Category Archives: Cooking

Real Mayo – You’ll never go back

Posted on by
Reply

mayo

It was one of those days.  I got home and I was desperate for the comfort of a grilled cheese sandwich.  Thankfully I had made onion dill bread over the weekend and had a draw full of beautiful cheeses, but no mayo.  I must admit I had made homemade mayo before, but it was never thick enough and just didn’t do the trick.  Store bought mayo was one of the few pre-made foods I was still buying. Thanks to Erica at Northwest Edible Life, http://www.nwedible.com/2013/02/magically-fast-and-easy-homemade-mayonnaise.html, I am a changed woman.  I will never eat store bought mayo again!

I was shocked at how quick, fast, and delicious this mayo is. Erica has a nice little video that shows you how to make homemade mayo.   I followed her recipe pretty close, I didn’t have lemon on hand so I used white balsamic vinegar for acidity, and it was amazing.  Thick and creamy with a gorgeous butter yellow color thanks to the delicious eggs the girls laid this morning.  Homemade mayo is like no mayo you have ever had. Erica also recommends adding fresh herbs to the mayo.  I can only imagine how divine fresh tarragon, Italian parsley, or basil would be in this mayo.  Finely minced garlic would add a nice little zing too.

Any jar will work, but a wide mouth mason jar is perfect for preparation and storing.  You have got to try this out.  So put your immersion blender to good use and you will never buy pre-made mayo again!

Enjoy!

Print
Real Mayo – You’ll never go back
Author: 
 

Ingredients
  • 1 whole egg
  • ½ tsp dijon mustard
  • juice of ½ a lemon
  • pinch salt
  • 1 cup oil (I used vegi oil, but I bet olive oil would be good)

Instructions
  1. Add all to a wide mouth mason jar.
  2. Let the oil rise to the top.
  3. Place immersion blender at bottom of jar and turn on.
  4. As the mayo emulsifies, slowly rise the immersion blender out of the jar and pulse a few times until the whole mixture is thick and creamy.
  5. Keep refrigerated and use within 2 weeks

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Dark Chocolate Cake and The Year in Review

Posted on by
Reply

Dark Chocolate Cake

It’s been one year since I started telling the world about what really goes on in our backyard.  From chickens, to gardening, eats and drinks it has been a fantastic year.  In celebration of this year long event we made dark chocolate cake.  This is the original Hershey’s recipe on the back of the cocoa powder box with a few added embellishments.  It’s a rich and luscious dark chocolate cake that beautifully celebrates any happy event in life.

I don’t make personal resolutions for New Year’s, but for the blog here are my goals for the new year:

#1 Chicken chronicles.  More chicken stories and information.  I will dive into coop design (what I learned worked and didn’t work), chicken illness (chicken ticks and chicken mites are the spawn of Satan), winter egg production (the many uses of Christmas lights), and general chicken craziness (they truly are funny creatures).

#2 Composting.  We have been composting for 5 years and have learned many tricks.  I will write more about how anyone can compost and how satisfying it is to turn “waste” into nutrient rich compost.

#3 Tales from the Smoker.  My husband has fantastic recipes for the smoker.  From whole chickens, brisket, and even a rib roast (our oven died on Christmas eve and we learned we could smoke a rib roast and cook Yorkshire pudding on the grill).

As for my favorite recipes and posts this year, here are my top 5:

#1 Pomegranate Margaritas – http://cominghometothetable.com/pomegranate-margarita/ This was my most popular recipe of the year.  And with the beautiful snow on the ground outside right now,  it’s a great way to bring back the warmth of summer.

#2  Flan – http://cominghometothetable.com/flan/ This recipe reminded people of their Mothers and Grandmothers.  Good food and happy memories just makes you smile.

#3 Chocolate Mousse – http://cominghometothetable.com/chocolate-mousse/  I had more people at work ask me “When are you bringing that chocolate mousse to work?”

#4 Armadillo Eggs a.k.a. Grilled Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers – http://cominghometothetable.com/grilled-bacon-wrapped-jalapeno-poppers-armadillo-eggs/ We made these for a New Year’s eve appetizer.  So good!

#5 Starting Seeds – http://cominghometothetable.com/starting-seeds/ I’m going to spend my afternoon making seedling cups from newspaper and start this process all over again.  What a fantastic ride it’s been!

Happy New Year!

Print
Dark Chocolate Cake and The Year in Review
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 10 to 12
 

Ingredients
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1¾ cup flour
  • ¾ cup dark cocoa
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup hot coffee
  • Dark Chocolate Frosting
  • ½ cup butter
  • ⅔ cup dark cocoa powder
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • ⅓ cup cold coffee
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Grease and flour (I use cocoa powder) two 9 inch round cake pans.
  3. Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
  4. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla to the dry mix. Stir well.
  5. Stir in the hot coffee. The batter will be watery, but don’t worry.
  6. Place the pans in the oven and then pour in the batter so you don’t spill on the way to the oven (this is the voice of experience talking).
  7. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
  8. After the cakes have cooled then make the Dark Chocolate Frosting
  9. Melt that butter and pour into a mixing bowl.
  10. Add the cocoa powder to the melted butter.
  11. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and little of the cold coffee.
  12. Add the vanilla.
  13. Alternate back and forth with the powdered sugar and coffee until the frosting is the texture you want.
  14. Frost the cake and Enjoy!

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...