Ok, here is a test… what does not belong in this set: Red, Blue, Triangle. If you guessed Red, Blue or Triangle go to the next question which is, what does not belong in this set: Strawberry, Balsamic, Chicken. If you guessed Strawberry, Balsamic or Chicken please read on. If you didn’t guess any of the above, please read on. If you answered both questions incorrectly you need more help than I can give you.

True to our ongoing struggle to try to eat healthier this recipe is from Allrecipes Healthy Bites. As usual I modified it to use products we had available and to suit our tastes (less carb loading and lots of chocolate.)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (8 ounce) container strawberry yogurt (we had Greek Blueberry which worked just fine. I added some strawberries to the final step. See below)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4 large strawberries
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh mint leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)

DIRECTIONS for 1 serving which was big enough for both of us:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt, balsamic vinegar, sugar, pepper, cinnamon and salt. Place chicken breast halves in a shallow baking dish, and pour the sauce over them. Refrigerate for 1 hour, turning chicken over half way through.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Scrape the marinade off of the chicken breasts, and place them into the hot oil. Quickly brown the chicken on both sides, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and let rest for 3 minutes.
3. While the chicken is cooking, transfer the marinade to a saucepan. Bring to a low simmer over medium heat. Add 3 or 4 sliced strawberries to the marinade just before removing it from the heat. The strawberries should be slightly cooked and tender. Remove stems from strawberries, and slice thinly so they will fan nicely. Set aside.
4. Slice chicken breasts on the diagonal into 1/2 inch thick slices. If you can use an electric knife to slice the chicken. It makes much nicer presentation when the chicken is not all torn apart as if it was attacked by a predator.
5. Mound baby lettuce on the serving plates, add a few sliced of chicken to each and sprinkle with lemon juice. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the marinade over each chicken breast, and fan one sliced strawberry over the top. Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh mint and parsley and a few more strawberry slices. If you really love balsamic vinegar, finish the dish off with an artful drizzle.

Oh, sorry. Although I live 90 miles from Cuba my home town is 90 miles from Quebec, Canada where French is the official language. Let’s make it Cinqo de Mayo!!! Chicken/Cheese enchiladas and margaritas!! A nice day!!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 Enchiladas):

• 2 teaspoons butter or margarine
• 1-1/4 medium onions, chopped
• 5/8 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour (add a little more of you want it thicker)
• 2/3 cup chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1-1/4 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chilies (one whole jalapeno from the garden
• 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded 4 cheese Mexican cheese (could have used another half cup)
• 1-1/4 green onions with tops, thinly sliced  (not being big onion fans i used a hand full of chives from the garden)
• Sour cream (optional, we don’t really like sour cream)
• Salsa

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until onion is tender. Blend in flour. Stir in broth, milk, chilies, salt and cumin. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
2. Grease a  baking dish. Spoon a little sauce in the center of each tortilla; spread to edges. Place about 2 tablespoons meat down the center of each tortilla. Combine cheeses; sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons on top of meat. Roll up tortillas and place in baking dish, seam-side down. Pour remaining sauce over. Sprinkle with green onions and remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve with optional sour cream and salsa.

TBO Library Committee Book Review of Albert Brooks’ 2030, March 26th, 10am. What to make, what to make? I know, we haven’t made a cake in months. I decided on personal, 2 layer cakes in both Heavenly White (recipe below) and the Extreme Chocolate cake. I made them in ramekins to keep them small, trimmed the edges, leveled the tops and did a crumb coat with buttercream frosting (see below) and let them sit overnight in the fridge. To make then as cylindrical as possible it is important to trim the sides. To allow them to stack as straight as possible be careful to level the top when you trim it. I did the final buttercream frosting this morning and made some gum paste flowers to decorate. I was going to make little books for each, but ran out of time. Along with my new “portion control” diet, I need better time use management in the bakery. (No to answer your question, I did not eat any cake and only tasted little bits to be sure I had the ingredient balance correct.

Recipe: Heavenly White Cake

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites ( or substitute)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Measure sifted flour, baking powder, and salt; sift together three times.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add 1/2 cup sugar gradually, and continue beating only until meringue will hold up in soft peaks.
3. Cream butter or margarine. Gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add sifted ingredients alternately with milk a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth. Mix in flavorings. Add meringue, and beat thoroughly into batter. Spread 6 greased and floured ramekins. Leave 1/2 to 1 inch from the top to allow for the cake rising.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool cake in ramekins for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. This cake may also be baked in two 9 inch round pans for 30 to 35 minutes, or in three 8 inch round pans for 25 to 30 minutes

Basic Crusting Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup solid high ratio shortening
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 tablespoon of meringue powder
• 1 teaspoon Clear Vanilla Extract (or extract of choice)
• 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
• 2 tablespoons milk

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla and milk. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating on a slow speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Keep bowl or covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Don’t overwhip or it will bring air to the icing and is impossible to smooth. If you have a kitchen Aid use white attachment, not whip attachment.

YIELD: Makes about 3 cups.

Yesterday I stepped outside of the box. Granted it was a baby step, but step none the less. For the first time I brewed a batch of beer without buying a brewing kit. With a brewing kit you have everything measured for you and all the grains, sugars and hops chosen. Yesterday I brewed 5 gallons of an Anchor Steam Beer clone from a recipe I found online.

It was an odd recipe. There was a relatively small amount of grains and LOTS of malt extract (sugar.) This made mixing the two with only one gallon of water somewhat bothersome, but not too difficult. (It required a lot of stirring.) What was unexpected was the amount of foam this created. The foam caused the ingredients to double in size. (I use a 5 gallon stainless steel brew tank.) This size tank provides adequate room for 2 gallons of a good rolling boil. But this time because my ingredients doubled and then increased again when they started to boil the surface of the boil was within an inch of the rim of the brewing tank for the entire first boil with hops.  What was even odder was if I stirred it the foam increased. I had to control the boil with temperature only. Very strange. After adding the second hops the foam settled down and with the third it was boiling and brewing normally.

So,  now it ferments for two weeks (until the specific gravity stabilizes,) then 10 days of conditioning as the beer carbonates in the bottle.  So, check back in about a month and see the results of this experiment.

Oh!! I almost forgot. The big experiment here is the use of lager (bottom fermenting) yeast  rather than ale (top fermenting) yeast. As you no doubt know lager fermentation temperature ranges 50-65 deg F and  Ale yeasts  thrive in the range of 55 – 80 F. (well within Florida room temperature.)  It turns out the yeast (San Francisco Lager Yeast) used for Anchor Steam (California Common) type beers will ferment in the range of  55-75 F which happens to be right about where my office (and fermentation room) temperature is maintained. This is the first time i will try a lager yeast at room temperature. Wish me luck!

For any hop heads who may stop by there is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 7 pounds, John Bull plain light malt extract
• 1/4-1/2 pound, crystal malt
• 2 ounces, Northern Brewer hops (11 alpha) (boil)
• 1 ounce, Cascade hops (5.6 alpha) (finish)
• 2 packs, lager yeast

With 7 lbs of malt extract (that is a lot!) I went with the higher range (1/2 lb) of crystal malt (the grains.) The local brew supply shop did not have any Northern Brewer hops so i substituted Challenger for the Northern. Both are similar in alpha acids (Norther Brewer range from 6-10% and the Challenger range from 6.5-8.5%)

I used 1/3 of the Challenger for each the bitter, flavor and aromatic hops. (20 min boil for each.) Usually the finishing hops are added for the last 5 minutes or so of the boil, but this recipe called for them to be added at the end, after the boil time is over and between the time the wort is removed from the heat and cooled.

I also added 1/2 teaspoon of Irish Moss where there was 30 min left in the boil. I haven’t used this before but it is supposed to coagulate the unstable malt proteins so they will settle out of the wort. Presumably this will result in a cleaner less bitter beer.

I saw a recipe for Maple Glazed Chicken with Sweet Potatoes. I made this for dinner Monday exactly as the recipe instructed… except I didn’t have any sweet potatoes so I used some dirty smashed red potatoes instead. I also did not have any chicken tenders so I butterfly grilled two chicken breasts which were dusted with Montreal Steak Seasoning®. I used a little less sliced green onions except they were white and I added equal amounts of thinly sliced green and red peppers and I used EVO instead of vegetable oil. Other than that from the subheading “Directions” on down I followed this recipe to the letter.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 pound chicken tenders
• 2 teaspoons steak seasoning (such as Montreal Steak Seasoning(R))
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions

Directions

1. Place the sweet dirty smashed red potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two. Mash the potatoes, and set aside.
2. Sprinkle butterflied chicken tenders breasts with steak seasoning; heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the chicken tenders breasts until the meat is lightly browned and no longer pink inside, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Remove the chicken, and set aside. Stir the maple syrup into the skillet, scraping up and dissolving any browned flavor bits from the skillet and stir in the green white onions and green and red peppers. Bring to a boil, simmer for 2 minutes,
3. To serve, place the sweet dirty smashed red potatoes onto a plate serving platter, top with the chicken tenders breasts  onion and peppers, and pour the maple sauce over the chicken.

Nutritional Information

• Servings Per Recipe: 4
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 441
• Dietary Fiber: 5.5g
• Protein: 26.5g
• Fat: 9.8g
• Carbohydrates: 62.1g
• Sodium: 614.2mg
• Cholesterol: 64.6mg

As millions of others do every year, I made a February 15th resolution to start eating healthier. A friend of mine told me to watch what I eat and I responded I watch every bite of everything I eat as it approaches my mouth. So through an exhaustive 45 second internet search I found dozens of websites with great looking meals andrecipes. Here’s to long life and February 15th resolutions!!

Especially that first blast to start the New Year’s season… tequila… and we start fresh again. No, I mean it tequila!! I found some in the cupboard and as Fran was out for the ladies, I decided a little Tequila Sunset dinner would be pefect. A few carrots from the garden, a spare chicken breast and some tomatoes and provolone and I have a feast.

Saute the carrots in a tblsp of butter, two oz of tequila and 3 tblsp of brown sugar (being sure not to burn the sugar.) I kept them just about boiling until the carrots were tender. Cook it a little longer just below boiling to let the brown sugar and tequila caramelize. Meanwhile add a little butter or EVO to a large fry pan, put the chicken in with some diced fresh tomatoes and cook at medium until the chicken is almost done. Add a couple of slices of the fresh tomato on top of the chicken, cover and simmer for 10 min. With about 5 min to go cover the tomato/chicken with the provolone, re-cover and when the provolone is melted serve.

Easy to make, easy to clean, delicious!!

I started this blog like a short story, “in medias res”. It is time to go back and clean house with some early attempts at baking. In no particular order here is where I have been:

Dr Lee's Med School Graduation Cake. School logos and Lee's name piped.

 You will notice the lack of talent in the piping area in all the photos.

Mindy and Don’s Pre-wedding cake

Erev Birthday 2011 (Note to self: Take the picture before you eat the cake)

Flower Cake, lots of drawing of stems etc for a non-artist

Heavenly Strawberry Cake

New Chocolate Fudge Frosting, Chocoholics Heaven

PinkCake

Sponge Cake with Chocolate Ganache and WhiteChocolate Drizzle

TBE Torah Project Cake, actualy the branches and tree trunk were piped, and not too bad

Valentines Day Cak, don't let the drizzle cool so much next time

Cake2, practice piping, practice, practice, practice

Berry Cake, I like berries. This had several kinds

Pre-Passover Cake

5771 HHD Cake, the cake was made with apples and honey, the figures on the top were an apple and a bee

Gator Cake, made for Cara's birthday at TBE. Big Gator fan