Vanilla Sponge Cake

Final exams are all over, work project is done, and we (hubs and I) flew down to Texas on Saturday, then drove down to Mexico yesterday to spend Christmas with my family.   About 11 days off of work in a row – this is going to be fantastic.  And, (shame on me), I didn’t even bring a single textbook down to prep for classes that start back up January 7th.  This is a much needed week of R&R and bonding with my husband again and enjoying my family that I only get to see a few times a year.  … And perhaps catching up a bit on the blog with the yummy recipes from the past few weeks.

So, this recipe, I can take absolutely no credit for.  Therefore, I’m really just posting a picture of the cake itself and a link to the original website.   But I do have a couple tips of advice…

Original Recipe:

•  http://www.hy-vee.com/seasons/recipe.aspx?r=8057

Tips of Advice

• For the egg whites – use 1 tsp or so of cream or tartar – it helps the eggs whites fluff/whip to the right consistency.  You can be a total nerd like be and look up the chemical reaction that takes place to make this happen 
• You don’t necessarily need to use springform pans – the new silicon round pans work pretty well too such they just peel and bend away from the cake without ruining it.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Accents

Sadly, this is another recipe I can’t take credit for.  BUT it did turn out rich and delicious, so I wanted to share it and let you know where to find the recipe.   This is the first time I’ve used buttermilk in a cake recipe, it does add an extra richness and flavor to the cake.

Original Recipe:

http://www.hy-vee.com/seasons/recipe.aspx?r=8058

Advice & Some Funnies:

• So the recipe calls for baking soda.. USE BAKING SODA.  DO NOT accidentally use baking powder, I did.  My first batch turned into flat, thick brownies.  OOPS & blush.  For some reason, totally misread the directions.  Possibly because I was making a ham and another cake at the same time.
• Purpose of the baking soda – there is a wicked reaction between the buttermilk and the baking soda.  Joy of Cooking talks a little bit more about both baking soda & powder - http://www.joyofbaking.com/bakingsoda.html.  But seriously, the 1/2 cup of Buttermilk rises to about a full glass after mixing it with the soda.  Reminds you of the volcano science projects from 3rd grade.
• Instead of using just regular baking cocoa powder, I used all Ghirardelli.  OMG – you can’t beat the taste of that chocolate!

Cranberry, Walnut, & Orange Cookies with Orange Sugar Glaze

That saying, you know that saying… the way to one’s heart is through their stomach – SO TRUE!  Not that I ever doubted it.  We were working pretty hard at work this week and I had some really great support from some coworkers.  Our facility typically doesn’t work Fridays, but a small group of us had to come in to get some of the project done.  Needless to say, Thursday night I felt like baking up a storm to give a small thank you to a handful of folks that put in a LOT of hard work.  Brought in an entire brunch for them actually – a breakfast casserole (which I’ll post later), a fruit salad, lots of juice, and of course.. COOKIES!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Butter, Softened
• 1 Cup White Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Orange Zest, grated
• 2 Tbsp Orange Juice
• 2 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 Cups Cranberries, Chopped
• 1/2 Cup Walnuts, Chopped
• 1/2 tsp Orange Zest, Grated
• 3 Tbsp Orange Juice
• 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

Instructions – Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. In medium-high speed, blend together the butter and both sugars until smooth & creamy.
3. In the same bowl, mix in the egg until well blended then add in 1 tsp Orange Zest and 2 Tbsp Orange Juice.. keep blending away.  Smells citrus-ly amazing at this point, right?
4. In a different bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add into cream mixture and use the cookie attachment and keep on mixing.
6. Once the flour is fully blended with the cream, add in the cranberries and walnuts and mix until thoroughly blended away.
7. This batch will make about 40-48 cookies… so you can do 4 baking sheets at once or in batches.
8. Place parchment paper on the baking sheet.
9. Dollop about 1 hefty Tablespoon (one cookie) onto the sheet about 2 inches apart.  These cookies spread!
10. Baking for 12-15 minutes (golden brown at the top).
11. Pull out of the oven and set aside.
12. Once they’ve cooled down a bit, place to cook on a cooling tray.

Instructions – Icing

1. Either in a bowl or a food processor, add in the orange zest, juice, and powdered sugar
2. Mix until creamy smooth (icing/glaze consistency)
3. Place the icing into a ziploc bag
4. Cut off just a small corner at the bottom and use the bag as the frosting bag.
5. Zig across the cookies after they’ve cooled off a bit to create the glaze pattern.

Slow Cooker Holiday Ham

Class is over, class is over, class is over!  …And final exams are here.   Lucky for me, I had about a week in between class being done and final exams starting to come at me – with a holiday party right in between.  Our department has a yearly holiday party, this was my first one since I just transferred over earlier this spring.  Now, before this law school thing, even with grad school – the holidays were a BIG deal for me.  But law school seems almost to suck the holiday spirit right out of you until the last final exam is complete.   So, since we weren’t going to be hosting our own Christmas party, I could at least make my crock pot ham for others to enjoy!  The reviews at the holiday part were all positive and my husband didn’t complain about the cloves this year ( I got smart & removed them before slicing & serving ).

I actually had 2 crock pots going with 2 different fruit chutney mixes, so I’ll actually post the ingredients for both.

Apricot & Brown Sugar Chutney Ingredients:

• 3-6 lbs of precooked Ham.  Spiral ham isn’t necessary.  Just the one in brown sugar works great.
• 1 Cup of Apricot Preserves
• 1 Cup of Brown Sugar
• 1/8 Cup of Raisins
• 1/8 Cup of Dried Cranberries
• 10 -15 Whole Cloves

Apricot & Brown Sugar Ham Instructions:

1. Slice diamond lines into the top of the ham… the cuts only go in about 1/4″ or so.
2. Where the lines intersect, place in a clove.  for a 3 lb ham – about 7-10 cloves.  (the 1st picture shows where the cloves are placed and how the lines are cut)
3. In a medium sized bowl – mix the rest of the ingredients (apricot preserves, brown sugar, raisins, & dried cranberries).
4. Place the ham in the slow cooker
5. Cover the ham with the fruit mix
6. Cook on high for about 6 hours.
7. Every hour, baste the ham with the fruit chutney so that it stays moist and glazes the ham beautifully.
8. Once the ham is ready, pop out the ham from the slow cooker and let rest for a bit before slicing.
9. As for the fruity goodness at the bottom – scoop that into a serving dish and have guests pour a bit over their ham slices (like gravy to a turkey)

Pineapple & Cherry Chutney Ingredients:

• 3-6  lbs of precooked Ham.
• (3/4) of a 20 oz Can of Crushed Pineapple
• 1/4 Cup of Apricot Preserves
• (3/4) of a 10 oz Jar of Maraschino Cherries (without the stems)
• 10 -15 Whole Cloves

Pineapple & Cherry Ham Instructions:

1. Slice diamond lines into the top of the ham… the cuts only go in about 1/4″ or so.
2. Where the lines intersect, place in a clove.  for a 3 lb ham – about 7-10 cloves.  (the 1st picture shows where the cloves are placed and how the lines are cut)
3. In a medium sized bowl – mix the rest of the ingredients (15 oz of Crushed Pinapple, Apricot preserves, Cherries).
4. Place the ham in the slow cooker
5. Cover the ham with the fruit mix
6. Cook on high for about 6 hours.
7. Every hour, baste the ham with the fruit chutney so that it stays moist and glazes the ham beautifully.
8. Once the ham is ready, pop out the ham from the slow cooker and let rest for a bit before slicing.
9. As for the fruity goodness at the bottom – scoop that into a serving dish and have guests pour a bit over their ham slices

Ham hanging out in the crockpot, about to be basted… again.

Ham all sliced up and ready to head to the party and fruit chutney in serving dishes.

Slow Cooker Tater Tot Dinner Casserole

All crock pot dinners don’t have to be stews, soups, and pot roasts.  Traditional baked casseroles can also be done in the crock pot!  And you don’t have to babysit the oven and there’s no need to make sure you didn’t burn the top.  This one is just a spin on the cheesy tater tot and beef casserole dish.  Not the healthiest meal in the world, but honestly, it’s not horrible either.  This is still better than ordering a pizza or picking up take-out.

Ingredients:

• (1) lb of ground beef
• (1) can of cream of mushroom
• (16 oz) bag of frozen vegetable mix
• (32 oz) bag of frozen tater tots
• (1) cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt & Pepper to season
• Pam cooking spray

Directions

1) On the stove top, brown the beef and get it crumbled up.  It doesn’t have to be fully cooked… browned on the outside and into small pieces.

2) After the meat is ready to go, in the crockpot – Spray the bottom with cooking spray.

3) Spread about 1/3 to 1/2 of the tater tots at the bottom of the crock pot.

4) Place the beef, cream of mushroom, frozen veggies and about 1/2 – 3/4 of the cheese on top of the tater tots and mix it all up.  Also, add in salt and pepper to taste (amount to your liking).

5) On tap, layer the rest of the tater tots and remaining cheese.

6) Cook on high for about 5-6 hours… afterwards, it’ll look like the casserole below and be ready to for dinner.

"Lazy" Pozole

i will start by apologizing for my masterpiece of a picture…. we made this last night and packed it away for lunch at work.  Sadly, didn’t get a chance to take a snapshot of it in the crockpot in the morning… thinking back, totally should have.  But hey, this is a blog about a working law student.  When finals are less than a month away, I’m just happy I’m eating homemade food and not suffering through the cafeteria at work.  But below is a picture of a totally legit traditional pozole and the link to an old fashioned variation on the recipe:

Oh, wait… you can’t read Spanish?  Just click the translate link at the top for Google.. it’s a pretty good translation  .  Gosh, and you thought I tricked you or was testing your language skills.  No , Spanish was not a requirement to read this website.  I will also add that you may notice the ingredients are fairly different in the recipe in the link above in comparison to mine… each region in each Latin country makes this soup differently… like hot dogs in all the regions in the US: NY style dog, Chicago dog, Coney dog… etc.

Pozole… a traditional Mexican dish, well really, most Latin countries have a spin on this.   Every year during when we travel to visit my family in Mexico for Christmas, they serve this soup/stew at the posadas.  So, educational side note on Posadas in Mexico which actually originated from Spain.  They’re a type of party celebrating the birth of Christ.  Families and neighborhoods host them (almost like a large block party) and all the children walk the streets singing, knocking on neighbors’ doors.   The children represent Mary and Joseph seeking a place to stay the night Jesus was born.  Finally, after stopping and serenading multiple homes, the children knock on the last door – the host’s home!  The host lets everyone in and the rest of the celebrations begin.  Inside the home there’s pinatas, candy, treats, and a feast for everyone (plus some) to partake in.  There’s also the praying of the rosary – and I will admit, this is where my Mexican Catholic roots get a little shaky… 1) I’m fluent in Spanish, but needless to say, never learned the rosary.  Heck, I barely know it in English!  and 2) I will admit, I’m too anxious for the food to truly pay attention to the whole praying part.  My sense of smell and taste buds are pretty much reminding me the whole time that there’s a kitchen full of cooked food just waiting… waiting for the prayer to finish and for the feasting to begin.

So, anywho…  the quintessential part of Pozole or Posole depending on how you’d like to spell it is hominy – large, white corn kernels.  The meat can range from chicken to pork to beef or a combination of any of the three.  This recipe, just chicken.  This is a great alternative to chicken soup AND it has a little kick, so also great if you’re trying to clear out your sinuses from a cold.

Ingredients

• 1 Pack of Chicken Thighs or about (6) of them
• 1 Can of Hominy (29 oz) – Drained
• 1 Can of Green Chiles (~4 oz)
• 1 Can of Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
• 1 Medium Onion – Chopped
• 3-4 Cloves Garlic – Minced OR (2) Tbsp Minced Garlic
• 2 Large Carrots – Chopped
• 2 Tbsp Cilantro – Chopped
• 2 Chicken Boullioun Cubes
• 1 Quart of Water
• (1) tsp to (1) Tbsp of Cayenne Pepper
• (1) Can of Red Enchilada Sauce (We DID not have this on hand, so ours does not have the red coloring to it… also a great way to reduce the kick of you’d like this to be a kid friendly stew)

Directions

1) Dump all ingredients into the crockpot

2) Cook on high for 5 hours….

3) Either eat OR let cool down to room temp and store in the fridge until ready to be reheated and enjoyed.

Note: This slow cooker thing, pretty awesome huh?  And I love how the chicken thighs just shred on their own in the crockpot once they’re fully cooked.

Irish Beef Stew with... GUINNESS (or any other stout)

As you can see, I haven’t posted in quite some time… law school has gotten… busy, very very busy.  BUT we have certainly continued to cook.  And with fall, the crockpot is making regular appearances in our kitchen again.  I’m not going to lie, I bought a 6 pack of Guinness and drank 1, the rest were used in recipes throughout that week which hopefully I’ll get to posting all of them – they were honestly all scrumptioulicious!

The awesome thing about crockpot cooking, you can prepare these ahead of time over the weekend and freeze them until they’re ready for use.  But be forewarned – it takes 2 days in the fridge or a full day on the counter for these meals to defrost and be ready for cooking.  So there will have to be some thinking in advance if which “frozen meal” you would like to have for dinner tomorrow night.  But really, if that’s the only drawback – I can deal.

I will also admit, I drew my inspiration for my Guinness dishes from Fine Cooking… I will certainly not take credit for concocting these.. perhaps just modifying a little 

Ingredients:

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lb. boneless beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 (12-oz.) bottle Guinness (or other stout)
4 cups lower-salt beef broth  (The original recipe only called for 1 cup.. I desired more of a stew and used 4 cups)
2 large russet potatoes (about 1-1/2 lb.), washed and cut into 1-inch cubes

Instructions:

Wait.. hold on… what I love about the crockpot….

1) THROW/TOSS/DUMP/POUR all ingredients into the crockpot

….OR Toss into gallon freezer ziploc bag and freeze

2) Set on high for 5 hours or low for 10 hours

3) When time is up, ladle into bowls and slurp up.

Right?  Can it get any easier for a delicious meal that meets your dietary needs and is WAY healthier than Taco Bell AND pretty much just as quick and effortless?

Chipotle Lime Chicken in the Slowcooker – Watch Out, it’s HOT!

So this is certainly not the prettiest dish I’ve ever created AND it was hot as all get out… I mean, hot enough where if you’re not into spicy, I would say CLICK OFF THIS PAGE NOW.  Don’t even read this.  BUT if you have an adventurous palette and you can handle the heat, definitely check this recipe out.  This is another slow cooker recipe… so in other words… either prep and slow cook or freeze and then cook sometime in the next few weeks.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium sliced onion
• 3 stalks chopped celery
• 2 large chopped carrots
• 4 pounds skinless chicken thighs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (15-ounce) can Enchilada Sauce (for the more timid, try some tomato sauce)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce with 1 teaspoon sauce from can
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Lime wedges, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1) You know the drill for the slow cooker, this follows the same method.  Add it all to crockpot… high for 5 hours or low for 8-10 hours until chicken is well done.

2) If you decide to freeze in advance in a 1 gallon bag, here’s what it looks like before freezing.  Again, after freezing completely – it will take about a full day to two days in the fridge to defrost and be ready for crock potting.

3) Serve it in a bowl… I recommend Jamaican Rice or Spanish Rice as a side dish.

Baked Apple Bowls filled With Oatmeal & Fruit – Great for breakfast or dessert!

A nice autumn Sunday morning, when the majority of studying and outlining has been done, calls for a tasty brunch!  Or maybe it’s because I spent my night dreaming about baked apples?  It’s probably the latter of the two.  No joke, it’s all I could dream about last night… of all things.  And a couple dreams about work and school thrown into the mix of course.   So of course, when I woke up, I found the best recipe at http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/ and put my own spin on it.  This dish takes about 20-25 minutes to prepare and barely any extra effort than scrambled eggs – so spoil yourself, spoil your loved ones with this sweet breakfast.

Ingredients:

• 5 Small apples (for 2-4 servings) – you could use Granny Smith apples instead for a larger “bowl”
• 1.5 Tbsp Sugar in the Raw
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Brown Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Milk (I used Silk Vanilla Light)
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 Cup of Rolled Oats
• Pinch of Salt
•  1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• 1 Cup Cranberries
• 1 tsp Agave Nectar

Directions

• 1.) Preheat Oven to 350 and spray baking dish with Pam
• 2.) For (4) of the apples, cut off the top 1/3 or 1/4 to create the “lid”, then core out the insides to create small bowls.  Keep the nonseedy insides your remove  (you can use those for filling later)
• 3.) Place the 4 apples and lids onto baking dish (I placed the lids to the side).  Sprinkle the insides with 1/2 Tbsp Sugar in the Raw, 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, and 1 tsp brown sugar.  Bake the Apples for 15 Minutes.
• 4.) In the meantime – in a small-medium sized pot, bring the milk and water to a boil.  Add in the cup of oats and salt.  Boil for an additional 5 minutes.
• 5.) While waiting for the boiling to happen… Chop up the 5th apple into small 1/4-1/2″ chunks.  In a bowl, mix the apple insides, the chopped apples, the remaining cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar.
• 6.) When the oats are done cooking, add in the apple mixture, cranberries, and agave.   Cook on low for an additional 5 minutes.
• 7.) Beep Beep Beep – apples are done!  Pull out the apples, but DON’T turn off the oven yet.  Keep it set at 350.
• 8.) Stuff the apples with the oatmeal and  put back in the oven for 5 minutes.  Don’t be afraid to pile high, the oatmeal mixture doesn’t fall apart too easily.
• 9.) NOW, pull the tasty dish out and turn off the oven.
• 10.) Serve up and enjoy!

Bruschetta Chicken

To keep with this weekend’s around the world theme (Japan on Friday, Mexico & Germany on Saturday), it was time to visit Italy!   But I was under a small time crunch, since I had to head up to my undergrad sorority house to advise their business meeting.  So we needed to visit Italy in about 30 minutes!   The full dinner consisted of bruschetta chicken, grilled veggies with rosemary, and garlic bread – each recipe can be found on here.

Ingredients:

Italian Chicken Marinade

• (1) Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• (1) Tbsp Italian White Wine Vinegar
• (1) Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• (1) Tsp Minced Garlic
• (1) Tsp Lemon Juice
• (1) Tsp Italian Seasoning
• (4) Chicken Breasts

Bruschetta

• (2) Tomatoes – Diced
• (1/4) Red Onion – Diced
• (2) Tbsp Basil – Chopped
• (1) Tbsp Garlic – Minced
• (1) Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• (1) Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• (1/4) Cup Small Mozzarella Balls

Directions

1) Mix all of the bruschetta ingredients together and set aside in the fridge

2) Mix all of the chicken ingredients either in a bag or bowl and marinade chicken.  We only marinaded it for about 30 minutes and it was pretty juicy; I can only imagine how much better it would be if we marinaded for at least an hour.

3) Grill up the chicken for about 15 minutes – 7 minutes on each side.  To keep the chicken extra moist, add a little bit of marinade.

4) Top the grilled chicken with the bruschetta mix!

Summer Corn Chowder

Corn chowder, specifically from Panera, is one of my favorite soups.  Actually, corn is one of my favorite foods, as it is for my husband.  After grilling up corn on the cob, and boiling it, we were looking for a little variation of summer corn.  Enter, Corn Chowder, home made.  Also, since exams are over, I have a little more time on my hands to cook without taking too many shortcuts in the kitchen.   Plus, it was Sunday.  Sunday dinners deserve to be made from scratch with love.  I got the idea for the recipe from Fine Cooking.

Ingredients

• 3 Slices of Bacon
• 4 Cobs of Corn
• 3 Medium – Large Red Potatoes, Chopped in 1″ cubes
• 3-3.5 Cups of Chicken Broth
• Bundle of Scallions, chopped
• 1 Pepper, Jalapeno or Hungarian Wax, or anything else, also chopped
• 1.5 tsp Thyme
• 2 Tbsp to 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper

Directions

1) Cook the bacon in a small pan.  Once the bacon is cooked, place on paper towel to drain of excess grease.  Keep the grease in the pan, you’re going to use that again in a little bit.

2) Cut off the kernels from the corn and save 2 of the cobs

3) Add the kernals, 2 cobs, potatoes, and thyme into a pot along with the Chicken Broth and turn up to medium-high heat and bring to a boil for 15-20 minutes

4) About 10 minutes after the goods in the pot have been boiling, warm up the pan of bacon grease.  Add in the scallions, chopped pepper, salt, and black pepper.   Cook for about 5 minutes.

5) As the potatoes become tender, puree 1-2 cups of the soup with the broth, and add in the Heavy Cream then put back in to pot

6) Finally add in the scallions and crumbled up bacon, saving a little bit for garnish if desired