AWAY  FROM THE KITCHEN

I have been out of the kitchen these past few weeks.   Between my daytime job, spending some quality time with my parents and a couple of accidents at home (the worst being an eye injury); I have not photographed or blogged for nearly three weeks.  Please bear with me as I try to put my life back into order and at least get back into the kitchen.

Good news I will be heading to Northern California the middle of this month to take two cooking classes with my sisters.  It should be a lot of fun and my plan is to come home and share my fun on the blog.

Last weekend was my youngest Grand-Daughter's first birthday.  I was pleasantly surprised when my son and his wife asked me to make the birthday cake.  The plan was to have something chocolate and easily 'destoryed' by hand.  Of course the first thought was cupcakes and then a small 6 inch round became the perfect base.  The cake was a basic chocolate cake but I wanted the icing to be simple, chocolaty, and sweet.  My son said it tasted like ice cream.  So here is the simple creation, however, it should be noted that this frosting was delicate and had to be kept cool but it was tasty.  Also I kind of winged it in the kitchen and the measurements are basic estimates since I wasn't really measuring as much as I was tasting as I went along.  Part of the fun of cooking is letting loose and allowing something to be made based upon taste rather than the written word.  Good luck and feel free to experiment.



I'm not sure I like chocolate

Strawberry Sour Cream Cake

Every weekend I try to sit down and scan my favorite blogs.  I often find recipes that I mark with the intent to try soon.  Well yesterday I was looking at the Personal Food Journal (http://personalfoodjournal.blogspot.com ) and found this wonderful recipe.  I had everything except the strawberries and the sour cream.  I hope the Personal Food Journal doesn't mind a too recent reprint but this was soooo good and easy.  I have taken her original recipe and made a few conversion notes since she is from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Thanks again to my fellow foodie and enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcake/Lava Cake???

I believe that everyone knows how important it is to measure accurately and 'follow' the recipe when baking.  This has always been a challenge for me.  So when I started tinkering with a very reliable cake recipe I was not surprised when my cupcakes after cooling were so fragile I almost couldn't frost them.  They tasted great but crumbled at my touch and were near impossible to remove the paper cupcake mold.  Then an inspiration that turned 2 dozen potentially crumbling cupcakes into a wonderful dessert.  By the way I took them to work to get an independent read on the final product and 'they were a hit'.  The inspiration was to turn them into Lava Cakes.  The tinkering consisted of adding a lot more chocolate so that the cake whenit formed did not have enough structure to support itself.  So with a sunken middle I popped the cupcake into the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds and presto chango I had a deliciously warm Lava Cake.  The original cupcake recipe came from Cupcakerecipe.com but I would like to think my changes make it a bit more uniquely mine.  Please enjoy.

Summer Chicken Salad

With summer here we wanted something light and tasty without alot of cooking.  We went to the market picked up a roasted chicken, a few vegetables, and presto chango, dinner for two.  BTW my wife came up with a great suggestion/idea to give the salad a fresh taste.  We added lime infused olive oil to the dressing.  Since I tried this recipe a couple of times I also increased the lime flavor with a little lime zest.  For a non cook she really hit a homerun on this one!

Fundraiser Cupcakes for Doberman Pincher SOS

It has been for ever since I have had time to work/play on my blog.  I apologize to my followers for not staying true to the site and updating regularly.  Between the Fourth of July weekend and other organizational requirements I have been swamped.  Fourth of July was a picnic/party at the house featuring coconut chicken kabobs, rubbed/BBQ’ed pork and devilled eggs.  Those recipes will have to follow someday soon.  BTW the party culminated with me catching a three foot rattlesnake, which was not harmed and released later farther from civilization, but I digress.  One of the things keeping me away from the blog has been our work with a dog rescue, Doberman Pincher SOS.  Dawn and I are board members and the official fund raisers for the rescue.  Therefore we ended up helping to cater and organize the fundraiser at a local winery, Souza Family Vineyard, in Tehachapi, California.  So today’s post is dedicated to that event.  I made about four dozen cupcakes with an alcohol theme: Margarita, Coconut Rum, and Chocolate Port Cupcakes.  Hopefully I can find a picture or two to post but I need to get something out there soon, people are clamoring for these recipes.  The cupcakes were sold as part of the fundraiser and were a hit.  BTW checkout the Souza family Winery link embedded in my blog.

Chocolate Brownies

Here is a tasty  choclate brownie recipe I tried.  It came from Jean-Pierre Wybauw's cookbook entitled, chocolate.  What I really enjoy is the splash of dark rum.  It really gives the brownies an added flavors.

Venison Bourguignon

Laura Calder's Beef Bourguignon

Kahuna Steve's Venison Bourguignon

I have been fascinated with French cooking and have gravitated towards Laura Calder's, "French Food at Home".  Much less innovation and a lot of attempted dedication to following a recipe.  Of course, I never really succeed in following exactly but the bottomline is to eat well.  My sister (Anita) and niece (Danielle) came to visit me last weekend for an upcoming bridal shower/bachelorette party for yet another niece (Laura).  All of our love to you and Jake for the upcoming wedding.  My weekend responsibility was to provide lodging for Anita & Danielle, cook for them, and to accompany them to the shower/bachelorette party. We had a great time but back to the cooking.  I had been raving about a beef bourguignon recipe I had seen Laura Calder prepare.  Anita asked if I could modify it and use venison - of course I was up for the challenge.

Fennel & Mushroom Salad Atop a Celery Root Puree

I had my sister and niece visit this last weekend so I tried to make them a few special dishes.  As you can see I am wearing my 'Pop Pop' apron, provided by my grand-daughter, Audrey.

Another relatively simple dish with some very nice flavors.

Seafood Medley in a Cream Sauce, served with Herbed Polenta

I made this set of dishes for Easter and then again for my sister and niece this last weekend.  Really simple but definitely tasty. 

Chocolate Cream Cake for Easter Saturday Dinner with the Family

This year a small group of us gathered at my brother's house for an earlier Easter dinner.  The meal was fantastic and I was only a guest but really wanted to bring something to share.  The recipe I chose was from Chocolate by Jean-Pierre Wybrauw.  I picked this book up off of the discount rack at our local Barnes & Noble.  I drool when I look at the pictures.  My mother usually makes pies so I decided a nice chocolatey dessert might be a nice addition.

Good Friday Dinner

Lobster on celery root puree and roasted carrot with a mango rum glaze.  The inspiration was a roasted carrots posted by Alanna Kellogg at http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2011/04/bourbon-glazed-roasted-carrots.html#comment-form.  The lobster and celery root purre was my concoction for the evening.

Good Friday Lunch - Perch, Zucchini, Beurre Blanc Sauce, & Trebbiano

Nothing especially great but just wanted to share. 

Summertime Tote Giveaway

A fellow blogger, The Ungourmet, is having a tote giveaway from Veeshee.com.  Go to http://www.theungourmet.com/2011/04/gear-up-for-summer-giveaway.html and enter.  Also check out the great recipes.  I have posted a sample check it out

Aubergine and Cumin Charlottes

I have been intriqued with Laura Calder's French Food at Home.  I tried her aubergine (eggplant) and cumin charlottes.  Aside from a few Oops and a personal tweek or two of the recipe the charlottes turned out very nice.  This recipe makes two servings.

Craggy Chocolate Cake from "French Food at Home" - Laura Calder

I was watching French Food at Home, Laura Calder onteh food network and decided that I needed to try this recipe.  I wanted to make this since it is flourless and my sister has to eat gluten free.

Vegetable Stuffed Pork Loin

I am home alone for a few weeks and wanted to try something fresh.  I raided the refrigerator and combined fresh vegetables with a pork tenerloin.  I topped the meal off with a tomato and basil salad, and a homemade sparkling rum drink.  Really yummy - let me know if you try this and what you think

Banana & Strawberry Tart

I made a banana/strawberry tart this past weekend but wanted to pass it around for tasting before I posted the recipe.  The comments were positive.

Chicken Meatloaf

No pictures and just a quick concoction.  Our market started carrying ground chicken.  Ms. I Love to Cook loves meartloaf but will not eat red meat.  I tried a variation of this recipe a few weeks ago but was not really satisfied with the final product.  This evenings meal was worthy of a post.  As always when working with raw meat (especially chicken) be careful not to cross contaminate and wash hands, utensils, and work surfaces often.

Chicken Jaeger Schnitzel

While I was preparing dinner I had a couple of pounded chicken breast left over so I threw together a quick late afternoon lunch.  When I lived in Germany schnitzel came in all forms but Jaeger or hunter's schnitzel was one of my favorite.  It is basically a mushroom cream base with meat of your choice.  Since I do not do veal, chicken is my meat of choice.