Upside Down Rhubarb Cake

I have never tried anything with rhubarb before and lately I have been seeing it in every magazine.  The one in Martha Stewart looked so intriging, I just had to try one.  The recipe is a variation of the one I saw in the magazine.  I believe that within certain boundries you can successfully change certain ingrediant wheather it is because of taste or out of necessity, because you don't have on hand certain things you need.Give this one a try.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

Makes one 9-inch cake; Serves 10

FOR THE TOPPING

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup  brown sugar

Coarse salt

FOR THE CAKE

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for buttering pan

1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a very sharp diagonal about 1/2 inch thick

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon finely grated grapefruit zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh grapefruit juice

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until moist and crumbly.

Make the cake: Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Dot with 4 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces). Toss rhubarb with 3/4 cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Beat remaining stick butter and cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in zest and juice. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, until smooth. Spread evenly over rhubarb. Crumble topping evenly over batter.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and top springs back when touched, about 1 hour. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. The rhubarb will be too hot to handle safely right after baking. But if the cake sits much longer, it may stick.

Wheather you cook, sing or sew, find something you love and share it with someone.

Apple Turnovers

Apple Turnovers, I guess there is a reason why Apple pie is so American.  There is nothing that smells like apple pies baking.  The whole house fills with the auroma and with feeling of love.  Please try these apple turnovers, they are easy and delicious!

Apple Turnovers

Ingredients

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

1 1/4 pounds tart apples, such as Empire or Granny Smith (3 apples)

3 tablespoons dried cherries

3 tablespoons sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch kosher salt

1 package (17.3 ounces, 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

Combine the orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, make 2 small slits, and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Please enjoy!

adapted from Ina Garten

new twist on on old south of the border taco

Pulled Pork Taco with Chipolte Sauce:

This is a delicious dish and beautiful too, you will definitely need napkins and probably a knife and fork.  This is a full meal.
Pulled Pork:
3-4 lb boston butt
Rub with a compination of :
1T barbeque seasoning
3T salt
3t Emeril Essence
1T bbq seasoning flakes
rub well with above mixture and place in roasting that is heavily lined with foil.  Wrap the foil around the boston butt making sure you have a tight seal.  Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 5 hours, remove and let rest unwrapped for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and pull the lean pork apart and place in bowl and mix well with BBQ sauce.  Recipe to follow.

Kentucky Bourbon Southern Peach BBQ sauce:

Combine the following in 2 quart sauce pan that has a lid:
1 cup diced frozen peaches
1T minced garlic
1 cup ketsup
1 cup store bought BBQ sauce
1/4 cup Bourbon
2T Worchestersire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 pinch ground clove
1 pinch pepper flakes
Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring frequenty, when boil reached reduce heat to very low, place lid  and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring about every 30 minutes.
Stir a generous portion into the pulled pork and place the rest in a serving bowl to serve with taco"s for extra applications.

Chipolte sauce:
Combine the following in a blender and blend well.  Place in serving bowl.
1 cup honey
juice of 1 orange
3/4 cup chopped celantro
2T of canned chipolte peppers

To assemble the taco:
1. Place a wheat tortilia shell on a griddle or skillet with a pat of butter, begin to warm the shell and then place about 1/2 cup shredded cheese, spread the cheese evenly, let cheese melt.
2. Place a portion size of BBQ mixed pulled pork in the center, spoon a small amount of the chipolte sauce over the taco, you can add more later if desired.  The chipolte sauce is made from smoked jalipeno peppers.
3.Fold the taco in half and place on plate.
Serve with sour cream, pico, extra BBQ sauce and extra chipolte sauce

Please try this recipe, I think it will replace your old taco's.  The extra sauces and be frozen for up to a year.

new twist on an old south of the border taco

Ingrediant list for new twist on an old south of the border taco:
boston butt about 3.5 lbs
salt, Essence by Emeril, barbeque flavored flakes, liquid smoke, foil
Chipolte sauce:
1 can chipolte, honey, an orange, fresh celantro,
Barbeque sauce:
1 cup ketsup, 1 cup bbq sauce, 1 cup chopped frozen peaches, 1/4 cup bourbon, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 t minced garlic, 1/2 t salt, pinch ground clove, pinch pepper flakes
Wheat tortilia shells, sourcream, pico, shredded cheese

Spring Bliss

Spring is such a beautiful time of newness and growth.  I think that the blooms, buds and green grass lifts everyone's spirit.  Have you ever wonder why we make resolutions on New Year and not on Spring?  We were talking with the twins last week about the spring equinox and how on the first day of spring, that the day and night is the same length of time and from that point on untill the first day of summer the days would gradually get longer.  The long warm days allow for new growth and the ability to have the wonderful Meyer's lemons that we used today.  We may manipulate the time of day with daylight saving time, but the order of the universe remains constant.  I feel that this is just the way God's love is for us.  No matter how we manipulate things His love is constant.

This cake was featured in Living Magazine and is slightly modified.

Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake Curd Mousse

Ingredients

Makes about 3 3/4 cups

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from one 1/4-ounce envelope)

1 tablespoon cold water

4 large eggs plus 6 large yolks

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest (from 2 lemons), plus 3/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (from 5 to 6 lemons)

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

add the syrup from the cansied lemons to the whipped cream for sweetness and flavor

                 candied lemon recipe follows

Directions

Sprinkle gelatin over water; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.

Whisk together eggs and yolks in a heavy small saucepan. Whisk in sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium-low heat, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove pan from heat; add gelatin, stirring constantly, until gelatin dissolves and mixture is slightly cool. Add butter, a few pieces at a time, stirring after each addition, until smooth.

Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to remove as much curd as possible; discard any undissolved bits of gelatin and egg. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours or overnight. Stir curd, and gently fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Stir before using.

Candied Meyer Lemons

Ingredients

Makes 2 cups

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 Meyer lemons (do not peel), preferably organic, washed well and sliced 1/4 inch thick

Directions

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a large saucepan, and heat until sugar dissolves. Add lemons, and cover surface with parchment. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently until rinds are translucent, about 30 minutes. Let lemons cool in syrup.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer lemons to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Let stand to allow excess syrup to drip off.

The lemons can be stored in the syrup for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

For the crepes, I used packaged French style Crepes.  Martha made her own crepes and I am sure they are delicious but time restraints prohibit many of us from doing everything from scratch.  The packaged crepes are very good and allow more of us the luxury of making this cake.

Easter Dinner

Strawberry Whipped CreamTart

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup plain yellow cornmeal

2 Tbsp. sugar

¾ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp. orange marmalade

1(16-oz.) container fresh strawberries, cut in half

½ cup orange marmalade 2 cups heavy cream

2 Tbsp. sugar

Garnishes: fresh mint sprigs, sweetened whipped cream

         Preheat oven to 425°. Place first 6
ingredients (in order of ingredient list)
in a food processor. Process 20 seconds
or until mixture resembles coarse sand.
Transfer to a large bowl.

    Whisk together egg and buttermilk;
add to flour mixture, stirring just until
dry ingredients are moistened and a
dough forms. Turn dough out onto a
lightly floured surface, and knead 3 to 4
times. Press dough on bottom and up
sides of a lightly greased 9-inch tart pan.

    Bake at 425° for 20 to 22 minutes or
until golden and firm to touch.

    Microwave 1 Tbsp. marmalade at HIGH 10 seconds; brush over crust. Cool 45 minutes.

         Stir together strawberries and ½ cup marmalade.

     Beat heavy cream with 2 Tbsp. sugar
at medium speed with an electric mixer
until soft peaks form. Spoon onto corn-
meal crust; top with strawberry mix­ture. Garnish, if desired.

Herbed Roasted Potatoes

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1½ Tbsp. butter

3 Ib. small Yukon gold or red potatoes,
peeled

¼ cup lemon juice

4  tsp. chopped fresh thyme ¾ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1.    Preheat oven to 400°. Cook olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes or until butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove butter mixture from heat, and add peeled potatoes, tossing gently to coat. 2. Spread potatoes in a single layer in a 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. 3. Bake at 400° for 40 to 45 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and tender, stirring twice. Transfer potatoes to a large serving bowl, and toss with lemon juice, chopped fresh thyme, salt, and pepper until well coated. Serve potatoes immediately. Sunday Best Glazed Ham 1 (9lb.) fully cooked, bone-in ham 40 whole cloves ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar ½ cup honey ½ cup bourbon '/3 cup Creole mustard ¼ cup molasses Ø  Preheat oven to 350°. Remove skin from ham, and trim fat to ¼ -inch thickness. Ø  Make shallow cuts in fat 1 inch apart in a diamond pattern; insert cloves in centers of diamonds. Ø  Place ham in an aluminum foil-lined        13-x 9-inch pan. Ø  Stir together brown sugar and next 4 ingredients; spoon over ham. Ø  Bake at 350° on lowest oven rack 2 hours and 30 minutes, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes. Shield ham with foil after 1 hour to prevent excessive browning. Remove ham from oven, and let stand 30 minutes. According to The Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987 “Easter” “It was a popular Easter custom amongst Europeans and Americans to eat ham at Easter, because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian European culture.” German tradition believed that pigs are symbols of luck. If you had a pig to feed your family you were considered lucky, because times were hard. (This luck of the pig is probably one of the reasons that people keep their money in piggy banks.) Occasionally, when we cook we need an ingredient that we don’t have.  This happened to me while baking the tart; I needed buttermilk and didn’t have any.  So, I mixed plain yogurt, sour cream and a little skim milk and it worked wonderfully.  Necessity surely is the “Mother of Invention”. NUTRITIONAL VALUE IN POTATO PEEL - 100 gm of potato peel or skin has 58 kcal, 2.57 gm of protein, 12.44gms of carbohydrate, 0.1gms of fat, 2.5gm of total dietary fiber, 0.021mgs of thiamine, 0.038mgs of riboflavin, 1.033mgs of niacin, 11.4mg of vitamin C, 30mg of calcium, 3.24mg of iron, 413mg of potassium, 10mg of sodium.