"The Original Betty's Pies Favorite Recipes" (Betty's Pies is located in Two Harbors, MN) - Lemon Angel Pie for "Pi" Day 2016

Date I made this recipe:  3/14/2016 – "Pi"  (Pie) Day

The Original Betty's Pies Favorite Recipes by Betty Lessard

Published by:  Lake Superior Port Cities, Inc.

ISBN: 0-942235-50-9; © 2011

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores

Recipe:  Lemon Angel Pie – p. 43

Betty, Betty, Betty...Betty.  Sigh.  And no, I don't mean Betty Crocker, I mean Betty Lessard, she of the venerable Betty's Pies, located just north of Two Harbors, MN on Minnesota's famed "North Shore."

Betty is a legend in this state and no trip up the North Shore is complete without a stop at Betty's.  Factoid:  to drive along Minnesota's North Shore is to drive Highway 61 and yes, it's the same Highway 61 from the Hibbing, MN native Bob Dylan's song of the same name.

Now, this will likely shock and appall many of you but I was never a huge fan of Betty's Pies.

I know, right?  What am I saying? 

It's just that Betty's pies are okay, but not great.  I'm pretty sure though, that half the people who stop at Betty's do so because it breaks up the long-haul trip to Grand Marais, MN, which in turn is practically in O, Canada!

According to Betty's Pies website – www.bettyspies.com – Betty started making baked goods to sell at her dad's fish shack in 1956 and by 1958, she converted the shack to Betty's Cafe.  In 1974, Betty changed the name to Betty's Pies and in 1984, she wisely sold the restaurant and retired.  Smart move, Betty!  (PS—Betty passed away in 2015 at age 90.)  Betty's Pies is still in business and still continues to crank out her pies which are now available online!

Another smart move was sharing her recipes in the form of this cookbook – The Original Betty's Pies Favorite Recipes – because as lovely as the drive up Highway 61 is, it's still a long haul and one I'm not making just to get my hands on a slice of blueberry heaven.  Estimated drive time is 2 hours to Duluth, turn right (!) and then drive about another hour or so until you get to Two Harbors.  If your final destination is the picturesque Grand Marais (a/k/a the best town along the "Scandinavian Riviera"), then tack on another hour and thirty minutes.

Now then, when this year's "Pi" (Pie) Day came along, I perused Betty's recipes and then quickly settled on the Lemon Angel Pie because it sounded refreshing during a somewhat harsh weather week (We went from 70 and sunny to 30 and freezing overnight.  Welcome, spring?).  Plus it was easy to make.  Or was it?

Betty (Betty, Betty, Betty...Betty), I appreciate the simplicity of this pie, I really do.  But I feel like you left a few things out.  Let's parse this recipe:

Step one is to beat the 4 egg whites well, add cream of tarter, then sugar and the "spread" this into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan.

If this concoction should have resembled something fluffy, ala meringue, this was a fail.  And I even had my egg whites warmed up to room temp just like a good baker should!  Oh, the humanity!  Anyway, I have a feeling that there was more to the "beat the 4 egg whites well" story than Betty let on.  My mixture never fluffed up to meringue consistency and I will never know if that was a good thing, a bad thing or the expected thing.

And I wouldn't go so far as to say that the concoction I got was "spreadable."  More like "pourable."

So I baked the crust as directed but the result, just so you know, was more like a Pavlova, i.e. a meringue cloud, rather than a tradition pie crust.  And apparently this is the result we wanted because as the book explains, "Lemon Angel Pie" is the name Betty gave to this dish that is traditionally referred to as "On a Cloud Pie."

And listen kids, it mattered not to me if I got a Pavlova rather than a pie crust but Betty's directions tell you ultimately to pour the lemon filling into a meringue "shell."  You will not get a "shell" by following the directions.  (And fair warning: when you don't get a "shell," it makes it all the harder to pour the lemon filling onto or into this thing.  Talk about a mess!)

The next set of directions to make the lemon filling also gave me pause:  "Beat the four egg yolks, add sugar and lemon juice, then cook over low heat until thick."

Well, okay, except that the mixture was already somewhat thick when I put in on the stove top.  And nowhere in the directions did it say how long to cook this mixture and what kind of "thick" consistency we were looking for so I spent a good deal of time stirring and stirring until – and this always seems to happen to me – it almost became too thick which is to say almost scrambled – blech!

The last step was to add whipped cream to the lemon mixture but again, Betty, how "whipped" did this cream need to be?

In conclusion:  the simplest set of instructions and ingredients proved to be a challenge.  Perhaps this is what Betty intended?:  "Oh sure, I'll give you the recipe but I'll fix it so you can't quite duplicate my masterpieces – bwahahahahahahahaha...."

Despite all these little cooking crises, the pie was great.  It was perhaps a tad too summery for a chilly March day, but Pi Day waits for no one. But if you want to wait to make it or eat it, the cookbook says that you can freeze this pie for another day.  Like maybe summer when it's hot and you just feel like having something refreshing. 

Last piece of advice:  the meringue will start to break down the longer it sits so if you and your loved ones cannot demolish this pie in one to two sittings, consider freezing it.

Lemon Angel Pie – makes 1 9-inch pie

Meringue Crust

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Filling

4 egg yolks

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Preheat oven to 275F.  Grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate.

Beat the 4 egg whites well.  Add cream of tarter.  Gradually add sugar in 2-tablespoon increments until the full cup (one cup) has been added.  Spread (or pour!) into bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-inch pie pan and bake at 275 for 1 hour.  Cool.

Beat the 4 egg yolks and stir in ½ cup sugar and 3 tablespoons lemon juice.  Cook over low heat until thick.  Cool.  Ann's Note:  this seemed to take longer than intended because I wasn't sure how "thick" was thick!  I'm thinking that my total elapsed time was 5-10 minutes but don't quote me on that!

Whip 1 cup cream and add to the above custard.  Pour into the meringue shell and chill at least 2 hours.

"The Whole Foods Market Cookbook" - Tuna Noodle Casserole

Date I made this recipe:  March 13, 2016

The Whole Foods Market Cookbook – A Guide to Natural Foods with 350 Recipes by Steve Petusevsky and Whole Foods Market Team Members

Published by:  Clarkson Potter/Publishers

ISBN:  0-609-80644-0; copyright 2002

Recipe:  Tuna Noodle Casserole – p. 274-275

Et tu, Whole Foods?  Et tu? 

In last week's blog (Smith Island Cake), I told the tale of my frustration with a key ingredient being left out of the instructions for the cake's frosting.

This week, when I reviewed the list of ingredients for today's Tuna Noodle Casserole, I failed to see the key ingredient – noodle.  Well huh.

So I read the recipe's narrative and it said "Our recipe is made with pappardelle noodles."  Okay then.  But how much?

Turns out the answer is "1 pound."  Turns out it actually said that but I missed it until after I started writing this recap.  So when making the recipe, I guessed.  Guessed correctly, but guessed.

In my defense, here's why I was tripped up:  all ingredients except the pasta were listed under one of three headings, all of them in bold:  "The Béchamel Sauce;" "The Tuna Casserole Filling" and "The Crumb Topping."  The pasta was on its own, sans a heading, sans bold.  The average person's eyes are drawn to the bold heading and so I completely missed the pasta all eight or so times I looked at the recipe while I was in the midst of making it!

The recipe's narrative might have provided a clue but of course it didn't, stating only to make the pappardelle "per directions on the box."  So...would that be box or boxes?  (For the record, I got my pasta at Trader Joe's and it came in 8 oz. bags, not boxes.  But details, details.)  Again, having guessed correctly, I cooked a pound of pasta so all should have been right with the world.

Except it wasn't.  Turns out one pound of pasta was more than my very large casserole pan could handle and so I couldn't use all of it.  Further, the béchamel sauce did not stretch that far and so the recipe was off balance.  I hate it when that happens.

Anyway, as to the pasta problem, if I was editing this recipe I would have put a header, in bold, above the pound of pasta that said "The Pasta," in the same way the other ingredients got headers ("The Béchamel Sauce;" "The Tuna Casserole Filling;" and "The Crumb Topping") so that the reader could have seen clearly how much pasta was required. 

This is not clean recipe writing.  I was peeved.  You will likely not be peeved since I am pointing out the inconsistency but I'm telling you right now, if you use the entire pound of pasta, you're going to "need a bigger boat" (I reference the movie, Jaws) i.e. casserole pan/cooking vessel!

So let's talk about why I selected this cookbook:  on Wednesday, March 16^th, the St. Paul Whole Foods store is moving out of its tiny store on Fairview Ave to a much larger footprint at the intersection of Selby Ave and Snelling (Ave).  Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, I can't wait.  I can't. 

Because folks, despite the nickname, "Whole Paycheck," I love Whole Foods.  I go there all the time for my meat, it being the only place in town where I can buy just what I need of, for example, ground meats (chicken, turkey, beef and pork), as well as cheese and olives and other condiments.  I also like their fruit and vegetable selections – again, often purchasing only the amount needed, their bulk foods and sometimes, their hot food selections.  So I'm excited about the larger store because I'll be able to shop an even wider selection of the items I love.

What I don't love about Whole Foods though, is that their prices for every day items such as Kleenex or toilet paper are too high and the selection not to my liking.  In other words, it is not a one-stop shop for me although it often comes close.

As to the cookbook (published in 2002), I found it an interesting study in how I think Whole Foods has tweaked its brand and image over time.  The subtitle of this cookbook, "A Guide to Natural Foods...," reflects their roots when they were indeed a Mecca for "whole," organic food, and very similar to a co-op.  Co-ops have also changed but I remember well the days when you couldn't walk in and buy something so basic as chocolate chips because at that time, chocolate chips weren't "organic;" it was carob chips (Ew!) or nothing at all.  Now organic chocolate is all the rage and of course Whole Foods carries 57 kinds* (*Slight exaggeration.).

Today's Whole Foods shoppers present an interesting mix:  hipsters, young families, against hippies, soccer moms – you name it, we shop there.  And I don't think we shop there as much for those "natural" foods as we do because we like the store, are into a "farm-to-table" approach and generally like what they have to offer because it's good quality.  To be sure, the store is not for everybody.  Lower income people will have a harder time sticking to budget at Whole Foods/"Whole Paycheck," not everyone is into paying through the nose for "organic" food – a definition that is constantly changing - and the product mix is not as broad as a "regular" grocery store. 

Now that my local Whole Foods is expanding though, I am excited that their deli offerings will equal that of their other larger stores in the area and with that will come a broader selection of the recipes featured in their cookbook.  That said, there were certain sections of recipes in this cookbook that didn't appeal, mostly because they were too natural!  If you like tofu for instance, there are plenty of recipes.  If you like quinoa and wheat berries and barley, well then, knock yourself out with the variety of recipes presented.  I was not so inclined.

Since I'm more of an entree gal, I checked out that section and found plenty of potential recipes such as Pomegranate Glazed Chicken (p. 238), Cubano-Style Pork Loin (p. 252) and Chicken Pot Pie with Whole Wheat Crust (p. 270).  My choice though, was for the Tuna Noodle Casserole on p. 274 and why?  Because the ingredient list included peas.  A tuna noodle casserole is not a tuna noodle casserole without peas.  Period.  I am still on the fence about any topping – crumb or otherwise – but that's a personal preference.  But if it doesn't have peas, then fugghedaboudit.

Okay, so:  this recipe came close to satisfying my (sudden) craving for Tuna Noodle Casserole but missed the mark because of the following:

1)     The noodle problem.  I think a half a pound of noodles is about right.  I crammed every noodle I could into my casserole pan but doing so left no room for the sauce and the resulting dish was a little on the dry side. 

2)     Unless you like crunchy onions, celery and pepper in your tuna casserole (I did not), sauté them a lot longer than stated.  A lot longer.  I wish I would have kept them on the stove until they were almost mushy!

3)     Let's discuss béchamel sauce a/k/a "white sauce."  In theory, this is an easy thing to make but in practice, I am always challenged by adding the flour to the melted butter so that it doesn't end up resembling a crumbly pie dough!  The directive to let this mixture "bubble" had me howling with laughter because mine didn't even come close to bubbling.  My roux base of flour and butter ended up almost forming into a ball and I'm pretty sure that this was not correct.  All was well in the end but I had to ditch the first batch in order to get (almost) the right consistency.  First last week's frosting and now this—what is going on here?!

4)     This casserole is supposed to cook at 350F for 20-25 minutes until the sides are bubbling.  No bubbles were harmed in the making of this recipe as the noodle to tuna mixture ratio was too high.  Instead, I got baked noodles, san sauce and this irked.

Despite all that, my husband thought it was good and gave it a thumb's up.  I wanted to tweak it and if you make it, I think you should too.  And if making this with Cream of Mushroom soup is more to your liking, then go ahead and use that.  Even Whole Foods gives you the okay:  "Some cooks use prepared mushroom soup mix for the sauce."  And I tell you what, it sure would be easier than dealing with the béchamel sauce!

By the way, I was tempted to make this on Friday for Lent (not that I really observe but...) but a friend called and invited me to Happy Hour instead so there went that idea.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm planning a mid-day "raid" on the Whole Foods at their new location so as to avoid the crowds that they and I are anticipating.  I cannot wait.

Tuna Noodle Casserole – serves 6

The Pasta (Heading assigned by Ann, not Whole Foods)

1 pound dried pappardelle pasta

The Béchamel Sauce

2 cups milk

Freshly ground white pepper to taste

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

The Tuna Casserole Filling

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 cup chopped onions

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped red pepper

½ cup chopped green pepper

2 ½ cups sliced white button mushrooms

½ cup frozen peas, thawed

2 (6 ounce) cans tongol tuna, drained (Ann's Note:  or any tuna, drained and by the way, tuna comes in 12 ounce cans as well.)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon hot sauce

The Crumb Topping

1 ¼ cups dried bread crumbs

½ teaspoon paprika

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon lemon pepper (Ann's Note:  I didn't have this on hand so I mixed regular pepper with dried lemon peel.)

1/8 cup chopped parsley

1 tablespoon butter

To Prepare the Pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the pappardelle for 6 to 8 minutes, until it is al dente, or follow the directions on the box.  Rinse the pasta in cold water, and drain.  Ann's Note:  I think I'd make a half a pound to three-quarters of a pound and see how that works first.  It's pretty easy to boil up the rest if you need it.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

To Prepare the Béchamel Sauce

Heat the milk, white pepper, nutmeg, and salt together in a small saucepan over medium-high heat just until it beings to boil.  Lower the heat, and keep the milk warm.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.  Using a wire whisk, blend in the flour (Ann's Note:  do this as slowly and as incrementally as possible or you'll have a mess on your hands and have to start over.)  Cook slowly for 2 minutes, stirring constantly and keeping the mixture at a medium simmer.  Do not allow the mixture to color or brown.  Remove the pan from the heat.

As soon as the mixture has stopped bubbling (Ann's Note:  mine never bubbled.  Not once.), pour in all of the hot milk at once.  Use vigorous strokes with the wire whisk to blend the milk and flour together, making sure to scrape up all bits of the flour from the inside edges of the pan.  Set the saucepan over medium-high heat, and stir with the wire whisk until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens.  Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove the sauce from the heat.

To Prepare the Tuna Casserole Filling

Heat the canola oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat.  Add the onions, celery, and peppers, and saute for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the mushrooms, and cook for 1 additional minute.  Ann's Note:  Unless you like really crunchy vegetables, plan on sautéing this mixture for several more minutes.  I didn't and wish I had.

Transfer the filling to a large mixing bowl.  (Ann's Note:  when they say "large" they mean large; use the biggest bowl or pot you have.) Add the cooked pasta.  Add the bechamel sauce, peas, tuna, lemon juice, and hot sauce to the mixing bowl with the cooked vegetables and pasta; toss lightly to incorporate all ingredients well.  Pour into a 2 ½ - to 3-quart greased ovenproof casserole.   Ann's Note:  Unless you cut back on the pasta, you will find it hard to squeeze all this into even a 3-quart casserole.  And if you can't fit it all in with room for it to actually heat, you may be faced with a casserole that is a tad dry.  You've been warned!)

To Prepare the Crumb Topping

In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs and the paprika, salt, lemon pepper, and parsley.  Sprinkle the topping over the casserole and dot with butter.

Place casserole in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges of the casserole are bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden brown.  Ann's Note:  the bread crumbs were brown but the casserole was not bubbling.  Sigh.

For those who are interested, here's the nutritional information for this dish per serving:

Calories 560; Calories from Fat 110; Calories from Saturated Fat 45; Protein 30 G; Carbohydrate 80 G; Total Fat 13 G; Saturated Fat 5 G; Cholesterol 40 MG; Sodium 560 MG; 20% Calories From Fat

"The Secret Lives of Baked Goods - Sweet Stories & Recipes for America's Favorite Desserts" - Smith Island Cake (8 layers of decadence for my husband's birthday)

Date I made this recipe:  March 1, 2016 – my husband's birthday!          

The Secret Lives of Baked Goods – Sweet Stories & Recipes for America's Favorite Desserts by Jessie Oleson Moore

Published by:  Sasquatch Books, Seattle

ISBN:  978-1-57061-853-6

Recipe:  Smith Island Cake – p. 45-48

People my age often bemoan the fact that cursive – a/k/a handwriting – is a dying art.  These days, you can't walk two feet without seeing somebody punching out a message with their thumbs on the world's smallest keyboard ever, contained in a Smartphone.  Frankly, I don't know how they do it because I'm all thumbs myself (pun intended) and so when I send a message, I type it out with my finger.  Takes longer but there are fewer errors.

Yet even with fancy technology with my fingertips, I still take notes in cursive, in pen, on a pad of paper, rumors of their impending demise be damned!  And I still like to use a paper daily planner rather than electronic to note different events such lunch appointments, due dates for library books (it follows that I like actual books as well) and birthdays like the one my husband celebrated on March 1^st.

This year, I didn't just mark down my husband's birthday, I left myself a note about what to make for that day.  In cursive.  But kids, just because I wrote it myself, doesn't mean I had an easy time translating it, especially since I penciled it in way back in January when I got the calendar.

And so it took me a minute to figure out what this notation "Mke Smith Island Lake from the Secret Liver of Bakel Goods" meant and it was...drumroll...  "Make Smith Island Cake from The Secret Lives of Baked Goods."  Oh so close, right?

You should know that I got consistently "C's" in penmanship when I was in grade school.

And so it came to pass that Andy's birthday cake this year was a Smith Island Cake from this newly-purchased cookbook.  I'm not sure why I selected it although I'm guessing it was because of the photo of this 10-layer cake, all bathed in chocolate frosting.  Well that, and the challenge of making something so tall and so "fancy." 

Still, every single recipe in this book was pretty much mouth-watering, even the "Toaster-Style Pastries" on p. 158 or the "Animal Crackers" found on p. 141.  Both of these recipes prompted a fond walk down the memory lane of my childhood.  I remember well when Pop-Tarts®(a/k/a "Toaster-Style Pastries") came on the market.  When I was younger, we traveled a lot and to save money, had breakfast in our room.  Pop-Tars® could be eaten warm or cold and so we often snacked on them before hitting the road.

And although I have very fond memories of one of my grandmothers giving me money so I could buy "Animal Crackers" (or whatever other sweet treat I could afford with a dime or a quarter), my best memory is a photo of my dad when he was about three, circa 1927, clutching the string from a box of "Animal Crackers" while posing for a formal photo.  I think that is just the coolest thing and might have to make the crackers "just because."

If you are craving "Whoopie Pies," you'll find the recipe here.  If you want to attempt "Girl Scout Cookies," look no further than p. 143.  And if you are feeling really daring (I wasn't), then try your hand at a "Baked Alaska" on p. 89.

All in all, this is a very fun cookbook and I'm glad someone (not me) took the time to unearth these classic favorites and publish them.  There was just one teensy, teensy problem with the recipe I selected and that was that the author left out instructions on how and when to incorporate the milk listed as a frosting ingredient.  She also did not designate a measure for the cocoa used in the frosting; all it said was 2/3 but 2/3 what?  Teaspoon?  Cup?  Other?

[Insert gasps of horror here!]

Faithful readers of this blog know that I am never amused when instructions are missing and/or unclear.  And really, there's no excuse for a modern day cookbook (or any book, really) to leave out something so critical; this is what editors are for!  So for that one tiny error, I have to ding the author and yesterday, I emailed her regarding the omission and that is all I have to say about that.  Well, not all...keep reading.

So the Smith Island Cake is a thing of beauty what with its 10 layers and all.  Or, if you are me, 8 layers.  Do know that I put all the batter into a measuring cup and then divided it by 10 so I knew how much to measure out for each layer and yet, 8 layers was the best I got.  You should know though, that I got about the same grades in math that I got in penmanship so...

Also?  Some of the layers needed extra baking time and I don't know why because they all had about the same amount of batter but such is life—the "secret life" – of baked goods.  At any rate, plan on baking them for a couple more minutes and just know that you'll still come away with moist layers. 

Okay, so let's turn our attention to the Smith Island Cake Frosting Debacle of 2016.  The ingredients were:  1 cup butter; two 12-ounce cans evaporated milk; 2/3 (cup?  All it said was "2/3") and 8 cups confectioners' sugar.  Easy enough, right?

Sure.  So I started making the frosting, as directed, melting the butter and cocoa powder in a pan but then the recipe unraveled.  After whisking that mixture until smooth, I was to return it to the stove to cook for about 10 minutes.  Then I was to add the confectioners' sugar.  As to the milk, your guess was as good as mine.  I read and re-read and re-read the instructions some more and could not see where I was to add the milk.  And so I scanned the page and sent it to my birthday-boy husband asking him to find the milk instructions.  He could not.  They were not listed. He suggested looking on the internet to see if I could find a similar recipe for the frosting and I did and then ended up using that...but more on that in a bit.

Okay, so...punt, right?  So I decided to add the milk to the melted butter and cocoa powder mixture then cook that for 10 minutes and then add the confectioners' sugar because that just felt right to me.

And it might have been right had not the entire mixture boiled over when I glanced away for a second.  A second!  And I didn't even have the chance to cook it on medium-low as directed.

Excuse my language, but this was a total WTF moment for me.  I rarely have something go wrong but now I had the cake frosting go wrong in such a way that I spent a half hour just cleaning the junk off my stovetop.  You should know that when sugar contacts a gas burner, it basically turns the mixture to brittle and it was a bitch to clean!

At this point,  Andy came home from work and I wished him a happy birthday, got on my coat, got my car keys and told him I'd be back soon as I had to make another grocery run because I used up every ingredient I needed for that freaking frosting!

And so onward to Rainbow (grocery store) it was but this time around I Googled "Smith Island Cake Frosting," found two recipes, one from the source itself – Smith Island – (www.visitsmithisland.com) and purchased the ingredients listed there.  You should know that Smith Island Cake (and frosting) is the "official" dessert for the state of Maryland.  The things I learn....

At any rate, the ingredients of the "official" frosting recipe were a little easier to work with but I was still not satisfied with the appearance of this frosting.  It tasted great (as did the cake) but it was very grainy.

In the end, all that mattered was that Andy liked his birthday cake and he did and so that's all there is to that.  And okay, so I would have been bounced from a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) test kitchen because my god, the mess these recipes made was unbelievable but all we care about is the end result.  And given that Andy spent last year's birthday stuck overnight in Newark's airport with me due to a snowstorm, a little cake batter here and a little (read: lot) of boiled-over frosting there still made for a most-excellent birthday. 

Please note, I'll list both frosting recipes below and if I hear from the author, I will post a correction.

Smith Island Cake – makes one 9-inch 10-layer cake (16 servings)

As the author notes, this cake takes some time to bake and assemble so gird your loins, bakers!

Cake Batter

3 ¼ cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 ¾ cups sugar

5 large eggs

1 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup whole or 2% milk

6 ½ cups Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

Two 12-ounce cans evaporated milk

2/3 [cup?] unsweetened cocoa powder

8 cups confectioners' sugar

*Ideally, you would use 10 separate 9" cake pans to make these recipes but if you don't have 10 (and really, who does?), then let the cake layers cool then remove them and clean the pans to reuse.

Position a rack in the center of the oven; preheat the oven to 350F.

Grease then line with parchment paper all the cake pans you have gathered. 

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, pausing after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Beat until smooth.  Add the flour mixture, 1 cup at a time, to the butter mixture.  Beat on low speed after each addition just until incorporated.  With each addition, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

With the mixer running, pour in the evaporated milk, then the vanilla and milk.  Mix just until incorporated.  Pour 1/10 of the batter into each of your prepared pans, using the back of the spoon to spread the batter evenly so that it covers the entire bottom of the pan.  If you run out of batter before you've made 10 layers of cake, do not despair; you can just make thicker layers of frosting between the cake layers.

Ann's Notes:  1) most recipes that use evaporated milk call for one cup and yet the can size is 12 ounces.  I hate that. 2) The easiest way to pour 1/10 of the batter into each pan is to pour all the batter into a large measuring cup and then divide that by 10.  Plus, it's easier to pour that way.  That said, and despite my best math skills, I only got 8 layers. 3) The author said not to despair if we got 8 layers and I did not "despair" that I only got 8 layers but still, when a recipe says 10, I planned for 10!

If you have room in your oven, bake several layers at a time for 6 to 8 minutes.  (Ann's Note:  more like 8-10 minutes.)  You're looking for a dull finish on top and just slightly golden edges – not golden brown or crispy.  Let the layers cool for a couple of minutes in the pan before removing them; then run a spatula around the edge of the pan and gently transfer the layers onto sheets of parchment paper.  If it tears slightly, don't panic: you can cover up a lot with the icing.

To assemble, set the first slightly cooled layer on your serving plate and spread it with a thin layer of frosting, covering the entire surface of the layer.  Add the next layer, frost, and repeat the process until the batter is gone (hopefully, you'll have 10 layers!).  Finish by frosting the sides and then the top of the cake; I find that starting on the top, and smoothing the frosting that has dripped down the sides, is the way to go with frosting this cake.

Let the finished cake chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving, so that the frosting can set.  Slice while still lightly chilled.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Smith Island Fudge Frosting, Part 1 (NOT the one I ended up making but it came with the cake recipe) – makes about 6 ½ cups frosting. 

Ann's Note:  as a reminder, here are the ingredients:  1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter; two 10-ounce cans evaporated milk; 2/3 [cup?] unsweetened cocoa powder; 8 cups confectioners' sugar.

Melt the butter over low heat in a large saucepan.  Remove from the heat, and add the cocoa powder and whisk slowly until smooth.

Return to the heat, this time on medium-low, and cook for approximately 10 minutes, but don't let the mixture come to a boil.  Stir continuously so that it doesn't scorch.  Once warm and just beginning to thicken, remove from the heat.

Whisk in the confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time, until it's all incorporated.  Return the pan to low heat, stirring constantly until it has thickened to the point that it forms a ribbon when you drizzle a spoonful back onto the mixture.  The mixture may bubble, but don't let it boil.  You want to keep the frosting slightly warm to keep it from setting in the pan; it is OK to return to low heat or add a small quantity of water to the mixture to keep it spreadable.

Ann's VERY IMPORTANT Note:  For 10 points and the win, please tell me where you see instructions to add the two cans of evaporated milk.  I'll wait.  Can't?  Told you so.  I added it to the butter/cocoa mixture and then cooked that for 10 minutes and then added the confectioners sugar but given that it all boiled over, I had to start from scratch and when I did so, this is the recipe I used:

***Smith Island Cake Frosting from www.visitsmithisland.com – This is the one I used.

2 cups sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the sugar and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the chocolate and butter; warm through, stirring, until both have melted.  Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract, stirring to combine.  The icing will be thin but will thicken as it cools. 

Ann's Note:  this icing was thin but because it was, it made it easier to spread around the sides of the cake.  Basically, just "scrape" excess frosting from the very top layer over the sides and frost!

"(Sunset Magazine) Cooking for Two..." (Pork Chops with Rhubarb Dressing) & "The Savory Way" (Winter Vegetable Puree) by Deborah Madison & "Leo Buscaglia's Love Cookbook with Biba Caggiano" (Honey Bread Pudding) - Valentine's Day 2016

Date I made these recipes:  February 14, 2016 – Valentine's Day

Sunset Cooking for Two...or Just for You

Published by: Lane Publishing Co.

© 1978

Purchased at Hennepin County Library Used Book Sale

Recipe:  Pork Chops with Rhubarb Dressing – p. 45

The Savory Way by Deborah Madison

Published by:  Bantam Books

© 1990; ISBN 0-553-05780-4

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores

Recipe: Winter Vegetable Puree – p. 197

Leo Buscaglia's Love Cookbook with Biba Caggiano

Published by:  SLACK Incorporated

ISBN: 0-8050-3725-X

Purchased at: Barnes and Noble Used Books, Roseville, MN

Recipe:  Honey Bread Pudding – p. 139

Well Valentine's Day has come and gone and although I barely had my act together when it came to selecting a menu, I managed to pull this meal out for the win!  Valentine's Day was saved, be still my heart! (Pun intended.)

Occasions like this often require a consultation with my better half as to which recipe(s) to select.  Normally, I'd go through a couple of cookbooks, earmarking recipes for him to consider, but this year I didn't and he was not at all happy: "What?  You don't have anything marked for me to look at?"  [Insert look of horror here.]  "No, I don't and that's because you often look through the entire book anyway and select something that I didn't mark."

Like tonight's entree, Pork Chops with Rhubarb Dressing.  I saw the recipe but ignored it; he saw it and thought it had potential.  And this is why we work so well together.

So he selected that recipe and I filled in the rest of the dinner with the winter vegetable puree and also the bread pudding from Leo Buscaglia and Biba Caggiano's "Love" Cookbook.   I toyed with making something chocolate but that is just so expected and I hate doing the expected so I switched it up and made honey bread pudding out of a "Love" cookbook; honey + "love" = perfect for Valentine's Day.  And so with that, our menu was all set and all that was left to do was to go shopping for the few ingredients I needed to make our day complete.

One and a half days later...

...Okay, this dinner almost didn't get off the ground because I couldn't find rhubarb.  Actually, I found it, I just didn't buy it when I found it (frozen) at the Lunds & Byerlys grocery store nearest our house because that would have been too easy.  Instead, I intended to purchase it at another Lunds & Byerlys in the city of Edina, where Andy and I were running some errands on Valentine's Day.

Except, of course, that Lunds & Byerlys was out of the frozen rhubarb.  What?  Let's review:  it's winter in Minnesota and a grocery store is out of frozen rhubarb?  Because....why?

Well this was puzzling and irritating at the same time because that meant we had to go all the way back to the other Lunds & Byerlys just to get rhubarb.  I was most certainly not feeling the love at that point, "L&B."  Not feeling the love.  But we made the trip because once we had our minds set on the dish, we had to have it which meant we had to have the rhubarb which meant that we had to waste gas going right back to the original source.  I could have screamed.

Luckily, the dish turned out and was very tasty even though I was skeptical that the spices – cinnamon and allspice - would overpower the dish.  They did not.  And as crazy as this sounds, I like the fact that a Cooking for Two cookbook delivered just the right amount of food.  I know, right?  Because folks, I've made a few other dishes from alleged "two person" cookbooks and either we both starved or we had way too many leftovers.  This amount was perfect plus, there were many other tasty-sounded recipes that will likely appeal if this one doesn't float your heart-shaped boat. 

Next up:  the side dish!  And now it's true confession time because I have to admit to you that I spent all of ten seconds leafing through The Savory Way  before finding what I wanted – potatoes – and calling it a day.  Some cookbooks are like that and I mean absolutely no disrespect to the author, Deborah Madison, because she writes excellent cookbooks.  I just needed to get on with my meal planning already, and that meant time was of the essence.  For those with plenty of time, this is a great cookbook and you'll be hard pressed not to find several recipes to suit your fancy.

For tonight's dinner, I made her dish pretty much to order although I barely added any butter (you can add butter or cream as optional ingredients) and I could have used a bit more salt because without it, the vegetables were not as flavorful.  I think that any type of root vegetables will do in this dish but I chose to go with potatoes, celery root, rutabaga and leeks. 

Although the flavors were slightly more savory than the pork chop dish, they worked pretty well together and we enjoyed eating them.  I wish we could say the same about the bread pudding which was not at all bad, it just wasn't the bread pudding we were used to.

For one thing, this recipe called for Italian bread and I don't know—I think it was the wrong flavor and consistency for the dish.  And instead of breaking the bread into cubes and baking it in a round casserole dish or soufflé dish, the bread was layered like a lasagna.  And....no.  And then there was the rum and I want it noted that while I am always a fan of using liquor in cooking, the recipe called for 1/3 a cup and that's a lot of rum.  A lot of rum.  We could smell it in the living room, that's how much rum there was.  So if we made this recipe again and it's unlikely, we would not layer the dish, use different bread and – I cannot believe I am saying this – cut way down on the dark rum. 

The nice thing about Leo and Biba's cookbook is that they've created menus to help you with your menu planning -  Loving Dinners for Two; Loving Dinners for Friends; Loving Dinners for Family which can be a great thing if you're trying to design a special dinner for Valentine's Day. 

So I was just sitting here contemplating the bread pudding recipe and Valentine's Day and how disappointing this dish was when it sounded so promising, when out of the blue, this scene from the movie, The Godfather, played in my head:  "I know it was you, Fredo.  You broke my heart.  You broke my heart."  This recipe broke my heart but if you tweak it just a little, I think you could have a winner (and then Fredo won't die and then Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) won't be mad and it'll all be good).

Until next Valentine's Day....

Pork Chops with Rhubarb Dressing – serves 2- From Sunset Cooking for Two...or Just for You

1/8 teaspoon dry rosemary, crumbled

½ teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

2 pork loin or shoulder chops, cut ¾ inch thick

1 tablespoon salad oil

2 slices firm-textured bread, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 1 ¾ cups)

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2 –inch pieces (about 3 cups)

1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

Mix together rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Sprinkle evenly over chops.  Heat oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat; add chops and brown on both sides; set aside with drippings.

Stir together bread cubes, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, rhubarb, and flour; spread half the mixture in a greased shallow 1 ½ to 2-quart baking dish.  Arrange chops on top; spoon over 2 tablespoons drippings (add water if necessary, to make this amount); top with remaining rhubarb mixture.  (Cover and refrigerate if made ahead.)

Bake, covered, in a 350 oven for 45 minutes; then uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer or until pork is fork tender.

Winter Vegetable Puree – makes about 2 ½ cups, serving 4 to 6 – From The Savory  Way

2 cups White Rose or red potatoes, scrubbed and diced into ½-inch pieces

3 cups mixed winter vegetables such as turnips, rutabagas, leeks, celery root, and fennel, diced into ½-inch pieces

3 sprigs chopped parsley

1 pinch of dried thyme

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Salt

Butter or cream (optional)

Champagne vinegar

Freshly ground white pepper

Put the vegetables in a saucepan with the parsley, thyme, garlic, salt, and enough water to cover.  (Ann's Note:  just saying the word "salt" is not a good indication of how much.  I did not use enough.  You've been warned.)  Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are completely soft, about 20 minutes.  Pour them into a colander set over a bowl; reserve the liquid.

Pass the vegetables through a food mill or mash by hand.  (The food processor will tend to make them too gummy and glutinous.)  Use the cooking water to thin the puree to the proper consistency.  Stir in additional butter or cream to taste and season with salt, a dash of vinegar and pepper.

Ann's Note:  I didn't use the vinegar and used just a scant amount of butter.  The resulting flavor was okay but a little bland so I added more salt.  If I made this again, I might use some chicken broth in place of some of the vegetable liquid; vegetarians, ignore that note!

Honey Bread Pudding – makes 6 servings – From Leo Buscalia's Love Cookbook with Biba Caggiano

Ann's Note:  As stated above, I think I would have liked this recipe a lot better had I used different bread, torn it into cubes instead of slicing and layering it, baked it in a round casserole and used less rum.  "But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln..."

8 to 10 (1/2-inch thick slices crusty Italian bread, preferably one to two days old, with crust removed

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup honey

1/3 cup dark rum

½ cup golden raisins, soaked in lukewarm water for 20 minutes, then drained

4 large eggs

½ cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

3 cups milk

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Generously butter a 9 x 12-inch baking dish.  Arrange the bread slices in a single layer in the dish, slightly overlapping each other.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the honey and rum, and raise the heat to high.  Cook, stirring, until sauce begins to thicken and is foamy and bubbling, 3 to 4 minutes.  Stir in the raisins, remove from heat, and pour over the bread evenly.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with 1/3 cup of the sugar.  Add the cream and milk, and beat well to combine.  Pour over the bread and sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325F and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until pudding is set and the bread has a nice golden color.  Remove pudding from oven, and let it stand.  Cool to room temperature and serve.

Prepare ahead:  Complete steps one through four a day or two ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.  If pudding is refrigerated, allow it to come to room temperature before serving.

"Rival Crock Pot Cooking" (Beef Tacos with Mexican Sauce) and "Culinary Arts Institute Crockery Cooking" (Spanish Rice) - Super Bowl 50!

Date I made these recipes:  February 7, 2016 – Super Bowl Sunday

Rival® Crock Pot Cooking

Published by:  Golden Press

© 1975

Purchased at Goodwill

Recipe:  Beef Tacos with Mexican Sauce – p. 45

Culinary Arts Institute Crockery Cooking (part of Adventures in Cooking Series)

Published by the Culinary Arts Institute

© 1976

Recipe:  Spanish Rice – p. 38

There is no perfect time to pull out a crock pot or two than during the Super Bowl because between the commercials and the pre-game and the game itself, who has time to prepare a meal the old-fashioned way?  Not me (even though I have a TV in my kitchen).  Besides, it's still winter out and that is a crock pot's moment to shine. 

Finding the right recipe combination is also essential to game-time and crock pot enjoyment.  Think Goldilocks:  not too basic, not too fancy, just right.

And this is how I ended up reviewing endless recipes for things like frank and beans, brats and beans, beans, hamburger and beans, hamburgers in the crock pot, chili verde, chile with meat, chili with beans, killer chili, hot dips and even mac and cheese.  I mean, there's no rule that says Super Bowl food has to be selected from one of these recipes groupings, but that tends to be the type of food people crave and I am all about giving the people what they want.

And by "people," I mean me and my husband.  I can count on one hand the number of times that I've watched a Packers game with friends (it's best if they don't see me go all full metal jacket during a Packers game) and by the time we get to Super Bowl Sunday each year, the thrill of football is (nearly) gone and I just want to hang out, be free without having to entertain.

Besides, as it happened, we went out for dinner with my mother-in-law for her belated birthday celebration and so making something in the crock pot to be eaten later was just the thing.  As it turned out, we almost ended up back at our house to eat as several of the restaurants she wanted to dine at were closed for the Super Bowl.  At zero hour, we found a place that suited and we got home just in time to see the half time show, our trusty crock pots nearly done slow-cooking our second dinner for the day.  Okay, true confessions:  we had it the next day.

The crock pot came into existence in 1970 and I don't think popularity for this wonder cooker has ever waned.  Every year, more and more crock pot (or slow cooker) books, like the ones I used hit the market, and new and improved recipes for everything under the sun keep popping up all the time.  The few crock pot cookbooks I own are not fancy-shcmancy but they do the job.

One crock pot cookbook (more like a booklet) that I used to death is the one that came with my Hamilton Beach crockpot which I purchased circa 1978 or so while I was in college.  My three other roommates and I, all college juniors and seniors, had a very busy schedule and so we took turns plugging in the crock pot so we'd have dinner ready after work or after class.  To this day, the beef dishes from this booklet, especially the beef in wine, are some of the best dishes I've ever made. (Can you go wrong adding wine to a dish?  No.)  These two dishes were good but not without some problems that I will address momentito.

As between the two books, the Rival cookbook had more recipes geared for the "common" man and I selected a lot more potential recipes from this book than the one from the Culinary Institute.  Some of the recipe names grabbed my attention until I looked at the ingredient list, for example:  "Bologna-Baga Bake" that contained bologna and rutabaga (ew) p. 64 or "The Babysitter's Favorite" – p. 65 that would not have been my favorite under any circumstances as it contained frankfurters, apples, sweet potatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.  Are they kidding?  What teenage gal or guy wants that kind of food to eat while watching a bunch of kids?

On the other hand, "Camp-Out Chili Dogs" – p. 65 – sounded delicious and definitely Super Bowl-worthy.  There were a bunch of casserole recipes that sounded good but not for a football celebration.  The last chapter of this book was dedicated to breads and cakes and again, sounded good but not for tonight's repast.

And then there's the Culinary Arts Institute cookbook and I have to say that never, ever associated the term "crock pot" with a culinary arts school.  (Do note that the Culinary Arts Institute is not the same as the famed CIA – Culinary Institute of America® – but the model is somewhat the same).  This cookbook took more of an around-the-world approach, showcasing dishes from other countries such as "Bouillabaisse" – p. 70 or "Solianka" from the (former) Soviet Union – p. 54.  And while a lot of them sounded tasty, I had to work hard to find something to fit my football dinner theme and finally decided on the Spanish Rice recipe – p. 38.  It paired very well with my Beef Tacos with Mexican Sauce and since I have two crock pots, I put them both to work to make this dish.

Because it needed a longer cooking time, I started the taco recipe earlier in the day and then refrigerated it until serving time.  My only complaint, and it could be my palate, was that I thought the dish was a little salty and I even used "No Salt Added" pinto beans.  I also made half the recipe and kept a close eye on the cooking time because I was worried I might burn it if I left it in for the required 8 to 10 hours (full recipe).  I think I pulled the plug after 6 hours and it was fine.  In fact, I'm not even sure why this dish needed to be made in a crock pot but mine was not to wonder why.

The Spanish Rice dish cooked for a shorter time (4-6 hours) but folks, for the first time ever, ever, ever, the rice did not cook.  I don't know why that is but I wonder if it didn't need more liquid to fully develop as the recipe is heavy on meat, tomatoes and tomato paste but not really on water.  Since the rice in the crock pot didn't cook, I made a batch in my rice cooker and it came out great but then again, the water ratio was dead on accurate.  And so if you decide to make this at home, add maybe ¼ cup of water and see how that works.  Aside from the fact that our Spanish Rice had a crunch to it, it was a pretty good recipe.

Oh—and the game?  Broncos 24, Panthers 10.  And by the way, I read that the NFL will return to Roman numerals next year and sweet merciful heavens, as if I don't have enough fun "translating" all the copyrights listed in Roman numerals in my older cookbooks, now I have to figure this out?  Next thing you know, we'll have to do the same with the score:  So let's see, the Broncos had 24 so that's XXIV and the Panthers had 10 so that's X and so then add the two, carry the two, divide by two and you get...liftoff?

Enjoy.

Beef Tacos with Mexican Sauce – makes about 2 ½ quarters, enough to fill 2 to 3 dozen taco shells

Taco Filling

2 lb. lean ground beef

2 medium onions

1 to 2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon leaf oregano (Ann's Note:  I used Mexican oregano)

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup taco sauce (Ann's Note:  since I halved the recipe, I only needed 1/6 cup and that was not enough to justify buying a bottle of sauce so I used water.  We are not regular taco eaters in this house.)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 can (16 oz) pinto beans or green peas, drained and pureed in blender

Taco Shells

Mexican Sauce

Mexican Sauce

2 cups chopped peeled tomatoes or 1 can (16 oz.) whole tomatoes

1 small onion, quartered

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon chili powder

½ teaspoon leaf oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 small jalapeno pepper, fresh or canned (optional)

In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onions; drain well.  Place beef and onions in Crock Pot.  Stir in remaining ingredients except taco shells and Mexican Sauce.  Cover and cook on Low setting for 8 to 10 hours.  Ann's Note:  since I made half the recipe, I cut the time down to 6 hours for fear of burning the mixture.  It's pretty much ready to go as soon as you mix all the ingredients but this is just a slow way to warm it up.  Taste for seasoning.  Fill taco shells and serve with sauce. 

Spanish Rice – 8 to 10 servings.  Ann's Note:   Be warned, the halved recipe still made a lot of Spanish rice.

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 green peppers, cleaned and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

2 pounds ground round steak or chuck

2 cans (28 ounces each) Italian-style tomatoes (undrained)

1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)

1 dash Tabasco (optional)

2 teaspoons salt

Pepper to taste

1 ½ teaspoons chili powder

Few grains cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

2 or 3 whole cloves

2 cups uncooked long grain rice (Ann's Note:  As stated above, the rice failed to cook at all and I have no idea why this happened.  To be on the safe side, make the rice separately and add it to the ground beef mixture when ready to serve.)

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add onions, green pepper, and garlic; cook over medium heat until tender and lightly browned.  Remove vegetables with a slotted spoon to an electric cooker.

Add meat to oil remaining in skillet.  Cook over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.  Add to cooker with tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper, bay leaf, cloves, and rice; stir thoroughly to blend well.

Cover and cook on Low 4 to 6 hours.