What's in a name

If I am unsure about what to make, I often ask my husband his opinion. This happened recently when I was trying to decide what type of cupcakes to make. I have made a whole list for my catering business of different types, with candy bar themes and ice cream shoppe themes, etc., and I just couldn't decide which type to try first-they all sounded so delicious to me. Before I could even recite the list to my husband, to let him know what his choices were, he immediately answered: Red Velvet. Now, I don't think he has ever even  had Red Velvet, but that was the choice he made. I remember eating it as a child, and I wasn't too terribly impressed. For Christmas this last year, my husband bought me a Red Velvet cake mix from a bakery. I tried it out and wasn't too impressed with the results. I figured I just don't care for it that much. I also feel immensely guilty about the extreme amount of red food coloring called for in the recipes I have seen.
So, I harrumphed and decided to make the Red Velvet for him (since I asked).
I had a Red Velvet recipe in a magazine my mom had purchased (for herself...somehow it ended up with my stuff...odd...) The author detailed how some recipes use a chocolate cake and simply add red food coloring, but that is not how true Red Velvet should be made. I figured, hey, she owns a pretty successful bakery, she probably knows.
There was still something bothering me, though. I didn't like the thought of using all that food coloring. Don't get me wrong, I use the stuff, but only about once a year at Christmas when we are decorating cut-out cookies. I decided to try to find out if there was a substitution I could use that wouldn't compromise the color or flavor. I found many chefs who don't like to use that much food coloring use an equal amount of cherry or blackberry juice is a substitute, so I decided to go compromise a bit. I used about 1/3 of the red food coloring called for and the rest I used cherry juice (I had some in the freezer) it worked great and looked great, too. I felt better about using the juice, and next time I will probably use all juice.

The cupcakes were, by the way, absolutely amazing. I think my husband ate three the first time around. They were tender, probably due to the inclusion of buttermilk, and flavorful, and the cream cheese frosting is just delicious. These are definitely a make again item.
I piped white chocolate lettering on some parchment just as an experiment, and that's what you see in the picture. You should definitely try these.

Red Velvet Cupcakes


Makes about 20 cupcakes
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring, blackberry juice, or cherry juice
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon high-fat cocoa powder such as hershey’s special dark

Preheat oven to 350. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients to the wet ½ cup at a time. Do this slowly so that the batter doesn’t develop clumps.
Transfer batter to lined muffin pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: (double batch)

8 oz unsalted butter, softened
16 oz cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until soft and smooth, about 2 minutes. With mixer on low, add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. Add vanilla and mix on medium speed.

Use white chocolate or white melting chocolate for lettering.

You decide

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, that great ethnic holiday that reaches way back into Mexican culture and celebrates Mexican independence, I decided to post about fish tacos. Now, these tacos are about as ethnic as Cinco de Mayo. While these tacos are Mexican in origin, somewhere along the way they became American fare and lost most of their roots, and this is just the way I make them.
I first had fish tacos in the beautiful ocean side city, Ensenada, and they were amazing. The fish was fresh and fried crispy. I think it had a cornmeal batter, but honestly I can't remember. I really don't remember anything about them except that they were good. It was over ten years ago so give me some slack.
Let me say this, if you haven't had fish tacos your missing out. I made them a few months ago and my father-in-law had them for the first time. He was a little hesitant, but quickly fell for them the way I did. My husband asks for them constantly and the kids love them. Serve them with rice or beans or both and you have a complete meal.
Another nice thing about this is a little goes a long way. Its a great way to make fish because you only need about 4 oz per person. The important things are these: 1. Cilantro. Makes sure you have some to sprinkle on the tacos. 2. Cabbage. Fresh cabbage. You can use red or green,  but just make sure it is fresh and firm. Otherwise, it will be bitter. 3. Corn tortillas. You can use flour but I feel like this is a deal breaker. 4. Lots of fresh lime juice. You will use some in the amazing white sauce that you will make for these and I like to have several wedges for each person to add to their tacos if they desire.

So, the way I am going to write out this recipe is in approximate servings for 4 people. This is easily doubled, tripled, or quadrupled, and I am sure you will take advantage of that fact as I have. Also, people tend to eat more of this than they should, so if you are making this for four large males, I would probably double it just to be safe.

Fish Tacos
1 lb fresh, white fish (tilapia, sole, cod, etc) cut into 1 inch strips
Cornmeal batter or beer batter (available at the grocery store, or make your own)
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
2 limes, cut into wedges (not sure how...see bottom)
12 corn tortillas
Cilantro
White sauce (recipe follows)

Coat the fish with desired batter. Fry in about 1 inch of oil over medium heat until golden, 2-3 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. Meanwhile, heat the corn tortillas in a dry pan over medium-high heat for 20-30 seconds on each side, just until soft. I like to serve this buffet-style, with the other listed ingredients in bowls so each person can make their own tacos.

White Sauce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon crushed oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon lime juice

Combine ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and whisk until smooth.

How to cut limes (or lemons or oranges for that matter)
Hold the lime by the two stem ends. Slice parallel to your hand. Take halves and lay them face down on the cutting board. Slice each one into three wedges, with the stem in the middle of the middle wedge.

A matter of taste

I think its funny how your tastes change as you age. When I was young I loved mayonnaise, sausage, over-easy eggs, and ham and cheese sandwiches with ungodly amounts of mustard (only the sandwiches had mustard). I liked American cheese slices, hard boiled eggs on my salads, plain tuna, and well-done steak. When I was a little older, I didn't like mayo, sausage, over-easy eggs or very much mustard. Then it changed, and I liked them again. I still don't care for American cheese, hard boiled eggs (unless their deviled), plain tuna or well done steak. A few things, I didn't like as a child and I still don't like today, like cottage cheese. I think its my nemesis. For whatever reason I just can't stand the texture.
Lately, I have been having a renewed affair with sausage. I purchased some Evergood Louisiana style hot links and stashed them in the freezer. They are great fried up and tossed with spaghetti, butter, and parmesan cheese for a quick and easy dinner. I also like them cut up and scrambled with eggs and potatoes for breakfast burritos, or just a skillet-type breakfast.

Another easy dinner, that I had completely forgotten about, is chicken and sausage. You put some mixed chicken parts in a pan with sausage, add some onions, mustard, salt and pepper, and roast for about an hour. You can fix up a side while its in there cooking, and its very flavorful and absolutely delicious. I used Aidells chicken and apple sausage (really flavorful and delicious) and some chicken thighs I had in the freezer. I think this is great with Jasmine rice, or mashed potatoes. Its also nice if you have a big family, or you are having guests, because its so hands-off but you can double it and feed a crowd. The skins get nice and crispy, and so do the sausages. My boys (husband included) couldn't get enough. I will definitely be making this again, soon.

Sage Chicken and Sausages
serves 6
2 small onions
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon or deli style mustard
1 Tablespoon dried sage
pepper
salt
1 lemon
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 lbs chicken, cut into 8 pieces
6 sausages (as previously mentioned I think these are great)
2 Tablespoons chopped sage leaves

Combine oil, mustard, dried sage, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, the lemon juice (save the squeezed out rinds) and the Worcestershire. Peel and cut the onion into eighths, and place that, along with the squeezed out lemon rinds and the chicken, skin side up, in a large baking dish and pour over the marinade. Set at room temperature for 45 mins (or, you can put it all in the pan and leave it for a few hours in the fridge or overnight).
Preheat the oven to 425. Add the sausages and sprinkle on the chopped sage leaves, and salt and pepper the chicken. Cook for 1 hour, 15 minutes, turning the sausages over halfway through to color them evenly.

(If your not a big fan of sausages, you could just leave them out. The dish is still delicious.)

This is also absolutely amazing  grilled. You can take it with you to a cookout or camping, and it is a flavorful alternative to hamburgers or ordinary BBQ chicken. Just combine all the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and store in the refrigerator until about 30 minutes before grill time!