Ginger Bundt Cake with Chocolate Nutmeg Ganache Glaze

This one is Spouse's recipe to which she added a very delicious chocolate glaze. She is very fond of any ginger cake and this one is a particular favorite. It's a great pot-luck recipe too for those like us who always bring dessert to such events as it is not fussy and travels quite well.

3 ¼ cups of flour

4 tsp ground ginger

4 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp salt

1 cup butter

2 cups molasses

2 eggs

1 cup boiling water

1/3 cup finely chopped candied ginger

3 tbsp grated fresh ginger

Sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, pepper and salt.

Cream together butter and molasses. Beat in eggs until light and fluffy. Fold in flour mixture using a wooden spoon; stir just until mixed. Pour in boiling water and add candied and grated ginger. Gently stir until evenly mixed.

Pour batter into a well greased and floured bundt pan or funnel pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F in centre of oven until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 60 minutes depending on your oven.

Turn onto a wire rack to cool. When cool, glaze with chocolate/nutmeg ganache glaze

Chocolate Nutmeg Ganache Glaze

1 cup dark chocolate chips
¼ cup scalded whipping cream
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Pour scalded cream over the chocolate chips and nutmeg. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth and pour over cooled cake.

Recipe revisits: Pancakes!!

In honor of Shrove Tuesday here are a few suggestions for the day's pancake feast. My kids still insist on cooking coins into the pancakes like we did when I was a child. We ate so many that tummy aches were inevitable but such was the price of a pocket full of change!

Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes

http://rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/04/blueberry-lemon-and-cornmeal-pancakes.html

Chocolate Toblerone Pancakes

http://rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/08/chocolate-toblerone-pancakes.html

Banana Coconut and Chocolate Chip Pancakes

http://rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/02/banana-coconut-and-chocolate-chip.html

Radicchio Almond Caesar Salad

Another of Spouse's specialties and my favorite salad these days. Many chefs claim that a perfect dish combines sweet, salty, bitter and sour tastes. Perhaps this is why I love this one so much; even more than a standard Caesar salad. The sweetness of the golden raisins, the saltiness of the bacon, the slightly bitter edge of the radicchio and the pungent, slightly sour note of good Parmesan cheese all combine to make what may be the perfect salad. Add to that sweet red onion and the nutty flavour of toasted almonds and you will probably omit the "may" portion of that last sentence. Highly recommended!!

Use your favorite recipe for Caesar Salad dressing or try mine. Find it here:

http://www.rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/04/caesar-salad-dressing.html


Serves 4

1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped, washed and dried
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup toasted slivered almonds
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
6 slices sugar cured smoked bacon, crisp fried and chopped
1 small head radicchio chopped, washed and dried
½ cup good Caesar salad dressing

Toss all the ingredients very well together just before serving.

Tomato Olive Salad

We use this as a side dish, warm and cold or as a lunch with some good toasted French bread and a piece of good cheese. Very simple, very good.

3 diced fresh tomatoes
¾ cup chopped pitted olives
Zest and juice of one lemon
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ red onion sliced
½ tsp coarse ground black pepper
½ cup crumbled feta (optional)
¼ cup chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

Toss all together and store in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

Garlic Oregano Grilled Chicken with Red Pepper Parmesan Tapenade and Crispy Pancetta

This meal was the result of a little imagination using what I had on hand at the time. I don't think I would have added anything else anyway. ;)

Place 8 rounds of pancetta on a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F until crisp, turning once; about 6 minutes.

Marinate for 20 minutes:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp dry oregano ( or 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano)
½ tsp salt
2 cloves minced garlic
½ tsp black pepper

Grill the chicken breasts until completely cooked. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before topping with the tapenade and fresh diced tomatoes and the crisp pancetta rounds.
Garnish the plate with fresh grated parmesan, cracked black pepper and a drizzle of your best extra virgin olive oil.

Parmesan Red Pepper Tapenade
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
½ small red pepper chopped
1 tbsp capers
¼ cup shredded parmesan
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
¼ to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (enough to bring the other ingredients together)

Pulse together in a food processor but do not over blend. The tapenade should still have some texture to it and not be completely smooth.

Cranberry Apple Stuffing

Everyone in our family loves a turkey dinner and we don't need any special occasion as an excuse to roast a whole bird. We often have what we call "Casual Turkey" night which is roast turkey, Savoury Stuffing ( http://rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/02/savoury-stuffing-or-dressing.html ), gravy and French Fries; a pure comfort food meal if there ever was one.

We don't always roast a whole turkey though, and as often as not, we simply roast a turkey breast and serve it with Cranberry Apple Stuffing and Cranberry Apple Sauce; a meal that is easily prepared in half the time as a more traditional roast turkey dinner.

The very simple recipe for the Cranberry Apple Sauce is also posted this morning.


3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves chopped garlic
6 cups crusty French or Italian bread cut in small cubes
3 tbsp dry oregano
½ tsp dry sage
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ground black pepper
Salt to season
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
2 small apples peeled and diced
¼ cup melted butter
1 cup chicken or turkey stock

Sauté garlic in olive oil and add to remaining ingredients. Toss together well and use as a stuffing for chicken, turkey or a loin roast of pork.

You can also cook it in a covered casserole at 300 degrees F for about ½ hour.

Cranberry Apple Sauce

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
4 medium apples diced
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Juice of half lemon
pinch salt

Simmer together gently for about 20 minutes and allow to cool before serving.

Blueberry Lemon Mini Puff Pastries

Makes 16 pastries

1 package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets)

1 egg + 1 tbsp cold water beaten together (egg wash)

Sugar
Blueberry Jam
Lemon Buttercream Frosting (recipe below)

Lay the first sheet of pastry flat and brush with the egg wash. Place the second sheet of pastry directly on top of the first and cut the pastry into 16 equal squares or rectangles depending on the particular size of the pastry sheets.

Place the squares onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the pastries with egg wash and sprinkle the tops with a thin layer of plain table sugar. Chill the pastries for a half hour in the fridge before baking.

Bake in a 375 F degree oven for about 20 minutes until medium golden brown. Cool the pastries on a wire rack. When cool fill with a layer each of blueberry jam and lemon buttercream frosting.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

2 cups icing sugar

½ cup butter

½ tsp vanilla extract

Juice of one lemon

Zest of ½ lemon, finely minced

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the icing sugar and butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, then add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat together well until smooth, light and fluffy. Depending on the size of the lemon you use, you may not have to use all the juice or you may be a little short; just add a little milk to bring it to the proper consistency. If it is a little too soft, just add a little more icing sugar.

Crispy Honey Garlic Chicken Wings

Everybody loves wings, including me, and this is my favorite recipe for Honey Garlic wings. They are essentially ginger fried chicken that is tossed in the homemade honey garlic sauce afterward and served immediately. The sauce is actually more of a glaze and not like the commercial bottled sauces that so many people buy. This results in crispy, sticky, finger lickin' wings that are irresistable. When I served them at a gathering of friends a little while back there was nothing left but a big platter of bones and some hopeful looks that there were more waiting in the kitchen.

Honey Garlic Sauce

In a medium saucepan add
2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic

Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Add:

1 cup honey
¼ cup soya sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper

Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool thoroughly. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily.

Mix together:

2 cups flour
6 tbsp powdered ginger
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground black pepper

Prepare an egg wash of 2 eggs and 4 tbsp cold water whisked together.

Wash, pat dry, trim the tips and cut into sections,

3 pounds chicken wings

Dip the wing pieces into the egg wash and then toss in the flour mixture. Drop the coated wings into a preheated 350 degree F deep fryer, filled with canola, peanut, or soy oil.

Fry until golden brown, about 15-20 min depending on the size of the wing pieces. While still hot out of the oil toss the wing pieces in a large bowl with some of the honey garlic sauce.

Partridgeberry, Brie and Honey Panini

I've been playing with my new panini press that I got for Christmas and this sandwhich was a quiet lunch at home alone one afternoon last week. It was inspired by an hors d'ouevre that I very often serve when we have friends over for the evening and that has been previously featured on this blog. It is basically the same ingredients wrapped in puff pastry and baked. The puff pastry recipe adds some nuts but I don't see why you couldn't add them here if you were so inclined. Find that recipe here:
http://www.rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/10/brie-with-partridgeberries-pistachios.html

The bread for this delicious sandwich is what I consider to be the best made in St. John's, which of course, has to be the excellent Belgian Loaf at Georgetown Bakery. I enjoyed this one so much that I actually made a few more that evening when friends dropped by, cut them in quarters and served them up with the other nibbles I had prepared for the evening. I didn't hear many complaints. ;)


Butter
Belgian Loaf (or your favorite artisan bread)
Brie cheese
Partridgeberries
Honey

Heat your panini press to a medium high setting. Butter both slices of bread, making sure that when you put the sandwich together the buttered sides are on the outside.

Lay the first slice of bread on the heated panini press and cover with about 3 ounces Brie cut in slices. Sprinkle some partridgeberries (or cranberries) over the cheese. Spread about a tablespoon of honey on the inside of the second slice of bread and place on top with the butter side up. Close the panini press and cook until the bread is golden brown and the cheese has melted .

NOTE: If you don't have a panini press, two cast iron skillets do a good job too. Use one to heat on the burner and one as a weight on top of the sandwhich as it cooks. You will, of course, need to flip the sandwhich to brown the other side using this method.

Easy Chicken Meatball Minestrone

I've been concentrating on a bit more healthy eating these days and this easy, tasty soup is a pain free way to help. Beans for fiber, spinach and other veggies for the old vitamins and low fat chicken meatballs for protein; hey you can't call that unhealthy!! We'll not discuss what I had for dessert afterward though. I'll leave the other side of the coin for another day. ;)

Meatballs
1 ½ pound lean ground chicken
½ pound clean chicken sausage
1 cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup milk
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp ground sage
1 tbsp dried summer savoury
1 tsp crushed fennel seed
1 beaten egg

Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk for 5 minutes before adding to all the remaining ingredients and mix well. This will be a loose mixture but as long as you can form it into balls, it will be okay. Add more breadcrumbs if the mixture is too soft. Form into small balls and fry in a large heated skillet with 2 tbsp oil added. Fry all the meatballs until completely cooked and nicely browned. Deglaze the pan with a little chicken stock and add to a large pot along with:

2 litres chicken stock
1 diced onion
3 cloves minced garlic
3 large carrots cut in sticks or coins
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
2 tbsp summer savoury

Simmer together for 20 minutes before adding

2 cups baby spinach leaves
4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Simmer only for a minute or two more before serving.

Raspberry Vanilla Ice Cream Puff Pastries

When I posted a preview picture of this dessert on the Rock Recipes Facebook Group I got one of the biggest responses ever in terms of the number of people who commented on the photo and even more who messaged me for the recipe immediately!!

This was an idea I had based upon the famous Vachon brand "Flakie" snack cakes that are sold here in Canada. Everybody who tried them loved them, especially the kids. It's a very simple thing to put together and they keep very well for at least a couple of weeks in a sealed container in the freezer. They are a great thing to have on hand for a quick dessert. I can see a whole lot of possible flavour combinations here. I can't wait to try making them with some of my homemade ice cream too.

Makes 16 pastries

1 package frozen puff pastry
1 egg + 1 tbsp water whisked together to make an egg wash
Raspberry Compote
Vanilla Ice Cream

Lay the first sheet of pastry flat and brush with the egg wash. Place the second sheet of pastry directly on top of the first and cut the pastry into 16 equal squares or rectangles depending on the particular size of the pastry sheets.

Place the squares onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the pastries with egg wash and sprinkle the tops with a thin layer of plain table sugar. Chill the pastries for a half hour in the fridge before baking.

Bake in a 375 F degree oven for about 20 minutes until medium golden brown. Cool the pastries on a wire rack. When cool fill with a layer each of raspberry compote and vanilla ice cream.

Raspberry Compote

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

2 tsp corn starch dissolved in ¼ cup water

Slowly simmer raspberries, sugar and water for about 5 minutes. Stir in the corn starch mixture stirring constantly and cook for an additional minute. Cool completely.

Burgundy Thyme Gravy for Herb and Garlic Crusted Prime Rib Roast

This is my favorite gravy recipe to accompany a prime rib roast and I've posted it here this morning at the request of a friend who sampled it for the first time a few weeks ago and raved about it. The recipe for the prime rib roast was featured last March on this blog and can be found here:

http://www.rockrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/03/herb-and-garlic-crusted-prime-rib-roast.html?showComment=1205787720000

4 cups beef broth (or a combination of fat skimmed pan drippings and beef broth to make 4 cups)
1 cup burgundy wine
4 sprigs fresh thyme (or about 1 tsp dried ground thyme)

Simmer together uncovered for about 20-30 minutes until the volume of the liquid is reduced by about one third.

In a separate heavy bottomed saucepan add

¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves minced garlic

Cook together stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes until foamy. Slowly and steadily whisk in the boiling broth mixture. Whisk quickly and steadily as you add the hot liquid to prevent lumps in the gravy. Season with salt to taste. Add a little more beef broth if you like thinner gravy.