Black Bottom Cups

Another recipe from the Owensboro Junior League cookbooks! Made this one because I had to: we set up a booth at the Taste of Owensboro to hand out samples. I made over 100 of these tiny little cupcakes!

Look at what my mommy bought me!! Isn't it puuuurtty? (OK, I'll admit I'm a bit old to be calling Mom 'Mommy', but when she buys me a KitchenAid mixer.... Well... I'm not ashamed to stoop.) You can see my partial reflection in the bowl handle. So shiny and new~. Not after this, however! Was just looking for an excuse to use it.  Worked like a charm. Cheese cakes will be soooo much easier now. Although, having to hold that hand-held beater for half an hour was a calorie-burner, making it easier to justify the eating of said cheesecakes. Oh well!

This was my first time using a mini-muffin pan. Cooking small bites like this changes the cooking time, so I reduced the time called for originally in the recipe by half, and then watched very, very carefully. Wound up being that in my oven, 21 minutes turned out little cups of perfection.

I doubled the amount of cocoa called for in the original recipe. Nothing wrong with extra chocolate!! I could see making these with a pre-packaged box of brownie mix for the base, instead of making it from scratch. I'm not sure why the recipe calls for vinegar - it had a very potent smell as I was making these. Scent was completely gone by the time they had finished baking.

One of the other Junior Leaguer's who baked these had a problem with burning on the edges. First question I asked her was if she had a gas stove - yes - and did she use an aluminum or steel cup cake pan? Steel. (The ones in these picture are steel - they have a darker color.) For some reason, gas will fry baked goods if made in a non-aluminum pan. (Discovered this through personal experience.)

Also, make sure to use A TON of cooking spray in the pan if you aren't using paper cups. They really stick to the pan sides.

 Cute and tasty!!

Black Bean Soup

Still trying to keep it healthier! This recipe appeared in my email box from Allrecipes.com, and as soon as I saw the title, I knew I had to try it.

Panera Bread's Black Bean soup is one of my favorite healthy options, and it's quite easy to make. Even when jazzed up! The secret to getting that smooth, creamy texture is blending the beans. I mixed all the ingredients together, including the salsa, as recommended in the original recipe, and blended. However, I set aside half a can of the black beans, keeping them whole, which makes it closer to the Panera version.

I also added half a can of corn, plenty of cumin, and some diced red peppers. I used a very spicy habanero salsa for some serious heat. If you don't have habanero salsa, I would suggest doing a few dashes of cayenne pepper, until you get the level of heat you prefer.

So, I took the picture on the right a few days ago, and I just have to comment on it. Ah, life in Kentucky! Always something culturally interesting going on in these here parts. 

John and I went into a very large local gun store the other day (the biggest in the state, apparently), called Whittakers. John goes into a gun shop thinking about bullets, I go in and immediately started thinking about... marketing!

A pink shotgun like you see to the right (sorry for the bad lighting in photo) strikes me as a ploy to get women interested in firearms. There are a few women around here who like guns (or at least say they do. I do know a fierce huntress, but she bow hunts.) It's not exactly a secret that the white male is an aging, shrinking segment of the US population. And if you've ever been to an NRA meeting, you'll know that 'diversity' is a word it's manly members probably have to look up.

Getting to the point, if your main customers are an aging, shrinking group, you as a gun manufacturer have got a long-term problem. The solution? Find a new market! Clearly, its working: I saw this gun and immediately told John that when the zombie apocalypse arrives, he had better have a pink camo gun (utility wise, I'm not sure how effective a pink camouflage gun would be when hunting Bambi, which I interpret as further evidence for my marketing theory) in the closet for me. I won't shoot with anything else!

Anyway, back to the recipe! This soup was AMAZING. I added ground turkey for extra protein in this particular version, but it would be just as good without.

Fish in Panang Curry sauce with Thai 'Sweet and Sour'

On Saturday John and I went to see the Kentucky Wildcat's attempt *cough, cough* to play football in Lexington. (I've never seen such bad football. And Kentucky is an SEC team! I really wouldn't be surprised if the team shows up in the ESPN worst 25 list this season. Kentucky - fantastic at basketball, but apparently never learned how to play with the pigskin. The current coach will very likely be let go this year, so the debate is already going for who the next coach should be. John suggested the coach be fired now, and Calipari take over. Could only help.)

While in Lexington, we went to one of John's favorite college-eateries: Bangkok House. This little hole-in-the-wall was located right off campus. Decent Thai food, not the best I've ever had. My curry was plenty spicy! John's main reason for loving the place is the unique sauce served on each table, and really great Pad Thai. The waiter told us the sauce was 'Sweet and Sour'. As far as I know, Thai food doesn't include Sweet-n-Sour, it's an American Chinese food concoction.

Of course, the waiter wasn't going to tell us what ingredients were used in their top-secret sauce. When they brought out our egg rolls, I placed a dollop of the stuff on a plate, and then proceeded to do the place-finger-in-and-analyze technique. Dab, taste taste taste, dab, taste taste taste. I turned sticky immediately, so the main ingredient had to be honey. A strong hint of hoisen... Hmmmmm, what is that slightly sour taste coming from? Not vinegar...Tamarind?

When we got home, I went straight into Katie the Mad Scientest mode. A half a huge bottle of honey later, and wha-bam! Nearly the same Sweet and Sour Sauce. Here are the ingredients:

Bangkok House's Sweet and Sour Sauce:

12 TBS Honey
1 TBS Hoisen
1 TBS Tamarind Concentrate

Mix all together. Place in jar.

Fish in Panang Curry Sauce

For dinner that night I made fish in Panang Curry sauce. Simple stuff.

Take 1 TBS Panang curry paste (I buy mine online from importfoods.com), place in fry pan, cook until fragrant. Then add 1/2 cup of coconut milk, just the rich, white stuff on the top of can, and one heaping TBS of Thai Sweet and Sour (or sugar is fine, too). Allow to cook down for a few minutes. Take 2 fish fillets, season with a few dashes of fish sauce. Place in pan with curry sauce, cook for 15 minutes covered, gently turning over once. During the last five minutes, take a few slices of red bell pepper and layer on top to steam. If you have Kaffir Lime leaf (I didn't), lay a few thinly sliced pieces on top. This recipe was originally pulled from SheSimmers. The foodie photography in this blog link is SOOOO much better than mine. Need to keep on working on those photo taking skills.

This is SPICY!! To reduce heat, either cut back on the amount of curry paste, or add more coconut milk. When I made this recipe, I originally did 2 TBS of curry paste. John and I both consumed about a 1/2 gallon of milk each to ease the fire. Serve with steamed rice and fresh veggies.

Tomato Pie

It has been a crazy almost two weeks since my last post. Significant things happened, reminding us how important it is to spend all the time we can with our families. Time is like air - it's free, but the less of it you have, the more precious it becomes.

I've done almost no cooking or baking over these past days, but I did get a chance to make something I've been wanting to try for months - Tomato Pie! With all the ripe tomatoes available at stands and grocery stores around town, I knew this would be a great time to try it.

I consider Tomato Pie a Southern recipe, although I've read blog articles from places far, far away from the humid mid-south that have made it. I didn't use hand-made pie crusts: no time. The recipe is altered from the Junior League of Owensboro's 'Home Again, Home Again' cookbook. I added fresh mozarella cheese, and substituted light mayo, slightly reduced in quantity. Also used dry herbs, instead of the fresh orginally called for in the recipe. Something has gotten into my herb garden, and eaten all my parsley! Robbers... (Probably the bunnies. They are everywhere in the neighborhood.)

Overall, very tasty, and earned much kudos from John and his brother Jeff, who was in town from Florida. Reminded us all a bit of pizza. Would definitely make again.

print recipe

Tomato Pie

by Adapted from Home Again, Home Again by JLO    September-10-2012

Ingredients

• 2 Pie Shells
• 4 large, ripe tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and sliced
• 3/4 cup Hellmann's Light Mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup Mozzarella Cheese, cubed
• 1 1/2 tsps dried oregano, parsley and basil
• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
• a few dashes salt

Instructions

1. Prick the pie shell with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Remove from the over, maintaining the oven temperature.2. Layer the tomatoes in the pie shell, placing cubes of mozzarella at random. Mix the mayonnaise, oregano, basil, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. Spread over the tomatoes. 3. Bake for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

Yield: 8 servings

Crunch Drops

It's been forever since my last post! I've barely been cooking, thanks to my b-day, work craziness, and then a fully booked weekend.

  I am very involved with the Junior League here in Owensboro. For those of whom who don't know what this is, it's a woman's volunteer organization. The League's been on summer break now since June. In September meetings get going again, and I have been starting to get busier and busier because of it, as we get ready for fall.

Junior League's are known for a lot of things (if you've seen The Help, you'll know one of them, but I swear that's not the way we really are here in Owensboro!), and cookbooks full of great recipes is one of them. Owensboro's Junior League has two books, one called 'To Market, To Market' and the other 'Home Again, Home Again'. Both of these books are chock full of Southern recipes.

Kentucky has a unique cooking tradition all of its own, many of which incorporate one of Kentucky's greatest traditions, bourbon. Or they originate from the Kentucky Derby. (You know, for a so called 'Bible Belt State', Kentucky is the home of most of America's home grown vices - Burley Tobacco, Bourbon and Horse Racing. Funny.)

There are MANY Kentucky recipes I want to try, but there was one recipe in Home Again, Home Again that I've been itching to sample since I got the book, called Crunch Drops. These may or may not be a Kentucky recipe, but most Owensboroans know of this cookie. It was a favorite of Senator Wendell Ford, who is from Owensboro and was the US's longest serving Senator (record has been taken by another Kentucky Senator, interestingly). I've had the pleasure of meeting Senator Ford several times, and I have much respect for a man who loves so delicious a cookie!

Crunch Drops are flour cookies with oats, shaved coconut and Rice Krispies in them. I could also see adding a dried fruit, like raisins, or cinnamon. Or butterscotch chips. Or chocolate. (My list could go on.) They get their 'crunchiness' not only from the Rice Krispies and oats, but also from the fact that there is no butter in them, just shortening. Shortening is, by the way, the secret to crispy fried chicken, too.

The dough will come out very stiff and dry, and will crumble easily. I packed it before setting it on the sheet.Came out perfect. And tasty.

print recipe

Crunch Drops

by Pulled from Home Again, Home Again by Junior League of Owensboro August-27-2012

A favorite of Kentucky Senators

Ingredients

• 2 cups sifted flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 2 cups crisp rice cereal
• 1 cup shredded packaged coconut

Instructions

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together. Beat the shortening in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and flour mixture. Add the oats, cereal and coconut, mix well. The dough will be very stiff.Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: 5 dozen cookies

Tikka Masala Sauce

It took a lot of time and effort to figure out the secret to making tikka masala. I had to read many recipes, and suffer many 'not quite rights' to get my masala gravy to its current, crazy delicious version. (If this sounds like bragging, it's because it is.)

There were two things I had to figure out: 1) getting the bright orange color, and 2) the texture. The orange color is achieved through the use of cream, or another similar dairy product, and turmeric. Not so terribly difficult to figure out. But the texture was a different story!

The solution to the texture problem turned out to be in the onion - you put it in the blender, and make onion frappe. (I kid. More like blender-pulverized onion.) Fry the onion, add all the other ingredients, and voile, perfection as seen in Indian restaurants. I didn't discover the pureed onion secret on my own, I read about it somewhere on a blog, (this was a long time ago) and it was not an American one. The UK, I think, and it was by a woman of Indian descent. Wish I could find it again!

So, once I figured out these things, the next problem was where to get all the varying spices needed for the sauce. My favorite online site is iShopIndian.com. This is where I discovered Kitchen King masala, and that Indian chile powder is distinct (and a lot hotter) than the Mexican variety seen in my local grocery store.

For my garam masala, which is the spice that makes anything 'masala' , I shop at nuts.com. Some awesome stuff on this website. I can waste much time (and money) on here.

Garam masala shouldn't be added until the very end of cooking! It will turn bitter, and lose that wonderful smell.

This particular tikka masala dish I made with boiled cauliflower and potatoes, no meat. (John and I were eating healthy!) I paired it with my whole wheat Garlic Naan and basmati rice.

 - A note on the rice - Basmati should not be made sticky style! It should be more dry, to absorb sauce better. If you're using the 'finger method' of adding water to your rice, after cleaning the rice, add just enough water so that it stops below the line of your first knuckle on your pinky. You then need to allow the rice to soak in the water for half an hour, to get the maximum length out of your grains.

Buttery Garlic Naan

Indian food is great. Ironically, I didn't actually have much experience with it until moving to Owensboro. Who knows where life will lead you?

There are no Indian restaurants in the actual city of Owensboro itself, but nearby Evansville does have one. Called the Taj Mahal, John and I make the occasional journey there, to satisfy cravings. It's debatable as to what, exactly, it is we're craving when we go: is it the chicken tikka masala? Korma? Or maybe, possibly, the naan bread?

Naan is a triangular sharped flat-bread, and a complete must when eating Indian. When I saw a recipe for Garlic Naan on Girl Versus Dough, I felt the craving, but not the desire to head out of town to fulfill it. Bake time!

Apparently there are two varieties of naan, yeast and yeastless, yeast being the more difficult to make. I opted for the yeast variety. (What's the point, if it isn't a time consuming challenge? Plus, my parent's are coming down from Nebraska in about a day or so for my birthday. This means I have to dirty my kitchen up with a project recipe, just to get ready for them.)

There are also a bunch of different ways to cook naan, apparently. Most Indian restaurants probably have a tandoori, the traditional way of making it. John frowns upon the idea of getting a tandoori for the house, so that left me with the choice of stove, grill, or fry pan. I opted for the last, feeling that it would probably get me closest to that real tandoori feel. (That and there was no way I was heating up the grill.)

I kneaded my dough by hand. I don't have a stand mixer strong enough to handle dough, and no food processor either. Left me with my hands and fingers! I kneaded for about 10 minutes, until the dough was elastic and smooth. Because I used whole wheat flour, it wound up being a bit dryer than I needed, so I added an extra splash of milk. You don't want the dough to be sticky, either, simply add more flour if you're experiencing that problem.

I used whole wheat flour for my naan, which made it less flexible than white flour naan. Tasted just as good as white though, in my opinion.

After splitting the dough into 8 pieces for the second rise, I used a cheese cloth to cover them up. Thought it looked a bit like mummy wrappings. Which made me think of Halloween. Which is coming up so soon! This summer has flown by.

Serve your naan with your favorite Indian dish, using it to scoop sauce up, like John and I did with my from-scratch Tikka Masala. I'll put a post up about how I make Tikka Masala sauce shortly.