White Cake

It is cake season at our house in the spring because we have so many reasons to celebrate with cake during the spring months.  While I have many recipes I commonly use for cakes, I decided it was time to give a new recipe a try and I am sure glad I did because this is a wonderful and moist cake.
I really like that it uses whole eggs because I hate separating eggs and I don't have to find a use for the yolks afterwards.

White Cake

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

3 cups granulated sugar

5 eggs, room temperature

3 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans or line 24 muffin tins.
2. Cream together the butter and shortening with a stand or electric mixer until it is light and fluffy.  Slowly add the sugar one cup at a time, making sure it is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add the eggs one at a time, in the same manner.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. 
4. Whisk the buttermilk and vanilla.
5. On a low speed, alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients into the creamed mixture, starting and ending with  the dry ingredients.  Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl down as you are adding the ingredients.
6. Evenly distribute the batter between the cake pans or muffin tins (3/4 full for 24 cupcakes or 1/2 full for 36).  The cakes should bake between 25-30 minutes and the cupcakes for approximately 18 minutes.  Use the toothpick test to ensure they are cooked through.
7. Ice and enjoy!

Cauliflower Ranch Chips

With the prices on cauliflower these days I like to get it when it is on special.  I was at my favourite Farm market and they had some on clearance for 99 cents a head so I grabbed a couple because I had a few recipes I wanted to try (but not on a $5.00 a head cauliflower).
I am always looking for ways to have a healthish but different snack and I think this falls into the healthy category.  Everyone enjoyed it so I will be making them again and playing with different herb/spice combinations, especially when the herbs in my garden are ready.
They are the perfect snack size so I know they will make it into the lunch box if there are any left by Monday.
My first attempt I made them about 1/4 of an inch thick, they are very nice but if you would like a crispier version I would make them fairly thin.

Cauliflower Ranch Chips

1 head of cauliflower

3 cups grated romano cheese

4 eggs

1 1/2 tsp dill

1 1/2 tsp parsley

1 1/2 tsp chives

1 1/2 tsp basil

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

freshly ground black pepper

1. Use a food processor to turn the cauliflower into a coarse crumble (grating it would also work).
2. Mix together the herbs and spices in a large bowl.
3. Toss the cauliflower crumble and cheese in with the herb mixture.
4. Beat the eggs and add to the cauliflower mixture.  You don't want this mixture to be wet, just moist enough so it stays together.
5. On a parchment lined baking sheet place a heaping 1 tbsp of the mixture and flatten with a fork.  Have them spaced about 1 inch apart.  Bake a 450 for 7-10 minutes and then flip them over and return them to the oven for another 7-10 minutes (or until they have reached your desired crispness).

Lemon Feta Roasted Asparagus

There are so many things I love about the spring but one of them is how garden's start to come back to life.  Asparagus season will be upon us soon so I thought I would post a great recipe my family enjoys.
With this recipe, you can either put the lemon feta on the asparagus part way through roasting so that it melts and gets a little crisp or you can sprinkle it on right before serving.  It tastes great both ways.  If you like a little spice, you can add about a 1/4 tsp of pepper flakes to the feta mix.

A fun fact: Asparagus is one of the few food you can eat with your fingers in front of the Queen.

Lemon Feta Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and halved

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 cup feta cheese

finely grated zest and juice of one lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 450.
2. Whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Then toss the asparagus in with it.
3. Spread the asparagus on a tray and roast for 15 minutes.
4. Toss the lemon juice, zest child pepper flakes (optional) and feta together.  Sprinkle on top of the asparagus before serving.

Cilantro Lime Rice

I love the recipes you can find when you type random ingredients into a search engine.  This recipe is the result of one of those searches.  I had a couple of limes in my fruit bowl that were begging to be used and a bunch of cilantro that my Mom brought for me to use up because she was going away.  I was looking for inspiration for dinner so I thought I might as well try a search to see what would turn up.  I had seen this recipe before, most likely on Pinterest, and tonight was the night I was finally going to make it.

I love how simple it was to add a little extra flavour to a rice dish.  It turned the bland carb staple in to a lovely side dish.  I am sure I will be using this recipe lots in the future!

Cilantro Lime Rice

1 cup uncooked rice

1 cup water

1 cup broth

pinch of salt

juice of one lime

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1. In a sauce pan, combine the rice, water, broth, lime juice and salt.  Cook according to cooking instructions on the package (most rice cooks for different times).
2. Once the rice has cooked, add the minced garlic and cilantro and toss with a fork before serving.

Sweet and Savoury Spiced Nuts

I loved this recipe for spiced nuts.  You can use any combination of nuts with this recipe.  I will often use walnuts, pecans and almonds.  They are great to eat by the handful or to be used as a garnish for salads and side dishes.  Be careful because it can be hard to control how many you eat!

Sweet and Savoury Spiced Nuts

2 cups of nuts 

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp all spice

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp oil

1. Heat the oven to 350.  Spread the nuts on the backing sheet and toast until they are fragrant (about 6 minutes).
2. Stir together the spices and salt in a bowl.
3. In a saucepan, combine the water, brown sugar, vanilla and oil.  Bring this to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.
4. Stir in the nuts and continue to stir until all the nuts are shiny and the liquid is gone.
5. Move the glazed nuts to a mixing bowl and sprinkle on the spice mix.  Toss the nuts to ensure they are coated in the spice mixture.
6. Spread the coated nuts on a cookie sheet and return to the oven for another 4 minutes.  Be sure to check regularly to make sure they do not burn.
7. Remove and let cool.

Poulet Dijonnaise

This is a fantastic recipe my mom has been making for years and I have always enjoyed it.  I love the richness of the flavour and how easy it is to prepare. It is wonderful because you can make full size portions or appetizer size portions.  This is a great one to make in advance to freeze in whatever portion size you need.  If you are going to freeze them, wrap them individually and freeze them before baking them in the phyllo dough. When you take it out of the freezer, reheat frozen at 425 for 25 minutes.
The recipe below is how to make it in an oven but I have also done this in a crockpot by putting the chicken, dijon, whipping cream, salt and pepper in.  I cooked it on high for about 4 hours and then pulled the chicken breasts apart with forks.

Poulet Dijonnaise

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts1/4 cup Dijon mustardpan juices from cooked chicken2 cups whipping cream salt and white pepper16 sheets of phyllo dough, defrosted1 cup butter1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1. Season chicken breasts. Place in a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-50 minutes (or until just cooked).  
2. Remove meat, cool, skin and cut into small pieces. 
3. Remove excess fat from pan juices, add mustard and deglaze over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. 
4. Gradually stir in light cream, salt and pepper. 
5. Lower heat and cook slowly until the liquid is reduce by one-quarter. 
6. Add chicken to sauce. Set aside and cool.  (I take out the phyllo pastry at this point)

Rectangular Single Servings

Butter one layer of phyllo, top with a second layer. Butter second layer. and sprinkle with a few bread crumbs. Place one-eighth of filling in rectangle about two inches from the narrow end of phyllo closest to you.  Fold two-inch end over the chicken filling. Smooth right and left-end edges down. Then fold left and right sides up to centre of the rectangle of filling. Butter the new unbuttered sides you have exposed. Sprinkle the same with bread crumbs.  Then finish rolling the individual serving up ensuring that the last edge is placed face down on the cooking sheet. Brush with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 - 20 minutes.  

Triangles

Butter one sheet of phyllo and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Envision vertical lines at the 1/3 and 2/3 marks of a vertical sheet of phyllo.  Fold left third over the centre third, then fold the right third, over the centre. Place a spoon full of filling into the bottom corner of the new three-layer piece of phyllo.  Fold diagonally, triangle over triangle, as if folding a flag. Place seam side down (Cut off any extra left after the last fold)

Sugar Cookies

Decorating sugar cookies has always been one of the exciting Christmas time activities for me. I remember growing up having so much fun making them every year.  It is a good thing I enjoy making them because my family eats them very quickly.  I remember one year, I made a double batch of sugar cookies and they only lasted a day. Even though we are adults now, my siblings still seem to expect for me to make them some sugar cookies each year. This year I am in charge of bringing dessert for Christmas dinner and as I was telling my sister what I was planning on making, she interrupted me sentence to make sure I was going to be bringing sugar cookies. I really like this recipe, the cookies always turn out so nicely.  I usually make a triple batch and the measurements seem to lend themselves to a triple batch easily. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Sugar Cookies

2/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. 
2.  Add granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. 
3. Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla until combined. 
4. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with a mixer and then stir in the rest by hand. 
5. Cover the dough and chill for at least 30 minutes or until it is easy to work with. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough so it is about 1/8 of an inch thick and cut into desired shapes. 
6. Bake at 375 for 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and the bottoms are very lightly browned.