Strawberry Poundcake

If I had to choose one food in the world that was my favorite it would have to be strawberries. But not just any strawberries, they HAVE to be Oregon strawberries. They are sweet, soft, juicy and when eaten right off the vine, still warm from the sun it's just heaven. I am lucky enough to live in an area where I'm about 15 minutes to downtown, and just 3 minutes to farms, produce stands and strawberry patches. I get the best of both worlds! And yesterday after I picked the boys up from school we had to take a quick trip to Costco. I drove on the back road, which happens to go by the strawberry patch and what did I see? The tractor in the field getting it all ready for nutty strawberry lovers like myself to start picking in just a few short weeks! I'm a little excited:) In anticipation of my fresh Oregon strawberries I grabbed a carton from Costco to try out this strawberry poundcake that my older boy found on pinterest. It's a passion that we share, food (and strawberries!)

Wash some strawberries and chop roughly. Part of these will go into the poundcake, part will go toward the glaze.

Next separate the egg yolks from the whites. On my first try the yolk broke, need to start over :-(

ok, this is better, but I do see a little spot of yellow in there, hoping that doesn't affect things too much? moving on anyway...

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl til light and fluffy

Add the yolks, one at a time, to the butter, continue creaming.

Add in the flour and vanilla, mix and set aside. Remember to scrape the bowl as you go, this is quite thick.

Add the salt to the egg whites and whisk til stiff peaks form (mine only made it to soft peaks, it's probably because of the yolk that got in there, good enough)

Add the egg whites into the batter and mix, and finally the chopped strawberries, mix.

Spoon the batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake. I really had to spread the batter into each corner to  make it even.

Here it is coming out of the oven, golden brown and beautiful. Set aside to cool.

To make the glaze (this is where my recipe differs from the original) take the remainder of the strawberries, place in a food processor and puree.

Over the top, sift about a cup of powdered sugar (more or less depending on your taste) into the strawberry puree, pulse until well combined and the sugar is dissolved completely.

Spoon over the top of the cake and enjoy. I'll definitely be making this again when my fresh Oregon berries are available. Both my boys LOVED it, yes loved...as in past tense...as in they ate the entire thing in one sitting!

Strawberry Poundcake
original recipe here

Cake:

3/4 c butter
3/4 c sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 1/4 c flour
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
1 c fresh strawberries, chopped

Glaze:

1 c fresh strawberries, chopped
1 c powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8 inch loaf pan, set aside.

Prep the strawberries by washing, cutting off stems and giving a rough chop. Separate 1 c of strawberries for the cake, set the remaining aside for the puree. Next, separate the egg yolks from the whites, placing the whites in a medium bowl, set aside.

In a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add in the egg yolks 1 at a time, incorporating each before adding the next. Add in the flour and the vanilla, mix, scrape down sides of bowl, mix again and set aside.

Add salt into the egg whites and whisk til you have stiff peaks. Pour into the batter and mix well. Last add in the strawberries and combine. This batter is pretty thick so keep scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure it's well incorporated.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, til toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan.

For the glaze place the remaining strawberries into a food processor or blender and puree til smooth. Sift in the powdered sugar and blend until fully combined and sugar is dissolved.  Spoon over the cake and enjoy!

Enchilada Casserole

Who doesn't love an enchilada? But rolling them in that brittle corn tortilla is no fun, so I started making enchilada casserole. It's layered like a lasagna and still has all the yummy goodness of filling, corn tortillas and spicy red sauce, yum:)

I start by braising the chicken. I have a whole chicken cut up that I'm browning on both sides in a hot dutch oven. Make sure to season both sides with salt and pepper.

Move that to a plate and put in some roughly chopped onion and salt, stir to brown.

Add in spices, give it a stir and spread on the bottom of the pan evenly (this will be a base for the chicken to sit on while it cooks). I'm using chili powder, mexican oregano, cumin, red pepper and some chicken bouillon to season.

Add the chicken back to the pan along with diced tomatoes and a cup of water. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 35-40 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside to cool. At this point blend the tomatoes with a hand blender and set aside. This makes an awesome enchilada sauce.

After the chicken has cooled enough to handle remove the meat from the bones and shred.

Time for the filling. Sauté a chopped onion in canola oil, add to that diced tomatoes, tomato paste, beans, corn, chili powder, mexican oregano, cumin, chipotle chili and shredded chicken (or whatever you want in your filling), stir to combine. Let that warm through really well.

Now to layer- begin with a small amount of enchilada sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish.

Next add a layer of corn tortillas...

And a layer of filling.

Repeat that till you get to the top, ending with enchilada sauce.

Top the whole thing with cheese and bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes, til the top is melted and the edges are just a little crispy. mmmmm

Enchilada Casserole

Chicken and Enchilada Sauce:
1 chicken on the bone, cut up
2 onions, rough chop
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 c water
1 chipotle chili (or more for spicier)
2 T chili powder
1 t mexican oregano
1 t chicken bouillon
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t red pepper

Season and brown chicken in canola oil in a large, heavy dutch oven on medium high heat, remove to a plate. Add onion to pot and brown slightly. Add seasonings, stir and spread evenly over bottom of pan. Add chicken back to the pan and pour tomatoes and water on top. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 35-40 minutes.

Once chicken is fully cooked place it on a plate to cool. In the meantime blend the tomatoes that the chicken cooked in with a hand blender, taste and season to your preference. Once the chicken has cooled remove from the bone and shred. Set sauce and shredded chicken aside.

Enchilada Filling:
1 onion, finely chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can beans
1 small can tomato puree
1 c corn
2 T chili powder
1 t mexican oregano
1/2 t cumin
salt and pepper
shredded chicken

In a large pan sauté onion in canola oil over medium heat. Add in the the remaining ingredients and mix well. Let that simmer for a few minutes to warm through.

Casserole:
corn tortillas
cheddar cheese, shredded

To layer, begin with a small amount of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish. Next add a layer of corn tortilla, then filling and sauce on top. Layer til you reach the top of the pan, ending with enchilada sauce. Top the dish with shredded cheddar cheese and bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes, til the cheese is melted and the sides are bubbly and a little crispy. Serve with sour cream and avocado. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Muffins

I do love a baked good, that's no secret. And since I've been easing up on the grain it takes a lot to get me to indulge. But there are 2 key reasons that make it irresistible to me: healthy grain (in this case oatmeal & oat bran) and something sweet (banana & chocolate). And the more the better, for me! This is a new muffin recipe and it's looking hopeful:)

Begin by combining the milk with the dry oatmeal and oat bran.

The coconut I have on hand is a large shave, so I'm giving it a little extra chopping. Using a food processor might have been a better idea, these bad boys are flying everywhere! Yikes!

Add that, along with egg, oil and vanilla to the wet ingredients, mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix lightly.

In a small bowl mash the bananas. I'm a taking an extra minute to mash them well because the muffin batter is a little dry, so I want the bananas to add some moisture to the mix.

Add the bananas and mini chocolate chips to the mix and combine. Spoon into lined muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes. YUM!

Oatmeal Muffins
1 1/4 c milk
3/4 c oat bran
3/4 c oats
1/2 c unsweetened coconut, shredded
1 egg
1/4 c canola oil
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 c ap flour
1/2 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 medium bananas, mashed well
1/2 c mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl combine milk, oat bran, oats, coconut, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well and let sit for a few minutes. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add wet ingredients into the dry, lightly mix. Add in banana and chocolate chips, mix til combined. Scoop into paper lined muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes, or til lightly browned on top & tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Makes about 18 muffins. Enjoy!

Chocolate Crinkles

My husband is a smart guy, and I'm a lucky lady to have him! Two weeks ago he was traveling on business (boo) in Fort Wayne, Indiana (where? exactly.) But, like I said, he is a smart guy and when he's traveling he likes to make it up to me by bringing me my favorite treat, chocolate truffles. And lucky for me there's a chocolate shop in Fort Wayne that is now my favorite! How good are they? Let's just say that Donald Trump keeps these little tasties on hand at all times and gives them as gifts and thank yous. So, if they're good enough for the Donald then they're good enough for me! And then some, I devoured the box in two days...2! That wasn't so smart because now they've been haunting me, I can't get them out of my mind. And since I don't have these delicious truffles to turn to in my time of need I'm going to have to take some measures to fix this serious chocolate craving I'M. HAVING. RIGHT. NOW!!! This is where chocolate crinkles come in, thankfully:) sigh

ok, let's get started. As for most baking, the eggs need to be at room temp, especially because this recipe uses melted chocolate. I wouldn't want the cold eggs combining with the warm chocolate and creating unsweetened chocolate lumps- not good. Here's a trick if you're like me and you bake on a whim- fill a bowl with hot tap water, drop - gently - the cold eggs into the water and let sit while you work on melting the chocolate and gathering the other ingredients. Works like a charm every time!

I prefer to melt chocolate in the microwave. Roughly chop unsweetened chocolate and place in a glass measuring cup.

Microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds until the chocolate is smooth. This took a total cooking time of 1:30.

On to the mixing, in a large bowl combine eggs, sugar, baking powder, oil, vanilla and mix well.

Add in melted chocolate, mix well.

Add flour and mix til well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl if needed.

Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or up to the night before baking.

When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Pour some powdered sugar into a small bowl. Scoop about a tablespoon of dough and roll between your hands til you have a ball - about 1" across is the goal. Place into powdered sugar.

Roll in powdered sugar until completely coated and ...

..place on a cookie sheet about 1" apart. Continue til full and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Aren't these scrumptious looking?! They are like the perfect little brownie bite, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and the powdered sugar puts it over the top, yum! I got about 50 cookies out of this batch, they may last more than 2 days, mmmmm, maybe not:-)

On a side note, I was telling my husband how AMAZING those chocolates were and to my surprise he shipped me another BIGGER box, wow, true love<3

Chocolate Crinkles
from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book

3 eggs, room temp
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 c sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 canola oil
2 t vanilla
2 c ap flour
1 c powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, sugar, baking powder, oil and vanilla. Mix well, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add in chocolate, mix well, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add in flour and combine well, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Cover and chill for 1-2 hours. When ready to bake preheat oven to 375 degrees. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of cookie dough, roll between hands to shape ball and roll in powdered sugar to coat fully. Place on a cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let set for a few minutes after removing from oven, then cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy:)