Another Birthday Cake!

With another birthday in the family, I had the oppurtunity to make another cake. It was fun, with some stressful moments. (Making over 200 drop flowers the day before, for instance, without really knowing how to make them.) I made the "Wilton Garden Party" cake in the Wilton Course 1 book. The cake recieved many "ooohs" and "ahhs" and it tasted good too. :) I used this yellow cake recipe, doubled, to make two 8-inch layers. I used a simple butter frosting for the ivory frosting and green leaves, and the same frosting (with a bit of organic shortening added) for the flowers.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Sweet Pork Tacos

Last year, a good friend made dinner for me at her house. We would get together every week at each other's houses and have dinner together. I am so, so glad that she introduced me to this recipe! I absolutely love it, and have passed it on to many people. I have made it quite a bit in the past year, and have made some changes to the original recipe to suit our tastes, but the recipe really didn't need much changing. There are many "Sweet Pork Salad" or "Sweet Pork Taco" recipes floating around the internet, but this is the way I prefer to make it. (Although I haven't tried any other recipes for this... I don't need to!)

This recipe is pretty easy because it starts out in the crockpot- I love that! You cook a boneless pork roast (or a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts) in water until tender, then drain the water, and add a brown-sugar sweetened tomato sauce. The Mexican brand "El Pato" is recommended, but for those of us that can't get that (I can't anymore!) you can improvise your own. When I last made it, I used regular tomato sauce, and added chili powder, garlic, and a little cumin. Jalepenos would be good, as well, to spice it up a little.

You use the meat as a base of a taco and add cheese and lettuce, and then top it off with a wonderful, so-yummy-I-could-drink-it-straight dressing. It's a Cilantro-Lime Ranch. The original recipe called for tomatillos, but I can't find any on my island, so I looked for Salsa Verde to use as a sub. I couldn't find that either, but I did find "recaito", a Puerto Rican flavoring. It contains cilantro and green bell peppers, so it added the bit of green color I wanted. In my recipe below, I've left in the tomatillos, but feel free to use a few tablespoons of recaito in their place if you can't find tomatillos.

Sweet Pork Taco Meat

1 2-3 lb. pork roast (can sub. chicken breasts or thighs)
2 8 oz. cans of El Pato (Mexican tomato sauce, yellow can)
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, if needed

1/4- 1/2 cup brown sugar, depending on how sweet you want it

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Place meat in crockpot, and pour in just enough water to cover. Cook roast until tender- about 8 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high. Meat will fall apart when done. Remove meat, and drain water. Place roast back in the crockpot, and shred with two forks. Season with salt (if needed) and pepper. Combine shredded pork with remaining ingredients (all of tomato sauce, sugar and garlic) and simmer for 1 hour.

Cilantro-Ranch Dressing

1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix

3/4 cup fresh cilantro (or more!)

2 small tomatillos (OR use a few Tbs. green salsa)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream (light works) or plain yogurt
a few pickled jalapenos

juice of 1/2 lime

dash cayenne pepper (optional)

1. Combine ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Additional Ingredients:

Corn or flour tortillas (I shamefully fry my flour tortillas in a bit of oil, but they're soooo, sooo good that way!)

Torn Romaine lettuce

Shredded cheddar cheese, optional

Mexican Rice (optional... I don't use this because I don't want it to get in the way!)

Beans (optional again, for same reason noted above)
.

Build your taco with a tortilla, a bunch of the meat, some cheese, romaine, and pour some Cilantro-Lime Dressing over all. Enjoy!

My 100th Post- A Reason to Make Cupcakes!

Ever since I saw this recipe for cupcakes with penuche frosting, on the blog Eating, Etc. last month, I've been looking for an excuse to make them. Now I have an excuse!! I've never made penuche anything before and I love the caramel flavor. I ate way too much frosting while frosting these and almost made myself sick! :D These will definitely satisfy a sweet tooth. The cupcakes and the frosting are pretty easy to make. See the original post on Eating, Etc. to find out how to make homemade self-rising flour. I think I should have waited longer for the icing to cool down; I piped mine on while it was still a little warm, so it flattened a little. But, it sets up quickly, so the flattening wasn't too bad.

Vanilla Cupcakes
24 cupcakes

1-1/2c self-rising flour
1-1/4c all-purpose flour
1c unsalted butter, softened
2c sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1c milk
1tsp vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350°F.
2) Line 24 muffin tin cups with cupcake papers.
3) In a medium bowl, combine flours. Set aside.
4) In a large bowl, or bowl of electric stand mixer, cream butter until smooth.
5) Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
6) Add eggs, beating well after each addition.
7) Add dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with milk & vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl to blend well. With each addition, beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not over-beat.
8) Spoon batter into cupcake liners to about 3/4 full.
9) Bake 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.
10)Cool cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove & cool completely on wire rack before icing.

Penuche Frosting

1/2c butter
1c brown sugar
1/4c hot milk
3-1/4c powdered sugar

1) Melt butter in large saucepan.
2) Stir in brown sugar, bring to boil, and cook for 1 minute. Cool for 15 minutes.
3) Mix in hot milk.
4) Beat in enough powdered sugar to attain spreading consistency. Add more milk, if necessary.

Pizza Hut Pan Pizza Recipe

 I love Pizza Hut Pan pizza. The crisp, greasy crust is my fave part. (My guilty secret). The only thing I don't like about it is how salty it is- but now with this homemade version, the salt is easy to control! Since moving overseas, I've had a few sad thoughts about Pizza Hut pan pizza and how I'd like to have it once in a while. After making this recipe, I know I can indulge anytime I want! (Although that wouldn't be very smart... lol). I looked this recipe up a few years ago but didn't make it. Then, on Tastespotting a few days ago, I spotted a picture of this delicious pizza by Real Mom Kitchen and decided it was finally time to give it a go. In the past few years, I've become more experienced with yeast doughs, and this one was no problem at all. It was totally easy and mixed up beautifully in my Kitchenaid. Then, I put 9 oz. of dough into two 9" cake pans, and 12 oz. of dough into my 10.25" cast-iron skillet, for a total of 3 pizzas. The original recipe calls for 3 ounces of oil for each pan. That's just crazy talk, so I used 1 tablespoon in each pan, which still felt like a lot to me. I loved how the crust was all crispy and delicious. For one of the pizzas, I used pesto instead of red sauce. Both ways were delicious. This is Pizza Hut Pan Pizza my way.

Pizza Hut Pan Pizza- My Way

Dough:

1 1/3 cup warm water (110 F)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pk (or 2 1/4 tsp.) Dry yeast

1/4 cup non−fat dry milk

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

3 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons canola oil (for dough)

3-5 tablespoons canola oil (for greasing pans)

1.  Put yeast and sugar in a large bowl (can use Kitchenaid). Add warm water water to dissolve yeast; let sit for 5 minutes or until yeast blooms.

2.  Add non-fat dry milk, salt, oil and 2-3 cups of flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed. Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes, adding as much flour as necessary to make a soft, supple dough that is not too sticky. (I just used my Kitchenaid with the dough hook).

3.  Divide dough into three balls. In three 9" cake pans (I used two 9" aluminum cake pans and one 10.25" cast-iron skillet, putting more dough in the skillet) , put 1 tablespoon of oil in each making sure it is spread evenly, and brush it up the sides. (May want to use 1.5 tablespoons oil if using aluminum pans- my crust stuck, but the cast-iron released beautifully). Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle, or use your hands to press dough into a circle. Place in cake pans. Cover with an upside-down dinner plate. Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Sauce:

1 8 Oz Can Tomato Sauce

1 tsp Dry Oregano

1/2 tsp Marjoram

1/2 tsp Dry Basil

1/4 tsp Garlic salt

Combine and let sit for 1 hour while the dough rises.

For Each Pizza:

Preheat oven to 420-450F. Spoon 1/3 cup sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of edge. Distribute a few handfuls of shredded mozzarella cheese (I used a little cheddar, too) on sauce, then add whatever other toppings you want. I just did turkey pepperoni tonight. Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown, about 15 minutes. When they came out of the oven, I rubbed the outer crust with butter, but I don't think this was necessary.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com**

Portuguese Canja- Soup with Mint, Rice and Lemon

I know I've been making a lot of soups lately, and also a lot of dishes with lemon. Well, tonight I combined both of those! I have a ton of recipes bookmarked in my cookbook, The Food of Portugal, and this is the first one I've actually made from that book. (A goal of mine is to make more recipes from my cookbooks, especially my Portuguese and Spanish ones!) This soup is simple, refreshing, and has the rich taste of good chicken broth with lemon. It is very light; it would be a perfect first course. Since we're not a 4-course family, we just had this for dinner tonight with a loaf of Portuguese bread from the local bakery, some local butter, and local cheese. My kids were scared of the mint at first (my daughter said "I only like mint in gum!") but after one taste they were hooked- they loved it too.

Canja-Chicken with Mint, Rice and Lemon adapted from "The Food of Portugal"

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges
4 parsley sprigs
4 strips lemon zest (the colored part of the rind), each about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide
1 sprig fresh mint
2 quarts rich chicken broth
1/3 cup raw rice, cooked separately by package directions*
3-4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint
salt, to taste
1/8 teaspoon white or black pepper

Garnish:
4-6 lemon slices, each stuck with a small sprig of mint

Simmer the chicken breast with the onion, parsley, lemon zest, and mint sprig in the chicken stock in a covered heavy saucepan over low heat 30-40 minutes until cooked through. Remove chicken breast and cool. Strain the broth through a sieve and return to the pan. Boil the stock uncovered 8-10 minutes to reduce slightly. Meanwhile, cut chicken breasts into large julienne, and add to the broth along with the cooked rice, lemon juice, chopped mint, salt (optional- I didn't need any), and pepper. Heat 2-3 minutes. Ladle into soup plates, float a mint-sprigged lemon slices in each portion, and serve.

*I cooked 1/3 cup raw, white rice in 2/3 cup boiling water (in a small covered saucepan) for about 15 minutes or until all water was absorbed.

Corn, Potato, and Ham Chowder

I was looking for a way to use up our Easter ham leftovers, so I made up this creamy chowder a few days ago. We had it with some rolls for dinner and it was tasty and filling. It made a huge dent in the pile of ham we had as leftovers- yay!

Note 1/6/12:  I made this again last night and my daughter said this was her favorite soup!  I added 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels this time around and loved that addition; I'll include optional corn kernels.  :)  I also took new pics.

Corn, Potato, and Ham Chowder
by What a Dish!

1 TBS. butter

1 TBS. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1 pound potatoes, chopped (I didn't peel)

4 cups water (or chicken broth)

2 tsp. Chicken Better than Bouillon (less if using broth)

1/2 tsp. thyme

fresh cracked pepper, to taste

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 can (14 or 15 oz) creamed corn
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, optional

2 cups cooked ham, coarsley chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1.  In a large stockpot, melt butter with olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionaly, until soft and transparent. Add carrots, potatoes, water, Better than Bouillon, thyme and pepper. Cover the pot, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender.

2.  In a small bowl, whisk evaporated milk with flour. Add milk mixture to simmering potato mixture and whisk until thickened. Add creamed corn, optional frozen corn, and ham, cooking for 3-5 minutes or until heated through. Turn off heat and add cheese, stirring just until melted.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Lemon Tart with Almond Crust

Our other Easter dessert was a lemon tart with an almond crust. It was very easy to make and tasted wonderful- I used fresh lemons, and the flavor was zesty and bright and tart- I love tart. The filling was easy to put together since you just whisk it all at the same time- no tempering of eggs. Since you don't temper the eggs, it's very important to strain the mixture before pouring into the pasty shell. I didn't think I had any cooked egg whites in mine, but when I strained it, there were quite a few! Luckily, straining takes care of that problem.

This is a Taste of Home Recipe, but you can find the recipe on Recipezaar. Note: it took over 8 minutes for mine to thicken; somewhere between 10 and 15, probably. But it does get there!

I'm excited to eat this tart for dessert again tonight. ;)

Lemon Tart with Almond Crust

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons cold water

Filling:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup lemon juice
3 eggs
3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 dash salt
6 tablespoons butter, cubed

Place the flour, almonds, sugar, butter, extract and salt in a food processor. Cover and pulse until blended. Gradually add water, 1 T. at a time, pulsing until mixture forms a soft dough. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9 inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large heavy saucepan, whisk the first six filling ingredients until blended. Add butter; cook and stir over low heat for 7-8 minutes or until thickened. Strain; pour into crust. Bake at 325 for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! For Easter dinner, I made two desserts. One was a lovely lemon tart, which I'll post about later. I wanted to show you the Easter brownies today! I saw the idea for these brownies over at this blog. How cute are those? I had to improvise with a few things, though. I don't have a cute mini-brownie pan, so I just made a 9x13 pan and cut them into squares. Also, I couldn't find those big Easter malt ball eggs over here, so I used Easter pb m&m's, which are larger than the regular pb ones. And I just used a simple brownie recipe instead of a mix.

Here's what I did. First, make brownies in a 9x13. Let cool completely while you finish other Easter-dinner-making tasks. When you're ready, cut into squares and place on a large serving tray. Make green frosting (I used a little less powdered sugar this time). Using a small star tip (the Wilton grass tip (233) would have been cool, but I don't own it), pipe "grass" onto the top of cut brownies. Then, place your egg-shaped chocolate candy on top.

Best Brownies from Allrecipes.com (I doubled this)

1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overbake.

Bowties with Asparagus, Mascarpone and Jamón Serrano

Inspired by my cooking friend's blog, I made this pasta dish for our dinner last night. I left out the mushrooms and added some Spanish Jamón Serrano I had on hand that needed using. I also added some fresh basil I had laying around. I lived in Spain for a number of years growing up and never tried Jamón Serrano, but I did last night and it was wonderful! It added such flavor to this dish. I don't think I'll be one to eat it raw or anything. I hope that doesn't make anyone twitchy. Anyway.... if you live outside of Spain/Portugal or any other country that carries this ham for a fairly cheap price, you could substitute Italian prosciutto, or even cooked and crumbled bacon in this dish. Or, just add the mushrooms like the orginal recipe called for, and forget the pork products altogether!

Note:  Since I posted this almost a year ago, I've made this many times, and I always use Portuguese presunto now, because it's readily availabe to me.  I also use toasted pecans now; they add a pleasant sweetness.  We LOVE this dish- it's one of my husband's favorites out of anything I've made.  It's so good and comes together quite easily. 

Bowties with Asparagus, Mascarpone and Jamón Serrano
adapted from Eating, Etc.

1/2lb bowtie pasta

1/2 cup pasta water, reserved
3T unsalted butter
1 large fresh garlic clove, minced
4-5 ounces Jamón Serrano, Portuguese Presunto, or prosciutto, coarsley chopped

1/2lb asparagus, cut into 1” pieces
1/2 cup (4oz) mascarpone cheese
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, shredded

1) In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente (about 10 minutes). Drain, reserving 1/2c pasta water.

2) Saute garlic, for 1 minute, in melted butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add Jamón Serrano and asparagus and sauté over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, until asparagus is crisp-tender. Do not overcook.

3) Reduce heat to medium and add pasta and mascarpone; toss until cheese melts and coats pasta; slowly add reserved pasta water, as needed, to moisten (I used just a few tablespoons).

4) Remove from heat and add toasted walnuts.  Toss with parmigiano reggiano cheese and fresh basil.  Season with salt & pepper (you may not need any additional salt).  Serve immediately.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Parmesan Pull-Aparts

Last month, I came across a recipe for Parmesan Pull-Aparts on the blog No Fear Entertaining. I made the recipe and it totally blew my mind- they were so good! And, pretty easy to boot (especially if you've worked with yeast before). There is no kneading required. Having a stand mixer does make this recipe easier. These rolls are so, so good. They are very light, tender, flakey, soft, tender, buttery, etc. The texture makes me want to lay down in a pile of these rolls. You need to make them!

For the parmesan, I shredded my own with my food processor. Oh yeah, it's hard for me to find Parmigiano-Reggiano here, so I used just parm the first time I made them. The second time, I was able to find some Parmigiano-Reggiano, so I used that with some parm. Both ways were amazing. I usually use at least part whole wheat flour when I make yeast breads or rolls, but for these I just used white flour to keep the extra-light texture. I skipped the egg wash. The flour you sprinkle on top of the dough after mixing really does help with any sticking problems. It didn't seem like it would help, but it worked amazingly well! I want to try it next using some Danish garlic butter I have on hand. I just love this recipe!

Parmesan Pull-Aparts

adapted from No Fear Entertaining

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons yeast
1 tsp mild honey
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
1 1/4 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or just Parmesan)
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk, warmed to 105-115 degrees F (I used 1% )
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons butter, softened, cut into tablespoon-size pieces

 

Directions:
1.  In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast, honey, flour, salt, and cheese; whisk together. Add milk and beat at low speed with the paddle attachment until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat in the first egg. Add second egg and beat well. Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl and paddle occasionally. Continue to beat until a soft, sticky dough forms, about 2 to 3 minutes. Start beating in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough is elastic ~ about 2 more minutes. The dough will still be very sticky at this point.

2.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape dough into center of bowl, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let sit at warm room temperature for about 2 hours, or until dough has doubled in size.

3.  Gently punch dough down but don't knead it. Turn it out onto a floured surface. Don't worry ~ the dough will be very gassy and light, but it won't be all that sticky. The flour you dusted it with before will keep it from sticking to the bowl; it should come out fairly neatly. Gently form the dough into a rectangular shape. Go easy here ~ you don't want to press the gas out of the dough, you just want it to form a rough rectangle so it's easier to cut into equal pieces.

4.  Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, and then into 12 equal parts. Roll each part into a ball and place in a greased 9" x 2" cake pan (I lined the bottom with wax paper and greased the wax paper to help it release easier), leaving space between the balls. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, till rolls have puffed and fill the pan.

5.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pan from oven and run a thin-bladed knife around the edge of the pan to loosen rolls. Invert onto a large spatula or a small rack and then invert again onto a cooling rack. Cool at least 20 minutes* before pulling apart and eating. Makes 12 rolls

*Important note: I wouldn't wait 20 minutes to eat these babies..... they're good and yummy right away, hot from the oven! In fact, I recommend eating them ASAP, with a little bit of butter.
 

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

Lemon White Chocolate Cookies

A few years ago, I made an Orange White Chocolate cookie, and I really enjoyed that. Lately, I've been thinking about trying a Lemon White Chocolate version, and I took the oppurtunity to try that combo a few days ago. I love it, possibly even more than the orange white chocolate cookie. The delicate flavors blended so well together. To some of the batch, I added chopped macadamia nuts. These were really good, too. I'll include the nuts in the recipe as an option. I used Trader Joe's natural lemon extract. For the white chocolate, I used Milka brand, which is widely available in Europe. I used a random amount of 7 oz; use whatever you think is good. Adding lemon zest to this recipe would make it even better!

Lemon White Chocolate Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and lemon extract. Stir the flour, baking soda, and salt together; gradually mix into the creamed mixture. Stir in the white chocolate and nuts. Using a medium cookie scoop, drop balls of dough onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.