Black Belt Living

Recipe Tuesday - White Chocolate Mocha Trifle

Friends had us over for dinner several days ago and not wanting to arrive empty-handed, I decided to bring a dessert (obviously before Pie-fest week). My family requested my Mocha White Chocolate trifle. It's easy enough and ever so good. People think you fussed, when really you didn't. 

Mocha White Chocolate Trifle

• 1 Sara Lee family sized pound cake, thawed and cut into cubes
• 2 pkgs instant white chocolate pudding (small boxes)
• 3 C cold milk
• 1 C cold brewed
• 1/4 C instant coffee granules
• 1 pint whipping cream
• 1 C almonds, chopped or slivered
• 1 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 C kahlua liquor (or however much you want)

Put a metal or glass mixing bowl into your freezer, so it gets nice and cold. 

Combine milk, coffee, and coffee granules and let sit for five minutes or so until coffee granules dissolve. Stir well.  Add instant pudding and mix with a mixer or whisk for approximately a minute, until there are no more lumps. Chill for 30 minutes. 

Remove chilled bowl from freezer. Add whipping cream and whip until the cream forms stiff peaks. Add a pinch of sugar if you'd like. 

Remove pudding from the fridge and fold the whipping cream into the pudding until combined well.

Put 1/2 of the pound cake cubes into the bottom of a trifle bowl. Drizzle with kahula. Put a layer of mousse over the pound cake. Add a layer of chocolate and almonds. Repeat with more layers of pound cake, kahula, mousse, almonds, and chocolate. Chill for at least an hour before serving. 

You could make it look even prettier by drizzling chocolate sauce/syrup down the sides of the bowl if you'd like.  Mmmm!  If you're tired of pie, try this or use your imagination and use different ingredients. I love fruity trifles in the summer. 

Recipe Tuesday - Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Well it's not Tuesday, but I did some baking today for a bake sale, so I thought I'd share. You know I'm not big on baking, but these loaves are easy and soooo good. Actually, it's my DAD's recipe. He's the King of the Pumpkin Cranberry Bread in the family. I just try to keep up. 

If you happen to be going to the Mariemont High School Fall musical this weekend, be sure to stop and buy some treats at the bake sale. The kids in the orchestra and their parents are raising money for next year's Orchestra trip to Europe (lucky!). 

Dad's Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

• 2 1/4 C flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 C sugar
• 1/2 C oil
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 C canned pumpkin
• 1 C chopped fresh cranberries

In a large bowl, mix flour, soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

Combine eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, and pumpkin. Mix well. (Hello Kitchen Aid!)

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Mix in the cranberries.

Spoon batter into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour, or until done when tested with a toothpick. 

Remove from oven and cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then remove from pans and continue cooling. Makes 2, 8X4" loaves. It might not be the prettiest, but it's the yummiest!

Can I just say that next to the automobile, the lightbulb, and the flush toilet, I think that the Kitchen Aid stand mixer is one of the greatest machines ever invented!  

Have a great weekend!  

Recipe Tuesday - Hot Pepper Jelly

Yeah baby, it's hot and sweet.... just like me. Ha! One thing is for sure, it's hotter than I am! That's right, here is my Hot Pepper Jelly. 

I've been experimenting with a lot of canning this summer and decided to try something different and really adventurous this summer, pepper jelly. When my friend Greg heard that I was curious about doing this, he gave me a bunch of hotties from his garden and I couldn't wait to get started. 

A few words of caution....make sure you've got good ventilation. Make sure you use gloves when you handle both the peppers and the jam, and be sure to clean all surfaces that are exposed to the peppers well and throw your rags immediately in the washer when you're done. Do NOT get your face into the boiling pot of jam. I am serious here people, I can't imagine the pain of pepper steam going in your eyes. 

Now, with that being said, it's so worth it. This jam is sweet and packs a kick. I've eaten it on english muffins, spread on a bit of bacon, but I think it would be totally amazing on pork. In fact, I'm going to be testing that out for dinner tomorrow! Yum!

Hot Pepper Jelly

 Ingredients and supplies: 

Rubber Gloves

Food Processor

Water Bath Canner or a large stock pot

Pot for cooking

Ladle

Wooden Spoon

Small Saucepan

Canning Funnel

Jar lifter, tongs, or canning rack

6-10 Hot peppers (habanero, cayenne, scotch bonnet, Jalapeno, or Hungarian Wax)

4-6 Red Bell Peppers

6 cups of sugar

1 1/2 cups of white vinegar (5% acidity)

1/2 teaspoon butter (to keep the jam from foaming)

6 ounces of liquid pectin

Red food coloring (Optional)

8-9 half pint canning jars, rings and lids

 

Wash the canning jars, lids, and rings in hot soapy water or in your dishwasher.

Fill your hot water bath canner, or a large stock pot with water. I should be filled so that there is about an inch of water above the height of your jars. Place the canner or stock pot on your stove and turn heat to high.

Wash the red peppers and the hot peppers. Let them dry.

Cut the red peppers into chunks removing the stems and the seeds. Remove any light colored flesh from the inside of the peppers.

Using a food processor, chop the red peppers until they are in small pieces or pureed. Strain out any extra liquid from pureed peppers.

While wearing gloves, remove the stem end from the hot peppers. Place the hot peppers in a food processor. Do not remove the seeds, and process the hot peppers until they are in fine pieces. Pour the hot peppers into a separate bowl.

Combine 1 cup of the red pepper puree, 1/3 cup of the hot peppers, 6 cups of sugar, 1 1/3 cup of white vinegar, and butter in a large saucepan or pot. Add 2 drops of red food coloring.

Heat the hot pepper jelly mixture over medium high heat, stirring constantly.

While the hot pepper jelly heats, place the canning lids in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring the water just to a boil and remove the saucepan from the heat. Leave the lids in the hot water.

Stir the hot pepper jelly mixture frequently and bring it to a rolling boil. Allow the mixture to boil for six minutes, continuing to stir so that the jelly does not burn or stick to the sides. DO NOT STICK YOUR FACE INTO THE STEAM, or there will be a medical emergency and you will need to call 911. 

Add the 6 ounces of pectin to the hot pepper jelly and allow it to return to a boil. Boil for 3 more minutes, stirring as it boils.

Remove the hot pepper mixture from the heat and skim off any foam that may be on the surface with a spoon or a skimmer.

Using a canning funnel and a ladle, pour the hot pepper jelly into the jars leaving only a 1/4 inch of space at the top of each jar. Wipe off any jelly that spills on the very top of the jar, then put a lid on it and secure the ring.

When your jars are all filled and sealed, place the jars in the hot water bath. Make sure there is at least an inch of water over the top of all jars in the pot/canner and allow it to return to a boil. Leave the jars in the boiling water for 5 minutes.

Remove the jars from the water and place them on a kitchen towel to cool. As they cool you will hear popping sounds from the lids. Once they are cool, test the seal. The lids should not pop up if you press on the top of them. If any jars are not properly sealed, place them in your refrigerator and use them first.

 

Recipe Tuesday - Grilled Pizza

"Men cook outside with FLAME,
Women cook inside with MAGIC!"

Andy has said this jokingly for years, as I'm the indoor kitchen magician, and he's the grill master. But we decided to go for a little gender bending last week as Shannon and I decided that it could be fun for the girls to fire up the barbecue grill and try making pizza outdoors.

IT.

WAS.

AWESOME.

No, really...it was STUPENDOUS!

I got lots of tidbits of advice from Facebook friends, and so I tried to pull what I thought were the best pieced of advice and basically wing it. Here's what worked for us, and keep in mind that you need to do what works best for you.

Grilled Pizza

• 1 pizza crust dough (you can make your own, there are plenty of recipes out there, or use a mix)
• pizza sauce
• cheese
• toppings of your choice

Note: we have a gas grill. If you have a charcoal grill, I can't help you...you're on your own!

Clean/scrape your grill well and get the goo/grease/gnarl off of the cooking grates. Spray grates with cooking spray.

Prepare your pizza dough according to your recipe or package directions. Let it rest for about five minutes, then shape into pizza crust disk. Set aside.

Turn your grill on high and let it warm up for a few minutes. Put crust directly on the grill grates. Keep an eye on it. After about five minutes, try to lift the crust with a spatula. If it seems a bit firm, flip it over and let it grill on the other side.  Once flipped, let it continue to cook for about five more minutes, or until you see a bit of grill marks on the crust, and the edges are a bit browned.

Add sauce and toppings while pizza is on the grill. Let cook about two more minutes, then turn the grill off, put the lid on, and let the toppings and cheese warm up and melt together well.

Lift pizza off the grill with a spatula.

This was SO good and really easy to do. I found the grill to be very forgiving. Don't be afraid to try it. I can't wait to give it a go with some more exotic toppings, like goat cheese, spinach, and artichokes. Yum!

* * *

I have lots to share with you this week. I didn't post yesterday because I was busy seeing if this girl could come and join our family.

It's not official yet, but things are looking good! :-)

Repeat Recipe Tuesday - Chicken Under a Brick

We lost another friend last week to cancer. Cancer is ridiculous. It's non-discriminatory. Anyhow, I could go on and on about cancer and my feelings about it, but that's for another day.

Anyhow, her funeral was yesterday and while it was indeed a sad day, there was an amazing revelation as well. I'll blog about that later in the week. But in the meantime, I'm kind of whooped and given that it's Recipe Tuesday, I thought I'd "punt" this week and given you a rerun.

So here you go. When was the last time you cooked with a rock from your garden? Well now you can. I present to you in Tuscan style, Chicken Under a Brick. It's SOOOO 2008....

Recipe Tuesday - Chicken Under A Brick

Okay, I try to do different things every week and I just realized that I did chicken last week...and the week before!  Oh well, last Tuesday seems like literally a lifetime ago. It really does.  I promise a chicken-free week next week.  How about some dessert for a nice change?

Several years ago I was very blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Italy. I was so inspired by everything Italian....from the fashion, to the architecture, from the beautiful scenery, to the food.  I remember eating "chicken under a brick" at this little hole-in-the-wall in Venice and it was just sublime.  I vowed to learn how to make it.

Really, basic Tuscan cooking is all about simplicity and good ingredients like good olive oil and fresh herbs.  Here is my Chicken Under a Brick.  I use my trusty cast iron skillet, a large landscape rock (that I set aside and cleaned well for cooking), and fresh rosemary (which I grow all year-round).

To be continued HERE....

Happy Tuesday everybody!

Recipe Tuesday - Andy's White Sangria

In case you haven't noticed - or if you're in the Southern hemisphere right now - it's hot out there. Big time hot. Fortunately, I'm married to a man who is not only a fine person, but a talented mixologist as well. That's always a good thing, especially when you're in the mood for some really tasty white Sangria.

Andy makes a killer white Sangria and he agreed to let me share his secret recipe with all of you today so that you can make it and have a smile on your face this evening. 

Andy's White Sangria

• 1 standard bottle of chardonnay (doesn't need to be expensive)
• 6 oz orange pineapple juice
• 6 oz lemonade
• 3 oz triple sec
• 3 oz lemoncello liquour 
• 1 oz rum
• 1 oz brandy (cheap brandy is great)
• fresh limes, lemons, and oranges

Mix everything together, then squeeze the juice from the fresh fruit. Give it all a stir. If you have enough patience to wait for a few hours or even overnight before serving, it's even better.  Serve over ice with fruit in your glass.  YUM!

Recipe Tuesday - Panko Crusted Pork Cutlets

A few weeks ago, a friend (one who is not only a generous host, but a fantastic cook!) had us over for dinner. He made a panko crusted pork tenderloin that was similar to what he has eaten several times while on his travels to Japan on business. The Japanese call it Tonkatsu.  I am telling you, these things were KILLER! I watched him make them and figured that I could easily come up with my own version.

My family has been wanting me to make them ever since, but there was only one thing holding me back. I've never deep fried anything in my life. That's right, no fried chicken, no homemade donuts, no french fries. I've sauteed many a meal, but to to heat more than 1/4 inch of grease...that's one thing I've never done in all my years of experimenting in the kitchen. 

Why? A few reasons.  One, it's messy... although one could say that frying up bacon on the stove is just as messy and that would be correct. And two... I never could figure out what to do with the leftover grease/oil after you were done frying. And given that nobody in my family (other than the skinny, bony old dog) is in need of any extra caloric intake, it just wasn't high on the priority list.  

But I did it, it was easy, and wowza were they good.  I put my own twist in the recipe, so it's just a bit different than my friend's recipe.

Panko Crusted Pork Cutlets

 

• 1 - 1.25 lbs. pork tenderloin, cut diagonally into slices
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp hot sauce (or tabasco sauce)
• about 2 C panko bread crumbs
• canola oil
• wax paper
• Tonkatsu Sauce (optional)

Take each slice of pork that's been cut on the diagonal and place it between two slices of wax paper (or parchment paper). Pound the pork uniformely until you have a cutlet approximately 1/4" thick (I used a rolling pin. see photo).

Put pork back into the fridge to chill before coating and frying, to make sure the cutlets are very cold. 

When ready to cook, heat about 2" of oil in a pan with a heavy bottom. While the oil is heating, mix the eggs and hot sauce and add some freshly ground black pepper. Put the panko crumbs in a separate bowl. Sprinkle each cutlet with salt and pepper Dunk each cutlet into the egg mixture, then into the crumbs, then back into the egg and once again into the crumbs.  Set aside. Coat all the pork with the breading. 

Your oil is hot enough when you toss a few bread crumbs into the oil and it bubbles and doesn't splatter. Add pork to the hot oil, cooking about two minutes on each side. Don't put more than about three cutlets in the oil at once, or the heat will drop and they'll turn out soggy and soak up too much oil. Also be careful that they don't get too brown too fast. If you think they're browning up too quickly, turn the heat down a bit. I pulled them out when they were golden brown on each side, like the photo above. When you remove them from the oil, set them on paper towels to soak up any of the excess oil. 

Serve cutlets with the Tonkatsu Sauce. I have trouble finding it in stores around here, so we skipped it. I did find a quick recipe for it online this morning, so you can make your own if you're really motivated: Tonkatsu Sauce. If you live in the Cincinnati area, I know that they have Tonkatsu Sauce at Jungle Jim's (just one more reason to trek up to Jungle Jim's!).

I hope you'll give these a try, they are really quite easy and SO good. Given that they're fried, I wouldn't eat them every day, but everything in moderation is fine, right?

Have a great day! Eat well!

Recipe Tuesday - Spicy Chinese Green Beans

A few years ago we discovered spicy Szechwan green beans at a local Chinese restaurant. Oh YUM!  We loved those beans so much that the actual meals ordered were a second thought. Sadly, that restaurant closed and our favorite beans went bye-bye. 

However, recently our friends had us over for a casual dinner and she served spicy Chinese style green beans. They were the closest thing that I'd had to the ones at "the Wok". She was gracious enough to share her recipe with me and I've made them twice now. The first time I was true to her recipe, and the second time I changed it up a bit because we like them with a bit more kick. The recipe below uses my modifications. 

Spicy Chinese Green Beans

   

• 1 lb. fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
• cooking spray or 1 Tbsp peanut oil
• 1 tsp minced ginger root
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce (I use the reduced sodium version)
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes

Arrange beans in a veggie steamer. Cover and stem for 5 minutes. Drain and plunge beans into ice water. Let sit for a few minutes, then drain beans again. Coat a wok or large skillet with cooking spray or peanut oil and get the pan nice and hot. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add beans, saute for 5 more minutes. Combine last 7 ingredients well and add to beans. Cook 30 more seconds or until completely heated and the cornstarch makes the sauce look a bit transluscent and glossy. 

I would guess that if you want these even hotter, you could add a bit of chili oil to the sauce as a substitute for the sesame oil.  

Yummy!  These beans alone could be a meal for me. Delish and easy to do with all of the fresh produce that's in season right now. 

Oh, and for the record, I am loving my heavy stainless steel cookware. Big time. 

 
 

Have a super day. Cook something new today!

 

Recipe Tuesday - Grilled Portabello Paninis

I had such good intentions for this week's Recipe Tuesday. I took photos of the portabellos and the peppers being grilled, but got so carried away with actually EATING my panini, that I forgot to photograph the final results.  Oh well.  I found something that looked similar on the web, so you'll just have to use your imagination. Sorry about that. The real thing looked SO much better (tasted good too for the little time it was in existance.)

Grilled Portabello Paninis

• 4 large portabello mushroom caps, cleaned
• 2 large red peppers, seeded and cut into large pieces
• your favorite marinade (I used balsamic vinaigrette dressing)
• 8 slices sourdough bread
• 4 slices provalone or havarti cheese
• dijon mustard
• softened butter or Non-stick Cooking spray

 Wash mushrooms and dry well.  Cut peppers. Put all veggies in a ziplock bag with the marinade and let sit for about an hour. Remove veggies from the bag and grill either on your barbecue grill, or on your indoor grill. (For our sandwiches last week, I was planning on having them done on the big outdoor grill, but the weather didn't cooperate, so I grilled them on my George Forman Grill - oh baby do I love that thing, I have the "360"!).

 Grill portobellos for about five minutes on each side, and peppers until they get some nice black grill marks on them and they are no longer firm.  Butter the outsides of the bread slices or spray with cooking spray (if you want to save the calories, it works great). Remove from the grill and start building your sandwiches, layering the mushroom, some dijon mustard, slices of red pepper, the cheese between hunks of bread. I know that I don't need to tell you this, but make sure that the butter/spray is on the outside, and grill your sandwiches either in a panini press, cast iron skillet, or in your Foreman grill (or whatever way you choose to make grilled sandwiches). Grill them until you get some nice marks like in the photo below. If the cheese is starting to melt out of the sandwiches, you're done!

 So, so, so, so tasty, people.  Try switching up the cheeses if you like.  I personally love some dill havarti or horseradish cheddar.  Mmmm.....

Oh, and just because it's THAT time of year.....

 Let's Go Red Wings! Just sayin!

Recipe Tuesday - Spicy Shrimp and Edamame

Last week I was busy with activities almost every night, so there wasn't much time to cook. Other than the occasional pizza night, I'm not big on carry-out. I'd always rather cook than pick something up, so those are the "whip something out of nothing nights". On top of being short on time, my local "go-to" grocery store is closed for several months for remodeling, so for a while, the quick trip to the grocery store opportunities are gone and that forces me to be more creative. That's a good thing.

On Wednesday, I pulled some things from here and there and ended up with a great dinner!  I made a stir fry using frozen shrimp, edamame, red and yellow peppers, and purple cabbage. We love stir-fried cabbage. If you haven't tried it, you should, it's great! 

Anyhow, this dinner was simple, and simply DELICIOUS! I swear, I would have eaten the whole pan if I could have. It was that good.  It was super colorful too. I like pretty food, so that was a plus. Who am I kidding. I love all food...pretty, ugly, or pretty ugly.

Spicy Shrimp and Edamame Stir-Fry

 

• 1 lb. fresh or frozen shrimp (I used tiger shrimp w/ shells) peeled and deveined
• 1/2 large purple cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 pkg frozen edamame seeds, thawed
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
• 3/4 C bottled Szecuhuan Stir Fry Sauce (easy, but if you want to make your own, check out Jamie Oliver's recipe)
• 1/3 C oil (I like peanut oil for stir fry, but it really doesn't matter. Chili oil could kick things up a notch!)
• hot cooked brown rice (optional)

Thaw, clean, and devein the shrimp and set aside in a bowl of icy cold water.  Prep veggies and set aside. Heat oil in your wok or large, deep pan, until a piece of pepper tossed into the pan sizzles when it hits the oil. Add garlic and stir fry for about 30 seconds.  Drain the shrimp, and pat it dry with a paper towel (if it's watery, the water will splatter and burn you when it hits the pan, trust me!).  Stir fry the shrimp a few at a time until all shrimp are added to the wok.  When the shrimp have all turned pink, add all of your veggies, including the edamame, and continue to stir fry for about two minutes.  Add your Szecuhuan sauce and continue to stir fry until all contents in the pan are well coated.  Serve over hot rice.

I really like having this bottled sauce in my fridge. It's low in sugar and adds a good bit of spice and heat with little fuss and muss. There is a Korean version and a Chinese version, and I love them both. Making your own sauce is super easy, but I like knowing that if I've got some veggies in the fridge and some of this sauce, I've always got a quick meal that my family is going to love.

 

That's it for today, tomorrow I'm talking chicken, and not in the way you might think after reading a post about food.  As for tonight, we girls might just be strapping on the hockey skates and taking to the ice at US Bank Arena. That's a blog post just aching to happen right there.....