Horchata

Chilled milk-like drink traditionally made in Spain using tigernuts, then in Mexico due to the rarity of the nut, they substituted it it with rice. Here I am making use of both. 

1 cup raw cashews (or use raw or blanched almonds)

2/3 cup brown rice rice, uncooked 

2 1/2 cups warm water + 3 cups water

2-3  cinnamon sticks

2/3 cups agave nectar* 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (increase to 1 teaspoon, or to taste, if you love vanilla)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large blender canister, Vita-Mix canister, or large bowl combine cashews, uncooked rice, 2 1/2 cups warm tap water, cinnamon stick, cover and place in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours.

1. Remove canister from the refrigerator, remove the cinnamon stick, and blend the mixture for 2 to 3 minutes on high speed, or until blended as smoothly as possible.
2. Add agave (to taste), vanilla extract, 3 cups more water and blend again for 2 more minutes, or until mixture is as smooth as possible.
3. If desired, strain horchata through a sieve or cheesecloth (I did not find it necessary as the cashews blended incredibly smoothly in my Vita-Mix). Serve immediately as is, over ice, or refrigerate and serve chilled, shaking before if mixture has separated. Horchata will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days; use common sense.

*You can use another form of sweetener, to taste. All amounts are to taste. If you are serving over ice, it will also water down and become less sweet, something to keep in mind. This is a sweet beverage; it's not supposed to be "barely sweet"; it's supposed to be sweet. If you prefer a thinner horchata increase the amount of water, to taste, or strain it. Whatever blender you use, blend, blend, blend. Depending on type of blender used, and taste preferences, strain if desired.

Peas and Beans

Peas and Beans Salad

serves 4-6

1/2 cup quinoa

1cup chicken broth

1 bag frozen peas

6 slices of bacon

1 onion, diced 

1 can of chickpeas, drained

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon dill, 

1tsp garlic powder

1. Place quinoa and chicken broth in a small sauce pot. On medium low heat, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, until the grains are translucent on the sides. Set aside.

2. In a skillet on medium high heat, add bacon and onion. do not add oil, or strain oil from bacon.cook until bacon is crispy, and onions are caramelized.

3. Add the peas and the chickpeas until heated through, about 5 minutes.

4. Then add lemon juice, dill and garlic powder, stir in the quinoa. And serve warm or chilled.

Basic Sweet Dough

BASIC SWEET DOUGH as adapted from "Americas test kitchen"
This versatile dough is used for Monkey Bread, Cinnamon Rolls, and Sticky Buns

3/4 cup buttermilk, warm (110 degrees)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs
4-1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 envelope instant or rapid rise yeast
1-1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, and eggs together in a large liquid measuring cup. Combine 4 cups of the flour, sugar, yeast and salt together in a standing mixer, fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes
2. Increase the speed on the mixture to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. After 5 minutes, add the remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed, using 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl, but sticks to the bottom.
3. Turn dough out on a clean counter, and knead by hand intoh a smooth, round ball. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise until the dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Monkey Bread

MONKEY BREAD as adapted from "Americas test kitchen"
Serves 6-8

make sure to use light brown sugar here; dark brown sugar has a more molasses flavor that can be over-whelming. After baking, don't let the the bread cool in the pan for longer than 5 minutes or it will stick to the pan and come out in pieces.

BREAD
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 recipe Basic Sweet Dough (see post "Basic Sweet Dough)
8 tablespoons (1 stick unsalted butter), melted

GLAZE
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. FOR THE BREAD: Grease a 12-cup non-stick Bundt pan. Toss the brown sugar with the cinnamon and the spread out over  rimmed baking sheet

2. Turn the dough out to a clean counter (it will be sticky) greased with pam. divide the dough into 36 pieces. cover with plastic wrap. Working with several pieces at a time, (while the others are covered), roll in tight balls with your hands, then dip in melted butter, and roll them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place them in the greased pan, staggering the balls as you build up the layers.

3. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon/sugar, and drizzle any leftover butter on top. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour

or you can place it in your dishwasher right after the

dry cycle for 30 mins...it works :)

*Note: it has to be at  95-102 degrees for the entire time, and be at a high humidity

 

 



 

perfectly proofed

 

4. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. bake the monkey bread until the top is deep brown and the caramel begins to bubble around the edges; 30-40 minutes.

 

5.FOR THE GLAZE: Cool the monkey bread slightly, then turn out on a platter. Whisk the confectioners sugar, milk and vanilla in a bowl and drizzle it over the bread...serve warm of course



 



Raspberry filled danish cookies

So I had a bunch of Danish cookies lying around and I decided to make something for dessert today. 

And a 3 chocolate Easters bunny to use up. 

So I melted the chocolate.

While  chocolate was melting, I filled the Danish cookies with raspberry jam. Then placed another cookie on top and dipped in chocolate. Then I scooped the left over chocolate into a pastry bag and went back and forth over each cookie to make a criss-cross design on top and crumbled white chocolate pieces as a topping.

Emergency chocolate cake

I made this cake in an emergency, and emergency was I needed chocolate cake. Need is the main word. If you are a woman you know what I mean. Problem is that I had no eggs no milk no oil. So I found this old recipe using mayonnaise. It was a quick substitute for all the above that I was missing. In search of a cake recipe that I can also turn over to my four-year-nephew (with supervision of course),  I wanted something easy no fail, foolproof, moist, and chocolatey. After much speculation of the mayonnaise, I mixed it, baked it, tasted it, as if by magic, it worked- deliciously. Sometimes... simple is just better.

This incredibly easy to make moist cake can be served as a quick afternoon school snack but turned out and dressed up for company with dust of confectioners sugar and a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream
 

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 Cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Baileys or Kalua (optional)
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (optional)
 

1. Adjust an oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees lightly coat an 8 inch square pan cake with vegetable oil spray, or 12 cup cupcake tin lined (you will have some batter left over if using cupcakes I made 5 mini cupcakes with the extra batter)
 

2. Whisk flour, sugar, and baking soda together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa and water together until smooth. Whisk in the mayonnaise, cinnamon and vanilla stir in the mayonnaise mixture into the flour mixture until combined.
 

3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake come out with a few crumbs attached 35 to 40 minutes ( if using cupcakes bake 22 minutes)

4. With a toothpick poke little holes in the cake. Pour Kalua or Bailey's tablespoon at a time over the cake. Let it sit between each pour for 20 seconds.

5. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack one to two hours. Cut into squares answer straight from the pan or turn the cake out onto a serving platter and best with confectioners sugar if desired.

Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls

Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls
For the Rolls:
2-1/2 cup water (110 degrees)
2 pkgs of dry yeast
1 box yellow cake mix
1 tsp salt
5 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick very soft butter

For the Frosting:
3/4 cup Cream Cheese
2/3 cup butter
3-1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla

1. In a stand mixer, mix water, yeast, cake mix, salt, and flour; Until a dough forms about 4 mins, adding 1 tbsp. of flour after 2 mins if it still sticks to the sides.
2. Transfer to an oiled, air tight bowl. Cover and let it rise in a warm, draft free place for an hour until dough has doubled in size.
3. Preheat oven to 350F
4. Roll out dough to 1/2in thick.  In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and sugar together. Spread  butter over the dough completely, and cover the dough with cinnamon and sugar.
5.Starting at end opposite from you, roll the dough towards you until all dough is rolled into one long piece.  Slice dough into 24 equal sized pieces.
6.  Place rolls in two greased 9×13 pans.   Cover and let rise until doubled in size.
7.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown.
8.   Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
9.  In a stand mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Generously apply to cinnamon rolls

*  If you prefer your frosting to melt into your rolls, frost after rolls have cooled for 10-15 minutes.  If you prefer your frosting to stay on top of your rolls, wait until rolls have cooled until frosting.