Hummingbird Bundt Cake

Posted on by December 12, 2015

Hummingbird Bundt Cake

From pineapple to cream cheese, Hummingbird BPhoto: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Annette Josephundt Cake has the same ingredients as the original popular layer cake but simplified by baking in a Bundt pan.

Southern Living FEBRUARY 2012

  • Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings
  • Hands-on:20 Minutes
  • Total:3 Hours, 45 Minutes

Ingredients

Cake Batter

  • 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 3/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large)
  • 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple (do not drain)
  • 3/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed and softened
  • 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp. milk

Preparation

1. Prepare Cake Batter: Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

2. Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in eggs and next 4 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Sprinkle 1 cup toasted pecans into a greased and floured 14-cup Bundt pan. Spoon batter over pecans.

3. Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 2 hours).

4. Prepare Glaze: Process cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 Tbsp. milk in a food processor until well blended. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. milk, 1 tsp. at a time, processing until smooth. Immediately pour glaze over cooled cake, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup toasted pecans.

Classic Basil Pesto

Posted on by June 13, 2021

September 1, 2014, Labor Day – The base recipe for this pesto came from page 161 of our copy of Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook.  We had about 10 cups of smashed pesto leaves grown in the backyard.

“WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS”

“Our goal in developing our pesto recipe was to heighten the basil and subdue the garlic flavors so that each major element balanced the other. We started with plenty of fresh basil, pounded to bruise it and release flavorful oils. To tame the raw garlic edge, we toasted it, toasting the nuts as well to give them flavor. We used a food processor to combine the ingredients in our pesto recipe quickly and easily, then thinned out the mixture with a little pasta water before tossing with the pasta; this allowed for good distribution throughout the pasta, softened the flavors, and highlighted the creaminess of the cheese and nuts”

“Pounding the basil releases its flavorful oils into the pesto more readily. Basil usually darkens in homemade pesto, but you can boost the green color a little by adding the optional parsley. For sharper flavor, substitute one tablespoon finely grated pecorino Romano cheese for one tablespoon of the Parmesan. The pesto can be kept in an airtight container, covered with a thin layer of oil (1 to 2 tablespoons), and refrigerated for up to four days or frozen for up to one month.”
All quoted text above was extracted from the cited cookbook.
9/1/2014 – The ingredients below and the instructions have been modified to be what we did that first time and had the best classic pesto (i.e. without cream cheese) I ever made. We filled one ice cube tray with the first 4C batch, covered it will aluminum foil and froze it.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cups fresh basil leaves that had been bruised in a zip lock bag by rolling the beating the bag with a rolling pin
  • 6 large cloves of garlic, unpeeled toasted in a cast-iron skillet then peeled, trimmed, and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup walnuts toasted in the cast-iron skillet over medium heat
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • Drizzled enough olive oil to make a thick paste as the ingredients spun in the processor
  • 1/4 cup roughly grated parmesan cheese stirred in after processing

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Toast the nuts in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 5 minutes; set aside.
  2. Added the garlic to the empty skillet and toasted it over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally until the garlic cloves had a few dark brown roasted spots from the hot skillet.  Removed husks once the garlic has cooled.
  3. Put the basil in a heavy-duty 1-gallon Zip-lock bag. With an Italian rolling pin squeezed out the air and rolled on both sides in alternating directions. Then pounded the flatten bag across one direction then another then flip and repeated so all the leaves were bruised.
  4. Processed everything but the cheese–scraping down the sides of the processor to be sure it is consistent–until smooth.  Moved to a mixing bowl and stirred in the Parmesan and adjusted the salt.

Chicken Francese

Posted on by September 28, 2016

The recipe below was first modified and served by Mary on 6/12/14 and we quickly agreed it deserved a “To Die For” tag. It was derived from Tyler Florence’s recipe that is here.  The recipe below includes Mary’s changes.

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1-1/2 pounds)
All-purpose flour, for dredging and thickening of sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, with rind, cut in thin rounds
1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
1 to 2 cups chicken broth, used Ina’s homemade chicken stock. The amount depends on how much sauce you want to have.  Because I was adding mushrooms I used about 2 cups total.
1 small lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

My additions
4 or 5 (depending on size) Baby Portabella Mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon Cognac

Directions:

Starting with large thick chicken breasts slice them lenghtwise in half.  Freeze for when you want to cook this dish. Thaw then lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. My pieces were still very large so I cut them in half prior to cooking.

Season the thin pieces with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, beat the eggs with 3 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet.

Dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden, turning once. Remove the chicken cutlets to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.

Toss the lemon slices into the pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the wine, broth, and lemon juice, simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly. Roll the butter in some flour and add it to the skillet, this will thicken the sauce. Stir to incorporate and dissolve the flour. Add cognac. Add the mushrooms and let cook until they reach the desired tenderness. Reduce the heat to medium-low and return the chicken to the pan; place the lemon slices on top of the cutlets. Simmer gently for 2 minutes to heat the chicken through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Stubb’s BBQ sauce

Posted on by September 28, 2015

Roni Patel answered 6 years ago

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon saltDIRECTIONS
In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, hot pepper sauce, garlic powder, mustard powder, and salt. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before brushing on your favorite meat.

2014 Mother’s Day Baby-Back Ribs

Posted on by May 12, 2014

Bought two racks at HEB on Saturday.  Rubbed in liberally home made Stubs Hot Pork Rub on a cookie sheet. Wrapped in plastic and spent the night in the refrigerator.

After about two hours outside the refrigerator they went on the kettle where mesquite lump charcoal was going with the kettle at 300.  Played with the air damps and lifted the lid to let heat out. Finally got it down to less that 300.  Add mesquite chips soaked in water for about an hour of the three hours it was smoked.

Wrapped in aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, poured over Stubb’s Original and baked in the over at 350 for a final hour. Bones pulled out easily but and flavor was good although bark was very spicy-hot and crunchy–not like a rib should be. Seemed over done to me and not moist enough.

Mary and Kelley liked it.

May 10, 2014 Chicken Thighs

Posted on by May 11, 2014

Grilled BBQ chicken thighs on the Weber 22.5″ kettle. Breezy afternoon, mid 80’s.

Cleaned thighs of excessive skin and fat after flash thawing in how water.  Mary salt and peppered then they sat for abut 30 minutes.

Lump mesquite charcoal lit in chimney about 3/4 full. Added a few medium lumps once it was close to being ready. Once they were lit on the edges poured into the kettle and spread across one half. A few pieces were on top of others but over half was single layer.

Dampers full open and closed lid to preheat. Reached 300 quickly then 400. Once it reached 500 before adding the meat.

Placed the meat skin side down on the half over the coals. After a few minutes the flare ups began. Moved them around to not let flares burn them. Once cooked on the outside on both sides painted the top side with Stubb’s Mesquite sauce that I had added apple cider vinegar to thin it.  Continue reading →

Spicy Cider Decongestant and Expectorant

Posted on by March 8, 2014

– ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
– ½ teaspoon of powdered ginger
– 3 tablespoons of all natural organic honey
– 1/4 cup of lemon juice
– 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

Directions

Pour ¼ cup of lemon juice and ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar in pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir in 2-3 tablespoons of raw organic honey and ¼-½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper and powdered ginger each (the latter amount makes it quite strong.) Store in a jar in a cool, dark, place indefinitely. Adults take 1-2 tablespoons daily as needed. Shake well before using, as the powder doesn’t dissolve in the most pristine way. I find it pleasant sometimes to warm the mixture before taking it.

Extract from Everyday Roots on 3/8/2014.

Tom’s Shrimp Pasta with Andouille Sausage

Posted on by February 24, 2014

First made on January, 25, 2001

Brown 8 oz cajun andouille sausage in 2T bacon grease in a 10” skillet with temperature high enough to cause edges to fry creating bits of crunchy sausage in the grease but not high enough to harden the sausage.

While sausage is browning, shell shrimp and rub with Emeril’s Rustic Rub. A.k.a. Emeril’s Rustic Rub a.k.a. Emeril’s Essense.

Slice five 1-2” diameter fresh mushroom into ¼” thick slices and add to pan. Add 2 large cloves of chopped garlic.

Add at least 1 rounded tablespoon of red pepper flakes and a good shake of fresh, course ground black pepper. If you want the final red-tinted brown sauce to look less “common” then use white pepper corns. Turn heat down a little.

Gently sauté until mushrooms turn brown and begin to soften. Keep the heat low enough that the garlic does not turn brown and harden.

Add 2T butter. When butter has melted add 10-12 medium shrimp (pealed and headed). Turn heat up a little.

As shrimp turn pink add 1C of average, inexpensive Chardonnay that is not sweet. Skillet must be hot enough to make wine begin to simmer and evaporate.

When shrimp are almost done (not more than 5 minutes) drizzle about ½C of Half-and-Half around the edges of the pan. The H&H should come to temperature quickly and begin to simmer. Stir to combine into a light brown sauce with the red pepper and black pepper flakes floating among the dark red sausage and pink shrimp.

Serve quickly over linguine or angel hair pasta.  Or just mop up with French or Italian loaf bread torn by hand from the loaf. Total time from shrimp hitting the pan to arriving in your mouth should not exceed 6-7 minutes. If they are “crunchy” (not in a fried way) then they are perfect. If they are firm and chewy then they were in the pan too long.

Rosemary Garlic Rub

Posted on by February 24, 2014

Derived from recipe by Christopher Anderson at AllRecipes.com for chicken or pork.  First made 2/23/14.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon rounded ground rosemary,
8 cloves garlic, diced via press
1/3 cup olive oil

Use only ~25% of the salt and no olive oil and it will taste exactly like the relish-like small spoon full that Carrabbas puts on a small platter and pours on olive oil to make a bread dip.