Turkey Noodle Surprise

Here's to nostalgia and simplicity...

When I was young, before we gave up and started eating out almost every night, my dad would attempt to cook. He wasn't much of a cook – he notoriously used powdered sugar instead of flour as a thickener on more than one occasion – so one day he created this recipe. Some random veggies, ground turkey, and prepared gravy over noodles.

My mother has very few foods she won't eat, so when she's out of town, it's harder to make things special. Mushrooms will always be a staple, usually with chicken wings or shellfish. This time, I decided to go back to old times.

My recipe:

Turkey Noodle Surprise:

Serves 2

1/2lb ground turkey breast

1 8oz can mushroom stems and pieces

1/2 onion, diced

1 15oz jar homestyle turkey gravy

1 cup cooked pasta

Brown ground turkey and onions over medium heat. Add gravy and mushrooms, continue cooking until heated through. Serve over pasta.

Incredibly simple, right? We need simplicity in this world. Against the nostalgia, I did serve it with a breadstick:

Brings me back to the good old days...

Sourdough Surprises: Cranberry Siracha Golzme

Way back when I started blogging (not that I do too well with it, by a folder full of half-written posts), when I started my sourdough starter, I put some in a baggie in the freezer. There are times I don't have time to bake, and sometimes my sourdough gets put by the wayside. Sourdough is a colony of living animals, and they may not live forever.

This past month has been a lot of my taste-testers being out of town and me working 12 hour days. The name of the game has been cleaning out the freezer and pantry. I made a mini-cheesecake (which will be posted after I perfect the recipe), but the cookies I promised my coworkers, perfecting my sourdough protein waffle recipe, and most meals that require effort has been put by the wayside. So when I pulled out my sourdough starter, I let out a yelp. Mold covered it. There was nowhere to even get a spoonful from to re-start it. Well, that's one more thing I can get out of the freezer, right? And while I'm at it, why don't I use Sourdough Surprises to continue my spring cleaning?

The challenge this month was gozleme, which is possibly best put as a Turkish quesadilla. The difference is pretty much that the “tortilla” is raw when it's placed on the griddle. It's supposed to be savory, with similar fillings to my all-too-familiar perogies. Of course, there's the gray area there, and spicy fruit seems to be big lately. So I thawed and fed my frozen sourdough starter, grabbed an extra can of Thanksgiving's cranberry sauce, and with just a little guidance from an easy recipe, made my gozleme.

Sourdough Cranberry Siracha Gozleme

Adapted from Binnur's Turkish Cookbook

Serves 4

Dough:

1/2 cup Sourdough Starter

3/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 tsp salt

Filling:

1 cup prepared cranberry sauce

1 tblsp Siracha

Mix salt and flour into a small bowl. Slowly cut in sourdough starter, adding more flour as necessary. Cover and set aside.

Microwave cranberry sauce in 30-second increments until melted. Stir in Siracha.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each piece out thin. Divide filling among dough pieces, placing in the center. Fold dough over filling.

In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, grill each piece, starting flat side down, for about 1-1/2 minutes each side until dough begins to blister. Enjoy while warm!

The only thing I have to say is these had quite a kick to them. I use Siracha quite a bit now (yes, I've fallen for the craze), but it seemed stronger in these. But the pairing worked very well. Plus, other than warm cranberry sauce dripping out, they were compact and portable. Something (with a different filling) that I could see taking to work for a portable and friendly mini-meal.

And that just might keep me using the starter this time around...

Check out our other cool gozleme!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sourdough Surprises: Brown Sugar Spice Pancakes

Pancakes and waffles. Easy to make the batter and then...I'm a notoriously bad pancake flipper, and the last time I went to make waffles, with the batter prepared, the waffle maker wouldn't heat up. So, neither are things I have great luck with. Still, I knew there would come a day when Sourdough Surprises picked that for their monthly challenge.  It came as no surprise when that was picked for September.

Since the waffle incident, I have replaced the waffle maker, but having just made them (from a mix), I opted for pancakes...with my new toy:

I know As Seen on TV products normally aren't all they're made out to be, but my aunt has one and likes it, so for $18 (in free gift cards!) I decided it was worth a try.

I used my favorite pancake base, substituting brown sugar and adding a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice.

The pan has a little bit of a learning curve (you can't watch for bubbles, so you have to know your timing). A few got a little burnt on one side, and one that I flipped and opened the pan before it was cooked through got a little mushed. Still, I was quite happy with the results, and the pancakes were delicious.

With the right tools, I suppose I can fix even my biggest kitchen weaknesses. I just got another round of new toys...so who knows what's next!

Shine Supper Club: Spiced Peanut Butter and Melted Banana Sandwich Spread

Even though I can't eat much in the way of bread anymore, with my nutty work schedule, I can certainly appreciate the simple convenience of a sandwich. So when, two days before I'm supposed to leave for vacation, I got a call from work asking me to come in early the next day, I knew what my lunch would be. And it just so happened that the Shine Supper Club is doing Sandwiches this month.

So I had a major challenge: Come up with something I could eat on the way, would hold up in the heat, and all in a matter of about 6 hours. Oh, and my mother happened to have just used up all but the last heel of the bread.

I've been somewhat obsessed recently with a couple of things. One is a blog called Chocolate CoveredKatie, full of healthy dessert ideas. Another is PB2, a powdered peanut butter that, while not convenient to mix and use as a peanut butter replacement, is wonderful for mixing into smoothies, yogurt, pancakes...or sandwich spread.

So I combined two things. I used CCK's Melted Banana trick, and mixed the caramelized banana with PB2 and cinnamon with just a little water to thin it out.

The “recipe”:

Spiced Peanut Butter and Melted Banana Sandwich Spread

Enough for one sandwich

1/2 large banana

2 tblsp PB2

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Water, enough to thin to desired consistency.

1-2 slices of bread (I don't folding over for a half sandwich, but it does make for a thick sandwich)

1. In a covered bowl, microwave banana in 20 second intervals, mashing with a fork between intervals, until banana is completely mushy. (About 3 sessions in my microwave).
2. Mix in PB2 and cinnamon, adding water to achieve desired consistency.
3. Spread over bread slice and enjoy!

They say necessity is the mother of invention. While I may go back to my old standbys, though, this is one to keep in the aresenal. It held up until I got to work without making an absolute mess, and still tasted good when I got there.

Sometimes I bring a cold cut sandwich, sometimes peanut butter and jelly, sometimes it's cream cheese and olive and other times I grab something from the drive thru on the way. When I'm in the mood for something different, though, I know what I will turn to.

Sourdough Surprises: “Oh, Crap” Crepe Cake

I had a gut feeling about the the challenge for this month's Sourdough Surprises. I was thinking pancakes. Maybe because I haven't done them in a while, and I have my tried and true recipe. It turned out to be crepes – so I wasn't too far off. And my first thought was “Oh, crap.” I have a hard enough time with pancakes. Crepes?

But a challenge is a challenge, and then I remembered a Crepe Cake I had seen on Delish. I had a plan.

I tweaked the suggested recipe just a tad for my tastes and my roughly 100% hydration starter:

“Oh Crap” Sourdough Crepe Cake

Serves 4

Adapted from heartlandrenaissance.com and Delish

1 cup sourdough starter
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup of milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 box prepared chocolate fudge pudding

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl. Add milk until it reaches a very smooth, thin batter consistency, I normally use about 1/3 cup of milk but depending on the consistency of your starter, you might use a bit less or a bit more.
In a not too big, but not too small frying pan (about 8″ – 10″ is perfect) heat the frying pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add a teaspoon or so of butter, allow it to melt quickly and then immediately pour in 1/4 cup of crepe batter, tilting the pan with a circular motion to allow the batter to coat the  bottom of the pan and create a circle of crepe.
Cook the crepe for about two minutes, until the bottom has splotches of light brown.  With a spatula, very carefully loosen the crepe and flip over. Cook for about 30 seconds and decant onto a plate.

Allow crepes to cool. Stack on plate, topping each with about 2 tablespoons of pudding and spreading to cover

As you can see, I got a little egregious. For one thing, the ladle I always thought was 1/4 cup is actually only about 2 1/2 tablespoons, so they turned out too small and therefore the cake ended up too tall. For two, I was assembling it while hungry. So hungry I cut into it before I remembered to snap a picture! So the “Oh Crap” thought that came to mind when I saw the challenge is now the official name of this cake.

The good news: In my nonstick skillet, they required very little extra butter. Plus, I actually found them easier than pancakes. And the cake was especially delicious with the almond extract.

You never know what you're capable of until you try. I'm definitely putting this recipe in the keeper file. And next time, hopefully it turns out even better.

Now on to the next challenge...

Shine Supper Club: Cooked Carrots

When I was little, my mother would always ask what vegetable I wanted with dinner. Like she needed to ask - “cooked carrots” was always my response. Plain cooked carrots. Not that I minded glazed carrots (although, to this day, I'm not fond of raw carrots), but just boiled carrots with a little bit of salt. It's the simple things in life that keeps kids happy.

I'm all grown up now, and although I do still live at home, I do most of the cooking now (when I'm not working much, at least). When I found out the Shine Supper Club was doing childhood dishes for the month of May (my birthday month even!), I knew I had to do a grown up version of my favorite side dish growing up.

Lemon Pepper Boiled Carrots

Serves 4

1lb baby carrots

1tsp salt

Enough water to cover carrots

2 tblsp butter

2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning or to taste (or lemon zest and black pepper to taste)

1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add carrots and boil 10-15 minutes, to desired doneness. Drain and return pot to heat.
2. Melt butter in pot with lemon pepper seasoning. Toss to coat and serve.

I served this with some white rice and Spicy Maple Mustard glazed chicken (so good I had to scrape off a little of the extra!). The glaze, if interested...

Spicy Maple Mustard Sauce

Adapted from EatingWell.com

Makes 1/4 cup

1 tblsp Maple Syrup

3 tblsp Horseradish Mustard

1/2 tsp paprika

Simply mix in a small bowl. Makes a great dip as well as a sauce for all kinds of meat!

Of course, this wasn't how I ate my carrots growing up – as I've said before, my mom is a lazy cook, and only after telling her what I'd added to the carrots did she find out about the lemon pepper seasoning I had in the pantry. Still, it was a tasty reminder of the way things were back then – and Mom even loved them too.

The simple things in life keep adults happy too.

Sourdough Surprises: Rustic Fettucini

When I accidentally came across Sourdough Surprises looking for recipes, I was intrigued by the sourdough pasta that started it all. Intrigued enough, in fact, I found myself actually looking at a pasta maker that happened to be on the clearance table, and wondering if I'd make sourdough pasta often enough to justify spending $50 on it.

Of course, for its first anniversary, the girls of Sourdough Surprises have chosen to make sourdough pasta again. Of course, I also didn't buy that pasta maker. So my choices were either sit out this month, or hand roll it. Because I love a challenge, I decided to hand roll it.

There's not a lot in the way of pasta recipes – fortunately, the basic recipe doesn't vary much, so I went ahead and used the suggested recipe – although now that we are finally getting hot and humid weather, I did have to add another quarter cup of flour. I also used the dough hooks on my hand mixer, lacking a stand mixer. I rolled them out and used a pizza roller to cut into fettucini:

Trying to highlight the pasta, and having just made spaghetti with marinara last week, I chose another tried and true (though admittedly, highly processed) sauce: Philadelphia Creamy Pesto Cooking Cream. Some cubed chicken, a tomato, and a green pepper...

Yum. And I mean that, and not just my beloved cooking cream. I was having a hard time not eating multiple noodles to “test” them – no butter, no sauce, just plain noodles. They remind me of the noodles in a good bowl of chicken noodle soup crossed with the dough part of a perogi.

Was it worth the effort? While I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I can make a regular habit of it. But for a special occasion (we do have lasagna as our “traditional” Christmas dinner), I probably will make it again.

Or maybe I'll just end up buying that pasta maker.

Check out our other delicious pastas!

Shine Supper Club: Microwave Peanut Butter Egg Pancake

Welcome to my world over the winter.

Working for a sports team means I usually work at night, when I don't get as many opportunities to cook for my family. When I do, I stick to old standbys like Baked Chicken. For dinner, I'm either scrounging leftovers, preparing some overly processed food from the freezer, or making something simple.

But simple doesn't always mean not creative. Someone recently posted her recipe for Nut Butter pancakes in a healthy living chat room. It couldn't have been more simple – a tablespoon of any nut or seed butter, one egg, and an eighth of a teaspoon of baking powder. A simple, egg-based pancake. It was the perfect meal for me – easy enough that I could whip it up when I get home at 11:30pm or after a workout when I'm exhausted and need food fast. Of course, being me, I played with the recipe. I got lazy and started cooking it in the microwave, like I might scramble my eggs. And with the Shine Supper Club doing egg dishes this month, I saw a perfect opportunity to share my even-easier – and in my opinion, tastier – version.

Microwave Peanut Butter Egg Pancake

(My apologies, as I forget which of my friends posted the recipe its adapted from!)

For each pancake, you will need:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon honey

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Cooking spray

Topping of choice (in this case, spreadable honey, but maple syrup, bananas, yogurt, and applesauce would all also be tasty ideas).

In a small bowl, whip egg with honey, baking powder and cinnamon until well combined. Add peanut butter and mix well.

Spray a dinner-sized plate with cooking spray. Pour batter onto plate. Microwave for about 1 minute, until it appears just moist.

[Blogger's note: I do apologize for my photography. The reason I don't do too many step by step photos is that you are typically seeing pictures minutes after the food is made and often minutes before I am about to devour it. This is especially true with lunch meals, like this or my Mocha Oatmeal. I love to cook and eat and it's tough when things get between the two!]

Of course, this can be done in a skillet (the original was). You can sub any nut or seed butter you wish. Or whatever sweetener you wish. That's why I love recipes like this: They're easy to tweak and make your own, or so you don't get bored with the “same ole, same ole.”

It's also perfect for many other occasions. Family doesn't all get up at once? It only takes a few minutes to whip up a single serving as they come down for breakfast. Since it's only one serving, it's also good for single cooks like me. Or perhaps for modifying it for an individual family member's tastes. It's quick, it's high-protein, reasonably healthy, and delicious.

Now what's next? Perhaps an Asian Savory Egg Pancake? Fluffernutter?

With me, one never knows...

Shine Supper Club: Breakfast-in-Bed-Worthy Mocha Oatmeal

When I first saw that the Shine SupperClub was doing “Sexy Dishes” for February, I was at a loss. I'm a single girl, just cooking for family and friends. Romantic dinners for two hasn't been in my repertoire.

Then, after a hard workout, I was exhausted and looking for some carbohydrates. I turned to one of my quick and easy favorites: oatmeal. When I'm as tired as I was, I sometimes just make an instant oatmeal packet with hot brewed coffee. When it's plain, one of my favorite sweeteners is a packet of hot cocoa mix. At this point, I was so tired I wanted someone to just bring it to me.

And then it hit me: it's the perfect breakfast-in-bed food. And what's sexier than breakfast-in-bed and chocolate?

Of course, instant oatmeal and hot cocoa are easy enough to throw together. So for my next post-workout oatmeal dish, I set out to make a more from-scratch version.

So, a little coffee, a little sugar, a lot of cocoa powder (I like it dark!) and a coffee creamer and voilia!

Breakfast-in-Bed Mocha Oatmeal

Serves 1...but easily doubled

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

2/3 cup cold coffee (oatmeal will be on the thick side, use more or less to taste)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon sugar (use more or less to taste)

1 half-and-half coffee creamer, or flavor of choice

Splash of vanilla extract

Mix oats, cocoa, and sugar in a bowl, stir to prevent clumping when wet ingredients are added. Add coffee and vanilla, stir.

Microwave 1 1/2 minutes, or amount of time specified on oatmeal container.

Add coffee creamer, stir until well mixed.

I think this on a tray, maybe with a side of strawberries, would make anybody's sexy meal list. It's also a perfect breakfast food – get your caffeine fix in your morning oatmeal!

I'm not making any promises if you serve this to your sweetie. But I think it ups your chances. Now if someone would just make it for me...

Maple Spice Microwave Mini Cake

Ah, October. The humidity is down for now, the air has cooled a little, it's been sunny and pleasantly breezy. It almost feels like fall...at least as much fall as we get here in Florida. Naturally, it's also the time to start thinking about fall foods. Like spice cake.

I've mentioned a few times about the “Meal Deals” that my local grocery store has. A fairly frequent one is buying some bacon and getting pancake mix and pancake syrup free. We go through the pancake mix and bacon a lot quicker than we do the syrup, and it's starting to pile up. So I decided to try something with it.

I know very little about replacing sugar in a recipe with maple syrup. It's not my family's favorite, so it's not something I've tried before. But still, this is a microwave cake. I figure if I messed it up, it's small enough to not make a fuss over.

I took my base recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, Kirbie's Cravings. There aren't a whole lot of mug spice cake recipes out there, so I started with her “Light Strawberry Mug Cake” and swapped the pancake syrup for the sugar and added the spice, omitting the strawberries. Yes, I know you're supposed to reduce the liquid. I didn't.

The cake itself came together nicely. I noticed two things baking it, however: One, it took a lot longer – almost two and a half minutes – to microwave. For two, it was very dense. It almost had a pudding like consistency. This was mentioned in Kirbie's original post on the recipe, so I can't necessarily blame that on too much liquid.

Still, I can have my cake and eat it too. I topped it with about a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar for a little extra oomph. Yet neither myself nor my mother could taste maple (granted I didn't use real maple syrup), and it wasn't very spicy either.

Anyhow, the recipe I used:

Maple Spice Microwave Mini Cake

Adapted heavily from Kirbie's Cravings

Ingredients:

5 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup pancake syrup (use real maple if you have it, but otherwise the blends will do)
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 egg
5 tablespoon nonfat milk
1 tablespoon oil
1 tsp cinnamon

1tsp Pumpkin Pie spice

1tsp cinnamon sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except cinnamon sugar. Stir until smooth. Spray a microwave-safe 2 cup ramekin or oversize mug with baker's spray and pour in batter
2. Microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds. Continue in 20 second intervals until cake tester inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean.
3. Invert ramekin over a small plate and top with cinnamon sugar, if desired.

Dense and non-spicey-maple-y as it might have been, it still tasted good. I'm going to keep this in the play-around with file. That is, if I don't find another recipe I have to try first.

Sourdough Pancakes

Sourdough isn't all about baking. Much as I love to bake, I just love being in the kitchen. And when I can make a meal for my family and have to worry less about indulging, so much the better.

That's why one recipe I've made time and time again is sourdough pancakes. I'm always good for "brinner" or breakfast-for-dinner, and this is definitely a favorite.  That being said, I definitely have a love-hate affair with them. While I am quite a capable cook, expert pancake flipper I am not. It takes practice, and I guess I don't make them often enough. This time around, though, they turned out pretty darn good. 

This particular recipe came from my mother's old Hickory Farms sourdough recipe file. It came as part of a kit with a little packet of sourdough culture. To give you some idea of how long it's been in my family, there's a handwritten date on it that says Spring 1975.

I modify the recipe differently on different days. The one thing that's consistent is omitting the oil. I tried it as written, and it just wasn't right, so I kind of thought maybe the oil was for greasing the pan/griddle. Therefore, I tried it without and it worked. I've added extra sugar when I wanted sweeter, added a teaspoon of cinnamon and a half a teaspoon of vanilla for a little extra flavor, but this time around, it was regular.

The recipe:

1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

3 tblsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 cups ripe sourdough starter

1/2 cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

[3 tblsp cooking oil]

[Since I use a frying pan instead of a griddle (possibly part of my problem with pancakes), I can't preheat it, but the recipe says 375 degrees] Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well to blend. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Batter may be slightly lumpy.

Grease [or spray] hot griddle/pan for first pancakes and as needed. Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle for larger pancakes or about 1 tablespoon batter for silver dollar pancakes. Bake until edges are dry.

It says it makes 12 large or 48 small pancakes, but I use a 1/4 cup ladle and it typically makes 15-18 pancakes.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled baking...

Shine Supper Club: Kitchen Sink Pasta Salad

I had one semester in college where I attempted to work nearly full time hours while maintaining a full time school schedule. I think I had all of four days where I didn't have school or work. Meals were usually either at the mall food court or the campus cafe. It got expensive quick. One day, I found a little bit of time and threw together a pasta salad with a bunch of ingredients I found laying around. I had a portable meal that was cheaper (and healthier) than fast food, and it could keep a couple days. I started doing this whenever life got hectic: the same basic dressing recipe, a protein, a vegetable, some pasta – and I freed up some time.

Life is seldom that hectic anymore (especially when you work for an NHL team right now...). However, the Shine Supper Club is doing favorite pasta recipes this month, and I happened to have some leftover Miracle Noodles from last night's dinner. So lunch was set.

When I can plan for this (it's a pot luck favorite, in fact), I have a set recipe:

Secret Mustard Dressing

~1/2 cup Ranch Dressing

~1/2 cup Mustard (I use about half yellow and half brown)

Hot sauce, to taste

1. Mix ingredients. This recipe is forgiving and adaptable – adjust it according to your tastes. (Personally, I like it sinus-clearing spicy, but this is the pot luck version!)

Kitchen Sink Pasta Salad

1 Box Pasta, preferably elbow noodles

2 medium zucchini, shredded

1 medium tomato, diced

1 cup shredded Jack cheese

Secret Mustard dressing (see above)

1. Prepare pasta to al dente. Drain, rinse and allow to cool
2. Toss with dressing. Mix in other ingredients
3. Serve. If this is a pot luck, it goes fast!

Now, that's the pot luck version. Obviously, zucchini is out of season, and I didn't have a tomato handy. Besides, I was making a single serving. I had a couple of baby carrots from feeding the bird and turtles, and some leftover bacon. So I chopped up some carrot and tore up some bacon to throw together this version. Plus, I used a packet of Chinese mustard and quite a bit of chili powder in the dressing. And the Miracle Noodles. If you're expecting these to taste like regular pasta, you will be disappointed, but they work for me.  However, this recipe works just as well with regular pasta.

I do wish I had bought a shape other than fettuccine, but that's what makes it the “Kitchen Sink”. It's less of a recipe and more of a technique. Use what you have and what you like, and you can't be disappointed.

Mexican Miracle Noodles

I can spend many hours on food websites, finding recipes and reading various food news stories. Not that long ago, I read about Shirataki Miracle Noodles. No calories...all fiber. This intrigued me. For one, regular pasta doesn't completely agree with me anymore, even though it's one of my favorite foods. For two, like many people, I should be eating more fiber. So, with those Amazon gift cards piling up, I decided to give them a try and purchased a 6-pack of the Fettuccine.

Now, I was a little hesitant. I am not a fan of most Asian food – or rather, I'm not really a fan of most Asian vegetables. However, most of the reviews said that they did best with Asian dishes. So last week, I went searching for other recipes and came up with this from SparkPeople.

There's 3 of us eating dinner, but I decided to bulk it up a bit. I used a whole can of kidney beans and corn, a whole green pepper, half of a small onion, and two packages of noodles. I also started with a little over a pound and a quarter of browned ground beef.

I was a little nervous. I don't like making bad food. But, alas, it ended up on the dinner table:

I didn't take a picture of it served, but I topped it with cheese and salsa.

If you're expecting regular semolina pasta, this stuff isn't for you. Yes, it's gummy. But while the texture is unusual, there isn't a real discernible taste to them, and the dish was excellent. If need be, omit the noodles and use either regular pasta or maybe pile it on tortilla chips.

Hopefully, there will come a day when I don't have to order these noodles online. Until then, I will recommend them, and this dish, to anyone who is trying to eat healthier. A definite two thumbs up!

Perfecting the Microwave Applesauce Cake

I actually made this earlier in the week, but only just now got around to blogging about it. With the larger and healthier version of the mug cake seeming to be a legitimate working recipe, I have been after bigger sights. A cake that's ready quickly (although it always, always, always takes me more than 5 minutes) and only serves a small crew would be perfect for those little celebrations that can pop up unexpectedly.

I used this recipe mostly, except for adding two tablespoons of coffee. That equals the amount of liquid in the regular mug-sized version. I also started it out for 90 seconds, adding time in 20 second intervals until it was done. (it ended up being 2 minutes 30 seconds, a full minute less than the original). I also used another one of my new toys – a 1-quart souffle dish – instead of the mixing bowl.

I had a couple of icing cups leftover from Hungry Howie's Cinna-MMM bread, so I figured I'd go for it and glaze the cake as well:

The result? A tender, moist and rich chocolate cake. The only problem with applesauce is that the cake does go stale quicker than cakes baked with fat. So what? You can consume the whole unglazed cake for less than 650 calories. Even I can't eat the whole cake.

Two thumbs go way up for this one. What's next for the microwave cake? Well, my latest round of toys all has to do with cake decorating...

I can't wait to see how far this goes.

The Microwave Mayonnaise Mini Cake: Revisited

There's so many things that made me come to this idea that it's not funny. For one, my microwave cakes have successful enough that I want to do more with them. How nice would it be if you could quickly whip up a little bitty cake, actually decorate it and bring it to a friend to celebrate something unexpected? Plus, there's actually regular mayonnaise around the house right now – a rarity.

To top it off, I had an Oreo doughnut last week from Dunkin' Donuts. I loved it – in fact, it's become a close second behind my favorite doughnut of all time, Tim Horton's S'more donut. It's a chocolate frosted doughnut with mini marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs on top.

S'mores are by far my favorite summer food – namely because I like marshmallows and chocolate. And, because inspiration comes to me like this, it got me thinking about making a s'more microwave cake.

So I whipped up the original recipe with regular mayo, saving the flour for last instead. I dumped it over 3/4 cup of mini mint chocolate marshmallows in the bottom of my new 2-cup ramekin (gotta love the excuse to use new toys!). I also cut the microwave time – it took about 2 minutes to be reasonably done. I had graham cracker crumbs at the ready as I dumped it over onto a plate:

As you can see, the results were not quite what I anticipated. So I just cut it into fourths and forgot about the graham crackers. Not to mention, the melty marshmallows made for an almost pudding like texture on top of the cake.

Still, I have to say I have discovered that, yes, regular mayonnaise makes all the difference (although you don't get the diet benefits, but because it rises more, you can decrease the serving size). Plus, ugly as it was, it still tasted good.

Plus, I also learned that marshmallows will melt completely after 2 minutes in the microwave. As the Mythbusters (my favorite TV show!) say, “Failure is always an option.”

And it's been said many times that you learn more from your failures than your successes. Now, if only Dunkin' would come out with their own s'mores doughnut...

Sourdough Microwave Mini-Cake

Being that I just started this blog, I pay attention to how people are finding my site. Someone recently came across my Microwave Mayonnaise Mini-Cake by using the search term “Microwave Cake Sourdough Starter.”

Generally, I like microwave cakes for two reasons. One, they're simple and quick (a memorized recipe and less than ten minutes suits me when I'm being lazy). The other is that they don't leave a lot of leftovers. I can have a couple bite's worth of brownie, share it with my family, and not have the rest of the pan staring me in the face.

Not so much with my sourdough baking. I like to plan those things out and I expect them to be a long, drawn-out process. Plus, the denser cakes make for a decent (if indulgent and not exactly healthy) breakfast – meaning it's easier to resist chowing down on half a cake.

But this whole idea of a sourdough microwave cake intrigued me. And it got me thinking: Is there a way I could make a mini sourdough microwave cake?

Some time ago, when I first learned of different mug cakes, I came across Kirbie's Cravings. She makes lots of mug cakes, including a red velvet mug cake.

Now, my original sourdough red velvet cake was good, but didn't have that red velvet texture – but I doubt the microwave version would whether it was made with sourdough starter or buttermilk. No harm in trying, right?

The main modification was the use of sourdough starter instead of buttermilk and the addition of more liquid, although I didn't make it a “red” velvet cake (I had no red food coloring and this is a spur-of-the-moment kind of recipe) and subbed water. Nor did I frost it – although that being my favorite part of red velvet cake, I probably should have.

So without further ado, here's my sourdough version of Kirbie's Red Velvet Mug Cake:

[Not]Red Velvet Microwave Cake

Adapted from Kirbie's Cravings

Serves up to 4, if you feel like sharing

Ingredients

4 tbsp flour
4 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp ripe sourdough starter
1 egg
1/2 tbsp water (use food coloring to make it a true red velvet cake)

1. Mix ingredients, starting with the wet ingredients and ending with the flour, in a large microwave safe mug or bowl.
2. Microwave on HIGH for 90 seconds. Check for doneness – if the top looks like its overly moist and feels sticky, it could use another 30 seconds. (Mine did in a 1000w microwave).
3. Tip onto a plate, if desired, and enjoy!

No, it wasn't red velvet cake (or velvet chocolate cake, as the case may be). But it was lightly sweet, done perfectly...and I have to say a two thumbs way up success! I can also see this being a useful recipe for those who prefer to use up all of their starter if they aren't going to use it for a while, or even just an excuse to use it.

Props to Kirbie for an awesome recipe, and to whomever typed those words into Google...I hope you keep searching. I think I nailed it for you.

The Lazy but Indulgent Indoor S'more

Summer is in full swing, and in most parts of the country, that means it's time for two seasonal pastimes: swimming and grilling. But the rules are different in Florida, where we can swim and grill for most of the year. (Actually, as an assistant scuba diving instructor, I pretty much swim year round)

My family's grill actually hasn't been touched in years. Part of that is no one wants to deal with the trouble of cleaning it. For the most part, I don't mind that, because I am not big on most pork or beef products and don't particularly like the aftertaste of smoke. Call me weird.

There is one grill food I do enjoy, and that's s'mores. I love chocolate. I love marshmallows almost as much. One year for the Fourth of July party, we made them with peanut butter cups instead of a regular chocolate bar. Those were heavenly.

But save for my morning Pop Tarts (occasionally – cookie dough is by far my favorite flavor), I haven't had anything s'mores since the last cookout we had at my sister's. And it's that time of year, and I come across all kinds of s'more ideas. That made me want one even more.

Fortunately, I made sure to hide a couple of the sugar cookies I made earlier in the week. A little bit of that Philadelphia Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese and some marshmallow fluff left over from some whoopie pies I made and I had a pretty good s'more:

Thing of beauty it isn't. I will refrain from talking about what I think it looks like. But looks don't matter when it's in your mouth. Yes, it's missing the “toasted” taste and feel, but it was still pretty darn good. I give this one two thumbs up.

Hopefully sometime this weekend, I'll finally get to those sourdough biscuits. Until then, eat well!