Culinary Goods

So, John loves yellow cake and I’ve been promising him I would make him one. So, the secret to getting yellow cake to taste like the boxed kind is butter extract. The cake itself was great, but really sweet. As to texture, I think the best yellow cake I’ve ever made is the one I blogged from melskitchencafe.com a few years back. I would probably just use that one as a basis and then add the butter extract. However, this is totally worth making. I’m sure John would give it a 9. Classic Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream For the Cake 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 1/3 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups granulated sugar I used 1 1/2 cups 5 whole eggs, room temperature 2 eggs yolks, room temperature 3 cups, plus 3 tablespoons cake flour This was a total of 396 grams (1/3 cup cornstarch, the flour to 396 grams) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup sour cream, room temperature 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract I doubled this 1 teaspoon butter extract For ...

This was amazing! It was seriously so good. John said he followed it nearly exactly, and it was outstanding. This gets nearly a 9, which is rare at our house for savory food. The recipe came from carlsbadcravngs.com Stir Fry 1 pound flank steak cut across the grain into thin slices then cut into 2” length pieces sesame oil 8 oz. Korean sweet potato starch noodles (dangmyeon) see notes 1 yellow onion thinly sliced, then cut into 1” lengths 3.5 oz. shiitake mushrooms sliced 1 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks from about 3 medium carrots 1 red bell pepper sliced 2 cups baby spinach about 2 oz. Marinade/Sauce 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce 3 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons rice wine (NOT VINEGAR) may substitute dry sherry (see notes) 2 tablespoons Gochujang or more if desired* 1/2 teaspoon pepper 3 garlic cloves minced 1 tablespoon freshly ground ginger (may substitute 1 teaspoon ground) 1 tablespoon cornstarch Add later: 1 1/2 teaspoons beef bouillon Ga...

Sorry that I don’t have a picture of this, but I lost it somewhere. I called this a Lassi Smoothie because it’s a combination of a mango lassi and a green smoothie. This is surprisingly good. I kind of threw it together one day trying to replicate something I had at Stef’s house, and it turned out better than I had thought it would. Blend: 1-2 cups of Califia Farms brand coconut almond milk 1 cup frozen mango 1/4 frozen banana 2 cups spinach

So, this was awesome. If you like cheesecake. It would probably get a 9. I used the recipe below as a basis, and then changed it up. Gingerbread Cheesecake CHEESECAKE FILLING 24 ounces (678g) cream cheese, softened 1 cup (225g) packed brown sugar I did 2/3 cup 3 tbsp (25g) all purpose flour 3/4 cup (173g) sour cream 1/4 cup (60ml) molasses 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tsp ground ginger I was generous with this 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon I was generous with this 1 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground cloves 4 eggs I did 3 eggs https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/gingerbread-cheesecake/ You bake this at 300 for 80 minutes. Basically, I did a gingerbread crust, then the filling, then I made a caramel mousse, then topped it with cream and ground coffee. Caramel Mousse 75% of the caramel sauce recipe that I always make 1 brick of cream cheese dash salt 2 Tbs. milk 1 tsp. vanilla 1 1/2 cups cream Basically you combine everything and then stream in the cream. D...

These were great. We couldn’t find the round potsticker wrappers, so we used won ton wrappers instead. I got a recipe from damndelicious.net and then I altered it a bit. Vegetable Potstickers 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided 1 cup diced shiitake mushrooms I used baby bella mushrooms 2 shallots, minced I used green onions instead, 1 bunch 3 cups shredded green cabbage 2 carrots, peeled and grated 1/2 cup diced water chestnuts I left this out 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves 1 large egg 3 cloves garlic, minced I did about 5 plus 1/4 tsp. garlic powder 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger I was generous with this 1 1/2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce I did an extra Tbs. 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 2 teaspoons sesame oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 32 (3-inch) round wonton wrappers https://damndelicious.net/2018/07/24/vegetable-potstickers/ So, essentially I shredded the cabbage (Squeeze water down after you sh...

This had so much fantastic flavor that it didn't even taste like fish! I added about twice as much cilantro as it called for and used half the amount of fish, and it tasted lovely. I normally don't like fish, but tilapia is pretty mild, and the sauce gave it a yummy Asian taste. I topped it with green onions, and it was delish. This is a melskitchencafe.com recipe and it gets an 8.  4-6 tilapia fillets (about 2 pounds)  I used 1 pound  1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped   4 garlic cloves   2 tablespoons grated ginger (from about a 2-inch piece that has been peeled)   4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce   1/3 cup white wine or fish stock or chicken broth  I used white wine  2 teaspoons sesame oil   2/3 cup chopped cilantro   Chopped green onions for garnish   Extra cilantro for garnish Here's the link: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/baked-tilapia-with-ginger-and-cil...

This was a fun spin on chicken cordon bleu, and the dijon mustard sauce was awesome on it. As you can se from the picture, I obviously had thick breasts (which no one's ever accused me of having before), so they took a lot longer to cook than the recommended time. Definitely use a good thermometer to test for doneness. I would give it a 7.5. The recipe came from cooking classy.com. Ingredients 3/4   cup   low-sodium chicken broth 2   tsp   cornstarch 1/4   cup   heavy cream 1   Tbsp   dijon mustard 4   (5 - 6 oz) chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness (about 1/2-inch) 1/4   cup   all-purpose flour Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2   Tbsp   olive oil 4   thin slices smoked deli ham   (I used Boars Head Black Forest) 4   slices   swiss cheese 3/4   cup   garlic butter croutons   , finely crushed* I didn't add this 2   Tbsp   chopped fresh parsl...