Red velvet with white dot cookies

When I was a child and my mom would bake sweets, she would always use a box mix from Duncan Hines. This is why, as a teenager and young adult, I would comb the baking aisle of the local supermarkets looking for Duncan Hines purple cake mix in an effort to recreate my favorite birthday cake, the purple birthday cake, from my 5^th birthday. In my late twenties, I figured out how my mom made the cake with box cake mix,--white cake mix, red and blue food coloring.

Where there is no shame in my family for baking cakes, brownies or cookies from box mixes or refrigerated ready to shape and bake dough, several such mixes reside on my cabinet shelves. After attempting to make a red velvet cake from scratch using my Godmother's recipe, running out of red food coloring and using blue food coloring which resulted in a brownish red velvet cake, I was excited to see Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake mix. With the intent of making this as a cake, I bought a box where it languished on my cabinet shelf for over a year.

Wanting to make something with the mix which would serve many, not require utensils and could be stored easily, I went to the Duncan Hines' website and found their recipe for Red and White Velvet Cookies. Not interested in investing the time required to shape and refrigerate the dough, dipping or spreading melted white chocolate on half of each cookie, nor in investing in white chocolate premium baking bars when I had a bag of white chocolate chips already in the house, I modified the recipe to accommodate my wishes and is the one I've posted here.

Red velvet with white dot cookies (yield: approximately 48 cookies)

1 box Duncan Hines Signature Red Velvet Cake Mix

6 tablespoons butter

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup white chocolate chips

• Place oven rack on middle run setting. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
• Lightly grease cookie sheet. Set aside.
• In large microwave safe bowl, melt butter.
• Add cake mix, egg, and vanilla extract and mix by hand until well blended and dough is formed.
• Shape dough into 1 inch balls, placing them 2-inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten balls with bottom of glass.
• Bake, 1 sheet at a time for 10 – 12 minutes or until set. Remove from oven, cool 1 minute then transfer cookie to cooling rack to cool completely.

Place white chocolate chips in dry small to medium glass bowl. Melt in microwave for 90 seconds at 50% power (or medium power). Stir with a dry spoon or spatula. Continue melting in microwave at 50% power (or medium power) in 30 second increments, stirring each time until chocolate is melted.

Using a back of dry spoon or a butter knife, spread a quarter-size amount of white chocolate on the center of each cookie. Let chocolate set, about 1 – 2 hours, before serving or storing in airtight container with wax or parchment paper separating layers. 

Red Velvet cookies ready for their 

white chocolate dots

A faster way to cook frozen riced cauliflower?

In my April 7, 2017 blog post, RicedCauliflower with Lemon Mustard Dressing, I provided instructions on how to cook frozen riced cauliflower. While my instructions have the cauliflower cooking in as fast as 15 minutes, depending upon how high medium-high heat is for you, I found there were times when I was waiting as long as 30 minutes. Looking for a faster way to cook frozen riced cauliflower without burning it as I have found occasions when 30 minutes was too long, I've evolved my original instructions to be:

12 oz riced cauliflower, frozen recommended

1/2 cup water

In a 3 quart pot, cook riced frozen cauliflower and water over medium to medium-high heat, stirring periodically. Cauliflower may solidify to frozen block but will thaw as pot is heated. Cook about 10 – 25 minutes until cauliflower is a “soft” rice consistency and water is absorbed. Remove from heat. Use as you would in any recipe calling for riced cauliflower.

I will state this gives the riced cauliflower an al dente texture. If you prefer a softer texture, then I suggest using the instructions from my original post.

Riced Cauliflower with Lemon

Mustard Dressing

Roasted Butternut Squash with Red Onions

This was one of my new recipes for 2017 and, like the creamy Sunflower Seed Olive Oil Dressing, is a variation from Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks.com recipe for RoastedPumpkin Salad as it appeared in the November 2012 issue of YogaJournal. The recipe, at is appeared in Yoga Journal, had been on my list to try since 2013, but for one reason or another, I would miss the season for local pumpkin, only to find myself waiting for next year. Done with waiting, I chose to use butternut squash. Impatient to try this recipe, I used quartered medium red onions as they were faster to prepare than the other options supplied.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Red Onions (makes approximately 2 servings)

3 cups of 1-inch butternut squash, peeled and cubed

12 tiny red onions or shallots, peeled, or 3 medium red onions, peeled and quartered

Extra-virgin olive oil

1. Place oven rack on middle rug and preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit. 
2. In a large bowl, toss the squash in a generous splash of olive oil and turn onto a large baking sheet. 
3. Using same bowl, toss the onions with a bit of olive oil, and turn onto same baking sheet. 
4. Roast for about for about 45 minutes, flipping once or twice during roasting, until squash is soft and easily pierced with a fork, and the onions are deeply colored, caramelized soft when also pierced with a fork.
5. Remove from oven and serve as is as a side dish or place on a bed of dark greens and top with Sunflower Seed Olive Oil Dressing.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Red Onions
atop Kale with 
Sunflower Seed Olive Oil Dressing

Sunflower Seed Olive Oil Dressing or a creamy, dairy free alternative

This was one of my new recipes for 2016 as I was looking for a dressing which was not a vinaigrette, was creamy and didn't require mayonnaise or sour cream. Limiting the amount of water added makes a thicker dressing which can be used as a fruit or vegetable dip.

This is a variation of the dressing from Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks.com recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Salad as it appeared in the November 2012 issue of Yoga Journal.

Sunflower Seed Olive Oil Dressing

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey, maple syrup or agave nectar

Warm water

¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

½ cup finely chopped cilantro (optional)

Using a hand blender or food processor puree the sunflower seeds, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, maple syrup or agave nectar until creamy. If needed, add a few tablespoons of water to thin dressing to desired consistency. Stir in cilantro. Taste, and adjust seasonings (of flavors) to your liking.

Drizzle or toss on salad greens. Store any used portion in refrigerator for up to one month.

Dressing atop salad of baby spinach, 

carrots, chopped apple, raisins, and

julienne sliced sun dried tomatoes

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Adobo seasoning for one or for four

With cucumbers, tomatoes and onions in full season here in New England along with some fresh parsley I received from a co-workers herb garden, I was eager to try this recipe which I had clipped from a Goya food product advertisement and which I've had in my recipe collection for longer than I can remember.

On a warm day I assembled the ingredients only to discover I didn't have any adobo seasoning. Or, at least I thought. A google search of adobo seasoning uncovered many recipes. I settled on a half-batch of an all-purpose adobo seasoning recipe I found at allrecipes.com and have included here as I had all the ingredients for the seasoning in the house.

The salad recipe below is a variation of the recipe provided by Goya as I used a yellow onion instead of red onion, regular tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, an unseeded cucumber, no cheese and ate immediately after prepared.

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Adobo seasoning for one

½ cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed

½ cup cucumber, diced

1 tablespoon onion, diced

½ cup tomatoes, diced

¼ teaspoon fresh parsley chopped (optional)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon adobo seasoning (recipe below, if needed)

In a small to medium bowl, gently stir together chickpeas, cucumbers, onion and tomatoes and parsley (optional) until combined. Set aside.

In a separate small bowl using a fork, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil and adobo seasoning to make dressing. Toss olive oil-lemon dressing with vegetables until coated completely. Serve.

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Adobo seasoning for four

1 ½ cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed (this is approximately one 15.5 ounce can of chickpeas)

1 1/2 cups cucumber, diced (this is about 1 cucumber, seeded)

¼ cup onion, diced

1 ½ cup tomatoes, diced (this is about ½ pint of cherry tomatoes, quartered)

½ cup mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2” cubes (this is about 4 ounces of cheese)

2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped (optional)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

Adobo seasoning, to taste (recipe below, if needed)

In a medium bowl, gently stir together chickpeas, cucumbers, onion and tomatoes and parsley (optional) until combined. Set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil and adobo seasoning to make dressing.

Toss olive oil-lemon dressing with reserved vegetables until coated completely. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Adobo seasoning (half-batch all purpose recipe I found at allrecipes.com)

1 ½ tablespoons garlic powder

1 ¼ tablespoons table salt OR 4 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon ground oregano

¼ teaspoon groudnd turmeric

Whisk garlic powder, salt, black pepper, oregano, and turmeric together in a bowl. Store in an airtight container. 

Mediterranean Chickpea

Salad for One

Another version of the Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffin recipe

If you are of a certain age and grew up in a certain location in New England, you know of the Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffin. A department store similar to Dillard's and Macy's, the latter absorbed many of these stores in the 1990s and eventually phased out the muffins. A google search of “Jordan Marsh muffins” will yield multiple versions of this recipe from websites such as King Arthur Flour, Cooks.com, Epicurious.

The version I have I found several years ago in my reading travels and matches very closely to the version available from the Boston Globe's website.

I like this recipe because it uses 2 cups (1 pint) fresh or frozen blueberries and it's a great way to use blueberries which were frozen over the summer when they were plentiful and in season.

½ cup (1 stick) butter softened

1 ¼ cups sugar

2 eggs

½ cup evaporated milk

2 cups flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups (1 pint) fresh or frozen blueberries

Extra sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degree farenheit.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in berries.

Line a 12 cup baking tin with baking cups. Fill all baking cups equally with batter. Sprinkle tops with sugar.

Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center or a muffin in middle of tin comes out as only purple. Remove from oven. Cool. Serve. Store any leftovers in air-tight container/

Strawberry Jam or why Reading is Fundamental

While I can walk into any supermarket here in New England at any time of year and find strawberries in the produce section, I've found the season for local strawberries is about 4 – 6 weeks. Having “cut my teeth” on canning with applesauce, salsa and one very long Sunday in October making grape jelly, I cannot tell you how excited I was when I learned of KevinWest's Basic Strawberry Jam recipe.

Even though I needed to wait a year before trying this recipe, I was grateful to have a recipe for jam which didn't call for as much sugar as fruit. As local strawberry season approached, I reviewed the hard copy I printed the prior year, noting what ingredients I had, needed, as well as which pots, pans and utensils were to be pulled out and used.   

Donning my “canning clothes”, clothes that I don't care if they get dirty or sticky, I went to my local farmer's market and bought strawberries. Following the recipe, I washed and mashed the strawberries, combined them with the other ingredients and canned the end result.

It was only until after the last jar had sealed with its distinctive “pop” sound that I realized the jam consistency was soft-set at room temperature,--as is noted in the recipe. My heart sank as I personally prefer a firmer-set. I also scolded myself for not fully reading the recipe.

Looking at these jars of soft-set jam my mind went to work on how to make a firmer-set jam. It took me 24 hours and having to open every jar of freshly canned jam as well as 3 seasons of local strawberries, testing and refining to bring this recipe to post.

If you like firmer-set jam, similar to what you would find the supermarket, this is a recipe you might want to try.

If you like your jam with a soft-set consistency, then I highly recommend Kevin West's recipe for Basic Strawberry Jam.

Either way, I suggest wearing clothes that can get dirty or sticky.

Strawberries ready to become jam

Strawberry Jam, Firm-set

yield: 1 ½ – 2 pints

2 pounds ripe strawberries (approximately 4 cups diced)

2 ½ cups sugar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or 1 ½ tablespoons reconstituted lemon juice)

1 granny smith apple approximately, 2 1/4” - 3” in diameter, peeled grated and pressed

Rinse strawberries and remove their caps. Depending upon size of strawberries and freshness, slice and remove any “over ripe soft spots” (you'll know these when you see them).

Place strawberries in a 3 quart pot and crush with a potato masher or your hands. 

Add sugar and lemon juice to crushed strawberries. Set aside.

Peel granny smith apple and grate using box grater. Squeeze as much excess juice as possible from grated apple. To squeeze the juice, I suggest one thick or two thin paper towel sheets layered atop each other, placing grated apple in center, folding up corners of towel in one hand, and squeezing and twisting paper towel where apple is with the other.

Add grated pressed apple to strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice.  Stir mixture to loosely combine ingredients. 

On small burner on stove top, bring mixture to boil over high heat. Boil and stir constantly on high heat for 10 minutes, skimming off any foam.

Reduce heat to medium, continue to cook and stir for another 10 – 20 minutes. Jam should be a deep ruby red color and be half the amount you started with.

Turn off heat.  If canning, ladle hot jam into prepared ½ pint jars, leaving 1/4” head space. Seal, and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.  Unsealed jars should be kept refrigerated.


If not canning, ladle hot jam into clean glass jars with well-fitting lids, leaving 1/4" head space. Cover and place in refrigerator to keep jam from spoiling. Uncanned jam should be good for two weeks if kept refrigerated.


 

 

Strawberry Jam, canned and processed,

ready for eating