A Blueberry Cake Special

This lovely blueberry cake is spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and allspice for a refreshing and invigorating dessert. You can use fresh, dried, or frozen blueberries to make this recipe. If you are using frozen berries, thaw them in the refrigerator for a few hours before use. Ideally, all the ingredients should be at room temperature before you mix them into a batter. If you are using dried berries, reconstitute them as you would when using raisins so that you can get a more accurate measurement.

Precise measurement is very crucial when baking cake that is perfectly fluffy and scrumptious. Sift all the dry ingredients and measure them with a spoon onto the measuring cup so that they are not compacted and dense. If you measure the flour straight from the bag, chances are you will use more flour than you need resulting in a heavy and dry cake. One of the most important steps when making blueberry spice cake is the creaming process. This involves blending the butter and sugar together until you get a light, smooth and fluffy texture. Use a mixer to obtain the desired consistency. If you do not have a mixer, you can still obtain a smooth and fluffy consistency using a whisk, but you need to make consistent and vigorous strokes with your wrist. For more information like healthy video recipes for this recipe your check out the link.

With a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high speed for about two minutes. Add the eggs and beat until they are well blended. When adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, reduce the speed of the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating until the batter is smooth. This recipe uses half wheat flour and half all-purpose flour for a healthier cake and also more flavor and texture. Other ingredients used in this recipe include sugar, egg, salt, baking powder, and milk.

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup milk
1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 in. Bundt pan and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the egg.
3. In a separate bowl, blend together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Stir in a little of the milk, then stir in a little of the butter mixture. Keep alternating the milk and butter mixture until both are well incorporated. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan. Turn the cake onto a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Creama De Coco Y Pimientos Del Piquillo

The coconut cream with pimientos del piquillo makes use of ingredients with a South American and Spanish influence. You’ll see the coconut cream on everything from braised chicken sauces to coconut cream cake and coconut ice cream in Spanish speaking countries. Likewise, the flavorful red peppers called pimientos del piquillo compliment the nuances of the coconut, a feat achieved by the French chef Helene Darroze of her eponymous restaurant in Paris, France.

The dish can be served as an appetizer or with a salad. Pair it with a white wine like the Graves Blanc or a red wine like the Côte du Rhône rouge. Both highlight each of the recipe’s ingredients—for the Graves Blanc, it is the starchy white beans while for the Côte du Rhône, it is the sweet Spanish red peppers.

The pimientos del piquillo are grown as a variety of red peppers in the Navarra area in northern Spain particularly in the small town of Ladosa. The chef favors these peppers especially for its intense red color—which will stand out in the whiteness of the cream of coconut. The flesh is compact, refined and sweet. Since the pimientos del piquillo are a native of Ladosa, each tin or glass jar containing the roasted peppers in salted water bears the seal of origin. The seal is the Denominación de Origen or “denomination of origin,” which guarantees the authenticity of the product.

Normally, the peppers (which do well in its flavor when char-grilled) can be cooked whole and stuffed with cheese, meat and herbs. It’s also a frequent ingredient in pasta sauces, risotto, pizza, and soups. But for this recipe, the peppers are sliced into strips. They are added to the cooked white beans, which keeps their flavor and texture. The lardoons cooked in duck fat or grease makes the dish more savory as the coconut cream brings all these favors to the fore. Are you looking for theonline video recipe for this dish? Well your just a click away.

Ingredients

4 ½ lbs. cool DARLINGS
1 onion
1 garlic clove
2 carrots
1 5/8 lbs. small lardoons
1 tomato
bouquet garni
duck grease
salt, pepper
Sherry vinegar
1 cup cream
olive oil
1 or 2 pimientos del piquillo
parsley
1 pt. POULTRY BOTTOM

1. Clean and/or peel everything. Shred the Pimientos. Chop the lardoons. Then mince the onions, carrots, and garlic.

2. Heat a large pan. Pour the duck grease then the lardoons. Add the carrots, onions, and garlic then the white beans. Pour some chicken or duck broth. Add some tomatoes. Season with salt then remove from heat.

3. Transfer most of the contents into another container. Drain the sauce from the rest.

4. Take the greater portion of contents then blend while adding the coconut cream. Season with salt and pepper. Add some wine. And then transfer into a milk bottle or some other container.

5. Take the smaller portion and mash them a little. Add into it the Pimientos. Add the parsley and sherry vinegar. Finally, place on a serving dish. Serve them together; enjoy!

My Nutty Bananas

Banana bread has always been a delicious way to take those old bananas and turn them into something edible so all that hard earned money doesn't go down the drain. That's all fine and good, but banana bread is highly underrated. We are talking about good banana breads here. Not only the kinds that are edible but kinds that shine when they are at the table and dance in your mouth. Where did it all get lost in translation that banana bread is a way to get rid of old bananas? A good banana bread makes the flavor of banana something incredible. It had to start somewhere though. We can only guess that it begun in hard times. Let us take a look.

First we must say that bananas have been around for a very long time. Bananas have always been hanging off their trees. Bananas were discovered in India. The Greeks themselves knew about them in the 4th century BC where the army of Alexander the Great discovered them in India. There were banana fritters for Napoleon in his last days, but bananas were still very rare in those days, because they were so very hard to export because transport was so slow and bananas can definitely rot if brought to that point. In the 1830s, bananas were seen in certain New York market places, in 1870, Cook brought bananas into the Boston harbor, but it wasn't until the invention of refrigeration that people really started buying bananas. Then all sorts of things like banana boats and banana dishes were brought about to support the new found love of the commercial banana. It was 1880, whenrecipes really started showing up in cookbooks. Lots of easy cooking videos are available in your finger tip.


To make a moist and rich tasting banana bread the secret is buttermilk. Combining ripe bananas and buttermilk create a loaf of bread that is as good as dessert. With some milk enjoy this for breakfast or serve it as a dessert coated with cream cheese frosting. This banana nut bread with buttermilk recipe is moist and crunchy, sweet and buttery. It has a scrumptious crumb and its moist interior is quite unforgettable. With coffee or tea this also goes so perfectly well.

Ingredients
4 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1. Mix butter and sugar in a bowl until smooth. Add bananas, eggs and vanilla. Beat well.
2. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Add this to the banana mixture. Then slowly add buttermilk. Mix thoroughly to get an even paste. Then fold in the chopped nuts.
4. Pour batter into greased baking tray. Bake it for about 60-90 minutes in a preheated oven at 275 degree F. It’s done and ready to be served.

Popeye's Special Chicken Pie

Tender, fresh spinach is delicious in salads, pasta, soups and dips and is an easy, healthy addition to many meals. Plus it's versatile—spinach is equally tasty raw or cooked. And spinach teems with important nutrients, such as folate, vitamin E and lutein, to keep your body strong. Lots of healthy gourmet food recipes are just a click away.

Folate is necessary for the production of new cells, including red blood cells. Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant, particularly in protecting cell membranes from damage, and scientists hypothesize that it has a role in immune function, DNA repair, the formation of red blood cells and vitamin K absorption. Lutein may be able to reverse some of the symptoms of age-related macular degeneration. Eat well and stay strong with these delicious, healthy spinach recipes.

Ingredients

For the Pastry:

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

¼ cup yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 to 2 tablespoons ice water

For the Filling:

1 ¼ lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 + ½ teaspoons salt

2 (10 oz.) packages frozen spinach, thawed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup pine nuts

4 oz. thinly sliced ham

2 eggs

¾ cup heavy cream

Freshly ground pepper

1. Make the pastry by stirring together the flour, cornmeal, and salt. Using a pastry blender or your hands, add the butter and cut in until the mixture looks similar to coarse crumbs.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of ice water. Sprinkle this mixture over the cornmeal mixture. Stir with a fork until the dough begins holding together. Add another tablespoon of cold water, if necessary.

3. Roll the pastry into a ball and cut into 2 pieces. Flatten into discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.

4. To make the filling, place the chicken in a large pan. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and bring to room temperature. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken.

5. Place the spinach in a colander and press down on it to remove any excess liquid.

6. Pour the oil and butter into a large skillet placed over medium high heat. Once the butter is melted, add the spinach, garlic, raisins, nuts, and ham. Cook until liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes, stirring now and then.

7. Pour the spinach mixture into a large bowl. Add the chicken, eggs, cream, ½ teaspoon salt, and some freshly ground pepper.

8. Preheat the oven 350 degrees F.

9. Place 1 pastry disc between two pieces of floured waxed paper and roll into an 11 in. circle. Place it in a 9 in. pie plate.

10. Pour the filling into the lined pie plate.

11. Roll the second pastry disc out and place it over the filling. Cut 3 or 4 slits in the top crust.

12. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.

Proper Way to Use Your Salami

Salami is sliced thinly and combined with chopped parsley and onions and dressed with mustard vinaigrette made with vinegar, oil, and mustard in this simple and lovely recipe. A tasty appetizer, salami salad goes with salad greens and cheeses. Salami is quite salty and spicy and needs very little seasoning. The vinaigrette gives it a refreshing bite and brings out its delicious flavor. Pair salami salad with a bottle of Alsace blanc for a memorable appetizer. Salami is cured meat and is an Italian specialty but has become popular in many parts of the world. Many versions of salami exist in Italy and in other countries, each with its own distinctive taste. It is typically served with cheese, crackers, and wine and makes a delightful hors d’oeuvres. One of the most popular types of salami is pepperoni, which is famously topped over pizza. Salami also makes a delicious sandwich.

The different kinds of salami can range in color from pink to red. You can use one kind of salami to make a simple salad appetizer or use different kinds of salami for a more colorful and complex dish with varied textures and shades. Salami can be made of pork while others are made of beef. Salami can also be a combination of pork and beef. Different kinds of spices are used to make various kinds of salami and the spices are what give them their distinctive flavor and make them taste different from one another.

Besides Pepperoni, popular kinds of salami include Genoa, Felino, Cotto, and Napolitano. Pepperoni is spiced with peppers while Genoa is made with extra-lean pork and flavored with garlic, pepper, red wine and spices. Felino is a Northern Italian specialty made of lean pork and flavored with black pepper, salt and wine. Cotto is made of beef and pork and flavored with pepper, garlic, sugar, and salt. Napolitano is similar to pepperoni made with lean pork and peperoncino.

Ingredients

6 salami, 1 chopped onion, 

1 pinch chopped parsley,

For the vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons vinegar, 

4 tablespoons oil, 

1 teaspoon mustard

1. Remove the skin of the salami. Slice thinly and place on a serving dish. Add chopped onions and chopped parsley.

2. To make vinaigrette, mix vinegar, oil, and mustard and season with salt and pepper.

3. Toss the salami salad with the dressing and serve.

An Unexpected Chocolate Twist

Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies in 1930 at the Toll House inn she and her husband Keneth ran near Whitman, Massachusetts. Like a bed and breakfast she made food for her guests. One evening in 1937 she got the idea to make a chocolate butter cookie so she broke up one of the bars of semi-sweet chocolate that Andrew Nestle gave her. She thought that it would mix together with the dough & make all chocolate cookies . Needless to say, it didn't. However the cookies came out decent so she served them. They of course were so good they had to be done again. She published the recipes in several newspapers and the recipe became very popular.

This gem of Ruth's she called the Chocolate Crunch Cookie and she made a deal with Nestle that they could put the recipe on their chocolate bar if they supplied her with free chocolate for her cookies at the Inn.Nestle tried to make it easy for people to make these cookies. They even included a small chopper in the package. Finally, in 1939, the Chocolate Morsels that we know today were introduced. The Chocolate chip cookie is the most popular kind of cookie in America. Chocolate Chip Cookies are found in multiple shopping venues and made into beautiful things like ice cream sandwiches or even delicious cookie bouquets. Seven billion chocolate chip cookies are eaten annually. The Toll House produces thirty-three thousand cookies each day. Some Vendors only sell chocolate chip cookies. Half of the cookies baked in American homes are chocolate chip.

Nestle supplied Ruth with chocolate. Ruth and Kenneth sold the Toll House Inn in 1966. It was bought by a family that tried to turn it into a nightclub . In 1970 it was bought by the Saccone family who turned it back into it's original form. They continued to make the original recipe at a bakery down the road.

Ingredients

1 ½ cup all purpose flour
1 cup dry current
2 spoons coffee liquor
100gms butter
300gms rich chocolate
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
½ pepper powder freshly grounded
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup dark chocolate chips

1. In a pan, heat the dry current and coffee liquor. Remove from the stove and allow to cool.

2. In another saucepan, melt the butter. Add the chocolate, making a paste. Stir occasionally.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pepper.

4. Beat white sugar and eggs until fluffy and smooth. Add vanilla and mix well.

5. Add the chocolate and butter mixture and blend well. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

6. Add dry current and coffee mixture. Add chocolate chips.

7. With a scooper, form small scoops of this dough on a baking tray. Place in a 350 degree F. preheated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes.

A Hearty Chicken Vegetable Soup

Evidence of the existence of soup can be found as far back as about 6,000 BC. Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers (which probably came in the form of clay vessels). Animal hides and watertight baskets of bark or reeds were used before this. To boil the water hot rocks were used. This method was also used to cook acorns and other plants.

The word soup comes from French soupe ("soup", "broth"), which comes through Vulgar Latin suppa ("bread soaked in broth") from a Germanic source, from which also comes the word "sop", a piece of bread used to soak up soup or a thick stew. The word restaurant (meaning "[something] restoring") was first used in France in the 16th century, to refer to a highly concentrated, inexpensive soup, sold by street vendors, that was advertised as an antidote to physical exhaustion. In 1765, a Parisian entrepreneur opened a shop specializing in such soups. This prompted the use of the modern word restaurant for the shops.

In the US, the first colonial cookbook was published by William Parks in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1742, based on Eliza Smith's The Compleat Housewife; or Accomplished Gentlewoman's Companion and it included several recipes for soups and bisques. A 1772 cookbook, The Frugal Housewife, contained an entire chapter on the topic. English cooking dominated early colonial cooking; but as new immigrants arrived from other countries, other national soups gained popularity. In particular, German immigrants living in Pennsylvania were famous for their potato soups. In 1794, Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien, a refugee from the French Revolution, opened an eating establishment in Boston called The Restorator, and became known as "The Prince of Soups". The first American cooking pamphlet dedicated to soup recipes was written in 1882 by Emma Ewing: Soups and Soup Making.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, cut into chunks
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
6 cup fat-free chicken broth
1 can (7.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. coarse, ground black pepper
3/4 cup uncooked small, whole-grain, bow-tie pasta
2 cup cooked chicken tenderloin, cut into chunks
1/4 cup low-fat Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 tbsp. dried parsley flakes

1. Heat oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven. Add onion, garlic and carrots. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, bay leaves and pepper.
3. Bring liquid to a boil. Stir in pasta, reduce heat and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked, about 10-12 minutes.
4. Stir in chicken and cook just until heated through. Serve with cheese and parsley sprinkled on top.