Vanilla Buttercream

makes about 4 cups

Ingredients
2 C butter, room temperature
4 C confectioners' sugar, sifted
½ C whole milk
2 T vanilla extract

Directions
Beat butter on high speed until very pale and very fluffy (at least 5 minutes), scraping down sides of bowl 2 or 3 times during process.

With mixer on low, slowly add sugar. Scrape bowl again. Slowly add in milk and vanilla; mix until combined. Scrape bowl again.

Beat on high speed until buttercream is extremely fluffy, 8 to 10 minutes. It should look almost like whipped cream.

Right now...only have a picture of it in the bowl. I'll try to add one with it on a cake soon.

Vanilla-Prosecco Pound Cake

To give credit, this recipe may have come from Better Homes & Gardens. A search on their website didn't turn up anything however, so I can't be sure. It's a decent pound cake, but nothing outstanding -- especially considering all the vanilla paste and prosecco. I'd leave off the glaze next time, dust it with a little powdered sugar and serve it with fresh fruit...and save the prosecco to drink with it (use fruit juice IN the cake).

Ingredients
3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 C prosecco (or other sparkling wine)*
3 T sour cream
2 C sugar
¾ C unsalted butter, melted
¼ C canola or safflower oil
5 eggs, cold
2 T vanilla paste (or extract)

Icing ingredients: 1 C powdered sugar, 1 T sparkling wine

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease and flour a 10" tube pan; set aside.

In large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt; set aside.

In large bowl of stand mixer, beat sugar, melted butter, and oil until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Continue to beat on medium to high 3-5 minutes until thicker and lighter in color.

Add a third of flour mixture, beating on low until just combined. Add half prosecco mixture next, then another third of flour, then remaining prosecco, then flour; beat until just combined after each addition.

Pour or spoon batter into prepared tube pan. Bake 50-55 minutes, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Turn out of pan, onto rack; cool completely. Drizzle with prosecco glaze.


* For an alcoholic-free pound cake, substitute milk or a fruit juice. Fruit juices will, of course, alter the flavor...but that might be an intentional choice!

Nựớc Chẩm

a.k.a. 'awesome sauce' -- or so says Cooking Light magazine. (It's their photo.) Lots of versions of nuoc cham sauce can be found, but the sweet, salty, sour and spicy blend typically comes from some kind of sugar, fish sauce, lime and chile. Other ingredients vary. This is a fairly typical recipe...

Ingredients
¼ C water
2 T sugar
¼ C matchstick-cut carrots (optional)
3 T lime juice
4 tsp fish sauce
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 Thai chile, thinly sliced

Directions
Combine water and sugar; stir -- or shake, in a sealed container -- until sugar dissolves. Add remaining ingredients.Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Use as a baste for grilling, a dressing/marinade for shredded cabbage, toss with soba noodles, as a dipping sauce for spring rolls...

Whole Wheat Chocolate Waffles

Does the fact that they're whole wheat counterbalance the fact that they're chocolate? Actually, the original recipe called for buckwheat -- which isn't really wheat -- so it's gluten free. I don't care about being gluten free. And I don't have buckwheat, but I did use whole wheat flour. These are fun (chocolate!) for a special treat. My only complaint is that they don't have the little bit of crispness I love in a waffle's edges.

Ingredients
1 C whole wheat flour
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa
¾ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla
1¼ C buttermilk
¼ C water
1 T oil
2 egg yolks
3 egg whites
6 T sugar

strawberries
whipped cream (or yogurt)

Directions
Slice or chop strawberries, lightly sweeten with sugar; set aside.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In separate bowl, whisk together vanilla, buttermilk, water, oil and egg yolks. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour until well combined.

Preheat waffle iron.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff, not dry. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form. Gently fold a third of the egg whites into the batter. Add remaining egg whites, folding until well combined.

Coat waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon batter (about ½ C) onto waffle iron, spreading toward edges. Cook until lightly browned and little to no steam is still escaping (3-4 minutes). Repeat cooking spray and spooning batter until all batter is cooked.



Serve with lightly sweetened strawberries (I added fresh chopped mint to mine) and whipped cream. Or opt for vanilla yogurt instead of the whipped cream. Toasted almonds were also a topping in the original recipe.

Leftovers, if there are any, once completely cooled, can be stored in zip-top plastic bags up to a month in freezer; use toaster to reheat.

Spaghetti Squash with Peanut Sauce

The inspiration came from Food Network magazine a while back (Food Network's photo @ top), though I didn't use their recipe... 

I had leftover peanut sauce from making Chicken Satay skewers, If you're not inspired to take on either of those peanut sauce recipes, here's a quicker 'cheater' version of  Easy Thai Peanut Sauce as an option.

I usually don't get excited about a big bowl of squash as my whole dinner. But with a good dousing of peanut sauce, a few chopped peanuts, some chopped mint and/or cilantro, and a sprinkle of pepper flakes...a bowl of squash starts to sound like a pretty good (healthy!) way to go.


How to roast a spaghetti squash...

White Chocolate Popcorn Balls (or...Easter Eggs!)

This is an adaptation of a recipe some of my Culinary Arts students tested and promoted for the "Good Citizens" treats we make and send to the elementary school at the end of each month (http://www.marthastewart.com/339168/popcorn-balls  ...with a few adaptations). Since Easter comes early this year, we added some food coloring, substituted some rainbow nonpareil "sprinkles" instead of the almonds (one of the 8 common allergens, and generally avoided in school snacks for groups of students). Achieving a true egg-shape is a challenge, especially working fairly quickly to get the entire batch shaped before the marshmallow-chocolate mixture cools too much. But I think the elementary students -- who are not severe critics to begin with -- will enjoy them!

Yield: about 56 (or so says Martha...but only if you make bite-sized tiny balls)

Ingredients
4 quarts popped popcorn
oil for popping
 tsp salt
3 Tbls unsalted butter
10 oz marshmallows
6 oz white chocolate
1/3 C sliced almonds (we used rainbow nonpareil 'sprinkles')
non-stick cooking spray
optional: food coloring

Directions
Pop popcorn in a large sauce pan or stock pot (with a lid): Using jut enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan, add corn kernels over medium-high heat; swirl and shake frequently to avoid burning. Sprinkle popcorn with salt. (Remove unpopped kernels.)

Melt butter in large pan over low heat. Add marshmallows and chocolate, stirring until melted. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring.

Remove from heat; quickly stir in almonds and popcorn and then nonpareils. Shape into balls (or semi egg shaped oblongs!) J  Transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper; let stand 30 minutes. We didn't find the parchment paper to be necessary, but it does make for easy clean-up.

Can be stored airtight up to 1 day.

Fried Cabbage with Bacon, Onion & Garlic

Fried cabbage...not necessarily high on my list. But bacon makes everything better! And onion and garlic round out the flavors. I'll post the recipe as I first found it; however... I could do with less salt, especially with the saltiness of the bacon, and I had no garlic powder on hand, but threw in a good amount of fresh minced garlic. I also felt the end product was a bit overcooked. I'd like my cabbage to be tender, but still have a little crunch to it. But I suppose that's easy to suit your personal taste.

Ingredients
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large head cabbage, cored and sliced
1 T salt, or to taste
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp paprika

Directions
Place bacon in large stockpot; cook over medium-high heat until crispy (approx 10 min). Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until onion caramelizes (approx 10 min more). Immediately stir in cabbage; continue to cook and stir another 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, approx 30 minutes more.

Sweet Potato Fritters

Ingredients:
1 lb sweet potatoes (about 2½ C)
1 egg
¼ C brown sugar
2 T butter
1 C flour
¼ C fine dry bread crumbs
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions:
Peel sweet potatoes, cut into ½" pieces. Boil in large stockpot 12-15 minutes until very tender. Drain; cool slightly. Combine sweet potatoes, egg, and brown sugar, blending until smooth. (Using a food processor makes this quick and easy, but it's not necessary.)

In separate bowl, combine flour bread crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to sweet potato mixture, blending until just combined.

In a large heavy saucepan, heat 1" oil to 350˚. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons into hot oil. Fry in batches about 2 minutes, turning once, or until fritters are golden. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.


These are tasty as a savory appetizer or side dish (serve with a yogurt-garlic-chive dipping sauce*), or dust with powdered sugar for a beignet/doughnut-like bite of sweet.
* 6 oz of yogurt with a tablespoon of minced fresh chives and clove of garlic

Basic Meringue

Ingredients
4 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp salt
2¼ C powdered sugar
optional: food coloring

Directions
Preheat oven to 250˚. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed and beat until thick and opaque (about 1 minute more). Gradually add powdered sugar a little (¼ C) at a time; beat until stiff shiny peaks form (about 5 more minutes).

Scoop or pipe meringue into desired shapes and bake about 3 hours (4 for larger/thicker shapes) until dry and crisp. Let cool completely on baking sheets. Store in airtight container in dry place for up to 1 week.

Lots of ways to serve these... color with food coloring and pipe into various shapes, sandwich two cookies with jam, dust with cocoa powder, fold in chocolate chips just before piping and baking, dip bottoms in melted white chocolate and then in colored sanding sugar...

Honey - Peach & Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients
2¼ C flour, divided
8 C chopped, peeled peaches (about 4 lbs)
¼ C honey
3 T fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp salt, divided
3 C blackberries
¾ C sugar
1 T lemon zest
1 tsp baking powder
6 T chilled butter, small diced
1¼ C low-fat buttermilk
2 T turbinado sugar
cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 400˚. Lightly coat 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine ¼ C flour, peaches, honey, juice, and ¼ tsp salt in a large bowl, toss gently. Let stand 15 minutes. Fold in blackberries. Spoon mixture into baking dish.

Combine 2 C flour, ½ tsp salt, sugar, zest, and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk; stir until just combined.

Drop dough onto top of peach-blackberry mixture. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake 40 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

Soft Pretzels

 This recipe (a slight adaptation of FoodNetwork's version) makes a dozen LARGE pretzels, or 2 dozen smaller pretzels or pretzel 'knots'. (See lower photo.) For the knots, I used  half whole wheat flour; some are simply lightly salted, some I topped with shredded cheese, some I brushed with honey butter and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Lots of options...

Ingredients
3 T butter, cubed, then softened
2 T butter, melted
2 T dk brown sugar
1 pkg (2¼ tsp) active dry yeast
6 C flour
2 tsp salt
1/3 C baking soda
coarse salt for sprinkling on pretzels
mustard, for dipping

Directions
In bowl of stand mixer, combine 2 C warm water, cubed butter, and brown sugar. Sprinkle yeast on top; let stand 10 minutes.

Add 3 C flour and 2 tsp salt; mix on low speed using dough hook; increase speed to medium as flour incorporates. Return to low speed; add remaining 3 C flour. As flour incorporates, increase speed to
medium, mixing until dough leaves sides of bowl and balls around dough hook. Continue kneading -- in mixer or by hand -- 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Coat a large bowl with oil; add dough, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1 hour).

Line baking sheets with parchment paper, lightly coat with non-stick cooking spray. Punch down dough. Divide in half; divide each half into 6 equal pieces.

Roll out each piece of dough into a 'rope'...work on flat surface, start in middle roll out to 24"; occasionally lift dough by ends, slapping middle against the counter to stretch evenly. Lay rope in a 'U' then cross ends twice and fold ends downward to create pretzel shape. Gently place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all 12 pieces.

Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes; pretzels should be slightly puffed.

Preheat oven to 425˚.

Cut parchment into separate 'squares' around each pretzel*; remove from baking sheets. Reline sheets with parchment. Fill a wide pot with 6 C water. Add baking soda, whisking to dissolve; bring to simmer. Using parchment, gently transfer pretzels into simmering water*; simmer until pretzels plump (about 45 seconds per side). Remove with a skimmer or slotted spoon, letting excess water drain off. Place on parchment lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake until golden brown (12 to 15 minutes). Rotate, upper to lower rack, half way through when cooking two trays. Brush with melted butter. Serve with mustard for dipping.

* As BIG as these pretzels are, the parchment paper squares really did help transferring them from one surface to another and into the simmering water bath. With the smaller 'knots' I was able to do it easily enough by hand.

Hummus Stuffed Zucchini with Tomato & Basil

Serves 6-8 (appetizer portions)

Ingredients
3 medium (or 4 small) zucchini
10 oz hummus
2 C cherry tomatoes (red or yellow)
¼ C red onion, thinly sliced
2 T fresh basil, chiffonade
2 T olive oil
2 t red wine vinegar
¼ C panko breadcrumbs
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚.

Trim zucchini ends and slice in half lengthwise. Place zucchini in baking dish, flesh side up, with a little water in the bottom; bake 20 minutes or until inner flesh is softened.

As zucchini cooks, halve tomatoes; toss together with onion, basil, 1 T of olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove zucchini from oven; cool as needed until handleable. Scoop out inner, seeded flesh of zucchini; discard or reserve for another use. Spoon hummus into hollowed out zucchini halves*. Top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle panko crumbs over top and lightly drizzle with remaining olive oil.

Return to oven for 10 minutes, using broiler for final 3 minutes to slightly brown tops.

Best served warm.

* If I was making a larger quantity of these, using a pastry bag to pipe the hummus into the zucchini halves would be quicker and easier -- and easier to be neat for a tidier presentation; but for just a few, it's probably not worth the trouble.