Chocolate Cake from Scratch

I have tried a scratch chocolate cake a few times.  They have always turned out really dense and hard and unappetizing.  However I think I have found the gold mine!

Being in India, it is sometimes hard to find a cake mix at all.  The places I have found them they can either be REALLY old, or over the past 6 months I have cleaned them out.  Mind you with 2 young kids it is easy to go through them rather quickly.

So, after committing to scary cupcakes for a kindergarten Halloween party, and realizing that I have no mixes left inhouse, I'd decided to try again.....this time with success.  My husband has poo poo'd the idea of experimenting for such a crucial party commitment, but the only other option was to spend 2 hrs in a car searching for a potentially non-existent Duncan Heinz mix.

When I later fed him the first trial bite, I had to remind him that it was from scratch....his jaw dropped to the floor.  We have found the perfect scratch recipe.

I cannot take credit for this recipe in any way.  You can google 'moist chocolate cake recipe' and find it yourself, or just keep reading:

Preheat Oven to 300 Degrees (Yes that is 300)

Ingredients:

2     Cups  All purpose Flour
2     Cups  White Sugar
3/4  Cup    Cocoa
2     tsp      Baking Soda
1     tsp      Salt
1.5  tsp      Vanilla Extract
2                Large Eggs
1     Cup    Buttermilk
1     Cup    Vegetable oil
1     Cup    Boiling Water

Combine with mixer.  It will seem really watery, this is fine.  You can use a 9 x 12 greased and floured cake pan and bake for 1 hr.  I used cupcakes and liners and baked for 45 minutes.

Your end result will be exactly like a dark chocolate cake mix.  Moist, fluffy and oh soo yummy!

Next is to find a good vanilla recipe.  I will try altering this one and see if it works. I will keep you posted on the results.

Until Next time
Sherri

Butter Pie Shell

Up until a month ago I would say that I could count the number of times I've made a pie crust from scratch.... well... I'd never done it before.  I've always had a problem with buying lard! So I went on the search of a pastry recipe.  Butter crust popped out at me, and I just had to try it.  After a little research I don't think it is so much the recipe that matters but the method.

Most recipes have you use unsalted butter and then add the salt.  My need for simplicity tells me 'No... use the salted butter'  So I do and omit salt.

1 cup butter - Frozen

2.5 cups flour

1/4-1/3 cup ice water (1/4 c water with an ice cube in a 1/3 cup measure)

...So my other inhibitor has been my lack of a pastry cutter tool..you know that thing blends in the butter...or a food processor for that matter.

...Frozen butter say hello to the cheese grater!

Without having to sift your salt into the flour, all you have to do is layer it.  1/2 cup flour, grate some of your butter, 1/2 cup of flour, grate, flour, grate until it's all in.  Then you can easily use your hands to incorporate until it gets grainy.

Add water tsp at a time fluffing through with a fork until it starts to stick together.  You won't use all the water by the time this happens, and when you think you're ready, kneed it together, but don't work it too much.  Form a ball cover and pop in the fridge for 20 minutes.  If you're leaving it longer then cover with plastic wrap otherwise take it out and roll it out on a floured counter and voila!

I have made it with quiche...Prebake on 450 for about 20 minutes (and I didn't weigh it down with beans in tinfoil...but you can) 

I have made it with Shepherd pie...not prebaked but still beautiful!

Next up... dessert...Ohhh I can't wait!

I will start taking pictures at some point and add them later...Stay tuned!

Sherri
Food for Thought

Butter Chicken - Murg Makhani

After having put all of our possessions in storage, I realized that I did not transfer my recipe file from our PC tower to my external hard drive.  As a result I have been forced to recreate certain recipes that were once tried and true.

A Painful realization, but in some cases this has been a blessing, as I believe in this case  I have improved on my Butter Chicken recipe.

If you look online you will see that almost ALL recipes call for you to marinate your chicken in a yogurt/spice concoction.  This is not a proper method, and I feel reaps an inferior product.

Butter chicken is a Punjabi dish which was devised as a way to utilize left over Tandoori chicken, and as such you should ultimately marinate your chicken in a tandoori masala.  In Canada/US you can find Tandoori Barbecue spice in your ethnic Aisle in the supermarket, or head to India Town and pick some up at a grocer.  It is a powder form and should be rubbed into scored chicken along with some fresh lemon juice, and salt and possibly garlic powder if you wish.  ** I will be working on a fresh tandoori Masala recipe to be posted later**

If you do not have Tandoori masala, fear not.  Dice your chicken, and season with salt and juice from 1 lemon (Or a Tbsp of white vinegar/rice vinegar would do fine as well) If you use this alternate marinating method, only Marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hr.

While that is marinating you will want to start your sauce.

You will need:

4-6 TBSP Butter
1 Medium Onion Finely chopped
8-12 Roma Tomatoes Diced
1 Bay Leaf
6 or so Cloves
1 inch Cinnamon stick
4 - 6 Green Cardamon Pods
4-6 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped
2 inches of fresh Ginger either Julienned or grated (about 2 TBSP)
1 tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Ground Almonds
1/2 - 1 cup Yogurt
3/4 Cup Heavy Cream (Devon cream)
Fresh Chopped Cilantro or Garnish

Nobody ever said Butter chicken was great for a diet, but it is one of my family's favorites.

The amounts on the ingredient list are 'approximate' meaning, I don't really follow the recipe to the T every time, and you can tweak to suit your taste as well.

Method:

Use approx. 2 TBSP of Butter.  Heat in saucepan and add the finely chopped Onion, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, cardamon (Hit them with the side of your knife to break them open then add).

** Note: to get a really finely chopped onion, leave the end on the onion so that it holds together while you slice then dice.  When you leave the end on (the end with the roots) you can slice it really finely and then dice it to get a consistently sized dice from end to end.

fry onions until they begin to become golden, then add the Garlic, Ginger, fry for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes.  Stew the tomatoes over medium/high heat until they resemble a well cooked stew and gain some vibrant red color.

Remove from heat, Pour into your blender, and puree.  **at this point you can strain your mixture if you see tomato skin bits that haven't broken down, but it is usually not a necessary step (and is quite messy).

Using the same pan, melt approximately 2-3 tbsps of butter on Medium high heat.  Add your chicken pieces.  If there is marinade juice do not add to the pan - drain chicken and discard marinade.

**I use a large sized butterfly chicken breast cubed to serve 4.  Add more if you want leftovers or have more guests. (you may also want to increase the tomatoes in the sauce base accordingly) You can also use boneless thigh, or a tandoori chicken cut into pieces for that matter**

After your chicken is cooked add the Almonds, chili and salt.  This will soak up all the butter and toast the almonds slightly. Then Pour in the Tomato puree.  Heat through, then add the Yogurt, cream.  Heat through, garnish with Cilantro, and serve.  Do not continue to simmer for a long period after the cream is added as the sauce may separate.

You can serve with Basmati rice or Chapati/Nan.

 Balance off your meal with a Kuchumber salad:

1 seeded and diced Cucumber
1 Diced onion
4-5 Diced Roma Tomato
2-3 TBSP Chopped fresh cilantro
Juice from 4-6 Lemons Juice
Salt to taste
Chili Powder to taste
Chat Masala to taste (Approx 1-2 tsp)

RICE NOTE:  Remember if you are cooking Basmati rice that you need to rinse it thoroughly before cooking or it will be sticky, not fluffy.  My Mother-in-law say to rinse it 6 times, and I have always heeded her advice.

Pictures to come at a later date!

Enjoy!
Sherri 

Chocolate Whipped cream Icing

Ok, so I've always wanted to make a whipped cream icing, but didn't realize it was this quick and easy.
I found this recipe online...as I always do, and it was totally delicious.  We topped a german chocolate cake (the Duncan Hines kind) and it was SOOOOO good.

Easy recipe.

1 cup Whipping cream
1 1/2 TBSP Cocoa
2 1/2 TBSP castor sugar
1 tsp Vanilla (which I didn't use, because I haven't got any on hand)

Mix these ingredients together - I combined the cocoa and sugar first so that I would break up the cocoa first.  I believe this helped in getting the cocoa to break down in the cream.

Then stir into the whipping cream with a spoon.  Put bowl of mixture into the fridge along with the beaters to keep everything cold.

The recipe says to leave it in the fridge for an hour to allow the cocoa to break down, but we didn't want to wait that long to enjoy desert, so I waited 10 minutes and took it out and stirred it again.  It seemed to completely broken down and blended in, but to be safe I left it for another 5 minutes before I took it out and applied the beaters.

I think combining he cocoa and sugar first was the right thing to do because this was a perfect 10.  Sorry but I don't have a picture.  The recipe says that it may separate after sitting in the fridge for a few hrs.  Which means you may have to beat it again..

Just beat it!  LOL
Sherri 

Day 1 - Basic Short Ribs & Brownies

While Ravi has made I would have to say the best lamb soup today that I feel I have ever tasted, soup is merely lunch... midnight comfort... etc.  The key we have found is to not add any potatoes, rice, noodles or starch of any kind because after chilling will turn the broth to goup. Whereby it is no longer considered soup in my book.   If you can't drink it from a mug it just doesn't cut the mustard.  I cannot attest to everything that went into this soup, but the veggie ingredients were carrot, swiss chard, mushrooms, onion and celery....heavy on the broth...light on the veggies.

We have been in search of the perfect short rib recipe for quite some time now.  My personal favorite, but not my dear husband includes shallots, tomatoes, country style mustard and wine reduction, however I feel we have found one today that will fit the bill for both.  Since I have discovered my slowcooker, I find that if I think it will work, I will alter any recipe to fit this easy to use cooking option.  It was the simplest recipe imaginable:

1c red wine or more (I used a lighter beaujolais which seems to suit)
1 onion sliced
mushrooms
salt
pepper
a dash of thyme, garlic powder
1c sour cream

The process was simple.  Saute the onions.  Braise the seasoned ribs.  My trick is salt pepper, put them on a cookie sheet and pop them in the oven on a high broil.  This makes less mess on your stove, and less cleanup.  Pop the ribs in the slow cooker, onions on top, pour the wine into the onion pan to deglaze and then pour into the slow cooker.  I added a bit of broth and a bit more wine to increase the liquid, then turned it to high and let it cook for 4 hours.  Once the ribs are cooked remove them from the slow cooker and set aside, then saute the sliced mushrooms (amount depends on you) in butter, add the juice from the ribs, your herbs and salt to taste and bring to a simmer to reduce by half.  Remove from heat and add the sour cream. chopped parsley to garnish and voila.

This is a great dish! We served with mashed potatoes and broccoli, but I could definitely see egg noodles as an alternative.

Desert was brownies from scratch.  A recipe gleaned from my friend Lynne.  Also a very simple recipe, and a good base, but I would probably tweak this recipe a bit for maximum Yum factor.  Here it is:

1c White Sugar
1c Brown Sugar
1c Butter Melted (I used salted)

Combine well then add

3/4 c of cocoa
3 eggs - one at a time

1c Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (Just pour some in)

Pour into a greased and floured pan (9 x 12) and bake on 350 for 30 minutes.  These brownies did get frosted...thanks to Duncan Hines.  With everything going on today there wasn't much time for anything else.

I think in future I would try melted chocolate rather than cocoa... amounts to be determined, and I would add some walnuts or chocolate chips to the batter.  Overall they were a great tasting brownie, but not quite as dense as I would like.  I think the melted chocolate would take care of this issue however. I will keep you posted when I try this recipe again.

The best part of the brownie experience was sharing it with my 1 year old son.  There was some major finger tasting going on at every stage of this batter.  The result was a VERY chocolate covered baby and a lot of smiles.

Until next time!

Sherri 

Beginnings

I have been thinking of doing this for a while...starting a food discovery blog. Mostly for in home discovery of recipes and the alteration of ones that need tweeking, but also as a way of recording family recipes. I'm sure to include notes on tasty morsels that we find out and about as well.

I guess this blog in itself will be a journey of discovery as I have never started a blog before!

Until next time!
Sherri