Blueberry Crumb Cake

I have been wanting to make this cake for over a year!  Every time I look for something delicious to have for breakfast or a snack–I always think of this recipe, but then end up making something else. Finally, I bought a huge pack of blueberries; and decided that I would try this recipe. The only thing that I have to say for this recipe is that I don’t know why it took me this long to try this cake. My girl Ina, has proven to me one more time–that her recipe is a winner. This cake has that velvety custard cake on the base, with just enough hint of sweetness and fruity-flavor from the blueberry; topped with wonderful crunchy cinnamon-y flavor topping. It is great in the morning for breakfast or afternoon snacks in the afternoon. Happy eating!

Other recipes using blueberry that are equally delicious:
Blueberry Pie
Lemon Glazed Blueberry Scones
Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Ingredients

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.
Stir in the melted butter and then the flour.
Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light.
Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined.
Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife.
With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

Easy Banana Bread

Banana bread is simply one of my favorite things to bake. I have tried several different recipes in the past; some that I have liked, and other were okay. But I keep on going back to this hand-written recipe that I can’t even remember the source. I have been making this version below for probably over 15 years. There is nothing fancy or special with recipes; it calls for standard pantry items and very ripe bananas. I usually wait until my bananas are very brown that they give off these incredible sweet smell, then I would look forward to making these on the weekends’ morning.

If you want to try other varieties, here are the two that I have posted in the past:

Banana Bread, Flour Bakery Famous
Banana Bread, Kona Inn

Ingredients
1-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup butter/margarine, softened
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripened bananas
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Blend in everything, bake at 350 degree for an hour in a 10×4 pan.

Yield: 10 servings

Turkey Lasagna

My husband Red has been taking over the cooking duty at our household for the past couple of months. This is a recipe that we often make at our house, but I just realized, I have never posted. The recipe was inspired by Ina’s famous Turkey Lasagna Recipe, but we have modified it to the ingredients that we have readily available at the house. It’s a no-fail recipe that will be sure to satisfy your diners. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (the next six seasoning will be mixed into the ground turkey)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound lasagna noodles (no-boil)
15 ounces ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large (10 to 12-inch) skillet. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Mix the following six seasoning listed under ground turkey ingredient into ground turkey.

Add the seasoned ground turkey mixture and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened.

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch rectangular baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one third of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.

Yield: 8 servings

MSC: Coconut Cupcakes

I know, I know. I have been MIA for the past two months–and the only two new recipes that I have been able to make have been the cupcakes for the Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes Club. Jennifer from Cinema Cupcakes chose Coconut Cupcakes on pages 28-29 for January. I was glad to try this recipe since I have been wanting to make coconut cupcakes for a while now. I wasn’t able to find unsweetened coconut flakes, so I gave up and decided to just use all sweetened flakes since I was already running late on posting this recipe.

These cupcakes were actually delicious without frosting; although my husband still wanted the frosting on top anyways. I decided to skip the 7-minute frosting and instead used Martha’s fluffy vanilla frosting, which was excellent. Thanks for the great selection.

MSC: Gingerbread Cupcakes

I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by… we’re finally here in the last month of the year. I first must apologize to some of my loyal readers that I have been MIA for about a month or so now! Yea, the cold bug got the worst of me, and with work travels… surprisingly enough, I was not in the kitchen very much this past month!

Our December’s recipe for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club (a.k.a MSC) is Gingerbread Cupcakes,  selected by Kayte from Grandma’s Kitchen Table. You can find the recipe on her Cupcake book, page 246.  I’m basically in the spirit of Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving weekend comes to an end and I was ready to welcome the season with this treat. I actually made these into mini cupcakes since my husband needed something to take to his company holiday party. I especially loved the fluffy vanilla frosting; nothing can beat a classic frosting like this one. Not only that it tastes good, it actually pipes pretty well. Double bonus for me! The only issue was that I forgot to adjust the baking time to accommodate the smaller muffin pans, so the cupcakes came out a bit in the dense side. Maybe a bit too dense for my taste although everyone seemed to think it’s okay.

Don’t forget to check out how everyone else in our group is doing; there are some absolutely creative creations out there!

MSC: Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Our November’s recipe for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club (a.k.a MSC) is Sweet Potato Cupcakes,  selected by Karen from Karen’s Cookies, Cakes, & More. You can find the recipe on her Cupcake book, page 243.

While some people may not really be too excited with this recipe,  I was absolutely on board with the idea of using sweet potato in cupcakes. Sweet potato is soo… delicious, roasted on its own. I think it shouldn’t even be considered vegetable. And I was right… I  loved them! They were absolutely fabulous: fluffy, crumbly, and has that nice hint of that sweet potato flavor that I love. The candied pecan and marshmallow topping was even better, it’s a really nice change from the regular frosting… but still look so elegant, and delicious. I love the crunchy pecan on top of the marshmallow, although I have to admit that I had a little issue with making the caramel syrup for the pecans.  Thanks Karen for a great selection, I’d be making these again in the future!  Don’t forget to check out how everyone else in our group is doing; there are some absolutely creative creations out there!

Poached Eggs Florentine

I love eggs for breakfast and always welcome a new way to dress up eggs. I had wanted to try this recipe for a while and finally decided to try it when we have a little bit more time on the weekends. Another big reason for me wanting to try this was: I had never poached eggs before! I was a bit intimidated by the idea of poaching eggs… I don’t know why. I have enjoyed many poached eggs before at restaurants, and I had always put off making my own at home. I now regret that I didn’t try this recipe even sooner, because this dish was absolutely fabulous! If you love eggs, spinach and cheese–this one is a must try! But I must warn you, this is not exactly a “light” recipe, with all of the cheeses used. I also discovered that poaching egg was not as bad as it sounds–really, try this recipe! You will not be disappointed.

Adapted from Appetizers Finger Food Buffets and Parties

Ingredients

1-1/2 lbs spinach
2 tbsp butter
4 tbsp heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Salt, and granulated black pepper

For the topping
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups hot milk
Pinch of ground mace
1 cup grated Gruyere Cheese
4 eggs
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, plus shavings to serve

Directions

Cut off any tough stalks, then wash the spinach in cold water and drain well. Place them in large pan with very little water. Cook over a medium heat, for 3-4 minutes, or until wilted and tender, then drain thoroughly and chop finely. Return the spinach to the pan, add the butter, cream and grated nutmeg and season to taste with salt and pepper, then heat gently, stirring occasionally. Spoon the spinach mixture into the base of one large or four small gratin dishes.

To make the topping: heat the butter in a small pan, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute to make a paste. Gradualy blend in the hot milk, beating well as it thickens to break up any lump. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mace and three-quarters of the Gruyere.

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. Poach the eggs one at a time. When complete, slowly place one poached egg on top of spinach. Cover with the cheese sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Grueyere and the grated Parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Serve immeadiately with Parmesan shavings.

Yield: 4 servings

Chocolate-Almond Tart

Kate from Warm Olives & Cool Cocktails has been playing Santa all summer long by graciously giving away her 100+ cookbooks collection! Lucky me, I won another book from her about a couple of months. The rule is pretty simple, you need to leave comments on her blog, must be a food blogger, and you also must make ONE recipe within 30 days from the book if you win, of course! Eek.. I hate to say that I am very tardy on this one, but still, better late than never. There are so many good recipes in this chocolate book, but unfortunately, I have to really dig for a recipe that has ingredients that I can get locally. And we finally settled on this one. It’s like a chocolate pie, but with yummy short-bread like crust.

I had a hard time with the dough to form a ball initially, so I took the liberty on adding another egg yolk into the mixture. Maybe because I didn’t have the extra-large eggs, I figured, I might have needed a little bit more liquid in the mixture. After I rolled it out, I also had a hard time with the dough to remain in one sheet, so I picked up pieces of it, and smoothed it over with my fingers onto the pan. But after all of that, it turned out well. I also didn’t have any graham crackers at home, so instead I used about 1/4 cups of crushed vanilla wafers, and  I didn’t have any issue with it.

Wow… I was pleasantly surprised at how elegant this dessert turned out! It calls for simple ingredients, relatively quick to put together, and delicious! It also has a great presentation. Since they’re also like a bar, instead of a tart or pie, they are portable since they’re not too messy. I cut up into squares and Red and I had nice little treat to take to work that week!  Thanks Kate!!

Adapted from Chocolate Cakes, Cookies, Candies and More, published originally under the title Cioccolate & Co. 2005.

Ingredients

Crust
1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
8 tbsp cold butter
2 large egg yolks, 1 tsp baking powder

Filling:
7 oz extra-dark chocolate
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
3-4 graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 320 degree F. Place the flour and sugar into a bowl and quickly cut in the cold butter. When the mixture resembles a coarse meal, add the egg yolks, baking powder, and mix to form a compact dough.

Roll out the dough into a thin sheet. Line a 10-1/2 inc round tart tin with the dough, making a slightly thicker layer around the border. Refrigerate the crust for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate with the milk over a double boiler. Add the sugar and mix well to incorporate. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pastry crust and sprinkle with the crushed graham crackers and ch0pped almonds.

Bake the tart for 30minutes. Remove from the oven, cool completely and cut into squares.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ham and Potato Soup

I am always in the lookout for a simple soup recipe that is delicious, and preferably has both vegetables and meat in it. This way I can just add a salad or some sort of rolls or bread to go with it. This is actually a recipe that I have saved up for a while now. For time-saving tips, you can leave the skin on as long as you scrub them well before cutting. Red actually peeled the potatoes, although I wouldn’t have minded if he had left the skin on. I also did not have any beef  or chicken bouillon. Instead, I used low-sodium canned vegetable broth and it was still wonderful. I also used low-fat milk and couldn’t tell the difference.  This soup is very delicious, creamy, and flavorful–and my fave part of all, you can definitely tweak the ingredients as you wish. I am sure that you can use frozen potatoes or onions to save you time in chopping some of the vegetables. This recipe was a favorite at our house, and we will make again.

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes

1/3 cup diced celery

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

3/4 cup diced cooked ham

3 1/4 cups water

2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste

5 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

Directions

Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings

Chicken Fajita Omelet

One of my all-time favorite egg dishes is chicken fajita omelet; I almost always order this when we go out for breakfast.  In my pre-Red single-life days, I found myself making breakfast dishes over and over again for dinners–because they are delicious, and never fail me. I have never thought of making this at home, until recently I had a couple of cups of leftover cooked chicken to use up and I wanted to try something different. I decided to try making this at home and was surprised at how easy, and delicious this is. Omelet takes a little bit more time to prepare, than let’s say scrambled eggs, so this recipe may not be super ideal when entertaining a large crowd. What I have done in the past is make a giant omelet (in a 12-inch pan or larger), roll it, and then serve it sliced. Each guest can have 2-3 slices each, and than you add breakfast potatoes or other delicious baked goods. In the future, I may also try adding pickled jalapeno or fresh one for a little bit more of a kick. Try this, it adds a little spice to your breakfast!

Source: Blissfully Delicious original

Ingredients
1/4 cup chopped yellow or white onions
1/4 chopped green bell peppers
1/2 cup of cooked chicken breast, diced finely
2 teaspoon taco seasoning (or more, if you prefer stronger flavoring)
4-5 extra-large eggs, beaten well
1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
A handful of sliced green onions
Sour cream, salsa, or guacamole (Optional, for serving)

Directions
Saute onions and green peppers. Add diced, grilled chicken breast.
Sprinkle with taco seasoning, blend well. Transfer to a small bowl, set aside.
Pour the beaten eggs onto a hot oiled pan. Let it set for a few minutes.
Add the omelet filling (from the bowl), sprinkle with green onion &; cheese, then fold.
Let it sit for another 1-2 minutes until it’s browned.
Remove from heat.
Serve with sour cream, salsa, or guacamole.

Yield: 2 servings (can be cooked in one big 8-inch pan, or made into two smaller personal size using 4-5 inch pan)