Tortillas!

Here is the recipe for Tortillas.

4 c. flour (bread flour is best)
3/4 - 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c. shortening (cut in to dry ingredients)
Add 1 1 - 1 3/4 c. water. (start with 1 c. and add the rest gradually as needed until dough is a bread-like consistency)

Place dough in plastic bag for 10 min.
Preheat dry pan on medium high heat.
Flip each tortilla after they start to rise/bubble & are a deep brown.

Store in plastic bag once cooled. Keep in fridge for a week or so. The dough can be stored for several days as well, but microwave/bring to room temperature before handling.


My Mom's turkey enchilada recipe:

Fill tortilla with white sauce, meat of choice and roll, filling a casserole pan. Top with remaining white sauce, cheese and black olives.

White Sauce:
Cream of mushroom soup/Any homemade white/bernaise sauce.
Sour Cream
Hot/Mild Green Chilies
Sharp Cheddar Cheese


I also enjoy making my own refried beans by pureeing pinto beans (canned/soaked overnight). I add sauteed onion to the puree and then "re-fry" my beans with olive oil/bacon fat/depending on your flavor preference.

Another great addition to any Mexican meal is Srirachi Chili Sauce!!! The garlic flavor works perfectly with Mexican food and it gives it a real kick!

http://veryasia.com/srchsa.html

Cranberry Cobbler

got this recipe from my cousin janelle at christmas. mmm!

Cobbler:
3 c. biscuit baking mix
2 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. milk
3 c. fresh cranberries

Mix baking mix, sugar, eggs and butter together. Blend in milk. Stir in cranberries lightly until evenly coated with batter. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 50-55 min. Spoon hot butter sauce over warm cobbler. Serves 8-10.

Hot Butter Sauce:
2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
2 c. whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix altogether in a deep saucepan over medium heat.Bring to a boil. Boil 5 min., stirring constantly.

Notes:
*I halved the butter sauce recipe and it was plenty. I also just poured about half the sauce over the cobbler and served the other half on the side, letting people add as they desired.
*Caleb insisted i follow the recipe the first time i made it. I still wish i had added some orange zest to the cobbler, and maybe some pecans. I'll also add more cranberries if i can ever bring myself to make this again. And probably less sugar.
*Growing up, my mom made that exact same sauce but we called it 'pancake syrup.' YUM. We never had mrs. butterworths. It wasn't til i was an adult that i realized it was actually a sauce intended to go over apple cake. And now here it shows up again in the cobbler!

Chocolate Bark with Cardamom, Pistachios and Fleur de Sel

Ingredients:

5 oz. bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped into chunks

1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds, toasted in a dry skillet, cooled, and crushed

3 Tbsp. raisins or dried apricots, cut into small pieces (I omitted this ingredient)

2 to 3 Tbsp. salted green pistachios, some left whole, some crushed into small pieces

- Fleur de sel

Steps:

1. Line a large flat dish or baking tin (about 10 by 8 inches) with a piece of parchment or waxed paper.

2. Put the chocolate and cardamom seeds in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  When chocolate has melted, stir in half the pistachios (and fruit, if using).

3. Spread mixture over the paper in a thin sheet, then press the remaining nuts (and fruit) lightly into the warm chocolate.  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

4. Refrigerate until bark has set, about an hour.

5. To serve, break into pieces.  Store any extra bark into the refrigerator in a covered container or waxed-paper bag.  It will keep well for a few weeks.

I had a great breakfast this morning.

I just found out that Cream of Wheat-- a much loved comfort food from childhood and something that I've denied myself for years because it is basically white flour in a bowl-- now comes in a whole grain version!

I didn't know I needed this.

My mom bought me this dough whisk for my birthday this year. I thought to myself, well, if I don't use it, I bet it would make a good bubble wand. But, as it turns out it really is the perfect tool for making bread. It cuts through thick dough and acts like the hook attachment on a Kitchenaide mixer, if you are familiar. If you can't take my word for it's usefulness, take Clotilde's.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

my mom made this chocolate cake for almost every birthday. after i went to college, she started making it with the mocha butter cream frosting and ganache and it got EVEN BETTER. she won first prize at the county fair with this recipe! :)

CAKE:
1 cup butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup cocoa (mom uses dark chocolate cocoa but i cant find it)
2 3/4 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter, add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together, add to creamed mixture, alternately with butermilk. Pour batter into three 9-inch pans which have been greased and lightly floured, lined with wax paper and buttered. Bake at 350 for 25 to 35 min. Cool completely on racks.

MOCHA BUTTER CREAM FROSTING:
Mix 2 tbsp instant coffee with 1 tbsp very hot water or coffee and set aside to cool. Beat together 3 c. powder sugar, 8 oz + 3 oz. cream cheese (cold) and 3/4 cup cut up butter (cold). Beat until fluffy then mix in coffee mixture. Frost cake and chill for at least 1 hour.

Note: instead of instant coffee i have made it with regular coffee, ground super fine. i actually prefer that. i just happened to have instant coffee in my cupboard this week. don't ask

GANACHE:
Heat very carefully 6 oz. dark chocolate, 1 stick butter and 1 tbsp. corn syrup just until melted (I take it off the stove before chocolate is completely melted and stir to finish melting). Pour ganache over top of cake and let drizzle down sides. You will probably need to let it cool a while so it is a thick enough to still pour but so it won't run to the bottom of the cake plate.

Warning: the frostings will become a pool of meltedness if you a) don't let the cake cool enough before frosting it with the buttercream, b) don't let the cake cool again after frosting with the buttercream or c) don't let the ganache cool enough before pouring it on at the end. i have made this mistake before and it makes an ugly mess.

Keep cake refrigerated until serving. If possible I like to take the cake out of the fridge about an hour before I serve it. I think the flavor comes out more as the temp rises closer to room temp and the texture is more moist.

Coconut MaCaron's

For the coconut lovers among us...

2 - 7 oz. packages of sweetened flake coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 t. vanilla
2 egg whites, room temperature (very important!)
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 325 F. Fold the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla together. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until stiff & soft. Fold the whites gently into the coconut mixture. Scoop by small spoonfuls onto parchment-paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes til toasty brown.

*For a little extra sum'n-sum'n, dip them into melted Nutella. Slip into coconut coma. Dream of white-sand beaches.