Deborah Does Navel-Gazing » Food

Restaurant Recipes

Deborah — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:31:38 +0000

We all get that craving for some restaurant dish that we really can’t justify paying for more than once in a blue moon. Mine is Cranberry Bliss Bars from Starbucks. They’re only available at the holidays, too, so I’m SOL the rest of the year.

Wisebread has spotlighted a couple of sites where you can find these recipes in Restaurant Recipes at Home-Cooked Prices. I’ll also add one of my favorite sites – Top Secret Recipes. The recipes there are either free or available for next to nothing.

Christopher Walken’s Chicken with Pears

debgray — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:53:59 +0000

I don’t know why this struck me as so funny. Probably because he’s played so many really weird guys that it’s just odd to see him calmly narrating his chicken preparation.

English Plum Pudding Recipe

debgray — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:57:33 +0000

Time to make the plum pudding! Remember, if you want to make one for Christmas, it needs to age a few weeks.

1/4 lb. flour
1/4 lb. currants
1 tsp. salt
1/4 lb. golden raisins
1 tsp. allspice
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tsp. ginger
1 ounce cut mixed citrus peel
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 oz. shredded almonds
pinch fresh grated nutmeg
Juice and grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1/4 lb. fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 lb. treacle (or molasses)
1/2 lb. shredded suet
4 large eggs
1/4 lb. brown sugar
2 tbsp. brandy
1/4 lb. dried chopped apricots
1/4 lb. prunes
1/4 lb dates

Sift flour, salt and spices into a large bowl. Stir in breadcrumbs, suet and sugar. Add fruits, peel and rind. Beat lemon and orange juice, molasses and eggs together and add to other ingredients. Steam for 6 hours — a coffee tin filled with the mixture and placed in a steamer in a covered pan does well. After steaming cover in a cool place and let age as long as possible – usually about 5 weeks.
To use, steam again for 2-3 hours and unmold. Sprinkle with sugar; add heated cognac. Ignite and bring to the table. Serve with hard sauce or cognac sauce.

Finally it’s time for caramel apple cider

debgray — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:59:55 +0000

Okay, so I’m still having trouble finding some cider here in the Bay Area. But it’s the season. So here is my favorite recipe, which I originally found in Family Fun magazine.

Serves 4

1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups apple cider
1/2 cup water

Bring the cream and brown sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat (you’re making caramel sauce, which you can also use for ice cream). Stir in the cider and the water and raise the heat to medium high, heating just until the cider begins to steam, about 4 minutes. Serve as soon as possible, although you can store some in the fridge and re-heat it. It’s not quite as good, but almost.

Obviously the cream and sugar make this extremely high in calories. And it’s addictive. I gained a few pounds in about two weeks when I first discovered this. I think I did use light cream last year for a couple of batches and didn’t see much difference, if any, in taste.