The Best Way To Cook Your Freshly Caught Fish

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

A freshly caught fish can be cooked in a thousand and one ways. Any fisherman worth his salt has his own unique way of cooking a freshly caught trout, salmon or whatever fish he caught. So fisherman all across the country has been handed down methods of cooking fish. Here are some tips to get the best out of your fish.

1.Frying

Breading and frying a freshly caught fish is as good as it gets. The smell of butter emanating from the frying pan and the flair a fisherman puts in flipping his catch is worth its weight in gold, almost. For the novice fisherman, make sure that the butter is extra hot but not yet burning. Also, make sure that the fish is well coated in batter. Season your batter to your heart’s content, salt and pepper never goes wrong. You may want to try other herbs and spices with the batter for a more delicious fish.

2.Grilling

At first glance, grilling would seem to be the easiest way to handle your fish. A newbie might assume that grilling fish is the same as grilling steaks or burgers. Unlike fowl or cattle, fish tends to secret most of its own juices when cooked. On a grill the delicious juice drips into the coals.

To prevent losing the moisture, first coat the fish with oil. The oil will seal a part of the moisture inside. Second, keep an eye on the fillets and turn them as soon as a cut would reveal that the fresh fish is cooked halfway through. After being flipped, watch the fish carefully. Remove the fish as soon as it is cooked through.

An option to basting the fish with oil is to wrap it in aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will keep the moisture and marinate the fish in its own moisture. Placing herbs and spices inside the foil with the fish enhances the grilling process and the fish itself.

3.Baking

Baking is the best option for the fisherman who does not want to watch over the fish during cooking. The fisherman can prepare the marinade and pre-heat the oven, then pop the fish into the oven for a predetermined amount of time. You may want to check on the fish from the time to time, ensuring that you don’t overcook the fish.

Whatever fish you caught, a good recipe and proper cooking will for sure enhance the catch. Take time to prepare for cooking, a badly cooked fish will no doubt spoil your day. Remember the first rule of cooking, don’t overcook your fish.

Fresh Caught Fish Cooking Preparation

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

To maintain the delicate flavor of a newly caught freshwater or saltwater fish, this must be handled properly to avoid spoilage. Not to mention preserving the fish with pleasing odor. There are ways to properly prepare and maintain the quality just after the catch of the fish into a sumptuous fishmeal. Check out the tips below:

1) As soon as the fish lands avoid any contact with hard surfaces to prevent bruising. It should be washed immediately by hosing or bucket rinsing in order to remove the slime and possible bacteria that cause spoilage. Never use water from close proximity marinas, municipal or industrial discharges. To make sure, always use potable water instead.

2) Simply chill the fish to prevent deterioration in less than an hour. With a little advance planning, proper icing can be accomplished with the use of some relatively cheap equipment. Fish should be stored in coolers and should be well chilled. It should be 3″ deep, thus, covering a pound of fish with pound of ice. Use chlorinated water per quart of water for the final rinsing.

3) Clean the fish as soon as possible. Their tissues are sterile but not their scales, which contains many types of bacteria. When cleaning fish, avoid rough treatment because wounds in the flesh can allow the spread of bacteria. Gutting the fish does not have to be necessarily long. It is wise to cut the belly, as it leaves no blood or viscera in the body. Make sure not to soak cleaned fish fillets in a prolonged freshwater as this could reduce the meat texture and flavor.

4) The eating quality and nutritional value of fish can be maintained up to 5 days if properly cleaned. Washing of the hands before touching the fish is also important. No matter what fish and the cooking technique used, one golden rule is to be followed always. Whether it is whole or not, cook exactly 10 minutes for every inch measured. 15 minutes should be allotted to fish enclosed in foil or sauce baked. Double the time for frozen fish.

Allow extra time if fish will be baked while packed in an aluminum foil and allow extra time for the penetration of the heat. That should be an additional 5 minutes for fresh fish and 10 for frozen. In thawing frozen fish, slowly thaw in the fridge for 24 hours or let the wrapped fish be run under cold water not at room temperature. Do not thaw a fish that’s frozen before cooking as it may make it mushy and dry.

Serve Eggs Anytime

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

The popularity of breakfast foods is a good reason to keep dependable starters, such as eggs, bread and other staples, on hand. But why reserve them only for morning meals? Planning breakfast for dinner is a good way to serve up simple, satisfying evening meals without spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

A strata is one easy-to-prepare dish that can go from breakfast to dinner with ease. The word strata means layers and the layers of Tomato Strata Florentine are simply cubed bread, torn spinach and seasoned chopped tomatoes. An egg-milk custard poured over the top binds the bright-colored layers together and causes the bread to puff up during baking.

For single diners or families whose members eat at separate times, bake the ingredients in individual custard cups which you can refrigerate and reheat in the microwave. For a family meal, use a baking pan. Either way, you can make the strata the night before you want to serve it. Simply leave a note for the first one home to pop it into the oven.

This budget-wise combination is nutrient dense. Along with cheese and milk, the eggs provide about 1/3 of your daily protein needs, while the bread and tomato supply carbohydrates. Together, the ingredients add up to an impressive array of needed vitamins and minerals, at less than 200 calories and only 8 grams of fat per serving.

Other breakfast dishes make good dinners, too. Quick-cooking scrambled eggs are easy to dress up with pasta or rice and onions, peppers, mushrooms or other flavoring foods. Poached eggs combine well with breads, veggies and cheeses.

Tomato Strata Florentine

4 servings

Cooking spray

2 cups torn fresh spinach (about 4 oz.)

2 slices whole wheat bread, cubed (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup chopped fresh tomato (about 1 medium)

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed

4 eggs

1 cup skim or low-fat (1%) milk

1/4 cup (1 oz.) shredded low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese

For individual cups: Evenly coat 4 (10-ounce) custard cups with spray. Place 1/2 cup of the spinach in each cup. Sprinkle each with about 1/3 cup of the bread cubes. In medium bowl, stir together tomato and seasoning until tomato is evenly coated with seasoning. Spoon 1/4 cup tomato mixture over bread cubes in each cup. In medium bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Slowly pour scant 1/2 cup egg mixture over tomato mixture in each cup. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of the cheese.

Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven until custards are puffed and begin to pull away from sides of cups and knife inserted near centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

For baking pan: Layer entire amounts of all ingredients as above in sprayed 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake as above.

Nutritional information for 1 serving of 1/4 recipe using skim milk: 175 calories, 8 gm total fat, 218 mg cholesterol, 238 mg sodium, 469 mg potassium, 14 gm total carbohydrate, 13 gm protein and 10% or more of the RDI for vitamins A, B12 and C, riboflavin, calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc

Sensational Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

This is an absolutely spectacular recipe for chocolate oatmeal cookies. Though oatmeal cookies are not considered a cool, modern dessert by many, there is a reason that traditional recipes survive over the decades. And this recipe proves it — sometimes traditions are best! Even the kids will want to get involved to make a treat that’s quick to make and healthy, too.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Prep: 10 min, Cook: 10 min.

* 3/4 lb. semisweet chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup all purpose flour
* 1/4 tsp. baking soda
* 1 tsp. baking powder
* 3/4 cup quick or old fashioned oats, uncooked
* 1/4 tsp. salt (optional)

Oven should be preheated to 375°F. Separate 1 cup chocolate chips from the rest and melt this in a saucepan over low heat. Set aside.

Beat sugar and butter together in a bowl until smooth and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla, and egg.

Remaining ingredients should be combined in another bowl. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips and the chocolate mixture made previously.

Place rounded tablespoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet, bake 8-10 minutes as needed, then cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet before removing cookies to a wire cooling rack.

To freeze cookies, cool rapidly to retain freshness. All dairy and egg-based foods should be cooled in a refrigerator. Place the single-serving amounts in freezer-proof containers and seal tightly. If aluminum foil is preferred, wrap and fold edges to seal securely and place on a flat surface to prevent cookies from becoming misshapen.

Place containers in freezer until frozen. (Once the cookies are safely frozen, the flat surface, such as a cookie sheet, can be removed to save freezer space). Cookies will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 2 months. Before unwrapping, make sure to thaw cookies completely at room temperature. Enjoy! (In moderation, of course. But who says moderation has to mean just one at a time?)

Rice Cooking Basics with Almond Rice Recipe

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

A Look at Rice

When cooking rice the size of the grain is the most important thing. Due to the thousands of varieties of rice found all over the world which have differing flavors and aromas, it can be problematic to find the exact right one for your dish.

Long-grain rice usually runs four to five times long as it does wide. It is typically dry and fluffy after it is cooked. The grains do not clump. Some examples of long grain rice are Basmati (aromatic, having a rich nutty flavor; used a lot in Indian cooking), brown long-grain rice (husk removed with a nutritious bran layer, slightly chewy, mild nutty flavor), finishing off with white or polished long-grain rice (most widely used; has mild flavor). Uses for long-grain rice mainly are steamed, baked, pilaf, and a rice salad.

Short-grain rice has an almost round shape, is very starchy and tends to stick together after it has been cooked. It’s sometimes known as “sticky-rice”. Examples of short-grain rice are Arborio rice (creamy texture to dishes) and glutinous rice or sweet rice (very sticky after cooked; used in lot of Asian desserts and snacks). Short-grain rice is great for puddings, risotto, croquettes, sushi, stir-fried rice, and molded rice dishes.

Medium-grain rice has a size smaller than long-grain yet bigger than short-grain thus the name medium-grain rice. It is more tender than long grain rice and yet less moist than short grain rice. It is typically fluffy and separate when served hot and then starts to clump as it cools.

Cooking Rice

To Steam Rice: measure the water and salt amounts suggested for the type of rice you are cooking. This is usually found on the box or bag. Mix the salt and water together and pour it into a saucepan and then bring the combination to a boil. Add the rice to the boiling salted water and stir.

Bring the water to a boil again then cover the saucepan, steaming the rice, on a very low heat until the rice has engrossed all the salted water and is tender. This normally takes 15 to 18 minutes for white rice and 35 to 40 minutes for brown rice. Remove the pan from the heat and let set for about 5 minutes. Prior to rationing the rice to your troops fluff it with a fork. Troops love fluffy rice.
To Sauté and Steam Rice (pilaf): Measure some salt and water for your rice and bring to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil heat oil or butter in a saucepan at medium heat. You can also use a mixture of the two. Add the rice to the molten butter or what have you and rouse till the rice is fully coated.

“Sauté” for 2 to 3 minutes, rousing in a consistent fashion. Now add the salted water you have been boiling to the sautéed rice and bring the mixture to a boil. Again we steam the rice by putting a lid on the pan, turn the heat down to low or lower and then wait till the rice and soaked in all the water and has become a tender spectacle.

To Bake Rice: Preheat your sweet oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Get that salted water boiling, while waiting for boiling point add your measured amount of rice to a baking dish. When ready add the boiling water to the rice in the baking dish. Cover the dish tightly, for cleanliness, baking efficiency, and safety when removing the dish from the oven.

Use tin foil or an oven safe lid and bake at the preheated temperature until the rice has absorbed the water and is a tender delicacy. White rice takes about 20 to 30 minutes, while brown rice takes any where from 35 to 45 minutes. Baking times differ depending on you oven, altitude from the moon or sun, and how tightly sealed your dish is.

Almond Rice Recipe

4 cups rice (Long Grain)
8 cups chicken broth
4 Tbl parsley (substitute rosemary, sage, tarragon, or thyme, to taste of course)
1 ½ cup celery. chopped fine
1 ½ cup onion, chopped fine OR ¾ cup minced dried onion
1 cup slivered almonds

Sauté onion and celery in just enough broth to cover. Add 8 cups chicken broth. Add rice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let steam about 20 minutes. If there is too much liquid left when rice is cooked, take off lid and cook and stir until liquid is gone. Just before serving, add parsley and 1 cup slivered almonds. If you used dried parsley, add it while there is still a little water in the pan.

Regional Cuisine Of The United States: Louisiana Cajun Cooking

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

Louisiana Cajun cuisine originated with a group of French residents of Nova Scotia, who were expelled by the British in 1755. They eventually, after years of a nomadic existence, settled in the Southern Louisiana swamplands. There they adapted their native cooking methods to use ingredients that were available in their new land. This cuisine is the food of hardworking country people, used to difficult conditions. It is practical, strong country food, taking advantage of easily available local ingredients, often an entire meal prepared all in one pot. This style of cooking became the hallmark of these people, called Acadians, which was later shortened to Cajuns.

Authentic Cajun recipes can be hard to come by, as they were traditionally passed down verbally from one generation to the next. They also tend to change a little with each generation, each adding their own flair. There are hundreds of recipes for most common dishes, as the independent nature is of the Cajun people is reflected in their cuisine, each kitchen adding their own special touches.

Some of the specialties of Cajun cuisine include gumbos, stews, etouffees, and rice dishes, such as jambalayas. Cajun dishes often begin with a roux, which is butter or oil cooked with flour. Roux is used to thicken, and for flavor. There are three types of roux, depending upon how long it is cooked. There is light or blond, medium, and dark roux. The light and medium types are primarily used for thickening gumbos, etouffees, and sauces, while the dark roux is used for flavor.

The common ingredients of this cuisine are easily available and native to the Southern Louisiana swamplands. Seafood is very common, such as crawfish, shrimp, oysters, red fish, speckled trout, and crabs. Rice is a staple ingredient. Other ingredients frequently used are pork, homemade sausages, beans, black-eyed peas, tomatoes, yams, okra, figs, pecans and oranges. Game is also used, such as wild turkey, duck, turtles and frog.

There are relatively few spices used in Cajun cuisine. The unique flavor comes primarily from the long simmering of the dishes prepared. One spice that is used liberally in this cuisine is Cayenne pepper. It is a fiery, finely ground spice made from the Cayenne Chile. It is usually used along with white and black pepper. Another seasoning common to Cajun cooking is file powder, also called gumbo powder. This is made from sassafras leaves that are dried and ground. Creole mustard is also used in many dishes. This is a coarse and spicy local mustard. Tabasco and other hot pepper sauces are standard condiments on the Cajun table

Cajun cuisine is unique to Southern Louisiana, making the best of the native resources, but still retaining the French influence brought to it by the migrants many years ago. It is varied and flexible. Whether you are craving a touch of the exotic, or a little down- home comfort food, this cuisine has managed to include both, often in one big pot. There is something for everyone to enjoy when experimenting with this wonderful style of cooking.

Regional Cuisine Of The United States: California-Style Cooking

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under  Featured, Cooking Recipes and Advices

The great state of California carries some of the most rich aspects of American culture, from the pioneers to the gold rush to quality cuisine. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Baja, classic California food can take on many forms. The unique cuisine of California is earmarked by a tradition of freshness and home grown quality, calling forth to mind fresh leafy green salads, fruit, and organic just-about-anything.

California is one of the major agricultural centers of the United States. The state of California, as one of the nation’s leading producers of fresh produce, has an extreme abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. When it comes to food in California, a lot of the focus is shifted to quality and nutritiousness rather than cost, taste, or anything else. While this does not necessarily mean that California cuisine tastes badly, it is not for everyone. Those who prefer a heavier, fried or battered food would have better luck sampling some other type of cuisine.

Fruits and nuts account for at least a quarter of California’s farm income, and vegetables in themselves account for another 25 percent. This includes the famous grapes, oranges, nectarines, peaches, nectarines. and avocados that California is famous for producing, as well as almonds, pistachios, and walnuts. Organic food, which is grown without the aid of pesticides, insecticides, and other potentially harmful additives, is also an extremely popular aspect of California cuisine. Don’t get it confused, though; contrary to popular belief, California food is not all about grapes, nuts, yogurt, and organic orange juice.

The taste of California is, of course, highly accented by its major influence from the south–of course, Mexico. Tex-Mex or Baja-style cooking plays an integral role in good old-fashioned California Cuisine. Mexican-style food is part of the way of life in California; with the dense Mexican-American population in California (about 34.3 percent of the total number of California residents), a great California chef can put a south of the border twist on just about anything! El Pollo Loco is a fast-food restaurant very commonly seen in California. El Pollo Loco, which translates into The Crazy Chicken, specializes in marinated, grilled chicken in tacos, burritos, or alone. El Pollo Loco is an excellent representation of southern California’s obsession with Baja-style “Mexican” food.

There are some restaurants in California, even, that boast to serve the “classic Californian cuisine.” The California Pizza Kitchen is a chief example of this type of restaurants. The California Pizza Kitchen has more than 180 locations all over the United States and the world. On July 5 the company even opened a CPK in Shanghai, China. They specialize in making food authentically “California-style.” The Pizza Kitchen specializes in healthier foods; they mainly serve many different kinds of salad and pizza. All of their pizzas are specially prepared in an open flame pizza oven, conforming to the California trend of healthier meal preparation and eating.

Regional Cuisine – Down Home Southern Cooking

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

I grew up in New England, the home of ‘plain cooking’, where corn on the cob is served as is with a slab of butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. We boil salted meats with vegetables and call it – well, a boiled dinner. Our clam chowder is white, our baked beans have bacon and molasses in them, and no one in the world has ever invented a food that was improved by the addition of curry. By the time I was eighteen, I could boil a lobster, steam clams and grill a pork chop to perfection. Then I moved to Virginia, picked up a roommate from North Carolina – and discovered a whole new world of down home country cooking goodness.

To an All-American Italian girl from Boston, the menus in restaurants were in a foreign language. Chicken-fried steak, grits, corn pone pudding, strawberry rhubarb pie – sweet potato pie?? In my mind, chicken and steak were two different meats, grits is what’s on sandpaper, corn is a vegetable – and what in the world is sweet potato doing in a crust? But I became a fervent convert to Southern cooking the first time my roommate made up a pan of the sweetest, tastiest, most perfectly melt-in-your-mouth delicious Southern baking powder biscuits and topped them with sausage gravy. From that day on, I was Sue’s disciple, standing at her elbow as she diced scallions to make up a mess of pinto beans, stirred the milk into a pan of drippings for milk gravy and rolled thin steak strips in chicken batter to make chicken-fried steak.

Down home southern cooking is no different than New England plain cooking – at least at its most basic level. Like any other regional style of cooking, it makes use of the ingredients that are plentiful and cheap. In New England we gussy up our dried beans with brown sugar and molasses, and serve them with thick, sweet heavy brown bread dotted with raisins – perfect fare for cold winter nights. In North Carolina, they simmer for hours with salt pork and onions and served with scallions for scooping and a side of flaky biscuits cut out of dough with a juice glass. Salty, spicy and flaky-good all at once, it’s a down home meal that makes my mouth water just to remember.

Some dishes just don’t translate, though. There is no New England substitute for a Southern barbecue sandwich – shredded pork simmered with spices for hours and ladled over buns in a ‘sandwich’ that really requires a fork. The ubiquitous ‘sloppy joe’ just doesn’t cut it. It lacks the spicy-sweet tang and buttery texture of real slow-simmered pork barbecue. Nor is there anything that compares with chicken fried steak – a dish that can’t be described in words without selling it short. If you’ve had it, you KNOW how good it is. If you haven’t, the idea of dredging and dipping strips of beef and frying it like chicken just doesn’t do it justice.

My New England Italian roots show wherever I go. Lasagna will always be a favorite meal, and New England boiled dinners still make my mouth water. But I know, deep in my soul, that when I go to Heaven, the diners will serve flaky Southern biscuits with sausage gravy and chicken fried steak. Some temptations even the angels can’t resist.

Rediscovering Grilled Pizza

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

America’s favorite food has long been the pizza cooked in a traditional oven but is that about to change? While most Americans have probably never indulged in a grilled pizza, the origins of pizza are making a big comeback. There is no denying that we love our traditional backyard barbeque but rarely, if ever has the barbeque included grilling a pizza. Despite the seemingly odd combination of grill and pizza, the grill is the ideal tool for cooking pizza and in fact is deep in the origin of pizza making. The high, dry heat is ideal for a nice crisp crust and the flavor provided from your grill will on a whole new world of backyard grilling.

Before the word pizza was ever used, Greeks and Romans used wood-fired brick ovens to prepare the original version of pizza – flatbread. In ancient times each diner was given a piece of flat bread along with a piece of meat on the bread. This food was eaten with the fingers with an occasional knife to cut the meat. Little did they know that this would eventually spark the creation one of the America’s favorite foods.

Grilled Pizza Techniques:

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon dried yeast
1 tablespoon soy oil
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup warm water (110°F)
1 ½ cup bread flour
1 tablespoon soy flour
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
Combine yeast, sugar and ½ cup very warm water in bowl, let sit for five minutes. Combine flour and salt in bowl. Mix yeast mixture with bowl containing dry ingredients. Add a little extra flour if dough is sticky. Knead for a good 10 minutes. Put into a greased bowl and let rise for 60 minutes until it doubles in size. Turn out onto a floured surface then knead lightly until smooth. Roll out into a ¼” thick, 12″ diameter circle. The thinner the dough is rolled, the better.

Before placing your crust on the grill, be sure that your grill is both clean and well oiled. This will help prevent the dough from sticking to the grill. You will need something large enough to transport your dough to the grill. A pizza spatula is highly recommended for this task. Brush an even coat of extra virgin olive oil on the side that will be facing down first. The oil will introduce flavor and help to keep the dough from sticking to the grill as well as giving the crust a nice crisp finish. Before placing your pizza on the grill, you may want to remove the top rack of your grill to make it easier to flip your pizza. Cook the first side from 1-3 minutes before flipping depending on the heat of your grill. During this time you will need to brush olive oil on the side that is facing up. While cooking the first side, peak under the edge of the crust to monitor its finish. Cook until you are satisfied with the finish and then flip your crust over. After flipping, immediately apply any topping that you would like. It’s highly recommended that you keep the topping very light, as they will not have a chance to cook on the grill without burning the crust. You may consider precooking certain ingredients such as meats and thick vegetables. Be sure to lower the lid as soon as possible to trap the heat in and finish cooking the toppings. Cook the pizza for an additional 2-3 minutes or until you are satisfied with the crust’s finish.

You are now ready to experience one great pizza with deep tradition. Cut your pizza into triangle shaped slices or try cutting them into 1” wide strips. This shape is great for a party snacks!

Recipes Cooks Can Trust And Love

August 8, 2013 by  
Filed under Cooking Recipes and Advices

Many cookbooks these days are long on dazzle and flash, and short on good recipes that we can instantly trust and love.

New York Times best-selling author Phyllis Pellman Good gives us recipes that include ingredients we already have on hand or can easily buy-recipes that are easy, foolproof and will make our families smile.

Good’s series of slow-cooker cookbooks, “Fix-It and Forget-It,” sold more than 6 million copies! Now, her new “Fix-It and Enjoy-It! Cookbook” (Good Books, $15.95) offers readers even more tried-and-true, welcome-home recipes for stovetop and oven cooking.

A collection of more than 675 recipes submitted by at-home cooks from around the country, the “Fix-It and Enjoy-It! Cookbook” features mouthwatering favorites such as “10-Minute Meatloaf” and “Frozen Mocha Cheesecake.” Each recipe includes its prep and cooking times.

Here’s an appetizer recipe taken from the new book:

Cheese and Shrimp Strudel

Makes 16-18 slices

1 half of a 17.25-ounce package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry, thawed

11/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion

1 cup (4 ounces) cooked shrimp, chopped, or 4.5 ounces canned shrimp, rinsed, drained and chopped

1 egg, beaten

On a lightly floured surface, roll the thawed puff pastry to a 10″ x 18″ rectangle.

Place rectangle of pastry on a lightly greased, large baking sheet.

In a medium-sized bowl, stir together cheese, sour cream, onion, shrimp and half the beaten egg (about 2 tablespoons).

Spread the mixture length-wise down half of the rectangle. Brush edges of pastry (using pastry brush) with some of the remaining beaten egg.

Carefully fold dough over the filling and seal edges with the tines of a fork. Brush top and sides of strudel with remaining egg.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool 20 minutes before slicing. With a very sharp knife, slice slightly on the diagonal.

A cookbook with detailed directions, including prep and cooking times, can help even novice cooks navigate the kitchen with confidence.

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