Argentina Cake

This is the cake John requests for his birthday every year.  And, since it's delicious, and easy, and pairs perfectly with either ice cream or strawberries and whipped cream, it gets requested at a lot of other birthdays as well.

Argentina Cake (1-2-3-4-Cake)


1 pint of cream (light or heavy whipping--we've used both to good effect)
2 cups sugar
3 cups self-rising flour (or 3 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 4 tsp. baking powder)
4 eggs
1 drop of vanilla (but really, I use a tsp. of vanilla)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix cream with sugar.  Add eggs and beat well.  Sift flour (or flour + salt + baking powder) into mixture and mix gently until thoroughly combined.  Pour into 9x13 pan and bake for 1 hour.

This cake is terribly temperamental.  If you don't bake it too hot, it overinflates and then falls.  If you overbeat the cream, it overinflates and then falls.  However, even if fallen, it's still delicious.  So, never fear.

Peanut Wraps

I found this recipe at Little Birdie Secrets (of granola fame), and I love it.  It's super mild, so my kids loved it (but you could always add some sriracha or other chili sauce for a bit of a kick), and it's super fast, so I loved it, and it's super delicious, so we all loved it.  I added the changes I made in italics below.

Peanut Wraps 

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 tbs cooking oil (I used canola)
4 cups broccoli slaw (I used regular cabbage coleslaw because that's all I could find at the store)
1 medium red onion (I used half of a red onion and half a package of green onions because I thought it would go over better with the girls.)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Tortillas (Whole wheat from Meijer are the BEST!)

Peanut Sauce:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter (I used creamy, but I bet chunky would be good for some extra crunch)
3 tbs soy sauce
5 tbs water
3 tbs cooking oil
1 or 2 cloves freshly pressed garlic cloves 

Directions:
Season chicken strips with garlic salt and pepper. In a large skillet cook chicken in hot oil on medium-high until no pink left. Put aside and keep warm. 
In same skillet add broccoli mix, onion, and ginger. Cook until crisp but tender.  (Like 2 minutes.)

Make peanut sauce while veggies cook. In a small saucepan combine sauce ingredients, heat and stir until dissolved. 

Serve by layering the veggies, chicken, and sauce in a tortilla. Wrap it up. Eat it up. Lick your plate. Makes 6-8 wraps. (Makes a great salad too!)

Argentine Noquis

These are John's specialty.  In fact, other than honey-mustard chicken (ingredients: honey, mustard, and chicken), this is really the only recipe John cooks.  Oh, and he sometimes bakes bread, which is actually quite a bit more delicious than mine.  Anyway, here it is.

John's Noquis


Peel 2 kg. (5 lbs) of russet potatoes, cut them into chunks, boil them in salted water, and mash them.  Add 3 eggs to the mashed potatoes and beat well.  Start adding flour 1/4 cup at a time (it ends up being between 1-2 cups, depending on the moisture of the potatoes and the size of the eggs) until it becomes more of a dough than mashed potatoes, but it will still be sticky.  Flour the counter and roll the dough into long snakes approximately 1" in diameter.  Cut the snakes into pieces 1-1/2 inches long and roll the pieces over a fork to give it the classic noqui shape.  Boil the noquis in salted and oiled water until they float, then retrieve them with a slotted spoon and boil some more.

The following portion of the recipe is word-for-word from John.  He's very particular about the sauce.

John's Noqui Sauce  
Heat 1 tbsp. finest extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet.  Add 2-3 cloves of garlic, freshly minced, and saute until fragrant.  Add 4-5 whole bay leaves and 2 [14 oz.] cans of the finest Italian-style diced tomatoes [side note:  Great Value from Wal-Mart have the best texture for this.  The others are too runny.]  and let it simmer while the rest of the ingredients are being prepared.  Then comes the spinach.  Get 1 package of fresh and tender baby spinach.  After rinsing, each stem should be removed and the leaves should be diced.  Add the diced spinach to the sauce.  It will look like a lot of spinach, but it will cook down.  Then dice 1-2 packages of lunch meat ham, only the finest will do.  [Another side note:  We use cheap, cheap, cheap thinly sliced.  Don't believe his "only the finest" garbage.]  Add it to the sauce. Drizzle 1/4 cup heavy cream into the sauce.  Season with salt, pepper, oregano, and basil to taste.  (The amounts of each of these will depend on what Italian tomatoes you used at the beginning.)  Serve with your noquis.


Back to Em:  Here's the thing.  John's super particular about the sauce and the ingredients when he's making it, but I think it's still delicious when I make it, and I'm not so particular.  Also, the homemade noquis are the worst part, and John's recipe is not the most clear-cut.  I'm sure you can find another recipe out there that uses the same ingredients but gives more specific quantities.  Here's the lesson we've learned, however.  If you add too much flour, the dough is really easy to work with, but the noquis are super gummy.  You don't want gummy noquis.  Oh, and I just buy frozen noquis when it's up to me.  I'm not up to all that work.  :)

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I made these today for a meeting I am going to tonight. They are delicious. The recipes is from a blog called Stephanie's Kitchen. I love her dessert recipes. Please don't mistake this for my sister in law, Stephanie Nielson. I seem to be in a cupcake mood lately.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes w/Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
makes 18 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups cake flour (or add 1 tablespoon cornstarch per 1 cup all purpose flour to make your own cake flour)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup milk

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the flour and milk, alternating between the two until well incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever needed. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. You will need 18. Evenly distribute the batter between the cups. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes. Top with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon-sugar on top for extra prettiness.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream the cream cheese and butter until creamy and smooth. Add half the sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix until smooth. Add remaining sugar and beat until light and fluffy and creamy.

Happy Baking!

For Annie:)

Red Thai Curry

1 Tbsp. Veggie Oil

1 Tbsp. Red Curry Paste (i use Thai Kitchen)

1 (14oz) Can Coconut Milk (canned c. milk is in the Asian isle which is also generally the mexican isle)

1/2 C. Chicken Stock

1 Pound Chicken/Pork/Beef diced (1 or 2 chicken breasts cooked over med-high heat about 5 minutes each side, let them sit at least 3 minutes afterwards before slicing so juices don't run out)

3 C. Assorted Veggies ie.snow peas, diced carrot, broccoli, bell peppers

2 Tbsp. Julienne cut FRESH Basil

1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (you can substitute it with honey which is nice)

1 Tbsp Fish sauce (i've made it with and without and can't really taste a difference. fish sauce reeks!)

4-6 C. cooked rice

Heat oil in skillet on med. heat. Add curry paste to oil and cook, stirring till fragrant. Add stock and coconut milk and bring to simmer over med-high heat. Stir in sugar and fish sauce till well blended.

Stir in meat and veggies and simmer till veggies are crisp-tender. Remove from heat a stir in Basil. Careful!!! Broccoli over cooks easily and then it's yuck! Serve over rice.

Note: if you like the sauce thick let it simmer a bit before adding the veggies.

Makes 4-6 servings depending on appetite.

Nancy's Mom's Light & Crisp Waffles

I got this recipe off of Sweetpea Nancy blog. This recipe is so good.

Ingredients:

2 whole eggs separated

2 cups milk (or buttermilk)

2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cups canola oil

Preparation Instructions:

Beat egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl, put remaining ingredients and beat on low with a hand mixer until moistened. Increase speed to medium and mix until smooth. By hand, gently fold in beaten egg whites. Pour 1/2 cup batter onto hot waffle iron. cook until lightly browned. Serve with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!

Chicken Corn Chowder (Mexican Style)

People, I had an emergency dinner situation this week.  Our neighbor Guang had a baby over the weekend, and I mentioned casually to Olivia that I wanted to make dinner for them.  Olivia immediately passed that information on to Simone (Guang's daughter), and at 3:00 p.m., Simone came over to express her mother's appreciation and ask what time dinner would be there.  So, I got this recipe from my friend Larissa.  She had made it for playgroup before and assured me it was both easy and fast.  (I already knew it was delicious).  It's the perfect winter soup--just different enough from our normal soups to be interesting, but still comforting and . . . um. . . just perfect, really.

Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder

1 chicken breast (pan seared, then shredded)

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tb butter

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 cup hot water

1/2 to 1 tsp cumin

2 cups half and half

2 cups shredded cheese (Monterey Jack or cheddar)

1 (14 oz) can cream style corn

1/2 bag frozen corn kernels

1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies, undrained

1/4 tsp hot sauce

1 medium tomato, chopped 

cilantro

Melt butter in pan, then brown the chicken adding onions and garlic at the end.  Dissolve bouillon in hot water.  Add to pan along with cumin; bring to boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add half and half, cheese, corn, chilies, and hot sauce.  Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.  Stir in chopped tomato.  Serve with cilantro on top.

Just a few of my own notes- like I said, I shred the chicken for texture.  And, once the half and half goes in, make sure it doesn't get too hot or else it'll get grainy.