Roasted Cabbage

Is everyone still playing along with Pinterest?  I know I am!  I saw roasted cabbage go by recently and since I have a surplus of cabbage, I decided to give it a try.

I think this might be my favorite way to eat cabbage!  I was really surprised how good it was.  The intense flavor of the cabbage diminishes and picks up a roasted sweetness.  If you prefer, pass a bottle of vinegar to sprinkle onto the cabbage, they go great together.  I thought it was great without it, but either way you should definitely try this recipe!

I've got a few more cabbage recipes up my sleeve so stay tuned!

Roasted Cabbage Adapted from Everyday Food, April 2010 Yield: 6-8 servings  

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 head green cabbage, cut into 1-inch-thick rounds

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 tsp caraway or fennel seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with one tablespoon of the olive oil. (My cabbage was large so I needed two baking sheets and a little more oil). Place cabbage in a single layer and brush with the remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with caraway or fennel seeds (if using). Roast until cabbage is tender and edges are golden, 40 to 45 minutes.

Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

I love baking with apples and pumpkin this time of year. When I heard about a charity bake sale at work, I knew I wanted to use one of these flavors. The bake sale turned out to be HUGE, there were tons of goodies brought in (we raised over $600). I was surprised to see that I had the only apple treat and there were only a few pumpkin choices. Over 90% of the donations were based on chocolate or contained chocolate. Now I love chocolate, but come on people!

This recipe makes a 9x13 cake and I baked it as two cakes (one for the bake sale in a disposable pan and one for me). My cake was cut into slices and turned out to be a hit! There were easily over 50 baked goods to choose from so I was happy that my cake was gone by the end of the sale.

This cake had a nice apple and cinnamon flavor and the crunchy brown sugar glaze was a nice topping. It was definitely moist, but a tad oily for my taste. Next time I'll try reducing the amount of oil or substitute applesauce for some of the oil. Did you know you can do that? For a healthier version of baked goods you can substitute up to half of the oil for applesauce. You'll sacrifice some moistness, but sometimes cakes can be too oily anyway.

This is a great recipe to try if you're looking for a taste of fall.

Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Adapted from The Biscuit Pusher, originally from Southern Cakes

Yield: 9x13 cake or two 8" or 9" cakes (16 servings)

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Whipped cream for serving (optional)

Brown Sugar Glaze:

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

5 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp milk, half and half or cream

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 13x9 inch pan, or two 8" (or 9") pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a mixer at low speed until pale yellow and frothy. Add the oil and vanilla, beat well. Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until it disappears. Add the apples and nuts and stir with a wooden spoon to distribute them into the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 40 to 50 minutes (depending on size of pan), or until the cake is golden brown.

To make the glaze:

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat stirring often until the mixture comes to a gentle boil and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

Spoon the hot glaze over the hot cake and let it cool completely.

When serving, add a dollop of whipped cream to each slice of cake. 

 

Cooking Confessions

Sorry folks, no new recipe today, but I do have something a little different.  But first, since I feel bad for not posting a recipe in a while, you should check out these two quick recipes from the archives. They are both perfect for this time of year.

Smoky Corn Chowder Great recipe for those of us doing Fresh Fork. This week we're getting what is probably the last of the corn.

Candy Corn and Peanuts Quickest treat ever and no baking required.

Today marks the beginning of a series of posts called Cooking Confessions.  It won't be weekly or anything, I'll just throw them out there at random.  These confessions (sometimes embarrassing) will be about cooking, baking or food things that I like or don't like.  Some of them might surprise you even if you know me in real life so stay tuned!


Grilled Cheese & Pancakes: This is basic cooking right here, but I can't do it without "burnination". The problem is that I'm impatient. I start it off at the right temperature, get impatient then walk away and forget. Or I standby, get impatient and end up cranking the heat. It seems I'm willing to wait for more elaborate cooking (probably because there are other food tasks to be handled) but when it's such a simple food and it seems like it takes forever I have issues. I AM getting better with grilled cheese, but I haven't attempted pancakes for two in such a long time (I'm a waffle girl anyway).

On a recent family vacation, I made breakfast for everyone one morning and only had whatever pans the rental house provided. I had the bacon in the oven and pans on all four burners. None of the pans and burners heated the same so I was constantly having to adjust (aka no time to get impatient). I think these were the best cooked pancakes I've made in forever.

Tomato Sauce:

I use jarred tomato sauce. *gasp* I don't use red sauce that much so I just buy it. Sometimes it's a jar of local stuff and sometimes it's just whatever's on sale, but it's rare if I make it myself. 

Spaghetti and Meatballs:

While we're on the subject of tomato sauce I might as well tell you my feelings about spaghetti and meatballs.  Even though Kevin loves spaghetti, I won't make it.  I just don't like it. I'm not sure why, but it is what it is. I love me some bolognese sauce, but that's really the only meatsauce I like (is it a coincidence that bolognese isn't usually served with spaghetti noodles? hmm).  Everything else is meh including meatballs.  So you can count me off the band wagon for this meatball craze that's going on.  I'll eat them, but they don't really do anything for me.

So there you have it, my first installment of cooking confessions.  Do you have any cooking confessions?

30 Before 30: 10 Month Update

Only 2 more months until I'm 30! I have to say I'm not nervous/scared/whatever some people feel as they age. I'm actually a little excited! I don't know why, but maybe it's just because a milestone birthday is a great excuse to have a party. And I am having a party!

30 Before 30:
(in no particular order)

1. Attend a concert at Blossom (We went when the Cleveland Orchestra had a John Williams tribute: soundtracks from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jaws, etc.)
2. Keep in touch with people better (I've been texting a lot more so this helps)
3. Blog more regularly (I was doing well until the summer hit, but I've been getting back into again)
4. Participate in a blog swap (Since my last update I guest posted on Clue Into Cleveland, Eat*Drink*Cleveland and Peave Love Bagels. My posts were about local BLTs with homemade mayo, my favorite wine shop and how to DIY microwave popcorn, respectively.
5. Sing karaoke in public 
6. Bake for a good cause
7. Visit my sister in Atlanta
8. Visit my brother in New Orleans
9. Volunteer (nothing since April, I should volunteer at least one more time)
10. Attend a Tremont Art Walk 
11. Visit one of Cleveland's beaches
12. Now that the elephants are back in their new habitat, I want to visit the zoo again.  (I won tickets to Date Night at the Zoovies. We got to wander around after hours and watch The Breakfast Club in their ampitheater.) 
13. Visit the MetroParks outside of Solon
14. Host more parties (I've hosted 5 parties in 10 months and I've got my first bimonthly supper club dinner this weekend.)
15. Learn how to draw
16. Spend less time on the computer (I've been doing okay)
17. Visit Stan Hywet Hall (I work near there now, so this should be easy to do in the next few months)
18. Try to relax (This is even harder now that we have 5 temporary roommates)
19. Make our wedding album (our 5 year anniversary is a month before I turn 30) (Haven't even started, I need to get moving!)
20. Visit the West Side more often
21. Attend a Lake Erie Monsters game
22. Attend a Burning River Roller Girls bout 
23. Go skydiving (Coming soon!!)
24. Learn how to use some of the features on our camera
25. Go tobogganing
26. Be more positive about day to day stuff
27. Try at least 6 new restaurants
28. Drink more wine
29. Visit Cleveland's Asiatown and eat dim sum (This was so fun!  We took my parents when they were in town for Father's Day)
30. Exercise more (I'm on and off)

I'm Guest Posting on Clue Into Cleveland Today: Local BLTs and DIY Mayo

Head over to Clue Into Cleveland to check out my guest post! 

• I challenge you to locally source a BLT from a market near you. 
• I share a recipe for making your own mayo, it's really quick and easy.  Even if you don't normally cook, mayo is definitely doable!
• I give you the perfect BLT layout (I believe there is a certain order a BLT should be stacked).

This is the perfect opportunity for you to try my Bakin' Bacon method.  Since the bacon doesn't curl up very much, it creates a flat base to stack the rest of the ingredients!

 

Bakin' Bacon

Mmmmm bacon. I love bacon so much I had a Bacon Party!

Cooking bacon for more than two people can be time-consuming and messy. After today, you can forget about making multiple batches and splattering hot grease all over your stovetop. My secret?  I cook it in the oven. This method is perfect for makin' bacon for a crowd. Just throw it in the oven until it's done to your desired crispiness. And you don't even have to flip the strips! I like to save the bacon fat so once I pour it off, the lingering grease cools/hardens fairly quickly, then just crumple the foil and throw it away.

If you want bacon for breakfast without cooking it every morning, you can it in the oven, then reheat it with a zap in the microwave.  When I make BLTs, I just cook up the whole package for the two of us.  That way we get BLTs two days in a row and only one day of cooking bacon. 

It's surprises me that more people have not heard of this method. I've been doing this for a few years and have no idea where I first heard it, but it's genius.  Now that you know the trick, I hope you'll try it next time you have a bacon craving!

Oven Bacon

Original Recipe
Yield: 4-6 servings

1 lb bacon (I prefer thick cut, but use whatever you like)

2 rimmed baking sheets

Foil

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheets with foil. Lay the bacon on the foil. Don't be afraid to put them right next to each other, they'll shrink as they cook. As long as they're not piled on top of each other, it'll be fine. Put the trays into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they're done to your satisfaction.  Timing will vary depending on how thick or thin your bacon is so start checking around the 10 minute mark for thinner slices.  Remove the bacon onto a paper towel-lined plate to degrease a moment before devouring.

BLTs are one of my favs!

3 Year Blogiversary (My Favorite Year So Far)

Way back on June 16th was my 3 year blogiversary.  It slipped right by without any fanfare, but I really wanted to celebrate this past year.  I never imagined Cooker Girl would be anything more than a place to document recipes, but it's become so much more for me!  I wanted to point out a few things that have happened because of this blog (directly or indirectly).

I bought my domain name!  cookergirl.com was taken so I chose sarahberridge.com

I created a Facebook fan page.  C'mon "like" me!

I've met a lot of really great people through blogging and Twitter.  I've even made some new friends that I see pretty regularly.

Cleveland Magazine chose my blog to be part of the 32 Most Entertaining Blogs.  All the blogs went through a March Madness-style voting brackets.  I got into the Top 8 and ended up being #2 in the Food and Drink category!  Thanks again for your votes!

I won a Hunger Games recipe contest with my Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables recipe (aka Roast Groosling).  My prize was a cookbook (Lidia's Italy in America), but because the Plain Dealer was delayed in sending the prize, they threw in an extra cookbook. I love Lidia Bastianich!  She's in my top 3 favorite celebrity chefs along with Julia Child and Jacques Pepin.  (By the way, Jacques is coming to Cleveland for the Fabulous Food Show in November!)

I've been busy guest posting for some lovely ladies!  My Sugar Cookie Bars were on My Retro Kitchen, I did a restaurant review and shared my favorite shop for wine tasting on Eat Drink Cleveland and taught the readers of Peace Love Bagels how to DIY Microwave Popcorn.

Earlier this year I started baking for a cause, for two causes actually.  Two of my siblings were cycling in the Tour de Cure for Diabetes and I volunteered baked goods in exchange for donations.  The other recipients of baked goods have been US military troops through Operation Baking Gals.

Dump Truck Dirt Cake: Chocolate Cake, Oreo Filling, Vanilla
Buttercream with Oreo garnish around the sides and top

Last, but certainly not least!  I started baking for people outside of the family. Thanks to some nudging from friends, I've turned my passion into a little side business. I'm currently working on a "menu" to put on the site.  Let me know if you need any bakery!

Salted Caramels and Chocolate Cake Balls

I had stickers made so I can put them on my bakery boxes, etc.

Totally unrelated to the blog, but still something significant was a trip to Europe last fall.  Kevin and I spent three weeks in France and Italy.  It was completely amazing, a trip of a lifetime!

Siena, Italy (Tuscany)

A few random facts before I let you go:

 - Cooker Girl's third year had more posts than the two previous years combined!

 - This is my 100th post!
 - Today would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday.

So there you have it, it's been quite a year!  Thank you so much for reading!