Food Finally!

I did a lot of cooking right when I found out I was pregnant. I was still feeling pretty good and the smells didn't bother me too much yet. Here are a couple of recipes that turned out really well.

German Chocolate Cake

I used a Devil's Food Chocolate Cake recipe and added my usual extra egg and substituted milk for water. It makes for a much more moist cake. Here's the recipe for the topping.

Frosting

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 beaten egg yolks
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cup Baker's Angel Flake Coconut
1 cup chopped pecans (roasted)

Mix the following ingredients on a stove set on medium heat for 12 minutes:
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 beaten egg yolks
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Once you are done stirring in the above ingredients add the coconut and roasted pecans. Cool the frosting until it is firm and easy to spread.

Pork and Sweet Peppers

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1-pound piece pork tenderloin

Kosher salt and pepper

1 pound new potatoes, quartered

2 large garlic cloves, smashed

1/2 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water

1/3 cup jarred hot cherry peppers, seeded and roughly chopped

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.Season the pork with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place it on one side of the skillet; place the potatoes and garlic on the other side and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring the potatoes and turning the pork, until the pork is browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the wine, broth, and cherry peppers. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until the pork is cooked through and the potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let rest at least 5 minutes before slicing.Stir the parsley into the potatoes and serve with the sliced pork.

Apple Crisp Pie

Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. ice water

Filling:
4 Granny Smith apples
2 Tbs. sugar
Topping:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. unsalted butter, chilled

Directions:
Pastry:In a bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut butter into small cubes and with a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut butter into flour until pea sized granules form. Add ice water and mix lightly until dough forms a ball. Wrap plastic and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Roll out pastry and fit into 9" pie plate.

Filling:peel, core and thinly slice apples; spread slices on paper towels and pat dry. Place in a bowl and toss with sugar. Fill pastry shell with apples, rounding up in center.

Topping:Combing dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut butter into small cubes, add to dry ingredients and mix with finger tips until granular and crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over apples. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 425 oven, reduce heat to 350 and bake another 25 to 30 minutes until top is golden brown and apples are cooked and bubbly. Cover pastry around rim with aluminum foil, if it is browning too fast. Serve warm with whipped cream. Serves 8.

Recipes without Pics

Here's a couple of recipes I've made recently that I don't have pictures for. They were both excellent and I have to say the cookbook that they both come from "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook" is great. There are some recipes that I've tried that haven't been as great as others, but for the most part it was worth the $17.00. What a buy! Let me know what you think.

Mahogany Glazed Pork

-1/3 cup soy sauce

-1/2 cup orange marmalade

-2 cloves garlic

-1 ts red pepper flakes

-3 TBL ketchup

-One 3.5lbs boneless Boston pork butt, cut into large pieces or 3.5lbs country-style pork spare ribs (we used the ribs)

-Optional: Sugar snap peas and red bell peppers

Coat slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Combine the soy sauce, marm, garlic, red pepper flakes, and ketchup in a small bowl and mix until smooth. Brush mixture ive both sides of meat. Arrange the pork butt or ribs in the cooker (If you have a round cooker stack the ribs). Pur over any extra sauce. Cover and cook on LOW until fork tender and the meat starts to separate from the bone, 8 to 10 hours. Stir in the sugar snap peas and bell pepper, cover and let stand for a few minutes to warm (we omitted this step and served the meat with brussell sprouts on the side instead).

Moroccan Chicken Thighs with Chickpeas and Cumin

-Two 16-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

-One 15-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, drained, and cut into 1-inch cubes

-1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares

-1 medium-sized red onion, chopped

-1/4 cup golden raisins

-2 Tbl tomato paste

-2 Tbl water

1 1/2 ts cumin

-Pinch of paprika

-4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes

-2 Tbl peanut butter

Put chickpeas, tomatoes, bell pepper, onoin, raisins, tomatoe paste, water, cumin, and paprika in the slow cooker; stir well. Scatter the chicken on top. Cover and cook on LOW until the chicken is tender and cooked through, 6 to 7 hours. Stir in peanut butter. Serve over hot couscous.

Crockpot Meal

Because of our new "waste less" goal for 2008 Tim and I have been trying to plan our menus a week ahead and buy bulk grocery items. This week I decided to try a couple of new crockpot recipes that seemed really interesting. We tried the one below last night. I left the crock to cook all day while we were at work and it smelled wonderful when we got home. I have to say this was the success of the week!

Thai Pork-Crockpot

-2lb pork loin, cut into 2-4 pieces

-2 cloves of garlic

-2 ts red pepper flakes

-1/3 (or more) cup teriayki sauce

-2 tbl rice wine vinegar

-2 red peppers sliced

-1/4 cup peanut butter

Garnish with peanuts, scallions and lime wedges.

Add pork (seasoned with salt), teriayki sauce, garlic, rice wine vinegar, red pepper flakes and peppers to the crockpot. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Remove pork and chop. Add peanut butter to sauce in crockpot and stir to combine. Add pork back to sauce. Serve over jasmine rice and garnish.

Pasta Makin'

Marinated Pork Chops, Homemade Summer Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Onions and Garlic Bread

Maple Bourbon Grilled Thick-Cut Pork Chops:

I took this recipe from http://homecookkirsten.blogspot.com/2007/07/maple-bourbon-grilled-thick-cut-pork.html. I added roasted garlic and used whiskey instead of bourbon. The chops turned out wonderfully moist and tangy.

Summer Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Onions:

I made the pasta sauce that I took from a cooking class with Chef Hugo Amano at the Chicago Botanical Gardens.

• 1 red onion, thinly shaved
• 2-3 ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1/4 c of red wine vinegar
• 1 handful of basil
• 1# pasta
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Place onions, tomato and vinegar in a bowl and toss. I also added some lemon zest for a little extra freshness, Cover and keep refrigerated for 2 hours if possible. When pasta is cooking toss basil into tomato mixture. When pasta is done drain it and toss the hot pasta with the cold onion and tomato mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Served with grated Parmesan cheese.

Fresh Pasta:

• 8 oz all purpose flour (about 2 cups)


• 1tsp salt


• 2 large egg yolks


• 5 large egg yolks


• 1 T olive oil

Combine flour and salt in bowl. Make a mound with an impression in the middle. Put eggs, yolks and olive oil in the middle of the impression. Break each yolk by poking it with a finger, then in a circular motion begin to incorporate flour from the side of the mound. Continue until all the flour is incorporated. Turn out onto tabletop and knead by hand until dough is smooth and elastic. The dough can now be rolled through a pasta machine, or wrapped in plastic and placed in the refrigerator to rest for 30 minutes or so. Proceed according to what sort of pasta you would like.

Tim pictured here rolling out the dough.

Cutting the dough into fettuccine like strips.


The final product....Next time I would lay it out to dry a little or cook right away. I left the dough in a ball like this for about 10-15 minutes and when it cooked it was hard to get it unclumped.


Yummy garlic toast. Took a baguette, sliced it and drizzled with olive oil. Grilled and then rubbed it with garlic. Wonderful and light.