Spiced Pecan Cake w/Marscapone Cream Cheese Frosting

Pecan pie is divine. Great hot or cold, for breakfast or dessert. But every so often, it’s nice to mix it up. Do so with style this year. Get a twist on pecans. The following is outstanding, and perfect for any type of party–it can be dressed up or down, dependng on how it’s served. For feeding a crew, serve in the fla sheet. For a cocktail party, chill, then cut in to bite size squares or triangles and serve on a cool platter. Using fine ingredients, the party members will adore you.

Spiced pecan Cake
Ingredients
4/12 cupes candied pecans (recipe at bottom)
8 oz (2 sticks) soft sweet butter
2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 1/ cups all-purpose flour
3 TBS baking powder
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 TBS vanilla extract
4 egg whites
Three 9-inch cake pans or 1 large sheet pan (or you can mix it up and use both)

To make the cake
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Line the bottoms of the cake pans with parchment paper
Put 3 cups of the candied pencas in a food processor and finely grind.
Reserve the remainig 1 1/2 cups of pecans for decorating the top of the cake.

  • Put the butter and 2 cups of the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. With paddle attachment, cream on medium high speed until light and fluffy.
  • Sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  • Combine the milk and vanilla. On low speed, alternately add the milk and the dry ingredients to the butter mixtur. Fold in the ground candied pecans.
  • Put the egg whites in a clean blow of the electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whip the whites on medium speed until frothy. Increase to high speed and whip the whites until soft peaks form. Continuing to mix, add the remaining egg whites. The batter will be quite stiff (don’t worry though. It’s supposed to be this way).
  • Spread in to prepared pans.
  • Bake the cakes for about 40 minutes, until a prick comes out clean. Cool the cake layers before unmoding them.
  • Frost the sides, tops and center with the marscapone cream cheese frosting (recipe below). Decorate with reserved pecans.

Marscapone Cream Cheese Frosting
*Note on this–do NOT overbeat. Did this once, and the entire cake slid off in layers, right in the middle of my fridge, and right before I was going to take it out to serve at a wedding shower!!! I later learned that overbeating breaks down the composition of the marscapone. Who would have known?

Ingredients
3/4 pound cream cheese
4 ox (1 stick) soft sweet butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds marscapone

Directions
To make the frosting, put the cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium until smooth. Decrease to low speed and add the marscapone. Beat JUST UNTIl incorporated, about 30 seconds, or it will separate. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Candied Pecans
These are also wonderful plain, over ice cream or in cakes.
Yield-4 1/2 cups
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 TBS ground cinnamon
1 large egg white
2 TBS vanilla extract
14 ounces pecan halves

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  • Combine brown sugare and cinnamon until frothy. Stir in vanilla extract, the pecans and then the reserved brown sugar mixture.
  • Spread the pecans evenely on a baking sheet and bake them for 30 secons until they are dry.

Sorry no photos. I really to start taking more photos as I’m making dishes, but usually what happens is I don’t think about writing the blog until the food is eaten, and a guest says–hey! write a blog on this one! Will add later (I think!)

Lift the Spirits Oyster Stew

Joy of CookingOne of the easier soups is oyster soup, or stew. Never could figure out why this particular soup is called a stew, for my experience with actual stew with oysters (stew being defined as a nice, thick, rich concoction) is rare. Instead, the soup texture is typically thin, the broth lacking in the richness I associate with a stew.

After playing with a lot of recipes, The Joy of Cooking‘s basic stew recipe as the forerunner, then a myriad afterward, I’ve yet again created my own concoction. I still don’t believe is should be called a stew, but it has the Sarah-come-Swedish approach that rests of sauteing, butter and more cream. If you love the latter two ingredients, this recipe is for you (and btw, this doesn’t mean a layer of yellow, floating fat. It means flavorful. There is a difference).

First, let’s debunk a myth. Most recipes, Joy’s included, says one must have a double boiler. Pashaaa. (pronounced, Pushaaa, an eight grade carry-over from my older brother, the 80’s version of ‘whatever,’). I’m always using one or two of my double broilers on other recipes, and found that simmering it on a low temp directly on my Caphalon pot works just fine. Granted, just fine might work only for Rog, since I hate stewed oysters, and only for the love of my father and Rog do I chug the stuff down, as fast as possible so I don’t have to taste it. Evenso, 12 years of making this soup-posing as a stew has taught me a few things.

Hungarian Hot Paprika, 5-Ounce Tins (Pack of 6)
My favorite Paprika

1-saute the onions more than directed (in the Joy recipe). Oyster soup connoisseurs always comment on the rich flavor of my soup, and I ‘think’ this is one of the reasons. (and I double/triple the onions. Iodine is good.
2-substitute regular paprika for Hungarian paprika, still using a dash of the white pepper
3-rog LOVEs Tabasco. He’d put the stuff on oatmeal if he didn’t think I’d vomit. I throw a dash in. Once again, the comments are very different when put a few drops in–and the comments are positive btw

PS–A set of Tobasco is a really cool stocking stuffer. I got this for Rog one year, and you would have thought I got him a unmentionable.

TABASCO Family of Flavors Gift Box
Great gift set

Ingredients
4 Tbls butter
1 grated (or chopped onion)
1-1 1/2 pint oyster with liquor (the liquid inside)
1 cup whole, organic milk
1 cup whole, organic cream (use the regular stuff if you don’t have organic)
1/2 Tsp salt
1/8 Tsp white pepper
1/2-1 Tsp Hungarian Paprika

Directions
Sautee very well, 8-10 minutes or more, depending on heat of the stove.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the milk is hot and the oysters float.
Just before serving, add chopped parsley.

Now that I’ve made this for Rog, I’m going to bake Talapia to go along with my smoked oysters, cheese and dill pickles.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

In an attempt to ween myself from all things chocolate, I can’t quite give up the most wonderful cupcakes in teh world-red velvet. Confetti Cupcakes, a local joint in our micro-town of Issaquah, WA recently opened, reviving my passion for a dessert I traditionally saved for Valentines. Now, with the resident evil among us, Barb, the owner and fellow former San Franciscan, has cursed and blessed me. I go in, nosh on the food, banter about her amazing decorations (she had a retail boutique in the city by the bay), and talk food. It’s awesome. Were it not for the other customers and my kids, I’d be there more frequently, which is a probably a bad thing in the long run.

Five years ago, it was the Curves franchise that was taking up retail space, (an ironic name choice I always thought, since working creates straight, hard lines on the hips where Aphrodite-esque roundth used to exist). Today it’s, Sprinkles and the like, using buttermilk and Valhrona chocolate to hide any evidence of a workout.

Red velvet afficianados know that a true red velvet boils down to good chocolate (Valhrona), buttermilk, nice butter, European if possible, but if not, regular, salted butter (even she uses salted butter, so I’m not alone). We agreed that that chocolate used wasn’t even as important as the butter.

“No lard or shortening,” she said, puckering her nose. “The aftertaste is horrid.”

As fate would have it, a mom’s event earlier this week featured red velvet cookies, using the same topping and were equally as good (just less of it to eat).

With that, I’m on a mission to publish a no-fail recipe. (BTW-most are the same, mine as a bit of vinegar, which makes all the difference in the world, IMHO).

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(Print this Recipe)
Time to completion: @50 min
Servings: 11-18 cupcakes depending on size

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk (organic if possible, the texture/flavor is different)
1 Tbs red food coloring
1 Tsp high quality vanilla extract
1/2 Tsp baking soda
1 Tbs distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tsp salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Prepare the muffin tins. I prefer to use baking cups, tinfoil are fun at this time of year (silver and red can be found in most grocery stores or markets)
Beat the butter and sugar w/an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Stir in the backing soda and vinegar.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt; reduce the speed on the batter, or turn it off, and hand stir in the flour mixture until just blended. (Over stirring kills the fluff, and the rise is not as good).
Pour or spoon the batter in to the cups and bakefor 20-25 min, depending on the level of moistness you desire.
Cool on a wire rack.

For the cream cheese frosting, I’ve used a ton, and always go back to Barefoot Contessa (though sometimes this is a bit buttery for some folks), or Martha Stewarts (because it’s on line) recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting. The only change I make is using salted vs unsalted butter.

My only counsel is this: the day you are going to make these curve-producers, go workout in the morning. You’ll feel slightly less guilt. (Emphasis on ‘slightly.’)

20 min home made sausages

We are a nation of hot dog consumers. I’m not talking a few weiners here and there. The average American eats 70 hotdogs a year. More than 730 Million packages of hot dogs were sold in retail stores in 2009, about 20 Billion weiners per year. This doesn’t even include the largest chain in the world, Wal-Mart. Forget the $1.6B in sales. Not quite the national debt in zeros, but close, and a whole lot healthier.

We’ve got kosher. Beef. Pork. Chicken. Vegetarian, and then the cultural layer. Polish. Italian. German. Swedish. Let us not forget the wonders of spices and sauces, herbs and powders, and then regional styles of hotdogs and sausages. There is the Red and White (Rochester, NY, known as “hots” for the petters and slaw), Slaw Dogs (the south), slathered with sweet, finely chopped slaw and can include chili), Sonoran (Arizona) which are bacon-wrapped, grilled and placed in steamed bolillo rolls and topped with beans, tomatoes and other other burrito-like toppings. The list goes on. Of all, the New Yorkers should be proud. The group is the largest single demographic ($108M worth) with Los Angelinos a distant second, at a mere $90M.

The filling–meat, potatoes and spices
Why, I wonder, don’t we make these ourselves? And really, why am I writing about this on Workout Wednesday. Two reasons actually. The first is I’m not in the mood and reserve the right to veere off topic. Part and parcel to this is I figure if I ate healthier hotdogs (a type of sausage), I’d be able to workout less (see my logic? it’s wisted but works for me). Last but not least, my 5 year old daughter removed all doubt in my mind that the average Joe can make a sausage.
The ingredients—
Start with your favorite sausage recipe. This can be anything, and great ones are free, on line. The Olson family favorite, Potato Sausage, is simple. Ground pork and beef, potato and onions, salt and pepper.
That’s it. Walla.
Over the years, I’ve veered from the amount my Swedish forefather’s prescribed, dramatically reducing the potatos. My version has a lot more meat (protein) and less carbs. Thus, it’s healthier and I can eat a lot more of it. I also add more salt a pepper than my relatives, which is nice, but not overwhelming. One last variation includes cooking the potatoes part-way before adding it to the mixture. This shaves off another half-hour from cook-time.
Once you have the recipe, you need to get the ingredients, which is mostly meat. This year, I truly went to the dark side. I purchased ground meat (oh, for shame, my mother will say when she reads this). Seriously folks. Cutting the pork (or buffalo, whatever carnivorous tendency of choice), takes a while, then it must be run through the grinder. With a mixed sausage, like the one I make, that’s 2 different run-throughs with meat, then onion, then potatoes. All in, 4 different grinding processes. 
No thanks.
This year, Rog brought home ground meats, I chopped the onions fine, boiled the potatoes for 15 minutes. It literally saved me 2 hours.Then the fun part began! 

Hold on to the casing outside the funnel

Cue kids. Porsche has never had such a good time cooking, outside making cupcakes (or any dough-subject). First, one gets to mix the batch up. Squishy. Gooey. Awesome. Adding the spices is fun as well.Next is grabbing handfuls of insides to place in the grinder. Most kitchen mixers have an attachment for sausage making. If not, it’s a bit spendy (around $100) but these can be had on Craig’s list or other places used. They are worth the price, believe me. 10 packages of good hotdogs and you’ve paid for the thing.

Using the large attachment (funnel) and placing one of the blades within, the skein, or sausage casing, is placed on the outside. Casings can be found at any butcher or meat market, and if you don’t have one local, the supermarke can order some in. Be sure to identify how many pounds of sausage you intend to make, as the butcher will give the casings accordingly.
Last week, T-day, we ran out because the guy gave Rog enough “to feed a family.” By that definition, we would have been mutant dwarves. Three, 10 inch sausages were all it made. When I explained to Rog the math about casings, Rog realized he’s be weinerless for the evening, and thus, made the special trip for more.

Worried? Don’t be. Whip out that machine in your kitchen a put it to the test. Well, in fact, for thirty years, my family did it my hand, with a modified shoe-horn (yes, I am serious), until I got smart, and realized KitchenAid makes an attachment for sausage-making.
As the meat mixture (or vegetarin for that matter) is put in the top, use the wooden handle (or stomper) to push in down through the opening. This visual is a bit, um, interesting, but that’s was sausages are all about. And at 5, it’s an innocent.

When stuffing the sausage, the most important part is to leave air pockets every few inches. This is done by gently squeezing the mixture down the casing. This must be done repeatedly, or the casing will burst in such a way as to make you wish you were wearing a full-face hockey mask (I’ll loan you one of Rog’s).

Once full, with air-pockets in the casing, stop the blender and tie off the casing. It usually takes me 3 knots to make sure it doesn’t come apart.

Cooking—btw–place the finished casings in cold water until ready to cook. Once ready, the sausages can be cooked a variety of ways. The potato sausage recipe calls for cooking in hot water. Not boiling, but simmering. About a half hour in, the casing will become hard and full. Taking a pin (or needle) prick holes in the sausage and the water/air will be released. This also reduces the risk of the casing bursting.

The cook-time is somewhat of an art form-or trial by error, depending on the meat to vegie ratio. Generally, it’s an hour. Take one out and test it for texture. Like vegetables, come in our family like the sausages over cooked, and some under (yick).

That’s it. About 2 hours start to finish, very fun, and a huge monetary savings. They also freeze well (raw or cooked).