I had a new bundt pan and a lot of frozen, very ripe bananas to use. It led to this is a very moist and dense fruity dessert cake. This is one variation in a long, yummy-looking line of bundt cake recipes on allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, plus extra for dusting the bundt pan
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 1 cup of frozen raspberries, thawed
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Grease the bundt pan with shortening, then dust it with sugar.
3. Mix sugar and shortening on high speed.
4. Mix in eggs, one at a time.
5. Add vanilla and bananas and mix.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir.
7. Alternately add some flour mixture and yogurt to the mixture and blend.
8. Stir in the raspberries and chocolate chips.
9. Pour batter into the bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

By popular demand…  the home-made twinkie recipe!   Note that the ingredients in the parentheses are for the chocolate version that I haven’t tried to make yet (melt the chocolate into the butter).    Next time I might try grapeseed or coconut oil instead of the canola.  Likewise I used 2% milk in the filling and I might try whole or half and half to make the filling sweet and creamy instead of just sweet… oh so sweeeet.

Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Yield: 24 cakes

Snack Cakes:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a canoe pan or muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they are very stiff. They should hold their shape when removed from the bowl. Set aside.

Combine the flour, corn starch, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together or beat on low speed for a minute, until combined. Add oil, water, Princess flavoring, and egg yolks. Beat on medium speed until smooth.

Using a rubber spatula, gently scoop 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter. Fold the egg whites in by slicing the spatula through the center of the bowl, gently scooping batter from the bottom and wrapping it over the top. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat until the egg whites are barely visible. Repeat this process with each remaining 1/3 of the egg whites.

Spoon the batter into the pan, filling the wells 2/3 full. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until cakes are golden brown and just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cakes will puff up when cooking, but will settle as they cool. Cool the cakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then gently remove them from the pan using a rubber spatula. Allow them to cool, flat side down, directly on the cooling rack.

Filling:

In a small saucepan, heat the flour and milk over medium heat, stirring constantly. When the mixture becomes a paste (about 5 minutes), remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and set aside to cool completely.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cooled milk mixture and beat for about 5 minutes, until smooth and creamy.

Fill!:
Use the pastry filler that comes with the pan (or a pastry bag with round tip) to fill the cakes. Place the tip about halfway into the cake and squeeze gently. Holding the cake in your palm while filling it will allow you to feel when it is full. Fill each cake 3 times to ensure that each bite contains cream filling!

This was my entry to Meatball Off 2012.  My life goal is to master all rice dishes, so when I went looking for meatball recipes this year, I was surprised to find meatball recipes that use rice instead of breadcrumbs as the binding agent.  The results were pretty good, although only good enough for 5th place against very stiff competition.

From the photo, the porcupine meatball is the dark one on the top left.  The combination of the sauce and the rice makes the meatball seem to have spines like a porcupine.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
• 1 onion minced
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 cup of uncooked medium grain rice (or long)
• 2 tsp of sea salt
• 1 tsp of pepper
• 1 tsp of hot smoked paprika
• 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 chopped green bell pepper

Instructions

1. Mix ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, hot smoked paprika and raw rice into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.  Strange as it sounds, the rice should go in raw and will get cooked via the process.
2. If you’re feeling adventurous, supplement the beef with sausage.  Just defrost the sausage until its soft and crumble it.  This,  BTW, is one of the reasons why Dana got second place!  ;-)
3. Assemble meatballs of about 1 to 1/2 inches wide.
4. Sautee meatballs with some olive oil over medium heat until well browned on all sides.
5. Set meatballs aside.  In the same skillet you sauteed the meatballs, sautee the green peppers until soft (a couple of minutes).
6. Add can of tomatoes and cover for 5 mins.
7. Crush tomatoes with a spoon (wash out for splatter!).
8. Add condensed soup, stir, and wait for it to boil.
9. Lower heat to simmer and let rest for 5 mins then add meatballs to the sauce
10. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
11. For best results, refrigerate overnight and reheat in the oven the next day (20 mins at 350 degrees).

Ingredients

• 4-5 potatoes, chopped into pieces less than a square inch
• salt & pepper
• oregano & sage (optional)
• baby arugula
• olive oil
• 1/2 a lemon
• Parmesan cheese
• Other optional toppings: chopped avocado, bacon, shredded cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Toss the chopped potato pieces in olive oil on a baking sheet
3. Season the potatoes with salt, pepper, and other optional spices such as oregano and sage
4. Roast the potatoes for 1 hour, turn the pieces after 30 min
5. While potatoes are roasting, prepare the other toppings. Cook and break bacon into pieces, chop the avocado, etc.
6. Spread the arugula on a platter, sprinkle parmesan cheese, and squeeze lemon over both
7. Add the roasted potatoes and other toppings to the arugula salad

Ingredients

• 2 large packages of frozen corn
• 1 package of shredded cheese, like mozzarella or six cheese italian
• 1/2 large white/yellow onion or 1 pre-chopped onion container
• 3 eggs
• vegetable oil (1 cup)
• milk (moderate)

Directions

1. Stir fry the onion with abundant oil and let it cool. If you don’t like to feel the texture of the onion, you can blend it. Let it cool down…
2. Process the corn (thawed) with a little bit of milk until it gets to a creamy texture (the texture is personal, if you like to feel some texture, process it less)…
3. In a large bowl, mix the cream of corn, shredded cheese, lightly beat eggs, salt to taste, and the fried onions with the rest of the oil from the pan.
4. Pour in a pyrex or disposable baking tray and cook in 375-400 degree oven for 40 min to 1 hour until golden. Once it cools down, cut it in squares and serve.
]]> http://reciplex.com/chipa-guazu-express-recipe-corn-casserole-from-paraguay/feed 0 http://reciplex.com/salmon-herb-cream-cheese-on-crackers http://reciplex.com/salmon-herb-cream-cheese-on-crackers#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:49:19 +0000 danar http://reciplex.com/?p=750

This appetizer was snarfed down in moments on Christmas this year. It didn’t last long enough for all the dinner guests to arrive!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup light whipped cream cheese
• juice of half a lemon
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley & dill
• 1/4 cup capers
• pinch of kosher salt
• 4 oz package wild salmon
• seeded crackers (“everything” flat bread crackers are a good choice)

Directions

1. Mix the first 5 ingredients (cream cheese through salt) together.
2. Cut the salmon into small pieces.
3. Spoon cream cheese mixture onto the crackers and salmon pieces onto the cream cheese mixture.
4. Sprinkle a little extra dill over the salmon and enjoy.
]]> http://reciplex.com/salmon-herb-cream-cheese-on-crackers/feed 0 http://reciplex.com/spanikopita-greek-spinach-pie http://reciplex.com/spanikopita-greek-spinach-pie#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:33:37 +0000 melissafd http://reciplex.com/?p=634 Ingredients:
1. 2 lb spinach, chopped (I used frozen – it’s easier because it’s already chopped!)
2. ¼ c minced onion
3. ½ lb feta cheese + ½ lb cottage cheese, mixed together
4. 4 eggs
5. 1 tsp dill
6. pinch parsley & salt
7. 1 stick butter, melted
8. ½ lb phyllo dough, thawed according to directions

Directions:

1. Combine first six ingredients together.
2. Butter 9×13” pan.
3. Place 4 leaves on bottom of pan, buttering each leaf with a basting brush.
4. Place ½ of spinach mixture on leaves.
5. Place 4 buttered leaves on mixture, buttering each leaf with a basting brush.
6. Place remaining mixture and 4 more leaves on top, buttering each leaf with a basting brush.
7. Turn edges of dough toward edge of pan.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown.

NOTES:

You need to work really quickly with the phyllo dough. This takes a bit of practice.

The above recipe is for a casserole. To make appetizers, instead of using one pan, use two – this will make a thinner spanikopita, which you can cut into small squares.  These are a huge hit at parties!

]]> http://reciplex.com/spanikopita-greek-spinach-pie/feed 0 http://reciplex.com/chickenturkey-enchiladas http://reciplex.com/chickenturkey-enchiladas#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:31:08 +0000 melissafd http://reciplex.com/?p=632 Sauce Ingredients:

2-3  cans prepared enchilada sauce OR

• 3 Tbsp plus 1/2 cup oil, divided
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 16 oz chicken stock
• 10 oz tomato puree
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp gound cumin
• salt

Filling/other ingredients:

• 3 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken (I just boil a couple chicken breasts and pull the meat apart with a fork/knife —  you can also used cooked ground chicken, turkey, or beef)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 10 corn tortillas
• 1 c sour cream or Greek yogurt, for garnish
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro or chopped scallions, for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sauce:
Easy out: use 2-3 cans prepared sauce, which is still really, really good, instead of homemade sauce.I use 3 cans, but I like them really saucy!
In saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp oil, add flour, and cook, whisking, 1 minute. Add chili powder and cook 30 seconds. Stir in stock, tomato puree, oregano, and cumin, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes until flavors are well-blended. Season to taste with salt.

Enchiladas:
Combine cheese, chicken, and onion for filling. Heat remaining 1/2 C of oil in a skillet until hot. Using tongs, dip in tortillas, one at a time, to soften, and drain on paper towels. Next, dip each tortilla in sauce. On a plate, fill with a generous spoonful of filling and roll up. Place enchilada seam-side down in a baking dish and repeat until all ingredients are used up. Top with remaining sauce. Bake 30 minutes. To serve, top with sour cream and scallions.

Lower fat version: use cooking spray instead of oil in the skillet, and heat to soften the tortillas.

]]> http://reciplex.com/chickenturkey-enchiladas/feed 0 http://reciplex.com/quinoa-salad-2 http://reciplex.com/quinoa-salad-2#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:27:39 +0000 melissafd http://reciplex.com/?p=630 Prepare quinoa according to package. (I use 2 cups chicken stock and 1 cup quinoa…once boiled, cover and simmer low for approx 15 min or until liquid is absorbed)
• Add 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernals
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2-3 chopped red peppers
• 1 teaspoonful cumin
• salt and pepper
• 1-2 T olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lime
• fresh thyme and basil (optional)

Toss it all together and serve warm or room temp. Great way to get protein and veggies into a meal. Also great for BBQ’s and potlucks. Enjoy!

]]> http://reciplex.com/quinoa-salad-2/feed 0 http://reciplex.com/brazilian-style-collard-greens http://reciplex.com/brazilian-style-collard-greens#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:25:45 +0000 melissafd http://reciplex.com/?p=628 Ingredients:
• 2 1/2 pounds collard greens, leaves halved lengthwise and stems and center ribs discarded
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

• Stack half of collard leaves and roll into a cigar shape. Cut crosswise into very thin strips (1/8 inch wide) with a sharp knife. Repeat with remaining leaves. Or, if you’re lazy like me, use the food processor.
• Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a heavy 12-inch skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook half of collards, tossing, until just tender and bright green, about 1 minute, and transfer to a serving dish. Cook remaining collards in remaining 2 teaspoons oil in same manner, then toss all of collards with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Alternate:

Sautee a few cloves of garlic in the oil. Delish! And healthy!

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