Butternut Squash Cake

 This is a moist, spicy cake that your family is sure to love. It whips up in a flash which makes this a quick and easy recipe. Try using canned pumpkin in place of the squash if you don't have any fresh butternut or buttercup on hand. Each variety of squash will give a slightly different flavor, but all would be equally delicious! 

I found this recipe when I did a recipe search for butternut squash, then tweaked it a bit. Harv said it is one of his all time favorite cakes now.  I also made it using buttercup squash with equally good results. Butternut squash has a little better flavor tho as far as I’m concerned. 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKE

4 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups cooked, pureed butternut squash

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 TB cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

½ tsp each: nutmeg, allspice and ginger

2 cups flour

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. 

Put in a greased and floured 9x13 pan.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake springs back when lightly touched in center.

Allow to cool, then ice with cream cheese icing.

Icing:

8 oz cream cheese

½ cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients until light and fluffy.  Spread over cake.

(Really only need half this much icing)

Fire In The Hole Chili

This recipe was created for a Chili Cook Off at the Christian Alliance Church 10/28/12. Usually I would put pinto beans, lima beans and sliced olives in here also, but frankly, the roaster pan was too full! LOL

This morning at church several people asked me if i thought I'd win and I told them, "I highly doubt it as my chili is probably too hot for most people". But loo and behold, I won!! My hubby is so excited because the prize is tickets to a Browns vs Steelers game. :) He's pretty darn pumped!!

This makes a HUGE batch so beware! I'll try to do the math an cut it back to a more manageable size recipe and post later.

FIRE IN THE HOLE CHILI                                                              

(Batch more than fills a roaster)

3 TB olive oil

2 lg onions, chopped

2 lg green peppers, chopped

6 lg Hungarian Hots Banana Peppers, finely chopped

6 lg jalapeno peppers, finely chopped

5 habanera peppers, finely chopped

¼ cup minced garlic

2, 1lb packages of hot sausage

3 lbs lean ground beef

3, 12oz tomato paste

2, #10 cans diced tomatoes

1 #10 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 #10 can black beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups cooked navy beans

4 cups cooked black eyed peas

2, 15oz cans white hominy corn

4 TB (1/4 cup) ground cumin

2 ½ TB Chili Ancho Molido powder

 3 TB zesty or hot chili powder

Sauté veggies in olive oil in large stock pot.

Add the sausage and ground beef stirring to break apart meat.

Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until no longer pink.

Add remaining ingredients, stirring to distribute seasonings evenly.

Remove 10-12 cups of chili for the wimps. Then to the remaining chili add:

8 more diced jalapenos

4 more diced habanera

4 more diced Hungarian hots banana peppers

¾ cup Valentina Salsa Picante (Mexican hot sauce)

4 Cups ChiChi’s medium salsa

2 TB cayenne pepper

APPLE CIDER PORK ON CIABATTA ROLLS

I have been cooking a lot of poultry lately and was in the mood for some beef, so I asked my hubby to bring home a roast. What he brought was a bone-in pork roast. hmmm.... I happened to have some fresh cider and thought that might make a nice marinade for pork. Then decided I'd rather just put it in the crock pot and forget about it. The following is the recipe I came up with for a quick, low fuss meal on a busy day. I had some ciabatta rolls on hand and a bunch of blue cheese. The combination was a smash! Feel free to mix up the cheese and bread combos to add some variety. 

APPLE CIDER PORK

2-3lb lean pork roast

2 cups fresh apple cider

½ cup soy sauce

2 TB fresh ginger, minced or grated

½ lg onion, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or thinly sliced

Ciabatta rolls, Baguettes or other hard roll

Blue cheese, feta cheese or your favorite cheese

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Set on high for 5 hours or more or until pork is tender and separates easily.

Pull pork off bones, separating and removing any fat.

Slice buns and toast lightly.

Fill bun with shredded meat and top with cheese of choice.

You may strain the juice and use for dipping if desired. 

The leftovers also freeze well. :) This would be a great recipe to do in bulk in a roaster for a crowd. 

FOUR CHEESE PIZZA WITH HOMEMADE SAUSAGE

When I was growing up we raised our own cows, pigs, chickens and rabbits for meat. We even had a meat cutting room in our garage. My dad and oldest brother did all the butchering, but all of us kids helped in the processing of the meat. I remember my dad making sausage and always loved his recipes. So a few years ago when visiting my brother I copied dad's recipes for several kinds of sausage. His recipe for Breakfast Sausage is one of my favorites. I get migraines, and the nitrates in sausage and other processed meats is a trigger, so I buy bulk ground pork and make my own using dad's recipes. I was in the mood for pizza tonight so I took out a package of this home made sausage to defrost this morning.

I know I have shared my pizza recipe before, so I won't repeat the dough recipe for now. If you can't find it in the archives, just let me know and I will repost. Below is my process for constructing the pizza.

FOUR CHEESE PIZZA
1 recipe pizza dough (see archives for recipe)
Roll out dough onto pizza stone.
Coat with olive oil and pressed garlic
Spread with 1 TB pesto or 1 tsp Italian herbs
Top with thinly sliced roma tomatoes.
Salt & pepper tomatoes
Cover with a thin layer of each of the four cheeses:
Mozzarella, Parmesan, Cheddar, Feta
Top with cooked sausage.
Add thinly sliced onions and chopped green peppers.
Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
Bake at 420 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

BREAKFAST SAUSAGE

5lbs ground pork

1 TBL kosher salt or sea salt

1 ¾ tsp scant ground white pepper

1 1/2 TBL + rubbed sage               

1 tsp nutmeg                                    

1 tsp thyme                                     

1 tsp cayenne pepper  

1 tsp garlic                      

1 cup ice water       

Combine all seasonings and mix into the ground pork with the ice water until well combined.  Divide into 1 lb containers or plastic bags and freeze until ready to use.                          

Chicken Minestrone Soup with Herbed Parmesan Biscuits

Fall is the perfect time to start making soups again. There is something so very comforting about a simmering pot of soup filling the house with delicious aromas! Tonight I was debating between making Aroz Con Pollo and this soup. I guess it's obvious which won out. LOL I'll make the Aroz Con Pollo next time. :)

This is one of my Go-To soups when I have leftover chicken and lots of veggies on hand.  You can change it up by switching veggies or meat such as substituting sausage or turkey for the chicken or adding green beans and yellow squash or corn.  Add pasta or leave out the kidney beans, but this is my basic recipe. Play with it as you like and make it your own.  

I also wanted biscuits or something to go with it. So I created this recipe to go with my soup. I didn't want plain biscuits, instead I wanted something quick and easy to make, but with a little more flavor. This was the result. Absolutely delicious! Crisp on the outside and tender on the inside with just enough cheese and herbs to be a treat in and of itself. I dare you to eat just one, or two, or three for that matter! Enjoy!

CHICKEN MINESTRONE SOUP

8 cups chicken stock

1 cup each chopped: Celery, onion and carrots

1 TB chopped garlic

2 cups each chopped: Roma tomatoes*, zucchini and broccoli

2 tsp parsley

1 ½ tsp basil

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp marjoram

½ tsp sea salt

1 can Cannellini beans or Kidney beans

Pour chicken stock into a medium stock pot and turn on medium high heat.

Add vegetables to stock pot in order (veggies that take most time to cook are listed first, less time to cook listed last)

Add seasonings and simmer until veggies are almost done.

Add White or red kidney beans and heat through.

*May use a can of tomatoes instead of the Roma tomatoes.

Sometimes I also add pasta before the beans. Cavatapi is one of my favorites for this soup.

Herbed Parmesan Biscuits

2 ¼ cups Bisquick

1 TB parsley

1 ½ tsp basil

½ tsp garlic

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 TB melted Butter with more for dipping baked biscuits

2/3-3/4 cup milk

Combine Bisquick with seasonings and cheese.

Add melted butter and milk, starting with 2/3 cup and adding more milk 1 TB at a time until soft dough is formed.

Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto baking stone or cookie sheet.

Bake at 415 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and set.

Dip hot biscuits into melted butter.

Try adding other cheeses and herbs into the dough before the milk and see what combinations you can come up with. Suggestions: Swiss cheese and dill, Gruyere and rosemary, Cheddar and red pepper flakes. The possibilities are endless!

Back In The Saddle Again....

Well it's been a while since I've posted. Fall is the time to get back into a routine and solidify the schedule again! My laptop battery died and I got out of the habit of posting, since I usually posted after dinner while watching TV with the hubby. Being tied to the desk kind of stunted my style. LOL Then I went on a 6 week "Saggin to Braggin Cross country Extravaganza" tour, holding 15 Essential Bodywear shows from Ohio to IN, MT, WA, OR, CA, AZ, Co and back home! It was a fun time with the hubby and really enjoyed meeting up with friends and family along the way. So nice to have a business that I can take with me wherever I go!! And I get to write off the whole trip!! woo hoo!! Enough about that, on to the recipes!!

Last night my son Ben called and wanted to bring his new girlfriend over to meet us. When Ben comes, he usually gives me his menu request. LOL Since I had just gotten back from this road trip I wasn't up to his #1 Menu choice; Marinated Garlic Ribs and Fettuccine Alfredo, but he was happy with option #2; Chicken Divan and Pumpkin Roll. I'm pretty sure I have posted Chicken Divan before, so I'll just post the Pumpkin Roll here for now.

There is nothing that signifies fall better than pumpkin anything! Pumpkin rolls, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Muffins, etc. I'm in the mood for squash of all kinds, so I'm sure more fallish recipes will be forth coming. :)
For now, here is the Pumpkin Roll recipe we used at The Antique Oven. It is quick, easy and always a crowd pleaser.

PUMPKIN ROLL from The Antique Oven

Beat together:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp lemon juice

Add, mixing well:

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 TB cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

Grease and flour a jelly roll pan, or grease well and line with parchment paper.

Pour batter in pan, smoothing to edges and leveling batter evenly.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Dust parchment, waxed paper or tea towel generously with powdered sugar.

Turn cake onto towel.

Sprinkle with more powdered sugar and gently roll up cake, starting with the short end.

Let cool while rolled up.

Meanwhile, mix up the filling:

4 TB butter or margarine

8oz cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

When cake is cool, gently unroll and spread with the filling.

Re-roll the cake gently so as not to break it apart.

Wrap with plastic wrap and keep in fridge until ready to serve.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

HISTORY:

This is the recipe we came up with at The Antique Oven.  We liked to add a little more spice than the average recipe for just a tad more zing! This recipe freezes well and works great for catering as it is quick to make, stores well, looks pretty when served and is fairly cheap to make. For added pizzazz, whip up a quick cinnamon sauce (even a caramel sauce would be good) and drizzle it over each slice before serving.

Orange Ginger Sweet Potato w/ Edamame

Recently I was given some sweet potatoes and I have been playing around trying to find new ways to serve this yummy vegetable.  I had the inspiration to try it with ginger and orange, and then kind of proceeded from there. When it was almost done I realized I hadn't prepared anything green to go with it so I decided to try just adding the edamame right into the pan with the rest.  It was delicious!!!! This would make a great Vegan meal by itself, but I served it with blackened salmon this time. I will definitely do this recipe again. So glad I wrote it down while I could remember what I did. lol

I'll post some of the nutritional benefits of these ingredients after the recipe.

ORANGE GINGER SWEET POTATO W/ EDAMAME

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½” pieces (about 2 cups)

¼ cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp dried or 1 TB fresh grated orange zest (colored part of peel)

2 TB coconut oil*(see note below)

¼ cup orange juice

2 TB hot pepper jelly

1 cup frozen edamame- run under warm water to defrost-drain.

Salt and pepper to taste

Place the coconut oil in a large skillet on medium heat.

Add garlic, onion, ginger, orange zest and potato.

Sauté until potatoes are barely tender.

Add orange juice and hot pepper jelly along with the defrosted edamame.

Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender and edamame is cooked.

*NOTE:

If you don’t have coconut oil you may use butter, olive oil or grape-seed oil, but the coconut oil adds a nice flavor to this dish.

Ginger: This tuber is known to aid in digestion and calm an upset tummy. It is used to help with sea sickness, morning sickness and for people going through chemotherapy. It has antibacterial qualities and has been proven to aid in preventing several kinds of cancer in mice. It is also said to help with arthritis pain and aid in blood thinning and lowering blood pressure. 

Edamame:

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 448 kJ (107 kcal)

Carbohydrates 12 g

- Sugars 3 g

- Dietary fiber 6 g

Fat 6 g

Protein 12 g

Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.2 mg (17%)

Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.3 mg (25%)

Niacin (vit. B3) 1.1 mg (7%)

Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.6 mg (12%)

Vitamin B6 0.2 mg (15%)

Folate (vit. B9) 358 μg (90%)

Vitamin C 11.4 mg (14%)

Vitamin K 37 μg (35%)

Calcium 71 mg (7%)

Iron 2.5 mg (19%)

Magnesium 72 mg (20%)

Manganese 1.2 mg (57%)

Phosphorus 190 mg (27%)

Potassium 569 mg (12%)

Zinc 1.6 mg (17%)

Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.

Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Raw Sweet Potato

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 360 kJ (86 kcal)

Carbohydrates 20.1 g

- Starch 12.7 g

- Sugars 4.2 g

- Dietary fibre 3.0 g

Fat 0.1 g

Protein 1.6 g

Vitamin A equiv. 709 μg (89%)

- beta-carotene 8509 μg (79%)

- lutein and zeaxanthin 0 μg

Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.1 mg (9%)

Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.1 mg (8%)

Niacin (vit. B3) 0.61 mg (4%)

Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.8 mg (16%)

Vitamin B6 0.2 mg (15%)

Folate (vit. B9) 11 μg (3%)

Vitamin C 2.4 mg (3%)

Vitamin E 0.26 mg (2%)

Calcium 30.0 mg (3%)

Iron 0.6 mg (5%)

Magnesium 25.0 mg (7%)

Phosphorus 47.0 mg (7%)

Potassium 337 mg (7%)

Sodium 55 mg (4%)

Zinc 0.3 mg (3%)

Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.