Ricotta Sponge Cake

 

This month Dom and his Random Recipes challenged food bloggers to use a random number generator to pick a random cookbook off the shelf and open it randomly to a page and cook the first recipe seen when the book is opened. The random number generator landed on number 23 for me, which coincidentally was the newest book on my shelf: Stephanie Alexander & Maggie Beer’s Tuscan Cookbook.

I actually had to open the book twice before I even got a recipe to make. The book is filled to the brim with beautiful pictures of food and culture. The first two times I opened the book I was face to face with beautiful pictures, but no recipes to accompany them. On the third flip open, I was presented by the Ricotta Sponge Cake.

Unfortunately, I had to end up throwing my cake away. I’m not blaming the cookbook though, because everything in the cookbook was perfect. The problem lays with my own decision making skills in the kitchen. Rather than just buying a premade sponge cake, I decided to make my own. The problem is, I am notoriously a failure at whipping up egg whites. I don’t know why I fail as bad as I do with this, but I can try to blame it on the fact that right now it’s pretty hot out and the whites just weren’t at the right temperature. Whatever it is, my stupid sponge cake ended up tasting similar to scrambled eggs and that just turned me off horribly, so I scraped the ricotta cream into my mouth and threw the eggy cake away.

Had I just surrendered and bought the sponge cake from the grocery store to begin with, this would have been a wonderful dessert. The cream was cheesy but sweet, silky, creamy, and just utterly delicious. It was especially delicious with the blueberries I had layered on top of the cream. I ruined it though with my stupid scrambled egg failure of a cake.

I need a lesson in beating egg whites.

Ricotta Sponge Cake

Ingredients
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup plain  yogurt
1/2 cup heavy cream
sugar, to taste
sponge cake
blueberries

Directions

1. In a food processor, blend the ricotta until smooth. Add the yogurt and blend until well combined with the ricotta.

2. In a mixer, beat the heavy cream until whipped cream is formed. Add sugar to taste. Fold the whipped cream into the ricotta mixture.

3. Slice a sponge cake in half. Spread the ricotta mixture on the bottom half of the cake. Place blueberries on top. Replace the top half of the cake.

Mediterranean Mac and Cheese

This was a yummy and easy dish – besides that there isn’t much to say! This is my study break from finals studying tonight.

Mediterranean Mac and Cheese
(source)

Ingredients
3/4 cup dry elbow noodle
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2/3 cup feta cheese
1 cup milk
2 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
2 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp black olives
1/2 cup canned fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook to package directions. Drain and set aside.

3. In a heavy pan over medium-high heat, melt  the butter and mix in the flour. Whisk together and cook for 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup of the milk and whisk until smooth. Add 1/2 cup milk and whisk together. Cook for several minutes, whisking continuously, allowing the mixture to thicken.

4. Add the cheddar cheese and 1/2 of the feta.  Stir well, allowing the cheese to melt. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, the remaining milk, fire roasted tomatoes, and olives. Stir together well.

5. Once the sauce is smooth, pour of the noodles and mix together well. Pour into a casserole dish and bake for 15 minutes.

* serves 3
* Shared with Full Plate Thursday, Catch A Glimpse Thursday, The Busy’s Bee’s Blog Hop, & Showcase Your Talent Thursday

Roasted Artichokes

Until recently I hadn’t had artichokes in a very long time. I remember being a little girl fascinated by this strange food. Eating it is a process – a fun process! You get to use your hands. You eat it in a way I don’t think any other food is eaten. As a little girl, artichoke with dinner was a huge thing. But I don’t know what’s happened since then. I can’t even recall the last time I ate an artichoke (before this time of course.)

Artichokes right now are everywhere at the farmer’s market. There are several vendors with just piles and piles of artichokes. Since alphabakes this month is on the letter A (hosted by The More Than Occasional Baker with co-host Caroline Bakes) it seemed perfect to get myself some artichokes!

Making the artichoke is easy. It’s so easy in fact, that I’m not posting a real recipe. But here are some instructions:

- Cut the top of the artichoke off and the bottom of the artichoke’s stem off (about 1/2 inch on the top)
- Drizzle artichoke with olive oil and lemon juice
- Put a smashed garlic clove in the center of the leaves
- Wrap in foil
- Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes at 425

* besides alphabakes, this recipe has been shared with Tasteful Tuesday Party & Tempt My Tummy 

Kuku Paka

 

As part of my Eating Around The World journey, I spun the globe and got Kenya. After googling around the web I found references to this dish, which demonstrates the melding of cultures. Quite literally, kuku paka translates to “chicken cat?” Paka must have another meaning that I can’t find, because this coconut chicken curry hardly has reference to felines. From what I’ve read, the etymology of paka in this context is unclear.

I have a love of curries. I don’t have a huge knowledge of African curries, but if this is what African curries are generally like – it was nice and I like it! Not only was it delicious, it was easy to make.

Now.. The next stop for the Around The World challenge looks like it will be Costa Rica!

Kuku Paka
(source)

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minced
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
salt, to taste
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
6 small red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tomato, diced
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
2 cups coconut milk
cilantro, chopped for garnish

Directions

1. Place the chicken and the ginger, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, and lemon juice in a ziplock bag. Set aside.

2. In a cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil. Fry the onions until golden. Add the chicken mixture and mix, cooking for 10 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and mix in. Then add the potatoes and mix in, cooking for 5 minutes. Add the turmeric and cook for several more minutes.

4. Add the water and cook for 15 minutes.

5. Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes.

6. Garnish with cilantro.

* serves 2
* This recipe is being shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese

 

This month’s Pasta Please theme was chilies and was hosted by Shaheen.

I’m looking at the picture of this dish, and I’m realizing there is way too many breadcrumbs on the dish. Once scooped out of the dish, they obviously got lost in the noodles – but oh my goodness – this picture looks like a breadcrumb dish.

Anyway, after poking around different corners of the internet and looking for something that would work for this challenge, I found a delicious looking mac and cheese. I didn’t venture out as much as I could have with this challenge. I should have bought a red chili to substitute the crushed red chili flakes – but alas, I did not. I like spicy food. I just really hate cutting chilies. Without a doubt, for as careful as I try to be, I touch my eyes or rub my nose or get the chili juices somewhere that just doesn’t feel great – and oh my goodness, it’s hard to get rid of it once you do it. Even when I wear gloves, I somehow manage to just create so much pain for myself. I love the taste, I just hate the process.

Because of this, I rely on red chili flakes to add the heat from a fresh chili (though.. obviously not the same, I know.)

Anyway, this was a yummy mac and cheese. It created a lot of dirty dishes, but was delicious!

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese
(source)

Ingredients
1 cup broccoli florets, cut into pieces
1 yellow squash, diced
1 orange bellow pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cups elbow pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried chili flakes
2 tbsp bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Set a medium pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil covering it. Toss the broccoli, squash, bell pepper, and carrots on a baking sheet. Coat with half the olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet. Once hot, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring until the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat. Stir in cheddar, allowing to melt. Add the red chili flakes and cayenne. Add the macaroni and vegetables.

4. Place the mixture in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place under the broiler for 4 minutes.

* serves 6
* Besides Pasta Please, this recipe is being shared with See Ya In The Gumbo

Sweet and Salty Popcorn Cookies

 

This month for Pantry Party our theme is cookies. I’d love to see more people enter recipes, by the way. This month, I opened my cabinet and grabbed out the first thing I saw and decided I’d make cookies with the first thing I grabbed. The first thing I grabbed was a bag of unpopped popcorn kernels. We don’t have a microwave, so a bag of kernels is the easiest way for us to get popcorn. Pour it in a pan, put it over heat, let it do it’s thing. But put a lid on the pan . . . or else there will be popcorn popped all over the kitchen.

Anyway – I pulled out the popcorn and began searching for the perfect popcorn cookie recipe. I guess I could have just been creative and made a chocolate chip cookie and threw popcorn in it, but I decided to copy Katrina’s recipe instead.

These cookies were super easy and really fun. I mean, popcorn in cookies. Can you really say no to it?

Sweet and Salty Popcorn Cookies
(source)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 cups popped popcorn, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugars. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat together with the butter and sugar.

3. In a large bowl sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Beat into the wet mixture until combined.

4. Using a wooden spoon fold the popcorn into the dough.

5. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spoon teaspoons of the dough on the sheet, an inch apart.

6. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool before eating.

* makes about a dozen cookies
* Besides Pantry Party, this recipe is shared with Weekend Cooking

 

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops over Roasted Cabbage

 

The idea of slicing cabbage into chunks, smearing olive oil on top of it, and sticking it in the oven seemed rather foreign to me. There just seemed something wrong about it, something that should never be done or something. But I pushed my judgments aside because Martha Stewart usually knows what she’s talking about when it comes to food. If it’s okay with Martha, it’s worth trying.

Even though these two recipes had different cooking times and temperatures, I stuck the cabbage in the oven at the same time I was doing the pork chops. Parts of it came out a little charred, but it was easier than putting the cabbage in for 40 minutes at 400 and then putting the pork in for 30 more minutes at 425.

Most of dinner’s cook time last night involved watching Project Runway, because I had to wait for it to cook.

It was a delicious meal and I’ll definitely do cabbage this way again.

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops
(source)

Ingredients
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 pork chops, boneless

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a shallow dish combine the flour, salt, paprika, and pepper. In another shallow dish combine the egg and Worcestershire sauce. In a final shallow dish combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan.

2. Coat each pork chop with the flour. Then dip in the egg. Finally coat with the bread crumbs. Place in a baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve on top of cabbage (recipe follows.)

* serves 2

 

Roasted Cabbage
(source)

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 head of cabbage, cut into 1-inch thick rounds
salt and pepper, to taste
ground thyme, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tbsp olive oil. Place the cabbage rounds on the baking sheet.

2. Brush the cabbage with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme. Bake for 35 minutes.

* serves 6

* This recipe is shared with Weekend Cooking

Spaghetti with Ragu

After skimming through December 2010′s Food Network Magazine for the one millionth time, I decided to make ragu. What a quick and easy recipe. I especially like that ragu uses vegetables to add bulk without relying entirely on meat. The celery and carrots in this sauce added some flavor of their own, but for the most part they supplemented the meat.

Served with garlic bread, this made a great dinner.

Spaghetti with Ragu
(from Food Network Magazine December 2010 edition)

Ingredients
1/4 onion
1 stalk celery, cut into pieces
1 carrot, cut into pieces
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb ground turkey
15-oz crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup skim milk
6 oz spaghetti noodles

Directions

1. Place the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and rosemary into a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.

2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped vegetables and cook, stirring until softened and golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the turkey and season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until the turkey is no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, milk, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and bring to a simmer for about 20 minutes, until slightly thickened.

3. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti noodles to package directions. Drain.

4. Once the sauce and noodles are cooked, toss the noodles and sauce together until well combined.

* serves 2
* Shared with Tasteful Tuesday Party & Tempt My Tummy

Chocolate Banana Honey Muffins

I seem to associate We Should Cocoa with muffins or something. Last month I made Nigella’s chocolate muffins. This month the theme for this chocolate challenge is honey. The challenge was to make a chocolate recipe using honey somehow.

These muffins are yummy. They are very banana-centric. I like having the honey be the sugar substitute. When I ate the muffin I could hardly tell there was no sugar added to them (well.. except for the sugar in my chocolate chips at least.)

Now my only question is will I make a muffin for We Should Cocoa again next month?

Chocolate Banana Honey Muffins
(source)

Ingredients
3 bananas, mashed
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp skim milk
1 egg
1 egg white
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325. In a large bowl mix together the banana, honey, yogurt, and vanilla. Once well mixed add in the milk, egg, and egg white and mix well.

2. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Place cupcake liners into a cupcake tin. Scoop the batter evenly into the cupcake tins. Bake for 20 minutes.

* makes 12 muffins
* besides We Should Cocoa, this recipe is shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday

Yakisoba

 

This month Chris asked us bloggers to join him on a trip to Japan. I sometimes wish Chris’s travels with us were real. My brother’s been to Japan three times. I’m sure if he ate my dinner he would have turned his nose up and claimed it not to be Japanese enough. I’m not claiming it’s super authentic either. I had to make several substitutions that probably minimized it’s Japanese value because I couldn’t justify buying sake (rice wine) or mirin (a sweeter rice wine) for cooking this dish. I had some sake and had to toss it because it was way too old. I just can’t justify buying ingredients I don’t use frequently. So I used white wine instead.

I probably should have just taken a picture of the Japanese curry and the tonksatsu that we had for lunch at the Japanese restaurant.

Yakisoba
(the more authentic recipe)

Ingredients
6 oz dried chow mein noodles
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 oz pork chop, cut into small chunks
2 oz cabbage, shredded
2 oz carrot, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp white wine
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Cook the noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet or wok and add the oil. Add the garlic and stir, cooking until brown. Add the pork and stir a few times.  Next add the cabbage, carrots, and onions. Stir a few more times. Add the noodles and the remaining ingredients. Stir fry until the vegetables are cooked and the noodles are warmed through.

* serves 2
* Besides Bloggers Around The World, I’m sharing this dish with Foodie Friends Friday, Foodie Friday, Weekend Potluck, & Foodie Friday