Food

I enjoy cooking & baking, and I love eating. I don't usually have much to say, so this page will mostly be recipes, pictures, and perhaps a little commentary.

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease THREE 9" round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

• 4 oz Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate

• 1/2 C Water (boiling, no longer on heat source)

Chop the chocolate and mix into the hot water. Stir and set aside.

• 1 C Butter

• 2 C Sugar

Cream the butter and sugar well

• 4 eggs (separated, save the whites for later)

Beat in the egg yolks one at a time

• 1 t Vanilla

Stir in the vanilla and melted chocolate

• 2 C Cake Flour

• 1 t Baking Soda

• 1/2 t Salt

Mix the dry ingredients together

• 1 C Buttermilk

Mix in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk alternately.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.

Pour batter into the three prepared pans and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Coconut Pecan Frosting

• 14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk

• 1/2 C Water

• 3 egg yolks

Mix together in saucepan and cook on low until thickened. WATCH & STIR vigilantly!

• 1 t Vanilla

• 1/2 C Butter

Add and whisk until smooth

• 1 1/3 C Pecans

• 1 3/4 C Coconut Flakes (unsweetened & it's nice to toast it first)

Add and stir. Let cool before frosting cake. It's traditional to frost just the top and in between layers ... but do what you want!

Heat oven to 300*

• 4 1/2 C mix of nuts, seeds, grains, etc. for example:

  • • Oat Flour

    • Oats

    • Chopped Almonds

    • Other Nuts (Mixed nuts is nice)

    • Coconut flakes (not toasted)

    • Sunflower Seeds

    • Sesame Seeds

    • Dried Fruit (soak first .. honestly better to add after cooked)

• Pinch of Salt

• 1-2 t Spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg ...)

Mix all dry ingredients together

• 1/3 C melted coconut oil

• 1 Egg White

• 1 t Vanilla

• Maple Syrup to taste (1/8 - 1/2 C)

Whisk together and blend into dry ingredients.
Press into sheet pan and bake 25-30 minutes.

Rather than simply using chocolate chips, use 2 cups of mixed add-ins. I really enjoy dried cherries, chocolate, chopped nuts, toasted coconut flakes

• 1 1/2 C Flour

• 1 T Baking Powder

• 1 1/2 sticks Butter

• 1/2 C Sugar

• 1 Egg

• 2 T Vanilla

Mix all ingredients well to form a ball, Place it in the center of a round mold and form a 'crust' along the bottom and sides of the pan.

• Sliced Apples: as many as will fit in the crust

• Sliced Red Fruit (Plums are best)

FILL the pan with the fruit

• Streusel topping

Top the cake with topping & bake for 50 minutes at 350*

• 400 g flour (some ratio of white bread flour & wheat flour)

• 1/4 t yeast

• 2 t salt

mix together

• 280 g warm water

mix in and lightly knead until fully combined. let rise in air tight container for about 24 hours (more or less depending on how warm it is).

Makes 4 small pizzas. split into four and store in fridge until ready to bake. take out of fridge 2-6 hours before using (depending on how warm it is).

Heat oven and pizza stone as hot as the oven will get for at least 10-20 minutes.

stretch out dough, place on peel sprinkled with corn meal (keeps the dough from sticking to the peel. I use a flat cookie sheet). top with sauce, veggies, cheese, and meats.

cook for 5-8 minutes until the cheese is just starting to brown.

Vegetarian Taco Meat

Soak lentils 8 hours & boil 15 minutes

Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices & cook 5-10 minutes until cooked, but still solid

Mix in taco seasoning, more tomatoes, a scoop of mashed potatoes, and mashed chickpeas.

Fry in oil - don't stir too much in order to create a crispy bottom.

Roasted Sweet Potato Quesadilas

Just follow the recipe at Don't Go Bacon My Heart

Buttermilk Waffles

Great recipe from King Arthur Flour. I use 2 C whole wheat pastry flour (soft white spring wheat), and it turns out lovely. Always add the nut meal!

Lemon Self-Saucing Pudding

Read the recipe at Olive Magazine ...

You can cut the sugar down a bit, but it's not as sweet as some recipes.

Christmas Stuffing Meatballs

• 1 Large Box Stuffing (I use Mrs Cubbins, Traditional)

• 1/4 C butter

• Stuffing veggies (onion, garlic, celery, mushrooms, apple, etc)

Sauté the veggies in the butter as per the box instructions or your own desire

• 2 lbs Hamburger

• 1 lb Ground Pork

• 1/2 C dried fruit (cherries or cranberries are great)

• Salt & pepper (and other stuffing seasonings) to taste

Blend everything together well in a large bowl

• 2 C Broth (or however much liquid the box of stuffing calls for)

• 3 Eggs

• Gravy as needed

Whisk together eggs and broth, add to meat mixture, and add enough gravy to bring it all together.

Form into meatballs or a meatloaf and bake.

French Onion Dip Sandwich

I love French Onion Soup but it's missing some substance. I love French Dip Sandwiches but they could use a little more flavor. I know it's been done before, but now I can't do anything but put the two together. I make some caramelized onions, then deglaze with a dark beer and add to a slow cooker with sliced beef and broth. I fill it to the top with the leftover beer, turn it on low, then serve that night with baguettes topped with melted cheese - perfect for holding the meat or dipping in the broth.

When I make this on a week night, I fry the onions the night before up to the point where I would add the sugar and salt. Then I reheat and continue cooking the next morning, because I don't have an extra hour in the morning to caramelize onions!

• 3-4 onions, sliced thin

• 2 T oil / butter

• 1 t sugar

Slice the onions and fry in oil and/or butter for 30-50 minutes. When they are almost done, sprinkle with salt and sugar, stir and cook a little longer. The onions should be a medium to dark brown and smell amazing.

• 1 T white flour

• 1 C beef broth (real or from bouillon)

Add the flour, stir until the flour is a bit cooked. You may need to add a little more butter/oil before this step. I also sometimes remove the onions, then add another 2 T butter and make the gravy from that. Once the oil and flour are cooked together, add the broth a little at a time and mix until smooth before adding more.

Set aside and start the meat.

• 2-4 pounds of beef (chuck roast, rump roast, or bottom round (comes sliced as carne asada, which is really easy)

• 2 T oil

• 1 t salt (or whatever amount seems good for how much meat you're using)

• 1/2 t ground pepper

• 3-8 cloves garlic

Season the roast, sear in a pan with oil (I also spread a little oil on the meat before cooking). I let the meat go 2-4 minutes per side, depending on the size of the roast. I throw in the garlic cloves to fry at the same time.

• 1 T Worcestershire sauce

• 1 can dark beer (stout, porter, maibock... it doesn't have to be the most delicious beer - save that for drinking with dinner)

Add the meat to the slow cooker, drizzle the Wooster sauce on top, add the garlic cloves and onions. Use the beer to deglaze the two frying pans and pour the resulting liquid into the slow cooker. Add the remaining beer to the slow cooker until the meat is completely covered.

Cook on low 6-9 hours. Serve with sliced French bread with gruyere cheese melted on top open-face grilled cheese style (swiss, or provolone are okay substitutes).