Going bananas with the monkeys

When I was a kid I loved monkeys, chimps specifically. I made chimpanzee sounds (pretty authentically scary actually). I begged my Mother for a chimp. She said "No way" as you can imagine. I begged that he could wear diapers and I would change him. Ah...., noooooo. I am very glad that she said no because I have seen a program on PBS about the sad, left behind chimps that people had and then could no longer manage. Poor things! Broke my heart.

But I still have a special fondness for all things monkey, including Curious George. I am just about as happy to watch Curious George on PBS as my kids are.

My youngest daughter seems to feel the same way about monkeys or maybe I have superimposed my love of them on her. So for this birthday I went for it and made this adorable monkey cake that I saw on Martha. Oh, so cute! Ooh ooh ahh ahh!

For all the instructions on constructing a monkey cake, go here.

This is the recipe I used for the cake inside.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
adapted from Allrecipes here.

1 cup baking cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream

Dissolve cocoa in water; let stand until cool.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well.

Add cocoa mixture; beat well.

Pour about 3 cups into a 3 quart mixing bowl. Fill two muffin tins 2/3's full (an extra one for any mistakes). And the remainder in any other pans you may want to make. Anything extra you can use for a later project. In my case that would be my other daughters birthday at the end of the month.

This cake is not deeply chocolatey. It is a lighter crumb cake that if you leave in the oven too long will dry out so be careful.

Go easy on the yellow food coloring. I was a bit heavy handed.

Muhammara

This is one of those dishes that I saw on many blogs and really wanted to make. I never ended up making it during the summer. But I did roast and freeze a ton of red peppers. So for New Year's I pulled them out and finally made the muhammara!

I liked the dip but quite honestly I liked it better before the bread crumbs. THe chips you see in the picture are wontons dipped in an oil and soy sauce mixture and baked until crispy.

Muhammara
adaped from this recipe.

2 cups roasted red peppers, drained
1/2 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted lightly and chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses*
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor blend together the peppers, the bread crumbs, the walnuts, the garlic, the lemon juice, the pomegranate molasses, the cumin, the red pepper flakes, and salt to taste until the mixture is smooth and with the motor running add the oil gradually.

* the pomegranate molasses was made by boiling down a cup of pomegranate juice with 1 tablespoon of sugar and the juice of half of a lemon. Boiled down until it thickened.

Hoppin' John turns into Skippin' Jenny

I hope you all had a lovely New Year's Eve and Day. We celebrated with family and friends and shared this flavorful dish called Hoppin' John. Cheers!

"Hoppin' John is found in most states of the South, but it is mainly associated with the Carolinas. Gullah or Low Country cuisine reflects the cooking of the Carolinas, especially the Sea islands (a cluster of islands stretching along the coats of south Carolina and northern Georgia). Black-eyed peas, also called cow peas, are thought to have been introduced to America by African slaves who worked the rice plantations. Hoppin' John is a rich bean dish made of black-eyed peas simmered with spicy sausages, ham hocks, or fat pork, rice, and tomato sauce. This African-American dish is traditionally a high point of New Year's Day, when a shiny dime is often buried among the black-eyed peas before serving. whoever get the coin in his or her portion is assured good luck throughout the year. For maximum good luck in the new year, the first thing that should be eaten on New year's Day is Hoppin' John." (What's Cooking America).

According to Wikipedia, on the day after New Year's Day, leftover "Hoppin' John" is called "Skippin' Jenny," and further demonstrates one's frugality. Oh, and we got frugal! It's so muc better when you wait anyhow, the tastes have time to marry.

Hoppin' John
The dressing idea came from this recipe, the rest of the recipe is kind of a hodge podge of a bunch of recipes.

dressing:
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil

2 ribs of celery, copped
2 onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 bags of frozen black eyed peas
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 pork hocks

In a large bowl, whisk olive oil, molasses and apple cider vinegar. Saute onion, celery and bell pepper in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of canola oil until tender. Add minced garlic, saute one minute more. Pour into the bowl with the dressing. In the same pot, boil beans with ham hock and bay leaf until beans are tender. (If you are using dried beans, this will take some time but you could do it this way.) The frozen beans should be ready in twenty minutes. Drain and place drained beans into bowl with the celery, bell pepper and onion. Place the ham hocks in the pot again with about 4 cups of water and cook until falling apart- this will take a good hour or more on a low simmer. When finished, falling off the bone, remove and discard the fat. Shred the meat with a fork and add to the bean mixture. Cover and chill for 24 hours for maximum flavor.

*If I had okra on hand I would have thrown this in as well.

Serve with pickled jalapenos and rice.

Recipes to Rival: Appetizers 2010

This months Recipes to Rival was hosted by yours truly. I chose appetizers because that's what is on a lot of people's mind come New Year's. I had a few that I was just wanting to try. I made them late in November to get ready for the challenge. But I am seriously thinking of doing the olive one again. They are absolutely delicious and wonderful for snacking on during a cocktail party.

I have two puff pastry recipes in progress as I write this post. You know after you make your own puff pastry you will never want the store bought one again. I used the store bought one for the olive recipe below because it was near Thanksgiving and with so much on my plate, pun totally intended, I thought I'd go the easy route. Ah, like, so not worth it. And c'mon don't give me that song and dance that puff pastry scares you. Honestly, if you really want puff, you can make it. It's as easy as, well, it's easier than cleaning your house. You mix up a dough, roll it, insert squared butter, fold over the butter, roll and chill. Take out roll, fold, chill. Then five more times. It's pretty time consuming but between all those rolling times there are plenty of moments to do the other things you want to do. Making those layered jello desserts is way more time consuming and messy. Wow, am I rambling?

So here are my choice appetizers.

Turkey Croquettes
(Thought for Food adapted this recipe From the Joy of Cooking: All About Chicken’s recipe for Chicken Croquettes)
This is my adaptation.
(Yield: 16 croquettes)

1/2 T butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 c shredded skinless, cooked turkey (I like to use a mix of dark and white meat for this)
1/4 c minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp fresh or dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
Salt to taste
1 1/2 c Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
Canola oil, for shallow frying
Lemon wedges, for serving
Salad greens, for serving

The Roux:
1 1/4 c chicken stock, warmed
1 1/2 TB butter
1 1/2 TB all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Roux: In a small pan over medium heat, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Turn down to low heat and cook (stirring constantly) until the roux is just slightly darkened and fragrant (about 6 minutes). Slowly whisk in the warm stock and simmer the sauce (stirring occasionally) until it’s thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a small pan, heat ½ TB butter over medium-low heat; add the onion and sauté for about 7 minutes, until the onion is starting to soften and change color. In a bowl, combine the roux, cooked onions, shredded turkey, minced parsley, pepper, thyme, celery seed, breadcrumbs and salt to taste. Cover mixture and refrigerate until very cold and firm (at least 2 hours).

Put your flour and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls, and beat your eggs in a separate shallow bowl. Gather mixture into tiny balls or patties about the size of a large olive. Roll in flour first, then egg, then panko crumbs to coat.

In a large skillet, add enough oil to generously cover the bottom; preheat the oil on medium-high heat. Fry the croquettes over medium to medium-high heat until golden and crispy on both sides, then drain on a paper towel-lined plate.


Mini Pigs in a Blanket

I saw this recipe for biscuits and have been wanting to make these cute little wrapped dogs for ages. Kids usually love them. One of my children loved them (the one that doesnt like hot dogs- ha! and the other one not so much, she prefers a plain old hot dog.

Bride's Biscuits
adapted from Southern Sideboard, by the Junior League of Jackson Mississippi, 1978
*note- this is a large recipe purposely so you can use it as needed. If you are not big on biscuits or anything made with biscuits you can reduce the amounts.

5 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk
1 package dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons
5 tablespoons warm water
mini hot dogs, aka cocktail weiners

Sift dry ingredients, then cut in shortening. Add buttermilk. Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to mixture. Knead lightly. Cut squares and wrap hot dog at a diagnol.

Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 450F about 10 to 12 minutes. Store dough in refrigerator, pinching off as much as needed each time. It can also be frozen.

Olive Straws
I saw Michel Roux on Martha Stewart and knew I needed to make these. They are so cute!

The demonstration to make these can be found here.
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/olive-straws.

All-purpose flour, for work surface
13 ounces Puff Pastry
15 large green pimento stuffed olives, about 1 1/4 inches long
1 medium egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk

1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out puff pastry to a 12 1/2-by-6-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick. Using a large sharp knife, cut the rectangle into a 5 1/2-by-6-inch rectangle and a 7-by-6-inch rectangle. Place both rectangles on a baking sheet and transfer to refrigerator; let chill 20 minutes.
2. Place the 5 1/2-by-6-inch rectangle on a baking sheet. Place 5 olives, end-to-end, in a straight line along the short side of the rectangle, leaving about a 5/8-inch border. Repeat process two more times to make three lines of olives.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and milk. Brush egg mixture on all exposed spaces between olives. Cover with the 7-by-6-inch rectangle of puff pastry, pressing the whole surface of the dough between the olives firmly with your fingertips. Transfer to refrigerator ( I think in the demonstration they said freezer); let chill 20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a very sharp knife, trim edges of dough; cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide straws. Lay flat-side down on a baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake until pastry is golden and crisp, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer straws to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm.

To make your own rough puff pastry:
recipe from Martha Stewart- click here.

Makes 2 pounds, 10 ounces.

1 pound 2 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 pound 2 ounces very cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup ice-cold water

1. Mound flour in center of a large work surface, and make a well in the middle; place butter and salt in well.
2. Using your fingertips, mix ingredients together in the well. Using the fingertips of your other hand, slowly incorporate flour, beginning with inner rim of well. When cubes of butter have become small pieces and dough is grainy, gradually add ice water until fully incorporated, taking care not to overwork the dough. Roll dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap; refrigerate for 20 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough into a 16-by-8-inch rectangle. Fold the short ends over the middle (like a letter) to make three layers. This is called the first turn.
4. Give the dough a quarter turn and roll away from you into another 16-by-8-inch rectangle. Fold again into 3 layers; this is called the second turn. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Repeat process in steps 3 and 4 to create the third and fourth turns. Wrap dough in plastic; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 3 days, before using. Dough may also be kept, frozen, for up to 4 months.

Asian Flavored Crab Cakes

These will delight you. Not just because they taste great but because everything can be done in advance. The only thing you have to do when you are ready to eat them is to pop them in the oven. That is my kind of entertaining.

Happy New Years everyone!

Asian Flavored Crab Cakes
adapted from this recipe.

16 ounces jumbo lump crabmeat
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoons wasabi powder
zest of one lime
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons panko crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 large eggs

Flake crabmeat with a fork in a medium bowl; stir in mayonnaise, scallions, soy sauce, wasabi, and zest. Stir in 2 tablespoons panko crumbs. Cover with plastic wrap; chill 1 hour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and pepper; set aside.
In a small bowl, beat eggs with 1 tablespoon water; set aside.
In a shallow bowl, stir together sesame seeds and breadcrumbs. Form one tablespoon crab mixture into a ball; dip in seasoned flour. Flatten into a cake. Build up sides a little and rounding it out. Repeat with remaining crab mixture. Dip cakes in egg mixture, then roll in breadcrumb mixture.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add half the crab cakes; cook, turning once, until golden and crisp on both sides, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, transfer to paper towel-lined plates to drain. Repeat with remaining cakes, adding more oil if needed. Let cool completely.

Transfer crab cakes to a baking sheet. Freeze (uncovered) until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer to an airtight container; freeze until ready to use, up to 6 weeks. To serve, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place the crab cakes on an ungreased baking sheet, and bake until heated through, 10 to 14 minutes.

On New Years Eve, I will garnish these with pickled ginger as the recipe suggests.

Feeling Snacky- try a pickled carrot.

I absolutely loved these. I saw a recipe in Everyday Food in Octoboer 2009 and I adapted it to my taste and what I had on hand. I really liked it. I polished off the jar in a couple, three days. Just the right thing when you are feeling snacky.

QUICK PICKLED CARROTS
adapted from this recipe.
Makes about 2 cups.

1/2 cup white-wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 T kosher salt*
4 or more medium carrots, julienned (until I filled a quart jar)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 sprigs of dill
3 cloves of garlic halved

In a sauce pan combine vinegar, sugar, and salt. Heat to a boil and salt and sugar is disolved. Pour over the carrots in the quart jar. Cool, cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours but preferably for a couple days.

* the reason you use kosher salt is because it does not contain iodine. Iodine discolors vegetables or fruit in the canning process.

Orange Chocolate Pizzelles

Before the Holiday season is gone, I wanted to share this pizzelle recipe with you. It's not the traditional anise pizzelles but rather an orange chocolate recipe. The nice thing about pizzelles is that they keep for quite a while. After the holidays are over you can put a dollop of ice cream on them and some fresh fruit and you have a wow dessert that's real simple to put together.

Orange Chocolate Pizzelles

6 eggs
3 1/2 c. flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 lb. butter, melted
3 tsp. baking powder
zest of one orange
2 T Grand Marnier
1 T vanilla extract

Beat eggs. Add sugar gradually. Beat until smooth. Add melted and cooled butter. Add flavorings: anise, vanilla, orange and lemon. Add flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and add to egg mixture. Dough will be sticky enough to be dropped by teaspoon onto pizzelle pan. Makes 2 at a time baking approximately 30 seconds on iron. Makes 60 to 80 pizzelles per batter.