Carrot Cake

 

My parents got this recipe out of a cookbook that they bought while in Washington D.C. and made it for dessert this past weekend.  It was very delicious!  So I got the recipe and decided to share it with you! 

 

What you need:

Softened unsalted butter, for the pan

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

1 cup superfine sugar

2/3cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (use the large holes on a box grater)

One 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, well drained (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup (2 oz.) walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup seedless raisins

 

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour the inside of an 8 cup fluted tube pan and tap out the excess flour.

 

Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.  Combine the sugar, oil, and eggs in a bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer.  Beat on high speed until the mixture has thickened slightly and is light in color and texture, about 3 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed to low.  In thirds, add the flour mixture and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, just until the batter is smooth.  Add the carrots, pineapple, walnuts, and raisins and mix until combined.  Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

 

Bake until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes.  Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Invert and unmold the cake onto the rack and let cool completely. 

 

Frosting:

 One 8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temperature)

1 cup White chocolate chips

1 pint whipped cream

1/2 - 1 cup Powdered Sugar

Refer to Coconut Cream Cheese cake recipe for instructions on how to make the frosting!

Steak or Chicken Marinade

 

I love my parents steaks and chicken that they grill!  They always turn out so tender and juicy!  They use a special marinade on them and I thought I would share it with all of you.  Hope you love it too!

 

What you need:

1 cup vegetable oil

1 medium onion

1 tbs. garlic, diced

1 tbs. fresh sage, diced

2 tbs. worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, crushed

1 tbs. freshly ground black pepper

2 tbs. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

 

Mix together and pour over steak or chicken and let marinade for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.  Do not over marinade the chicken, otherwise it will toughen the meat.  It's best not to marinade chicken for more than 8 hours. 

 

A note about grilling steak or chicken, let the meat come to room temperature.  It is easy to over cook the outside of meat and still have an undercooked center if you pull your meat directly out of the fridge or freezer and throw it on the grill.  The whole goal of grilling is to have a flavorful, moist and tender meat when you are done.

Chile Verde

This last week my husband and I thought it might be a good idea to finally buy a grill for our four year anniversary.  Well we have been shopping around, but have not bought one just yet.  No worries though because we will be getting one and when we do I will be making this lovely dish along with many others!  This recipe is actually my mother's.  It is very delicious!  Whenever we make fajitas this is something we make to put on top of them!

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What you need:

5 lbs. Anaheim chiles

1 lb. tomatillos (outer shell skin removed)

2 large onions, pureed

3 tbs. crushed garlic

3 large tomatoes, pureed

3-5 lb. pork roast

4 cans chicken broth

8 bay leaves

1/4 - 1/2  cup corn starch

5 jalapeno peppers

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

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Pork Roast:

If you have a pork loin roast, cut into cubes and brown in olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer into chile pot and let finish cooking.  If you have a pork roast that has a lot of fat on it, first boil it in a pot of water until it falls apart.  Drain off water and remove meat, making sure to break into bite sized pieces and transfer to chile pot.  Pork loin is an easy, but more expensive option, so any pork roast is a great way to go and they tend to taste better than pork loin because the fat adds flavor.

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How Spicy???

Without jalapenos, this Chile Verde is not spicy at all; in fact it's rather sweet.  With each jalapeno you add to the chile verde, the sauce becomes progressivly spicier.  At 5 jalapenos, the chile verde has some pretty good kick and will make most people sweat.  But it's not too overwhelming and if added to other dishes like beans, the spicy hot mellows out.  You can put in as many or few peppers as you like:)

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Grilling and Chile Verde Recipe:

Grill all chiles until the skins are chard.  Once grilled, place in a plastic ziplock bag for 10 minutes or until cooled down.  By placing chiles in a plastic bag, they sweat their skins off and it makes removing skins easy. 

You can use rubber gloves to remove skins and seeds if you don't like the slight burning sensation on your skin.  One other reminder, if you choose to remove skins and seeds without gloves, DON'T rub your eyes with your hands afterwards.  The chile oil does not wash off and can be quite irritating to your eyes!!!

Once the skins and seeds have been removed either finaly chop or place in a food processor and puree.  Place in large pot on medium low heat or if you have a large crock pot, place on high heat.  Add all of the other ingredients to the chile pot and let cook for 3-4 hours.  

When nearing the end of the cooking time remove the bay leaves and mix 1/4 to 1/2 cup corn starch with cool water.  Add to the Verde to thicken the sauce.  The more corn starch you add, the thicker the sauce will become. 



Huevos Rancheros

My husband and I recently went on a little mini vacation, which means that we got to eat out for breakfast.  One of the things that we had for breakfast was huevos rancheros.  They were so delicious!  So I thought I would make them for breakfast at home and share it with all of you.

What you need:

Salsa (I used the tomatillo salsa that I make or you can make your own)

5 oz. Chorizo, casings removed, diced (it's kind of like bacon, but mexican style)

Vegetable oil

Cilantro (optional)

4 corn tortillas, plus more for serving (optional)

1 (16 oz.) can refried beans (optional) I use black refried beans

4 eggs

3/4 cup crumbled queso fresco or grated monterey jack cheese, for serving

sour cream, for serving

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook chorizo until browned. 

Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to a large skillet.  Place a tortilla in the skillet and cook until light golden but not crisp, about 30 seconds over medium-high heat.  Flip and cook for 30 seconds more.  Transfer to individual plate.  Cook the remaining tortillas, adding a bit more oil to the pan, if necessary.

Heat the refried beans in pan.  Spread the beans on the tortillas.

Add a tablespoon of butter to the skillet.  Working in batches, crack the eggs into the pan.  Cook until the bottoms are set and the edges are golden, about 1-2 minutes.  Turn the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until set, about 1 minute more.  Or you can make scrambled eggs with cheese, which is also very yummy.  Place one egg on each tortilla and put the chorizo and warm tomatillo salsa (or other salsa) over the eggs.  Sprinkle with cheese and cilantro.  Top with a dollop of sour cream!

P.B. Chocolate Cake

I was in the mood recently to try something new and came across this amazing dessert. This dessert was posted on the wood connections blog. Some amazing cookbook that they have called Lemon Poppy had this and let the wood connection post it! The real title of this cake is "Out of this World" P.B. Chocolate Cake. And let me tell you that I'm not a huge peanut butter fan, but this cake was amazing and so I'm sharing it with you!

What you need:

1 cup water

1 cup butter

6 tbs. Cocoa

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sour cream

Boil water, butter, and cocoa in a small saucepan. In a large bowl layer the flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour the sugar on top of the flour mixture. Pourthe boiling mixture on top of the sugar (this creates a fudge like reaction as the two combine). Add eggs and sour cream and mix until all ingredients are combined.

Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan or two 9 inch round pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes in the 9x13 inch pan or for 25-30 minutes in the 9 inch round pans. This cake is very dense and delicious, but is not as good if you overcook it. Start with a lower time and add minutes as needed. It is best to do the finger test before taking it out of the oven. When it looks almost done tap with two fingers on the top of the cake. It should slightly dent in and barely spring back. If not bake a few more minutes. You can also test the cake with a toothpick by sticking the toothpick in the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean then it's done.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup peanut butter

4 tbs. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 - 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Cream together butter, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar and cream until light and fluffy. After the cake has cooled off and is no longer hot (about 10-15 minutes) frost the cake and then top it with crushed peanut butter cups!

Lime Bars

I thought since it's St. Patrick's Day this would be quite the tasty and fun treat to make! I actually got the idea off of Pinterest, but I used my lemon bars recipe that I posted about a year ago. It's a super easy treat to make!

What you need:

Crust

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 sticks or 1 cup butter (softened)

Whip softened butter and then add powdered sugar and flour. Mix thoroughly, like pie dough. Pat into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges.

Filling (meanwhile mix)

2 cups sugar

4 beaten eggs

Juice of 6-7 limes or 6-8 tablespoons lime juice, depending on how citrisy you like

4 tbs. flour

Pinch of salt

Green food coloring (add until you hit the green color you prefer)

After crust is baked, pour filling mixture over the crust and bake for 20 minutes more, at 350 degrees. Let cool and then sprinkle with powdered sugar!

Lemon Poppyseed Cake

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet. This has been a family favorite for years! It's so delicious! I hope you enjoy it!

What you need:

1 box of Yellow cake mix

3/4 of a package of the large Instant Vanilla Pudding

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. rum flavoring

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 cup poppyseeds

Grease a bundt pan. Mix cake mix and pudding together first and then add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until well blended. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Glaze:

1/2 tsp. milk

1 tbs. melted butter

Juice of 1/2 a lemon (you can use lemon juice, just follow instructions on how much you need for half a lemon)

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients together. Drizzle over cake after it's cooled for about 10 minutes.

Biscuits and Gravy

This recipe is another great one from my friends blog www.nummiesforyou.blogspot.com . You should definately check her blog out! I made this for dinner the other night because I was in the mood for something simple and fast. This was simple and fast and was very delicious! I served the gravy over mashed potatoes and had the biscuits as a side to dip into the gravy!

What you need:

Biscuits:

2 cups flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

2 tsp. melted butter

Gravy:

1 pound sausage (I used Jimmy Dean, they have a couple of different flavors that I think would taste great in a gravy)

2 tbs. butter

6 tbs. flour

3.5 cups milk

Salt and ground pepper to taste

In a bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Combine milk and butter and incorporate into dry ingredients until blended. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Meanwhile brown the sausage in a medium sauce pan over medium heat until there is no pink left. Add the butter and stir until melted. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and gradually add the milk. Stir over medium heat until you reach desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over warm biscuits!

Sopapillas

My mother in law makes some of the best mexican dishes. For an appetizer recently she made these little guys with just some mexican table cream, queso fresca, and some tomatillo salsa. They were to die for!

What you need:

5 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. shortening

8 cups cooking oil

Serving suggestions; honey (like a scone), beans, meat, and cheese

Mix flour, baking powder and salt well. Then add in the shortening and mix until well combined. Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups water and knead until you have a nice dough.

With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 1/4 inch to 1/3 inch thickness and cut 4 to 5 inch squares or triangles in the dough.

Heat the oil in a large pan to 375 degrees.

Put the dough squares into the oil caefully splash tops, which will make the squares puff up. Flip and do the same on the other side, until golden brown, about 1 minute per side.

Eat warm with honey or make stuffed sopapillas with beans or meat and enjoy!

Dill Carrots

I found this sweet recipe on all recipes. This is a great side dish to any meal and it's super easy and fast!

What you need:

3 cups peeled and sliced carrots

2 tbs. butter

2 tbs. brown sugar

1 1/2 tbs. chopped fresh dill (or dried worked fine as well)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Place carrots in a skillet or small soup pan and pour in just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat and let cook for about 10-15 minutes or until carrots are slightly tender but still a little crisp. Drain water. Stir in butter, brown sugar, dill, salt and pepper. Adjust to your liking such as if you want sweeter carrots add about a tablespoon more of brown sugar.