Oh, we have had many meals since my last post and I have many new recipes to post. First, I have to study for Calculus and Statistics.
However, I have to tell quickly of the best meal I have had in a while. Last night we had a Totino's frozen pepperoni pizza with garlic, parmesan spaghetti. This was a meal that I have had many times at my grandmother's house (she is a better cook than this, but we were kids). This time dear husband made it while I was in the shower. I preheated the oven and boiled the water. Just before I hopped (carefully) in the shower I threw the pizza in the oven and the spaghetti in the water. I showered so quickly because I needed to "dress" the spaghetti. As I was rinsing off dear husband asked "When the timer goes off, is the pizza done? What about the spaghetti?" Perfect timing. If I towled off really quickly DH would just be done draining the pasta.
What is this? As I entered the kitchen DH was putting away the parmesan. Oh joy! He knew what I had planned and he did it. I was so excited and declared my love. "I did it becuase this is how I like it," he replied. That may be true, but I didn't have to do it. He sliced the pizza, plated the pasta and even handed me a napkin. What a man. What a terrific meal.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Stephen's Pie and Chocolate sheet cake.
This weekend I wanted cake; I just woke up knowing I wanted one. I'm fat and I want a lot of things, but I haven't wanted cake in a while. Out of a box wouldn't do and I didn't want to have to buy $20 worth of ingredients so I went with a Drake family standard, Chocolate Sheet Cake.
Here is the recipe.
Chocolate Sheet Cake -preheat oven to 375
2 c flour
2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 sticks butter
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 eggs (whisked and room temp)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sift together flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer.
Just bring to a boil the water, butter, and cocoa powder. As soon as you see boiling bubbles add the mixture to your dry ingredients.
Slowly pour, but quickly incorporate the eggs. Pouring too much or incorporating too slowly will produce cooked egg bits in the cake. Finally, add the remaining ingredients.
Pour the batter into a greased jelly roll pan (will lead to sensible serving sizes, provided you don't eat a quarter of the pan) or pour into a greased sheet pan (will lead to taller cake with deeper fudge icing - yum). Bake about 20 minutes . . . you know the drill.
Fudge Icing
- start this about 10 minutes after the cake comes out of the oven. In this case you want the warmth of the cake to help distribute the frosting.
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
6 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 box powdered sugar
1 big spoonful of peanut butter.
Just bring to a boil the cocoa powder, milk, and butter. Pour the mixture into a bowl and slowly incorporate the powdered sugar. Icing should have the consistancy of fudge, just before it is fudge. If the icing looks too thin, add a heaping spoonful of peanut butter. This will more than likely fix the problem without having to add more powdered sugar, although sometimes you will have to. Pour the warm frosting over the warm cake and spread. Let the cake cool and serve with HUGE glass of milk.
Now, onto the precooked meals portion. What to do about dinner now, so I can sleep later?
Stephen's Pie. This is an Americanized (butchered) version of Shephard's pie. Dear Husband begged me to make it and I never would because DH's exbitch wife use to make it. Well, after trying a few traditional recipes, I have come up with one we really like. we aren't fond of a heavy herby flavor, but omitting the herbs leaves it bland. I use about a 1/4 teaspoon of each herb. This isn't gourmet, this is good food, fast. The recipe makes 2 pies, cook one and freeze the other one sans potato topping.
Stephen's Pie - serve with a great green salad.
2 frozen pie shells
1 1/2 lb grd sirloin
herbs - srinkle of thyme, rosemary, sage
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons flour
2 celery stalks
chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter
1 carrot
1 c frozen peas
1 c frozen corn
1 package instant potatoes
1/2 cup shredded cheese
salt
pepper
Dock the bottom of the pie shells and bake at recommended temp. Don't thaw the shells as the package might say, because then you'll need to add pie weights. Simply remove from freezer, dock the bottoms, and bake for about 12 minutes.
1. Mince the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. You can omit carrot from the dice if you can find a frozen pea and carrot mix. I like the fresh carrot and always have baby carrots on hand.
2. Brown the grd sirloin with salt and pepper. Towards the end add your herbs. Once the beef is brown, remove from skillet and pour off any liquid. Add the frozen vegetables to the warm beef and set aside.
3. Start the instant potatoes and cook according to package instructions.
4. Add the butter, diced vegetables (except garlic) and salt and pepper to the skillet and sweat about 5-8 minutes.
5. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
6. Stir in the 2 tablespoons flour to coat the vegetables and cook until nutty.
7. Slowly pour in enough chicken stock to make a small amount of sauce/gravy. You don't want too much liquid, just enough to coat everything.
8. Add the meat back to the skillet, stir and then divide the mixture between the two prebaked pie shells.
9. Top one pie with the mashed potatoes and bake at 350-400 for about 25 minutes to get a little brown on the potato. After 25 minutes, top with whatever shredded cheese you like ( I use 2% Cheddar) and bake until cheese is melted. Serve.
I freeze the second pie in a zip lock bag without the potato topping (potato doesn't freeze well) for a week or two. When you're ready to serve, make the instant mashed potatoes, top frozen pie and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 15 minutes more. This way, you have a nice main course with no work. And the preperation of the second pie, from freezer to oven, is so easy, DH can do it.
Here is the recipe.
Chocolate Sheet Cake -preheat oven to 375
2 c flour
2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 sticks butter
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 eggs (whisked and room temp)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sift together flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer.
Just bring to a boil the water, butter, and cocoa powder. As soon as you see boiling bubbles add the mixture to your dry ingredients.
Slowly pour, but quickly incorporate the eggs. Pouring too much or incorporating too slowly will produce cooked egg bits in the cake. Finally, add the remaining ingredients.
Pour the batter into a greased jelly roll pan (will lead to sensible serving sizes, provided you don't eat a quarter of the pan) or pour into a greased sheet pan (will lead to taller cake with deeper fudge icing - yum). Bake about 20 minutes . . . you know the drill.
Fudge Icing
- start this about 10 minutes after the cake comes out of the oven. In this case you want the warmth of the cake to help distribute the frosting.
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
6 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 box powdered sugar
1 big spoonful of peanut butter.
Just bring to a boil the cocoa powder, milk, and butter. Pour the mixture into a bowl and slowly incorporate the powdered sugar. Icing should have the consistancy of fudge, just before it is fudge. If the icing looks too thin, add a heaping spoonful of peanut butter. This will more than likely fix the problem without having to add more powdered sugar, although sometimes you will have to. Pour the warm frosting over the warm cake and spread. Let the cake cool and serve with HUGE glass of milk.
Now, onto the precooked meals portion. What to do about dinner now, so I can sleep later?
Stephen's Pie. This is an Americanized (butchered) version of Shephard's pie. Dear Husband begged me to make it and I never would because DH's ex
Stephen's Pie - serve with a great green salad.
2 frozen pie shells
1 1/2 lb grd sirloin
herbs - srinkle of thyme, rosemary, sage
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons flour
2 celery stalks
chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter
1 carrot
1 c frozen peas
1 c frozen corn
1 package instant potatoes
1/2 cup shredded cheese
salt
pepper
Dock the bottom of the pie shells and bake at recommended temp. Don't thaw the shells as the package might say, because then you'll need to add pie weights. Simply remove from freezer, dock the bottoms, and bake for about 12 minutes.
1. Mince the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. You can omit carrot from the dice if you can find a frozen pea and carrot mix. I like the fresh carrot and always have baby carrots on hand.
2. Brown the grd sirloin with salt and pepper. Towards the end add your herbs. Once the beef is brown, remove from skillet and pour off any liquid. Add the frozen vegetables to the warm beef and set aside.
3. Start the instant potatoes and cook according to package instructions.
4. Add the butter, diced vegetables (except garlic) and salt and pepper to the skillet and sweat about 5-8 minutes.
5. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
6. Stir in the 2 tablespoons flour to coat the vegetables and cook until nutty.
7. Slowly pour in enough chicken stock to make a small amount of sauce/gravy. You don't want too much liquid, just enough to coat everything.
8. Add the meat back to the skillet, stir and then divide the mixture between the two prebaked pie shells.
9. Top one pie with the mashed potatoes and bake at 350-400 for about 25 minutes to get a little brown on the potato. After 25 minutes, top with whatever shredded cheese you like ( I use 2% Cheddar) and bake until cheese is melted. Serve.
I freeze the second pie in a zip lock bag without the potato topping (potato doesn't freeze well) for a week or two. When you're ready to serve, make the instant mashed potatoes, top frozen pie and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 15 minutes more. This way, you have a nice main course with no work. And the preperation of the second pie, from freezer to oven, is so easy, DH can do it.
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