The end of summer and then some…

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Little Silas started first grade today, newly 13 year old Vincent will start 8th grade tomorrow.  I don’t know where our summer went, but all of a sudden the mornings feel like fall, school has begun, and it’s September.

I don’t have some kick-ass recipe to post tonight.  It’s not that I haven’t been cooking, so much as keeping up with everything else all at once, too… For instance, in-between mountains of laundry comes mountains of dishes, two very active kids to keep up with, and various thrown-together meals and snacks.  Lots of times I forget to take pictures of what we’ve eaten, simply because it’s gone before I think about it!

There are moments I’m not sure what I do with my time, but it’s obviously passing.  It got to be about 11 o’clock last night, when I noticed a big red, raw, hot spot on our 8-year-old german shepherd’s back/butt.  I found myself spending the following hour clipping/shaving her, cleaning the wound, and attempting to bandage such a strange location.  Who knew I’d become so well-rounded in my capabilities and responsibilities?!  I don’t suggest attempting to wrap a big, long, bandage around your 100+ pound dog’s butt-region.  It’s quite tricky.  She didn’t seem to mind too much, though.  And in fact has followed me quite closely since.  I’ll take it as a compliment, hah!

Today’s meals have been scattered, unplanned, and almost tricky like last night’s task!  (Well, maybe not.) Homemade pumpkin spice latte this morning.  A peach, nectarine, and yogurt this afternoon.  Spinach lasagne with a salad tonight at the Co-op deli. Strawberry peach smoothie later this evening. Then the mister and I decided we were still hungry around 10. And 10:30. And 11. So, chocolate chip coconut pancakes with peanut butter also became necessary.

I am feeling like the gym and a huge green, green, salad are in my near future.  After sleep, of course.  And some good recipe’s a’coming… soon. 

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Maple Honey Granola

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

If you’ve never made your own granola, I suggest you do. Homemade granola has been on my list of things to attempt making for a number of months. As well as my list of things I spend too much money on, fully knowing that homemade can be cheaper and equally as tasty.

I’m excited to experiment with other ingredients and flavors. This came out surprisingly well for a first time attempt! I tried to incorporate some chai spice flavors and the result was just that – slightly spicy with a definite hint of ginger.

Maple Honey Granola

Ingredients:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT the quick cooking kind!)
½ cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup  roasted sunflower seeds
1/3 cup chopped cashews
1/3 cup dried cranberries
¼ cup dried blueberries
¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup oil (coconut, light olive, or sunflower)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
½ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. water
1½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. dried ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a large baking sheet (or two, if you prefer) with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, and cashews.

Toss together to combine, then add the cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and black pepper. Mix well.

In a medium-sized pot, combine the oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, and water. Stir constantly over medium-high heat, until all the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar dissolves, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour the maple mixture into the bowl of oats. Stir until all the oats are covered in the sugar mixture.

Spread the oats evenly onto your prepared baking sheet(s). Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Remove the oats from the oven. Mix the blueberries, cranberries, and coconut into the mixture. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Cool completely before storing the granola.

Makes about 8 cups.

Serve with milk, over yogurt, or on ice cream.

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Tamale Casserole, Part Deux

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

As said before, I am an infamous flop cake maker. Yesterday proved no different. I got really excited about trying a new lemon cake recipe with a blackberry cream cheese frosting, in order to use up some lemons and very ripe blackberries. Unfortunately, the cake more or less turned into a giant doughnut, so I didn’t bother making the frosting. The taste was delicious, but by the looks of it, I’m not sure who else would bother trying it to find out!

So I disregarded the cake failure and moved on to making dinner. I made a tamale casserole a few months ago that didn’t go over so well with the kids, nor myself. I used masa for the crust last time, which ended up more sticky than preferred. This time around, I decided to try a cornmeal crust, so it would be closer to cornbread than tamale dough in consistency, but keep the corn taste so familiar with tamales.

The outcome wasn’t quite what I expected. Rather than cornbread-consistency, the “crust” more closely resembled polenta. Definitely no stickiness, but not exactly bread-like. Regardless, Craig said it was his favorite food ever. 12½ year old Vincent said he liked it a lot, too. 6 year old Silas ate the top layer of cheese, then attempted to pick out the black beans and corn, skipping the cornmeal-stuff around it.

Turns out the tamale casserole made good lunch leftovers today, too. At least for three of us. ;)

Tamale Casserole with Cornmeal, Black Beans, and Corn

Ingredients:

For the filling:
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ a medium yellow onion, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ – 1 small jalapeño, diced
2 cups cooked black beans
1½ cups sweet corn (fresh or frozen)
1- 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
½ cup grated mozzarella
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. granulated garlic
¼ tsp. smoked paprika

For the topping:
2¼ cups water
1 cup milk
½ cup buttermilk
1½ cups cornmeal
1- 4 oz. can chopped green chilies, drained
2 tbsp. cane sugar
¾ tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
½ cup shredded mozzarella

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Lightly oil the sides (excluding the bottom) of a 9×13” baking dish.

Prepare the filling, first by heating the oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeño until the onion’s transluscent and the other three ingredients have softened. Mix in the beans, corn, and diced tomatoes. Add in the chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and paprika, stirring well to incorporate.

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish, spreading it out evenly. Sprinkle the one cup of cheddar and half-cup of mozzarella over the top. Set aside.

Prepare the topping, beginning by heating the water and milk over medium-high heat in a large pot. When just below boiling, add in the cornmeal. Whisk constantly until the mixture becomes extremely thick and starts pulling away from the sides of the pot. This takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.

Once the mixture begins pulling from the sides, remove from the heat. Whisk in the sugar, chilies, salt, baking powder, and egg until everything is well incorporated.

Spread the cornmeal mixture over the top of the bean mixture, getting it as even as possible. Top with the remaining one cup of cheddar and half-cup of mozzarella.

Bake for 50 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle of the casserole should come out clean.

Allow the casserole to stand at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

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Fusilli with Spicy Tomato Garlic Basil Sauce, Soyrizo, and Tempeh “Chicken”

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I think I could easily eat pasta once a day. Unfortunately, Craig probably isn’t too keen on that idea. I’ve learned that if I tell him I’m making some kind of pasta, he doesn’t usually think that’s a tasty-sounding, appetizing, meal idea. So! I don’t say a word when I start cooking up some pasta-related dinner. I just start cooking. Only because 99% of the time, he loves the outcome (or says he does, haha). So that’s how this recipe came into being last night… Dun-dun-dunnnnn!

There’s a bar/restaurant in town The Mister used to play music at weekly. We’d have dinner there and nearly every week I’d order the same thing: a pasta dish with a basic ingredient list of any pasta on hand, fresh basil, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, lots of garlic, cream, red chili flakes, chorizo or andouille sausage, chicken, and prawns. Some nights it was absolutely dynamite. Many other times it was so-so. On occasion I wished I had simply cooked something at home. It got to the point where I could tell who was working in the kitchen, simply based on the deliciousness of my pasta. I started playing with various ingredients and recipes at home, trying to get close to how the dish was prepared on nights I finished every bite. I’ve gotten my own recipe down to my liking — minus the chicken, sausage, and prawns, as I don’t cook meat (aside from seafood) at home.

Last night I decided to try an alternative version, using Soyrizo I had in the fridge and tempeh in place of chicken. I was pleasantly surprised and really liked the outcome! Craig did, too–I think the tempeh was his favorite part. For someone who has taken a number of years to really enjoy eating tempeh, I think it was one of my favorite parts, too…

Fusilli with Spicy Tomato Garlic Basil Sauce, Soyrizo, and Tempeh “Chicken”

Ingredients:

½ pound fusilli
7 oz. Soyrizo (1 El Burrito link, cut in rounds)** see note
2 oz. tempeh, cut into small cubes
14.5 oz. can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
½ cup fresh basil, chopped
5–7 cloves of garlic, minced fine
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (not shredded)
2 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
½ – 1 tsp. red chili pepper flakes
½ tsp. granulated garlic
¼ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. dried sage
sea salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper (lots- but to your own taste)
olive oil

Directions:

First of all, heat a medium sized cast iron pan over high heat. If using a nonstick/steel pan, heat a small amount of oil over high heat. Add the Soyrizo rounds and cook until nicely browned. Flip over and brown the other side. Transfer the browned Soyrizo to plate and set aside.

Place the tempeh in a small pot and fill with enough water to cover the cubes by about ½ an inch. Bring to a low boil for about 10 minutes. Strain and set aside.

Heat about 1 – 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium – high heat. Add the tempeh. Sprinkle in the poultry seasoning, granulated garlic, dried thyme, sage, some salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Allow the tempeh to turn a golden brown on each side. Drain the cubes on paper towels and set aside.

Begin cooking the fusilli pasta according to the package’s directions.

While the pasta is cooking, bring about 2 tbsp. olive oil to medium – high heat in a skillet. (I used the same pan I cooked the Soyrizo in.) Add in the garlic and chili pepper flakes. Stir constantly for about 1 minute, making sure not to burn the garlic. Stir in about half of the basil and all of the tomatoes. Stir and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan cheese, until completely incorporated. If the sauce is too thick, add in a little bit of the water you cooked the pasta in.

Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to your desire. Gently stir in the Soyrizo. Fold in the cooked (and drained) pasta and remaining basil. Gently fold in the tempeh. Turn the heat up to high for about 1 minute, stirring the pasta to coat.

Serve immediately.

Serves 2 people very generously, or 3–4 people.

** It’s likely that when cutting the Soyrizo, it’ll either 1. mash up into a lumpy red pile 2. fall apart completely or 3. basically not turn out how you want, while trying to cut it into nice round shapes. This is okay! Cut it into rounds about ¼” thick – if it does any of the above three things, just re-shape it with your fingers. It’s pretty forgiving. (:

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Curried Tempeh Salad

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Curry yesterday, curried today? Hmmm… You may think I am on a curry-kick. Perhaps you’d be correct! This tempeh salad is easy and tasty. It’s also filling (a major plus in a house full of growing boys!). Craig loves it. I was super surprised when 6-year-old Silas took a big bite, then gave me a squeeze and said, “YUMMMMM! Thank you Julie for making such a good tasting thing! Eh… what is it, though?”

You can serve it in a sandwich, alone, in a green salad, with crackers, with baguette slices, for lunch, for dinner. It’s good cold and it’s good warm. Easy.

Ingredients:

1- 8 oz. package tempeh (I like multi-grain, but use whatever you want)
1–2 celery stalks, diced small
¼ cup red onion, diced small
1 cup red grapes, halved or quartered
½ cup slivered almonds (I prefer raw, rather than roasted in this recipe)
½ cup Vegenaise (mayonnaise if you prefer)
1½ tbsp. curry powder
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a small pot, boil the tempeh for 8–10 minutes, until it’s very tender. Drain and cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine the Vegenaise, curry powder, apple cider vinegar, and mustards. Whisk thoroughly, making sure the curry powder isn’t lumpy.

In another bowl, crumble up the cooled tempeh. Add in the celery, red onion, grapes, and almonds. Toss together.

Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ones. Mix until well incorporated. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve when cold.

Posted in Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Vegan | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Thai Green Curry with Salmon and Vegetables

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I admit: I totally just ate half a box of Annie’s Homegrown Mac & Cheese. Some days are like that. Prior to my mac-in-the-box, I had some delicious Bison Organic Chocolate Stout beer. This may have influenced my decision for such a dinner. I did embellish it a little, with grated Tillamook cheddar, some ground mustard, brewer’s yeast, fresh ground pepper, onion powder, and then a panko-parmesan crumb top. It was peculiarly tasty. :)

Back to this particular post, though… The following recipe is what I cooked up for the mister and I last night. We had a really good green curry in Jantzen Beach the other week, at a tiny hole-in-the-wall place called Top Thai Kitchen. I decided then that I’d attempt making some kind of curry at home. I’d only done it once before and even then I cheated and used a store-bought curry simmer sauce. Which, by the way, was bland and blah-tasting! Fresh ingredients make everything a million times better (and fun to eat!).

The following recipe took a little bit of time, but was quite worth it. You can use different vegetables to your preference and substitute tofu or chicken, or simply more vegetables if you want. This makes enough for one large curry (we each had a good sized bowl and there was still some left over).

For the Curry Paste:

Ingredients:

2 stalks lemongrass, minced
2–3 green chilies, sliced (thai chilies or jalapeños) use less chilies, without the seeds, for milder flavor
1 shallot, sliced
5–6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1- 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
½ cup fresh cilantro (including stems), chopped
¾ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
¾ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground pepper
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice
¼ cup coconut milk (reserve the rest of the 14-oz. can for the curry)

Directions:

In a food processor fitted with the large chopping blade, or high-powered blender, blend all of the above ingredients until a smooth paste forms (5-or so minutes). Makes about 1 cup of green curry paste. **Note: In the third photo above, the “paste” is not done. It was blended for an additional 4 minutes after this was taken.


For the Green Curry with Salmon and Vegetables

Ingredients:

All of the green curry paste from previous recipe
1 tbsp. olive oil
remaining coconut milk from 14-oz. can
¾ cup vegetable stock
1 small red bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup carrot, peeled and cut into thin rounds
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 fresh salmon fillet (approx. 1 lb.), skinned, de-boned, and cut in half

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium-high, heat the oil. Add in all of the curry paste you just made. Swirl over the heat for about one minute, to draw out the fragrances of the fresh herbs.

Stir in the vegetable stock. Once well incorporated, add in the carrots, bell pepper, and salmon fillets. Gently simmer for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the coconut milk and broccoli florets. Taste the sauce and add more salt, pepper, or coconut milk if necessary, to your liking. Cover and let simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the salmon is tender but cooked all the way through. Uncover and simmer for about 5 more minutes before serving.

Serve over freshly steamed basmati rice.

Enjoy!

Posted in Dinner, Sauces, Seafood | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

We’ve been gone off and on all summer, enough that I decided not to mess with a summer garden. Part of me regrets it, as I love being able to walk into our backyard and pick fresh veggies and herbs nearly any day of July through October. However, we have good friends who grow gardens and are kind enough to share when possible. We’ve also got some tomatoes going, fresh basil, thyme, and oregano. And a kick-butt farmer’s market each week.

We received some large zucchini and I knew I wanted to try something different with them. As much as I love simple steamed or pan-fried zucchini, or baked zucchini fries, those are things I’ve made many times before. Time for something new. I almost made a zucchini parmesan, but I didn’t want to run to the grocery store to get things I didn’t have on hand. So the following recipe was a conglomeration of ingredients that were easy to scrounge up in my kitchen.

Some things can easily be substituted for other ingredients. For instance, if you don’t have vegetarian sausage on hand, sub in some black or pinto beans (canned are okay, just make sure you rinse them first). Fresh garlic instead of granulated can be used. No cheddar? Use what you do have. You can chop up the parts of the zucchini you scraped out and throw that in the filling, too!

Simply said, it’s versatile. And this recipe can easily be multiplied.

Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini
Serves 2

Ingredients:

½ cup diced onion
¾ cup sweet corn (fresh or frozen)
1 large zucchini
½ cup cooked long grain rice (white or brown)
1 – 2 italian style tofurky sausage(s), chopped
½ tsp. granulated garlic
3 Tbsp. fresh basil, minced
¼ tsp. ground cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
olive oil

+ an additional ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup panko style bread crumbs (Italian bread crumbs would work okay, too)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425º degrees F.

Cut off each end of the zucchini (about a ½-inch), then cut in half, lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds. Microwave the hollow halves for 2½ – 3 minutes, until they can be pierced easily with a fork. Set aside. (You can lightly salt and pepper each half, or sprinkle lightly with some garlic, cumin, cayenne, etc. at this point, too, for a little more flavor.)

In a saucepan, heat about 1 tsp. olive oil on med-high heat. Sauté the onion until translucent. Add in the chopped sausage, cooking until lightly browned. Add in the corn, rice, garlic, basil, cayenne, cumin, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly and remove from heat. Mix in the ½ cup of cheddar cheese.

Spoon the mixture into each zucchini — it’s okay to pile it high. Press it down into the zucchini, until it’s packed nicely.

In a small bowl, toss together the panko bread crumbs and ½ cup cheddar cheese. Top each filled zucchini with the panko/cheddar mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the topping is nicely browned.

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The Bite and Portland Adventuring

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

The view from our room in Jantzen Beach

I am a lucky lady. With my mister teaching and the boys still school-aged, we end up with nearly 3 months of time to do whatever we want for “summer vacation”. Luckily, Craig is also a musician, which means we get to spend some of that time traveling to various festivals, cities, places with an array of new foods, restaurants, and opportunities to try new things.

The mister and I made a trip to Portland, OR. last weekend which, fortunately, wasn’t laden with load-in and sound-check times, nor kids to keep up with… It’s fun traveling with the boys, too, but that ends up being a whole different trip: one filled with more scheduled activities and much less spontaneity. Portland has become one of our favorite cities to visit, along with San Francisco. I admit, I am an island/ small-town kind of girl and never imagined I’d even consider living in a larger city. However, Portland and San Francisco both, are among the few cities I would think about living in if Craig and I decide that’s a venture we want to explore some day when the kids are grown.

It just so happened that The Bite of Oregon was happening while we were in town. The Bite featured a number of restaurant samplings from all over Oregon, a number of food carts from the city, Oregon craft beers and wine, chef competitions, and lots of fun. On top of that, the event was right alongside the gorgeous Willamette River. We spent Friday tasting numerous dishes, including some of the following:

Bay shrimp and dungeness crab cakes with a pinot gris mustard from Salty’s. Craig said this was the “crabbiest crab cake” he’d ever had–and I have to agree, completely. It was delicious and probably my favorite sampling overall.

Jazzy Bowl from Cafe Yumm. This was a concoction of jasmine rice, Yumm! Sauce, organic red beans, avocado, mild salsa, olives, Tillamook cheddar, sour cream, and cilantro. The blend was fantastic… Yumm Sauce definitely adds to the overall tastiness… It’s a magical sauce made of oil, almonds, brewer’s yeast, garbanzo beans, soybeans, water, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and curry powder. (Deliciousness.)

Wisconsin mac & cheese from Noodles & Company. A simple blend of cheddar and jack cheese with elbow macaroni and cream, then topped with more cheese. This was very good, super creamy and very cheesy. I liked its simplicity (so did the mister).

Confit Chinese eggplant with caramelized artisan goat cheese and heirloom gazpacho foam from London Grill. I did not care for this dish one bit. I did manage to swallow my one bite, barely… The Mister enjoyed it, though. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I took a bite — maybe something warm; the eggplant, however, was cold and sticky in consistency. Not my favorite combo. The caramelized goat cheese on top was my favorite part about the whole dish: very rich and creamy, but also nicely crisp on top.

“Dancing Drumsticks” from Sweet Lemon Vegan Bistro. I was very excited to try these — they’re marinated soy protein “drumsticks” charbroiled with lemongrass, topped with sesame seeds. They were very crisp, tasted remarkably like chicken, and came very close in consistency to meat as well. The tangy teriyaki soy-based sauce was very tasty, too.

Korean short rib tacos with kimchee and bean sprouts from the Koi Fusion PDX food cart. I rarely eat beef, but everyone was raving about these tacos and I decided to try them. I’m glad I did–these tacos were incredibly good. The shredded beef was extremely tender and sweet, paired nicely with the spicy kimchee I requested, and the crisp bite of the bean sprouts. All the flavors came together amazingly well.

Neapolitan cake from Gerry Frank’s Konditorei. This cake was HUGE. I was a little apprehensive about getting it at first, feeling quite full from our previous samplings… But the mister and I shared a piece anyway. I was pleasantly surprised. The cake was very light, not heavy and overpowering like it looked as if it would be. Each of the cake layers were very fluffy and moist. Both the strawberry mousse and chocolate mousse was nicely rich between each cake layer. The outer layer of buttercream was the heaviest part of the whole cake, but balanced nicely overall.

Craig and I shared a sake flight from SakéOne. The five saké flight was quite tasty! My favorites were the plum saké, which was sweeter than any sake I’ve had before, and the G Joy saké, which was probably the most robust wine we tried. The end of our flight included a saké mojito cocktail, which was very pleasant. The slightly dry Momokawa Diamond saké blended nicely with the hint of mint and lime.

We also shared an oatmeal stout from Seven Brides Brewing, “Oatmeal Ellie.” Typically I prefer dark beers, which is why we sampled this stout. The taste was much lighter than it appeared. Overall, Oatmeal Ellie was okay, but I wasn’t partial to ordering up a second one.

Thankfully there’s still nearly a month of summer vacation time here… Hopefully filled with more opportunities to travel and eat fantastical new foods…

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Silas Henry’s Chocolate Cake and Buttercream Amazingness

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I am a master at making sunken-middle floppy homemade cakes. Fortunately, the following cake came out not just rich, moist, and fluffy… It looked like it was supposed to!

I hadn’t made buttercream frosting prior to this recipe. Honestly, most of my experiences with the stuff has come from over-frosted store-bought cakes that I don’t enjoy eating. This recipe, however, was phenomenally good… I altered the original recipe just slightly, not wanting to buy Ovaltine simply for one batch of frosting.

Rich Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2½ cups packed brown sugar
¾ cup + 2 tbsp. butter, softened
3 eggs
1¾ tsp. vanilla extract
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup + 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
2½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. sea salt
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 cup + 2 tbsp. boiling water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans then dust lightly with flour. * Note

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the creamed butter/sugar mixture, one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Beat on high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Sifting the dry ingredients is sometimes recommended, but I’m a busy girl and sometimes I just don’t feel like taking the time. For this particular cake, it didn’t seem to matter!

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the sour cream to your butter/sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until well combined. The batter will be semi-thick at this point.

Stir the boiling water into the other mixture. This will thin out the batter quite a bit. While I was worried at first, this actually turned out deliciously okay!

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the center of the cake comes out clean or with minimal crumbs attached.

Cool completely before frosting.

* Note: This is actually enough batter for two 9-inch round cakes, or two 8-inch round cakes and at least 6 regular sized cupcakes.

The World’s Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Recipe originally taken from Joy the Baker.

Ingredients:
3 sticks (1½ cups) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup + ½ cup dutch cocoa powder (unsweetened)
¾ tsp. sea salt
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup milk
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Cream together the butter, 1-cup of the cocoa powder, and salt. The mixture will be quite thick.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the powdered sugar about ½ a cup at a time. Turn your mixer down to low speed and alternately add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.

As the sugar becomes incorporated into the butter, increase the speed of your mixer to high and beat the frosting until smooth.

In another small bowl, stir together the heavy cream and remaining ½ cup of cocoa powder.

Turn the mixer down to medium speed and pour the cream into your frosting, slowly and steadily, until the frosting reaches your preferred consistency. You may not need all of the cream mixture.

Posted in Baking, Dessert, Kids, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Zucchini Muffins – sans dairy and eggs

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

We’ve been gone off and on this month, traveling here and there… We got back from Crawford Bay, B.C. on Monday and I’ve yet to go grocery shopping. Needless to say, the refrigerator is down to its bare bone self — no milk, eggs, coffee, flour, etc. OY. We’re leaving town again Friday and don’t want to stock up on things that won’t get used in the next two days.

This morning I noticed I had barely a cup of flour, some zucchini needing to be eaten, and some hungry children in the house. I found a recipe online for dairy free zucchini muffins and thought well, maybe I can tweak this with the minimal ingredients I do have… The following recipe is the result of that. 6 year old Silas ate a couple of them, regardless of his apprehension about the little green specks that must be something healthy… and 12 year old Vincent wanted nothing to do with the muffins after one bite. (At least he tried it.)

I had no applesauce, just apple butter. I’ve never used either as a replacement for eggs, although I’ve read numerous times that you can do so… well, using applesauce that is. I cut the original sugar content down to nearly half. The Mister said the results were tasty — I liked them, too.

Zucchini Muffins

egg and dairy free

Ingredients:

1¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
scant ¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

1 cup finely grated zucchini
3 tbsp. applesauce OR apple butter
3 tbsp. oil (I like grape seed or sunflower oil)
½ cup sugar

ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease or line 6 regular sized muffin tins.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, combine the zucchini, applesauce/apple butter, sugar, and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until well mixed.

Spoon the mixture into each muffin tin, until they’re about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the tops lightly with ground cinnamon.

Bake the muffins for approximately 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is lightly browned.

Yields approximately 6 muffins.

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , | 2 Comments