Recipe Therapy

So my boyfriend had a birthday. I made him a cake. He likes the strawberry layer cake at Publix, so I thought I might as well try my hand at making it myself. I took a shortcut on the actual cake- I used a cake mix. Sue me. I am just not a cake-mix-snob. Whatev. It was a good thing I did because the frosting making process was quite a doozy (is that even a real word?) I had never made swiss meringue buttercream before, and all of the recipes I read warned against making it with a hand mixer. Unfortunately, I don’t have a stand mixer. (Someday, I will own that beautiful Kitchen Aid commercial grade stand mixer…. someday!) On a related note, my biceps have recently swelled to twice their size. (Not really.) This cake is best when at room temperature. Too hot, and the frosting melts. Too cold, and the frosting solidifies. Anyway, the cake was a hit. Really delicious- a repeat recipe fo sho!

Strawberry Layer Cake

Ingredients:

• White cake mix (I used one with pudding in the mix cause I likes my cakes moist!)
• 2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped strawberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup egg whites (this was three large egg whites for me)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 sticks of softened butter, cut into tablespoon-sized chunks
• Vanilla
• Whole strawberries for garnishing, if you please

CAKE: Bake it according to the directions for two round cake pans. Let it cool completely. Cover each layer in saran wrap and freeze overnight, or however long you can.

FILLING: Combined the chopped strawberries, 1/2 sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for about two minutes, crushing the strawberries with the back of a spoon. Take the mixture off of the heat. It should be chunky. This is a good thing. Let it cool, and then refrigerate overnight, or again, however long you can if doing it all in the same day.

FROSTING: Heat some water in a pot on the stove, and place a heatproof (metal) bowl over top of it to create a double boiler. (Or use a double boiler if you have one- I don’t.) The water should be simmering underneath the bowl. Add the egg whites and a pinch of salt (to break up the protein), and whisk constantly while adding 1 cup of sugar. Cook until the sugar melts— the mixture will no longer feel grainy when you rub it between your fingers. It won’t burn you. This takes care of the raw egg safety thing, too. Don’t cook too long, or it will get all nasty like scrambled eggs. It should be kind of frothy at this point. Next, transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl (read: wipe the condensation off of the bottom of the bowl so it doesn’t get in the egg mixture) and beat on high speed until the mixture is white, glossy and (slightly) stiff peaks form. This could potentially take a long (upwards of 15 minutes) time, so be patient. Then, on high speed add the chunks of butter one at time, waiting to add another til each piece is totally incorporated. If the texture gets weird at this point, don’t worry. Just keep beating and it will combine again. When the texture looks like good frosting, add some vanilla for flavor. 

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE: Remove the frozen cake layers from the freezer and carefully slice each in half using a serrated knife. Brush the excess crumbs off, and place one layer on a plate. Spread a layer of buttercream on top, followed by 1/3 of the strawberry filling. Repeat two more times, and then place the final layer on top and thinly ice the whole cake to seal in crumbs. Then continue frosting until the whole cake is evenly covered. Garnish with whole strawberries if desired.

EAT IT!

Apple Crumb Pie (a.k.a. the way to my man’s heart)

Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch) pie shell
• 6 cups thinly sliced apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I love nutmeg, so I used much more than 1/8 tsp)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter (I doubled this….embarrassing.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired. In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Stir in raisins and walnuts if desired. Spoon mixture into pastry shell.
3. In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling. Cover top loosely with aluminum foil.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. 
5. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Enter bliss.

Mmmmm, don’t you just LOVE fall?

“Fiesta” Tacos

• 1 store-bought rotisserie chicken (I used Publix Mojo Chicken)
• 2 cups salsa
• Flour tortillas 
• Shredded cheddar cheese, if desired
• Sour cream, if desired
• Cubed avocado, if desired

Directions

1. Remove the meat from the chicken and shred.
2. Heat the salsa in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and heat until warmed through.
3. Fill the taco shells with the chicken mixture and top with the cheese and avocado (if using). Serve with the sour cream.

These tacos + margaritas + salsa music and Jess’s “dancing” + backyard picnic = one fun (and delicious!) evening!

Chicken Parm!

Ingredients

• 4 whole (up To 6) Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed And Pounded Flat
• ½ cups All-purpose Flour
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• ½ cups Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• ¾ cups Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)
• 3 cans (14.5 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• ¼ cubes Chopped Fresh Parsley
• 1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 pound Thin Linguine

Preparation Instructions

Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate.

Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside.

At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente.

Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.

Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.

Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste.

Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

succeedblog:

twin succeed

I couldn’t help myself…

succeedblog:

Love glove succeed

Genius.

imustbeinteresting:

I have a friend who makes this face when she sees sweets. Her name rhymes with Lame-e

Wow. Very subtle…. not.