Techonological Troubles

Have you ever been in that situation where it feels like every single electronic item you own is suddenly on the verge of death and no longer working correctly? That's me right now.

I'm afraid it's slowing my blogging down, and will continue to do so for a little while. And I've been making some neat stuff, too! My pictures of it may be lost, sadly. Soooo, hopefully, after Christmas, I shall be back...

Eggnog Cheesecake

Cheeeeeeeezecake. I've been asked before to post about this most decadent of deserts (well, most fattening, anyway), but haven't gotten around to it. I don't make cheesecake very often, but when I do...prepare to die of a deliciousness induced heart-attack.

There are many, many versions of cheesecake out there! And multiple ways of making them, too. I make mine the old-fashioned way - with a waterbath. The waterbath is the secret to preventing cracking (although it can happen anyway, to my personal frustration.) It also helps prevent over browning, by keeping the humidity up in the oven. Bakes the cake evenly, preventing the pulling that creates the cracks.

I'd never made an eggnog cheesecake before, but I'd seen the idea  floating around on allrecipes.com, and put it on my 'to try' list. Tis the season, so why not? I made this for a meeting, my cheesecake went like hotcakes! I replaced the cream I'd normally place in my cheesecake with eggnog, plus about a 1/2 cup extra. That's a lot more moisture in the cake, so I added 2 TBS flour to help it firm up.

If you're going to do a waterbath for a cheesecake, get one of those aluminum big turkey roasters to do it. Perfect size! And cheap. The water needs to be hot already when you add it, too. Otherwise it will really slow the baking down.

Cheesecake should NOT be fully cooked through when you turn the oven off - needs to be jiggly still in the center. Simply leave the cake in its hot water bath in the oven for another hour. The water's and the cake's own heat will finish cooking it. This prevents over-browning from occurring.

I made homemade eggnog whipcream to go with it. Literally, instead of all cream, I whipped eggnog FOREVER, added some cream and fine sugar, and then whipped some more. Eggnog did not want to turn fluffy. Had to stop because my arm was tired - the results are what you see above.

So delicious. I can't even begin to describe. Sends off small fireworks on taste buds, which catch brain on fire. That kind of tasty.

Venison Soup

That's right, venison. As in meat of deer. I recently received several pounds as a gift, and am now trying to put it to use. I'm placing this recipe in the 'Kentucky' file in my recipe box. It's a hunter's soup, and using turnips (hunters plant it to attract deer) and venison (Bambii should've stayed away from the turnips) simply, well, feels of this state.

Game meat recipes are few and far between, but uniquely, one of Owensboro's Junior League cookbooks is loaded with them. This soup is one, with some modifications. (Gave it the Katie touch.)

It's gotten to be so cold down here in Kentucky! I wanted it to get frosty, simply so it could feel like winter. After a few hours of bone chilling horribleness, I've changed my mind. Sixty degrees again, PLEASE!! I'm sorry for thinking cold thoughts!

I tasted no 'gamey' flavor at all in this delicious soup. John ate two bowls with no comment (and no knowledge that it wasn't beef. Never did reveal, even afterwards.) The red wine and lemon juice could have a lot to do with this. One of my mottos - Add liquor, whether wine, vodka, rum, bourbon. Makes food taste better. Also nice to sip on while cooking. ;) The addition of a can of tomato soup sweetened it up, too. If you don't have venison meat, beef will do just fine too. Or lamb. Or even bison.

Turnips are a vegetable I've never worked with before - turns out, I really like them. Taste and consistency like daikon radish, which turnips are a cousin of. Peeled it, chopped it, placed in pot. Will have to use them again soon.

While my soup cooked I worked on an eggnog cheesecake, and basted my Kentucky Bourbon Fruitcake again. Only one will eventually appear in Smalltownkitchen... 

Baked Broccoli

Allow me to introduce you to today's lunch. Baked broccoli is the most amazing thing on earth. It's like eating candy. Or a hamburger, or filet mignon. Amazing.

I was at my friends TW and SW's house, and SW asked me if I'd ever eaten baked broccoli before. She'd found the recipe off of Pinterest (something of which I don't spend much time on, surprisingly), and fell head-over-heels in love with it. TW and SW apparently are eating baked broc 3 times a week!

I'm one for hype, so I tried it out on my own. WOW. John and I are eating this vegetable all the time now, too. Who knew that vegetables could be so dang tasty? Never steaming again! (Well, we'll see about that.)

After doing some research on this recipe, it looks like the original came from one Ina Garten's cookbooks, aka the Barefoot Contessa. I don't follow her, but this recipe blew me away. Will have to look into her more of her recipes!

Some tips - to get the best crispiness and browning, the broccoli needs to be dry. That means no washing. Ewww, I know. But I haven't died yet, and your going to be baking this in a 425 degree oven. What kind of bacteria is going to survive that?? If it's pesticides you're worried about, buy organic.

The original version of this called for lemon juice, but I have used balsamic vinegar instead. It's very good.

Try it. You will never view vegetables the same again.

Chicken Tikka

An Indian Restaurant is coming to Owensboro!!! For. Real. Behold photographic evidence below. It's called Basant, and is located by the Frederica Wal-mart. (I've got marked off with a big X on my map). John and I tried to go and check it out yesterday, (having received info that it was already open), but were forced to turn around when it wasn't. 

In the mean time, since we wanted Indian NOW, and didn't want to run to Evansville, I decided to make Chicken Tikka myself. Chicken Tikka and Chicken Tikka Masala are not the same thing. Chicken Tikka is actually an ingredient in Chicken Tikka Masala - the orange colored chicken pieces. (Obviously, it's also a dish by itself). The masala part is the accompanying gravy, (well, it more complicated than that - a masala is an Indian word for 'a blend of spices') which is a delicious, creamy, spicy recipe all of its own, of which I have made before on this blog, here. 

Like the masala sauce, it took me several tries to figure out how to make Chicken Tikka. 


The first trick I couldn't fathom was HOW IN THE WORLD DO THEY MAKE IT ORANGE? (This really bothered me). I started out by looking up a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala on Allrecipes, which was similar, but no cigar. Watched informative videos on Youtube. Finally, just tried using some good old fashioned creativity. The secret to the orange color is to add the colorful spices to the chicken first, especially the paprika and Indian chile, then let it marinate, and add the yogurt later, before marinating some more. My chicken doesn't come out as orange as the restaurant versions do, but it's very close.

Another absolute must with chicken tikka is - cook it on the grill! Grilling makes for chicken tikka that tastes like heaven (but burns like h**l. This dish is quite spicy, fyi!)

Please, don't be intimidated by the number of ingredients on this list. All your going to do is mix them together! To get the color right, however, you need to do them in a specific order, as though your baking. Here is what I do: lemon juice, paprika, Indian Chili powder (similar to cayenne pepper), minced garlic, fresh ginger, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, MDH Kitchen King Masala, poppy seeds, garam masala.  I've included links to where I bought the unusual ingredients listed here. Kitchen King Masala is some of the most amazing stuff I've ever come across. I use it in so many things that aren't even Indian! Smells amazing. So does the nuts.com garam masala.

When you've mixed all of these ingredients, cover the bowl and refrigerate for about half an hour, then pull out again and add the yogurt. Give it longer, if you can. This allows the chicken to better absorb the spice flavors, and to pull in the color. Ideally, your chicken tikka should be allowed to sit overnight, but I wanted to eat my chicken tikka right NOW, so it only received a few hours.

Serve this with masala sauce, basmati rice, and if you have the time, naan bread. (Didn't have that kind of time, sadly).

Lentil Soup with Cumin and Celery Seed

Yesterday was Vegetarian Monday and Thanksgiving is now over! Thank goodness, cause my figure can't handle much more meat and dressing and pie. John and I just finished spending a week at home in Nebraska with my family. Was so happy to be there, even for such a short time. Mom and I cooked up a storm while I was there. Sadly, I'm not going to post about any of the amazing deserts and dishes we made! (Well, at least not right now).

This delicious lentil soup came from Fatfreevegan, a cooking blog devoted, as I'm sure you've guessed, to vegan style cooking. Making vegan dishes, ones that actually taste good, is a heck of a challenge. Especially when using no oil or butter, like in this dish! But as soon as I saw the recipe for this soup, I had to try it. Not so happy with this photo... Needed more light. I'd like trying to take it again sometime. Since this recipe is soooo worth it.

Truthfully, my version of this soup isn't fully vegan, because I didn't have vegetable bouillon on hand (and I was NOT going back to the store), I wound up using chicken instead. Also, Fatfreevegan's version included coriander seed... I don't dislike many things, but coriander (aka cilantro), is of the devil. I can't really describe what it tastes like to me. Soap, maybe. I can think of harsher words, but they are inappropriate to a blog about cooking!

So, instead of coriander, I substituted celery seed. Not exactly the same. Not really the same at all. Made for a spicier soup, which I further enhanced with a 1/8 tsp of white pepper and a 1/2 tsp of paprika.

In the end, it turned out a very flavorful dish. The lentils still came out strongly, despite all of the spices.

Mom's Sloppy Joes

With the onset of colder weather, my cravings for comfort food become irresistible. My favorite comfort food is sloppy joe, a loose meat, saucy sandwich, which I grew up with served on either a piece of bread or a bun. This recipe really is my mothers. Wouldn't eat anything else!

Just let me say, Sloppy Joe doesn't photograph well. Not that I'm a great food photo taker. (I've been practicing!) But don't be fooled - it tastes like heaven on a bun.

When I say 'sloppy joe is my favorite food' to most people, they grimace and then look at me like I smell bad. Trust me, this is NOT that school lunch horror on a stale white bun you're remembering.  That is this stuff, <---, and it comes in a can. Just looking at this picture gives me a stomach ache. Not like momma makes! A junior high flashback-nightmare, that's what manwich is. (Sorry, anyone who's a lover of this horror. I'm sure you're out there.) John gets excited when I tell him I'm making sloppy joe (he gave me the 'you smell funny' look before I converted him), and eats more than he should. If that doesn't convince y'all on its tastiness, I don't know what will.

Anyway, making real sloppy joe, which does not stick together like a salty, glutinous mass from a can, is very simple. Hamburger, a can of tomato soup, water, brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, cracked pepper and meat seasoning ala Lawries. (Mom and I have a secret seasoning. It's a SECRET, however.) If you're like me, and you want left overs, double it.

This is one of those recipes I'm so familiar with, I don't need a recipe. A little bit o' this, a big glob of that, smells right, tastes right, done!  Too ketchupy, add some mustard. Not sweet enough? Add ketchup. Should be nice and sloppy when done, so it dribbles all over the place if you actually are foolish enough to pick it up with your hands. True sloppy joe is only eaten with a fork, and is very saucy.

If you make anything off this blog, make these! I promise you will not be disappointed.

Must be served with mac-n-cheese on the side.