Here is a little Holiday shooter that is guaranteed to get 'em off the sofa and around the piano for some spirited caroling.
Caution: one per customer. One at a time, anyway.
RECIPE: RUDOLF'S NOSE (Shooter)
Coat the rim of a shot glass or a pony glass with cane sugar crystals.
Cut half way into an maraschino cherry, then coat cherry with sugar.
Combine and chill Eggnog and your choice of "flavoring"* 50/50.
Pour in the chilled Eggnog shooter mixture. Arrange sugared cherry on edge of glass.
Grate nutmeg on top, and serve.
* Optionals:
* Float the "flavoring" over the Eggnog, but still keep the 50/50 proportion. (It is a shooter after all.)
* Try a fresh cranberry instead of the maraschino cherry.
* Peppermint Schnapps will really seal the deal. * Bourbon ... if you go for a brown nose. * Make it a slightly larger drink: In a 4 oz. pony glass pour 2 oz. Eggnog (2 jiggers) and 1/2 oz. "flavoring" (1 jigger).
The Internet is full of cats these days. Here's a Cat among cats. The one who put the puss in his boots. The very one whom the Ad Biggies referred to when they said, "let's put it out on the back stoop and see if the cat licks it up."
Cooky Cat cooks from scratch. (No claw-related pun intended.) You’ll find not so much recipes, as suggestions. The world, after all, doesn’t need another cook book. A certain culinary skill is expected to dig this cat.
Inspiration is what is needed. And Cooky Cat brings it. A sense of humor also wouldn't hurt. He kids... but, always, he loves. In his own words, "Just kitting."
We give you... Cooky Cat!
The Cooky Cat is into cooking. He can be a playful kitty, sometimes prone to exaggerating the facts (he can be a down right fibber), but always true blue when it comes to steering you in the right direction kitchen-wise. Take what he may say otherwise with a grain of salt. Just shoe him off your lap(top) when he gets too frisky for you.
Cooky Cat can cook anything (he is not vouching for its edibility, however). Don't expect recipes and treatments on the more conventional dishes. [E.G., regarding omelets... Wisk a few fresh eggs, shake and stir in a pan with some butter, fold onto plate. Done. Next.]
Cooky Cat is also very straight ahead in the kitchen. No stunt foods. So don't expect any of those trendy piled high ego displays or cakes made to look like... whatever. Take this pledge: "I will never again watch a cake show on television." About foam... you can't even get him anywhere near the foam of a bubble bath. And, as few gadgets as possible. It took him years to get around to a Cuisinart processor; prior, it was the trusty Benriner mandoline.
He also vigorously eschews the trend to overly combine wildly disparate ingredients or overly sauce and/or multi-spice recipes. Things do have their own taste and Cooky Cat stands for letting the ingredients speak for themselves.
His motto: Create meals from what looks good at the market, always looking first for what is seasonal, fresh, and local. Shopping to a recipe is a way to go, but many times slavishly sticking to that approach can be frustrating if you can't find the ingredients; it forces compromises if what's only available is of lesser quality, and it is certainly the most expensive approach. Quality costs, and pays off in the long run; but when it's on sale, go for it. By and large, you get what you pay for.
There have been comments from certain quarters that the recipes are not detailed enough. The point Cooky Cat is making has to do with conveying the secret ingredient to all good cooking. If you want the specifics, just do a search and zillions of options magically appear. To repeat, the world does not need another cook book!
Now go ahead, scratch around and see what Cooky Cat has for YOU!
A faithful follower of Cooky Cat shows her appreciation. . .
Like it were for me your first encounter with "Fried Rice" was dollars to donuts, you betcha for sure at a Chinese restaurant. A beautiful mélange of rice and eggs stir fried with a mix in of some vegetables for texture and usually some protein(s). On that "protein" bit, don't rule out Seitan. Best versions with plural such proteins. [Can't beat a combo of cured ham bits, Pork, Chinese Sausage, and Scrimpts.]
Actually, if you want a recipe for such a dish, just go out and have yourself an order, or so. The ingredients are all there on the plate. But, be advised, there are probably as many versions of Fried Rice as there are cooks.
Okay, you say, but how to make it?
Look, don't be an arsehole. The Intranet is awash with info on just about anything anyway. Look it up!
But, since you're here now, I'll oblige [attention, one John Geddie!] and put some words of my own to it.
First, there's the Rice. You do know how to cook rice, don't you? Make some plain Rice. Variety ... your choice. Basmati? Hell yes! As for that "plain" Rice, we had some left over Mid-East style Rice with toasted Vermicelli. It worked right nice.
Some think it has to be left over Rice. No. End of discussion.
Eggs. Now we're talking. Eggs. What kind? The best would be those raised by a happy family of multi-generation farmers their birdies fed with organic grains, culled fresh today from a farmhouse as close to your casa as possible. Better, like Martha Stewart, from your own hens. In a rainbow of colors, of course. Martha does it right! She may do it "white", but she keep it multi-ethnic don't you know.
Now it's decision time. Of course your gonna use a Wok. Lots of room to stir in one of those. Hey, look. Just because you prepare something in a Wok don't mean it is ipso facto "Chinese". C'mon. Alright, make yours in a large fry pan. Be that way. [We could get into a lively discussion on how a seasoned, well-used Wok will have a signature emparted to the dish. Well, that's a thing. Look up Wok Hay — "the breath of the Wok". But, hey, what the Wok.]
The big choice in making Fried Rice is in what you do first.
Cooky Cat stir fries the mix-ins first. Then set aside and mixed into the Rice/Eggs to finish.
So now to the real quandary of Fried Rice. Which comes first, the Rice, or the Eggs. If you take a gander on some videos you'll often see restaurant style cooking where the Rice and Eggs go in together and get the bejesus stir fried out of it. We like to stir fry the Rice [Peanut Oil, please — unless there's an allergy] then move it over and add the beaten Eggs to the empty side of the pan, scramble, then mix the Eggs and Rice. Or, scramble the Eggs separately, then add in later. That latter version gives lots of definition of Egg in the Rice. You can fry together for a more homogeneous texture.
The video below shows a rather persnickety process with the Rice. Honestly, we never went that far. And, probably won't. Really ... separate the Rice, lay out on a sheet pan, and let to dry overnight in the frig? GIVE ME A BREAK! But, I'll bet his version is pretty derned good.
Seems Mung Bean Sprouts is a natural. Crunch factor. No Sprouts? We use shredded Cabbage. Celery, for sure! Also, gotta have Scallion. We like also Cilantro leaves chopped. From Claiborne and Lee, Peas please.
On those proteins. Best version: Pork, Skrimps, slices of Chinese Sausage, bits of cured Ham. Chicken instead of Pork. Beef ... nah. Chicken and Pork; hey, you're an adult now. If you want.
Flavorings. Soy sauce and Oyster sauce. Or, neither. If you want to ratchet it up Orientale, finish with toasted Sesame Oil. But, like I said, it doesn't have to be "Chinese". See what you like and use that. The proof will be in the pudding.
In conclusion, here's a video that takes the recipe for Fried Rice beyond to where probably even Martha Stewart would go. Adjust and adapt as you will yourself ...
