CEiMB and Dinner - Delicious!

CEiMB

Hosted by: Pam of Cooking with Boys

Recipe: Mixed Berry Cobbler (Blueberries, strawberries, and Marionberries)

Does this dessert not look incredible? Easy to mix together; I would say 15 minutes tops. Throw in the oven and wait 30 minutes. I love the brown flour addition to this recipe.


The dough has a slight nutty flavor and is moist, a perfect accompaniment to the mixed berries. This is a dessert I will go-to continually. Guilt free nibbling - just what we like for that little something after dinner.

Thank you Pam for hosting this week. She has the recipe posted on her site and you can also go to the Food Network recipe site to retrieve the recipe. A true Winner!

Fluffy was looking at me, as if she was abused over the lack of attention while I was making dinner. I couldn't help taking a picture. Her and Shadow just love their little beds in the window. I know they dream of catching the squirrels, chipmunks, and birds.

I made Ellie's Mixed Berry Dessert to go with Dinner which was:

A Hearty Beef Stew in the Crockpot

Onion and Cheddar No-Knead Casserole Bread

and Zucchini Oven Chips (Fresh out of my vegetable garden.)

Plus Ellie's Dessert (mentioned numerous times now, sorry)

A Hearty Beef Stew in the Crock Pot

3 lb. pkg. Beef stew meat

6 medium red potatoes, leave peel on and cut into large cubes

1 medium pkg baby carrots, leave whole, they are baby carrots =)

1 large sweet onion chopped

1 c. catsup

* 1 t. salt

* 1 t. pepper

*1 T. beef granules

* 1 t. brown sugar

* 1 T. garlic powder

* 2 t. Creole seasoning

*4 c. water

* 2 T. Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours.

Zucchini Oven Chips

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Panko flakes

1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons fat-free milk

2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini (about 2 small)

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°.

(Zucchini came from my Garden - 1st one)

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place milk in a shallow bowl. Dip zucchini slices in milk, and dredge in Panko mixture. Place coated slices on an ovenproof wire rack coated with cooking spray; place rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

Onion and Cheddar No-Knead Bread

5 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) quick-rise yeast

1 1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

2 c. water

2 T. butter

3/4 c. plus 2 Tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt and pepper. In a saucepan, heat water and butter to 120 - 130 degrees F. Add to dry ingredients; mix with paddle attachment just until moistened. Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, onion and remaining flour. Change to bread hook attachment and mix until smooth. Turn into a greased 2-quart round baking dish. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. F while dough rises.

When dough is done rising, bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Remove from dish to a wire rack to cool. (1 loaf)

SMS - Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting PLUS St. Patrick's Day Irish Soda Bread with smoke salmon and chive butter

Sweet Melissa Sunday is Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting by Julie of A Little Bit of Everything.

The only part of the recipe I altered was adding pecans instead of walnuts. We love pecans in this house . . . okay, I LOVE pecans in this house.

The recipe was simple and easy to put together. I learned a couple of interesting points for myself. First, I was worried about the 1 1/2 Tablespoons of cinnamon called for in the recipe for the cake along with the orange zest from a whole orange in the frosting. The cinnamon in carrot cake was not a dominate flavor. Just the opposite for us; kind of like a nice mellow addition. The orange zest definitely shows up as an accompaniment to the carrot cake but compliments to our taste bud thinking. I have been baking carrot cakes for over 20 years and never would have thought to add quite that much of either ingredient.

The third point that interested me was the butter, flour, parchment. Yes, I always butter and flour my pans but for parchment, my combo is to use shortening then parchment (the shortening keeping the parchment in place) then shortening on the parchment for easy release. Melissa had us butter, flour then parchment - the process was done. I liked it and the process worked perfectly!

The last surprise I wanted to mention was the top crust on the carrot cake. The crusty shell was a bit alarming to me but once the cake is assembled, the cake tasted great with no texture issues. Hubby thought this was the best carrot cake he ever had. . . which almost got a pillow thrown at him because I thought my go to carrot cake recipe was pretty darn amazing.

Thank you Julie for a wonderful choice for this week! To get the recipe and check out Julie's own perfect carrot cake, go to Julie's blog.

I thought adding a quick, versatile bread nibbling, appetizer accepting recipe would be a nice end to this post. If you like whole caraway seeds, then add the ingredient as a whole seed. I do not, so grind my caraway seeds in a coffee grinder set at espresso. The small grinder is kept just for grinding spices in a hurry =o).

Irish Soda Bread:
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground up (I use a coffee grinder for my seasoning grinding)
3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the oatmeal into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Pour into a bowl and add the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground caraway seeds. Stir well to combine. Pour the buttermilk in and stir quickly until well combined. Shape the dough into a round about 6 inches in diameter and put onto a baking sheet. Place into the top half of the oven and bake 30 to 40 minutes, until lightly brown on top. When tapped, the bread will give off a firm, hollow sound. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Chive Cream Cheese butter

4 T. butter, softened

4 T. cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon chopped chives
8 ounces smoked salmon, sliced

(optional) garnish with dill sprigs

Directions:
Slice the soda bread into thin slices, about 1/4-inch, and cut each slice into a rough 2-inch square until you have 16 pieces. Wrap the remaining bread in plastic wrap and store in a cool dry place. Mix the butter, cream cheese and chives together and spread a small amount onto each square. Top with a small fold of salmon and (optional) garnish with a sprig of fresh dill.

TWD; Choco-Nana Bread

TWD and Chocolate banana bread, hhmm, interesting flavor combination. I read the recipe several times before starting because each flavor is a solid background taste. Now combine them. I really did not know what to think. When in doubt, make little servings. I did make the whole recipe BUT I baked in small serving sizes: Mini-loaves and muffins. Easy to freeze because we are trying to cut down on goodies lying about; you know, the kind easy to snag on the way to where ever one of us is going.

Steph of Obsessed with Baking chose this week's recipe and I am proud of her for going out on a limb and picking a controversial taste twist for our Tuesday blogging social. At first taste, no one in our home could say if the bread was liked or not. The bread had a wonderful texture and aroma with a deep, dark chocolate color. After a further nibbling review, we did like it but not as a family favorite.

The recipe went together quickly and now we know what the two flavors together creates; banana-ie chocolate. Maybe if I had added crushed pecans or something. I think this recipe needs to be examined from the eyes of each TWD baker to see how the recipe was accepted and/or altered. I am so curious!