From My Kitchen: Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

As we've tried to find our way through Sam's dietary restrictions: no wheat, no soy, and no dairy, baking has become a bit of a nightmare. Most recipes require a combination of flours and starches to substitute for good old-fashioned and off-limits wheat flour. Add in the need for xanthan gum or guar gum and it gets complicated fast.

So, I've been buying Enjoy Life brand cookies instead of baking. All of the kids like the crisp sugar cookies. Amelia is a big fan of the double chocolate brownie cookies, and of course, snickerdoodles have saved the day around here more than once.

Then a couple weeks ago a friend posted a link on Facebook to an NPR article about *gasp!* flourless baking. FLOURLESS! This is pure genius, people.

I read the article and headed straight to Google. I've eaten flourless chocolate cake before, but there's so much more out there! Including a lot of recipes that our Jewish friends prepare during Passover, when flour is off limits.

Most of them are pretty simple, with a short list of ingredients. And as long as you can beat egg whites, you're in business.

Of course, I still have to make substitutions for the butter, but I am thanking my lucky stars that we don't have egg issues, too!

The first thing I tried was a chocolate cupcake recipe. Because sometimes life just calls for cupcakes, especially when you're a kid! I adapted this recipe from Smitten Kitchen's Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with White Chocolate Mint Cream.

Mine are also dairy-free, and the whipped cream topping, which sounds amazing, is pretty tricky when you are dairy-free. There is a product called MimicCreme that claims to be a great dairy-free substitute for cream, but I haven't tried it yet. And I'd have to substitute for the white chocolate, since it has dairy in it, too.

Instead, we just ate ours plain or with ice cream, and they were awesome. Light, melt-in-your mouth, and chocolatey good. As the original recipe said, these cupcakes will fall in the middle after baking. That's where the whipped cream comes in: It makes a great filling for those dented middles. Not that my kids cared at all about the dents!

Here's my dairy-free version of the flourless original:

Chocolate Soufflé Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

6 ounces Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons Earth Balance soy-free, dairy-free butter substitute
3 large eggs, separated
6 tablespoons  sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Stir chocolate chips, and butter substitute together in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until mostly melted, then remove from the heat and whisk until it is fully melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.

Beat egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 2 minutes. (Smitten Kitchen notes that a hand mixer is best because the amounts are so small. Mine worked perfectly, and with no flour you don't really need a workhorse of a mixer.) Briefly beat chocolate mixture, then vanilla extract, into yolk mixture.

Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and all of the salt, beating until medium-firm peaks form.

Fold whites into chocolate mixture in three additions. Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each three-fourths of the way.

Bake cakes until tops are puffed and dry to the touch and a tester inserted into the centers comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 15 to 20 minutes. Some of my tops cracked a bit, as Smitten Kitchen noted on her blog, but it didn't affect the taste!

Cool in pan on a cooling rack, where the cupcakes will almost immediately start to fall. For appearances, feel free to fill the indentation with whipped cream, ice cream or even raspberries or strawberries. If you have kids who haven't seen a home-baked sweet treat in three months, just plop them on the table and stand back!

Seriously delicious. Even if you aren't on a special diet, these are worth a little time in the kitchen. You won't believe how light and lucious they are.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

From My Kitchen: Cranberry Coleslaw

This is my 999th post, and I'm finding that pretty hard to believe! Since it's Friday, come on into my kitchen while I share a recipe.

But first, indulge me for a quick trip down memory lane, won't you? I posted my first recipe (for Oreo brownies) in August of 2009, and it drew rave reviews, so I threw out my favorite recipes from time to time. In May of 2010, I started to make recipe posts a mostly-weekly Friday feature here. You can find all my recipes linked up under the From my Kitchen graphic on the left hand sidebar.
This week's recipe is a new one I've just tried out. It was delicious!

I have a real love-hate relationship with coleslaw. I love it in its sweet-tangy, vinegary forms. I hate it in its gloppy, mayonnaise-y forms. Blech!
This cranberry coleslaw was in the latest Penzey's spices catalog. It's got a great tangy dressing, and the cranberries add a nice sweet-tart touch.

Here's the recipe:
Cranberry Coleslaw
6-8 Cups shredded cabbage
1/4 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 Cup dried cranberries
Dressing:
1/3 Cup each cider vinegar
1/3 Cup canola oil
1/3 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp. celery seed

In a large bowl, toss the cabbage with the onion and cranberries.

Note: For crisper cabbage combine cabbage and a teaspoon of salt in a colander. Cover with plastic wrap and place a heavy plate on top of the cabbage. (Make sure your plate rests on the cabbage, not the colander, to help press out the excess water.) Set the colander over a large bowl and place in the fridge for 1-4 hours, or even overnight, to allow the excess water to drain. Pat dry before tossing with other ingredients. This will produce very crisp cabbage.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the slaw, cover and refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Drain off excess dressing.

This is perfect as a side to pulled pork or with anything you want to toss on the grill in the coming warmer months.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

From My Kitchen: Free Pancakes!

When I say free pancakes, I'm not talking no cost. Sorry! I'm talking wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free pancakes. We've tried a couple of mixes and gluten-free Bisquik, but nothing has really bowled us over, so I got busy for Fat Tuesday and whipped up THREE batches of homemade pancakes.

We measured. We poured. We cooked. We tasted. We compared. And we found two winners. Because wouldn't you know it, not everyone liked the same pancake.

I made an oatmeal pancake with oatmeal flour and lots of cinnamon that was a hit with the boys. Amelia ate an entire one before saying she didn't really like it. Hmmmm. I think she liked it just fine. I started with this recipe for Flourless Oatmeal Pancakes from Lauren's Blog.

Since Lauren grinds her oatmeal into flour and I already had oat flour on hand I just used that. This recipe includes yogurt, so I used vanilla So Delicious coconut yogurt and omitted the vanilla extract. Lauren suggests adding pumpkin, banana or any fruit puree, which I didn't do, but I think the pumpkin version sounds delish! My version is included below.

Amelia's favorite was "Dad's Best Pancakes (Made Gluten Free)" from Ginger Lemon Girl. And Jeff and I agreed. Personally, I think Dad's Best with cinnamon in them would rock. Maybe next time. You can follow the link to the original recipe above, but I made a couple small changes so I've included my version below. (Also, because this blog is becoming my recipe box and I want to be sure I have this recipe included!)

I also tried Buttermilk Pancakes with Coconut Flour from Bob's Red Mill. They did cook up nice and fluffy, as promised, but I'm not sure that the substitute buttermilk (So Delicious coconut milk plus 1 tablespoon of vinegar) really did the trick. And they were a touch gummy, which is a problem I'm finding with things made from rice flour. I would consider trying this again with sorghum or millet flour in place of the rice flour, and rice milk plus vinegar as a substitute for the buttermilk.

Since we had two winners, I'm sharing both recipes with you.

Oatmeal Pancakes with Cinnamon
(Free of  wheat, dairy, and soy)
1 cup of oat flour or ground oatmeal (pulse rolled oats in food processor or blender until finely ground)

½ tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 egg white

½ cup of vanilla So Delicious coconut yogurt (or any plain or vanilla yogurt, if you're not dairy free)

½ tsp of vanilla (I omitted this since I used vanilla yogurt)

1 tsp of cinnamon

* Optional (1/3 cup of Pumpkin Puree or 1 small banana smashed or add any fruit at the end)

Stir ingredients together until just blended. Spray griddle or pan and cook pancakes until top bubbles and edges are dry. Flip and cook until nicely browned.

The result is a pancake that definitely tastes a lot like a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon. They were not too thin, and had a nice texture.

This next recipe, though was a real winner. They were thin, but delicious with no hint of gumminess or grittiness. A real home run!

Dad's Best Pancakes (Made Gluten Free)
Adapted from a recipe by Carrie Forbes @ Gingerlemongirl.com
(Free of gluten, dairy, and soy)

Dry Ingredients
3/4 cup sorghum flour (the original recipe calls for brown rice flour)
1/2 cup arrowroot starch (the original recipe calls for tapioca starch)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious vanilla coconut milk. I you use plain milk, add a teaspoon of vanilla)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds + 2 tablespoon boiling hot water (Mix and set aside for 5 minutes to gel, then add to wet ingredients.)

Directions:
In a medium sized bowl add all dry ingredients and whisk together thoroughly. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the vanilla (if using), an egg, 1 cup of non-dairy milk, and the oil.

Whisk wet ingredients together with dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed. You will have a very wet, but slightly thick batter that will cling to the whisk.

Brush skillet or non-stick pan with olive oil or non-stick spray. Heat pan on medium high heat until it's hot enough to make a drop of water sizzle.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet. Cook until bubbles form on the top and pop and the edges are slightly dry. Flip and cook the opposite side for 1-2 minutes.

This recipe made very thin pancakes, but they tasted the most like the pancakes we're used to. I did omit the 3 tablespoons of rolled oats, which Carrie says add great texture. I was afraid my kids wouldn't like the "lumps." I did like that I was able to boost the nutritional value a bit with sorghum flour and flax. The next time I make the oatmeal pancakes, I'll probably use flax in place of one of the eggs.

I have a recipe for buckwheat pancakes that I'm planning to try, too. Buckwheat is not gluten free, but it is wheat free, in spite of its name. (Buckwheat is actually a grass, like wild rice, not a grain.)

In the meantime, enjoy either one of these recipes. We sure did!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

From My Kitchen: Spanish Omelette

Years ago when Jeff and I lived in England, a friend of mine from college was studying in Spain. Chris came to visit us and as a thanks for our hospitality, he made us a Spanish omelette or Tortilla Española for supper one night. Potatoes, onions and eggs all in one dish. It was simple, economical and tasted great. What's not to love about that? 

Tonight Jeff dropped his bowl of jambalaya, the last of anything to eat we had in the fridge, so I whipped up an omelette, Spanish style. I tossed in a little ham to appease the carnivorous appetite, but the original recipe only includes potatoes, onions, olive oil, eggs and salt.

Cooking this baby takes a bit of a steady hand and a quick wrist, but even if it doesn't come out looking perfect, I guarantee it will taste great.

Here's the recipe:

Spanish Omelette
2 lbs. potatoes
3 TBSP chopped onion
1/4- 1/2 C. olive oil
4-5 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. salt

Peel and dice the potatoes and onions. Heat oil on medium high heat. Add the potatoes and onions, spreading them out evenly. The oil should almost cover the potatoes. Turn potatoes and onions frequently until completely cooked.

Remove potatoes and onions from pan with a slotted spoon or spatula. I like to put mine in a colander and let a little more oil drain off while I prepare the eggs.

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the potato/onion mixture and add salt.

Pour a little olive oil into a small frying pan and heat on medium heat. Pour the potatoes, onions and eggs into the pan and spread out evenly. If you want to add a little ham, now's the time. Let the eggs cook around the edges. Once the edges appear cooked, lift up an edge with your spatula. If the mixture has browned nicely on the bottom, you are ready to turn it over to cook the other side.

Here's where the tricky part comes in. Take the frying pan to the sink. Cover with a large dinner plate. Hold the plate in place with one hand and quickly flip the frying pan over, so the omelette falls onto the plate. Slide the omelet back into the frying pan. You can add a little more oil to your pan if needed. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pan sit for a couple of minutes.

Slide the omelette out of the pan onto a plate and cut into wedges to serve. If you want to use it as an appetizer (it's as good cold as it is hot), cut in smaller wedges or cubes.

Don't let the flip scare you away from this recipe. It's not as hard as it sounds! Check out this video if you need a little visual aid to help you master the technique.

Feel free to add a glass of nice Spanish wine for an authentic experience.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

From My Kitchen: Chocolate Popcorn Chews

If you like popcorn, chocolate, and Rice Krispie treats, you'll love these fast and easy bars. I made these as a treat that accommodates Sam's new wheat-free, soy-free, dairy-free diet, and they were pretty popular.

This is a modified version of a recipe on the Orville Redenbacher Web site. The original recipe called for white chocolate, dried cranberries and chopped almonds, which sounds fantastic. But I have kiddos, so we went with just chocolate chips. (The Enjoy Life brand is dairy free and soy free.)

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Popcorn Chews

1 bag (2.9 ounces) (11 cups popped) Natural Microwave Popcorn
1 cup chocolate chips
1 package (10.5 ounce) Miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup margarine or butter (I used Earth Balance Soy-free, Dairy-free Buttery Spread. Coconut oil would probably work, too.)

 

Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Prepare popcorn according to package directions. Remove all unpopped kernels. Combine popped corn and chocolate chips in large bowl sprayed with cooking spray.

Place marshmallows and butter or butter substitute in 8-cup glass measure. Microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes or until smooth when stirred. Immediately stir into popcorn mixture; toss until evenly coated. Spoon into prepared pan. Spray hands with cooking spray; press mixture evenly into pan. Allow to cool. Cut into 24 bars.
These were a nice change from Rice Krispie treats, and way easier to make than popcorn balls. We all enjoyed them, and I ate way more than I should have. I'm always up for a salty/sweet treat!

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

From My Kitchen: Honey Sauced Chicken

I must admit that food is not that appealing right now. I have promised Sam that I will try everything he tries, and while some of it is pretty good, some of it is terrible! I'm spending so much time thinking about what Sam can and can't eat and what I'm going to serve that won't bring tears, that it's definitely time to pull out the crockpot to feed the grownups in the house.

This chicken has a little bit of sweet and a little bit of heat. It was originally posted on Pinterest, but I tinkered with it a little bit to make it my own.
Honey Sauced Chicken
2 lbs. chicken (I used boneless skinless breasts, but boneless thighs or even split breasts would work.)

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup chopped green onion

1/8 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, and place in crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken.

Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. When chicken is cooked through, remove from crock pot and cut chicken into bite size pieces. If you use split breasts, you could shred the chicken if that's easier than getting it off the bone to cut into chunks.

Mix 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch with a little water and stir into the sauce in the crock pot to thicken.

Return meat to pot and toss with sauce.

Note: To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal, (which is nearly impossible in my house anyway!) dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper. Spray a pan with nonstick cooking spray. Put chicken in the pan and pour the sauce over and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

I served this up with brown rice and broccoli. Jeff ate his broccoli on the side, but I mixed mine in. Delicious!

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

From My Kitchen: Peppermint Meringues

If you're looking for an alternative to all the chocolate and nuts that dot the holiday baking landscape, (not that I have anything against nuts and chocolate!) check out these peppermint meringues. They will add a little variety to  the goodie platter. These are light and crisp, but melt in your mouth. The recipe came from epicurious.com.

These are fast to make, but slow to bake. It takes two and a half hours at 200 degrees. But a great treat for minimal effort.

Here's the recipe:

Peppermint Meringues

3 large egg whites, room temperature

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract

12 drops red food coloring

Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt on medium-high speed until white and foamy, about one addition. Beat until firm peaks form, about two minutes longer. Add powdered sugar and peppermint extract; beat to blend, about one minute.

 

Dot coloring over surface of meringue; do not stir (the coloring will form red and white swirls when piped). Spoon meringue into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2" tip. Or, if you're like me, you'll spoon it into a plastic freezer bag, then cut off one corner. Twist top and pipe one-inch rounds onto prepared sheet, about one inch apart.

 

Bake meringues until dry, about two and a half hours. Let cool completely, about one hour (meringues will crisp as they cool).

 

Meringues will keep about two days. Store in an airtight container at room temperature between sheets of parchment paper or waxed paper.

 

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Gingerbread Carmels

I meant to blog this on Friday, but Jeff and I had an actual date that night. So there just wasn't time to post in between getting gussied up and trying to make the sitter's job easy enough that she'll come back again.

I made these for the first time last week, and they instantly went on my "must make" list of Christmas goodies. They are delicious.

I went looking for a recipe when my sister Judy said she'd bought some gingerbread carmels somewhere and loved them. I found the recipe at A Crafty Lass. She's apparently tinkered with Martha Stewart's recipe, which I haven't tasted, but Crafty Lass's results are yum, yum, yummy! I thank her for bringing these into my life.

Here's the recipe:

Gingerbread Carmels

Makes about 12 dozen

2 pints heavy cream
2 cups light corn syrup
4 cups granulated sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
½ cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves

Coat a 12x17 rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line it with parchment paper leaving a 2-inch overhang on the short sides of the sheet. Lightly spray the parchment with cooking spray.

In a large pot (LARGE! This stuff expands.) over high heat, add the heavy cream, corn syrup, sugar, butter, and molasses, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-high, stirring frequently, allowing it to reach a temperature of 248 degrees on a candy thermometer. This took about 25 minutes. Be sure to stay close once you've reach about 230 degrees. It goes fast from there.

Meanwhile, stir together the salt and spices in a small bowl. As soon as the caramel reaches 248 degrees, take it off the heat and stir in the spices and vanilla carefully as it might spatter a bit. Stir the caramel continuously for 30 seconds to incorporate the spices into it, making sure there aren't any pockets of spice hiding. Pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet. (Crafty Lass says she scrapes the pan although Martha says not to. I did NOT scrape the pan, because I really, really didn't want these to sugar. They came out perfect.)

 

Allow the caramel to set for 24 hours without moving it.

Place a large cutting board over the baking sheet and flip it over. Peel the parchment off of the caramel and discard. With a large sharp knife, cut the caramel into 1-inch wide strips and then cut each strip into bite-sized pieces. Cut wax paper into approximately 3x3 squares and wrap each caramel in it. The caramels will keep for at least a month.

Let me just say, these carmels won't keep for a month in my house! And when I made them I failed to read all the way to the end of the recipe. So that part where it says not to move the pan for 24 hours? Well, my carmels would have been full of little finger holes if I hadn't moved them. They still turned out fine.

I'm nearing the end of my Christmas baking frenzy, and I'll have another recipe or two to share from my goodie making soon. In the meantime, grab your candy thermometer and make these. They aren't difficult, and they are absolutely worth the time.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Milk Dud Popcorn

We've been having Friday night movie nights around here now that the weather's turning colder and our kids are more or less interested in sitting still long enough to watch something.

The point of movie night is to have fun and relax, so no big themes and planning for mom, though sometimes I manage a little something. Tonight, for example, we watched "Finding Nemo," and ate fish sticks. That made Jeff laugh. Then he wanted to know if we'd be drinking water, "to go with the theme."

No, smart aleck, but you'll be washing the dishes to make up for that remark!

Anyhow, I usually give my kids a treat of some sort on movie night, though generally nothing too fancy. Last week Amelia and I made chocolate pudding, which was not the hit I thought it would be. Tonight they had their choice of marshmallows (plain ones straight from the bag) or Oreo knockoffs (the boys only eat the middles anyway).

Movie night got me to thinking about popcorn though, and that reminded me of this special treat one of my London roomies used to make: Milk Dud popcorn.

It's exactly what it sounds like--popcorn with Milk Duds in it. It's easy, and if you are a salty-sweet snack person like me, it really hits the spot.

Ready for this? Here's the "recipe."

Milk Dud Popcorn

1 regular-sized bag microwave popcorn

Couple handfuls of Milk Duds

Microwave the popcorn of your choice, stopping 20-30 seconds before it's usually completely popped out. Open the bag and toss in a couple handfuls of Milk Duds. Shake or stir well, then fold the top of the bag down and return to the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Do NOT walk away. If you let it cook too long, you'll have a scorched mess on your hands. Stay close by and use your nose to guide you. Shake or stir again, and you'll have popcorn dotted with bits of chocolate and gooey carmel.

This isn't like caramel corn where the popcorn is evenly coated. And you will have a few extra old maids. (That's what we called the unpopped kernels when I was growing up. Not very politically correct, is it?) But you've got to sacrifice a few kernels to make sure you aren't going to scorch the popcorn when you put it back in the microwave.

Some people might like this to be all melted together. I think that might be tough to accomplish without burning the popcorn, but you can always give it a shot. Personally, I like having some larger pieces of Milk Dud semi-melted and stuck to the popcorn around them. It's a little candy jackpot.

It's salty. It's sweet. It's simple. And no dirty dishes either! What more could you ask for in a snack?

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

When I was getting ready to make the boys' pumpkin cakes for their birthday, I started searching for a frosting recipe that had a little heft to it so it could withstand the heat.

I found this frosting with cream cheese in it over at Glorious Treats, and it was just the ticket. It turned out pretty well as a vanilla frosting, but it's amazing as a chocolate or raspberry frosting.

The next time I make it as vanilla, I will cut the cream cheese back to 4 ounces and triple the vanilla extract. It was a little too cream cheese flavored for my taste. Still delicious, but not exactly vanilla frosting.

Here's the recipe:

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 C butter, set at room temp about 10 minutes, but make sure it's still cool

8 oz. cream cheese, directly from fridge (see my note above about amount)

1 tsp. vanilla extract (I would double or triple for more vanilla flavor)

4 C. powdered sugar

1 to 4 TBSP heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or milk (cream adds a great richness)

Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.

Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar, a little at a time, blending on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until frosting begins to get fluffy.

Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)

Beat until fluffy, about one minute.

Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

Options:

For a stronger cream cheese flavor use an additional 4 oz. (½ block) of cream cheese. This is good for any cake/cupcake recipe that is traditionally topped with cream cheese frosting, like carrot cake, or red velvet cake.

For chocolate frosting: (my favorite!) add ½ cup unsweetened cocoa. Add the cocoa powder before adding the powdered sugar, so it gets fully incorporated into the butter and cream cheese.

Strawberry, blackberry, etc... Add 2-4 tablespoons of preserves. Depending on how chunky or seedy the preserves are, you may want to blend it in the food processor, and/or strain it through a fine strainer before adding it to the frosting. Add the preserves to the frosting mixture before adding the heavy cream. Depending on the amount of preserves you add you may need very little or no cream, especially if you want the frosting thick enough to pipe. A final option would be to add a drop of food coloring to add to the color of the preserves (for example, pink coloring for the strawberry flavor).

Use to frost your favorite cake or cupcakes.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Roast

I got this recipe off my new favorite addiction: Pinterest. If you haven't fallen into that black hole yet, the site lets you create virtual bulletin boards (or a recipe book) by "pinning" things that interest you. The best part is that you get to see what everyone else pins, too.

I've been known to pull lots of recipes out of the newspaper and magazines, but I don't always get around to trying them. They tend to get filed away, and it's out of sight, out of mind. But on Pinterest, I see those pictures of yummy things to try every time I visit. (Which is far too often!) So, I'm motivated to try them.

This Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin was a real winner.

Photo credit: C + C Marriage Factory (Click photo for link.)

Jeff immediately declared this dish a keeper. Not only is it delicious, it goes in the crock pot, so it's super easy. As you know, that's always a plus for me. I used a pork roast I had on hand instead of a loin when I made this earlier this week, and it was just as tasty.

Here's the recipe:

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

1 (2 pound) boneless pork loin (or pork roast)

1 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup water

Glaze:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Combine sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over loin or roast. Place in slow cooker (crock pot for those of you from the Great Frozen North) with 1/2 cup water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

About one hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small saucepan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. Brush roast with glaze two or three times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

I wanted to eat this straight out of the crock pot, but I decided to class it up a bit and throw in on plates before devouring it. I added mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli to make a complete meal.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Sparkling Margaritas

Here's a good summer cocktail recipe from the May issue of Bettter Homes and Gardens. This is a classic margarita with a twist. Add a little sparkling wine or champagne, and yum!

I like sweet wines, so I used a moscato d'asti. You can make it to your taste, using your favorite sparkling wine or champagne. You can use any tequila, and it will taste delish, but the drink looks cloudy if you don't use white tequila. So if looks are important, go for the white.

If you can't find agave nectar I would suggest you sweeten this with a little simple syrup.

Sparkling Margaritas

1 cup white tequila

2/3 cup lime juice

1/3 cup agave nectar

Sparkling wine or champagne (about 1 1/2 cups)

Lime peel strips or very thin lime slices

In a cocktail shaker combine half the tequila, lime juice, and agave nectar with plenty of ice. Shake for 5 seconds and strain mixture into three glasses. Repeat with remaining tequila, juice and agave nectar. Top each serving with sparkling wine. Add a lime peel strip. Add additional lime juice to taste. Makes 6 servings.

Warning: Look at the ingredients in this, people. Trust me when I tell you it packs a wallop! Sip it, savor it, but drink it responsibly, and enjoy! 

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Fresh Tomato Bruschetta

Seems all my garden needed to really started churning out the goodies was for me to leave for a week's vacation. Isn't that always the way it goes?

In stark contrast to the Great Tomato Disaster of 2010 where I got about a dozen tomatoes from four plants, we're bursting with tomatoes this year. In fact, the plants are so big and loaded with fruit that they are too heavy for the tomato cages. So things look a little wild and crazy in the garden, but apparently the plants are happy, happy, happy!

Tomatoes, tomatoes everywhere! (And plenty of cucumbers, too.)

The tomatoes are starting to ripen at a good pace now, 4-6 a day, though it's clear in another week it will be more like 10-12 a day. Which means I'll be making cream of tomato soup by the gallon. Yum! Amelia has asked if we can have tomato soup for breakfast as soon as we have enough ripe tomatoes. How could I say no to that? Looks like that might happen this week even.

The abundance of tomatoes, so delicious straight from the garden, has led to my newest addiction: bruschetta. Mealtime approaches and I wander out to the garden to pick a ripe tomato or two, then head to the kitchen to toss it with a little olive oil, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Slap it on some toasted bread or even some really good crackers and YUM!

This is one of those "to taste" recipes, so just sample it until you're happy. If no one else likes it, tough. Just leaves more for you!

Fresh Tomato Bruschetta

1 C. chopped tomato, give or take

Generous drizzle of olive oil

1 clove minced garlic

2 tsp. chopped fresh basil

salt

fresh ground pepper

Chop 1-2 tomatoes, depending on size. I've been making this with about 1 cup of chopped tomatoes. Drizzle generously with olive oil. You want enough to moisten things and help the garlic and basil cling to the tomatoes, but you don't want it swimming in oil. I'd guess about 1 Tbsp. of oil if you must measure.

Toss in minced garlic and basil. I did not grow any basil this year, so I keep a little tube of Garden Gourmet chopped basil in my fridge. Almost as good as fresh chopped, and a lot faster!

Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings until you are happy. Hope there's still a little tomato mix left after you're done tasting, because it's even better on toasted bread!

Toast some slices of crusty bread. Usually I use French bread or Italian loaf, but we bought some amazing torta rolls recently, so that's what we've been using. Brush bread with olive oil and spoon on the tomato mixture.

Contemplate not sharing. It's really that good.

In fact, it's so good that I may have to take my flashlight to the garden and pick me some tomatoes for a little bedtime snack.

If you've got no bread on hand, use good cracker like Kashi's pita crackers to scoop the tomatoes up as a dip. It will have you licking your fingers, guaranteed.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Barbecue Ribs

A couple years ago my neighbor taught me the secret to making tender, juicy, delicious pork ribs. And now I'm sharing that secret with you. It's so easy!

This isn't so much a recipe as a cooking technique. You can cook any kind of pork ribs: spare ribs, country style, baby backs and season them however you like. My favorites are baby back ribs seasoned with Famous Dave's Rib Rub and sauced with either Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce or Famous Dave's Sweet & Zesty sauce.

Here's the recipe/cooking technique:

Easy Barbecue Ribs

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Wrap a baking sheet in aluminum foil. Season your ribs thoroughly on all sides. I like to use Famous Dave's Rib Rub, but you can season them however you like. Place the ribs on the baking sheet and cover completely with aluminum foil, sealing the ribs in tightly. Place the baking sheet (or two or more, if you're cooking lots!) with your ribs in the oven. Immediately turn the temperature down to 175 degrees. Walk away and let them cook.

After a couple hours start trying to ignore the delicious smells coming from your oven. About 6-8 hours later, remove the ribs from the oven. Open the foil to reveal tender, delicious ribs. At this point you can sauce the ribs and serve them, but to really make them good, finish them on the grill.

When it comes to the grill, I'm a charcoal purist, but gas works too. Throw the ribs on the grill over hot coals for about 3-4 minutes per side to sear them and give them a nice smoky flavor. Mop them with your favorite sauce in the final couple minutes of cooking. You don't want to add the barbecue sauce too early or the sugar will burn.

Serve with sweet corn, vinegar coleslaw and watermelon and you'll have a meal to remember.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Greek Chicken Salad

See, I told you I'd make up for a bad blogging week today, and I have. What better way to end the day than with a fresh recipe for you to enjoy?

A week ago I hosted a big playdate. When you invite fellow triplet moms and their kids, every playdate is a big one. Everyone brought lunch for their kiddos, and I made lunch for the moms.

I wanted something light and easy, but different. I love chicken salad (not gloopy, heavy-on-the-mayo chicken salad, though!), but the cucumbers are fresh right now which got me thinking Greek. So I whipped up a little Greek chicken salad and served it in pita pockets. It was a definite hit.

This is one of those dishes you don't need an exact recipe for, though I've written down how I made mine. Just taste as you go until you like it. Here's the recipe:

Greek Chicken Salad

2 C. cubed, cooked chicken

1/2 C. sliced cucumber (I halved mine for easier eating)

1/2 C. diced sweet bell pepper

1/4 C. sliced Kalmata olives

6 oz. crumbled feta cheese

1/4 C. Greek salad dressing

Mix all ingredients together. Line pita pockets with romaine lettuce and fill with chicken salad. Serve immediately.

If you have time, pour the dressing over the chicken the night before so it can soak up the flavor. Just before serving add the remaining ingredients and a little extra dressing as needed.

This is a great recipe to play with. You could add tomatoes, leave out the peppers, or try tzatzki sauce instead of Greek dressing. There are lots of delicious options!

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Princess Tiara Cake & Summer Berry Medley

Tomorrow is Amelia's fifth birthday.

I can't believe that she's already five! Whoever said "The days are long but the years are short," was soooo right.

We had a birthday celebration today, complete with a homemade princess tiara cake. I called on my 4-H days and made a nifty cut-up cake. Here's how you do it.

First, you need a princess to help you make a 9x13 sheet cake.

Mmmm...butter!

Add a couple of eggs...

Yum!

Here's the big tip on cut-up cakes: You MUST grease and flour your pan. Even though the box recipe says to grease the bottom only, I sprayed my whole pan with Pam for baking and the cake came out easy-peasy.

The cake won't raise as high if you grease the sides of the pan, since the batter can't cling to the sides as it bakes. That's actually a good thing here. Your cake will still be delicious, but it will be a little flatter and slightly more dense, which makes it easier to work with. Most importantly, it will pop right out of the pan.

Cool the cake completely, flip onto a cutting board and use a paper template to cut out your princess tiara.

I spread a thin layer of frosting on the cake while it was on my cutting board, let it dry a bit, and then carefully transferred it to my serving platter. Before I moved the cake, I covered my serving platter with strips of parchment paper so my platter would stay clean. Once I frosted the cake, I carefully pulled the parchment paper strips out and took the mess with it. Voila!

It wasn't a fancy cake with fondant and cake decorator touches, but I was proud of how it turned out. I used a small biscuit cutter to make the round "jewels." At Amelia's request, we frosted a couple blue for the boys who were going to be at the party.

In the interest of full disclosure, this was my second attempt. The first attempt crumbled as I tried to cut it and had to be declared a cake-tastrophe.

Which brings me to my second recipe. I hated to waste a whole 9x13 sheet cake, even though it was a sorry mess. So, I tore it into bite-sized pieces and served it with this yummy Summer Berry Medley and lightly sweetened real whipped cream. It was the perfect dessert for the grown-ups to enjoy while the kids ate birthday cake.

The original recipe, which calls for limoncello liqueur and fresh mint (and is amazing!), comes from Cooking Light via my friend Heather. I didn't have mint on hand, and left out the liqueur in deference to the kids, though none of them ate it anyway. You can make this with any combination of berries.

Here's the variation I made today.

Summer Berry Medley
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
2 cups hulled fresh strawberries, quartered
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup sugar (start with half and adjust according to taste)
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
Juice of one lemon

Toss all ingredients gently and let stand for 15 minutes. Serve over cubed cake (yellow, white, angel food or pound cake would all be delicious) with slightly sweetened real whipped cream.

It's even more delicious if you happen to have a five-year-old princess around to eat it with you.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Resurrection Rolls

Since I wasn't able to get this posted last Friday and this is a recipe you should make before Easter, I'm sharing today.

I'm sure many of you have heard of resurrection rolls or empty tomb rolls. I knew these as marshmallow puffs before I learned about using them to teach the lesson of the resurrection. If you haven't ever made them, try them out. Not only are they a great way to share the story of Jesus' death and resurrection with the little people in your life, they are delicious.

Amelia and I made a batch of resurrection rolls last week. The recipe is simple, and so is the lesson. (Well, at least it's simple until your four-year-old starts asking a million tough questions!) Here they are:

Resurrection Rolls (and lesson)

1/4 C. sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon
2 (8-oz.) cans refrigerated crescent rolls

16 large marshmallows

1/4 C. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon.

Separate dough into 16 triangles. 

The dough represents the cloth Jesus was wrapped in when He was laid in the tomb.

Take a marshmallow.

This represents Jesus and His purity.

Dip the marshmallow in butter.

This represents the oils of embalming.

Dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon sugar.

This represents the spices used to annoint the body of Jesus.

Wrap the coated marshmallow in the crescent roll dough, sealing all seams tightly.

This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

Dip bottoms of rolls in butter and place butter side down in ungreased muffin cups. Place in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.
The oven represents the tomb.

During baking the cresent roll will puff up and the marshmallow will melt, so like the tomb, it is EMPTY.

When the rolls have cooled slightly, break the rolls (cloths) open to discover that Jesus is no longer there. 
HE IS RISEN!

Note: Make sure your marshmallows are fresh, so they melt completely. And, be sure to seal the dough very tightly around the marshmallows so they don't leak out as they melt.

Amelia understood the lesson very well. So well, in fact, that she renamed the recipe. Check out her take on it along with her capable demonstration of how to make these delicious rolls.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Biscuit Stuffing Atop Chops

This recipe came from the Pillsbury Bake-Off Cookbook. The biscuit "stuffing" helps keep the pork chops nice and moist. This dish does take a little time in the oven, but you can prep ahead by doing everything except mixing the biscuit pieces into the rest of the topping ingredients. Then it just takes a couple minutes to get it ready to pop in the oven.

Here's the recipe:

Biscuit Stuffing Atop Chops

6 pork chops (1/2-inch thick)

1 Tbsp. oil

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (I use low sodium)

1 C. chopped celery

1 C. chopped onions

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp. poultry seasoning or sage (If you really like sage, increase to 1/4 tsp.)

1 egg

1 can refrigerated biscuits

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, brown pork chops in oil. Place in ungreased 13x9 pan. In medium bowl, combine soup, celery, onions, pepper, poutry seasoning and egg. Mix well. Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each into 8 pieces. Stir biscuit pieces into soup mixture. Spoon over pork chops. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until biscuit pieces are golden brown.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Aparagus and Sausage Risotto

On Tuesday we had friends over for dinner. I should have been getting clothes ready to sell at the childrens' sale, but I've been dying to try out this new recipe, so I made risotto instead.

It was a great decision, despite the 20 minutes of stirring that risotto requires. (Which is completely incompatible with having 2 1/2-year-old triplets in the house, by the way.)

If you've never made risotto, you have to use Arborio rice, and you must stir, stir, stir. You add the liquid little by little, and stir each time until it's completely absorbed. The result is a creamy risotto. Mmmm! 

This recipe was delish! I liked the smokiness of the sausage, but I'd like to try it with shrimp. And next time I think I'll roast the asparagus, since that's my favorite way to eat those yummy spears.

Of course, once I do that it will be a whole new recipe. That's one of the things I love about a recipe like this: You can play around with it and make it your own. Or just use up whatever you have on  hand.

This recipe came from a grocery store flier. Here it is:

Asparagus and Sausage Risotto

1 pkg. smoked sausage

4 cups chicken broth

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1/2 cup additional chicken broth)

2 cups sliced asparagus, cooked crisp-tender

1/2 cup (2 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese, divided (I only had Kraft grated on hand. Still good.)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped (or substitute dried)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cut sausage into 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside. Bring broth to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan. Reduce heat to low.

Heat oil in a 4-quart pan over medium-high heat. Add sausage, onion and mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, 3-4 minutes or until sausage is lightly browned.

Add butter and rice. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in wine (or broth). Cook until liquid is almost completely absorbed.

Stir in 1/2 cup of heated chicken broth. Cook, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed (about 20 minutes total).

Remove from heat. Stir in asparagus, 1/3 cup of Parmesan and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle top with remaining cheese.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Enjoy! 

© Trippin' Mama 2011

From My Kitchen: Paper Bag Chicken

When Jeff and I were first married and living in England, money was tight. Really tight! One time my monthly stipend check was late, and we had to call home for money so we could buy groceries. Fortunately, we were young, in love, thrilled to be living there, and still in impoverished college student mode anyway.

And, fortunately, I knew how to cook some great inexpensive meals. One way we stretched our grocery money was to buy a whole chicken and squeeze at least three meals out of it. I'd roast it, then use the leftover meat in chicken enchiladas or a casserole, and then I'd make soup out of the carcass.

I prefer to roast my chicken in an oven bag because it stays so nice and moist, but we couldn't afford the bags. So I roasted my chicken under foil to keep it from drying out. I didn't have this recipe when we were overseas, or I would have used it! The brown paper bag keeps the chicken juicy and moist, and the seasoning is delish. This recipe came from a former co-worker of mine.

Paper Bag Chicken

6-lb. oven stuffer/roaster chicken

1 rounded teaspoon garlic salt

1 rounded teaspoon onion salt

1 rounded teaspoon celery salt

Clean chicken. Combine salts and rub into the skin of the chicken. Place chicken in brown grocery bag. Staple shut or fold and tuck under chicken. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet.

Bake for 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours at 400 degrees. When done, carefully cut open the bag and carve the chicken.

It takes just a couple of minutes to get this ready to go in the oven, and the results are delicious.

Enjoy!

© Trippin' Mama 2011