Abbie Cooks.

Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake

2010-05-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already." - Dave Barry

A cooking catastrophe is almost always preceded by a lack of time.

At least, I find that to be true in my case.

Case in point, last Wednesday, I had a little under 2 hours to bake, fill and frost one chocolate mousse layer cake. I was short on time because I'd spent the entire morning hunched in front of the computer, making frantic phone calls to my cousin in Idaho, and sending off copious torrents of emails to my uncle in California - all in an effort to book flights for my impending West Coast Pilgrimage.

The flight-bookage was eventually successful, and I flew from the computer to the kitchen and started measuring cake flour and sifting cocoa like a madwoman.

All was going relatively well, I thought. The kitchen only looked like a few tornadoes had whisked through, rather than, well... a monsoon, or something hugely disastrous. I shoved the cake into the oven and ran to shower while it baked.

When it came out, I sliced it horizontally in 3 layers, and popped each layer in the fridge to cool - opting against the organic "cool on metal rack for 1 hour, or until completely cool". And then I made the chocolate mousse.

Or tried to.

It was a little runny, but, nevertheless, I layered the cake and mousse in the springform pan, per the directions.

My chocolate mousse didn't look like those model-pictures from Fine Cooking, just in case you were wondering.

It was one of those disasters wherein my family seemed unable to tear themselves away from the spectacle. Siblings hovered. My mother looked on with raised eyebrow. I had 3 minor breakdowns.

And then my little brother screeched, "UH, I think it's LEAKING!"

I had another 3 breakdowns - only these were not minor. Then I decided to keep my cool and work with what I had - runny mousse, an oozing springform pan, and 8 minutes before I had to leave for work.

I swathed that puppy in 37 pounds of foil, stuck it in a cake carrier, and carried it to work with me. No matter that I had to apply my makeup at stoplights. When I got to work, I crammed the cake into the fridge with a wish and a prayer that the mousse would firm up a bit.

It did.

Right about now, you might be wondering why there is no au-natural Photography by Abbie in this post. And I'll tell you why - it was a birthday cake for my pastor's wife. And the poor thing, trying to diet - what did I do but waltz in, soaking wet from the sudden downpour, bearing one chocolate mousse layer cake containing enough calories to sustain a small village for two weeks.

But let me tell you, it was worth it.

As soon as I work up my nerve, I'm baking another cake for family consumption.

Click here for the recipe!

Love,

Abbie

P.S. I think, were I to create my own Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake recipe, I would title it Chocolate Moose Layer Cake, just to be different. And to remind people not to take themselves too seriously in the kitchen.

But that's just me.

Happy Cooking!

Taste-But Boggling Brownies

2010-04-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!"
- Lucy, from Peanuts

When the unthinkable happens and I actually get the chance to cook, (Say, on an afternoon when I get home from work and decide to give myself a day off from school...) I do this exceedingly annoying thing. I pore over magazines, websites, cookbooks, blogs, and my ol' trusty binder of recipes looking for that perfect recipe.

Back in the day, when I had nothing to do but loaf about, read novels, eat truffles and bake at my leisure, the choosing was much easier. Man, I miss those days.

Not really.

Just the part where I wasn't a big blob of agonizing indecision.

That being said, I think I [finally] made the right decision with this:

Do you agree?

Well, you will once you taste them. Fact. Why? Because this dessert involves chocolate, optional nuts, and homemade caramel sauce.

(Incidentally, one of my core beliefs is that nuts should always be optional.)

(I think it's vastly important to have such philosophical values, don't you?)

So, with...

...Or without...

...I'll leave that to your discretion.

But I think we can all agree that the caramel sauce...

...is non-negotiable.

I found the recipe for the brownies on this delightful blog, and the caramel sauce on epicurious.

Mmm, heavy whipping cream. The stuff dreams are made of.

Well. My dreams, anyway.

These brownies? A-mazing.

Print.

Make.

Eat.

Rejoice.

Taste Bud-Boggling Brownies - printable recipe

Love,

Chicken Pot Pie

2010-04-26T16:50:00.001-07:00

I think I can modestly precede this recipe with only one word.

Yum.

[Please note, I said I could. I did not say I would restrict myself to only one word. That would be wholly un-Abbie-like.]

I made this chicken potpie on the spur of the moment. Sorta. I peered into the fridge and saw a gallon-size plastic bag that contained what appeared to be a chicken carcass.

The bag was labeled, in a suspiciously child-like scrawl, "Boilet Chicken".

Being an expert child-like scrawl-translator, I assumed it to mean "Boiled Chicken" and determined to make good use of it.

And I did.

There's a little back-story here. Because a few months ago, I made a chicken pie that basically caused me to die and go to heaven. (But I was sent back on a mission; to share the recipe with all of you.)

And then I lost the recipe.

This caused me to go into mourning.

So I found a couple similar ones and decided to try to recreate it.

It was a success.

We made short work of it.

And I had it leftover for lunch today. (The same punk who wrote "Boilet Chicken" on the bag - and who I shall mercifully leave unnamed - also kindly put away the leftovers... in a tall Cool Whip bowl.)

(I love kids.)

Alright, people. Here's the printable recipe:

Chicken Pot Pie - Printable Recipe

Please do yourselves and your tastebuds a favor and make this soon.

Happy cooking!

To Do:

2010-03-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

Post a recipe, or maybe even two.
Re-make these and scrap that entire, horrible, wretched-picture-filled post.
Bake an enormous coconut layer cake while wearing pearls, vintage '50s gingham, and a large purple flower - complete with white ostrich feather - in my hair.
Put some real time and love into this delicious little blog.
Complete my recipe index.
Finish my "inspiration" page. There's more, lot's more!
Make puff pastry
Cease this detestable "not-really-recipe" posting, and get down to business!
Complete items 1-8 in a timely fashion.
[Or not, on the timely fashion part. That's just now how I roll.]

A New Look

2010-02-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

And y'all thought I changed my themes a lot over at Abbie Writes. Ha! You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Abbie Cooks was bothering me. Well, the look of it, anyway. It was cute...

...but not exactly what I wanted. Hence, this new look. It'll change often, too. But overall, I think it looks a lot nicer.

And it was so easy! I went here and chose a template I liked, downloaded, then followed the instructions. Simple. Frightfully simple. So simple, I just knew I was doing something wrong. But it turned out rather nicely, I think. Although of course, I'm not done tweaking.

So whadda ya think? I know all you guys were quite smitten with the other theme, so I do apologize :) But I hope you'll enjoy the new and improved Abbie Cooks!

Happy Cooking!

- Abbie

Amish White Bread

2010-01-31T18:04:00.000-08:00

This is a simple posting of a simple recipe.

(I'm gonna keep it real Amish here, folks.)

Speaking of the Amish... my family and I went to Amish country a couple months ago. We'd been before, but I fell in love with the place and the people all over again.

In honor of this yummy bread that I'm about to share, (and perhaps to make up for the lack of step-by-step pictures!) here are some pictures from Amish Country, Pennsylvania.

And now that you're all prepped and primed for some cozy, simple, homespun goodness, let's bust up in the kitchen and make some Amish White Bread, shall we?

Here's a bowl of dough.

Cool, huh?

Actually, this is the dough after I've mixed the warm water, sugar, yeast and flour, and mixed it all up and kneaded it all together and let it sit for an hour or so.

You're gonna need 2 loaf pans - well-greased loaf pans. In other words, go wild with the PAM spray. (Our kitchen is still a little misty from my non-stick-spraying mania :)

Divide the dough into two, semi-equal, rather lumpy clumps, and plop 'em in their respective pans.

I was a little worried about the lumpiness, especially once the dough started to rise, but all was well, so don't worry about that. Of course, I'm sure your dough won't be lumpy. I just seem to have a strange way with food. Which leads to the obvious question, "Why do you presume to have a cooking blog?"

Which leads me to reply... "Pipe down! I can do I what wanna do!"

Okay. Issues much, Abbie?

Back to the bread; you let the two pans rise until the dough is high and looming above the edges of the pan (or 1 inch over.) I put mine in the oven on the handy bread-rising setting, but you can always just set them in a relatively warm spot. It probably took about 45 minutes for them to rise.

After they rise, you bake 'em at 350 for 30 minutes. And voila!

Warm, golden, slightly sweet, fluffy white bread. Nothing is cozier than the smell of bread baking on a cold, snowy day. Try it sometime soon. It's surprisingly easy, considering the lack of bread machine usage, and you can easily go do something else during the hour(s) while it rises.

Here's the printable recipe. Print, bake, eat, and rejoice!

Amish White Bread

Happy Cooking!

- Abbie

Rich Chocolate Tart

2010-01-25T07:49:00.000-08:00

Let's talk about this tart, shall we?
Oh my.

That's all I can say sometimes. Oh. My.

It's rich. It's chocolatey. It's smooth as silk, and the crust... don't even get me STARTED on the crust!

Okay, we'd getter get started. Before I swoon here and now at the computer desk. And then revive myself and go hide in the pantry and gobble what's left of the tart. (Which isn't much.)
We're gonna get started.... with butter.

Because all good things in life start with butter, am I right?

We've got butter. Next, flour.

And salt.

Also, sugar.

Now, add in the cold chunks of butter...

And pulse until it looks something like this:

Now, in a separate bowl, you will have combined an egg and a couple tablespoons of ice water, and whisked it together.

You may not know it. But that's what you will have done.

Into the crumbly mixture it goes.

Pulse again, until it all comes together.

Come together..................... RIGHT NOW....

Sorry. Been on a Beatles kick lately.

Now, shape it into kind of a flat-ish disk shape, and swaddle it in plastic wrap.

Did I just say... swaddle?

Okay, refrigerate that for about 30 minutes. Then you can unwrap it, and plop it on a counter covered in flour. We're gonna roll it out!

I was excited to use my new French rolling pin for the second time since I got it at Christmas. (I've been really slacking in the baking area lately. It's sad.)

The beauty of a French rolling pin? No handles. And it's also wider in the middle so it flattens the center of the crust more, and avoids those pesky thin edges. Genius!

Sadly, even the best of French rolling pins cannot compensate for my lack of skill. Look at that! I'm a disgrace.

But it's okay! I fixed it!

Sorta.

Now, you're supposed to put it in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to "relax". I guess anything being baked by me deserves a little relaxation. I'd be stressed too. Especially after what I'm about to tell you.

I have a really embarrassing confession to make. And I'm not embarrassed that easily. (A matter of self-preservation when you have 4 siblings and 2 parents.) The recipe said to line the tart with foil and cover the foil with weights or dried beans, just to keep it from poofing up when it bakes.

Well, I didn't read the recipe that well, and somehow managed to miss the part about the foil.

"Cool," I thought. "I'll just dump in some dried beans."
So what did I do?
I trotted to the pantry, grabbed a bag of black beans, lopped off the corner with a pair of scissors and...

Well, you get the picture?

A pastry shell brimming with dried black beans... It wasn't pretty. Sometimes I really wonder about myself. Truly. I was, of course, horrified when I looked at the recipe and noticed the bit about the foil. So I spent the next ten minutes picking little black flecks of bean shell (or something) from the crust.

Do you see the devotion here? I could easily have just skipped this mortifying vignette. But I'm keepin' it real, you guys. Keepin' it real.

Okay. So once you have a foil-lined pan filled with beans or weights or whatever you use, pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes. After it bakes, you're gonna take it out, remove the foil and beans, and then brush it with a beaten egg white.

(Don't be grossed out. It's to assist in the lovely golden brown color we're going for.)

Then pop it back in the oven for another 8 minutes.

Look! Lovely, golden brown!

While the tart shell cools, we're gonna go wild and make the filling.

(Just a warning: this filling contains heavy whipping cream. If you are morally, logically, chronically or healthily opposed to heavy whipping cream, you may want to skip over this.)

You'll need:
1 cup of heavy cream
1 freaky-looking thumb with chipped red nail polish.

Also, 1/2 cup regular milk. (I used skim, subconsciously trying to cancel out the fat grams from the heavy cream, I believe.) But I won't show you the picture. The lighting is weird, and the milk looks yellow by comparison.

Not cute.

But you heat the milks together, stirring often, until it just begins to simmer around the edges.

Then remove it from the heat, and stir in the semi-sweet chocolate, sugar and salt.

Next; eggs. Two of 'em.
They must be beaten.

Pour the beaten eggs into the chocolate mixture...

Whisk it up...

And pour the chocolate filling into the cooled tart crust.

It goes back in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or just until it's set, and the surface is glossy.

Yum.

Guess what? I'm a dork. Here's what I look like when I try to photograph myself and the food, and the tart starts sliding, and I almost drop the camera:

I'm screeching. And that's not actually a smile. It's a rapidly mutating grimace.

(Yes, I realize that, to all intents, purposes and appearances, it looks like I have three arms.)
(I'm sorry.)

Note to self: From now on, stay behind the camera, where you belong.

The tart was a huge hit with the family. Therefore, you may rest assured it is delicious. (They're not afraid to tell me when something's gross.)

Click here for the printable recipe: Rich Chocolate Tart.

Happy Cooking!

Pineapple Cranberry Bread

2009-02-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

"Without bread all is misery."
- William Cobbett, British journalist

The winter boredom/blahs were starting to kick in.
And there were 2 bags of cranberries in the fridge, drawing near to a shriveled, fermented demise.
(Do cranberries ferment?)

So I was forced to do two things:

Change the look and name of my blog.

Bake cranberry bread.

And I am now satisfied. For the moment.
I found this cranberry bread recipe at All Recipes. It had some of the highest ratings and reviews, so I decided to give it a whirl.
But I don't like raisins. And then I discovered that we didn't have orange juice.
No biggie.
I just omitted the raisins, and decided to see what Pineapple Cranberry Bread would taste like.

It was quite necessary to sort the cranberries, because, well...some of them were a bit past their prime.

Once you've sorted the good, from the bad, from the ugly, it's time to rinse and chop.

The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of chopped cranberries, but since I was omitting the raisins, I used closer to 2 cups.

Oh, and I have a confession to make: I had never, until the day I baked this bread, tasted a cranberry. Except for the kind in canned cranberry sauce. Which doesn't really count. Due to that fact, I had also never seen the innards of a cranberry. I was surprised by the light color. And the rather dry texture.
I don't know why, but I was expecting them to be full of red, flavorful, stain-inducing juice. That's how ignorant I was in the realm of cranberries.
Now I know. And now you know my deep, dark secret.
Next, whisk together the dry ingredients, and cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.

Transfer the flour mixture to your mixing bowl if you lack foresight like some of us around here, and add the egg, pineapple juice, and cranberries.
And raisins, if that's what floats your boat.

Mix it...and pour it...and bake it...
In a loaf pan. For 70 minutes. That's right. 1 hour and 10 minutes.

After the first, oh...20 minutes or so of baking time, my beloved, experimental loaf started getting pretty browned. It was a nice color and all, but I was thinking of the 50 minutes it still had to cook. 3000 seconds. A long time, under waves of 350 degree heat. So I freaked out, pulled it out of the oven and cocooned that puppy in enough aluminum foil to ward off extraterrestrial creatures for a looooong time. (Signs, anyone?)
Anyway, that seemed to do the trick.
I just removed the foil about 8 minutes before the end of the cooking time, and all was well.

Nice lookin' loaf, if I may say so.

And it tasted even nicer!
I admit I was a little nervous about tweaking the recipe like that - I mean, replacing orange juice with...with pineapple juice? How daring could I be?!
Kidding. But still, I was a little anxious to know how it would turn out. And the verdict? Definitely a keeper. Though if your not crazy about the taste of cranberries, you may want to stick to the recipe and use 1 1/2 cups.

Here's my modified recipe. The original is here.
Now go forth and bake!

Pineapple Cranberry Bread
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup pineapple
2 cups chopped cranberries
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray or grease one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
3. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add egg, orange peel, and orange juice; stir to mix and fold in raisins and cranberries.
4. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 70 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack.

Happy Cooking!

Coffee-Cocoa Fudge Cake

2009-01-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

"And above all, think Chocolate!"
- Betty Crocker

This has got to be one of my favorite cooking-with-chocolate resources of all time:

"The Best of Fine Cooking; Chocolate"

This book isn't really a book at all. It's just a magazine. About yea high:

But this magazine has the unique ability to make me salivate, even if I happen to be thumbing through it while eating a salami sandwich.
Not that that's ever happened or anything. I'm just sayin'. It could. If it wanted to.

It has everything a chocolate lover could possibly dream about:

Chocolate for Breakfast... (glad I'm not alone in that area:)...Cookies...

Brownies and bars... Cakes...

Mousses and Souffles (ok, to be honest, I haven't attempted either - YET)...and many kinds of toppings...

What I'm trying to say, using psycho-babble techniques, and a multitude of useless pictures is this: if you're a chocolaholic, acquire this magazine by any means necessary. Bodily force, if necessary.
You will thank me.
And you'll thank Fine Cooking.

What I'm also trying to say is this: the other night, after agonizing for a good 20 minutes over which recipe I should try from this magazine, I selected this one:

I wasn't real sure how it would turn out, especially since I pretty much dumped it all together like so much goulash.
But let me inform you - it turned out heavenly.

If you care to prepare this food of the angels, here's what you'll need:

10 TBS. very soft butter, or 1 stick plus 2 TBS, if you're a simple-minded baker like me.
White sugar...

2 eggs. At room temperature.
At this point, it was probably around 9:30, and after staring at the words ROOM TEMPERATURE for a few annoyed seconds, I decided to put the eggs in a bowlful of warm water until I was ready to use them. It would have to do.
And it did.
I never knew the difference.
Next, flour. Of the all-purpose variety.

unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)

And then a few of those pesky, unimportant ingredients;
vanilla
salt
baking soda
baking powder...
...And some good quality brewed coffee. Cooled to warm. -ish. Again with the time thing, I just let it sit in a bowl of icy water for a few seconds before I gradually added it in. And once again, no discernible adverse side affects.

So to begin, cream the very-soft butter together with the sugar.
While watching the mixer go round and round, and sneaking a fingerful or two, I pondered this deep thought: I wonder how much butter/sugar creamed mixture I've consumed through my entire life thus far.
And I concluded that it's probably somewhere in the pounds family. Yike.
I wonder, does kilograms sound any less repulsive?

No matter. What's done is done. My thighs may hate me (or vice-versa), but that's another point entirely.

Next, add those hastily water-warmed eggs, and cream until fluffy.

And now, let your eyes rest upon these two heinous words for a few seconds:

I realize there are more than two words...but I was referring to the two prominent ones. By hand.

I hadn't realized how spoiled I'd gotten with the Kitchen Aid mixer doing all the hard work for me. (Hard? I'm hearing some raised eyebrows. Yes, I can hear them.) But whatever. I like whisks. Whisks are cool.
And so came forth the whisk:

Whisk in the vanilla and salt.

Then sift all those dry ingredients right over the creamed mixture.

Before you mix that up, add the coffee, slowly, if you're a perfectionist cooking freak-o, and quickly if you're a chocolate craving non-perfectionist cooking freak-o.
Due to my freak-o status, (guess which one), I dumped it all in rather quickly, and had mixed it up before I even remembered to take a picture.

Looks yummy, no?
No.
It looks yellow. But that's ok. I'm a picture-taking rookie.
Besides, it won't for long.

Pour it into your prepared pan...

...And then realize that it really wasn't your prepared pan. Not completely, anyway. You forgot to flour it. What's wrong with you?!!
Don't feel too bad, because apparently, the same thing's wrong with me.

So, since I just happened to have another identical pan, I just dumped the batter back into the bowl, prepared the other pan - and floured it this time - then poured the batter. Again.

And now bake at 350 for about 43 minutes. A little more, if you are able to abide by the directions and use a 9x9 in. pan. But I don't own one, so I had to use one a bit larger.

And now, as for that frosting...
I had to use a bit of imagination, because I didn't have the ingredients needed for the ganache that the recipe suggested (i.e., heavy cream). I can give you the ingredients I used for my frosting, but I'm afraid that's all. There was no measuring involved.
Besides, you'll probably want to use the ganache recipe, anyway. Because I bet it's good enough to melt your socks off. Or rot your teeth out, if you're a glass-is-half-empty type of person.
Nevertheless, here's what I dumped into a saucepan, melted together and drizzled over my cake:
butter
chocolate chips
sweetened condensed milk
vanilla
very strong coffee
creamer (half and half)

So there you have it. The texture of this cake is perfect: thick, but not too dense. Moist, but not wet. And the flavor is a perfect balance of coffee and chocolate.

Please, I beg you: make and enjoy!!!

Coffee-Cocoa Fudge Cake
10 Tbs. very soft unsalted butter; more for the pan
1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. table salt
1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pan
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 cups good-quality brewed coffee, cooled to warm

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9-inch-square baking pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a square of parchment, butter the parchment, and then flour the bottom and sides of the pan. Tap out any excess flour.

2. If mixing by hand, put the softened butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a wooden spoon, cream them until smooth, about 1 minute. Switch to a whisk and blend in the eggs one at a time. Stir for another 30 seconds, until the batter is smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve. (If using a stand mixer, put the butter and sugar in the bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the eggs one at a time, mixing just until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Then switch to a whisk and blend in the rest of the ingredients by hand.)

3. Mix in the vanilla and salt. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder directly onto the batter. Pour in the coffee. Gently whisk the ingredients until the mixture is smooth and mostly free of lumps.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out with only moist crumbs clinging to it, 40 to 43 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool for 20 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edges of the pan, invert the cake onto the rack, and remove the pan. Invert again onto another rack and let cool right side up until just warm.

Ganache
8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream; more as needed
Granulated sugar (optional)

1. Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil.
2. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk gently until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. (If using a 70% bittersweet chocolate, the ganche might be a bit thick; add more cream, a tablespoon at a time, to thin it. You might also want to add a couple of teaspoons of sugar when you add the hot cream.

Island Cookies

2009-01-23T06:31:00.000-08:00

"A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand." - Unknown

My sweet tooth is a gruesome thing to behold.
A voracious monster.
A ravenous beast.
And I keep feeding it; It's the only polite thing to do. I know it's a habit I should work on curbing, but...well, to borrow the words of Mr. Schneebly...
"I like to eat! Is that such a crime?"

Besides, I occasionally jog, in an attempt to clear my butter and chocolate-strewn conscience.
Problem solved.
Now then, let's get down to business, shall we?

When my dad ate one of these, he firmly commanded that I throw away all other chocolate chip cookie recipes. And even though I don't think I'll be taking such drastic measures, these cookies are really, really good. I think they're in their own unique category of yummy-ness.

Aaaaaaaand......
They come direct from the Nestle Toll House Cookbook!

First, you'll need flour...
1 and 2/3 cups of it.

Next, baking powder.
And since the writer of this recipe was apparently a precise and persnickety person, and since no one has invented a 3/4 of a tsp. measuring spoon yet, you must measure three 1/4 teaspoons.

Then baking soda, and salt.

Now 1 1/2 sticks of butter.
Yup. I cut that puppy right in half, paper and all ;)

As usual, I softened them in the microwave, 8 seconds at a time. Tsk, tsk. Feel free to do it the right way, and let them sit on the counter to soften.

Next up: brown sugar. And white sugar.

Cream the butter...

See that blue reflection on the silver part of the mixer?
That's my blue sweatshirt.
Which I have worn for...3 days(?) straight.
I'm a coldblooded creature of habit.

Now, add the brown and white sugar to the butter, slowly, so it has time to mix well.

Then dump in the vanilla.

Now I want you to prepare yourself. Because your are about to observe, step-by-step, while I crack an egg one-handed.
Please, at least pretend to be impressed.

(Name that movie!)

And voila! Perfectly cracked eggs. Don't feel bad. Not everyone was trained in the finest cooking schools Par-ee has to offer...

(EXPLOSIVE LAUGHTER)

Anyway, it's not hard. Give it a try. It's all in the wrist :)

Phew, so once you get off of your egg-cracking tangent, hurry up with the rest of the mixing, because it's getting late, and your stomach is calling.

Once you mix in the egg, gradually blend in the flour mixture...

And now, for the ingredients that totally make these cookies...

Chocolate chips, coconut and chopped walnuts.

Mix them all in to the batter with a wooden spoon.
Or a yellow rubber spatula, if you really want to live on the edge.

Drop them by slightly rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet...

And bake at 375 for about 9 minutes. Or 10. Or maybe even 11. All depends on whether you like your cookie soft, or chewy, or crunchy. Personally, I'm somewhere between the first two, so I baked mine for about 9 minutes.

And there you have it! A unique twist on a classic cookie.
Enjoy!

Island Cookies
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups (11.5-oz. pkg.) chocolate chips
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted if desired
1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg.
3. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels, coconut and nuts.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
5. Bake for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Happy Cooking!

Hot Chocolate

2009-01-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

This stuff is the bomb.
The bomb, I tell ya. And that is not a phrase I use lightly.
In fact, it's not a phrase I use at all. Ever. So you can pretty much believe me when I tell you that this hot chocolate is amazing. It is, in fact, the bomb.

Oh, and I thought I'd mention that it's fairly low in fat. Now, fat content is generally not something I give a lot of thought to. I mean, I don't cook healthy desserts. It's just not how I roll. But last night, I was pondering this, and I realized that one day, thanks to me, we are going to be a family of marshmallows. And Pillsbury Dough Boys. And that was a rather sobering thought.

So imagine my excitement when I realized that I could make this hot chocolate recipe without a lot of the fat. I just used what we had on hand to follow the recipe, and voila! Smooth, rich, creamy, and semi-healthy.
Can't beat that!

Before we begin, I would like to point out that we were ripped off. Snow was predicted last night. And it was supposed to stick. As in, accumulate. Well, when I heard that last night, I printed off about 10 hot chocolate recipes to try today. Actually, 7. But who's counting?
Anyway, I awoke this morning to cute little flurries flying around, which only stoked my cozy, make-hot-cocoa mood. After lunch, I was finally able to give it a whirl.
But alas - I looked out the window and this sight greeted me:

Uh - definitely not snow accumulation.
I was bummed.
But not so much so that I couldn't find it in me to make a little hot chocolate.

First, you'll need sweetened condensed milk. Normally, this would have made the recipe a bit fatty, but since we had the fat-free version on hand, I used that.

Mmm, Great Value brand, too. Class-eeee.

Next, some semi-sweet chocolate chips - 1/2 a cup, approximately. Or German sweet, if you wish to follow the original recipe. But who actually buys German sweet chocolate?
(My apologies to those of you out there who actually do buy German sweet chocolate.)

I realize that looks like 3/4 of a cup. It's the angle. Really. Cross my heart and kiss my elbow :)

The last thing you'll need, aside from some hot milk later on, is 2 cups of Cool Whip. Yup. Cool Whip. This really is a unique recipe.
But oh man...did I mention it was the bomb?
Oh yeah, I used Cool Whip Lite, which gave the boot to a few more of those pesky fat grams.

Melt the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate over low heat, stirring until everything's smooth and creamy and melty.
(melty?)

Please excuse the change of lighting:

Now, once the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth, you must...
wait.

I hate waiting. Have I mentioned that before?

Ah well, it can't be helped. Because the mixture has to get to room temperature.

Once it's at room temperature, fold in the whipped cream.

I think this looks kinda nifty:

So, once that's all blended and stirred and mixed and combined...

You can spoon about 1/4 cup of the chocolate mixture into a mug.
I just spooned a few globs in there. Taste and adjust. Those are the words I live by.

And then add some hot milk. Scalding, in my case, but that's beside the point. Just don't heat it so much that the disgusting membrane-like film forms on the top. Blech. Nothing worse than getting a glob of that in your creamy hot chocolate. I've done that before.
Ok.
No more talk of membranes. I'm grossing myself out.

Stir it all up, and what do you get?
Delicious hot chocolate for a cold, snowy day. If you're lucky enough to have snow, that is.

Taste and see that the chocolate is good :)

Fabulous Hot Chocolate
1 (15 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 C. (4 ounces) German sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup whipping cream, whipped or 2 cups Cool Whip
6 cups milk, heated

1. In a saucepan, mix condensed milk and chocolate pieces.
2. Stir constantly over low heat until chocolate melts.
3. Cool to room Temperature.
4. Fold in the whipped cream.
5. Use now, or store covered in the fridge for up to one week.
6. To make the hot chocolate spoon a 1/4 cup of chocolate mix into a mug, add 1/2 cup of hot milk, stir and enjoy.

Happy Cooking!

Fudgy Brownies

2009-01-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

*Update: I do believe these were twice as good this morning for breakfast.*

These could also be called Monday Night Brownies, for those Monday nights when you don't feel like hardcore baking, but you'll most likely perish if good, quality, chocolate baked goods are not consumed. Because they're pretty quick and easy. I don't even use the mixing bowl. I just mix them together by hand - or by wooden spoon, rather - in the same pot that I melted the chocolate and butter in.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First you'll need ingredients. And a pot. And a wooden spoon.
Ready? Set....
Bake!

Actually, don't bake yet. First you must melt.

Place the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring sorta-constantly until it's smooth and creamy:

Once that's melted, you just dump in all the other ingredients: eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt. And walnuts, if you're that type of person. And stir it up.

And once it's all grainy and thick-looking, like this...

...You can put it in the pan.
Now, this part is kind of open to your own preference. The original recipe was actually half of this, and made an 8" square pan. But uh...8" square pans just don't cut it around here. So, I was thinking I'd use a 13x9 - aka Old Faithful, with the doubled recipe. But then I discovered, by trial and error, that using a 13x9 would make these brownies approximately the thickness of a piece of card stock.
So I used a casserole dish.
Yup.
A casserole dish.

I should probably be ousted from the ranks of bakers and chefs right now, for using a casserole dish for brownies. I don't know if it's taboo or what, but it worked for me.
Anyway, whatever size pan you decide to use, kudos and good luck. You're kind of on your own, unless you use a 4 quart casserole dish.

Grease and flour the bottom only, or you can actually follow the directions and do the whole waxed paper thing. Which would probably work better.
Spread the batter evenly.

Now pop it in the oven at 300, for about 35 to 40 minutes. Also open to your preference. I'm not even sure exactly how long I cooked these, because I kept pulling them out, testing them, and then adding 3 minutes to the time. Or 5. Or 2. Whatever struck my fancy.
But a good rule of thumb is to shake the pan. If they don't jiggle, then they're probably good. Don't worry if you stick a knife in the middle and it comes out gooey.
They're fudgy brownies.
Which could also translate Gooey Brownies, but somehow that's just not as appetizing.

Once you've determined that the brownies are finito, remove them from the oven (obviously), and let them sit for a good long while. Half an hour did the trick for me, but that's probably a bit overkill; I got distracted drinking milky tea and watching The Sound of Music.

A fact which you needed to know.
Really.

So as far as these brownies go, that's just about it. Too simple. And need I even mention their amazing, fudgy, rich, swoon worthy-ness?
I didn't think so.
But please, don't take my word for it. Try them yourself, and join me in the land of blissful brownie bakers.
You won't be disappointed.

Fudgy Brownies
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
2 teaspoon vanilla
confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2. Butter pan of your choice.
3. Line the bottom of the pan with wax paper, then butter and flour the paper.
4. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate with butter, stirring to blend.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in sugar, egg, salt, flour, walnuts and vanilla.
6. Spread in the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes.
7. Cool for 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack and peel wax paper from bottom.
8. Transfer to a cutting board and cut in squares.
9. Dust brownies with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Happy Baking!

Soft Molasses Cookies with Caramel Glaze

2009-01-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

These cookies were a sorta-kinda flop.
Which isn't all that rare, really. But the depressing thing about this particular flop was that I've made these cookies at least twice before. And both times, they were NOT flops. They were fluffy, great tasting, and had great texture too.
But this time, since we were fresh out of buttermilk, I used this stuff:

Which was another one of my (frequent) not-so-bright ideas.
But I mean, come on! It says right on there, "Great for cooking and baking". So what am I to do but believe it?
Anyway, I think that's the reason these cookies turned out flat and very fine-textured. Nevertheless, they are still highly delicious, and if you follow the directions, using real buttermilk, your taste buds will rejoice along with you.

First, the ingredients:

Oh yeah, and brown sugar.

(Haallelujah....)
Sorry. It was the angle. And the lighting. It just shouted "Hallelujah" to me.

So, to commence preparation...

I mixed the buttermilk powder with water first. Just thought it felt safe to do that and let it sit. No idea why. But I did.
And it looked gross. Tasted gross, too.
Not that I actually tried it or anything.
But there it is, lumpy and watery and...definitely NOT buttermilk.

But I carried on. Because that's what good cooks do.
Or insane cooks.
But let's not open that can of worms.

Next, sift the flour.

I love sifters. They're so cool.

Once you have a bunch of sifted flour, measure 2 cups of it.

(Casting odd shadows is such an important element of amateur photography that I just couldn't resist. )

Then you combine all those dry ingredients together: the flour, the baking soda:

The salt:
(Again with the odd shadows.)

I got so carried away taking pictures of salt in motion that I forgot to stop pouring.

So then, using great caution and precision, I had to pour the extra salt back into the container.

But I am not a cautious or precise type of person, thank you very much, so most of it ended up on the counter again anyway.
So after you clean up after your salt fiasco, continue with the process of combining the dry ingredients.

Ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.

After the measuring of the ginger, my peaceful, quiet, solitary cooking therapy session was interrupted by a couple of wild hooligans. So the photography went downhill. As in, ALL the way downhill, crashing at the bottom. As in, I didn't take any closeup pictures of cinnamon or cloves or one-handed egg cracking. Aren't you sad?

You'll have to survive, I suppose, because I can't seem to get into the 'Zone' unless I'm cooking alone.
*Gasp*. I rhymed.

Anyway, cream together the shortening, brown sugar, egg, molasses and "buttermilk", until it looks something akin to this:

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Actually, make 'em a bit smaller than this:

And bake them at 350 for 15 minutes or so.

The result:
These golden brown discus things. Remember, follow the recipe right, and you'll have cute little puffy cookies with a thick, almost cake-like texture.
I promise.

And now for the frosting. Glaze. Whatever you want to call it.

Place 1 stick of butter and the brown sugar in a saucepan.

Add some milk and let it all melt and come to a boil.

Try unsuccessfully to run wild hooligans out of the kitchen.
Neglect to take pictures of the bubbly, rich-colored caramel goodness that simmers on your stove.
Or the uber-exciting beating-in of the Confectioner's sugar and vanilla.
And finally, frost your cookies.

You can do it with a knife, like I did above.

Or you can add a little more milk and just kind of drizzle it over the cookies.

Or you can pour the thinner glaze onto the middle of the cookie and watch in fascination as it spreads and then hardens in perfect symmetry.
Almost.

Whatever you do, get the frosting on there.
When these cookies are made right, and the frosting is the right consistency, you can just hold the bottom of the cookie and dip the top part into the frosting, creating a nice swirly coat on the top.

To tell the truth, though they may look prettier with the frosting drizzled, the taste and texture is better when it's dipped/spread. It's creamier and there's more of it. Which, in my book, is always a plus.

Soft Molasses Cookies with Caramel Glaze
2 C. sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 C. molasses
1/3 C. buttermilk
1/2 C. shortening

Thick Caramel Glaze:
1/2 C. butter
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
1/3 C. milk
2 1/2 C. Confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Sift together flour, soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
3. In separate mixing bowl, cream together brown sugar, shortening, egg, molasses and buttermilk.
4. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and beat well.
5. Drop by spoon onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.
6. Thick Caramel Glaze: in medium saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and milk. Stir over medium heat until butter is melted and mixture boils. Boil gently, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in Confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat by hand until well-blended. Using a spoon, spread a small amount over each cookie.

Happy Cooking!

Chocolate Snowflake Cookies

2009-01-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

These cookies are quick, but best of all, they taste pretty much like a mini brownie. And they look pretty.
If it's any testament to their awesomeness, I made them one evening, and the next day, I came home to a sheepish family and an empty cookie platter.
Enough said.

So, to prepare these tasty little tidbits of chocolatey goodness...

Follow these instructions.
Since I was in a hurry to satisfy my chocolate craving (and to get them in the oven before dinner), I didn't take pictures. So you'll have to content yourself with the boring old recipe.

Chocolate Snowflake Cookies
1 (18.25 oz.) box chocolate cake mix
2 1/4 C. whipped topping
1 egg
Confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, whipped topping and egg. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended. (Batter will be very sticky).
3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into Confectioner's sugar; roll lightly to coat.
4. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Happy Cooking!

Carrot Cake

2009-01-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

Today, I have decided to share with you a delicious and nutritious carrot cake recipe. Well, it's delicious. I wouldn't call it nutritious...per se.
But I'm going to share it anyway.

Because I want to.

Carrot Cake
1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/3 C. sugar
1/2 C. sweetened flaked coconut
1/3 C. chopped pecans
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 TBS. canola oil
2 large eggs
2 C. grated carrot
1 1/2 C. (1 can) crushed pineapple, drained
Cooking spray

Frosting:
2 TBS. butter, softened
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
3 C. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. To prepare cake, combine flour, sugar, coconut, pecans, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.
3. In mixing bowl, combine oil and eggs; blend. Stir flour mixture, grated carrot and pineapple into oil/egg mixture.
4. Spoon batter into a 13x9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
5. To prepare the frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake. Garnish each serving with grated carrot, if desired.

So, first of all, you'll need about 3 carrots.
If you can't find freakishly huge, gargantuan-sized carrots like these, 4 regular sized ones will probably do the trick.

Oh, and a paper plate adds much to the overall elegance of the whole process.

I know these aren't actually that big. I didn't use the ginormous one. It still rests peacefully in the produce drawer of the fridge, awaiting it's future fate.

Peel the carrots, and then cut each one into about 3 pieces. Just small enough to fit into the food processor.

Using the small-grate blade thingy, (or the large grate, if you prefer big hunks of carrot in your cake), shred them all up.

Isn't the blessed soul who invented the food processor worthy of a Nobel Peace Price...or something?
I agree.

Anyway, the carrots need to equal about 2 cups. I had just a little bit more, so instead of saving a teensy bit for garnish like I would have done if I were intelligent and thoughtful, I just packed it all in and called it 2 cups.

Now, you'll need to combine the flour and sugar...

With the coconut, pecans, baking soda and salt.

Oh yeah, and cinnamon.

Mix it all together until it resembles...this:

(Don't worry. I'm making a mental note not to use orange tupperware for this again.)

Now, in your mixing bowl, combine the eggs and oil.

Then you're going to dump the carrots, pineapple and flour mixture into the egg/oil goop.

Mix it up until it looks like this:
(Revolting)

Now spread it in the pan until it looks like this:
(Revolting. Still.)

Here. Have a closeup.
Don't puke.

Ugh! Don't even think about the resemblance to puke.
Oops. Didn't want to bring that up.

Sorry. That was disgustingly corny. No more up-chucking puns.

Now that we've all lost our appetites, let's get on with the cooking.
Put the pan of yummy, mouthwatering batter into the oven at 350. It should bake for about 35 minutes. I thought it looked a little overdone, but it turned out to be perfect.

Now, I shall skip the frosting preparation pictures, because they turned out horribly. Suffice it to say, you mix up all the frosting ingredients, beat until smooth, then spread on cake.

It slathers on thick and creamy. (The only reason the frosting looks slightly lumpy in the very top picture is because I tried re-smoothing it the next day before I took the picture. Not one of my brighter ideas.)

Serve and sing the hallelujah chorus.

Happy cooking!

Chicken Kiev

2008-12-29T20:27:00.000-08:00

Chicken Kiev

I know, I know...more chicken?
I'm sorry. It happens to be my Old Faithful. One can always rely on chicken.

I was slack with the picture taking on this one, though. Which is why there is no picture above.

I won't even really bother with posting the recipe, because it just wasn't that good. In fact, it was rather bland. You know, I'm getting tired of this bland business. Bland cake, bland chicken. Bland, bland, bland!
I'm overusing the word. Bad habit of mine.

Ok, let's get to cooking.
First, you take the butter, and pop it in the food processor for a bit, until it's all creamy. Then you add the lemon juice from half of one California-grown lemon.

Then, if you're Ivan, you sniff the lemon.
We like sniffing lemons around here.

You add the garlic and the parsley. Now, you spread it on a piece of foil in this general shape. Or really, any shape you feel like, as long as you get it on there.

Put the slab of lemon-garlic-parsley butter in the freezer while you prepare....The Chicken. (As always, I was waiting for it to thaw in a sink full of hot water.)
This is probably my least favorite part of cooking; waiting. Because waiting usually means I have the chance to clean up. And who wants to do that?
Not me.

So, once the chicken is thawed, pound it out with the trusty meat mallet.
Remove that green-flecked solid pale substance from the freezer and cut it into pieces. I should have taken a picture of these, because they looked very cool. At least, to me they did.

Roll the chicken around some pieces of frozen butter, and then poke a toothpick through the whole shebang to keep it together.
Dip the rolled-up bundle into the egg mixture, then roll it in the breadcrumbs.
Put them all in a pan.
And bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

When they emerge, they will hopefully look better than this:

This is extremely dull without step-by-step pictures.
What fun is cooking without step-by-step pictures?! I've decided it's a necessary thing in the learning process.

If you have a killer good recipe for Chicken Kiev, hit me with it. I'm more than open.

Happy Cooking!

Cookie Dough Truffles

2008-12-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

We're making Cookie Dough Truffles today.

Cookie Dough Truffles
1/2 C. butter, softened
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
2 C. all-purpose flour
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 C. miniature semisweet chocolate chips, or reg. chocolate chips, chopped
1/2 C. walnuts, optional
1-1/2 lbs. semisweet candy coating (or chocolate almond bark), chopped

1. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour, milk and vanilla; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
2. Shape into 1-inch balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or until firm.
3. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating, stirring often until smooth. Dip balls in coating, place on waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. If desired, melt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candies.

Since I had already made a batch of these a month or so ago, and froze half, I just pulled some out of the freezer.
They were a little large, though...

...So I decided to downsize them to these smaller little guys. I just let them thaw a little, and then broke them in half and rolled them again.

Put most of them in the freezer to keep them firm, and keep a few out.
Now, commence the dipping procedure.
Dip:

Lift. Tap off excess chocolate. Scrape gently on side of dish.

Using two forks, scoot the truffle onto a piece of waxed paper. Admire it's pretty shiny-ness.

Let them harden for a bit. Depending on the kind of chocolate you use, it could take a while. Since I use Chocolate Almond Bark, it hardens in seconds. Good stuff.

If you are insanely addicted to chocolate, you could even double dip.

Next comes my favorite part - decorating them. And when it comes to this, the possibilities are endless. The world (of decorating truffles, anyway) is your oyster.
You could use chocolate shavings, nuts, coconut, sprinkles, melted chocolate drizzled over them, or anything else you can come up with. For these, I kept it low-maintenance and just used some chopped coconut and melted white Almond Bark in a zip-lock bag.
Just a note, though. If you're going to do the coconut or sprinkles, or roll them in nuts, do it before the chocolate hardens.

Happy Truffle-Making!

A Fruitful Post

2008-12-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve's Eve, and I'm sniffin' lemons.
How un-festive! Shouldn't I be sniffing...cranberries or fruitcake or something? (Come to think of it, should I be sniffing anything at all? Shouldn't I be baking?!!)
But I just can't help it. These avocados and lemons are fresh off the trees in my Grandma's back yard in California. And they smell soooo good. Well, the lemons do, anyway.

If only there was a scratch 'n sniff option.

Compare that to the rather meager local offering:

Downright puny, aren't they?
That thing on the right...the yellow one? It's actually supposed to be a lime. Not a sickly-looking lemon. In all honesty, those two limes have been sitting in the fridge for an unknown length of time. But still, I think I shall stick to the Californee-grown produce :)

I'm gonna go sniff more beautiful, sunny lemons.

Yellow Cake

2008-12-20T12:33:00.000-08:00

Also known as "Definitely Not Birthday Cake"

So, my birthday was a few days ago. And as most everyone probably knows, I decided to postpone my birthday celebration until July. The 10th, probably.
Just for fun, and because I feel like it, etc.
So I refused all presents (except for 3:), didn't have a party of any sort, and definitely did not make a birthday cake for myself.

I just had a random urge to make a random cake on a random day. Ok?!

I've been trying for years to make a yellow or white cake from scratch that wasn't dry, or that doesn't taste funny. And while it's not the perfect yellow cake, this one is maybe 1/2 step closer than I've ever gotten to a moist, from-scratch cake.
The main problem was that it was bland. And still dry.

First, you cream 1 cup (2 sticks) of room-temperature butter until it's fluffy
Then you add 2 cups of sugar and cream it until it looks something like this:

After which, you add 4 eggs. Beat well after each egg. It will look sorta like this:

Next, you add flour and milk alternately. The recipe calls for whole milk, but since whole milk has never crossed the threshold of this house, I improvised with half sweetened condensed milk, and half skim. Don't know that I'd recommend that, but it worked in a pinch, with no obvious horrible effect on the cake.
Anyway, you gradually do the flour/milk thing, and then mix it just until blended.

Pour it into 3 greased and floured 9-inch pans...

And smooth the batter out.

And then comes the fun part.
You get to bang and crash and make all kinds of noise.
You could even scream if you wanted to - just for kicks.
Lift each cake pan and drop it on the counter 2 or 3 times. Not too hard. You don't want cake batter sloshing all over the place. But doing this gets rid of any big air bubbles and makes the cake finer textured.

Pop 'em in the oven...(I'll pop 'em on the head, and you do the skinnin'!)
(If you don't know what that's from, get thee to a movie store, where you must buy the cartoon version of 101 Dalmations.)

Anyway, pop 'em in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes and then....

Voila! Cakes! Lovely golden brown cakes.

Now comes the purely ingenious step. After you let them cool for 5-10 minutes, you wrap them in plastic wrap to seal in the moisture.

Such a thing had never occurred to me until I found this recipe on the wondrous Bakerella's site.

You leave them wrapped in plastic until they cool - which, in my case, was overnight, because they came out of the oven around midnight.

And now, for the frosting: (my Old Faithful fluffy chocolate frosting recipe)

You need 2 1-oz. squares of unsweetened chocolate. Chop it up - it makes it melt faster.

Once you have a nice pile of chocolate...

Zap it in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time until it's melted and creamy.

Now you cream 2 sticks of butter, and add some light corn syrup and some Confectioner's sugar. Then beat it until it's all fluffy and delicious looking:

Now comes the fun part. Drizzle the melted chocolate slowly into the creamed mixture, with the mixer on a low speed.

And now, for the assembly!
Unwrap the first layer and with great care and precision, place it on a plate.

Spread on some frosting...

And repeat with each layer.

Until you have one tower of a cake.

Now, the most important step of all: sample it.

The verdict:
Sigh. I really wanted this cake to be The It. It was rather involved - which, to me, makes it fun - and it was different from any recipe I've ever tried, but it still wasn't moist or particularly flavorful.
It's probably my fault for not using the whole milk.

Either way, the cake is ok, but not IT.

The search goes on...

Happy Cooking!

P.S. Even though the cake isn't really worth trying, the frosting is.

Fluffy Chocolate Frosting
1 C. butter, softened
2 TBS. light corn syrup
4 C. Confectioner's sugar
2 1-oz. squares unsweetened chocolate, melted

1. In mixing bowl, beat butter on medium-high speed until creamy - about a minute and a half.
2. Add corn syrup. Mix well.
3. With mixer on low speed, gradually add powdered sugar, mixing until blended. Beat for about 1 minute.
4. Slowly add melted chocolate and beat well.

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken

2008-12-20T07:28:00.000-08:00

This stuff is tasty.
Real tasty.
It's juicy and flavorful, with a definite kick (but not too much).
I usually don't repeat recipes; if I find a good one, I stash it in my book, and then set out to search for more. But this one I've made time and again, because, well, it's tasty!
And it's easy.

So, start with some chicken. Either pounded-out chicken breasts, or strips will do. And then some spices:

Mix the spices together in a small bowl...

And sprinkle over the chicken. Make sure you coat 'em good.
Then you put the chicken in a hot pan full of melted butter and olive oil. Yum =P

Now let them cook for a while on both sides. After one side is brown, flip them over.
Don't they look tasty?
Tasty is the word of the hour.
Say it three times.

After they are browned on both sides (this should take about 5 minutes or so), turn the heat down, dump in some more olive oil and butter, and 3 tablespoons of lime juice.
Now, cover it with foil and let it simmer for a little while. 5-10 minutes. However long you need to cook rice and some veggies to go with it.

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

4 TBS. butter
2 TBS. olive oil
4 tsp. garlic powder
5-6 TBS. lime juice

1. In a small bowl, mix together salt, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and parsley.
2. Sprinkle spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts.
3. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side.
4. Sprinkle with 4 teaspoons garlic powder and lime juice. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently to coat evenly with sauce.

Happy Cooking!

Chicken in Curry Sauce

2008-12-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

I couldn't do it.
I just couldn't face another bologna sandwich today.
So I decided to experiment with some real food; Chicken.
Because chicken's always safe and easy, and pretty hard to mess up :)

I found some chicken pieces in the freezer, and after I thawed them, I put a little olive oil in a pan and fried them.

Then I added some buttermilk, some Herb and Garlic soup mix, and a few drops of lime juice

I simmered it over medium heat for a few minutes before adding a few shakes of curry powder.

The result:

Although a dear friend told me it looked disgusting, it sure beat fried bologna again. I probably wouldn't make it again, but hey, I experimented, so I'm happy. One thing, though; the sauce had a weird texture which I think was probably the result of heating the buttermilk. So the lesson learned; in cream sauce, use cream instead of buttermilk :)

And so I ate my non-bologna lunch and lived happily ever after...

Happy Cooking!

Christmas Cookies

2008-12-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my mom and the three little kids and I spent the last half of the day baking. And baking.
And baking.
And strangely, in the end, we had only 4 kinds of cookies and a kitchen that looked like it had been through a tornado. But, we had fun and stuffed ourselves on cookies, and that's all that matters =)

We made...
Kissie Cookies (my favorite)

Thumprint cookies (also my favorite) with raspberry and strawberry jam.

And pinwheel cookies. My second attempt. Last year, I tried a recipe that wasn't good. This year, I found one that uses a marble cake mix. And it still wasn't good. Bland, kinda tasteless, and dry.
But don't they look cool?

Oh, and snowball cookies (my other favorite)

...Really, I can't pick one favorite. It's impossible.

The helpers:

....well, they helped eat the cookies, anyway :)

The recipes:

Kissie Cookies
1 3/4 C. sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. peanut butter
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Sift together flour, soda and salt.
3. In separate bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Gradually add peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Blend in the flour mixture. Mix thoroughly.
4. Shape dough into small balls. Roll balls in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and place a chocolate kiss on top of each cookie, pressing down firmly so that the cookie cracks around the edges. Return cookies to oven. Bake 2-5 minutes or less, just until kiss is shiny and cookies are golden.

To make those super-cute little cookies in the first picture, shape the dough into tiny balls, bake for just a few minutes, and then top with a chocolate chip.

Thumbprint Cookies
1 C. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 C. seedless raspberry or strawberry jam
1 C. finely chopped nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Beat butter and sugar together in large bowl at low speed until mixture becomes fluffy. Separate eggs and beat in egg yolks, vanilla and salt until blended.
3. Add flour all at once. Beat at low speed, scraping side of bowl often, 2 minutes or until well mixed.
4. Shape dough into balls. Roll in lightly beaten egg white, then nuts. Place on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes.
5. Remove cookies from oven. With thumb, or the bottom of a rounded 1/2 teaspoon, dent each cookie. Put jelly or preserves in each thumbprint. Bake another 8 minutes.

We'll just skip the pinwheel cookies recipe...

Snowball Cookies
1 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 C. finely chopped nuts
Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Beat butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in flour and salt. Stir in nuts.
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 8-9 minutes or until set, but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet; roll in powdered sugar. Cool completely on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar again when cool.

~ Happy Cooking! ~

Caramel Maple Cinnamon Rolls

2008-12-10T06:44:00.000-08:00

I arose before dawn this morning and, after exercising for 2 hours, vacuuming the entire house, and reading 10 chapters of Ana Karenina, I began baking - with love - a warm, filling breakfast for my family.
Actually, I "awoke" at 6, got out of bed at 6:20, stumbled to the shower, and eventually started these cinnamon rolls around 7.

It's 9:46 right now.
And they just came out of the oven.

So yeah, these puppies are the definition of time-consuming. But are they ever worth it.

For starters, you combine 2 cups of milk, 1/2 cup of oil, and 1 cup of sugar.

Scald the mixture. Which just means get it really hot, but not quite boiling.

And then the directions say to let it sit for 30-40 minutes for it to cool. And since I'm impatient, and didn't have all morning, I did this.

Just plopped 'em all in a panful of ice water.
Worked just fine. I sat down to read a chapter of my book, and maybe 5 minutes later, the milk mixture was actually cool. And since the directions said it should be warm or lukewarm, I heated it up in the microwave a little.

Sprinkle 1 package of active dry yeast over the scalded milk mixture and let it sit for a minute or two.

Then add 4 cups of flour, stir it up, cover the bowl, and let it sit for 1 hour, while you take your dog out for an early-morning stroll in the rain.

Sometime during that hour, you can go ahead and mix up the frosting.
You take about 3 or 4 cups of powdered sugar (I had to add more towards the end because it was too thin)

Maple flavoring, and some caramel flavoring...

Some melted butter...

Coffee, and milk.

Mix it all together. I used a wooden spoon at first, just to be rustic, but it was lumpy, so I used the mixer.

Now, do not - I repeat - DO NOT taste this stuff.
It's dangerous.
Poison.
Evil.
Ridiculously yummy, especially after you've been up for an hour or so with only a few puny mandarin orange pieces to tide you over.

But wait, you have to taste it, to make sure it's ok. Make adjustments as needed, and then put it somewhere out of sight.

Now, after your dough's been sitting for an hour, go add 1 more cup of flour, some baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir it all up as best you can.

And then take half of it and lay it out on a floured surface. Knead it only once or twice - just enough so it's not too sticky. Now try for the general shape of a rectangle.

Now roll it out pretty flat. Not too flat...just...pretty flat. You just gotta eyeball it.

Drizzle on some melted butter. You might as well make a huge mess.

Dump 1/4 cup of sugar over it, and sprinkle generously with cinnamon. I wasn't quite generous enough, as it turned out, so really give it a good shakin'.

I apologize if looking at the previous 2 pictures makes your eyes water and your head swim. I couldn't convince my hand to stop shaking after I'd finished with the cinnamon :)

Now, take one end and very carefully, very sloppily, roll it up. Butter and cinnamon will ooze everywhere, so make a mental note not to put quite so much butter on the next roll.

I'm sorry. I know that looks unspeakably disgusting. But for the record, this was my practice roll. The second looked a lot better. Really. I was just so caught up in the moment that I didn't take pictures of it :)

Now, take a real sharp knife and cut approximately 1-inch slices out of the roll. Turn the roll a half-turn after every cut to keep it semi-sorta-round.

Place them in 2 PAM-sprayed pans. (You'll need 2 more for the other half of the dough.)

And repeat until you have four pans full of your culinary magnum opus.

Now, preheat your oven, because the rolls have to rise for 20 minutes or so. I started a timer after I finished the first two pans, and by the time I was through with the third and fourth, the first two were ready to bake.

Pop 'em in the oven, preferably on convection 375 - (if you don't have that option, then 400) for 15 minutes. Mine didn't need to go a minute more. They were perfect and golden and exquisite.

Now take that frosting and drown them puppies! Really lay it on thick. You won't be sorry.

But unless you plan to eat 4 entire pans in one sitting, save the rest of the frosting for right before you serve them.

Oy. And clean up after yourself, already!

Here's the full, copy-paste-and-print-if-you-wish recipe:

Caramel Maple Cinnamon Rolls
2 C. milk
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1/2 C. sugar
1 pkg. Active dry yeast
4 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 to 1 1/2 C. melted butter
1/2 C. sugar
cinnamon

Frosting:
3 3/4 C. Confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. maple flavoring
1 tsp. caramel flavoring
1/2 C. milk
4 TBS. melted butter
4 TBS. brewed coffee
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Mix milk, vegetable oil and sugar. 'Scald' mixture (heat until just before boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool for 45 minutes to an hour. OR, pour into 4 or 5 bowls and place in a pan of cool water to speed up the process.
2. When mixture is lukewarm - NOT hot - sprinkle in the yeast. Let it sit for a minute, then add 4 cups flour. Stir mixture together. Cover, and let sit for at least an hour.
3. After an hour, add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Cover and refrigerate if desired, or just make the rolls:
4. Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle, then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangle shape. (Rectangle should increase in both length and width as you roll).
5. Drizzle melted butter over the dough. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the melted butter and sprinkle generously with cinnamon.
6. Starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Some of the butter/sugar/cinnamon mixture may ooze our toward the end, but that's no big deal. Pinch the seam to the roll to seal it.
7. Spread a little melted butter (or PAM spray) in 3 or 4 round cake or pie pans, and begin cutting rolls approx. 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Place them in pans.
8. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough.
9. Let the rolls sit for 20 to 30 minutes to rise, then bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, or until light golden brown.
10. Frosting: Mix together frosting ingredients and stir well. Mixture should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.

~Happy Cooking!~

P.S. If you'd like to see it done right, go watch the professional: Pioneer Woman.

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

2008-12-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

Contrary to the beliefs of family and friends, I do occasionally consume food that is not dessert.
And to top that, I sometimes even cook food that is not dessert!

Tonight's recipe: Garlic Cheddar Chicken - heavy on the garlic :)

Garlic Cheddar Chicken
1/2 C. butter
4 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 C. dry breadcrumbs
1/2 C. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves - pounded thin

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. In a shallow bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, cheeses, parsley, oregano, pepper and salt.
4. Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the breadcrumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with remaining breadcrumb mixture.
5. Bake 30 minutes in preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

NOTE: This recipe will only be successful if prepared while playing the Sinatra/Crosby Christmas album.
Judy Garland will do in a pinch.

First, pull some boneless skinless chicken breasts out of your freezer and thaw them in a sink of hot water.

Take pictures of your cute dog while you wait.

Chop about 3 cloves of garlic, more or less. I chose more :)

Then shredded cheddar cheese, and some parmesan.

Then 1/2 cup of butter. Because you're bored, cut the butter into nice little cubes.

Then take multiple pictures of it from varying angles.

Go take a few more pictures of your cute dog.

Then, and only then, can you melt the butter in a saucepan, and add the chopped up garlic to it. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes.

Once that pesky frozen chicken is finally thawed, pound it out.

Let out that aggression!

In a shallow bowl, combine some breadcrumbs, the cheeses, and some oregano, parsley and a little salt and pepper.

Stir it all up until it looks like...well, whatever that looks like.

Next, slather the garlic butter on the pounded-out chicken.

Coat the chicken with the cheese mixture and place it in a PAM-sprayed casserole dish. You'll probably have to sprinkle the cheese on, because it doesn't stick very well.

Keep going till you finish all the chicken...

Drizzle the leftover butter over the chicken. Then sprinkle whatever leftover cheese and breadcrumb mixture there is.

Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Now clean up that disgraceful mess!

What have I told you about cleaning as you go?!

~ ~ ~ 30 Minutes Later ~ ~ ~

When I opened the oven, smoke came billowing out at me. Alarming, at first. But it had nothing to do with the chicken and everything to do with the baked-on remnants of something in the bottom of the oven. It was charred beyond recognition, so I guess we'll never know what it was.

Anyway, pull the pan(s) out of the oven, place on stovetop and make conscious effort to catch your saliva.
Inhale deeply.
Check to make sure that the juices run clear, not pink.

Repeat picture-taking-from-multiple-angles ritual.

And then...enjoy :)

~Happy Cooking~

Sweet Potato Pie, Part 2

2008-12-09T15:55:00.000-08:00

Not bad looking, if I do say so myself.
And I do.

The bottom of the crust was weird though. See how it looks really thick? Well, I know I rolled it thinner than that, so I went poking through my piece of pie to investigate.
It was what appeared to be a thin, custardy layer of...custard. Or something. I'm thinking it was the butter. I've read tons of places that it makes a HUGE difference to actually let it soften naturally, instead of in the microwave. I guess they're right - the superior cooks of the world.

It is a pretty color, though.

And though the bottom of the crust was a little sodden that night, the edges were SUPER flaky. And the next morning, the bottom was flakier, too. Don't know how that worked, but I'm not complaining.

This is worth it, if only for the pie crust, I think.
And even though I'm going to try Paula Deen's recipe next time - (it involves cream cheese;) - I'll post the recipe here for posterity's sake.

Sweet Potato Pie
1 (1 lb.) sweet potato
1/2 C. butter, softened
1 C. white sugar
1/2 C. milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:
1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato and remove skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
3. Bake at 350 for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.

Flaky Pie Crust
1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. shortening, chilled
3 TBS. ice water

Directions:
1. Put flour and salt in food processor with evil, jagged-edged blade attachment. Pulse a few times to blend.
2. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of shortening into the flour. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over mixture, adding more water, a few drops at a time, until mixture comes together.
4. Roll out dough between flour-covered waxed paper sheets. If baking, bake at 425 for 9-12 minutes.

Happy Cooking!