Blueberry & Strawberry Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

  » By Keith Prickett

July 3rd, 2008 - Posted in Cupcakes, Dessert | Leave a comment (0)

I had to come up with something to celebrate the holiday with and for some reason around the 4th of July my mouth waters for every cake I see with whole blueberries and strawberries on top.  This cupcake recipe was my answer!  I used the Strawberry cupcake recipe from last week and simply reduced the amount of strawberries and added whole blueberries to the batter.  Then to make it have all the red, white and blue flair I used whipped cream, whole blueberries and strawberries to top it off.  The result is a festive, decadent, delight that we got to share with some friends the other night.  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients for Cupcake:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 6 ounces Homemade Applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• About 15 medium sized Stahlbush Island Farm’s Frozen Strawberries (thawed slightly) cut into quarters
• 5 oz whole, fresh or Stahlbush Island Farm frozen blueberries (thawed slightly)

Ingredients for Whipped Cream Frosting:

• 8 to 10 fluid oz Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar (more or less to your sweet toothe’s taste)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for Cupcake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Beat sugar and butter together until fluffy
3. Add your egg and applesauce and mix thoroughly
4.  Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add to your wet ingredients
5. Fold in strawberries and blueberries
6. Place in lined cupcake baking tins (I made about 14)
7. Bake for 20 minutes or so, until toothpick comes out clean

Directions for Real Whipped Cream Frosting:

1. Mix whipping cream, sugar and vanilla in a mixer
2. Beat until extra thick (but definitely stop before you make butter)

Put it all together by spreading real whipped cream on each cupcake.  Top with a whole strawberry and a bunch of whole thawed blueberries.

Tom’s “No Brainer” Ribs

  » By Keith Prickett

July 2nd, 2008 - Posted in Beef, Dinner, Pork | Leave a comment (0)

I’m still imagining myself sitting at Grandma’s table trying to eat these ribs before the meat fell off the bone.  They were the best ribs I’ve ever had.  No, I’ve never had ribs from the south, so maybe I’ve never officially had “ribs” — but these were GOOD!  They were juicy, tender, and like I said, the meat fell off the bone!

The secret wasn’t any special sauce or how long he let the ribs smoke.  No, the top secret “no-brainer” ingredient is beer!  Who can say “no” to beer?  Tom (Grandma’s husband) steams the ribs in beer for about 3 hours on the grill in a disposable roasting pan and then “paints” them directly on the grill just before serving.  The flavor the beer imparts depends on the beer you buy, but even the cheap stuff works — as Tom proved to us last weekend.  He called these his “no brainer” ribs because he gets to leave them all day long while he works on other projects around the house.

These ribs would be GREAT for a 4th of July (Independence Day, USA) celebration, a Labor day party or any occasion that calls for ribs.  Here’s what Tom did:

Ingredients (Feeds 4):

• 6 pounds of pork (or other) ribs
• 24 ounces of beer, cheap beer is fine
• 2 Disposable large roasting pans (like one you’d bake a turkey in)
• Grilling Sauce — homemade or store bought, it won’t matter!
• BBQ

Directions:

1. Thaw ribs if necessary, then rinse and cut into manageable pieces (2 or 3 ribs per section)
2. Place pieces curve side up in one roasting pan (so that each rib piece looks like a bridge) to prevent sticking
3. Pour beer over ribs and into the roasting pan
4. Place the other roasting pan on top of the ribs to create a covered area for the ribs to steam
5. Place the roasting pan on the grill and cook over the lowest heat your grill will do for about 3 hours.
6. Check the ribs after each hour to make sure the liquid has not all dissolved.  Add more beer if necessary.
7. Using a hot pad, remove the roasting pan from the grill and transfer each rib piece to the grill directly over a medium heat.
8. “Paint” the ribs with the sauce on each side, turning after about 2 or 3 minutes.
9. Serve to hungry crowd and watch as they disappear.

I hope you enjoy them!

Grandma’s Wheat Grass Cocktail

  » By Keith Prickett

June 30th, 2008 - Posted in Drink | Leave a comment (0)

We took a trip to Grandma and Tom’s cabin this weekend and had such a relaxing time.  I often think that my inspiration for cooking [and eating] comes from Grandma’s great food!  Every Christmas and Summer when I was a child my family would go over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s house.  Every morning there would be hearty oatmeal, fluffy pancakes, or homemade muffins baking in the oven.  We’d always sit around the table and have dinner as a family.  Grandma always (and still does) serves salad, bread, entree and at least two sides with every meal.  Needless to say I would have my fair share.  The food is always delicious and cooked with the experience only Grandma can serve up.

I’m going to write about ribs Tom (Grandma’s husband) cooked a little later but I wanted to share first about the wheat crass cocktail Grandma whipped up for me one day.  I saw a pile of wheat-grass growing (along with the rest of the HUGE garden they  have) and asked what it was for.  Grandma proceeded to show me, with great delight I tried the concotion and enjoyed the grassy flavor.  Pure wheat-grass juice was a bit too strong, but when she added apples, carrots and cucumber it brightened it up.  I’ll admit it looks a little radioactive but, I’ll assure you, it’s healthy!  Here’s what she did:

Ingredients:

• Juicer (She said you really needed a special one made for wheat-grass.)
• Two or three large handfuls of freshly cut wheat-grass
• 1/2 apple, sliced
• 1 whole carrot, sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to the juicer according to manufacturer’s instructions, pour into your cup, stir and ENJOY!

I hope you enjoy it!

Saturday (or Sunday) Morning Scramble

  » By Keith Prickett

June 28th, 2008 - Posted in Breakfast | Leave a comment (0)

Rachel and I always make a big breakfast (or brunch depending on how late we sleep in) on the weekends.  Some mornings it’s waffles with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream.  Other days I’ll come up with some topping or syrup to put on whole-meal pancakes.  We love to start the weekend with a large meal and it adds a fun tradition to our week.

This past week I wanted to use some cut potatoes Rachel brought from work a while back.  I made up a delicious, simple, and easy-to-make breakfast scramble with the potatoes and some extra stuff we had around the house.  You can serve this with some fresh cut fruit, like cantaloupe or an orange.  We had ours with some homemade whole wheat bread — YUM!  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients (Serves 2):

• Small dices of 2 potatoes (or look for a bag of frozen diced potato in your grocery store)
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 red bell pepper (I had just the right amount lying around)
• 1/4 green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup diced red (or other) onion
• Dash of fine sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1. Bake the potatoes in the oven on a cookie sheet lightly coated in olive oil on 400 degrees until they start to brown lightly (10 to 20 minutes)
2. In the meantime, heat up some olive oil in a skillet or frying pan on the stove over medium-low heat
3. Add the onion and cook until soft
4. Lightly whip up the eggs, salt, pepper, and cheese and add to the cooking onions
5. Scramble and stir all the ingredients as they cook on the pan to create a cheesy scrambled eggs.
6. Add the potatoes to the scramble and heat up for another minute.
7. Serve with fruit or whole-wheat toast and enjoy your day!

I hope you enjoy it!

Strawberry Cupcakes with Fluffy Chocolate Frosting

  » By Keith Prickett

June 24th, 2008 - Posted in Cupcakes, Dessert | Leave/read a comment (1)

“These are the best cupcakes I’ve ever had!”  Those were the words of my beautiful wife after devouring one of these cupcakes I just whipped up.  That says a lot.  I really value her opinion when I cook but I have to say these little delights are SO GOOD!

I started with Amy’s Strawberry cupcake recipe, modified it a little, then topped it off with a fluffy chocolate frosting recipe from recipe zaar.  I ran to the store, but forgot to grab the yogurt so I used some homemade applesauce I made a few days ago.  I also snuck in some whole-wheat flour once again with nothing but perfection as a result.  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients for Cupcake:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 6 ounces Homemade Applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (Remember I use King Arthur brand and have had trouble with other whole-wheat flours in my bread making)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• About 20 medium sized Stahlbush Island Farm’s Frozen Strawberries (thawed slightly) (Rachel brought them from work) cut into quarters.  I used large pieces of strawberries for the texture I desired.  I wanted big juicy pieces of strawberry in each cupcake.

Ingredients for Fluffy Chocolate Frosting

• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 6 tablespoons boiling water
• 1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions for Cupcake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Beat sugar and butter together until fluffy
3. Add your egg and applesauce and mix thoroughly
4.  Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add to your wet ingredients
5. Fold in strawberries
6. Place in lined cupcake baking tins (I made about 14, Amy says divide into 20)
7. Bake for 20 minutes or so, until toothpick comes out clean

Directions for Fluffy Chocolate Frosting:

1. Mix cocoa and boiling water thoroughly until a thick paste results
2. Beat in the butter until well combined
3. Mix in the sugar and vanilla
4. Blend until creamy and fluffy
5. Chill for at least 15 minutes before using as it starts out really runny!

Put it all together by spreading the frosting on each cupcake and topping with a half strawberry.

I hope you enjoy them!

Lemon Coriander Cookies

  » By Keith Prickett

June 23rd, 2008 - Posted in Cookies, Dessert | Leave a comment (0)

Elise and Garrett posted a recipe for making Orange Poppy Seed Cookies and I thought they sounded good and was about to make them when I read the end of the post.  Garrett mentioned that a “novel option” was to switch out the poppy seeds for some ground coriander and replace the orange with lemon.  I did just that!  The result was a happy mouth.  They weren’t as “savory” as I thought they might be, but they were good nonetheless.

I doubled his suggested coriander, but I think that caused too much of a salty flavor.  Next time I think I’ll just use 1 teaspoon as he suggests.  I love using lemon zest in recipes so naturally the strong lemon flavor was a selling point for me.  I got the wife’s approval on these too — we ate almost half of them right after they baked!!!!  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

Directions:

1. Beat the sugar and butter until fluffy
2. Add the egg and lemon zest
3. Mix in the flour, coriander, salt and baking soda just until combined
4. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 minutes (or just until it starts to turn golden around the bottom/edge.

I hope you enjoy them!

Kale Chips

  » By Keith Prickett

June 22nd, 2008 - Posted in Snacks | Leave a comment (0)

Keep reading!  You might see the title and not give this snack another glance, but they were surprisingly better than expected.  A co-worker and I were talking about how much lettuce and kale I have growing in my garden and what to do with it all.  She mentioned that she has baked her kale before and they are almost just like crunching into a chip.  I thought, “that sounds like a good idea,” so I gave it a try.  I went out to the garden and picked a bunch of my first kale.  I had been letting it grow because I was too lazy to look up what to do with it!

I ended up making two batches (actually three — I burned the first batch :-/) because I have SO much kale.  This allowed me to try different seasonings.  On the first batch I lightly sprinkled garlic powder to create a garlic kale chip.  On the second batch I wanted to try something spicy so I lit it up with Cayenne Pepper.  They were both so delicious and easy to make.  I would make these for guests as a snack and/or conversation starter!  Rachel thought it might be fun to serve this at a sushi night.  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 medium size kale leaves (use any kind of kale — I had a couple different varieties)
• Powdered seasoning (I used powdered garlic for one batch and cayanne pepper for the other — my co-worker mentioned trying curry powder).
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Rinse the kale then pat it completely dry
2. Pour a little olive oil in your (clean) hands and rub it over each kale leaf to lightly coat it
3. Spread out on a cookie sheet, do not overlap
4. Sprinkle your seasoning (or leave it plain) lightly over the kale
5. Bake on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 8 to 9 minutes, or just before it starts to turn brown.

Note: You want them green and crispy.  I learned the hard way that it begins to turn brown really fast after it completely dries out in the oven.  Touch it while it is still green after about 8 minutes, then check it every minute after that.  I even went as far as pulling the crispy ones out when they finished and letting the others continue to bake for another minute or so until done.  Burned kale chips are not that great.

I hope you like them!

Steamed Homemade Hot Chocolate with Real Whipped Cream

  » By Keith Prickett

June 20th, 2008 - Posted in Dessert, Drink | Leave a comment (0)

Heavenly!  Pretty much sums up this delicious cup up of rich, chocolatey goodness.  I have to admit, I am a coffee snob.  I like my coffee so I go to a lot of good coffee shops.  When I first saw someone order a hot chocolate at my favorite coffee shop downtown I was amazed to see them steam the milk and use REAL chocolate sauce.  To top it all off they put fresh whipped cream on top — something we didn’t have very often growing up.  I suppose it’s this attention to quality and freshness that makes Red Horse my favorite to begin with.  The point is, their hot chocolate amazed me!  I started noticing other coffee shops made it like that too and they were delicious!  Some still use the powder and water method which usually tastes either too watered down, not rich enough or slightly like tin.

Last night I felt the urge to have one of these hot chocolates.  Luckily Rachel bought me (us) an espresso machine for Christmas last year so I had everything I needed.  Most importantly, I had the steamer!  I made a cup for Rachel and I and we were truly in Heaven on Earth!  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients (per cup):

• 8 0z milk
• 2-3 tablespoons chocolate syrup (like Hershey’s)
• Fresh whipped cream (heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract)
• Dash of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Make the whipped cream (basically whisk heavy whipping cream with small amount of powdered sugar and vanilla extract in your mixer)
2. Prepare your steamer or espresso maker for steam
3. Steam milk and chocolate syrup together until the mixture reaches about 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  The mixture will about double in size with all the foam it creates so make sure to have a container big enough or do it in 8-oz batches like I did.
4. Pour the milk and chocolate mixture into your mug
5. Top with whipped cream
6. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and serve immediately.

For a holiday flare you can serve it with a candy cane, or anytime you can serve it with a chocolate stick (just like every drink at Red Horse!! YUM!)

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

  » By Keith Prickett

June 19th, 2008 - Posted in Dessert | Leave/read a comment (1)

Rachel was at it again.  This time she used her Stahlbush Strawberries (just now coming into season) and Rhubarb (which has already been cut once, but it’ll grow more for a cut later on in the season).  As I said before she really loves smittenkitchen.  She thinks I need to get a nice camera (as opposed to my cheap, point-and-shoot, digital camera) to take quality food shots.  I agree, but I don’t want to fork out the dough.

She used a recipe from the site for the pie and I have to say it turned out incredible!  Rachel spent a lot of time in the kitchen on this one.  Apparently the recipe originally comes from Bon Appetit, April 1997.  After the pie was done cooking we decided that next time we might leave out the shortening (and replace it with butter).  Other than that, like I said, it was great!  I really love the strawberries around here and rhubarb is really growing on me.  I wouldn’t have given rhubarb a second glance a few years ago.  Now we seem to be eating it all the time.  We sure have been eating good around here lately!  Here’s what we did:

Ingredients for Crust:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 10 tablespoons (about) ice water

Ingredients for filling:

• 3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (look for Stahlbush in your grocery health food section)
• 1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2cups) (look for Stahlbush in your grocery health food section — or get fresh if available!)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 larg egg yolk beaten (for glaze)

Directions:

• For Crust: Combine Flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor [or use a pastry cutter].
• Using a on/off pulse cut in the butter and shortening until a coarse meal forms.
• Blend in enough ice water a few tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps.
• Gather dough into ball, cut in half and flatten each half into a disk.
• Wrap in plastic separately and refrigerate until it is firm, about 1 hour.
• For Filling: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Combine first seven ingredients in a large bowl and toss to blend.
• For Pie: Roll out each dough disk to 13-inch round. (Rachel really liked using this pie crust maker and I saw it in action, it’s really awesome!
• Transfer to 9-inch pie dish.  Trim excess dough leaving a 3/4 inch overhang
• Roll out second dough in the same way.
• Cut it into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips.
• Pour filling into crust and arrange the 1/2-inch strips on top
• Seal the end.
• Brush the glaze over the crust and sprinkle with turbinado sugar (if you have it) for a nice touch.
• Bake the pie for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350, then bake until the the rhubarb is tender (about another 30 to 40 minutes)  If the crust starts to brown too much you can cover it lightly with tin-foil.

I hope you enjoy it!

Bread with Added Wheat Gluten [Update]

  » By Keith Prickett

June 18th, 2008 - Posted in Breads | Leave/read a comment (2)

I tried making bread with the 1/2 cup of wheat gluten added as suggested by a friend.  I mentioned it in my whole wheat bread recipe, but didn’t actually try it until now.  The result was a bread that, when sliced, looks and feels much more like what you can buy in the grocery store.  I think it’s too much like what you get in the store.  Next time I am going to try my recipe with 1/4 cup of wheat gluten instead of the 1/2 cup I added this time.  We can usually finish a loaf of bread in about a week, so it’ll take me that long before I bake another loaf.

This most recent bread also didn’t smell that great, again, I think it was the wheat gluten (it was the only thing I changed).  I did buy the wheat gluten a while back, so now I am wondering how long it lasts and how to store it.  I guess I have a few experiments to run before I update you on my bread status again.  This just proves once again that making great bread is a fine art.