Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Sock-It-To-Me Cake




Why it has this name, I don't know. I found it on the side of a Duncan Hines cake mix box.

Streusel Filling:
  • 2 Tbsp cake mix (Butter Golden mix)
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 tsp powdered cinnamon
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
Cake:
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream (I didn't have any so I used 1 cup vanilla yogurt)
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • Remaining box of cake mix
Glaze:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp milk
Grease a bundt pan and preheat oven to 375. To make streusel, combine 2 Tbsp cake mix, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix in pecans and set aside. To make cake, mix the rest of the cake mix, eggs, sour cream, oil, water, and sugar in a bowl. Pour 2/3 of the cake batter into the bundt pan, sprinkle the streusel filling all around, then spoon in the last 1/3 of batter over it so the streusel layer is covered up. Bake at 375 for 45-55 minutes (mine took only 45 minutes). Cool cake, mix ingredients for glaze, drizzle over cake.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Apple Pear Crumble


Crust:
  • 2 cups flour, heaped
  • 1/2 to 2/3 cup oil
  • Milk (enough so oil + milk equals one full cup)
Filling:
  • 48 Nilla wafers, crushed
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 package cream cheese, softened (I used neufchatel)
  • 6-7 apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I used Granny Smith)
  • 3-4 pears, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2/4 cup flour
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
Heat oven to 375. Mix ingredients for pie crust until soft, spread out into bottom of baking dish. Mix wafer crumbs, brown sugar, and butter, set off to the side. Spread cream cheese on the pie crust layer, then sprinkle half of the wafer crumb mixture on top. Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon, and mix with the fruit slices. Toss slices until coated. Make the coated fruit slices the next layer on the pie. Top with the remaining wafer crumb mixture. Bake 35 minutes until the fruit is soft and lightly browned.

The original recipes for the crust and crumble are here and here.

*I didn't use the unbaked refrigerated/frozen pie crusts because they're made with lard. If anyone knows of pork-free frozen pie crusts, let me know.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Dump Butterscotch Pudding Pie


.....This was actually supposed to be this recipe here. I layered everything and then realized I forgot to bake the crust before layering everything else on top. So, I just decided to mix everything together and dump it into a ready made graham cracker crust and it ended up being a hit, haha.
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1 package cream cheese (or neufchatel)
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1 small carton cool whip topping (8 oz. size)
  • 3 1/2 cups milk
  • 2 packages pudding (I used 1 butterscotch, 1 French vanilla)
  • Ready made graham cracker crust
.....mix everything in a bowl and pour into a graham cracker crust, refrigerate, eat. If you have success with the real recipe, let me know. If you're going to make the dump recipe I did, then you can probably go without the butter and flour, since those two were originally to make the crust.

Corny Bean Salad and Soup



Super easy.
  • 6 cans of beans (I used red kidney, white kidney, chickpeas, and black beans)
  • 2 cups of corn, cooked
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 12 Tbsp olive oil
  • 4 Tbsp vinegar
  • 2 tsp spicy mustard
  • Salt and pepper
Mix beans, corn, bell pepper, and red onion in the serving dish. To make the dressing: mix olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper (to taste) in a bowl. Slowly add the the dressing to the salad and mix. I didn't use all of the dressing, but add enough to suit your own taste. Original recipe is here.

Use the leftovers to make a soup. For about 2/3 of the above recipe...
  • 1 can vegetable broth
  • 3/4 tsp cumin powder
  • 3/4 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp cajun spice
  • 1/2 tsp pepper (or to your liking)
  • 1/2 tsp Frank's red hot sauce (or to your liking)
Add all of it to a pot and simmer until the broth becomes thick with the spices and beans.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Oriental Chicken


  • 1 lb boneless chicken, cut into small pieces
  • 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp mustard oil
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch (mixed with water)
  • 1 tsp chili paste
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 4-6 green onions, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder
  • Frozen stir fry vegetables (amount to your liking)
Combine 1 Tbsp vinegar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp mustard oil, 1 Tbsp cornstarch (mixed in water). Use this as a marinade for chicken. Keep in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Combine 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp vinegar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp oil, 1 Tbsp cornstarch (mixed in water), chili paste, and brown sugar. Add in the chopped green onions, garlic powder. Start heating this sauce on low heat. Mix in vegetables to cook. While sauce is cooking, cook marinated chicken, then add chicken to the sauce. Let sauce simmer until it gets thick. I took this recipe from a recipe for what was originally Kung Pao Chicken.

Bengali Chicken Curry


  • 1 lb. boneless chicken, cut in small pieces
  • 2 green bell peppers
  • 1 tsp salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 3 Tbsp oil
  • 1 cup tomato puree
  • 1 tsp red chili paste
Fry the green bell peppers with garlic in oil for a few minutes. Add chicken with salt and cook for 5+ minutes. Add the tomato puree and then lower the heat. Add chili paste and pepper. Simmer until chicken is fully cooked. The original recipe is here.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Alu Mattar (Potato and Pea Curry)


  • 5-6 small potatoes
  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 tsp ginger powder
  • 6 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1-2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp salt (to tast)
  • 1/2 tsp red chili powder
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 4 tomatoes, diced
  • 2 cups peas
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
Boil potatoes until soft. Cool, peel, cut into cubes. While potatoes are being prepared: In oil, cook cumin, garlic, ginger, and onions for about 10 minutes. Add salt, chili powder, turmeric, and tomatoes. Cook about 10 minutes. Add peas and water, reduce heat, cover, and cook for about 10-15 minutes. Add potatoes and cook a few more minutes. Original recipe is here.

Eggplant Curry

Without peeling the eggplant.

With the eggplants peeled.
  • 2 eggplants
  • 4 Tbsp oil
  • 2 tsp cumin powder
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 1 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 Tbsp ginger powder
  • 1 Tbsp coriander powder
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
  • 2 teaspoon salt
Bake whole eggplants for 25 minutes at 450 degrees. Let cool, peel, cut into pieces. Fry onion and cumin powder in oil until onions are soft. Add garlic, ginger, coriander, tomatoes and cook. Add yogurt. Add eggplant pieces and chopped pepper. Add salt to taste. Cook for 10-15 minutes on high heat while covered. Uncover and cook for another 5-10 minutes on low heat. Original recipe is here.

Note: The dish looks a lot prettier if you don't peel the eggplants after baking them.