Swedish Meatballs

August 27, 2018 in Main Dish | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

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This recipe is found in Taste of Home magazine’s October-November 2006 issue.

  • Ingredients for the Meatballs
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup soft bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1/2 lb. ground pork
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed

Combine all ingredients, except butter, and form into 1-1/2″ balls. In a large skillet, cook the meatballs in butter, in batches until they are well browned and cooked through. Remove from skillet.

  • Ingredients for Dill Cream Sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. dill seed

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients. Pour into skillet and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let simmer a couple minutes while stirring until it thickens.

Add in the meatballs and heat through. Serves 4-6. Tastes great served over mashed potatoes or noodles. We also like it served over Twice-Baked Cauliflower. Yummy!

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Rhubarb Mascarpone Mousse

August 25, 2018 in Dessert | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

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This was quite complicated and my kitchen looked like a bomb went off in it, but the end result was beautiful and delicious. The recipe can be found at epicurious.com.

To summarize, this is a flat cake, split in half horizontally, spread with jam, and placed into a larger spring-form pan. The spring-form pan is then filled with rhubarb mousse. Lastly, a glaze is poured over the top.

Cake:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature 30 minutes
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup whole  milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 9-inch cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter paper, then dust pan with flour, knocking out excess.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until  pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until  fluffy and combined well, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and milk alternately in 3 batches, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until  batter is just combined. Do not overmix.

Spread batter evenly  in pan and bake until  cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes (cake will still be pale in color, not golden brown).

Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a rack, then invert onto rack and reinvert to cool completely right side up.

 

Mousse:

2 pounds rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces (8 cups)
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water, divided
3 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (less than 2 packages)
1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone (I read cream cheese may be substituted) 
3/4 cup chilled heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine rhubarb, 1 1/4 cups sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a large heavy saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until  rhubarb releases enough juice to almost cover rhubarb, 5 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat  and simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb falls apart and is reduced to about 4 cups,  25 to 30 minutes. Remove  from heat. Pour mixture into a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and collect 1 cup syrup and set aside. Transfer rhubarb pulp to another bowl.

Soften gelatin in remaining 1/4 cup water 1 minute, then stir into hot rhubarb pulp until  dissolved. Set bowl inside a larger bowl of ice water and stir rhubarb mixture until  cooled  to room temperature (do not let set on ice) OR you can let it cool by itself, just stirring frequently while you’re doing the next part.

Beat together mascarpone, heavy cream, and vanilla with remaining 1/4 cup sugar until  it just holds  stiff peaks.

Fold cooled  rhubarb mixture into mascarpone mixture.

 

Assembly:

1/2 cup strawberry, rhubarb, or strawberry-rhubarb jam
Glaze

Prepare a 10″ springform pan by inverting the bottom piece so that the cake slides off easily when you’re ready to serve (the lip will be facing down). Spray with non-stick spray or lightly oil the inside of the pan.

Cut the cake in half horizontally. Center the bottom half into the prepared springform pan. Spread with jam. Place the other half of the cake onto the top. Spoon the mousse into the pan, covering all and smoothing the top. Chill, uncovered, until the mousse is set, at least 2 hours.

Yes, mine broke.

 

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Glaze:

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons water
1 cup rhubarb syrup, saved from above

Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small  heavy saucepan to soften, 1 minute. Heat gelatin over low heat  until  it has dissolved. Remove  from heat  then stir in reserved rhubarb syrup.

Pour glaze over chilled mousse, tilting pan slightly to cover it completely in an even layer. Chill, uncovered, until  glaze is set, at least 1 hour.

To serve:  Let cake stand at room temperature 30 minutes to soften slightly. Wrap a kitchen towel dampened in hot water around the side of the pan for about 15 seconds. Run the tip of a thin  knife around the edge of the pan, then gently unlock and remove sides of spring-form pan.

Blackberry Pork Tenderloin

August 23, 2018 in Main Dish | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Blackberry Pork Tenderloin3

I make this dish a lot. It’s based upon the one found at carlsbadcravings.com. I don’t brine my tenderloin, and maybe I’m really missing something there, but this is super simple and very tasty. I buy pork tenderloin at Costco in a 2-pack. Each package has two strips of pork in it. This recipe is for one package, or two strips pork.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 cup seedless blackberry jam
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Pork tenderloin
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Fresh blackberries, optional
Green onion, sliced, optional

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a small saucepan, melt butter and saute garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes until garlic is fragrant — about a minute. Stir in blackberry jam, hoisin sauce, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer until it is all well incorporated and then keep warm over very low heat.

In the meantime, heat an oven-proof skillet over high heat. Rub pork tenderloins with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add a little bit of olive oil to the hot skillet. Add the pork tenderloins. You’ll probably need a spatter guard here. Brown the pork on all sides.

Once pork is browned, dollop blackberry sauce over it. Place a meat thermometer into the thickest part of one of the pork strips. Pop into preheated 425 degree oven. Check the meat at about 20 minutes, spoon a little bit more blackberry sauce over, and then check frequently until pork reaches 170 degrees F. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove meat to cutting board and slice tenderloins into 1-1/2″ slices. Place sliced meat onto serving tray and pour over the remaining blackberry sauce. Sprinkle optional fresh blackberries and sliced green onion over all. Serve.

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Pickled Eggs with Beets

August 21, 2018 in Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , , , | 3 comments

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I had never cooked fresh beets before last year, so I really didn’t realize what I was missing. It’s been a revelation. This recipe is sort of thrown together, so take it for what it’s worth.

Scrub beets well, try not to pierce them. I snap off the long root. Wrap tightly in foil and bake at 350 degrees for an hour for tennis-ball sized beets, maybe longer if you have extremely humongous beets like I did. I baked mine for 1-1/2 hours. Last year I put my foil-wrapped beats on one of my oven-safe dinner plates. It ruined the plate. This year I laid a piece of foil across a metal pie pan and then put the foil-wrapped beets in the pan. I was trying to protect my cookware and it worked. No problem. Let beets cool until they’re not too hot to touch. Peel the beets. It’s easy, the skins slide off. Slice one beet into about 1/2-inch slices, not thin. You probably won’t need more than one beet.

In the meantime, boil 4 eggs to hard-cooked. I put my eggs in cold water and bring to a boil, let boil 5 minutes, then let them sit in the water until it cools and I’m ready to use. I don’t think it matters how you do this. Peel the eggs.

Make a mixture of 2/3 cup vinegar (I used cider vinegar) to 1/3 cup water and a sprinkle of salt. This mixture does not have to be precise. You may need more.

In a clean quart jar, pour a little vinegar mixture. Drop in a few beet slices. Drop in a boiled egg. Add vinegar mixture to cover. Drop in more beet slices, another egg, more vinegar mix . . . layer until you reach the top of the jar. Cover the jar with a lid.

Refrigerate for three days, you can shake the jar around a little bit every day or so. These pickles are so yummy. The eggs are quite beautiful when sliced. They taste great and so do the pickled beets.

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Chocolate-Raspberry Cupcakes

August 18, 2018 in Dessert | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 comment

This makes 24 cupcakes. I have gotten such rave reviews about these that I simply must share. The components of cupcakes, filling, and frosting are from three different recipes. The cupcake recipe is one I have made many times from browneyedbaker.com. The filling is home-made seedless raspberry jam. You could buy some at the store, probably with the same effect. The frosting is based upon sallysbakingaddiction.com.

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Cupcakes:
1 cup Guiness stout
1 cup butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Prepare cupcake tins with 24 paper liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place Guiness and butter in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool a little bit.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a mixer, mix together the eggs and sour cream until combined. Add the Guiness mixture and mix until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture until just mixed, then fold until it’s completely combined.

Divide the batter equally between the paper liners. Bake for 20 minutes or until a light touch and they spring back up. Let cool completely.

Once cooled, remove the centers (I used my handy cupcake corer) and dribble seedless raspberry jam into each one. Rather than throw them away, we snack on the cupcake cores. Another idea would be to use them to make small trifles. I digress. The jam should be even with the top of the cupcake.

Frosting:
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Dash of salt
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Beat butter until softened. Add powdered sugar, cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat slowly until smooth. Add seedless raspberry jam and beat slowly until well incorporated. Add powdered sugar if it’s too thin or more cream if it’s too thick. Update: I just learned that mixing the frosting slowly will reduce the air bubbles forming in the frosting. 

Place into a piping bag and pipe onto the tops of the cupcakes. Like I said, I got RAVE reviews for these cupcakes. I mean for reals.

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Egg Muffins

July 2, 2018 in Breakfast | Tags: , | Leave a comment

So, I have been hosting World Cup viewing at my house for a couple weeks. We’re in Alaska, so the games played in Russia are early in the morning here. I’m trying to serve breakfast-type snacks to the assembled bleary-eyed hooligans, along with their coffee. Since the rhubarb is ripe, there’s been a lot of rhubarb bread. This egg muffin has also turned out to be quite nice. It’s very easy to make and keeps well in the fridge for several days.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 12-muffin tin by spraying with non-stick spray or greasing very well.

Ingredients

An assortment of finely chopped vegetables and/or meat. Here are some 
ideas: spinach, onion, bell pepper, tomato, sun-dried tomato, 
green onion, mushroom, bacon, ham. You'll need 3-4 tablespoons of
each one, or you can make each muffin cup a different flavor. 

Grated cheese (I've tried mozzarella, Mexican mix, and sharp cheddar)

9-12 eggs, well beaten

Splash of half-n-half (optional)

Salt and pepper

Beat the eggs and optional half-n-half with salt and pepper. Pour just a little into each muffin cup to coat the bottom. Sprinkle a little of each of your vegetables and meat into each muffin cup. Sprinkle grated cheese into each muffin cup.

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Fill each muffin cup up with the remaining egg mixture. Don’t overflow any of the cups, but being a little short won’t hurt anything.

EggMuffins5Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes. I like to see a tinge of golden brown across the top of mine. Eat right away or chill and eat later, reheated or not.

I usually chop the vegetables and meat the night before and put them into little plastic baggies. Then I shove the baggies into my 4-cup measuring cup and put it into the refrigerator. In the morning I spray my muffin tin, take the measuring cup out of the refrigerator, and remove the bags of vegetables. I crack open the eggs into the measuring cup and beat well, adding salt, pepper, and a splash of half-n-half. Then I proceed as listed above. By the time the oven is preheated I’m ready to pop the egg muffins into the oven.

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Shrimp Enchiladas

December 5, 2017 in Main Dish | Tags: , , , | 1 comment

This recipe is very loosely based upon Elizabeths Edible Experience’s recipe for Crawfish Enchiladas.

  • Ingredients
  • 1# split and deveined shrimp in their shells
  • 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1/2 cup diced bell pepper
  • 4 oz. canned green chiles
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • A couple dashes each of oregano, red pepper, white pepper, salt
  • Oil for frying
  • 1 dozen corn tortillas (make your own or purchase them)
  • 3 Tbsp. sour cream
  • 2 cups grated cheese, like Monterey Jack or Mexican Mix
  • 3 green onions, chopped

Shell shrimp, saving the shells. Rinse shells and shrimp separately. Set shrimp aside on towel to dry.

Add the shells to a medium saucepan with cream and let simmer awhile. The shrimp shells should turn orange. Keep warming or at a very light simmer while you’re fixing the other things. Your purpose is to flavor the cream with shrimp. This is the secret that makes it so, so delicious.

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Saute chopped onion and chopped bell pepper together until soft and then add canned chiles and garlic. Sprinkle with dried oregano, white pepper, red pepper, and salt. Continue sauteing until the garlic is soft.

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If you’ve just made your own tortillas, they should already be pliable and it’s not necessary to fry them again. Sally forth! If your tortillas are not fresh off the griddle then heat a small frying pan with oil and soften about a dozen corn tortillas by dipping into the hot oil and turning, each one should only take about 15 seconds or less. Stack them between paper towels to drain.

Strain the shells out of the cream and discard the shells.

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Stir the onion, pepper mixture into the shrimp-flavored cream. [Save the saute pan to fry the shrimp.] Stir in sour cream, then stir in 1-1/2 cups grated cheese. Set aside.

ShrimpSauce1

If the shrimp are quite large you will need to chop them into bite-size pieces. Stir-fry the shrimp in the saute pan with green onions and another dash of dried oregano, white pepper, red pepper, and salt.

If the shrimp are quite large you will need to chop them into bite-size pieces. Stir-fry the shrimp in the saute pan with green onions and another dash of dried oregano, white pepper, red pepper, and salt.

Once the shrimp is no longer translucent, remove from heat. Stir in a bit of the sauce. This is the filling.

I used an 11” x 7” baking dish. Stuff the tortillas with shrimp mixture. The tortillas I used fit about ten down the dish and two were placed in the gap along one side. Pour remaining sauce over all. Sprinkle with remaining grated cheese. Heat at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or so, until cheese has melted.

The first time I made these I didn’t have enough sauce and the second time I used 2 cups cream (pictured) and that was too much. 1-1/2 cups should do it. And I also didn’t use enough shrimp in these pictures.

Chorizo Burgers with Garlic Shrimp

November 20, 2017 in Main Dish | Tags: , , | 1 comment

Chorizo Burger with Garlic Shrimp

I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it is really delicious. The original recipe is found at ladyandpups.com.  The photographs on Mandy’s site are spectacular. The first time I made this I used chorizo ready-made from the store. It was not good. Way too salty and spicy, a bad idea. Still intrigued, I made a go of making the chorizo myself according to Mandy’s recipe. My oh my oh my. Yes, that’s wonderful. It’s really easy to throw together. I’ve been using store-made buns, but I made ladyandpups Sweet Potato Burger Buns recipe once and they were great. I’ve also made these several times without the manchego cheese, too. Still great.

I usually double the recipe and form the burgers in the morning to serve for dinner in the evening. We were going to our cabin one weekend and I formed the burgers a couple days ahead and froze them, letting them thaw on the 7-hour drive. I had the other parts ready to go in Ziploc bags and little containers. We arrived and had a most delicious hot dinner that night. Memorable!

CHORIZO BURGERS

1 lb. ground pork
2 cloves minced garlic
1-1/2 tsp. Mexican chili powder
1-1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
Dash cayenne
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground pepper
½ tsp. oregano
¼ tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. tequila

An hour, or more, ahead of time, mix all together and form into 4 patties.
Keep refrigerated.

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PAPRIKA MAYO

3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1-1/2 tsp. paprika
Juice of one lime.
Mix all together. Keep refrigerated until serving time.
GARLIC SHRIMP

8 large shrimp, peeled and deveined.
1 garlic clove, minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
Salt and pepper
1 tsp. Olive oil
Dry the shrimp well on a towel.
Mix evenly with remaining ingredients and let sit in refrigerator at 
least 30 minutes.

COOKING AND ASSEMBLY

OLIVE OIL

CHORIZO BURGER PATTIES

FLOUR

MANCHEGO CHEESE, GRATED

GARLIC SHRIMP

BUNS

PAPRIKA MAYO

SLICED TOMATO

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Dust each patty with flour.* Fry the patties at a high heat until a nice brown crust forms on each side. Place a bit of grated cheese on top of each burger, cover, and continue cooking at a lower heat until the meat is thoroughly cooked and the cheese has melted. Remove from skillet.

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Add garlic shrimp to hot skillet and stir-fry until they’re cooked. Should take just a couple minutes.

Prepare hamburger buns by toasting, or not, and smear each bun with paprika mayo. Place a patty on a bun, then a couple shrimp, and sliced tomato.

Chorizo Burger

Always someone doesn’t like something . . . sans shrimp.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOUR MOUTH.

*This is a great thing I learned at ladyandpups.com, the dusting of flour on the patties. It forms a nice crust and keeps the moisture inside. You really have to be careful not to burn your mouth. Let the patties rest a bit.

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Savory Broccoli-Cauliflower Pancakes

October 22, 2017 in Breakfast | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Original recipe found at edibleSanFrancisco. I just love these. I would eat them often if I wasn’t trying to watch my carb intake. So, a couple times a year I splurge.

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1 cup broccoli, chopped fine
1 cup cauliflower, chopped fine
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 cup milk
1 egg
3/4 cup grated cheese
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper

In a bowl, stir together the first 6 ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients into the vegetable mixture and mix until just combined. Dollop onto a medium-hot griddle (I use a 1/3 cup measurer) and cook through. Remember that you are wanting the vegetables to cook, that’s why they are chopped fine, and each batch will take awhile to cook. When the tops seem a little dry or bubbles are forming and bursting on the top, it’s time to flip them over. Too much heat will make them look nice on the outside, but once you cut into them they will be gooey and the veges will still be hard and you do not want that. Remove from griddle and keep warm in 200 degree oven until ready to serve. I make fried eggs and sausage to serve with these beauties.

I have made these using all broccoli, instead of the broccoli-cauliflower mix and that works too, equally delicious! I use a knife to chop the vegetables, but I think you could use a food processor, like making cauliflower rice, and it would be faster.

 

 

GF Mocha Filled Cupcakes

October 19, 2017 in Dessert | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

GF-Mocha-Cupcakes

This is a mishmash of several recipes. I am serving a family member with a wheat allergy, so gluten-free flour has solved that. I make sure to read the flour ingredients so there is no part of wheat in it. It starts with  agirldefloured‘s adaptation of Hershey’s chocolate cake. I’ve made this twice now and they are really rich cupcakes.

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups gluten-free flour (I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 30 cupcake pans with paper liners.

Whisk the dry ingredients together well. Add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Whisk in the hot coffee. The batter will be runny. Evenly distribute into cupcake pans and bake until the centers bounce back when tested with finger, about 20 minutes. Let cool.

The next step is to make the mocha filling. That recipe is from myrecipes.

5 Tbsp. gluten-free flour (I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend)

2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 Tbsp. instant coffee granules

1 cup half-and-half

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

In a small saucepan whisk together the GF flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee and half-and-half. Over medium heat continue whisking for about 5 minutes until it is thick. Remove from heat and pour into a dish. Cover with plastic wrap, push it onto the surface so a skin does not form. Let stand for 30 minutes or until cool. I did not chill this and in retrospect I do not think it would work well if you did chill it. Stick with the directions.

Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add cooled mocha mixture, one tablespoon at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add vanilla and beat mixture until it’s the consistency of whipped cream.

And the final piece is the coffee liqueur ganache found at myrecipes.

12-oz. bittersweet chocolate baking chips

1-1/4 cups whipping cream

1 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. coffee liqueur (Kahlua)

Place chocolate in bowl. Heat whipping cream just to boiling and pour over chocolate. Stir until smooth. Stir in butter and liqueur. Let stand until spreading consistency. It took longer than 45 minutes, keep testing this.

Assembly: Remove centers from the cooled cupcakes. I used a teaspoon to dollop mocha filling into the centers. I let the cupcakes then sit for a few minutes before using a tablespoon to pour the ganache over each cupcake. It firmed up fairly quickly then.

REALLY, REALLY YUMMY!

What kind?