Kart-Wheels

Kart-Wheels!! This recipe is from a cookbook I have had since I was little.
It's an easy recipe that would be fun to make with kids.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons milk
• approx. 1 cup of pie filling or jam (we made some raspberry jam)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the flour, butter, powdered sugar, baking powder and just enough milk until dough forms. If the dough is too dry add milk by the teaspoon until the dough holds together.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
Place the balls on and ungreased cookie sheet and flatten them slightly.
Make and indentation about 2 inches across and 3/4 inch deep in the center of each flattened ball.
Fill each indentation with approx. 2 tablespoons of pie filling.
Bake 20-25 minutes until the edges begin to brown.

Farina Halva

Farina Halva is by far one of my favorite desserts. You can add fruit, nuts, raisins or coconuts to this recipe. My mom particularly likes halavah with strawberries. Also, Cream of Wheat is just farina with a little wheat germ added and works great for this recipe if you don't have farina on hand or can't find it at the store. Ingredients:

• 1 cup farina
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup pineapple chunks or any other fruit of your choice

In a medium sauce pan mix the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the farina to the butter and stirring constantly cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes. The farina should turn a golden brown, as shown in the picture below. Add the golden farina to the boiling water by spoonfuls, whisking as you go to prevent clumping, and then add the pineapple. After all the farina is added let the mixture simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. You can serve Halva warm or cold.

Split Pea Vegetable Dal

Dal is a classic Indian dish that is usually served over plain rice or eaten with bread.
You can use any dried lentil or pea to make dal but my favorite is split pea dal served over plain white rice with Chapatis.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup green split peas
• 4 cups water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/4 cups vegetables, cubed (I use zucchini and carrots)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 dried chili, crushed
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon hing (asafetida) or garlic powder

Rinse and drain the split peas. In a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pot combine the water, salt, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the split peas.
When the water comes to a second boil, partially cover the post and reduce the heat, and allow to cook for 20 minutes, or until the split peas are soft. Add the turmeric, butter and cubed vegetables. Cover and allow to cook until the vegetables are tender and the split peas are completely broken down (approx. 20 more minutes).
Once the split peas are broken down you will make a spice mix to add to them.
In a small frying pan melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the cumin and crushed chili and allow to fry for a minute. The cumin seeds will darken a little. Then add the ginger and hing and fry a few more seconds. Pour the spice mixture into the split peas and stir well. Allow the seasoning to cook in the split peas for 5 minutes to blend. Serve the dal hot over plain white rice or as a thick soup with bread or chapatis.

Gulab Jamuns

These are by far one of the best sweets in the world!
I can only eat one or two at a time they are so fulfilling.

I thought I took photos but I can't find them.
Click here for a photo!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk powder
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons room temperature butter
• 1/4 cup room temperature milk
• Pinch of baking soda
• Oil for deep frying
  

Syrup Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

In a small pot combine the sugar, water and ground cardamom. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly while you are cooking the gulab jamuns.

Start heating the oil over LOW heat. The gulab jamuns will brown very quickly and if the oil is too hot they will burn before they are cooked through. If they don't cook through they will collapse when they are placed in the syrup, but this won't happen as log as your oil isn't too hot. Low heat is basically the key to making nice gulab jamuns.

In a bowl combine the milk powder, flour, and baking soda. With your hand mix in the butter. Once the butter is nicely incorporated mix in the milk. The dough will be soft and a little sticky. Let it rest for a few minutes and the dough will become a little easier to handle. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls. Make them smaller than you want the end result to be as they swell up a lot when they soak in the syrup.

Fry the gulab jamuns over low heat for approx. 5 minutes. They should brown up nicely.
Place them in the warm syrup and allow them to sit for about 10 to 15 minutes prior to serving so that they soak up the syrup.

Makes approx. 10 gulab jamuns.

Spicy Mixed Vegetable Rice

This rice is great when you want something that tastes amazing but doesn't feel heavy and is really healthy. This also goes well with Bharats in Yogurt Sauce. You can use the rice to soak up the remaining yogurt sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups long grain rice (basmati or jasmine)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 whole cloves or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon hing (asafetida) (or garlic powder)
• 3/4 cup frozen or fresh peas
• 1/2 cup cauliflower florets
  
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons salt

Cook the rice.

Heat the butter in a medium-sized pot and fry the chilli, grated ginger, turmeric and spices for only a few minutes. Be sure not to let the spices burn.
Add the vegetables and let them fry until they are cooked. Once they are cooked removed the bay leaves and cloves if you used whole cloves.
Once the rice and vegetables are cooked combine them and serve warm.

Bharats in Yogurt Sauce

Bharats are one of my favorite dishes. I have never tried making them, but I have been craving them lately and the only person I know who makes them is across the country right now.
They were much easier to make than I thought they would be and they turned out GREAT!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups green split peas (soaked in water 6 hours or overnight)
• 2 cups yogurt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• pinch of hing (or garlic powder)
• pinch of cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• oil for deep frying (ghee if you have it)
  

Drain the split peas and grind in a blender or food processor until a nice paste is formed and the peas stick together. You can add a few tablespoons of water to the peas if they seem to dry.
Once the peas are ground mix in the spices.

Heat the oil in a deep pot or wok until very hot. Mold the ground pea mixture into approx. 1 1/2 inch balls. Gently place the bharats into the hot oil and cook until dark golden brown (about 10 minutes). When you first place the bharats into the oil do not stir them, they will break apart, wait about 2 minutes before stirring. Drain the bharats on a paper towel and then place in a casserole dish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl combine the yogurt, sour cream and water. Pour the mixture over the bharats. Cover and bake in oven for 8 minutes just to warm the sauce. Serve warm.

These keep really well in the fridge for a few days. I think they taste better the longer they are allowed to soak in the yogurt.

Ooey Gooey Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is my dad's favorite cake. It is VERY VERY rich, but it has such a nice pineapple flavor. It's a MILLION times better than normal pineapple upside down cake, and that's not an over-exaggeration!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 20-ounce can of pineapple slices or crushed pineapple, drained, reserving 5 tablespoons juice
• 3 dollops sour cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• maraschino cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a 9-inch round cake pan. Add the brown sugar and pecans; stir well to thoroughly combine. Arrange 8 pineapple slices (or spread the crushed pineapple) in a single layer over the brown sugar mixture. Set the pan aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl; set aside.

Mix the sour cream and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the sour cream mixture, and stir in the reserved pineapple juice.

Pour or spoon the batter evenly over the pineapple.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Place a cookie sheet on the rack below the cake in the oven. The cake has a tendency to bubble out of the pan.

Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, not any longer or it will stick. Use a knife around the cake to make sure it is loose from the pan, then invert it onto a serving plate. Place a maraschino cherry in the center of each pineapple ring (or in a circle around the top).

Corn Bread Muffins

I was in a Southern Food kind of mood today and made some white beans (I used Great Northern Beans). What goes better with rice and beans than corn bread? Nothing, that's what!
Mom usually makes corn bread in a round cake pan, but I love the crispy edges the muffins get.
Corn bread is easy to make from scratch, and it's cheap too. Stop buying that box mix and try this instead. It's better this way.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornmeal (you can use yellow, white or blue)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 dollops sour cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
Grease muffin tins. Makes 12 muffins.
In a large bowl stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.
When the oven is hot add the sour cream, milk, and cooking oil to the dry ingredients and mix well. The batter will be a little lumpy, and you shouldn't over beat corn bread batter.
Spoon the batter into the muffin pans, they should be about 2/3 full.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the muffins are light brown.

If you want to make these in a greased 9" round cake pan, prepare the same as above but bake at 425 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.

Hummingbird Cake

Mom wanted to make dessert, she acted like we NEVER have sweets. This from the same woman who claimed we were all getting "fat" from all the sweets I make. (We have all actually lost weight lately! HA!) I was craving something with pineapple and coconut, and came across this recipe stumbling around on the net this evening. I just had to try it!! Mom ended up actually making the cake and I played kitchen manager. (I just sat at the kitchen table and told her what ingredients she needed and such.) I did make the icing myself, but icing is so easy I don't think it counts for very much. Oh, and since it's just the 3 of us here, and we really don't want to get fatter, we only made half the recipe for one 9" cake. The cake kinda reminded me of a cross between banana nut bread and cake. It is really yummy.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pecans, chopped
  
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple
  
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 dollops sour cream or 3 egg replacer equivalent
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and bake until fragrant and toasted, about 4 minutes. Chop the pecans an mix them with the bananas, pineapple, and 1/2 cup flour.

Mix the remaining 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a bowl. Mix the sour cream (or egg replacer), sugar and oil in a large bowl.
Add the flour mixture to the sour cream mixture, mix well, and then fold in the fruit mixture.

Spread the batter into the cake pan, and bake until the cakes are firm and toothpick inserted in to the middle come out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes then remove them from the pans and let finish cooling about an hour. Once they are cool you can frost them. I made coconut butter frosting, but most people use a cream cheese frosting on this cake. My frosting recipe is below.

Coconut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup coconut fake or shredded coconut

Fluff the butter with a knife and slowly mix in the sugar.
Add milk, vanilla and coconut and mix until there are no sugar lumps left.
If the icing is too thick add a little milk 1 teaspoon at a time until it is to your liking.

Pumpkin Pie - Eggless

This is an eggless adaptation of Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe. We make this pie a few times every fall and winter, and we always make it for Thanksgiving. It's the only kind of pie my dad really enjoys. It's also a nice change of pace from all the apple pie we have been eating lately.
If you don't have all the spices you can substitute them with 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 dollops sour cream
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 can (15 oz.) 100% pure pumpkin
• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
• 9 inch deep dish frozen pie crust or your favorite single pie crust recipe

Directions

Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in large bowl. Mix in sour cream. Stir in pumpkin. Pour about 1/3 of the evaporated milk into a small bowl and whisk in the corn starch making sure you have removed all the lumps. Gradually stir all of the evaporated milk and corn starch mixture into the pie mixture.

Pour into pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F and bake for an additional 40 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack for 2 hours.

Tortellini

Pasta Dough:
1 cup flour
1 cup semolina
1/2 to 3/4 cups water

Filling:
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 tbs parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbs parsley, chopped

Pasta dough is very strange to make. It takes a lot less water then you think it would, and you have to roll it much thinner than you think you should.

I used a KitchenAid stand mixer using a dough hook to mix my pasta dough. I just threw everything in there and let it run on low for 10 minutes. The dough was soft and elastic. The dough needs to rest for at least 30 minutes before you try to roll it out. Rolling it out by hand takes some time, I recommend using a pasta roller if you have one. I split the dough into thirds and rolled out each piece.
Once the dough was rolled out, I quickly mixed together the filling.
I used a ruler and a sharp knife to cut the dough into 2 inch square pieces.
Fill each piece with 1/4 tsp of filling and shape.
Here's a good video of how to shape them.
Also, if your dough is very dry use a tiny bit of water around the inside edges so that your tortellini seal nicely.
Cook in boiling water for 8-10 minutes.
I served mine hot with pasta sauce, zucchini and mushrooms, and a spoon of ricotta.

Zucchini Bread

It's fall, and that means the zucchini is ready to be picked. We've had more zucchini this year than we know what to do with. After eating and freezing tons of zucchini I thought it was time to make some zucchini bread. I found my grandma's old recipe for zucchini bread, one which my mother had never tried, and went to it. My mom was skeptical, she doesn't remember my grandmother ever making zucchini bread. Well, it turned out AMAZING and will be my go to for zucchini bread from now on.

We had a bunch of zucchinis already grated and I just took what I need.


Ingredients:
2 dollops sour cream
1 egg replacer equivalent
1 cup oil
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups sugar
2 cups peeled grated zucchini
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:
Mix sugar, oil, sour cream, egg replacer, zucchini, spices and flavorings.
Add dry ingredients and nuts.
Grease and flour two 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pans.
Bake at 350° for 45 to 60 minutes. (Mine took the entire 60 minutes.)

French Bread - Made in under an hour!!!

I have been craving bread all day, but didn't feel like spending all day making fresh bread. If you had told me yesterday that French Bread could be made, including baking and rising time, in under an hour I would have thought you were crazy. But, it's true, AMAZING French Bread can be made in under an hour. This is by far the best bread I have ever made, and no crazy kneading or waiting for it to rise and rise again.

All you need is:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1/2 Tbs salt
• 1 1/2 Tbs active dry yeast or 1 packet
• 3 to 4 cups flour

Pour water into a medium mixing bowl and add the salt, honey, and yeast.
Gently mix just to slightly dissolve the yeast and let the mixture rest for 10 minutes.
Slowly knead in most of the flour. I ended up only needing 3 1/2 cups of flour. Your dough should be moist but not sticky.
Shape one large or two small loaves, place them on a cookie sheet and let rise 20 minutes.
Use a knife to slash the tops diagonally.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Another way to tell when your bread is done is to knock on it, the bread should sound hollow.
Let the bread cool 10 minutes before serving.
Because this bread doesn't contain any preservatives it will go stale faster than store-bought bread.
Enjoy!

Microwave Hot Fudge Cake

I forgot to take a photo! Here's a photo of Bellingham, WA instead.
It comes out looking like this if you are curious.

I stumbled upon this recipe today and had to try it. The cake was good, the sauce came out a little like pudding. My only caution is that you need someone to split this with! I split it with my dad and still had a stomach ache from all the sugar.

• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 2 Tbsp. chopped nuts (I used Pecans... yum!)
  
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking cocoa
• 1/2 cup hot water

1. Mix flour, granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons cocoa, the baking powder and salt in 24-ounce microwavable casserole. Stir in milk, oil and vanilla until smooth. Stir in 2 tablespoons nuts. Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1 tablespoon cocoa.
2. Place water in 1-cup microwavable measure. Microwave uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds or until boiling. Pour over batter.
3. Microwave uncovered on High 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes, rotating casserole 1/4 turn after 1 minute, until cake is set but still glossy. Serve warm topped with ice cream. Garnish with sliced bananas, additional nuts and cherries.

Apple Applesauce Cake

• 2 cups peeled & diced baking apples (I used yellow transparent apples that were given to me by The Harwell's.)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 dollop of sour cream (or 1 egg replacer equivalent)
• ½ cup apple sauce
• 1tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a small bowl combine peeled and diced apples with sugar.
In a medium bowl mix the sour cream (or egg replacer), applesauce and vanilla.
Add flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix well.
Fold in diced apples.
Spread the batter in a greased 8 or 9 inch round cake pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Dinner Rolls

Mmmmmm bread!

I make these whenever I have a little time. They go great with almost any meal, and we eat them as snacks or use them to make mini-sandwiches for lunch. They are BY FAR the best dinner rolls I have ever had.

• 1 1/8 tsp. yeast
• ½ cup warm water
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. egg replacer + 1 ½ tbs water (equivalent to half an egg)
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ cup milk, scalded and cooled to warm
• 4 Tbsp. melted butter + 1 Tbsp. for basting
• 3 cups flour
  

Dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand 5 minutes. The yeast should look bubbly, similar to this:
Add the sugar, egg replacer, salt, warm milk, and melted butter, mix well.
Slowly add the flour, mix well and knead for 5 minutes or until dough doesn't stick to bowl. The dough will still be pretty wet feeling.
Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and let rise 1 hour until doubled in size. To tell if a dough has doubled press on it with your finger and the indention shouldn't immediately bounce back.
Punch down dough and form into 1 ½ inch balls.
Place balls in greased and floured 9 inch round pan and let rise 20-30 minutes.
Brush with 1 Tbsp. butter.
Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm or store in the fridge for later.

Almond Cookies

One of my mom's favorite cookies. These cookies have a nice mild almond flavor, and aren't overly sweet.

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 dollop sour cream or 1 egg replacer equivalent
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• Milk
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  

In an electric mixer cream butter and sugar for 30 seconds.
Add 3/4 cup of flour, sugar, sour cream or egg replacer, baking powder, and almond extract and mix until combined.
Mix in remaining 1 cup of flour.
Divide dough into 4 equal parts.
Shape each part into an 8 inch roll.
Place two rolls lengthwise on a cookie sheet and flatten each until they are approximately 3 inches wide.
Brush with a little milk and sprinkle with the almonds.
Bake at 325 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes, or just until the edges are lightly browned.
Cut the warm cookies diagonally into 1 inch strips.
Cool cookies on a wire rack and drizzle with icing.
Makes approx. 2 dozen cookies.

For Icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Combine sugar, vanilla and milk in a bowl and mix until the icing runs nicely of the spoon. Add more milk a teaspoon at a time to thin if necessary.

Blueberry Glaze

We made blueberry glazed donuts this morning! The glaze is awesome, and the donuts were yummy but the recipe needs some work.

Here's the glaze recipe and I will post the donut recipe once it is perfected!

• 2 Tbsp. blueberry juice
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. softened butter

To make the blueberry juice we just microwaved 20 blueberries for 30 seconds, smashed them with a fork and removed the pulp.

Mix all the ingredients until the glaze will run off a spoon, but isn't super runny.

Once the donuts had cooled a little, we just dipped the donuts in the glaze and let them finish cooling on a wire rack with a cookie sheet under it.

Lasagna

Lasagna is one of the easiest comfort foods to make!
All you need is a box of lasagna noodles, some tomato sauce, a little bit of parsley and lots of cheese! I added spinach to mine this time.

• 1/2 pound lasagna noodles (9 noodles)
  
• 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce (I used my standard pasta sauce recipe which makes more than enough sauce for this recipe, but I like extra sauce when I am serving),
• an entire tub (32 oz.) of ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
  
• a little grated parmesan cheese
  
• 1 Tbsp. parsley finely chopped (Fresh flat leaf Italian is the best if you can find it.)

Cook the lasagna noodles following the instructions on the box, or until aldente.
Strain the noodles gently so that they do not break, and run some cool water over them.

Mix the entire tub of ricotta with approx. 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and 1 Tbsp. parsley. The remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese will be used on the top.

In a 9x13 baking dish layer as follows:

• 1/4 cup sauce
• 3 noodles
• 1/2 cheese mixture
• 3 noodles
• 1/2 cup sauce
• Remaining cheese mixture
• 3 noodles
• 1/2 cup sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• a sprinkle of grated parmesan

Bake covered at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the covering and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or just until brown on top.

Let cool 15 minutes and serve warm.

Pineapple Cake Donuts with Pineapple Icing

Donuts:

• 1 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. pineapple juice
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 dollop sour cream (1 egg or equivalent egg replacer)
• 1/2 Tbsp. softened butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 cups oil for frying

Mix sugar and sour cream (egg or egg replacer).
Add pineapple juice, butter, vanilla and milk and mix well.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt and beat until smooth. Don't over beat.
Heat oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees.
Fry the donut batter in hot vegetable oil, turning halfway through to ensure even browning.
Fry approximately one minute per side, although the time can vary depending on how hot the oil is.
For donut holes spoon the mixture into the oil.
If you want to make regular shaped donuts you will need a donut dispenser.

Icing:

• 3/4 c. powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp. pineapple juice
• 1 Tbsp. softened butter

Combine sugar, pineapple juice and butter and mix until smooth.
The icing should run off a spoon nicely.

Once the donuts have cooled a little drizzle the icing over them.

Pasta Sauce

Here's an easy pasta sauce recipe that I use on everything: eggplant parmesan  spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, etc.

It's quick and delicious!

The picture is of my mom's tomato plants from last year which she canned and I used to make the sauce tonight.

• 1 can whole tomatoes
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped (1 large clove)
• 2 tsps dried basil (or 8 to 10 leaves of fresh basil, chopped)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 leaves fresh mint (optional)
• olive oil
• water

Pour enough olive oil in the sauce pot just to cover the bottom. (Mom says a little extra never hurts.)

Heat the oil on medium heat, once hot add the onion and saute until almost soft, about 5 minutes or so.

Once the onion is almost soft, add the garlic and saute for a few more minutes. Don't let the garlic get brown. (Note: If you use fresh basil and mint add them when you add the garlic to the onions. It tastes amazing that way!!)

Add the tomato paste and mix with the onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes stirring often.

Blend the entire can of tomatoes until smooth.

Add the blended tomatoes to the paste mixture and stir until incorporated well. Add water as needed to thin to the consistency you want. The sauce will thicken as it cooks.

Add the sugar, basil, black pepper and sea salt (and mint if you are using it), stir well, cover and let simmer for at least 30 min and up to 3 hours. The longer it cooks the thicker the sauce will be.
You don't want the sauce to boil, you just want it at a simmer so reduce the heat as needed.

Vegetable Cobbler

Vegetables:

• 3 medium red potatoes, cubed
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets
• 1/2 carrot, diced
• 1/2 cup green beans, snapped into thirds
• 1/2 cup whole kernel corn

Steam potatoes, celery, broccoli, carrot and green beans until tender, approx. 10 minutes.

Sauce:

• 2 cups of milk
• 1/3 cup onion, finely diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 4 tbs butter
• 6 tbs flour
• salt to taste

While the vegetables are steaming, bring the milk, onion, bay leaf and black pepper to a boil, remove from heat and let sit.
Heat butter in a sauce pan until bubbling, slowly whisk in flour making a roux. Add the warm milk mixture to the roux (don't forget to remove the bayleaf) and cook just until thick, this will only take a minute.

Biscuits:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk

Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar.
Using a pastry blender (or a fork) cut in the butter until the mixture looks like crumbs.
Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the milk.
Knead the dough on a floured surface about a half-dozen times.
Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick and cut into 2 inch circles.

Assemble:
Combine the steamed vegetables, corn, and sauce. Add salt to taste.
Pour into 1 quart casserole dish.
Place biscuits on top of the vegetables in a circle as shown in my picture.

Bake:
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Notes:You can make this with any vegetables you would like, you just need about 4 cups to fill a 1 quart casserole dish.
Also, if you are in a rush using store-bought biscuits would work fine, but not much is better than homemade biscuits.
I served this dish right out of the oven! I just put the casserole dish on the table and served family style, which worked out great cuz my dad kept eating!

Buon Appetito!