Zucchini Latkes

One quick breakfast I make is zucchini latkes. It gives me a veggie for breakfast and is easy to eat in the car on the way to work too!

1 egg
2 grated zucchini
minced onion - to taste (I have even used the dried kind in a hurry)
2-3 TB oil



Heat oil in pan - medium high
Mix egg , onion and zucchini.
Drop by spoonfuls into hot oil, brown and drain on paper towels.

These can be sprinkled with parmesan cheese, or topped with sour cream and a sprinkling of chives.
I think making them half the size would create a nice appetizer.

Birthday Buddy Cake (Almond Joy Cake)

It was my birthday last week. What makes it really fun is that I share it with my niece and we always get together to celebrate. My sister's birthday is the following week so we usually wind up sharing a cake. We like to experiment and came up with this creation last year. We were remembering it fondly this weekend. My niece said the cake was dope :)

Here's the recipe:

Cake
White cake mix
1/4 cup coconut
1 tsp coconut extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup water

Add all the cake ingredients. Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool. 

Chocolate Ganache 
8 oz best quality dark chocolate
8 oz heavy whipping cream

Chop chocolate into small pieces. Heat cream for 2 minutes in microwave - do not let it boil.
Put chocolate into cream and let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly until spreadable. I did not wait long enough and the ganache was messy and drippy. There must be a happy medium between chunky and drippy.

Coconut Buttercream frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

Cream butter until fluffy. Add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Once the sugar has been incorporated add the milk and the vanilla and coconut extracts.

Frost the cake with chocolate ganache. Cool completely. Frost over the ganache with the buttercream. Decorate with toasted almonds and coconut. Sing Happy Birthday and blow out candles. Or not

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Browned Butter Frosting and Tales of a First Birthday.

I have been recruited to do my grandbaby's 2nd birthday cake.

 

Last year I made her 1st birthday cake for a celebration at Thanksgiving. It was intended to be a smash cake. Ya know, where the baby smashes into it and makes a big mess and rubs cake all over her face. Great photos ensue. Well... she's not a big sweet eater. I merrily made a little orange birthday cake with (a very cute) fondant turkey sitting on it. She would have none of it. Since this was at Thanksgiving with tons of people she probably had no idea what the heck this thing was that was being presented to her. Everyone of course had a camera. Nothin'

 

So... another 1st birthday celebration was planned closer to her actual birthday. Again, undaunted, I make a pumpkin shaped cake, again with bright orange frosting. At the presentation she cried. It's really hard to explain the concept to a 1 year old.

Anyway, this year I am planning a cake that looks like a cake, no scary turkey or neon orange frosting this time. Maybe a few fondant pumpkins and a candle. Possibly scalloped frosting on the side.

Along with the cake will be cupcakes. Chocolate and Vanilla have been ordered. I have gotten it into my head that I want something with browned butter frosting. Pumpkin comes to mind. My dad, unlike grandbaby, has a sweet tooth so he’s my very willing guinea pig. The cupcakes used spice cake mix. This is because I’m at Dad’s and he doesn’t have all the spices in the pumpkin pie mixture. The cupcakes came out good right out of the oven, but were moister after sitting overnight with the frosting on them. Next time I will use my trick of adding ¼ cup mayonnaise to the batter and add some more spices. The browned butter frosting was delicious. Here is the recipe I used:

Cake
1 box Spice cake mix

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)

½ cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and fill cupcake pan about 2/3 full. Bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Browned Butter Cupcake Frosting
1 cup butter, divided in half

2 cups powdered sugar (the recipe called for 4 but I only needed 2)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3-6 tablespoons cream

To make the browned butter: In a saucepan, heat ½ cup butter over medium-low heat until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. You need to watch this closely. As soon as you smell the nutty aroma it is almost done. Cool. In a large bowl beat the remaining ½ cup butter for 30 seconds. Add the cooled browned butter and beat until combined. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat in the cream, 1 tablespoon at a time until spreadable.

Update:
The cupcakes came out great, each type had their own fondant decoration. Since the birthday had a harvest theme I made a white chocolate modeling clay scarecrow to decorate the top.

 

 I added a picture of the final cake at the top of this post. After the singing of "Happy Birthday" mom tried to get the birthday girl to try a cupcake. Mom remarked "She acts like I'm trying to feed her poison!"

 

 

I Learn to Make Ravioli from Scratch

My dad's friend is an expert ravioli maker and I jumped at the chance to learn from "the ravioli lady." She prides herself in herself on her featherlight creations and makes huge batches for big events. She rolls them nice and thin using the whole kitchen table. An authentic momanona technique.

Mix 2 lbs flour with two large eggs and enough water, about 1 cup, to make dough. She let me in on her secret ingredient - baking powder. She adds just a pinch to the recipe. The dough should look like this after mixing:

She didn't do a whole lot of kneading. Let it rest for at least a half hour before you try and roll it out. I think this is the step I always skipped in the past and wondered why the dough kept fighting me.

After the dough rests scatter flour profusely over the table and roll out the dough to paper thinness. We used my Wilton fondant roller for this, which is funny because I use my pasta roller for fondant!

At this point the filling is dropped by spoons full, about two inches apart.

Here is the filling recipe Rita used:

2 lbs ricotta - (whole milk)

2 eggs

1/2 cup grated parmesan (from the green can)

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf Italian parsley

1/2 cup cup grated mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper to taste

 

Fold over the dough, stretching slightly to cover the filling.

Cut with a glass or biscuit cutter into half moon shapes. This is easier than trying to make round ravioli.

Make sure there's plenty of flour on the table. If you get a hole in the ravioli patch it with some flour.

 Seal the ravioli with a fork.

 Get water boiling in a big pot and add some oil to it. Add ravioli one at a time until there are about 12 in the pot. Once the raviolis have risen back to the top boil about ten minutes. Drain thoroughly and serve with your favorite sauce. These came out pillowy and delicate. The hand rolling seems to make a more delicate dough. I have rolled dough with my pasta roller and it didn't come out as soft.

This recipe made three trays full. Once the ravioli is made they can be frozen and saved for a quick meal later. I'm going to try making a butternut squash filling

Easy Weeknight Spaghetti with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Almonds

I got a reminder from a new follower that I needed to update my blog. Here's a recipe that I tried out last night which is really quick for a weeknight meal. I made it extra garlicky to ward off vampires. Never have gotten into the whole Twilight thing. It's from the latest Food and Wine magazine. I had everything and it was calling my name. As usual I had to fiddle with it.

I had 1/2 of a garlic clove laying around so when I put the slice of bread in the food processor to make crumbs I threw it in.

1/2 garlic clove
1 slice bread cup fresh bread crumbs (I used the multigrain bread I had on hand)
In a skillet, toast the bread crumbs in 2 tablespoons of the oil, stirring, until golden. Transfer the crumbs to a plate; season with salt and pepper.

1/2 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (3 ounces)

1/3 cup roasted almonds (I like the sliced ones from Trader Joes)
1 large garlic clove
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
In a food processor, pulse the tomatoes, almonds and garlic. Add 1/4 cup of the oil and puree. Season with salt and pepper.

Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 ounces spaghetti
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesan (the cheap stuff in the green can works great with this)
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. In the pot, toss the pasta with the pesto, reserved cooking water and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil until the sauce clings to the pasta. Transfer the pasta to bowls, sprinkle with the bread crumbs, parmesan and parsley and drizzle with olive oil. Serve.

The breadcrumbs add a great crunch and the extra garlic added a nice flavor.

Note: I used panko breadcrumbs I had on hand for the leftovers. Huge crunch and they browned to a much prettier toasty tan. I'll use those next time.