Category — Cooking Lessons and Kitchen Helps

[Saturday Sides is a weekly feature I run to help you combat the side dish blahs.  Check here every Saturday to see what’s new and different you can add to your dinner table.  Or, you can subscribe here so that you never miss a Saturday Sides Recipe.]

Well, it went a little like this.  The picture looked so pretty in the magazine that I was considering giving Glazed Carrots a try.  The problem was, cooked carrots are just completely not my bag.  Diced and steamed in rice?  Crunchy in a stir-fry?  Dipped in ranch?   That’s all cool with me.  But, cooked carrots?  Not so much.

In the end I gave in and added them to the menu.  I wasn’t too worried, I knew you guys would probably like them, and I knew that Hubby and Babs would eat them.  And, as it turns out, I wasn’t disappointed, since my carrots were even prettier than the ones in the magazine.

But, here’s the best (and most suprising) part . . . I LOVED THEM!!  Truly, these are incredible.  They are lightly sweet - just enough to really bring out the natural flavor of the vegetable.  Plus, they are tender, but not mushy.  Oh yes, eyebrow-raised-skeptical readers, these are just plain ol’ good.  And, let me tell you, no one was more suprised than I was at how well this week’s Saturday Side turned out.  I wanted to wrap my arms around the bowl, scoot it up close to me, and announce “MINE!”  The same way Babs will do with her Monopoly money when she lands on free parking.

They only take a few minutes to make (it takes longer to cut them up than to cook them), so go make them yourself and decide for yourself if you agree.  I have a sneaky suspicion that you’re going to like this recipe!  Five ingredients, and three steps.  Yeah.  It’s a keeper.

Glazed Carrots
Adapted from Taste of Home Magazine

1 pound carrots, julienned
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt

First, we have to talk about “Julienned” carrots.  Julienned, simply put, means to cut into long thin strips.  Which isn’t a big deal, unless, of course you’re cutting a long, skinny, round vegetable.  Still, it must be done.  So, here we go.

Wash, peel, and pare your carrots.  You know that in culinary school, we were taught to use the dull side of our knife to scrape the skin off our veggies?  And it does work.  My advice?  Buy a vegetable peeler, it’s totally worth the two bucks.  But, if you get in a pinch, you can scrape with your knife.

Get our your mandoline.  Wait, what?  You didn’t buy one, yet?  We just talked about this.  Seriously though, this is an amazing tool to have in your kitchen.  You can pick them up at just about any kitchen store, and The Pampered Chef sells them, too.

Anyhow, get out your mandoline and carefully slice the carrots (this is a very dangerous job, please be careful!).  If you don’t have a mandoline, you can use your knife to make the slices.  It’s more difficult, but it can be done.

Cut each slice into thin strips.  Sounds easy, right?

It’s actually a bit of a pain.  But, you can say screw it, and cut your carrots into coins.  That works, too.  The really important thing about cutting veggies (or anything that you will be cooking) is to cut them the same.  That is, cut them an even thickness and length.  This isn’t just Angie being all OCD-like.  You need cut your veggies in this manner so that they will cook evenly.  Bigger chunks take longer to cook than smaller chunks.  You want them to finish at the same time, so cut them close to the same size.  See?  (So there!  I will NOT take any further crap about the perfect size and shape of my cookies from the peanut gallery.)

Moving right along. 

In a large skillet, combine all ingredients.  I used my wok.  Just make sure you have a lid.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, or until carrots are barely tender.  Mine took just at 8 minutes.  If you cut coins, or very small pieces, check frequently so that they do not turn to mush.
Serve with a slotted spoon.

 Without the pictures:

Glazed Carrots
Adapted from Taste of Home Magazine

1 pound carrots, julienned
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large skittle, combine all ingredients.
Cover and cook over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, or until carrots are barely tender.
Serve with a slotted spoon.

Lilly (a.k.a. Aspie Girl) will be turning 10 next week.  Tomorrow is her last day of school before spring break begins (and I start hiding in the closet), which means that if she is taking treats to school she must take them - that’s right - tomorrow.

Now, even though I cook and bake a lot, it’s not beyond me to run to the local bakery and pick up a couple dozen whatevers to send with the kids to school for birthdays and holidays.  The fact is, I have 3 kids and with 25 kids in each girl’s class, it can get a bit crazy to bake for everyone.  But, if you know anything about autistic kids, you might know that they are wee-tiny-tad-kinda-little-bit rigid.  Like, don’t change anything.  Ever.  And, Lilly doesn’t like bakery bought cookies, or cupcakes, or well anything - actually.  She likes homemade chocolate cupcakes.  Period.  And don’t go getting all lazy about it either.  They damn well better be h-o-m-e-m-a-d-e.  That’s right, no box mixes allowed.  And she does know the difference (just ask me sometime for the birthday of 2006 recap - good gracious was that a nightmare).

So, I’m going to teach you how to make a cake.  A chocolate cake, actually.  From scratch.  I just found out a couple weeks ago that not everyone feels real comfortable with making a cake from scratch.  It had honestly never occurred to me that someone might be anxious about making a cake.  But, then they started talking about cake flour, and sifters, and tiptoeing through the kitchen so that that the middle wouldn’t fall and I was all like “Holy cake.  That’s crap!”  Look, guys.  That is really not the way it is.  Slap the shit together, it turns out.  Really.  Trust me.

 And if you’re saying (or thinking) “Look Angie, I don’t have an autistic kid.  Why in the world would I make it from scratch?  Box mixes taste fine, especially when I do that little trick Aunt Cindy taught me with the pudding?“  Let me tell you a few reasons.

1. It tastes better. 
2. It tastes better. 
3. It tastes better. 
4. Oh, and also, it tastes better.

Of course, you could get into the whole discussion about what the hell they put into box mixes.  Like, for instance, I’m looking right now at the ingredients and they say “propylene glycol monoesters of fatty acids.”  Mmmmm.  Yummy, those propylene glycol monoesters get me going every time.  Ya know?  Seriously, though, I’m not a health food nut, and I’ve eaten my fair share of monoesters and enjoyed them (just ignore my butt as I walk by), but there’s no good reason not to make a cake from scratch.  It’s not hard, it’s tasty, and it’s better for you.  So try it.  Ho Kay.

Plus, I damn near ruined my brand new-ish camera taking pictures of pouring boiling chocolate so that you could all see how easy it really is.  You owe it to my camera to try. 

The Only Chocolate Cake (that Lilly eats)
From Recipezaar

3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

Mix cocoa and boiling water.  It might look lumpy, but get it as smooth as you can.  Using a whisk might help.  I didn’t do that.

Mix buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla together.  I was out of buttermilk, so I just mixed a tablespoon of lemon juice into regular milk.  That works fine, too.

Mix dry ingredients together.  This is where people start getting all upset.  But, what about cake flour??  Don’t I need to sift?  I use regular all purpose flour - it works 100% great for this recipe.  Also, sifting will help break down the big clumpy pieces of flour, but if you use a fork and make sure everything is broken up very well, you’ll be fine.  I use this old strainer to sift my dry ingredients together, but don’t feel like you have to do this! 

This picture shows how the flour, sugar, salt and, baking soda are well mixed and not clumpy.  Nothing too difficult here, see?

Mix dry ingredients into buttermilk/oil mixture.  Try not to pour it all over the counter like I did.

Mix in cocoa.  Again, try not to pour it on the counter, or your new-ish camera.  [Mental note to self:  Pouring hot liquids over a spinning mixer while taking pictures one handed - not a great idea.]

Pour into prepared cake pans (two 9-inch round pans, 9X13 pan, or cupcakes).  Now, I used liners here, only because I will be passing these out at school and it helps to have them in a handy paper container.  I really don’t like liners, because I don’t really want to peel paper off my food.  Plus, with cake release, you don’t need them.  And, if you’re wondering why I’m using disposable cupcake pans . . . let’s just say that the old cupcake pan would have made quite a hub-bub on the net when everyone saw how old and nasty it really is. 
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake until tester comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes.  My cupcakes took exactly 24 minutes.  It will take longer with a larger pan, so watch closely.  When I make round cakes I pull them out of the oven at exactly 30 minutes.  You can use a knife, or a toothpick and stick is straight down into the center of the cake.  If it comes out without goo on it, it’s done.  Cool these in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove them to a rack to cool completely.

Use whatever icing or frosting you’d like.  I know, you’re thinking “Angie, you’re leaving me hanging here, I don’t know what type of icing or frosting I prefer.“  But, I gotta tell you, Lilly likes the canned stuff.  What can I say?  If you don’t want to use the canned stuff, I highly recommend Chocolate Buttercream or you could try Chocolate Fudge Frosting (looks awesome!).

Here are the directions again, without the pictures.

Mix cocoa and boiling water.
Mix buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla together.
Mix dry ingredients together.
Mix dry ingredients into buttermilk/oil mixture.
Mix in cocoa.
Pour into prepared cake pans (two 9-inch round pans, 9X13 pan, or cupcakes).
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake until tester comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes (more for 9X13, less for cupcakes.)

In case you are still doubting me, I want you to look at the inside of this cupcake. 

Here it is!!!

Like I mentioned yesterday, I am offering free downloads of my cookbook; Angie Pangie Celebrates:  Chinese New Year. 

This cookbook is a compilation of 15 “Americanized” Chinese/Asian recipes that I have tirelessly tested, eaten, and tweaked over the years.  Also included are articles on the traditions surrounding Chinese New Year, nutrition information, and a detailed grocery list.  While I realize that Chinese New Year is over for 2008, I promise that the recipes are tasty year round.

This book was a true labor of love for me and the first cookbook I ever put together.  I’m purdy darn prooud of that, since I’d been talking about doing it for an awfully long time.

The download is free, all you need to do is subscribe to my email updates here.  You’ll receive an email notification each time I update my blog - which means you’ll never miss another recipe from me.  Once you sign up you’ll receive detailed information on how to download the cookbook.

Thank you.  Drive thru.