RECIPES BY LIZZIE

Baked Potato Wedges

Ok this is fast and simple and yummy. Good with BBQ anything.

Cut potatoes in half, then each half into three or four wedges (according to size).

Boil 'em in salted water 'til fork tender (not falling away from the skin).

Then drain, lay on a baking sheet that has been greased. Roast 'em in your oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, flippin' 'em over until you get a nice crunchy brown crust on each side. Remove and sprinkle with a coarse salt. This needs to be served right out of the oven so u get the crunchity crunch.

You can sprinkle just about anything on this, paprika, parsley whatever you like. I prefer it plain and then i pour some garlic sauce over it, or add a lil garlic butter to it.

Healthier than the fried ones.

BBQ Sauce

I use ketchup, soy sauce, black pepper, salt, sugar, garlic, onion, hot pepper, shadon beni (otherwise known as cilantro which we cant live without in the Caribbean). We grind the shadon beni, the garlic, the onion and hot pepper, then add the rest of stuff. I add water to get it to the right consistency, and a little lime juice if I feel like it. Gives it a nice tangy taste. I keep it thick to baste while BBQing, and some thinned down to pour over the grilled food. I don't cook it either, tho I guess one could if they wanted. It's good, the shadon beni/cilantro coupled with the lime juice really sets it apart. If you're into that kinda taste.

Chocolate Coffee

1 cup of skimmed milk
1 tsp. Nescafe instant (yes i use instant, shoot me)
3 tsp. brown sugar
2 blocks of Hershey's dark milk chocolate

Now u gotta really steam the milk first, then throw in the chocolate and stir it 'til it melts. Heaven in a cup I tell ya.

Oh and this can totally be chilled.

Dumplings

2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Combine, add water and knead for a few minutes till smooth. Roll out into a circle bout ¼ or ½ inch thick, cut into strips, then into smaller pieces. (Honestly it don't matter how u cut 'em, I just like 'em square shaped approx 2 inches wide.)

Put up a big pot of water, bring to a boil and add the pieces of dough. The dumplings will begin to rise to the top of the pot after a while. When this happens they are pretty much done, just let boil about 5 minutes after and then drain off the water.

Immediately add butter and toss it.

You can use this with anything with a gravy. I eat 'em alone tho.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

When I was little, my dad's youngest sister used to make this absolutely delicious eggless cake as she was vegetarian.

This recipe, tho not hers, (cuz she gave that up a long time ago after she married a meat eater) is the closest I've found to what her cake used to taste like.

I'm always rather skeptical of using recipes online, but this one was better than I thought it would be. Uses stuff u already have lying around your cupboard.

Ingredients:

1 tin Nestle condensed milk
1 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa (tho for the cake below I used a couple tablespoons more)
⅔ cup melted butter
2 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
150 ml (⅔ cup) water

-Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder.
-Combine in another bowl the condensed milk, melted butter, vanilla and water.
- Add dry ingredients to the milk mixture, and beat on medium for about a minute till the batter is smooth.
- Pour mixture into a greased baking tin and bake for approx 50mins to an hour at 300°, testing with a skewer to make sure its cooked.

Don't over beat it, or over bake it.

This is what mine looked like:

I don't even frost it.

Note: This is NOT a sweet tasting cake, despite the amount of condensed milk in it because of the fact the cocoa isn't sweetened. I upped the amount of cocoa this time around and found that altho the color was gorgeously chocolaty, I craved the extra sweetness from using just the ¼ cup. But for those who like dark chocolate more, I'd suggest upping the amount of cocoa to suit and maybe bringing in some sweet with a frosting/topping if u want. It's also very dense, but moist. I liked it a lot.

If you try it out let me know how u like it.

I'm thinking of using it with with German Cake topping soon.

Update: Ok this is seriously becoming an addiction.

Now I'm adding coffee and cappuccino mixes to it, and it's fabulous.

Fried Rice

3 cups cooked brown rice
¼ cup finely diced carrots
¼ cup finely diced green peppers
1 tsp. finely chopped celery
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ tsp. soy sauce
½ tsp. sesame oil
Salt to taste

1-Heat olive oil in large frying pan, add diced carrots and cook for 1 minute. Then add green peppers, cook for an additional 2 minutes stirring occasionally. (You may add any veggies you wish at this point.)

2-Add the cooked rice and toss with the veggies, then add soy sauce and sesame oil and combine 'til rice is evenly coated with soy sauce.

Note: If you wish a darker brown rice or a lighter brown rice you can adjust quantity of soy sauce.

3-Allow rice to cook for an additional 4-5 minutes on medium heat, stirring often. Turn off heat, add chopped celery and salt to taste, toss and serve.

Variations:

Egg Fried Rice: Add in one whole egg at step 2, and stir to evenly distribute. Then continue with step 3 'til egg is cooked.

Corn Fried Rice: Add in ¼ cup of sweet corn at step 2, continue to step 3.

Shrimp Fried Rice: Saute diced seasoned shrimp along with veggies at step 1.