P B & J Cake

October 13, 2014 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

I made this dessert once before and it is actually the recipe that, a couple years ago, prompted me to start cutting out and organizing recipes I thought looked good from magazines. I wanted to make this cake a second time and COULD NOT remember what issue of what magazine I’d seen it in. Turns out it was the June 2010 issue of Cuisine at Home. That recipe is now neatly clipped and filed in the dessert section of a spiral notebook and is marked with 4 stars. It looks enough like a PB&J sandwich to fool some people. And it’s what was for dessert tonight.

Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups whole milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 stick butter at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

6 eggs at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 350. Generously grease the bottom of 2 loaf pans.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, and salt and set aside. Combine milk and vanilla and set aside. Cream peanut butter, butter, and white and brown sugar in a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium high speed for 5 minutes until well combined. Add eggs to the creamed mixture one at a time beating well after each addition.

Alternately add flour and milk to creamed mixture beating after each addition just until mixed, scraping the sides of the bowl when necessary.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake 50 minutes. If cakes are browning too much on the sides after 50 minutes loosely tent with foil and bake 10-15 minutes more until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cakes rest in pans on a wire rack for about 20 minutes then turn them out to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Icing

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 stick butter at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar sifted

1/4 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat peanut butter and butter at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and beat just until smooth and creamy.

Assemble your sandwiches. Slice the cake loaf.

Spread a slice with a generous amount of peanut butter icing and jam of your choosing (I used my homemade strawberry jam). Put a second slice of cake on top, just like making a PB&J sandwich, and enjoy! Great with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee.

After the first time I made this cake my daughter bought me a cake pan shaped like a slice of bread. Today I baked one loaf pan of batter and the slice of bread shaped pan with the other half of the batter. I assembled the slice of bread cake by trimming off the top to level the cake and slicing it in half and spreading the icing and jam in the center. I’ll have to share that with friends…it’s a lot of cake! (The jam on this cake is a tart cherry).

Chili Rellenos with Roasted Pepper and Tomato Sauce

October 11, 2014November 10, 2014 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

On one of our first visits to Santa Fe New Mexico we had Chili Rellenos at a place on the square called the LaFonda. It became an immediate favorite dish at a favorite destination in a favorite town. It’s a dish with many interpretations, not all of them to my liking. I came across a recipe that I tweaked a bit and though it’s something I rarely make it’s something we really enjoy! The preparation is a bit tedious but the end result is worth it. The first thing I do is make the sauce.

Roasted Pepper and Tomato Sauce

2 T olive oil

3 red, yellow or orange sweet peppers roasted and diced

1 large sweet yellow onion diced

3-4 cloves of garlic roasted

1 pint jar (or 14.5 oz can fire roasted) tomatoes

1/4 cup diced cilantro

1 T honey

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Halve the sweet peppers and remove the seeds and stem. Rub with a little olive oil and, along with the garlic, roast on a foil covered sheet pan for 20-30 minutes until peppers are blistered. Remove from oven and put peppers and garlic in a bowl and cover with Saran Wrap. Wait until the peppers are completely cool and peel and rough dice peppers and squeeze roasted garlic from their skins. Meanwhile heat 2 T of olive oil in a heavy skillet. Rough dice onions and add onions, peppers, and garlic to hot oil and simmer 10-15 minutes until tender. Add tomatoes and cook until thickened and reduced. Put tomato mixture in the food processor along with the cilantro. Pulse a few times. Stir in the honey and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and hold at room temperature to serve with the chilies.

Rellenos

5-6 pablano peppers

2 1/2 cups chickpeas

2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 1/2 cups goat cheese

1/4-1/2 cup cilantro

1 bottle of beer

1/2 c flour

3 eggs

1 cup corn meal

peanut oil for deep frying

Roast the whole peppers in a 400 degree oven until skins are blistered, 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven, put in a bowl and cover with Saran Wrap. Set aside until completely cooled. Put chick peas, shredded Monterey Jack, goat cheese, and cilantro in a food processor and pulse until well blended. Remove cheese mixture and shape to resemble the pablano peppers.

Leaving the stems intact remove skins from the pablano peppers, slit on one side and remove seeds and membranes. Place peppers on paper towel to drain. Place cheese mixture inside of the peeled and cleaned pepper and, using your hands, shape to seal around the filling.

Heat oil in a heavy kettle or Dutch oven to 400. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature. With a whisk lightly beat the 3 eggs in a medium size bowl. Whisk in the beer. Put the corn meal in a shallow bowl or on a plate and do the same with the flour. Once the oil is at the appropriate temperature dip the stuffed pepper into the flour, then into the beer/egg mixture and then the cornmeal. Deep fry until golden on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate. Serve with the roasted pepper and tomato sauce and guacamole if you choose.

Chili Rellenos with homemade refried beans. It’s what was for dinner tonight.

TIP: I always shred my cheese versus purchasing it pre-shredded. It is more economical and there are no additives. And I think the cheese has much better flavor.

Cranberry Sauce – Three ways

October 10, 2014October 11, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

Cranberry sauce and poultry dishes just seem to go together. The sauce with whole berries is my favorite although I remember holidays when I was a child and my mother would get out the jellied cranberry sauce. She’d open both ends of the can and push the can shaped concoction onto a special dish and she would slice it. I think we liked it. We ate it. And I know a lot of other people who still favor the wiggly, sliceable stuff. Cranberries are not available year round where I live so this year I decided to can sauce to use year round. I also froze several bags for recipes like cranberry muffins or sweet potato crisp. I did cranberry sauce three different ways; plain cranberry sauce, spiced cranberry sauce with orange rind and cinnamon and cloves, and cranberry apple relish.

Simple Cranberry Relish

4 cups water

4 cups sugar

10 cups cranberries

Put your cranberries in a colander and wash them. Pick out the stems and any bad berries. In a large, heavy kettle combine sugar and water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cranberries and cook over medium heat for approximately 15 minutes without stirring until skins burst. Using a jar funnel ladle the sauce into sterilized pint jars, make sure the lips of the jars are wiped clean and put the two piece vacuum caps on your jars. Process in a water bath for 15 minutes making sure there are a couple inches of water over the jars. Put the jars on a heavy towel to cool. Pretty basic.

Apple Cranberry Relish

6 tart apples peeled, cored and diced

10 cups cranberries

3 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups golden raisins

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup cider vinegar

1 T cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cloves

In a large heavy kettle bring the sugar and water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Using a jar funnel ladle into pint jars leaving a 1/2 inch of head space. Make sure jar lips are wiped clean, fasten two piece vacuum lids and process in a water bath for 15 minutes. Put the jars on a heavy towel to cool.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

4 cups sugar

3 cups water

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

rind of one orange

2-3 whole cinnamon sticks

1 T whole cloves

10 cups cranberries

Combine sugar and water in a large heavy kettle and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Meanwhile remove orange peel with a sharp knife leaving as much of the white part on the orange. Cut the rind into very thin strips. Juice the oranges. If necessary add bottled orange to make one cup. Put the cloves in a mesh bag for easy removal. Add juice, rind, cinnamon sticks, cloves and berries to simmering sugar water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until berries burst.

Follow the steps outlined above to bottle the sauce. Process for 15 minutes in a water bath and cool jars on a heavy towel.

I think I will have to make chicken one night soon so I can enjoy a jar of cranberry sauce. Any one of these would be a good addition to a carton of yogurt or over a dish of vanilla ice cream. Or add a few tablespoons of sauce to a turkey or chicken sandwich.

Tuna Steaks with Caper-Olive Sauce

October 10, 2014November 10, 2014 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

I’ve always loved fish. I grew up eating awesome fresh water fish that my dad would catch; brook trout, coho salmon, rainbow trout, perch, bluegills, even smelt. I never had ahi tuna until I was an adult and it’s become one of my absolute favorites. Where I live it’s rare that I can find ahi tuna in any kind of grocery or specialty market so I’m always thrilled when I do find it. I was able to purchase some tuna recently and found a recipe that I had clipped from a magazine and it’s what was for dinner.

2 5-6 oz tuna steaks

olive oil and salt and pepper

Lightly rub the tuna steaks with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

For the sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup capers

1/4 cup pitted and sliced kalamata olives

2 T minced shallots

2 T minced fresh parsley

2 T fresh lemon juice

Mince the shallots and parsley. Slice the kalamata olives. And juice the lemon.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet. Once the oil begins to shimmer add the capers, olives and shallots. Simmer 3-4 minutes over medium/low heat. Remove from the heat. Just before serving stir in the lemon juice and parsley.

Heat a heavy skillet (I used a cast iron pan) over medium high heat. Sear the tuna steaks 3 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to dinner plates and spoon the caper-olive sauce over the tuna. Serve with a wedge of lemon. Hopefully you will remember to put the lemon wedges on the plates…I noticed mine when we had finished eating.

I served the tuna with oven roasted cauliflower with a cheddar/fontina cheese sauce.

This was a great dinner! I will definitely make this sauce again and think it would taste great on a salmon steak or mahi mahi.

TIP: Be careful not to overcook your tuna. It should be seared for a few minutes on either side and should be rare or medium rare in the center. If you overcook it you should just buy a can of tuna for a lot less money because that’s what it will taste like.

Stuffed Baby Eggplant

October 8, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

I grew up up eating meals of meat, potatoes and bread. The basics. Vegetables included peas (canned), corn and green beans. NO purple vegetables on our table. But it’s a brave new world. I can’t think of a vegetable I don’t love now and, in fact, enjoy meals that include NO meat, potatoes or bread. Tonight purple vegetables were what’s for dinner.

3 T olive oil

3-4 small eggplants

1 large onion diced

1 fennel bulb diced

1 cup diced baby portabellas

5-6 cloves of garlic minced

1 pint (14.5 oz can) diced tomatoes

2 T capers

1/2 cup asiago cheese grated

fresh parsley

fresh basil

red pepper flakes to taste

salt and pepper

1 cup homemade bread crumbs

1 T butter

Preheat oven to 375.

With a sharp knife halve the eggplants and, leaving a quarter inch or so of meat, hollow out the inside. Heat 2 T olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Sauté diced onion, fennel, mushrooms, eggplant and garlic until tender, 15-20 minutes.

Add tomatoes, pepper flakes, basil, capers and salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking until the tomatoes have cooked down. Remove from the heat and stir in the shredded asiago.

In a food processor prepare bread crumbs. After the bread crumbs are done add fresh parsley and pulse to incorporate parsley. Heat 1 T of butter over medium heat and toast the breadcrumbs.

I used individual casseroles but you can use one large casserole dish. Splash the remaining T of olive oil on the eggplant halves, season with salt and pepper, fill with the vegetable/tomato mixture and top each with some of the toasted bread crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy! This is perfect for lunch with a tossed salad. Or for a heartier meal serve with sausage and peppers. You could also add fresh spinach, diced celery, sweet bell pepper. Substitute diced pitted kalamata olives for the capers and feta cheese for the asiago.

TIP: I like to add fresh herbs and/or garlic to my bread crumbs. The herbs add great flavor and color to the bread crumbs. Add them in after the bread cubes have been thoroughly processed so they become incorporated but don’t lose their integrity.

Pulla – Finnish Cardamom Bread

October 6, 2014October 22, 2014 / featherheadlady / 5 Comments

Okay! It’s the Finnish Dish and finally! A real Finnish dish. My grandmother used to make it best. She would make several loaves at a time and we would enjoy a slice or two with coffee. Whole cardamom seeds are a must vs ground cardamom. This bread reminds me of the unique way my grandfather used to drink coffee. Grandma always made coffee on the stove top in a percolator. No Mr. Coffee, Bunns or Keurigs. So the coffee was VERY hot. My grandpa would pour coffee from his cup into his saucer, balance the saucer on one hand and drink it with a lump of sugar in his cheek and a slice of buttered pulla to go with his coffee. But I digress. Let’s make a loaf.

2 tsp dry yeast

3/4 cups plus 2 T milk

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 T sugar

1 T whole cardamom seeds

2 eggs beaten

4 T unsalted butter melted

egg glaze made with 1 egg yolk beaten with one T water

Sprinkle yeast over warmed milk and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center and pour in dissolved yeast. Use a wooden spoon to draw in enough flour to form a soft paste. Cover the bowl with a dishcloth and let it sit for 20 minutes until frothy and risen.

Add the sugar, cardamom seeds, beaten eggs, and melted butter to the flour well. Mix in the flour from the sides to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, shiny and elastic, about 10 minutes. Or you can knead in a mixer with a dough hook. After kneading put the dough in a buttered bowl, cover with a dish towel, and let it rise until doubled in size. About 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Punch down and let the dough rest 10 minutes. Divide into 3 equal pieces and roll to form 3 ropes (about 16 inches each). Attach the ropes and braid. Place on a buttered baking sheet, cover with a dish towel and proof until doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes.

Brush with egg glaze and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes until richly golden and hollow sounding when tapped from underneath. Cool on wire rack.

If you’re Finnish or grew up around people who were hopefully each slice will bring back happy memories. If you grew up eating challah it may remind you of that. Pulla makes great toast, French toast or grilled sandwiches.

I watched an awesome video recently of a French lady making a variety of braided breads. Some had three ropes, some four, some five… They all looked easy when she did them. I tried the one with four ropes that I thought I remembered. Well, I didn’t remember and after several failed attempts to make it look as awesome as hers I gave up and just did my best. Hence the irregular shape of my finished product. Next time I’ll stick with three ropes.

TIP: I was always told that when dissolving yeast the water/milk should be the temperature of a baby’s bath. If you’re unsure use a cooking thermometer. Yeast can be killed by temps of 130F or over. Ideal temp is approximately body temp, 98.6F.

Lemon Breaded Breast of Chicken

October 6, 2014 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

I have a dear friend who is famous for her lemon breaded chicken. She makes tons of it every year for her Fourth of July party and it’s one of the first things to go. I’ve never tried her special recipe because I know mine would never taste quite like hers. But today I decided to try my own variation and it was pretty darn good! I served it with Amish noodles in a creamy chicken sauce. It’s what was for dinner tonight.

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (cut each in 2 and butterfly)

2 T olive oil

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (home made are best)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 generous T lemon pepper

2 cloves fresh garlic

1/2 cup fresh parsley

salt and pepper

2 eggs

1 cup flour

2 T butter

4 lemon slices

Preheat your oven to 350.

Save your stale bread; that good crusty loaf that you didn’t finish makes the best bread crumbs for breading, topping Mac and cheese, etc etc. For this recipe cube your bread and run it through your food processor. After the first run through measure out 1 1/2 cups of crumbs and put them back into the processor along with the garlic cloves and parsley. Process once more and then put them onto a plate. Grate your Parmesan cheese and add it to the bread crumbs as well as the lemon pepper and toss to combine.

Get out a casserole dish and spread the olive oil in the bottom. Dip your chicken pieces first into the flour that you’ve added a little salt and pepper to, then the egg that you have lightly whisked, and finally the bread crumbs. I like to do this whole process with my hands but if you like you can use tongs and keep your fingers from getting gooped up. Lay the breaded chicken pieces in your greased casserole dish. Put a small pat of butter on top of each piece of chicken as well as a thin slice of lemon.

Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes or until chicken is 165 degrees. Bake time depends on the thickness of your chicken pieces but don’t over bake or your chicken will be dry.

I always like to have cranberry sauce with chicken dishes but I didn’t have any. That’s the next canning project! There will be plenty of fresh cranberries in the grocery soon and I’ll be grabbing up lots of those. The noodles sounded good tonight but any sides would go well with this dish.

Tip: I ended up with a few extra cups of breadcrumbs today. I put them in quart freezer bags, get as much of the air out as possible and I freeze them. I can take them out another time when I need them for topping a casserole or a vegetable dish. Just toast them on top of your stove in a skillet with a little butter. Good food is a terrible thing to waste.

Enjoy the chicken. I may have to invite my friend over to sample it next time I make it.

Lemon Poppyseed Loaf

October 6, 2014November 10, 2014 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

Today was a baking day. I found a recipe for lemon loaf and made some modifications including the poppy seeds. I remember having lemon poppy seed muffins frequently at the Courtland Room in Jacobsons and when I tasted this loaf it reminded me a lot of those muffins.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 T poppy seeds

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 T butter at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon extract

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 T lemon zest

1/2 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 350. With a hand mixer on low speed beat the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, lemon extract, and lemon juice until well combined. Whisk together dry ingredients including lemon zest and poppy seeds and gradually add to egg mixture beating on low until well combined. Add canola oil and mix well.

Pour batter into a greased 9×5″ loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. After 10 minutes or so invert the pan. Allow the loaf to cool completely before adding the glaze.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2 T milk or lemon juice

Add the liquid to the powdered sugar gradually and continue whisking until the glaze is smooth and has a good drizzling consistency. You may not need a full 2 T of liquid. I used lemon juice for my glaze because I liked the additional tartness.

This will be a new favorite for us. I have some key lime extract so I may try using that with key lime juice and zest for a little different taste experience. But it’s all good.

TIP: If you have extra lemon or lime juice measure it out, put it in a zip lock snack bag, and store in your freezer. Next time you need fresh lemon juice for a recipe and you have no lemons you’ll be glad you saved that extra juice.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Farro Salad

October 2, 2014 / featherheadlady / Leave a comment

I made country style pork ribs with homemade barbecue sauce for dinner and decided to make a healthy grain with sweet potato for a side. Farro is a grain with a nutty flavor, it’s chewy and it’s a great source of protein. When cooking the Farro make sure your sauce pan is deep enough. First try it boiled over and made a mess on my stove. I got a bigger, deeper pan, transferred the grain and water to the new pan and it boiled over again and made another mess! Now I know which pan to use next time. Other than the twice messy stove the recipe was easy.

3-4 medium sweet potatoes

5-6 cloves of garlic

5 T olive oil, divided

1 cup semi pearled farro

zest and juice of one lemon (about 4 T)

1/2 cup curly leaf parsley rough chopped

1/2 cup mint rough chopped

Preheat oven to 425. Peel and cube sweet potatoes. Put sweet potatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves on a jelly roll pan and toss with 3 T of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast 30-35 minutes flipping once until tender.

While the potatoes are roasting begin cooking the Farro. Remember my messy experience and use a nice deep saucepan. Cover the Farro with several inches of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-35 minutes until tender. Drain and toss with remaining 2T of olive oil in a large bowl.

When cool remove garlic from their peels and smash with a fork.

Add the zest and lemon juice to the garlic to make the dressing. Add the cleaned and chopped herbs and the sweet potatoes to the Farro. Dress and gently toss the salad. Salt and pepper to taste. Best served at room temperature.

With the the nutty taste of the Farro, the sweetness of the potato and the freshness of the lemon and herbs this salad is very hearty and yet refreshing. One recipe I saw for a Farro salad called for sprouts. I didn’t have any sprouts on hand but I think they would have been a good addition.

Apple Butterscotch Blondies

October 1, 2014 / featherheadlady / 1 Comment

It’s apple season and there are so many good things to make with apples. I found this recipe in one of my food magazines and decided to give it a try. We had bacon, lettuce, tomato and over easy egg sandwiches on sour dough bread for dinner and these made the perfect dessert. Another bonus is they are super easy to make.

Preheat the oven to 350.

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

6 T unsalted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)

1 tsp pure vanilla

2 large eggs

2 medium apples peeled, cored and finely chopped

1/3 cup butterscotch chips

I mixed everything in one saucepan. Melt the butter in the saucepan swirling occasionally until the butter begins to brown. Remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool briefly and whisk in the 2 eggs until well combined.

With the a rubber spatula mix in the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder). Stir in the diced apples and butterscotch chips. Pour the batter into a 9″x9″ pan lined with foil. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the sides are set.

Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

You might want to add a little whipped cream or a scoop of butter pecan or vanilla bean ice cream.

I will definitely be making these again. I might try substituting some golden raisins or chopped walnuts for the butterscotch chips. Of course I’d have to call them apple raisin Blondies or apple walnut Blondies. That’s the beauty of baking and cooking. You can make modifications to recipes to suit your personal tastes.