Kitchen Adventures 11.4

Easter is a little different now than it used to be, at least for me. When at home, it was always a big family time when we went to church, then ate lunch with the extended family and hunting eggs. Now, with being three hours away from home and no long weekend, it makes it hard to go home, so now I celebrate with my "family" here. We have had big dinners, gone out to dinner, and everything in between. This year, I got to celebrate with my boyfriend, his roommate, and some friends. It was a nice, though rainy, day, and a wonderful time celebrating Resurrection Sunday.
Mr. boyfriend had the main dish with some delicious ham. He also provided the macaroni and cheese. Our friend Shaye came with roils and fruit salad. I provided scalloped potatoes, a lemon (aka Easter) cake and sauteed asparagus and peas. Overall, way too much food for us, but it was delicious!

I looked around the Web for a couple different recipes to fit these needs. I found several through Foodgawker and other websites. I also turned to my hand Triple T cookbook and combined a few recipes to make the potatoes. It all turned out pretty well, all things considered. Lots of cooking in a short amount of time, but lots of fun in the end.

Sauteed Asparagus and Peas

Ingredients

2 T. unsalted butter
1/4 c. minced shallots
1 bunch thin asparagus spears, ends trimmed and cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces on a diagonal*
1 c. thawed frozen peas
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. honey

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add in the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

2. Add the asparagus, 1/4 teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring frequently so the shallots don't burn, for about 5 minutes or until al dente. Add the peas and honey and cook about one minute more or until the peas are warmed through. Add in more salt and pepper to taste and serve.

*To trim asparagus, bend one spear near its base to see where it naturally snaps off. Use a knife to trim remaining spears to the same length.



The scalloped potatoes were the best of the three, I think. It took a little ingenuity, but they turned out very well. I was a little nervous at first, but it turned out well in the end. It was a combination of two separate recipes that overall became a good new one.

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 lbs. potatoes, or 6 medium ones
3 T. margarine
3 T. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 c. milk
1 sm. onion, chopped
2 c. cheddar cheese

Directions:

Peel and cube the potatoes. Melt the margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in the flour, salt and pepper. Cook and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Stir in the milk and heat to boiling. Boil for one minute, still stirring. Arrange the potatoes in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish with a layer of white sauce on top and then another layer of potatoes and sauce. Top with the cheddar cheese. Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and bake for 60-70 minutes. Let stand before serving.



The final recipe is the lemon cake. I think it would have been better if it wasn't so dry, but I think that was because I made it the day before and it just got a little dry. It still had good flavor, though.

Lemon Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

1 c. butter, room temperature
1 1/4 c. sugar ( 1.25 c.)
zest of 1 large lemon
4 eggs, room temperature
2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup buttermilk
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a bundt pan. Mix the sugar and lemon zest together in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. In a third bowl, mix the lemon juice and vanilla extract into the milk.
Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until very white and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping the bowl as needed. Turn the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients mixture, alternating with milk in 3 separate additions. Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake on the middle rack for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar and serve. *I only baked it for 35 minutes before a toothpick came out clean. I also made a lemon glaze instead of dusting with powdered sugar.

Here is a link to the original posting for this recipe.

Kitchen Adventures 10.2

I think many people have recipes they remember with fondness from their childhood. I am fortunate to have several of these recipes available through cookbooks where those family members have contributed their recipes. I recall this particular recipe, or at least I think it is this recipe, from many a birthday or church or family function. Sure, you can make a chocolate cake from a box, and sometimes that's the quickest and easiest thing to do. Occasionally, though, you just have the urge to make it from scratch. I have never made this recipe before and I was thoroughly impressed with its ease of the process and also the moistness of the cake. A dry cake is not an uncommon thing, but when you get that perfectly moist piece of cake with a wonderful icing there's really nothing better. :)

For the icing, I mixed things up a bit. For some reason I remember my mom using either vanilla icing or cool whip. I wanted to keep it all chocolate, though, so decided to make a ganache. I had made a ganache for a previous cake but knew it wouldn't quite work. I looked at a few recipes online and ended up just making my own version by combining elements from all of them. I must say, it turned out pretty well. I took this cake to work for our monthly birthday party and was able to bring some back home for my dad's birthday when they were down for the weekend. I also had enough left to share with friends, and of course enjoy some myself. :)

This recipe was submitted by my mom in the Triple T youth group cookbook.

Lorraine's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 c. shortening
2 eggs
1/2 c. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1/2 c. sour milk
1 c. boiling water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream the shortening and sugar, then add the eggs and beat until fluffy. Sift together the flour and coca, and add this mixture alternately with the sour milk and vanilla to the creamed mixture. Beat together once these ingredients are added for one minute. Add 2 teaspoons of baking soda to the cup of boiling water, then add this to the batter, blending well. Pour the batter into a greased 9"x13" pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. heavy cream

Directions:

Bring the cream just to a boil, then remove from heat. Add the chocolate and let it sit for a minute before stirring. Add more chocolate if needed. Let it cool until slightly thicker. When cool, pour over the cake and spread around to cover the cake. Make sure to keep refrigerated since the topping is cream

I unfortunately do not have a picture of this delicious cake. Picture a piece of chocolate cake with chocolate icing and there you go. :)

Kitchen Adventures 9.2

Everyone loves a good party, right? I know I sure do! My friends and I like to gather and celebrate things, be it a big event like some one's birthday or a going away party or a sporting event. So, of course, we had to get together to watch the Super Bowl between the Packers and the Steelers. I made sure to wear my green sweater to urge the Pack on to victory, and I guess it worked! :) It was a good game, but we always end up socializing so much half the time we're not even paying attention. We just like each other too much I guess. :)

For any party, you have to have good party food. Snacky finger-food items are a must-have. In my binders of recipes I have an entire section for this type of food that I don't get to break into very often, so I deliberately planned to make some items from this section for the party. And I'm sure glad I did, because they were hits!

I took three things to the party. Of course we had too much food, because everyone else brought that much as well. Better to have extra than not enough, though! Two of the recipes I made are from Rachael Ray's magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray. The other one is something my sister told me that is super quick and deceptively delicious and addictive. Hope you are able to use them at your next gathering!

Baked Potato Bites (from Every Day with Rachel Ray)

Ingredients:

4 red potatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds and patted dry
1/2 c. olive oil
Salt
1/2 lb. bacon
1/3 c. sour cream
1/3 c. cream cheese
1 T finely chopped chives (I omitted these b/c I couldn't find them at the store)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degree. Toss the potato rounds in the olive oil, coating all sides. Place the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and season with salt. Arrange them in a single layer. Bake for 25 minutes, flip them over, and bake for another 10 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
2. While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon until crisp and then crumble it; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the sour cream and cream cheese until smooth.
3. Arrange the potato slices in a single layer on a plate or serving dish and top each round with a spoonful of the cream mixture, some bacon bits, and chives. Serve warm.

Cheesy Corn Bites (from Every Day with Rachael Ray)

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
1 egg
1/2 c. frozen corn kernels
48 scoop-shaped tortilla chips
Chopped chives, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, pepper jack cheese, egg and corn.
2. Arrange the chips in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Spoon 1 T. of the cream cheese mixture into each chip. Bake until the filling sets, about 20 minutes.
3. Sprinkle with chives and serve warm.

Tortilla Roll-ups

Ingredients:

Tortillas, any size or kind (flour are better than corn for this)
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
Taco seasoning

Directions:

Stir the softened cream cheese until it is smooth. Shake in taco seasoning to taste. Do this in stages so it does not get too strong. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto tortillas, making a thin layer of cheese on each tortilla. Roll up the tortillas, then slice them like a sushi roll.

This picture includes a couple of each item. Yummy!

Kitchen Adventures 7.4

Every now and then I go on a baking binge. I figure it's a little healthier than other types of binges. :) And every now and then, that baking binge has a purpose. I needed to make some goodies to give to my co-workers for Christmas and also have something to eat at my birthday party, and cookies sounded like the perfect thing.

This post will include three recipes, but unfortunately no pictures. :( In my excitement (and haste) in baking, I forgot to photograph the event. You'll just have to use your imagination for these. :)

The first recipe came from my Nana. She sent me a letter with this recipe included, and it really worked well. I always think of sugar cookies around the holiday season, but rarely have time to chill the dough and don't really have the space for rolling out dough. This recipe negates both those obstacles, which makes it one of my new standbys.

Reader's Digest Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
2 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. oleo
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat oleo, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. Combine dry ingredients, then add to wet mixture. Form in to balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Dip in sprinkles if desired. Bake for 8-10 minutes and cool on wire racks. Frost, if desired, when completely cooled.

The next recipe comes from a cookbook that the Carl Albert Center put together a few years ago for a holiday cookie exchange. This recipe was contributed by my friend and co-worker at that time, Kate Cornwell. I had not tried it before this endeavor, but I have made snickerdoodles before. This recipe was pretty good. I think the cookies turned out differently than when I have made them in the past because I grew up using margarine rather than butter for baking and this time I used butter. The cookies do flatten out with butter, but they are still delicious.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
4 T. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and cream of tarter. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until blended. Beat in as much flour as possible with the mixer and stir in remaining flour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Combine the 4 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place dough balls on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are golden. transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

The final recipe is a new one I just encountered earlier in the month. I get the Food Network newsletter in my email, and they were doing the 12 Days of Cookies. This recipe is the first one they featured. It's by Paula Deen, so of course it has butter in it. :) If you would like the original recipe, you can find it here.

These cookies were pretty delicious! I also tried a variation, making these cookies gluten-free. I have a couple GF co-workers and did not want them to be left out of the goodness, and this is a good recipe to make GF.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 8 oz. pack cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 18 oz. box chocolate cake mix (or gluten-free cake mix)
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Beat in the egg, then add in the vanilla and beat until combined. Beat in the cake mix until well blended. Cover and chill the dough for 2 hours.
Roll the dough into balls and then roll them in confectioners' sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. The cookies will be soft. Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioner's sugar, if desired.

Kitchen Adventures 3.5

Baking is one of my main stress relievers. After the crazy week at work, I needed to destress before the weekend and all the fun it holds. Plus, I needed to bake for the youth group cookout Sunday evening, so I killed two birds with one stone.
I tried two new recipes, but they are versions of other recipes I have used or have eaten before. The first came from mixingbowl.com, which has provided some good ones for me. The second one came from the handy Triple T youth group cookbook and it's a recipe my mom has made many times, so I knew it would be good. They both smelled delicious, so hopefully everyone will enjoy them tomorrow evening!

Brown Sugar Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 c. mashed ripe bananas, about 2 large
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pecans in single layer in shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until nuts are toasted and fragrant. Beat butter at medium speed with mixer until creamy. Gradually add brown sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Stir together mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat on low speed just until blended after each addition. Don't overbeat. Spoon batter into lightly greased 12 cup muffin pan, filling 2/3 full. Sprinkle with roasted pecans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan to wire racks and cool 10 minutes. Makes 1 dozen muffins.
*If you don't have buttermilk, stir 3/4 t. lemon juice or vinegar into 1/4 c. milk.



Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. unsifted flour
2/3 c. cocoa
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. peanut butter chips

Directions:
Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in peanut butter chips. Chill until firm enough to handle. Shape small amounts of dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes six dozen.

Here are a couple pics:

Kitchen Adventures 2.5

Last weekend was quite the busy one. Saturday included a trip to the farmer's market, a trip to the mall, and of course baking. Sunday was a church-filled day, which was great! I taught my 4 year olds (10 of them!) in the morning, did a little grocery shopping, met up with my friend Jessica Jones who was in town from Wyoming, then headed to Shaye's to make my side dish for the funLife event at church. Soulfest was a fun church potluck and social time, with water games, volleyball, and the band playing some awesome music. I unfortunately did not take pictures of any of the food I baked, but there will be some pics from Soulfest at the end!
Saturday's baking was a chocolate zucchini cake for the monthly birthday party at work. Each month we celebrate all the birthdays at once, and last week was our party. This recipe seemed perfect since our lone birthday-ee likes chocolate, and zucchini are plentiful this time of year. I picked some up at the farmer's market and used them for this recipe and another, which will be in a later post. I miss just going out to the garden and picking a zucchini to use, so the farmer's market is the closest thing I have to that! This recipe is one my mom sent me. Thanks Mom!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. sour milk
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. cloves
4 T. cocoa
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 c. grated zucchini
6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions:
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the remaining liquid ingredients (this will be the first six ingredients total). Mix the dry ingredients together, then add to the wet mixture. Stir in the grated zucchini. Pour into a 9x13 greased and floured pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

The next baking endeavor occurred Sunday afternoon at Shaye's house. I needed to make a side dish for Soulfest, and after looking through my cookbooks decided on a recipe form the trusty Triple T youth group cookbook called Homemade with Love. This is actually a recipe my Nana submitted to the cookbook. I don't remember her ever making these, but they sure were good! By the time I got through the line, which was pretty early, most of them were already gone!

Parmesan Potato Sticks

Ingredients:
2 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut in strips
1/2 c. fine bread crumbs
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. melted margarine

Directions:
Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and seasonings in bowl. Roll potato strips in melted margarine and then dip in crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until tender, approximately 35-40 minutes.
*Note: I had to make the crumb mixture a second time to have enough, but I cut my potatoes into tiny strips. Also, omitting the salt is probably fine as I felt these were fairly salty.

Though I have no pictures of the potato sticks, here are a few images of the activities from Soulfest.

My friend Kara rockin' the keys


Rousing volleyball game

Kitchen Adventures 1.5

Last week was a pretty crazy week. I helped Shaye decorate for VBS Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday before corralling little ones Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On top of that, we had a going away party for our friend Andy Dale Monday night and then small group Wednesday night. It was quite the week to say the least! To top all of that off, we had a going-away/birthday party at work Thursday. With everything else going on, I had to do my baking Tuesday evening. It meant skipping girls' night, but sometimes we just can't do it all

Here is a picture from the going-away party. We were a small group, but we had fun!

Tuesday evening was a busy one for the oven. I had two desserts and my dinner to make, so strategy was key. I began with the banana nutella cake, which I posted several weeks ago. Check the earlier post for the recipe and a pic. While the cake layers baked, I mixed up the blueberry sour cream coffee cake. It's a good thing I have a stand mixer and a hand-held one, plus several mixing bowls, because I used them all! Once I popped the coffee cake (which I baked in a bund pan) in the oven, I made chicken tetrazzini for my dinner. At one point I had the oven going and every burner used on the over. The heat was on in my kitchen!

Everything turned out well, thankfully. The coffee cake was a smash success, there is still cake left (but we did have four of them!), and I just finished off the tetrazzini for lunch today.

Following are the coffee cake and tetrazzini recipes.

Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake
(from mixingbowl.com)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 t. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 cup sour cream, 8 oz

Filling:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 T. flour
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 to 3 T. milk

Directions:
In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition. Spoon a third of the batter into a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan. Mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Sprinkle half over batter. Top with half of the berries. Repeat layers. Top with remaining batter. Bake at 350 for 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely. Mix glaze ingredients. drizzle over cake. Note: If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw before adding to batter. (I set them out when I started mixing and they were fine.)

Here are a few pics at various stages.









While that deliciousness was baking, I made myself some dinner for the week. I turned to my handy dandy Triple T cookbook again, which is actually titled "Homemade with Love". Here's the recipe.

Chicken or Turkey Tetrazzini

Ingredients:
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
slat and pepper to taste
1 c. water
1 bouillon cube
1 lb. spaghetti noodles, cooked
1 lb. turkey or chicken, cooked
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Dice meat into cubes. In a small sauce pan, dissolve bouillon cube with water. In medium sauce pan, melt butter and add flour, salt and pepper; will be thick. Add bouillon to this. Make sure the heat is not too high, otherwise your sauce will stay thick. In mixing bowl mix meat and noodles together. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Pour sauce over the top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees until done, about 25-30 minutes.

Here is the picture of the tetrazzini:

Kitchen Adventures 1.1

I decided to take my love of cooking and baking online. If you're my friend on Facebook you probably know that already. :) So, I've decided to share the recipes I'm making since I have several people ask for them. Here is the first installment of this experiment.

Peas and Cheese Tortellini

Ingredients:
1 pound frozen cheese tortellini
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons butter
5 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced separately
2 tablespoons flour
1 2/3 cups milk
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the tortellini until al dente; drain.

2. Meanwhile, add the peas, butter, and scallion whites to another large saucepan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the scallion greens and season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir the tortellini and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese into the sauce. Sprinkle with more cheese when serving.
--From "Every Day with Rachael Ray" magazine, May 2008 issue


Banana Cake with Nutella Whip

Ingredients:
Cake:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 T. baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour milk (buttermilk, or 1/2 cup fresh milk with 1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar also work)
2 cups mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Nutella Whip:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups Nutella

Directions:
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter and flour 2 9” round cake pans.

Mix together oil and sugar. Beat in the eggs, sour milk, mashed banana, and vanilla.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into banana mixture just until moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a moist crumb, about 30 minutes.

Let cool on racks for 10 minutes, then remove from pans.

Cool completely.

For the icing:

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold in the Nutella. Ice the cake .

Store the cake in the refrigerator.

Makes 1 two-layer 9” cake.

From MixingBowl.com

Here is a picture of the finished product: