Polly's Pep Oatmeal Cookies

I thought I should type some recipes tonight, so here is one that I invented.  This is a cookie recipe I came up last year.  It is an excellent addition to your gorp to take along to the hiking trip.  It will give your taste bud an awakening experience and tired body a zing! from the surprise chili pepper in this Oatmeal cookies or bars?  The consistency of this cookie is close to a bar cookie rather than the soft chewy oatmeal cookies.

Yield:  24
Preheat Ovent to 350'F          Bake at 350'F 7 to 10 min.
Tools:  Measuring spoons, measuring cups, spatula, medium size microwavable glass mixing bowl, Cookie Sheet, Silipat (if you have one), or parchment paper (silicone base), cooling rack, oven mittens. Anything else you can think of.  :-)

Ingredients:
1 C Old Fashion Oatmeals
1 Stick Butter
1/2 C Pure Cane Sugar
1/2 tsp Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 C AP Flour
1/8 tsp Kosher Salt

Chili Pepper Flakes

Procedures:
Mixing:
In a medium size glass bowl, Mix and Microwave - 1 Minutes -  1 Cup Oats and 1 Stick Butter first.
Stir to make sure that Oatmeal is somewhat cooked in the melted butter.
Take out and stir--becareful, it is hot.  Stir to COOL--about 2 minutes.
*Remember, you will be adding baking soda and powder, so the mixture should be cool.
Shift Flour, Baking Soda, and Baking Powder, Kosher Salt toghther.
Add them to the Oatmeal mixture.  Sprinkle in Chili Pepper Flakes - give a three shakes.
*Depending on the size of the holes of the chili pepper shaker or the amount you and your family or the loved ones can handle, sprinkle with care.
Use your hand to mush them together into a coarse meal.

Panning:
Prepare the cookie sheet with parchment paper or line it with Silipat.
Use a Tablespoon and scoop a tablespoon size dough onto the baking sheeting.
If you prefer a super large size cookies.   Go ahead.  Do it.
The dough will feel dry and crumbly.  So, form into the best shape that will hold together.  Round? Square? be creative.

Baking:
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven's personality.
Take it out.

Cooling:
Do not transfer cookies off the cookie sheet.
Cool the sheet on top of the cooling rack -- so you won't burn your kitchen counter.

Serving:
Wrap them in foil or pack them in a sandwich bag to take along to your favorite hiking trip.
Enjoy!   oh, and don't forget to warn your friends about the surprise in it, the chili pepper flakes or don't forget to ask them if they are allergic to chili pepper, etc.

Fresh Homemade Salsa - for Chips and Dips and for Linguini

Here is a nice homemade salsa that works for two.  One for the chips and dips or serve with linguini.

Yield: Qty - 2 Cups
Tools:  Blender or food processor; measuring cups, cutting board, sharp chef knife; teaspoon, 1 Pint Size Mason Jar, Medium size Glass Bowl, small glass bowl (for lemon and lime juice); option - juicer.  Strainer for pasta, large cooking pot, 10" frying pan, salad spinner, wooden spatula or stir-fry spatula.  Pasta serving plate.

Ingredients:

1 large Ripe Tomato

2 Romano Tomatoes

Lime Juice from 3 Large Limes
Lemon Juice from 1 Large Lemon from home tree
1/2 of Medium Onion - Chopped finely
1/3 C Cilantro leaves
Dash of Kosher Salt
1/2 C Vinegar

Procedures:
Cut and deseed tomatoes.  Chop tomatoes into small chunks.
Chop up Onions as small as you can, but not minced.
Wash Cilantro well and if you have salad spinner, spin to remove excess water.
Tear off all the leaves.
Juice Limes and Lemons into a glass bowl.  --Cut lemons and limes into halves.  Hold the halved lemon in the palm of one hand and Insert a teaspoon to the center.  Wiggle the teaspoon back and forth to squeeze the juice out.  But, if you have a juicer or any other means to get juice out, that will work, too.
Put all in the Blender.  Process for 5 to 6 seconds at Pulse Speed.
Transfer to the Clean, very clean Mason Jar.
Serve or Keep in refrigerator.

Lemon Lime Shrimp and Mushroom Pesto Sauce over Linguini

Ingredients:
1 pkg Linguini - Boiled and strained
1 pkg Mushroom - washed, strained/dried, sliced or chopped
1 lb Precooked frozen shrimp or raw is okay, too.
1/4 Cup Pesto Sauce
3 TBsp Butter
Kosher Salt
Lemon juice - from 3 Lemons
Lime juice - from 2 Limes      *squeeze both juice into the same glass bowl
Dash of Red Chili Peppers

Procedures:

Boil Linguini to the softness your family like.  If you are carb conscience, buy the pasta with "protein" in it, which maybe better than the regular pasta for your diet.  & you can use Linguini or any other pasta of your choice for this dish. 

WASH, STRAIN/DRY, OR CUT:
I like to wash Mushrooms.  Wash them quickly and remove all the dirt and rinse thoroughly and quickly dry them.  If you have a salad spinner, spin dry them.
Slice them or Chop them up into small pieces.

If you have raw shrimps, wash them in salt water and rinse them well or use precooked shrimps - whichever, wash them with salt water and then with clear water.

STIR-FRY:
Stir fry - medium heat - mushrooms first in 10" frying pan with 3 TBsp of Butter.
Stir fry until you start to hear sizzling sound and juice from the mushrooms are drying up - approx. 10 minutes.
Add 1/4 CUP of Pesto Sauce.  Stir quickly and Add shrimps.
Stir fry - medium heat - until raw shrimps turn white and orangish - approx 3 min. Or if stir-frying precooked shrimps, then cook till they are heated through.
Add Lemon and Lime juice.
Add a dash of Red Chili Pepper, if you like to give a bit of kick.
Turn heat to high to sizzle everything.
Remove from heat.

SERVE:
Serve the sauce over the prepared pasta.

Serving Idea:  Serve Lemon Lime Salsa on top of Linquini, or the Lemon Lime Shrimp and Mushroom Pesto sauce over the Linguini.
Enjoy!

Palmiers and Pinwheels

 So the rest of the Puff Pastry dough was baked into Palmiers and Pinwheels.

4 - Five Folding of the Puff Pastry, benching 20 minutes between each roll definitely helped with relaxing the dough and keeping the butter block in the dough.  And see the wonderful result of layers and layers of lamination.

Some people like the Palmiers baked till the sugar is caramelized completely, and also to extend the shelf life.  My Palmiers and Pinwheels are baked till Golden Brown and retained sugar crystals.

More pictures can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/pastrydavinci