Author Archives: TaMara
Thursday Recipe Exchange: Mardi Gras!
I’m getting ready to travel again, so I’m swamped with getting everything done at work and home. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate Fat Tuesday with some New Orleans style food and drink. Bring on your party recipes. And next week let’s go vegetarian.
I wanted to do gumbo, but didn’t have time to recipe test anything this week, except a death-by-chocolate Texas Sheet Cake, and I find my own gumbo recipes lacking. Luckily when it comes to gumbo, JeffreyW runs circles around me. Here’s his take on a shrimp gumbo:
I was rummaging about in the big freezer and turned up a stick of Andouille sausage. That put me of a mind to make a pot of gumbo. I noticed that Alton Brown was touting a method of making a brown roux in the oven that seemed to be foolproof, and didn’t require one to stand over the stove stirring for a half hour and more:
Place the vegetable oil and flour into a 5 to 6-quart cast iron Dutch oven and whisk together to combine. Place on the middle shelf of the oven, uncovered, and bake for 1 1/2 hours, whisking 2 to 3 times throughout the cooking process.
Seemed to work pretty well:
This was after 90 minutes. It could have spent a little longer and been a bit more brown but I went with it as you see it. More or less following Alton’s recipe, I put it over a medium flame on the cooktop and stirred in diced celery, green peppers, and onion. The roux turned right away into thick mud but I kept stirring it until the veggies softened a bit, about ten minutes. Next was several cups (4-5?) of the stock the chicken I used was cooked in, fortified with some Creole seasoning, along with the canned tomato bits I used in lieu of fresh. I did have fresh thyme and even grow my own bay leaves now. That simmered for a half hour before I added the cooked chicken, thawed pre-cooked shrimp, and the sliced and browned Andouille sausage.
Serve over rice, and be sure to have a bottle of hot sauce on the table lest you be taunted.
Hit the comments with your own Mardi Gras recipes and I’ll see you next week! - TaMara
Cross-posted at Balloon-Juice.
Kindness Ranch: Cute Critters and Quiet Retreat
Was glad to help promote a great animal sanctuary on my work blog. Thought I’d go ahead and share it here, too.
Cross-posted at Aqua Care Solar
We know many of our clients personally and often attend their events and contribute to their charities. So it just seems a natural extension to promote them on our blog. We are happy to use this platform to help you reach out. I was thrilled to learn about Kindness Ranch this morning from one of our Solar clients. Here’s some information on this great organization. If you’re looking for a sweet companion, check out their animals up for adoption.
Rosco stole my heart a bit.
Kindness Ranch is the only sanctuary in the US that takes in all kinds of research animals. While new, it is the result of a decade of work, saving, and planning.
Laboratory animals have long held a special place in the heart of Dr. David Groobman, Founder of Kindness Ranch. Successful in business, Dr. Groobman first saved enough to provide for his family into the future. Once this was accomplished, he dedicated all the profits of his business for ten years to the ranch. He searched four years to locate the perfect 1,000 acre parcel near historic Hartville in Wyoming.
Groobman’s passion attracted caring board members to the cause. Together, they began planning for a sanctuary with the expectation that the residents will always receive the best in animal care and that dogs and cats would be rehabilitated in a home-like environment. Ground was broke in 2006. After building four guests yurts, a dog yurt, a cat yurt, and a managers’ yurt, construction was finished in the summer of 2007.
The benefits to the animals are obvious: they are well-cared for in every aspect of their lives.
Besides rescuing everything from dogs to pigs, you can also take advantage of the serenity of their Wyoming location and take a time out there:
The Hartville area of Southeastern Wyoming is steeped in history. Here you can find peace and serenity, wildlife and outdoor activities, and, of course, the Kindness Ranch. As a Kindness Ranch member, you can stay in one of our beautiful yurts. Use it as a base while you visit local sites or stay here and help us care for the animals.
Head over to their page and learn more about the good works they do. And if you would like us to promote your event or charity, hit the comments or send us an email: office@aquacaresolar.com
Texas Sheet Cake
Happy Valentine’s Day. I had a lot of people to feed today, so it seemed like a good day to make a Texas Sheet Cake. I’ve been wanting to for a while. I actually made it last night, rumor has it, it tastes even better the next day.
The recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen. I didn’t change much, except I seem to have forgotten the cream in the icing. I don’t think it made much of a difference. It’s a very rich cake, so I don’t think anyone is going to miss the cream.
What makes this cake fun is that you bake it in a baking sheet and then pour the frosting on while everything is still hot. It creates a thin cake with a gooey center. It says it serves 24, my guess it’s more like 32, it’s very rich.
Texas Sheet Cake
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs plus 2 yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 8 ounces dark chocolate chips
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
Chocolate Icing
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup toasted pecans , chopped
For the cake:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 18- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk eggs and yolks, vanilla, and sour cream in another bowl until smooth.
Heat chocolate, butter, oil, water, and cocoa in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk chocolate mixture into flour mixture until incorporated. Whisk egg mixture into batter, then pour into prepared baking pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to wire rack.
For the icing: About 5 minutes before cake is done, heat butter, cream, cocoa, and corn syrup in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Off heat, whisk in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Spread warm icing evenly over hot cake and sprinkle with pecans. Let cake cool to room temperature on wire rack, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until icing is set, about 1 hour longer. (Cake can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.) Cut into 3-inch squares. Serve.
UPDATE: This was a nightmare to cut. So very gooey in the middle that most of those pieces look anything but square. 
Valentine’s Chocolates
Photo from FoodNetwork.com
I’ve never done a Molten Lava Cake. I’ve always wanted to, just haven’t gotten around to it. I hear they are very easy. I googled around to find one that had good ratings. The recipes vary greatly, so I decided to go to a reliable source: The Pioneer Woman. She liked this recipe from Tasty Kitchen.
Molten Chocolate Cake – by Brandielle
- 4 pieces (squares) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate
- ½ cups Butter
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 whole Eggs
- 2 whole Egg Yolks
- 6 Tablespoons Flour
- 2 cups Real Whipping Cream (seriously It’s So Much Better!)
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet.
Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. whisk until chocolate is also melted.
Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.
Divide between cups.
Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.
Combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff.
Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.
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I do make a mean pudding cake – which is basically an extra-large lava cake. And to make it even tastier, I substitute coffee for the boiling water. It doesn’t get any simpler than this:
Mocha Cake
- 1 cup flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup milk
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
====
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
- 1 cup very hot coffee**
- 8×8 inch baking dish, lightly oiled
Preheat oven to 350°
This is a pudding style cake, so you don’t want to over bake it. You’ll serve it warm and directly from the pan. When you cut into it a thick, gooey chocolate center will be revealed.
From the top list: combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder & salt. Combine milk, oil, & vanilla, mix well and add to flour mixture. Stir well. Pour batter into baking dish. From the bottom list: combine sugar & cocoa and sprinkle over batter. Pour hot coffee over batter – DO NOT stir. Bake for 30 minutes or until center springs back when touched, do not over bake.
** for a stronger coffee flavor, double the ground coffee to water ratio, or use espresso.
Also, for a fun read, head over to The Pioneer Woman.
Ice Crystals
Friend sent me this picture this morning of her window:
Woke up to what is known as champagne powder, about 2 inches. The snow looks like it has tiny bubbles on top of it. I think it’s because it is so dry, it puffs up like popcorn. Great for skiing. Excellent for shoveling – just use your broom. I would have taken pictures, but I’m still fighting off this virus and anything beyond work and sleep is too much for me.
So if you’ll pardon me, I’m going to go crawl back under the comforter. I do have a turkey thawing. We’ll see what I decide to do with it. Until then….
A Little Dinner Music
JeffreyW linked to this in another blog. I love Bruce, so I’m putting it here.
Tes Makes Beef Stew with Apples
Tes' Beef Stew photo by Tes at Home
I was pleased to pop over to Tes at Home and find Tes created a wonderful recipe that would be perfect for a tonight’s slow cooker recipe exchange It sounds like she peeked into her kitchen and found a variety of ingredients and decided they would make a good stew. I believe she’s right. Click link below or either picture for the recipe.
Tes’ Beef Stew with Marjoram and Apples
Can't wait to try this. Photo by Tes at Home
Thursday Recipe Exchange: Portuguese Beef and Pasta
Years ago, when I was first learning to ski, I was very frustrated by the amount of time I spent on my ass and not skiing. Someone told me that if I wasn’t spending a lot of time picking myself up, I wasn’t really skiing. I needed to push my limits to get better. In other words, it was all good. I find that information works for a lot of things in life. Cooking is no exception.
This week, I spent a lot of time on my figurative ass, playing with the new crock-pot making various recipes. There were epic failures. The first thing I tried was a slow cooker meatloaf. It called for a basic meatloaf recipe – I have a favorite – and then cook all day on low. The results were not stellar. More like steamed meatloaf. An unappetizing color and texture. Not the nice deep brown of a good baked loaf. I was able to salvage it by cutting it into thin slices and frying it up for sandwiches.
I'll stick to these scalloped potatoes from now on.
The next failure was the scalloped potatoes. This called for a slightly modified recipe, a bit more moisture than in the baked method. The flavor was fine, the texture was horrible. Kind of like if you reheated some that you baked. Rubbery and chewy. I’m not sure how you could modify the recipe to get a creamier texture. I’d love to hear any ideas in the comments.
The rest of the week was spent making traditional slow cooker foods – soups and a lovely pot roast. It wasn’t a total loss. I did learn that for a fool-proof slow cooker recipe it’s best to have a recipe that can cook, unattended, all day without risk of ruin. Both the potatoes and the meatloaf really could not have cooked any longer than they did. They would have turned out even worse.
So that was adventures in cooking this week. What foods do you use your slow cooker for successfully? Anything usual that we’ve never thought of? Hit the comments. Next week I think our theme will be Mardi Gras, and I’m hoping you’ll come prepared to share some favorite drinks as well as Cajun food recipes. Someone should bring the King’s cake recipe, too.
Here’s one of my favorite fool-proof slow cooker recipes:
Portuguese Beef & Pasta
This works best if you cook the pasta separately and either add it to the beef the last 15 minutes or serve the beef over the pasta. This is one of those slow cooker recipes that the longer it cooks, the better it gets, usually 10 hours minimum for best flavor.
- 1 lb round steak, cut into thin strips, remove excess fat
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 2-14 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- 1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper
- 8 oz dry macaroni**
Slow-Cooker and saucepan
Add beef, salt, pepper, onion, green pepper, garlic, paste, diced tomatoes, water, bay leaf & red pepper to Slow-Cooker. Cook according to manufacturer’s directions (usually 8-10 hours on low) until beef tears easily with a fork. In saucepan, cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain well (you don’t want any water in your beef mixture) and mix beef and pasta and serve.
**Ditilani works really, or any tiny pasta, like tiny elbow macaroni or tiny bow-ties.
Whole Wheat Bread
It snowed again today. No one was happy about it. I needed something warm and comforting and bread seemed like the perfect way to cozy up the house.
At altitude, bread is always tricky. I have a few alterations, but no guarantees they will work every time. One thing I usually do is a quick-rise. I turn the kneaded bread out into a prepared pan. In this case my big cast iron skillet.
I cover it with a damp towel and wax paper and let it double. I don’t punch it down and do second rise. This creates a loaf that is denser and a bit yeastier – less complex in flavors than a double-rise loaf, but eliminates the risk of the dough rising too much, and then falling and creating a brick instead of a loaf of bread. Then I brush the loaf with cold water, place a tray of ice cubes in a shallow baking pan on the bottom rack and bake as usual. At the 20 minute mark I do an egg wash and let bake until it reaches 200 degrees F in the center (thanks JeffreyW for that tidbit).
This gives it a nice crisp, chewy crust. Some butter and honey and you’re all set to go. What’s this? I went to the cupboard and the honey pot was empty. Oh bother.
Super Bowl Sunday
It’s the big day and all I want is tomato soup (homemade naturally) and orange juice. Still nursing this cold and the weather nicely cooperated – a big snow storm closed down everything on Friday so I could work at home. Under a big comforter. In sweats.
The sun is shining today, so I will probably try to get out a bit. But no super bowl party for me. If you still need recipes, we got a few right here:
I particularly like the Drunken Chicken skewers
Have fun. Enjoy the game. Go Patriots!
I’ll be watching Downton Abbey. 
TaMara
jeffreyww
LFern7
indylib
