recipe » by elke

The Best Chocolate Cake…..Really

For our latest family birthday one of my tried & true chocolate cake recipes was requested …. once again. This cake is always moist, very chocolaty but with the whipped cream frosting, doesn’t sit in your stomach like a brick. It’s especially good the next day when the whipped cream had dissolved a bit into the cake. The key to this recipe is to add the ingredients one by one down the list & the best part is the hot coffee which make the chocolate taste rich & dark.

I can’t recommend this cake enough so try it out yourself & let me know what you think!

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake

Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

Preheat oven to 325* F.

Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper or grease with butter

Mix together & set aside:

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

In a mixer, combine Sugar & Butter until creamy. Add eggs 1 at a time then vanilla & lemon zest.

2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temp
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 tsp natural lemon extract
zest of 1 lemon

With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture & sour cream alternating & ending with flour.

1 cup reduced fat sour cream

Bake 75 minutes & test with a toothpick. Let sit in pan for 20 minutes then remove.

When cake is cooled, add lemon glaze over the top & slice lemons thinly for decoration.

Serve with vanilla icecream & fresh sliced strawberries on top-

Enjoy!

Mango Tomato Salsa

I was cooking dinner the other night & I had all these great salsa ingredients just staring at me so I thought , lets just go for it! After chopping all the ingredients & mixing them together, I added a pinch of salt & it ended up being delicious! We had shredded chicken taco wraps with lots of different toppings. One more dinner down!

Chili-Chicken Posole

OK, it’s time for a recipe. Trust me, it’s good.

Ingredients

1 lb shreaded chicken (I just bought a roast chicken & tore it into pieces)
1tsp thyme
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large white onion
1 jalapeño pepper (no seeds)
2 cloves minced garlic
3, 6oz cans of whole green chills
1 cup fresh cilantro
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 15oz cans hominy, drained
sliced avocado, radishes and tortilla chips for garnish (optional but recommended)

Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeño, and garlic. Cook until soft about 4 minutes. transfer to a blender then add the chills, cilantro & thyme & puree until smooth. Return to saucepan and cook one medium heat until sauce thickens & turns deep green, about 5 minutes.

Add the broth, hominy and chicken to sauce pan. Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes until hot. Garnish with avocado, radishes and tortilla chips.

eat.

Summer Salad

This salad can have some variations and either way is delicious. It has become a staple in my house especially when friends come for dinner.

Ingredients:

Mixed baby greens or Arugula straight up depending on your preference
Clementines or grapefruit or any orange cut up into bite sized pieces
Shaved raw fennel
Toasted almond slivers
Goat cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Dressing:

Juice of 1 or 2 fresh clementines or oranges
Juice of 1 lemon
small spoon of grainy mustard
olive oil
salt & pepper

Enjoy!

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Well, I was under the impression this blog be about all handmade THINGS until I made some tomato sauce last night & everything on the cutting board looked so fresh, ripe & good- This is so easy I don’t even think it’s a real recipe. I do love to cook so there may be recipes posted now & again when I trip over something worth repeating.

All the ingredients for a good sauce

Basically, get a ton of ripe tomatoes, mince up about 2-3 cloves of garlic. Saute garlic in about 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil until soft. Do not burn! Add all your tomatoes & just let it cook down until it doesn’t look so watery. About 45 minutes. Add a good pinch of sea salt. Toss it all in the blender until smooth. Strain out the skin & seed bits. If it still looks thin just simmer it on the stove again to thicken it up. Don’t forget to stir it once in a while. That’s it. Oh, & rip some basil & grate some fresh Parmesan for the top when you put it over pasta. Easy Peasy.