Quarantine Recipe #4: Mole Sauce

This spring break we cant actually go anywhere, so we have decided to take a virtual world tour. The boys chose a country from each continent, then we learn about that country, listen to their music and make a recipe. Today was Mexico! Joseph made tostadas huevos for breakfast which were amazing. Then we decided to try Mole enchaladas for dinner. The mole sauce turned out amazing and I wanted to make sure I put it in the blog for later use. I hope you try it and enjoy it too.

Mole Sauce

Ingredients:
1 - 14 oz. can of tomatoes
3 oz. Chilis
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion
2 teaspoons cumin
1 cup cilantro
2 Saizon packets 
Dash of Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Process on high until smooth. 

2. You can warm the sauce in a pan or pour it on enchaladas before you bake them.

Quarantine Recipe #3: Tim's Marvelous Waffles

Today is the first official day of spring break 2020. It's snowing, and we have been home for 5 weeks, but it is the beginning of a week without the schedule of school-at-home, and that is exciting. So in attempts to brighten the morning we decided to make waffles. There were a few considerations, I did not have any boxed mix to work with, and I only had two eggs I could use to make 5 waffles. We turned to the internet and found one that would work. Timmy took charge, tweaked the recipe to his liking, and we came away with the most fluffy, spectacular waffle recipe we have ever eaten. We warmed up some frozen berries to go on the waffles, but you can use whatever toppings you are feeling: yogurt, syrup, ice cream etc.. Here it is...Tim's Marvelous Waffles!

Tim's Marvelous Waffles

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 3/4 cup of milk or almond milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Whip up the eggs with a whisk until fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine.

2. Let the batter rest while you heat up your waffle iron. Grease your waffle iron using either non-stick cooking spray or an oiled paper towel. When the iron is hot, place mix in the iron and cook until golden brown. We have a 6" waffle maker and ours took about 1/3 a cup of waffle mix.

Quarantine Recipe #2: Lemon & Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Oh friends! This one is probably one of my favorite cookies ever! They are sweet, buttery, crumbly, tart and have a lavender floral note. Perfect with a cup of tea, and bonus...when you bake them it makes your house smell amazing. (which is very helpful when you have three boys and a dog on quarantine)

Note: There is a lot of lavender in this recipe. I love it that way, but Keith, who is not a huge lavender fan noted that he could do with a few less flowers in his cookies. So if you love flowers in your food carry on. If you just like a small reminder that you are eating flowers, reduce the dried lavender flowers to your liking.

Lemon & Levender Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

14 tablespoons of butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons lemon juice (or the juice of one lemon)

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup corn starch

1/4 cup dried lavender flowers

pinch of coarse salt

Directions:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the egg yolk, lemon juice and lemon zest.

2. Slowly add the flour, corn starch lavender and salt. Mix until dough comes together.

3. Cut a large piece of parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto the paper and form into a long log about two inches wide and an inch thick. Wrap the log tightly with the parchment paper and twist the ends to seal. Place the parchment wrapped dough log in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, and up to a week.

4. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Remove the gough log from the freezer. Slice the dough into 1/4 inch rounds. Place sliced cookies on a parchment lined baking tray. For a traditional look you can pierce each cookie with a fork to create a line of holes in the middle. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check the cookies at 25 minutes. You want to take the cookies out when they are just beginning to get golden on the edges. Remove to cool on a cookie rack.

Quarentine Recipe #1: Brownies

We are in the middle of week 2 of COVID-19 Social Distancing. The boys are doing virtual school, but we have a lot of time to find fun things to bake and cook.

Yesterday was a very yummy day. Keith started his smoker early. He smoked enough meat to keep us happy for two weeks! YUM! Joseph tried his hand at brownies from scratch. They turned out the be extremely delicious so I am sharing the recipe here for future reference. It is the Martha Stewart Chewy Brownie recipe. Riddlehaus approved.

Chewy Brownies

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for baking pan
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 7 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped (1 1/3 cups)
• 3 tablespoons safflower or coconut oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 
• 3 large eggs, room temperature

•

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; butter parchment.
• Step 2
  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter with oil. Remove from heat. Add both sugars and whisk 10 seconds. Add eggs and whisk vigorously until glossy and smooth,45 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, stir in dry ingredients. Pour batter evenly into prepared pan, smoothing top with spatula.
• Step 3
  Bake until set and a tester inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 20 minutes, then remove using parchment; let cool completely on rack before cutting into squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Crockpot Mac 'n' Cheese

Somehow I have not discovered this magic until recently. I regularly use my crock pot, but I had not even thought of Mac 'n' Cheese being an option. Literally, you dump all the ingredients into the crock pot and leave it for 2 hours, when you come back magic has happened.

 We have used this recipe twice in the last month and it has turned out awesome. It is gracious with substitutions, I have used different kinds of cheese both times and the taste was great. I encourage you to experiment with the cheese your family likes and create a blend just for you. The last time we tried this recipe we used a smoked Gouda and American, it went over very well. I recomend using a softer easy melting cheese like Gouda, Monerey Jack, or American to mix with Cheddar. If your deli section sells cheese ends, they are amazing for Mac 'n' Cheese. You can get all different kinds of cheese and use them together. Experiment and enjoy!

We rarely have left-overs with this recipe. I barely got this photo before it all dissapeared!

Crockpot Mac 'n' Cheese

Ingredients:

16 oz. raw elbow pasta
4 cups milk
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
3 tablespoons butter, cubed
4 cups cheese of your choice, shredded
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp garilc powder
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients into your crock pot.

2. Cover and set on low heat for about 2 hours or until the pasta is soft and the sauce is creamy. Give it a good stir before you serve. Taste and adjust with salt & pepper. If you like you can sprinkle some extra cheese on top and replace the cover for a few minutes to melt it.

Ignore the goofy face. He loves it!

Creamy Garlic Butter Mushrooms

It's Christmas! For the first time in 15 years we are hosting Christmas at home in Boston. This does ont mean that I have not cooked Christmas dinner in 15 years. I am usually drafted to cook wherever we are for Christmas. But this year I got to create my own menu, and I decided to add this mushrooom recipe. I have some members of my family who are not mushroom fans, but I really didn't care on this one. These looked like they would go perfectly with roast beef and yorkshire pudding...and they did. They were delicious and super simple.

Creamy Garlic Butter Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 pound white mushrooms
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons white wine 
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a medium skillet, heat the butter on medium. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, then continue to cook until browned, turning once. (about 5 minutes)

2. Once the mushrooms are lightly browned add the wine. Toss to coat. Next add the garlic and parsley. Stir continually for about 2 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant. 

3. Add the heavy cream and parmesan. Stir to coat well, and simmer to slightly reduce the sauce. Serve immediately and enjoy.

Garlic Mustard Cream Sauce

I have to let you know right away that I am NOT a mustard lover. I will always choose ketchup for my hot dog. When I was 5 I made myself a mustard and cheese sandwich that was a Dagwood -style masterpiece (using all the cheese my family had in the refrigerator). I took one bite and refused to eat it. My mother was not pleased, and I am pretty sure she made me eat my shunned creation to drive home the point that I should not waste food. All that to illustrate that mustard and I have not been friends for a long time. But Germany changed my life. Seasonally, during Octoberfest, Aldi will carry a variety of whole- grain mustards. This one is my favorite. I buy a bunch of them so I can use them all year long.

Quality, whole-grain mustard is a revelation! It has the heat, texture and sweet that for some reason really appeals to me, much more than it's distant yellow deli cousin. I liked the idea of this recipe, but changed it to incorporate my whole grain friend.

This sauce is delightful; decadent, tangy, savory and sweet. We used it on salmon, but I think it would go well on poached eggs too.

Garlic Mustard Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 tsp fresh dill or 1 tsp dried
• 1 Tbsp Flour

1. For the sauce, in a small sauce pan melt butter. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the flour until blended and smooth.
2. Gradually add the cream and reduce heat to medium low. Stir in the mustard and dill. Salt and pepper to suit taste.