January 15, 2010
My First Daring Cooks Challenge – Chicken Satay
So, after patiently waiting for my membership to become effective and for the January challenge to start I finally got to complete my very first Daring Cooks challenge from thedaringkitchen.com. The challenge this month was a satay and we could use any type of meat, vegetable, or even tofu so long as we made the marinade and the peanut sauce.
It was the perfect challenge for me because (in the spirit of The Daring Kitchen) I’ve never attempted to make anything like this nor had I ever had satay or peanut sauce so this did challenge me to not only cook a dish I never have before but also feed my family something that isn’t the “tried and true” (which also happens to be a goal of mine this year).
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a hit in my house. I don’t think there was anything wrong with the recipe, in fact, I thought the chicken was pretty good but a little spicy for the kids (even my pepperoncini out of the jar eating 4 year old) and we are not real big peanut butter eaters so that didn’t go over well AT ALL! But everyone did like the pepper dip though and dunked the chicken in that to eat it.
So without further adieu, the recipe follows:
SATAY MARINADE
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1T ginger root, chopped
- 2T lemon juice
- 1T soy sauce
- 1t coriander
- 1t cumin
- 1/2t tumeric
- 2T oil (vegetable, peanut, olive)
- 1lb (or so) of meat/vegetable/tofu (your choice)
Dump everything into a blender or food processor OR combine all ingredients in a zip lock bag, add meat, refrigerate according to chart below.
| Pork | Beef/Lamb | Chicken | Vegetables | Tofu (no oil) |
| 4-8 hrs Up to 24 hrs |
6-8 hrs Up to 24 hrs |
1-4 hours Up to 12 hrs |
20 min – 2 hrs Up to 4 hrs |
20 min – 4 hrs Up to 12 hrs |
After marinading, broil or grill the meat until done. (time will vary depending on meat/tofu/vegetable used.
**If using wood skewers be sure to soak them in warm water for about 20 minutes before cooking.
PEANUT SAUCE
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 4T peanut butter
- 1T lemon juice
- 1T soy sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
PEPPER DIP
- 4T soy sauce
- 1T lemon juice
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
- 1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)
Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.
January 4, 2010
Redemption is Sweet!
Awww…the taste of sweet redemption! My last chocolate cake was a disaster but this one is oh so good! The technical name is Torta al Cocoa…which roughly translates to Chocolate Cake (surprising?)
The use of greek yogurt and cake flour makes this cake moist and light while still maintaining a rich chocolate taste.
To top it off I whipped up (literally) a Chantilly Cream utilizing a Bourban Vanilla Bean that I had in the cabinet. I love the little specks of the vanilla seeds and the light richness of the Chantilly cream. It makes for the perfect finish for a rich chocolate cake like this one.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup finely grated unsweetened chocolate
- 1 1/4 cup greek yogurt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/4 cup cake flour
Set oven to 355 degrees. Cream together sugar, butter, and egg until light and creamy. Add chocolate and mix well. In another bowl combine milk, yogurt, and vanilla then add to chocolate mixture and stir. In a bowl combine flour and baking soda then add gradually to chocolate mixture
Grease and flour a 10″ round cake pan. Pour in batter and tap on counter to release air bubbles.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
**The original recipe called for a light dusting of powdered sugar which would have been great but I was more in the mood for a Chantilly Cream topping, so that recipe follows.
Chantilly Cream with Vanilla Bean
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 T sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Seeds of a vanilla bean
Slice open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. I used a Bourbon Vanilla Bean that I got from Fresh & Easy. It had a great fragrance and lovely vanilla flavor and I love just the little specks of vanilla seeds throughout!
Using a mixer whip together all of the ingredients until it forms a stiff cream.
Do not frost until the cake is completely cool, as this is a cream and will melt if it gets too warm.
December 31, 2009
Turkey Pot Pie – Great Meal For That Left Over Turkey!
When I was younger we always cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner and since we were cooking for so many people (usually) it was a BIG turkey! Usually a twenty pounder or bigger if they had it. We had turkey for DAYS afterward and my mom served it every which way and Sunday! My favorite though was the good old Pot Pie.
I’m not much of a left over type of girl. Through habit (and being raised to not waste any food) I box everything after dinner but it usually sits there and collects mold before I throw it out! Turkey on the other hand…
I make a great Chicken Pot Pie using this recipe and varied it slightly to utilize the left over turkey from Christmas. It’s very simple but oh so good!
This is all you need…plus a pie plate!
Roll out the dough and cut up the turkey into bit size pieces. You could also use a refrigerated dough, it is quicker and easier but also a little more expensive.
In another bowl mix together two cream soups. I used Cream of Potato because I like bits of potato in my pot pies and it is really thick so it adds density to the filling. I also used Cream of Celery to compliment the turkey. If it was my normal Chicken Pot Pie I would add Cream of Potato and Cream of Chicken.
Add a can of mixed vegetables. I used carrots and peas but any mixed vege’s will work perfectly.
Add any other type of herb seasoning and some pepper. I caution against adding any more salt…the soups already have plenty of salt in them.
Spoon the mixture into the pie dish and cover with the top layer of dough. Make sure to vent the top to prevent bubbling over. I usually make a happy face…my kids like it!
Cook in a 350-degree oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown. **To make the top a nice brown color and add crispiness brush a light egg white wash (egg whites mixed with a little water) over the top before placing in the oven.
Enjoy!December 29, 2009
The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake That Never Was
Desserts are my speciality. I love to cook and bake all things but dessert is the one I think about and plan ahead of time. I get excited when a special occasion comes around because that means there will be people coming over so then I can get a little bigger with my desserts. I’d been on a roll this year and my husband challenged me…”you’ve been 5 for 5 in desserts this year, lets see if you can keep it going for Christmas Eve and Christmas.” No problem, I say. I have lot’s of ideas in this head of mine, so I sit down and go through my favorite blogs and bookmarks to find the perfect special treat.
Then I see it…in all it’s glory! How perfect for a wonderful end to a Christmas Eve meal – a beautiful hot cocoa cake complete with homemade marshmallows and a rich gooey frosting. I’m never afraid to try new recipes, I believe that if you follow it to the “t” it should turn out…right? Well, I was wrong with this one.
Here is the cake as it should have been:
Originally printed in “Fine Cooking” Magazine. Beautiful isn’t it? I found this cake in one of my favorite blogs: The Bitten Word
First Attempt:
My first attempt at the cake seemed OK, except I realized after I put them into the oven that I forgot to add the cocoa powder. So, yes, completely my fault. I decide to trash it and make them again quickly the next morning before going to church.
Second Attempt:
The batter goes into the oven looking perfect. I check on them after a little while…hmmm…not quite sure…then I take them out when the time is up. This was not going to work! The cake completely fell in on itself and formed a hard layer on top.
At this point I make a decision. I can serve nothing (which really wasn’t an option) or whip up another chocolate cake using a tried and true recipe – the only problem was that I didn’t have a tried and true recipe.
I had already had the homemade marshallows setting and the frosting in the freezer (yes, the freezer. Look at the recipe if you don’t believe me!) So I scour my cupboards in search of a chocolate cake recipe printed on the back of some packaging, and then I find it! On the back of the good old Hershey’s Cocoa can…hey, it didn’t get on the back of the can for no reason, right?
So, after TWO failed attempts, I finally have a decent cake base, although my 3 layers turned into 2, but I could live with that.
At this point, I’m beginning to stress…How was I going to pull out of this one? What was I going to serve? Guests were only a few hours away and I get pretty cranky when things just don’t turn out they way they are supposed to. But I still had the marshmallows and frosting right…?
Right…?
The Home-made Marshallows
I was really excited to cut these marshmallows out. I’d seen through Tastespotting a lot of people making homemade marshmallows and they looked simple enough. NO-GO. All the gelatin went down to the bottom and the powdered sugar floated to the top. In short – inedible – so it was trashed.
Frosting
The frosting recipe was something I never tried before but the blog said it was rich and gooey and delicious…. In the end it was gooey and pretty good, but kept sliding down my cake. The cocoa that was supposed to dissolve didn’t, so there were little cocoa balls throughout the frosting and along with being gooey it was incredibly droopy and kept SLIDING down the side of the cake so it ended up being a big droopy mess!
I should have stuck with a traditional buttercream frosting. I should have stuck with anything that was as far away from this cake as possible really!
In the end, everyone ate a piece, said they liked it, but it was nothing special, and anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like to serve “basic” desserts. Everything has to have some sort of twist or addition to make it special and this cake was anything but! Especially for the amount of work I put into it!
So here is my cake. Quite different from what it was supposed to be!
So, I’ve wanted to post for a few days now but I had to go through a mourning period and come to terms with my failed hot cocoa cake. If anyone out there wants to attempt this cake please let me know how it turns out! Maybe I’ll try it again one da, but maybe not.
December 23, 2009
Soft Bite Sized Sugar Cookies
I love baking around the holidays but never really ventured into the sugar cookie arena. I never really enjoyed the whole roll and cut and roll and cut and the floury mess that followed. That was until I found this recipe! These super soft, bite size clouds of yumminess are extremely easy, require only a few pantry ingredients and can be customized to satisfy any given craving!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup Butter (use real butter)
3/4 cup Sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
3 cups Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt (I use Kosher salt)
Cream together the softened (but not melted) butter and sugar. Add the eggs one by one along with the vanilla.
After the eggs are combined add the flour, baking powder, and salt. I use Kosher salt (also known as sea salt) because when I’m eating something sweet I like to get that little salty bite here and there. Use finer ground salt if you prefer.
Take the dough and, using your palms, roll it into 1″ – 1 1/2″ round balls and place them on the cookie sheet. They can be placed fairly close together because they do not spread very much.
Cook at 400° for 8-10 minutes. **On my oven I found that taking them out exactly at 8 minutes was perfect. Watch them closely because when they look like they could use “a couple more minutes” TAKE THEM OUT and let them finish cooking on the pan. If they cook too long (even though they look fine) they will be too hard. So timing is very important with these cookies!
Next step: Make the icing!
2T Butter (softened)
1/4c Half & Half (or milk)
2c Powdered Sugar
Pumpkin Pie Spice (to taste)
**The pumpkin pie spice is optional. This is where your creativity comes in! Add whatever spice/extract to flavor the icing or just leave it as is. I added the pumpkin pie spice because of the holiday season but it would be awesome with some Almond Extract, Vanilla, maybe some Peppermint! Anything that suits your fancy!
Mix these ingredients together.
Then one at a time dip the tops of the cookies in the frosting. Swirl it around so that when you pull the cookie up you don’t end up with a big glob at the top.
While the frosting is still soft add toppings if you’re so inclined. I wanted to play a little so I toasted some coconut and chopped some walnuts. I sprinkled these on top of some and added red sprinkles to others for the kiddos.
Let the cookies and icing sit for a couple hours or overnight until the frosting sets and hardens. I don’t recommend refrigerating them because that will harden and dry out the cookie! (I made that mistake the first batch I made)!
This recipe is by far the best sugar cookie recipe I’ve encountered. I hope you try them!
