Now, if only I could find THE chocolate frosting!
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 1/4 c boiling water
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 c Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 t instant coffee
10 T (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 c sour cream, room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, then dust with cocoa powder and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the boiling water, chocolate, cocoa powder, and instant coffee together until smooth.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until incorporated.
Reduce speed to low and beat in one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture, and remaining chocolate mixture. Beat in remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.
Give batter a final stir with rubber spatula to make sure it si thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, smooth the tops, and gently tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 15-20 minutes, rotating and switching the pans halfway through baking.
Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the edge of cakes, then flip out onto wire racks. Peel off parchment paper, flip cakes right side up, and let cool completely before frosting, about 2 hours.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Pecorino and Bean Salad
I got this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis' most recent cookbook and I've enjoyed it all summer as a vegetarian main dish.
12 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (2 cups)--I did 1 pound green beans
3 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 t finely chopped rosemary leaves (or oregano for the Greek version)
1 15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or Garbanzo beans)
8 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, cut into 1/4-inch chunks (1 cup)(or feta cheese)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
+2-3 T fresh lemon juice
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes, or until vibrant green but still crisp. Drain and set aside.
In a small nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, but not brown, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the rosemary and let cool slightly.
Combine the green beans, cannellini beans, Pecorino Romano cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper in a serving bowl. Add the garlic-rosemary oil and toss well, until all the ingredients are coated.
After making this a couple times, I switched it up a little making a pseudo-Greek style version of this dish by doing the following: switch rosemary for oregano, cannellini beans with garbanzo beans, Pecorino Romano with feta cheese, and I added about 2-3 T of fresh lemon juice.
12 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (2 cups)--I did 1 pound green beans
3 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 t finely chopped rosemary leaves (or oregano for the Greek version)
1 15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or Garbanzo beans)
8 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, cut into 1/4-inch chunks (1 cup)(or feta cheese)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
+2-3 T fresh lemon juice
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes, or until vibrant green but still crisp. Drain and set aside.
In a small nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, but not brown, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the rosemary and let cool slightly.
Combine the green beans, cannellini beans, Pecorino Romano cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper in a serving bowl. Add the garlic-rosemary oil and toss well, until all the ingredients are coated.
After making this a couple times, I switched it up a little making a pseudo-Greek style version of this dish by doing the following: switch rosemary for oregano, cannellini beans with garbanzo beans, Pecorino Romano with feta cheese, and I added about 2-3 T of fresh lemon juice.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Crock Pot Tepary Beans
My mother-in-law first introduced me to tepary beans, a small bean native to Arizona and last year, I got a few 1 lb bags of them at a gardening demonstration. I kept meaning to cook them, but I never remember to soak my beans overnight and tend to rely on canned beans because of this.
One night, I remembered and decided to try them. For some reason, I thought they were sweet--maybe I was thinking of mesquite beans. They're not. They taste a lot like pinto beans, but because they're so small, they cook really well in a crock pot (whenever I try to cook pinto beans in the crock pot, they still taste raw to me).
These were delicious with a little rice mixed in to make them look more "refried." I get mine at the Town and Country Farmers' Market.
Crock Pot Tepary Beans
I modified the recipe I got from the gardening fair and added the cumin, chili powder and salt.
1 lb tepary benas
1/2 lb bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t salt
Clean, sort, and soak beans overnight.
Place soaked beans in a crock pot along with bacon, onion, cumin, chili powder, and salt. Add enough water to cover the beans by about 1 inch. Cook on high for about 8 hours. I removed as much liquid as I could and then, added 1/2 cup of leftover cooked rice about an hour before serving to absorb the excess liquid. This helped the beans to look more like the refried beans my kids prefer.
Delicious with some homemade corn taco shells.
One night, I remembered and decided to try them. For some reason, I thought they were sweet--maybe I was thinking of mesquite beans. They're not. They taste a lot like pinto beans, but because they're so small, they cook really well in a crock pot (whenever I try to cook pinto beans in the crock pot, they still taste raw to me).
These were delicious with a little rice mixed in to make them look more "refried." I get mine at the Town and Country Farmers' Market.
Crock Pot Tepary Beans
I modified the recipe I got from the gardening fair and added the cumin, chili powder and salt.
1 lb tepary benas
1/2 lb bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t salt
Clean, sort, and soak beans overnight.
Place soaked beans in a crock pot along with bacon, onion, cumin, chili powder, and salt. Add enough water to cover the beans by about 1 inch. Cook on high for about 8 hours. I removed as much liquid as I could and then, added 1/2 cup of leftover cooked rice about an hour before serving to absorb the excess liquid. This helped the beans to look more like the refried beans my kids prefer.
Delicious with some homemade corn taco shells.
Cook's Illustrated Classic Brownies
Since Emmeline has been born, I've had some extra calories to spare, so I've been looking for a favorite brownie recipe. I think I've found one, but I ruined a whole batch trying to use egg replacer so Asher could eat them. Sigh, eggs are necessary.
Chocolately with just the right consistency and that delicious crunchy, chewy edge of the pan. I'm not quite sure if this is my THE brownie recipe. I'm afraid more recipes will have to be attempted to know for sure.
Classic Brownies
Cook's Illustrated
1 c (4 oz) pecans or walnuts, chopped I didn't use these
1 1/4 c (5 oz) cake flour
1/2 t salt
3/4 t baking powder
6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 6 1-inch pieces
2 1/4 c (15 3/4 oz) sugar
4 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325. Line 9x13 pan with tin foil (make sure there's extra over the lip of the pan) and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Toast nuts if using.
Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.
Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. When chocolate mixtureis completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.
Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Sprinkle nuts evenly over better and bake until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30-35 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan by lifting foil.
Keeps in airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, but I've never had them around for 3 days to know if this is true.
Chocolately with just the right consistency and that delicious crunchy, chewy edge of the pan. I'm not quite sure if this is my THE brownie recipe. I'm afraid more recipes will have to be attempted to know for sure.
Classic Brownies
Cook's Illustrated
1 c (4 oz) pecans or walnuts, chopped I didn't use these
1 1/4 c (5 oz) cake flour
1/2 t salt
3/4 t baking powder
6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 6 1-inch pieces
2 1/4 c (15 3/4 oz) sugar
4 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325. Line 9x13 pan with tin foil (make sure there's extra over the lip of the pan) and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Toast nuts if using.
Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.
Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. When chocolate mixtureis completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.
Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Sprinkle nuts evenly over better and bake until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30-35 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan by lifting foil.
Keeps in airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, but I've never had them around for 3 days to know if this is true.
Shakshuka (Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce)
I've had a pile of recipes that I've been wanting to post, but whew! 3 kids is a little tricky.
This is delicious and vegetarian (and low in Weight Watcher points--around 5 points per serving). I keep the heat pretty low around here, so I substituted 3 of the Anahaim chiles with sweet red and yellow bell peppers. If Asher wasn't allergic to eggs, we'd have this almost every week.
Smitten Kitchen's Shakshuka
This is delicious and vegetarian (and low in Weight Watcher points--around 5 points per serving). I keep the heat pretty low around here, so I substituted 3 of the Anahaim chiles with sweet red and yellow bell peppers. If Asher wasn't allergic to eggs, we'd have this almost every week.
Smitten Kitchen's Shakshuka
Monday, April 11, 2011
Savory Compound Butters
I was watching Food Network the other day and watched a woman whip up a Cobb Salad butter, which sounds gross. I think Savory Compound Butter sounds better. I've always loved orange butter and honey butter, but never thought to do this. Best of all, I just watched her whip it up, and then, made my own with approximations. This is delicious on baked potatoes! I think it would also be good on French bread.
4 strips of bacon, fried, cooled and chopped
handful of chives (I probably ended up with about 1/4 c once these were minced)
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 stick of softened butter
Mash all ingredients together with a fork.
4 strips of bacon, fried, cooled and chopped
handful of chives (I probably ended up with about 1/4 c once these were minced)
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 stick of softened butter
Mash all ingredients together with a fork.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Southwest Pasta Salad
Um... I'm in love with a salad. This one comes from Our Best Bites: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/01/southwest-pasta-salad/ If your trying to lose some extra weight and need calorie count here it is: I halved the dressing because it was more than enough. 8 servings. 1 serving=246. And that is why I had 2 servings at dinner tonight:)
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