Strawberry Strawberry Cupcakes

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Raise your hand if you've ever planned a trip around a cupcake shop visit?  Silos Bakery? Check.  Georgetown Cupcake? Check.  Magnolia? Sprinkles?  Check, Check.  I like cupcakes.  I've searched for lots of copy-cat recipes to all those famous shops and none have met my expectations (too lightweight, too dry, too heavy...just not right).  So I went with a default trick of doctoring up a cake mix for my cupcakes.  The real star of this show is the strawberry flavor--and it comes from freeze-dried strawberries.  Since I'm home like everyone else in the world trying to avoid the coronavirus, I went wandering through my food storage and brought up the can of freeze dried berries.   They are PERFECT for cupcakes.  You get tons of strawberry flavor and you don't need any artificial flavoring!  You can buy them in smaller packages at Trader Joes--maybe even regular grocery stores.

Cupcakes
1 Duncan Hines white cake mix
1 C. milk
3 large egg whites
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1/4 C. crushed/powdered freeze dried strawberries (not fresh berries)
1/2 C sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and get 24 cupcake liners ready.  Pulverize  about 1 cup of the freeze dried strawberries in a zipper bag  with a rolling pin (you'll get enough for cake and frosting).  Mix up the batter by following the directions on the box, but sub out the water with whole milk.  Add the sour cream and the strawberry powder.  Mix just enough to get it all mixed together with no streaks of white remaining.  Divide the batter into 24 cupcakes (I think I got 22).  The box said to bake for 18-22 minutes BUT I went with 16 and it was just right.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 C butter, room temp
1/2 C cream cheese, room temp (4 oz, which is half a brick)
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp coconut extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 Tbs freeze dried strawberry powder
3 C. Powdered sugar
1-2 Tbs milk

Use paddle attachment on the stand mixer and cream the butter and cream cheese together.  Add the extracts and strawberry powder.  Alternate adding the powdered sugar and milk (on low) and mix on low until all combined.  Switch to the whisk attachment and whip on medium-high for 3-4 minutes to get all fluffy and light pink.

When cupcakes are completely cool, pipe frosting onto your cupcakes (I found that I actually preferred the ratio of frosting when I used the smaller tip than my jumbo star tip).  You can freeze these completely frosted if you want (I tested that out for you...an entire cupcake, with its pretty frosting will defrost in about 15 minutes and taste delicious). 


Freeze dried strawberries are the trick.  You can't use fresh strawberries because everything will be too wet and diluted.  The freeze drying concentrates the flavor.  Game changer!  

Chile Colorado

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I went on the hunt for a recipe similar to one my dad used to make when we were kids.  He always called it Chile Colorado.  It was a red sauce over beef that we ate with flour tortillas, but it wasn't hot-spicy, just delicious.

This recipe hits my memories right.  I tweaked it since I don't have a  gluten-free need and I have an Instant Pot pressure cooker.


Modified recipe:


3 cups water
9 dried large red New Mexico chili peppers (stems removed)
2 lbs cubed beef stew meat
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1/2 medium white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cans chicken broth (about 3 cups)
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano


Tear the dried peppers into large pieces and try to dump out as many seeds as you can. Bring the water to a boil, turn off and then add the chili pods to soften for 20 minutes. While the chiles are soaking, heat 1 tbsp of  the oil in the Instant Pot on saute mode and cook the onions until soft and add the garlic for just the last minute. Scrape the onion/garlic into the jar of the blender.  

Toss the meat with the flour and salt and pepper.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in the Instant Pot and brown the meat for about 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat while you go finish the sauce in the blender.

Drain the softened chiles (throw away the water, it will be bitter) and add the softened chiles, chicken broth, chili powder, cumin and oregano to the blender jar.  Blend until smooth and carefully pour through a mesh strainer into the Instant Pot bowl over the browned meat.   Set the timer for 25 minutes on high pressure.  Once the timer goes off, do a quick release to open up and eat!  I like to take a warmed flour tortilla and fill with the meat, roll it up and smother in sauce and top with cheese.  Place under the broiler until the cheese is melty and serve with toppings like sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce and sides such as rice or beans.

This sauce is some work, but it sure is tasty. Its great for making smothered burritos, enchiladas, or just eating out of a bowl with a side of warm tortillas.  You can just make the sauce without the meat and use it as enchilada sauce.  If you want to spice it up, try it with a different variety of dried chiles or add some jalapeño!

Deviled Baked Pork Chops

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I was watching America's Test Kitchen and realized I had all the ingredients I needed for this meal already in my house.  It was easy, didn't use many dishes and I added roasted potatoes and green beans as a sheet pan meal.  Perfect!

I used the recipe from the TV show, but here's a site that had it posted.
3 Tbs. butter 3/4 c. Panko bread crumbs 1/4 c. Dijon mustard 2 tsp packed brown sugar 1/2 tsp dry mustard 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 4 3/4 to 1-inch thick pork chops Directions: Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Spray a baking rack or parchment lined rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray Melt butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add panko and stir crumbs are golden. Set aside. In a small bowl, stir together dijon mustard, brown sugar, dry mustard, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Dry meat surface with paper towels. Brush tops and sides with mustard mixture. Sprinkle just the tops with panko crumbs. Place on baking rack and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until temperature reaches 140 degrees. For great sides, add some baby red/white/yukon potatoes and fresh green beans (I steam them in the microwave first, the coat with olive oil, salt and pepper and add for the last 20-25 minutes of baking).

Peruvian Pan Roasted Chicken

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There's a restaurant in St. George, Utah called Viva Chicken that I really like.  Since its a 4 1/2 hour drive, I don't get there as often as I would like.  I looked around for some recipes that might be similar and I've done 3 different dishes.

This is a super easy version of the chicken. I like to buy the frozen, boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Costco (I love chicken breast too, but the thighs bake up so nice and moist).

I used this recipe for the marinade, but I just dumped it in a zipper bag with the chicken thighs for about an hour.  I pounded the thighs a bit before marinating so that they were an even thickness.

To make a complete meal, I started with a glass baking dish and microwaved some baby red potatoes and fresh green beans (add 1/4 water and cover with plastic wrap) until they were tender, about 5-6 minutes.  Empty and left over water, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and put in a 400 degree oven.  If there's enough space in the vegetable pan, add the chicken--but if not, put the chicken in another parchment lined pan next to the vegetables and bake for about 15 minutes until cooked to 160 degree internal temp.


Another recipe I've tried from Viva Chicken is the stuffed avocado.  The fastest version is to buy the quinoa salad at Costco, balsamic glaze from Trader Joes and Sriacha mayo from the condiment aisle.  Pick a ripe avocado and cut it in half.  Spoon some quinoa salad into the hole, drizzle with balsamic and mayo.  If you want to add some chicken from the recipe above, it makes for a great lunch.

The last recipe I made was their chopped salad.  At the restaurant, they use the chicken, but I made it with leftover roast and it was delicious. Make a bed of lettuce (whatever kind you like) and top with avocado slices, corn (cut fresh off the cob is yummy, but thawed, frozen is fine), mango, crispy bacon, cilantro,  red cabbage, crunchy fried chickpeas (find them in the bulk bin at Winco) and use a cilantro ranch dressing (Costco sells one in the refrigerator section). 

Tomatillo Sauce and Weeknight Chicken Enchiladas

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Last Saturday was a gloomy day and I was cozy on the sofa watching PBS and came across Pati's Mexican Kitchen. I'd never seen it before, but everything sure looked great.  In particular was a green tomatillo sauce that she used on some tacos and as a side for dipping chips.

I love green sauce when I head out to Mexican restaurants--so I thought I'd try this one.  I made it on a Tuesday after work--it was super fast and easy to do on a work night.  I served it with tacos that night and the next night made up some chicken enchiladas!

Pati Jinich's Green Sauce

2 lbs tomatillos

1/4 c. white onion, rough chop

2 cloves garlic

1 Serrano (or jalapeño) pepper

1/2 bunch cilantro with stems

1 T. vegetable oil

salt to taste

Peel the husk off the tomatillos, rinse and  and place in a pot with the whole garlic and whole pepper.  Cover with water and bring to boil, cook about 8-10 minutes until tomatillos are soft. In your blender, blend about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, the tomatillos, garlic and pepper (if you think it will be too spicy, use just half the pepper).   Pulse until thick but not super smooth.  Add the onions and cilantro and puree again until its pretty smooth. 
 
Empty the cooking pot of any leftover cooking water  and heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and pour in the puree.  Simmer for about 20 minutes. If it seems a bit tart, try adding 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sugar.

I loved it so much, that the next day I made a triple batch of sauce and froze it to use in future recipes. I have a Latino grocery store near my house--and the ingredients there are usually super inexpensive (like I spent a total of about $4 for the triple batch ingredients).  If you've got a market like that, check it out!


My Weeknight Chicken Enchiladas

1 1/2 cups green tomatillo sauce
6 corn or flour tortillas
1 pound cooked chicken, chopped (I used Costco rotisserie chicken)
1 can green chiles
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic, chopped
1 pound jack cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saute pan,  heat the oil over medium and then saute the onion until translucent (about 5 minutes).  Add the cumin and the garlic and cook another 30 seconds.

In a mixing bowl, dump the chopped chicken, chiles, onion mix and about 1 cup of the shredded cheese and 1/2 cup of green sauce; stir to combine.

In an 8x8 baking dish, pour about 1/4 cup of the green sauce and spread over the bottom. Soften the tortillas (corn, a quick fry in oil or spray with oil and bake for a few minutes.  Flour, heat in the microwave for 15 seconds).  Fill each tortilla with the chicken mix.  Roll up and place seam side down into the dish.  Repeat.  Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.



Bake for about 30 minutes until bubbly (I sped things along by microwaving for about 3 minutes first, then adding the cheese on the top and finishing in the oven for 15 minutes).

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, cilantro, chopped lettuce or tomatoes. 

Homemade Yogurt and Granola

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I've jumped on the homemade yogurt bandwagon!  I like yogurt and I've been willing to pay for the "expensive" Greek yogurt because I like the texture better.  I don't like the chalky or too-tart flavors of some of the national brands.  I also am trying to eat more cleanly--less processed stuff, more real stuff. It should come as no surprise that homemade is way better than store bought--that's true of pretty much any food.  I just didn't realize that it was this easy to do. 

Here's what you need.

Whole milk
Fage plain 2% yogurt for starter
Good kitchen thermometer
Instant Pot with Yogurt feature (or a Dash yogurt maker from Amazon)


You need the Instant Pot with the Yogurt function.  I add 8 cups of milk into the pot and press the button-it usually takes about 20 minutes before it beeps and should be around 180 degrees.   You heat the milk to mess with the protein structure in the milk, apparently to help yogurt be thick--not to kill off bacteria, pasteurization already did that.  I set up a paper towel next to the Pot with my wire whisk and thermometer and pull off any milk skin that forms and stir the milk before taking the temperature. 

Next you have to let the milk cool back down to between 105-110 degrees before you add your starter yogurt--otherwise its too hot and the bacteria in the starter yogurt will die.  Because I am impatient (or usually trying to get the whole process done before I go to bed) I fill my sink with some cold tap water and set the bowl of hot milk into the  until my thermometer reads 109-110 degrees (about 7 minutes).  If you are more patient, you can just let it sit on the counter until its the right temperature.  But don't get distracted by binging on Netflix.  If you let it drop below about 107, the starter won't start and you will end up with yogurt flavored milk instead of delicious, thick and creamy yogurt.


Now that its cooled down, you can add the starter yogurt--seems silly that you need yogurt to make yogurt--but you do.  Two or three tablespoons of plain yogurt for 8 cups of milk is enough!  Really--more doesn't help.  Stir it up and put your mixture into the Instant pot container.  Follow the directions on the pot (I hit the Yogurt button, adjust the time to 6-8 hours and put the lid on).  The machine incubates at about 100 degrees the whole time--perfect for yogurt bacteria to do their job of eating the lactose in the milk.  The longer you incubate the more tangy your yogurt will be.  I like about a 7 hour incubation--which is not tangy at all.

Make sure that your sealing ring for your pot doesn't smell like onions or cumin or something non-yogurty.  If it does, your yogurt will taste like onion.  Since the Instant Pot doesn't do the pressure mode for yogurt, you could potentially just remove the seal and put the lid on. You could also order a new sealing ring from Amazon and keep it just for yogurt making.





I take my finished, warm yogurt out of the machine when the time is up and carefully dump the contents into a strainer.  For straining,  I line my pasta drainer with a large coffee filter.  This lets the whey drain out--which leaves a concentrated, creamy and thick Greek-style yogurt.  If you want, after straining you can add vanilla or some sweetener.  I've tried adding sweetener before incubating and it just didn't work as well.

Even before straining, the yogurt is thick.

I get giant size coffee filters at a restaurant supply store

Top your tasty yogurt with fruit or honey or granola or all of those!

Just wait, you'll find yourself making yogurt every weekend.   If I start with 8 cups of milk, after I strain my yogurt I usually end up with about 5 cups of yogurt.  At my grocery, milk is about $2 a gallon and Fage is $1 per carton.  I can actually use the same container of Fage for two weekends, so for $3 I can get two batches of yogurt.


Possible errors.  Did your yogurt not set?  Did you use a starter yogurt that says contains live active cultures (not just "contains cultures")--or did the starter yogurt  have additives like gelatin?  Was the starter yogurt close to expiring?  Did you heat the milk past 185? Did you let the milk drop below 105?  Did you turn the machine on  :)  Is your thermometer accurate?  I have a really nice instant-read digital--temperature is the key point in this recipe, so make sure you have a good thermometer.


Homemade Granola

Why did I think this was hard?  I've never made it before, and its something that is really simple.
 
2 cups oats
1/2 c. sliced almonds
 2/3 c. shredded coconut
1/4 c. coconut oil
1/4 c. honey
1 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup dried fruit of choice (craisen, apricot, mango)
1 Tbp. chia seed (optional)

Alternate:  Nutella (or any nut butter ) Granola
Increase to 2 3/4 C oats add 1/3 C. Nutella to the oil/honey mix.  Leave out the cinnamon and dried fruit. 

Preheat oven to 250 and line big rimmed cookie sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl add oatmeal, shredded coconut and almonds.  In a small microwave-safe bowl combine the oil, honey and microwave 30 seconds or until melted.  Add cinnamon and vanilla to melted mixture, stir well then dump into the oat mix.  Stir up really well and then spread onto the parchment.  Bake for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Remove from oven and cool completely.  Sprinkle on the dried fruit (don't bake the fruit, it will get way too dried out).  Store in a container with a lid.

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

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Fall.  So beautiful--its been really lovely this fall, with lots of sunshine to go with the brilliant colored leaves. Today I enjoyed a day out at a pumpkin patch and then home for raking leaves.  To top off this day, I decided to make a hearty fall casserole.  This one takes some pre-planning, but the results are really worth it.

Time:  2 hours

Ingredients

1 pound butternut squashed, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
2-3 Tbs. olive oil
1 12 oz package frozen spinach
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 C. cottage cheese (full fat)
1 egg
1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 pound mozzerella, grated
1 box quick-cook lasagna noodles


Getting started--there are several components that you have to prep first.  I put the instructions in order so that everything is ready to go.


I soaked the noodles for about 30 minutes--since there isn't a wet tomato sauce in this casserole, I wasn't sure that there would be enough moisture to cook while baking, so I soaked them until tender in a pan. 

Preheat the oven to 350.  Toss the butternut squash and 1/2 of an onion with olive oil and spread into a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet (I wished I had chopped the onions smaller or maybe used my Blendtec instead of the food processor).  Bake for about 40 minutes until squash is tender.  Remove from oven and puree in food processor with about 1/2 cup of water. Add salt and pepper to taste.  (don't turn the oven off since you are going to put the finished casserole back in the oven after you assemble).



Now that the squash is cooking, work on the spinach.  Pre heat a saucepan and add the olive oil, spinach and about 1/4 of the onion.  Cook for about 6-7 minutes until spinach and onions are tender.  Add the chopped garlic and saute for another 30 seconds before removing from the heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

In a bowl,  mix the cottage cheese, egg, basil, parsley and pepper and mix thoroughly.  Do not add salt since the cheese is already salty.

Now you are ready to assemble!  I used a small disposable pan, which wasn't quite big enough--next time I'd use a deep casserole dish (deeper than a standard 9x12 pan).  Spread some squash mix on the bottom of the pan.  Lay down noodles to make a single layer.  I kept my layers of filling fairly thin--because the texture and chewiness of the noodle is a good contrast of the soft fillings-so I have about 2x the amount of noodle than I would in a regular lasagna.  Spread more squash, then cheese mixture, then spinach and then mozzarella.  Then lay down more noodles and repeat until your pan is full.  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until all bubbly.



This was really tasty.  I'm pretty excited about leftovers for lunch this week!

Comfort Food: Cacio e Pepe

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Once upon a time I celebrated a milestone birthday by traveling to France and Italy.  I pretty much ate my way through every town I visited.  When I reached Rome, I enjoyed a lunch break on a very rainy day at a tiny restaurant.  I ordered a very basic dish, Cacio e Pepe, which is a more mature version of mac and cheese--but easy and super tasty.

This is easy to whip up in about 15 minutes and you can make it for one or for a family just as easily.  Chances are you probably have all these ingredients in your house all the time.

Ingredients (serving for 1)
4 oz long pasta noodles
2 Tbs butter
1-1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded (don't use the green can stuff)


Get your water boiling and add about 2 tsp of salt and toss in your pasta.  When its cooked to your liking, slide the pot off to the side and put a skillet on the hot burner.  Melt the butter and add the pepper.  Stir and then use tongs to add the cooked noodles.  Stir around and add about 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water.  Remove the skillet from the heat and toss in about 1/4 cup of Parmesan and stir until creamy (if you add the cheese on the heat, it will get clumpy instead). 



You are ready to eat!  Buon appetito!