Botercoek "Butter Cake"

Tonight I made the traditional Dutch botercoek for my family. I got this recipe from our family cookbook, and it's very simple to make. Everyone said it tasted delicious, even if we've eaten this a hundred times.

Ingredients:

It's a bit crumbly because it looked so darn tasty that I just couldn't wait until it cooled.

• 1 cup of softened butter
• 2/3 cups of brown sugar
• 2/3 cups of white sugar

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp of almond extract 

Directions:

• Take the first 3 ingredients and mix them together in a large bowl. Mix on high until the batter is creamy.
• Combine the following ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture and mix very well.
• Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 300 degrees F. Bake in a greased pie plate or double the recipe if your using a 9"x3" greased pan.

Changes:

• The recipe originally called for the cake to go in for only 30 minutes, but I found that to be too gooey and a bit undercooked.

Ropa Vieja

I made this Cuban dish on Sunday, and my whole family enjoyed it. My mom had made this once before and found it very time consuming, so I made sure I had plenty of time to make it. The recipe was found in a cooking magazine.The recipe says to cook to beef for 1 1/2 hours but my beef was done in 1 hour.

Ingrediants

• 3 lbs flank steak, trimmed
• 8 cups beef broth
  
• 2 cups coarsely chopped carrots
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 garlic cloves, pressed or minched
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp whole black pepper corns
• 2 green bell peppers, cut into strips
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into strips
• 2 yellow bell peppers, cut into strips
• 2 large carrots, sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 chillies, minced
• 4 tbsp olive oil, seperated
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions
1. Combine meat, broth, carrots, bay leaf, oregano, salt, pepper and half of the garlic in a large saucepan. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
2. Remove meat from liquid and set aside. Strain solids from liquid and set aside. Return liquid to pot and simmer until reduced to 3 cups-about 30 minutes. Discard solids and chill liquid in refrigerator.
3. In a large saucepan heat 2 tbsp olive oil over moderate heat and cook green bell peppers, chillies and onion, stirring, until softened.
4. Meanwhile, pull the meat into shreds. Add the shredded meat to the onion mixture along with 2 cups of the simmered liquid, tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, cumin, parsley, salt, pepper and the rest of the garlic. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
5. While meat is simmering, in a skillet saute red and yellow bell peppers and carrots in 2 tbsp of olive oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir peppers into stew with enough additional liquid to thin to desired consistency, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve over rice.




















 

category 9: multicultural!

Cook a recipe that is 'multicultural.'  This is an odd term.  Basically you are encouraged to try cooking a meal or dish from another country.

Easy&Fast Gluten Free Spaghetti

I normally just make my own pasta sauce when I make spaghetti because organic pasta sauce can be pretty pricey. Here's my recipe of things I just threw together the other day.

Easy&Fast Gluten Free Spaghetti

Ingredients:

1 medium size package of rice noodles
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
salt & pepper



Directions:

Fill a pot of water and eave it to boil on the stove. Slice up 2 cups of mushrooms and saute them in a deep pan or pot. Put the noodles in the boiling water. Add (to the mushrooms) the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir the sauce and let it cook until it simmers. When the noodles are finished cooking, drain them. Enjoy!

Buttered Pasta

This pasta was easy and quick to make.  I found this recipe here.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. linguine or spaghetti pasta
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley, if desired

Preparation:

Cook noodles as directed on package in boiling salted water until just barely tender (al dente). Drain in a colander, shake the colander well, then return the pasta to the hot pot along with the butter. Gently stir and toss the pasta with the butter until coated. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. 4 servings

I didn't change anything in the recipe, though I sprinkled salt and pepper.

Sichuan noodles with peppery sauce

http://www.meishij.net/zuofa/dandanmian_13.html

It is a Chinese noodle . I  just know the Chinese recipes. But all the processes are shown obviously.

The Ingredients are:
white noodles  400g

Ground  pork) 
green onion
sprout     as you like
salt         as you like
spinach  80g
a little bit vinegar and soy sauce
garlic
red pepper
chicken soup

The direction is
cook the pork first
and then cook the noodles  in chicken soup.
mix all the other ingredients together for the sauce.
and then put the sauce on top of the noodles.
You can boil the spinach in the water as well if you like.
 

Not-So-Beefy Bean Macaroni (gluten free)

Most of the time, I usually cook out of a whim. So, this recipe came straight out of my imagination. Don't get me wrong though, it was absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

- 1 bag gluten free macaroni noodles

- 1 tbsp olive oil

- 1 green bell pepper

- 1 medium carrot

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 1 small onion

- 1 medium celery stalk 

- 3 tbsp tomato paste

- 2 cups water

- 2 cups vegetarian ground beef crumble (optional)

- 1 (16 ounce) can navy beans 

- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Chop the green bell pepper, carrot, garlic, onion and celery stalk and add to a medium sauce pan. Add the olive oil and cook on medium heat for 4-5 minutes (or until onions are clear and carrots are semi-soft).

2. Add the tomato paste and heat for 1 more minute. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. 

3. Heat the vegetarian ground crumble in the microwave (as directed to do so on the bag) and add to vegetable mixture. Drain navy beans and add to the pot as well. Add remaining cup of water and simmer for 8-10 minutes (or until the majority of the liquid is gone).

4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the macaroni noodles. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until noodles are soft. Drain and rinse, return noodles back to the pot. 

5. Transfer sauce to the noodles and mix well until all the pasta is coated. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

If you don't have tomato paste, a 1/4 of salsa works just as well and gives it an extra kick! Also, feel free to experiment with different spices. Try adding cayenne pepper if you like your food spicy!