A Vegetarian Mexican Experience!!

When my Friend told me about this event, I thought ohh I can come up with something. Had to I love Mexican food, and had to do something. I was talking about it at work, and another friend of mine, Susan, said hmm we should make egg rolls. I thought yes..Mexican Vegetarian Egg rolls. So we made plans to do so. Well, Monday failed, some health issues with her family whom is much more important than my cooking. Which left us with today, Wednesday the day before its due. We actually did 2 events in one, the next will be posted in a few days, when I have some rest lol. Back to my egg rolls.
This event, Hosted at Dk's Culinary Bazaar wanted us to come up with a vegetarian Mexican item. Anything, appetizer, entry..anything. Leaving room for the creativity to flow freely. See me, I could easily be Vegetarian.. I love fruits and vegetables..but the issue is ..well I love meat. But I had no troubles putting that aside to come up with something. And man we had a blast doing so today. I know that an egg roll isn't very authentic, but I liked the idea of twisting something to fit the theme. So we went with it.
Now since they were dabbled the entire time, I don't have an actual recipe.. but I have everything we used, and the cool thing is, you don't need to be exact with them. Its really all a matter of taste for each person. Making them super easy, and open to many variations!! So we made a list and set out to come up with our Mexican Egg rolls. We thought of everything we could that sounded Mexican, flavor wise. And hit our local Walmart.
Our list consists of:

Spinach (I like the green it adds)
Red, Yellow, and Orange Bell peppers, Sliced into thin strips
Cilantro, finely chopped
Can of Black Beans, drained
Can of diced green chilies
Fresh Garlic, minced
Mushrooms,finely chopped
Bag of Shredded Cabbage
Onion, diced
Can diced tomatoes with chili's
1 bag each Lipton Mexican rice, and Spanish rice (we thought it would work for a binder and added flavor) (*Make the rice before you make fillings and start assembling the egg rolls)
Egg roll wrappers
Fresh corn Kernals...(we have hers frozen from her garden!! and of course, frozen or can would work as well, but my gosh her fresh corn was amazing and sweet!!)
Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese

The herbs we used were:
Coriander
Cumin
Ground Chili pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt
Pepper

So, since we played, we actually made 3 different fillings. Using the ingredients to make variations.
For the first one, We put about 1 tbsp vegetable oil in skillet. We heated and then added our Pepper strips, Garlic and onions. We sauted for a few minutes and added the mushrooms, black beans, cabbage. We seasoned this one with the cumin, coriander, green chilis, and cilantro. We put in a good heaping scoop of the Mexican rice and made sure it was heated Through. Put the filling in a bowl to cool slightly. Once room temperature, sprinkle in a small amount of shredded cheese. Fill egg rolls and set aside. Fill a large frying skillet with a good deal of oil. You want it to go about half up the side of the egg roll. Heat until hot, then fry until each side is golden. Place on paper towels to drain and cool slightly. This had the best texture and hold together of the three, flavor was right on too, she preferred this one, I liked the 2nd one's flavor better. Both good =)

For the second filling, we took the peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, black beans, cabbage, green chili's, spinach, corn, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, salt, pepper and cilantro. We left out rice and cheese. Now for this one, we felt that the filling wasn't sturdy enough. It definitely needs a binder, we thought either a rice or maybe even a shredded potato; But flavor wise, it was my favorite just lacking the sturdiness of the binder

And for the 3rd filling.. we took the peppers, garlic, onion, mushrooms, beans, corn, diced tomatoes, green chili's, cilantro, and used Spanish rice. We left out the added herbs to see how they affected the flavor. For both of us, the Spanish rice was too much. With it and the tomatoes that was all you tasted, and leaving out the herbs didn't help. The texture was good, but the flavors needed enhanced.
Obviously you cool the fillings and prepare as listed in the first variation, I just didn't want to take the time to fill that all out again ha-ha! Overall, we were very happy, infact are going to take a huge batch to work tomorrow =). I made a guacamole to go with mine. Fresh avocado, homemade salsa, cilantro, salt and pepper all mixed together.
I hope someone takes them on. They were easy, alot of fun and very tasty. We enjoyed the entire process and definitely the final outcome!!
Thanks for a great fun event!!

I want my..baby back..baby back..baby back ribs!!!

I have nothing against veggies, I love them in fact..But there is just something about hunks of meat, tender juicy meat. I would become a vegetarian easily if it wasn't the fact that I love me some meat ha-ha. And here is the first slab of the season. My husband found that I had 1 slab left in the freezer, and has been waiting peacefully for me to make them. I had to wait for a day off, because for my method it takes a few hours to make them. I must say, one of the best things I got out of school..was the rib day in Meat Cutting class. Our Chef came in with a case of baby backs, and a case of spare ribs and we set out to make a slew of sauces and grill some ribs. There were several different ways we were shown about how to make them. But this is my favorite. Well 1 of them.. there is another, but I have been using this one more.
So, I don't so much have a recipe because I have taken to shaking a little of this and a little of that on them. Usually toward the end, just before grilling I slather them with which ever BBQ sauce I have on hand and get em going. For me grilling them is strictly for flavor, it caramelizes that sauce, gets them a little crispy and a bit of that smokiness from the coals. But tonight, its rainy and I switched it up a bit.

So here is what I do for mine:Preheat oven to 375.
Line a Jelly roll pan with foil. (that just happens to be the one I use.. any sheet pan will work)
Take your slab ( you can fit 2 easily.. maybe 3 depending on the size of your sheet pan. Try not to overlap them though) and place meat side up.
Season with your choice of seasonings. I use on a regular basis...Salt, pepper, pepper flakes, Paprika, a spicy garlic bread rub I have (sounds weird, but its got great flavor..garlic, peppers, herbs.. all the stuff I enjoy haha). Its really up to you, add as much or as little heat as you like.
Take another piece of foil and seal the ribs, make sure the foil covers the entire pan. You want the steam from the juices to stay in with the ribs.

Cook in the center of your oven, for about 2-3 hrs, depending on size and amount of ribs. If your oven runs hot, start checking about the 1.5 hr mark. I take my tongs and lift one side, to see if they start to pull away from the bones. You want that tender falling apart rib. If ..like me.. You plan to grill them, you want to pull them out before they are falling off the bone, or you will loose the rib meat on the grill..and that is simply blasphemy. When they are ready, pull them out and have your grill heated. I use a coal grill, so when I see them getting close, I get it heated. The ribs can sit in their sauce until the grill is ready. You will only use the grill for 15 min maybe 20. You will put your sauced up ribs on the grill to caramelize the sauce, keep them heated and get that great flavor. Watch them so they don't burn, they should be about falling from the bone at this point. The grill will finish that off for you =).

Now tonight, with the rain, I decided to do something different. I did the usual until the end. I took a bit of grape jelly, honey, Teriyaki sauce and pepper flakes. I heated in the microwave for about 20 seconds to get all melted and thinned out. I basted the ribs the last 30 mins of cooking with the foil off. I probably had about 2 tbsp of honey, 4 Tbsp of the jelly and 3-4 shakes of the teriyaki sauce. I do something similar to this with chicken which we love. The out come was the fantastically sticky, finger licken good glaze on the ribs. Tender and oh so tasty!! I paired them with some Lipton Teriyaki noodles and some veggies. It was soo yummy I just had to post about them ;).

Banana Bread Bake off!!

Who Doesn't like Banana bread? I mean I know there are a few out there, but for the most part I think everyone likes that super moist sweet bread often studded with nuts. When I saw the bake off event up hosted by Not Quite Nigella I couldn't pass up the chance to play with some banana bread. The only problem with these events are that my mind gets going with what I can come up with to impress people or to be different. Mostly to be different. I love to play with flavors and take something simple slightly over the top. So what can I do with banana bread? Chocolate of course, but thats a typical thought, or I can do a peanut butter one..but again to me that is pretty typical, mainly because I love Peanut butter and banana's together. Fine lets get a look in the freezer where I keep my stash so its always on hand. What is left?? a ton of peanut butter chips..(how the hell did I end up with 4 bags of those???) and butterscotch chips. (crap not even chocolate chips, I need to get shopping soon ha-ha). Well what about nuts what do I have?? Hazel nuts.. don't use them!! You know that the second you do you will need them so leave those alone. Pecans..and Macacadamia nuts. So I thought what to make? Well caramel and banana's go pretty well, and butterscotch is a caramel flavor. So I decided on doing Butterscotch Macadamia nut Banana bread. I pulled out a few recipes I had to see which I thought would be best and settled on the one to tweak.

Butterscotch Macadamia Nut Banana Bread:

2 1/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 lrg eggs
1 1/3 c mashed ripe banana
3 tbsp sour cream
3/4 c chopped macadamia nuts
1 1/2 c butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350, Spray a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with non stick pan spray. (ok I used my largest pan and I will say there was a ton of batter!! If I had them ready I would have divided the batter between 2 pans.)
Into a bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda and the salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the sugar, beat in the vanilla, the eggs, 1 at a time, the banana and the sour cream. Add the flour mixture ( I kept about 1/4 of a cup of the flour mixture in the bowl and added the nuts and chips to it, to help them stay up in the batter and not sink), beat the batter until it is just combined, and stir in the nuts and chips. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake the bread in the middle of the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the bread on a rack. Cooled bread can be wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil, chilled for 1 wk or frozen for 1 month.

I put off baking the bread until the 3rd. Kept rethinking and making sure I really liked the idea. I was able to get it made a few hours before work (those lucky lucky people whom get all my treats!). So I got my 3 pics and took it in for the taste test. Mind you I have never made it with this combo before and didn't even taste it myself yet ha-ha. They saw it from a distance. I walked into the hospital and 3 of them waiting for the shift said "YAY what did you bring us????" I said "You will see ". I had to drop some off in our diet office (they demand to be served first lol) and the rest to the kitchen. They jumped on it. I had nothing but "oh my god what is in this bread" It was gone so fast, and I barely got a small piece of this amazingly moist and oh so tasty banana bread. I will tell you that this may be the ONLY recipe I will make from now on, It was awesome. They all wanted the recipe and more banana bread!! Hope you all enjoy it if you make it, it is definitely one of my new favorites =).
Thanks for the chance to create it!!

April Challenge: CheeseCake Popsapalooza!!

This months Challenge comes to us DBer's from Elle of Feeding my Enthusiasms and Deborah of Taste and Tell ,They Gave us CheeseCake Pops. How fun are these??
Of course, I was perplexed. With such an open use of creativity I had no idea what way to go with them. So many ideas were running through my head. What could I coat them in, what could I stuff them with. My gosh the things a person could do with this challenge. Well again, what do I do. Of course it took me most of the month to decide what to do, leaving me with really only 1 day to do it all in. I came home from work, and started the batch at 9pm. Figuring the next day I could scoop and roll.. freeze and then dip. I knew the Hubby wasn't going to eat them (again picky ass he is..) So to work they would go. And I thought, man 1 batch will not be enough for work, and the hell I will get from the people whom didn't get any. So the next day, I made another batch. Thats right, 2 batches. The first already set in the fridge, made exactly as the recipe states. No alterations, I just used vanilla for the base flavor. Since I did that, I figured I would play with the other batch. I divided the batter, 1 pan I added Almond extract, the other I added peppermint oil, and chopped up peppermint patties; And into the oven they went. I have to say, my biggest problem is that I let myself do far too many ideas. I ended spending so very many hours working on these today, my only day off, and I am exhausted!! But I am happy, I think they came out great and am sure work will love them tomorrow.Now, what kind are they you ask? In all I have 7 varieties. I took the first batch, filled 1/4 with pieces of chopped Peanut butter cups then coated them with peanut butter candy coating and bits of those same cups, I took another 1/4 and filled that with chopped up snickers bar coated with milk chocolate candy coating, 1/4 was rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs and drizzled with chocolate candy coating, and the last 1/4 was rolled in simple graham cracker crumbs and drizzled in chocolate. The next batch I took the peppermint pan, rolled it and dipped it in dark chocolate mint candy coating and sprinkled with chopped up peppermint patties, the other pan was divided, 1/2 was rolled plain and dipped in dark chocolate, the last 1/2 I rolled with chopped up Maraschino cherries dipped in dark chocolate then sprinkled with chopped almonds.
There you go, my Cheesecake Popsapalooza..and the name..well I never thought I would get done ha-ha!
With out further ado, the recipe:

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Over all, it really was very simple, very tasty and quite fun to do. Just do not do like me and think you can make 125 cheesecake pops in 1 day, its very hard for 1 person ha-ha!
And work, they loved them!! Recipes all around and raves. What a fantastic Recipe! I loved them!!

My New Timer!!!

With all the Cupcake Hero's I have been doing, I wont deny that I find myself looking for cupcakes everywhere I turn. How can one not look for those cute little confections anywhere they go?? So at work the other day, I went into the gift shop, and what do I see?? Only the MOST adorable kitchen time ever!! And its Green ...my favorite color!! I just had to share it with everyone!!
I know, I know..It looks like an Ice Cream cone.. But I swear .. Packaging says CUPCAKE!! And thats what I say!! ha-ha, I like it anyway!

On a sad note.. I didn't get the Cupcake Hero done this month =(. Not only could I not come up with something worthy of the Ingredient of choice, I simply didn't have the time =(. I just barely got the Challenge done, and that took me all day today ha-ha. But, I still can't wait to see what everyone came up with!!

Cinnamon Chips with Fruit Salsa

Once a month, My weekend has a carry in at work. I always try to bring something interesting and different. This weekend was hard, I usually know right away what I want to make, I could com up with nothing. I thought to do the Challenge..but am still torn on how I want to do it, I could do my Cupcake hero, but I must confess, I have NO idea what to do for that this month. So I went to work, Saturday perplexed trying to figure out what everyone else was going to do on Sunday so that maybe something would come to mind.
What did I find out you ask..that no one else had a clue at what they were going to bring either. Sigh, I can't not bring anything, I always have cool stuff, what the heck am I going to do???
I sat at the desk and started browsing random recipe sites, in hopes for ideas, but man I didn't even know if I wanted to do a dessert or something savory. How could I be at such a loss???
Then I see something that catches my eye...fruit salsa..hmm what is this??
So I look at it, and a couple different ones, and become intrigued. Hmm..I think I may have found it. I tested the chips that were with it, omg, they are soo good!! and decided to take the recipe and kind of make it my own. It was soo good and refreshing, and apparently addicting!!
So I give you,
Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips :

For the chips:

Flour tortilla's
Cinnamon
Granulated Sugar
Melted butter

Heat oven to 350. Mix Granulated sugar and Cinnamon to choice of flavor. Take tortilla and brush each side with melted butter, cut into strips or small triangles with a pizza cutter. Dredge each piece into the cinnamon/sugar mixture and place on sheet tray. ( I used a large tray with holes). Bake a single layer for 8-10 min, or until lightly toasted. Put in bowl. Continue with desired amount of tortilla's.
I did mine the day before, they kept, super crispy over night, I brought the left overs home to see how long they will keep crisp! They are so very good, and am considering playing with variations ;)...garlic herb butter and Parmesan cheese is gonna be the next one I think!

For the Salsa:

1 pint Strawberries, Rinsed, and finely chopped
2 fugi apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1/4 of a pineapple, finely chopped
4 kiwi, peeled and finely diced
the zest of half an orange
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
couple sprigs of mint, chopped
(I had a half a pineapple, that I just used the other 1/4 for something else)
*I changed the fruit from the recipe that I found, and added the zest & mint. I am sure you can use any mix of fruits and or zest that you like.

Mix all ingredients together and chill over night. Let sit at room temp just before serving. Serve with Cinnamon chips.

See its super easy, and very tasty. I was very pleased!!

Strawberry Blueberry Muffins..

In the mood for Blueberry muffins, I pulled out my mother in laws recipe that I got a few years ago. I got into my stash of frozen blue berries, and found that I only had about 1 cup of them. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups. So I thought hmm what to add, why not Strawberries!! Since I did have some sitting around, they weren't that sweet ripe they should be, but they weren't bad and the flavors of the muffin should sweeten them up =). So I cut up another 1/2 cup of strawberries and put them both in the freezer to wait until I was ready for them. I also added the zest of one Orange to the liquid ingredients, how can you go wrong with good citrus zest ;).
The Recipe is very simple, and oh so tasty, I am thinking any fruit or berry would be quite wonderful in them, and intend on playing with them. Sadly I planned on using this wonderful Cinnamon sprinkle I have from pampered chef on them in place of the sugar..but...I even forgot the sugar!! NOO!!! I ran to the kitchen and the timer beeped..sigh no chance now lol well next time!
SO with out further ado... I give you

Strawberry Blueberry Muffins..

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter milk (or I used 1 tblsp lemon juice and filled the rest with milk to make my own )
2 eggs, beaten
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries ** ok here is where I did 1 cup berries and 1/2 cup strawberries chopped =) I would say 1 1/2 cups fruit or berries!
zest of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 400, paper 2 12 ct cupcake pans.
Sift dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Make a well, add buttermilk, eggs, butter and zest. Mix well. Fold in berries. Fill muffin papers half full. Top with sugar. Bake at 400 for about 15- 20 min. Mine took 15min so depends on the oven I would say.

See, super easy, and very yummy!!
Enjoy!sigh.. I need to take better pics =( they just don't do these yummy muffins justice lol.

Strawberry Seduction

When I saw the link for this event, I knew then that I had to come up with something. Who couldn't want to be Seduced by Strawberries. And Reading about Mike's 6lb's of Berries just made me want to come up with something even more. Of course, it took until almost the last day to get anything made. I wanted so much to be original and creative, I mulled over a couple different idea's and really want to make my version of Strawberry Risotto, but seeing as I am still trying to figure out how to put it together and not having the cash to make and remake til it is perfect right now, I settled for something a tid bit simpler. I browsed on line, and printed a slew of recipes just hoping to decide what to make. It has to be good enough for Strawberry Seduction of course. Well I am a Pie fan, and love me some crumb pie. So I decided on a Strawberry Crumb Pie, but, instead, it would be a tart, a nice 11 inch tart. and the urge to take this to work tomorrow is there, but damn I think I am just going to keep this one for myself.

Strawberry Crumb Tart:

Crust:
1 stick of butter
3 oz cream cheese
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
pinch of salt

Crumb topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
(ok I can't put something else in this, so I had a few sprinkles of my Pampered Chef cinnamon and Carmel sprinkles into this, they just sounded too good.)

Filling:

6 cups(2 lbs) quartered strawberries
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 tsp fresh lemon joice
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (OMG!!! I just literally realized while it is baking that my dumb dumb ass did teaspoons not tablespoons..dang it dang it dang it..its gonna be soupy =( sigh )
1/4 tsp grated orange zest

In the bowl of a food processor combine butter and cream cheese and process until smooth. Add flour and salt and process just until mixture comes together to form a ball. Remove dough from the processor and shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.


While the pie crust is chilling, prepare the crumb topping. Combine the 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour and the oatmeal in a small bowl and toss to combine. ( I added the sprinkles stuff to this part ). Add the melted butter and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Working on a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough out to a thickness of 1/8 inch and fit it into a 10- 11 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Return pie crust to the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Then blind bake until lightly golden, about 18 minutes. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool while you assemble the filling. Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl combine the strawberries with the sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch and toss to combine. Spoon the filling into the prepared crust and spread the crumb topping evenly over the top of the filling. Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour or until filling is bubbly and crust and crumb topping are golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool to room temp before serving.

I will tell you, the filling is awesome, I kept picking at the strawberries cause they were soo good lol and it smells amazing, and soon I will know how good it is lol. It looks fantastic though!! and hehe yes its pretty damn good too!! damn was today a great productive day!!
Now ..hmm I still have a few Berries left, wonder if I can pull something else off before tomorrow ha-ha!

Well I did, and why do 2 posts when I can just add to this one. I had about 15 berries left, and decided to try to roast them. And why just roast them? heck stuff some too.
Of course, I either have a big dish or a small dish, so I chose the small dish and fit about a dozen berries in it. I took about 2 Tblsp unsalted butter and melted it in my dish. I then split a vanilla bean and scraped the seeds into that. I took each strawberry cut a little bit off the tip and the trimmed the top. Cut out the center so I had a small center to stuff. In half the strawberries I place 2-4 bittersweet chocolate chips, the others I sprinkled with orange zest. I then sprinkled 2 tbsp of brown sugar over all the berries, and a sprinkle of the Pampered chef sprinkles as well. I placed the cut vanilla bean on top and place in a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 min. Watch them, you want them soft and slumping, but not burnt.
Pull them out of the oven and let them sit to cool for about 20 min. Gently scoop out the berries and pour the juices into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until thick and syrupy. I kept the vanilla bean pod in it until the end for ultimate flavor. Pour over Berries and enjoy =). After eating this one, the Bittersweet chocolate was oh my gosh intense!! good but almost too intense for more than maybe 2 berries in a sitting, the orange were soo yummy!! over some pound cake, who needs traditional short cake anymore?? Not me. Both would be great over Vanilla Ice Cream as well, just barely warm so they melt it a bit..mmm...WOohoo Thanks Mike!! this was tons of fun!!
Woohoo...2 entries, am so proud ha-ha!

The Perfect Cake...March Challenge!

YAY!!! First how excited was I to get to make a cake?? I love to make cakes, and decorate them. True, Decembers challenge was a cake, but it was the holidays, and just impossible to tackle. This one I was most excited, and we had so much we could do with it. Morven chose this fantastic recipe for us, Courtesy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours. Seeing some other items in a popular event Tuesday's with Dorie, I may have to go find this book! I will say the only link that I really have for it comes from Quirky Cupcake. If she is not the actual even holder do let me know cause I am unsure where to go to get much info on it, I just go there often as I am addicted to Cupcake Hero! ha-ha. OK, sorry for that little off track switch up back to CAKE!!! I being not a raspberry fan, set out to find a filling I wanted to try. And since I really wanted to make it good, I wanted something different and homemade.
I took a few days, and then I came across a recipe for Gingered Lime Curd. OMG!! how pretty would that be? Bright White cake with a contrast of Bright Green curd. and mm soo tasty to boot. So that is what I am gonna make, and did. And what else?? ohh I can just make it as my St. Patrick's Day treat and use my 4 leaf clover cookie cutter and the fantastic green glitter sent to me in my BBM from Angel's Bento Blog. (ok so apparently I had the urge to link as many people as possible in the challenge blog this month, go see em all, they kick ass lol). The down fall is that I couldn't actually make it until Easter...since it was my only day off to do it. But it was all in the heart of St. Patty's day!! The curd I made the day before, and have posted below for another event, Tasty tools. How perfect was that?? It is super good, tangy and a bit sweet and just yummy. I couldn't wait to taste it in the cake!!
So I started my day making the cake, true, I slept in, first day off in so long, I did sleep until about 11am. So after IM's with a great friend and emails, I got my tush into the kitchen. Prepped the pans and ingredients and had at it. It really was a fairly simple recipe. Nothing too time consuming, and easy to read and follow, the process over all made me quite happy. And the batter hehe....its one tasty batter. Oh come on you all can't tell me you didn't at least lick the spoon. I for one couldn't resist, knowing the lemon was in there I had to have a little taste!!
The cake's baked up nicely and quickly. And while the cooled, I set out to make the Icing. Now, the cake was good, pretty white, fluffy. But the Icing, now I know I made it in school..but I do not remember it being so amazingly fluffy and tasty? It's so not that have buttercreme one is used to. It is fantastic. I love it! Took a little time, with the beating until cool, but let me tell you, it was so worth it, I will most likely use this as my basic Buttercreme recipe from now on, it was just that great. Not too sweet, not heavy ..just wonderful!! The Whiteness was amazing as well, all that butter, and vanilla and lemon, and its white!! Fantastic I tell you.
So with out further Ado...I give you:
The Perfect Cake:
Words from Dorie
Stick a bright-coloured Post-it to this page, so you’ll always know where to turn for a just-right cake for any celebration. The original recipe was given to me by my great dear friend Nick Malgieri, of baking fame, and since getting it, I’ve found endless opportunities to make it – you will too. The cake is snow white, with an elegant tight crumb and an easygoing nature: it always bakes up perfectly; it is delicate on the tongue but sturdy in the kitchen – no fussing when it comes to slicing the layers in half or cutting tall, beautiful wedges for serving; and, it tastes just as you’d want a party cake to taste – special. The base recipe is for a cake flavoured with lemon, layered with a little raspberry jam and filled and frosted with a classic (and so simple) pure white lemony hot-meringue buttercream but, because the elements are so fundamental, they lend themselves to variation (see Playing Around), making the cake not just perfect, but also versatile.

For the Cake
2 ½ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.
Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.
It is definitely a versatile cake. You can do just about anything with it. The lemon in it is light enough that all it does is enhance anything else added to it. I will make sure to add this to my make again and test other flavors out, how could I not?? After the tasting at work, I definitely going to try to make this with a Tequila syrup for the cakes..and one co-worker said " Man I know the idea of Beer and cake is just wrong, but a Corona would go perfectly with this cake, the lime, cake and a Corona Perfect!! " lol Thanks Morven for a great challenge!!

Tasty Tools!

So how Ironic is it that the monthly challenge is right around the corner, and in the process of thinking of what I want to add to it, I come across the recipe I have been wanting to try, but nothing to put it with. But this cake let it be possible, and then I see this event, How Perfect!! Gingered Lime Curd will be wonderful, as Most of the time I am grating a dozen limes and some fresh Ginger. Sounds like a grater event to me and Thought use it for TastyTools! . So I decided it needs to sit in the fridge over night, might as well get it made before work.
Now I have to admit, I read the recipe a couple times, but didn't think about how long grating that many limes could take, and the cramped hand involved. But the scent in my kitchen ..mmm I never realized just how yummy Limes smelled, it was heavenly and tropical and it helped me forget the damn 2 inches of snow that fell over night, in March mind you. But, once all grated I was ready to juice such limes. Dang it where is that stinking Juicer?? yea, I forgot the amount of time it takes to find those little things you don't use that often. But a good 10 min and I found it and set out to juice them, again...wonderful smelling Limes. I am so going to look for some lime air freshener now ha-ha.
I have all the items ready to go, and I reread it, thinking shouldn't there be cornstarch or something, I mean its curd, similar to the lemon we did for the Pie right? Well maybe this one is just different. I was thinking I would have this wonderful Bright Green filling to stand against the whiteness of the cake; and as I follow the directions and I whisk away I realize, its not so much a curd as Pastry Cream. Thats what I am making, wonderful Lime pastry cream. So it wasn't that bright green, but still it smelled wonderful and looked oh so creamy. I then realize, I am to strain it, noo I don't want to. All that wonderful zest, I want it in the cream but I know I have to incase there are any little bits of cooked egg grr. Fine, I will follow the recipe do as it says, tweak it later if I can.
The cooking takes literally no more than 10 minutes it came together so quick! I guess the hard part was just getting everything together. And of course, once I am done straining it, I can't not lick the tart cream of the spatula. So tart and quite a lovely color and woohoo green specs, some of the zest made it through the strainer !! YAY!!! Now to let it sit until I make the cake, so You only get to see the cream itself, not in use until the Challenge post, But that will be wonderful!!
What a great way to start the day, sleep in late, Get up make Lime Pastry Curd!

Ginger Lime Curd:
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup grated lime peel (from about 12 limes)
1 Tbsp grated peeled fresh ginger
pinch of salt
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

Whisk eggs, yolks, sugar, lime juice, lime peel, ginger and salt in a large metal bowl to blend.
Place bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch simmering water); whisk constantly until curd thickens, about 8 minutes. Remove bowl from over simmering water, whisk butter into curd. Strain through fine strainer set over bowl; discard solids in strainer. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd; chill overnight. (curd can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
Great event Joelen, can't wait to see the next tool you come up with!!

Pot Pie!!!

Ok I think I made it in time. I so wanted to make pot pie. The hubby doesn't like them so I never ever get them. And in my thought process of Pot pies, and searches for ideas, I realized that I couldn't really make just 1 little pot pie, that would be a waste, so needed to make something he might eat. So I thought and searched for ideas. And what I came up with was..A Pizza Pot Pie! How could one who LOVES pizza not try this?? Of course, the other problem is that I am working soooo very much, and really had no time to make it. I pulled off the last day of the event. The morning before work. Hoping to eat it before I left, cause well I would get nothing else to eat. SO for my submission for Mini Pie Revolution: Pot Pies I give you The Pizza Pot Pie!
I must say, I am quite pleased. I was bummed thinking damn I need to make pizza dough, and really no time, I thought of cheating and going to just buy pre-made dough, then it hit me, I have tart dough in the freezer! woot for me being smart for once and freezing half my dough ha-ha.
it was very simple to do, and for my life at the moment I need simple. And I did cheat on 1 thing, I used some jar pasta sauce. I just couldn't bring myself to pull that off and get it posted before work. But its so very simple and super good.
Pizza Pot Pie:
2 tbsp garlic flavored olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1 cup Italian sausage, browned and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup baby spinach
2 cups grated Italian cheese blend, mozzarella, provolone etc..
1 cup sliced pepperoni
your favorite pastry or pizza dough
your favorite pasta sauce

Preheat oven to 350. On a sheet pan, prep your ramekins or bowls. I got 3 mini pots. Spray with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
Saute onion and mushrooms in olive oil. once starting to soften, add in the sausage.
once sausage is heated through, add spinach and heat to wilted and mixed with the oil. add olives and pepperoni. Heat til hot. Add about half the jar of sauce to pan and bring to simmer. Put about a big scoop of filling into each bowl. top with shredded cheese, and then more filling. Top with more cheese.
Roll out your dough, and top each pot with a thin round. Making sure its stretched over the pot and sticks to the side.
I brushed mine with more garlic olive oil, then sprinkled with salt, pepper and a spicy garlic bread blend that I have.
Put in hot oven.
Bake 30 min, til bubbly and golden brown.Now, keep in mind I used Pastry dough, which means lots of butter. So when I first looked in on them, I thought the dough was melting off the little pots lol. It stopped but still, so don't freak out, and I actually liked the flakiness of the dough over what the pizza dough would bring. It was quite tasty, and definitely warrants a bit of play time on different variations!
Am so glad I pulled off getting this made!!

A Birthday Treat!!

So what do you ask was the other project of the day? I had friend at work as me to make her something chocolate and peanut butter for her birthday. So I told her if I had time I would, and how could I not? So I spent the last few days going through some new cookbooks. Ok I love to bake, really bake anything, but with 2 jobs atm, I won't deny that if I can cut some corners using mixes to help me I will. So I picked up a couple cake mix books, to see if anything interesting stood out. And I saw this Peanut butter cookie pizza cake. I couldn't pass that up. SO thats what I made. its very simple and looks pretty tasty. And it used a great combo of simple things helping make the busy day not too bad.
Peanut Butter Cookie Pizza Cake:

1 package(18 oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 package (about 18 oz) chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare the mix
1 cup vanilla frosting
1/2 cup peanut butter
1-2 tbsp milk
1 container (16 oz) chocolate frosting
chocolate peanut butter cups, chopped (optional)
peanut butter chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat two 12/1 inch round pizza pans with nonstick cooking spray. Press cookie dough evenly into one pan. Bake 15-20 min or until edges are golden brown. Cool cookie in pan 20 minutes. Remove from pan, cool completely on wire rack.
2. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Fill second pan 1/4 to half full with batter. (reserve remaining cake batter for another use ..I Made a little cake for the hubby.) Bake 10-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 15 minutes. gently remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.
3. Combine vanilla frosting and peanut butter in small bowl. Gradually stir in milk, 1 tbsp at a time, until mixture is of spreadable consistency.
4. Place cookie on serving plate. Spread peanut butter frosting over cookie. Place cake on top of cookie. Frost top and side of cake with chocolate frosting. Garnish with peanut butter chips and chopped peanut butter cups. Ok I forgot to get the peanut butter cups ha-ha, but the chips I got, and I wrote happy birthday with some of the vanilla frosting. I am sure she will love it, and I think it looks pretty tasty myself!! and am already of thinking of other variations..S'mores or Birthday cake with sugar cookie dough and strawberry and such. MMM! Enjoy it sometime!!

An Easter Breakfast..err..Lunch?

Yes, my first day off in 18 days, and where was I?? In the kitchen..all day long in fact. I spent the Morning Baking the Challenge for this month. (Its wonderful can't wait to post on it!!! soon so soon..). And then It was time to get some food. I have been Craving Blueberry Pancakes. So thats what I did. I cheated, though and while at the store the other day picked up a box of Blueberry pancake mix. I know I know, scratch woman scratch! But I knew today was going to be busy, and wanted to make it a bit simple on myself. I had Blueberries in the freezer, and really just wanted the sauce to go on them. I put about a cup of berries in a pot on the stove. A bit of sugar..of course, sprinkle of my favorite cinnamon mix and a bit of flour to thicken (ran out of cornstarch and forgot haha...damn lemon meringue pies!!!). Bring to a simmer...turn down, smoosh the berries a bit so there is a mix of textures and mmm tasty berries, and wow would these be great on cheese cake, so gonna be made this summer I think.
and what is that bit of glare over them?? Steam..thats right I caught steam right off the hot blueberry sauced pancakes!! It was so hard to not just stop with the pictures and eat right then lol but I knew I needed to post them and wanted them good. and how could I not post the picture with steam in it?? I just made some brown sugar sausage links and eggs to go with them. It was definitely a great breakfast, and a great break between finishing the challenge and taking on my next project of the day.

Blog Party: Pizza!!

So, this is my first Blog Party. And honestly, no clue if I did it right, or if I even know what I am doing. What I do know is I have wanted to make Pizza for soo long and this was the perfect opportunity. The down fall, I am exhausted, am on my 17th day straight of work, and another day to go before thoughts of a day off. So I didn't get the cool pics I wanted, cause well I was just too tired to come up with them. But damn it I made Pizza!!
My husband plays on a Pool League, and one night while with him we had a taco pizza, and he loved it and It was ok to me, but I thought hey I can do much better I am sure ;). So with the chance to make pizza that is what I did. I made my own Taco Pizza. Dough, meat, cheese sauce, cheese, olives, tomatoes, all the fixings. Good?? why yes it was, damn tasty in fact and I will definitely make this again. He loved it. Now I read that I was also to have a cocktail. Well, here is the problem. All the hubby wanted was Beer ha-ha. He said If we have pizza we have beer, cocktails are for another night. So I treated him to his favorite beer. So we have Taco Pizza and Beer. I had a cool collage I did do in Photo shop..for some reason, it only shows up blue =(. So I am just gonna put up some pics.Ok, well, sadly my excitement has died with mass photo shop frustrations. Everything I put together in there now comes out blue when I attempt to post it =(. So this is all I have for pics now which really kinda sucks lol. The Pizza was great so I guess that is what matters!!

Taco Pizza:
Favorite Pizza dough
Favorite Taco meet
Cheese sauce with salsa
sliced black olives
chopped tomatoes
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce

(yes, I even gave up on the finishing of the recipe, just that bummed and tired lol)

Press your dough into your greased pizza pan. Bake about 10min. Pull out of oven, spread the salsa cheese sauce onto hot dough to desired thickness. Layer with Taco meat ( I use Lawrys taco seasoning, is my favorite.) then Shredded cheese. Top with olives and tomatoes. Put back in 400 degree oven for 15min until dough is browned, cheese is melted and bubbly.
Bring out and top with lettuce. Let sit for about 5 min to let crust stiffen up and slice. I served it with sour cream and New Castle.
It was a very tasty PIzza, I hope my frustrations stop no one from trying it =).
I used a simple PIzza dough recipe, just didn't have the time to post it and am too tired at this point. lol have a great Party!!