Buttermilk Pie

When I was a kid family gatherings were the norm.  I am from a large very close family on my Grandma's side and a equally large but not quite as close family on my Grandpa's side.  That being said family gatherings on my Grandpa's side were quite special when they happened.  The had the same concepts as other gatherings, tons of kids running around, special family time and of course the thing that holds everyone together, GREAT FOOD!
     I remember one gathering specifically when I was about eight, surveying the dessert table and seeing a strange creamy pie.  It wasn't fruit or pecan, our standard, it was different.  It was buttermilk! 
     The pie was even more special because my Uncle Robert, my Grandpa's brother, made it.  It was delicious and utterly memorable.
    This pie I made in honor of my Uncle Robert who passed away recently.  I made it in honor of his easy grins, his honest interest in me when I was a kid, and the gentle kind man he was, not even to mention his unforgettable belly laughs.  Please try it, you wont regret it!

Buttermilk Pie
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour, plus a little for dusting
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs slightly and add sugar and flour. Then add melted butter and mix well. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix.   Dust the unbaked pie shell with a little bit of flour. Pour batter into shell, and then sprinkle a little more flour on top.
Bake at 325 degrees until the custard is set, approximately 1 hour.

Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce

      I just love Dr. Pepper and its 23 flavors.  It's my drink of choice if I am going to drink a soda, so when I was discussing BBQ sauce with a friend and she brought up Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce I was all over it! I researched a couple of recipes and modified until it set my purposes.  I think the Dr. Pepper added a sweet tang and depth to the pulled pork I made.

Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce

4 tablespoons butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons tomato paste
One 12-ounce can Dr. Pepper
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ancho or New Mexican chili powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
     In a saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the onion and garlic in the butter until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the flavors have blended. Continue cooking until the sauce begins to thicken, 20 to 30 minutes.

     Let the sauce cool for 15 minutes and then blend with an immersion blender.

Pineapple Coleslaw

Dear Blog,
I am sorry that I am such a horrible writer.  I apologize for all the days I have neglected you, choosing instead to play in the summer sun, eat veggies from our CSA, go on long walks, and pick sun ripened strawberries on the vine.  I am also sorry that my work schedule has sucked so hard and made all of those things plus the basics to live on be crammed into one and sometimes two days in the week if I am lucky. 
Love, faith

Ugh.  I am a horrible blog mommy!!!  I feel like this summer is getting away from me and I am in a desperate rush to enjoy every moment of sun filled loveliness I can before it gets cold and rainy again.
This coleslaw was a delicious accoutrement to Dr. Pepper pulled pork which I will hopefully get up before the weekend is over.  I used both white cabbage and a napa cabbage that we got in our CSA and didn't find any difference. 
I love the addition of pineapple to this recipe, its a fresh alternative to a sometimes boring side dish.  Next time I would like to add a few poppy seeds to the dish to see what they might add to it.

Sorry I don't have a good picture of just the slaw but it was the best topper for this pulled pork!

Pineapple Coleslaw

5 cups of shredded cabbage

2 cups of fresh pineapple cut into pieces

1/2 cup half and half

1 cup of mayo

1/3 cup sugar(next time I want to use agave!)

3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

Mix cabbage and pineapple and then mix half and half, mayo, sugar, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix cream mixture with pineapples and cabbage and store in refrigerator for 5-6 hours before serving.

Blogiversary and a late daring bakers challenge!

One year ago I embarked on a culinary journey and honestly, had no idea where the year would bring me. Sure, before I blogged I cooked, but blogging has allowed me to flex my culinary muscle and do things I never thought I would be able to!  I joined some cooking groups along the way and have met some amazing people that I feel like my life is richer for knowing. I have chronicled the past year of dishes even though it has been one of the hardest (work wise) years of my life, and I don't plan on stopping now!!!
So if you haven't gotten sick of me waxing poetic on the last year, here is my severely late June Daring Bakers Challenge.
When I made this recipe I was knee deep in strawberries for jam and that served as my inspiration for this project.  Sadly, I only completed one component of the challenge and totally punked out on making my own phyllo dough.  This will however, be completed in the future!
I think this turned into a very creative non traditional approach to a very traditional dessert.

Strawberry Baklava
6 ounces blanched almonds

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

 1 pound phyllo dough

8 ounces clarified unsalted butter, melted

Heat oven to 350.  Place the blanched almonds, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not creamy.

In a 9x13 pan brush the sides and bottom with butter and then lay out a layer of phyllo dough.  Brush with more butter and repeat this 9 times for a total of ten.  Top with one third of the nut mix spread thinly.  Top with six more layers of phyllo and butter and then remaining nuts. Eight more layers after that and then brush the top with butter.  Bake in the oven for 30  minutes and then remove and cut into squares.  Return to oven for another 30 minutes and then remove from oven and allow to cool for two hours. While it is cooling make your syrup.

Syrup
1/2 cup strawberry puree
1 1/4 cups honey
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
Combine strawberry puree, honey, water and sugar in a pan over medium heat and boil for ten minutes.

After the baklava has cooled for 2 hours, re-cut the entire pan following the same lines as before. Pour the hot syrup evenly over the top of the baklava, allowing it to run into the cuts and around the edges of the pan. Allow the pan to sit, uncovered until completely cool. Cover and store at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to overnight before serving. Store, covered, at room temperature for up to 5 days.


Blog-checking lines: Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

Ugh, I am a bad bad blogger!!! But in my defense it has been a very busy couple of weeks!! We have been down a manager at work so I have been working crazy weird shifts several times out of the week  and also it was my birthday! (Hopefully I will have a fatty post on that later this week considering we made a FEAST!) And also to add to my list of sad excuses, its spring! Which is a magical time here in the valley! I got my first CSA farm share (spinach, two kinds of lettuce, radishes, and strawberry spread) and finally the strawberries are in SEASON! My oh my.  Today SA and I went to a u-pick place and scored some beautiful berries.  Red, juicy, and ORGANIC.  They taste amazing! This recipe is something that one of my friends and I threw together after hearing about a trader Joe's recipe.  They are delicious and even addictive. I recommend that if you make them you make them for a group so you aren't eating them all by yourself.

please forgive me, I semi-ho'd it!

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls
peanut butter cream cheese frosting
two pieces of bacon cooked until crispy and crumbled
Cinnamon

Cook Cinnamon Rolls according to directions and spread peanut butter cream cheese over top while still hot.  Sprinkle with bacon and cinnamon to taste!


Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 -3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Mix peanut butter and cream cheese together until smooth and add vanilla and powdered sugar one cup at a time until spreading consistency.

Chocolate Marquise : You're fancy, huh?

When I first read about the Daring Bakers Challenge I was flabbergasted.  There were so many steps! So many places to falter and so many ingredients! I'm not going to lie, it took me several days to wrap my head around this recipe in all its egg glory, but once I did, lord help me I have been covering EVERYTHING in rum caramel sauce. (Don't stand still too long I might cover you in it next!)

Dark Chocolate Marquise with raspberry coulis, vanilla bean meringue, rum caramel and lemon scented spiced almonds

Please go to http://thedaringkitchen.com/sites/default/files/u11/55_Chocolate_Marquise_-_DB_May_2011.pdf for the recipe.  The only changes I made was add vanilla beans to the meringue, and rum instead of tequila in the marquise and the caramel.

I served this dish after gumbo and my friends proceeded to make themselves pretty much ill on it.  It was so rich and some of them *might* have eaten two servings.  I wasn't sure what to expect with the marquise but the best way I could describe it is a really rich frozen boozy chocolate pudding. Even after serving double desserts to 6 people and two half people (aka kids) I had a whole pan of the marquise goodness in my freezer and the next week I played around with the leftovers.

This was my take on a rocky road marquise! Toasted Marshmallow, rum caramel, toasted coconut, dark chocolate marquise and peanuts and mini chocolate chips.  SA said the toasted marshmallow was weird but I enjoyed the chewy texture!

Thanks again to Emma and Jenny! This was a fantastic challenge and one I am sure I will keep in the back of my mind when I need a bit fancier of a dessert!

Blog-checking lines: The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

the marquise massacre!

Creamy Chicken

Warning, my language skills kind of fell apart for this post and there is a bit of cussing, so if you don't like that, please read a different post!!!
When I was making this I was formulating what I would say in my blog opener about it.  I thought about telling a heart warming story about how my Grandpa used to make SOS, aka shit on a shingle, when I was a kid, and how this recipe reminded me of SOS, only it was chicken-shit on a shingle (CSOS?) but then all sorts of things started going wrong.  SA decided it was the perfect time to take out the recyclables, our other cat Wall-E attacked the tomatillo plant I got today and then the piece de resistance, our dishwasher started sounding like a dying animal. SHIT SHIT SHIT! It had been such a great day:

the biggest green apples I have ever seen at a local farmers market

beautiful day in the valley!

Now you KNOW I bought some of this!!! How could I not

Our handsome dog, Curry enjoying the sun(We all got sunburns!)

Needless to say I might of lost track of things and the creamy gravy might of separated a bit, the green beans boiled almost all their liquid out and my salad ended up consisting of apples and lettuce and a homemade mandarin orange vinaigrette.  I forgot to put other ingredients in it, even the left over spicy almonds from this month's daring baker's challenge.
All in all though it was still pretty tasty!!!!





forgive the picture of entree+ sides.  SA had already made his plate and so had I so...all of it you get!

 Creamed Chicken adapted from Sherri Bailey
1 Onion chopped
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Flour
2 Cups diced chicken
2 cups Milk
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for the dusting
Mashed Potatoes

In a large skillet melt butter and add onions, cooking over medium heat until onions are translucent.  Sprinkle with flour and stir in milk. Allow mixture to thicken slightly and stir in diced chicken, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until chicken is cooked through(Mine took about 20 minutes.)  Serve over mashed potatoes and sprinkle with paprika for a little extra kick!

Grilled Twice Cooked Potatoes

Yesterday we grilled out for one of the first times of the season.  It was heavenly.  It might of only been burgers and SA might have cooked them a little past my desired pinkness but it was wonderful! I wanted a different than normal side and for some reason couldn't get twice baked potatoes out of my head.  I decided to go ahead and make them, but for an added bonus round I finished them off on the grill. Oh good night and good morning.  These bad boys were amazing.  SA took them with him to work today and in his normal strange way said they were even good cold!

twice cooked potatoes (oven+grill)
4 large russet potatoes scrubbed and poked with a fork
1 tbsp butter
2 pieces of bacon cut in 1/4 inch strips and fried till crispy
1/4 cup Colby-jack cheese
Greek yogurt(or sour cream)
salt and pepper
paprika

Bake potatoes in oven at 400 until soft and allow to cool slightly. Cut in half and hollow out each side, leaving a bit of potato to hold up the skins(at this stage I also cut off a bit of each end of the potato so the halves would stand by themselves.. In a small bowl combine the potato that you hollow out, butter, salt and pepper and mash with a fork, until butter is melted and smooth.  Stuff butter and potato mixture back into potato halves and sprinkle the top with cheese. Place gently on a medium high grill and cook until the outside is charred to your liking and the cheese is melted.  Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream, bacon bits and a sprinkling of paprika.  Chives would of also been wonderful on these but I didn't think to go raid my plant!

Strawberry Shortcake Bars

This weekend I bought my first SURE sign of summer, fresh organic strawberries! While it is still a little early for local fruit, these tasted amazing and I couldnt wait to try this recipe I had been eyeing...and of course change it. Ultimatley I added a bit more cream, changed it to bars and drizzed the whole bad mama with some white chocolate.  I think if I would of left the recipe alone it would of made a great breakfast bar.

Strawberry Shortcake Bars
modified from Martha Stewart
2 cups strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter grated
2/3 cup heavy cream + 2 Tablespoons

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.
Press into a greased 9x11 square pan and bake 35-40 minutes.  (Mine took 35ish). Drizzle with melted white chocolate and pink sugar.

File Gumbo--May Daring Cooks Challenge

For this months Daring cooks challenge we were challenged to make a gumbo that included a roux.  This wasn't my first time making gumbo and I'm sure it wont be my last.  While this recipe turned out really good and everyone seemed to like it, I still don't love gumbo.  It was my first time to use file powder and even my first time to use okra and that was exciting, but I think its the flavor combinations that I cant be down with. 

Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Minimally adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh
Serves 10-12
Ingredients
1 cup rendered chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil
1 cup flour
2 large onions, diced
1 chicken cut into 10 pieces
2 tablespoons Basic Creole Spices or store-bought Creole spice blend
2 pounds spicy smoked sausage, sliced ½ inch thick
2 stalks celery, diced
2 green bell peppers seeded and diced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 quarts Basic Chicken Stock
bay leaves
6 ounces andouille sausage, chopped
2 cups sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch  thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Filé powder, to taste
Tabasco, to taste
4-6 cups cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice

In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.

 Add the chicken to the pot; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.Add the sliced smoked sausage and stir for about a minute.  Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.  Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.
Add the chopped andouille, okra, and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper, several dashes of filé powder, and Tabasco, all to taste.
Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice. Pass more filé powder at the table if desired.


Blog-checking lines: Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

Tomatisallad (Cucumber and Tomato Salad)

Summer has become my litany.  I can't want for it.  I can't bear putting on another hoodie.  I am so done with heavy meaty foods.  I want fresh.  I want my CSA to start!!!! I want warm tomatoes fresh from my garden to make this recipe with, Summer, I want you! This recipe is really good.  It will be even better with Summer tomatoes!

Tomatisallad
modified from Scandinavian Cooking by Beatrice Okakangas
6 medium tomatoes
4 green onions with tops sliced
2 tbsp red or white wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp crushed allspice
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
2 tsp salt
1/4 c veg oil
1 8 inch cucumber sliced paper thin
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Thinly slice tomatoes and arrange on a dish or platter with sides.  Top with cucumber and green onions.  In a small bowl combine sugar, allspice, white pepper, salt and red or white wine vinegar. Slowly pour in oil, mixing with a whisk and then pour over tomatoes, cucumber and green onions.  Refrigerate before serving, and cover in chopped fresh parsley.

Lemon Blueberry Poundcake with Lemon Glaze

When life gives you lemons, make lemon blueberry pound cake! I keep seeing lemon blueberry cakes around the blogosphere and I developed a serious craving! I found and modified this recipe but in the end it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Deliciously crumby and richly butter filled it satisfied my taste craving however, not my texture craving.  I wanted a moist rich heavy pound cake with a deep lemon flavor and studs of blueberries.  I am going to keep trying but know if you try this recipe, you wont be disappointed by the taste.

Lemon Blueberry Pound cake with Lemon Glaze
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour +1Tbsp.
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened at room temperature
11/2 cup sugar +1 Tbsp.
4 eggs
2 teaspoons almond extract
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 6 cup bundt pan with Pam with flour or a similar product. In a medium bowl, combine 11/2 cup flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment cream the butter. Add 11/2 cup of the sugar and mix. With the mixer running at low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the almond extract.
Working in alternating batches, and mixing after each addition, add the dry ingredients and 1/4 cup of the lemon juice to the butter mixture. Mix until just smooth.
In a small bowl combine blueberries and remaining sugar and flour and stir until berries are coated.  Gently fold into batter and pour mixture into prepared pan bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out dry and almost clean 50-60 minutes.
For a glaze I took 1/3 cup lemon juice and mixed it with confectioner's sugar till it was a thick glaze and poured it over the cooled cake.

Arugula Ravioli in Creamy Tarragon Sauce with Fresh English Peas and Pancetta

On Sunday I ran into the store for fresh ravioli and spotted some that were Arugula and fresh Parmesan. Oh man I had to buy them.  I took those sweeties home and then was kind of stumped with what kind of sauce to put on them.  Brown Butter and Sage sounded so good, however I wasn't sure that the sage would taste very good with the arugula but then I remembered this recipe that I wanted to try that calls for ham originally, but I thought pancetta would be a nice addition.  Turns out it was!!

Arugula Ravioli in Creamy Tarragon Sauce with Fresh English Peas and Pancetta
slightly adapted from
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Shallots
1/3 cup dry white wine
4 ounces of pancetta in small cubes
2 Tbsp Tarragon
2 cups heavy cream
1 pound of fresh ravioli (I used Arugula, however I think I would of liked this with cheese ravioli) cooked
1 cup of fresh English peas, shelled
salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add shallots and saute until softened about three minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost all the liquid is gone.  Add the pancetta, tarragon and cream and simmer over medium heat until thickened slightly about ten minutes.
Drain the tortellini and transfer to the cream sauce, stir in the peas and cook for one minute. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Ole! Stacked Chicken Enchilidas with Fire Roasted Corn deconstructed Guacomole

So who out there is ready for Cinco De Mayo? Apparently this girl!!! This meal was conceived over leftover roasted chicken and a love of the term deconstructed.  Yup, I am just a big old dork, but I love the idea of deconstructed dishes.





natty light! (And I am not talking about Beer!)

 

Stacked Chicken Enchiladas with deconstructed Fire Roasted Corn-Guacamole
For enchilada sauce go HERE
and simply layer the tortillas with sauce, chopped chicken, cheese, sauce, etc until you have a good stack going (I did three tortillas). Cover top with cheese(I used Monterrey Jack) and bake in the oven @ 350 for 20 minutes uncovered.

Fire Roasted-Corn deconstructed Guacamole
2 Avocados chopped
1/2 onion finely minced
1 jalapeno de-seeded and finely minced
1 tomato chopped
1/2 cup fire roasted corn(<--Trader Joe's makes some bomb fire roasted corn, but you can use regular..or fire roast your own!)
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp lime
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Agave Nectar
2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup Olive Oil

In a medium size bowl combine avocado, onion, jalapeno, tomato and fire-roasted corn and gently mix.  In a small bowl combine chopped cilantro, cumin, lime, garlic powder, honey and balsamic vinegar and mix with a whisk.  Slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking to combine.  Pour vinaigrette over avocado mixture and refrigerate at least an hour before serving.

Daring Bakers April 2011--Edible Containers

Sigh. I know I am posting this on May first, however in my defense I have kind of had a lot going on!  I whipped this recipe together one night and was pretty thrilled with the results. I topped my "edible container" with a Kahlua mousse and a sunflower brittle and a bit of Himalayan Pink salt to finish it off and add that bit of saltiness that overly sweet desserts just seem to call for.  It was a dangerously good dessert!

the brush down the middle is a cinnamon ganache. YUM!

Oatmeal Cookie Cups

3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 1/2 sticks butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 c. Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats untill well blended. Press cookie dough into lightly greased muffin tins and depress the center slightly to make a cup. Cook 10-12 minutes or until firm in the middle.


Blog-checking lines: The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

Klapsakkaa--- Buttered Potato Soup

Velvetty, creamy potato deliciousness! This soup was one of the Scandinavian dishes we prepared on Sunday in celebration of our Swedish friend Matt's birthday.   Looking at the ingredients I didn't expect to like this soup as much as I did, but it had a depth that my potato soup recipe seems to lack and was so easy to make.  Whats not to love? PLUS I know I cant be the only one who hates left over mashed potatoes.

Buttered Potato Soup
modified from Scandinavian Cooking by Beatrice Okakangas
2 cups mashed potatoes
4 cups Milk
2 cups half and half
salt and pepper to taste
dash of ground allspice
 In a medium saucepan beat potatoes and milk with a whisk till smooth. Stir in half and half and let come to  barely a boil.  Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with a dash of allspice.  Garnish each serving with parsley and 1/2 teaspoon of butter.

We added a little bacon and some cheese to the leftovers and it was even better if that is possible!

Ginger Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Ginger

It's amazing to me how a recipe can grow in my head and become much more complex than it has to be.  Our neighborly buddies birthday is this past week and we decided to have a get together at our house for Easter. Neighbor buddy (NB) wanted a carrot cake for his cake and I started over thinking it immediately. Carrot cake with raisins and coconut, Carrot cake with cinnamon swirl, carrot cake with maple mousse (OK that last part might of been me thinking about another project.) In the end I found a nice simple recipe and went with it.  I think it was a good choice.  The cake incredibly moist and flavorful and the icing... oh man the icing.... I could of eaten it all with a spoon!

even on a paper plate it was so good!!!

Ginger Carrot Cake
modified from Martha Stewart
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 pound large carrots, peeled
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 and grease and flour two round pans. Using the smallest holes (less than 1/4 inch in diameter) of a box grater, grate carrots, yielding 2 1/2 cups(or stick them in your food processor). Place carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, vegetable oil, and ginger in a large bowl; whisk until well combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined. Divide batter between the two cake pans, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the middles comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove pans from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack; let stand until completely cool.


Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

2 tablespoon fresh orange juice
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
3 bars (8 ounces each) cream cheese room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Pinch of salt
Place butter in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, and beat until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Add sugar, orange zest, ginger, vanilla, orange juice and salt, and beat for 2 minutes.

Evie isn't sure if she likes the fondant.(Turns out she does!)

Birthday boy and Evie cute Father/daughter bonding moment over cake!

breakfast burritos

SA and I love breakfast for dinner, lunch, brunch or breakfast, and one of our favorite meals is breakfast burritos.
I don't really think this requires a recipe because they are so versatile, but more of a list of the ingredients we like to put in them!
These particular burritos included
--black beans
--cheddar cheese
--potatoes
--scrambled eggs
--bacon
--cilantro
However SA and I like to also do black beans, sausage, cheese and eggs with onions, garlic and tomatoes.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Crepes ----Daring Cooks April

The theme for this months daring cooks was edible containers, and for once I was completely stumped and out of time.  Finally this past week I thought crepes! For me the Daring Cooks is all about cooking things that I have never made before and while there were great recipes for eggs in cups and polenta cups those are old game for me.  I think I was stirring the polenta for my Dad when I was about eleven. Also, SA and I spent a whole afternoon going through the kitchen getting rid of things that were out of date or we wouldn't use so I am trying my HARDEST to only make things from items I had in the kitchen/pantry.  The pictures do not do this recipe ANY justice.  It was really good, and really filling and the best part was after dinner I mixed the left over chicken with the left over sauce and combined it with some left over pasta from the ghetto pesto and SA and I had great lunches then next day!
Making crepes was awesome too.  Before I started I sternly told the batter that it would NOT act like pancake batter did for me, and I guess I scared it or something because my crepes ALL came out beautifully with out tearing or being ugly or under/over cooked.  I was quite proud!

why must brown/cream things always look so ugly when photographed even if they were delish???

Chicken "Cordon Bleu" Crepes
For Crepe recipe please visit Alton
Chicken Filling:
1 Tbsp Butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2 chicken breasts cut into small chunks
1/4 tsp. tarragon
1/4 c. diced ham
1/8 tsp black pepper
Melt the butter over medium heat and add onion and garlic and cook until slightly translucent.  Add chicken , tarragon and pepper and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle.  Add ham and cook another two to three minutes or until the ham is warmed through.

Bechamel Sauce
2 cups milk
1 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Pinch nutmeg

Scald the milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Keep on low heat stirring occasionally.
Melt the butter in a separate saucepan over low heat. When it's bubbling, add the flour and whisk three or four minutes or until a golden paste has formed.
Whisking constantly, add the hot milk steadily. Bring the milk to a gentle simmer and continue to whisk until the sauce thickens, about 8 minutes.
Whisk in the nutmeg and the cheese, and pour over filled crepes.




Blog checking lines:
Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

Ghetto Pesto

     I tend to use the term ghetto very loosely.  It's a fault I admit, however I consider the word to be so very versatile.  Sure, sure, I get it: "ghetto is a section of a city occupied by a group who live there especially because of social, economic, or legal pressure." Yada, Yada, Yada. To me ghetto is more descriptive.  Like, damn that girl is ghetto over there in her shawty shorts with "Bootylicious" on the butt, or this pesto is so ghetto because I semi-ho'd it(frozen basil=crazy time!).  (Oh yeah, I went there, take that Sandra Lee!) Now keep in mind, ghetto is not necessarily bad. In fact, tonight it was damn good!
     A couple of months ago I impulsively bought a package of frozen basil at Trader Joe's and it was chillin' in the freezer, begging me with it beguiling red packaging to use it every time I opened the door.  Since there is no fresh basil to be found in the store right now (COME ON SUMMMMMMMMER!) I decided to bust it out tonight and make "ghetto pesto."
It really couldn't of been easier, I popped the frozen little nuggets of basil goodness out of their individual cubes and let them thaw in my mini food chopper(which is being held together by tape and a prayer right now, literally.) Once they were thawed, throwing together the rest of dinner took almost less time than it did to boil the water for the pasta!

Ghetto Pesto
14 basil cubes thawed
1/2 cup of almonds (when I break the rules I break all of them! pinenuts=blech!)
3 large cloves of garlic
a pinch of salt
2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1/4-1/2 c. olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (or mini chopper, or blender) and pulse several times.  If it is too dry and chunky add a bit more olive oil.
I like to toss mine when the pasta is still hot so that it coats the pasta well, however I have heard of some people adding a ladle full of pasta water in with the pesto so it makes it a bit more saucy!

Oh and if you were bursting with curiosity, the chicken on top was simply a chicken breast that I coated with some toasted bread crumbs that had been seasoned with garlic, rosemary, salt and black pepper and then pan fried in about a teaspoon (seriously) of olive oil until done and crisp on the outside!

p.s. I guess I should add that the dorot people didn't pay me or give me free product or anything.  It was simply curiosity that lead me to buy the product and then use it in random ways!