0 SMOKEY HAM HOCK LIQUOR

i think i'm into broths right now and this one is a winner...

SMOKEY HAM HOCK LIQUOR...it's like LIQUID BACON !!!

they're ugly, no kidding...but dangerously delicious.

these three HOCKS were beauties. i didn't realize 'till later, and a bit more ham hock experienced, that i could have just used one. besides the fact that each one of these are huge, these were smoked so well that each one packed quite a smokey punch. so use what you think is right. i'm glad i used all three because the meat it ever so tasty.

mmmm...so many possibilities.
how about using this for your next butternut squash soup?...a white bean puree?...just this liquidy gold to cook your rice... or couscous?...geez, just blanch your veggies in it...yummm!
for this first little smokey broth soup i decided to go simple. i boiled some skinned boned chicken breasts in the broth and added the white beans and arbol chilies...that's it. it was so clean and simple tasting, but with the depth of a complex broth...complex?...nope.

here's what i did...LIQUID BACON BROTH...easy peezy

get yourself some smoked ham hocks. 1, 2 or 3 will do (freeze one for later if you want to have one ready on hand...and you will!). ask the butcher if you don't see them out front.

1 large onion cut into 4 or 6

4-7 cloves peeled crushed garlic

5-6 dried arbol chilis (optional)

place everything in a large pot with enough water to cover everything.

bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. simmer for a few hours until hocks are tender and skin and meat are just about falling off the bone. remove from pot and set aside until cool to the touch. while you're waiting, strain liquid. i like to use cheese cloth or paper towel. it really makes the broth much more clear and grabs some of the fat as well. let your broth cool on the counter for a bit, then stick it in the fridge for a few hours. the fat will rise and be easy to remove. you probably already know all this, but this is a great way to really get rid of the fat. if you're not concerned about the fat you can skip all this and save a few hours...get right to business.

0 PUMPKIN MAPLE GINGERBREAD

PUMPKIN MAPLE GINGERBREAD...

well, i must say...this cake is a looker. the outer crust two-tone look leads one to believe the inside will be just as exciting, but..alas. as you can see in the photo above, not so much. i mean, the light had to be just right in order to get a glimps of the marbling. i was surprised to even see it in the photo, because it's hard to see with the naked eye...by the way...naked eye...???...where did that ever come from? is your eye ever not naked ??... i was under the impression there would be two distinct flavors goin' on here. don't get me wrong..the cake IS fabulous, just not quite what i expected.

what's nice about this cake is that it's dense, therefore will serve alot of people. i'll bet you could get 24 nice slices, maybe more. the outside, as i mentioned has a shell-like crust so it can take a thinner slice. the inside is pretty dense. myself ?...i prefer a dense cake over light and airy. i like a cake with a little heft.

so, on with the recipe...click here for just this recipe

i found it at

Sing For Your Supper...great things here on this blog. i won't cut and paste the recipe because you should just go ahead and check out her blog...i think i'll be making the chili next.

this cake is pretty cool looking just on it's own and suits a breakfast bread this way...BUT you could definitely dress it up with a maple glaze or a butterscotch glaze or a whatever glaze...you know how i feel about glaze...love the drippage!

0 Paula Dean's Brown Butter Pecan Cake

Paula has really done it with this one. WOW ! is just about all i can say...

it's big, it's beautiful, it's dense, it's smooth, yet crunchy, it's sweet and decadent, and...

IT HAS 3 STICKS OF BUTTER.

well, you probably knew it had butter, but of course leave it to Paula to add that extra stick.

this was one perfect specimen of a cake. i couldn't stop taking pictures of it. i really didn't want to cut into it, but the aroma just kept calling...i think it was finally shouting at me...EAT ME !!!


just plain naked it was beautiful and would be great with just a little powdered sugar, but i'm a girl who loves her glaze. i love applying it and watching it slide down the sides.

this glaze is so easy. i've used it on my chocolate mud cakes and the quintuple chocolate cake. it always works well and stays nice and shiny the day of. this one, however, the next day did dull and get a matte finish (still looked great). another great bonus about this glaze is that it makes the cake travel well if needed. if you have to wrap it the seran won't stick. i hate it when frosting gets all over the place and messes everything up in transport.

EASY GLAZE

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 c. butterscotch chips

1 tsp vanilla

heat all this in a double boiler, stirring well 'till all is dissolved.

DONE. i like to pour a warm glaze on a cooled cake because i seem to have a little more control of the drippage. if your cake is still warm, the glaze might get too thin...although nothin's stoppin' ya from double glazing...

so enough with the photos and the blabbing about the cake...on with the recipe !!!

PAULA DEAN'S BROWN SUGAR PECAN POUND CAKE

1 1/2 c. butter, softened

2 1/2 c. dark brown sugar packed well

1/2 c. sugar

5 large eggs

3 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c. heavy whipping cream

1 c. chopped pecans

preheat oven to 325 degrees. spray a 12-15c cup bundt fluted bundt pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.

in a large bowl, beat butter and sugars at med. speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.. add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

in a med. bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt: gradually add to butter mixture, alternating with cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. stir in pecans. pour into prepared pan. bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes. or until wooden pick comes out clean. you might need to cover cake with an aluminum tent to prevent browning. let cool in pan for 10 min. remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.

SNICKERDOODLES...an all time favorite not to be forgotten during the holidays. with all those other fancy decorated treats, don't leave this one out. i'll bet these will be the first to disappear. no one can resist a good Snickerdoodle...and these are not only good...they are fantastic!!!...follow this recipe to the T and they come out great every time.



i don't know who Mrs. Sigg is, but she sure has a killer Snickerdoodle recipe and she deserves an award for these. you can find it at allrecipes.com with all it's reviews here.

or i've just copied it for you below. it's straight forward and, as i mentioned, follow it exactly. my 1st batch i thought wasn't quite done at 8 minutes so i left them in for 11 mins. WRONG! although it didn't hurt them, they just weren't quite as chewy soft in the middle. the second, third and so on, at 8 mins., were perfectly chewy in the middle and crunchy on the outside just like a perfect doodle should be.



MRS. SIGG'S SNICKERDOODLES

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

or...as immediately as possible.

trust me...don't leave these off your holiday cookie trays. i have a few left...a few i hid !!!, and i thought i would experiment with some icing, some Nutella or some butterscotch glaze etc. and dip them, slather them or just sandwich them...i could make a meal out of these babies...

0 Rum Raisin Apple Cake

For the past couple months I've been buying tons of apples from the farmers' market every weekend. I can get varieties that are not available in the supermarket. Arkansas Black, Philo Gold, Wickson, Connell Red, Northern Spy and Spitzenberg just to name a few. Sadly the local apple season is coming to end and I'll have to go back to eating supermarket apples that have been in cold storage for who knows how long before showing up at supermarket for sale.

I recently brought home some red Rome apples from the farmers' market. They were so crisp and juicy. They were labeled as "dry farmed" and I'm not sure if that had anything to do with how delicious they were. Red Rome apples are perfect for this rum raisin apple loaf cake.

This cake is one that I can whip it up in no time at all. It's full of apples and rum soaked raisins. The recipe is from Francois Payard's "Simply Sensational Desserts". I modified it just slightly. The original recipe says to cut the apples in wedges of 2 different sizes and lay them nicely into the cake batter so that when it bakes you'll see the perfect wedges of apples neatly tiled up next to each other. I decided to simplify it by just dicing the apples and mixing them into the batter.

Soaking the raisins in rum keeps them moist and adds a nice flavor to the ordinary raisin. Even if your raisins are very fresh to start, I still recommend soaking them. There's just something magical that happens when you let dried fruit sit in a little bit of booze. But if you are pressed for time you can skip the soaking step and just add the quantity of rum and dry raisins directly to the batter. Either way, the rum is not overwhelming. There's just enough to remind you that it's there.

The area of cake immediately surrounding each apple nugget stays slightly moist from the juicy apple and provides a nice contrast to the cakier parts of the cake. Someone even said it tasted like bits of custard surrounding the apple.

Even though it's optional I highly recommend brushing the baked loaf cake with the apricot glaze. Although the cake is already very moist and will keep well, the glaze helps retain moisture longer. And it adds a lovely shine to this simple cake.



Thanks to everyone for comments about their favorite vegetable in my zucchini post. And the winner of the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking cookbook giveaway is Claire. She also loves zucchini. Congratulations Claire!


Continue reading...

0 CHICKEN POZOLE VERDE

oh yesss...
i have found a new favorite.

CHICKEN POZOLE VERDE


served as a soup or a stew, a main course or a starter, this one is a winner. the verde broth is so good it would work well with any meat. tonight i had it with some fresh Tilapia and it was delicious. this yummy verde base might be something i would make ahead and freeze (haven't tried the freezing yet) in portions. you could just throw in some rotisserie chicken or pulled pork or white fish and call it a day. a delicious day.

this Pozole is so good i just couldn't wait for the condiments. actually, i would suggest trying it this way first to get the full flavor of the stew itself. sometimes one can get carried away with all the extras that you lose sight of the original.

.

hominy...what a fabulous little nugget that i must have forgot about. i haven't had it in years. i wasn't expecting it to bring such a great flavor to the dish. i couldn't pin point the flavor until i realized it was kind of like someone had infused, fresh off the press, corn tortillas into ever bite. you know that aroma and taste of a warm tortilla brought home from the tortillaria when the bag is still warm?

.

note about the chicken...i would suggest that you not try to save time or calories by using boned skinned breasts. your broth will be better and your chicken will be more moist with bone and skin on. to skim the fat i strained the broth through paper towel and it worked quite well, making this soup on the more healthy side. all good stuff.

CHICKEN POZOLE VERDE

with many thanks to Anya Von Bremzan and Food and Wine.

Ingredients
7 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
2 cups water
4 chicken breast halves on the bone, with skin
1 pound tomatillos, husked and halved

1 small onion, quartered
2 poblano chiles—cored, seeded and quartered
2 jalapeños, seeded and quartered
4 large garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon oregano leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Three 15-ounce cans of hominy, drained
Finely shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced radishes, chopped onion, diced avocado, sour cream, tortilla chips and lime wedges, for serving

Directions
In a large, enameled cast-iron casserole, bring the chicken stock and water to a boil. Add the chicken breasts, skin side down, cover and simmer over very low heat until they’re tender and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate and shred the meat; discard the bones and skin. Skim any fat from the cooking liquid and reserve.
In a blender, combine the halved tomatillos with the quartered onion, poblanos and jalapeños, smashed garlic, chopped cilantro and oregano. Pulse until coarsely chopped, scraping down the side. With the machine on, add 1 cup of the cooking liquid and puree until smooth. Season the tomatillo puree with salt and pepper.
In a large deep skillet, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Add the tomatillo puree and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce turns a deep green, about 12 minutes.
Pour the green sauce into the cooking liquid in the casserole. Add the hominy and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Add the shredded chicken to the stew, season with salt and pepper and cook just until heated through.

Serve the pozole in deep bowls, passing the lettuce, radishes, onion, avocado, sour cream, tortilla chips and lime wedges at the table.

this soup/stew keeps really well, and as any soup just deepens with flavors the next day. this can definitely be made ahead and enjoyed all week.

0 COLLARD GREENS AND BLACK EYED PEAS

these collards are the real deal, made with the simmering ham hocks and all. well, they're about as real as i know how being that i'm a girl who grew up in Newport Beach, CA. so now that i just admitted that, maybe they aren't so real after all, but the dish came out reeeeally tastey, and i can't wait to use those ugly ham hocks again...the rich smokey flavor is delicious and would lend itself to so many things. ya just don't get that same depth when you use just bacon. as you can see in the photo, i did use some bacon, but that was just because #1 i had some already cooked, and #2 because i thought it needed somemore meat action.

the broth...or liquor, as it's called, is a whole 'nuther story! i found myself slurpping up the last drops like a thirsty puppy. if you've ever worked with smoked ham hocks you know what i mean, but this was my first time. as a matter of fact, i just went to the market across town this morning to pick me up a few more of these babies. i can't wait to get started with them and try something new. i'm thinkin' some kind of smokey stew or thick rich soup.

the black eyed peas?...well, i did kinda cheat on those. i used canned, so the only one i cheated was myself. i think one of the main flavors of southern style beans is the slow soaking and cooking and infusing the flavor of the broth, or liquer, that they're cooked in...so, yes i did cheat myself out of that step. i wanted my collards that night and the beans should be properly soaked over night. i couldn't wait. i know you can put the said beans in a pot, bring to a boil and remove from heat and let sit for an hour or two, but still i went for the can...i didn't miss anything, but i bet they would have been just that much better. next time.

this is what i did for these...
COLLARD GREENS AND BLACK EYED PEAS

adapted from B. Smith Cooks Southern Style

Southern-Style Collard GreensYields 8 servings
Collard greens are one of the oldest members of the cabbage family. This recipe is reminiscent of my mother's. She seemed to let her greens simmer away for hours! I make mine with ham hocks, which help tenderize the greens and add flavor, along with a little brown sugar to take away any bitterness. A lot of Southern families serve their greens with a side of bread to dip in the cooking broth, known as pot-likker. The broth is packed with vitamins and refers to the leftover "liquor" in the pot, after your greens have cooked. It not only tastes good — it's really good for you!
4 smoked ham hocks, 1 large onion, thinly sliced, 3 bay leaves, 4 pounds collard greens, Chicken stock or broth, or water, as needed, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Rinse the ham hocks and score the skin in several places. In a heavy 8- to 10-quart pot, combine the hocks, onion, and bay leaves with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the hocks are falling apart.
2. Remove the ham hocks from the cooking liquid and reserve the meat, discarding the bones, skin, and fat. Strain the cooking liquid, skim off the fat (i like to use cheese cloth with a strainer because it seems to grab some of the fat as well as strain thouroughly), and return it to the pot.
3. While the ham hocks are cooking, remove the stems from the collard greens and roughly chop; set aside. i rolled the leaves together and made 1 inch slices. your preference i suppose.
4. Add enough chicken stock or water to the cooking liquid to make 6 cups. Add the chopped collard greens, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, and reserved ham. here is were i added the black eyed peas. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the greens are very tender. Serve immediately.

"immediately" is B's rule...i had no idea, being this was my first time with greens, how long this was going to take and i was done quite a bit early, so i ended up reheating and, of course, no harm no foul. i even think they were better and better each day they hung out in all the smokey ham hock goodness. i also added some precooked crispy bacon...for good measure. you know my rule...a little, or alot, of bacon never hurt anything....