Red Velvet Brownies

HAPPY NATIONAL BROWNIE DAY!

RED VELVET BROWNIES

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for pan

Brownie Layer:

2 stick unsalted butter

2 cup sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup cocoa powder

Pinch salt

2 tablespoons red food coloring

2 teaspoons vinegar

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cream Cheese Layer:

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, and set aside.
Brownie layer: In a saucepan on medium heat melt the butter. Remove the butter to a large bowl and add the sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, food coloring, and vinegar, in that order, mixing between additions. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and stir it into the cocoa mix. Fold in the flour until lightly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, saving 1/2 cup of the batter for the top.
Cream cheese layer: Blend together the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gently spread the cream cheese layer on top of the brownie batter in the pan. Dollop the remaining brownie batter over the cream cheese layer. Using a skewer or the tip of a knife, drag the tip through the cream cheese mixture to create a swirl pattern. Bake the brownies for 40-45 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before cutting.

OREO CHEESECAKE

This recipe made 24 mini cheesecakes. I would recommend these if you're an Oreo fan, the Oreos kind of over power the cheesecake.

Oreo Cheesecake Bars
from Annie's Eats

 
For the crust:
23 Oreo cookies
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. sour cream, at room temperature
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
12 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with foil.  To make the crust, place the Oreos in the bowl of a food processor.  Process, pulsing, until the cookies are finely ground.  Add in the melted butter and pulse until the cookie crumbs are moistened.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan.  Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside and prepare the filling while maintaining the oven temperature.

To make the filling, add the cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the sugar until well combined.  Blend in the sour cream, vanilla and salt.  Beat in the egg and egg yolk on medium-high speed until incorporated, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Stir in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the prepared crust, smoothing the top with a spatula.  Bake for about 40 minutes, until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool about 1 hour to room temperature.  Cover the pan and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

To cut the bars, pull the cake from the pan by lifting the foil up out of the pan.  Place on a cutting board, peel away the foil, and slice into bars.  Clean the knife blade between each slice to keep the edges neat.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

 

 

I halved the cheesecake recipe to make 24 mini cheesecakes.

Gingersnap Crust

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies

1/3 cup melted butte.r

Combine and press firmly into bottom of 9 inch springform pan

Pumpkin Cheesecake

(from Paula Deen)

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.  Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Pumpkin Pie

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  This was our dessert table.  Mini cheesecakes, pumpkin and Oreo; mini bundt cakes - Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting, Chocolate with chocolate ganache frosting and Fresh Apple with caramel maple glaze; pumpkin pie and apple pie.  The pumpkin pie recipe is one I have used for years and is pretty much fool proof.  This year I had a small pie pumpkin that I baked and used in the recipe instead of canned pumpkin. 

Pumpkin Pie
(From Betty Crocker cookook)

Pastry for 9 inch pie
2 eggs
2 cups (one can) pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 2/3 cup evaporated milk or light cream

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line pie pan with pastry.  Beat eggs slightly, then beat in remaining ingredients. Pour into pastry lined pie pan.  Bake 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool before serving.

Baguettes

To go along with my French Onion Soup, I made Baguettes from scratch.  A little time consuming, but really no more than any other bread.  The taste was perfect, just like Baguettes are supposed to taste.  I was disappointed in the shape though.  They flattened during the rising so weren't nice and tall and round like they should be.  The dough was pretty soft, so less water? I got the recipe from KAF & they actually sell forms just for Baguettes.  You place the dough in the form to rise and also to bake.  I'm not sure I'll make Baguettes often enough to warrant the investment.  Maybe I'll just experiment with the water/flour ratio next time.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

After going through all the steps and buying the Gruyere cheese (13.98/lb) and dry sherry (7$ a bottle), I've kind of decided I'm not a big French Onion Soup fan.  I've had it several times, and even though I love onions, it just doesn't do it for me.  This recipe supposedly came from Cooks Illustrated.

French Onion Soup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces

6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices Table salt

2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing

1/2 cup dry sherry

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 cups beef broth

6 sprigs fresh thyme , tied with kitchen twine

1 bay leaf

Ground black pepper

1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices

8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.  Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)  Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.  Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.  While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

To serve:

Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Roasted Chicken

A very simple roasted chicken.  Rinse the chicken well, dry with paper towels.  Rub with olive oil then salt and pepper inside and out.  Put a lemon that you have poked all over, 2 cloves of smashed garlic and a couple of sprigs of rosemary in the cavity. Roast for 45 minutes to one hour uncovered.  Of course, you are supposed to tie the legs together, but I never have any twine.

End of Summer

Its official - summer is over, I had to pick the last of my roses.  The roses, begonias and marigolds hung on until the last frost.  I picked the roses the night before we were supposed to get a hard freeze.  I'm always glad to have flowers to bring in the house,  but the last of them makes me sad because I know there won't be any more until next year.

STRAWBERRY PIE

I had a delicious piece of strawberry earlier this year & I've been wanting to replicate it ever since.  I found a highly recommended recipe on line & decided to try it.  As I was making it, I thought it seemed like a lot of sugar and once I tasted it I knew it was definitely too much.  I also found out that even though many of the recipes said to put whole strawberries point side up in the shell & that was attractive, chopping or quartering the berries is better in eating and serving the pie.  B didn't think it was overly sweet, but I did, so I'm not going to include the recipe.  I'll keep looking for the perfect not too sweet, not too tart strawberry pie recipe and when I do I'll post it!

Piccalilly

I cleared the tomato plants out of the garden a couple of weeks ago and had a bumper crop of green tomatoes. So I made a double batch of piccalilly.  Fortunately for me, my lovely Alex & Molly gave me a grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aide last Christmas.  THANK YOU! Can you imagine grinding up 30 1bs of green tomatoes, 8 lbs of onions and a dozen peppers by hand?  Really the instructions for making a double batch of this should start out "first get out all the giant pots and pans you own".  That's why I've included a picture of the pans & that doesn't even show the smaller pans that I put in the dishwasher all ready.  But its worth it, this is a flavorful relish that isn't too sweet and is infinitely better than the commercially available "sweet pickle" relish.  This is my grandmother Irene Kluck's recipe and I can remember her giving us jars of it growing up.

Piccalilli

1 peck green tomatoes (8 qts, 15 lbs) ground
12 onions (4 cups) ground
6 green and red peppers, ground
1 cup salt
1 pint sugar
1 pint cider vinegar
1 teaspoon each allspice, cinnamon, cloves and pickle spices
tied into a bag
Grind all vegetables add salt, let stand 2 hours then drain in a cloth.
Tie all spices into a small bag. Put drained ground vegetables, sugar,
vinegar and bag of spices into large kettle. Add 2 tablespoons
salt and bring to a boil, simmer 30 minutes. Add more vinegar if
needed.  Process in boiling water bath 20 minutes.

Scarf Surprise

When C & I were on the Plaza a few weeks ago one of the shops we stopped at was an upscale fabric store.  They had some beautiful hand painted silks that we both liked, but the price on the bolt was $50 per yard.  So we moved on.  Well, after we parted company, C went back and got 1/2 a yard of our two favorites and brought them to me as a lovely surprise.  (Fortunately they were on sale for less than what was marked)   We spent a Sunday making the four scarves, so we both got one of each.  Thanks C! You're the  best daughter ever!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

These were very good.  Of course, I couldn't wait the two hours for the filling to freeze (really I need to start reading the recipe more thoroughly before hand) so it was sticky and hard to handle. But they turned out all right anyway.  I didn't have pumpkin pie spice (I looked at the grocery and it's cinnamon, cloves and allspice), I just upped the cinnamon, added allspice and dropped the cloves to 1/2 teaspoon.  In my opinion, cloves are strong enough that in equal amounts it overpowers other spices.  Next time I'll probably drop them down to 1/4 teaspoon.  The recipe came from Annies Eats

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Yield: 24 muffins

Ingredients:

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

For the muffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:

½ cup sugar

5 tbsp. flour

1½ tsp. ground cinnamon

4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth.  Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter.  Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil.  Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line muffin pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil.  Mix on medium-low speed until blended.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.  

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend.  Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.  Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons).  Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces.  Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well.  Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely.  Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.  (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)

Seafood Enchiladas

So a couple of weekends ago I went to dinner and a play in Warrensburg with my sister.  We debated as to where to eat, but just the day before someone at work had said that C**per C*y*te had the best seafood enchiladas they had ever had.  SEAFOOD ENCHILADAS?! Why hadn't I ever thought of that?  It sounded wonderful.  BUT the reality was very disappointing.  The white processed cheese sauce that they were drenched in overpowered the seafood and made the flour tortillas soggy.  There had to be a better version.  I started looking online and found a lot very similar recipes, mostly copycat from a chain restaurant.  But the one I chose was actually from one of my favorite blogs, Annie's Eats.
 I changed just a couple of things, a little more cream, a little less cheese, and a small package of scallops added to the shrimp. Also, I didn't bother to add and extra cheese to the enchiladas, just what was melted in the sauce and a little sprinkled on the top.  Next time I'll use skim milk instead of cream and maybe add some crab instead of the scallops.

Shrimp Enchiladas

3 tbsp. butter, divided

1 lb. medium-size shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 red bell pepper, diced

¾ cup onion, diced

¼ tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. salt

Dash garlic powder

Dash cayenne pepper

2 tsp. all-purpose flour

6 tbsp. heavy cream or half-and-half

¼ cup sour cream

6 oz. shredded cheese (such as Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, etc.), divided

1 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced

8-10 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Cooking spray

Directions:

In a large sauté pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the shrimp to the pan in an even layer and let cook without moving, about 1 minute.  Flip the shrimp over and continue to cook until just pink and opaque, 30-60 seconds longer.  Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.  When the shrimp is cool enough to handle, roughly chop into bite sized pieces, if desired.

Melt the remaining butter in the pan.  Add the diced bell pepper and onion, and cook until just tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the oregano, salt, garlic powder, cayenne and flour to the pan; stir well and cook briefly until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds.  Lower the heat to medium-low and add the heavy cream to the pan, stirring to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Cook just until slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in the sour cream, half of the shredded cheese, and the tomatoes.  Return the shrimp to the pan as well, and mix everything together until the sauce is well blended and the cheese is melted.  

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.  Scoop 1/3 cup of the filling and sauce mixture down the center of a tortilla.  Sprinkle lightly with some of the reserved cheese.  Roll the tortilla tightly around the filling and place seam side-down in the  prepared baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining filling, tortillas and cheese.  Spray the tops of the finished assembled tortillas lightly with cooking spray.  Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes, until lightly browned.  Let cool at least 5-10 minutes before serving.

Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut Cream Pie

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 cups milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon coconut flavor
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup coconut
1 pie shell

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a medium saucepan.  Add the yolks, then immediately but gradually whisk in the milk and evaporated milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently at first, then constantly as  the mixture starts to thicken and begins to simmer, 8 to 10 minutes.  Once the mixture simmers, continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute longer.  Remove the pan from the heat; add 1 cup coconut,  whisk in the butter, vanilla extract and coconut flavoring.  Pour the filling into a shallow pan.  Put plastic wrap directly on the filling surface to prevent a skin from forming;  cool until warm, 20 to 30 minutes.  Pour the warm filling into the pie shell and, once again, place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the filling surface.  Refrigerate the pie at least 3 hours.  Before serving top with whipped cream and toasted coconut

Black Bean Soup and Jalapeno Bread

Black Bean Soup, it sounded delicious and I love soup especially when the weather starts to cool.  Even after making and eating this, I'm not sure about it.  It was OK, kind of bland like beans usually are, but I would prefer regular navy bean soup.  But the Jalapeno Cheese Bread, OH YEAH-that's what I'm talking about!  I could have skipped the soup and eaten the just the bread.  I ate a couple of slices and took the rest of the loaf to work to put it out of my range of temptation.  Right now there's another loaf in the freezer quietly whispering my name.
Anyway, I halved the recipe, added jalapenos instead of celery, a little more spice, left out the corn starch and added a can of southwestern corn.  Don't leave out the lemon juice, it really brightened up the soup.

Black Bean Soup

1 onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 celery ribs, finely chopped

1/4 large red bell peppers, finely chopped

2 small chicken bouillon cubes

1 -1 1/2 cup boiling water

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, undrained

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 lemons, juice of

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

In a pot, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 10 minutes.

Add half a can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes.

Puree soup (I use an immersion blender which makes it easy to do it right in the pot).

Add the rest of the beans to the soup.

Combine the cornstarch with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water.

Add the lemon and the cornstarch to the soup; cook until thickened.

If I was the only one eating this, I'd probably double the jalapenos, maybe thinly slice the jalapenos leaving in the seeds or use some canned jalapenos so the heat could be better gauged.

Whole Wheat Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Bread

1 ½ tablespoons dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup warm water

2 1/2 cups unbleached bread fl our

1 1/2 cups whole wheat fl our (more as needed)

½ cup jalapeno peppers, coarsely chopped and seeds removed

2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon Tabasco

1 cup milk, warmed

2 cups (8 oz) cheese, chopped into 1/4 inch cubes

Proof yeast in water with 1 teaspoon sugar for 8-10 minutes, or until foamy. Heat milk in the microwave for about 50 seconds on High. In the stainless steel bowl, add in 4 cups fl our, chopped jalapenos, salt, sugar, egg, hot pepper sauce and warmed milk. After the yeast has proofed, add to the bowl and start kneading, adding in more fl our as needed to create a soft, smooth semi-sticky dough, keep kneading for about 8-10 minutes. Towards the end of the kneading add in the cubed cheddar cheese and mix until combined (the dough can be removed from the bowl and you can ad/mix in the cheese by hand if desired). After kneading, let the dough sit out on a board or counter top to rest, covered with a clean tea towel for 8-10 minutes. Gather up dough and knead gently for 30 seconds.  Then place the dough in a well greased bowl and let rise until doubled (about 1 ｽ hours). Punch down dough and slice into tow even pieces. Shape into two large balls and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray or into two large loaf pans that have been greased. Cover with a clean tea towel and rise again for another 1 hour or more until doubled. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 25-35 minutes or until the crust is a dark golden brown.

Fondue

C and I went to a Fondue place on the plaza today.  Neither one of us had ever been before, so it was a new experience. It was good, but a little pricey.  We had a cheese fondue & then a dessert fondue.  The cheese consisted of Fontina and Butterkase cheese and a small amount of Bleu Cheese.  They started with some white wine, a little sherry, added the shredded cheese gradually, then stirred in some sauteed scallions.  It was served with bread cubes (pumpernickel, rye and french), vegetables (carrots, broccoli and cauliflower) and apple chunks.  We chose the Ying-Yang chocolate dessert fondue, a combination of half white, half dark chocolate.  It was served with strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, brownie chunks, pound cake, cheese cake and rice krispie treats. The chocolate fondue was delicious, but how can you go wrong with anything dipped in chocolate?  I had it with a nice glass of pinot grigio that went perfectly with the cheese and chocolate.

Angel Biscuits

So after making all my pies and pie filling for the freezer, I still had enough apples left to make a batch of apple butter.  We don't eat much jelly, but do like apple butter on pancakes or biscuits once in a while.  I usually cut back on the sugar about 40 to 50% so it's not quite so sweet and add some extra spices.  Angel biscuits are a staple and very easy to make.

Angel Biscuits

1 package yeast
2 tablespoons very warm water
5 cup fl our
1 teaspoon soda
3 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Sift all dry ingredients into a large
bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender. Add buttermilk, then
yeast mixture. Stir until moistened, turn onto floured board and
knead a minute or two. (No rising is required) Roll out to desired
thickness (½ inch) cut into rounds, brush with melted butter and
bake on an ungreased pan at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or
until lightly browned. Baked biscuits freeze beautifully.

CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKE

I was actually looking for a filled chocolate bundt cake on line, but they all called for a cake mix, which I didn't have on hand.  So I used this recipe instead.  It made a very moist, chocolately cake & I'll definitely make it again.  I just used a thin frosting for the glaze & sprinkled with chocolate shots.  It turned out pretty & it was very easy.

BUNDT CAKE

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cups dutch process cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup sour milk
1 cup freshly brewed strong black coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a bundt pan and dust the inside with cocoa powder, set aside.
Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
In a mixer on low add the milk, coffee, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla one at a time. mix until everything is incorporated. Then, with the mixer still on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Once all of the flour mixture is added, mix the batter for a full four minutes on medium speed.
Then, pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

PSARI PLAKI - BAKED FISH

One last Greek dish and then I'll move on to some fall favorites now that it's getting cooler outside.  Greek style baked fish.  I used 1 lb of fish so cut the recipe into thirds.  It  had a good flavor & I'll make it again with a few adjustments.  I'll skip the rings of onion on the top, they just got kind of dry and chewy.  Also I'll not add the water called for, the dish had plenty of liquid and just did not need it.  I'll leave the crumbled crackers off too, they got a little soggy and if I want some crunch on top I'll add some panko crumbs or some nuts.  But I liked the flavor of the fish with the seasonings and the vegetables.


PSARI PLAKI  BAKED FISH

3 lbs baking fish
salt & pepper
oregano
1/2 cup olive oil
2 fresh tomatoes, sliced
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
20 salted butter crackers, finely ground
butter
2 large onions, sliced into rings
lemon slices
1 cup water


Place fish in greased baking pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil.  Add tomato slices, scallions, parsley and garlic.  Top with cracker crumbs, dot with butter and decorate with onion rings and lemon slices.  Add water. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes 6 servings

SPANAKOPITES

Did you think I bought a cool new Greek cookbook and only used one recipe? HA! I'm back to Greece with these appetizers.  I've been dying to use some filo to make appetizers.  Unfortunately I was disappointed, liked the filling, but found the casing made with the filo unflavorful and with all the butter, slightly greasy.  Even though I've had these before, I remember them tasting better.   I actually halved the recipe, but it still made a big batch. They did look pretty cool and were pretty easy to fold up.

Spanakopites
 1 lb Feta cheese
1 (8 oz.) carton dry cottage cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. chopped onion
2 (10 oz) pkg. frozen spinach, thawed
drained well, and squeezed dry
4 Tbs fresh dill weed or 1 Tbs dry
1/2 stick butter
Salt and pepper
1 lb melted butter

1 lb filo dough

Saute onions in 1/2 stick butter.  Add spinach and saute until all moisture has evaporated.  Add dill, salt, and pepper.  Stir well and let cool.  Combine Feta, cottage cheese and eggs.  Mix well and add to spinach mixture.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  Cut defrosted filo dough overnight in refrigerator or on counter for 2 hours.  Remove filo from plastic wrap.  Cut in half with sharp knife.  Return unused portion to plastic until needed.  Place damp dish towel over filo dough your are not currently working with to keep it from drying out and cracking.  Using a pastry brush, butter a strip of filo with melted butter.  Place 1 teaspoon of filling close to the bottom.  Fold up the bottom to cover and hold in filling.  Fold in sides slightly to hold in filling.  Fold into triangle shape.  Butter both sides of completed triangle with melted butter.  Place in jelly roll pan spacing 1 inch apart.  Repeat each strip of filo until all filling is used.  Filo leftovers can be refrozen. Wrap in plastic and seal.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Apple Pies

Fall is officially here and that means apples.  My sister generously gave me a couple of bushels of apples, so I made pies and pies and pies.  Yesterday I made an even dozen pies, 11 for the freezer and one for B to eat.  He doesn't like cinnamon, so the one I made for him had no cinnamon, just nutmeg.  So I have a years supply of pies standing ready in the freezer.

I had seen a recipe at KAF for "Old Fashioned Slab Apple Pie" and it sounded like a good recipe to make to take to work.  I looked at several on line and decided to use my own.  Basically, I used my regular pie crust recipe (5 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 1/2 cups shortening cut into the dry ingredients; 1 egg, 1 tsp vinegar mixed together in a one cup measure, then filled to the top with water).  I used about one third for the bottom and one third for the top crust.  If crust is one of the things you like most about pies, you'd like this slab pie.  It's like an upscale giant poptart - only it tastes really good!\

Filling:

8 cups thinly sliced apples
1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Mix dry ingredients, then gently stir in the sliced apples and sprinkle with the vinegar.  Microwave for 10 minutes, stopping and stirring occasionally, until the juice of the apples starts to thicken and the apples are slightly cooked, but still firm.

Roll the dough into a rectangle to fit a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan, gently place the dough into the pan having the dough go up the sides.  Place the filling into the dough lined pan, smoothing down the filling.  Roll the rest of the dough into a rectangle to fit the pan.  (sit the pan on the dough & use a knife to cut around the shape of the pan) Place the top on the filling, then fold the sides down from the bottom layer.  Poke holes for steam release then put in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour or until the crust is browned. 

Glaze:

1/4 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Boil at a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and you have a syrup consistency.  Add 2 tablespoons butter. Add the syrup mixture to the powder sugar.  Beat until smooth, add apple juice, maple syrup, cream or water to thin the mixture if necessary.  Drizzle over the cooled slab. 

KOTA RIGANATI

Otherwise known as Greek Baked Chicken.  I did warn you that I got a new cookbook at the Greek Fest.  The name of the cookbook is From Yiayia's Kitchen, A Legacy of Greek Foods and Pastries. This is one of the dishes they serve at the festival.  I followed the recipe pretty closely, but I balked at the cup of olive oil.  I only sprinkled it over the chicken.  It turned out a moist, flavorful chicken with a lemony undertone.  It was very good and I'll use it again,  the spice blend was nice, but not over powering.  I served it with some potatoes I broiled in the pan after I removed the chicken and a Greek type salad with cucumbers, marinated artichoke hearts, green onions and lettuce with a lemon dressing I made up.

Kota Riganati

1 chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup olive oil ( D!)


Cut chicken into quarters and wash and blot dry with paper towels. Mix spices together.   Place chicken in baking pan.  Pour lemon juice and oil over chicken.  Sprinkle with the spices.   Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until the chicken is done.

GREEK FEST

This weekend C and I went to the annual Greek Festival in Kansas City at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.  We've gone the last 4 years and have never been disappointed.  Well, except the first year when I ordered the Pastitsio plate, a pasta casserole dish consisting of a meat sauce between two layers of a macaroni/bechamel sauce, sprinkled with nutmeg.  Not as good as it sounds.  But the pita bread and the gyros can't be beat.  Also the Spanakopita, humus and Dolmathes are really good.  This year I smartened up and ordered a gyro to take home and tried the Souvlakia (shish kabob) at the festival.  It was very tender and flavorful, and the gyro was just as good the next day for lunch.  I've never tried to make gyros before, but I may have to make the effort.  I have tried to make Tsatziki before, but it was no where near as good as theirs.  Best of all they had a cookbook for sale! So look for some Greek taste trials in the near future.

Grilled Tuna

I know, I know, it's been a while, but it's been a busy, depressing time.  My mom passed away and I've changed jobs.  So lots of challenges.  Anyway I grilled some tuna a few weeks ago and it was so delicious I went out and bought more tuna steaks.  They were on sale, individually vacuum packaged and ridiculously easy to cook.  I cooked them out on the grill, just brushing with olive oil.  I served with a tomato halve sprinkled with feta cheese and some fresh basil from the garden, then drizzled with olive oil.  Just pink in the middle, this tuna just melted in my mouth.  B refused to eat his, but it made a great tuna salad sandwich the next day.  I cooked a couple more last weekend and served with a fruit salsa made with fresh pineapple and mango, really tasty.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

It's been hot here, really hot.  So I haven't been cooking much.   I did go to a Royals game with C.  AND THE ROYALS WON AGAINST THE YANKEES! We had fun, but next time we're looking for a shuttle service.  To celebrate I made some chocolate chip cookies (recipe from Alton Brown, check online).  A pretty good chocolate chip cookie, it made a soft, cake-like cookie.  I then filled them with chocolate or vanilla ice cream.  In view of my expanding waist, I only made 4.  I froze the rest of the dough for future cookies  They were really good though.  If B doesn't eat his soon, I may cave!