Lots of Chocolate Cupcakes

So I love to bake. As much as I love to cook and have the freedom to try different things and not follow the rules or measure carefully. That being said I find baking to be almost magical. That you take certain items, add them together and put them in the oven and something completely different comes out at the end. Now I know and understand thanks to Good Eats and Alton Brown that this is science - it is the reason  why you have to be so specific when baking.

That being said I still find it fascinating. Not to mention I am spending more time now trying to figure out how to make things on my own without a recipe (I just got a book called Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking) It's an inexpensive book and seems interesting.  I am waiting to try something out until I don't really need it to turn out just in case. 

That being said one of my favourite things to experiment with these days are cupcakes! I took cake decorating classes and when we went to class I would go the easy route and buy the often $1 cake mix and just make that (I mean come on - how easy and simple is that!!) It wasn't until the Monkey's birthday a couple of years ago that I started really making my own cake instead of using a mix (now I never use a mix).  All because she said "Mom, your really not making me a home made cake if it is from a box" - I signed because she was right so I pulled out my trusty cookbook Canadian Living: The Ultimate Cookbook and found a classic chocolate cake recipe - it seemed pretty easy - like ok really easy. This is by far the best - hands down - cake recipe ever! I say this because I have had people convert to actually eating cake and convert to liking chocolate cake once they try this recipe. It is good because it's chococlatey without being an overwhelming chocolate. 

As directed in the recipe I always use coffee instead of water to help bring out the flavour. However at times I have changed that up and have also used mulled red wine (especially around Christmas) I have also done a coffee and Khalua mix with a Bailey's Icing (a B52 cupcake!) the possibilities are endless once you get the basic cake down! Including the variety of different butter cream icing you can use to decorate it with.

The best part about this recipe is that I can usually get it made and in the oven within about 5 to 8 minutes! (you may be asking about the coffee - I usually make that using the Keurig or lately a french press and all I do is put Ice in a bag and let it sit in the hot coffee to cool it down before adding it to the mix. 

Classic Chocolate cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups brewed coffee or water (I would never water - coffee makes them SO much better! it must be cool not HOT when adding to the cake batter)

1 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla 

3 tbsp cider vinegar (I have used apple cider because I couldn't find plain cider and it worked fine) 

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees 

Cake: Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside,

Cupcakes: Line 24 cupcake tins with liners and set aside. 

• In bowl, whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
• Whisk in coffee, oil and vanilla. Stir in the vinegar. (I usually just combine this all in one large glass measuring cup) 
• Divide evenly between the cupcake tins or cake pan (I found for the cupcakes they were almost all of the way full). 
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes for the cake or 18-20 minutes for cupcakes. Make sure you test with a tester.
• Let cool for 10 minutes and then invert cake pan onto a cooling rack or remove the cupcakes from the tins. 

Bailey's Butter Cream Icing

1 lbs Icing sugar (measure by weight)

1 cup butter

8 tsp of Bailey's

So I Sous Vide

Anova Precision Cooker

Ok - so let me start with the excitement about getting a precision cooker!  I have seen them used on a couple of different cooking shows and was interested in them.  Then a friend started posting some interesting stuff that she was making using sous vide so this had me start researching and looking some more. 

Basically sous vide means literally to cook something under vacuum. Basically you cook what ever the item is in a sealed container that has not air (so a bag that is vacuumed sealed or a ziplock back that has all of the tire pressed out of it or in canning jars) and the container is then placed in water and the water is kept circulating and at a constant temperature. The food cooks slowly in some cases more slowly than a slow cooker - but what you can cook is way more versatile than a slow cooker.

Steak, Fries and Chimichurri

So you may be asking why would you want to use this if you can just use a slow cooker?  The precision nature of the cooking method - I have overcooked lots of things in my day (I'm guessing I am not the only one). In the oven, slow cooker, stove, or BBQ it is easy to over cook something especially if you are distracted by other things or when you are trying to prepare multiple things.  The nice thing is that basically you cannot overcook the food because the the food item can never get hotter than the water bath it is placed in. The process also retains the juices and flavours that would otherwise be lost in the cooking process. 

So steak sous vide vs. BBQ - on the BBQ you heat the grill up often reaching temperatures of 400 to 500 F on the grill - then you put the steak on - this means that if you are not perfect in your timing and pull the steak off at the right time the steak can go over the desired temperature for doneness (for me medium rare - which means pulling it off around 135F and then letting it rest to continue cooking up to 145 F (residual heat right?!) Well - the steak I did in the sous vide was suppose to cook for 1 hour at 129F but I got distracted and it was in the water bath for 90 minutes and still came out perfectly medium rare!

I ended up getting the Anova Precision Cooker (Bluetooth and Wifi version) (click here to visit the store) for my birthday and ended up taking it to the lake to try out a few different things. After the steak one of the first things I made was the Creme Brûlée and I have to say it was by far the easiest and best version I have made and it was so much easier than making a regular version. It was a little tricky getting to learn about how to stack and place jars properly in the water but the results were amazing! 

The only downside - I could not get the bluetooth to work while at the lake and this version is only   compatible with a 2.4 GHz internet connection so I had to manually set and adjust the machine at the lake (I mean good because you don't have to rely on the app but on the other hand just very annoying). I have to figure out the Bluetooth connection. 

The other downside - I only have one lol!  I was also a good learning experience. Despite what I knew about the method of cooking it was suggested I try potatoes (requires a high temperature) at the same time as chicken (low temperature) and it didn't work - which is fine because the potatoes were amazing on the BBQ.  Now you do not need any special equipment when you get started aside from the precision cooker you can just use a pot. However, I either have a really huge stock pot (22L+ or a smaller size soup pot) barely enough room to have put my steaks in never mind trying to cover them with water. So I did end up picking up containers from a kitchen supply store. I also did this because I learned one other thing from the vast amount of resources available online - it is a great idea to cover the water in some fashion (ping pong balls, foils, lid) to prevent heat loss and evaporation. The other reason for getting the camber (plastic) container was for insulation. The plastic will help retain heat in the water where metal is meant to distribute water. 

Other nice part - we learned that you can cook from frozen!  Which means I can prep chicken breast, throw them in the freezer and then when ready just throw them in for the sous vide and have them turn out perfectly!

At the end of the day - if you are going to invest in something else for the kitchen and want something you can use to impress guests and make easy meals I highly recommend the Anova!  It was also great because we did eggs for a big group at the lake and they cooked and held at perfection while I made Ham and Cheese Egg Crepes with Mustard Sauce (I'll post that recipe later but it was a great savoury rendition of a classically sweet dish!). I just now have to figure out how to get a second one or their new Nano version.  (Note: we managed to get ours on a sweet deal for Father's Day!!) 

Some great resources:

Chef Steps (they sell a different unit I haven't tried - but the recipes were great)

Anova website for recipes

Serious Eats

I am still looking for a good "cookbook" that deals more with this method of cooking so if you have a recommendation!

Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce

So when my husband asked me to make Enchiladas for the first time I must admit that I was ....

reluctant to say the least - I like them at the restaurant but I couldn't imagine how much work they would take. I remember my mom making them for us a kids and they were good but they definitely didn't become a staple at home. With this recipe that I tried they have now become a staple in the house and they are a great, easy go-to week night meal. They can be made the easy way or more complicated. For us the more complicated version means making the tortillas at home using our tortilla press. I usually make a double batch of the red sauce and the second container usually finds a home with someone or I freeze it for next time!

If you manage your time properly and start the sauce and then cook the filling while the sauce is reducing this recipe takes about 1 hour total (including cooking, preparing, baking, and waiting).

Enchilada Red Sauce

2 tbsp avocado oil (I usually use vegetable oil or a avocado/veggie hybrid oil)

2 tbsp all-purpose flour (I have used GF flour before as well)

2 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp dried oregano

2 cups chicken stock

1. Heat oil in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk together over the heat for one minute.
2. Stir in the remaining seasoning and stir for another minute or so.
3. Gradually add the stock, whisking constantly to remove the lumps and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until thickened slightly.

I consider this sauce to be mild enough for me (I usually like spice at level 3 on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the hottest - yes I am a wimp!)

Chicken Enchiladas

2 tbsp avocado oil (or vegetable oil)

1 small white onion, peeled and diced

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into small 1/2-inch pieces

Salt and pepper

1  x 4 ounce can died green chiles

1 x 15.5 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained

8 Large tortillas (I use a corn tortilla usually as there is a Smart Fiest one we love)

3 cups shredded cheese (Mexican blend or cheddar cheese)

1 batch of the red enchilada sauce

Topping: cilantro and/or cilantro lime crema

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large sauté pan,  head oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add diced chicken and green chiles (I usually only use 1/2 a can). Season with salt and pepper - I sometimes also sprinkle a little oregano and cumin on the chicken as well. Saute for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Remove from heat - at this point I chop up the chicken mixture even more finely but this is a preference only.
4. Prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking dish - spray with cooking spray (please trust me this is a MUST) I often place a good spoonful or two of sauce on the bottom.
5. To assemble use an assembly line:
1. Tortilla
2. Enchilada sauce
3. beans
4. chicken
5. cheese
6. Lay out the tortilla, spread two tablespoons of sauce over the surface of the tortilla, add the beans in a line down the middle, add a spoonful of the chicken mixture (I've learned to divide it roughly in the pan) sprinkle with cheese, roll up and place in the baking dish with the seem down and then repeat with the remaining ingredients.
7. Spread the remaining sauce and cheese on the top (at this point I usually end up shredding extra cheese)
8. Bake for 20 minutes and then serve immediately.

Cilantro Lime Cream

Mix the following together:
1 cup sour cream
1 lime - zested and then juiced
1 handful cilantro (about 1/4 cup chopped well)
Salt to taste


this is best made a head and I warn it is highly addictive!