blueberry coffee cake


blueberry cornmeal slice

Brown sugar.  It’s cooler than plain white sugar.  Especially when it’s a topping for a cake.  When I see a baked concoction come out of the oven and there is a crumble of brown sugar on the top, it calls to me.  So when I saw this recipe, and the picture of this thick slice of spongy cake with a heavy dose of brown sugar topping, I had to make it.  Plus, who doesn’t love a good coffee cake?  Now my kids have discovered the marvels of brown sugar and its yumminess, so I decided to make this cake for them (and me!).  When they found out I was going to make it, they doubted my abilities, which is completely understandable.  They vividly remember, and continually point out to me and anyone within earshot, that my last dance with blueberries was my sad attempt at making simple blueberry muffins.  I took them out of the oven and then this wave of disappointment came over me.  They came out like green swirly blobs.   My kids just laughed and grabbed a Nutrigrain bar and went and watched iCarly.  Nothing new to them – it’s always an adventure when mommy bakes.  I guess I wasn’t supposed to dump the blueberries in and continually stir to combine.  Lesson learned.  But that didn’t happen this time.  My cake came out perfectly – minus the chunk of brown sugar I picked off the corner.

blueberry coffee cake (from Bon Appetit)

crumb topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 TB dark brown sugar (packed)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
3 TB chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4″ cubes

toasted pecans

cake:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 TB cornmeal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 cup plus 3 TB sugar, divided
6 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 TB cinnamon
2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) blueberries
1 TB panko breadcrumbs

butter

brown sugar

get started on the crumb topping:

Whisk flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in nuts. Add butter. Using your fingertips, work butter into dry ingredients until large, moist crumbs begin to form. Set topping aside.

blueberry cornmeal cake

get started on the cake:

Preheat oven to 350.  Coat an 8x8x2 pan with nonstick spray.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and set aside.  Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat 3/4 cup sugar and butter in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Beat in vanilla.  Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes longer. With mixer at low-speed, add dry ingredients to bowl in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Pour half of batter into prepared pan and smooth top.  Whisk remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over batter in pan.  Spoon remaining batter over and smooth the top.
Toss the blueberries with panko in a small bowl.  Scatter evenly over batter.  Sprinkle crumb topping over blueberries.  Bake cake until top is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean about 55-65 minutes.  Let cool completely in pan.  Store airtight at room temperature.

asian turkey meatballs with chili garlic glaze


turkey meatball

Ok, so what is with life getting in the way of posting???  Sorry…weak moment.
I was lucky enough earlier in the year, to be invited to a Chinese New Year party, and so there was an obvious theme for the pot luck buffet.  I knew some of the dishes that the host and guests were making, and so I needed to try to come up with something that would compliment the table.  My mind went blank as to what to make.  Nothing inspired me in all my cookbooks, so I decided that sometimes, you have to go back to party basics.  Growing up, I was never a big fan of Swedish meatballs, but back in the day, they were the star of crockpots everywhere!  So for the party, and to pay homage to the Swedes, I decided to make an asian meatball.   Perfect.  So, I looked online for ideas and came across this recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen.  What caught my eye was the chili garlic glaze.  I figured that would help in two ways – keep them tasty and keep them moist.  Who likes dry, flavorless meatballs?

asian turkey meatballs with chili garlic glaze  (adapted from Aggie’s recipe)

2  lbs. lean ground turkey (not the 99% lean!)
2  TB ginger, grated
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2  cup red bell pepper, diced
1/2  cup green onions, sliced
1  clove garlic, minced
1  jalapeño pepper, minced
2  TB soy sauce
1  TB sesame oil
1  tsp kosher salt
ground black pepper
cooking spray

chili garlic glaze:

6  TB soy sauce
4  TB chili garlic sauce
2  TB brown sugar
4  TB water
1  TB jalapeño, minced

red bell pepperjalapeño

get started on the meatballs:

Preheat oven to 400.  In a large bowl, combine the turkey and the rest of the ingredients until just mixed together.  Do not over mix.  Scoop about 1.5 tablespoon of turkey mixture and roll in your hands lightly and place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Make sure the size is slightly smaller than a golf ball so it can be picked up with a toothpick easily.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.  While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the glaze by whisking the ingredients in a small bowl until the brown sugar dissolves.  Set aside 1/2 of the glaze and place in a small bowl for dipping.  After the meatballs have baked for ten minutes, brush the meatballs with the glaze.  Bake for another 3 minutes until cooked through.  Discard glaze.  Serve with dipping sauce.

meatball madnessmeatballs anyone?

note:  this makes about 42-48 meatballs.

pork pot stickers


pork pot sticker

I have always vowed that I wouldn’t be that mother that served dinner like a diner.  For the most part, I have upheld that vow.  My kids have always been pretty good about trying different things and we are lucky they eat what I serve.  That is probably attributed to the fact that they have learned that if they don’t like it, they get the ‘too bad’ face, and the ‘better luck next time!’ shrug (insert emoticon here).  Now I am not completely insensitive to their ever-changing preferences or aversions, but I don’t cater to just their favorites either.  If I did, I’d be eating orzo and hot dogs everyday.  Right now, my daughter seems to be anti-red sauce so she is getting zero sympathy from me in that department.  One dish we all can agree on though, is pot stickers.  Maybe because it is similar to ravioli or tortellini which the kiddies love.  My problem is that I need to be sure I don’t eat 30 of the tiny pockets of yumminess.  If you check out the original recipe, it calls for only 8 ounces of pork, whereas I used twice that.  I have issue with using parts of packages, or 1/2 of a can of something, so I tend to modify recipes to try to use things in their entirety.   This does produce mass amounts of food sometimes, but in most cases, it equals another dish the next day, or a frozen mixture for round two down the road.  I would rather refrigerate or freeze a meal, or the mixture for a meal, than have a leftover can of corn or  frozen blob of pork.
I was only feeding three of us this time, so I only made 18 pot stickers and kept the pork mixture and used it in a cold noodle salad for four of us the following day for lunch.  It also would work on a salad with an orange vinaigrette.  Leftovers are heaven.  Otherwise this would make 36-40 pot stickers.

napa cabbagescallions

pork pot stickers (basically from Cooking Light)

Cooking spray
1  lb. package of lean ground pork
1/2  cup green onions, chopped
1  jalapeño, minced
2  tsp. ginger, grated
2  TB low sodium soy sauce
2  tsp. sesame oil
1/2  head Napa cabbage, shredded
3  carrots, shredded or Julienne
water
peanut oil

pork and scallions

get started on the pot stickers:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add pork and cook 6 minutes or until almost done, stirring to break up into tiny pieces.  Add green onions, jalapeño and ginger and stir to combine.  Add soy sauce and sesame oil cooking for another minute.  Stir in carrots and cook for a minute, then add the cabbage and cook until cabbage just wilts.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.

pork mixturedumpling assembly

Place a small bowl of water near where you will be assembling the pot stickers.  Lay out six wonton wrappers, keeping the remaining under a damp paper towel (so they don’t dry out).  Spoon a teaspoon of the pork mixture into the center of the wonton.  Moisten the edges around the mixture with water, using your finger or a brush.  Take opposite corners of the wrapper and fold and seal and then fold up the remaining corners and pinch to seal at the top.  If any edges aren’t sealed completely, dab with water and pinch closed.

wontonsraw dumplings

Heat peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Arrange six pot stickers in the pan in a single layer.  Cook two minutes or until browned on the bottom.  Add 1 cup of water to the pan and cover and cook 4-5 minutes.  Uncover, and cook until liquid evaporates, about 2 minutes.  Meanwhile, assemble the next six pot stickers.  Serve immediately with soy sauce or your choice of dipping sauce. (jacked up with jalapeños!)

pot stickers cookingpot stickers

note:  serving portion is 3 pot stickers at about 120 calories total.  (so obviously eating 30 is not recommended!)  Depending on how many pot stickers you want and can fit into your pan, realize that you need to cover your batches to keep warm and moist, as it is 7+ minutes until the next batch is ready.  YUM!

plate of dumplings