Sweet Chicken Barbacoca Salad for the Holidays

Photo courtesy Cafe Rio

I've lived in Utah most of my life and love to try new restaurants, but it wasn't until this year that I was introduced to Cafe Rio (thanks Robert) even though it's been around for almost 15 years.  It was refreshing to find a causal dinning restaurant that actually makes all their food from scratch (even the tortillas).  My favorite is the Sweet Pork Barbacoa Salad.

So when we decided to have some friends over tonight, (friends we get together with almost monthly for dinner), I wanted to do something new but that wasn't too expensive, had a seasonal twist (it's Christmas time of course) and would perhaps knock their socks off. So I decided to make a holiday variation based on one of my favorite new restaurants.

Tonight's menu will be Sweet Chicken Barbacoa Salad served with a Cilantro Lime Rice, Black Beans and accompanied by a Cranberry Salsa. So here is the recipe I've adapted.

Sweet Chicken Barbacoa Salad for the Holidays

INGREDIENTS


Sweet Barbacoa Chicken
4 lbs Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
20 oz Coke (not diet, but you can use caffeine free)
1/2 c Brown Sugar
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 cup Water
Barbacoa Enchilada Sauce (see below)

Put the chicken, Coke, brown sugar and garlic in a dish and marinade at least 2 hours (or over night).
Place the chicken, marinade and water in a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours.  Drain. Shred meat when done.  Place the shredded chicken and Barbacoa sauce back in the slow cooker and continue cooking on low for 2 more hours.

Barbacoa Enchilada Sauce

2 cups Coke
2 cans (4 oz size) Diced Green Chilies.
2 cups Red Enchilada Sauce
1 cup Brown Sugar

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth.

Black Beans

1/4 cup Olive Oil
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp. Ground Cumin
2 (16 oz) cans Black Beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups Tomato Juice
1 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Fresh Chopped Cilantro

Saute Garlic and Cumin in Olive Oil.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer until heated.  Just before serving add the Cilantro.

Cilantro Lime Rice

2 cups uncooked rice (long-grained, white)
2 Tbsp Butter
4 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp Fresh Lime Juice
4 cups Chicken Stock
2 cups Water

2 tsp Lime Juice
4 tsp Sugar
1/3 cup Fresh Chopped Cilantro


In sauce pan combine rice, butter, garlic 2 tsp Lime Juice, Chicken Stock and water.  Bring to a boil, cover and cook on low for about 15-20 minutes, until the rice is tender.  Remove from heat.
In a small bowl combine last three ingredients and pour over cooked rice.  Mix as you fluff the rice.


Cranberry Salsa

1 pkg (16 oz) Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Sugar (or Splenda)
2-3 Jalapenos, Minced
1 Anaheim Pepper, Minced
1 Red Onion, Minced
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1/3 cup Cilantro
1 (16 oz) can Diced Tomatoes
Pinch of Salt

Bring Cranberries with Water and Sugar to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.  Let cool.
Combined all ingredients in a food processor and let fly until desired consistancy.  (This is really best if made ahead).

To Assemble

Place a heated tortilla on a deep plate or pie pan.
Add a scoop each of Cilantro Lime Rice, Black Beans and Barbacoa Chicken.  Add Chopped Lettuce, Diced Tomatoes, Fresh Cilantro, Fried Tortilla slices or chips.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese of your choice.  Top with Sour Cream, Guacamole and Cranberry Salas.


Enjoy

Cranberry Salsa

I love the holidays. The food, the presents, the food, the spirit of the season, time with family, the food and more food. One food that screams Christmas is cranberries. The humble cranberry is one of the original American "superfruits". Packed full of nutrients and antioxidants, the cranberries have often be relished just to an accompaniment of turkey in the form of canned cranberry sauce.

Growing up I never appreciated the delightful native berry. It ether came from a can or in the from of my grandmas "cranberry salad" that was sour and crunchy. I guess growing up during the depression, sugar was a luxury not to be wasted. But when I meet my wife, she introduced me to a whole new side to cranberry. The fresh berries, cooked with sugar to bring out the flavor of the berry without much of the tartness. Her "cranberry salad" has now become a tradition that many of my own family have learned to appreciate.

Since then I've experimented with the cranberry in other forms. A cranberry chutney, a cranberry aoili, cranberry cheesecake among others, and today, Cranberry Salsa. The sweetness of the cranberry sauce is a great complement to the spice of the peppers and really brightens up the salsa and ads a southwest touch to the northeast cranberry.

Cranberry Salsa

Salsa

2 Jalpeno Peppers, finely diced

1 Anaheim Pepper, finely diced

1/3 bunch fresh Cilentro, chopped

2 Tbsp Minced Garlic

1/2 Red Onion, finely diced

2 Tbsp Lime Juice

2 pinches Salt

2 - 14 oz cans Diced Tomatoes

1 Tbsp Crushed Red Peppers

1 Tbsp Orange Zest

Cranberry Sauce (see below)

Cranberry Sauce

1 pkg fresh Cranberries (about 4 cups)

1 cup Water

1 cup Sugar (or Splenda for us diabetics)

Directions

1. Prepare cranberry sauce by cooking cranberries with water and sugar until cranberries burst (about 10-20 minutes). Let cool 10 minutes

2. Combine all ingredients (including cranberry sauce) in a food processor and pulse until well blended.

3. Refrigerate 30 minutes and enjoy.

Eggnog Cheesecake

Happy Thanksgiving.

I've a confession to make. Every year my sister gets to make pies for our family's Thanksgiving dinner and I've felt cheated. I love to make desserts (truth be told I'm a chef, not a pastry chef but still, I love desserts). Still I cook better than anyone else in my family. I say this not to boast, but ten years of professional cooking has its advantage. I've also become somewhat of a food snob. So this year, I took dibs on the desserts. My sister-in-law wanted to make pies so I'll let her but I get to make the cheesecakes and my sister gets to bring a salad this year.

A little over a month ago I made my first ever cheesecake, a Pina Colada Cheesecake and it was good, but it fell. So I made it again and perfected the technique. Since then I've experimented with a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip for Halloween and it also turned out well. So for Thanksgiving I am upping the anti by making three different varieties. A Peppermint Chocolate Chip, a Dark Chocolate and an Eggnog Cheesecake. These three are going to the family dinner so sister, eat your heart out.

With five different varieties under my belt, I think my favorite so far is the Eggnog. A friend of mine, Tina requested the recipe so what better place to share than this blog. Here goes.

Eggnog Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients

Crust

1 package Graham Crackers

4 oz Candied Pecans

1/2 cup butter

Filling

12 oz Cream Cheese (3 pgk)

3/4 cup Sugar (I use Splenda® for a lower sugar content)

1/3 cup Heavy Cream

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Rum Extract

2 Tbl AP Flour

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Tbl Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Nutmeg + nutmeg to top

4 large eggs

Instructions

1. In a food processor combine graham crackers and pecans and puree to a course texture. Add butter and blend. Press into a 8" springform pan along the bottom and up the sides. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool but leave oven on.

2. In a mixing bowl combine the cream cheese, sugar, heavy cream, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, rum extract, flour and eggs (one at a time) and blend until smooth, scrapping down the edges as needed. Pour into the prepared crust, sprinkle with nutmeg and bake for about 1 hour. Center should be soft set.

3. Turn off oven and let cool for 15 minutes before removing the cheesecake. After 15 minutes remove to a counter, run a thin blade knife around the edge to separate and loose the pan. Let cool completely and then refrigerate for 4 hours or over night. Can be made several days in advance.

4. Top with sweetened whipped cream.

Enjoy.

Banana Nut Muffin Oatmeal

The other day I ran into a friend at the grocery store and we started talking about oatmeal (I know a strange topic). Both his family and our family eat a lot of oatmeal because it is cheap, healthy and tastes good - just don't ask my kids about the last part. I noticed he had banana's also in his cart and it got me thinking.

Banana's are one of my favorite fruits. A little bit of tropical delight for the palette that is high in potassium (and slightly radioactive). Despite common misconceptions, banana's don't grow on trees, but are actually one of the largest flowering plants on the planet. Anyway, I digress.

After our meeting, I got to thinking about other ways to make oatmeal more edible for the kids. They love banana breads and muffins. And muffins and breads are a good way to hid oatmeal. But my chosen task was to make a traditional porridge that they would not only eat, but also like. I knew I wanted to use bananas and oatmeal but what else. So I began my quest where it all started, by wandering the isles of the grocery store.

I started with the rolled oats (not instant) and bananas but I kept coming back to banana muffins and so decided to make a banana muffin porridge. I needed to change not only the flavor of the oats but the texture as well. So here is a recipe that not only tastes good (according to the kids), but will warm the heart and fill the belly.

Banana Nut Muffin Oatmeal

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

4 cups Rolled Oats

8 cups Water

3 Banana's cut into slices

1 cup Grape Nuts Cereal®

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Banana Extract

Glazed Pecans to top

Directions

1. In a food processor on pulse, cut the rolled oats to a med-fine texture. (An optional step to make the oatmeal smoother but can easily be skipped).

2. Add brown sugar and banana extract to the water and stir to dissolve. Bring to a boil. Slowly add rolled oats (to avoid clumping) and Grape Nuts Cereal® to water and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add desired amount of cooked oatmeal, sliced banana's, glazed pecans and top with heavy cream and/or milk.

Enjoy

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

How the Jack-O-Lantern Came To Be.

The story goes that a crafty and stingy man named Jack was approached by the Devil and told that it was his time to die. As a final request, Jack asked the Devil to get him an apple from the top is his favorite tree, which the Devil did. The crafty man quickly carved some crosses around the tree, trapping the Devil. In exchange for allowing him to get down, Jack made a deal with the Devil that he wouldn't take his soul.

A short while later Jack fell out of that same apple tree, hit his head on a rock and died. Being a wicked man Jack was turned away from the gates of Heaven, but because of his deal with the Devil, he couldn't go to Hell either and was cursed to wander the earth as a spirit in torment.

Without a light to guide him he asked the Devil for one final favor, an ember from the fiery underworld to guide him on his way. Jack carved out a turnip (later transferring it to a pumpkin as he came to America) and placed in inside. On dark fall nights, people would often see the light floating down the lane with the horrible images Jack had carved out and cry out, "Beware of Jack of the Lantern (Jack-O-Lantern)".

Carving pumpkins is one of my favorite things to do at Halloween time and is a fun way to spend time with my kids. But I hate wasting anything, especially food. I have in the past used the pumpkin pieces and trimmings for things such as pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and my kids favorite, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. But I had always thrown away the seeds.

Last year that changed. After seeing the outrageous price of pumpkin seeds in the store, I decided to make my own. Roasting pumpkin seeds is one of the easiest parts of the Jack-O-Lantern process. I decided to post the process here in tribute to one of my customers (if she reads this she'll know who she is) who was carving pumpkins with her own children and asked about me about it. So here goes.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Pumpkin seeds have a nutty flavor and makes a health addition to salads, topped on soups or mixed in or on top of your favorite breads. Salty or Savory, Spicy or Sweet you are only limited by your imagination when you follow these three easy steps.

1. Rinse the seeds under cold water removing the pulp and strings. (This is easiest when the seeds are fresh).

2. Place the seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet and coat the seeds completely. (You could also spray the seeds with a non-stick pan spray).

3. Salt (or season) and bake at 325 degree until toasted (about 25 minutes). Cool and store in an air tight container.

Season options I have tried or will be trying this year: Salt, Cinnamon and Sugar, Salt and Pepper, Dill (soak briefly in a dill pickle brine if you prefer), Salsa or Taco seasoning, your favorite dry BBQ rub blend, etc.

Have fun and enjoy.

Orange Cranberry Cheesecake

From Executive Chef to Executive Producer.

What's your favorite TV channel? I think mine is the Food Network. I especially love Good Eats with Alton Brown. I can spend hours watching Iron Chef American, Good Eats, and Chopped. But my love of cooking programs goes back much further. I remember watching "The Frugal Gourmet" and "Yan Can Cook" ("If Yan can cook, so can you!") back in my teens. Those shows (and my Dad's flair for making tasty meals out of whatever was in the cupboard) were some of my early inspiration and one of the reasons I became a Chef. Eventually, I might even like to have my own cooking show. Maybe something built around outdoor camp cooking or "The Victory Garden" meets "Good Eats", but for now my creative outlet is limited to a little known blog and a family who gets to sample my treats.

Today's recipe was inspired from a watching a Ocean Spray commercial while reading an article in Cooking Light (Frozen Orange Torte). I put the elements for both together with my desire to perfect my cheesecakes and this is what I came up with, Orange-Cranberry Cheesecake.

Orange Cranberry Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Ingredients

Crust

1/2 package Graham Crackers, crushed (about 6 crackers)

1 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate

3 oz Unsalted Butter

Filling

3 (8 oz) packages Cream Cheese (regular or reduced fat), softened

3/4 cup Sugar (I used Splenda)

2 Tbsp AP Flour

3 Eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup Dried Cranberries

1/4 cup Orange Juice

1 Tbsp Orange Zest

1/4 tsp Orange Extract (or 6-8 drops Wild Orange Essential Oil, I get mine for my DoTerra)

Compote

1 (12 oz) package Frozen Cranberries

1 cup Sugar (or Splenda)

1 Tbsp Orange Zest

3-4 drops Wild Orange Oil or 1/8 tsp Orange Extract

1 package No Sugar Added Pectin

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter and chocolate together. Combine with crushed Graham Crackers and press into an 8 or 9" springform pan; cover and set aside.

2. In mixing bowl beat cream cheese, sugar and flour on medium speed for 5 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time, orange zest, orange extract and juice until combined. Fold in cranberries and pour into crust lined pan.

3. Place springform pan on baking sheet and fill baking sheet with water. If your springform pan is not sealed (waterproof) fold two layers of heavy alumin foil around pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until 2 1/2 inch area around edges appears set when gently shaken. Turn off oven and let cool (in oven) for 1-2 hours).

4. On stove top combine cranberries, water, zest and orange oil and bring to a rolling boil. Add pectin and boil 1 minute longer. Let cool slightly. Spread compote over cheesecake, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving. Makes 10-12 slices.

Enjoy

Apple Butter Baked Oatmeal

If Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, why does it seem like the busiest day of the week? Between choir practice, getting kids ready for church, church, church meetings after church, home (and visiting) teaching appointments, and family dinners it seems like it's go, go, go, with no rest for the Saints. (By the way, a good friend of mine, Cory Milligan, posted the other day about what a Latter Day Saint really is... a Latter Day Sinner who keeps on trying). So in the spirit of D&C 59:13 "...only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart" I give you this recipe, Baked Oatmeal.

When you think of oatmeal what comes to mind? The slimy, soggy hot cereal you mom made you eat with milk and sugar? The slimy stuff that comes in those flavored packets loaded with preservatives and ingredients you can't pronounce? Or something different?

For the first 19 years we were married, my wife would make the first and occasionally we would would relent and get some of the second. She would add all kinds of things to get the kids to eat it, apple pie filling, cherry pie filling, peaches with whipped cream on top, pumpkin, cranberries, etc. You get the idea; it would all end the same. Our children would eat a few bites, pronounce they were full and the throw the rest away.

But in going through a new cookbook I got for my wife last year for her birthday she found this recipe for Baked Oatmeal. Not only did the kids devour it, but they wanted more. It was easy, just combine the ingredients, put in a cake pan in the oven and walk away (don't forget to time it or you'll have blackened oatmeal). We still add different things to the oatmeal, but now it's easy, fun and the children eat it.

Baked Oatmeal

1/2 cup Melted Butter

3/4 cups Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 cup Milk

3 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned, not quick cooking)

1 tsp Salt

Opt. your own "secret ingredient(s)" like dried cranberries and apples, cinnamon apples, peaches, cherries, blueberries, strawberries (I use freeze dried), etc.

In a large bowl mix oil, sugar, and eggs. Add remaining ingredients and pour into a greased 9 x 13 can. Baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve hot with with milk. Serves 5-6. We double when all six of our children are home. Enjoy.

(The recipe originally came from "Worldwide Ward Cookbook, Secret Recipes, by Deanna Buxton". The recipe was submitted by May Fitzgerald, Taos Ward, Santa Fe New Mexico Stake, Angle Fire, New Mexico). She writes, "This is the only way we make oatmeal at our house...[This] is a time saver and tastes so much better tan making oatmeal on the stove or in the microwave..."

English Scones

My youngest daughter has been asking me to make scones for breakfast for several days now. She's wanting the American / Mexican variety also know as Indian Fry Bread, Fried Scones or Sopapillas. However, I don't want to deal with the greasy mess frying up scones produces, so I opted for the English variety. This type of scone is more closely related to a biscuit (and in fact uses the biscuit method to mix) and in England is commonly found during tea time served with Clotted Cream or Jam.

We used to offer these on our catering menu and they were a big hit. Back then we could produce several hundred at a time for a large gathering, and so, we would buy them pre-made (but uncooked) and bake them as needed. So, of truth, I've never made these from scratch. But like many things we as a society now buy in a box or jar, they are actually very easy to make, taste better and take just about as much time and effort as the boxed mixes.

English Scones

Yield: 1 Doz Scones

Prep time 15 Minutes, Baking time 10-15 Minutes, Total time 25-30 Minutes

Ingredients

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 pinch Salt

1/4 cup Butter (1 stick), cubed and cold

2 Tbsp Sugar

1/2 cups Milk

2 Tbsp Milk (for brushing the scones).

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F and Line a Baking sheet with parchment paper

1) Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl

2) Cut in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs (Biscuit Method)

3) Stir in the sugar and enough milk to mix to a soft dough

4) Turn onto a floured surface, knead lightly (don't over knead or they won't rise or be flaky) and roll out to a 3/4 inch thickness.

5) Cut into 2 inch rounds, triangles or squares and place on prepared baking sheet.

6) Brush with milk to glaze.

7) Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes than cool on a wire rack.

Serve with butter, clotted cream or jam.

Note: Feel free to add your favorite spices and fold in your favorite indredients like Orange Zest, Strawberries (dried work great), Apples and Walnuts, Chocolate Chips, Blueberries, Raisins, or Cranberries.

Enjoy

Pictured: Cranberry Walnut Scone, courtesy AnjasFood4Thought.com

Chicken and Dumplings

I woke up this morning to Fall. Despite what the calendar says today is the first day of fall in Richmond. I know, the leave began to turn a week ago and it has been getting cooler for some time, but today felt different. I cleaned out the chicken coop and put new bedding in and got the garden beds ready to cover so I can eek out a few more weeks of tomatoes (I expect our first frost on Friday or Saturday morning). Fall (and Winter) means more soup in our house. Not that we don't like soup in the summer (borscht, gazpacho, mint cucumber soup, etc are great cold soups) but a nice hot bowl of soup on a cool, crisp day is somehow warm and inviting.

So for my first hot soup of the season, I choose Chicken and Dumplings. No rhyme or reason, it just sounded good. This may not be an authentic dumpling but it was quick, easy, made from scratch and tasted darn right good. Just the thing for the first day of fall.

Note: This recipe is written just like I made it. There are not exact measurements, just like grandma used to cook. More people show up, add more water (and maybe a little more chicken base).

Easy Chicken and Dumpling Soup

8-10 cups water (just under the max fill line of your stock pot once all the ingredients are added)

3 - 4 lbs Chicken (older stewing chickens make the best soup, but I used frozen breasts, which once thawed, I diced up)

2 Tbsp Chicken Base

2 handfuls Diced Carrots

2 handfuls Diced Celery (I used Freeze Dried for convience and because it was what I had)

1 Red Onion, Diced

1 handful shredded yellow squash (it was there so I used it)

1 Tbs Minced Garlic

1-2 Tbs Fresh Tarragon

Salt and Pepper TT

Dumplings

(Becky made fresh bread today, so I used about a half of loaf of the bread dough cut into small pieces and flattened slightly)

1. Saute Onions, Carrots, Celery, Squash and Garlic until slightly caramelized.

2. Boil Chicken in the water with items from step 1 until the chicken is thawed. Dice up chicken and add back to the soup. If using fresh chicken just cook in the soup.

3. Add Dumplings to the soup and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring the dumplings so they get cooked all the way through.

4. Add salt, pepper and tarragon for the last 2 minutes.

5. Ladle and serve.

Enjoy.

Becky's Slow-Cooker Chili

As many of you know, I was trained as a chef and owned my own catering company for over 10 years. I still love to cook (even more now that it's not a job) and my wife is often asked how nice it is to be married to a chef (assuming she doesn't have to cook much).

The truth is she does most of our cooking at home if for no other reason than I'm not home to do it most of the time. And another truth is that I didn't marry her for her cooking. But she has learned some basic culinary principles and has improved a lot over the last twenty years. She may not become the next "Iron Chef" but she also won't every appear on a season of "Worst Cooks in America" either.

With that said, one of the best dishes she makes is her chili. Chili is not difficult to make, but it can be difficult to make a really good chili and usually takes a lot of work and a lot of time. This recipe is an exception (although it still takes time). It is a homemade chili in every sense of the word. The easy part of this chili is that if you can chop up a few vegetables, brown off hamburger and open some cans you too can have really good chili.

This is made in a 5 quart or larger slow cooker and must be started hours in advance, but once it is going you can just about walk away and forget it. This is great for a day when you know you will be busy taking kids all over after school or in my wife's case, when you have some energy in the morning but knowing that you won't by afternoon.

Becky's Easy Slow-Cooker Chili

1 lb Ground Beef (can substitute chicken, steak or what ever meat you want)

1 Onion, chopped

1 Medium Green Pepper, chopped

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

29 oz Tomato Sauce

3 - 16 oz cans Kidney Beans, drained (feel free to mix up different beans)

14 1/2 oz can crushed or stewed Tomatoes

6 oz can Tomato Paste

4 oz Grated Cheddar Cheese

Sour Cream and Green Onion for garnish

1. Brown meat in skillet. Add onion and green pepper halfway through browning process. Drain. Put into Slow Cooker.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients except cheese and garnish.

3 Cover. Cook on High 3 hours or Low for 7-8 hours.

4. Serve in bowls topped with cheddar cheese.

Enjoy.

Note: This is wonderful to serve with fresh, homemade cornbread.

Cherry-Peach Buckle

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well I say that dessert can be a meal in and of itself. So this morning I made a breakfast that could be a dessert or a dessert that could be a breakfast, a Cherry-Peach Buckle. By definition a buckle is a dessert which combines fresh seasonal fruit, a rich cake batter and a streusel topping. The result is a dense cake with a moist crumb, sometimes compared to a coffee cake.

My inspiration came for today's breakfast came from one of my favorite TV chef's, Alton Brown but with my own variations. It was also a good opportunity to teach my son, Josh about scaling recipes (basic algebra, fractions, decimals, and critical thinking) and my sweet wife about two different baking methods, creaming method and the biscuit method. I adjusted this for a 9x13 pan.

Cherry-Peach Buckle

Spray a 9 x 13 cake pan with pan spray and pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Batter:

13 oz Cake Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3/4 tsp Salt

3/4 tsp Ground Ginger

3 oz Butter, softened

7 1/2 oz Sugar

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Milk

21 oz Fruit (your choice, frozen is best).

Mix first four ingredients in separate bowl.

In mixer (using the creaming method) mix butter, sugar and eggs.

Slowly add flour mixture and milk 1/3 at a time.

Fold in fruit and put into your greased cake pan.

Topping:

5 oz Brown Sugar

2.2 oz Flour (About 1/2 cup)

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

3 oz Butter, cut into pieces

Blend topping ingredients by hand (don't warm butter) to a crumbly texture.

Cover cake mix with topping

Bake for 35-40 minutes

Best served warm with Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream.

Enjoy

Cold Spaghetti Salad

It's been quite a while since I posted and I'm done procrastinating. Sorry to my six loyal fans. Starting tomorrow I do better. No, really.

Well today I have to give thanks to the young men and women of the Cherry Creek ward, who donated their leftover spaghetti to us (maybe because we have the most kids in the ward). Anyway, today my sweet wife wasn't feeling well so I volunteered to make lunch. With a fridge full of food what to make? I see a ton (actually only about 10 lbs) of cooked spaghetti. It's flowing everywhere like snakes in an Indiana Jones movie.

As I search, I find a small about of freeze dried chopped broccoli (not enough to use for a side dish) left in the bottom of a can, about a cup of FD red and green bell peppers left in another can, a bag of Italian cheese blend (from last nights dinner) and some tomatoes. Forget the tomatoes, I have dozens of cans of fire roasted tomatoes from last months case lot sale at Smiths.

Now I know what I going to make, cold Spaghetti Salad. So here is how I did it. (Amounts are approximate and based on what I had on hand). There will be plenty of left over even for 6 hungry teenagers.

Spaghetti Salad with a Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

5 lb Spaghetti, cooked, chilled and oiled.

1 Cup FD (Freeze Dried) Broccoli, reconstituted and drained

1 Cup FD Green & Red Bell Peppers, reconstituted and drained

2 cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes, drained (reserving the juice)

8 oz bag Italian Cheese Blend

Feel free to add your own touches like diced cucumbers, spinach, feta cheese, etc. A sprig of fresh Basil would make a nice garnish.

Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette (makes about 7-8 cups) -

approx. amount as I eyeballed the ingredients.

2 Cups Vinegar (I used red wine and apple cider because that is what I had)

2 Cups Water (reserved tomato juice and water)

1 TBSP Italian Seasoning

1 tsp Onion Powder

1 tsp Minced Garlic

2- tsp Sun-Dried Tomatoes

2 Cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Puree the tomatoes and garlic in the food processor. Add all the ingredients (except the oil) to a blender. Turn on high and slowly drizzle the oil in until well blended (emulsified).

Drain FD vegetables, mix all salad ingredients together with about 2-3 cups of dressing. You can serve immediately or let sit in the refridgerator for 1-2 hours for the flavors to blend. If chilling, re-toss prior to serving.

Enjoy.