Dessert: Easy Vanilla Frosting

You may not want to make this as it's own dessert. But every time I make cupcakes, I need a quick and easy vanilla frosting recipe. This is the one I go-to.

Vanilla Frosting on some chocolate cupcakes.

Ingredients:

4 cups Powdered Sugar

4 tablespoons Butter, softened

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

4-6 tablespoons of Whole Milk

food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. In your mixing bowl add the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla. Turn your mixer on medium low and slowly add your whole milk. Adding more milk if needed. Increase the speed to medium until fluffy.
2. For special occasions, tint the frosting with food color!

Other Notes:

• Makes about 2 cups

Polenta Bars

These are a great appetizer, side dish or entree. The photo is only was left after the first use. This is another recipe by Colleen Patrick Goudreau in The 30-Day Vegan Challenge.

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1 1/2 cups coarse cornmeal or polenta
1/4 cup nondairy milk (soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, hemp, oat)
1 teaspoon salt (may need more, add gradually)
2-3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. Add the water to a 4-quart saucepan, and heat to boiling.
2. When the water has boiled, slowly add the cornmeal, whisking frequently as you pour it in. If you don't whisk, it will clump up. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue stirring for about 5 minutes to allow the polenta to absorb the water and thicken up. Slowly add the nondairy milk, salt, and nutritional yeast, and stir until the liquid is absorbed and the polenta thickens, about 5-10 minutes.
3. Add the basil and parsley, stir for 1 more minute, and remove from heat.
4. Taste, and add additional salt, if necessary.
5. At this point, the polenta will be thick (and getting thicker.) Once you remove it from the heat, you serve it immediately, or, to form it into shapes, you will shapes using a cookie cutter, and set aside.
6. To let it set, pour it into a 9-by-13-inch glass or nonstick pan, and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight. When ready to serve, cut into squares or punch out other shapes using a cookie cutter, and set aside.
7. Heat the olive oil in the skillet on medium heat. Sear the polenta squares until golden on both sides and heated throughout. Serve with hot marinara sauce.

Other Notes:

• Variation: Instead of pan-frying the polenta, as long as it is nice and firm, it can also be grilled. Brush the squares first with olive oil, and grill until seared on both sides and heated throughout.

One Year!

Celebrating 1 year. 

 A year ago, I looked at all the food I was making and posting on facebook and all the comments I was getting. In the interest of posting recipes and sharing them efficiently, I opened this blog. My goal was to post 5 recipes a week. I've had some weeks where all five recipes were posted, but most weeks I have not. I have a few months where it's mostly desserts, and that's okay too. I've got recipes scheduled through the end of this September and I know I'll post more, albeit they will be sporadic.

As of 1 year, I have posted 99 recipes. These are all recipes that either were so good, they make it into our regular rotation of things we make or they were so special, we have to share them. I've had approximately 4000 pages views total. My post popular recipes were the Vanilla Extract and Sauteed Brussels Sprouts.

I have also decided to change up the look of the blog at a year. There are already posts scheduled through the end of October. We haven't covered every recipe in the home edition of the Recipe Codex, and we aren't done cooking over here, so there will definitely be more! Enjoy!

Breakfast: Robert Rodriguez' Sin City Breakfast Tacos

These aren't really breakfast for us. These go in the Breakfast for Dinner category. But they are very good.

Ingredients

We make them as burritos, not tacos.

Ingredients:

Tortilla
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup warm water, plus additional for dampening tea towel
bacon drippings (optional)

Tacos/Migas/Burritos
large potato, peeled and diced
large tomato
medium white onion, peeled and sliced
green jalapeno, minced
corn tortillas, 4 days old and sliced into strips
5-6 eggs, lightly beaten
corn oil
butter
salt and pepper

Directions:

Tortillas

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or your hands until well-mixed and a coarse, sandy texture is achieved. Add warm water and form into a dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is not sticky - it should be smooth and elastic. Make 8 to 10 balls and put these on a baking sheet. Dampen a tea towel with warm water, cover the dough and let rise for 20 minutes. 

Tacos/Migas/Burritos

1. Heat 2 tablespoons corn oil in a nonstick pan on medium heat. Fry the potatoes until soft but not crispy. Add salt and pepper. Scoop the potatoes to a plate lined with a paper towel. Heat 2 tablespoons corn oil in the same pan to fry the tomato, onion and jalapeno until the onion begins to soften. Put aside and keep warm.
2. In the same pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the corn tortilla strips until crispy. Put aside on a plate lined with a paper towel. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in same pan and lightly scramble the eggs.
3. Combine the tomato mixture, corn tortilla strips and eggs on a platter. Put aside and keep warm.
4. 
   
5. Shape the flour tortillas into thin round circles about 6 inches in diameter using a rolling pin. Heat a skillet over medium heat, adding bacon drippings if desired. Cook the tortillas until bubbles form and brown specks appear, about 1 minute. Flip and cook another minute. Keep tortillas warm, stacking them until ready to serve.
6. Divide the potato and egg mixture onto the flour tortillas. Fold in half or burrito-style. Serve and enjoy.

Other Notes:

• The original recipe can be found here.
• Tortillas make 8-10.

Dessert: Chocolate Cupcake Minis

This recipe came with the miniature cupcake/muffin pan we purchased. These were great bites! Because I had more batter than filled the mini pan, I also made some full size cupcakes, which worked just fine.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. Baking soda
2 tsp. Baking powder
¾ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. Salt
4 tbsp. Melted butter
¾ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
¾ tsp. Vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF / 175ºC.
2. Spray mini cupcake pan with baking spray (or line regular cupcake pan with paper liners.)
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cream; beat well. Fill the mini tins ¾ full (regular tins ½ full). Bake for 10-14 minutes for mini cakes and 15-17 minutes for regular size cakes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Top with your favorite frosting when cool.

Salad: Field Club's Strawberry Salad

My good friend Suzanne introduced me to this salad. It is a sweet, yummy, summer salad.

Ingredients:
1 pkg romaine
1 pkg spinach
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1 large container sliced strawberries
½ cup pine nuts or toasted slivered almonds, whichever you prefer
1-4 oz pkg crumbled feta cheese

Dressing:
½ cup honey
¼ tsp Worcester
¾ cup salad oil
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
¼ tsp paprika
1 tbsp diced green onions

Directions:
For dressing, place ingredients in a screw top jar and shake. Add to salad when you are ready to serve.

Other Notes:
I don't know how many this feeds, but it's a great salad to bring to a potluck.

Entree: Chicken Alfredo

Chicken Alfredo is not as difficult as it sounds. Ryan found this recipe at Cook's Illustrated, Best New Recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts, grilled and sliced

Alfredo Sauce

1⅔ cups heavy cream, preferably not ultrapasteurized
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt
1 recipe fresh egg pasta, cut into fettuccine (below)
2 ounces (1 cup) parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Ground black pepper
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Egg Noodles

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
3 eggs

Directions:

Alfredo Sauce

1. Bring 4 quarters water to a rolling boil in a large pot.
2. Combine 1⅓ cups of the cream and the butter in a sauté pan large enough to accommodate the cooked pasta. Heat over low heat until the butter is melted and the cream comes to a bare simmer. Turn off the heat and set aside.
3. When the water comes to a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to the boiling water and stir to separate the noodles. Cook until almost al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauté pan. Add the remaining ⅓ cup cream, the parmesan, ½ teaspoon salt, pepper to taste, and the nutmeg. Cook over very low heat until the sauce is slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve the fettuccine immediately in heated pasta bowls.

Egg Noodles

1. Measure out the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Use a fork to break up the eggs slightly. Use a rubber spatula to mix the eggs into the flour until the dough is smooth. If it’s sticky, knead in more flour. If it’s too dry to mix in all the flour, knead in water ½ teaspoon at a time until the dough comes together.
2. Divide the dough into 6 portions. Spread dry kitchen towels under the pasta roller and over the counter. Set the pasta machine at its widest opening. Working with one portion of dough at a time and keeping the others covered, roll the dough through the pasta roller. Fold it in thirds like a letter and roll it through the wide setting again. Repeat four more times, adding flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the machine.

Notes:

• Sub gluten-free noodles