Chellisms

Habanero Hot

It isn't exactly Wednesday and this isn't exactly a recipe but that isn't going to stop me.

Two weeks ago we made salsa, when I went to grab some last week it was gone. Tim took it all to work and shared it with the guys. That's great, I am glad that they liked it. But now my local grocery stores have removed the jalapenos from the produce department because of the salmonella outbreak and using canned is not the same.

What's a girl to do?

Use a habanero instead, of course!

The salsa isn't quite as pretty. It doesn't have the green that the jalapenos usually add to the salsa. Man does it give it some bite. Ashley and I made it tonight and we only added in one habanero, we made it the same as the original salsa recipe except in place of the jalapenos we tossed in a roasted habanero.

Yummy!

Tripping

The girls and I are going on an adventure in a couple of weeks and leaving the man at home to fend for himself. Well, he has Ashley but I am more worried about her feeding herself than anything else.

I just reinstalled TypePad Mobile on my cell and I guess this is the first real test to see if this will be a successful adventure or not. We are traveling light, meaning no lappy. Can I live off my cell as my only source of internet for 5 days?

Wish us luck. Or wish the girls luck rather, come the 14th they might have one spazztastic (moreso than normal, shut it) mother to deal with.

Recipe Wednesday: Cornbread

This has to one of my favorite cornbread recipes ever. Surprise, surprise it comes from the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook.

I promise that I will return the book shortly and then we will be done with it, it has to be back to the library on the 15th and I haven't bought it yet so you should be safe.

Cornbread

1/3 cup vegetable shortening, plus more for the pan

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup stone ground yellow cornmeal

1 cup milk

1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Coat an 8 inch square (or round) baking pan with vegetable shortening. Set aside.

2. Melt butter in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat; add corn. Cook, stirring occasionally, until corn has softened and some of the kernels have begun to turn light golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the cornmeal. Using a pastry blender, cut shortening into mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add milk, egg and cooled corn. Stir to combine but do not overmix.

4. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake until the top begins to turn golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Serve warm with butter and honey.

Notes: There is no milk shown in the ingredients picture, yeah, I know. I forgot to get it out and didn't realize it until too late. I did however remember to add it in when I made the cornbread.

I didn't have any vegetable shortening, I used butter flavored shortening instead and it came out perfectly. So good that I keep using the butter flavored and have neglected to add the other to my shopping list.

Recipe Wednesday: Old Fashioned Berry Layer Cake

Ever since I checked out Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook from the library this recipe has been on my radar, but I had to wait until there were enough people around to enjoy it. I couldn't make it and then eat it all myself. Or could I?

 

Old Fashioned Berry Layer Cake

Cake

Unsalted butter, for pans

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

6 large whole eggs, plus 4 large egg yolks, all at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Topping

1 quart (4 cups) heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (optional)

1 pint small strawberries, hulled

1/2 pint blackberries

1/2 pint raspberries

1/2 pint golden raspberries

1/2 pint blueberries

fresh mint leaves for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9 by 2 inch round cake pans, set aside.

2. In a large bowl sift together flour and cornstarch, set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attached combine the whole eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until thick and pale, it should hold a ribbon like trail on the surface when the whisk is raised. This should take about 5 minutes, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Add flour mixture to the egg mixture. With mixer on low speed beat until just combined. Add oil in a steady stream, mixing until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer. Using the whisk fold the mixture several times.

5. Divide the batter between pans and smooth tops. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cakes are springy to the touch and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

6. Immediately invert cakes onto a wire rack. Then re-invert cakes and let them cool completely with the top sides up.

7. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attached combine heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Scrape in the vanilla seeds from the vanilla bean if you are using it. Starting on low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high, whip until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.

8. Using a serrated knife, trim the tops of the cakes to make level. Slice each cake in half horizontally into two layers. Place one of the bottom layers on a serving plate. Spread a quarter of the whipped cream over the layer, arrange a quarter of the mixed berries on top. Repeat with remaining cake layers, cream and berries. Garnish top with mint leaves (optional). Serve immediately.

 

Notes: The whipped cream portion of this recipe easily makes double what you need. Even with me putting a ton on and then maybe nibbling from the mixing bowl I still wound up dumping half of what I made. Sure, I probably could have eaten more straight from the bowl but I like the way my pants fit.

When I originally read this recipe I must have had blinders on. I think I glanced at it and saw 6 eggs and some berries and scoffed. No big deal. Dudes. 10 eggs. Yikes. I did have issues finding the berries. I could not find blackberries or golden raspberries. Small strawberries were a no show, but that was just aesthetics.

I thought the cake was a bit egg-y. Go figure, right? The other cake eaters laughed at me and said it was psychological. Pete thought it was a bit dense, which I agreed with but it didn't detract from the flavor. Home made whipped cream is always yummy. I hate blueberries and am not wild about raspberries either.

Overall this cake did not live up to my expectations. Was it good? Yes. Was it great? Meh, not really. A change in berries/fruit might help improve my opinion. Ashley and I decided that next time we would use strawberries and bananas. You can't save the cake as the cream makes the cake soggy so the bananas shouldn't have too much of a chance to turn brown.  

Interview Day

Ashley had her first job interview since becoming a WA state resident. Yes, I consider her a resident. She has her own library card and ordered a cell phone so maybe she plans on staying for a bit. Whatever she decides, we like having her and E here.

Then there is the obligatory action shot:

That shot was painful, by the time I got one that was usable I was doubled over laughing at her.

Goober.

At least she got all of her silliness out before the interview. Although, when she came home she did say that the entire time there she wanted to call one of the interviewers names.

Strange, strange girl.