Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in pumpkin puree, eggs, and lemon juice. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Spread the mixture evenly.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
Lay a damp linen towel on the counter, sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar, and turn the cake onto the towel. Carefully roll the towel up (lengthwise) with the cake in it. Place the cake-in-towel on a cooling rack and let it cool for 20 minutes.
Make the icing: In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sugar with a wooden spoon or electric mixer.
When the cake has cooled 20 minutes, unroll it and spread icing onto it. Immediately re-roll (not in the towel this time), and wrap it with plastic wrap. Keep the cake refrigerated or freeze it for up to 2 weeks in aluminum foil. Cut the cake in slices just before serving.
Personal Note: I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and it was really well reviewed, so I made it for a bake off that we went to last night and won 2nd place and got tons of compliments!!!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Ranch Mashed Potatoes
Just a simple and quick change up to your everyday mashed spuds. I decided to do it differently one night and it was a hit!
Boil your potatoes as you normally would. When they are to your desired softness, drain. There is no real measurements for this, but the most important thing is go easy on the ranch seasoning.
For mine, one of the smallest containers of butter milk was just the right amount. Add that, a big scoop of sour cream ( I used half the container ) About one cup, and then sprinkle in some of the ranch dip mix from the packet. You can easily over load on this because it is so concentrated.
So, start with that, taste and add more of whatever it needs. If you need to, add some regular milk to get it to the right consistency.
Chocolate Hazelnut Ravioli
I am a die hard lover of nutella! I haven't even tried these, but it looked so yum that I had to post it. If you make these before I do, let me know how they turned out!
Ingredients
- 16 wonton wrappers
- 1 egg, beaten to blend
- 1 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 16 fresh mint leaves
- Nonstick vegetable oil spray
- Granulated sugar, for dredging
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions
Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Place 1 wonton wrapper on the work surface. Brush the edges of the wrapper lightly with egg. Spoon 1 tablespoon of chocolate-hazelnut spread into the center of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper diagonally in half over the filling and press the edges of the wrapper to seal. Place the ravioli on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers, egg, and chocolate-hazelnut spread.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Add enough oil to a heavy large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.
Working in batches, carefully add the ravioli to the hot oil and cook until they are golden brown, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the ravioli to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Then, transfer the cooked ravioli to another baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven while frying the remaining ravioli. (The fried ravioli can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool them completely, then cover and refrigerate. Before serving, place them on a baking sheet and rewarm in a preheated 375 degrees F oven just until they are heated through, about 7 minutes.)
Spray the top side of the mint leaves very lightly with nonstick spray. Working with 1 leaf at a time, dredge the coated side of the leaves in sugar to coat lightly.
Arrange 2 fried ravioli on each plate. Dust the ravioli with powdered sugar. Garnish with the sugared mint leaves and serve.
White Chili with Ground Turkey
K - I'm gonna give you the recipe as I found it and then tell you how I actually made it.
Ingredients:
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chilies
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cinnamon
ground cayenne pepper to taste
ground white pepper to taste
3 (15 oz.) cans cannellini beans
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Directions:
1.) In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic and ground turkey and saute for 10 minutes, or until turkey is well browned. Add the chile peppers, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne and white pepper to taste. Saute for 5 more minutes.
2.) Add two of the cans of the beans and the chicken broth to the pot. Take the third can of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor. Add this to the pot along with the cheese. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes, allowing cheese to melt.
Good? Maybe... I don't know, cause I totally changed it up. For some reason I like to "Mexicanize" (my new word) everything. But, not only that, this recipe needed some more pizzazz!
So here's what I did.
First, heat about a tbsp of olive oil in the large pot over medium heat. While that is getting hot, you can prep the onions and garlic. Add that and saute for a few minutes allowing them to soften before adding the meat.
The turkey is next. Two things - if you want a leaner version of this meal get 93% fat free ground turkey. Otherwise it can be really fatty. Also, I went for 2 lbs of the ground turkey. While upping the amount may be good to feed more people it was a little much for my family of three. But more importantly, the ratio of meat to beans was off. Unless you just want it meaty...I digress.
Once the turkey is cooked add your seasonings. Don't ask me how to know if the ground white pepper to taste is too much or too little, cause I don't know. But what I can tell you is I was a little freaked about the cinnamon thing and, well, don't worry. I liked it. The one thing that I did not like was boy did it need salt. So I made my own special blend of spices and seasonings just like the Colonel! Couple shakes of onion salt, some garlic salt, a little more cumin, work it, own it, you go girl!
Ok - so once that's cooked there's the issue of the beans. It doesn't say whether or not to drain these puppies but I did. Three cans might sound like a lot, but next time I probably will go for four. Two whole and two blended. It made it creamier and thicker. And since I liked the consistency the beans gave it, in my opinion, 5 cups of chicken broth was WAY too much. I added only 2 cups and I still wanted one more can of beans. Tip - add a little of the juices from the meat to the blender with the beans to help it blend. Otherwise it all just gets stuck on the side (well maybe that's cause I drained them) But hey, like I said, It didn't say to drain them or not. Personally, I don't like the goo they are canned in. If I had had more time I would have even drained AND rinsed them.
So, pretty much follow the order of food prep and try my changes if you like. One last thing... I garnished it with some cheese on top, 3 slices of avocado, and a sprinkle of cilantro. BAM! "Mexicanized!"
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