Recipes

Maple Blueberry Pancakes

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Do you know what today is?

It’s National Pancake Day!

I didn’t know that until yesterday. When an email from Yummly showed up in my inbox. (Honestly, I have tried to unsubscribe from their emails for way too long now. But I guess today I was thankful to have received it.) I immediately rushed to the computer to start typing up this post. I already had pictures of pancakes on my camera patiently waiting for the perfect day to be transformed into a blog post.

That day is today.

Maple Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 2 C whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 C yogurt (I used vanilla)
  • 1 1/4 C milk
  • 1/4 C real maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1 1/2 C frozen blueberries

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. In another bowl whisk together eggs, yogurt, milk, syrup, and vanilla. Whisk in the melted butter.
  3. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry. Fold in the blueberries. (You can also add blueberries individually to your pancakes when you drop the batter onto the griddle.)
  4. On a hot buttered griddle drop 1/4 C of batter into pancakes. Flip pancakes when batter starts to set and bubbles form in the center of the pancake. Cook until both sides are golden brown.

*This recipe is adapted from Sally at http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2015/01/16/whole-wheat-blueberry-pancakes/*

Maple Blueberry Pancakes | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Yes, that’s my quilt Blueberry Pickin’ used in the photograph of these blueberry pancakes. 😉

Caesar Tart

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes salads can be boring. Even your favorite salad can end up leaving you wanting more. I challenge you to “fancify” your next salad by placing it atop a tart!

My favorite salad is Caesar and the tart it’s been placed upon is roasted garlic. When I found this recipe 8 months ago I’d been searching for the perfect time to make it. For a side dish it seemed like quite a lot of work. So when we were invited to our neighbor’s home for dinner I was provided my opportunity! Without the added responsibility of creating an entree I could spend my time on this fancy salad.

Turns out you can make this side dish in stages! My excuse for not having made it sooner was simply made invalid. You can make the dressing in advance. You can make the tart shell in advance. You can even shave or shred your Parmesan ahead of time. I waited to dress the salad until we were ready to eat, gently placed it on top of the tart shell, and topped it with Parmesan. Note: there aren’t any croutons in this salad – the tart shell acts as your croutons, but if you simply can’t live without them, feel free to add them to your salad too.

If you want to make this more of a main dish feel free to top your tart with some grilled chicken or salmon.

Caesar Tart

Ingredients for the Roasted Garlic Tart:

  • 1 head of garlic
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 stick butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 C grated Paremsan cheese
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 C flour

Ingredients for the Caesar Dressing:

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6 anchovies
  • 4 tsp red wine vinegar
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp sugar

Ingredients for the salad:

  • 3 hearts of romaine, chopped
  • 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Cut off the top of the head of garlic, so the bulbs are exposed but still in tact. Pour the olive oil overtop the garlic. Wrap in aluminum foil. Bake 40 minutes. Allow to cool.
  3. When garlic is cool, squeeze the cloves into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the butter, Parmesan, and salt. Beat the mixture until combined. Add in the flour and mix until crumbly.
  4. Press the dough into a greased tart pan (I don’t have one and used a foil lined pie dish). Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden. Allow tart to cool.
  5. Make the dressing: Place all of the ingredients in a small food processor or blender. Pulse until combined. Taste to check for additional salt or sugar (will depend on how juicy the lemon is).
  6. In a large bowl toss the lettuce and Parmesan with as much dressing as desired. Top the tart with the dressed salad.

*This recipe is adapted from Mary at http://homemadecravings.com/caesar-salad-sweet-garlic-butter-crust/*

Casear Tart | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Cinnamon Biscotti & A Baby Shower

~ lk529 ~ 27 Comments

Biscotti Baby Shower

Surprise!

Today I have gathered some of my favorite bloggers to help me celebrate a very special friend of mine. Tara! Tara is the host of Tara’s Multicultural Table.

When Tara was pregnant with her son Evan I threw her a surprise baby shower. So keeping with tradition I thought it’d be fun to throw her another surprise shower. Now that we live in separate states this shower would be virtual. Cinnamon Biscotti | Sew You Think You Can Cook 3 If I thought keeping a secret the first go around was difficult it was nothing compared to this time! Both being food bloggers we’re constantly in communication about what we’re cooking up in the kitchen.

I wanted to have a theme for this online party. I thought about tapas – tying in to Tara’s blog’s theme. But then into my email should come another biscotti recipe from Tara. Tara loves baking – cookies, scones, breads. While I’d never made biscotti before I thought it’d be a perfect theme! Because biscotti are twice baked cookies and this is Tara’s second baby!

I baked two different recipes for this event. I really wanted to make Tiramisu Biscotti.

The first time Tara and I ever worked together in the kitchen, before we had blogs, we tried our hands at a tiramisu cheesecake. Tara wanted to do everything from scratch – including the lady fingers. Well, we pretty much failed at that endeavour. The lady fingers simply didn’t have the texture required for breaking down into cookie crumbs to form the crust. But we powered through. The cheesecake filling part was quite delicious.

tiramisu BiscottiMuch like our first tiramisu adventure, mine too wasn’t a complete success. The biscotti, while perfeclty delicious were burnt along the edges and simply didn’t provide very appetizing photographs – and I took 31 photos! The white chocolate chips in the cookie turned a little yellow too and didn’t give quite the effect I was thinking they would. I would have loved to simply remake them and pull them out of the oven sooner – but I didn’t have the ingredients on hand and guess, what, it was snowing. I will remake these some day and they’ll be honored with their own blog post – and better photos. We really did enjoy these biscotti!

It was back to the drawing board and now with a slightly limited baking pantry. And then I found gold. Cinnamon biscotti. I have a very large obsession with cinnamon and could not pass this recipe up! Cinnamon Biscotti | Sew You Think You Can CookThese cookies didn’t turn out perfectly either – we cut them a little too thick and baked them a little too long. (I should have just followed the instructions – these cookies continue to harden once they’re out of the oven.) I know biscotti are supposed to be a hard cookie – perfect for dunking in coffee or tea – but these were too hard. They could not be enjoyed solo. As I don’t drink coffee, I ate mine with a cup a milk. And when the cookie was gone I was left with cinnamon milk to drink!

I would like to give a big congratulations to Tara. If you don’t follow her on Instagram you really should! (@taramctable) Her account is full of beautiful food photography and the occasional photograph of her adorable children and puppies. If you do follow Tara, you’ll have noticed that her precious child entered this world early a week and a half ago. (which means that I am now behind on her baby quilt! And I thought I was doing so well. The fabric is all cut and the sewing is underway)

So today’s suprise baby shower is more of a welcome baby party!

I would also like to thank my food friends in helping to celebrate Tara today! Please check out the beautiful cookie spread we have assembled for this event. You’ll find the list after my recipe.

Cinnamon Biscotti

Ingredients:

  • 6 tbsp butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 C sugar, divided use
  • 2 eggs, divided use
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 C flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 tsp cinnamon, divided use

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat together butter with 1 C sugar until fluffy. Add 1 egg and the egg yolk, mix until combined. Stir in the vanilla extract.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and 2 tsp cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer in 3 batches, mixing until combined before incorporating more.
  4. Shape the dough into a log about 10 inches long and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  5. Beat the last egg and brush the cookie dough.
  6. Make cinnamon sugar: wisk together the remaining 1/4 C sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle some of the sugar over the cookie dough, reserve the rest.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes.
  8. Slice dough into 3/4″ slices on the diagonal. Place cookies cut side down onto the baking sheet. Top with the reserved cinnamon sugar. Bake 15 minutes more. Allow to cool.
  9. Enjoy with coffee, tea, or milk.

*This recipe is adapted from Joan at http://chocolatechocolateandmore.com/2012/12/cinnamon-sugar-biscotti/*

Cinnamon Biscotti | Sew You Think You Can Cook 2

And don’t forget to take a peek at what my other guests have baked up:

Biscotti Bites from Nicole at I am a Honey Bee

Blueberry Pecan Biscotti from Renee at Magnolia Days

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti from Stacy at Food Lust People Love

Dark Chocolate Orange Biscotti from Amy at Amy’s Cooking Adventures

Green Tea Biscotti Cookies from Rebekah at Making Miracles

Jam-Filled Mandelbrot from Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Maple Walnut Biscotti from Sally at Bewitching Kitchen

Nut-Free Anise Biscotti with Chocolate Chips from Susan at The Wimpy Vegetarian

Orange and Dark Chocolate Biscotti from Lynsey at Lynsey Lou’s

Parmesan-Peppercorn Biscotti from Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Tangelo, Date, and Almond Biscotti from Karen at Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Spa Water from of Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious

Fried Lemon and Chicken Wraps

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Today I unveil my first New Years Resolution Original Recipe Creation! I developed Version 1 of this recipe on January 22nd. It was lacking a balance of flavor and the fried lemon wasn’t as successful as the fried tangerines in the Stir Fried Beef with Tangerines. I developed Version 2 on February 5. By happy circumstance a plan b (or would it be plan c?) the lettuce cups were transformed into a wrap. Applying mayonnaise to the wrap really provided the chicken mixture with that missing component. When you make this feel free to add your favorite sandwich toppings – tomato, lettuce, etc.

recipe development

In Version 1 I made a sauce using pomegrante molasses and honey. Wesley eating sew you think you can cookBut still the chicken mixture was too dry. I made a note to cook the ground chicken as if it were taco meat. So I added chicken stock. I also increased the herbs and added chopped onions, a serrano pepper, and garlic to help create a depth of flavor. In tasting the meat during Version 2 I was pleased. We decided that that pomegranate sauce wasn’t necessary – and I wanted to see if my son would try it – which I couldn’t do with honey in the recipe.

frying lemonsOne thing I knew for certain for this first recipe creation of the year was that I wanted to fry lemons. Version 1 I used regular lemons but they were still bitter. I decided to go on a search for Meyer lemons. I’m so glad I found them because they fried up much more nicely – I also increased the amount of cornstarch. The cornstarch created an almost tempura-like batter to the lemons. These lemons were amazing!

I still wanted to serve the chicken in lettuce cups. I still had the head of bibb lettuce from Version 1 but it was up against the back wall of the fridge and was frozen. I salvaged a couple leaves for photography purposes – and Stuart ate them. I almost put my serving in a pita pocket but decided instead on using a tortilla. Stuart stated that they still needed a sauce of some kind. I agreed and added mayo to my wrap. It was perfect! It’s amazing how something so simply can help to meld the flavors and give it “completion.”

I hope you give my recipe a try and let me know what you think!

An Original Recipe

Fried Lemon and Chicken Wraps

Ingredients:

  • 2 C + 1 tbsp vegetable oil, divided use
  • 1 meyer lemon, sliced in circles
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 serrano pepper, seeds removed and diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 C chicken broth
  • 4 tortillas
  • mayo

Steps:

  1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees F.
  2. Toss lemon slices in cornstarch. When oil has reached temperature fry lemons for 4 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.
  3. Remove oil to a heat proof container and carefully wipe out skillet. To the same skillet, add a fresh tablespoon of oil. Saute the shallot, serrano, and garlic until tender. Add the ground chicken and season with basil, thyme, S+P.
  4. When chicken is fully cooked add chicken broth and cook until absorbed.
  5. Cut fried lemons into quarters.
  6. Spread mayo on tortilla, add the chicken and some lemon slices. Optionally, add lettuce and tomato, or your other favorite sandwich toppings.

Fried Lemon and Chicken Wraps | Sew You Think You Can Cook

SRC: Ginger Beef Stir Fry

~ lk529 ~ 33 Comments

newsrcbanner

Today is another Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the secret recipe club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

This month I was assigned the blog Without Adornment written by Bean. Bean bravely talks about her battle with depression. Her blog title came to be from a sermon at church that really spoke to her. To live “without adornment” is something that I think everyone needs to learn how to do. To just be you. With the season of Lent upon us I found this to really hit home. It’s the time of year to reevaluate your relationship not just with God but with yourself. To better yourself, and what better way to do that than to live “without adornment.”

Bean leads a Gluten-Free lifestyle but that doesn’t hold her back from her favorite hobby of baking. I encourage you to check out her amazing recipe index. As I don’t keep gluten-free and am not proficient enough in my baking skills to alter recipes I looked to her savory dishes. With our new Stir Fry Day Fridays I was excited to see Pad Thai and Ginger Beef. I proceeded with the latter.

We enjoyed this beef not on a Friday, but for the Chinese New Year last week. I served it simply with white rice. I again had to eliminate the bean sprouts so I used a little more celery and carrots. I also used three large leaves from a bok choy instead of using baby bok choy. Oh, and I completely forgot to buy bell pepper, so that ingredient was also excluded from my version. This stir fry dish was a huge hit around the table. Thank you Bean for a great recipe.

Note: to keep it gluten-free, use a gluten-free flour (Bean used rice flour) and gluten-free soy sauce.

This stir fry feeds 4-6 people.

Ginger Beef Stir Fry

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 C vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 – 2 lb sirloin, sliced in thin strips
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 carrots, sliced diagonally
  • 4 tbsp freshly grated ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 stalk celery, sliced diagonally
  • 3 bok choy leaves, chopped
  • 1/3 C sugar
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp cooking sherry
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp corn starch
  • 2 scallions, chopped

Steps:

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
  2. Toss sirloin strips in flour to coat. Stir fry in batches until cooked through and remove to a paper towel lined plate.
  3. Add the onion, carrots, ginger, and garlic to the same skillet. When onions are translucent add the celery and bok choy. Cook until bok choy is wilted.
  4. In a small bowl combine sugar, soy sauce, sherry, and vinegar. Pour over veggies and bring to a boil. Allow sauce to thicken slightly.
  5. Make a slurry with the corn starch and 3 tbsp water. Gradually add the slurry to the stir fry (I didn’t use all of it) to thicken the sauce to desired consistency. Return the beef to the skillet and toss to coat. Add in the scallion.
  6. Serve with rice, if desired.

*This recipe is adapted from Bean at https://withoutadornment.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/gahigf-gluten-free-ginger-beef-and-chinese-esque-pork-dumplings/*

ginger beef stir fry | sew you think you can cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in the Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

#SundaySupper: Red Carpet Party

~ lk529 ~ 29 Comments

Today #SundaySupper is having a party perfect for any red carpet event! There’s an awards show on tonight. I think it’s the “big one.” I wouldn’t really know because I’m not all up to snuff on my Hollywood trivia. I do like Neil Patrick Harris though, so I will be watching. Or rather, I’ll have it playing on the TV screen. I don’t know how much I’ll be paying attention. (I’ll be participating in a Twitter chat after all! – See end of post for details.) I haven’t seen any of the movies up for nomination and I don’t know the who’s-who of actors.

Katie of Ruffles and Truffles is hosting this star-studded gathering so be sure to scroll past my recipe for a list of party worthy drinks and eats!

Thank You Peary Much | Sew You Think You Can Cook

I decided to create a very simple signature cocktail for the event. Because what party for the stars wouldn’t be complete with an original concoction involving champagne? I wanted to go with something gold in honor of The Oscar. It’s a gold award! Hey, at least I knew that!

This cocktail would be welcome at any brunch table.

An Original Recipe

Thank You Peary Much

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1/2 C water
  • 1 2″ piece ginger root
  • pear nectar
  • champagne
  • crystalized ginger (optional)

Steps:

  1. Make ginger simple syrup: In a small saucepan over medium-low heat combine sugar, water, and ginger until sugar completely disolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  2. Assemble cocktails: Put a little ginger simple syrup in the bottom of a champagne glass. Top it with pear nectar and champagne. (The ratios are completely up to you – do you like it mostly bubbly with a touch of juice or are you a juice fan with a hint of bubbly?) Drop some crystalized ginger into the glass and watch it fizz!

Thank You Peary Much | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Nominees for Best Supporting Appetizers:

Nominees for Best Course in a Leading Role:

Nominees for Best Supporting Sips:

Nominees for Best Delectable Desserts:

Nominees for Best Dressed Table:

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the#SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

CIC: Basil & Lemon

~ lk529 ~ 9 Comments

CIC-header
We’re setting our thoughts and minds on spring and summer with today’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge. When it was announced that Lemon and Basil were to be February’s ingredients my first thought went to muffins.
Lemon and Basil is a pretty classic combination – perfect for seafood, chicken, and pastas. I wanted to try going in a different direction by baking!
I was scrambling to get this recipe made and photographed. With the winter storms that have been blowing by I didn’t get a chance to get to the grocery store until Wednesday night. Hey, at least I’m not in the Northeast! First thing Thursday morning these babies were baked. Happily the sun was shining and there was a lot of light being reflected off of the white snow. I did have to take down the beach towels that are duct taped to the sliding glass door. Yes, folks, beach towels have been severely downgraded now that we live in Ohio! They now protect against drafty doors and windows, act as a resting place for snowy wet boots, and are used to protect the carpet underneath my son’s booster seat when he’s eating. Okay, that last use might be an upgrade. 😉
These muffins are bright and help you forget about the negative temperatures outside. They make you want to lie down on those beach towels amongst green grass and flowers reading a good book.
There is a lemon sugar glaze that gets poured over the muffins after pulling them out of the oven – I didn’t use all of the glaze and even used more than was probably necessary. I also found these muffins to be a little too eggy for my personal preference – next time I’ll see if it would work with just 2 eggs.
This recipe makes 12 muffins.
Lemon Basil Muffins
Ingredients:
  • 1 stick butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 C sugar, divided use
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 C sour cream
  • zest 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
  • 1 C flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • juice of 1 large lemon
Steps:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and 3/4 C sugar.
  3. Add in the eggs until combined. Add the sour cream, lemon zest, and basil. When incorporated add the flour and baking powder. Mix until a consistent batter is achieved.
  4. Pour batter into 12 lined muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.
  5. Whisk together remaining sugar with the lemon juice. Spoon lemon-sugar mixture over top the muffins while hot. Allow to cool in the muffin tin 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
*This recipe is adapted from Lesa at http://www.edesiasnotebook.com/2011/07/lemon-basil-muffins.html*
Lemon Basil Muffins | Sew You Think You Can Cook
To see the other bloggers who participated in this month’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge click on the link below.

#BundtBakers: Chocolate

~ lk529 ~ 32 Comments

4ae7b-bundtbakerspostCould there be a more perfect theme to February’s #BundtBakers post? I think not! This month we’re talking chocolate. All things chocolate – in any shape, color, or form. #BundtBakers is a group of bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient. This month’s host is Tanya of Dessert Stalking.

I often pair the theme with some sort of chocolate cake so I wanted to “branch out”, if you will. And with Valentine’s Day I thought I’d embrace the holiday. I had the most amazing cake pictured in my head. A White Chocolate Chip Studded Red Velvet Cake with a Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

It still makes me cry a little inside when I look at the cake that I ended up making. I’ve tried to embrace it by giving my cake a clever title: How the Grinch Stole Valentine’s Day.

Let me give you a little background:

I made my grocery list for the long weekend. I do this in two stages. I first make a list in the order of my weekly menu. I put question marks next to items I need to doublecheck. I then rewrite the list in an order that follows the grocery store floor plan (all produce written together, dairy together, meat, etc.). There was a question mark next to “red food coloring.” I completely missed it. I did not check the status of my red food coloring. Turns out, red was the only color no longer in my possession.

And it was snowing. Not only does this Florida girl prefer to wait to leave the house until the roads have been treated but taking a 7 month old to the grocery store for a quick trip doesn’t exist. And taking a 7 month old to the grocery store in the snow for a quick trip just doesn’t seem smart. Or worth it!

I asked my personal red velvet cake expert (my friend Tara) what the batter would look like without food coloring. Because there’s so little cocoa powder in the batter I didn’t think it’d look particularly pretty. She told me it’d probably be a pinkish brown. In retrospect, that might have been better!

FullSizeRenderI messaged my husband saying it looked like I was making a velvet cake. Little did he know that I’d already started brainstorming other ideas. I’ve seen blue velvet cakes all over the internet and they’re stunning. (Come football season I’ll be giving it a shot with some orange frosting!) But then I thought about doing green velvet. With St. Patrick’s Day being the next holiday I figured, “why not?” I put out a vote to my fellow #BundtBakers and green was winning by a long shot. What sealed the deal was my husband saying “Use a different color! Oh do green do green!”

I’m pretty sure there are recipes out there for green velvet cake – you might start to see a lot of them in March. I didn’t look for one and followed the recipe I’d planned on using for red velvet. I am challenged when it comes to using food coloring – always have been. Unfortunately I didn’t use enough dye to make a green in the shade I was hoping for. Sure, it’s a “shamrock” green but with my brown chocolate cream cheese icing it looked pretty drab.

I also ran into a chocolate chip problem! (Notice, I didn’t put them in the recipe – if you know the trick to incorporating them please share it with me!) The white chocolate chips all fell to the bottom/top and stuck to the pan. Thankfully I was using my Bundt Duet Pan and one of the two cakes still came out nicely.

The rest of the batter I used to make 12 cupcakes. Those poor babies have missing bottoms and probably should have been turned into cake pops. (If I were still living in FL I would have called my baking buddy Kate and something magically creative would have unfolded, I have no doubt.)

The cake, while ugly, was perfectly moist and tasted as red velvet cake should.

How the Grinch Stole Valentine’s Day

Ingredients for the cake:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 C sugar
  • 1 C vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs, whites and yolks divided
  • 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp white vinegar
  • food coloring
  • 3 C cake flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 C buttermilk, at room temperature

Ingredients for the frosting:

  • 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 stick butter, at room temperature
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3 C powdered sugar
  • 1/2 C cocoa powder

Steps for the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. (It’ll get fluffy first – keep mixing.) Add in the vegetable oil until combined. Add the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the vinegar and food coloring.
  3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.
  4. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until combined. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk. Repeat and finish with the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
  5. Whisk the egg whites until white and foamy. Gently fold into the batter.
  6. Pour cake batter into well greased cake pan(s). Bake according to chart:

Red Velvet Cake bake time7.   Allow cake to cool in the pan.

Steps for the frosting:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter until combined. Mix in the vanilla extract, sugar, and cocoa powder. Beat until combined and fluffy.
  2. Frost cakes when they’re completely cooled.

*The cake recipe is adapted from Sally at http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2015/02/09/red-velvet-layer-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/ and the frosting recipe is adapted from Caroline at http://chocolateandcarrots.com/2014/07/chocolate-cream-cheese-frosting*

Green Velvet Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Sew You Think You Can Cook

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. All recipes and photographs can be found on our individual blogs, on our Pinterest board, and the#bundtbakers homepage.

And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month:

Apricot Almond Bundt Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache by Cassandra at Cassie’s Kitchen

Blackforest Bundt Cake by Anshie at SpiceRoots

Chocolate and Almonds Bundt Cake by Kathya at Basic N Delicious

Chocolate and Lavender Bundt Cake by Aisha at La Cocina de Aisha

Chocolate and Rose Bundt Cake by Lara at Tartacadabra

Chocolate Buttermilk Bundt Cake by Beatriz & Mara at I love Bundt Cakes

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Bundt Cake by Julie at Eat, Drink, and Be Mighty

Chocolate Crumb Bundt by Catherine at Living the Gourmet

Chocolate Custard Floating Island Bundt Cake by Jelena at A Kingdom For a Cake

Chocolate Honeycomb Bundt by Sue at Just Sew Sue

Chocolate Irish Cream Bundt by Anne at From My Sweet Heart

Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker

Chocolate Pound Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days

Chocolate Strawberry Pound Cake by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm

Cider White Chocolate Bundt Cake with White Chocolate Glaze by Patricia at Patty’s Cake

Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Bundt Cake by Linda at Brunch with Joy

Devil’s Food Chocolate Bundt Cake by Tanya at DessertStalking Blog

Double Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake by Carola at En La Cocina de Caro

False Chocolate Bundt Cake by Anna at Media RaciÛn Doble, Por Favor

Guava and Chocolate Bundt by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Kickin Chocolate Bundt Cake by Kaylin at Keep it Simple, Sweetie

Lemon Glazed White Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake Mini Bundts by Laura at The Spiced Life

Mars Bar Bundt by Tara at Noshing With The Nolands

Marshmallows Chocolate Bundt Cake by Shilpi at SimplyVeggies

Quadruple Chocolate Bundt by Stacy at Food Lust People Love

Red Velvet Bundt with White Chocolate Roses by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas

Sacher Bundt Cake by Esti at Mummy & Cute

Spicy Chocolate Mini Bundt Cake by Rocio at Kids & Chic

Triple Chocolate Buttermilk Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook

Tunnel of Fudge Bundt Cake by Rebekah at Making Miracles

White Chocolate & Raspberries Bundt Cake by Samantha at Un Mordisco Un Pecado

Chicken Chow Mein

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Warning: This post contains meat.

I’m so sorry to post a meat dish on Ash Wednesday but tomorrow is the Chinese New Year AND #BundtBakers posting day. So that means my Chinese New Year dish needs to be posted today. Save this post for later because you’re going to want to celebrate with this stir fry recipe.

It seems this post is all about the apologies, but I have one more for you. I did not use bean sprouts. I really wish I could have – I noticed they were missing and the stir fry really needed that crunch they would have provided. I also would have liked to garnish with scallions, too! To still get the onion flavor I added white onion to the stir fry. So why the missing ingredients? There are two reasons. Reason #1: There was a recall on bean sprouts for salmonella. Reason #2: There was a snow storm approaching and the grocery store was missing quite a few ingredients – scallions being one of them.

I would really like to recreate this dish with the missing ingredients (and rephotograph). Even still, we enjoyed every bite of this Chicken Chow Mein – there wasn’t a single morsel leftover.

This recipe makes 2 servings.

Chicken Chow Mein

Ingredients:

  • 1 pkg (6 oz) Chow Mein Stir Fry Noodles
  • 1 large chicken breast, sliced
  • 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
  • 1 tsp Sriracha
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 5 oz bean sprouts
  • 1 scallion, sliced lengthwise
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Steps:

  1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Rinse under cold water and drizzle with a little seasame oil to prevent sticking.
  2. Season the chicken with the five-spice powder, Sriracha, and a dash of soy sauce. Coat them in cornstarch.
  3. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the chicken 3 minutes, or until cooked through. Add in the bell pepper and onion and cook until just al dente. Add the bean sprouts and scallion, cook for 1 minute. Add the cooked chow mein noodles to the stir fry along with the soy sauce and sesame oil. Season to taste with black pepper.

*This recipe is adapted from Ching-He at http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/ching-he-huang/chicken-chow-mein.html*

Chicken Chow Mein | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Shrimp and Grits

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Today is Mardi Gras and I am better prepared for it this year! Last year I scrambled to find something festive to post. That ice cream was such a hit I even made it again this year with improved execution even! It’s amazing what a year in the kitchen can do to one’s intuition. As they say, “Practice makes perfect.”

But on to this year:

Instead of looking at doing something festive I decided to do something cultural. New Orleans has the biggest parties for Mardi Gras – celebrating for the entire week! Cajun and Creole cuisine reign supreme in southeast Louisiana. These popular food cultures include favorites such as beignets, gumbo, jambalaya, and po’ boys. I decided on shrimp and grits. There’s a little more work and takes more time than I’d typically do for a weeknight dinner, but the effort was absolutely worth it and the kitchen smelled amazing, too. We absolutely loved this dish and it made for great leftovers, too.

This dish makes 6-8 servings!

Shrimp and Grits

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb shell-on, deveined shrimp
  • 1/4 C vegetable oil
  • 1/3 C flour
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can (6oz.) tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 tsp creole seasoning
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 1/2 C milk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 C uncooked quick-cook grits

Steps:

  1. Make shrimp broth: Peel shells off the shrimp and put in a pot. Cover with 4 C water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes. Strain, pressing on the shells. Reserve broth and discard shells.
  2. Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring constantly until a light brown. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add in 2 C of the shrimp broth from Step 1. Scrape the bottom of the pan. Add in the Cerole seasoning, bay leaf, lemon juice, and Worcestershire. Reduce heat to low and cook 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. In a pot over medium-high heat, bring milk and 2 1/2 C of water, and salt to a boil. Reduce heat to low and stir in the grits. Cook 10-12 minutes.
  4. Add shrimp to the pot and cook about 10 minutes, or until the shrimp is cooked through. Add as much of the remaining shrimp broth as needed to reach desired consistency.
  5. Serve shrimp overtop the grits.

*This recipe is adapted from Angela at http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/creole-shrimp-grits*

Shrimp and Grits | Sew You Think You Can Cook