Gooey Butter Cake

Cake:
1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.

Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares. Just remember that these wonderful little cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way-even for piggies like me!

I'm not sure where this recipe comes from but it's a favorite in my family. I recently had my sister send the recipe to me and I made it myself for the first time. I even left in the piggy comment at the end, which probably originates with one of my aunts. It's more of a snack bar than a cake. Even though it's rich and sweet, we sometimes have it as a breakfast pastry. It probably works better as a dessert, though, for most people.

Orange Honey Cupcakes

Original Recipe from:
Greetings from the Knit Cafe
By: Suzan Mischer
Recipe by:Julie Stark

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of oatmeal (stove top, not instant)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
2/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
zest from the orange
1/4 cup of honey
5 1/2 tablespoons butter melted

Icing:
1-1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
bit of zest from the orange
tablespoon of orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin pan or line with papers.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and stir with a fork. Add in the juice, zest, honey, eggs, and butter. Continue mixing batter until all ingredients are well integrated into the batter. Fill each cup of the muffin tin with batter till 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or light golden.

To make icing:
Combine 1 cup of powdered sugar, zest, and juice until a smooth glaze. If too wet, add more sugar. If too dry, add a very small amount of juice or water. Once the glaze is a smooth spreadable consistency, drizzle over the muffins while still warm and hurry up and eat!!!

Story:
My mom bought this knitting book for me as a Christmas present. I love the projects, suggestions and recipes. Hmmmmmm......What will your next present be? These muffins/cupcakes are really good, but I like pretending that I'm being healthy by using whole wheat pastry flour instead of the all-purpose. It gives the muffins more texture and better color, but that is merely my opinion, not fact. If you prefer, just use two cups of all-purpose. Be warned even sticking these treats in the freezer didn't stop me from eating them! Though they really do taste better when not frozen.

Dominik's Austrian Potato Salad

This is a very simple recipe and I LOVE it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

1 kg potatoes
1 - 2 onions
3 - 4 tablespoons oil
2 - 3 tablespoons vinegar
salt
pepper
Water
cook the potatoes for about 20 minutes, pour cold water over them, peel
them, cut them in slices.
Mix all the other ingredients in the meantime.
Drop all potato slices into the marinade and give it a rest time in the
fridge.
Taste it.
If you feel that it's too much vinegar, add some sugar, if it's not a
little spicy add more salt and pepper, but that’s always a question of
personal preference.

Story:
This recipe was given to me by my friend, Dominik, who was an exchange student from Austria and practiced with the Illini Judo club. He was always cooking something at judo gatherings and this is the potato salad he made at the last gathering of the year. Usually not a fan of potato salad because of the mayonnaise, this salad is perfect! Thanks Dominik! XXX

Chicken Korma

Chicken Korma
Ingredients
1) 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2) 1 onion (chopped)
3) 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
4) ½ teaspoon julienned ginger (I use ground)
5) 1 teaspoon salt
6) 1 teaspoon turmeric
7) 1 teaspoon ground cumin
8) 1 pound chicken (cooked)
9) 1 cup water
10) 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala (or to taste)
11) ¼ pint heavy whipping cream
12) Finely chopped coriander

Directions
Step 1: Heat oil in a large deep frying pan adding chopped onions and fry for 4 to 5 minutes on a medium heat until onions are slightly brown.

Step 2: Add garlic and ginger and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.

Step 3: Add salt, turmeric, and cumin. Turn up the heat and cook for an additional 1 minute. It is crucial that the spices are well mixed in the pan with the chicken at this point to ensure that the chicken cooks with texture and flavor.

Step 4: Add chicken.

Step 5: After the chicken has been well mixed with the spices add water to mixture.

Step 6: Turn down heat slightly then add garam masala, and the cream and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Step 7: Sprinkle top with Corriander if desired

Sean’s note: I find that the sauce is a little thin so I add some flour to the water to help thicken it up a little.

Bola (Rum Punch Party Time Drink)

Mix 1/4 kg sugar and 1.5l of water; bring to boil so that sugar dissolves, let it cool down a bit. Pour the mixture in a big, stylish looking bowl. Squeeze in juice of 4 oranges and 4 lemons. Add 1/2 l of rum.

Put the bowl into the freezer and let it cool down completely. Add more sugar if needed, along with generous amounts of vanilla sugar, clove, nutmeg and other assorted spices and exotic fruits you happen to have handy.

Use a big laddle to serve bola in party cups... A good party will require more than one bowl of bola!

Armadillo Eggs

Since I'm currently visiting Texas, I figured I'd make my first post about a recipe I picked up on one of my other Texas visits. I guess I didn't actually get a recipe, I just ate a few and replicated it but it's a simple dish.

Here's what you'll need:
large jalapeño peppers
ground beef
cream cheese
shredded cheese
spices

The ground beef can have whatever amount of fat you prefer but the higher percentage, the less likely they'll fall apart, just like hamburgers.
For the shredded cheese, I usually just use cheddar but I have been known to use Mexican or other mixtures.


Cut the tops off the peppers and cut them in half lengthwise. Cut out the seeds and other junk.
Scoop out some cream cheese into a cup and add an equal amount of the shredded cheese. Mix it well. If I had any idea how much to make, I'd happily tell you but I just eye everything. The idea is to fill the halved peppers with the cheese mixture.
Season the ground beef with whatever spices suit your fancy. I use Cajun seasoning (i.e. Tony Chachere's, of course, I use that in almost everything I cook), some garlic salt, and sometimes chili powder. Mix the seasoning in evenly. If you're not sure of the seasoning, taste it. People are much too scared of uncooked meat; that is what tartar and sushi are.
After you've filled the pepper halves with the cheese mixture, take a handful of beef, flatten it out pretty thin, place the stuffed pepper half on top of the beef patty, and wrap the beef around the pepper half. Make sure the pepper is completely encased in the beef and the seams are well squished together to prevent splitting when cooking.
Once you've created all the armadillo eggs, grill them however you typically grill things. I've broiled them in my toaster oven and grilled them over charcoal.

I think that's about it. As I post more, you'll come to realize that I don't believe much in actual recipes or measuring. Cooking is more fun that way, it's all about experimenting and exploring. Cook fun stuff and have fun cooking.

7-Layer Taco Dip

OK, if brands are mentioned, they matter. In a 9x13, prepare the following 7 layers:

1. 2 cans Frito Lay bean dip
2. 1 part mayonnaise vs. 2 parts sour cream and 80% of a packet of Ortega seasoning
3. 2 freshly sliced avocados or guacamole
4. chopped black olives (1-2 small cans to taste)
5. diced/chopped green chilis (1-2 small cans to taste)
6. scallions - enough to sprinkle
7. Sharp cheddar (shredded)
8. diced roma tomoatoes

I know... there are 8 layers... GET OVER IT!

Quickie Salsa!

2 beefsteak tomatoes (if you want to use roma or any other type of tomato…that’s fine, too)

1 small bunch of cilantro

1 small white onion

1 jalapeno pepper

Juice from half a lemon

Pepper and Salt to taste

A little warning: When handling any type of hot pepper be extremely careful. The oils will stick to your hands so make sure not to touch your face or eyes before washing thoroughly with soap and water.

Depending on preference, dice one of the tomatoes to size. (ex: I am not particularly fond of chunky salsa so my tomatoes were diced rather small). In a blender, place the other tomato, lemon juice, cilantro and jalapeno pepper, blend to a desired consistency. Place the diced tomatoes and blended ingredients into a bowl, grate half of the white onion, dice the other and add into the mixture, salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Story:

Our kitchen at home is always stocked full of random ingredients and my mum and I are usually trying to make something out of all the fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs that we haven’t used for the week. This salsa idea came from wanting to use up a bulk of cilantro. After making it, I put it over some leftover salmon from the day before and BAM! Super salmon leftovers I would have taken a picture of it…but I was kinda hungry and ate it before the thought crossed my mind and my family liked it so, I almost didn't have enough for a picture at all! So instead, we have salsa over quesadillas with sour cream and sprigs of chives.

Jarrod’s Japanese style hamburgers.

Original recipe from:
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/beef/r/jahamburger.htm

My adaptation:

1 pound of ground beef
¼ of a cup of scallions or two healthy stalks worth
1 egg
¼ cup of milk
1 cup honey panko crumbs
Pepper (for seasoning)
3 tbsp Ketchup
1 ½ tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tbsp of shoyu (soy sauce)
1 heaping tbsp of freshly graded ginger

Preparation:

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl (original recipe uses the ketchup and worchestershire at the end to make a glaze but I kinda missed that and mixed it in…I like it mixed in, instead) and kneed well with your hands. (If you prefer not to use your hands, go ahead and use a fork.) Divide the meat and roll into balls, flattening them out just as you place them in the pan. The recipe says it makes four patties but when I made it, they came out HUGE! So, use your best judgment. Because the recipe has a lot of ingredients with sugar and I chose 98% lean beef, the burgers wanted to stick to the pan. An alternative to using a lot of oil would be to place it on the grill.

Garnish:

My friend Jarrod, who the recipe is credited to, isn’t particularly fond of tomatoes and thus I never serve this burger with them. Instead, I found that lettuce, a few thin slices of red onion, and thinly cut cucumbers, served on a hearty bun makes an awesome meal. I hope you enjoy!

Story:

In college, the judo club I worked out with loved socials. Every time they could find a reason to get together, they did. At one of the last BBQ’s of my senior year, Jarrod made these awesome burgers. They were so good, I ate two! (an enormous feat, I tell you…but they were sooooo good!) I love making these burgers because they remind me of all the good times and wonderful people I met and became close too. If your making this for a social event like a BBQ, the honorary way of serving this is with a good bottle/can of beer (for some…maybe two. Tehe! ^.~) Personally, I like it with a nice cool glass of mugicha. (this is an unsweetened ice tea made from roasted barley) Its’ absolutely delicious.

Honey Peach Ice Cream

It's the first recipe posting! Yay! Ah, anyway...here it is my first ice cream of the summer.

Honey Peach Ice Cream
recipe from:
A Well Seasoned Appetite
by Molly O'Neill

5 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup of sugar
1 cup of milk
1 cup of heavy cream
1/3 cup of honey

(my suggestions: I over did it on the peaches. We had a bunch so I went all out and probably put in about 7 or 8...I just love peaches! Also, I used skim milk because that was all we had at the time but I really think whole or 2% would make the ice cream better. With skim little ice crystals form, but it was just an experiment to see what would happen)

Put the peaches and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a food processor. Process until smooth. (this makes an awesome puree, so try not to sample it too much ^.^) Whisk together the milk, cream, remaining sugar, and honey in a large bowl. Whisk in the puree. Refrigerate until cold. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions.

Makes about 4 cups.

If you don't have an ice cream machine:
As a little kid my sis and I always tried to make ice cream but we had no machine so, we tried to be all pioneer like Felicity or Laura Ingalls and make it on our own. Here is one of the more successful attempts:
Take two different sized coffee tins, one large and one small also, saving the lids. Stick them in the freezer till your ready to make the ice cream. Place the smaller tin inside the larger one, fill the space between the two tins with ice and sprinkle salt over the ice. Pour the ice cream in a large ziplock bag and put the bag in the smaller tin put the cover on the smaller tin, then the larger one. Now, here's where the manual labor comes in...roll the tin gently for about ten minutes ....Yes, I said roll. On a floor or table what have you..if you have a buddy you can make a game of rolling it to eachother. in about ten minutes you should have a VERY soft ice cream. you can stick it in the freezer for a bit and roll again trying to make it a better consistency or you can do what my sister and I did...give up and eat it!

So, here's the story about this recipe. My mom and I have a little ritual when our local library has it's book sale. We pick a genre the night before, pack these giant bags, and first thing in the morning we set off to wait in line with a bunch of early rising bargain hunters. While my mom sets out looking for her books, I usually dash to find my two favorite genres; cooking and history/anthropology. Last July, I managed to pick up this recipe book along with an awesome traditional Japanese cookbook. A cheap thrill at only a dollar for the two! Anyway, I hope you get the chance to try this one out, its mm-mmm delicious!