turn oven to 425.
25. Put beef mixture into pie shell.
26. Put mashed potatoes on top (for optimal aesthetics, use pastry bag).
27. Sprinkle paprika on.
28. Put pie in oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
29. Remove from oven, serve.

Tzimis

Serves four

Ingredients

• 1 bag of baby carrots
• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ½ to 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Instructions

1. Place carrots in glass container, add ¼ cup of water, cover with plastic wrap, leave a small gap.
2. Microwave until crisp tender. (Fork goes through, approximately 5 minutes)
3. Drain water out of glass container.
4. Place butter or margarine in frying pan.
5. Turn heat to medium-low. Wait for butter to melt.
6. Add brown sugar to frying pan.
7. Adjust heat to low.
8. Mix brown sugar into butter with spatula.
9. Add nutmeg to frying pan.
10. Add lemon juice to frying pan.
11. Add carrots to frying pan and mix.
12. Let sit for 5 minutes.
13. Serve.

Pancakes

Ingredients

Recipe can be divided into two

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions

• Place butter in measuring cup.
• Defrost butter in microwave until melted.
• Beat eggs in large bowl, until frothy.
• Add buttermilk, melted butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract to bowl.
• Beat with whisk until smooth.
• Turn stove to medium heat, heat pan on stove.
• Coat bottom of pan with vegetable oil, while pan is sitting on heat.
• Pan is hot when splashing a tiny bit of water on it causes water to sizzle and evaporate.
• Spoon batter into pan, ⅓ of a cup per pancake.
• When air-holes begin to appear, and remain open on top surface, flip pancake.
• When bottom is same color as top, and body is no longer squishy, pancake is done.

Reheating

Breaded Chicken

Instructions

1. Remove from freezer.
2. Preheat oven to 375.
3. Place chicken in oven on foil pan.
4. Check temperature after 15-20 minutes.

Cabbage and Noodles

Instructions

1. Cook bow-tie noodles normally.
2. Take cabbage out of freezer.
3. Remove from plastic bag and place in Pyrex bowl.
4. Heat on high in microwave for 3 minutes (without lid).
5. Drain water from noodles.
6. Mix cabbage in with noodles.

Chicken Soup

Instructions

1. Defrost in microwave to half-ice or further.
2. Place on stove at medium-low heat until bubbling.

Hamburger

Without grill pan

Instructions

1. Take out of freezer one day in advance.
2. Spray small amount of oil on to frying pan.
3. Place hamburger on frying pan.
4. Cook 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat.
5. Check that cooked, and then flip.
6. Cook 3-4 minutes on other side.
7. Cut into it to make sure cooked all the way through.

Drinks

Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

• Droste cocoa
• Milk
• Heavy whipping cream
• Sugar
• Whipped cream

Instructions

1. Put 1.5 teaspoons of cocoa in sauce pan.
2. Add 3 rounded teaspoons of sugar to sauce pan.
3. Shake/stir until mixed well.
4. Shake whipping cream and add 3 teaspoons to pan.
5. Turn heat on to low on stove.
6. Stir until shinny.
7. Pour milk into mug (3/4 full).
8. When glossy, pour milk into pan.
9. Stir to blend.
10. Turn heat up slightly.
11. Let warm, check temperature occasionally.
12. Add whipped cream.
13. Serve.

Desserts

Chocolate Cake

Note

Source: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Everyday-Cocoa-Cake-107768

Ingredients

• 2 cups of flour
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 1 ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ⅓ cups water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Butter a 9- by 2-inch cake pan (not from the ¾ cup butter).
3. Dust the pan with flour, and then knock out any excess.
4. Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt with a whisk.
5. In a separate bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, to the butter and brown sugar, mix after each.
7. Beat vanilla in.
8. And flour mixture and water to the bowl in batches. Both the first and last batch should be flour.
9. Mix until it’s combined.
10. Pour batter into cake pan.
11. Bake in the oven until a tooth pick can be stuck in the center and come out clean; start at 25 minutes.
12. Take out and cool. Do not frost until it’s cooled down.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Note

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/27/magazine/food-the-sweet-spot.html?pagewanted=2

Ingredients

• 8 ounces butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flower
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups semisweet chocolate chunks

Instructions

1. Place butter in large bowl, cream at high speed until fluffy.
2. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scrape down sides of bowl occasionally.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time, until completely mixed.
4. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt, and baking soda.
5. Add butter mixture at low speed until combined, add vanilla extract.
6. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl down, until blended.
7. Add chocolate chunks and mix thoroughly.
8. Refrigerate batter until cold, possibly overnight.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
10. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
11. Drop spoonfuls of batter 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
12. Bake about 12 minutes, until golden brown.
13. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsweeted cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• 3 cup whole milk
• 3 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Mix sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a medium pot.
2. Place on stove and turn heat to medium.
3. Gradually add milk, whisking as you go.
4. Continue whisking until thick.
5. Whisk for an additional minute.
6. Remove from heat.
7. Add vanilla extract.
8. Pour into pie crust.
9. Chill.

Coffee Cake

Ingredients

• ¾ cup unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a 13x9 baking pan.
3. In a large bowl, cut the butter in to the brown sugar and flour with a pastry blender or 2 knives until crumbly. Remove and reserve 1 cup of the mixture for topping.
4. Beat the baking soda into the buttermilk or sour cream and add to the flour mixture.
5. Add the egg, vanilla, and salt.
6. Stir until smooth.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top.
8. Sprink the reserved crumbs over the top.
9. Bake the cake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
10. Cool to lukewarm on a wire rack.
11. Cut into rectangles and serve warm.

Coffee Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

• ¾ cup room temperature butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• Go to Starbucks and order a shot of espresso
• 2 ½ tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

1. Place butter in a bowl.
2. Whisk until light and fluffy.
3. Add in the powdered sugar, ½ a cup at a time, mix each batch in.
4. Add in coffee and heavy cream.
5. Mix until it reaches desired consistency.