Summer Makes for Lazy Menus

I have not been at all good at posting summer menus and I am off for vacation for the next couple of weeks, but I wanted everyone in my area to look out for the Fall Learning Points Class offerings. Many cooking classes will be offered for adults and kids, from Appetizers to Teens Cooking and Serving Dinners at the Wild Whisk Cafe to Crockpot Creations.

As we move into Fall, more menus will be created and I will change to a weekly format based on the change of sales at the grocery stores. This enables me to plan around sales items and save money and eat with the season of vegetables and fruits. So, I will post the menu on Wednesday or Thursday for the week.

Let me know if you want to learn to cook anything and I will do a recipe/blog on it.

Week Ending April 11

Sunday - Traditional Pork Roast
Save the leftovers for use during the week.
Monday - Pepperoni Pizza Pockets
I use refrigerated pizza dough. Roll it out and cut into quarters. Spread 2 T jarred spaghetti sauce in middle of each serving, add shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and pepperoni. Leave a boarder, fold over and press to seal. Spray with butter spray and sprinkle garlic powder over pocket. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until golden.
Tuesday - BBQ pork sandwiches with chips and slaw
Wednesday - Chicken avocado and bacon rustic sandwiches
Thursday - Keaton's day to cook, but instead he will be performing in his school choir. Eat out.
Friday - Keaton will cook steaks, baked potatoes, and a vegetable.
Saturday - Keaton's last mammoth game so we will eat there.

Killer Cinnamon Rolls

I visited my father's house over Spring Break and while listening to him day dream of cinnabon's rolls, I thought, "I can do that". I have never been good with dough and every time I have tried to make rols from scratch they have becopme hockey pucks for my son, but....this time was different. Maybe it was the fact that I was baking at sea level, maybe I was just so relaxed that I followed the whole recipe..almost. The result was wonderful, fluffy,cinnamony goodness dripping with buttery, sweet, creamy frosting. They even worked in Colorado, just not quite so fluffy, but still gooey yumminess!

This recipe is for a bread machine and I have no idea what is would be like by hand. It is time consuming so give yourself 3-4 hours and you need to set your eggs, butter, and cream cheese out a few hours or overnight. (Yes, eggs are fine stored at room temp - they just don't keep for weeks on end)

Cinnamon Rolls
Dough:
1 C milk
1 egg beaten
4 T butter, melted
4T water
1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
4 C bread flour
1 T sugar
½ t salt
1 packet rapid rise yeast
Add ingredients into bread machine in order listed. Start dough cycle. Meanwhile, prepare the filling for the rolls.
Filling:
½ C butter, softened
1 C brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
Mix in small bowl crumbles can be large. Heat in microwave 10 seconds on high right before using to create a spreadable mix.
When dough is done, punch down on very lightly floured surface. Roll out to 10X17” rectangle. Spread filling to all edges except 1” on one long side. This is the edge that will create the seam. Roll tightly from long side and press clean seam to seal. With serrated knife, slice log into 1-1 1/2” rolls. Place in greased 9X13 or larger pan. Let rise until doubled in size. To speed rising, place in cold oven, set oven to lowest temp or warm setting. When oven is preheated, turn off heat, leave dough in oven, do not open door and allow dough to rise. If you live in dry climate (Colorado), place pan of warm water on rack below the dough. When dough has risen, (remove from oven if you use speed method) preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 15 or so minutes until slightly golden. Frost and enjoy!
Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
½ C butter, softened
1 3/4 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/8 t lemon extract
Whip butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add extracts and beat. Add sugar in 3 batches beating well after each addition. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Valentine's Day Chocolate Truffle Cake

This cake is not for those remotely on a diet or who are not very fond of chocolate.....
1 C butter
14 oz good quality dark chocolate
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
9 large eggs, room temp, separated
1/2 C sugar
1/4 t cream of tartar
Powdered sugar for top
Preheat oven 300 degrees. Cover bottom of 9" X 3" springform pan with foil while separated from ring. Reassemble pan and grease and flour (using cocoa powder), the bottom and sides of pan..

In Large glass bowl, combine butter with chocolate and microwave at 50% for a couple of minutes. Stir until smooth. It may have to be nuked again for another minute or so.

In small bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar until very thick and lemon yellow colored. Add to the chocolate mixture with rubber spatula until blended.

In medium to large bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mix in thirds. This will take a while as it is a gentle process to retain the volume of the whites.

Pour batter into pan. Bake 35 minutes It will not be jiggly, but not firm either. Allow to cool to room temp and then chill overnight in fridge. Bring to room temp and dust with powdered sugar when you are ready to serve.

This V-Day, I substituted almost all of the dark chocolate with Black Opal Cocoa powder and additional butter and I also used the Black Opal for the unsweetened chocolate. I made a half batch of the mix, using 5 eggs and baked 20 minutes in six 7 oz ramekins. This resulted in a black (think Oreo cookies) firm, intensely chocolate cake that was a bit dry - more butter next time. Mark requested that next time, I not promise two cakes out to friends and that I make 100 instead of six - so still a hit!

Week Ending February 20

Monday - Roast Beef with potatoes, carrots, onion, and celery
Tuesday - Salmon with lime dill sauce and asparagus
Wednesday - French Dip Sandwiches (use leftovers)
Thursday - Pork Diane with green beans and stuffing
Slice pork tenderloin into medallions. Pan sear, remove medallions from pan. Deglaze pan with wine or broth, add onion and chive cream cheese or another soft herbed cheese to create sauce.
Friday - Wine, cheese, and chocolate party - no dinner :-)
Saturday - Leftovers

Week Ending January 30, 2009

Sunday - Fish and Chips
Monday - Fend for yourself
Tuesday -Baked Potato bar
Chili and broccoli and cheese on baked potatoes, salad
Wednesday - Roasted Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans
Thursday - Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade noodles and stock from my cooking class assembled before eating with chicken breast on top of the noodles covered with stock.
Friday - Melting Pot - Celebrating my mother's birthday - but I will make her a pineapple upside down cake
Saturday - Pepsi Center - eating on Club level while watching our son play lacrosse at the half time show for the Professional team, Mammoth

So, we really aren't eating too well this week, too busy - Cat has class Mondays -this is the last :-( Mark has class Tuesdays and the weekend is thoroughly planned! Eat well...

Week Ending January 24

Okay so I know most of the week is gone, but here is what we ate and are planing on easting.
Sunday - Steak with garlic butter, carmelized onions and roasted potatoes with olive oil and rosemary
Monday - Fend for Yourself
This has shifted since I now have a cooking class on Monday nights.
Tuesday-Chicken nuggets for the boy, Adults weren't hungry
Wednesday - Fish Tacos with citrus slaw
Thursday - Hawaiian meatloaves with chow mein noodles
Mix 1 pound ground turkey with chopped green bell peppers, onion about 1/2 cup. Add about a half cup of bread crmbs and crushed pineapple. Be gentle, overmixing will make it tough. Put into loaf pan and drizzle with some reserved pineapple juice and terryaki sauce. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour until done.
Friday - Fast Food in Denver
Saturday - Chicken with romesco sauce on homemade spagetti
Sunday - Roast Turkey with mashed potatoes, gravy and broccoli

Week ending January 10

Wednesday - Chili and Cornbread
I am not sure whether I will top the chili with the bread and bake as a caserole or just make the cornbread separate and serve along side the chili, either way it is great. I am using three types of beans and soy crumbles in my chili. Yum!
Thursday - Grilled chicken, avacado and bacon sandwiches with homemade mayo
Okay, homemade mayo sounds hard, but... I started a class at a professional cooking school and it is really quite easy, even by hand. egg, one cup or less of oil, lemon and salt blend and add water as needed to keep the consistency the way you like, just drizzle the oil and the egg will magically expand! These will be served on hard rolls and we will eat soup if we are unusually hungry.
Friday - Dijon Pork loin with potato wedges and salad
I am making a dijon sauce with mustard, honey and a bit of orange to glaze the pork after it has been cooked.

We will be busy Saturday and Sunday will be fend for yourself as it normally is.