Homemade Liqueurs... Irish Cream

Irish Cream Liqueur

This is a little different from from our other Liqueur recipes. But it is my favorite over ice or in my coffee. Only lasts a month in the fridge but mine nver does! I drink it too fast.

Ingredients:

Half of a 750 ml. bottle of Irish whiskey (or any American whiskey if that's what you have available)

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy cream

4 eggs

2 Tbls. chocolate syrup

2 tsp. instant espresso

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Preparation:

In a blender...Blend all the ingredients, except the whiskey. Then add the whiskey and blend again until thick and frothy.
Serve immediately or put in decorative bottle as a gift. Label it with a custom label & store in the refrigerator for up to a month.
*Contains raw eggs.

Homemade Liqueurs... Cherry flavored

Homemade Cherry Flavored Liqueur
See the last few days for detailed info on the basics of making homemade Liqueurs.

Whole Cherry Liqueur

2 lbs ripe Bing Cherries
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Sliced & scraped peel of 1/2 lemon
2 cups brandy

1 cup vodka

1/2 cup sugar syrup

Pull stems from half of the cherries. Cut the stems from the other half of cherries just at the top so the inner fruit is exposed. Pierce all the cherries down to the stone with 4 or 5 holes. Place cherries in Qt jar. Sprinkle with powdered sugar & let disolve. Add lemon peel & shake gently.

Add brandy & vodka to cover cherries. Close jar & store in warm place (75 degrees) for 6 weeks undisturbed. Strain, filter & squeeze all the juice from the cherries. Add sugar syrup. Shake well & let mature at least 1 week.

Label with custom labels & date.
Serve straight up, or in iced tea

Homemade Liqueurs... Apple flavored

Homemade Apple Flavored Liqueur

See the last few days for detailed info on the basics of making homemade Liqueurs.

Tart Apples:

1 lb granny smith apples

2 cups sugar

2 cloves

Pinch of nutmeg

Sliced & scraped peel of 1 lime or lemon

2 cups vodka or brandy

Cut ripe apples into about 8 pieces & remove coore but don't peel. Place all ingred. in a tightly closed jar & set in the sun for several days or until sugar is disolved & been absorbed. Strain & filter. Mature 2-3 weeks.

Sweet Apples:

1 lb Red Delicious Apples

2 cloves

Pinch of cinnamon

2 cups of vodka or brandy

1 cup sugar syrup

Cut apples in halves or quarters & removethe cores but do not peel. Place apples, cloves, cinnamon & alcohol in a jar. Cap & let steep 2 weeks. Strain and filter. Add sugar syrup. Mature 2-3 months.

Label with custom labels & date.

Serve straight up, in iced tea or make "appletinis"

Homemade Liqueurs... Orange flavored

Curacao has become the generic term for orange liqueur.


Triple Sec is a blend of oranges & cloves.










The general procedure for Orange Liqueur is as follows:


1: prepare the Fruit, flavoring & add alcohol base.


2: Steep 2-3 weeks. Turn & shake gently every few days during this time.


3: Strain & filter


4: Add sugar surup (from yesterday's blog)


5: Let Mature





Whole Oranges (or tangerines):


3 whole sweet oranges, cut into wedges


1/2 lemon


2 whole cloves


3 cups vodka


1 cup sugar syrup.


Place oranges, lemon, cloves & vodka in a jar (vodka should cover fruit) and steep 10 days. Strain & filter. Add sugar syup & let mature 3-4 weeks.


Label with custom label & write date on it.





Orange Juice:


4 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice.


Scraped & sliced peel of 1 orange


1 1/2 cups vodka or 1/2 vodka & 1/2 brandy


1 cup Sugar syrup


Combine juice, peel & alcohol. Steep 4 weeks, Strain, filter & add syrup.

Serve straight up, over ice, add to OJ or Iced Tea.

Homemade Liqueurs... Basics

A great gift for friends & family. The next few days we will be giving some tips, recipes & how to cook with Homemade Liqueurs.

Today is the Basics on getting started & how to make just about any Liqueur.

The ingredients and equipment you need are easily available & very uncomplicated. The proceedure is like making tea. Steeping fruits or berries in an alcohol base such as vodka or brandy and a sweetener is added.

Sweeteners are mostly a sugar syrup made up of 2 parts sugar & 1 part water, boiled together for about 5 min. till sugar is disolved. (1 cup sugar & 1/2 cup water makes 1 cup syup)

Containers... GLASS bottles (do no use plastics) with a cover.

Wide mouth gallon & quart jars for mixing & steeping the fruit.

Washed mayo jars work great.

Jars for aging can have a narrow neck. Any bottle, including dark beer bottles work fine. Wash & sterilize bottles by either putting in dishwasher or pouring boiling water into them.

Funnels, corks or screw on caps & straining equipment ( wire strainer & cheesecloth or coffee filters).

Decorative custom bottle labels to add to your bottles.

Come back tomorrow when we start with some great recipes for Homemade Liqueurs!

Pillsbury Dough Magic Chicken Cordon Bleu Stromboli

WOW... your family will think you are a 5 star chef with this one!!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Stromboli.

www.apronmadness.com

INGREDIENTS
1 (11-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crusty French Loaf
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 oz. thinly sliced cooked deli ham
6 oz. thinly sliced cooked deli chicken
1 (6-oz.) jar Green Giant® Sliced Mushrooms, drained
1 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 oz. (1 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese
6 oz. (1 1/2 cups) shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup purchased honey-Dijon salad dressing


DIRECTIONS
1.Heat oven to 375°F. Spray cookie sheet with butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray. Unroll dough onto sprayed cookie sheet. Press to form 14x12-inch rectangle.

2.Reserve 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese lengthwise in 4-inch-wide strip down center of dough to within 1/4 inch of each end. Top with ham, chicken, mushrooms, bell pepper, cheeses and salad dressing.

3.Bring one long side of dough up and over filling, completely covering filling. Repeat with remaining long side, overlapping dough. Press edge to seal. Fold ends under. With sharp knife, cut 5 slits in top of dough to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle with reserved 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake at 375°F. for 18 to 24 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Cut into slices.

Pillsbury Dough Magic - Asian Pork Dumplings

Asian Pork Dumplings from Pillsbury Flaky biscuits.

Great for Lunch, party appetizers or as dinner.

www.apronmadness.com

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 lb lean ground pork
1 can (8 oz) sliced or whole water chestnuts, drained, coarsely chopped
1 box (9 oz) Green Giant® frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
12 medium green onions, thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon white pepper or black pepper
2 eggs
2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury® Grands!® Flaky Layers refrigerated original biscuits (8 biscuits each)
1 1/2 cups sweet-and-sour sauce or sweet-spicy chili sauce


DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, mix all ingredients except biscuits and sweet-and-sour sauce.

2. Remove 1 can of biscuits from refrigerator just before filling (keep remaining can of biscuits refrigerated). Separate each biscuit into 3 layers. Press each layer into 3 1/2-inch round, being careful not to tear dough.

3. Spoon 1 rounded tablespoon of pork filling on center of each dough round. Bring all sides of dough up over filling, stretching gently if necessary, and gather in center above filling to form a dumpling; press gathered dough to seal. On ungreased large cookie sheet, place 24 dumplings 2 inches apart.*

4. Bake 17 to 27 minutes or until thermometer inserted in center reads 160°F** and sides and tops of dumplings are golden brown. Repeat to make remaining dumplings.

Serve warm with sweet-and-sour sauce.

**Due to the natural nitrate content of certain ingredients such as onions, the pork filling may remain pink even though pork is cooked to 160°F. *To make ahead, cover and refrigerate unbaked dumplings on cookie sheet up to 2 hours before baking.

Unique Wrapped Weinies for lunch

These can also be made ahead, flash frozen & reheated for a quick lunch or even a party appetizer!

www.apronmadness.com

INGREDIENTS
1 (11-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Breadsticks
24 cocktail-sized smoked link sausages (from 16-oz. pkg.)
1 (1-lb.) pkg. pasteurized prepared cheese product, cubed
2 (15-oz.) cans chili without beans

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Unroll dough; separate into strips. Cut dough strips in half crosswise. Wrap 1 breadstick half around center of each sausage; pinch ends of dough strip to seal. Place seam side down and about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours.

2. Bake at 375°F. for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, in fondue pot or medium saucepan, combine cheese and chili. Cook over medium heat until cheese is melted, stirring frequently.

4. Serve hot fondue with warm wrapped sausages to be speared with fondue forks for dipping.

Pillsbury Dough Magic - breakfast Pizza

Another Great breakfast for the weekend YUMMY!

Breakfast Pizza!

INGREDIENTS
1 can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust
8 eggs
1/4 cup half-and-half or milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons Butter
1 container (8 oz) chive, vegetable or regular cream cheese
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked
Green onions, if desired



DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 425°F. Spray 12-inch pizza pan with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray, or grease with shortening. Unroll dough; place in pan. Starting at center, press out dough with hands to edge of pan.

2. In medium bowl, beat eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper. In 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add egg mixture; cook and stir until thoroughly cooked but still moist. Remove from heat.

3. Spoon cooked egg mixture over crust. Drop cream cheese by teaspoonfuls over eggs. Arrange bacon in spoke fashion on top of pizza.

4. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toppings are thoroughly heated and crust is deep golden brown. Garnish with green onions.

2009 © and ®/™ of General Mills
Bake-Off is a registered trademark of General Mills ©2009
®Crisco is a trademark of The J.M. Smucker Company

Pillsbury Dough Magic - breakfast pockets

I am a pillsbury dough fanatic! I make breakfasts.. lunch... dinner, snacks & desserts all from different pillsbury doughs. I have a whole cookbook & I make some up as I go. So for the next few days I will be posting some of my favs! So check back often for new ideas!

Today is Breakfast: Fast... fast... fast! So put on your Apron & get ready to cook.

This one I made up so no real amounts of everything... I just make to our tastes.
This is a great recipe to do up a bunch ahead & keep in freezer. Kids can just grab one & nuke for a healthy breakfast on the go.

fry some breakfast sausage (not links)... drain off grease... add some shredded hashbrowns. (or chop up tator tots) You can add onion or green pepper IF you like. Fry till hashbrowns are cooked to your taste. Scramble a few eggs in a dish, add salt & pepper. then scamble into sausage & hashbrown mix. Mix till eggs are cooked. Add a little of your favorite cheese (we like American).. stir in till just melted... let cool while preparing cresent dough.

Open cresents (at least a couple rolls)... "fuse" 2 triangles into a Square. Add sausage mix to 1/2 of side & fold over. Seal the edges. (I sorta roll the edges up a little to seal)

Put on ungreased cookie sheet & bake at 375 till light golden brown. ( about 10 min or so)

NOW... eat some & let the rest cool. Then to freeze the rest, I flash freeze before putting into ziplocs. Lay the pockets on a pan or plate & put in freezer for a few hrs. Then take them out & put in ziploc or vacuum seal bags. Kids... & adults can then just take one out & nuke. I like to nuke & then put in oven to crisp up the cresent.

Great HEALTHY "on the go" breakfast for the whole family!
**you can make smaller versions for a great brunch item too!