Mocha Cake – Ellie Krieger

I have been offline for three days and as busy as I was, I did not forget my blog and blogging friends.  We ate well for the holiday and I plan to share some of the recipes with you.  Thanks for being patient.

Here is a yummy cake to make up for three days absence.

Mocha Cake

This is a rich mocha cake, more like a chocolate one with a creamy cream cheese topping.                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Directions

For the cake:

Ingredients

Cooking spray

1 1/4 brown rice flour mixture

1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons melted  margarine

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1 1/2 cups low-fat yogurt  

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water   

2 ounces good-quality dark chocolate

For the frosting:

1 (8-ounce) bar cream cheese  (light)

1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water

1 teaspoon  vanilla

1 small square chocolate

Viennese Crunch (as much as you would enjoy)

Method:

Arrange rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.  (made in square)

Whisk together flours, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl, then sift ingredients through a fine mesh strainer.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted margarine and oil. Add eggs and egg whites and whisk to incorporate.

Fold in yogurt, vanilla, sugar and dissolved coffee powder.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 90 seconds or over a double boiler. Fold chocolate into batter.

Gradually add sifted dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated; do not overbeat.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until cake has risen nicely and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool completely.

Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto Pasta

A quick and simple recipe.

There isn’t much to say as a build-up to this recipe, other than, it is good.  The roasted tomatoes and nuts make a subtle combination, not too strong but definitely present.  If you like a more spicy dish, you could add some hot peppers, to the mix.

I do have difficulty toasting nuts.  I stand there, pushing them around and nothing happens so I go to the sink and wash a few dishes to suddenly smell a beautiful fragrance.  The nuts fooled me again and some are too brown but they are good.  Watch those almonds.

Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto Pasta – Ellie Krieger adapted

From EatingWell.com

Ingredients:

Photo credit: Ed Bierman)

• 3/4 cup blanched  almonds
• 1 /4 bottle roasted tomatoes
• 3/4 cup lightly packed fresh parsley
  
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (garlic flavored)
  
•  1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 3/4 cup  olive oil
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

---

Method:

Toast almonds in a large dry skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Allow them to cool slightly.

Transfer the almonds to a food processor and process until finely ground. Add tomatoes, basil, vinegar, and crushed red pepper. As the processor is running, drizzle in oil in a steady stream, about 30 seconds. Stir in Parmesan and salt.

This is linked to Allergy Free Wednesday

Ellie Makes a Meal in One

What more could you want for dinner?  Peas, Onion, Rice, tomato, sausage and olive?????????  That is a full meal for me.

From So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week, by Ellie Krieger (John Wiley & Sons)

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

1 T plus 2 tsp olive oil
2 turkey sausages,  sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
2 ½ cups low-sodium organic vegetable broth

1 10-oz package frozen peas
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
¼ cup sliced green Spanish pimento-stuffed olives
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ Teaspoon ground turmeric

Method:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat (use a skillet that has a cover).

Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 6 minutes.  Transfer the sausage to a plate. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil in the skillet.

Add the onions and cook, stirring, until softened and translucent, 3-5 minutes.

Return sausage to the skillet and add the chicken broth, peas, rice, tomato, olives, salt, pepper and turmeric. Bring to a boil and cover and cook until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 25-30 minutes.

Mom’s Turkey Loaf — Ellie Krieger

I am a huge Ellie Krieger fan.  Her recipes produce healthy meals, often easy to make, and almost always delicious.  My husband is a meat loaf fan and when he asked for one, I turned to Ellie and ended up with a meat loaf, my husband really liked.  I add some instant mashed potatoes for the filler but I stayed close to Ellie’s choices.  She is usually on target and she is one of the few chefs, I can follow with limited changes.

Turkey Meatloaf – adapted from Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped (first cut some slices for the top of loaf)
• 1 pound ground turkey breast
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 cup ketchup
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 /2 cup tomato sauce or enough to cover turkey loaf.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir together the oats, mashed potato and broth. Thinly slice 1/4 of the onion and set aside.

Finely chop the remaining onion. In a large bowl combine the turkey mixture, chopped onion, bell pepper, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and  pepper. Mix just until well combined. 

Transfer the mixture to a loaf pan. Pour the tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle with the sliced onions. Bake for about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

Newlywed Recipe Linky

Smooth and Creamy Mashed Potatoes – Ellie Krieger

I decided to serve this with my salmon and it was a perfect side for the fish.  With a green vegetable, it was a complete and satisfying meal.

Smooth and Creamy Mashed Potatoes –  Ellie Krieger  (adapted)

Ingredients

3 Idaho potatoes (peeled and cubed)

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1 tablespoon margarine

1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

salt to taste

Procedure

The potatoes are supposed to be steamed but I was in a hurry so I microwaved them in water to cover.

Heat margarine and milk in a saucepan.

Add warm mixture to potatoes and mash.

Stir in the sour cream and mix.  Add salt.

Sprinkle with rosemary or parsley.

Serve and enjoy creamy potatoes.

This is linked to Full Plate Thursdays

Herbed Salmon Croquettes — CEiMB

I have been trying to figure out what makes me tired.  There does not seem to be a correlation between how busy my day is and how tired, I am.  Today was not a hectic day, at all.  It was rather scheduled with no extra pressures thrown in.  I even had some computer time before work.  Dinner was planned out although not prepared, in the morning.

I am thinking, it may be my class.  They are a great group and fortunately, I do not have a discipline problem.  Even if they have a moment of friskiness, they will pull back, as soon as they know I am serious.  Today, was a frisky day.  I enjoy these days because along with a little more activity, their minds seem to be more creative.

It came out in our writing lesson.  Fifth graders do not like to write and I believe they need a real purpose to write.  Telling a class to write on one topic is a good way to turn them away from the written word.  Even if I selected baseball, there are some who don’t care about the sport, while a majority loves to play and watch it.  I would lose those who do not like it.  As a result, I give them a lot of leeway as to what they write.

Today, because of their energy, I had them writing sentences that were exciting without a story.  When they got into the spirit of it, it was fascinating to see what they came up with.  What was, even of more interest, was the visualization  children had to the sentences of another child.  We shared what we pictured at the reading of the sentence.  These were obviously varied (the power of reading over television) and we ended up with a mind expanding discussion on where to take these sentences.  I will not be surprised if some good stories come from these.

You just may have guessed, I came home tired.  I have more energy, in the kitchen, than in other activities.  I enjoy seeing miscellaneous pieces come together to a dish to be served and enjoyed.

With the many potatoes, I am making, this week, I decided, tonight we would have salmon croquettes.  I made Ellie Krieger’s but as usual, I had to make some changes, because of the gluten, in this recipe.  I am not even sure, what crumbs, I used for the bread crumbs.  I keep a container with the gluten-free crumbs and I have forgotten what I used for the last batch.  I jump from Rice Chex crumbs to crumbs from chips.

I made a major change by baking these rather than frying them.  While, they were OK , I see where frying was needed for moisture.  Mine were too dry on the outside although, inside was good.  Ellie is known for her healthy cooking and I should have left well enough, alone.

Herbed Salmon Croquettes adapted from adapted from Ellie Krieger  (This is for CEiMB -.   Craving Ellie with your Belly) Stop by the group to see what everyone is cooking.  

Method:

1 cup crumbs
1 small onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cans salmon, drained of any excess liquid
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 /2 celery stalk, very finely diced
2 large egg whites
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
olive oil cooking spray

Procedure:

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the bread crumbs, the onion mixture, salmon, mustard, celery, egg whites, parsley, dill and pepper, mixing well to combine. Form into eight inch patties and gently press each some additional crumbs on top. (I use a quarter cup measure to mold the patties.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the patties on top.  Spray with olive oil.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Serve with rice, potatoes or pasta and a green vegetable.  I used potatoes and peas.

This is linked to Bake With Bizzy      Hearth and Soul      Frugal Food Thursday!

Menu Plan Monday – Delight Gluten-Free Magazine

Recently, I subscriber to the Delight Gluten-Free magazine.  I have never wanted a GF magazine because, I usually alter recipes to make them gluten-free.  I had second thoughts, hoping there would be up to date information on Celiac in the magazine, as well as  other articles.  I figured, my husband could have his own cooking magazine.

Most of the recipes listed are from Delight.  Thursday’s dinner is from Ellie Krieger’s latest book, Comfort Food Fix.  The feta stuffed tomatoes are from the Internet.  The magazine is responsible for the remaining recipes and hopefully, I will be thanking them for some good eating.

Sunday – leftoversMonday – Goat Cheese Chive Corn Pudding with Feta Stuffed TomatoesTuesday – Harry Potter Inspired Recipes (Individual Meat Pies, Buttered Peas & Glazed Carrots)

Wednesday – Baked Vegetable Lasagna – Green Salad

Thursday – Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Parmesan Crisps (Ellie Krieger)

Friday – Lemon Chicken – Chinese Style – Herbed Mashed Sweet and Russet Potatoes – Sautéed Green Beans

Saturday – Saturday Night Pizza Plus

This is linked to Organizing Junkie.

Southwestern Hash – Ellie Krieger

I love Ellie Krieger and have made numerous dishes from her cookbooks.  I should make a lot  more.

  This is one, I made a long time ago and hope to make again soon.  Another meatless wonder…..  This is a hearty recipe and nice and warming in cold weather which is now.  Ellie is known for her healthy cooking and it is healthy but healthy is proven not to mean boring in these dishes.  She simply cooks well so we can also do a good job in our kitchens.

Tonight, we had Ellie’s hash which fortunately for me, had lots of potatoes and I love potatoes.

It called for black beans but I only had Aduki beans.  It called for green pepper; I only had red.  It called for fresh cilantro; I had parsley.  Yep, I substituted.

It called for 1 tablespoon oil in the entire recipe plus a spray of the pan.  I used one pan, as suggested for three different acts, just wiping it down, before changing.  It went well.  It tasted better.  I thought the beans would take away from the whole but they didn’t.  Every ingredient blended with the others.  The egg on top was the right finishing touch.

This was an Ellie success.

Southwestern Hash    2007, Ellie Krieger, 

Ingredients

• 1 pound small red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 red pepper, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon  chili powder 
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 can no-salt-added adzuki beans, drained and rinsed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 4 eggs
• Hot pepper sauce, for serving

Directions

Place the potatoes in a large non-stick skillet. Cover with water, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and set potatoes aside.

Dry the skillet with a paper towel. Add the oil and heat over a medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook until vegetables have softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the potatoes,  cumin, oregano, and chili powder. Add the tomatoes and beans and simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in parsley.

Transfer the hash onto serving plates. With the heat off, wipe out the pan again. Spray it withcooking spray, turn heat on to medium-low and cook the eggs, sunny-side up, or over-easy. Put an egg on top of each mound of hash. Serve with hot sauce.

Ingredients

Chop onions

Chop red pepper.

Potatoes cooking in boiling water in electric Skillet.

This is linked to Recipe of the Week      Five Dollar Dinners       This week’s Cravings

Cherry Almond Chocolate Cluster – Ellie Krieger

It is rare that I make recipes from Ellie Krieger that are desserts or sweet.  I like her recipes for the soups, salads and casseroles.  That makes this recipe, even more than a treat.  It was not what I expected from Ellie.  It should have been.  It was simple, not overly done; not too sweet.  Ellie represents, “Just right,” to me.  These clusters were just right.

Cherry Almond Chocolate Cluster

Ingredients

1 cup(s) nuts, almonds, toasted in a dry skillet over a medium-high flame until fragrant, stirring frequently, 3 to 5 minutes and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup(s) cherries, dried tart, coarsely chopped

6 ounce(s) dark chocolate, 72% cacao, finely chopped

* I did not coarsely chop any of the above.  I did not think, that the dried cherries whole, were a problem.  The nuts already were  cut into slivers and only had to be roasted. 

I broke the chocolate into pieces.

Procedure

In a medium bowl, toss together the almonds and cherries. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.

Melt half the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over 1 inch of barely simmering water, over the lowest possible heat, stirring frequently. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rest of the chocolate. Remove the top pan with the chocolate in it, gently wipe the bottom, and set it aside for a moment. Replace the simmering water in the bottom pan with warm tap water. Put the pan of melted chocolate on top of the warm water. This will keep the chocolate at the right temperature while you make the clusters.

Stir the fruit/nut mixture into the chocolate. Spoon out heaping tablespoon-sized clusters of the chocolate mixture onto the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Put them in the refrigerator to set for 15 minutes. Store and serve at room temperature.

As far as I am concerned, you can mix and match, with this recipe.  I would like dried apricots with pecans or dried blueberries with walnuts.  Use your imagination and have fun with this.  Go through your cabinets and see what you find that would work with the chocolate.

This is linked to The 36th Avenue            Turning the Table Thursdays