Any Kitchen Will Do

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Archive for the category “baked”

Tart Apple Sauce

tart apple sauce

If your local grocer is anything like mine, they have a corner of the produce section where you can occasionally find deeply discounted fruits and vegetables that are gently bruised or pretty ripe. Recently there was a bunch of Granny Smith apples marked down to 50 cents a pound. What a steal! I had to grab some. They are my favorite apples ever – green and crisp and tart. Making apple sauce with them results in a nice tart sauce as well. I think it tastes much better than the sweeter stuff from the store. I don’t add any sweetener or sugar – I don’t think the sauce, or Little B, needs it, but could easily be added if you prefer. I threw it all in the crock pot at bedtime and the house slowly started smelling like apples and cinnamon during the night, making me seriously crave an apple fritter for breakfast. A spoonful or two of the apple sauce took care of that, thank goodness. I have made this stuff for Little B ever since she started eating solids. She still likes it and happily inhaled a bowl full as soon as the stick blender was pulled out.

Tart Apple Sauce

6 – 8 large Granny Smith apples
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cup water

Core and slice apples, leaving the skin on. The skin will soften and cook down, so you won’t notice it in the final product. The sauce will be darker than what you typically buy at the store, but the texture is the same. Place apples in a crock pot. Add cinnamon and toss to coat apple slices. Pour water over apples, cover and set temperature to low. Cook for 6 – 8 hours. Let cool and puree with a hand mixer until smooth. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Cornless Corndogs

cornless corndogs

These are sooooo easy! Whip up a batch of coconut flour ‘cornbread’, impale the cornbread muffins with pieces of hotdog and pop them in the oven. Little B really loves corndogs, but I don’t like giving her the funky ones found in the freezer section of the store or deep fried versions at fast food restaurants. I’m not saying that when I am surrounded by a carnival, and there is a severe lack of protein or low sugar options I am going to deprive her of one. I am just saying that when I have an opportunity to give her (and myself) a more nutritious version, I am going to take it. Regardless of how nutritious I try to go, they are still hotdogs. I do try to stick with Hebrew National or uncured versions, but it is still macerated meat. Oh well. Nothing is perfect. Some day I may even figure out how to make these on a stick, but for now, they are delectable muffins. They are baked, portable picnic fare that I personally dip in yellow mustard. Living on the edge. That’s me.

Cornless Cordogs

1 batch cornless cornbread
6 hotdogs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make a batch of cornless cornbread batter. Divide it equally in a 12-count muffin tin. Cut each hot dog into four pieces. Stick two pieces of hotdog in each muffin, trying to keep them away from the edges. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until the batter is cooked and the hotdog pieces are roasted. Let cool before removing from pan. Serve immediately with mustard.

Rootless Pot Roast

rootless pot roast_edited-1

Pot roast without carrots and potatoes? Well, yeah. I wanted to make a pot roast but without the added carbohydrates from carrots and potatoes. I could cook it all together then not eat the root vegetables, but they would be so sad, and so would I. Instead I added cabbage and onion to soak up the zesty flavors and compliment the meat. Of course, after so much cooking time the roast was falling apart and the vegetables were almost dissolved. It made for a rich, smooth sauce with a hint of veggies. Some gently steamed lime infused broccoli on the side worked wonders and loved the sauce. As my grade school companions would say, KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. Always a good, yet slightly crude and blunt piece of advice.

Rootless Pot Roast

3-4 pound beef chuck roast
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
½ large head green cabbage, roughly chopped
6-8 ounces tomato paste
2 cups water
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
2 Tbsp dried parsley leaves
1 Tbsp dried thyme leaves
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp paprika

In a medium bowl combine tomato paste and water. Stir until paste is dissolved. Add all the spices and continue stirring until combined. It will actually thicken. In a crock pot add a layer of vegetables using half the onion and cabbage. Add the roast and pour the sauce on top. Sprinkle the rest of the vegetables over the roast. Cover and cook on high for 5-7 hours or on low for about 10 hours.

Crunchy Cinnamon Chickpeas

crunchy chickpeas

Spring is coming and the increase of daylight highlights in our home the pack rat tendencies we had over the winter. This time of year, especially when it begins to get warmer, I want to throw open the windows and refresh my surroundings. The refresh includes finding new ways to feed Little B. She is often open to trying new things, except when she isn’t. I thought some crunchy chickpeas would be right up her alley, and since I found a can of them in the pantry during spring cleaning, I decided to try and copy some chickpeas I found in a convenience store a while back. They were bought during a road trip when I was desperately trying to avoid potato chips – a traditional road trip food that is also traditionally not very good for a body. The chickpeas were crunchy and spicy, I suspect from cayenne or chili powder, and very satisfying. There was probably also mono sodium glutamate and other chemicals, but I don’t recall. I make a simple, less spicy version here for Little B, but the crunchy is definitely the same.

Crunchy Cinnamon Chickpeas

1 can chickpeas
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
Tiny pinch of pure stevia

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse and drain chickpeas. In a medium bowl add chickpeas and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle in the salt, stevia and cinnamon. Toss until chickpeas are coated. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, then spread out the chickpeas in one layer. Bake in preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes until they begin to brown, then shake them around so they change positions, but are still spread out in one layer. Bake for 15 more minutes – if there is extra coating dropped on the foil it may make it smell like it is burning, but the chickpeas themselves should be fine. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. If there is any left after snacking on them, store at room temperature in an air tight container.

Chocolate Strawberry Bacon Cake

chocolate strawberry bacon cake

This cake is ninety percent harmless. The remaining ten percent is included to fulfill the wishes of a birthday girl. A young friend of ours came for a week long visit, which included her birthday! I wanted to make a cake for her, and asked what she wanted. Chocolate and strawberries, and boy does she love frosting made with cream cheese and cool whip! The combination does not bother her tummy like milkier versions of frosting. Hmmm….cool whip…..high fructose corn syrup, chemicals of fifteen plus letters per word…not typically ingredient in things I make. It worked really well, though, and the birthday girl loved her cake. She also wanted a bacon rosette….okay! I can do that, too! This may sound like an odd combination, but the lightness of the frosting and the bacon worked pretty well together, and for bacon lovers, like the birthday girl, this oddness is such a non-issue. The cake was light and airy and went well after a meal of steaks and greens. I will definitely be making it again. The chocolate cake idea came from here.chocolate strawberry cake piece

Bacon Rosettes
8 slices bacon
Muffin pan

Cake
2 cups almond flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup whey protein powder, vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp sea salt
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup equivalent liquid stevia
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup almond milk

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup salted butter, room temperature
16 ounces cool whip
4 Tbsp sugar free strawberry syrup
8 – 10 large strawberries

First, make the bacon rosettes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a muffin pan curl two pieces of bacon around themselves, starting on the outer edge and curling to the middle. Make a few buds by rolling a single piece tightly and securing it with two perpendicular toothpicks. Bake until the top edges are crispy, about 30-40 minutes. When done remove from the oven and set roses on paper towels to soak up any extra grease. Set aside until it is time to decorate.

Second, make the cake. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and butter/grease a 9×13 pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, whey protein powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and liquid stevia until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract, followed by the almond milk. Add half of the almond flour mixture, stir, then add the remaining almond flour mixture and mix batter until combined. Spread batter in prepared pan (it will be thick, so spreading is a necessity) and bake about 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.

While the cake cools, make the frosting. In a stand mixer combine cream cheese, butter and strawberry syrup. When smooth and combined, add the cool whip. Mix until combined and again smooth. Let chill until time to frost the cake. Prepare the strawberries by hulling and slicing them in thin layers.

When the cake is cool, cut two equally sized layers out of the 9×13 pan. Carefully remove the layers. Place the bottom layer on a serving plate. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the layer, then add a layer of strawberry slices, overlapping the slices so there are no gaps. Add more frosting to level out the surface, then add the top layer of cake. Trim the edges until the sides are even, then clean the cuttings off the plate. Cover the cake with a thin layer of frosting to set the shape and catch crumbs. Follow the crumb layer with a thicker, final layer. Decorate the sides with more strawberry slices and arrange the bacon rosettes on top. Store in the refrigerator until serving, and keep leftovers chilled.

 

 

Shepherd’s Pie with Cauliflower

shepherds pie whole

Last year for St. Patrick’s Day I made the traditional American St. Patrick’s Day meal with corned beef. That is all well and good, but not the only Americanized Irish food available. The Shepherd’s Pie is another dish that actually has Irish roots much closer than the corned beef. Here is a version that is very Americanized, or more accurately low carb-ized, for it has not a speck of potato, but as with other manipulations that can be done with cauliflower, you might not miss the ‘taters. This dish is usually called cottage pie when beef is used, and Shepherd’s Pie when lamb is used. I used ground lamb, so I at least kept to some traditional aspects, even if the top is from a cauliflower patch! If I did not tell you, you would never have known. I got the idea for the topping here. I hope for you fun and festivities on this St. Patrick’s Day, and eat cauliflower!shepherds pie piece

Shepherd’s Pie

For the Stew

2 Tbsp butter
1 pound stew beef or lamb, ground or cut into small bite-sized pieces
½ – 1 cup red wine
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped carrots
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn

For the Topping
1 medium head of cauliflower
2 Tbsp heavy cream
2 Tbsp butter
½ cup plus 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 egg whites
Salt & pepper to taste

Clean and trim cauliflower, adding florets to a microwave safe bowl with ¼ cup water. Cover with cling wrap or a vented cover and microwave for 5 – 8 minutes until soft. Drain water. Add the cream and butter to the bowl and toss until butter is melted. Add the cauliflower and ½ cup of cheese to a food processor or use a hand blender to process until the mixture is a smooth consistency. It should look like thick mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet over medium high heat melt the butter, then add the meat. Saute until browned, about five minutes. If an overwhelming amount of liquid is in the meat, partially drain and continue cooking. Add red wine and cook until sauce bubbles. Add tomato paste, garlic and Worcestershire sauce, stirring until blended. Add onion, corn and peas. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes over low heat. Turn off heat and set aside while you finish the topping.

Right before putting the cauliflower on top of the meat filling, whip the egg whites to a stiff peak. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the cauliflower mixture to lighten it up. Then fold the remaining egg whites into the cauliflower mixture and gently mix until combined. In a 9×13 baking dish add the stew and spread until even. Gently top with cauliflower topping, spreading it evenly and not pressing down too far. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese over the top. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until topping is puffed and cheese is browning slightly. Remove from heat and serve immediately. Sprinkle more Worcestershire Sauce on individual servings if needed.

Dublin Coddle

dublin coddleI adore the name of this dish. And oh my flippin’ floopie, it is rich and delish! It reminds me of a chilly, rainy day I spent in Dublin many years ago, popping into a pub to warm up a bit with some food and drink. I did not have a coddle, but the feeling was the same. It totally has a comfort food vibe, and is considered such in Ireland. I thought of it with St. Patrick’s Day coming up and my Irish-ness starting to raise it’s head here in my blog. It is called a coddle because of the slow simmering manner of cooking the dish. Dublin, of course, comes from the popularity of the dish in the Dublin area. I read one place once that the convenience of slow cooking the one-dish meal and the ease of keeping it warm in the oven has a logical basis – it allowed for a warm meal to be ready for the man of the house when he came home late from the pub, after the rest of the family was already in bed. Heh. From my experience there are almost as many variations of this dish as there are mothers and grandmothers. Just like in the US there are delicious recipe variations for meatloaf, chicken soup and apple pie, each cook makes it their own way. I probably committed some form of blasphemy by excluding potatoes from my version of this dish, but we are stubborn about our use of cauliflower as a potato substitute in our diet, so I happily blasphemed. The results were like a beef stew. I know, I know, there is no beef in the recipe. It is just a bunch of pig. That is what I thought! I think the beer mixes with all the other juices and just makes a darned rich broth that is reminiscent of beef broth. Sooooo good! A layer of thinly sliced potatoes as the top layer is the more traditional route, so I included it as an option in the recipe. I thought the quantities would serve four, but we did not have any sides, just a big bowl of coddle. Since there were so many veggies and protein in the coddle it ended up being healthy servings for two very hungry people. If you are not serving sides with the coddle I would recommend doubling the recipe for a party of more than three.

Dublin Coddle

8 slices thick bacon
6 thick pork sausages (mild Italian or ideally some Irish bangers)
1 Tbsp butter
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup water
1 head cauliflower or 3 medium potatoes
1 large carrot
1 12-ounce beer or hard cider
1 Tbsp dried parsley leaves
2 tsp dried thyme leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut bacon into 1-inch pieces. In a large frying pan cook the bacon over medium heat until browned. Transfer cooked bacon to Dutch oven. In bacon grease over medium high heat add sausages and cook until browned, but stop before they are completely cooked through. Cut the sausages into one-inch pieces and transfer them to the Dutch oven. In what is left of the bacon grease add the butter. When the butter is melted add the onion and garlic. Saute until onions are softened but not browned. Transfer onion and garlic to Dutch oven. You are now done with the frying pan. Salt and pepper the stuff in the Dutch oven to your liking, then pour in the water. Slice the carrot into coins, no more than ¼ inch thick. Chop cauliflower into bite-sized floret pieces, or peel and slice potatoes, no more than ¼ inch thick. Add to the Dutch oven a layer of carrot, followed by a layer of cauliflower. You may not need the whole head of cauliflower, but there should be an even layer of it over the top of everything else. If using potatoes make an even layer of slices on top, overlapping them so the other ingredients are substantially covered. Sprinkle the parsley and thyme on top of the cauliflower/potatoes, followed by salt and pepper to your liking. Add the beer or cider. The liquid in the Dutch oven should come up to about the middle of the pot and not totally submerge all the ingredients. Cover the Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid or two layers of foil. Place in 400 degree preheated oven and cook for 45 minutes, then turn heat down to 325 degrees and cook for another 1 to 1 ½ hours, until the cauliflower/potato layer is soft and ready to eat. Turn off the oven and leave the coddle inside it until time to serve. It will stay hot for quite a while.

 

Baked Chicken with Cheese and Spinach

chickenspinachcheese1

I noticed that it’s been a while since I posted a chicken recipe. I can’t go too long without doing chicken. We eat it often and I try to vary the preparation. It is always easy to roast a bird, but a nice sauce on top of baked pieces is comfort food extraordinaire. I did a slightly similar recipe a while back, but this dish is much more rich and thick, with a completely different result. This stuff is pretty rich, and I spooned up every bit of the sauce when the chicken was long gone. Our young charge Lanky P, who is living with us now, is not a vegetable eater, which makes for a lot of scrambled eggs in his belly. I was nice and did a few thighs without the sauce for him. I think he seriously missed out, but whenever someone dislikes vegetables I respect it, but think it is a little sad. There are so many wonderful flavors you can get from vegetables. Maybe I will do some recipes and sneak in veggies – I did it the other day with spaghetti sauce and he cleaned his plate. I never have to sneak with Little B – she eats frozen broccoli florets straight from the freezer as a snack, for goodness sake – so I can hone my veggie sneaking skills with Lanky P. Heh. Heh. Heh. That is an evil laugh if you don’t recognize it.

Baked Chicken with Cheese and Spinach

6 – 8 chicken thighs, skin on but edges trimmed
3 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped (or 13.5 ounce can spinach, with liquid squeezed out)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (if using fresh spinach)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
8 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces goat cheese
6 ounces sour cream
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp lime juice
3 roasted red peppers, jarred or fresh roasted with skin removed
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly salt and pepper chicken thighs after trimming off excess fat and skin – leave enough skin on to cover the top of the chicken thigh meat. Place one layer of chicken in 9×13 baking dish. Slice red peppers into thin strips, no more than ¼ inch width and set aside. In a medium pot over medium high heat add garlic and spinach (if using fresh, add oil first until heated, then garlic and spinach). When spinach is hot add cream cheese, goat cheese, sour cream, salt and juice. Stir until cheeses are melted and combined with spinach and garlic. Spread cheese and spinach mixture over chicken. Lay slices of red pepper over cheese mixture so they are evenly distributed. Cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for 20 – 25 more minutes until peppers are dried out a bit, cheese is bubbly and chicken is cooked through. Let sit for about five minutes before serving.

 

Little Cheesy Meatballs

cheesy meatballs_edited-1

Little B requested meatballs. Since there was some ground beef in the fridge, how could I refuse? She wanted to ‘have a conversation’ (her favorite phrase lately) about what else to include in the balls besides meat. We decided on garlic, black olives and cheese. We tossed it all into a bowl and had a blast smooshing it all together with our hands. They were just yummy, especially for me with the spicy sauce on top. Little B ate them plain with a side of veggies. I was tempted by pasta and currently in the absence of spaghetti squash, but decided to serve these meatballs over some sauteed zucchini and top with some spicy sauce, which Little B did not care for. She has a pretty diverse palate, but has not yet acquired a taste for the hot side of spicy. We will work on that. Eat up!

Little Cheesy Meatballs

2 pounds ground beef
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
¾ cup black olives, chopped
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp dried parsley leaves
1 Tbsp dried basil leaves
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp cumin powder
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper, ground

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set out mini muffin pans to accommodate approximately 40 meatballs (large baking sheets will work too, but the cheese might leak out a bit and leave the meatballs). In a large bowl add all ingredients. Pull up your sleeves up. Using your hands, squish all the ingredients together until well combined. Mold balls to about one inch in diameter and place one in each muffin spot. Bake for about 20 minutes until bubbly. Remove and let cool about five minutes before plating and serving.

To serve the meatballs as shown in the picture, it is easy to prepare stuff while the balls are baking. For the sauce combine a small can of tomato paste and medium size can of tomatoes and chiles (or just diced tomatoes if you want mild sauce). Let simmer with a sprinkle of salt until heated through. For the zucchini, cut up squash in two-inch pieces. Heat 1 – 2 Tbsp of butter, then add zucchini. Saute with a sprinkle of salt and pepper until softened a bit, about five minutes. Add the meatballs on top of the zucchini and under the sauce.

King Cakelettes

king cakelettes_edited-1

Laissez les bon temp rouler! Let the good times roll! Mardi Gras is near and as always we are celebrating. We closely followed up defrocking the house of Yule and Christmas decorations with putting up green, gold and purple for Mardi Gras. After living in New Orleans a few years back I cannot help but get in the spirit of Mardi Gras. There is never a lull down there after Christmas – the frivolity of New Years quickly turns to the Mardi Gras celebrations. Parades begin in mid-January so there is no time to waste. Last year I did a king cake marathon, making sure everyone in the house had some for celebrating. I made a regular, yeasty, cinnamon-y king cake, including sharing of details about king cake history, followed by a gluten free version of the cake. They were both delectable and fun to make. This year Mardi Gras arrives during a time when we are highly sensitive to sugar, wheat and carbohydrates. What is a girl to do? Well, adapt. That is what she does. I used my experimenting with low carb muffins over the past year and incorporated my love of king cakes into these little treats. Although not the traditional ring with colored sugar, the result definitely has the right flavors and textures in play. I usually avoid making king cakes most of the year, but this time I may not. These things are stupendous and I doubt they will last us through Fat Tuesday. I really need them to, if for no other reason but to balance the green potency of chartreuse. Enjoy!

Low Carb King Cakelettes

6 eggs
4 Tbsp heavy cream or half and half
1 tsp vanilla

3 drops liquid stevia
½ tsp sea salt
2/3 cup coconut flour
¼ cup golden flaxseed meal
½ cup splenda
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup pecans, shelled

For the Filling
6 Tbsp butter, melted
¼ cup splenda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup pecans

For the Icing
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
½ cup splenda
Green, yellow, red and blue (2 drops blue, 3 drops red for purple) food coloring (optional, if coloring icing instead of using colored sugar)

For Decorating
Purple, green and gold/yellow colored sugar or Splenda (or add color to the icing)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking pan spread out pecans in one layer. Bake in oven for about 5 minutes until they begin to brown. Prepare muffin pan with liners. In blender add wet ingredients and nuts together. Blend on low until nuts are broken up in small pieces. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups. For the filling mix together butter, ¼ cup Splenda and cinnamon in a bowl. Grind into a powder the ½ cup pecans and combine with other filling ingredients. With a teaspoon drop some filling into the middle of each muffin. It will sink a bit and be covered by the muffin batter during the baking time. Bake for about 15 minutes until tops begin to brown. While the muffins are baking combine the water, juice and Splenda until smooth (make three different batches if coloring it instead of using colored sugar. A soon as the muffins come out of the oven drizzle the icing on top (drizzle all three colors on every muffin if using colored icing). Let cool for about ten minutes. If using colored sugar, sprinkle by alternating green, purple and yellow/gold*. Use all three colors on every muffin. Serve at room temperature or freeze and gently defrost in the microwave before serving.

*I planned on using colored Splenda for sprinkling, and got good information about coloring it here. My color to sweetener ratio did not turn out as well as it did for Millie, I think it was because I did not have enough coloring gel. It was definitely on its way, but I did not have time to go get more with an eager and waiting Little B, so I improvised. I added water and lemon juice to the colored sweetener and colored the icing and drizzled instead of sprinkled. Even though it did not work out this time, I am going to follow Millie’s coloring process in the future, for springtime is coming and more sprinkling opportunities are on the horizon!

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