Chocolate Chip Cake

Sister #5 called to ask for this recipe this morning. It is a cake that we made all the time growing up. I think the recipe is came from our Aunt Pat.

Chocolate Chip Cake

1 package yellow cake mix
1 large package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water
1 c sour cream
4 eggs (best at room temperature)
1 package (12 oz) mini chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients except eggs and chocolate chips. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well. Fold in chocolate chips. Grease a bundt pan lightly and put in mixture. Bake for 1 hour. Cool for 45 minutes and unmold.

Sift confectioner's sugar on top before serving.

Hopefully my sister will provide me with a picture for this post later. Hint, hint , Mims!

Here's the picture:


Sister #5 made it with a devil's food cake instead of the yellow cake mix. She said she liked the yellow cake mix better. The cake tasted fine, but it wasn't want she was used to having.

Brisket Chili

Last week, I was spending my morning as I normally do. I yelled loudly asked the children to keep moving/put on socks & shoes/eat breakfast/brush teeth. DH came out of the bedroom telling me that I had to make brisket chili. It seems they had some chef cooking on the morning news program. Lucky for him that Sunday was the Super Bowl and I actually had a reason to make brisket chili. Plus after reading the recipe and checking out his restaurants, I wanted to try it for myself.

We ended up asked a few families over to watch the game plus my mom and sister#5 showed up. I made chili, DH made jalapeno poppers and everyone else brought side and appetizers. The chili was a hit. The batch was huge which was good because people went back for seconds and even thirds. DH is already planning to enter the Dad's Club chili cook off next year with this recipe.

I didn't get pictures of the chili on Sunday, but I ended up cooking it down and make pseudo brisket chili sloppy joes for dinner tonight. It was a great use of the leftovers.



Jason Boso's Brisket Chili

• 3-5 lbs of brisket
• 2 large yellow onions slicked
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 large can stewed tomatoes (28 oz)
• 1 can Lone Star Beer
• 1 chopped jalapeno
• 2 T tomato paste
• 5 T ancho chili powder
• 1 T light chili powder
• 1 T cumin
• 1 T granulated sugar
• 3/4 T salt

Trim and chop brisket into 1/2 lb pieces. Sear sides of beef in large cast iron pot or braising pot. Remive meat and saute sliced onions in rendered fat left in pot. In another pan, toast all spices together. Once onions are caramelized, scarpe bottom of pan and then add all ingredients and meat. Cover meat 3/4 of way with beer and stock. Cover and simmer for 5 hours or until the meat falls apart.


I misread the recipe and thought it said 1/2 inch pieces, so I was cubing the brisket. About halfway through, DH noticed and corrected me. It wasn't a big deal, it all fell apart anyway. I just put the cubes on top of the big pieces. I also wasn't sure what to include in the toasting the spices part. I left the sugar and salt out and just toasted the chili powders. I didn't have Lone Star, we had an old 16 oz can of Budweiser that has been in our back fridge for at least a year. I finally found a use for it.

This recipe was definitely a hit. I will make it again.

Spicy Beef

I made this meal back in mid-December. It was in the newspaper, the picture looked okay and I had ground beef. I gave it a try. It was pretty good.

Spicy Beef in Lettuce Cups
adapted from the Dallas Morning News

• 3 T soy sauce
• 2 T dry sherry, white wine or Shaoxing wine
• 2 t cornstarch
• 1/2 t sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 T chopped fresh ginger
• 1 T chopped garlic
• 1/2 t red pepper flakes
• 3 T finely chopped scallions
• 1 T sesame oil

In a small bow, combine soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Stir will to dissolve the cornstarch.

In a medium bowl, break up the ground beef. Gently mix in the soy sauce mixture. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.

Heat a wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high until very hot. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the ginger and garlic. Cook for about 1 minute, tossing once until fragrant but not browned.

Crumble in the ground beef and use a spatula to break it up and spread over pan to help cook evenly. Let it cook until it changes color on one side, 1 to 2 minutes.

Turn the meat and let it cook another minute undisturbed. Toss well using spatula to break up large chunks.

When the meat is cooked, add the red pepper flakes and the scallions, then toss well. Add the sesame oil and remove from the heat, tossing once more to mix everything well.

Serve in lettuce cups.



It was late and mid-December so the lighting was bad for the picture. It tasted so much better than it looks. The kids didn't really eat it, too spicy. They like the plain rice I made to go with it. DH liked it but thought it was a little greasy. I think next time I'll use less sesame oil.

Pork Tenderloin and Mushroom Marsala

We've had a pork tenderloin the freezer for awhile. I really needed to make something with it.

I didn't feel like making the pork with tabasco onions recipe. Although it is a good dish, it has never lived up to the incredibly awesome meal that it was the very first time I made it. That night I actually packed up leftovers and drove to Sister #2's house immediately after dinner to make her try it. It was that good. I've made it 3 times since and it's been fine, just not the superb, outstanding, make-me-like-pork recipe it was the first time.

There was a recipe in the newspaper the other day that intrigued me. It was pork tenderloin and mushrooms. DH loves mushrooms. I decided to try it this afternoon.



Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Mushroom Marsala
adapted from the Dallas Morning News via the Washington Post

• 1 T olive oil
• 2 T butter (divided use)
• salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs pork tenderloins
• 1 lb assorted mushrooms
• 1 med onion, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
• 1/2 c dry Marsala wine
• 1/2 c chicken broth
• 2 T parsley leaves

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat oil & 1 T butter over medium heat in large braiser. Season tenderloins with salt & pepper and add to pan. Cook for 6-7 minutes turning halfway through until they are browned. They will not be cooked through. Transfer them to a plate.

Increase heat to med-high. Add mushrooms to pan and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Add onion, cook 2-3 minutes longer, until onions start to soften. Season with salt & pepper. Return tenderloins to the pan. Place pan in oven and roast for 20 minutes (until internal temp of meat is 160.)

Remove pan from oven and place tenderloins on a plate. Cover loosely to keep warm.

Place pan on stove over med-high heat. Cook 3-4 minutes until pan juices have almost evaporated. Add the wine and chicken broth, cook 3-4 minutes until reduced by half.

Add remaining butter in small pieces, stirring as butter melts. Taste and season as needed. Cut tenderloins crosswise into thin slices, top with mushroom sauce & sprinkling of parsley.

It turned out to be very good. It was even good enough to make for snobby food type friends. It actually might be impressive. Of course, I need to make it another time or two so I can make sure it stays that way.

Pantry soup

This is a boring post. There are no pictures and this isn't a true recipe.

My daughter said she wanted soup something for dinner tonight and then off she went to soccer practice. I had 60 minute to figure out what soup something meant for dinner. I scrounged the fridge and the pantry and came up with this.

1 package of beef sausage, sliced and sauteed
1 can progresso lentil soup
1 can progresso southwest vegetable soup
1 cup rice cooked in chicken broth (2 cups after cooking)

Mix together and simmer.

It was tasty. A looked at it and grossed out for a second, fussing because she wanted her rice plain, not mixed in. I told her I thought it would taste okay and to give it a try. She did and loved it.

Sister#1 makes another dish with the progresso lentil soup so I keep it on hand. The southwest vegetable added a nice, light mexican flavor but wasn't too spicy for the kids. This is a good meal that will do next time I'm in a pinch for dinner.

Mom's homemade pizza

Growing up my mom always made homemade pizza. It was actually a dinner roll recipe from a paperback cookbook on breads, maybe by Sunshine, I'm not sure. We made trefoil rolls (or 3 ball dough rolls as I always called them) from the same recipe every holiday.

When one of my nieces had to make a family cookbook, a couple of sisters and I were talking about family recipes that should be included. I immediately said pizza dough. To my amazement, Sister#2 and Sister#5 have NEVER made pizza dough. Someone else always made it so they never had to. Now they just wait for one of us to make it and invite them over.

Last night I made homemade pizza. The dough was beautiful and rose so nicely. The crust was light and chewy and perfect.


Dough


Risen Dough




Pizza Dough
from Mom's cookbook

• 6 cups flour
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
  
• 1 package yeast
  
• 1/4 c warm water
  
• salt
• 2 eggs plus enough scalded & cooled milk to make 2 cups
  

Proof yeast in warm water with pinch of sugar. Put three cups of flour in the kitchen aid. Add sugar and salt. Turn on mixer to make small bowl. Add butter/oil, proofed yeast and egg/milk mixture. Mix until combined. Add another 2 cups of flour, mix until combined between each cup. Switch from paddle to dough hook. Add last cup of flour and knead until dough forms. You made need add a little extra flour. Pull dough off hook and knead by hand in a little flour if necessary. Put dough in greased bowl and let rise for a couple of hours.

Once the dough has risen, you can put it in cookie sheets and top with favorite toppings. Cook at 375-400 for 15-20 minutes. It all depends on your oven and how thick your pizza is.


There are still some leftovers in the fridge in case anyone want to stop by for a piece. But come early, they won't last long.

Homemade Pesto

I planted a basil plant about a month ago. It wasn't doing so great until we went on vacation. I had my husband put the sprinklers on to water that bed every night. When we came home, I found out that I hadn't been watering enough. The basil plant had doubled in size in about a week.

Since it is so big, I decided tonight that I needed to actually cook with it.

I sent the kids out to gather the basil. They got quite a bit. I hope there is some left on the plant.








Pesto
adapted from Simply Recipes blog

• 2 cups basil, packed
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup walnuts (or pine nuts, but I was out)
• 3 cloves garlic
  
• salt

Add walnuts to food processor and pulse a few times. Add basil and process. Add garlic and process. Add cheese and process. Add salt and process.


I sauteed some chicken strips and served them over pasta with pesto sauce. DH hasn't stopped telling me how terrific dinner was, so I guess it turned out okay.