Food

May 9, 2010

Here is what I've been up to in the kitchen this Sunday.

Breath Saving Biscuits














This recipe was in Cesar's Way Magazine and this is the second time I've made it.  It's Tucker and Tiffany approved.

Breath Saving Biscuits
2 cups brown rice flour
1 large egg, slightly beaten
2 TBS canola oil
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
2/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400.

In a med bowl combine vanilla, oil, egg, parsley and mint. Mix well. Slowly stir in flour, then add enough milk to make a dough with the consistency of drop biscuits. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough about 1 inch apart onto greased baking sheets.
Bake 15 minutes, or until firm. Store cooked biscuits in tightly covered container in refrigerator.
 
Notes: I roll them out on a floured surface and cut them as you can see into bones shapes.  I don't know if they actually do anything for Tucker's and Tiffany's breath, but they do love them and I feel good knowing that I made them from scratch.
 
Next I made this recipe from Shared Sugar.  I saw it when I found the Mocha Cupcakes recipe that I made last Sunday.
 
 
 
 












Here are some of the finished product.















On to the cupcakes.






























From the left, we have the tried and true strawberry cupcake from Good Things Catered.  I have to say so far I've gotten the most feed back from Cupcake Monday on these cupcakes.  Ok, that's all of two people, but still.  Everyone always likes everything, but these are special.  I don't sue the frosting with the recipe, I make a slighlty sweetened strawberry whipped cream.

Remember Good Things Catered because the next recipe sort of comes from there too and even the last one.  Next we have a chocolate chip banana cupcake.  Using the same strawberry cupcake recipe, I reduced the sugar to one cup and added 1 cup of mashed bananas and 1 cup of mini chocoalte chips.  The choclate ganache frosting which is awesome come from here And All The Trimmings.

Last we have a blueberry cupcake using the same strawberry cupcake recipe, using blueberries instead of strawberries and the frosting is a slightly sweetened blueberry whipped cream.

I hope they go over well tomorrow at work.

Stuffed Pablano Peppers














Now I wish I had taken more pictures of the pablano peppers.  I never made them before, but when I saw them at the grocery store, they just looked so pretty and I like to eat them, so I got four.

Long story short, here's what I did.

Put chicken breasts in the crock pot with a can of dinced tomatoes with green chilies and some Mexican seasonings and one can of stewed tomatoes also with Mexican seasoning.  I added salt, pepper and cumin.  I let that cook for about 4-6 hours and then shredded it.

I had just a bit, maybe a 1/3 of a cup of Montery Jack and I added to that about 1 cup of grated Manchengo and 1/2 a cup of Uniekaas Robusto.  I know - weird mix of cheeses, but I sampled the last two at Whole Foods last weekend and went ahead and got a little of each.  Now I'm really glad I did.

I mixed the cheeses with the shredded chicken and stuffed the peppers with it.  Baked on 350 for 30 minutes and then rotated the peppers and baked for an additional 10.

Opened a can of red kidney beans and called it dinner!

For dessert we have CUPCAKES!  Not really, well I mean we do have cupcakes, but that's not whats for dessert.  For dessert tonight we have:
















See the pablanos...I almost got a picture of them.
















Do you know what it is yet?

Ok, I'm tired and it's straight to bed after I eat it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble


I have never eaten Rhubarb or cooked with it.  It's red and red is my favorite color and it looks pretty in pictures I've seen and especially in this one from Desserts for Breakfast.  So I made it.

The End.

May 2, 2010

Here is the line up from the weekend.  















From left to right:  One Bowl Chocolate Cupcake from Martha Stewart.  This is a good basic chocolate cupcake that came together very nicely.  I do think I like the liner more than the recipe though.  It's frosted with a basic vanilla buttercream and then topped off with some grated chocolate.

Next we have a Mocha Cupcake with an espresso buttercream.  The cake is super, super, super moist and so good.  There is no taste of coffee what so ever.  I went with this recipe from Shared Sugar because it called for brewed coffe and espresso powder.  I did not go with the frosting that goes with the recipe.  Do I ever?  No...I went with this one Coffee Buttercream.  Why?  I guess just to make things complicated for myself.  The recipe says you get 24 cupcakes.  I got 24 mini, plus about 18 regular.  I also overfilled the cups.  Only needed to fill them about half way...not 3/4, but I had soooo much batter.  I think the recipe would make 36 cupcakes easy.

The next cupcake is Streusel Cupcake also from Martha Stewart, but I couldn't find the recipe on the site.  I ran across it here Get Real Martha.  I have to say that I was not excited about making this cupcake.  It was a request from my favorite taste tester.  I was attempting to duplicate a coffee cake in a cupcake.  The cupcake itself was sort of dry, I may have over baked it and I think I should have pressed in the topping a bit more.  It also needed something.  Cinnamon Buttercream was the requested topping, so that's what it got.  The recipe has a glaze that goes with it, but I'm not a fan of glazing cupcakes.  How bout that liner though?

Last but not least is a Cookies and Cream Cupcake topped with a cookies and cream buttercream and a mini oreo.  How cute is that?!  I found the buttercream recipe here Grin and Bake It .  None of the recipes I found for a cookies and cream cupcake really did much for me.  So I took this recipe Good Things Catered and did the following:

I used a little more than 8ounces (but less than 9) of Hershey Bar, Cookies and Cream and one mini bag of mini Oreos and ground them up really well in a food processor.  I used about 3/4 cup of sugar and for the oil I used coconut, organic, un-refined.  I love baking with coconut oil.  I added my chocolate cookie mixture where the origional recipe says to add the melted chocolate.  This recipe was so good.  I made it twice this weekend.  The first time in regular size cupcakes and got 18 and the second time I got 48 minis and one regular.  The SO says NOW this is his favorite. 


April 25, 2010

I had plans to make Strawberry Cupcakes and Coconut Cupcakes this weekend.  I'll get to those in a minute.  When I got home Friday night....I had bananas in the bowl that were really dark.  You know the story.  I HAD to do SOMETHING with them.

I know!  Banana Cupcakes.  I need help.  I looked at about 100 recipes and decided on this one Banana Cupcakes.

I topped them with a Cinnamon Butter Cream.

Cinnamon Butter Cream

1 stick butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar (appx, more or less to taste and consistency)
2 TBS heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (more or less to taste)
















I had a request from one of my taste testers (My favorite Security Guard at work) for Strawberry Cupcakes.  I've made this recipe before from Good Things Catered.  It's a great recipe.  I've been on the hunt from a good Strawberry Cupcake recipe and have tried one other one.  I'm not sure this one is THE one for me, but it's darn good.

I have never used the frosting recipe that comes along with the cupcake recipe.  Maybe next time.

Saturday I made the Strawberry and Coconut Cupcakes along with 3 frostings so all I would have to do Sunday is frost and decorate...or so I thought.




























I so stold the umbrella idea from here Desserts for Breakfast.  I got the idea for a Pina Colada Cupcake months ago and of course it's been done before and that's how I found the site Desserts for Breakfast.  It's a great site and I check it everyday for updates.  I acutally did make the coconut cupcake recipe from the recipe posted.  I liked it, but wanted something even more coconutty.  I never did get around to making the frosting recipe.  For this coconut cupcake I used this recipe Coconut Cupcakes.  I frosted them with a stabilized pineapple whipped cream.

The End.  Right?  No.

So, here it is Sunday and I've got lots to do.  Frost cupcakes, decorate them a bit, laundry...etc...what did I end up doing?  More baking.

A couple of days before this recipe was posted at Joy The Baker I was thinking about how I could make muffins using raisin bran and low and behold the recipe is on her site literally no more than 2 days later.  Freaky.  So, I bought the raisin bran and the SO ate all of it before I could make the muffins.  I bought more and decided to go ahead and make them this morning while he was gone and before he ate the whole box again.
















I mainly wanted to use my new baking cups.  These muffins are pretty good.  Kinda heavy.  I went lighter on the sugar and shouldn't have.  I then took the advice of the recipe and sprinkled some sugar on top before baking.  I ended up baking in several batches so I could try out my new Lodge cast iron muffin pan.  When I ordered it from Fantes I had no idea it was a mini muffin pan.  It's not even on the Lodge site?















I like it even though is small.  So the end.  I tried out my new pan, my new baking cups, I've got three different cupcakes ready to frost and I can make a nice cute post about My Trifecta?  Right?  Nope.

I had run across this recipe at Zoe Bakes.  I just ran across her site Friday while looking for an Appletini Cupcake.  I don't think she has one, so I don't know how I stumbled on her site, but I'm glad I did.  That recipe had me at Calvados.  Which I just so happen to keep on hand.

So here it is Sunday morning...I'm all alone just me and my fur babies and I decide to try the apple cake recipe and make it into cupcakes.  As if I had nothing else to do.  Or like I needed more cupcakes!  I figured this was research for my friends Appletini Cupcake. 

I made a few of modifications.  I used 1 1/4 cups of coconut oil plus 4 tablespoons of butter, only because I didn't have enough coconut oil.  I also added 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder...why I don't know...just seemed like I should for cupcakes?  I baked off a couple and then decided to give the carmel bits a try I just got the other day.  I added 1 cup to the remaining batter.  I also reduced cinnamon to 1 teaspoon and left out the nuts.






























I was pretty blown away by this recipe.  I'm seldom blown away.  I will eventually try this as a cake just as written.  I filled the baking cups up about 3/4 of the way to full and some not so much.  I like them better filled fuller.  This recipe makes 24 cupcakes easy and how many more will depend on how full you fill your baking cups.

I also made the glaze that is part of the recipe and oh my goodness.  It's awesome!  I tried it on a cupcake and it's a bit messy...so I decided againts using it as is for the cupcakes.  What I decided to do was make a stabilized whipped cream and whip it in.  Heaven.
















More cute liners from Bake it Pretty.

Next time I make these, I might consider going with foil liners.  When the cupcake is cold, it tends to stick and if any of the caramel bits are on the bottom it sticks a little too.

It's just been a faboulous baking weekend.  I'm tired now.  I've got a refrigerator full of cupcakes and I've eaten way too many of them.  For qulity control purposes of course.















The strawberry cupcakes got a strawberry whipped cream.  The coconut got pineapple whipped cream and a dark chocolate almond frosting (from the back of the Hershey's box).  I added 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.



The End.  Really.


April 18, 2020

Strawberry Ricotta Coconut Pancakes















So, I can't take all the credit for these pancakes.  Awhile back a friend of mine tipped me off to adding the baking soda to your pancake mix and Friday I found this recipe over at Cara's Cravings.  If you have never browsed around on her site, please do.  She has lot's of great recipes there and list the nutritional information for most of them.  I've made one of her pancake recipes before and it was really good.

This morning however I was in no mood to lighten things up or make them healthy.  Sunday is my free day to eat what I want.

This is what I did:

1 cup Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix
3/4 to 1 cup 2% milk
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
1 tablespoon organic un-refined coconut oil (my Walmart carries this)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 packet Truvia sweetener (I'm sure Splenda would would here too or a little real sugar)
4-5 chopped strawberries, chopped or sliced
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Mix all ingrediants together leaving out the strawberries and coconut.

Spray hot griddle with non stick spray.  Put batter down by the ladle full on a hot griddle, top with a handfull or so of chopped strawberries followed by a tablespoon or two of coconut.  Flip once bubbles start to rise to the top.  Brown the other side, remove to a plate and top with butter.

I got 6 large pancakes out of this recipe.

April 13, 2010
I recently discovered this blog...101 Cookbooks.  It's a great resource and inspiratin for recipes.  I've made three things from there and here they are.

First I want to tell you about this cake.  Oh my goodness.  The memories it brought back because of this ingrediant.

Brer Rabbit Molasses.  Now the recipe doesn't specify this brand, but it's the only brand I've ever used.  My Great Aunt, who was my whole heart and soul served me pancakes with it when I was a kid.  Just the smell of molasses take me back to her kitchen. 

So when I came across 101 Cookbook's recipe for Blueberry Molasses Cake, I had to give it a try.

It did not disappoint.



Blueberry Molasses Cake

This is the bottom of the cake and I forgot to coat my blueberries in the 1 teaspoon of flour like the recipe says...so they all sunk to the bottom.  It still tasted so good and I'll get it right next time.  Because there will be a next time.






























Next from 101 Cookbooks I made the Lucia Muffins.  I was intrigued by the Saffron.  Saffron is very expensive, but I also loved the fact the muffins were described as not too sweet.  I have to say this is probably not a recipe I would make again...mainly because of the expense.

Don't get me wrong, they are good and they were even better the next day, but I didn't care for the saffron.

Lucia Muffins





























The most recent recipe from 101 Cookbooks is the Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes.  They are so good!  You would never know there was zucchini in the recipe...these cupcakes are so moist and very chocolatey.  No need for a big stand mixer either.  They came together very easy and nice.  Unless I missed it, the recipe doesn't specify what kind of chocolate chips...I used semi sweet because that's what I had.  It also doesn't give a frosting recipe.  I used slightley sweetened stabilized whipped cream with a tad of vanilla.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes





























April 3, 2010
Chefbeck's Mom's Simple Strawberry Pie


(As you can see, much to my dismay, my crust got a little dark)

I've been making this pie for years.  At least 8.  This recipe was posted on one message board or another that I post or posted on.  I make it at least once a year. 


































No link to the recipe and I'm not even sure if Chefbeck is still around.  Here it is as I copied it:

Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 cups mashed strawberries (pastry blender works well for mashing)

Approximately 3-4 cups halved strawberries (enough to fill pie crust at least half way)
Sweetened whipped cream (topping for serving)
1 9 inch baked pie shell
Optional: Whole berries and mint springs for garnish

Combine dry ingrediants in saucepan and mix well.  Add water and lemon juice; stir well.  Mix in berries.  Cook over medium-low heat (stirring often) until mixture comes to a low boil, thickens and "clears".  Cook over low boil for about 3-4 more minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Place halved berries in baked shell as evenly as possible.  Pour glaze over berries and chill for at least 3-4 hours.  Before serving, cover slices with dollop of whipped cream.  Garnish with whole berries and mint springs.

My notes:  When you first get this going the mixture will be a milky red/pink color.  As it boils it will begin to "clear" just like the recipe says.  The first time I made it, I wasn't so sure this was going to happen and when it did it was like magic.  For experienced cooks, you may not be as amazed as I was then. 

I top the whole thing with:

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (I don't use vanilla for this pie)

Whip cream, sugar and vanilla together until stiff. 

March, 2010
Cinnamon Chip Cupcakes

I stumbled across this recipe here Cinnamon Chip Cupcakes

The cinnamon chips were a little hard to find, at least for me.  I ended up getting them at Albertson's.  This was after I checked Walmart and maybe Kroger.  Then there was the WHITE whole wheat flower.  Walmart didn't have it...Albertson's didn't have it and I finally found it at Kroger.  The more elusive the ingrediants became, the more intent I became to make these cupcakes.

Ok, so I got everything.  I wanted to take these to work before Friday because Friday is donut day and I didn't want the competition.  So, I'm getting the recipe together and the instructions say to sife the flours, the baking powder and the salt...wait.  The baking powder?  What baking powder.  It's not on the ingrediant.  Well crap.  So, I post on the Multiply Delicious, the blog where the recipe came from knowing I probably would not get a reply in time. 

I looked over a couple similar recipes and decided to go with 1 teaspoon.  Then I second guessed myself and added about another 1/2 to 3/4 of a teaspoon.  Anyway...they turned out fine and Heather of Multiply Delicious emailed me late that night and confirmed it was 1 teaspoon.  Even with the extra baking powder they turned out fine.

If you like cinnamon or just want something different, this is a great cupcake.  I never even knew cinnamon chips existed.  Apparently neither does Walmart.

Carrott Cake Cupcakes

I got this recipe from one of my most favorite blogs.  Smitten Kitchen.  I finally purchased the square cupcake pan I've been eyeing.  I love square things. 
So with an Easter theme in mind, I wanted to make carrot cake cupcakes in my square pan and started searching for a recipe.  I was so excited when I found the one on Smitten Kitchen! 

The Cauliflower and Onion Tart I made from there was awesome...so I had no hesitations about trying the cupcake recipe.  I never just go with the first recipe I find.  I reasearch and reasearch.  Maybe a little OCD?  Maybe.  I did confer with some good friends about the walnuts and raisins and decided to add them both.  I made the little carrot decorations out of some premade icing in a tube that I've had (snowman project I never got around to)...as long as the marzipan I also had that was no longer useable.  I didn't have any green though.  My intention was to make the carrots with green tops out of food colored marzipan.  Next time I will because I will make these again. 

The cupcakes were even good without frosting.  I went with a traditional cream cheese frosting and did not use the one with the recipe.

The next time I make them, I think I'll NOT use cupcake liners and split the cakes in half and frost the whole thing, making them mini cakes...sort of...not cupcakes.  Know what I mean?

If you are interested in this pan, don't bother looking for square liners.  The round ones conform to the square just fine.  Just in case you were going to spend hours searching for the perfect square liner or something.  Just sayin.

March 27, 2010
Tres Leche Cupcakes
I found the recipe here: http://pinoycook.net/. The recipe is explained in great detail, but here are a few of my own observations. I did order the baking cups you will see in the pictures, but Fed Ex was a couple of hours too late. I had to get the show on the road and couldn't wait for them any longer. I used foil liners and they worked out great. I would not use regular paper liners no matter how cute the ones you have might be or how well they coordinate with your theme. Trust me.

I got 23 cupcakes out of the recipe and you probably wouldn't want to go with less than that. You want some room at the top of the liner. You might even be able to get 24.

I poked about 6 holes in each cupcake and then toward the end, poked a couple more. You will think there is no way you are going to get all that milk combonation in those little cupcakes, but you will. I only had about 1/2 a cup left over and I probably could have gone ahead and used it all, but I needed to get going with the frosting so we wouldn't be late.

I thought for sure the cupcakes would be soggy and need to be eaten with a spoon, but nope.

Everyone ate them right out of the foil liner with no problem.
Here are a few pictures of the process.
 




This is all the milk I had left.

From what I've read...traditionally Tres Leche Cake has a meringue topping or a whipped cream topping which is called for in the above recipe, but I channeled my inner Martha and wanted a way to take them over the top and I found just the thing.


Dulce de Leche Buttercream. I found a recipe for it here  http://www.playinghouseblog.com/. I must try the cupcake recipe that goes with the buttercream some day soon.
 
Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Adapted from http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup dulce de leche

Cream together softened butter and powdered sugar on low using an electric mixer. Add cream, salt, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth and no lumps appear. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the prepared dulce de leche and beat to incorporate. Frost cooled cupcakes using a knife or a pastry bag and tip.

I halved this buttercream recipe and also frosted some with whipped cream sweetened with confectioners sugar.

I found the prepared Dule de Leche at Walmart and it's made by Nestle.  It comes in a can and a squeeze bottle.

I hope you give these a try. There were lots of recipes on the Internet. I chose this one because of the wonderful details and pictures given by the blogger. Also her description and positive attitude really made me want to make them.

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the frosted cupcakes. I might still be able to. I've got 4 cupcakes a some buttercream stashed in the frig. Shhhh........
 
 
Maple Banana Upside-Side Down Puddings
 

I found this recipe from here http://opistachio.blogspot.com/.  Mine did not turn out as pretty, but they were very tasty.  She used a metal mold and I used corning ware ramekins.

February 14, 2010
Lemon Pudding Cakes




These are super good.  I found this recipe here http://dessertsmag.com/lemon-pudding-cake-with-raspberry-sauce.html

They are really easy to make and I used 7 oz corning ware ramekins.  I did not make the sauce that is included with the recipe. 

February, 2010
Life by Chocolate Cupcakes


These litle gems are from here http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/life-by-chocolate/.  Who hasdn't made a PW recipe by now?!  These were good, but I didn't like the fact that the Hershey Kiss stayed firm.  I will make these again, but just leave it out or try it with cherries which is also in the recipe.