Duff ABC's

Sloppy joe mac & Cheese

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

A definite comfort food. Takes a bit of prep because its homemade, but very yummy. Use low fat products and ground turkey to make healthier)

16 oz elbow macaroni
1 lb ground beef
1/2 c chopped celery
1/2 c chopped carrot
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/2 c water
1 pkg sloppy joe mix (or 1 tbsp. instant minced onion,1 tsp. salt,1/2 tsp. sugar,1/4 tsp. dry mustard,1/4 tsp. chili powder,1 tsp. green pepper flakes,1 tsp. cornstarch,1/2 tsp. instant minced garlic,1/4 tsp. celery seeds)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1/3 c flour
1 tsp ground mustard
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups milk
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
8 oz Velveeta, cubed
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook the meat, celery and carrot over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender. Drain. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water and seasoning mix. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain macaroni, set aside. In a large saucepan saute onion in butter until tender. STir in flour, mustard, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk while whisking, add Worcestershire sauce . Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. (Stir constantly). Remove from heat, stir in cheese. Add macaroni, mix.

Spread 2/3 of macaroni mixture in a 13x9 pan coated with cooking spray. Spread meat mixture on next. Top with remaining macaroni mixture. Cook at 375 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Split pea soup

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yummy recipe from lady at church

Split Pea Soup
8 black peppercorns
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs parsley
2 Tbs oil
2 med carrots
2 celery stalks
1 large onion
2 Tbs minced garlic
1 ham steak cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 tsp course salt
1 lb split peas
4 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
1 Tbs butter

Wrap first 4 ingredients in cheese cloth sachet or put in spice ball.

Saute vegetables until onions are transparent, add liquid, spice sachet, dried peas, ham, heat to boil, lower flame to simmer, cook 1 1/4 hour, add butter and garnish with thyme.

Tart cranberry dipping sauce and jam

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Tart Cranberry Dipping Sauce
1 lb frozen cranberries
2 cups orange juice
3 cups ginger ale
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 orange, zested

Combine ingredients in non reactive saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes, until liquid is reduced by half.
Carefully puree until smooth. Check seasoning. Serve in small ramekins with turkey. Reserve leftover (not used for dipping) for jam recipe below.

Tart Cranberry Jam
(for turkey sandwiches!)

2 cups tart cranberry dipping sauce (above)
4 ounces ginger ale
1 cup sugar

Combine all the ingredients into a small, non-reactive saucepan.
Bring to a simmer and reduce by two-thirds or until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of a loose jam. Remember to keep the heat low to prevent the jam from burning. Store in fridge.

Cranberry Fennel stuffing

2011-11-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Haven't tried this, but want to.

10 cups day old french sourdough bread, cubed (1 inch)
6 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
2 lbs sweet italian sausage
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups peeled and chopped onions
2 fennel bulbs, cored, trimmed, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 cups dried cranberries
2 cups coarse chopped walnuts
zest of 2 oranges
2 tsp dried sage leaves
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chicken brother

Toss bread cubes with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Bake at 350 on 2 baking sheets for 15 minutes until lightly toasted. Let cool, put in bowl.

Cook sausage in 2 tbsp oil in skillet for 20 minutes, drain off fat. Put in bowl with bread cubes

Place remaining oil and butter in saucepan and cook onions and fennel for 10 minuets over medium low heat. Add cranberries, cook 5 more minutes. Fold into bread cubes with other ingredients, drizzling on broth 1/2 cup at time to moisten. Adjust seasonings, let cool completely before stuffing turkey.

Apricot Orange Stuffing

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

The only stuffing my husband has ever liked.

12 cups cubed sourdough bread
2 Tbsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups dried apricots, halved
1 1/2 cups orange juice
2 lbs turkey sausage or sweet Italian pork sausage
2 Tbsp butter
4 cups chopped onions
4 cups chopped celery
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp dried sage leaves, crumbled
2 diced (1/2 inch) Granny smith apples
1 cup dried cherries
2 cups chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350. Toss bread with thyme, salt, pepper and half oil. Spread on baking sheets and bake until golden, 15-20 minutes. Place in a bowl.

Bring the apricots and orange juice to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and reserve.

Brown sausge in a skillet, transfer to bread bowl with slotted spoon.

Place remaining oil and butter in a pot and wilt the onions, celery, garlic and sage over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring. Add mixture to bread along with apples, cherries, apricots, and orange juice. Toss well.

Drizzle the chicken broth all over to moisten as desired, adjust the seasonings. Cool completely before stuffing the turkey.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread or muffins

2011-11-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

3 cups flour
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1 1/4 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger & allspice)
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1 cup cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans or spray muffin tins. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine wet ingredients in separate bowl, ebat until just blended. Add to flour mixture, stir until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon into pans.

Bake loaves for 60-65 minutes or muffins for 15-20 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks.

2 Hot Cocoa Mix recipes

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hot Cocoa Mix
1 1/2 cup powdered dry milk (make sure its fresh, not old and rancid)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dutched cocoa (unsweetened will not taste as nice - Hershey's Dark Cocoa works alright)
1/4 cup dry creamer
1/4 tsp salt

Mix ingredients in a container.To serve, fill mug about 1/3 full with mix, add hot water and stir.

AB's Hot Cocoa Mix

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly. In a small pot, heat 4 to 6 cups of water.
Fill your mug half full with the mixture and pour in hot water. Stir to combine. Seal the rest in an airtight container, keeps indefinitely in the pantry. This also works great with warm milk.

Creme Brulee French Toast

2011-10-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Perfect for holidays. Make ahead the night before to just pop in the oven in the morning.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
sliced bread
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

in a saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. pour into a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Arrange bread pieces on top. Beat together eggs, half and half, vanilla and salt. Pour egg mixture over top of bread. Cover and chill overnight in the fridge. The next morning, bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Pasta Salad

2011-10-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a yummy salad. Make a big batch of this for conference weekend.

Pasta Salad
3/4 lb spiral tri colored pasta noodles
2 carrots
2 ribs celery
1 cucumber
1/2 lb cherry or grape tomatoes
1 can black olives
1 stalk broccoli
1/4 head cauliflower
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 orange pepper
1 bunch green onions
1/2 lb cheese cubed
salami, pepperoni, other italian meats (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 package good seasons italian dressing mix, made with no water plus add 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or italian dressing.

Cook pasta according to directons and cut up vegetables and cheese. Mix together. Make ahead and add cucumbers and cheese just before serving. Parboil vegetables or leave raw.

Recipe from "The Fat Sisters Cookbook"

Chocolate cookies

2011-06-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Perfect for ice cream sandwiches

1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp hot cocoa mix
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 2 baking sheets. Sift first 5 ingredients into a bowl. Reserve.

Cream butter and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Add dry ingredients, mix until just combined.

Form 1/4 cup portions of dough into 8 balls. Put 4 balls on each sheet, flatten with spatula. Bake about 10 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate cakes with liquid centers

2011-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Simple, delicious, rich. Quick yet impressive. Chocolate. One of my favorites.

Chocolate cakes with liquid centers
1/2 cup butter
4 (1 oz) squares bittersweet chocolate
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp white flour

Preheat oven to 450 F. Butter and flour 4 4oz ramekins or custard cups.
Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler until chocolate is almost completely melted.
Beat eggs, yolks and sugar until light colored and thick.
Beat together butter and chocolate mixtures by pouring chocolate mixture into egg mixture while beating. Qucikly mix in flour just until combined.
Divide batter between molds and bake at 450 for 6-7 minutes. The centers will still be soft. Invert onto serving plates, let sit 15 minutes, then unmold. Serve immediately with fresh whipped cream.

Thin Mint cookies

2011-05-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Newspaper clipping from 2003, says from book "Even More Top Secret Recipes".
I remember the dough being a pain, but they really were just like those thin mints in a green box that are no longer around right now.
Makes 108 cookies.

Thin Mints
1 (18.25 oz) package chocolate fudge cake mix (betty crocker suggested)
3 Tbsp shortening, melted
1/2 cup cake flour, measured, then sifted
1 egg
3 Tbsp water
nonstick cooking spray
3 (12 oz) bags semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
6 Tbsp shortening

Combine cake mix, shortening, flour and egg in large bowl, adding water a little at time until dough forms. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick coating. On a lightly foured surface, roll out a portion of dough to just under 1/16 of an inch thick. Cut using a lid from a spice container with a 1 1/2 inch diameter.
Arange cut dough on prepared cookie sheets, bake 10 minutes. Remove wafers from oven and cool completely.

In a large microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and peppermint extract and shortening. heat on 50 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir gently. Heat 1 more minute. Stir again. if not smooth, continue to cook at 30 sectond intervals until smooth.

Use fork to dip each wafer into chocolate. Tap on bowl so excess chocolate runs off. Place on wax paper lined baking sheet, refrigerate until firm. Makes 108 cookies (3 boxes).

Super easy chicken enchiladas

2011-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Not the healthiest recipe. But quick and easy.

1 can rotel or jar of salsa
16 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 lb velveeta cheese cut into cubes
2 large cans chicken breast meat, drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of corn
1 can black beans
Tortillas

Mix rotel, soup, sour cream, velveeta in pan on medium heatu ntil cheese is melted. Add chicken breast mixture. Spoon into tortillas and roll up, placing in a 9x13 sprayed with cooking spray. Pour remaining mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.

Blueberry coconut pound cake muffins

2011-05-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

I love muffins.

Blueberry coconut pound cake muffins
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp freshly grated lime zest
2 eggs
5 Tbsp heavy cream
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp coconut
1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 and butter/flour 7 muffin cups. Beat butter, sugar and zest until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. beat in cream, then flour and salt, on low speed, just until combined. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut and fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into muffin cups, totally filling cups and smooth tops. Sprinkle with remaining 3 Tbsp coconut. Bake in middle of oven until tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Invert onto rack and let cool.

Cabbage Beef Soup

2011-05-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

From RS president at church. Yay for a tasty way to eat cabbage! Kind of like a taco soup in taste.

Cabbage Beef Soup
2 tbsp oil
1 lb ground beef
1/2 large onion, chopped
5 cups chopped cabbage
16 oz can kidney beans, drained
2 cups beef broth

24 oz tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Brown beef and onion in skillet. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours. Stir occasionally. Or leave on stow on low for about 4 hours. Makes about 10 servings.

Serve with cornbread or biscuits.

Mint chocolate chocolate chip cookies

2011-05-04T08:00:00.001-07:00

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup choclate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375 F. Cream butter and sugars and peppermint extract on medium speed until light and fluffly. Add eggs, beat well. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, soda, powder and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, don't over mix. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 7 minutes until set. Cool 1 minute, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. (Cookies will look barely done when removing from oven.)

Tortilla Soup

2011-05-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

My favorite tortilla soup recipe.

Tortilla Soup

4 Tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
2 Tbs parsley
1 4 oz can diced chiles
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
16 oz beef broth
32 oz chicken broth
1 can corn, undrained
1 tsp cumin
1 can kidney beans
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp steak sauce
1 cup water
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
Cooked bratwurst
1 cup rice

Combine in slow cooker and cook for 4-6 hours on low or 2-3 hours on high.

Serve with shredded cheese, tortilla chips, cilantro and sour cream.

Best meatballs - make 2 quick and easy dinners

2011-05-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage
6 oz bread crumbs
1 Tbsp italian seasoning
1 1/4 cup water
2 eggs

Heat oven to 400 F. Line 2 15x10 pans with foil and spray with cooking spray. Mix ingredients, shape into 32 (1 1/2 inch) balls, using approx 1/4 cup for each ball. (Or make lots more smaller balls for kids.)

Put on pans, bake 16-18 minutes until done (internal temp 160 F)

Use half of the meatballs in favorite spaghetti one night and half in a gravy or stroganoff the next night. Or triple recipe and freeze individually on clean baking sheets after cooked. Transfer to plastic bag and use as needed for quick and easy dinners.

Quick and easy improvement on spaghetti sauce: 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 2 oz cream cheese and 2 Tbsp fresh basil. Mix on medium low until heated through. Mix in meatballs and sprinkle with parmesan when serving over noodles.

Easy gravy "stroganoff" recipe: 1 jar (12 oz) beef gravy (or instant gravy packet mixed up), 1/2 cup sour cream, 2 Tbsp fresh parsley. Heat and mix over medium low, adding meatballs and serve over egg noodles or rice.

Hot Fudge Sauce

2011-05-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Really really good over ice cream.

Hot Fudge Sauce
1/2 lb Butter
8 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 lbs powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter and chocolate in top of a double boiler. Slowly add powedered sugar adn evaporated mil, stirring constantly until blended.

Heat over warm heat for 1-2 hours until very smooth. After turning off heat, add 1 tsp vanilla.

Store in jars, let cool and cover and store in refrigerator. (Or process in hot water bath to seal and can.)

Crack Proof Cheesecake

2011-04-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

The first cheesecake I ever baked. Good memories from our first year of marriage. I was so nervous about it cracking or not being cooked right. Then I remember thinking it was huge and suggesting we invite some people over to help us eat it. My husband tasted it and then said "tell no one about this cheesecake". He ate half of it on his own. Excellent recipe because of the detailed instructions and tips.

Click here to access recipe from show Food 911 on Food Network.

(It's a delicious basic cheese cake with a light lemon flavor and a blueberry topping recipe.)

Strawberry fig preserves

2011-04-29T08:00:00.001-07:00

Tastes like strawberry jam but uses figs. Recipe from my neighbor who has a fig tree.

3 cups mashed figs
3 cups sugar
1 small box strawberry jello

Mix well all ingredients. Bring to simmer and keep simmering for 20 minutes. Pack in hot sterile jars and process in hot water bath.

Cranberry Salsa

2011-04-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

12 oz pkg fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 med. jalepeno, remove seeds
1 green onion
1-2 Tbsp fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp cumin
8 oz brick cream cheese, softened.

Put all ingredients except cream cheese in food processor, process until mixture is coarsely chopped. Storei n refrigerator overnight to allow flavors to blend. Pour over cream cheese and enjoy.

Mexican Double chocolate chocolate chip cookies

2011-04-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Newspaper clipping - winner of a contest, recipe says from Chaim Potter of Napa, CA
Tried them and they are pretty good.

Mexcan double chocolate chocolate chip cookies

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/8 tsp finely ground black pepper
1/4 lb coarsely chopped good quality dark chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F. Whisk first 6 ingredients, set aside. In double boiler, melt chocolate and butter. Let cool slightly, then combin in an electric mixer with sugar eggs and vanilla at medium speed. Reduce to low and gradually add flour mixture, fold in chocolate chips.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop to drop scoops on paper, 2 inches apart. bake 15 minutes until look flat and surfaces crack (cookies should still be soft in texture). let cookies cool on parchment on wire racks. Store for up to 3 days. Makes 3 dozen.

Beef Stroganoff

2011-04-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from my friend from Brazil. Table cream can be found at the Mexican grocery store.

1 1/2 lbs stew meat
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
8 ounces fresh mushrooms
4 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp mustard
1 can table cream

Marinate meat with spices and olive oil. Cook until tender, using water as needed. (She doesn't boil the meat, but simmers it with water.) Add mushrooms, ketchup and mustard. After turning off heat, add table cream. Serve over rice or noodles.

Charro Beans

2011-04-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Really delicious beans from a lady at church.

2 cups pinto beans
1 package bacon
4 beef franks (hot dogs)
1 large tomato
1/2 onion
1/3 cup cilantro
2 tsp salt

Place pinto beans and salt in slow cooker and add enough water to fill to top without overflowing. Cook overnight or 3 horus in a regular pot. Chop all ingredients into small pieces. Place bacon in a skillet and cook until crispy. Drain grease then add other ingredients and cook until brown. Season with a bit salt. Add beans to skillet and some of bean water and combine. bring to boil, turn off heat. Beans should be soupy, not dry.

Hot Cross Buns

2011-04-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

From Ree, the Pioneer Woman. Click here for recipe with detailed picture instructions.

These were really delicious.

Hot Cross Buns

2 cups Whole Milk
½ cups Canola Oil
½ cups Sugar
1 package (2 1/4 Teaspoons) Active Dry Yeast
4 cups All-purpose Flour
½ cups (additional) Flour
½ teaspoons (heaping) Baking Powder
½ teaspoons (scant) Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Salt
¼ cups Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Spices: Cardamom, Nutmeg, Allspice (optional)
½ cups Raisins
GLAZE
1 whole Egg White
Splash Of Milk
Icing
1 whole Egg White
Powdered Sugar
Splash Of Milk

Preparation Instructions

BUNS
Combine 2 cups milk, canola oil, and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan. Stir and heat until very warm but not boiling. Turn off the heat and allow to cool until mixture is still warm, but not hot–about 30 minutes.
Sprinkle yeast over mixture. Add 4 cups of flour and stir to combine. Mixture will be very sticky. Cover with a towel and set aside for 1 hour.
Add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir till combined.
Combine 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon and whatever other spices you want to use.
Lightly flour surface. Press to slightly flatten dough. Sprinkle a couple tablespoons of the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle on about a third of the raisins. Then fold the dough over on itself and flatten again so the dough is “plain” again. Repeat the sugar/raisin process, then fold the dough again. Repeat a third time until all the raisins are used. (You won’t use all the sugar/cinnamon mixture.)
Pinch off ping pong or golf ball-size bunches of dough. With floured hands, quickly roll it into a ball, then turn the edges under themselves slightly. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes…an hour-plus is better.
PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 degrees
GLAZE
Mix 1 egg white with a splash of milk. Brush onto each roll.
Bake for 20 minutes, give or take, or until tops of buns have turned nice and golden brown.
Remove from pan and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
ICING
Mix 1 egg white with enough powdered sugar for icing to be very thick. Splash in milk as needed for consistency.
Add icing to a small Ziploc bag and snip the corner. Make icing crosses on each roll, making sure they’re completely cooled first.

Taco Seasoning Mix

2011-04-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp sea salt (or 3/4 tsp table salt)
1 tsp black pepper

Mix ingredients.

To use: Brown 1 lb ground beef in frying pan. Drain off extra fat. Add in a can of beans if desired. Add mix and 1/2 cup water to pan, stirring and mixing until water is gone.

Creamy Cracked Wheat Cereal

2011-04-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

1 cup uncooked cracked wheat
3 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup powdered milk
4 Tbsp sugar

Add dry milk to water and whisk together. Bring to boil. At medium high temperature, add wheat, sugar and salt. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the water is absorbed. Makes 3 cups cereal. (4 servings)

Pumpkin Chili

2011-02-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

Fabulous quick and easy chili. Pumpkin makes it creamy and rich, taking the place of most of the tomatoes.

Pumpkin Chili

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped bell pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (14.5 ounce) can corn

1 (14.5 ounce) can kidney beans

2 cups pumpkin puree (or about 1 14.5 ounce can)

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

shredded Cheddar cheese

sour cream

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the ground beef, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

2011-01-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

I love muffins! Here is a delicious way to use all the lovely fresh cranberries that are on sale at the store right now. (Or freeze them to make these any time. They are delicious!

Cranberry Orange Muffins (makes about 30)
2 cups wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp grated orange zest
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Lightly grease muffin pans.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in orange zest and cranberries. In a large bowl beat butter sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in juice. Add flour mixture, stirring until just moistened. Scoop into muffin cups making them about 2/3 full and bake about 25 minutes or until muffin bounces back when you press lightly on top.

One dough, four recipes

2011-01-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

This article in Family Fun magazine in November 2010 had a light whole wheat bread dough recipe and instructions on how to make bread, breadsticks, a bread wreath and pear fritters from the dough. It is written by the authors of "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day", a bread method that I like overall. On Christmas I made the pear fritters, sandwich bread and wreath bread out of a batch of dough. We really enjoyed the pear fritters, the bread was a good sandwich bread and the wreath bread was a fun way to have rolls for dinner.

My experiences with the artisan bread method make me prefer baking up the dough within a day of making it. Yes, the dough holds up for a week or two in the fridge (depending on which type of dough), but the bread is flatter the longer the dough is in the fridge. I don't mind it too much, but I really appreciated this layout of providing four options to make with the four pounds of dough the recipe makes so that I can use it in varied ways over a day or so and not have to worry about fridge storage so much. Reading the article renewed my interest in baking bread again - I haven't in months.

Click here to see the basic dough recipe, links to the bread, breadsticks, wreath and pear fritters can be found there as well.

Click here to visit the Artisan Bread in 5 blog for lots of fun ideas for using the dough and how to have success.

Pumpkin Donuts

2011-01-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

The batter is sticky but careful handling and use of flour make it not too bad. The trickiest part for me was finding two circle cutters that would make a donut like shape. But they are delicious and we have enjoyed them several times. Between these, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin waffles, we eat a lot of pumpkin in the fall.

Baked Pumpkin Donuts

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup sugar
6 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, spice and sugar. Whisk together all of the remaining ingredients in a second, medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir them around the bowl until the mixture is well combined. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, rolling the donut dough to approximately 3/4" thick, then cut with donut cutter. Transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or just until the donuts are cooked through. Dip immediately into buttermilk glaze. Eat warm and enjoy!

Buttermilk Glaze
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk together in a small bowl until smooth. Dip hot donuts in the glazed, then allow to air dry on a cooling rack.

Original recipe from Cheeky Kitchen here.

Hoppin' John

2011-01-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

My hoppin' john turned out the best I think it ever has this year. Soaked the black eyed peas overnight, simmered this morning with a few pieces of bacon. Sauteed a chopped up onion and bell pepper and 2 minced cloves garlic. Mixed with beans, a bit of water, a bunch of bacon, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Served over rice and with spinach salad and cornbread muffins. That was our lucky New Years dinner. Definitely want to remember for next year!

Apple Butter

2010-09-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

Making apple butter today. Combined my old favorite recipe with another and really enjoyed the results. May have to do with the fact I used gala apples instead of granny smith. Not sure. I'm writing down what I did because we want to remember it!

8 cups apple mixture
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 cup basalmic vinegar

Peel and core and chop up apples, approximately 6 pounds. (Yankee apple peeler/corer/cutter!) Simmer with 2 cups of water until soft. (Don't burn!) Put thru largest holes of a food mill, measure 8 cups. (Don't puree!)

Mix apples with sugars and spices. Simmer, stirring often until rounds up on a spoon. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath. Makes about 4 pints.

No pictures because my camera battery is dead and I can't find the rechargeable one. Tomorrow I hope to try cranapple butter. Yum.

Ultimate Peppermint Hot Chocolate

2010-09-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

We were given a very large bag of leftover peppermints after a family reunion I helped organize. Besides eating them and sharing them, I have looked for ways to use them. The Everyday Cheapskate, Mary Hunt, has the same problem and in addition to decorating with them (not an option for me where its humid), shared some recipes. This hot chocolate recipe sounded divine so my husband and I decided to indulge after putting the kids to bed. ;)

The hot chocolate mixture is super rich and dark chocolate-y. I think we would prefer it with more mint and a bit more sugar itself, and less dependent on the sweet whipped cream mixture you add as a topping. But it is fun, and delicious, and RICH. Not something you can drink a huge amount of in one sitting. (or maybe I'm getting old and can't indulge like I used to be able to? Gasp!)

I think in the future we will probably make the whipped cream topping with crushed peppermints but use a different hot cocoa recipe (Alton Brown's is one of our favorites) and add more peppermint extract.

The recipe is originally posted here.

Ultimate Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Whipped Cream:

1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream, chilled

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 tablespoons crushed peppermint candy

Hot Chocolate:

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, grated

1 quart (32 ounces) whole milk

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Place the cream, powdered sugar and peppermint extract in a chilled mixing bowl, and beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the crushed candy. Refrigerate the whipped cream.

Place the chocolate in a large metal mixing bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally with a rubber spatula.

In the meantime, pour the milk into a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan. Whisk in the sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the milk begins to simmer and bubbles form around the edge. Turn off the heat.

Once the chocolate has melted, reduce the heat so the water under the pan barely simmers. Pour 1/3 cup of boiling water into the melted chocolate, and whisk or beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly add the hot milk mixture as you whisk. When the ingredients are well incorporated, remove the bowl from the pan of simmering water and stir in the vanilla and peppermint extracts.

To serve, ladle the hot chocolate into mugs, and top with a generous dollop of peppermint whipped cream. Garnish with more crushed peppermint candy. Serves 4.

Bean Salad

2010-09-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is a delicious salad! It makes a great potluck dish, light lunch or dinner side dish. It is so versatile - you can change the dressing or switch out ingredients to get many variations. Super healthy too!

(I ate it all before taking any pictures, a shame because it is a beautiful salad full of colors. You can see a picture at this similar version at allrecipes.)

Bean Salad

1/2 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup rice
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained
1 cup frozen whole corn kernels, cooked
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Cook the rice and barley, let cool. (cook the corn too!)
In a large bowl combine barley, rice, beans, corn, onions, bell pepper, cilantro. Mix well.
In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, garlic, chili powder, salt, pepper flakes, pepper. Whisk in oil, pour over salad, and toss well.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-09-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

These are one of my husband's favorites. The recipe comes from his sister. They are like big soft pillows of pumpkin and chocolate goodness.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1/2 Tbsp baking soda
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups (12 oz pkg) chocolate chips

Cream the shortening and butter. Stir in the eggs by hand just until mixed. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Bake at 375 F for 13-15 minutes. Cookies will still look slightly undercooked but when touched will be firm with slight bounce. Remove and let cool on sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Blueberry Cheesecake

2010-07-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

This was such an easy cheesecake to make, I almost feel guilty calling it cheesecake. I used a ready made graham cracker crust but otherwise followed the directions exactly and it turned out fantastic. We really enjoyed it.

The one thing I forgot when I chose it is that like any cheesecake, it needs to cool completely (and really be chilled for several hours) before putting on the topping and serving. So we weren't able to take it to the event I was planning to share it at, but that just means we got to eat it all ourselves the next day.

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Red-White-and-Blueberry-Cheesecake-Pie/Detail.aspx

Sweet & Sour Chicken

2010-04-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted much. We have been on an ultra frugal dining plan and it doesn't leave much room for creativity. I use recipes I know work and are basic but they aren't delicious fun so I hesitate to share. I also left Daring Bakers because I didn't have time for the time consuming projects.

A recent delicious dinner we had was Sweet & Sour Chicken from the cookbook "Deseret Recipes". It was published almost 30 years ago by the LDS church and has some good basic recipes you can modify as needed. This is a great example. It makes a delicious, simple sweet & sour sauce.

1 cut up whole chicekn
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can pineapple chunks in juice

1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp flour
3/4 cup vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp ginger
1 large green pepper, cut in strips
2 Tbsp chicken drippings (from browning chicken)

Coat the chicken pieces with the 1/2 cup flour. Heat up the oil in a skillet and brown the chicken. Then put the chicken in a shallow pan and turn the oven to 350. Sprinkle the salt/pepper over the chicken pieces. Reserve 2 Tbsp chicken drippings. Set aside.

Drain the pineapple chunks liquid into a measuring cup and add water to make 1 1/4 cups liquid. In a different saucepan, combine the liquid with 1 cup sugar, 4 Tbsp flour, 3/4 cup vinegar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp ginger and 2 Tbsp chicken drippings. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes then pour over chicken.

Put in oven uncovered and bake for 30 minutes. Pull out and add pineapple chunks and green pepper strips. Bake 30 minutes more.

Serve over rice.
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This was so delicious and simple! You could turn it into more of a take-out stir fry by using chunks of chicken and cooking them on the stove top and then sauteing the pineapple and bell pepper with it quickly before covering in sauce. It would be faster and a fun variation, but cost a bit more. We just pulled chicken off the bones on our plates and mixed up to make it like stir fry. I loved the sauce. Yum.

Cran Apple tart

2010-02-18T21:16:00.000-08:00

Yummy, delicious, and a great way to use canned cranberry sauce. This whips up quickly in the mornings and is very tasty. Using the pureed cottage cheese in the dough makes it have more protein as well, so that it's healthier! Photo is about 1/3 of the tart left. It was gone shortly after the photo!

1/3 cup cottage cheese, pureed in food processor
2 T butter
2 cups baking mix (make your own directions here)
1/3 cup milk
8 oz canned whole cranberry sauce
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 T brown sugar
1 T cinnamon
(glaze)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 T milk
1 T juice
1 tsp butter, melted

Heat oven to 425 F.
Mix butter and baking mix, then add milk and make biscuit dough. Roll out on a floured surface to 12x8 rectangle.
Mix cranberry sauce, apple, sugar, cinnnamon, spread down middle of dough. Fold over sides. Cut slits in tops, at intervals.
Bake 12-15 minutes.
Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over tart. Serve.

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

I once attempted homemade gingerbread houses, about 5 years ago. It was a horrible failure and I haven't thought of it since then. But with young boys, it sounded like a great holiday bonding activity, so I shored myself up and determined to try. (PS- I missed last month's challenge due to procrastination and travel. I will be posting an attempt, albeit very late, watch for it!)

I chose to make the Good Housekeeping recipe, since I love molasses and had it and whipping cream on hand. It made a delicious dough! I used a template I found online for the house pattern, it can be found here. I tried to make the simple caramel syrup for wall glue and failed. It just crystallized as the water evaporated. Oops. Well, luckily the royal icing worked wonderfully on my house!The roof stayed up!

However, I also thought I'd make multiple houses since there was a terrific amount of dough left over. I thought I'd just shave an inch of each side of the template and have a smaller house. It worked wonderfully until construction time. The roofs would not stay on, I finally determined my roof lines were just way to steep and repair attempts failed. Oh well. Lesson learned.

The roof stayed on this little house for about 5 minutes than slid off and couldn't be repaired.

We did have a lot of fun building these gingerbread houses, though it is quite time consuming! A full day was spent on it! Good memories and tasty gingerbread made for a good reward.

Spicy Gingerbread Dough (from Good Housekeeping)

2 1/2 cups (500g) packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups (360mL) heavy cream or whipping cream
1 1/4 cups (425g) molasses
9 1/2 cups (1663g) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon(s) baking soda
1 tablespoon(s) ground ginger

Directions

1. In very large bowl, with wire whisk (or with an electric mixer), beat brown sugar, cream, and molasses until sugar lumps dissolve and mixture is smooth. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and ginger. With spoon, stir flour mixture into cream mixture in 3 additions until dough is too stiff to stir, then knead with hands until flour is incorporated and dough is smooth.

2. Divide dough into 4 equal portions; flatten each into a disk to speed chilling. Wrap each disk well with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until dough is firm enough to roll.

3. Grease and flour large cookie sheets (17-inch by 14-inch/43x36cm)

4. Roll out dough, 1 disk at a time on each cookie sheet to about 3/16-inch thickness. (Placing 3/16-inch dowels or rulers on either side of dough to use as a guide will help roll dough to uniform thickness.)

5. Trim excess dough from cookie sheet; wrap and reserve in refrigerator. Chill rolled dough on cookie sheet in refrigerator or freezer at least 10 minutes or until firm enough to cut easily.

6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (149C)

7. Use chilled rolled dough, floured poster board patterns, and sharp paring knife to cut all house pieces on cookie sheet, making sure to leave at least 1 1/4 inches between pieces because dough will expand slightly during baking. Wrap and reserve trimmings in refrigerator. Combine and use trimmings as necessary to complete house and other decorative pieces. Cut and bake large pieces and small pieces separately.

8. Chill for 10 minutes before baking if the dough seems really soft after you cut it. This will discourage too much spreading/warping of the shapes you cut.

9. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until pieces are firm to the touch. Do not overbake; pieces will be too crisp to trim to proper size.

10. Remove cookie sheet from oven. While house pieces are still warm, place poster-board patterns on top and use them as guides to trim shapes to match if necessary. Cool pieces completely before attempting to assemble the house.

Pumpkin muffins

2009-11-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

I have made them 4 times in two weeks and have had requests for them from people. We really like these rich pumpkin muffins and so here's the recipe to share with you.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour
2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoons ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs
2 cups pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 F.Prepare muffin cups.

	In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together pumpkin puree, oil and eggs. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
	Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Yields 18-20 muffins.

Dinner in a pumpkin

2009-11-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

An amusing way to cook a tasty casserole, this turned out to be a very tasty dinner. We really enjoyed it - you can mix in the cooked pumpkin pieces or just enjoy the aromatics. I think it would be a great Halloween dinner tradition.

1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb hot sausage, cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 Tbsp brown sugar
28 oz beef stock
1.5 cups rice
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
frozen vegetables
1 sugar pumpkin

Brown the beef and sausage in a skillet, then add 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice and all the brown sugar. Add beef stock and rice and cover and cook until rice is tender. Then mix in cream of mushroom soups and any vegetables you might like to add. Heat oven to 400 F.

While rice is cooking, cut top off a pumpkin, going more straight across than what you would for a jack-o'lantern. Scoop out the innards. Put the casserole mixture in the pumpkin and put lid back on. Place pumpkin on a tray or in a casserole dish. Put in oven for 1.5- 2 hours until pumpkin is easily pierced with a fork.

Scoop out filling and pumpkin flesh to each person as desired to serve.

French Macarons

2009-10-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Unless you’ve been frozen in permafrost for the past five years, you’ve likely noticed that cupcake bakeries have popped up all over like iced mushrooms. Knock one down, and three take its place. Much has been made about not only the cupcake’s popularity, but also its incipient demise as the sweet du jour. Since we seem to be a culture intent on the next sensation, pundits, food enthusiasts and bloggers have all wondered what this sensation might be. More than a few have suggested that French-style macaroons (called macarons in France) might supplant the cupcake. This may or may not come to pass, but the basic premise of the French macaroon is pretty tasty.

In the United States, the term “macaroon” generally refers to a cookie made primarily of coconut. But European macaroons are based on either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites. The texture can run from chewy, crunchy or a combination of the two. Frequently, two macaroons are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam, which can cause the cookies to become more chewy. The flavor possibilities and combinations are nigh endless, allowing infinitely customizable permutations.

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Why did I procrastinate this challenge until 10pm yesterday? Lack of planning or a very busy month, or perhaps a combination of both. I was excited about making these and hoped to spend the month figuring out how to make them best in my house. But I have attempted them, and here they are:

In case you don't already know from the picture, I did not succeed at making beautiful perfect French macarons. They did rise some, but not much. They did not obtain a lovely foot. Part of it could be my oven which is 60 years old and super special. But I'm sure if I put in the time I might be able to figure out how to make them work appropriately in my oven.

I need to work on folding in the flour even more gently. I also think I needed a longer time at the lower temperature to set the shape. Plus I tried to do multiple sheets at a time which didn't work and burnt the bottom of one set, and caused others to spread while waiting so I really think this is a recipe you need to make more than once to figure out.

Taste wise, they are yummy. Making my own almond flour was fun! I have plenty of almonds on hand anyway and I aged some egg whites that were left from another recipe. Honestly I just wish I had made them multiple times before the due date.

I also ended up making a toffee ganache filling because that's what I had on hand and it was super sweet with it, too much for my taste. A good dark chocolate ganache would be preferable.

I'm not great at choosing options and making variations like a lot of the daring bakers so choosing a filling is more about what I have on hand than anything. I encourage you to try macarons. (And yes, that is how it is spelt for the French version. :D ) They are a lovely little sandwich cookie and I will be trying them again in the future.

My sad little cookies waiting for fillings.

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French Macarons

Ingredients

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)

Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)

Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)

Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.

2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.

4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.

5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).

6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Spicy Braised Peanut Chicken

2009-10-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

Another tasty recipe from this friend. I loved how easy this was to get into the slow-cooker and how I had everything on hand. It is North African in style, and is delicious with the chicken thighs and couscous, but you could easily substitute chicken breasts and rice if that's what you have on hand.

It is really tasty comfort food. It is also cheap if you get a good price on chicken thighs! I got a package of 10 thighs for $3.50, add the tomatoes ($0.60) & rotel ($0.80 for 2 cans) being on sale and its about $5 for this dinner.

Spicy Braised Peanut Chicken
1 Tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
8 chicken thighs, skins removed
1 large onion, chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained (RoTel)
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed or diced tomatoes, undrained
2 Tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups hot cooked couscous

Heat oil in 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken in oil about 4 minutes, turning once, until brown.

Mix onion, diced and crushed tomatoes, honey, cumin and cinnamon in 4-5qt slow cooker.Place chicken in slow cooker. Spoon tomato mixture over chicken.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

Stir in peanut butter until melted and well blended. Serve chicken and sauce over couscous.

Serves 4

Thai Chicken

2009-10-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

This recipe from Taste of Home was recommended by a friend when I was looking for recipes that have peanut butter in them. It is quick and easy to make and includes all things I keep on hand.

Yes, I keep red bell pepper on hand - in the freezer in julienned strips in fact. When bell peppers are cheap I buy a bunch and freeze them. You can blanch them for a few seconds first but I don't bother.

No picture, sorry, but I wanted to remember this recipe for future dinners.

Pumpkin Waffles

2009-10-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have been given a bunch of eating pumpkins and now am searching out tasty pumpkin recipes. Today we had pumpkin waffles for breakfast and they were delicious. I recommend you go try them!

Ultimate Pumpkin Waffles

Vols Au Vent

2009-09-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Puff pastry is in the ‘laminated dough” family, along with Danish dough and croissant dough. A laminated dough consists of a large block of butter (called the “beurrage”) that is enclosed in dough (called the “détrempe”). This dough/butter packet is called a “paton,” and is rolled and folded repeatedly (a process known as “turning”) to create the crisp, flaky, parallel layers you see when baked. Unlike Danish or croissant however, puff pastry dough contains no yeast in the détrempe, and relies solely aeration to achieve its high rise. The turning process creates hundreds of layers of butter and dough, with air trapped between each one. In the hot oven, water in the dough and the melting butter creates steam, which expands in the trapped air pockets, forcing the pastry to rise.

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I procrastinated this challenge this month. I could list reasons but they aren't great. However, It wasn't a huge challenge to me as I've made croissants in the past and making puff pastry dough is pretty similar. Roll dough, add butter packet. Lots of rolling in "turns" and putting it back in the fridge when its not cold enough. Eventually you have it incorporated in such a way that you get lots of tasty flaky layers.

It's a time consuming process and on top of that I had to choose a filling. I was never inspired by anything new to try and finally just used vanilla pudding and kiwis. They made a lovely light dessert. Honestly, making puff pastry is not something that gets me excited or that I ever really plan to do again. I guess its good to know I can though right?

As far as mistakes, I skipped the egg wash and that was not smart b/c the layers need something to help them stay together. I also improvised on my hole cutters and so some had too big of holes and some had too little. Luckily after you add filling, it doesn't really matter. They taste good either way. If you would like to make them, be sure to visit another Daring Baker's page for the recipe. Either way, check out all those daring bakers. Some of them are super creative!

Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day

2009-09-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

I finally got a copy of this awesome book from the library and it was worth the wait! While many of the ideas are explained on the blog, the book is a good read and full of interesting info. I made our first loaf yesterday and it was amazing. It actually did have the custard crumb interior with the perfect crust. It was delicious and I only got one piece! So we're having more today. The recipe really is super simple. It is about the technique. If you haven't read this book yet or tried this method, you really need to check it out. It will change how you view baking bread at home. I am excited for the sequel on healthier breads as well.

Link to master recipe for basic bread dough in this method.

Spanish Lentils & Rice

2009-09-16T19:22:00.001-07:00

I love this simple dish. It's super tasty, super simple, frugal and a great variation from typical casseroles that are heavy and meaty. The lentils & rice make a good complete protein so you can just add a salad and its a quick, easy, healthy, complete meal. Approximate cost: $2.50 for entire casserole.

Spanish Lentils & Rice
from 2003 Southern Living
Makes 4-6 servings
approx 20 min. prep, 30 min cook, 20 min bake

3 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 cup dried lentils
1 tsp salt
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 (10 oz) can ROTEL Mexican festival diced tomatoes
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in medium saucepan, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes until lentils are tender.

Saute onion and bell pepper in large lightly greased skillet over med-high heat until tender. Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.

Stir onion mixture and tomatoes with rice mixture, and spoon into lightly greased 13x9 baking dish.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, top evenly with cheddar cheese, bake 5 more minutes.

Dobas Torta

2009-08-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

So, what is the Dobos Torta (or Torte)?

The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin wedges of caramel. (You may come across recipes which have anywhere between six and 12 layers of cake; there are numerous family variations!) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners' and Gingerbread Makers' Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber can use it freely.

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The last time I attempted a multi-layer cake, I had issues with stacking the layers and getting a nice cake shape. Guess what I had issues with this time? The same thing, only worse since there were more layers!

Additionally, making the layers for this cake was quite difficult for me. It involves lots of parchment paper, drawing circles, pouring/spreading batter, multiple timers and shelf rotations...and not really knowing how dark to let a layer get before it was done. I think I should have cooked most of my layers longer because they were extremely sticky still when cool and stuck to everything. (I also realized afterward that I had forgotten the vanilla to flavor them, but luckily they still had a good flavor.)

There was no way I was going to be able to trim the 9" rounds into perfect 8" rounds, just keeping them whole was challenging my skills. Plus I used a large plate to flip some of the layers off the parchment paper and one layer stuck firmly to the plate. Since there was no way to remove it, it became the bottom layer. I toyed with the idea of trimming the rounds, but my layers were too delicate and sticky. It just wasn't going to happen without shredding them - which meant I would destroy the circles I had so carefully kept whole coming out of the oven!

Making the buttercream went a lot better, but I should have chilled it longer before assembling the cake. It was still a bit runny and slid all over the place. My cake frosting skills are not the best anyway, so this became quite the challenge.

The caramel came out extremely lemony and hard to eat for us. No one liked the flavor, and it seemed incongruous with the rich chocolate buttercream flavor. At least in making the caramel layer I succeeded pretty well. Though I suspect maybe my caramel had caramelized too much perhaps and the fact that I used store bought lemon juice may have affected the flavor as well. Extra pieces of caramel were twisted to try and make decorations but they proved too soft and chewy to hold much shape.

With no hazelnuts or almonds on hand to decorate I used the extra buttercream to make some rosettes to dress it up a bit, but I think nuts would have been lovely. My dinner party guests loved the cake, the rich buttercream and light cake layers are very delicious together, even if not aesthetically stunning.Would I make it again? Maybe. The buttercream I would use again, perhaps a different recipe for the cake layers. No caramel layer though.

Thanks to the hosts for a great Daring Baker challenge! It stretched my skills and introduced me to new things. It was great fun to say I was making a Hungarian dessert! For the recipe, visit the hosts' blogs, linked at the beginning of this post. Make sure to visit other Daring Baker blogs to see some awesome cakes made by all the amazing Daring Bakers out there.

Mock Tom Ka Gai (Coconut Lime Chicken Soup)

2009-08-20T21:33:00.001-07:00

I had a friend make this for us while she was visiting and it is amazing. We could not stop eating this soup; it is delicious! Quick and easy if you have cooked chicken on hand.

1 lb chicken meat cut into strips or shredded (she used a roast chicken from the store and pulled the meat off )
2 (14 oz cans) coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth
2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
4 Tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup rice
2 Tablespoons thinly sliced green onion or lemongrass
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Bring coconut milk and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat, add ginger, fish sauce, lime juice, cayenne, rice and chicken meat. Simmer 10-15 minutes until rice is done. Add scallions and cilantro and serve hot. Enjoy!

Mallows & Milans

2009-07-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I love cookies so this challenge was very exciting! Making marshmallows has been on my to-try list for a while as well. For this reason, I started with the mallow-esque cookies first. The wafer base was a simple tasty cookie. I did them the day before I was to make marshmallows. Making marshmallows goes quickly at first - the sugar solution started boiling much faster than I expected and I was scrambling to get the gelatin bloomed in time. Then it came time to whip the egg whites to soft peaks which took a few minutes and then it was time to mix the sugar solution and the egg white solution and I was foolishly using a hand mixer. This part felt like it took forever! I'm pretty sure it would have been simpler and faster with my stand mixer, but that didn't occur to me in the first 15 minutes of mixing with the hand mixer and by then I wasn't switching! So lesson learned: USE A STAND MIXER when making marshmallows!It is true what they say, the homemade marshmallows were soft, light, airy, delicate... amazing and totally different from store bought. They easily piped onto the cookies and waited a bit to firm up before we did the chocolate dipping. These cookies were only hard for me because cookies are all about quick gratification of a sugar craving usually and these take several waiting stages to make! 2 long hours later, I mixed my oil and chocolate, being careful to keep the temperature low to prevent chocolate issues. Then I dipped the marshmallow cookies in the chocolate and put them out to harden. Which they never did. Perhaps because I keep my house at 80 F in the summer, or perhaps too much oil? or perhaps I didn't temper it as well as I thought I did. I'm not sure. They went into the fridge to develop a shell though and then I could photograph them and finally sample them!They do taste like little bites of moon pie, a delicacy I haven't had since I was a small child. And they are very much like mallowmars, according to my DH and friends. I took them to a party and they were a big hit. My only complaint about the recipe is that the dough portion makes WAY more than 2 dozen cookies (I cooked up half the dough and got 3 dozen easily) while marshmallow filling wise, I had just enough for 2 dozen cookies and enough chocolate maybe for 3 or 4 dozen. So the cookie recipe should be scaled down or halved when made again. I'm freezing all the extra wafer cookies to use next time we want some mallows!Recipe:

Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website

Prep Time: 10 min Inactive Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 10 min Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170 grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

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Making the Milans:

I didn't make the milans until the last day before the challenge, it looked like a quick and easy recipe, since it had a ganache like filling and I've dealt with ganache several times in the past. The tricky part with them was the cookies which are piped out onto cookie sheets for baking. I didn't have any parchment paper or silicon mats on hand, and usually its not too big of a deal but for these cookies it was an issue. They are very sugary and caramelize to the pan if left on at cooling. But you have to let them cool on the pan because they are so soft coming out of the oven! At any rate, my first few batches are not very pretty to look at and I'm not going to be able to get parchment paper before publishing this to make some prettier cookies. These cookies are very rich. Love the hint of orange taste in the ganache and the vanilla/lemon combo in the cookies. I wish I'd halved this recipe too because they are so rich! We did need more ganache filling because DH liked it thicker between the cookie wafers.
Milan Cookies

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Prep Time: 20 min Cook Time: 1 hr Serves: about 3 dozen cookies

• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams/ 11.02 oz) powdered sugar
• 7/8 cup egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons lemon extract
• 1 1/2 cups (187.5grams/ 6.61 oz) all purpose flour
• Cookie filling, recipe follows

Cookie filling:
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 orange, zested

1. In a mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and the sugar.
2. Add the egg whites gradually and then mix in the vanilla and lemon extracts.
3. Add the flour and mix until just well mixed.
4. With a small (1/4-inch) plain tip, pipe 1-inch sections of batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, spacing them 2 inches apart as they spread.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Let cool on the pan.
6. While waiting for the cookies to cool, in a small saucepan over medium flame, scald cream.
7. Pour hot cream over chocolate in a bowl, whisk to melt chocolate, add zest and blend well.
8. Set aside to cool (the mixture will thicken as it cools).
9. Spread a thin amount of the filling onto the flat side of a cookie while the filling is still soft and press the flat side of a second cookie on top.
10. Repeat with the remainder of the cookies.

Black Bean Enchilada Bake

2009-07-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Another entry in the frugal dinners category, this one is tasty, healthy & filling. It's also quick to pull together once your beans are ready (which takes a bit of pre planning but is worth it from a cost perspective!)

Start 2 days before by putting your black beans to soak. Rinse and sort a pound of black beans, then cover with water in a large bowl and leave overnight to soak. The next morning, drain, rinse and put in the slow cooker. Cover with water and put on low for several hours or the whole day until they are cooked. Cool down and place in the fridge in storage. Use 2 cups in the following recipe. The remaining 3-4 cups of beans will keep up to a week in the fridge for other recipes or you can place single layer on a cookie sheet in the freezer to freeze individually and transfer to a freezer bag once mostly frozen. This way you won't have a frozen lump of beans.

Now to make the enchiladas you'll need:

1 T oil
1 large onion $0.10
3 cloves garlic, minced $0.10
2 cups of your cooked black beans $0.30
1 cup frozen corn kernels $0.50
1 tsp cumin
2.5 cups salsa, divided $1
6-8 small tortillas, corn or flour $1
1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese (Monterey Jack, Cheddar, combo...) $1

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat, saute onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add the beans, corn, cumin and 1/2 cup of salsa. Cook for 3-4 minutes, coarsely mashing beans with the back of spoon or a potato masher. Spoon 1/3 cup of filling into each tortilla, roll up. Spoon 1/2 cup salsa into 11x7 or 8x8 baking dish. Arrange tortillas seam side down, top with remaining salsa. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Uncover, top with cheese, bake 2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Makes 4-6 servings (or more depending on what you serve it with!)

Total cost of meal: ~$4

This was a big hit with my boys & DH. Meatless main dishes that satisfy them are awesome! Using dried black beans really makes it cheap too! Enjoy!

Red, White & Blue Popsicles

2009-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Strawberry puree made from white grape juice and a couple strawberries on the bottom layer, topped with vanilla yogurt and then some blueberry puree made from blueberries and white grape juice. Freeze in a fun popsicle mold and you have your own healthy rocket pops!

Another popsicle option - make smoothies and freeze into popsicles. These are a mixture of orange juice, spinach, banana, blueberry, strawberry and yogurt. The spinach does not give any flavor and a good blender mixes it up so small the kids never see it. A fun way to get in a "green smoothie"!

Honey & Spice Banana Muffins

2009-07-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

The first time I made this muffin recipe I found on the side of a cereal box, we were pleasantly surprised. They smelled amazing and were quite tasty. Since then we have tried several types of flake cereals and had them all work wonderfully in this recipe.

These delicious muffins are a great way to use overripe bananas or bran cereal. But you don't really need a reason to make them, they are so delicious! These egg-free muffins could easily be dairy free and gluten free as well. Using freshly grated nutmeg is great fun too. Hope you enjoy them!

1 cup bran flakes cereal
1/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter/margarine, melted
2/3 cup mashed ripe banana
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 375. In a small bowl, soak cereal in milk for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, then add cereal mixture. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1-2 minutes). Spoon into greased or paper-lined 12-cup muffin pan, filling cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tops spring back when touched lightly. Cool 5 minutes; removed from pan. Yield: 12 muffins

Bakewell Tart

2009-06-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.

Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

Bakewell Tart History and Lore

Flan-like desserts that combine either sweet egg custard over candied fruit or feature spiced ground almonds in a pastry shell have Mediaeval roots. The term “Bakewell pudding” was first penned in 1826 by Meg Dods; 20 years later Eliza Acton published a recipe that featured a baked rich egg custard overtop 2cm of jam and noted,

“This pudding is famous not only in Derbyshire, but in several of our northern counties where it is usually served on all holiday occasions.”

By the latter half of the 1800s, the egg custard evolved into a frangipane-like filling; since then the quantity of jam decreased while the almond filling increased.

This tart, like many of the world's great foods has its own mythic beginnings…or several mythic beginnings. Legend has it in 1820 (or was it in the 1860s?) Mrs. Greaves, landlady of The White Horse Inn in Bakewell, Derbyshire (England), asked her cook to produce a pudding for her guests. Either her instructions could have been clearer or he should have paid better attention to what she said because what he made was not what she asked for. The cook spread the jam on top of the frangipane mixture rather than the other way around. Or maybe instead of a sweet rich shortcrust pastry case to hold the jam for a strawberry tart, he made a regular pastry and mixed the eggs and sugar separately and poured that over the jam—it depends upon which legend you follow.

Regardless of what the venerable Mrs. Greaves’ cook did or didn’t do, lore has it that her guests loved it and an ensuing pastry-clad industry was born. The town of Bakewell has since played host to many a sweet tooth in hopes of tasting the tart in its natural setting.

Bakewell tarts are a classic English dessert, abounding in supermarket baking sections and in ready-made, mass-produced forms, some sporting a thick sugary icing and glazed cherry on top for decorative effect.

Enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee or just eat it sneaky slice by sneaky slice until, to your chagrin, you realise the whole tart has somehow disappeared despite you never having pulled out a plate, fork or napkin with which to eat it.

Is it a tart or is it a pudding?

Someone once said something like “The Bakewell pudding is a dessert. The Bakewell tart is that girl over there.”

It’s a debate that rages on and we aren’t taking sides on this one. But we will say that many people call this pudding a tart.

While we’re at it...
The etymology of pudding is a rather interesting and slightly convoluted one.* The naming confusion may come from the British manner of referring to the dessert course as ‘pudding’ (as well as referring to fat babies by the same name, though we don’t think that is what was the inspiration in this case). And so any dessert is a pudding until another name comes along and adds clarity to what it really is.

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Making the tart went pretty well. My shortbread crust was the hardest part. I had to patch it A LOT. But then I coated it with what seemed like a generous amount of homemade strawberry jam and topped with my frangipane batter for baking.

Jam recipe: Buy strawberries & Sure-jell. Follow instructions on insert in sure-jell for canned strawberry jam. Make jam. Eat jam. Repeat.

I baked it in my half size oven which means it was done before the timer went off, thankfully my nose told me so before I burnt it! (I love my fifties oven with its 1.5 ovens, but it does change things!) I also loved using my tart pan since I never really use it!

I am NOT an almond fan but decided to keep an open mind - My kids and I really liked it! It is best warm, right out of the oven. As it cooled, the frangipane soaked up all the jam and it seemed less sweet and dessert-y and more like a sweet bread.

With the extra crust I let my 4 yr old helper make his own little tart. His had a pretty thick shortbread bottom as a result and was very tasty. I think lots of little tarts would be very fun and a great way to give individual servings at a party.

I intended to try some variations but time got away from me. Other awesome daring bakers did do some variations, so check them out!

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Bakewell tart
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Annemarie’s notes:
• Add another five minutes or more if you're grinding your own almonds or if you're mixing by hand (Heaven help you).

Weekly Meal Plan 4th week of June

2009-06-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hot weather means the less cooking time, the less heating up of the house there is!

Monday: Chicken & navy bean tortilla soup in slow cooker, recipe found here at allrecipes, using leftover chicken from Sunday, had to cook beans though.

Tuesday: Chicken tacos/burritos using leftover chicken & extra beans + caeser salad kit

Wednesday: Lentil-Almond-spinach burgers (modified from Moosewood cookbook based on what I had on hand to use up) + Banana honey spice muffins

Thursday: Fried egg sandwiches & salad

Friday: Spinach-ricotta pie from Moosewood cookbook

Saturday: Pizza/Calzones make your own

Sunday: BBQ Chicken thighs & legs, cooked outside.

Weekly meal plan 3rd week of June

2009-06-17T15:32:00.001-07:00

Monday: 7 layer dip & chips (Perhaps a bit non-traditional but a favorite dinner here)
Tuesday: Pork tacos w/extra grilled tenderloin from last Sunday cut in strips
Wednesday: Campfire Stew/Foil Dinners from Paula Deens "My first cookbook"
Thursday: Hash w/tofu & eggs & leftovers
Friday: BBQ Chicken thighs & pasta salad
Saturday: BBQ Chicken pizza w/leftover bbq chicken
Sunday: Dad's choice (unknown as of yet)

Grilled pork tenderloin

2009-06-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

What we had for dinner Sunday:

Alton Brown's Grilled Pork Tenderloin in marinade. Make it now. It's delicious. You'll be glad you did. It is delicious, flavorful, easy...

How to get cheap pork tenderloin? Use this coupon Gather Round the Grill pork coupon at the store when you buy charcoal and one other item. Did you know tenderloin is best cooked quickly?

We bought several large pork tenderloins with these coupons and then split them to make multiple dinners. Cooking them this way was awesome. It is delicious. Here's the link again: Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Chocolate sandwich cookies

2009-06-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

When I was young, there was a mom at church who made these delicious cookies that were like "Oreos" but better - at least that was my introduction to them the first time I tasted them. She wouldn't share the recipe with anyone. It was her secret, at least until she moved away. She then gave it to my mom and one other mom to have as a secret, since she was moving across the country.

The recipe is quite simple. However if you are expecting it to taste like an Oreo, you will be disappointed. I know my reaction was "That's not how an Oreo tastes!" To which I was told something like "Yeah, it's better!" It is a delicious sandwich cookie but with a soft cookie and a cream cheese filling, it is different and tastes nothing like an Oreo to me. It is, however, delicious and easy and totally worth the time to make.

I was reminded of these simple treats by a facebook message from a friend asking for the recipe. I called my mom and she laughed and said it was on the internet already and told me where. She never was one for the big "secret" of it all. Since it's already out there for others to find, I think its fine for me to share it here. Hope you enjoy!

Home Made Oreo Cookies

2 (18 ounce) boxes devil's food cake mix
4 eggs, beaten well
2/3 cup oil
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Mix eggs, cake mix, and oil together well.

2. Shape into gumball sizes balls.

3. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.

Inside Cream Filling:

1. Mix butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together.

2. When cookies are completly cool frost the flat side of one cookie, place another cookie on top of the frosting (flat side to flat side).

Weekly meal plan 2nd week of June

2009-06-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Monday: Leftover chicken curry (made a double batch on Saturday)
Tuesday: Tangy chicken bowl (using leftover chicken from Sunday) (recipe is from BH&G Low Cost Cooking)
Wednesday: Potato, Egg, Sausage, & Tofu Hash (using leftovers and excess in the fridge)
Thursday: Steak fajitas (found some steaks half price at store, making 2 meals from them)
Friday: Steak salad (like chef salad with steak strips from previous day)
Saturday: Homemade Pizzas
Sunday: Pork loin (next day will be pork too!) & potatoes

This week dinners are mostly without recipes. DH will make the pork loin on Sunday and will probably research a recipe online he likes.

Weekly Meal plan 1st week June

2009-06-03T12:57:00.001-07:00

Dinners

Monday: Grilled Fish
Tuesday: Hamburgers
Wednesday: Calzones
Thursday: Corn Chowder in slow cooker
Friday: Spinach Ricotta Pie
Saturday: Chicken Curry
Sunday: Roast chicken & potatoes

This week's menu mostly comes from Moosewood Cookbook, one of my favorites.

Meatloaf "Surprise"

2009-05-22T18:27:00.001-07:00

This recipe is actually called Savory Scotch Meat Loaves, and is in the Better Home and Garden's Low Cost Cooking Cookbook. But with my kids we call it Meatloaf Surprise, because of the surprise of an egg inside. It is quite tasty and economical as well as easy. According to tonight's dinner conversation, the boys would like to start experimenting with different surprises on the inside. We'll see how those experiments go, I guess they aren't being surprised by the egg inside anymore.

Having been inspired by $5 dinners, I'm endeavoring to calculate the total cost to make this meal as well.

This recipe makes 4 servings:

Hard boil 4 eggs, peel and set aside. $0.40

Mix together:

1 lb ground beef (or pork or turkey) $1.58
1 beaten egg $0.10
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs (I just put a piece of bread in the food processor) $0.05
1/4 cup finely chopped onion $0.16
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper $0.25
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper

Shape one-fourth of the mixture around each hard cooked egg, completely enclosing the egg. Arrange in an 8x8 baking dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Drain off excess fat.

Mix together:

1/2 cup ketchup $0.25
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp vinegar $0.01
1/2 tsp chili powder $0.01
1/4 tsp dried oregano, crushed $0.01

Pour sauce over meat loaves and bake in 350 degree oven for an additional 15 minutes. If desired, top with shredded cheese.

Total cost: $2.82

Serve with a salad.

Here is a link to the original picture.

Grandma's Fudge Pecan Pie

2008-12-10T09:55:00.000-08:00

An important recipe during the holidays at my home. I like Pecan Pie, but I adore and cherish Fudge Pecan Pie. It's easier to do in my opinion too. Mmmm...

½ c butter/margarine

3 T. cocoa

¾ c. hot water

2 c. sugar

½ c. flour

1/8 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

small can evaporated milk ( approx 6 oz)

1 ½ c. pecans chopped

9 in. pie shell unbaked

In medium saucepan melt butter and cocoa until dissolved.

Add hot water, stir.

With wire whisk blend in sugar, flour, salt.

Add vanilla and evaporated milk stir

When smooth, mix in pecans, pour in shell

Bake on cookie sheet for 50 minutes or until done at 350 Fahrenheit.

Strawberry Lemon Puddings

2008-09-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

I love strawberries. The delicious little bursts of summer are wonderful. We only eat them fresh when they are in season, as the usually tasteless versions that they sell at the store the rest of the year are disappointing. Luckily, I keep the freezer full of frozen berries, so when the desire to have a reminder of summer comes, we are able. When you encounter a recipe like this one - a twist on a strawberry shortcake from Tyler Florence. I would have bought berries to make this recipe, I wanted to try it so badly.

Reading the recipe was all it took to want to make these little beauties. Layers of a lemon curd cream, strawberries, pound cake... yum! The tart lemon curd cream with the sweet strawberries and velvety pound cake mix together wonderfully.

I had to make some adjustments for what I had on hand. No Meyer lemons here, just lemon juice. My ramekins aren't straight sided and my pound cake was too rectangular to cut into rounds, but the layers worked out just fine. I didn't have any leftover crumbs as a result, so those weren't on top either. I think they turned out pretty to look at anyway and they were certainly tasty. They were large generous portions too. Almost too big for me. This is a great recipe for a make ahead dessert you can keep in the fridge and pull out to serve when ready.

STRAWBERRY LEMON PUDDINGS

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 35 minutes

Pudding:

1 pound cake, store bought

1/2 cup lemon curd, store bought (or homemade)

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 cup powdered sugar

Strawberries:

2 cups of strawberries, hulled and sliced

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 Meyer lemon, juice only

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Set a small saucepan over medium heat and add strawberries, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.

3. Set over medium heat to macerate for 4-5 minutes then remove form heat to cool.

4. In a large mixing bowl, whip heavy cream until you reach soft peaks. Fold in powdered sugar and lemon curd - a little at a time until they come together.

5. Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the cake.

6. Using an inverted ramekin, carefully slice the pound cake into 1/4-inch thick, round slices. They should fit snugly inside of the ramekin itself. With the remaining scraps of pound cake, break up into coarse crumbs and toast on a sheet tray in the oven for 5 minutes until golden brown and fragrant.

7. Now layer the puddings. Start with a layer of the lemon cream on the bottom, followed by cake, strawberries, lemon cream and cake again. Drizzle this layer of cake with syrup from the strawberries then top with a nice swirl of lemon cream and some toasted pound cake crumbs. Enjoy!

Orange Cream popsicles

2008-08-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

My son has been gaining a big interest in cooking this summer. He watches Good Eats with me, and asks if we can make various recipes. He helps when it interests him, but leaves boring things like stirring for long periods of time over the stove, for me to do.

At his request, we searched for and chose a recipe for creamy orange popsicles. I'm not really sure what prompted that request - we'd looked at popsicle recipes before, but never creamy orange ones or any variation close to that and I can't remember him ever having an orange creamsicle either. But whatever the reason, that's what he wanted to make as a surprise for his dad one day, so we started them.

It's a drawn out process, as you make a sorbet and a custardy ice cream mix and then shape them or mix them in a mold as we did. The recipe we used was from Gale Gand at the Food Network.

However, I didn't juice fresh tangerines or lemons, we used canned orange juice and lemon juice in the name of simplicity. And we used popsicle molds instead of making little balls as her recipe suggests. I put in chunks of sorbet and then squished the custard mix over the top. They may not be as pretty as store bought ones, but the taste was even better! Try 'em! :)

ETA: We loved these a TON. We're going to be making them again I'm sure. I have a few ideas for streamlining and making it a one day process, they are so tasty!

Chocolate hazelnut spread (like Nutella)

2008-07-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Mmmm....nutella....

The beautiful blend of chocolate and hazelnuts that makes up nutella has long been a favorite of mine. I remember my first experiences with it at breakfast in a hotel in Europe. I then went to a grocery store to obtain more, and the exciting moment of understanding between myself and the clerk and following him thru the store, him yelling "Nutella! Nutella!" before arriving next to it. Yum.

So when my dear friend sent me a few links (another) (one more) for make your own nutella, I wasn't sure. Is it really that simple? A bag of hazelnuts purchased, a quick ride in the food processor - and of course fresh bread to place it on and my husband & I were in chocolate hazelnut heaven. Mmmm.....

It isn't as fine of a grind as the commercially made nutella - that is an equipment problem that I won't be able to fix. But I got to use dark chocolate cocoa in it which made it delicious! The first batch was gone within 5 minutes of being made. Thankfully it took less than 5 minutes to make so no big loss!

Do yourself a favor and try this recipe. Simple, delicious, satisfying... I will be trying some of the other versions, though the simplicity of this version is nice. And if you aren't really sure - half the recipe - though then it disappears faster!

Homemade Nutella Recipe

2 cups chopped hazelnuts
3/4 cup to 1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/8 to 1/4 cup canola oil

Place hazelnuts in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until nuts start to clump together in a ball. This will take some time (about five minutes), so be patient.

Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and process again for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture turns dark and the ingredients are well combined.

Now, slowly drizzle in enough oil to make a spread.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 weeks.

Blueberry soda

2008-07-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun way to use blueberries - make your own soda! This recipe makes a cold refreshing drink that is delicious and simple to make.

How simple? You make the juice from the berries, cook in the sugar and your syrup is done. To serve, you put carbonated water over ice, add some syrup and enjoy.

Right now, this is up there with homemade lemonade on my list of refreshing delicious drinks of summer. The recipe comes from Alton Brown, and his blueberry episode of Good Eats.

The fact that you make the soda yourself old school style and know exactly what is in the syrup makes it more appealing to me, as I have a son who LOVES carbonation. Being able to give him a cheaper but healthier option is nice. If you aren't a soda fan, I suggest a blueberry smoothie ala pioneer woman. (Also delicious! Try both!)

Club soda & tonic water will not work or taste right in this recipe. You need regular carbonated water/sparkling water because the additives in the others will mess with the flavor.

Blueberry Soda

20 ounces blueberries, about 4 cups, rinsed and drained
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 lime, juiced
Carbonated water for serving
Ice for serving

Place the blueberries and the water into a saucepan, set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Put on lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth that is set in a large bowl. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. (Wear plastic gloves so you don't stain your hands!) Discard the skin and pulp.

Return the blueberry juice to the saucepan along with the sugar and lime juice. Place over medium high heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

Remove from the heat and carefully transfer to a heatproof glass container and place in the refrigerator, uncovered, until completely cooled.

To Serve: Combine 1/4 cup of the liquid with 8-ounces of carbonated water and serve over ice.

Granola bars

2008-07-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

A dear friend shared this recipe with me, it makes delicious granola bars. I have given up my dependency on Nature Valley because now I can whip up my own! Yay! Cheaper, healthier, tastier and definitely kid friendly. I took these on a trip with some friends and all the kids were eating them and asking for more and picking at crumbs. Perfect for emergency snacks in the car, on trips, or just for snacking, You will love this simple recipe too.

Granola Bars

4 cups quick cook oatmeal, unprepared
¾ cup chocolate chips
¾ cup grated coconut
¾ cup chopped nuts/dried fruit
¾ cup honey
¾ cup peanut butter
milk as needed (4 Tbsp seems to be perfect for me)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, adding small amounts of milk until the dough begins to stick together. Press mix into well greased large baking pan (jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with lip) that has a ½ inch lip on the edge. Bake at 325◦ F for 40-45 minutes or until the edges just start to brown. Cut into desired size bars while still hot but do not remove from pan until completely cool. (Your pizza cutter is your friend here, makes it easy to cut them.)

Chocolate chips, coconut and chopped nuts/dried fruit may be taken out and replaced with other ingredients of your choice. Also, the peanut butter may be omitted and the honey doubled.

Best storage option according to my friend is a tupperware container, and its worked well for me. They haven't lasted longer than 2 days in our house so I can't give a time length beyond that.

Perfect Whole Wheat Bread

2008-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

To save money on bread, I've been trying out homemade bread recipes. Spending $3+ on good bread at the store per loaf adds up quickly, especially when the same bread can be made at home for less than $1 a loaf.

I checked out lots of bread books at the local library; one was called Beth's Basic Bread Book. The recipe for this bread was inside and I was amazed at how easy it was. It kept getting better. A wheat bread that takes 3.25 hours is faster than my breadmaker, it makes 2 loaves at once, it's more reliable, it tastes great, they keep well for 3 days (or more in the freezer!) (Most homemade bread starts to go stale pretty fast without the store preservatives.) It makes great sandwiches, great toast, great snacks...we're in love with this bread!

This is a simple bread recipe, and the easiness makes it even more worthwhile. Try it out. You'll love it!

Perfect Whole Wheat Bread
(Also great for burger/hot dog buns, dinner rolls and more!)

1 cup warm water (105-115 F)
2 Tablespoons (2 packages) active dry yeast
pinch brown sugar
1 cup warm milk (105-115)
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, elted
1 tablespoon salt
1 egg
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, fine or medium grind
3 1/2 -4 cups unbleached all-purpose or high gluten bread flour
melted butter or olive oil for brushing

1. Proof the yeast: In a small bowl or 1-cup liquid measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup of the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast and pinch of brown sugar over the surface. Stir to dissolve and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 10 minutes. I use cool water right now in summer when its so hot to slow down the growth a bit)

2. Mixing the dough: In a large bowl using a whisk or in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the remaining water, milk, 1/3 cup brown sugar, melted butter, salt, egg and whole wheat flour. Beat hard until creamy, about 1 minute. Stir in the yeast mixture. Add bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft, shaggy dough that just clears the sides of the bowl is formed. Switch to a wooden spoon when necessary if making by hand.

3. Kneading: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until soft and springy, 1-3 minutes for machine mixed dough, 4-7 minutes for a hand mixed dough, dusting with flour only 1 Tbsp at a time, just enough as needed to prevent sticking. The dough will be smooth and very springy with a slightly rough surface and sticky quality, but not dry. Do not add too much flour or the baked loaf will be dry and crumbly.

4. First rise: Place the dough in a lightly greased deep container (preferably with straight sides so its easy to see when it has doubled). Turn the dough once to coat the top and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until double in bulk, about 1-1.5 hours. Do not allow to rise any higher than double, or it may collapse and bake into a flat loaf.

5. Shaping and second rise: Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface to deflate. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 2 9x5 loaf pans. Clay pans are wonderful for this loaf. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. With the palms of your hands, roll into 4 fat sausages, each about 10 inches long. Place two of the pieces side by side. Starting in the center, wrap one around the other to create a fat twist effect. Repeat with second loaf. Place in pans. Brush tops with melted butter or oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is almost double in bulk and about 1 inch over the rims of the pans, about 30 minutes. These loaves need only a 3/4 proof for the best baked volume.

6. Baking and cooling: Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 375 F. Brush tops with more butter or oil. Place in center rack of oven and bake about 35-40 minutes, or until the surface of the loaves is golden brown, the sides slightly contract from the pan, and the loaves sound hollow when tapped with your finger. Remove the loaves from the pans immediately to a cooling rack. Loaves are best slightly warm or at room temperature.

You take them out of the pans immediately to keep them from getting moist on the sides. Store completely cooled unsliced bread or rolls wrapped in plastic food storage bags at room temperature to keep moist for 3 days or freeze. If you use black-finish or glass loaf pans, reduce oven temp. by 25 F.

Best Dinner Ever

2008-05-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

My love affair with pork and apples began at Ruth's Chris Steak house when I was 18. It was the best pork chop I'd ever had and I didn't want to stop eating. I have tried many different recipes for pork and apples and they are all pretty good since pork & apples go awesomely together. But this recipe that my DH made for mother's day dinner is the best ever. It is the meal of happiness and joy. It is absolutely divine and wonderful.

Thank you Cooks Illustrated for this recipe. It is so amazing we had it 2 nights in a row and I think I might gladly eat it every night. I love it with DH's delicious real mashed potatoes, but it would be good with noodles or rice or any sort of starch to help soak up the delicious sauce/gravy.

Smothered Pork chops with cider and apples

Serves 4

3	ounces bacon (about 3 slices), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2	tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 3/4	cups apple cider
	vegetable oil
4	bone-in, rib-end pork chops 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick
	ground black pepper
1	medium yellow onion , halved pole-to-pole and sliced thin (about 1 3/4 cups)
1	Granny Smith apple (large), or 2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 3/8-inch wedges
	table salt
2	tablespoons water
2	medium cloves garlic , pressed through garlic press or minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1	teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2	bay leaves
1	tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Fry bacon in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate, leaving fat in saucepan (you should have 2 tablespoons bacon fat; if not, supplement with vegetable oil). Reduce heat to medium-low and gradually whisk flour into fat until smooth. Cook, whisking frequently, until mixture is light brown, about the color of peanut butter, about 5 minutes. Whisk in apple cider in slow, steady stream; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally; cover and set aside off heat.

2. Heat 1-tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat until smoking, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, dry pork chops with paper towels and sprinkle with 1/2-teaspoon pepper. Brown chops in single layer until deep golden on first side, about 3 minutes. Flip chops and cook until browned on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer chops to large plate and set aside.

3. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon oil, onions, apples, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and water to now-empty skillet. Using wooden spoon, scrape browned bits on pan bottom and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are softened and browned around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Return chops to skillet in single layer, covering chops with onions. Pour in warm sauce and any juices collected from pork; add bay leaves. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until pork is tender and paring knife inserted into chops meets very little resistance, about 30 minutes.

4. Transfer chops to warmed serving platter and tent with foil. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer sauce rapidly, stirring frequently, until thickened to gravy-like consistency, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves, stir in parsley, and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Cover chops with sauce, sprinkle with reserved bacon, and serve immediately.

Bread & Butter Pickles

2008-05-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

With the first few delicious cucumbers of this season to arrive in my co-op box, I knew I was going to make pickles. I used Alton Brown's recipe for refrigerator pickles. It was super easy and delicious tasting broth. Now I have to wait for the brining to finish up so I can eat them!

Making your own pickles is surprisingly easy and extremely tasty. I'm very pleased. Want to try it? Here's the recipe:

Ab's B and B's

1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 cup water
1 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
Pinch kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon pickling spice

Combine onion and cucumber slices in a clean spring-top jar.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 4 full minutes to wake up the flavors of the spices.

Slowly pour the hot pickling liquid over the onion and cucumber slice, completely filling the jar. Allow the pickles to cool to room temperature before topping off with any remaining pickling liquid. Refrigerate.

Keeps for about 3 months in the fridge.

Cheesecake pops

2008-05-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

For our monthly Chocolate therapy challenge, my friend at Bittersweet Cakes & I had a difficult time settling on just one thing. Until the Daring Bakers posted their monthly challenge. Yum! I was hooked and I had to make them! I halved the recipe and was still surprised at how much it made. But it was deliciously simple and just requires lots of time hanging out in the fridge or freezer.

These are just fabulous. The cheesecake center is creamy and soft and wonderful. Putting it on a stick and coating it in chocolate and any other toppings you like is so American, (food on a stick!) and it's awesome. I can see taking them to a dessert exchange or a party and them being a huge hit. If you are a cheesecake fan, you really want to try these.

I used mostly Hershey's new Bliss chocolates to coat these, which are not as good as Dove Promises, I'm sad to say. I was a bit disappointed. But really any good chocolate that you love makes a good coating. One Daring Baker used melted Toblerone's. (yummy!)

Here's the recipe (which comes from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor)

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 - 40 Pops (Note I got 33 from the recipe halved, using the proper scoop so I think this is not an accurate #.)

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs (to halve the recipe, halve the yolk of one egg in your hand with a knife and use a liquid measuring cup to halve the white by volume.)

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped - you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate - candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.) (Note that I used 1 lb of chocolate to coat just my halved batch, so make sure you have plenty of chocolate on hand!)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 - 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Dark Chocolate Cake

2008-05-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

My dear husband loves chocolate. I love chocolate. We really prefer dark chocolate. It is hard to get a great dark chocolate cake recipe that doesn't involve coffee or liquor though. But this month at birthday time, we had a revelation. Look on the back of the Hershey's special dark box! And there was a deep dark chocolate cake recipe and frosting. Of course we had to try it. IMHO they don't put bad recipes on the backs of products. They want you to try their product!

We used a chocolate ganache for the inner filling. The combo of the moist dark chocolate cake, sweet ganache & dark chocolate frosting was fantastic. It was a big hit in our home. Not much in the way of leftovers!

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING(recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.) Frost with ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings.

ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Special Dark Cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Pureed Cauliflower Soup

2008-04-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

This soup was a big hit in our home. It is creamy, and delicately spiced. My boys all loved it, even though I used turkey broth that was really too strong for such a delicate soup flavor. We had it with the escarole salad, and it was a wonderful soup & salad dinner. Very filling and delicious. Another great reason to love it is how fast it is to put together! Wonderfully simple & delicious. Mmm. :)

Pureed Cauliflower Soup with Coriander
(From Cooks Illustrated)

Either chicken or vegetable broth can be used in this recipe.

Serves 4 to 6
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , or the same amount of vegetable or olive oil
1 medium onion , 3 medium shallots or 1 medium leek (white and light green parts only), chopped
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine (or substitute)
1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), stems discarded and florets cut into bite-sized pieces (about 5 cups)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or low-sodium vegetable broth
1 teaspoon table salt
ground white pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2–3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons minced fresh chives , or minced parsley

1. Heat butter or oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add sherry and cauliflower; stir-cook until sherry evaporates, about 30 seconds.

2. Add stock, salt, pepper to taste, and coriander to saucepan; bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer; cover and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 12 minutes.

3. Ladle cauliflower mixture into blender. Add 1/2 cup milk; blend until very smooth. Return soup to saucepan; cook over low heat until warmed through. If soup is too thick, stir in additional milk to thin consistency. Adjust seasonings. (Soup can be refrigerated for 3 days and reheated just before serving.)

4. Ladle soup into individual bowls. Garnish with minced chives and serve immediately.

Hungry?

Escarole & Orange Salad

2008-04-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely head of Escarole in my produce co-op box this week. We used our last set of bitter greens (kale) in a wonderful soup, so I wanted to try something different if I could this time. Escarole is often used in salads or served as a side dish, I chose this recipe from Cooks Illustrated because I love orange segments in salads, and the vinaigrette intrigued me. It did not disappoint, the flavor was wonderful. You need to eat an escarole leaves with an orange segment, some almonds & some olive pieces in the vinaigrette all in one bite to get the full effect of all these wonderful flavors mixing in this salad - the olive & orange offset the bitter flavors of the escarole in a delicious way, and the crunch from the almonds was wonderful. I served it with a cauliflower soup and it was a fantastic dinner. Yum.
Escarole and Orange Salad with Green Olive Vinaigrette
(From Cooks Illustrated)

In this salad, when arranging the orange segments on the greens, leave behind any juice that is released; it will dilute the dressing.

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (basalmic is a fine substitute)
1/2 cup chopped green olives
3 medium shallots , minced (about 1/4 cup)
1 medium clove garlic , minced
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/3 cup olive oil
Table salt and ground black pepper
1 large head escarole , washed, dried and stemmed (about 9 cups lightly packed)
2 large oranges , segmented
1/2 cup slivered almonds , toasted in small dry skillet over medium heat until golden, about 7 minutes

1. Whisk vinegar, olives, shallots, garlic, and orange zest in large bowl; whisk in oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add greens; toss to coat.

2. Divide dressed greens among individual plates, arrange a portion of orange segments on greens, and sprinkle with almonds. Serve immediately.

Lemon Layer Cake

2008-04-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

I guess I've been interested in meringues lately...this cake asked me to make it! It was a lovely delicious Easter dessert. While mine is not as pretty as the Cooks Illustrated photo, it was very tasty. Almost like a lemonade pie filling between cake layers with a soft meringue frosting. Tart & sweet, full of lemon flavor. It was so delicious, I didn't think to take a picture until it was half gone! :)

Lemon Layer Cake
(From Cooks Illustrated)

The filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, but it will become quite stiff; fold it with a rubber spatula to loosen it before spreading onto the cake. For neater slices, dip a knife into hot water before cutting the cake. Leftovers can be stored covered in the refrigerator, with the cut side of the cake covered tightly with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.

Serves 10 to 12

Lemon Curd Filling
1 cup fresh lemon juice from about 6 lemons
1 teaspoon gelatin (powdered)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon table salt
4 large eggs
6 large egg yolks (reserve egg whites for cake)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen

Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus extra for pans
1 cup whole milk , room temperature
6 large egg whites , room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 12 pieces, softened but still cool
Fluffy White Icing
2 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon corn syrup

1. FOR THE FILLING: Measure 1 tablespoon lemon juice into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over top. Heat remaining lemon juice, sugar, and salt in medium nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot but not boiling. Whisk eggs and yolks in large nonreactive bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly pour hot lemon-sugar mixture into eggs, then return mixture to saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with heatproof spatula, until mixture registers 170 degrees on instant-read thermometer and is thick enough to leave trail when spatula is scraped along pan bottom, 4 to 6 minutes. Immediately remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture until dissolved. Stir in frozen butter until incorporated. Pour filling through fine-mesh strainer into nonreactive bowl (you should have 3 cups). Cover surface directly with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm enough to spread, at least 4 hours.

2. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch-wide by 2-inch-high round cake pans and line with parchment paper. In 2-cup liquid measure or medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg whites, and vanilla.

3. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt at low speed. With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs with no visible butter chunks. Add all but 1/2 cup milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. With mixer running at low speed, add remaining 1/2 cup milk mixture; increase speed to medium and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium speed and beat 20 seconds longer. Divide batter evenly between cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops.

4. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. Loosen cakes from sides of pans with small knife, cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto greased wire rack; peel off parchment. Invert cakes again; cool completely on rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

5. TO ASSEMBLE: Following illustrations below, use serrated knife to cut each cake into 2 even layers. Place bottom layer of 1 cake on cardboard round or cake plate. Using icing spatula, spread 1 cup lemon filling evenly on cake, leaving 1/2-inch border around edge; using cardboard round, gently replace top layer. Spread 1 cup filling on top. Using cardboard round, gently slide bottom half of second cake into place. Spread remaining cup filling on top. Using cardboard round, place top layer of second cake. Smooth out any filling that has leaked from sides of cake; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while making icing.

6. FOR THE ICING: Combine all ingredients in bowl of standing mixer or large heatproof bowl and set over medium saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water (do not let bowl touch water). Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and transfer mixture to standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to beat until mixture has cooled to room temperature and stiff peaks form, 5 minutes longer. Using icing spatula, spread frosting on cake. Serve. (Cake can be refrigerated for up to 1 day before serving.)

Orange Meringue Pie

2008-03-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Pi Day! (3/14). In celebration of pi day, we made an orange meringue pie. Yummy yummy! Not as tart as lemon meringue, full of happy orange flavor and topped with a tasty meringue topping. What more could you want?

(Great thing about this recipe is having all the ingredients on hand and no trips to the store!)

Orange Meringue Pie (from About.com)

1 baked pie shell, 9-inch, cooled (I always use Martha Stewart's pate brisee recipe)
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup orange juice
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely grated orange peel
Meringue Topping, below

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, flour, and salt. Stir in warm water and orange juice. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Set mixture over boiling water and continue cooking for about 10 minutes longer.Beat egg yolks lightly then beat a little of the hot mixture into them. add the egg yolk mixture back to the hot mixture in top of double boiler, whisking well. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from over the hot water. Blend in the butter, lemon juice, and orange peel.

Let mixture cool, then pour into cooled baked pie crust. Spoon meringue (below) onto pie, spreading to crust edge to seal filling in. Bake at 325° for 15 to 18 minutes, until nicely browned.

Meringue Topping

3 egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, optional

Beat egg whites until frothy; add cream of tartar and continue to beat until stiff enough to hold up. Add sugar gradually and continue beating until stiff and glossy. If desired, add vanilla or other flavoring.

Potato, Chorizo, Kale Soup

2008-03-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

We joined a local organic food co-op and the fun ingredient this past week was several bunches of beautiful purple kale. I went recipe hunting for how best to use it, and we settled on this soup recipe from Cooks Illustrated.

I don't have linguica sausage, but I did find chorizo and we used that. That sausage, potato & kale combo in this very simple soup is extremely delicious and fun.

We didn't roast a turkey first, but had leftover broth in our freezers from our Thanksgiving turkeys - this was an excellent use of that. It also made the soup very easy to make, since the broth was already done. It would be a great reason to make a roast turkey too though. Roast turkey dinner one night, leftover turkey sandwiches the next day, and this awesome soup for dinner another night? Sounds like an excellent plan for turning 1 turkey into 3 nights of dinners to me. Yum.

I know I've been a bit slack on pictures of the food as of late. Dinner pics are hard when all I want to do is eat the food, not photograph it! Everyone in my house liked this soup. It was delicious!

(Time to make after broth is done - about 30 minutes)

Turkey Soup with Potatoes, Linguica, and Kale

Linguiça is a garlicky Portuguese sausage. Chorizo sausage can be used instead.

Makes about 3 quarts, serving 8 to 10

*Basic Turkey Stock*
1	turkey carcass from 12- to 14-pound turkey, cut into 4 or 5 rough pieces to fit into pot
1	large onion , peeled and halved
1	large carrot , peeled and chopped coarse
1	large rib celery , about 4 ounces, chopped coarse
3	medium cloves garlic , unpeeled and smashed
2	cups dry white wine
1	bay leaf
5	sprigs fresh parsley leaves
3	sprigs fresh thyme
*Soup*
2	pounds boiling potatoes , unpeeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2	teaspoons minced fresh savory leaves
	Table salt and ground black pepper
12	ounces linguiça sausage , cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1	bunch kale (about 12 ounces), washed, stems removed, and leaves cut into 1/4-inch strips (about 9 cups, packed)

1. For Stock: Bring turkey carcass, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, wine, bay leaf, and 4 1/2 quarts water to boil in 12-quart stockpot over medium-high heat, skimming fat or foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 2 hours, continuing to skim surface as necessary. Add parsley and thyme; continue to simmer until stock is rich and flavorful, about 2 hours longer, continuing to skim surface as necessary.

2. Strain stock through large-mesh strainer into large bowl or container; remove meat from strained solids, shred into bite-sized pieces, and set aside; discard solids in strainer. Cool stock slightly, about 20 minutes; spoon fat from surface. Use stock immediately or cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate up to 2 days.

3. For Soup: Bring turkey stock to simmer in large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, savory, and 1 teaspoon salt; cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Off heat, mash potatoes in broth with potato masher until no large chunks remain and potatoes thicken soup slightly. Return to medium-high heat, add sausage and reserved shredded turkey meat from stock; bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer to blend flavors, about 15 minutes. Add kale and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes longer. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper; serve immediately.

Beanie Weenies

2008-03-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

We had this for dinner and it was a big hit. The recipe and story come from a lovely blog called Homesick Texan. She writes great posts that have yummy food with a great story behind them. I hadn't thought of beanie weenies in years but was inspired to make this after reading her post.

The flavor was wonderful, spicier than we expected but sweet and rich with the molasses flavoring. It stewed on the stove most of the afternoon. If you've ever liked Pork & Beans, or added hot dogs to them when you were a kid, you'll enjoy this version.

Beanie Wienies for Grown-Ups (from Homesick Texan)
Ingredients:
1 pound of pinto beans
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 pound of salt pork, diced
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup molasses
3 T chile powder (I used a mix of ancho and chipotle chile powders)
1 teaspoon pequin or cayenne
2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup of black coffee
Pinch of baking soda
8 good-quality hot dogs, sliced into ½ inch thick slices

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Soak the beans in a pot filled with 8 cups of water overnight, or do a quick soak by boiling the beans in 8 cups of water and then covering the pot with a lid for one hour.
3. Heat the canola oil in a large pot on medium, and sauté onions until translucent, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.
5. Stir in the molasses, chile powder, cayenne, mustard powder and brown sugar.
Add the soaked beans, and stir in coffee, baking soda and diced salt pork.
6. Add enough water to cover beans with two inches of water.
7. Cover the pot, and place in the oven. Leave alone for 2 hours.
8. After two hours, stir beans, add more water if needed, cover and then leave in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on beans tenderness.
9. Take pot out of the oven, and taste beans. Make taste adjustments with mustard powder, chile powder, and molasses if necessary. The beans should be tender at this point. If they're not, cook covered a while longer until they are.
10. Turn up heat to 400 degrees, uncover pot, and add hot dogs and cook for 30 more minutes or until sauce is thick.

Chocolate Berry Tart

2008-02-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

Just under the radar, thanks to the extra day this month, I give you this month's Chocolate Therapy challenge: Chocolate Berry Tart

I have never made a dessert tart, so this was a new experience for me. It was surprisingly easy, and beautiful, even easily fixed after my son's hand fell into it! :D

I think there are many possibilities for variations on this tart, and that it makes a great company piece - but also is wonderful for just for fun with the family, since it has lots of fruit, it's got the health factor going sort of.

It is so simple, my son could have done most of it. Bake a shortbread crust, make a chocolate pudding like center, cover with whipped cream and then berries. Why haven't I made this before?

I'm not entirely sure if I made the chocolate pudding part right - it was a very soft set; it didn't hold its shape when cut. And the shortbread crust - well, I've never made shortbread, so I wasn't really sure how to shape it. It all worked out fine in the end though!

(Updated to say that the leftover's held their shape very well the next day before being consumed, so maybe it just needs more than 4 hours!)

What a great recipe for expanding my dessert and chocolate horizons!

Chocolate berry tart

Shortbread crust
makes a single crust
9 1/2 Tbs unsalted butter, room temp
5 Tbs powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 C plus 3 Tbs flour
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy about 1.5 mins. Add flour and mix until light and fluffy about 2 mins. Gather dough in ball and press into bottom and sides of a 9 or 10 inch tart pan. cook at 300 F for 40-45 mins, let cool before filling.

filling
1 oz unsweetned chocolate
1/2 C plus 2 Tbs semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 C plus 2 Tbs milk
1/2 C plus 2 Tbs heaving cream
1 1/2 Large egg yolks (hold yolk in hand and cut in half with butter knife) at room temp
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp expresso powder (which I leave out, or sub with dutch cocoa)

topping
1/3 C whipping cream (with 1 T sugar and 1/4 tsp vanilla to flavor)
1 pint ripe berries

Chop chocolates fine (food processor 20 seconds). Heat milk and cream in small sauce pan over low heat until JUST boiling, about 5 mins, remove from heat. Add egg yolks, vanilla and powder to chocolate and process. While processor is running pour hot cream and milk and process until chocoalte is melted. Scrape bowl and process a few more seconds. Let cool to lukewarm, about 10 mins, and spread in shell. Chill at lest 4 hours in refrigerator. Before serving whip up cream (and sugar and vanilla) and spread over the tart, distribute berries.

Good Eats Chocolate Truffles

2008-02-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

I love to watch Good Eats. The science mixed with good recipes makes for good entertainment at my house. Recently Alton Brown did a series on chocolate and made truffles. Having recently made these, I was interested in his different techniques. I had to try them and see if they made it easier, and they did, even without all the equipment he has. (I don't have a melon baller or ice cream scoop, just a spade!)

I didn't take a photo, which is a horrible shortcoming, and you'll just have to use your imagination, or go look at his photos and believe that mine looked that good. However, these were extremely delicious and yummy. I learned that you want dutch cocoa for rolling the truffles in and also tried crushed peanuts. Very yummy. I also tried the semisweet crunchy coating layer over the ganache, with some success, making them taste even more like fancy store bought truffles. The only thing I changed was that I omitted the alcohol, preferring non alcoholic truffles personally. :)

I also used Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate for the ganache filling and it was worth it! :) Yum! The recipe can be found at this link. Here is an awesome fan page someone made to the show, very helpful in finding recipes and other interesting info.

Hot & Sour Soup

2008-02-24T17:11:00.000-08:00

Nigella Lawson was an unknown sensation to me until this month. I have watched several episodes of Nigella Express & checked out six different cookbooks to try and learn something about this cooking celebrity that I had missed.

Her cookbooks are fun to read. I especially enjoyed Feast, which was all about special occasion foods. There were many interesting and appealing recipes to pick from, however the one that jumped out to me was a hot & sour soup recipe in Nigella Bites. My DH loves hot & sour soup and yet we've never tried making it at home.

While Nigella assured us that the ingredients were easily obtained at regular supermarkets, it took 3 stores for me to find everything, the tom yam paste being the most difficult. I finally found it at a Chinese supermarket.

Once the ingredients are obtained, the recipe is very quick and simple to assemble and quite delicious. It really qualifies as an express meal that sounds fancy, but is quick and simple, with wonderful flavor.

My apologies for the bad picture! I did use the kaffir lime leaves & lemongrass, obtained at the fancy store here, though all the greenery has sunk to the bottom in my photo, not to mention the way the bowl is all splashy. Sorry! It really looks more appealing in real life!

See the rest of the Weekend cookbook challenge entries this month at this link: http://foodiechickie.blogspot.com/2008/03/thank-you-to-everyone-who-participated.html

6 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 heaping tablespoon tom yam hot & sour paste
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped, optional
1 stick lemongrass, tender inner part only, roughly chopped
juice of 1 lime
4 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
2-3 small jalapenos or fresh red or green chilies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons straw or button mushrooms, halved or quartered according to size
1 pound 2 ounces peeled raw shrimp, thawed if frozen
5 small scallions, cut into short lengths and then into strips
small bunch cilantro, chopped

Heat stock and tom yam paste in large saucepan with lime leaves, lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, chilies and sugar. Bring to a boil, add the mushrooms and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the shrimp and scallions and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked but still tender. Sprinkle with a little cilantro and put more on the table for people to add themselves as they want.

Creme Brulee

2008-02-23T17:33:00.000-08:00

I bought a torch this month to use with creme brulee. Mostly because last month on the clearance rack at Williams & Sonoma, I bought a book devoted to creme brulee. I have always loved this dessert at restaurants, the creamy, silky, custard under a cracking sugar shell.

However for my first attempt at the dessert in my own home, I turned to my favorite authoritative source for cooking, Cooks Illustrated. Various creme brulee recipes all have the same basic ingredients: egg yolks, whipping cream, sugar, vanilla beans. The quantity of each and the way in which it is prepared determines how good your recipe turns out. Following Cooks Illustrated recipe, I had total success and we enjoyed silky delicious creme brulee with great flavor. It is so good, and yes, you have to have a torch to finish the tops. Mine happens to be a hardware store version instead of the fancy version at the food stores, but hey, it still worked. :)

Yes, I'm aware that my picture is lame. Sorry. Sometimes eating the food is more important to me than getting an awesome photo.

Classic Creme Brulee

4 cups heavy cream, chilled
2/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch of table salt
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
12 large egg yolks
8-12 teaspoons turbinado sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Combine 2 cups cream, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan; with paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into pan, submerge pod in cream, and bring mixture to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure that sugar dissolves. Take pan off heat and let steep 15 minutes to infuse flavors.
3. Meanwhile, place kitchen towel in bottom of large baking dish or roasting pan and arrange eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins (or shallow fluted dishes) on towel. Bring kettle or large saucepan of water to boil over high heat.
4. After cream has steeped, stir in remaining 2 cups cream to cool down mixture. Whisk yolks in large bowl until broken up and combined. Whisk about 1 cup cream mixture into yolks until loosened and combined; repeat with another 1 cup cream. Add remaining cream and whisk until evenly colored and thoroughly combined. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into 2-quart measuring cup or pitcher (or clean medium bowl); discard solids in strainer. Pour or ladle mixture into ramekins, dividing it evenly among them.
5. Carefully place baking dish with ramekins on oven rack; pour boiling water into dish, taking care not to splash water into ramekins, until water reaches two-thirds height of ramekins. Bake until centers of custards are just barely set and are no longer sloshy and digital instant-read thermometer inserted in centers registers 170 to 175 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes (25 to 30 minutes for shallow fluted dishes). Begin checking temperature about 5 minutes before recommended time.
6. Transfer ramekins to wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Set ramekins on rimmed baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours or up to 4 days.
7. Uncover ramekins; if condensation has collected on custards, place paper towel on surface to soak up moisture. Sprinkle each with about 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar (1 1/2 teaspoons for shallow fluted dishes); tilt and tap ramekin for even coverage. Ignite torch and caramelize sugar. Refrigerate ramekins, uncovered, to re-chill, 30 to 45 minutes (but no longer); serve.

Chicken mole & pickled vegetable salad

2008-02-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

The Flexitarian Table is my big favorite cookbook find of the past year. I am pretty sure that Every. Single. Recipe. is delicious and amazing. For V-Day I decided to try his Chicken Mole Negro & Pickled Vegetable salad recipe.

If you have never had a mole sauce, you've been missing out IMHO. It is one of my favorites because there's chocolate in it! It is a spicy, flavorful sauce that goes wonderfully on chicken and with rice or masa harina. I served it with rice for simplicity.

The pickled vegetable salad was an adventure for me, but was delicious & easy! I love things that can be mostly completed ahead of time and don't require much prep anyway. That's what this is. Even my kids liked the veggies in this salad, they had so much fun flavor.

I have to admit that I did not like the tempeh mole version as much as I would have expected. Maybe I cooked the tempeh wrong, but it was not nearly as awesome as the chicken mole version. (I always make both the vegetarian and meat eating versions of the meals so we can compare.) It was good, but not mouthwateringly delicious as the chicken. It was kind of dry actually. Hmm.

Well here are the recipes, which I really think you will like. :) Note that this recipe serves 4 adults, you could double the amount of chicken or tempeh if you don't want to make both. Serve with rice or masa.

The vegetables used in the pickled salad are suggestions, you can use other available crunchy vegetables. The chilies give a bit of heat to the brine. The vegetables make a great snack right out of the jar if you don't want to serve it in the salad.

Chicken or Tempeh Mole (from Peter Berley's the Flexitarian Table)
Mole sauce:
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
2 large dried ancho chilies
3 cups hot water
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
1/4 cup blanched whole almonds
1/4 cup raisins
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, seeded
Sea salt or kosher salt
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces or chopped
1 cinnamon stick

Chicken:
1 3 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skin removed
2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Tempeh:
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 8 oz packages tempeh, cut into 1 inch squares
1 cup water
1/2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt

Lime wedges, for serving
Chopped cilantro or scallions for garnish

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the ancho chilies and fry, turning with tongs, until they blister, (take care not to burn them.) Transfer to a plate to cool. Set skillet of oil aside.

Meanwhile, season the chicken pieces all over with the salt and pepper and refrigerate for 1 hour.

When the ancho chilies are cool enough to handle, break open and discard seeds. Place chilies in bowl and cover with the hot water. let soak until soft, 15-20 minutes. Drain, reserving soak liquid.

Return skillet to medium heat and add the onions and cook, stirring until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add the peanuts, almonds, raisins, and all the seeds and toast until nuts and seeds are fragrant and raisins are puffed, 8-10 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula, scrap contents of pan into a blender and set skillet aside. Add chipotle chilies, 1 tsp salt and softened ancho chilies and 1 cup of soaking liquid. Puree, gradually adding remaining liquid, until mixture is smooth.

Return mixture to skillet and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add chocolate and stir until melted. Add cinnamon stick, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until mole thickens, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and discard cinnamon stick. Season with additional salt to taste and set aside.

Wick moisture from chicken with paper towels. In heavy 10 inch skillet or 3 qt casserole, heat oil over medium heat and add chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Pour in half the mole and simmer until the chic ken is cooked through, about 20 more minutes.

Meanwhile, in another skillet or casserole, heat oil over medium heat and add the tempeh and cook, turning frequently until lightly browned all over, about 10 minutes. Add the water and salt to the pan and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for 8 minutes.

Drain tempeh and return to pan, pour in remaining mole and bring to a simmer, simmer covered for 20 minutes.

Serve the mole garnished with chopped cilantro or scallions and lime wedges.

Pickled Vegetable salad
Brine:
4 cups water
2/3 cup cider vinegar
3 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
5-6 small dried red chilies or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
Vegetables:
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 medium cauliflower, cut into florets
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and sliced
1/4 medium head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

1 large bunch arugula or 1 head butter lettuce, trimmed or cored and torn for serving
Extra virgin olive oil for serving
sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, toss together vegetables. Transfer them to a 2 quart jar and cover with brine. Cover jar and refrigerate for at least 2 days and up to 4 months. To serve: gloss the arugula or lettuce with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss with some of the pickled vegetables.

Grapefruit Marmalade & Spiced Blueberry Jam

2008-02-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

I have tried several new recipes in the past few weeks, some have been successes, some not so much...but my favorite thing has been making marmalade & jam! I spent part of last fall lamenting that I hadn't canned any jam that summer due to moving, and trying to make orange marmalade that never totally jelled. I knew I should try again, but I had no desire until I actually felt I had to buy some jam since we ran out of apple butter, and I had nothing besides the "marmalade" and my boys don't love it like I do.

Then comes the discovery that Alton Brown has 2 winter jam recipe possibilities! Spiced blueberry jam from frozen berries & cranberry jam from cranberries! How exciting. :) Unfortunately, we'd already eaten all the cranberries I bought and there aren't any more at the store, but frozen blueberries were quickly obtained at the bulk store for a decent price.

His blueberry jam is flavored with freshly ground star anise & nutmeg. The anise smells like licorice, and adds a fun twist to the jam recipe. It is delicious jam and he wrote the recipe fairly thoroughly. The recipe can be found at this link.

Then one of my favorite food bloggers, Mercedes, wrote about a Grapefruit marmalade with vanilla and I had to try it. I have never had grapefruit marmalade and she raved about the flavor that the vanilla added. It was a long, slow cooked marmalade, and came out wonderfully. But the vanilla flavor was a bit odd to DH & I, so I made another batch without the vanilla, and the differences are fascinating. While the vanilla flavored marmalade is almost too sweet, but delicious in a unique way, the one without is delicious and full bodied from the long slow simmer. I really like it and think I will adapt the idea of it to orange marmalade. It is an excellent way to use all the awesome local grapefruit and oranges we have here in TX.

The result has been some satisfying restocking of the jam supply in our home, and my boys are delighted with the blueberry jam. I will have to make more soon I'm sure!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-01-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

We love cookies. Simple, sweet, fast, tasty...what's not to like? Easy to make with your kids...one of my favorites is oatmeal chocolate chip. You get some healthy oatmeal, but with chocolate. Mmmm....chocolate. It surprised a friend to know that I use the recipe on the Oatmeal box, b/c I think it is the best. Of course, that is with the qualification that you use real unsalted butter and double the chocolate chips (which go instead of the raisins).

So here is the recipe the way we've been making it. Mmmm...cookies.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 pound (2 sticks)unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Servings: About 4 dozen

Latin Chicken w/ Black beans & Sweet potatoes

2008-01-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

A friend recommended this recipe to me. It reminds me of yummy coconut curry chicken and sweet potatoes in name, but flavor wise, it is very different. Not hot, like I expected, but spicy, mildly sweet maybe, reminding me a little of chicken mole.

It is written for the slow-cooker, you could adjust and bake in a casserole in the oven much faster, but I love slow cookers for providing my family with tasty dinners that I can prep easily in the morning and forget about until that evening. The recipe comes from Good Housekeeping. They even provide nutritional information if you want to track that. Me, I know its healthy, it has sweet potatoes & black beans & salsa in it. Lots of veggies, lots of color, lots of nutrients. But is it tasty? Oh yeah.

I did not use regular paprika instead of smoked paprika (don't have it) or the chipotle chiles (don't care for them). I also forgot the lime juice & roasted red pepper. Oh - and technically I used turkey broth, but is that a real change? We make our own broth, and freeze it. I've got a ton left from Thanksgiving still. Anyway it was still great, even with the forgotten ingredients from me being so hungry. (The house smelled wonderful!) (And the cilantro, lime juice & roasted red pepper would be really good mixed into the potato mixture, I recommend trying it.) Bonus - side dish built in to meal! How much easier can you get?

Slow Cooked Latin Chicken with Black beans & Sweet potatoes
Ingredients

3 pound(s)	bone-in skinless chicken thighs
2 teaspoon(s)	ground cumin
	Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon(s)	smoked paprika, or 1⁄2 tsp. chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/2 teaspoon(s)	ground allspice
1 cup(s)	chicken broth
1/2 cup(s)	salsa
3 clove(s)	(large) garlic, crushed with press
2 can(s)	(15 to 19 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 pound(s)	sweet potatoes, peeled cut into 2-inch chunks
1	jarred roasted red pepper, cut into strips (1 cup)
1/3 cup(s)	(loosely packed) fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
	Lime wedges

Sprinkle chicken thighs with 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Heat 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot; add chicken thighs and cook until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate. Remove skillet from heat.
In same skillet, combine smoked paprika, allspice, chicken broth, salsa, garlic, and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin.
In 6-quart slow cooker, combine beans and sweet potatoes. Place chicken on top of potato mixture in slow cooker; pour broth mixture over chicken. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook as manufacturer directs, on low 8 hours or on high 4 hours.
With tongs or slotted spoon, remove chicken pieces to large platter. Gently stir roasted red pepper strips into potato mixture. Spoon mixture over chicken. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Oatmeal Porridge

2008-01-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

Our favorite breakfast for the past few months has been oatmeal porridge. It is a simple recipe you start the night before, and it has made it so that I can't eat instant oatmeal any more, it's so good. Serve with hot chocolate on a cold morning for a good warm you up breakfast. :)

Put equal parts regular oats and water in a bowl, add 1 Tbsp of whole milk plain yogurt or creme fraiche and mix. (I do 2 cups oats, 2 cups water, 2 Tbsp yogurt for our family usually). Cover with a clean towel and let sit overnight.

Put water on to boil, the same amount you put in the oats the other night (2 cups for me). When it is boiling, add the oat mixture and simmer to a good thickness, stirring frequently.

Serve with more yogurt or cream, apple butter, favorite jelly, honey, fresh fruit or whatever else you want to add for sweetness/flavor. Or eat plain!

Our favorite toppings:
Homemade apple butter mixed in tastes like apple cinnamon oatmeal.
More yogurt and fresh peaches makes peaches & cream oatmeal
Blueberries & yogurt
Strawberry jam
cinnamon, brown sugar & raisins...
lots of options!

Chocolate madeleines

2008-01-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

The first time I saw madeleines was on the TV show Friends. Since they were a cute shell shaped French cake cookie, I was intrigued. Also, they said they were hard to make. Double bonus!

Since then, I have always wanted to try them, but never have, because they require a special pan. The chocolate therapy challenge was a great reason to buy a madeleine pan! I will be trying a non-chocolate madeleine recipe as well, but first and most important is the chocolate recipe. My source is La Tartine gourmande. Since her recipe requires a kitchen scale and I don't have one, and also is not detailed enough for this madeleine beginner, I had to supplement it with info from 101 cookbooks madeleine recipe and a conversion website.

I ended up using mostly dark chocolate with mint, since that's what I had in the fridge. I also overfilled the molds the first time, since 3/4 full of a shell shaped mold is kind of hard to see. Overfilling them is bad, since they stick to the mold more. I think there is a skill there you have to develop to have all your madeleines look awesome like pictures I've seen. Mine turned out okay. The batter recipe is easy, it is getting beautiful looking madeleines that is the hard part.

I'd also appreciate the recipe saying put in a heaping 1 Tbsp (approx amount for regular madeleine molds I'd say), since that would be easier to measure/see. Also, unmold them on a flat surface instead of wire racks for better luck IMO.

The flavor and texture was great. It was like a little cake, delicate and light and chocolatey. Yum! They are rich and delicious. The chocolate mint worked really well for me. MMM...

Photos: Top are my 4 best madeleines. Next is my first batch, which mostly fell apart, trying to unmold on the rack. Next is the amount I put in the molds the 2nd time, resulting in no overflow and finally a batch that I unmolded on a flat surface.

Here is the recipe, modified as I did it:

Chocolate Madeleines

3 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
3.5 oz dark chocolate
4 oz (1/2 stick) butter, unsalted
1 tsp. baking powder
dash sea salt

*Place the chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl and melt over a pot of simmering water. Let it cool down.
* Sift the flour and baking powder and keep on the side.
* Place the eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high with a whisk attachment until they double/triple in volume (about 3 minutes).
* Reduce the speed and add the sugar in a steady stream. Increase the speed to high again and beat until lighter in color, about 2 minutes (until thick and ribbony).
* Remove the bowl and add the flour and baking powder with a wooden spoon.
* Add the cool melted chocolate and butter and blend, not overworking the dough.
* Place the batter in the fridge for a few hours before baking (minimum 1 hour).
*Use baking spray on molds or butter & flour them.
* Fill special madeleine molds 3/4 full. (Approx 1 Tbsp per mold). Do not spread out, as they will fill it while baking. Do not overfill.
* Preheat your oven at 430 F and cook the madeleines for 7 minutes first so that they rise nicely, then reduce the heat to 350 F and continue to cook for 4 more minutes.
* Unmold immediately and cool on racks. Best eaten day they are made, will keep a few days.
Makes approx 3 dozen cookies.

Dark Chocolate Truffles

2008-01-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

I remember the first time someone shared their bag of dark chocolate truffles with me... wow. First you taste the cocoa, then the dark chocolate comes thru and mixes with it and melts in your mouth. Mmmm....chocolate.... :)

I'm a day late in posting and finishing these truffles since they were part of December's Chocolate therapy challenge, but I'm still sharing. These are so simple to make! I was worried they'd be delicate and easy to mess up, but nope. If you can bring heavy cream to a boil, you can make these. They may not be as pretty, but they'll sure taste as good!

I used a mix of a bag of Dove dark chocolates, Hershey's special dark, and another small bar of dark chocolate I had in the fridge to make 1 lb of chocolate. Total cost for the pound of chocolate? About $5. Considering that a pound of truffles can run up to $34 (and I've paid it...) that's a deal. But you still need some heavy cream and good cocoa powder for dusting. Not a cheap treat, but a worthy one.

Note that the mixture sits in the fridge for an hour, not overnight. If you leave it overnight (innocent whistling), you will have to have it sit out and gently warm it up (don't melt it again, you could mess it up.) But its still yummy, even if you just chip off a piece of the hardened ganache mixture and roll it in the cocoa powder.

1 lb. dark chocolate (pick stuff you like, this will be the flavor you get.)
1 cup. heavy whipping cream
cocoa powder for dusting

1. Break up chocolate into pieces, put in large heat proof bowl.
2. Heat heavy cream on stove to just boiling. (this is called scalding).
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes.
4. Stir the chocolate/cream mixture until it is smooth and creamy.
5. Put in the fridge for an hour to cool/thicken.
6. Scoop out balls of mix, and roll in cocoa powder to finish.
7. Try not to eat them all before sharing! ;)

Mint Oreo Truffles

2007-12-21T21:36:00.001-08:00

Chocolate Therapy Challenge this month is truffles, and the first recipe to try for me is the easy oreo truffle. :) I first tried these about 2 months ago and mmmm...yummy...:) And simple! Well worth trying. (Visit Create Cakes for my friend's experience with truffles!)

Mint Oreo Truffles
8 oz cream cheese
1 package oreos
1 tsp mint extract
12 oz chocolate
1 tsp oil

Crush the oreos, use a food processor or just crush with a rolling pin when they are in a plastic bag. Beat the cream cheese until smooth with mixer, then mix in oreos until totally black, with no cream cheese showing. Refrigerate until firm and cold.

Shape into little balls, about a tablespoon of mix each, putting on cookie trays and then in the fridge to firm up and get cold again.

Melt the chocolate (semi-sweet chips or bars, dark chocolate bars, fancy candy chocolate, whatever is your favorite...even half chocolate/half andes bars if you want mint overload) in a double boiler, mix in the oil to make it a bit thinner and easier to use.

Have another tray with parchment paper ready, put a ball of filling in the chocolate, cover with melted chocolate, lift out with a fork, hit on edge to shake off some of the extra chocolate, place on parchment paper by scraping off fork with a small knife. Repeat with other balls, melting more chocolate if necessary (I used about 24 oz). Put back in the fridge to firm up and get cold.

If you want, melt a different colored chocolate and drizzle on the top for decoration.

Eat, share, enjoy!

(Note, I don't think you can put them in the freezer, cream cheese does NOT do well with the freezer, which is why you need a little bit of fridge space, or a cold garage or snow outside... :) )

I got 50 truffle balls, others have gotten more, it will depend on the size you make them, and how much of the filling you eat first!

(NOTE: Because of the cream cheese, these must be stored in the fridge too. But after they harden up, you can move them to a more compact storage than the trays...if they last that long.)

Thanksgiving Run Down

2007-12-17T21:52:00.000-08:00

I still haven't posted my thanksgiving 2007 complete rundown...It was a great thanksgiving dinner! I did not get any great beautiful table shots b/c we served the food more buffet style, but I did get individual dish pics!

The turkeys were in a fight over who was better, the brined than fried turkey or the brined than roasted in the oven turkey...The winner on taste was the roasted turkey. The meat stayed much more moist and delicious. The fried turkey skin is awesome, but the meat was a bit more dried out. The look of the fried turkey is more beautiful maybe, but roasting just produced better tasting meat!

We had free range pastured turkey this year and you can really tell the difference. The legs were so much bigger! You can tell these turkeys ran around and had a good time. :P

In the shot of most of my guests eating, notice the guy in the back with the giant turkey leg! It was a great prize, the drumstick on these turkeys! Just like in medieval movies where they show large sticks o' meat.

In other dishes, we had the traditional mashed potatoes & gravy, our macaroni salad that I posted about before, traditional stuffing, orange rolls, dinner rolls, cranberry-orange relish, a butternut squash soup & the sweet potato casserole. In new adventure dishes, we had a wilted spinach salad with radishes & oranges and a warm vinaigrette, roasted green beans & carrots with a basalmic honey sauce.

For dessert there was pecan pie, fudge pecan pie, spiced pumpkin cheesecake and apple cranberry pie. I really love Thanksgiving! Writing about it makes me sentimental and hungry. Mmmm...pie... :) Here are a few pictures of foods to make you hungry too! :)

Creamy Enchilada Casserole

2007-12-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

Nava Atlas writes great cookbooks with great recipes. The Vegetarian Family Cookbook is wonderful. Simple, great tasting, kid-friendly...what's not to like? She also does a monthly newsletter from her website with scrumptious seasonal recipes. I checked it out again from the library and have been enjoying it! :)

Creamy Enchilada Casserole

(filling)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion chopped
1 garlic clove minced
1 16-oz can vegetarian refried beans
1/2 cup mild or medium hot bottled salsa or 4-z mild green chiles
2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro (optional)
1/2 tsp dried oregano

(sauce)
1 1/4 cups milk, rice milk or soy milk
2 Tbsp white flour
1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack or other non-dairy white cheese

8-10 corn tortillas, cut in halves
1 scallion, thinly sliced
salsa for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Oil your 9x13 pan or 2 qt casserole

Heat oil in medium skillet, add onion and saute over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and saute until onion os golden. Stir in remaining filling ingredients and cook unitl well heated thru.

Heat 1 cup of milk in small saucepan, dissolve flour in remaining milk .Whisk into saucepan, then sprinkle in 1 cup of cheese. bring to gentle simmer, stirring frequently, and cook until thickened.

Line pan with a single layer of tortillas, pour in filling and spread evenly over tortillas. Cover with remaining tortilla halves.

Pour cheese sauce evenly over tortillas, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Sprinkle scallions over the top. Bake 15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly. Serve at once, pass around salsa for topping if desired.

N.B. I used flour tortillas, we don't like corn ones in our home, it worked fine. This recipe was delicious, and has possibilities for improvization too. :)

Chinese Noodle Bowl

2007-12-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

Checking out the recipe book Beggars Banquets that I saw on another blog, I found this recipe that sounded fun. It took some interpretation on a few of the ingredients, but resulted in a successful delicious dinner for our family. My boys ate it up with relish and DH thought it was wonderful.

I used broccoli instead of cucumber because of family preference, the book suggests using whatever vegetables are cheapest/in season at the store. The hoisin sauce is the real flavor. :)

Chinese Noodle Bowl with Bean sprouts, carrots and peanuts

12 oz ground pork or diced firm tofu
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 bunch spring onions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp light soy sauce or to taste, with extra for tossing noodles if desired
5-6 Tbsp hoisin sauce (or more, to taste)
2-2.5 oz water
4 oz bean sprouts
1 lb dried Chinese egg noodles (I used ramen type noodles)
2 tsp toasted sesame oil, to taste (optional)
3-4 Tbsp roasted peanuts
1 carrot, julienned
1 cucumber julienned
2-3 Tbsp coarse chopped fresh cilantro

Stir fry the pork or tofu w/garlic and ginger in the oil for 6-7 minutes until lightly browned. Stir in half the onions, the sugar, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce. Remove pan from heat and stir in water, then return to heat and warm on medium heat. Remove from heat, and add bean sprouts

Cook noodles in rapidly boiling salted water until just ender. Drain and toss with sesame oil then serve straight away, topping each portion with some of meat sauce, onions, peanuts, carrot and cucumber and cilantro. (Or mix it all up and then serve, which is what I did.)

Mike's Macaroni Salad

2007-11-29T16:25:00.000-08:00

This recipe is a family favorite, and a holiday or large party standard. It is a recipe that originated from a TV show on the Food Network, though I don't remember which one.

My DH immediately started playing with the recipe and it is pretty different from the original now. It is delicious because of the way the spices play together with the ingredients, and that is mostly the same as the original recipe. Most of the work is in chopping up ingredients. Yes, it takes more than a day to make correctly, but it is worth it.

Mike's Macaroni Salad

1 (16-ounce) package salad macaroni (or ditali pasta)
1 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup yellow or white onion, diced
1 cup medium cheddar, diced
1 cup Swiss cheese, diced
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesano Reggiano
1 cup sweet pickles, diced (bread 'n butter work well)
1 cup ham diced
1 can drained sweet peas

1 to 2 tablespoons Lowry's garlic salt
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise/miracle whip (a 50/50 mixture is best)

Add 2 quarts of water to a medium stockpot and bring to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until it is al dente, approximately 9 minutes. Do not overcook the pasta or it will fall apart when the salad is tossed together. Rinse macaroni until cool. Drain well and let it dry out slightly.

Add pasta to a large bowl. Carefully fold in celery, onion, cheddar, Swiss cheese, Parmesan, pickles, ham, and sweet peas. Refrigerate the mixture, uncovered, overnight (the flavors are much better if overnight) (refrigerate at least 2 hours).

Mix the garlic salt, minced garlic, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard and celery salt together. Add to salad. Fold in 1 cup of mayo/miracle whip mixture to start. Add up to a 1/2 cup more of mayo/miracle whip if needed. Refrigerate again for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

We almost always double the recipe for a party, to make sure there are adequate leftovers. :)

Coconut Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes

2007-11-21T16:18:00.000-08:00

I found the original version of this recipe in the coupon inserts a few years ago. It was fabulous. It is a simple and fast dinner, nutritious and fun to make! Serve with rice, or whatever else you like to have with curry.

I decided this time to try and adjust it to a slow cooker recipe for easy prep in the morning, and it worked out wonderfully with very little modification.

Coconut Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound chicken breast tenders
2 large shallots, finely sliced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion
2-1/2 teaspoons Curry Powder
1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced (1/2-inch piece size)
1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper; sauté in Dutch oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until center is no longer pink. Remove chicken and cover.

Add remaining oil to Dutch oven. Sauté shallots and red onion for 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle in curry powder, crushed red pepper and sea salt. Add sweet potatoes and coconut milk; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 10 minutes.

While sweet potatoes are simmering, dice cooked chicken.

Add chicken to sweet potatoes; simmer an additional 5 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

Apple Chestnut Soup

2007-11-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

From "The Flexitarian Table" comes this wonderful soup that is to be paired with the penne with beets. It was delicious, once I was finally able to obtain chestnuts and do the whole roasting thing. I will be making it again, or some variation of it, like this one.

Trying this soup was reminiscent of the first time I had a good butternut squash soup. It was an eye opening experience. The seasonings and flavors of this apple chestnut soup really make it an experience not to be forgotten. Yum.

Apple Chestnut Soup

1 lb chestnuts in shell (3 cups), scored and soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
4 Tblsp unsalted butter
2 c. finely chopped onions
2 tsp chopped fresh sage
2 tsp chopped peeled fresh ginger
Sea salt
2 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled & chopped
2 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 large apple, such as mutsu, winesap, gala, or golden delicious, peeled, cored & chopped
4.5-5 cups stock or water
2/3 c half-n-half or heavy cream
freshly ground black pepper
maple syrup for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread soaked chestnuts on rimmed baking sheet. Roast until the shells crack open and you can easily peel away the skins, 45-60 minutes. Wrap in a clean towel and steam until cool enough to handle, 5-10 minutes. Pull away the shells, then the skins, briefly return to the oven any that are difficult.

In 4-5 quart dutch oven or other heavy pot, melt butter over medium heat and let it cook until it has turned golden and ceased to sputter, about 5 minutes. Add onions, sage, ginger and 1/2 tsp salt, cover, and cook, stirring frequently, and adjusting the heat as necessary to keep the onions from browning, until the onions are golden and meltingly tender, about 15 minutes.

Add potatoes, parsnips, apple, chestnuts, and stock or water to cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, simmer until vegetables are tender enough to crush against side of pot, 25-30 minutes.

Using immersion blender, or working in batches with regular blender, puree soup until smooth. Blend in cream if using and thin with more stock or water if desired. Transfer to saucepan and reheat, seasoning with salt & pepper and serve with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Weekend Cookbook Challenge Week in Review

2007-11-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

This was an interesting week. I never did make the chestnut soup or the coconut curried chicken, they got pushed into the next week. But contrary to my belief, there weren't so many leftovers that it was nuts, and it was actually nice to have a good dinner each night.

It was also nice to have a plan for breakfast, it made mornings easier. I never had to run to the store all week, I had everything I needed, thanks to the time I had put into planning. Hopefully I can get faster at that planning, it is worth it.

What I really take away from this week is that it is okay to spend $100+ a week on my family groceries, when I have a plan. I am still coming away from student land where we ate spaghetti most nights to keep costs under $50 a week. This was about having abundance, but with a plan, so that it wasn't excessive or expensive, and it was wonderful.

What I actually cooked/served each day this past week: (compare with my original plan).

Sunday
B: German Pancakes
L: Leftovers
D: Swiss & Mushroom Quiche (Moosewood Cookbook)
Des: Chocolate cream sandwiches cookies

Monday
B: oatmeal porridge
L: Sandwiches
D: Beet penne pasta (The Flexitarian Table) & Slow cooker apple pork roast
Des: Slow cooker Chocolate Almond Cheesecake (Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker)

Tuesday
B: Cranberry orange muffins
L: Sandwiches
D: ate out at Cheddars (due to melting rice cooker)
Des: leftovers

Wednesday
B: banana sour cream muffins
L: leftovers
D:Slow Cooker stuffed peppers
Des: Chocolate souffle

Thursday
B: Oatmeal porridge
L: Sandwiches
D: Slow Cooker Corn Chowder & breadsticks
Des: leftover cookies

Friday
B: apples & breadsticks
L: Leftovers
D: Homemade Margherita Pizza
Des: Grapefruit Ice cream

Saturday
B: pancakes
L: leftovers
D: leftovers