Cast Iron Peach and Raspberry Cobbler

I love cooking with my Cast Iron skillet, but don't do it nearly enough. I also love using  fruit in season when it is cheap and super tasty.  When I saw this recipe on the Lazy Homesteader I decided to give it a go.  It was great, here is my variation:

Peaches, Raspberries

6 Tbsp butter
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk

Peel and slice 2-3 large peaches, wash raspberries (I used about 2 cups of sliced peaches and 1/2 cup raspberries, but this is open for options depending on the type of fruit and how much you like in your cobbler).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Slice up 6 Tbsp butter and place in bottom of the pan. Set in preheating oven to melt.

Sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Create a well in the center and pour in milks.  Stir until mixed all together. 

Remove hot skillet from oven when butter has melted and pour batter on top of melted butter.  Spread around slightly to fill to edges but this isn't percise and it's okay if butter come up a bit over the top of batter (as the Lazy Homesteader mentions, this is a LAZY cobbler, which means easy and not precise).

Place fruit evenly on top of batter.  Return to oven and bake for 1 hour.  Serve warm with vanilla icecream.

Happy Birthday Harry, Recipies

Yorkshire Pudding

(adapted from simplebites.net)

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 cup water
4 eggs (at room temperature)
1 stick butter at room temperature

Sift together flour and salt.  Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in milk and water.  Whisk until well incorporated.  In a small separate bowl beat eggs until frothy.  Beat into other ingredients.  Refrigerate mixture for at least an hour.  Generously grease two 12-cup muffin tins with softened butter.  Place in oven and preheat to 400 degrees.  While oven is preheating remove mixture from refrigerator and whisk until small bubbles appear on surface.  Remove tins from oven when butter is browning and smoking slightly.  Immediately and quickly fill each tin with approximately 1/4-1/3 cup of batter, fill all cups evenly and not too full as it will puff up while cooking.  Place back in oven as soon as filled and bake for 20 minutes, until puffed and edges are lightly browned.  Serve immediately with roast beef and gravy.

Cauldron Cakes

There are so many amazing versions of cauldron cakes that have been created.  Some are spicy, some chocolate, some have cauldron handles and some have potions spilling forth.  For this party I didn't have a lot of time so I kept it simple.

1 brownie mix

1 vanilla buttercream frosting (recipe below)

Raspberries

Gold Flake sprinkles

Mix and bake brownies according to packaging, except bake them in a well greased mini muffin pan.

Mix up vanilla buttercream as brownies cool completely. 

Vanilla Buttercream:

1/3 stick butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp milk

Mix butter and powdered sugar together until crumbly.  Stir in vanilla and milk and blend until creamy.  Add more powdered sugar or milk to achieve desired consistency. 

Frost brownies, sprinkle with gold flake sprinkles and place a washed raspberry in the center.

Acid Pops:  I made these as directed on The Pastry Affair.  The only change I would make would be to use Karo (corn) syrup rather than honey because I don't like the flavor of honey and thought it was too overwhelming.





Oatmeal Chip cookies.

Oatmeal Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups oats
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Cream butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs and vanilla.  Sift in baking soda, salt, cinnamon.  Stir in flour and oats.  Add chocolate and butterscotch chips.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease large cookie sheet.  Roll dough into balls, just smaller than golf balls.  Bake for 9 minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack and cool.  Makes 3 dozen large cookies.

Literary Delights: Matilda

When I was a kid, my mom would always enroll us in a summer reading program at our local library.  I loved to read and I loved completing these challenges.  I also love cookbooks that are related to books and have amassed quite a collection.  I want to try some of these recipes this summer and share the sucess (and possible disasters here).

up first from my Roald Dahl cookbook is an adaptation of "Bruce Bogtrotter's Cake" from Matilda.

Purchase Here.

Bruce Bogtrotter is a boy at Matilda's school who dared to eat the Trunchbull's chocolate cake.  As punishment she makes him eat an entire cake in front of the school.  "She glared at Bruce Bogtrotter who was sitting on his chair like some huge overstuffed grub, replete, comatose, unable to move or speak. A fine sweat was beading his forehead but there was a grin of triumph on his face." -Roald Dahl

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks of butter (3/4 cup)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
6 eggs, separated
Ganache (recipe below)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Grease a 9 inch springform pan (can use a round cake pan but a springform is a lot easier to use)
3.  Separate egg whites and yolks into 2 bowls.
4.  In a microwave safe glass bowl melt butter and chocolate chips in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth.  (takes about 1 1/2 minutes)
5.  Beat egg yolks and add yolks, sugar, and flour to chocolate mixture. 
6.  Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold into chocolate mixture, one half at a time, until incorporated.
7.  Pour into pan and bake for 40 minutes.  Walk out of the kitchen and try not to go back in until baked because movement can shake cake and make it fall.  Will form a crust on top and appear undercooked in the center if you poke it with a knife or toothpick.  The cake is cooked and will set up more as it cools.
8.  Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack.  While cake is cooling make Ganache.

Ganache:
1 1/2cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 oz heavy cream

Melt chocolate and cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, stirring continually until chocolate is fully melted and mixed with the cream.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

9.  When cake is mostly cool turn out onto a plate (the center will sink slightly).  Pour ganache over the top (be prepared for the ganache  to run all over when cake is cut into).

10.  Enjoy with some milk or icecream, this cake is intense!

via.

Sushi tutorial

I am a moderate sushi fan, as in I like it as long as it isn't raw or spicy.  We eat a lot of sushi at work though so Vivian has been teaching us how to make it at home.  We had a little get together last night and threw together some simple rolls.  It was a lot of fun and I tried to take step-by-step photos. (Sorry for the semi-crappy photos, they are compressed because I am running out of storage space!)

Pre-prep:  Cut your filling into long strips, make your sushi rice (3 cups makes about 7-10 rolls), and place your suchi rolling bamboo mat in a ziplock bag.  It will still roll but you have almost zero cleanup afterwards.

1.  Place seaweed roughside up on mat. 

2.  Scoop rice on top of seaweed and carefully and lightly fluff rice toward the edges. (If you smash or pull too hard you will tear the seaweed.

3. Leave a 1 inch border at the end, carefully smash rice with otherside of rice spoon to compress.



4.  Lay filling in the middle towards the top and sprinkle with rice seasoning.  We filled ours with Imitation Krab strips, cream cheese (cut in strips), steamed carrots, steamed asparagus, sliced avacado  (Next time I am making tempura shrimp and putting that in there too, Cucumber is also a good filler). 
I can't remember exactly which Rice Seasoning we used except it was pretty like confetti...this is the brand I found when I googled Rice Seasoning:

5.  Carefully start to roll seaweed over, pinching lightly to compress.  When towards the end, dab empty seaweed inch with water to seal.  When in a roll leave seam down on mat.

6.  Roll mat over and pinch along the way, continue rolling mat and pinching until sushi roll has become tight.

7.  When cutting roll, start in the middle, and then cut in quartered sections, This is just easier to handle and doesn't end up squishing the end of the roll, like when you start at one end.

For sushi with rice on the outside, you spread the rice from edge to edge in a thick layer on the seaweed.  Sprinkle with the rice seasoning and then quickly flip (or slowly :) like me) over and add your filling at the top.  You will roll the entire roll with the mat, pinching after each turn to make sure the rice is sticking and compressing well, forming a tight roll.





Hope that was helpful!

Homemade Tortillas

These are really easy tortillas.

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp oil
3/4 cup warm water

Sift together flour and salt.  Add oil and mix with a fork until crumbly.  Stir in water and knead dough for 5 minutes until well incorporated.  Add water or flour as needed to get a smooth, non-sticky consistency.  Break into moderate sized balls (makes 8-10 depending on size) and let rest for 10 minutes.

Heat a skillet up until water sizzles when dripped onto skillet (do not grease).  Roll each ball into a thin circle.  Cook each side of tortilla for about 1 minute.

Scotcharoos

This is the only dessert that I can literally eat an entire pan of.  Reminds me of the Special K cookies my grandma and mom make and my friend Leslie and her mom.  If you like peanut butter and chococlate butterscotch you will not regret this recipe:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup karo syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Special K cereal (cornflakes or rice krispies also work)
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1.  Pour cereal into a bowl and grease a 9x13 in pan.
2.  Measure out peanut butter into a 1 cup measuring cup and set aside.
3.  In a medium saucepan bring white sugar and karo to a boil, stirring continously.  Remove from heat when clear and sugar has dissolved.
4.  Mix in peanut butter and stir until melted in.
5.  Pour cereal mixture into pan.  It will be hot and if you spray grease a piece of wax paper you can use that to press cereal until in pan evenly.
6.  Melt chocolate chips with butterscotch chips in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring well in between until smooth. 
7.  Pour over cereal in pan.
8.  Allow to cool completely (the hard step)
9.  Cut into bars and enjoy!