2011 Mother's Day Brunch Version 2.0

Ham and Egg cuppers
24 slices of ham- I did double layers so big slices cut in half

18 - 24 eggs- depending on how you like your eggs

12 cherry tomatoes- cut in half

Dash of milk

Olive oil, spray or butter

chives

salt and pepper

Spray 24 muffin tins with non-stick spray or grease it with Olive Oil or butter. Line each muffin tins with a double layer of ham. Put one half of a cherry tomato into each cup. Top with eggs and then sprinkle with chives.

You can do the eggs two ways-

1. Scramble the eggs with a little bit of milk and salt and pepper and pour a little into each muffin cup.

2. Break one whole egg into each ham lined muffin tin. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper.

If I were to do them again: I would probable add cheese of some type and more seasoning. I've seen recipes for these that have pesto and little cubed pieces of mozzerella. Also would be delightful with parmesean cheese and Italian seasoning sprinkled on top!

Lemon Lemon Lemony Lemon Cake!

You should be friends with me, just to try my cooking.

Lemon chiffon cake

makes 2 11x17" sheets or 2 9x3" rounds

14.5 oz cake flour
8.75 oz confectioner’s sugar
6.75 oz whole milk
6 oz canola oil
3.25 oz eggs
0.5 oz baking powder
13 oz egg whites
9.5 oz granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 oz lemon juice

Oven 375F. Prep pan by buttering bottom and sides. Place parchment in pan and butter the parchment. Sift dry ingredients (except granulated sugar) into a large bowl. Mix all ingredients (except the 13 oz of egg whites and granulated sugar) in the large bowl until combined. Whip whites and granulated sugar to medium peaks. Fold into batter gently. Bake until set, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and remove from pan. Let cool on a rack. With a large serrated knife, cut the cake into two layers.

From Jen Yu at Use Real Butter: http://userealbutter.com/2008/04/15/lemon-petits-fours-recipe/

Lemon buttercream frosting

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 10 mins

Yield: 12 cupcakes

1 cup butter, softened

3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 lemon, juice and zest of

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine butter, sugar and salt and beat till well combined. Add lemon juice, zest and vanilla and continue to beat for another 3 to 5 minute or until creamy.

From Food.com: http://www.food.com/recipe/lemon-buttercream-frosting-from-the-famous-sprinkles-cupcakes-222187

Lemon curd

5 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

4 lemons, zested and juiced

1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled

Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Remove to a clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

From Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lemon-curd-recipe/index.html

Assembly

Cut each of the cake rounds in half to make 4 thin cake rounds. Spread 1/3 of the lemon curd between each layer. When all 4 rounds are stacked, crumb coat the cake with a bit of the lemon buttercream. Thickly coat the cake with the frosting.

This cake is amazing, so you may need to make 2.

2011 Mother's Day Brunch

Frozen Lemon Mousse Cones

taken from The Food Network from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/frozen-lemon-mousse-cones-recipe/index.html

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand

Prep Time:

20 min

Inactive Prep Time:

8 hr 0 min

Cook Time:

10 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

10 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup butter, diced
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped
• Special equipment: paper water cooler cone cups

Directions

In a large heavy bottomed stainless steel saucepan combine the lemon juice, sugar, yolks, eggs, and butter. Over high heat whisk the mixture constantly until thickened. Strain it into a bowl set over ice and chill it stirring to thicken slightly. Fold in the whipped cream and pour or pipe into paper cones to the top, and set in a rack to hold them. Freeze overnight. Peel off the paper cone and serve.

Beanie's Notes- I made 2 batches of this, one that was frozen, and one that was just well chilled. The frozen mousse was definitely better! It has a creamy ice cream texture, not an icy popsicle texture like I was worried about. Definitely try it frozen! It's AMAZING!!!!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Carne Adovada from Use Real Butter

modified from Santa Fe Recipe (The Shed)

16 dried, red chile pods
3 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp oregano
5 pounds pork shoulder

Preheat oven to 325F. Remove stems from the chile pods. Place pods in a pan and bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chiles are lightly roasted. Leave oven door open (I didn’t do this). Don’t breathe the fumes! I shook the seeds out of the pods and discarded them. Place pods in a medium bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let them sit for 30 minutes. Drain the water from the chile pods, but reserve about 2 cups for the purée. Place pods in a food processor or blender. Add the salt, garlic, and oregano. Cover the mixture with the chile water. Blend well for 2 minutes or until the skins disappear. Cut the pork into 2×4 inch strips. Place the pork in a ziploc bag and add the sauce. Thoroughly coat the pork. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Preheat oven to 325F. Place pork and sauce in a baking dish. Cover and bake for 4 hours or until meat is tender. (I cooked mine in a crock pot all day on low.) Shred or chop meat.

The delightful condiments!

Spiceful, tender, and delicious!

Served with avocado, cilantro, lime and cheese

Pumpkin Cheesecake

For a work pot luck, I made an oh-so-delicious pumpkin cheesecake! It turned out beautiful! Here is the delicious recipe:

1 cup crushed ginger snaps

2 Tbl melted butter

3 8 oz pkgs cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground allspice

2 cups sour cream

3 Tbl sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350* F. Mix ginger snap crumbs with melted butter. Press evenly into springform pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven to 300* F. Beat cream cheese with 1 cup sugar and the salt. Add 3 of the eggs and the 2 tsp of vanilla and mix until well incorporated. Pour half the mix into the pan.

Stir in pumpkin, spices, and remaining egg into the rest of the batter. Spread over the regular cheesecake batter. Bake for 60 minutes or until set in the center.

During the last couple minutes of baking, beat together sour cream, remaining sugar and remaining vanilla. Once you remove the cheesecake from the over, spread this mixture over the baked cheesecake. Bake for 10 more minutes.

Lunch

Today for lunch I'm having homemade roasted vegetable soup, homemade whole wheat sunflower seed bread, and a diet pepsi. Ok, so a little unbalanced. But here are the delicious, delicious recipes!

Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Bread:

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tsp yeast

2 cups white flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp sea salt

2 Tbl Powdered milk

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, finely chopped

4 Tbl extra virgin olive oil

4 Tbl honey

Dissolve yeast in water and let sit for 5 minutes

In large bowl stir together white flour, whole wheat flour, salt, powdered milk, and sunflower seeds until completely incorporated. Add olive oil, honey and yeast water until dough forms. If it is too sticky, add flour a tablespoon at a time. If too dry, add water a tablespoon at a time.

Turn onto floured surface or use a kitchen aid mixer to knead for 2-3 minutes until dough springs back when touched. Shape dough into a loaf and place into a greased bread pan. Let bread rise for an hour in warm place until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375* F. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until bread sounds hollow when tapped and is golden brown. Cover the top with butter.

Roasted Vegetable Soup:

Serves 10

3 sweet potatoes

4 potatoes

1 lb carrots

3 red peppers

1 yellow pepper

1 stalk celery

6-8 cups beef broth (or any other broth or stock)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Cut all vegetables into bite size pieces. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in 350* oven for about 45 minutes.

Puree 3/4 of the vegetables and thin out with the broth until a good consistency. Flavor with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the other vegetables and bring back up to a simmer.

Holiday Baking

One of my favorite things about the holidays is making candy and doing all the holiday baking! When I was younger, my mom and grandma would do demonstrations at the Festival of Trees on how to make Christmas Candy, specifically making and dipping chocolates, and us young kids would be the hired help.

Last night I made two of my favorite holiday treats and sent some with Tom to his work and brought some in to my work. I had many people request the recipes because they are pretty much the most delicious things ever! The fudge recipe has been handed down from my great-grandpa, so you know it's good!

Kartchner Fudge

12 oz chocolate chips

1/2 lb butter or margarine

chopped nuts

4 cups sugar

1 can evaporated milk

30 marshmallows

Put chocolate chips, butter, and nuts in a glass bowl. Set aside. Bring the sugar and canned milk to a boil, stirring constantly, until it reaches 242*. At the last minute, stir in the 30 marshmallows and continue to stir until melted. Pour into the first bowl until the chocolate chips and butter are melted. Pour the fudge into a buttered 9x13 pan and allow to set up.

Soda Cracker Toffee

Saltine crackers

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup REAL butter (if you use margarine, it will not be crunchy, it will be soft and won't be nearly as delightful)

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with non-stick spray. Put 1 layer of saltine crackers. Boil together the butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes. Spoon over the saltines. Bake at 350* for 5 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crackers. Let sit for 2 minutes and spread chocolate across the top. Allow to cool completely in fridge and break into pieces to serve.