Baked Pork Chops, January 26, 2016

Last night, in keeping with her January comfort food theme, Jeannene made a really yummy dinner of seasoned baked pork chops (she used some kind of packet for the seasoning and it included a bag, so my clean-up was much easier), potatoes au gratin, and very wonderfully garlicky brussels sprouts. I added dessert to the meal, a really easy and good from-scratch mint chocolate cake. I'm not usually much of a baker and I definitely don't often make my cakes from scratch, but this was super simple. Warning, though---it was SUPER rich, requiring small portions and a mug of milk!

Mint Chocolate Cake

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1/4 c. cocoa

1 tsp. instant espresso powder (this brings out the chocolatey flavor)

1 c. butter

1 c. water

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 c. buttermilk

2 tsp. vanilla

10 oz. bag mini peppermint patties (I like York)

Chocolate frosting (I used Duncan Hines' dark chocolate fudge)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, and coffee powder. Mix water and butter together and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add baking soda. Add flour mixture, then eggs, milk, and vanilla. Spoon into a greased, floured 13x9 pan. Bake half an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Top with peppermint patties and bake another couple minutes. Gently spread evenly across the top of the cake. Allow to cool completely, then frost with the chocolate frosting of your choice. 

Red Tent Food: Pumpkin & Butternut Soup, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake, October 13, 2015

Once a month, at the new moon, my Red Tent Temple women gather. I prepare some kind of food to nourish bodies and spirits. Last night, it being October, I made a pumpkin and squash soup and a chocolate chip zucchini cake. I added some store-bought wheat bread, some lentil crackers (we have at least 1 member who is gluten-free), and some Lucy's pumpkin cookies, also GF.

Pumpkin & Butternut Soup

1 tbsp. butter (if vegan, sub olive oil)

1 tsp. olive oil

2 onions, chopped

30 oz. pumpkin (canned)

3 lb. butternut squash cubes (I buy them pre-chopped)

6 c. vegetable stock

A couple pinches salt

A good grinding pepper

1 c. milk or half and half (skim is fine---and this can be omitted altogether)

Sour cream, croutons, and shredded parmesan for garnish

Heat butter and oil in soup pot. Cook the onions until translucent. Add all but the milk. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes or so. Blend smooth, either in a blender (carefully, in batches) or with an immersion blender. Return to pot, add milk, and adjust seasonings. Heat through. Serve with garnishes. Serves 8-10. 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 stick butter, softened

1/4 c. oil

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. buttermilk

2 medium zucchini, shredded (about 2 c.)

1 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, butter, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Add flour, cocoa, baking soda, and buttermilk. Fold in zucchini, chocolate, and nuts. Pour into a greased, floured 13x9 pan. Bake 35-45 minutes. Serves 16. I have not frosted this, but I think cream cheese frosting would be yummy on it. 

Chicken Noodle Soup, September 1, 2015

Since I had what was left of the chicken I roasted last week, I figured I might as well make chicken noodle soup for supper last night. I just threw the chicken and veggies I'd bagged up into a pot, covered them with water, threw in some carrot rounds (3 carrots) & celery slices (2 stalks), and cooked them on medium to medium-low for quite awhile (you can just do about 45 minutes, though, and you get a pretty decent broth). About 10 minutes before serving, I removed the chicken (you have to be careful that you don't accidentally leave bone bits or other yucky parts in the pot) & let it cool while I tossed some "dumpling" noodles into the pot of soup and cooked them for about 7 minutes. Then, I picked the remaining chicken off the carcass and threw it back into the pot. I adjusted the seasonings with some salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Then, I served it piping hot with some Pugliese bread and applesauce.

Dessert was scrumptious chocolate banana bread with dark chocolate chips. This is really gooey and cake-like and unruly when still warm. The cooler it gets, the more tidy and bread-like it becomes. It's still quite good when completely cool---and looks more like you expect bread to look, you know, holding its shape and everything. I sent a loaf to work with Jeannene and we kept one at home. The recipe makes one loaf.

Chocolate Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips

4 bananas, very ripe

1/3 c. brown sugar

A hearty shaking of lemon zest (I had dried on hand)

1 stick butter, room temp

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

A pinch of salt

A heaping tsp. baking powder

1 c. flour

1/4 c. cocoa

6 oz. chocolate chips (I had dark on hand, but you could use whatever you like---even PB or cinnamon or butterscotch chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas in a large bowl. Mix in brown sugar, lemon zest, butter, vanilla, and eggs. Stir salt, baking powder, flour, & cocoa together. Add to banana mix, along with chocolate chips, and mix well. Pour into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake 1-1 & 1/2 hours. It's done when it feels springy in the center. Cool at least 5 minutes before serving. 

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sauce

My wife is a huge fan of peanut butter in probably every one of its forms. I'm not so hot on it, but sometimes I do like it, when I am in the right mood. I must have been in the right mood the other night because I made a chocolate-peanut butter sauce for Jeannene's ice cream and ended up thinking it was completely terrific! We had it on Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. Talk about gilding the lily! This would also, I am certain, be pretty amazing just eaten from a spoon. Yum yum! Complete decadence!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sauce

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate

14 oz. sweetened, condensed milk

2 tbsp. peanut butter (I think the creamy kind is best here)

2 tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

Melt all the ingredients but the vanilla together on low heat, stirring the whole time. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm. 

New Year's Eve Fondue, December 31, 2014

When I was a kid, my almost-grandma often made fondue for Christmas Eve. This doesn't really fit my lifestyle, but I love the tradition, so I adapted it to New Year's Eve, instead, since I can't be in my hometown for the ball drop. I have always hated the pressure to "do something fun" on New Year's Eve and I don't ever want the last meal of the year to turn out to be crappy (as my anniversary dinner at Victoria's Delights was on the 30th), so fondue and board games it is---and has been for a number of years now.

We always do a classic cheese fondue, with French bread cubes and blanched veggies for dipping. For dessert, we do a chocolate fondue, with all kinds of wonderful dippers. I usually use some kind of fruity liqueur like Grand Marnier or Chambord for the chocolate fondue, but this year, we had some great peppermint marshmallows as dippers, so that wouldn't work. We were given a bottle of Godiva liqueur as a gift, so I used that this year. It was fab!

In addition to the peppermint marshmallows, this year we dipped graham crackers, Rice Krispie treat cubes, thin gingersnaps, state capital cookies, pretzel rods, strawberries, banana slices, and pineapple chunks into our chocolate fondue. With our cheese fondue, this year, we had the bread cubes, broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus.

We also ended up having an appetizer while playing Scattergories. My aunt Holly's family makes these scrumptious little nibbles for just about every gathering they have and they vanish within seconds of coming out of the oven. They're called Gloria Hardingtons (or just Glorias, which Jeannene noted sounds, appropriately, like "glorious") after the family friend from whom Holly's mom got the recipe. June, Holly's mommy, used to sometimes gussy them up with some scallions or bacon crumbles on top, but I like them just plain.

Gloria Hardingtons

Mix equal parts shredded Swiss and Cheddar cheeses, with just enough mayonnaise to hold the mixture together. Add a handful of sliced black olives. Spread on party rye, place on a baking sheet (you might want to do a couple-few sheets of them, though), and broil until they're quite browned and bubbling. Devour. 

New Year’s Eve Cheese Fondue

1 clove garlic

1 c. dry white wine

8 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated

8 oz. Jarlsberg cheese, grated

2 tsp. cornstarch

3 tbsp. kirsch

Salt & pepper

Nutmeg (freshly grated, if at all possible)

French bread cubes, veggies

Rub a heavy pot with garlic (if you have a fondue pot that can go right on the stovetop, so much the better), leaving shreds of it in the pot. Add wine & bring to a boil. On a lower heat, add cheese, in very small increments and stirring well to melt it in between additions, until all the cheese is incorporated. It is terribly, terribly important not to add all the cheese at once. I cannot stress enough how important it is to add just a small bit at a time. If you don’t, the texture of your fondue will not be what it should. When the cheese is melted, mix the cornstarch with the kirsch and stir to dissolve it. The kirsch may be hard to find and it can be omitted, but the flavor will suffer, so, if at all possible, do not skip this. Add the mixture to the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with a little nutmeg. Keep over a very low flame, either on the stove or, preferably, over sterno. Serve with bread & veggies. If it’s too thick, you can thin it with a little hot wine. By the way, this sauce is also terrific over toast the next morning. Serves 4-6.

New Year's Eve Chocolate Fondue

12 oz. good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli this year)

2/3 c. heavy whipping cream

2 tbsp. liqueur

Heat chocolate and cream together, stirring, over low to medium-low heat, until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Keep over a very low flame and serve with fruit and other dippers. Serves 4-6. 

Christmas Dinner with the Kids, Addendum

Oops, I forgot to give you the recipe for the fantabulous flourless chocolate cake & the peppermint plates! My friend, Laurel, reminded me.

This flourless chocolate cake, which I got from Gourmet Magazine's May 2004 issue, is my go-to dessert for any celebratory event (although, for birthdays, I defer to the birthday celebrant's choice. For my wife's birthday, we'll likely have angel food cake with purple frosting, as that's what her mommy made for her every birthday. My youngest boy got cherry pie for his. My auntie, cousin, & I like cute---usually Disney-themed---white cakes from the bakery.) & I can't imagine that you won't love it. Although, Bubbles did not love it. She also doesn't like mac & cheese from scratch or traditional cheese fondue, so if you also prefer food that's a little more processed, this cake might not be for you. Of course, if you hate chocolate, you will be horrified by this cake. Otherwise, you should love it. I do advise very, very small slices, however, because it's ridiculously rich. A little real whipped cream, with no sugar added, is not a bad idea to serve with this, as it cuts the sweet. The cake takes a little time, but isn't actually very labor-intensive. I usually garnish it with fresh raspberries, but this time, I used candy canes to make a heart in the middle and put starlight mints around the edges. Then, I served it on peppermint plates.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

2 sticks butter

12 oz. very good bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (Ghirardelli, at least, although Valrhona, Caillebaut, or Scharffenberger would be better---& it must be at least 70% cacao)

5 large eggs

1 c. sugar

7 tbsp. water

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter a 10" round cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment and butter the parchment, as well. Melt the chocolate and butter together, until just smooth when stirred. Beat the eggs with 1/3 c. sugar on high speed until tripled in volume. This will take about 5 minutes. They'll be a really pretty shade of yellow, too. Heat 2/3 c. sugar with water over medium-low heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Add to chocolate mixture and stir well. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Pour a little at a time into the eggs, beating on medium speed until just incorporated. Pour into prepared cake pan. Put into a roasting pan lined with a kitchen towel. Fill 3/4 of the way up the sides of the cake pan, very carefully so as to avoid getting water in the batter. Bake until just set, 50-60 minutes. Cool at least 2 hours before loosening and inverting onto a serving platter or cake stand. 

Peppermint Plates

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment and draw circles the size of the plates you want on the parchment. I traced a small cheese plate, so two fit on one baking sheet. Arrange cheap starlight mints (I used Kroger brand and some fancier ones and the fancier ones did not melt the way they should have. At all.) into circles to fill the drawn circles. I did a row of green spearmint candies and the rest red peppermint. You could use any disk-shaped hard candies, I imagine. Place in the oven for 5-7 minutes, watching carefully. Allow to cool before removing from baking sheet and using as a serving plate. Then, people can munch on their plates when dessert is gone!

Chocolate Caramel Bread Pudding

How many of you will complain if I tell you to eat the whole dessert in one day? I thought not many. Seriously, you wouldn't have to eat it all, but it does get a little weepy when left overnight, so it's a great dessert to make when you're having company to dinner. My wife loves bread pudding, but is always disappointed in restaurants, where there are invariably raisins in it. Of those, she is not a fan. So, I like to try different versions of it on her. This one is yummy and definitely different. I got the recipe from my friend, Kristal, who uses cinnamon chips in her version. I was unable to find those when I was getting ready to make this, so I subbed caramel chips and a new dish was born.

Chocolate Caramel Bread Pudding

8 oz. French bread, crust cut off

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. cocoa powder

1/2 c. caramel chips

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 3/4 c. milk

1 c. half & half

50 Hershey Kisses

2 eggs, beaten

1 c. caramel chips

1/2 c. half & half

1 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2 qt. baking dish. Cube enough of the bread to make 6 cups. Toss with butter. Mix sugar and cocoa together. Toss with bread cubes. Add 1/2 c. caramel chips. Put in baking dish. Heat milk and 1 c. half and half just until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat. Add Hershey Kisses and stir until melted and incorporated into a smooth mixture. Gradually add to eggs (if you add it too quickly, it will give you chocolate scrambled eggs). Pour over bread cubes in pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about an hour. Melt 1 c. caramel chips with 1/2 c. half & half. Add powdered sugar, stirring to incorporate completely. Serve warm with bread pudding. Serves 10-12. 

Making Candy for Team Building

My wife decided to have a team building exercise at the local art studio, you know, the sort of place where you can paint your own pottery or be instructed in how to create a canvas with a reasonable facsimile of a giraffe or dandelions or what have you. It was pretty amusing watching all those business guys trying to figure out what on earth to paint. Jeannene got the main dinner foods from a local restaurant, but asked me to pitch in and make some desserts. I have several go-to candy recipes, treats I've been making at Christmas for years, so I decided to make a few of those. I am also rather vain about my key lime pie, which I learned to make after discovering that it's near-impossible to find proper key lime pie in Ohio. It's one of my favorite desserts and nothing disappoints me more than ordering it in a restaurant and being served a bright green monstrosity that was clearly made with Jello included or a frozen, white, frothy thing that features Cool Whip and is scarcely tart at all. A proper key lime pie will be custardy, buttery yellow, and quite tart. I like mine with no topping at all, unless perhaps a little bit of unsweetened, real whipped cream to cut the sweet of it. I'm not opposed at all to a lime meringue pie. Just don't call it key lime pie. Rant over.

Key Lime Pie

4 egg yolks (I like to use the whites for pavlova or meringues)

1 can sweetened, condensed milk

3-4 oz. key lime juice (bottled is acceptable---I like Nellie & Joe's)

1 graham crust (I seldom make mine, although I do think homemade is better)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix egg yolks with sweetened condensed milk until it turns a beautiful light yellow. Gradually add a little juice at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. If you dump it all in at once, it becomes a real pain in the neck to get incorporated. Why, yes, I did learn this the hard way. Pour it all into the crust. Place it on a baking sheet (in case it slops over) and bake 10 minutes, checking in after about 8 minutes to make sure the edges aren't burning. Allow to cool completely, then cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving. 

Until my almost-grandma, Mary,  couldn't physically do it any longer, she used to set about baking for Christmas like nobody's business. I would arrive at her sweet little blue house in the holler and there would be planning sessions for what we would bake that year. One of her favorites from her younger years was chocolate rum balls and they became a favorite of mine, as well. My second-grandma, Gen, loved these so much that she submitted the recipe for the Dayton Women's Club cookbook and gave me a copy as a surprise for Christmas that year. My grandmom took some I had made along to Vermont one Christmas. They were destined for ham radio buddies at a stop along the way, in Fredonia, NY, where my grandies always overnighted on their way to spend the holiday with my auntie. Jean ate so many that Christmas that she made herself sick, but asked for more the following year. You have been warned.

Chocolate Rum Balls

1 c. chopped pecans (a mini food processor does this perfectly; you can also buy pecan chips)

1 c. Oreo crumbs (I used to be able to find these boxed, but they have vanished from the shelves in recent years. You can buy the more expensive cookies like the Bremner chocolate wafers, but it's not that hard to empty Oreos and pulverize the chocolate part in a food processor or with a rolling pin. I have recently begun to wonder if perhaps the insides might not be interesting in truffles or something else.)

1 c. powdered sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. light Karo syrup (use any brand you like---I use the term generically to mean corn syrup, much like Southerners use "Coke.")

1/4 c. light rum (or any liqueur you fancy, really. Cinnamon whiskey might be interesting.)

Granulated sugar for rolling

Mix everything but the rolling sugar. Shape into small balls (walnut-sized). Roll in sugar. makes 2-3 dozen. 

I'm a big fan of truffles and the cappuccino truffles are some of the yummiest I've ever had. They're not much to look at, as they are seldom perfectly round and tend to be a bit misshapen, but they are amazingly rich and wonderful. I make them a bit on the smaller side, not nearly as big as, say, a Godiva truffle, because they are so very sweet. If you want bigger truffles, by all means, make them bigger! These are a little time consuming because they have to chill and be rolled. They are also terribly messy. Make them anyway. They are worth it.

Cappuccino Truffles

12 oz. milk chocolate chips (you can make espresso truffles by using bittersweet chips)

6 tbsp. butter, cut into 6 pieces

3 tbsp. heavy cream

1 1/2 tbsp. instant espresso powder (I might try Cafe Bustelo sometime for cortadito truffles, but I usually use Medaglia d'Oro)
Cocoa powder for rolling

Melt the ingredients together in a microwave safe bowl on high/full power for about a minute, until the chocolate & butter are almost melted. Stir until smooth. Freeze for 1 hour. Shape into small balls, rounding them in the palms of your hands and wiping/washing hands frequently to maintain traction. Roll in cocoa & keep refrigerated until you're ready to serve them.

My granddaddy, Clyde, loved peanut brittle, so from the time I was a tiny girl, he got a box of peanut brittle from me for Christmas. When I was in my 30s, I started toying with the idea of making it from scratch for him instead of buying it. I was intimidated by making it, though. I wish I'd known then how easy it is. I didn't, though, so I waited and waited and kept buying him peanut brittle. The last Christmas he was alive (although I didn't know it was his last at the time), I finally worked up my nerve and made a batch for him. He loved it and I have now started making it for my stepdad at Christmas and for his birthday. Jeannene loves it, too. This year, I tried just a smidge more baking soda than usual and it really made it fantastic. 

Peanut Brittle

2 c. sugar

A little baking soda on the end of a spoon (the more you use, the fluffier your brittle will be)

1 c. peanuts

Grease a baking sheet well and have it by the stove. Have everything, in fact, measured and ready by the stove. Get a tall saucepan with a heavy bottom nice & hot (but not too hot or you'll scorch your sugar) over medium-high heat. Pour in the sugar and stir constantly, stirring out all the lumps, until the sugar has just gone completely to syrup. If you're not used to this process, it can be worrisome, as the sugar gets all clumpy and hard before going liquid. It will look kind of like the ice is breaking up in spring for awhile there. Keep stirring. While you are stirring, you should also be brushing down the sides of the pan with a basting brush. If you don't, it won't ruin everything, though. It will, however, ruin everything if you allow your sugar to scorch. If it starts looking really dark or smelling burned, you could be in trouble, so keep a very close eye on it and act quickly in everything. Also, be very, very careful. Molten sugar hurts like mad when it touches your skin and it can bubble up unexpectedly. The second the sugar has gone to syrup, dump in the soda and the nuts & stir very, very quickly to incorporate before pouring onto the prepared baking sheet and spreading, working very quickly, into an even layer. Then, you just have to let it cool before breaking it into whatever size slabs you like. 

Derby Pie

One of my go-to Thanksgiving pies is derby pie, that great concoction of pecan pie with added bourbon and chocolate. I started making this when I lived in Nashville and, thus, used Jack Daniels. I would be remiss, however, to fail to point out that it is not true derby pie unless Kentucky bourbon is used. 

Recently, someone on Instagram asked about it, after seeing a picture from this past Thanksgiving. Failing to find the recipe here easily, I am posting it now so that I can share it with her and all of you.

Crust for 9" pie

3 eggs

1 c. sugar

1 c. Karo syrup

2 tbsp. butter, melted

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. bourbon

A pinch of salt

1 c. whole pecans

1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar, then Karo. Mix in the next 4. Fit the pie crust into a 9" pie plate and flute the edges. Scatter nuts & chocolate in crust. Pour egg mixture into crust. Bake 40-50 minutes.