Pots and Pins

Coconut Tres Leches Cake...

I'm still in Utah, twelve days and counting!  It's extreme grandma/perfect-grandbaby-bonding time and it's been SO MUCH FUN!  I did take a one day break from Baby Max and went to visit my younger sister, who looks older than me.  She's a pretty good cook - because she can read and follow recipes and because she has a knack for knowing just what makes a recipe good or not.  I was at her home when my niece asked if we would make her a tres leches cake - her favorite.  My sister was not inclined to cook, so I volunteered...but I was cautioned not to make the cake too sweet because the milk that's poured on top can be super sweet and, in her words, "it just gets to be sickly sweet."   

Tres Leches means three milk...so this is three milk cake...a traditional Spanish cake that is full of air bubbles - like a sponge - and because of it's distinct texture it soaks up the milks without getting soggy. 

If you've never had Tres Leches Cake you're in for a treat - and this recipe is especially easy, too.  After my younger but older looking sister and I talked about the different recipes, I decided to try my hand at my own version...I like Tres Leches Cake made the traditional way but sometimes it can be a bit bland - and the milky taste just doesn't do it for me.  I wanted more flavor so I replaced one of the milks with coconut milk...you might say it was a stroke of genius because this cake is now my new favorite!

Doesn't look like much, does it?  When you pour the milks on top of the warm cake you'll think it's going to be a soggy mess...but it turns from an ordinary sponge cake into a rich, moist, creamy cake that just melt on your tongue...the pic on the left below show the cake right after the milks are poured on...the pic on the right shows the cake after two hours of refrigeration - all of the milk as been absorbed and it's ready to be topped with whipped cream...try this one folks, it's a 5-danger!

 

Coconut Tres Leches Cake - Me

softened butter for buttering a 9 x 13-inch baking dish

6 large eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 can (13.5 oz.) coconut milk, do not use cream of coconut

1 cup evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

whipped cream for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. In a mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar on high speed until light in color, about 5 minutes.  In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold whites into yolks until almost combined. Sprinkle flour over top of egg mixture and gently fold in just until all is mixed and there are no streaks but do not beat.  Fold in vanilla.  Pour batter in prepared dish and spread evenly.  Bake until golden and pulling away from sides of dish slightly, about 20 to 25 minutes. Allow cake to sit for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, prepare the milks:  In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, the coconut milk and the evaporated milk.  Whisk in vanilla.  Pour evenly over cake.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one to two hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, cut into squares and top with whipped cream.  Serves 12.  (I didn't think about adding toasted coconut to the top right before serving but it just might make this better...as if that were possible!) 

I've made this cake TWICE in the last two days...TWICE!  We just couldn't get enough of it!  If I keep up this pace I'm going to have to fly home in a JUMBO jet because I won't fit in a little 737!

Naan...

I'm reading a great book, Cutting For Stone.  The story takes place in Ethiopia and the last page I read before falling asleep was about injera bread, made with teff (some kind of grain.)  The author made it sound so good, so naturally, I dreamed about it.  I decided I would make some injera for the girl/SIL but since I was fresh out of teff I opted to make Naan instead.  Naan is an Indo-Irani-Paki-Afghanistani flat bread...looking much the pita bread we Yanks have all come to know and love.  But Naan is thicker and chewier.  It's also a bit sweet and while perfect to eat on it's own, it's great slathered in butter, honey butter, jam, or any variation of hummus or pesto you can concoct.  Naan does take some time to make, only because you have to let it rise.  It is then grilled - outdoors or in - I used a grill pan and stayed indoors because it was a blizzard outside!  The weather in Utah is truly bipolar...one day it's warm and sunny and tulips happily bloom...the next day we have snow/sleet/hail and those same tulips are frozen in their tracks!  It's very unpredictable and it drives me crazy!  At least in Seattle I know what I'm going to get...rain, rain or rain.

After rising, each ball of Naan is flattened, then grilled for a minute or two on each side - and then it's ready to eat.  Hot off the grill it is irresistible...and it's equally delicious cold or even the next day - if any is left!  Think of these little rounds of goodness as chewy pancakes and doctor them up with whatever you like.  In 3rd world countries Naan is used as a utensil to scoop up whatever is served...beans, potatoes, rice, sauces, curries...you name it!  

Naan - Adapted from Mic on All Recipes

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

non-stick cooking spray

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy.  Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt and enough flour to make a soft dough.  Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface or until smooth.  Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside in a warm place to rise for one hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough and knead one or two times.  Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball.  Roll into balls, and place on a tray that has been lightly sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray.  Cover with plastic wrap that has been lightly sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes to rest. 

Preheat grill to medium-high heat or if using a grill pan, set over medium-high heat. Flatten one ball of dough into a thin circle, about 1/2-inch thick.  Lightly oil grill or grill pan.  Place dough on grill/grill pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until slightly puffy and lightly browned.  Brush uncooked side with melted butter, turn over and cook until browned, another 1 to 2 minutes.  (Re-oil grill/grill pan as needed.) Remove from heat and continue until all Naan has been prepared.    

"The essence of pleasure is spontaneity.' ~ Germaine Greer

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One year ago:  Worldwide Ward Cookbook

Two years ago:  Chinese Chicken Salad

Avocado Pie...

Before I get to the recipe - which, as my new favorite comic would say, is mind-blasting...I've got to tell you about the sleeping arrangement I've had to deal with...so sorry, please bear with me...the bed in the girl's guest room is a metal "day-bed" and for the past few nights I've awakened in the middle of the night with one of my feet caught in the bars!  It's quite a scary experience and right before waking up I have nightmares about podiatrists and "feet-al" contraptions...and then my foot starts to ache and I wake up all discombobulated!    But, trying not to be a bad house-guest, I've said nothing...and really, posting about my feet being shackled in my sleep is not like complaining in person, it's better, especially when I have discovered a solution to her guest bed problem!  Since Baby Max is almost two, and it's almost time for me to drop the baby and just call him Max, it's also time for him to have a real kids bed.  I'm almost giddy with the prospect of getting Baby Max a real big boy bed, no sleeping in metal shackles for him!  I'm thinking of a nice trundle bed and when I come to visit again I can sleep on the bed and Max can sleep on the pull out trundle...and we'll both have sweet dreams!  Perhaps the Easter Bunny will bring him a bed instead of a basket full of chocolates?

 

Avocado Pie...it's not what you think...it's better!  I, too, was skeptical...how could  "guacamole"  be dessert?  But think of it as the step-sister to Key Lime Pie...the beautiful step-sister...creamy, smooth, slightly tart and oh so seductive.  As the SIL said, it's like a dance in your mouth...a fox trot on your tongue.  This is going to be my new "signature" pie.  When you come to my house I will whip this pie out of the refrigerator and cut your a nice thick slice - topped with whipped cream.  You'll ask if you can come back again the next night for more pie. I'll say yes, but I won't answer the door on the third night.  It's good folks...5 dangs.  Five.  C.O.M.A. W.O.R.T.H.Y. Just don't pass out in a metal bed without protection for your feet! 

Avocado Pie - Adapted From Food Network Magazine, March 2010

1 purchased graham cracker crust

Filling:

2 medium ripe avocados

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

Whipped cream for topping

Halve and pit the avocados; scoop out the flesh and chop.  Transfer to a bowl and add the cream cheese and beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Add the condensed milk, lime and lemon juices and the salt and beat until fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.  Pour the filling into the crust, press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface and chill at least 4 hours.  When ready to serve, remove the plastic and top with whipped cream.  Serve immediately as the top of the pie will start to brown as the pie sits - you know how tempermental avocados can be!  Serves 8. 

"Everything should be made as simple as possible,but not one bit simpler."  ~ Albert Einstein

Meyer Lemon Cream Crepe Cake...

The sun is shining, the sky is blue and there is green stuff coming out of Baby Max's nose - which he freely shares with his gramma.  I'm at the girl's house helping to chase Baby Max around for a few days...even when he doesn't feel well he's happy and busy - which explains why I collapse into bed at night wishing I had a masseuse on call.  

Today I made a wonderful cake - out of crepes in between playing the alphabet game, pushing Max on his new Tonka truck and cleaning fingerprints off the walls/tables/floors/windows...and even with all of that going on, the crepes turned out great.  They are actually pretty hard to screw up...although I wouldn't recommend you make them with a two year old tornado nearby.  The crepes are layered with a meyer lemon cream...all combined, it's one heckova cake! 

Speaking of cake...we celebrated my mom's birthday this past weekend and I was able to get a quick pic of my mom and dad as her cake was served...it was enough for 25 people and all 24 of us lapped it up!

     

Now, before you look/study the picture of my cake below...I have to offer up a defense:  I did not have a crepe pan per se...so I did my best to make the crepes all the same size.  I didn't worry about the rough edges and even though I tried to make them pretty, they didn't turn out that way!  Martha Stewart's cake (this is a recipe of hers that I adapted) was soooo Martha and I'm sure whichever one of her minions made the cake that was photographed in this months Martha Stewart Living is now drooling happily in a padded cell somewhere...because I have NO IDEA how they got their cake to be SO PERFECT - it must have taken hours and hours and/or an expert in Photoshop!  There are a couple of steps to this cake but it is well worth it...we kept half and took half to neighbors...and after we had eaten our half we were almost sorry we'd given half away!  Dang good folks...5 dangs worth on the ol' meter.

Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake - Adapted From Martha Stewart Living Magazine 2010

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons cold, butter, melted, plus more for the pan

Meyer Lemon Cream:

4 large eggs, plus 6 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

zest of two meyer lemons

juice from 5 to 6 meyer lemons, enough to equal 3/4 cup

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

Topping:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.  In another small bowl whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla.  Gradually pour milk mixture into flour mixture, whisking until smooth.  Whisk in butter.  Pour through a fine sieve into an airtight container; discard lumps.  Refrigerate at least one hour.  

Lightly coat a 6-inch crepe pan or nonstick skillet with butter.  Heat over medium heat until just starting to smoke.  Remove from heat; pour about 2 to 3 tablespoons batter into center.  Swirl to cover bottom.  Reduce heat to medium-low; return pan to heat.  Cook until edges are golden and center is dry, about 30 seconds per side.  Slide crepe onto an overturned plate.  Repeat with remaining batter, coating pan with butter as needed, and stacking crepes.  Let cool. (Crepes can be refrigerated at this point for up to one day or frozen for up to one month.)

Make lemon cream:  In a heavy-bottomed saucepan whisk together eggs and yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Over medium-high heat, cook, whisking constantly until mixture has thickened, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and stir in butter, a few pieces at a time, stirring after each piece until smooth.  Press a piece of plastic to the top so a skin doesn't form and refrigerate until cool, about 1 1/2 hours.  (If not assembling cake right away, lemon mixture can be refrigerated at this point for several hours or overnight.)

In large bowl of an electric mixer, beat heavy cream on high until soft peaks form.  Add in powdered sugar and vanilla, continue beating until stiff.  Fold all but 1/3 cup of whipped cream into the cooled lemon mixture, mixing until no streaks are left. 

To assemble cake:  Place one crepe on a flat serving dish; spread about 1/4 cup lemon cream onto crepe.  Top with one crepe.  Continue layering crepes and lemon cream.  (Martha's recipe called for 15 crepes but I was only able to get 12 out of the batter.)  End with a crepe on top.  Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.  Top crepe cake with whipped cream.  Serves 8.

Tickabox...Pastel Quilt...

One more quilt ticked/checked off my list!  This flimsy was a long-time in the making (I've had this fabric for about 6 years!!) and piecing it about drove me to drink...one little turn of the triangle blocks and the pattern was lost!  I sat, like a pre-schooler, turning triangles around and around trying to lay-out this top!  Then, I would picked up two triangles, holding the side to sew...but once I had them at my machine I would sew the wrong side!  I did more UNsewing than sewing!  But finally...finally...the top is done!

This quilt just screamed scalloped edge!  I used a dinner plate and it worked out okay...not perfect but okay...I'm going to state here and now that those larger scallops were intentional. 

If I showed you the backs of my flimsy's you'd have yourself a good laugh...I don't iron as I go and when the top is done I press from the front only...so the back of the quilt is a mess...believe me, the irony of me being a quilt book author is not lost!  But, when this flimsy is quilted, and birthed (washed and dried) it will not matter in the least that it was never pressed to smithereens along the way! 

Tickabox...9-Patch Ugly Quilt...

Several years ago my quilt group did a 9-patch exchange out of ugly fabrics...I'm not sure if we specified using ugly fabrics but that's exactly what we got!  Just like the saying, "all greens go together," I suppose we figured all "uglies" go together, too!  My stack of "uglies" had aged appropriately so it was time for me to do something with them...but what a dilemma they posed!  This is what I came up with:

  I cut the 9-patches in half and then half again and then resewed them all...now...from a distance they look great...(remember that at my BEST I'm a 30-foot quilter which means my quilts are best viewed from 30 feet away!)  Up close, some of the pieces are a bit wonky...but I attribute that to the fact that these blocks were made by 12 different women, with 12 different sewing machines...certainly I would not entertain the notion that I may have CUT them crooked...how possible would that be when I had them stacked 8 deep?!?!

Just look at all of those fabrics!  In my world any block having more than 9 pieces is considered a "master" block...and since this quilt has more than one "master" block it is then considered to be a "masterpiece."  Amen.  

Random Things...

The boy asked if I'd help him make breakfast and since he NEEDS no help to open a box of cereal I replied in kind...and then he said he was making breakfast for his DEPARTMENT AT WORK...so help WAS needed...and THIS is why I get so little done!  So I'm going to show you what my friends have been busy doing...The quilt above is a W.I.P. by Lori...it's the same pattern as my pink, red and brown Valentine quilt - super fast to piece together...don't you just love her colors?

The Other Aussie is working on a quilt for one of her sons...she's making him an "American" quilt...I have had the good fortune of being a mentor for Rachel on her senior project...she is learning to quilt and is working on the quilt picture above right...so far, so good!  

Another W.I.P. by Lori...she's unstoppable!  Above right is the Blond Bombshell's hexagon quilt...love her colors, too!  

When left to his own devises, this is what the mister makes himself for dinner...SPAM and his very favorite food on the planet, macaroni and tomatoes.  It's enough to make one hurl.  Last, a pic of the girls at their St. Patrick's Day Dinner...Sarah, Anna, Rachel, Leilani, Stephanie, Olivia and Megan...those two mystery arms belong to the other adults...who I'm sure will thank me for not showing their faces, especially if they saw the pic! 

Tropical Black Bean Soup...

Our dog/master, Caesar Beezer The Wonder Dog (who has his own blog) is going to be ten years old soon...which is 70 in dog years...and we fear senility has begun to set in.  Last night, while aboard the Dreamland Express, we were awakened by his crying.  I pretended not to hear just until the mister got up and turned on the light...one of Caesar's 7 pink plush pigs was under the bed and he couldn't get it...he has to have all of his pigs on the bed at night or NONE of us can sleep...apparently this one escaped somehow.  The mister retrieved his pig, Caesar jumped back on the bed and all was well...until an hour later when Caesar began crying again...the mister said, "What the #!$! is the problem now?!?"  And there was Caesar, on the floor, peering under the bed, trying to get his pig...which he had OBVIOUSLY PUT THERE!  The mister grabs it and Caesar and drops them both back on the bed...the light goes off and not 10 minutes later Caesar jumps off the bed with his pig...pushes it under the bed and then cries for his dad to help him.  He was PLAYING with us...at THREE A.M.! Needless to say, we are bleary-eyed this morning...and Caesar is sleeping like a dog.  

Caesar sucks on the pigs heads...every night...like a baby sucking on a pacifier...he is SO STRANGE...we'll continue to obey him and do what he demands because we love him and because we hate being bitten!

Now, about this soup...it's really, really wonderful - and different.  I love black bean soup and have two other recipes for it on this blog, here and here.  But this soup is nothing like either of those...it has a definite island flavor...coconut milk, bananas, orange juice and lime...I would have thrown in some palm trees swaying in the breeze if I'd had any!  It's creamy, filling and healthy...especially now since "they've" said coconut milk is GOOD for us!  Give this one a try, I know you'll love it! 

Tropical Black Bean Soup - Me

1/2 stick butter

1 large shallot, chopped

1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped

4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk (do not use cream of coconut)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 large banana, peeled and sliced

3 cans (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup orange juice

juice of half a lime

In a large soup pot, melt butter and add shallots, red pepper and carrots.  Cook for 7 to 8 minutes or until shallots are soft.  Add garlic and cook for one minute more, stirring.  Add coconut milk, salt, pepper, banana, black beans, and orange juice, stir to blend.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Using an immersion blender, blend soup in pot until smooth.  Add lime juice, stir and serve.  Serves 6 to 8.  (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a counter top blender, just transfer the hot soup in small batches.)   

"It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job: it's a depression when you lose yours." ~ Harry S. Truman

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One year ago:  Brownies With Cherries

Two years ago: Ugly Doll Update

Irish Beef and Barley Stew...

Top O' the Morn to you!  It's another gray and rainy day in the great Northwest...but that won't stop the festivities that are planned for St. Paddy's Day!  A group of young friends are coming for dinner - and this stew is sure to get their eyes rolled back into their heads - unless they're too busy writing limericks or hunting for Leprechauns, that is!

Each one of my guests will get a Celtic Knot charm necklace, along with a small but beautiful plastic cauldron filled with candy and lots of shiny things to attract Leprechauns...here's a peek at the table:

Oh, I also have some fabulous door prizes!  I just love prizes...I have a few boxes of Lucky Charms Cereal, a green leather colored journal, and a few other sundry items...I'm sure the girls will love 'em as much as they're going to love this stew...but in the off-chance that they're picky and they turn their noses up at the stew, there will be plenty of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes...that'll teach 'em! 

Irish Beef and Barley Stew

3 to 4 tablespoons oil

1/4 cup flour

4 lbs. beef stew meat

4 large onions, chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

8 potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice

*4 cups Guinness

2 cans (32 oz.) beef broth

1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste

1 cup pearled barley

In a large roaster or soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add stew meat.  Sprinkle flour over stew meat and stir to cover.  Cook meat and flour for about 3 to 4 minutes; you're not really trying to sear the meat, just cook the flour and get a little color on the beef.  Add in onions and carrots and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add salt, pepper, potatoes and pour in Guinness and broth.  Stir in tomato paste and barley.  Mix well to combine, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer with lid on for 3 1/2 hours.  Serves 16 to  20; this recipe can easily be halved.  *Guinness is an Irish Drought beer that gives this stew it's unique flavor, if you'd rather not use Guinness you can add more beef broth. 

"May the sons of your daughters smile up in your face." ~ Irish Saying

Cinnamon Roll-Ups...

Last night something highly suspicious happened...I was filling up my weekly pill box with my drugs like I do every Monday night.  Carefully putting each one of my meds into each day's box...thereby making sure I take everything I should when I should.  I grabbed one of the pill bottles and counted out 7 pills...started to put them into the container when I noticed the pill was an orange color...so I looked at the bottle and it was the mister's prescription!  Now...how did his drug get onto my nightstand?  Was it an absent-minded thing - like he walked all the way around to MY side of the bed with his pill bottle and then haphazardly left it there?  Never.  He never walks to my side of the room...it's off-limits to him.  The last time he rounded the corner of the bed into my territory he criticized the stack of magazines next to my nightstand, and rudely commented on how much money I spend on magazines each month...he laughed at the pile of books surrounding the magazines, probably because he can't read and then he went on to make merry about the heaps of hand-work I keep on the floor...sometimes I feel like embroidering, sometimes I feel like appliqueing, is there something wrong with that?!?  After his verbal assault about MY side of the room he was banned, so having his medicine bottle on MY nightstand is unusual...very unusual.  And, as I've already stated...suspicious.  What if I had been so engrossed with HOUSE that I failed to notice the color of the pills? What if I had swallowed his medicine?  Could I have died?  Quite Possibly.  At the very least I might have been rendered violently ill...the thought makes me shudder.  Of course, the mister denied placing his medicine on my nightstand...he "reenacted" what he thought happened..he said I mistakenly grabbed his pill bottle off the bathroom sink, instead of taking my newly filled prescription which was sitting there. He pranced from the bathroom to my side of the room pretending to be me...flipping his hair, studying his nails...as if I prance!  I cannot imagine a scenario when I would accidently grab the wrong medicine!  I simply cannot.  And I refuse to even try.  I'd just like you all to know that IF I turn up dead one day, and IF they find orange colored pills in me then you'll know it was NO ACCIDENT! 

The drug mix-up was not the only thing that was different about last night...these Cinnamon Roll-Ups were MORE than different!  I had my doubts...I really did...I mean, how can flattened white bread turn into something that tastes like it came from the finest French bakery?!?  You will have to try these yourselves to believe me - they are incredibly good...hot from the oven or chilled the next day.  Filled  with a cream cheese mixture, dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon-sugar, these are the perfect antidote to whatever ails you, orange-colored pills aside.  

Cinnamon Roll-Ups

24 slices fresh, white sandwich bread, crusts removed

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted

Roll the bread slices flat with a rolling pin.  In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, egg yolk and 1/4 cup of the sugar and mix well.  Spread about a tablespoon of this mixture onto each bread slice and then roll up tightly (some of the mixture will ooze out, that's okay, just scrape it off.)

Mix the remaining a cup sugar with the cinnamon in a shallow bowl.  Put the melted butter into a shallow bowl.  Dip each roll-up in to the melted butter and then roll in the cinnamon-sugar until coated.  Place on a baking sheet.  Chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator (do not skip this step!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Bake the roll-ups for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Refrigerate any left-overs.  Makes 24 roll-ups.