Wiener piglets – Little hotdogs

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Another guest post by Sander.

(btw, Sander’s opinion on ketchup is not mine!!!)

Wieners – or hot dogs, as they are known in the United States – are nice-tasting fully cooked sausages. You can do about ten thousand foods with them – use as a meat in salads, boil, fry with eggs, make sandwiches… sky is the limit!

But since childhood, my favorite way of making wieners is wiener piglets – incredibly easy to make, great-tasting and great-looking food. I think half of my relatives come to the parties held at my parents just to get cheese’n’mayo sandwiches and wiener piglets…

Wiener piglets are especially popular with kids – they look good (click on the picture to see larger version), have a funny name and taste great. And – kids can actually help to make them.

But how?

You take the sausage, cut a small cross in the end – about an inch deep – and put to hot oven (around 200..250 degrees Celsius). Depending on the type of sausages, they will take 10 to 20 minutes until ready – when the puffy ends start to get brown, they are done.

And that is it, all ready to eat. You can have them separately or as a side dish for salad/rice/potatoes. If you have crappy sausages or dead taste buds, you can use ketchup or mayo on them.

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Conversions, Charts, and Cooking Tables

I have several posts  here on TFT that I know a lot find by searching.  I thought I would post a few links here, so everyone knows where to find what they are looking for.

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Long Island Iced Tea

Long Island Iced Tea

Long Island Iced Tea

Long Island Ice Tea – created in the 1970’s on Long Island, New York doesn’t actually contain tea, but is supposed to taste similar.  It’s a hugely popular drink, served almost everywhere.  I’m sharing this recipe as Sander is going to be making these at his New Years Party this year, and needed to know exactly what was needed.  I’ve included a recipe for Sweet & Sour Mix, with some variations as well.

Long Island Iced Tea

1 part vodka
1 part  Tequila
1 part rum
1 part gin
1 part triple sec (or an orange flavored liquor)
1 1/2 parts sweet and sour mix (see recipe below)
1 splash Coke or Pepsi

Mix ingredients together over ice in a glass. Pour into a shaker and give one brisk shake. Pour back into the glass and make sure there is a touch of fizz at the top.  Garnish with lemon.

Sweet and Sour Mix

Variation 1

3 cups granulated sugar
3 cups water
2 cups lemon juice
2 cups lime juice

(or 4 cups lemon, or 4 cups lime)

Combine the water and sugar into a large sauce pan.  Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil, and then boil for 5 minutes.  Cool.  Add in the lemon & lime juices.  Stir to mix and then refrigerate.  This can be kept for about a week in the refrigerator.

Variation 2

1 Cup lemon juice
1 Cup lime Juice
1 cup confectioners sugar (aka caster sugar or icing sugar – 10x sugar)

Mix together well, and allow to sit for 4-24 hours.  Stir occasionally, making sure the sugar is dissolved.

Variation 3

2 cups lemon or 2 cups lime juice
1 cup 1 cup confectioners sugar (aka caster sugar or icing sugar – 10x sugar)

Mix together well, and allow to sit for 4-24 hours.  Stir occasionally, making sure the sugar is dissolved.

Notes:

  • To get the most juice out of lemons and limes, roll them around on the counter, using medium pressure, to break the cells holding the juice.
  • Using only lemon juice is more akin to a sour mix for say, whiskey sour
  • Using only Lime juice is perfect for Margaritas
  • Using a mix of lemon and lime, works for just about everything you’d need a sour mix for.
  • In the US, Sour mix is used quite a lot.  However, in Europe, sour mix is usually left out of drink mixes, being substituted for Lime Cordial, or lemon/lime juice.
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Sweet and Sour Mix

Many cocktails call for a sweet and sour mix, or as it may be known’ sour’ or ‘sour mix’.  I’ve put a few variations of the mix recipe here — two are “no heat” versions, and one needs a 5 minute boil.  All the recipes are simple to do.

Lime

Sweet and Sour Mix

Variation 1

3 cups granulated sugar
3 cups water
2 cups lemon juice
2 cups lime juice

(or 4 cups lemon, or 4 cups lime)

Combine the water and sugar into a large sauce pan.  Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil, and then boil for 5 minutes.  Cool.  Add in the lemon & lime juices.  Stir to mix and then refrigerate.  This can be kept for about a week in the refrigerator.

Variation 2

1 Cup lemon juice
1 Cup lime Juice
1 cup confectioners sugar (aka caster sugar or icing sugar – 10x sugar)

Mix together well, and allow to sit for 4-24 hours.  Stir occasionally, making sure the sugar is dissolved.

Variation 3

2 cups lemon or 2 cups lime juice
1 cup confectioners sugar (aka caster sugar or icing sugar – 10x sugar)

Mix together well, and allow to sit for 4-24 hours.  Stir occasionally, making sure the sugar is dissolved.

Notes:

  • To get the most juice out of lemons and limes, roll them around on the counter, using medium pressure, to break the cells holding the juice.
  • Using only lemon juice is more akin to a sour mix for say, whiskey sour
  • Using only Lime juice is perfect for Margaritas
  • Using a mix of lemon and lime, works for just about everything you’d need a sour mix for.
  • In the US, Sour mix is used quite a lot.  However, in Europe, sour mix is usually left out of drink mixes, being substituted for Lime Cordial, or lemon/lime juice.
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Merry FMAS!!

//www.venganza.org/

Have a CarbyDay!! Flying Spaghetti Monster | http://www.venganza.org

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Monkey Bread, aka Pull Aparts, Pully Bread, Picky Bread and Pinch Me Bread

There are some things that I make that are almost painfully simple.  And after reading some of the blogs this past week with all the complicated recipes — from liver pate to potato confiet, I really am almost embarrased to post this recipe.  But.. I’m a simple cook, for the most part, and sometimes the simple things are just fantastically yummy.  This is one of those recipes.

We (and by “We”, I mean my son and I), are trying to create some new traditions, and make new memories.  It’s been hard after the divorce to not be saddened by what /was/, and instead, be happy with with /is/.  And so I decided to do some new things this year, one of which is to make some different foods.  This recipe, though I have made it in the past on occasion,  is not something I would normally make.  First, I don’t often use refrigerator rolls, and second, it’s rather too much for the two of us.  But it is Christmas, and I did want new/different foods.

This version of Monkey Bread, aka Pully Bread, Pull Apart Bread, Picky Bread, Pinch Me Cake – whatever you may know it by, (and in the end, whatever it is you choose to call it), is ridiculously silly easy.  With the plethora of names this recipe is known by, there are 1000x that many versions of this recipe.  I bring nothing new to the recipe whatsoever.  It just happens to be what I decided to make, and to share here. Listed below the recipe are a few other versions.

With supervision (the caramel/syrup is just  too hot for little ones), this version of the recipe can be made by kids, and takes only about 10 minutes..maybe 15 minutes from start of prep to entry into the oven.

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Quick and Easy Monkey Bread with Pecans

3 12-ounce tubes refrigerator biscuits, or rolls (like the Pillsbury type) (or a double recipe of your favorite yeast bread)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (up to 1 cup, if you like, and I do!!)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins, dried currants, or dried cranberries (or similar)

Open the tubes and remove the ready-to-bake rolls or biscuits.  The object is to cut each piece into 4 pieces.  I try and remove the rolls from the package all in one full roll, slice longways in half twice, making 4 long pieces, and then pull them apart into the quarter section.

The traditional pan to use is a “bundt pan”.  I don’t happen to have one, so I used a disposable aluminum pan – a double long bread pan

Extra long, wide disposable pan

Extra long, wide disposable pan

size. (as shown here). Spray well with ‘Pam’, or oil well with vegetable oil and set aside.  You don’t want to use a regular bread pan size as it is too small for this recipe – it needs to be double long.

In a ziplock bag, pour in the 1 cup of sugar, and the 3 tablespoons cinnamon.  Zip it closed and shake it to mix.  Put 1/2 of the cut up biscuits/rolls into the bag, zip to close, and shake until all the pieces are well covered. Put these pieces into the pan.  Get the remaining pieces ready to go, by putting them into the ziplock bag.  Shake them, and leave them in the bag for now.

Meanwhile, put the butter and brown sugar into a saucepan.  Stir often, and then, once the butter and sugar start to melt, stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Boil for about 1 minute.

Once this has boiled, pour 1/2 over the pieces in the pan.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the pecans, and half of the remaining cinnamon.  Cover this with the remaining pieces from the ziplock bag, and pour the remaining half of the butter/brownsugar syrup overtop.  Cover with the rest of the nuts and cinnamon.

Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes.  Once this is done, remove from the oven and allow to set at least 10 minutes.  Turn out onto a serving dish or platter.  This will be VERY hot, so be careful.

Notes:

  • Use walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts — whatever suits your fancy
  • I like this with a lot of cinnamon — it just makes it taste so nice — I sprinkle a bit extra over everything ;)
  • I’ve doubled this fine, but used a large, deep double cake pan.
  • This is good leftover, heated in the oven at 350 for 5-10 minutes.

Other Monkey Bread recipes of interest:

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