Fruitcake Cupcakes

    I know fruitcake is the brunt of bad jokes during the holidays, but it has a long history, and while there are many bad ones, it is possible to have a good one.  I spotted this recipe in a magazine, and after making significant changes so I could eat it, it came out tasty and moist.  We even celebrated a family birthday and I used these as the birthday cake.

                                                                Fruitcake Cupcakes

                                             

Fruit/nut Mixture
2 cups dried fruit
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Sauce
1 stick margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 tblsp. light corn syrup
1/4 cup orange drink
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Cake
1/2 stick melted margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup orange drink

     Preheat oven to 350. Spray the cups of a 12-cup cupcake pan.  Combine the fruit and nuts and set aside.     Sauce:   In a medium-size saucepan over low heat, cook all ingredients until smooth and divide among the cups.  Top with the fruit/nut combination.
     Cake:  Whisk together butter, sugar, vanilla until well blended.  Add eggs one at a time and whisk well after each is added.  Whisk in the flour and orange drink.  When the batter is fully mixed, spoon it evenly between the cups.
     To keep your oven clean, place the cupcake pan on a cookie sheet which has been lined with parchment paper.  Bake 18-20 minutes until evenly browned and tester comes out clean.
     When the cupcakes are done, remove from the oven and cook for five minutes.  Run a spatula or knife around them and turn out on a baking sheet.  Some of the fruit/nut combination may stay in the pan, so scrape that out and place on the cupcakes.  These may be stored for a couple of days outside the refrigerator or for up to a week inside the refrigerator.
     Next week I will share my recipe for split pea soup with rosemary.  I will admit that I was not a fan of pea soup, but my husband likes it and when I found a recipe I could rework I decided to give it a try.  Mostly I was making this for my husband's benefit, but to my surprise, it was quite tasty and it is going to be one of my go-to dinners during the winter.  Don't laugh.  Those of us who grew up in Southern California actually think we have winter weather.
     Since I am writing this on December 31, I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe New Year!  See you next time.

Raspberry Almond Thumbprints

     Just about everyone who bakes for the holidays has some version of this recipe in their file so I had never made them.  But I saw in a magazine where the dough was rolled in some ingredients before the jam was  put in and that intrigued me.  I decided to roll the dough in almonds and add some extracts and I think this really improved the cookie.

                           

                                                       Raspberry Almond Thumbprints

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 plus 1/8 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 sticks margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg separated
1 1/2 tsp. lactose free milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. raspberry extract
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1/4 cup jam

     Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl.  In the bowl of a mixer, beat margarine and sugar at a low speed until combined and then increase speed to medium- high until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add egg yolk and beat until combined.  Add milk and extracts.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients until the dough begins to clump in the center.  Scrape the dough into a plastic bag and refrigerate at least two hours or up three days.
    Preheat oven to 375.  Roll the chilled dough into 1-inch balls.  Beat the egg white.  Roll each ball into the egg white, then the chopped almonds and place on a cookie sheet that has parchment paper on it.  Leave two inches between cookies.  When all the cookies are on the cookie sheet, make an indentation and spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the indentation.  Bake about 20 minutes or just until brown around the edges.  Makes about 18 cookies
     Next week I will share my recipe for fruit cake cupcakes.  Before you head for the door because you just read fruit cake, there was a time I would be going with you, but I have tested these on my family.  They don't like fruit cake either, but they liked these and they would be a nice simple dessert for a New Year's Eve party.  Whatever holiday you may celebrate this week, my wishes for a happy and safe one.  Until next time.

Bacon, Avocado, Cheese Omelet

     I've been watching DVD's of the Julia Child cooking shows.  When I was watching her make omelets I watched how she could make a plain omelet in twenty seconds. She said if you had a few people helping you, you could serve a few hundred people at a dinner party in twenty minutes.  I won't be having a few hundred people over for a dinner party, but it made me hungry for an omelet.
     My husband makes wonderful omelets.  Whenever we visit people, he usually gets to cook breakfast the next morning because they know he will make a custom omelet for them.
     I was intimidated by making omelets for a long time, but got over that when my mother was staying with us and that was one of the few things she could eat.  I'm not Julia Child, but I got so I could make a plain omelet in a few minutes.

                                              Bacon, Avocado, Cheese Omelet

                                      

2 slices of turkey bacon
2 eggs
2 tblsp. lactose free milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 avocado, sliced
1 slice lactose free muenster cheese

     Cut the turkey bacon in one quarter inch squares.  Cook them in a small frying pan until brown and crisp.  Turkey bacon can burn easily, so stir frequently.  When done, remove from pan and set on paper towel to drain.
     In a small mixing bowl whip the eggs, milk, and salt and pepper.  Spray the small pan you are cooking your omelet in.  Pour the egg mixture in and turn the heat to medium-high.  When  you can see the edges are getting done and you can lift the edge and see it is browning, put in the bacon, avocado, and slice of cheese which has been broken up in a vertical line just left of the center of the omelet.  Leave a little cheese and bacon to garnish the top, if you like.  Fold the omelet over and continue to cook on a lower flame so the eggs don't burn, but the inside ingredients get hot.  If you're concerned that you will burn the eggs, you can plate the omelet and put it in the oven for a few minutes or the microwave for a minute or so to finish cooking.  Before serving, it should be hot enough to garnish with the bacon and cheese and the cheese will begin to melt.  Makes 1 omelet.
     I always like to try a new cookie for the holidays.  Next week I'll share my new cookie recipe.
Until then.

Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon

     There seems to be no middle ground on sweet potatoes, you either like them or you don't.  Everyone in my family likes them and my son insists it isn't Thanksgiving if you don't have sweet potatoes.
     When I went on my pre-Thanksgiving dinner shopping trip I couldn't find the canned sweet potatoes I usually buy.  I like a certain brand which I doctor up and everyone is happy.  The store had a sign which said not only did they not have any, there weren't any in the area.  I didn't have time to test whether that was true, so I went home, looked online at different recipes, and decided how I could make sweet potatoes from scratch my family would like, hopefully, and I could eat.
     I needed four yams and an orange.  I had everything else at home.  My husband was going to be out the next day and I asked him to pick up these items for me.  Since I had let him read the recipe to see what he thought, I thought we had communicated clearly.
     What my husband remembered more than the recipe or the list was that I had said in the store I didn't want to make yams from scratch.  So when he went to a different store and found cans of sweet potatoes, that's what he bought.  We were have two guests for Thanksgiving, and even though he didn't think it was right, he stuck to the list and brought me four large cans of sweet potatoes and an orange.
     After I got over that shock, I realized he actually helped me because the first two steps of the recipe were to peel the yams, chop them up and cook them on the stove for about 20 minutes.  Now he had saved me prep time and cooking time on Thanksgiving.  Who wouldn't be grateful for that?

                                                                 Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon

2 cans 29 oz. ea. cut sweet potatoes
1/2 cup light brown sugar (you can use Splenda brown sugar)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp. maple flavoring
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. orange extract
2 tsp. orange zest
1 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup bourbon
2 tblsp. stick margarine

      Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
      Drain the liquid from the potatoes.  In a large pan combine the potatoes, brown sugar, water, orange zest, nutmeg, and salt.  Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the flame down and simmer for about five minutes.
      Spoon out the potatoes into a casserole dish that has been sprayed with vegetable  spray.  Add the bourbon to the sauce with the flame off.  Turn the flame back on and simmer until the syrup is thickened.  This should take around fifteen minutes.  Pour the syrup over the potatoes and bake for ten or fifteen minutes.  This is basically to make sure the potatoes and syrup are both warm.  If your oven is occupied, you can put this in the microwave and adjust the cooking time down to just make sure the potatoes and syrup are hot.  Remove from oven or microwave and gently stir in margarine.  You can make these ahead and reheat before serving dinner.  You may need to add more liquid.  Serves 4-6.
     If you want to make these from scratch, buy fresh yams, peel and cut them.  Cook them with the brown sugar, orange zest, nutmeg, and salt.  You may need to add more water.
     I have been watching some DVD's of Julia Child's cooking shows on PBS and been inspired to make some of her more simple dishes.  Next week I'll share my version of an omelette.  See you then.
         

Meatloaf

     I know it is practically un-American to say you don't like meatloaf, but I've just never cared for it.  But since my husband likes it so much I have tried countless ways to make it and they have all failed.  But I found a recipe that sparked my interest in "House Beautiful" magazine written by chef Alex Hitz called Billionaire's Meatloaf.  Of course it had plenty of ingredients I couldn't eat so I made some changes and the following is what I came up with.  I know there are plenty of ingredients, but they are worth it.

                                                                       Meatloaf
                                                

1 box sliced mushrooms
3 tblsp. stick margarine
3 tblsp. Marsala
1 egg
1 tblsp. Dijon mustard
1 tblsp. ketchup
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tblsp. Worcestshire sauce
1/3 cup soy cheddar cheese or
             lactose free swiss cheese
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3 tblsp. dried onion
3 pieces turkey bacon
1 lb. hamburger or meatloaf mix
2 tblsp Marsala

     In a  skillet cook the mushrooms in the margarine until brown.  Turn off the flame and add the Marsala.  Turn the flame back on and continue to cook the mushrooms until the Marsala is gone.  Spoon mushrooms out of the pan into a separate bowl. Use the pan to par cook the turkey bacon and drain on a paper towel.
     In a large mixing bowl whip the egg with a fork, add the meat and other ingredients except the bacon,   This will be easier to do with your hands.  If you use the lactose free swiss cheese, you will need to chop it first because it comes in slices.  
     Form the meatloaf on a broiler pan that has been sprayed with vegetable spray or other pan that the meat can bake and the fat can drain away.  Lay the par cooked bacon across the top of the meat loaf diagonally.  Insert a meat thermometer in the meat loaf.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.  The internal temperature will read 155 degrees when the meatloaf is done.
     My recipe for next week is for sweet potatoes.  It comes with a funny story on how husbands and wives think they are communicating and they really aren't.  See you next time.