Sunday, June 17, 2012

Hagrid's Treats

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour
Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, margarine, and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Grease cookie sheets.
2.Thoroughly stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, Cheddar cheese, and egg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stiff dough has formed.
3.Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, mixing in additional flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2" thickness. Cut with cookie cutter (I prefer bone shaped), and place 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4.Bake 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool before serving. Store in a loosely covered container.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Pumpkin Peanut butter Dog Treats

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 large eggs

2/3 cup pumpkin purée, canned or fresh

3 tbsps peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place all ingredients in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer

fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium for about a minute or until the dough

looks like a bunch of little dough balls. If you pinch a piece and it crumbles, add a little

water. If it’s really sticky, it’s too wet and you’ll need to add a little flour. Gather the

dough together and form into a ball. Place on a lightly floured work surface and roll it out

to about 1/4-inch thickness. You can either use a cookie cutter to cut out cute shapes or

use a knife to cut squares or strips. I am pretty sure the dog doesn’t care, but I rather

prefer the cute shapes. I gather the scraps together and roll them out again and again

until I’ve used up the dough. Place the cookies on a baking sheet. They can be crowded

pretty close together since they don’t expand much. Bake 15-20 minutes for softer

treats or 30 minutes for hard treats (Kaweah likes crunchy treats, just like her person –

me). Let cool completely. Makes 100+ 1-inch heart-shaped dog treats

Monday, June 11, 2012

Avocado Pound Cake


  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ripe mashed avocados
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk

  • Procedures


    1. Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9x5-inch loaf pans and set aside.

    2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

    3. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add avocado and beat for another 2 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

    4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed for 1 minute after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed. Beat in vanilla.

    5. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated. Add the buttermilk and the remaining flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated. Remove bowl from the stand mixer, and finish incorporating the batter with a spatula.

    6. Divide the batter between the pans and bake on alternating racks for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rotate racks and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
      Cake will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to 4 days.

    Wednesday, May 30, 2012

    Quinoa Pilaf

    4-6 servings
    1 tbs olive oil
    4 oz sliced mushrooms
    1 tsp salt
    ... 1/2 tsp pepper
    1/2 cut finely chopped onions

    1-1/2 cups quinoa
    2 cups chicken stock

    Put oil in cooker and press cook, heat 5 mins

    Add veggies, salt and pepper. Cook 5 mins

    Strain quinoa

    Add quinoa and stock to cooker, stir

    Cook 20 mins
     

    Tuesday, May 29, 2012

    To prepare a Chai Latte

    Ingredients:
    • 1/3- 1/2 cup of milk
    • 1/2- 2/3 cup of Chai Latte Concentrate
    • 1-3 teaspoons, to taste, of sweetener. I use a combination of agave nectar and raw sugar

    Optional for serving:

    • Whipped cream
    • Cocoa powder
    • Ground cinnamon

    Monday, May 28, 2012

    Chai Latte Concentrate

    Ingredients:
    • 12 Chai tea bags
    • 4 cups cold, fresh water
    • 1 1/2 cups milk

    Place the tea bags, cold water and milk in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. When you reach the boil, drop the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and squeeze the tea bags to extract as much flavor and liquid as possible. Discard tea bags and transfer the Chai Latte Concentrate to a heat-safe container. Allow to cool to room temperature, put a tight fitting lid on the container and store in the refrigerator for up to 12 days.

    Wednesday, May 16, 2012

    Margarita Cake

    FOR CAKE
    - 1 stk butter (softened) 
    - 4 eggs
    - 1 white cake mix
    - 1 bx vanilla instant pudding (the smaller one)
    - 1 can(s) (10 oz) frozen margarita concentrate
    (completely thawed)
    - 2 tsp lime juice
    - 1 Tbsp lime zest
    GLAZE
    - 1 Tbsp butter 
    - 2 Tbsp lime juice
    - 1 Tbsp lime zest
    - 1 1/2 c (about) powdered sugar
    1. Pre Heat oven to 350° degrees & prepare Bundt style cake pan. ( I use bakers joy)
    2. Mix butter, eggs, margarita concentrate (completely thaw first or butter will lump), lime juice & zest together.
    3. Add cake mix & pudding mix until well blended.
    4. Pour batter in pan & bake 45-55 minutes. Let cool 10-15 minutes & remove from pan.
    5. While cake is cooling, in saucepan melt butter for glaze. Add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth.
    6. Drizzle Glaze over Cake while it's still warm.