Southwestern Crepes

I have to admit something... I really really didn't want to post this recipe.  Why you ask?  Because I kind of wanted to keep it a secret till I can open my little dream crepe stand and serve this as my signature dish.  Yes, signature dish... It is absolutely that good and probably better.  Well, at least maybe this could rally financial support for my crepe stand (anyone? anyone?)  and until then, I will continue to share my recipes. I have to tell you this is heavily adapted from another recipe that came with my Berndes crepe pan, but my addition of cheddar cheese took it to a whole new level in my opinion.

Sidenote:  A few of you have asked me specifics on the pan I bought.  I actually bought the Berndes crepe set, which comes with a pan, ladle, flat spatula and crepe batter.  I would definitely recommend getting the set because I find all the tools invaluable.  Another sidenote: No, I am not endorsed by Berndes, but I probably should be for all this free advertising!

Again I digress... So back to the best crepe possibly ever.  The crepe batter has cornmeal as well as chili powder in it to give it an extra kick.  The marinated chicken is a dream to cook as well because I cooked  it right in the crepe pan right before I made the crepe.  Another perk when cooking in a little kitchen (or big kitchen I suppose... I would prefer the least dishes possible even if I was cooking in a kitchen with more than two counters).  
There is a little preparation to this, but you can do it all ahead of time and just throw the crepes together when you are ready to serve.  When my friend Kate and I dove into these, we couldn't believe how good they were.  Hope you agree! Come on, try one... I promise it's worth buying a pan!

Southwestern Crepes
Serves 4
Recipe Note: You must marinate the chicken and onion tomato mixture for at least 30 minutes so make sure you allow time for that.  You are also suppose to let the crepe batter sit for an hour after you make it.  This is customary with all crepe batters in order to let all of the bubbles out for even cooking.  I will say I have been in a hurry a few times and your crepes will turn out just fine if you don't let it sit this long.  The batter will just have air bubbles when you cook it.  Adapted from Berndes Cookware.
Ingredients
Corn Crepe Batter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon chili powder
3 large eggs
3/4 cup beer (I used a Mexican beer called Modelo)
Crepe Filling
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup beer (Modelo)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium sized vine ripened tomatoes, seeded and cut into chunks
   (to seed a tomato, simply slice in half and dig the seeds out with a spoon)
1/2 medium sized white onion, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
Serve With
Sliced avocado
Sour Cream
Step by Step
For Crepe Filling
1. Combine chili powder, cilantro, salt, pepper, beer and olive oil in a bowl.
2.  Pour half of this mixture into a second bowl and add chicken breasts to marinate.
3.  Add the tomatoes and onions to the other half of the marinade and allow both mixtures to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour.
4.  Remove chicken from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.  Heat crepe pan over medium heat and cook chicken breast until cooked through.
5.  Slice chicken into 1/2 inch strips and and set aside.
For the Crepes
1.  Combine flour, corn meal, salt and chili powder in a blender.
2.  Add the eggs one at a time and then the beer slowly until a thin batter is formed.
3.  Refrigerate batter for one hour.
4.  Heat crepe pan over medium heat.  Lightly coat with cooking spray or olive oil.
5.  Measure out a 1/2 cup of batter.  (For thinner crepes, only use a 1/4 cup)
6.  Holding the handle of the pan with one hand, pour batter into center of pan and turn in a circle until entire pan is covered in a thin layer of batter.
7.  Cook until lightly brown on one side.
8.  Flip the crepe with a spatula and allow the other side to brown as well.  Continue to cook on each side until slightly crispy.
9.  When crepe is almost finished, sprinkle with a 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Place chicken strips down the center of the crepe.   Top with tomato and onion mixture.
10.  Remove from pan and fold into the shape of a pizza slice.
11.  Serve with sliced avocado and a dab of sour cream.

Weekend Update: Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter...Week 7

And so I continue my Topsy Turvy report.  I have to admit it's getting hard for me to keep up the enthusiasm about this darn thing.  There is no real new news.  The leaves continue to grow and I continue to get yellow flowers, but that is as far as it goes.  The yellow flowers soon wilt.  To add on to my discouragement, anyone who has had success growing anything in Houston has assured me it is too hot for the survival of tomatoes.  Guess these suckers just can't take the heat in our 104 degree afternoons.  I will continue on for another week or two just to give it a good try.  And no matter what happens, I will retry the topsy turvy next year before the melting summer begins.  So stay tuned for a few more weeks!!

More promising blooms...

...and more dead ones!

Strawberry Bread and Butter

Strawberry bread and butter

It's late Spring, and here in the Pacific Northwest that means it's Strawberry Season! I absolutely love fresh strawberries. I think it's my favorite thing about the season.

I bought, well, way too many strawberries from a local farm. This strawberry bread and butter is a lovely manifestation of that wonderful excess.

Strawberry Bread


You will get a lovely moist quick bread bursting with strawberry flavor from this loaf.

Strawberry Butter

The strawberry butter is a delicious, decadent way to bring all of that fresh strawberry flavor home.

Strawberry Quick Bread

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cup fresh strawberries, washed, stems removed and chopped into small pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x4 loaf pan, set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, in medium bowl, set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beat 1 minute or until light and airy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.

Stir into flour mixture only until dry ingredients are moistened.

Fold in strawberries.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let stand 10 minutes in pan.

Turn out on rack to cool.

To make Strawberry Butter

1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed and washed.

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup softened butter

Place strawberries and sugar in bowl and stir. Let sit for 20 minutes or so. After 20 minutes is up the sugar should have turned to liquid. Drain the liquid from the strawberries, and set aside for another use. In the bowl of a food processor, add drained strawberries and butter and whirl. Put in a jar or container in refrigerate to firm up.

Serve with strawberry bread. This would also be great on toast for breakfast.

Beer Bread

original beer bread

I'm all about baking things that are 1. easy and 2. have a huge payoff. Beer bread is one of those things. It may just be the easiest bread in the world to make. It has a minimum of ingredients, and I'm not kidding when I tell you it takes literally 5 minutes to get the dough together for the oven which means you can decide to make it when you start making dinner and you will be rewarded with a sumptuous loaf of warm, homemade, absolutely delicious bread to enjoy with your meal.

Beer bread is a quick bread, meaning it gets it's rise from baking soda. The yeast in the beer gives it a boost while adding a nice beer flavor, how much or what kind of flavor is up to you and the beer you decide to use.

garlic, Parmesan and fresh basil beer bread made with pale ale

The possibilities are endless when it comes to deciding on what type to make. I made a plain loaf (pictured above) with a mild beer (Miller Genuine Draft to be specific) and the taste of the beer did come through. It was mild, but still delicious. It produces a slightly dense loaf great along with a soup or stew, or even cut for sandwiches.

garlic, Parmesan and fresh basil beer bread ready for the oven

Next I made the garlic, Parmesan and fresh basil variety. It was absolutely delicious. This bread I made with a pale ale. I used a beer with a more pronounced flavor to stand up to the strong flavors I used. I thought about using it to make a grilled cheese sandwich, or how about an open faced chicken sandwich? Or I might just eat it all warm with butter, this bread is so good!

banana beer bread made with a mild beer

O.K. I know this sounds weird, but I even made a banana beer bread. The results? A distinctly banana flavored bread with a slight background taste of mild beer. I thought it was yummy. A nice snack bread for sure.

So go ahead! Use your imagination and create a one of a kind beer bread of your own!

(I'll give you some more suggestions below to get your ideas flowing.)

Basic Beer Bread

3 cups unbleached white flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz. bottle or can of beer (use whatever type of beer you like. just keep in mind that the stronger the beer, the heartier flavor it will give the bread.)

Directions


1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan, set aside.

2. Get a large bowl. Place a fine strainer atop bowl (to use as a sifter). Place all dry ingredients in strainer and sift into bowl. *

*Or alternately, if you don't have a strainer, place all dry ingredients in bowl and stir with a whisk. The point of sifting or whisking the dry ingredients is to incorporate some air into the flour, because when you add the beer it's going to get sticky. We want to keep things as light as possible so our bread doesn't turn into a brick.

3. Pour in beer and mix, making sure to incorporate all of the dry ingredients with the beer.
Put dough in prepared pan. Bake 45 min. or until a toothpick inserted into bread comes out dry and clean. That's it!

You can brush some melted butter onto the hot bread when it comes out of the oven to give it a nice shine if you wish.

Flavor Options

garlic Parmesan, basil bread- add 3 cloves of chopped garlic, or a few teaspoons of dried garlic powder, 1/2 cup or so of grated Parmesan cheese along with 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil, or 2 teaspoons dried basil to the dry ingredients.

banana beer bread- add 3 mashed very ripe bananas to the dry ingredients.

garlic and herb- add 1 teaspoon dried rosemary , 1 teaspoon dried oregano, and 1 teaspoon dried thyme with 3 minced garlic cloves, (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder) to dry ingredients. If using fresh herbs, use 1 tablespoon each.

onion cheese- add 1/2 cup finely diced onion (you can cook the onion if you like on the stove and let cool. or use raw)or you can also use scallions. along with 1/2 cup of the cheese of your choice to dry ingredients.

Feta and Olive- add 1 cup diced olives (kalamata or black) along with 1/2 cup feta cheese to dry ingredients.

Bacon and cheese-add 1/2 cup cooked diced and cooled bacon along with 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese of your choice. Sharp cheddar would be good.

Sun dried tomato- add 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes with 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan to dry ingredients, also a few teaspoons of dried Italian seasoning would be good here.

Basically you can add any herb you like, or any flavor that suits you. Just stir into the dry ingredients before adding the beer.

Also if you'd like to use whole wheat flour, you can substitute 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour with great results. Also you can replace 1 cup of the white flour with oats.

Off To The Show We Go!

It's been a hectic week. I came home from being away two days before the show. I entered my preserves the day I got back along with my daughter's photographic entries as they were due that day. I walked away without the usual excitement and anticipation that I usually get as the show approaches. I'm not too sure what is going on with me, but I simply didn't feel that chirpy.

The day before the show all the baking and fresh produce were due. The day came and went and I ended up making my usual carrot cake, one batch of muffins and a cherry cake. Every year the Country Women's Association put out a recipe that has to made according to their instructions and this year was the cherry cake. Last year was a pumpkin and date cake and my dear son was the winner! He decided to take on his mum and he won. Gosh that brings back fond memories. That was so much fun. Happily I got second but I was delighted to be pipped by The Borb. Since he has been working full-time this year (relentlessly saving for his overseas trip), he was too tired to make the cherry cake so it was up to me to hopefully nab a ribbon this year.

I was really happy with the cake when I took it out of the oven. However after I upturned it and peeled away the paper, the baking paper had literally taken a small chunk from the side of the cake in one corner. Oh dear. Never mind. I still entered it as taste does count and I have to say it tasted absolutely delicious. I didn't get upset or anything. In years gone by I probably would have raced to produce another one but quite frankly I am over all that stress and pursuit of perfection. It is what it is.
With two hours left before entries were due, I decided that was it for me. No scones, no chocolate cake, no biscuits this year. I just didn't feel like it.

In the last two hours I quickly dashed out to the citrus trees and collected the entries for oranges, mandarins and lemons when hubby came home. He went around the yard and collected a "variety of produce from one garden" to put into that class. His custard apple looked spectacular sitting proudly among the other fruits in the box.

Off to the grounds we went and we dropped off all our stuff.

The Results.

Sweet Orange Marmalade



This is the one I wanted! Really wanted. I didn't have my usual cumquat marmalade in this year so as defending champ in the marmalade section, this one meant the most to me. For some reason the marmalade class draws the highest number of entries, so I am elated with my sweet Orange Marmalade for bringing home the bacon. Phew.

Brandied Lime Marmalade



I made Brandied Lime Marmalade after Linda at Bellavista brought this recipe to my attention. I am happy to say that it received a High Achievement, so I hope you are as pleased as I am Linda. Two ribbons in the one class; that is special.

Strawberry and Apple Jam



I am really fond of my Strawberry And Apple Jam, so I was delighted to see it amongst the placegetters.

Tomato Relish



It looks like changing the two cups of malt vinegar to one cup malt and one cup white vinegar worked. My Tomato Relish had a lovely reddish colour and not the usual dark brown. The chunks of tomato and onion were evenly cut and it tasted gorgeous. I'm glad the judge thought so too.

Lilly Pilly Jelly



I didn't have much Lilly Pilly Jelly left. I put my remaining two small jars in the fridge and it seemed to change the structure of the jelly as it was much runnier than previously. I decided to reboil the jelly so this I did as gently as possible. Unfortunately it didn't tighten up that much but worse still there were heaps of tiny air bubbles throughout the jelly. I bottled it and almost didn't bother to enter but last minute I changed my mind. I was shocked to see it get a ribbon.

I entered five preserves and I came away with five prizes. How could I not be pleased?

Carrot Cake



Carrot Cake usually attracts quite a few entries and this year was no different. I love this cake with a scattering of walnuts and sultanas. This cake is firm and yet so soft and moist inside.

Cherry Cake cooked the CWA's way.



Well now that is a surprise! Considering the cake was flawed with losing one of it's corners I was delighted to see it gain a second place. This cake section had the highest number of entries so I felt very lucky to get that result.

White Chocolate and Macadamia Muffins



Another surprise. My goodness it has been a successful day indeed. All I wanted was a good result in my marmalade and jam entries really. I thought anything else would be a bonus. I hope it doesn't appear too indulgent or selfish on my part posting these results. Since I made it clear quite a few posts ago that I would be making these for the show, I felt it fitting to share the outcomes with you. I would love to celebrate with you. Make yourself a cup of tea and please help yourself to a muffin.

White Chocolate and Macadamia Muffins
adapted from The Australian's Women Weekly

300gm self raising flour
150gm caster sugar
140gm white chocolate Bits
75g chopped raw, unsalted macadamias
60g melted butter
180ml milk
1 egg, beaten

Grease your muffin pan. Sift dry ingredients into large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake in moderately hot oven for about fifteen minutes.


I should quickly mention hubby did rather well too. For his efforts in the fresh produce section, he came home with two seconds and two thirds.



I have saved the best for last. My daughter's photography surpassed all our expectations. We were absolutely blown away as she took out places in every category she entered, in one class she took first, second and third. There is a limit of three entries per class and in three classes she entered the maximum limit. Overall she put in thirteen photographs and she won ten prizes. Four firsts, two seconds and four thirds. Amazing!!!

And she sold one for fifty dollars.

And she won the grand champion ribbon in photography.

And she won the overall pavillion champion in visual arts.

And she received a beautiful clock trophy for Champion Fine Arts Exhibitor.

And she was awarded vouchers to enlarge or produce prints to the value of seven hundred dollars.

Oh my goodness. I still cannot fathom her success. I am an insanely proud mother and I am totally thrilled for her. It has been a very, very, very good day.

Here are some of Nicole's entries.

















At eighteen years of age she has an exciting and promising future. Thanks for bearing with this overbearing mother and as they say at the end of the show; that's all folks.

Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas

One of my cooking goals is to have a long list of quick and easy weeknight meals that are delicious.  These quesadillas are adapted from Real Simple, which does a great job at producing quick and tasty recipes.  If you caught yesterday's post, you saw the steak fajitas I made to go with my roasted corn and avocado topping.  To make tonight's meal even faster, I grilled a chicken breast after I finished up my steak for the fajitas last night.  The less times we have to clean that darn griddler the better!  However, I have to say the griddler is one of my favorite kitchen appliances and no little kitchen should be without one!  

Okay, back to the dillas.  I was able to pull my freshly seasoned and grilled chicken breast out of the refrigerator and slice it up in minutes.  Another option if you don't feel like grilling is a precooked rotisserie chicken, shredded.  Feel free to throw in different cheeses and vegetables depending on what you have on hand.  You really can't mess these up!

Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas

Adapted from Real Simple

Serves 2

Recipe Notes

If you are going to grill your chicken, heavily season it with a standard season salt or salt and pepper.  You can grill a piece of chicken for this meal up to 3 days before and refrigerate until ready to use.  So if you are doing some grilling earlier in the week, still a boneless, skinless chicken breast on there to have on hand when you are ready to make this.

Ingredients

4 tortillas

1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken or 1 cup thinly sliced grilled chicken

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (more if you like things really cheesy)

1 cup fresh baby spinach

Cooking spray or butter

to serve

sour cream

salsa

avocado

Step by Step

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

2.  Cover with cooking spray and add tortilla.

3.  Layer half of the spinach, cheese and chicken on the tortilla.  Allow cheese to slightly melt and once the tortilla has started to brown on the bottom, add tortilla on top of chicken, cheese and spinach. 

Optional: Add a pinch of salt over chicken, cheese and spinach. 

4.  Press down with spatula to allow ingredients to melt together.

5.  Flip over so that the other tortilla can brown.

6.  Once both sides are slightly crispy and cheese is melted, remove from heat and repeat steps for other quesadilla.

7.  Cut in quarter and serve with sour cream, salsa and avocado.

Lots and lots of cooking...

I just walked in the door and I can barely feel my feet.  I have to say the Little Kitchen and I both did overtime today.  However, I have nothing to show for it... Pictures that is.  I just finished a dinner party for 9 people and I have to say I am a little exhausted.  I had a great time doing it of course!  My plan was to take pictures as I went, but that was the last thing on my mind as I tried to get all 4 courses out in a reasonable amount of time.  So yes, I did cook today (alot) even though I have nothing to show for it, but I will share each recipe in the weeks to come.   The salad was probably my favorite and I did a "make your own" crepe bar again for dessert, which was fun.  So I will be back tomorrow with my normally scheduled recipes.

Roasted Corn and Avocado Dip

If you would like to be a popular guest for any summer soiree, bring this dip along.  I promise you will be a hit.  The combination of sweet roasted corn, creamy avocado, plump tomatoes and fresh cilantro is undeniably wonderful. With just a few other ingredients, you will have a dip that is sure to please.  I had this once in someone else's home and knew it had to be in my cookbook.  I used the same main ingredients and added a few of my own.

You can also see below how I used this dip to spice up steak fajitas.  Of course it pairs well with mexican food, but is tasty with most any summertime meal or barbecue.  Enjoy!

Roasted Corn and Avocado Dip
serves 2-4

Recipe Notes

You can use either fresh corn cut off the cob or frozen corn.  Whatever you have on hand works great, but I will say you can hardly beat fresh, sweet summer corn cut off the cob.

Ingredients

1 cup corn cut off the cob (or 1 cup frozen kernels)
2 teaspoons canola oil (or olive oil)

1 avocado, cut into small chunks

1 large vine ripened tomato, cut into small chunks (or two small tomatoes)
3 tablespoons fresh red onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon fresh jalapeno, minced
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoon cider vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 pinch of salt and pepper, extra to taste
Step by Step
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Spread corn kernels onto baking sheet;  toss with oil and sprinkle with salt.
3.  Roast corn for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
4. In a medium bowl, combine all remaining ingredients.  Mix gently to combine.
5.  When corn has cooled, add to dip.
6.  Serve with favorite tortilla chips or as a topping to fajitas.

Works great as a fajita topping as well!

Perfect Party Pizza

Serendipity... That's what I like to call the fact that in the same week, I received sockeye smoked salmon from Alaska as a souvenir from my parents, as well as a great new recipe from my friend Frances.  She told me how this is a recipe she has made for years and it's perfect as an appetizer or to take to any party. Of course I had to make it immediately and I can also say it's great for a quick dinner.  Whether you use an individual sized Boboli pizza or a large one for a crowd, you can easily adapt this recipe to however many people you are feeding.

Smoked Salmon Party Pizza

Recipe Notes

There are not really amounts below because you just eyeball the ingredients based on the size of your crust.  Boboli crust is a pizza crust that is sold at most grocery stores.  Make sure you let the Boboli crust cool completely before spreading the cream cheese on top.  A large knife is much easier to cut through the pizza then a pizza wheel.

Ingredients

Boboli Pizza Crust (small or large)

Cream Cheese, plain

Smoked Salmon, cut into bite size pieces

Red onion, sliced thinly

Capers, drained

1 or 2 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

Step by Step

1.  Prepare crust according to package; let cool completely.

2.  Spread cream cheese in a thin layer to cover entire crust.

3.  Layer red onion on crust; followed by smoked salmon.

4.  Sprinkle capers and dill on top.

5.  Cut into pie slices or strips before serving.

Weekend Update: Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter...Week 6

Here we are in Week 6 of the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter experiment.  And if you caught last week's post , this little tike had taken a turn for the worst.  However, (drumroll.........) there is still hope! We now have a whole new set of little flower bulbs providing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.  I will not be proud this time or talk about my "abundant crop on its way" until I have taken a big juicy bite out of my first harvest (novel thought, I know). 

So on to the changes I have observed... The back part of the plant that really doesn't see sunlight, has shriveled up completely.  The front leaves seem to be growing towards the sun and just yesterday, the leaves fell.  I am hoping that the weight of all those baby tomatoes is what caused this. I will have to say the ups and downs of this experiment are downright exhausting, but I will continue!  So stay tuned! Oh, and just when you thought the ambiance couldn't get any worse, it did.  

Our new neighbors have decided to leave their garages open so the new background of this experiment will be the inside of lovely sheds.  

Hope for a future...

Pudding For Maxi

Maxi phoned last night. He spent a good half an hour talking to my son Mitch about their upcoming reunion. Mitch booked his ticket last week and in about one month he shall be winging his way over to Maxi's in Germany for what promises to be an amazing and wonderful experience.

I remember the first time I met him. He walked into the house with the biggest brightest smile, looked me straight in the eyes, came into the kitchen, put out his hand and said "hello, it's so nice to meet you, my name is Maxi". Well, I nearly fell over backwards. Some of my son's friends would barely look at me let alone say hello. Maybe it had something to do with being "16", you know, it's not cool to talk to mums or something like that. Whatever, all I know is this boy was the most polite lad I had met. It didn't stop with the first meeting either. His manners and courtesy were notably better than most of the kids his age but it was also his willingness and eagerness to talk and be engaged in conversation with adults that I found so refreshing.

I was very pleased he had befriended my son. He had been at the school on a foreign exchange program for a year but he and Mitch became really close in the remaining five months of his stay. He came over to our house lots of times, and I always looked forward to seeing him. That was about three years ago, and he has been over to Australia twice since then. Although he and Mitch are "best buddies", I think his aussie girlfriend had a lot to do with it.

On his last trip he had dinner at our place on a regular basis and I recall this one occasion when I made chocolate pudding for dessert and I lost count of the number of times he said "yummy". Honestly, he almost drove me nuts. Did I mention he was a polite boy? But I think this went beyond politeness and he really meant it! He even asked for the recipe. When we gave him his Christmas present I wrote out the recipe and tucked it inside the gift.

So on the other side of the world lives my son's best friend. Time has not dulled their friendship, infact quite the opposite as it has strengthened. I am hearing quite a bit about what is going to be on the agenda. Treks and bushwalks through the mountains in Austria, a stay and hiking in the Black Forest, an ambitious bike ride to Paris that will take two weeks but most exciting of all, attending the football games both home and away of Maxi's team Stuttgart.

I'm afraid my son is not a keen beer drinker so that may present some social challenges in the biggest beer drinking country in the world.
Oh well, I can think of worse challenges. So in place of a beer, I raise this cup of pudding to Maxi and Mitch and I wish you both "a safe, exciting and most adventurous time of your lives".



Chocolate Self-Sauce Pudding
adapted from the family circle

1 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup of caster sugar
90gm butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

Sauce
1 1/2 milk
200gm cooking chocolate, chopped
250mls water

Place all sauce ingredients into a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir often till all the chocolate has melted. Keep hot.

Preheat oven to moderate temperature.

Sift flour and cocoa; put in large mixing bowl. Add sugar; stir through; make a well in centre.

In a jug or small bowl place the melted butter, milk and beaten eggs. Whisk till well combined. Pour about half into the well in the flour; mix through; add the remaining liquid; beat till well incorporated and there are no lumps.

Spoon the mixture into a baking dish; pour the sauce gently over the pudding mixture, I pour it directly over a large spoon which then disperses the liquid around the dish rather than pour it directly onto the mixture.

Bake for approx 40 to 45 mins or till the cakey part is cooked through.

Serve hot; with ice cream or whipped cream.

If left; the cake will absorb much of the liquid so you will not have as much of the sauce leftover. Everyone in my family really looooves that sauce. And so does Maxi.



PS: I'm off interstate again. See you in about a week. Take care all and happy cooking.

Healthy Banana Walnut Muffins

I love a good challenge.  So when my friend Denni asked me to find healthy dessert recipes with no refined sugar, I was thrilled.  I am now officially beginning this challenge by posting these banana walnut muffins.  Gwyneth Paltrow has a great site called GOOP, and these muffins were one of her first recipes to post (however, they are no longer on the website for some strange reason... good thing I wrote it down).  Since things like brown rice syrup and barley flour are not usually found in my kitchen, I changed up the recipe to what I thought would yield similar results without having to search the ends of the earth for extra ingredients.  I hardly miss the sugar at all!
Warning:  These are not miracle muffins!  Sure my mom's banana nut muffins are more delicious and just melt in your mouth.  However, for the healthiness of these, I say they are pretty darn good.  I enjoy making a batch and having them for breakfast.  For today's muffins, I decided to skip sifting all the flours together... sometimes, you just don't have the time!  And I really did not notice a difference.  So here I start my challenge of finding healthier recipes... stay tuned for more!

 

  

 

Banana Walnut Muffins
Makes 1 dozen muffins

Recipe Notes
I know some people like to take the raisins out of a recipe, but I would not do it here! I think they are essential to adding moisture and sweetness.  The recipe calls for 3 ripe bananas.  I sometimes use four and I like them to be almost black for the most flavor. This recipe also calls to puree bananas in a food processor.  This is the best way, but I have hand mashed the bananas and added the liquid ingredients when I didn't have a food processor.  To save time, I do not sift the flours in this recipe.  Instead, I sifted and fluffed them together with a large fork.
Ingredients
3 ripe bananas (4 if they are small)
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole spelt flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
2 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons canola or sunflower oil
1/2 cup white spelt flour (or all purpose white flour)
Step by Step
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roast walnuts on a baking sheet for about 7 minutes; Coarsely chop.
2.  Combine flours, baking soda and salt in a medium size bowl.  Using a large fork or slotted spoon, gently sift ingredients together to combing and get out any lumps.  (see first picture below)
3.  Puree bananas in a food processor and add remaining liquid ingredients; Mix well.
4.  Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet mixture. (make sure to scrape bowl well)
5.  Fold together unitls flour is moistened.  Do not overmix or the muffins will be tough!
6.  Add walnuts and raisins and fold just a few times to combine. 
7.  Line muffin tins or spray with cooking spray.
8.  Use an ice cream scoop (or large spoon) to evenly distribute batter among cups.
9.  Bake approximately 25 minutes.  Test with a toothpick until it slides out clean with no crumbs on it.
10.  Cool in pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack and continue to cool.

Swiss Chard and Sweet Pea Manicotti

I was recently in Austin and had the pleasure of going to one of the local farmer's markets with my friends Lindsey and Allison.  I find it very exciting to pick up a fresh ingredient and try it in a new dish.  We had just been thumbing through Giada de Laurentis's newest cookbook, "Giada's Kitchen," and thought this Swiss Chard & Sweet Pea Manicotti looked wonderful.  However, I knew nothing about swiss chard.  Well, it must have been serendipity when we happened upon just that at the farmer's market... fresh rainbow swiss chard.  I had never seen a green so colorful and we decided it was just what we should pick up to try this recipe.  When we returned home, we noticed the recipe called for white or red swiss chard, but I have to say the recipe was amazing with our rainbow colored variety!  

I have always been pleased with Giada's recipes so we thought this had to be good.  However, if you are going to make it, I will tell you right now it is not on the cheap or quick list.  With all of the cheeses, this dish can be a little pricey (if you are on the thrifty side).  However, after having it, I can definitely say it would be worth making for company!  Check the recipe notes for a couple adjustments we made to make this dish a little more reasonable.  Bottom Line:  Very delicious dish, but be willing to spend some time and a few extra bucks!

Thanks for the fun afternoon gals! And thank you to Richard, the grower of this swiss chard, for taking our picture... we owe you one!

Swiss Chard & Sweet Pea Manicotti
Recipe Adapted from "Giada's Kitchen" by Giada de Laurentis

12 Manicotti, 4 to 6 servings

Recipe Notes:  The cheeses in this dish can make it kind of expensive.  We substituted a cheese called “fontal” for the fontina.  It was a similar cheese that was a little less rich, but was half the cost.  While we never tried it with the fontina, the dish seemed very flavorful and not lacking at all.   This recipe calls for a pastry bag.  If you do not have one or don't want to mess with it, you can fill a plastic bag and cut off the tip like we did below.  Make sure you cut a very small hole so that it easily fits in the pasta shell.

Ingredients:

Butter, for greasing the pan

12 manicotti or cannelloni pasta shells

Filling

1 bunch (12 oz) red, white or rainbow swiss chard… about 10 large leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (white will work too)

1 garlic clove

1 15 oz container whole-milk ricotta cheese

¾ cup frozen petite peas, thawed

1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

¾ cup (2 oz) grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup fresh basil

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Fontina Fonduta Sauce

¾ cup whole milk

½ cup heavy cream

3 cups (6 oz) grated fontina cheese (or fonduta for a cheaper version)

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Topping

1 ½ cups (6 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

Step by Step

Dish prep

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; heavily grease a 13x9 inch glass baking dish with butter.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil; heavily salt.
3. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water.  Set aside.

For the Filling

1. Using kitchen scissors, a knife or gently tearing, remover the swiss chard stems.  You want to only have the tender leaves.  Chop the leaves into one inch pieces and discard of the stems. 
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion and cook until soft, 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer, then add the swiss chard leaves and cook, stirring constantly, until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
4. Place the ricotta cheese, peas, mozarella, Parmesan cheese, basil, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor.  Add the cooled chard mixture and blend until smooth.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared pastry bag and stuff each manicotti shell with the filling.  If using a ziploc bag, fill bag with chard filling.  Then cut a very small hole in one corner and fill shells.  Place the stuffed manicotti in the prepared baking dish.

1. In a medium- heavy saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a simmer over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to low.  Add the fontina cheese and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese and basil.
   
2. Pour the sauce over the stuffed manicotti and sprinkle with the 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden.  Let the baked manicotti stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This dish is great for leftovers as well!