German Chocolate Cake

...from scratch, of course.

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2012/06/14/german-chocolate-cake-recipe/

German chocolate cake is my husband's favorite and I had to make it for his birthday this past week.

The cake turned out pretty awesome!  Instead of the rum sauce, I substituted some pineapple orange juice I had in the fridge.  I remember that my grandma in Russia always poured a little bit of a dilluted jam mixture on the cakes before stacking them and that kept them very moist even after being in the fridge.  It's a great trick.  The only thing we were not super happy with is the chocolate frosting.  It turned out exactly as it should, but it was just VERY chocolate-y.  Too much for our taste.  Next time I think I will lighten it up with maybe a chocolate cream cheese frosting.  We'll see how that works out.

Good luck!

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

I was in the mood for something cheesy yet somewhat healthy with vegetables.
Behold!  Spinach Artichoke Lasagna!

http://www.laurenslatest.com/spinach-artichoke-lasagna-florentine-style/

I was pretty hesitant at first with the pesto addition but it actually really added great flavor to the sauce.  Looking forward to my leftovers!

Conclusion: this dish is like a mixture of mac & cheese with spinach artichoke dip.  Awesome!

"Better than the Box" Brownies

So I came home last night and while my husband decided to go for a quick run, I decided to make a batch of brownies.  The last time I made some from a random recipe off google search, they were absolutely terrible and more like dry chocolate cake than brownies.  And then! I found my saved recipe that got wonderful reviews.  As expected, they turned out perfect!  Simple and so delicious! ... and now my dessert at work!

4 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used leftover Ghirardelli)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave until fully melted.  Let cool for a minute. Add sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Mix.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Fold in flour and cocoa powder.  Bake at 350 for about 20 min, checking to make sure the center is baked through with a toothpick.

Done!

Recipe from: http://desertcandy.blogspot.com/2007/04/brownies-simple-sublime.html

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

One of my favorite snacks!! Salty, yet somewhat good for you too.

2 packages frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts
6 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup cheese: parmesan, mozzarella, etc (or more!)
salt
pepper

Defrost the spinach and squeeze to remove as much excess water as possible.  Drain artichokes.
Mix all ingredients, bake at 375 for about 20 min or until bubbly in the middle.  Cool slightly and enjoy!

Russian Napoleon Cake

This butter cream frosting recipe can and should be used for every cake from this point forward.
Note: not for those on a diet.

My grandma used to make napoleon cake when I was little.  It consists of several very thin layers of a flaky dough in between which are layers of frosting.   It takes quite a while to make the layers, so I cheated and used premade puff pastry.  It's worth it.

Russian Butter-cream Frosting

1 cup sugar
1 egg

Mix together and set aside.

1 cup milk

Heat milk on the stove in a medium size pot until milk is steaming hot and almost boiling.  Turn off.  With a whisk, slowly VERY SLOWLY, add the sugar mixture into the milk, whisking all the way so the egg doesn't cook in one place.   Set aside to cool.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

Beat butter until light and fluffy.  When the milk mixture is room temperature (not hot), slowly beat it into the butter batch by batch.  I usually don't end up using all of the milk mixture because it would be too sweet.  Add just enough for your sweetness level. Beat in 1 tsp of vanilla.  All done!  Put in fridge for a few minutes while getting ready to frost. Do not leave in fridge for long as the frosting becomes hard when cold and difficult to spread.

For this dessert, I cut up the puff pastry sheet into three pieces, based on the fold lines.  Baked at 400 for approximately 15 min and then let cool to room temperature.  Once cool, layer the puff pastry with the frosting.  For best results, I let the cake sit in the fridge over night, so the frosting can soak through the layers.

Tuscany Bread

My secret to homemade bread?

This puppy.  A dutch oven pot.  It's about $75 but completely worth it.  Very heavy too, so that's some arm exercises right there.

http://www.simplysogood.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html

Mix it in the night before and make sure your yeast is not old.  Otherwise, you can't go wrong.

4 Ingredients!!

3 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp yeast
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water

Mix and let stand for 12-18 hours.  Follow baking directions in the link!

It's very cheap too. This would probably cost somewhere upwards of $5-$6 at the bakery.  And you can now make it at home for about $.75 or less.

Meatloaf

So I tried this recipe:
http://foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com/2009/03/blue-plate-special-very-best-meatloaf.html#

... and my husband said it was "literally, the best meatloaf" he has ever had.  That's a pretty good review.  I cut down the amount of sugar in the sauce and it was perfect.  Otherwise, it's very strong with the vinegar and I am not a fan of sweet meat.

Try it!