Gingerbread Cake

I've gotten a few requests for this recipe from the caramel class. It is incredibly easy and best served with caramel sauce and whipped cream!

1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg

1. mix together first seven ingredients.
2. in a separate bowl mix butter and brown sugar. Add water and molasses and mix. Add egg and mix.
3. add dry ingredients
4. bake at 350 in a greased 9 inch pan for 30-40 minutes.

(Picture in the previous post)

Are You Going To Be There?

Fried Catfish Sandwiches

Alright, not before we get started- I know that catfish have whiskers. I know they are horribly ugly! But trust me, there is nothing ugly when it comes to the taste of catfish. It is a reasonable priced, good flavored fillet. It doesen't taste too fishy, and at least the catfish we bought had NO fish smell. So give it a try- if I loved it you can too. Trust me, because I know about the whiskers.

Catfish Sandwiches for 2
(adapted from this recipe)
Ingredients:

1/2 cup cream
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup cornmeal
zest of 1 lemon
fresh thyme
2 catfish fillets
1/2 onion

tomato
lettuce(preferably anything but iceberg)
2 everything bagels (or a baguette or something)
mayo (i personally use miracle whip but i know its a personal thing)

1. Mix the cornmeal, zest, thyme, salt and pepper
2. caramelize 1/2 onion
2. dip fillets in cream and then batter in the cornmeal mixture.
4. Fry in a thin layer of oil, about 5 minutes on each side, maybe less
5. Remove fish from pan and add any leftover batter to pan. Add lemon juice and then cream on VERY LOW heat so it doesn't seperate. Let it reduce and take off heat.
6. Toast bagels
7. Put on a layer of mayo on bottom of bagel and pile with tomatoes, lettuce, onions and than fish. Put the sauce of the top half of the bun and push down.
8. Enjoy, it's messy and will fall out in your hands, but it's okay, it's just a napkin night.

Vegetable Stock

Today was a Tomato Sauce Day. I was running low in my freezer so I decided it was time. When I was done I had a slightly tomato-ish, rather large pot that I didn't want to wash and said to myself, today I will also make vegetable stock.

Vegetable stock is used in place of that canned chicken broth you can buy. You can also make chicken stock but as I am growing more vegetarian every day I am making vegetable stock. It is the hardest thing to screw up, tastier than the canned stuff, incredibly useful and very thrifty if done right. Have I mentioned I am loving being thrifty lately? What with the economic downturn I am trying my best to make great food and keep to my budget. This is a good example of said endeavor.

Ingredients:

Water
Vegetables (Everything that has started to wilt and so you will no longer use, the peels of vegetables, the tops of celery....and the list goes on, just dont use things like pomegranates, beets, potatoes or avocados, they have qualities that make the stock cloudy, too flavorful, or oddly colored) I keep my scrap vegetables in the freezer in a baggy all together until stock day comes. How thrifty is that? It's practically garbage~
Garlic Any herbs from your garden(I don't think they are worth buying for this)
Whole Peppercorns

I didn't give any measurements because it depends on how much you are making. And it is also something that doesent have to be perfect. For about a quart of vegetables I would use 1-2 gallons of water, 4 cloves of garlic and like 10 peppercorns.

1. Bring the mixture to a steady simmer.
2. Let simmer for 45 minutes.
3. Strain out all the vegetables so you are left with a broth.
   

Uses include: Making sauces, soups, casseroles, poaching, marinades.....

Today after making my tomato sauce and stock can you guess what I made?

Tomato Soup! Love it. I filld the blender halfway up with stock, the other half sauce, added a scoop of sour cream (we only have vanilla soy in the fridge and no cream, hence the sour cream-its wonderful though), and a few sun dried tomatoes for extra flavor. Blend and serve.

With it we had Irish Cheddar Paninis. Talk about sharp cheddar. We take cheese very seriously in our house.

Baked French Toast

I'm all about bread pudding these days huh? Hopefully you are liking what I'm bringing! If not, remember ask for something else. I promise to try and make everything that people ask for.

Here is my thoughts on Baked French Toast. I feel in love with it at corner bakery. They make some killer french toast. To make it at home I want to add cream cheese, I want to make it slightly bread puddingish but I want it to still come across as french toast.

Ingredients:
1 loaf Brioche Bread, sliced thin(and eggy rich bread)(another idea would be the cinnamon raisin bread in the red package, not sure what it is, but I LOVED it growing up)
6 eggs
8 oz cream cheese
2 cups half and half
1 T cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt

1. Mix eggs, half and half, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt.
2. Toast bread, either in toaster or broiled. This makes it soak up more liquid. split it into four piles so you have enough for 4 layers.
3. Spray 9x13 pan and lay out 1 layer of bread. spread half cream cheese over this layer. They layer with more bread. Pour half the mixture over this bread. Push down on the bread so it soaks in the liquid. Do another layer of bread and the rest of the cream cheese. Do the rest of the bread and pour on the rest of the egg mixture. Press down again to make sure everything is equally soaked.
4. Top with melted butter, cinnamon and sugar.
5. Bake at 350 until the top is golden and the liquid has solidified.
   

YUM! I think I might be making this this weekend...