Cake for Breakfast!

This is the perfect no-effort breakfast. This is primarily because you need to make it the night before, or you will hate yourself in the morning. In the morning, brew coffee, cut yourself a slice, and bask in the glory of your ample foresight.

This recipe was originally yoinked from the good folks at the old Omnimedia: http://www.marthastewart.com/336020/strawberry-cake I like it better with peaches, but you can cover it with literally any fruit, or combination of fruits, that your little heart desires/are threatening to go sketchy in your fridge.

Without further ado:

You will need:
one DEEP* round** 8" or 9" pan
6 T butter plus 1 T butter for greasing the pan
1 c. sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk or cream, or some combination therof
1 t. vanilla extract (note: I always use double strength and I never cut the amount)
3/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. white whole wheat flour*** 1/2 t. salt
1/2 T. baking powder
1 lb (or so) peaches, skinned and cut into wedges.
3 T. raw sugar

You will do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and grease your baking vessel with 1 T of butter.

Mix flours, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl.

In a separate bowl (preferably one belonging to your electric mixer), cream together 6T of butter and 1 c. of sugar. Beat for about 3 minutes, scrape down the bowl, and then beat for another ~3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the egg, beat for another 2ish minutes. Finally, scrape again and add the milk and mix for another minute or so. It will look a little bit curdled at this point, but it will get better. I promise.

Now, add half the dry ingredients to the mixer, beat for a minute, scrape down the sides and repeat. Now you have a lovely thick batter that you will now pour into your baking vessel. Don't forget to lick the beater/spoon/scraper/bowl/all of the above.

Arrange the peaches on top of the cake batter covering ever bit possible. Take your 3 T. of raw sugar and sprinkle it generously over the peaches. DO NOT SKIP THIS. I repeat, sprinkle the sugar on the fruit.****

Place cake in oven and bake for 10 minutes. I highly recommend washing up at this point. You'll thank yourself in the morning and you need to hang around for a bit anyway.

Now that the initial 10 minutes is up, turn the oven down to 325 degrees F and bake for another hour. Aren't you glad you aren't trying to do this in the morning?

When the cake is done (taste the toothpick, it will likely be covered in crud, but taste it to see if the aforementioned crud tastes raw), pull it out of the oven and place on a rack to cool. Turn the oven off (it's late). Throw a clean dish towel over top of the cake to keep the cat out of it and go to bed.

Wake to the knowledge that you are awesome. So awesome that someone else can make the coffee. 



*Don't even dream of attempting this in a shallow dish unless you were already planning on cleaning your oven. If you only have a shallow pie pan, at least have the good sense to make a Zuni chicken for dinner so the oven is a disaster anyway. Speaking of that most succulent of roast chickens, if you have a cast iron pan for your Zuni chicken, clean out the chicken crispies and it will work brilliantly for this.

**I use a ceramic pie dish, a springform would work, as would most cake pans, and as noted above, your trusty cast iron. You could probably use a square 8" if you've got it, but I haven't tried it. It would totally work though.

***Feel free to just use all purpose flour if you don't have this on hand. I buy the King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour and it's worth picking up. I think Gold Medal has one out now, too, but I haven't tried it. You can switch it for at least half the white flour in your recipes and actually add fiber and vitamins and stuff without impacting flavor/texture noticeably. Also it's not so expensive if you buy it at Target. 

****Obviously, if you don't have raw sugar, use regular. Just don't skip this step. It makes the fruit go all moist and jammy instead of becoming slowly dessicated and chewy-in-a-bad-way.

Winning Dinner

Popovers. They are easier than biscuits, and way more impressive. I have lifted this from Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals, and it is dead simple and really, really tasty. You will eat at least three.

You will need:
1 c. flour
1 c. milk
1 egg (large)

2 T. butter, melted

You will do:
Put a standard muffin pan in the oven and heat it to 425 degrees F.

Melt the butter in the microwave.

Put the flour, milk and egg in the blender and blitz until combined (at least mostly, if there is some rogue flour stuck to the side, don't sweat it).

Note: work quickly, but do not rush. Once the oven is preheated, pull out the muffin tin and pour the butter amongst the 12 holes, and spread it around in the tins with a basting brush. Take the blender carafe and pour the batter in to fill each about 1/2 full. It's totally okay to just pour one continuous line and let the batter dribble on the muffin tin. It will be fine. Put the muffin tin back into the oven and let it bake for 12-15 minutes, until popovers are golden brown on the sides and popping out of the pans.

Remove from oven and disentangle from pan (may be a little tricky, but worth the effort).

Congratulations. You won dinner.



Extra credit: Match the popovers to whatever you are serving by adding a bit of chopped up herbs or spices that match or complement your meal after combining the main ingredients. Just throw them into the batter and blitz for another second. Seriously impressive for almost no work.

Chicken Portugese a la Maria

Certain parties (Theresa) have been pestering me for years for my version of this recipe. Finally, I have bothered to record what I actually do, rather than what the rather stained photocopy from Cooking at the Academy says*.

The original recipe produces a quartered chicken in a vegetable sauce, takes nowhere near as long, and is nowhere near as good as this fifth-derivative chicken stew. Start to finish, this recipe takes about 3 hours, the first two of which are completely hands-on. It is best served with homemade rosemary bread, which I will get around to posting at some later date. While this is not a quick meal, it is an exceptionally good one. You're welcome.

Seasoned Flour:

1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 t. garlic powder

1.5 t. onion powder

1 t salt

2 t black pepper (finely ground)

1/4-1/2 t. dried thyme

1/4-1/2 t. dried rosemary, crushed

~2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite-sized chunks (.75-1" is what I do. Breasts are easiest, thighs are tastiest.)

8 oz sliced mushrooms

1 medium/large onion, chopped into 1/4" dice

2/3 head garlic, peeled, trimmed and chopped into 1/4" dice

1 14.5 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained, seeded, and chopped

olive oil

3/4 c. white wine

1 c. chicken stock

3/4 c chopped parsley

Combine spices for seasoned flour in a mortar and pestle and grind until relatively uniform. Add spices to flour in a large, shallow bowl.

Heat 2 T of olive oil in a 5 qt dutch oven on stove (high-end of medium heat).

Toss a handful of chicken chunks in the flour mixture and coat thoroughly. Shake the chicken pieces off and saute on each side until golden brown. Move cooked chicken to a bowl and continue with this process until all of the chicken is cooked. If you have any of the flour mixture left at the end, throw it in with the last handful of chicken. Add oil to the pot as necessary.

After removing the last of the chicken from the dutch oven, add a bit more oil, then the onions, garlic. Saute 1-2 minutes stirring constantly then add mushrooms, saute for 1 minute stirring constantly and add tomatoes.

Add white wine to the pot and scrape at the bottom to release any stuck-on bits. Add chicken stock. Return chicken to the pot. Stir. If the liquid in the pot is a bit pasty, add a little bit more liquid so that it loosens up a bit. The liquid should NOT cover the chicken and whatnot in the pot.

Add parsley and stir. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for ~30 minutes. Serve with rosemary bread.

Note: If you are feeling quite fancy (and tolerant of soggy bread) make the rosemary bread into bread bowls. If you are feeding Barney, he will love it.

* I photocopy essentially all of my recipes and store them in binders**, organized by category (assuming they are worth making again). It keeps my books readable and is darn handy when I'm going through the freezer with only half a functioning brain cell and want a no-fail recipe.

**We are currently at 3 binders, but that will probably increase in the near future when we have the recipe reckoning and actually file away the giant pile of xeroxes that are accumulating.

{this moment} - Day Late and a Dollar Short Super Triple Extreme!

lifted from my sister, who lifted it from SouleMama. In the words of its creator: A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Pineapple-Porky Goodness

The following message is Mycroft approved*:

Alrighty, I've been getting harassment on all sides, so I'll post how to make pineapple carnitas (cue heavenly music). There will be no pictures because, to be frank, all of the carnitas done got et before it occurred to me to stop eating from the pot with my fingers and grab for a camera.

I first got this wicked craving (or idea, as it would be known to people who are not me) from smitten kitchen, who was stealing from homesick texan, bless their hearts. The pineapple part comes from my own fancy combined with my traditional cooking method of grabbing whatever is sitting by the stove. Miracles occur.

Without further ado:

You will need:

~3-4 lbs. of pork shoulder cut into ~2" chunks (for reals 2", not like the 1/2" dice that means 1/4" - we need BIG chunks for this to work out right)
~ 1 T. of salt (Don't be shy. There is a lot of meat here and salt makes food taste good.)
~juice from 1/2 pineapple**
~ a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot that can hold this whole glorious mess.

You will do:

Toss the pork chunks, pineapple juice, and salt into the pot, cover with water (just barely, a few corners or edges poking out are totally fine) and place over low heat for about two hours, uncovered. And don't you dare start fussing with it. We are making magic here, lids and fussing will ruin the magic.

After your two hours of putzing about the house and becoming more and more ravenous, crank the heat up to medium-high and boil off the remaining water, stirring/poking/fussing occasionally. The remaining fat in the pan will fry the pork on the outside and give you crispy goodness. This should take about ~45 mins from when you crank up the heat.

When the meat is done cooking - for the love of fuzzy kittens - scrape everything off the bottom of the pan (You might want to hoard this part for yourself. If you are a more generous soul than I, you might mix it in with the rest of the pork and let others share in your crispy, delicious bounty).

Should you have the restraint to still have pork at this time (you may laugh, but get a few extra hands in the kitchen and watch it disappear), put it on a taco-sized tortilla with your favorite taco accoutrements. My standby for carnitas is a corn tortilla, avocado slices, a dab of crema fresca, and a tiny bit of minced cilantro. Keep it simple and let the pork-glory shine.


*This cat will eat entire blocks of the meat. Plural. In minutes. And beg for more. I'm pretty sure he would hop in the pot and eat his way out if we turned our backs for a second after pulling it off the stove.

** To juice a pineapple:
1) Cut off the top and bottom with a VERY sharp knife.
2) Set the pineapple down on one of its newly flat ends and use your VERY sharp knife to cut longitudinally down the pineapple so that you see the yellow flesh dotted with some little round brown circles with a pokey bit in the middle (these are fine to eat and you need to sacrifice way too much flesh to get them off entirely).
3) Cut the flesh from the hard core your pineapple***
4) Slice your flesh-slabs into 1" sticks, and then chop into chunks.
5) Mash half of your chunks with a potato masher, and then strain through a sieve.
6) Fight your two-year-old niece for the remaining pineapple chunks.


***I discovered that I like pineapple a week before a month-long south-pacific adventure. I basically had pineapple or fresh-squeezed pineapple juice for breakfastlunchanddinner. As with most foods consumed in their natural environment, in the height of their season****, they are much riper than their long-shipped brethren. Properly fresh pineapple is MUCH sweeter and does not need to be cored. They are generally just quartered longways and sliced. The core is maybe 1/4". It tastes like heaven. I was spoiled for life.

****If you, or someone you know, can access this sort of pineapple, please send pineapple!!!!!!

Back by Popular Demand*

More pictures of Mycroft!

Here he is informing Mark that loving the cat is more important than work!



Since Mark decided that graduating and money are things we might want, Mycroft has agreed that Mark may proceed with feline assistance!



Now he is killing things!



Now he is becoming acquainted with his new jungle!**



Here he is conquering his new domain!



In other news, the cat smells rather savory.***






*Ok, so maybe just my mom.

**Ah, the joys of the first really-real frost warning of the year. They are indoor plants now. Time to get out the grow light 'cause we won't see real sun again until June.

***And also like farts. If anyone knows what to feed a kitten so that they do not stank up the joint, please share. He is currently eating Science Diet Kitten, and I don't think it agrees with him. Judging from the smell, he is rotting on the inside.

Pasta with Corn, Pancetta, Butter & Sage - or - Happy Puppy Dance in the Kitchen

My uncle, the Harry the Foodie, sent me a lovely gift after my last visit: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rogers. This book is, as Harry told me, a philosophy of cooking. In sum: 1) observe everything at every stage with all relevant senses; 2) keep track of these observations; 3) keep adjusting until you find yourself doing the Happy Puppy Dance in front of the stove. In kind, my thank-you note is waiting for slightly colder weather so that I can send it happily bundled with with pork products. (I'm trying to find the good in frost warnings. It's a green tomato party, not "Crap, my plants are frozen" Day.)

I have been studying this book in what spare time I have, and beginning to apply the principles to my cooking adventures. As I was looking up approximate quantities for bird-salting, I came across the creatively titled Pasta with Corn, Pancetta, Butter & Sage. Seeing as I had everything but the corn on hand, and the grocery store is a 10 minute walk, I went for it. I halved the recipe seeing as there are only the two of us (plus the cat, but he is very small and does not need pasta - he did get some pancetta, though). There were still leftovers (about 2 full cups) that I think will be quite excellent. The bright side of the rather vast quantity of fat in this recipe (other than it tastes awesome) is that that it is very satisfying. You know your appetite better than I do. Scale accordingly.

Be forewarned: this recipe is an excuse to use butter. Go with it. Be kind to your arteries on another night, but this one...we'll just call it a sometimes food. And don't forget to do the Happy Puppy Dance. That is the best part.

You will need (for a half-recipe):

1.5 oz pancetta, minced (please see pork products, above)
~a stick of butter (we're getting all Paula up in here)
Some water
4 big and healthy sage leaves, roughly chopped (I remove the biggest stem from mine)
Freshly cracked black pepper
8 oz pasta of your choice (I used a small rigatoni, but the original calls for something fettucini-ish)
Salt
the kernels sliced off of 2 ears of the best sweet corn you can find (I'm sure this would be better in June, but it was still great in September)

Get your pasta water started. Salt approximately 1 t of salt per 1 quart of water.

Melt 1-2 T of butter in your favorite skillet (I used a 10" cast iron) over medium-low heat. Throw in the pancetta and stir/scrape until it has browned very slightly on the edges and it begins to sizzle in the fat. Kill the heat and drop in a tiny bit (seriously, tiny bit) of water to cool the pan. Add another 2-3 T butter and then dump in the sage and black pepper to taste. Swirl the pan so the sage and pepper can infuse the butter.

Your water should be boiling now. Throw in your pasta and cook it until it is al dente (did I mention that cooking is the ONE thing in life that I can successfully multitask?).

When your pasta is a couple minutes out, put the skillet back on on a medium heat. Dump in the rest of the butter and swirl until the butter is melted. Throw in the corn and stir. Cook this just until the corn is heated all the way through. (If your corn is dry, she says to add a dribble of pasta water. I didn't have this problem, so I didn't do it.) Adjust your saltiness at this point. Reduce the heat to low to just keep the corn/savories warm.

Drain your perfectly al dente pasta and toss with the sauce. Adjust your saltiness again. You should be doing the Happy Puppy Dance by this point.

She also says to serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. This is the only part of the recipe that I didn't think was necessary.