Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Carne Adovada from Use Real Butter

modified from Santa Fe Recipe (The Shed)

16 dried, red chile pods
3 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp oregano
5 pounds pork shoulder

Preheat oven to 325F. Remove stems from the chile pods. Place pods in a pan and bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chiles are lightly roasted. Leave oven door open (I didn’t do this). Don’t breathe the fumes! I shook the seeds out of the pods and discarded them. Place pods in a medium bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let them sit for 30 minutes. Drain the water from the chile pods, but reserve about 2 cups for the purée. Place pods in a food processor or blender. Add the salt, garlic, and oregano. Cover the mixture with the chile water. Blend well for 2 minutes or until the skins disappear. Cut the pork into 2×4 inch strips. Place the pork in a ziploc bag and add the sauce. Thoroughly coat the pork. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Preheat oven to 325F. Place pork and sauce in a baking dish. Cover and bake for 4 hours or until meat is tender. (I cooked mine in a crock pot all day on low.) Shred or chop meat.

The delightful condiments!

Spiceful, tender, and delicious!

Served with avocado, cilantro, lime and cheese

Pumpkin Cheesecake

For a work pot luck, I made an oh-so-delicious pumpkin cheesecake! It turned out beautiful! Here is the delicious recipe:

1 cup crushed ginger snaps

2 Tbl melted butter

3 8 oz pkgs cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground allspice

2 cups sour cream

3 Tbl sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350* F. Mix ginger snap crumbs with melted butter. Press evenly into springform pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven to 300* F. Beat cream cheese with 1 cup sugar and the salt. Add 3 of the eggs and the 2 tsp of vanilla and mix until well incorporated. Pour half the mix into the pan.

Stir in pumpkin, spices, and remaining egg into the rest of the batter. Spread over the regular cheesecake batter. Bake for 60 minutes or until set in the center.

During the last couple minutes of baking, beat together sour cream, remaining sugar and remaining vanilla. Once you remove the cheesecake from the over, spread this mixture over the baked cheesecake. Bake for 10 more minutes.

Lunch

Today for lunch I'm having homemade roasted vegetable soup, homemade whole wheat sunflower seed bread, and a diet pepsi. Ok, so a little unbalanced. But here are the delicious, delicious recipes!

Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Bread:

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tsp yeast

2 cups white flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp sea salt

2 Tbl Powdered milk

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, finely chopped

4 Tbl extra virgin olive oil

4 Tbl honey

Dissolve yeast in water and let sit for 5 minutes

In large bowl stir together white flour, whole wheat flour, salt, powdered milk, and sunflower seeds until completely incorporated. Add olive oil, honey and yeast water until dough forms. If it is too sticky, add flour a tablespoon at a time. If too dry, add water a tablespoon at a time.

Turn onto floured surface or use a kitchen aid mixer to knead for 2-3 minutes until dough springs back when touched. Shape dough into a loaf and place into a greased bread pan. Let bread rise for an hour in warm place until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375* F. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until bread sounds hollow when tapped and is golden brown. Cover the top with butter.

Roasted Vegetable Soup:

Serves 10

3 sweet potatoes

4 potatoes

1 lb carrots

3 red peppers

1 yellow pepper

1 stalk celery

6-8 cups beef broth (or any other broth or stock)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Cut all vegetables into bite size pieces. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in 350* oven for about 45 minutes.

Puree 3/4 of the vegetables and thin out with the broth until a good consistency. Flavor with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the other vegetables and bring back up to a simmer.

Holiday Baking

One of my favorite things about the holidays is making candy and doing all the holiday baking! When I was younger, my mom and grandma would do demonstrations at the Festival of Trees on how to make Christmas Candy, specifically making and dipping chocolates, and us young kids would be the hired help.

Last night I made two of my favorite holiday treats and sent some with Tom to his work and brought some in to my work. I had many people request the recipes because they are pretty much the most delicious things ever! The fudge recipe has been handed down from my great-grandpa, so you know it's good!

Kartchner Fudge

12 oz chocolate chips

1/2 lb butter or margarine

chopped nuts

4 cups sugar

1 can evaporated milk

30 marshmallows

Put chocolate chips, butter, and nuts in a glass bowl. Set aside. Bring the sugar and canned milk to a boil, stirring constantly, until it reaches 242*. At the last minute, stir in the 30 marshmallows and continue to stir until melted. Pour into the first bowl until the chocolate chips and butter are melted. Pour the fudge into a buttered 9x13 pan and allow to set up.

Soda Cracker Toffee

Saltine crackers

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup REAL butter (if you use margarine, it will not be crunchy, it will be soft and won't be nearly as delightful)

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with non-stick spray. Put 1 layer of saltine crackers. Boil together the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes. Spoon over the saltines. Bake at 350* for 5 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crackers. Let sit for 2 minutes and spread chocolate across the top. Allow to cool completely in fridge and break into pieces to serve.

Croquembouche

May's challenge for the Daring Bakers was a Piece Montée or Croquembouche. I have always heard them called Croqembouche, so that is what I am going to call it. A classic Croquembouche is a pyramid or cone of basically custard filled puff pastries glued together with caramel, decorated with spun sugar, flowers, or chocolate. It is what is used as the traditional wedding cake in France. I have always thought they looked so beautiful and have always wanted to try my hand at it so I was excited to do it!

Making the Pate a Choux (puff pastry) from scratch turned out to be a struggle for me. My first batch was waaaayyyy too runny and turned into egg flavored disks. My second batch turned out perfectly though. I forgot to brush the egg wash over them before they cooked but they still browned nicely, so that is good.

I ran out of the custard before all the cream puffs were filled, but I did have some chocolate whipped cream in the fridge. I ended up using that to fill the rest and they were just as good if not better than the custard filled ones.

Here is what a traditional Croquembouche is supposed to look like:

And here is what mine looked like:

Soooooo.... not quite the same. But it was still delicious! And was more than enough for 7 people for dessert with leftovers.

Here is the recipe as given to us by Little Miss Cupcake:

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Crème Patissiere (Half Batch)
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.

Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.

Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For Chocolate Pastry Cream (Half Batch Recipe):
Bring ¼ cup (about 50 cl.) milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces (about 80 g.) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.

For Coffee Pastry Cream (Half Batch recipe)
Dissolve 1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder in 1 ½ teaspoons boiling water. Whisk into pastry cream with butter and vanilla.

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.

Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.

Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.

Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).

Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

Filling:
When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze.

Use one of these to top your choux and assemble your piece montée.

Chocolate Glaze:
8 ounces/200 g. finely chopped chocolate (use the finest quality you can afford as the taste will be quite pronounced; I recommend semi-sweet)

Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Stir at regular intervals to avoid burning. Use the best quality chocolate you can afford. Use immediately.

Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

Assembly of your Piece Montée:
You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place – see video #4 below).

When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate. Have fun and enjoy! Bon appétit!

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

For Mother's Day this year, my family gave my mom a day of service, working in the yard. While the fam was hard at work outside, I stayed in my element and made cinnamon rolls for a big Mother's Day brunch. They ended up quite ridiculously tasty, if I may say so myself! I had some requests for the recipe so I thought I would share it with anyone who was so inclined.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe from Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur

Rolls

1 package active dry yeast (¼ oz size)

1 cup warm milk (105-110° F)

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup margarine

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

4 cups all purpose flour

Filling

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 ½ Tbl cinnamon

1/3 cup margarine, softened

Icing

8 Tbl margarine, softened

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

¼ cup (2 oz) cream cheese

½ tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1. For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.

2. Mix together the sugar, margarine, salt and eggs. Add flour, and mix well.

3. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.

4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough flat until it is approximately 21 inches long and 16 inches wide. It should be about ¼ inch thick.

5. Preheat oven to 400°F.

6. For the filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the softened margarine evenly over the surface of the dough, and then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar evenly over the surface.

7. Working carefully from the top (a 21-inch side), roll the dough down to the bottom edge.

8. Cut the rolled dough into 1 ¾ inch slices and place 6 at a time evenly spaced, in a lightly greased baking pan. Let the rolls rise again until double in size (about 30 minutes). Bake for 10 minutes, or until light brown on top.

9. While the rolls bake, combine the icing ingredients. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy. When the rolls come out of the oven, coat each generously with icing.

Daring Cooks Challenge- Potstickers

Oops! I was supposed to post this on the 14th, but I forgot! So here we are! Just a little late!

This was my first attempt at a Daring Cooks Recipe. I was pretty overwhelmed by the sight of it, so waited until just about the last minute before I tried it!

The recipe is from Jen at use real butter. That website has been my motivation to start my own food blog, join the daring kitchen and try all sorts of new recipes! I defintiely think you

should check out her website! She's amazing!!!

Filling Ingredients

Minced Vegetables

Making the Dough

The delicious finished product! MMMMmmm....

Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers

pork filling:
1 lb (450g) ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried - rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup (75g) bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 (55g) cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp (40g) soy sauce
2 tbsp (28g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

OR

shrimp filling:
1/2 lb (225g) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1/2 lb (225g) ground pork
3 stalks green onions, minced
1/4 cup (55g) ginger root, minced
1 cup (142g) water chestnuts, minced
1 tsp (5g) salt
3 tbsp (40g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

dough: (double this for the amount of filling, but easier to make it in 2 batches - or just halve the filling recipe)
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for worksurface

dipping sauce:
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
a few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (up to a day, but preferably within an hour or two).

Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).

Make the dough, Method 2 (my mom’s instructions): In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Both dough methods: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side. Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.

To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface in a steamer basket with lid. Steam covered for about 6 minutes.

To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

To freeze: Assemble dumplings on a baking sheet so they are not touching. It helps to rub the base of the dumpling in a little flour before setting on the baking sheet for ease of release. Freeze for 20-30 minutes until dumplings are no longer soft. Place in ziploc bag and freeze for up to a couple of months. Prepare per the above instructions, but allow extra time to ensure the filling is thoroughly cooked.

To serve: Serve dumplings or potstickers hot with your choice of dipping sauce combinations.