Red Velvet Cupcakes

I found this recipe on Recipezaar, compliments of Lorraine of AZ.

SERVES 24 , 24 cupcakes

Change to: cupcakes US Metric

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Ingredients

2 1/2 cps. flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cps sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ounces water
2 ounces red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

cream cheese frosting

1(8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cp. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cps. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 cupcake cups or line with paper liners.
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Add eggs and blend well.
4. Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring and add to the butter mixture.
5. Sift flour and salt togethr into this mixture.
6. One at a time, add the following ingredients: buttermilk, vanilla, and water.
7. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and the baking soda. Fold it into the cake batter. Make sure it's incorporated, but don't beat it.
8. Pour the batter into the cupcake cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched.
9. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn out of pan and onto a rack to finish cooling completely.
10. Cream Cheese Frosting: Blend together the following: 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Blend until smooth.

TGI Friday's Baked Potato Skins Appetizer Recipe

Especially with game day here, everyone is looking for appetizer recipes! Here is one from a popular restaurant!

5 baked potato skins, cut in half (empty of most of the potato)
1 tablespoon melted butter
seasoning salt
1 green onion, diced
1/2 cup crispy fried bacon, diced (about 5 strips)
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

Heat oven to 375F.

Brush potato shells with melted butter and sprinkle seasoning salt
to taste.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp but not dry and hard.

Remove and sprinkle with cheese, bacon and onion, place back in
oven until cheese is melted.

Serve with sour cream and chives.

For a bit of variety try Ranch dressing.

Servings: 2-4

If you want more delicious appetizer recipes,
please visit >> Secret Restaurant Recipes and 5 Star Restaurant Recipes!

Spaghetti Carbonara

One of my biggest downfalls is Carbohydrates! I absolutely love Carbonara's, although I make mine without the mushrooms. ( I'm picky!)

This recipe comes from
Klee Brasserie Restaurant, NY


Ingredients:

1 cup mushrooms (porcini, shiitake or chanterelle)
1 pound imported spaghetti
½ cup diced pancetta
1 garlic clove, sliced
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives

METHOD:
Clean the mushrooms and slice them thin. Cook the pasta in boiling,
salted water until al dente. Saute the pancetta and garlic in a
large pan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir in cream and
continue to cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and cayenne. Add
the pasta. Divide the pasta among 4 large bowls. Sprinkle with the
cheese and the chives.

Serves 4

To cut down on fat and calories you can substitute half and half, or even whole milk for the heavy cream!

Yummy!

For more recipes like this please visit >> Secret Restaurant Recipes and 5 Star Restaurant Recipes

T.G.I. Friday's French Onion Soup

Ingredients

3-4 medium to large onions
3 cans of beef broth
water
worchestershire sauce
butter
sargento cheese (Italian blend) 8 oz. bag (recommended)
French baguette
2 bay leaves
dash of garlic powder
dash of both salt and pepper

Slice the onions into rings and saute in butter in a skillet until
tender. 

Turn crock pot on to low and put in the cans of beef broth, bay
leaves, dash of garlic powder and salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons of
worchestershire sauce, and 3/4 cup of water. When the onions and
butter mixture is tender then also add them to the crock pot. 

Cover and cook for at least 3-5 hours on low. At this point you may
want to taste the soup and see if you would like it a little
weaker--if so add a little water or chicken broth. Also, at this
time remove the bay leaves and discard them. 

When about ready to serve, slice bread into thin slices and toast
in oven on 350 or in toaster oven until just crusty. Put toasted
slices (1-3) in bowl and cover with the cheese (adjust cheese to
your liking). Then cover bread and cheese with hot soup. The cheese
will melt and the bread will rise to the top.

Visit >> Secret Restaurant Recipes 
and 5 Star Restaurant Recipes 
for more mouthwatering dishes!!!

Wendy's Mandarin Chicken Salad

Dressing:
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
pinch of garlic powder

Additional Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
5 cups romaine lettuce
2 cups mixed greens
1/2 (5-ounce) bag shredded carrots
1 tablespoons toasted, salted sesame seeds
1 cups canned mandarin oranges, packed in juice and drained
1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup crispy (chow mein) noodles (optional)
1/2 cup roasted sliced almonds (optional)

Add the dressing ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend with a
mixer until combined. Chill before serving.

As the dressing chills, add chicken breasts to a pot of boiling
water. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes or until
cooked.

Once the chicken is tender and no longer pink, remove from the pot
and cut into bite sized pieces.

Combine chicken and other remaining salad ingredients in a bowl.

Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.

Serves 2.

For more wonderful recipes like this, please visit >> Secret Restaurant Recipes and 5 Star Restaurant Recipes Cookbook

Macaroni Grill Recipe

Since our country is looking at a $700 billion dollar bail out plan, this is more reason to stay at home and save money by cooking our own favorite secret restaurant recipes!

Here's a recipe from the Secret Recipe cookbook:

Macaroni Grill Focaccia

9 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsifted semolina flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons quick-rising dry yeast
1 1/2 cups hot milk (between 120 to 130 degrees F)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

1. Pour a 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil into a 9-inch square cake
pan; spread to cover bottom and sides.
2. Place all-purpose flour, semolina flour, 2 tablespoons of the
olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and all of the yeast in the
bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook or you can mix by hand.
3. Mix ingredients on medium speed. Reduce speed to low and slowly
add hot milk. Increase the speed to medium and continue mixing for
5 minutes, then knead about 10 minutes by hand.
4. Dust the bottom of cake pan with a little flour. Remove dough
from bowl and spread out evenly in pan. Cover with a towel and let
it rest for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Remove towel and brush dough with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the
olive oil. Dust the top with additional salt and rosemary. Bake
for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and drizzle with remaining oil.

Serves 6-8

Joe's Crab Shack Crab Dip Restaurant Recipe

Here is another great recipe from Restaurant Recipes cookbook

Joe's Crab Shack Crab Dip


2 oz Cream Cheese, softened
4 tsp. Diced Yellow Onion
1 Tbsp. Butter, softened)
4 tsp. Finely Diced Green Pepper
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 tsp. Seasoned Salt
1/8 tsp. Paprika
1 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 (6 oz.) can Crab Meat (drained) **Use fresh crab meat if you can!
Fresh Diced Green Onion, for garnish
Fresh Chopped Parsley, for garnish
*optional* dash of hot sauce for a little kick

Mix cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream and butter until smooth.
Blend in seasoned salt and paprika. Stir in yellow onions, crab
meat, green pepper, and mozzarella cheese. Place in a lightly
greased small shallow baking dish and place in a preheated oven at
350 degrees until mixture bubbles, about 10 - 14 minutes. Serve dip
with unsalted or very lightly salted corn chips.

Serves 2-3 as an appetizer.

Do You Hate To Peel Eggs?

I hate to peel eggs. I have tried every trick under the sun to get my hard boiled eggs to peel well. None of them have worked so far!

I just came across this video on Youtube, and I think I am going to try it, I actually laughed when I saw it, I'm sure you will too!



Now, back to the recipes!

Here is another sample from Secret Recipes!

T.G.I. Friday's French Onion Soup

Ingredients

3-4 medium to large onions
3 cans of beef broth
water
worchestershire sauce
butter
sargento cheese (Italian blend) 8 oz. bag (recommended)
French baguette
2 bay leaves
dash of garlic powder
dash of both salt and pepper

Directions

Slice the onions into rings and saute in butter in a skillet until
tender.

Turn crock pot on to low and put in the cans of beef broth, bay
leaves, dash of garlic powder and salt and pepper, 2 tablespoons of
worchestershire sauce, and 3/4 cup of water. When the onions and
butter mixture is tender then also add them to the crock pot.

Cover and cook for at least 3-5 hours on low. At this point you may
want to taste the soup and see if you would like it a little
weaker--if so add a little water or chicken broth. Also, at this
time remove the bay leaves and discard them.

When about ready to serve, slice bread into thin slices and toast
in oven on 350 or in toaster oven until just crusty. Put toasted
slices (1-3) in bowl and cover with the cheese (adjust cheese to
your liking). Then cover bread and cheese with hot soup. The cheese
will melt and the bread will rise to the top.

For more great secret restaurant recipes go to >>> Secret Recipes

Want Olive Garden Recipes?

Everyone seems to be in need of Olive Garden Recipes! The dishes at Olive Garden are so delicious, and mouthwatering, who could blame you!

I grew up around Italian cuisine, my family was very close with an Italian family while we were growing up. Needless to say, none of us kids ever went hungry. We could go to either house, and there would be plenty of food to feed the neighborhood!

That is one of the things I like about Italian cuisine, it makes you feel all warm, and like you are at home, sitting at the big communal table in the kitchen!

How about starting with the Olive Garden Recipe for Tuscany Bread? Mmm, it is warming my belly as I am thinking about it!

Would you like the San Remo dip with that? Both of these recipes are in a fantastic e-book I stumbled across.

Pork Filettino, Parmesan Chicken, Mostaccioli Quattro Formaggio, and Mediterranean Garlic Shrimp are just a sampling of the main course Olive Garden Recipes you will find in this e-book!

Desert, oh-my-goodness!!! They have Tiramisu, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake, Apple Praline Cheesecake, Apple Carmelina, Black Tie Mousse Cake and
Raspberry Mousse Cheesecake. Again these are only a portion of the deserts from the Olive Garden Recipes section.

I gained 5 lbs. just reading the list! That is one thing you want to remember, These recipes are definitely not on the light side!

This e-book is worth its weight in gold, it also features other great restaurant recipes. You can find these top secret recipes in it as well:

Applebee's Baby Back Ribs
Applebee's Smothered Steak Skillet
Applebee's Apple Chimi-Cheesecake

Outback Steakhouse's Bloomin' Onion
Outback Steakhouse's Bread
Outback Steakhouse's Steak Seasoning

Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Red Lobster's Crab Au Gratin
Red Lobster's Crab Alfredo

This is just a few of the restaurant recipes you will find in this e-book! Go ahead, discover the top secret recipes! Over 45,000 people have worked over 5 years to perfect these recipes, so they taste just like your favorite restaurant recipes!

These top secret recipes are worth every penny! You will be the talk of the town when you start making all these dishes!

Visit >>> Olive Garden Recipes to find a sample recipe and get the link!