Crystals Kitchen

Multi-grain pasta - Spaghetti

2006-09-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been on the pasta isle, picking out your noodles. There are so many options out for you to choose from today. I decided to try those multi-grain spaghetti noodles. They look brown, like the wheat bread of pasta. They have the same boiling directions as normal spaghetti noodles do, and when I was done, I added a bit of butter to prevent them from sticking. They had a more firm texture, and with out sauce, quite a different taste. They have a wheat, grain flavor. When I put my tomato sauce on them, you could not tell the difference except for the texture, like al dente with out trying. I think they would do well with both light and heavy sauces due to the texture. My tomato sauce, in case any one wanted to know an easy recipe, is this: I start out with tomato sauce, plain. I use two large cans. Then I add a can of crushed tomatoes. They come in all flavors, from Italian to diced onions and peppers added. You could use any type you wish. I then saute half a small red onion, two gloves of garlic and mushroom. Then I add ground turkey meat. I feel that ground sausage would be too flaverfull, but ground beef would be fine as well. I add this to my tomato base, and simmer for about an hour. I ad salt, basil and oregano about half way through. It makes a wonderful spaghetti sauce. If any one has tried these type of noodles, tell us what you think!

The best turkey sandwich, EVER

2006-08-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

I know that a turkey sandwich is not that exciting, but I had a lot of fun with mine. I started out with a loaf of cibatta bread. I sliced it into three parts, to make three huge sandwiches. On one side of the bread, I put garlic spicy mustard and on the other I put Mayo. Then I layered it with lettuce, red onion, provolone and sharp Cheddar, turkey meat, cucumbers and avocado. I sprinkled it with salt and pepper and dug in. It was very hard to get your mouth around this monster, but it was worth it! What's your favorite sandwich?

Banana apple sauce bread

2006-08-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

I had a craving for banana bread. One thing turned into another, and I had quite the mix. I started with two banana's mashed in a bowl. Then I added one red apple, peeled and cored and diced. Then I added one cup of white sugar, one cup of brown sugar, and one cup of apple sauce. I let that sit for about 1/2 an hour. Then I added two cups of bisquick, 1/2 cup of flour, two eggs, 1/4 cup of butter and a dash of salt. I split the batter into two bowls and added chocolate chips to one of them. I baked these two breads at 350 for about 1 hour, and they were so moist. The chocolate bread was great with vanilla ice cream on top of it and I put butter on the other. Great flavors, have fun trying it. I bet walnuts would be a nice add to the bread. What do you think?

Turkey Sausage - Good or Bad

2006-08-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

Hi all. How is your day going, mine is great. I tried turkey sausage last night for the first time. I enjoy using ground turkey because it is so much healthier for you, so I tried their sausage link version. I made a pasta with it, and it came out great. What I did was use fetuccini noodles, cooked and tossed with butter, then set aside. For the sauce, I cut the sausage into pieces, then fried it with a chopped up scallion. When the sausage was cooked through, I added a can of crushed tomatos, two cans of tomato sauce, garlic, basil, salt and peper, and let it simmer for about 1/2 an hour. I tossed it with the pasta, served it with garlic bread and it came out great. I will try it again in the future. It needed a lot of flavor though, so I would recomend lots of seasoning if using it. I bet it would be good in a spicy dish. Try it, you know you want to!

Cheesecake Problems Fixed thurs Aug 24th

2006-08-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I just got done baking a few cheesecakes. Yummy, my favorite dessert. It can be done so many ways with so many flavors. I made a white and milk chocolate swirl one for a friend of my mothers. I layered the two flavors to form a bulseye look. Some one had mentioned doing the technique in another forum, so I tried it, and it looked very pretty. I made this in an 8" removable bottom pan. I like these better than springfoam, they last longer and bake more even. I find that many people have problems when baking cheesecakes. Here is my list of common fixes for cheesecake problems.

To get the cheesecake off the bottom of the pan easily, grease the pan with cocoking spray, cut a circle from wax or parchment paper, line the bottom, then when removing, it will slide right off and you can just peel the paper away!
If your cheesecake cracks on the top, try putting a baking dish on the bottom shelf 1/2 full of water below the cheesecake while you are bakinging it. Also, try adding a teaspoon of either flour or corstarch to the bater.
To prevent lumps in the cheesecake, make sure your creamcheese and eggs are at room temperature when your mixing. Try setting them out for a few hours befor you make the cake. If you are mixing the batter and there are lumps, they will be in the cake, try leaving it for 1/2 an hour, then beat it again.

Any other questions, ask me and I can help! I have been making them so long to cure my cravings, I can fix just about any issue you may have when baking cheesecakes. Don't be afraid, if they dont turn out looking like a professional baked it, taste it. Im sure it still has an amazing flavor. You can dress it up with a topping and then it looks and taste great.