French Onion Soup

I had a request from a friend to post this recipe so here it is.
*sorry there are no photos, Its just so hard to get pictures taken when your camera is broken*

Ingredients:
3 medium sized onions
8 cups beef broth
1/4 cup butter
crusty french bread
Gouda Cheese

Directions:
Thinly slice the onions. I like to cut mine in half first then thinly slice each half. Melt butter in pot. Place all onions in the pot and allow to cook until translucent. This typically takes 8- 10 minutes on medium heat. Stir frequently. Once onions are translucent pour 8 cups of beef broth (I make my own as often as I can but when I run out I just use store bought low sodium beef broth.) Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. While soup simmers thinly slice crusty french bread and toast in the oven. I like to toast mine by coating both the front and back with coconut oil and laying on a baking sheet in a 350* oven for 5-10 minutes per side. Once the soup has simmered for at least 30 minutes and the bread is toasted fill *oven safe* bowls with soup, place a piece of toasted bread on top and cover with slices of gouda cheese. Broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and brown around the edges. remove and serve.

Now I don't happen to have oven safe bowls so I have skipped the last step and just placed the cheese over the hot bread and soup with lovely results but for authentic soup you need to broil the cheese so it melts over the entire bowl of soup.

Enjoy.

Roasted Root Veggie Soup

In honor of fall I am sharing my favorite fall soup. There are so many lovely roots available this time of the year. I love to make soups and stews out of them.

Ingredients:
Butternut squash
Carrots
Potatoes
Rutabegas
Parsnips
Onion
Celery
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
veggie or chicken broth
sprig of rosemary


Directions:
Peel the squash and the rutabegas. Dice all roots place in large baking dish season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Be sure to toss the veggies around to coat in the olive oil. The amount of oil I use depends on the amount of veggies, you only need enough to coat the veggies. Bake in the oven for 20 -35 minutes at 400*. If there is any oil in the bottom of the roasting pan after the veggies are done I pour this flavored oil into my dutch oven, dice up the onion and celery, then saute it until they are soft and translucent. Pour the roasted veggies into the pot with enough broth to cover 1 inch over the veggies, place rosemary on top. Simmer for 45 minutes to allow flavors to come together. Serve with crusty bread and enjoy.

*I will update with pictures tonight since this is today's meal*

Herman Bread

Well I promised a couple of weeks ago to come back and post about some of the things that I can make with Herman. Then my whole family got sick. When you live in a house with 4 kids and two adults this always takes a bit of time to over come. I am on the tail end of it, for a second time. Thankfully this second time was not nearly as bad as the first time I got it.

I have made several things with my Herman Starter and even shared starter with my neighbor. I can not tell you which my favorite thing to make thus far is but I do know that we all enjoy the bread. The bread can be made into cinnamon rolls or lovely free formed french bread. As the starter ages it gets more sour and not so sweet. Right now my starter is still on the sweeter side but it is turning out lovely rich tasting bread.

The recipe for the bread is simple (as far as bread from scratch goes) I don't have any pictures *yet* I hope to come and update with pictures later today since I have to bake more bread today.

Ingredients:
1 envelope (or 2 1/4 tsp) yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup Herman starter
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
aprox 6 cups flour divided
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:
in large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. Add starter, salt, sugar, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Mix well until there are no lumps. I use a wire whisk for this but you could use an electric mixer if you wanted to. cover with a towel and let rise in a warm draft free place about 1 1/2 hours until the mixture has risen and is bubbly. Combine 2 1/2 cups flour with baking soda and add to the mixture. With your hands add enough flour to make a stiff dough 1/4 cup at a time. Place on a floured surface and kneed 5-7 minutes. Divide dough in 1/2 shape dough. Allow dough to rise another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled in size. Bake in a 400* oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

I have also made lovely muffins with the Herman Starter, as well as pancakes. I have a recipe for cookies but have not attempted those just yet. I am thinking of making some Herman Doughnuts as well...

Tell me have you started your Herman yet? No? Want to? If so check out the link Here to see how to start. Then come back and tell me all about it in the comments section.

Beef Stew

The weather is cooling down a lot and I promised a month or so ago to post pictures my friend took of my Beef Stew. Honestly this had completely slipped my mind until last night! SO without further ado...

Beef Stew~
2 lbs beef, cubed
6 large carrots
4 large potatoes
4 celery stalks
1 large onion
2 cloves whole garlic
1/4 cup flour
All spices are divided
1 tbsp cummin
1 tbsp smokey paprika
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1tbsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2-4 Tbsp olive oil
12 cups water
1 sprig fresh rosemary
*1 tbsp corn starch if needed*

Now that is the basic ingredients list. What makes my beef stew so special? The way I cook it!

we cook in layers for this stew. Its the only way to make it taste wonderful.

I start with my onion, chopping it into about 1/2 squares. While you are chopping heat 2 tbsp of oil in the bottom of the stock pot or dutch oven, when onions are chopped add them to the pot and stir them around. Allow them to cook while you chop the Carrots. The onions should be slightly carmalized in color and soft, add the chopped carrots (they should be no bigger then 1/2" as well) Saute these and allow them to cook until they have softened and started to carmalize. While those are cooking chop the celery and add it to the pot. Next the potatoes go in. I always cut my potatoes in half then into cubes except one half of one potato that is chopped into small pieces. I want this one potato to break down a lot during cooking and help thicken the stew naturally. Once all the veggies have been added I allow this to cook for about 10 minutes then I remove all of the veggies from the pot.

They look like this (O my a picture!)

In the pot

Once it has cooked and removed from pot

Next put half of all the spices in a bowl with the flour, mix well. Trim your meat so that there is very little fat on it and place it in the bowl of flour. Stir to coat all of the meat. Heat the 2 tbsp of oil in the same pot you used to cook the veggies. Be sure not to over crowd your meat. Cook it in batches if you must but do not try putting it all in the pot at once. Brown the meat, taking it out of the pot as it browns and adding a little more oil if need be. Once all the meat is browned add the remaining meat back to the pot and start deglazing your pan. I most often use water because that is what I have on hand however you can substitute burgundy or white wine for some of the water in this step to make a richer flavored stew.

Here is what that should look like:

During this step you need to add any remaining flour that was left after you browned your meat cooking it slightly and making a rue while you deglaze the pan. I typically use 2 cups of water, or wine to deglaze. (BTW Deglazing is just a fancy word for saying removing the bits from the bottom of the pan.)

Next add all of the veggies, the remaining seasonings that you did not use in the flour, the water and that sprig of rosemary to the pot. Cover and let simmer on low for at least 2 hours. This brings your flavors together and thickens your stew.

After an hour if you happen to have fresh green beans like I did you can add them at this point.
Here is what the stew looks like :

After one hour

With Green Beans added

After two hours your stew will look like this:

If the stew is not as thick as you would like it at this point you can take 1/4 cup warm water and add the 1 tbsp of corn starch to it and whisk  it until it is dissolved. Add that to the stew and bring stew to a boil for 1 minute. This will thicken the stew even more and you will have a nice lovely Stew.

A few substitutions can be made. For example if you don't like green beans but love peas you can add those instead. If they are fresh I would add them 30 minutes before you want to serve the stew. Frozen should only be added after the stew is at its desired thickness and no more then 5 or 10 minutes before you want to serve it. You can completely omit the green veggies if you do not like either, or have either on hand.

I hope that you all enjoy this post and this recipe it is one of our fall favorites. I also make a beef stew with a tomato base. 

Hawaiian Sweet Potato Salad

This potato salad is done without a mayo dressing, but instead uses a cilantro lime dressing. This picture shows the salad done with the Orange fleshed Sweet potato because we could not find any Yellow fleshed sweet potato's. The biggest problem with this is that the Orange flesh is sweeter. It changes the flavor slightly. The other issue is that the Orange fleshed sweet potato is softer.

Here is a picture that shoes the difference.

Yellow Fleshed Sweet Potato      Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato

I don't have step by step photos because my husband prefers to not be photographed when hes cooking.

Dressing~
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic minced

whisk together the mustard, lime juice cilantro and garlic. Slowly streem in oil whisking constantly. stir in salt and pepper. let sit while you finish the salad.

Now you can choose to cook your sweet potatoes any way you choose but we prefer them to be oven roasted. For this you will place your sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet (this is strongly suggested unless you enjoy cleaning your oven) and roast them in a 425* oven for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes. We usually do 4 small to medium potatoes.

Once the potatoes are cooled peel the skin off and chop them into medium sized chunks.

Salad~
3-4 medium sized sweet potatoes (of the yellow fleshed variety if you can find them)
1 cucumber
1/2 red onion
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Peel the cucumber and slice it lengthwise, remove the seeds and thinly slice. Thinly slice the onion (we have used a variety of onions our favorite is actually the vidallia onions), chop macadamia nuts and lightly toss all ingredients with the dressing. Refrigerate and enjoy chilled.

I love this at a summer picnic because you dont have to worry about it getting warm.

The Weekend

For the weekend of the 4th of July my Sister from another mother came to visit. She is not my blood but a sister none the less. Her mother passed away just a month ago and We really needed to hug one another. So she came, and we talked all night, laughed and cried, and drank wine.

Me on the left, her on the right. 

We got together with my neighbors and had this wonderful bbq outside. It rained but we enjoyed how it cooled the air off. We were under the giant tent anyways so neither us or the food got wet. (much)

There I am way at the end of the table.

We were enjoying the dessert. Some of us had the cake I made and others had strawberry short cake with biscuits (is this a southern thing or do people everywhere except California eat strawberry short cake with biscuits?) My cake was delightful, and healthy, well as healthy as a cake can be!

4th of July Cake

And just to top off the day I will share my recipe with you all.
~Cake~
(I found the recipe in an old betty crocker cook book and modified it)
1 cup sugar

3/4 cup honey

2/3 cup butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup vanilla flax milk

bake in 2 bundt cake pans (one smaller then the other) for 35 minutes at 350*
Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs together. alternately add dry mix to wet with milk. Do not over mix. Grease and flour bundt cake pans and divide batter into each.

~Frosting~
2 packages low fat cream cheese

1 8oz jar of marshmallow cream

Soften cream cheese and blend until smooth then stir in the marshmallow cream and stir again until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use. I also will use this to just dip fresh strawberries in. It is sweet and creamy. I got this recipe from my wonderful Mother in law, we used to use it to eat our strawberries with in the summer when I lived down the street, except she used one package of cream cheese to one 8oz jar. I like the extra cream cheese.

Strawberries and Blueberries top off the cake. I sliced my strawberries and added the blueberries at the end. I only added 1 tsp of sugar for the whole bowl because I did not want to much "juice" in the bowel, just enough to coat the berries.

I also made pasta salad, and my husband made Hawaiian Sweet Potato Salad, and we made bbq chicken.

Birthday's Are Important Around Here!

Today is the Spitfire's Birthday!

This is Spitfire & her Dear friend in California Sari 

The Spitfire was born a month late! She was so tiny because she lost weight in utero. It is rare but can happen and its a good thing I finally got her evicted when I did. At Birth she weighted in at a whopping 5lbs 12 oz.

She still isn't much bigger then a half a minute but what she lacks in size she makes up for in personality!

She is a chatterbox. She is not afraid of anything! I mean anything! she had a tooth pulled yesterday and barely flinched. She loves trees and climbs them often. She loves to wear dresses and doesn't understand why she shouldn't wear them to play outside in. She is crazy and funny and has the funniest sense of humor. She has an adorable smile and the prettiest blue/green eyes.

I often feel like she got the short straw when it came to birth order. She is 6 years younger then her big brother and only 14 months older then her baby brother. I was pretty worn out with a new baby and she just didn't get enough of me as a toddler. We all do the best we can and I can't change what was but sure work towards making it different now.

For her birthday she special requested The German Chocolate Beet Cake find it here, for her birthday cake. So bright and early this morning she put on her new apron, and helped me bake the cake. I need to make the frosting still, you can find that recipe here. I have her favorite meal cooking already, Taco's with the meat cooked all day in the crock pot.

When her dad comes home we will celebrate the day of her birth. She was born at a bright early hour in the morning so she is already 8 years and hours old. :)

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Spitfire. I am blessed to be your momma and I love you.

Spaghetti Squash

Some of you may have seen one of these little beauties sitting in the bin with all the other squashes in the grocery store and had no idea what it was or how to even attempt to cook it. I know this is true because when I was at the grocery store I was checking out a lady walked right on up to me and said "excuse me, is that a butternut squash?" to which I politely told her "No ma'am, it is a Spaghetti Squash!" of course then the question was riddled with disbelief and doubt but "and how do you cook that?!!"

This is a stock photo of a spaghetti squash.

They are super simple to cook and make a very filling meal. I use them when we want something filling and yet healthy. I make my own marinara sauce. That will have to be another post for another day. :)

To start you cut the top where the stem grew out of off and then just a little bit of the bottom too so that it is easier to cut through. Then slice it down the middle. There are seeds in the center, so scrape these out. Now once this is done drizzle a little olive oil salt and pepper inside the cavity. Roast in a 425* oven for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of your squash.

They come out looking like this..

.
 Slightly brown and smelling wonderful. The next step is to take a fork and scrape at the inside until you have this:

Then top it with your own marinara sauce. I never include meat in my marinara sauce, I personally think it distracts from the flavor. Some people really like the flavor and if you are one of them by all means go right ahead!

I then top it with a little cheese. I personally like this one for this dish:

The squash looks like this just before I put it back under the broiler to melt and slightly toast the cheese.

I forgot to take a finished picture after it came back out of the broiler. It smelled so good and everyone was so hungry that we sat right down and ate.

I serve this with a little french bread and a salad but its really not needed since the squash is the veggies and covered with marinara sauce only makes it that much more vitamin packed. Each half squash is considered a serving so I simply buy 3 for my family of 6. We each have our own half and are filled up afterwards.

You can top Spaghetti squash with any of your favorite spaghetti toppings. It is a perfect meatless dish because you do not really notice the meat missing. delightful. My whole family enjoyed it, And I hope your's does too.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting

I have had a few people ask about the frosting and I realized I never got around to posting the recipe.

This recipe is my husband's grandma's recipe and was lovingly shared with me from my Mom in law.

The list of ingredients isn't long but it sure makes for a fantastic frosting!

1 egg
2/3 cup evaporated milk (1 can)
1/4 cup butter
1 1/3 cups coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Over medium heat melt butter, add sugar, milk and egg until it boils, and thickens. This takes anywhere between 5-10 minutes.

Use a whisk to stir continually until the liquid thickens and is about half the amount of liquid you started with.

Then add the Coconut and Pecans to the pan stirring with a wooden spoon.

Pour onto a warm cake to frost. This recipe will frost one 8x8 cake. You can double the recipe to have frosting for between two cakes or for a larger 9x9 round, or 11x14 sheet cake.

9x9 round only frosted on the outside

11x14 sheet cake Chocolate Beet Cake

Yesterday I posted Chocolate Beet Cake so now you can make them together and enjoy them!

Chocolate Beet Cake

As promised here is the Chocolate Beet Cake recipe. This cake makes a large sheet cake. You can also make a thicker cake by using an 11x14 pan or 2 9" round pans.

Start by sifting the dry ingredients together:
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 Tsp. baking soda
1/4 Tsp. salt
1 Tsp. cinnamon

drain 1 can of beets reserving the liquid and pureeing the beets.

Combine wet ingredients:
1 cup beet juice
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup oil
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
pureed beets

melt
3 squares of unsweetened chocolate
2 oz german chocolate

Combine dry ingredients into wet mixture stirring well. Fold in melted chocolate. You will notice it going from pink to chocolate colored, that is when you are done folding.

Pour into a greased baking pan, I used an 11x14. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, in a 350* oven. 

I used my German chocolate cake frosting to frost this cake and wow is it the best cake ever!

O my word... Chicken Chili Verde

One of my favorite Mexican food dishes is Chili Verde. I love the tangy flavors of the tomatillo. A few years ago I discovered that I am allergic to pork. When ever I eat pork I end up with the worst stomach aches and hives. So I stopped eating all pork. This meant no more Chili Verde for me...

Then one day the light bulb above my head went off...

Why not use Chicken Thighs!!?

So off to the grocery store I went...

Normally I do not buy canned products. I try to only purchase in season fruits and veggies, but I really wanted to try out this new recipe! So I went ahead and bought a couple of the giant cans of tomatillo's in the mexican food isle of my local grocery store.

I also bought 1 family size package of chicken thighs. You must go with dark meat on this because the breast will just dry out far to much.

in the crockpot went the chicken and the two cans of tomatillo's. I let this cook for about 4 hours then went in and pulled the chicken bones out. Then shredded up the chicken and we dished it up about a half hour later. It turned out pretty good... but being that I am a stickler for fresh when I can get it... It is currently Tomatillo season in Northern California. When I was in the grocery store the other day there was a large bin FILLED with them. I just couldnt help myself I HAD to have from scratch home made Chicken Chili Verde...

Without further ado
Here are some pictures and the recipe.

Crystals Chicken Chili Verde (fresh)
2 lbs fresh tomatillo's
2 lbs chicken thighs (remove the skin)
1 medium onion
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 cup water

dump it into the crock pot for 4 hours on high then remove chicken bones and shred chicken thighs up. allow to sit for another half hour serve with Spanish rice, black beans, cheese and tortilla's.

For those of you who have never seen a fresh tomatillo here is what they look like still in their skins

I peel the skins off and keep them in a bowl of water because they have a tacky film on them. This is what they look like floating.

They look a bit like a green tomato on the outside, but not on the inside.

The crock pot was loaded down and ready to simmer.

This is the final product after cooking for 5 hours. (I love crock pot cooking, because if I can't get to it as soon as it is done it stays good until I can get to it.)

Recipe's

I have had several requests for a few recipes and I thought today would be a good day to share those with you all. I was going to make them again and take more pictures but life has just been way to busy for that and I really wanted to get the recipes out for those of my friends who really have been patient waiting for them.

Remember all of these recipes are my own. They are copywritted by me as they are my own personal adaptations and creations. If you are inclined to use them please also be inclined to give me the credit I deserve. :)

Zucchini Bread/muffins

2 cups shredded zucchini
2 cups flour (I use whole wheat)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (I use coconut oil but you can use just about any oil)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (or use 3/4 cup sugar and 4 tbsp black strap molasses, if you use this method omit the brown sugar completely.)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Dump everything into a bowl and mix. yep its really that easy! stir everything together just until its all incorporated and then pour into muffin pans or into a loaf pan and bake at 325* for 1 hour for bread pan or 25 minutes for muffins.

Blackberry Oatmeal Bars

Crust
1 cup flour
8 tbsp butter (use REAL butter not that fake stuff!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup whole oats
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1 tsp baking soda

melt the butter and pour over the dry mixture mix well and then press about 3/4 of this mixture into a 13x9 pan. bake the crust for 10-12 minutes in a 375* oven until light golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.

add 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts to the remaining crust mixture. This will be your topping.

Berries
in a small sauce pan combine
12 oz of frozen blackberries (if your using fresh you will need a good bit of fresh berries, I also use raspberries, blueberries or a combination of all 3)
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup agave nectar (or honey, I prefer this instead of sugar)
simmer on medium heat during the time the crust is in the oven is usually about the right amount of time. The sauce should reduce and thicken slightly but still be fairly thin. You can mash the berries up or leave them whole. Pour over the slightly cooled crust. top with remaining crumb mixture and bake in the oven at 350* for another 10-15 minutes. remove to wire rack and allow to cool completely before cutting.

I hope that you enjoy these recipes.

Chocolate Cake is the answer

After hours of studying and reviewing information in my Mexican-American history class I feel brain dead. I am certain that the answer to every question the teacher asked must be chocolate cake. Wasn't it the Aztec's who introduced chocolate to us anyway?

I have hours more to study and several chapters to read. I am certain that this is going to be a challenging essay that I have to write because I simply can not retain the information needed to get me through. I feel as though I am spinning my way through this class and not really getting very far.

So instead I resort to doing what I do best. Cook! I am going to plop a wonderful dressed chicken in the oven and roast it for several hours. I am going to chop veggies and add them to this roasted delight. I will bake a chocolate cake completely from scratch and top it with grandma's coconut pecan frosting. I will make delicacies that everyone can enjoy and will bring me pleasure. I will then come back completely sated and attempt to compile information from the recesses of my brain so that i can pass this test.

I am posting this blog pictureless but will come back and add pictures soon ... Pictures of the beauty of roasting chicken and baking chocolate cake.

Alright folks you have waited all day for pictures of this beautiful cake so here they are!

The Ingredients

Baking tip for the night, when making chocolate cake grease your pan and then "flour" it with coco powder instead of flour. This will prevent your cake from sticking, but will also prevent that flour look on the outside of your cake. :)

before baking

after baking & cooling

The frosting has to be cooked, but it tastes wonderful & is well worth the effort.

start cooking

let it boil

add coconut & pecans

The finished product is calling for me! I pour the frosting on while its still warm right into the center of the cake and work my way out from the center to the edge. This makes a wonderful frosting method especially when its still warm enough to spread easily. I do not like frosting in the center of this cake so I simply make a larger cake and then frost only the outside. 

I hope that you all enjoy the pictures. I may post the recipe for this cake & frosting soon if enough people want it.