Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

27 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by in Chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate mayonnaise cake, cocoa

≈ 3 Comments

Chocolate cake is great. But, what happens when you are out of eggs? This is what happens.
Mayonnaise replaces the eggs and butter and makes a moist delicious cake.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
You will need a 9″x13″ baking pan. Grease and flour it.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cups cake flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and water. Cool to room temperature.
Whisk in the vanilla extract and the mayonnaise. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, blend the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Add the cocoa mixture. Mix with a mixer on low speed until everything is moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Use high speed with a hand mixer.
The batter may seem thin. That is OK.
Pour the batter into the baking pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or til a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the center of the cake.
Cool on a wire rack.
Frost as desired.

If you want to you can use all-purpose flour. If you do only use 1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour instead of the 2 cups cake flour.

Berry Glace Pie

22 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by in berry glace pie, fresh strawberry pie, Recipe, strawberry, yummy stuff

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If you love fresh strawberries, this pie is for you. The berries are not cooked. It is super yummy!

A food processor or blender is helpful.

Ingredients:

1 9″ prebaked pie crust
8 cups fresh strawberries- small to medium size
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Make and bake your pie crust and set aside.
Stem the strawberries and cut any large ones in half.
Take 1 cup of the strawberries and the water and puree them in a blender or food processor.
Measure and if needed add water so that you have 1-1/2 cup strawberry/water mix.
In a medium saucepan, mix the cornstarch and sugar.
Stir in the pureed strawberries.
Cook and stir over medium heat til mixture is thickened and bubbly.
Cook and stir for another 2 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes without stirring.
Spread about 1/4 cup of the strawberry glaze over the bottom and sides of the baked pastry shell.
Arrange half of the fresh strawberries in the pastry. Put them stem down.
Spoon half of the glaze over the strawberries making sure each piece gets some glaze.
Add the rest of the strawberries to the pie.
Pour the rest of the glaze over the top. Once again make sure each piece gets covered.

Chill for 1-2 hours before serving.

Serves 6- 8

Honey-Glazed Chicken Stir-Fry

20 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by in chicken stir-fry, stir-fry, stir-fry recipe, yummy stuff

≈ 3 Comments

Stir-fry has a lot of stuff going for it. It tastes great. It is healthy. And it is quick to put together.
During the growing season you can use whatever fresh vegetables you want. Otherwise just use some frozen stir-fry vegetable mix.

You will need a walk or a large skillet.

Ingredients:

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken meat, cut into 1″ cubes
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons vinegar
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
2 cups frozen stir-fry vegetable mix OR 2 cups of whatever fresh vegetables you want

Hot rice for serving

In a small bowl, combine the honey, vinegar, orange juice, soy sauce, and cornstarch.
Set aside.
Add the oil to your wok or skillet.
Heat to medium high and add your vegetables.
Stir-fry for 3-5 minutes until crisp tender. Large pieces of broccoli may take longer.
Remove vegetables from skillet.
Add the chicken and stir-fry for 4 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
Move the chicken to the outer edges of the pan and add the honey/soy mixture.
Cook and stir til thickened and bubbly.
Add the vegetable back to the pan and mix in.
Don’t keep on the heat for more than a minute. The vegetables will release more juices and thin out the sauce.
Serve over hot rice.

Makes 4 servings.

For a cooking oil, I recommend olive oil. It makes the vegetables taste fresher.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Coffee Cake

18 Saturday Jun 2011

Posted by in coffee cake, Recipe, rhubarb, strawberries, yummy stuff

≈ 2 Comments

This coffee cake is amazing. It smells great while it’s baking and it just makes you not want to wait until it is cool enough to cut.

You can use frozen or fresh strawberries and rhubarb.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

You will need a 8″ square pan. Do NOT grease.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fresh or frozen chopped rhubarb
3/4 cup fresh or frozen whole strawberries, stemmed
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup(1/2 stick)  butter
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons butter

Mix the 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan combine the rhubarb, strawberries, and water.
Bring to a boil.
Cover and turn down to a simmer and let it cook for 5 minutes or until the fruit is tender.
Uncover and stir in the sugar/cornstarch mix.
Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.
Stir and cook another 2 minutes.
Remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the 1-1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
Cut in the 1/4 cup butter until the mixture is crumbly.
Mix the egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract in a small bowl.
Add it to the flour mixture.
Stir until moistened.
Batter may be lumpy and that’s fine.
Spread half of that batter in the bottom of the baking pan.
Spread the fruit mixture over that.
Drop the rest of the batter in mounds over the fruit.
Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar.
Cut in the 2 Tablespoons butter until it is crumbly.
Sprinkle over the top of the coffee cake.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden.

Fantastic served warm.

Makes 9 servings.

Sazon- Puerto Rican Seasoning Salt

08 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by in BBQ, Dry rub, Puerto Rican seasoning salt, rubs for grilled meats, Sazon, seasoning, yummy stuff

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This is absolutely amazing for seasoning meats, poultry, or seafood. Liberally season your food before grilling and you will get awesome flavor.

This recipe calls for starting with whole peppercorns and cumin seeds. Use ground, if you like. It is still so great. Use the whole amount of ground as you would whole.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons black peppercorns
2 Tablespoons cumin seeds
2 Tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 cup kosher or sea salt
2 Tablespoons garlic powder

Combine the peppercorns and cumin seeds in a small skillet.
Toast over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Shake pan occasionally.
Pour into a bowl to cool.
When cool grind in a mortar & pestle or a spice grinder.
Pour into a jar.
OR
Add the ground pepper and ground cumin to the jar.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Put lid on.
Shake well.

Makes about 1 cup and will season about 6-8 pounds of meat.
Will taste best within 6 months of making.
Keep out of heat and light.

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes

06 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by in cupcakes, pumpkin, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin ginger cupcakes, yummy stuff

≈ 6 Comments

These are not just ordinary pumpkin cupcakes. They have little pieces of crystallized ginger in them.
That along with being covered in cream cheese frosting make these an awesome treat.

You will need a cupcake pan that fits 12 regular size cupcakes.
Fill those with liners.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES-

1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup(1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup sugar
1 cup pureed pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/4 cup crystallized ginger cut into 1/8-1/4 inch pieces

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ground ginger in a bowl.
Set aside.
In another bowl, beat the melted butter, sugar, and pumpkin until smooth.
Mix in the eggs and crystallized ginger.
Gradually mix in the flour mixture.
The batter will be nice and thick.
Divide the batter evenly into the liners.
You will need about 1/4 cup for each.
Bake about 25 minutes until the tops are firm and poking them with a toothpick yields a clean toothpick.
Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Remove from pan.

Let cool while you make the frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING-

1/2 cup softened butter
6 oz softened cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons milk

In a bowl, add the butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth.

Take 1/4 cup frosting and put it into another bowl.
Add the cinnamon and milk and blend well.

Frost the cooled cupcakes with the frosting.

With the remaining cinnamon frosting you can either do what I did in the picture. Which is to put small dollops in the center of each cupcake and take a toothpick and draw lines through it to make swirls and look like stars.
You can also put the frosing into a pastry bag and draw 2 circles on the top and run a toothpick through the circles to get a spiderweb effect.

No matter how you do it, it will be yummy!

You can store them for 3 days at room temperature. After that, due to the cream cheese frosting, you need to refrigerate.

Banana – Oat Pancakes

31 Tuesday May 2011

Posted by in banana-oat pancakes, gluten free, oat flour, pancakes

≈ 3 Comments

These are great pancakes. The taste is similar to banana bread, but like a pancake.

These are gluten free. Just make sure the oats or oat flour has not been manufactured on the same machines as wheat or other gluten products.

You can buy oat flour or you can just grind up oatmeal in a blender or food processor until it is a flour.

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed bananas- about 3 small/medium bananas
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
1 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat the bananas, butter, lemon juice, and sugar together. Mix in the eggs.
Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and blend just until everything is moistened.
Set aside for about 10 minutes.
Heat a griddle or heavy skillet.
Oil the pan lightly.
Drop the batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto the hot pan.
Cook for about 3-4 minutes until bubbles start to form around the edge of the pancakes.
Flip over and cook another couple minutes on that side.
Serve or keep warm in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven until the rest of the pancakes are done..

You will get about 10(4″) pancakes.

Serve with butter and syrup.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Pastry Roll-ups

30 Monday May 2011

Posted by in cinnamon, pastry, pie crust

≈ 2 Comments

If your grandmother or mother ever made pie, you probably remember enjoying these tasty morsels.

Cinnamon pastry roll-ups are made from leftover pie crust dough.
It is very simple to make.

There is no set measurement. It all depends on how much pie crust you have leftover.

You will need a baking sheet or pan.

Ingredients:

Leftover pie crust dough- either butter crust or simple pie crust
butter
sugar
cinnamon

After making your pie, reroll the pastry scraps.

If it is a really large piece , divide it into 2 or 3 sections so that when you roll it up the roll-ups won’t be too fat to cook completely.
With a knife, spread a thin layer of butter over the pie crust dough.
Sprinkle sugar liberally over the butter.
Sprinkle the cinnamon over the sugar.
Roll the pastry pieces. They will be like long cinnamon rolls.
Cut them into desired lengths.
Put on the baking sheets and put in the oven along with the pie.
Bake for about15-20 minutes until the pastry seems done and is just getting some color.
Pie crust made with butter will brown more and faster than a shortening crust.
Take out of the oven and let cool or eat warm.

Makes ?

Homemade Potato Chips

26 Thursday May 2011

Posted by in homemade potato chips, potato chips, yummy stuff

≈ 1 Comment

Potato chips are great. Homemade is awesome AND easy.

If you are lucky enough to have a mandolin slicer, it’s faster but you can just slice the potatoes with a knife.

You will need either a deep fryer filled with oil OR a wide skillet with about an inch or two of cooking oil.
Large knife or slicing mandolin

Ingredients:

Oil for fryer OR skillet
2 or 3 medium-large size potatoes- Russet works great for these
salt or other seasoning

Heat you oil in the fryer to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Or heat up the skillet with oil until hot.
It is ready when a test slice bubbles immmediately upon dropping in.

Peel and slice the potatoes very thinly.

One at a time, add the potato slices to the hot oil.
Fry for about 10 minutes until the chips are crispy all the way through.
Every couple of minutes stir them up to keep them separated. This will ensure they don’t stick to each other in spots and they will get crispy all the way like a chip should be.

When they are crispy, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Season with salt OR any other seasoning you want to try.

Makes enough for 4-5 people. Maybe more depending on the size of the potato or how much everyone eats.

Batter Dipped Morels

10 Tuesday May 2011

Posted by in batter, morels, yummy stuff

≈ 2 Comments

Morels are wild mushrooms that only come around one time a year. If you love mushrooms and are lucky enough to find any of these, you are in for a treat.
You can fix morels in many ways. This is the way my dad always made them and they are pretty yummy.

You will need a large skillet.

Ingredients:

Morels, cleaned and sliced in half- enough for a nice batch

A stick of butter for frying the morels

BATTER-

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg

In a bowl, beat all the batter ingredients until smooth.

Set the skillet on medium high heat and put in the butter to melt.
When the butter is melted and hot, dip the morel halves into the batter and let excess batter drip off. The morels should sizzle when put in pan or the butter isn’t hot enough.
Add the morels to the skillet.
Fry for a couple minutes until golden. Turn over and cook on the other side.