Get to Know These Root Vegetables

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Cindy Kerschner

Celery Root

Check out my post, Get to Know These Root Vegetables
Celery Root is one good for you but lesser known root vegetable. Get to know Celery Root and other root vegetables at Foodie Friends Friday Daily Dish.

Posted in fresh ingredients, garden, vegan, vegetarian, veggies, What's For Dinner? | Tagged Celery Root, Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes), Jicama, Parsnip, Radish, Red Beet, Rutabaga, Sweet Potato, Turnip | 1 Comment

Easy Cornbread Stuffing

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Cindy Kerschner

Cornbread stuffing makes a great side dish for Thanksgiving or anytime! You can also use it to top a casserole.
Add dried cranberries and pecans for an outstanding Thanksgiving treat!

Easy Cornbread Stuffing

1 cornbread, crumbled (recipe below)
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 cup dried cranberries, optional
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Sautee onion and celery in butter over med-high heat until softened. Add to crumbled cornbread, stir. Add broth a little at a time to reach desired consistency.
Place in an 8×8-inch casserole dish. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes or until cornbread is browned and casserole is thoroughly heated.

Cornbread
Adapted from Indian Head Cornmeal recipe

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/4 cup sugar, (2 Tablespoon if using cranberries)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix oil, egg and milk.
Combine and stir just until wet.
Bake in a greased 8×8-inch pan at 425 for 20-25 minutes and toothpick comes out clean when tested.

Posted in cornbread, fresh ingredients, side dish, stuffing, Thanksgiving, What's For Dinner? | Tagged cornbread, fresh ingredients, side dish, stuffing, Thanksgiving | 5 Comments

Herb Vinegars #SundaySupper

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Cindy Kerschner

Herb Vinegar
herbal vinegar gift

herb vinegar jars

Herbal Vinegars

Welcome to Gifts from the Kitchen #SundaySupper Sunday! This week’s Sunday Supper co-hosts are the wonderful and talented Susan from The Wimpy Vegetarian and Amber from Mamas’ Blissful Bites Blog URL: Mamas’ Blissful Bites . Thanks ladies!
I’m a big proponent of giving homemade gifts around the holidays. A personal touch can mean so much in world of gift cards and “the season’s hottest gifts” that we see advertised on TV.
Homemade herb flavored vinegar makes a great base for salad dressings and marinades.You can add your favorite salad dressing recipe on a card as a bonus!

2 cups white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar (or combo of both)
1-cup mixed fresh herbs (basil, oregano, tarragon, thyme, marjoram, chives, etc) use leaves, stems and flowers
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
mixed peppercorns
whole dried cayenne peppers (optional)
2 NEW quart-size Mason jars
plastic wrap
wooden spoon, coffee filter, funnel

Combine vinegar, herbs and spices. Stir. Cover the jar mouth with plastic wrap, lid and store at room temperature. Shake or stir daily for 2 weeks. Line a funnel with a coffee filter and strain vinegar into a clean, sterile jar.
You can add fresh sprigs or herbs for decoration.
Vinegar keeps about 3 months.

Need more gift ideas to make and share from your kitchen? Check out these #SundaySupper contributors for great suggestions, recipes and how-tos from all of us to all of you!

Breads / Breakfast

Pumpkin Biscoff Bread – Dinners, Dishes, and Dessert
All-in-One Beer Bread Kit – girlichef
Banana Coconut Coffee Cake with Macadamia Nut Streusel – The Lovely Pantry
Pancake Mix With Apple Cider Syrup and Candied Walnuts – Tora’s Real Food
Cranberry Hootycreeks – Baker Street

Condiments / Ingredients

Apple Butter – Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
Cranberry Strawberry Jam – The Meltaways
Herb Vinegars – Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Harissa – The Wimpy Vegetarian
Homemade Vanilla Extract – Flour on my Face
Homemade Cherry Extract – Cravings of a Lunatic
Nutella Powder – I Run For Wine
Apricot Pineapple Rum Sauce – Vintage Kitchen Notes
Spiced Cranberry Apricot Almond Chutney – Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
Pumpkin Butter – Family Foodie

Soup and Snacks

A Soup For You – Momma’s Meals
Maple Nut Granola – Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
Sweet and Spicy Curried Nuts – Soni’s Food for Thought
Roasted Spiced Nuts – Mrs Mama Hen
Sweet and Spicy Pecans – Supper For a Steal
Maple Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars – Cupcakes and Kale Chips
Orange Spiced Chickpeas – Home Cooking Memories
Turtle Pretzels – The Messy Baker

Sweets

Rocky Road Candy – Magnolia Days
Dairyfree Vegan Caramels – Galactosemia in PDX
Peanut Butter Cookies in a Jar – Mama’s Blissful Bites
M&M Cookies in a Jar – Damn Delicious
Monster Cookie Mix in a Jar – What Smells So Good?
Chocolate Chip Cookie Biscotti – Meal Planning Magic
Snickerdoodle Snack Mix – Pippi’s in the Kitchen Again
Butter and Jam Thumbprint Cookies – Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends
Peppermint Stick Cookie Truffles – The Weekend Gourmet
Nutella Truffles – Small Wallet Big Appetite
Peanut Cajetas (Peanut Fudge) – Basic and Delicious
Cookie Cutter Fudge – Chocolate Moosey
Pumpkin Roll – Shockingly Delicious
Homemade Chocolates – My Trials in the Kitchen
Hot Chocolate on a Stick – Juanita’s Cocina
Chocolate Toffee “Crack” – Ruffles and Truffles
Holiday Tree Cake – Noshing with the Nolands
Salted Caramel Cookies – Mama Mommy Mom
Fruit and Nut Cookies – In the Kitchen with Audrey

Drinks

Applepie Moonshine – My Catholic Kitchen
Holiday Spiced Mocha – Daily Dish Recipes
Homemade Peppermint Mocha Mix – In the Kitchen with KP
Homemade Kahlua – That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Please join on us on Twitter throughout the day during #SundaySupper on November 11. In the evening we will meet at 7pm EST for our weekly #SundaySupper live chat.

All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag or you can follow us through TweetChat.

We’d also love to feature your own posts for Gifts From the Kitchen on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board to share them with all of our followers, too.

Posted in #SundaySupper, fresh ingredients, garden, healthy, herbs, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged chiles, chives, garlic, herbal vinegar, herbs, parsely, thyme, vinegar | 49 Comments

Chocolate Mango Cake

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Cindy Kerschner

I’ve been on a mango kick lately. Tomato Mango Salsa, Mango Cream Cheese and even mango straight up! 😉 So while I had mango fever, I decided to try a Chocolate Mango Cake! But I couldn’t stop there oh no no! I HAD to make mango whipped cream to top it off! The Mango Whipped Cream adds another fruity touch to this dessert.
The turbinado sugar, also known as “sugar in the raw” adds a slight molasses flavor.
If that doesn’t sound rich enough, I made chocolate buttercream frosting to go between the cake and whipped cream to keep them company while I grabbed a fork! (Is there a Chocoholics Anonymous?)
Anyway….
Here’s the recipe!

Chocolate Mango Cake

1 cup sugar, turbinado
1 cup flour, plus more to dust pan
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbs cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 each egg
1/4 cup mango, puree
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mango Whipped Cream

1 cup cream
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp mango, puree

1. Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in a medium-sized bowl. In a separate bowl, combine milk, water, egg, mango and vanilla. Whisk together.

2. Add wet ingredient to the dry mixture. Beat with electric mixer for about 3 minutes and bubbles form on top.

3. Grease and flour one 8-inch cake pan.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan, bake on the center rack in a 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

5. Cool pan several minutes before attempting to remove cake. Tap on bottom and sides of pan to loosen as necessary.

6. Transfer cake to serving dish. Cool at room temperature before refrigerating

Mango Whipped Cream

Chill bowl in freezer several minutes. Remove bowl, add cream, powdered sugar and mango. Beat on medium until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over beat it or you will have butter!

Serve cake with a dollop of mango cream.

If you need a chocolate buttercream frosting recipe, I posted one below!
Servings: 8
Oven Temperature: 350°F
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 193 calories, 111 calories from fat, 12.6g total fat, 65.2mg cholesterol, 138.2mg sodium, 143.5mg potassium, 17.5g carbohydrates, 1.9g fiber, 2.4g sugar, 4.4g protein, 577.1IU vitamin a, 2.8mg vitamin c.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Be careful not to let butter melt anytime during the recipe process!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened (like ice cream or mashed potatoes)
3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk (added as 1 Tablespoon at a time)

Instructions
Beat butter until slightly whipped, add 3 cups sugar beat on medium just until mixed, add salt, vanilla and one tablespoon of milk at time. Adjust sugar and milk until you reach desired consistency
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 1746 calories, 1654 calories from fat, 188.3g total fat, 492.9mg cholesterol, 58.4mg sodium, 467.8mg potassium, 25.5g carbohydrates, 7.1g fiber, 13.4g sugar, 8.2g protein, 5788.6IU vitamin a, <1mg vitamin c.