Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Dark Chocolate Frosting!

Olive oil and flour for the pan 
1-1/4 oz. (1/2 cup) Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I use Droste)  
1 tsp. vanilla extract 
1/2 tsp. almond extract 
4-1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour 
1/4 tsp. salt 
1/4 tsp. baking soda 
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature 
2/3 cup olive oil 
1-1/3 cups sugar 

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Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Heat the  oven to 325°F. Generously oil 2 small round cake pan with crisco and dust it lightly with flour.
In a small saucepan, boil about 1/2 cup of water. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder through a strainer over a small bowl. Stir 6 Tbs. of the boiling water into the cocoa until it's smooth and glossy (if the mixture  is very thick, you can add as much as 2 Tbs. more boiling water; when I tried this cake with Hershey's cocoa, I needed to do this). Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside to cool slightly. In another small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs  and yolk, olive oil, and sugar. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium-high speed until thick, lemon colored, and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the warm (not hot) cocoa mixture until it's well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it but with no wet batter, 55 to 60 minutes. Put the pan on a rack and carefully run a paring knife around the inside edge to release the cake. Let cool for 10 minutes. Using a second rack to sandwich the cake pan, flip the pan over. Carefully lift the pan from the cake and let the cake cool completely.

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Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!)
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

1. Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Add 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

Assemble:  Lay top of cake down on to platter.  Put a layer of frosting on top.  Lay other layer of cake on top, top down.  Frost cake spreading frosting from top middle down to sides. 


Enjoy :)

Pineapple Chicken

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 green bell pepper
• Chicken breasts
• Olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger root
• 1 can crushed pineapple
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Preparation

Mix together flour, salt, ginger powder, garlic powder, and onion powder; dredge chicken in seasoned flour mixture, egg then flour again. In a heavy skillet brown chicken breasts in olive oil.   Saute chicken on high until golden brown.   Combine pineapple juice, soy sauce, worcestershire, mustard, fresh ginger and sugar; mix well and pour over chicken. Bake in 350° oven for 20-25 minutes.  After 10 mintues, flip chicken and baste with pan juices and add green pepper. Serve chicken over brown rice.


ENJOY :)

Fried Cheesy Potatoes

After a BBQ are you ever left with tons of leftovers, one of them being salt potatoes??  Well, when wanting to use up everything in the fridge I started with chopped onions in a frying pan and soon added salt potatoes (halved), bacon bits, and fresh grated white cheddar cheese.  YUM!

Try it out!

For 2:

6-8 Salt potatoes
1 cup cheddar cheese
2 TB bacon bits (real ones, of course)
1/2 small cooking onion, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

Fry onion in olive oil, add potatoes, heat through, add bacon bits.  Add cheese about 2 minutes before you want to serve.  Enjoy :)

Simple Creamy Cheesecake

4 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 Tb. Vanilla

Crust:

Chocolate Cookie Wafers

1 stick of butter

Beat cream cheese slowly and add sugar.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears before adding each additional egg.  Stir in 2 Tb. Vanilla.   Crust; in a bowl crush wafers with butter.  Pat down cookie mixture in spring foam pan.  Pour Cheesecake batter on top of crust.  Place on baking sheet.  Bake for 1 hour or until set, may need an extra 10 minutes or so.

Topping:  Chocolate Curls.  Curl chocolate bar (I like to use, ghiradelli) with a peeler.  Works perfectly!

ENJOY :)

Beef Stroganoff

• 1 pound stir fry beef/sirloin, cut into bite size strips
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  
  
• 1/2 cups fat free sour cream
• 1 package of baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 (8 ounce) package egg noodles

1. Coat beef with flour.  Brown the beef strips in a large skillet over medium high heat and drain excess fat. Remove from pan. Add the onion and mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in the salt, paprika and ground black pepper.
2. Add the beef broth, reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add the sour cream, stirring well.  Put the beef back into pan and let cook together for another 5-10 minutes.
3. Prepare egg noodles according to package directions. Serve beef mixture over the egg noodles.

ENJOY :)

Easy Tomato Peeling

Peeling Tomatoes

To peel a tomato, first use your paring knife to cut out the stem. Then slice a shallow X in the bottom (blossom) end.

Using a slotted spoon, plunge the tomato into boiling water for a few seconds, then plunge it into a bowl of iced water. This will stop the tomato from cooking and further loosen the skin.

Remove the cooled tomato and peel away the skin.

Now, you're ready to make a pot of sauce!

Roasted Caprese Salad

Still have tons of tomatoes in the garden, but its in the 50's today...and need a warm side to warm me up!  I'm thinking a new spin on a caprese salad sounds good!

3 ripe tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
fresh basil
olive oil
balsamic vinegar (about 2-3 TB) Will reduce in oven so may want to add more.
panko bread crumbs
fresh mozzarella


Pre-Heat Oven to 275 Degrees

Cube tomatoes.  In a cast iron skillet, I add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  I placed tomatoes in pan, added garlic, salt and pepper, and freshly torn basil leaves.  Drizzle balsamic vinegar over tomatoes.  Sprinkle panko bread crumbs over the tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil
Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Roasted Eggplant Panini

2 panini rolls

1/2 large eggplant or 1 small eggplant; sliced thin

1/2 cup roasted tomatoes (I picked them up from the Wegmans Olive Bar, shh!)

fresh mozzarella sliced thin

olive oil, salt and pepper

baby arugula

On a baking dish, lay eggplant flat and add 3-4 small garlic cloves.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Until soft and cooked through.

Heat panini press. Spray cooking spray on press right before you place sandwiches on.

Slice panini rolls in half, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Layers: arugula, mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, eggplant, roasted garlic slices

Place sandwich in a panini press until mozzarella is starting to melt.  About 5-8 minutes.


ENJOY this simple, tasty sandwich:)

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

I was just in the mood to bake today and ended up with six GIANT amazing cupcakes!  Man or man, does my house smell good!  I found this recipe is from simplyrecipes.com and used my own buttercream frosting recipe!  I bet you will want more than just one!

Cupcake Ingredients

• 8 Tbsp (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mint extract



I used a peeler to make the chocolate
curls on top!

• 1/2 cup sour cream

Cupcakes

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a muffin tin by lining it with cupcake liners. Use a double boiler or add an inch or two of water to a medium sized saucepan and place a metal bowl over it, bringing the water to a simmer. Add butter (cut into chunks), chocolate, cocoa to the bowl. As the butter and chocolate melt, whisk until the ingredients are well combined and smooth. Remove from heat and let cool to touch.

2 In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

3 In a large bowl (can use a mixer), beat the eggs. Add the salt, the sugar, the mint extract and beat until well combined. Slowly add in the chocolate butter mixture and beat until combined.

4 Add in half of the sifted flour mixture, mix to combine. Mix in the sour cream. Mix in the remaining flour mixture.

Or a fresh piece of mint from the
garden will do!

5 Spoon the batter evenly into the lined muffin cups. Place in oven in middle rack. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until tops spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

6 Let cool in muffin tin on a rack for 15 minutes. Then gently remove cupcakes from the tin and let cool completely before frosting.

Makes 12 small cupcakes or 6 large cupcakes. (of course I made the LARGE cupcakes :) )

Buttercream Frosting

• 8 Tbsp butter, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 squirt of green food coloring
• 2 cups powdered sugar

1 In an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Beat in milk, vanilla and mint extract and a squirt of green food coloring.

2 Slowly add in the powdered sugar on low speed, stopping every now and then to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Taste and add more vanilla/mint extract if it isn't minty enough for you, or powdered sugar if it isn't sweet enough for you.

Buffalo Chicken Wings

• Are you ever craving messy greasy hot and tangy wings?!  I have been wanting them and even in the rain they are easy to make right in the oven!  Follow this tasty recipe if you want to try out some good wings this football season! 
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• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 20 chicken wings
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup franks red hot

Directions:

1. Lightly grease a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the flour, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt into a resealable plastic bag, and shake to mix.   Toss the wings with the liquid smoke, then add the chicken wings into the bag with flour, seal, and toss until well coated with the flour mixture. Place the wings onto the prepared baking sheet, and place into the refrigerator. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
3. Whisk together the melted butter and hot sauce in a small bowl. Dip the wings into the butter mixture, and place back on the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and crispy on the outside, about 45 minutes. Turn the wings over halfway during cooking so they cook evenly.

Blue Cheese Dressing:

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•  1/2 ounces blue cheese
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
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In a small bowl, mash blue cheese and buttermilk together with a fork. Stir in sour cream, mayonnaise,  and garlic powder until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.