Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

I'd been thinking about making some cupcakes for a party, when I got a call from a friend asking me if her daughters could come and learn how to make cupcakes with me.  Little did they know that I had never made chocolate cupcakes before!  But, I thought it would be a great learning experience for us all.  When the girls came, I learned that they, like me, had  reservations about cupcakes  because there's usually a mound  of frosting glopped on the outside and too much dry cake underneath.  We all thought it would be fun to try and fill the interior of the cake with some frosting  and I decided on cherries for the top ( I had been invited to a party and was asked to bring something chocolate with fruit).

I would say that the morning was not a success, although we did have fun and learned what to do when you have a failure.  The first problem was that the cupcakes (we made minis and regular) stuck to the pans.  We hand anticipated some trouble and had greased and floured some of the cups, and just greased the others, but ALL of the cupcakes stuck.

But the cake tasted great -  so we certainly didn't want to throw it away.  Now was the chance to think creatively.  Veronica thought the cupcake remnants looked like muffin tops (they did) and in keeping with our idea of having filled cupcakes, we decided to cut off the tops and sandwich two together with frosting and filling inbetween.  Here are my two helpers, Jasmine and Veronica.

I had planned on using simple meringue buttercream and cherries for the filling, but Jasmine wanted to know if I could make some ganache, so we made some of that, too.  The buttercream never really firmed up the way I had hoped (the kitchen was WAY too warm), so eating the cakes right away (no refrigeration) was perfect with the soft buttercream, cherries, chocolate cake and oozy ganache (like hot fudge!).

The ganache went on top and we ended up with something looking like a moonpie, which tasted great!  Another idea for when things don't work out is to do a trifle sort of dessert.  In this case I used real whipped cream instead of buttercream (it's quicker to make and  the dessert can be eaten straight from the refrigerator).

Next post, look for the recipes for chocolate cupcakes, frosting and icing that works!

Turkey Burgers with Apricot Glaze

Another quickie dinner for the Eisenbergs, I'm afraid. Nobody here but us chickens, too hot, too busy to do much else.  For those of you who didn't catch the previous post, the fabulous plate that the dinner is on is a disposable, compostable plate  made from palm leaves that have dropped, been cleaned and pressed into plates.  They look like wood and are strong like styrofoam.  I'm in love with them!  You can check them out at Marx Palm Leaf Plates.  I have some other photos of the plates that I'll put at the end of the post.

With only two people at home now we have a lot of leftovers and I hate to throw them away.  I had pulled a recipe out of a magazine that called for turkey burgers with a currant glaze, but I had some wonderful apricot glaze leftover, along with the mustard dressing that I had made for the Red Rice and Sausage dish previous post), and then there were peaches... What can I say - it's peach season in North Carolina and I can't resist them when I head to the farmers' market.  Apricot glaze and peach - YES!  Needless to say I had to revamp the recipe to suit my pantry and the season.

Here's the burger recipe:

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1-1/3 pounds ground turkey (not breast)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons mild flavored oil (light olive or canola)

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 cup Good Food Apricot Spice Barbecue Glaze ( if you make your own, include fresh ginger), more to serve at the table

1/2 citrus fruit - tangerine, lemon or orange

2 ripe peaches

Whole grain buns

I have some very fragrant lemon-thyme growing at my house, which I knew would be perfect with the apricot/ginger sauce and peaches.  When using fresh herbs you don't want to use the tough stems, so slide the leaves off against the direction in which they are growing.  Fresh herbs can be hard to chop when they are wet, so I usually chop them dry, and then wash them.   A tea holder is a great tool for this.  If I had one of those individual ball holders I would use that, but since I didn't, I used this individual mesh tea holder, and it worked just fine.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the meat, chopped thyme, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. You can see how nice and pink the meat is - if it's brown at all, it means that it's been exposed to the air and wasn't stored properly. I like to mix it all up with my hands, using a light touch to combine everything together.

Divide the mixture into 5 patties, each about 1/2-inch thick.  They will look quite large, and maybe a little thinner than you'd like them, but when they cook they tend to draw up, and will be thicker and smaller after they've cooked.

(I actually had more than 1-1/3 lbs, which is why there is a small blob in the middle- for our dog, Molly!)

Spray a cast iron skillet with some cooking spray and turn the heat on high.  When the pan is very not - just before smoking, add the burgers.  Let the burgers cook for about 3 minutes, turning down the heat just slightly if they appear to be overbrowning.  Flip the burgers over and let them cook another 3 minutes. Place half of the glaze in a small bowl.  Brush the burgers with the glaze.  Partially cover the pan, reduce the heat to low to medium (depending on your stove - you don't need the burgers to brown anymore, but you do need to get the centers cooked). 

 Let the burgers cook another 2 minutes, and then  flip them over again,brush with the glaze and let them cook for 1 more minute.  The interior temperature should be about 165 degrees.  They will continue to cook after you remove them from the pan and while you brown up the peaches.

While the burgers are cooking, slice the peaches in half to remove the stone.  Slice each peach half into 5ths, and squeeze the juice over the slices, and then dab on some of the apricot glaze. 

These are freestones, so the pit comes right out of them.  If you don't get freestones, you will have to cut the peach off of the pit - it doesn't look as pretty but tastes good just the same!

When the burgers come out of the pan, turn up the heat to medium-high, add the peaches and cook them until they are browned.

Serve the burgers on toasted buns with some of the reserved apricot glaze and grilled peaches.  If you want to make your own apricot glaze, puree canned apricots with some fresh ginger, lemon, tamarind, salt and mustard.

Have any of the Lowfat Mustard Sauce left from the previous recipe?  Here's another dressing you can make from yesterdays:

2 tablespoons of Lowfat Dijon Mustard Salad Dressing

2 tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt (I use Oikos)

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon water, or more to taste

Mix everything up with enough water to make it the texture you like.  Use 1-1/2 teaspoons per person on mixed greens (1 to 1-1/2 handfuls per person).

Here's another view of the plates:

Facebook

I've just put the photos of the desserts in my new CD-rom up on Facebook.  There are 73 photos and they're arranged by category: cookies, pastries and then cakes.  I haven't figured out yet how to put a link for facebook here, so sign on and then search for Amazing Desserts.  Please give me a thumbs up (like) if the photos make you drool!!

Red Rice with Sausage and Roasted Vegetables

Before I get into the recipes, let me tell you about the plate that I used.  It's a biodegradable and compostable palm plate that I got as a promo from Marx Foods (http://www.marxfoods.com/products/Eco-Friendly-Plates).  The plates are made from palm leaves that have naturally dropped from the palm trees and then cleaned and formed into these fantastic disposable plates.  They have the feel, weight and durability of styrofoam, but they're really quite nice to look at and to eat off of -and of course they are environment friendly.  My husband's comment  was "too bad they don't have a lid.  They'd make the perfect green take-out container..."  Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed eating off of them.  In fact, they are so nice, there is this urge to clean them and use them again, but that's not a great idea because they have ridges in them that wouldn't clean well (I don't actually know if they'd hold up to washing but the thought was there...) The next time I need  disposables, I'm definitely ordering a set of these palm plates.  They come in lots of great shapes from round, square and hexagonal dinner plates, to smaller salad plates and soup bowls.  Check out the website to see the full array of products - Marx Palm Plates.

I must say that this is not the prettiest food that I've ever made, although it did look more appetizing than the picture shows.  I had some leftover sausages that I wanted to use up, and some fabulous veggies from the farmer's market so I thought a jambalaya-type dinner would be just the thing.  The problem is, I don't really like garlic, onions, and hot spices, so a true jambalaya was not really feasible.  I decided to use some of the elements of jambalaya and then just make it up as I went along.  It really was a taste extravaganza and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I decided to pair it with salad with a very tangy mustard dressing.  The recipe for that follows.

The recipe would serve 2 adults and 2 kids.  To serve 4 adults, use all of the vegetables (I used half and then mixed the remaining half into the leftover rice to be used as a side dish tomorrow) and increase the rice to 1-1/4 cups.  You probably won't need more liquid, as there was plenty, which I evaporated by cooking the rice with the cover off for the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Red Rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onions (more if you like onions and none if you hate them!)
2-3 small sausages per person (I used turkey breakfast links)

1 cup short-grained brown rice (1-1/4 cups if more servings are needed)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken stock
2 bay leaves

Roasted Vegetables
1 zucchini, quartered and cut into 1/4-inch thick chunks
1 red bell pepper, halved, cored and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 baby or chinese eggplants, stems removed and cut in 1/2-inch x 1/4-inch thick chunks
1 or 2 handfuls of cremini or white mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

For the rice:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick dutch oven or saute pan.  Add the onions and sausages and cook on medium heat until the sausages are brown, stirring the onions occasionally so they don't burn, and turning the sausages so they brown on all sides.  Remove the sausages to a bowl (they won't be cooked through).

Stir in the brown rice, paprika, dried thyme and dried oregano.  Stir to coat the rice well, and then add the canned tomatoes with the juice, the chicken stock and the bay leaves.  Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 50 minutes.

 Meanwhile, dice up all of the vegetables and mix them with the olive oil, salt, oregano, thyme, paprika and Worcestershire sauce.  

Line a jelly-roll pan with aluminim foil (nonstick, if you have it), and spread the vegetables in it in a single layer.  Place in the oven, and roast for 15 minutes.  Increase the heat to 450 and cook for another 15 minutes, until the vegetables are browned and cooked through (if you prefer the vegetables a little more al dente, you can start them out in a 450 degree oven and cook for only 20 minutes - enough time to brown them but not soften them too much).

When the rice is almost done, check to see if it is too soupy. 

If so, move the lid a little so that some of the steam can escape.  If the rice is fully cooked, but too soupy you can remove the lid completely and cook for a few minutes uncovered.  About 3 minutes before serving, cut the sausages into 1/2-inch chunks. Add them to the pot, replace the cover, and let the sausages steam on low heat, just to finish the cooking. 

Stir in the half of the roasted vegetables and reserve the remaining veggies for another meal ( if you need more servings, you can add all of the veggies).

Serve the red rice directly from the pan, or portion it out, as in the opening photo.

If you'd like the dish to be more like jambalaya, add garlic, Andouille sausage, celery, cayenne and black pepper.  You can also add chicken and shrimp.

Salad Accompaniment

I wanted a salad with a bit of a punch to it.  I used organic mesclun mix, bok choy, carrots and sugar snaps, with raisins as a garnish.  I thought the cruciferous bok choy and the sweetness of the remaining ingredients would taste great with a super-mustardy dressing.

Lowfat Dijon Mustard Salad Dressing

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 - 3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon agave syrup or honey

2 tablespoon olive oil

fresh herbs to taste, optional

In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, soy sauce and syrup.  Little by little, whisk  in the olive oil.  Add pepper and herbs if desired.

This is a pungent mustard dressing.  Use sparingly.

Makes enough to lightly dress  6-8 servings (1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons per serving)

Pecan Snowballs

I just got back from my son's wedding, so it will be awhile until I start posting again.  In the meantime, the recipe for my favorite cookies just went up at Frigidaire's recipe section.  To see the recipe, click here.