Nutted Wild Rice Salad

21 Monday Jun 2010

Posted by in Rice, Salads, Summer

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1 cup raw wild rice
5 1/2 cups low fat chicken stock or water
1 cup shelled pecan halves
1 cup yellow raisins
grated rind of one large orange
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
4 green onions thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Put rice in a strainer and run under cold water; rinse thoroughly.

2. Place rice in a medium-size heavy saucepan. Add stock or water and bring to a rapid boil. Adjust heat to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 45 minutes. After 30 minutes check for doneness, rice should not be too soft. Place a thin towel inside a colander and turn rice into the colander and drain. Transfer drained rice to a bowl.

3. Add remaining ingredients and rice and toss gently. Adjust seasonings to taste. Let mixture stand for two hours to allow flavors to develop. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 6

Lemon Filled Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

24 Monday May 2010

Posted by in Cupcakes

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I have tried several lemon cupcake recipes and have never really liked any of them. After the recent success with Red Velvet Cupcakes I decided to attempt a revision of that recipe to create a perfect Lemon Cupcake. I tried it out today. They turned out really well.

Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk with 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice stirred in
2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine the milk and lemon juice and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat until each is completely mixed in.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.

Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients to the butter, sugar and egg mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl often. Scoop into a cupcake paper lined muffin pan about 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for one minute and then remove for pan and finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Filling
1 jar lemon curd

When the cupcakes have cooled completely fill a ketchup style squeeze bottle with lemon curd. Insert the tip into the center of the cupcake and squeeze slowly until the lemon curd comes just to the surface.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1-8 ounce package cream cheese
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine the ingredients together and pipe on cupcakes using a pastry bag and large star tip.

Hershey’s "Perfectly" Chocolate Cake

26 Monday Apr 2010

Posted by in Cakes

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Last night we went help celebrate Lauryn’s birthday and had this super delicious chocolate cake.
YUM!
Ingredients-
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups Hersheys Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 cup boiling water
Heat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla – beat on med for 2 min. Stir in boiling water. (Batter will be thin) Pour into pans. Bake 30-35 minutes.
Makes 10-12 servings.
Perfectly Chocolate Frosting
1 stick butter/margarine
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Melt butter, stir in cocoa. Alternately add milk and sugar. Makes about 2 cups frosting.

Marshmallow Fluff

24 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by in Cupcakes, Desserts, Toppings

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When I made the chocolate cream filled cupcakes in the previous post I just happened to have a jar of marshmallow fluff in my pantry. It appears that it is no longer available for purchase in Tokyo. I need some for some cupcakes I am making for a 2 year old’s birthday this weekend. How did we ever live without Google?

3 large egg whites
2 cups light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

This will expand enough in a 4-quart mixing bowl to make you nervous so if you have a bigger bowl you should use it.

In a large mixer bowl, use a whisk attachment to combine eggwhites, corn syrup and salt. Beat for 10 minutes until thick.

Add powdered sugar at a low speed to thoroughly incorporate. Add vanilla extract and beat until well blended.

Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

13 Saturday Mar 2010

Posted by in Cakes, Cupcakes, Desserts

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I have been experimenting with different recipes in preparation for the 200 cupcakes we will be making for Kristina and Brian’s wedding favors on April 10. So this week I have been working on the chocolate ones. YUM!!!!

Chocolate Cupcakes
1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist Chocolate Fudge cake mix
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 Tablespoons corn starch
1/3 cup butter, melted
12 ounces sour cream
12 ounces chocolate chips
3 eggs
1/2 cup chocolate milk
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Put paper liners in cupcake pans.In a large bowl, mix cake mix, sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, butter, eggs, chocolate milk and sour cream until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan a few minutes before moving to cooling racks. I got 26 cupcakes using this recipe.
Cream Filling
2 tsp very hot water
1/4 tsp salt
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Dissolve the salt in the hot water and allow to cool.
Whip the marshmallow cream, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it begins to get fluffy. Add the water and whip well. Fit a pastry bag with a long tip or a large one and fill the bag with the cream filling. This recipe fills 24 cupcakes.
Use an apple corer to take out a “plug” from the middle of each cupcake. Be sure to save the plugs.

Using the pastry bag to fill each hole and then insert the “plugs” back into the cupcakes.
After I filled the cupcakes I frosted them using Chocolate Buttercream. They were quickly sprinkled and most of them boxed to deliver to friends. I did keep a few to see how the filling would hold up for 24+hours. It was great! The cupcakes remained moist and the filling did not make the cake soggy.

I bought the ingredients for the next batch today. I think the cake and filling in this recipe will be perfect. The chocolate butter cream frosting was really good, but I want to try it with a chocolate ganache.

Kristina’s Amazing Chocolate Cake

26 Friday Feb 2010

Posted by in Cakes, Cupcakes, Desserts

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1 instant chocolate pudding mix (small box)
1 devil’s food cake mix
12 ounces chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 ¾ cup milk

Mix together and bake in greased and floured Bundt pan for 50 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Cool in pan 10 minutes and remove from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
This recipe also makes amazing chocolate cupcakes. Depending on how full you fill the cupcake papers they take 18-23 minutes to bake. Test by putting a toothpick in the center. If it only comes out with melted chocolate chips and no gooey batter they are done.

Creamy Shrimp and Broccoli Fettucine

10 Wednesday Feb 2010

Posted by in Main Dishes, Pasta, Seafood

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This recipe is courtesy of Elise at Simply Recipes
Ingredients

* 2 to 3 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
* 1 pound fettuccine (use rice-pasta for gluten-free version)
* Extra virgin olive oil
* 2 cups heavy cream
* 2/3 cup white wine
* 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 pound peeled, deveined shrimp (if using frozen shrimp, defrost by running cold water over them for a few minutes)
* 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
* Salt

Method

1 Fill a large 8-quart stock pot at least half full with water and with 1 Tbsp of salt; bring to a boil.

2 While the water is the large stockpot is heating, bring a smaller saucepan (2-3 quarts) half filled with water to a boil. Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Drain and run the broccoli under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

3 Cook the pasta in the large pot of boiling water according to the directions on the package (anywhere from 3 to 12 minutes, depending on the type of pasta you have) until al dente, or still slightly firm. Drain and toss with a little olive oil to keep from sticking.

4 While the pasta is cooking, combine the cream, wine, garlic, and black pepper in a large skillet and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 7 to 10 minutes until the mixture thickens.

5 Add the shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the shrimp have turned pink on all sides. Toss in the broccoli and the parsley. Mix in the fettucini. Salt to taste.

Serves 6.

Melting Heart Chocolate Fondant

10 Wednesday Feb 2010

Posted by in Chocolate, Desserts

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This yummy recipe is from Lindsay’s Urban Mum blog.

Serves 2
Ingredients
• 50g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
• 2 tsp cocoa powder, to dust
• 50g good quality bitter chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), in pieces
• 1 free range egg
• 1 free range egg yolk
• 60g caster sugar
• 50g plain flour
• Icing sugar to dust
• Vanilla ice cream to serve
Method: How to make hot chocolate fondant
1. Preheat oven to 160˚C/Gas 2.
2. Butter two large ramekins, about 7.5cm in diameter, then dust liberally with cocoa, shaking out any excess.
3. Slowly melt the chocolate and butter in a small bowl set over a pan of hot water, then take off the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
4. Using an electric whisk, whisk the whole egg, egg yolk and sugar together until pale and thick, then incorporate the chocolate mixture. Sift the flour over the mixture and gently fold in, using a large metal spoon. Divide between the ramekins and bake for 12 minutes.
5. Turn the chocolate fondants out on to warmed plates. Dust the tops with icing sugar and serve with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.