Applesauce Cake

The answer is yes, I have fallen to the busy holiday season. That's one reason for the lack of blogging lately. Well, and really I haven't been
cooking as much. Christmas Eve was with Al's family and Christmas day with mine...and I only had to make potatoes au gratin and cookies. (Which were awesome by the way...cookie dough truffles, pumpkin molasses, nutella no-bakes, butterscotch drops, and super soft sugar cookies with fun icing!)

Anyways, on to something that's kind of special to me. A little over a year ago, Al's side of the family threw me a bridal shower at which I received a family cookbook. Filled with pages and pages of recipes passed down from generation to generation. Mixed in with a family tree and some really neat photos from as early as the 1860s. This is a recipe that comes from that cookbook. Craving something sweet and not having a ton of ingredients, I found myself with just about everything for this cake. I skipped the frosting, it was good enough without. And I didn't add in raisins or walnuts which are in the recipe. This turned out to be a delicious moist cake. Loved it.

INGREDIENTS:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unsweetened natural applesauce
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 teas cinnamon
1 1/2 teas baking soda
1 teas nutmeg
1/2 teas salt

optional:
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

*In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs well. Add applesauce, sugar, and oil, mix well. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients, stir until well combined.
*Pour into a coated baking pan. (13x9)
*Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
*Sprinkle with powdered sugar, eat plain, or top with some frosting! Enjoy.

Shredded Pork

Continuing with my current love affair with the ciabatta rolls I made, here is another stellar use for them...or really any bread for that matter. Or just a fork. Heck, finger food. Being a person who normally tends towards vegetarian meals, one might find it odd that I adore shredded pork sandwiches. Or pulled pork, whatever you want to call it. But for real, I love it. There is just something about it. And this recipe is a little bit sweet, a little bbq'y, a little just plain awesome. Its one of those slow cooker meals. Put it all in  in the morning and by the afternoon your house smells so good you want to eat the air. I slathered on a little homemade jalapeno mustard that made this one tasty sandwich. (2 parts yellow mustard to 1 part dijon mixed with some chopped jalapeno and a dash of garlic powder....yum!)

INGREDIENTS:
3 lbs boneless pork shoulder
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tbls cider vinegar
2 tbls Worcestershire
1 teas chipotle pepper
2 tbls brown sugar
1 teas cumin
2 teas garlic powder
1 tbls dry minced onion
1/2 teas salt
1 teas black pepper

*Trim off any large chunks of fat on the outside of the cut of meat. There's plenty of marbled fat to give you nice flavor, no need to keep excess fat on there.
*Place pork into slow cooker. Smoother with all the other ingredients. Turn to coat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
*About an hour or two before you're going to serve, shred up the pork-while still in slow cooker-with a couple of forks. This way the meat can soak up even more of the awesome sauce juice it's sitting in.
*Serve and enjoy!

Ciabatta Rolls

When I set out to do these, I really had set the bar kind of low. Expecting this to be a whole day invested into a mediocre attempt at something a little too far out of reach. Boy was I surprised when these turned out AMAZING! No lie. And I'm not even going to attempt to reiterate the details of the recipe, but rather point you in the direction of The Kitchn. Yup, that's where I found this. See last week, well, it was sandwich week over here. I already post a burger(okay, not exactly a sandwich, but go with it)that sat between a sliced ciabatta roll. And I've got at least one more post in the making. We went through these crazy fast. I ended up making about a dozen rolls and then one larger loaf for slicing. The loaf got wrapped up in tinfoil, froze, and about a week after I made these, pulled out and sliced for some pb & banana toast-to see if the bread was good after freezing. Ahem, it is. So here's a photo of how mine turned out and here is where to go for how to have them for yourself. There are step by step photos and its all explained really well. Happy Baking!

Black & White Burger

In my pursuit of all things delicious, I am yearning for a solid veggie burger recipe. I have done black bean burgers before with minor success. They have all tasted great, but consistency wise fall below where I would like. Perusing the internet for some inspiration, I came across these from namelymarly.com. I find it quite nice that there is a never ending source of vegetarian/tasty/pretty/yummy/healthy blogs out there. I could literally spend all my time searching for new things to make!

I'd give these a good thumbs up, although I need to probably try them sticking exactly to the recipe. I still have problems with measuring, I'm a guesstimater you see. And frankly, I'm okay with it....it just proves difficult when trying to then reproduce my dishes on paper. Another fun fact about me: I will use the least amount of dishes and utensils possible when cooking and baking. So for this, when it called to put grind up some of the beans in a food processor, I wasn't exactly feelin' it. The parts were still in my dish rack from being used and washed earlier in the day. So I nixed that step. It may be the missing link between my pretty good patties with okay consistency and awesome patties with consistency that melts your face off. All in all, these had great flavor. They have already been eaten as left overs in the form of a wrap with veggies and simply heated up with a little sour cream on top(I wasn't feeling so hot yesterday but knew I could use a little protein).

FYI, this burger went on homemade ciabatta rolls. Yeah, that's right. I went there. A little time consuming but sooooooo worth it. And way cheaper than you would buy them for. I'll get that posted today too.

INGREDIENTS:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup cooked brown rice
3 tbls flour
1 tbls lemon juice
1 teas salt
1 tbls chili powder
1/2 cup cornmeal
olive oil
salt and pepper

*Place half the beans and onion in food processor, pulse until coarse ground.
*Mash the rest of the beans in a bowl. Add back in the other beans, rice, flour, lemon juice, chili powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add cornmeal and stir again. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. If its still to wet, add in some more cornmeal.
*Shape dough into 6 patties.
*Heat a splash of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, place in patties and cook about 5 minutes on each side. Keep patties hot in a 250 degree oven for about 10-20 minutes, while the rest of the patties cook.
*Enjoy!

Gingerbread Mini Muffins

I hinted to these bad boys yesterday. This was one of those "I saw it on pinterest and was immediately in my kitchen" kind of things. The recipe, coming from a pinch of yum, makes these as mini donuts. (I altered slightly, due to my lack absence of allspice.) Well, with a big sigh I say that I don't own a mini donut pan. And since making these, I have toiled with the thought of getting one. Even making up-in my head-a pro con list as to why or why not.

PRO: I love donuts.
CON: Its money that could be spent on something else used far more often.
PRO: I love mini donuts!
CON: Having a pan of this sort would cause me to want to use it to get my money's worth...thusly consuming far too many donuts.
PRO: They are baked donuts, so so much better than fried.
CON: They are still donuts.

So you see...its really just a toss up. But so far I've held out. Hence these guys became mini muffins instead. And really...still tasted awesome. All the steps were still the same and I, I mean we, got to enjoy a fun treat!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup flour
3/4 teas baking powder
1/4 teas baking soda
1 teas cinnamon
1 teas ginger
1/2 teas ground cloves
1/4 teas salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, dived
1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tbls maple syrup
3 tbls milk, divided
4 tbls butter, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar

*Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Mix in egg, applesauce, syrup, 1 tbls milk, and 2 tbls of the butter.
*Transfer batter to a ziplock bag and cut the corner off. Pipe into an already (cooking) sprayed pan filling each space 1/2 full.
*Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes. Immediately remove from pan onto cooling rack.
*In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tbls butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Let boil for 2 minutes then add 1 tbls of milk and bring back to a boil. Add the powdered sugar. If needed thin out with remaining milk.
*Turn down heat to low to keep glaze going. Dip each and let set.
*Enjoy/try not to eat all of them right away.

Spicy Thai Noodles

Have I ever told you my favorite place in the whole world is Thailand? Cause it is. I've had the privilege of being all over the country(and it's neighbors). Thai food ranks as one of my favorite types...ever. It seems its in a three way tie with Chinese and Mexican. I think it boils down to my love of spicy food. Anyways, I have only dabbled in a few thai dishes. Most of them being complex in flavor and/or preparation. This, well its got all the flavor but is a pretty easy dish to make. Which is a winning combo in my book. We gobbled this stuff up in no time. 

Kitchen tid-bit: Ginger is something I find myself using more and more, but I can go a week or two without sometimes. Which can make for having to throw away shriveled up ginger fingers and having to buy new ones when you find yourself craving say...gingerbread mini muffins with a brown sugar glaze? (COMING SOON!!) Here's what ya do. Buy a good chunk of ginger. Peel and freeze! Then whenever you need some pull it out and grate it! Easy peasy! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg of whole wheat spaghetti 

1 head of broccoli, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup water

1 tbls brown sugar

3 tbls low sodium soy sauce, divided

1 tbls rice vinegar

1 tbls sesame oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced or grated

1 tbls crushed red pepper flakes

*Prepare the pasta as directed, drain and set aside back in stock pot.

*While pasta is cooking, mix together peanut butter, water, sugar, soy, and vinegar and aside.

*Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add in 1 tbls of soy sauce as well as bell pepper, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. You can also add in a bit more water if needed. Cook until veggies are tender, another few minutes. Remove from heat.

*Place the pot with noodles back onto a medium heat. Pour in peanut sauce and the cooked veggies. Stir to coat and cook until everything is hot. 

*Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Risotto with Asparagus

Last nights dinner was a home run. I'm not even going to mess around telling you all the little things about this dish, trying to persuade you of how awesome it is. It needs no real introduction. A couple hours after dinner as Al and I were chillin' on the couch, he started to talk about the risotto. He said something to the effect of: if I were offered a bowl of ice cream, even my favorite flavor, or another bowl of that risotto....I'd choose the risotto. That says it all folks.

Learning more fun facts about me: I don't drink. This is a choice that has evolved from, in my teenage years...it's wrong, to my early twenties...I can't stand the smell, to today...I don't really see the point and don't really have any desire to. Al has an affection towards scotch. He's not all that into drinking but once in a blue moon he'll break out one of the double old fashion glasses and sip a bit.

Why am I talking about drinking? Well you see, in cooking, there are often times when a recipe calls for wine. Found often in things like cream sauces or in instances when you need to deglaze the pan. Couple the fact that we don't drink wine with me not really having the desire to have some in the house simply for cooking not knowing when and if I'll use it and you'll find we never have it. Last night when preparing to make the risotto-which called for dry white wine-I found the alternative! This person suggested that you water down a bit of juice and use a splash of vinegar. Fun fact, I have all those things!! So instead of the 1/2 cup of dry white wine that this recipe called for...I used 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup apple juice, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Worked great for this dish! And now I have a go to for those instances. Rather than finding a whole new recipe like I have been.

INGREDIENTS:
1 small/medium butternut squash, chopped 1/4" pieces
7 cups broth(veg or chicken) divided
4 tbls butter divided
2 teas dried sage
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine(or sub 1/4 juice, 1/4 water, splash vinegar)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 strips bacon
1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
olive oil
salt and pepper

*In a medium stock pot, simmer the squash pieces in 1 to 2 cups of broth until tender, about 7-8 minutes. Strain liquid from squash and place the squash in a bowl and set aside. Add the rest of the broth to the pot with remaining liquid and keep at a low simmer.
*In a large stock pot, over medium heat, melt 3 tbls of the butter. Sprinkle in sage and let it wake up for a couple minutes. Add in the onion and cook until the onion is translucent, 5 minutes. Stir in the wine, and let it be absorbed before adding any broth. Might need to turn down the temp a bit, medium to medium-low.
*Add hot broth in batches, 1/2 - 2/3 cups at a time. Making sure the liquid is still being absorbed. Repeat this until all the broth is added. This process should talk about half an hour.
*While broth is being added, fry up the bacon until crisp. Remove from heat and chop into small pieces, mix in with squash you previously set aside.
*About 10 minutes before risotto is ready, drizzle olive oil over asparagus. Salt and pepper to taste. Grill on a george foreman, takes about 7 minutes.
*Once all liquid is used and absorbed into rice, add in the squash, bacon, and parmesan cheese. Stir in until well combined. After about 5 minutes add in the last tbls of butter. Once everything is melted and heated through plate up with asparagus on top. Top with parmesan cheese if desired.
*Enjoy!