Chocolate Birthday Cake For The Boss

No, not Bruce Springsteen. MY boss at the Huron River Watershed Council. The office tradition there is that you bring a treat for the co-worker whose birthday is after yours. My February birthday was followed by the Executive Director's June birthday. I asked her what she wanted. "Well, fruit is always good," she said...and I'm thinking, "Fruit? Really? No."...but then she thankfully followed up with "But I really like chocolate too." Whew.

I wanted a really good, dark chocolate Bundt cake, and I actually made a Practice Cake using a recipe from Southern Living. (My family loves it when I make Practice Cakes. And Mistake Cakes. And Mistake Cookies.). They gave this cake an "A" and it was very good - chocolately, moist, and very very sweet. Too sweet, I thought, plus, like so many southern recipes, the ingredients kind of scared me - 16 ounces of chocolate syrup AND a cup of buttermilk AND a cup of butter AND 8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate. Yikes. So I found a second recipe, and this is the cake I brought to work, to rave reviews.

Double Chocolate Chip Cake with Chocolate Ganache 

Original recipe

CAKE

1 cup cocoa

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped in small pieces (I used 2 oz unsweetened, 4 oz semi sweet)

3/4 cup boiling water

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

10 TBS butter

2 cups brown sugar

1 TBS vanilla

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour bundt pan.

In large pyrex bowl (note: you will be adding the sour cream to this mixture, so make sure you have room for that), combine cocoa and bittersweet chocolate. Pour boiling water over chocolate and stir until melted and combined.

In medium bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and mix well.

Fold sour cream into the chocolate mixture and gently stir until combined. Add to butter mixture.

Add flour mixture to butter and chocolate mixture. Blend well and add chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool slightly on rack and remove from pan to finish cooling.

GANACHE

9 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

Place chocolate in medium bowl or 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup. In small pan heat cream on medium heat until boiling. Pour cream over chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool before drizzling over cake (good on ice cream too).

Shepherd's Pie for Dummies (plus bonus "Mexican" version)

The teenager can eat half a Shepherd's Pie in one sitting. So when he expressed a desire to expand his cooking repertoire beyond frozen pizza and grilled cheese, I immediately thought of a "starter version" of Shepherd's Pie...the "for Dummies" part refers to the simplicity and convenience of the recipe, and in no way indicates my opinion of my kid. Usually.

I think this is a good recipe for kids (or adults!) to get an idea for this particular casserole format. You can use pretty much any combination of veggies and meat (or no meat), liquid, and mashed potato topping. 

Shepherd's Pie for Dummies

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 bag frozen mixed veggies (16 oz)
• 1 packet brown gravy mix, made according to directions
• Potato Buds

Cook ground beef in large skillet until browned; drain liquid. Add frozen veggies, mix. Turn off heat. Add gravy, mix well. Pour into 8x8 baking dish or deep dish pie plate.

Make the "6-7 serving" amount of Potato Buds. Spread over top of ground beef and veggie mixture.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

NOTE: Leftover stew is a great base for Shepherd's Pie, as is sloppy joe, pulled pork, etc.

Bonus Recipe!

A little more complex, but a nice change of pace on regular shepherd's pie, is this recipe for Mexican Shepherd's Pie.

Mexican Shepherd's Pie (from allrecipes.com)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 small package frozen corn
• 1 packet taco seasoning mix
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 2 packages corn muffin mix (8.5 oz each)

• Options: this is another recipe where you could just use the frozen mixed veggies. I have also eliminated the tomatoes (for kid who picks them out) and used beans instead (reg veggie baked beans or black beans).

Oven at 400, spray 9x13 baking dish. In large skillet on medium heat, cook beef and onion until beef is browned. Drain liquid. Add tomatoes. Mix well and cook 5 minutes, the add taco seasoning and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Add corn and mix well. Transfer to baking dish.

Make corn muffin mix according to directions and spread evenly over meat mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes or until top is puffed up and golden brown.

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Rhubarb

But I do. It's beautiful. 

At least he knows what it is now. Unlike last year, when I...uh...kinda stole rhubarb for strawberry rhubarb custard pie, this year I asked if I could have some. Rather urgently too, as I watched his sister waving a weed-whacker around the yard, clearly in that dangerous phase of a yard work novice. 

I made the menfolk the custard pie, and still had some frozen strawberries from last year and some of the neighbor's rhubarb....and the internet is a wonderful thing for recipes. 

Take your Lipitor before consuming, though.

Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake

A glimpse of the yummy filling, although I have to admit, the cake is just more proof that butter is for good, and not evil.

Delicious Filling

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 10 oz frozen strawberries, thawed
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Delicious Cake

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup cold butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Delicious Crumb Topping*

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup butter

* I actually used leftover crumb topping from the pie, which had flour, brown sugar and oatmeal in it.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 baking dish

(I used a tube pan, stupidly forgetting that the idea is to invert it - which doesn't work too well with a crumb topping. But it did all work out in the end)

Combine sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan; stir in rhubarb and strawberries and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice, and let cool.

In large bowl, combine 3 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in butter until  you get crumbs. In separate bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into flour until just moistened. Batter will be very thick and lumpy!

Spoon about two-thirds of the batter into pan, then spread on the filling (I had more than I needed). Cover with remaining batter - you might not get fill coverage but don't worry about that.

In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour, and cut in butter until  you have crumbs, then sprinkle crumb topping over the batter.

Bake until topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

The recipe, in its original form.

Hot Dog Bun Bread Pudding With Bonus Recipes!

Two bits of necessary background:

Bit #1: We went out to dinner last week with friends during Ann Arbor's restaurant week, and one of the dessert options was bread pudding. And it reminded me of years ago, when my brother and I had a tradition of making desserts whenever we got together - and we made a chocolate chip bread pudding, only to find out that we were the only ones in the family who liked bread pudding.

Bit #2: When the kids were small, I was making spaghetti or something similar for supper and realized I had no garlic bread, and nothing to make garlic bread with...except leftover hot dog buns. Thus was born a family tradition of Hot Dog Bun Garlic Bread. Husband and kids still LOVE this and specifically request it. Son #2 is actually disappointed if I make garlic bread using actual Italian bread or a baguette. Personally, I think it is too sweet, but clearly I lack garlic bread expertise.

So, as a result of Bit #1, I had a craving for bread pudding. And like Bit #2, I had no appropriate bread but I did have a sack of hot dog buns in the freezer. So here is the recipe, and you need to know that I had this bread pudding for breakfast AND dessert today...so. damn. yummy.

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 TBS vanilla
• 5 cups bread cubes
• (in this case, about 4 hot dog buns and 4 leftover Pillsbury crescent rolls that had been in the fridge for days)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (maybe a little more. Let's just call it "to taste" shall we?)

Mix eggs, half-and-half, sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Add bread cubes and mix well. Let sit for 5 minutes, then add chocolate chips. Spray 8x8 baking dish and transfer mixture to dish.

Line roasting pan with old kitchen towel and add warm water until towel is covered. Place baking dish in pan. Water should be 1/3 to 1/2 up sides of dish.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until pudding is set. Best served warm and with whipped cream!

And we have Bonus Materials! Read on.

Hot Dog Bun Garlic Bread

Split buns and spread butter or margarine on each piece. Sprinkle with garlic powder and garlic salt. Bake at 350 for...5-10 minutes?

Hot Dog Bun Veggie Casserole

• 2 cups hot dog buns, cubed
• 1/4 butter, melted
• 1 cup onion, sliced
• 2 cups zucchini, sliced
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In large bowl, mix bread cubes and butter. Add veggies, garlic salt, egg and mix well. Add 1 cup of cheese and mix. Transfer to sprayed 9x13 baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, uncover and bake another 30 minutes.

Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! In this edition of Rebecca's Food Porn, I am posting a few of our favorite dishes of the day. We do the usual turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn, but sub the StoveTop stuffing with a rice dressing. And sweet potato casserole - the single greatest way to ruin the nutritional value of the sweet potato - has become a requirement.

Spicy and sweet pot of deliciousness.

Rice, Apple and Craisin Dressing

This is adapted from the Rice, Apple and Raisin Dressing recipe in Paul Prudomme's Louisiana Kitchen, a classic cookbook that should be on your shelf if it isn't already. And because I can't leave recipes alone, I made changes, including - the horror! - reducing the fat. Seriously, if you use  the amount of oil and butter called for in the original recipe, the dressing is just greasy. IMHO, and no offense to Chef Prudomme. I also added wild rice and celery, eliminated the pecans (household preference), and used craisins instead of raisins. Spices can be adjusted to taste (and, apparently everything else, judging by all the changes I made!). Here is my version:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp cayenne red pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2-3/4 cup craisins
• 2 TBS butter
• 1 cup converted rice
• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 3 cups stock or bouillon (I use chicken)
• 2 cups chopped unpeeled apples

Combine seasoning mix in small dish and set aside. Place wild rice in small bowl of water to soak.

In large pot, heat oil on med high heat. Add onions, celery and green pepper and saute 2-3 minutes. Add craisins and butter. Stir until butter is melted then cook and stir for about 4-5 minutes. You should see craisins plump up. Add rices and seasoning mix. Cook and stir about 5 minutes, then add stock and apples. bring to boil, then cover and lower heat to simmer 5-10 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for 30 minutes to absorb liquid. (You can re-heat and simmer another 5 minutes if wild rice is still tough, or if liquid has not been absorbed.)

At this point, I usually sit down with a bowl of the stuff and shovel it in. It is so good.

Use as a side or to stuff chicken, turkey, yourself....

Sweet Potato Casserole

Funny how our kids tastes change over time. Both my kids loved baby food sweet potatoes, and what's not to like? The real thing? Well, not so much. And then my Aunt introduced them to this dish, and again, what's not to like about beautiful sweet potatoes amped up with sugar and butter? And marshmallows! I know you'll be shocked that I reduced the butter and sugar in this recipe. It's still at horrifying levels, and mmm, mmm, good.

• 3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (do not use canned!!)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 milk
• 3 TBS flour
• 1/4 orange juice
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Mini marshmallows for topping (about a cup?)

In large bowl, combine all ingredients except marshmallows. Mix well. Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Top with marshmallows and bake another 10 minutes.

Beef Burgundy

While I'm on the subject of stews, I'll subject you to one of my favorites: Beef Burgundy, aka Boeuf Bourguignon. Yeah, the Julia Child staple. This is a really easy version! You'll have to wait for the photo though...

1 lb stew meat
4-5 strips of bacon
3 TBS flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups beef broth
1 cup red wine (not sweet)
4 onions, sliced
1 cup baby carrots
1 bay leaf
Pinch of thyme
8 oz mushrooms sliced
2 TBS butter

In large pot, fry the bacon til crisp, remove from pot.

Toss stew meat with flour, salt and pepper. Sear meat in bacon grease. Add onions and saute. Add remaining ingredients, except the butter and mushrooms. Crumble bacon and add back to pot.

Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 2 hours.

Saute mushrooms in butter, and add to stew just prior to serving. Serve stew over noodles or rice.

Ox Tail Stew

Cow Tail Stew, really, but that doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? We get a quarter side of beef every spring from my nephew, and this year's Pile O'Meat included a tail (everyone in my Beef Co-Op ends up with "parts" - heart, tongue, liver - most of which never gets used). It was even labeled "Ox Tail."

There are lots of recipes out there for this stew, with varying levels of complexity and ingredients. I whittled the choices down to one that looked fairly straightforward at Simply Recipes (http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/oxtail_stew/).

Don't let the "Simple" part of the title deceive you. This was a lot of work for a stew, IMO, and made me wonder how different it was going to be from, say, Beef Burgundy, which you can brew up in a couple of hours.

Well, there were two main differences: the meat, and the grease.

Tails, in case you were wondering, are very muscle-y and fatty animal parts. So, after searing the tail chunks, they need to simmer for 3 hours or so, and even then they are not going to be falling-off-the-bone tender. But my main complaint is the fat. Even after running the broth through a separator, this dish tips just over the edge from richness to greasiness. An overnight in the fridge may solve some of this issue, when I will be able to remove additional fat from the top. I hope.

Here is the recipe I used, with my adjustments:

One "ox" tail, chunked
2 TBS olive oil
Salt and pepper 
1/2 cup onion chopped
One celery stalk chopped
1/2 carrots chopped
3 whole cloves garlic
2 cups shiraz
2 cups beef broth
One bay leaf
Pinch thyme

2 TBS olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 cups purple potatoes, chopped (hey, it's what I had!)
One cup baby carrots
Three leeks, chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 cup corn (no parsnips at Busch's today, needed another starch to offset the grease)

3 TBS flour

Sprinkle salt and pepper on the tail chunks and in dutch oven or large pot, sear in olive oil. Remove from pot and set aside. Saute chopped onion, carrots and celery in pot. Add garlic, bay leaf, thyme, broth and wine. Add tail chunks. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover and simmer 3-4 hours.

Heat oven to 350. In baking dish, mix potatoes, carrots, leeks, onion and corn with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast veggies 45 minutes or so. Remove and set aside.

Remove tails from broth, set aside. Run broth through strainer to remove veggie chunks. Run broth through fat separator. Mix 3 TBS flour with broth and return to pot.  Add roasted veggies. I chose to remove meat from bones before returning to the pot.

Simmer until broth has thickened and flavors combined, about 30-40 minutes.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Excessive zucchini getting you down? Kids won't eat stuff with "green bits" showing? Here's a twist on the usual zucchini bread, and it's so good, you'll never go back. Trust me, I'm the Food Porn Lady.

As with most recipes, there are lots of alternatives. The recipe below is how I make it, with alternatives suggested with an *.

....into a bunch of these!

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Bread

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil*
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce*
• 1 cup sugar **
• 1 cup Splenda **
• 2-2 1/2 cups zucchini, peeled and grated
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour***
• 1 cup whole wheat flour***
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups blueberries
• * can substitute 1 cup of oil for oil and applesauce
• ** can substitute 2 cups sugar for sugar and Splenda
• *** can substitute 3 cups all purpose flour for the flour and whole wheat flour

Crumb Topping

• 1/4 butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

In small bowl, mix crumb topping ingredients to make crumbs. Set aside.

In larger bowl, beat eggs. Add oil/applesauce and sugar/Splenda, combine well. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and combine. Fold in blueberries.

Divide batter between two 4x8 loaf pans (spray with cooking spray). Divide crumb topping between the two loaves. Bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes or until toothpick to center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 20 minutes, run knife along edges and turn out onto rack to finish cooling (this can be messy with the crumb topping, so I take a paper towel to catch the loaf as I am turning it upside-down).

This freezes very well! I just hauled out the last of the 2011 loaves for my book club and it was great. So great, in fact, that we just tore it apart with our fingers when we discovered we forgot to bring a knife on the boat that evening!

Food Porn: Beach Edition

I don't cook at the beach. Much. Maybe fry up a breakfast, throw together a cheese plate, but that's about it. Our annual Beach Week is all about someone else providing the food, whether it is Five Guys (burgers and fries) or Tastykake (Mid-Atlantic high-end version of Twinkies). A photo essay follows, but I admit I missed many potential entries - or entrees, ha! - because I just didn't think to take a photo before consumption.

The photo to the right is a platter of Maryland Blue Crab. If you go to a crabhouse, these will come in a bucket or on a tray, to your table that is covered in butcher paper. Somewhere there will be a bin with wooden mallets and rolls of paper towels. If you don't have cuts on your fingers and Old Bay under your nails, you didn't do it right.

Our own small sampler , mostly because we couldn't remember if we liked the Midas or not. That 120 Minute IPA to the right? Whoa. 15-18% ABV. And it's still called beer!

Dogfish Head Brewery has been an annual pilgrimage for a few years now. The food is OK, the beer is fantastic. We left with two cases - one of the 90 Minute IPA, one of my faves, and a mixed case that included Midas Touch, made with ingredients found in 2,700-year-old drinking vessels from the tomb of King Midas. Yeah, they are BEER NERDS here.

www.dogfish.com

Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes, Swiss Rolls and Chocolate Kandy Kakes and a big glass of milk. MMM, mmm good!

And now, a word from our sponsor...Tastykake. You don't know what that is, do you? And I am sad for you. Because Hostess and Little Debbies are distant last place finishers in this category. To the right is a small sampling of what the Tasty Baking Company (no, not kidding, that is really the name) has to offer. Not shown, but completely delicious: Butterscotch Krimpets, Coconut Juniors, Chocolate Creamies, Cream Filled Cupcakes, Tasty Klair Pie...geez, just go to

www.tastykake.com

Need to fuel your beach day? Creamed Chipped Beef surrounded by egg and slathered in more Creamed Chipped Beef. 

The General's House of Chipped Beef. Why not? Top-of-the-line, artery-clogging goodness comes in the form of a Creamed Chipped Beef Omelet, which I feel compelled to order every year, even though I know I will need 364 days of Lipitor to clear it all out for another round. Just kidding about the Lipitor. Although I have no idea why I DON'T need it after this omelet.

Mussels in a Thai miso broth with bok choy and wonton crunchy things. Fabulous.

We checked out a new place, for us, in Fenwick Island DE called Just Hooked. Their slogan is Farm-Ocean-Table, and they emphasize using local producers for their dishes. Sounded like our kind of place, plus they had steamed mussels, another of my beach meal requirements. Wow. The mussels were amazing. Calamari was tender and spicy and so good that both boys were snagging bits of squid as if it wasn't some weird parental food. 

http://justhookedfi.com/

You can get $1 off a refill if you reuse your Fisher's tub. No such deal from Candy Kitchen, which in addition to the pretzels, excels at salt-water taffy and fudge at exorbitant prices.

What did I forget? Oh yeah! More junk food! Our beach trip would not be complete without at least one, and more likely two, trips to Candy Kitchen. This year we also added a trip to Fisher's Popcorn for a tub of caramel corn. I don't get the obsession with Fisher's - it's good but that little tub was six bucks! Of course, the chocolate-covered pretzels from Candy Kitchen tap out at about $17/lb, so it's probably best just to shrug, close your eyes and hand over the credit card. It's beach week, after all.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Pie

We do have our own small rhubarb..bush? plant?...but the house next-door has had a beautiful crop that we have always admired. Well, after a few years of neighbors who had no idea what the heck the plant was, let alone what to do with it, the house has been vacant. Oh yeah, you know it! We have no shame here at Rebecca's Food Porn.

The irony is that I met the new neighbor today as he was moving in. I'm thinking I should take him a pie as a house-warming gift, since it is, after all, his rhubarb.

This recipe is from one of my favorite online sites, AllRecipes (http://allrecipes.com/). This is the first time I've made this pie, and it was a little runny - but I used frozen berries from last year, which may have added more liquid. It still got rave reviews from the guys (and won a prize at some church fair in Maine, according to the submitter). And as Ryne said "This looks like a pie that needs whipped cream" - not that I've ever had a pie that didn't.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Pie

From Paula Phillips, via allrecipes.com

• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 pound fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, halved
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell
• 
  
• TOPPING:
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking or rolled oats
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 
  

Rebecca's NOTES: I have no idea how much 3/4 lb of rhubarb is, but I think I used about 2-3 cups, cut up. I also used 2 cups of frozen strawberries, partially thawed.

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg. Add the sugar, flour and vanilla; mix well. Gently fold in rhubarb and strawberries. Pour into pastry shell.
2. For topping, combine flour, brown sugar and oats in a small bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

Ginger Glazed Salmon

First, I have to apologize for the photo. Half the entree was eaten by the time I thought to get the camera out. So no pretty food porn for you today! 

Tonight we had Ginger Glazed Salmon, which has been a popular entree in this household for years; easily our favorite way to do salmon. And tonight's dinner is a classic example of winging it - we grill this, and I had potatoes sliced, slathered in butter and wrapped in foil, and a plan to grill the asparagus -  and ran out of gas for the grill.

So, yeah, you can do this in the oven!

Ginger Glazed Salmon

From The Joy of Grilling by Joe Famularo

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cream sherry
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp fresh minced ginger
2 tsp fresh minced garlic

Combine all on small bowl or glass measuring cup. Place salmon fillet(s) in ziploc and add marinade. This is a marinade that can be done an hour or 12 hours before cooking. I usually reserve a few spoonfuls (prior to dumping on the fish!) for dipping as well. Grill as usual, OR (apparently) bake at 375 until thickest part of salmon is cooked but moist (about 15 minutes depending on thickness.

I served this with russet potatoes, sliced thin, with butter and wrapped in foil; roasted asparagus with a sharp cheddar sauce; and strawberry-rhubarb crumb pie for dessert (see next blog entry!)

I Love The Smell of Asparagus Pee in the Morning!

This is a "white" pizza - olive oil, salt, mozzarella,  feta, asparagus, mushroom and onion.

One of the best things I've ever planted is asparagus. My very own little patch at the bottom of the yard provides plenty of fresh eating and enough to freeze a bit. Like tomatoes, what you buy the grocery store is not the same vegetable. At all. So I recommend heading to the farmer's market or, even better, find a U-pick asparagus patch. There is one on North Territorial west of Hudson Mills, look for Elderberry Lane on the right. You'll see the asparagus field on the left, with a scale and cost per pound.

So what to do with it? Pizza (see photo), omelets, on toast with cheese sauce, in quiche, wrapped in ham and phyllo...wow. It's endless.


This is one of my favorite asparagus dishes and one of the easiest ever. It's good warm or cold, as a side dish or an appetizer. Credit goes to Caprial Pence, chef from Portland, Oregon.

Roasted Asparagus with Baslamic Vinaigrette and Parmesean

1 lb fresh asparagus, washed and trimmed
2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Vinaigrette
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp garlic, minced

1/4 cup Parmesan

Pre-heat oven to 425. On baking sheet, drizzle olive oil and roll asparagus spears to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until al dente, about 5 minutes depending on thickness (you want some crunch!).

In small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar and garlic. Just before serving, drizzle vinaigrette over asparagus and top with Parmesan.

Jambalaya

Son#2 loves this as a wrap - melted cheddar, & jambalaya in a tortilla.

A few thoughts on casseroles before we begin. The word casserole is from the French word for "saucepan," according to Wikipedia, and is also used to describe a dish that is served in the pan it is baked in. Casseroles are incredibly forgiving on content, in my opinion, and I freely substitute ingredients according to what I have on hand. The following recipe is for jambalaya, adapted from Paul Prudomme's Louisiana Kitchen (if you do not have this cookbook, go buy it now. Seriously.). While a classic combination may call for chicken and sausage, I've made this with shrimp, chicken, ham, and crawfish, among other things. It' s a great way to use up little bits of leftovers. I've used red and yellow bell peppers instead of green. I've thrown zucchini in it. If it seems like it would go with the spices, toss it in! It's all good!

Jambalaya

(adapted from Paul Prudomme's Louisiana Kitchen)

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp rubbed sage
• 2 bay leaves

• 2-3 TBS butter
• 2 chicken boneless chicken breasts, chopped
• 2 hot Italian sausage, chopped
• 1.5-2 cups each - onion, green bell pepper, celery, chopped
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 small can (8 oz) tomato sauce
• 2.5 cups chicken broth
• 1.5 cups uncooked rice (converted works best)

Notes: Adjust spices to heat tolerance - the measurements above are a medium heat level; Meijer makes a really good hot Italian sausage, reasonably priced, but I have also used chorizo or andouille sausage; I have oven-proof cookware, so I go from stove to oven to tabletop with my large skillet for this dish. If you are using a deeper casserole, increase baking time by 10 minutes or so. Need to save time? Chop everything up and place in ziplocs until you are ready to cook.

Heat oven to 350. In large skillet, melt butter on medium high heat. Add chicken and sausage and cook until the meat starts to brown.  Add spices, garlic, and 1/2 cup each of onions, celery and green pepper. Mix well and saute until veggies start to soften.  Add tomatoes, sauce and remaining veggies. Reduce heat to medium and cook for a few minutes, stirring often. Add chicken broth and rice. Mix well. If skillet is oven-proof, place in oven and bake uncovered for 45 minutes, or transfer to casserole dish and bake - 45 minutes for shallow baking dish, 55 for deeper casserole.

Shoo Fly Pie

A Pennsylvania Dutch thing, this is basically a molasses and brown sugar pie and it's SO GOOD.

Shoo-Fly Pie

("wet-bottom" version, although I don't think I've ever had a "dry-bottom" shoo-fly pie)

This recipe is adapted from "Cookin' With The Lion," a Penn State alumni recipe collection for tailgating (which is almost its own sport at Beaver Stadium). 

You will need:

One 9" unbaked pie crust
1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS butter
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup water
1 cup molasses
1 egg

Notes: I use the yellow jar of molasses - "Grandma's Gold Standard All Natural Unsulphured Original." I say this because there is a green jar that is "robust"  - darker, stronger flavor, and that would be fine to use as well, but maybe not if you are a shoo fly pie novice.

Pre-heat oven to 400.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar and butter to make crumbs. Set aside 1/2 cup of this mixture.

Dissolve the basking soda in the water.

In another bowl, mix water, molasses and egg. Add to crumb mixture and mix to make pie filling.

Sprinkle about 2 TBS of crumb mixture on bottom of pie crust. Add the filling. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake another 30 minutes. Center of pie should spring back when pressed, almost like cake; pie has a cake-like texture.

Shrimp & Scallops in Basil Cream Sauce on Penne

The dish that really started all the bitching. Uh, I mean, peer-pressure.

Shrimp & Scallops in Basil Cream Sauce on Penne

You will need:


Medium frying/saute pan (heh. but you knew that, right?)
5 large scallops
10 large shrimp, peeled
4 "Baby Bellas" (or "adult" portabellas :) ), chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1-2 tsp garlic, minced
1 cup asparagus, chopped
2-3 TBS butter
1 cup cream or 1/2&1/2 or combination
2-3 TBS flour
Salt and pepper to taste
2 TBS basil, chopped
Pasta of your choice, cooked as directed on package


Notes: I used 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup half-n-half; asparagus was from my garden; basil was frozen, from last year (fresh or good dried basil would probably be ok here). I also used about a teaspoon of Sel Gris aux Herbes (thank you Stevie B), a gray salt with herbs for those with no French (like me).

In small bowl, whisk cream, flour, salt and pepper. 


On medium heat, melt butter and saute green onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add seafood and veggies, stir and saute until shrimp is pink and scallops are opaque. Do not drain liquid!


Add cream mixture and mix well with the "scallop juice" in pan. As this thickens, add basil and continue to stir. Add additional cream if sauce is too thick.


Serve over pasta. Should be enough for 2 hungry people or 3 medium-hungry people.

Gotta Have A Few Disclaimers

A few of my cook books. I stopped counting after 25.

A few disclaimers about this blog and the recipes posted herein:

I am not a chef, I just like to cook.

I don't measure stuff. So, many of the recipes here are best-guesses as to amounts, and can - and should - be adjusted to taste. Except maybe the baked goods (measuring matters).

I do get recipes from other places and will credit, where possible, the original version.

I use butter, cream, salt, sugar and many other evil calorie-and-fat-laden ingredients. Margarine people should probably just go away. Or, even better, read a few articles on what margarine actually is.

No guarantees. Results may vary. Void where prohibited. Ovens get hot. Nutella is not health food.

In pursuit of yumminess,

Rebecca