Sit Down and Eat!

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I have my first post up on Tastespotting, my favorite food porn site.  Click me!

Classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I love Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  It is comfort food.  Buttery, moist and gooey with that little tang of citrus to keep it from being just too much.  And it reminds me of being a kid.  This was a potluck and barbecue staple in the 70's and just the sight of it brings me back to the first house I can remember and late summer evenings on the back porch. 

I guess my husband must be the ultimate nostalgic because of all of the delicious and amazing cakes I have ever made for him, this is the one he requests every year for his birthday.   And this is a huge generalization wrapped in an observation, but men in general love this cake.  I once made it for a Silent Auction Fund-raiser at work for the Relay for Life and it raised $38.  Thirty eight BUCKS for a nine inch cake?  In 1991?  The bidding was a war between four guys, all of whom wanted that cake BAD and NOW.  The bidding only ended because the timer went off.   If I had only known I would have made 3 more and charged them a flat rate for them.

I don't remember where I got the original recipe but I have had it for years.  This cake is easy to throw together and bake in under an hour.  Ideally you make it in a well seasoned iron frying pan, like I do.  But if you don't have one, use a deep 9 inch cake pan.  Even an 8 inch square cake pan will work.  Fair warning - when you make the syrupy top, you will want to taste because it smells so buttery and toffee-like.  And you burn the skin off of your tongue.  But it will taste so good that when you pull the cake out of the oven and flip it onto the platter, you will scrape the pan to get every bit of it, and proceed to burn your tongue again. 

I warned you.

Michele's Pineapple Upside Down Cake

350 degree oven

For Topping

1 can pineapple slices in their own juice, drained but reserve the juice for the batter

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

Melt butter in a well-seasoned iron frying pan, add brown sugar and simmer for about a minute or two until it is bubbly and syrupy, stirring often.  Taste.  Burn tongue.  If using a cake pan just melt the butter in a saucepan and add sugar, then pour into the well greased cake pan. 

Stick one slice of pineapple in the middle, and then circle it with the rest of the slices.  Now you can add maraschino cherries if you like.  I don't, so I added real cherries since they are in season and I had them.  Set aside while you make batter.

For Batter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3/4 stick butter

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 T. rum (optional)

1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice.

Mix dry ingredients in small bowl on the side.  Beat butter in mixer until smooth, add sugar and beat until fluffy - 2-3 minutes on high.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.  Add vanilla and rum. Add half of the dry mixture, mix until just combined.  Add pineapple juice and mix again until blended.  Add remaining flour mixture again until just combined.  Pour batter over pineapple mixture and spread lightly over pineapple. 

Bake 45 minutes.  Remove from over and run a knife around edge.  Let sit for 10 minutes and then flip onto platter.  Scrape delicioous carmel from pan and burn your tongue again. 

Enjoy.

I am in Good Company!

I just joined the Barefoot Bloggers, a group of food bloggers as Ina obsessed as myself.  Monthly we will all be making two of Ina Garten's recipes and comparing notes.  I am very excited to be in the company of so many fellow Barefoot fans.  And so many good cooks!

Grilled Lemon Chicken and The Rule of Ina

Ina Garten is my muse.  Check out my Amazon list and see that it features everything Ina.  I am not sure exactly when I started watching it here but it was at least five years ago.  I love her simple approach of taking things you know and love and really making the very best version of them that you can.  Never too fussy and always delicious.  I also love to read all of her ideas on entertaining. 

You will likely be hearing a lot about Ina here.  So you must learn the Rule of Ina:

The Rule of Ina - Her recipes are often chock full of butter, or heavy cream, and she is a little heavy handed with the Kosher salt.  I KNOW THIS.  And I love her anyway.  So please refrain from leaving any fat and cholesterol sermons in the comments section, because I am already completely beyond conversion.

But I will start you off slowly with one of her healthier recipes.  Grilled Lemon Chicken.  We eat a lot of boneless skinless chicken.  A lot.  I have plucked a few feathers from my ass, we eat that much.   This recipe is, in my opinion, the best thing to do with chicken breasts 75% of the time.  The other 25% I reserve for when I make Jackie's Chicken Marsala, a recipe that will come here one day and you will swoon with delight when you make it. 

The chicken gets a delicious lemony tang to it and the salt tenderizes the meat and it comes out juicy and perfect every time.  Even when I get distracted by weeding or a new magazine or a phone call when it is on the grill and I leave it on W A Y to long.  Not that any of those things every happen.  I make a big batch of it and we eat it hot the first night, then sliced cold over salads a day or two later.  Leftovers also make excellent chicken salad.

Ina's Grilled Lemon Chicken - Mix 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons), 3/4 cup olive oil, 2 t. kosher salt, 1 t. freshly ground black pepper and 1 T. minced fresh thyme leaves (I  prefer tarragon, but do what you must) in a bowl.  I just use a measuring cup because I am all about using only one bowl any time I can.

Pour the marinade over 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, in a plastic bowl or baggie, any non-reactive container.  Marinate at least 6 hours or overnight.  The longer the better. 

Grill for 8-10 minutes per side, but adjust according to your breast size.  Har Har.

Ina's Grilled Lemon Chicken -

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons) - I also grate the rind into the bowl before I juice the lemons because I am rather crazed for fresh lemons)

3/4 cup olive oil

2 t. kosher salt

1 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 T. minced fresh thyme leaves (I  prefer tarragon, but do what you must)

Whisk everything except the chicken in a bowl. Pour marinade over the chicken in a baggie or non-reactive bowl and marinate for at least 6 hours or overnight.  Grill chicken breasts for 8-10 minutes per side. 

Irish Soda Bread, Our Way

  My family has been making this version of Irish Soda Bread for as long as anyone can remember.  My grandfather was born and raised in Charlestown, County Mayo, Ireland and I think this recipe came by way of one of his sisters.  It wasn't until I went to Ireland (twice - whee!) that I found out that Irish Soda Bread is really more like a   wheat bread and our family's version is what they consider more of a giant scone.  But who doesn't like scones?

This recipe is fast and easy to make and it is perfect for breakfast or with coffee as a snack.  I often make it to accompany a soup dinner in the winter or to take to a "Food Day" at work. The ingredients are pretty basic, so it is really easy to whip up when you have company coming and it makes the house smell heavenly.'

Quickie - My Dad worked for a company for 27 years and they decided to have an employee cookbook and asked everyone to submit recipes.  My mother proudly wrote up the family recipe for Irish Soda bread and even included a comment about how it was "a treasured recipe" from her Irish ancestors.  When the cookbook came out, my mother flipped through to find her recipe, and discovered that she left out all of the wet ingredients, basically leaving flour, raisin and a few other dry ingredients to bake for an hour at 350.  If the cookbook went into a second printing, I am sure her recipe would have been edited to say "A treasured recipe from my Irish ancestors, who were a wee bit fond of the whiskey".

Irish Soda Bread, Our Way - full recipe at bottom of post

350 degree Oven

In a mixing bowl, beat one egg, then add one whole pint of sour cream and mix well

 

To the wet mixture, add 3 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar (in the spice aisle at the grocery), 1 teaspoon of baking soda.  Mix until slightly combined.  Don't overmix, just until it starts to clump together.  Then add a cup of raisins and mix in.   Raisins are the traditional addition, but sometimes I use dried cranberries or dried cherries.  I might even throw in a bit of almond extract (with the cherries) or a teaspoon of grated orange peel (with the cranberries) if I am feeling fruity.  Whatever blows your skirt up, as they probably never say in Ireland.

Spread the sticky dough into a greased iron frying pan of you have one.  This one was my great-grandmother's and I use it all of the time.  If you don't have one, you can use a cake pan or even a pie plate.  You just wont look as rustic.    As if.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes and then check it.  If it is already a nice crusty golden brown, take it out.  Then let it cool for 10-15 minutes before you cut a slice and slather it with real butter.  Store whatever is left wrapped in foil for a few days.

The aftermath.  Not so bad.  I mix the wet ingredients together first and then add the dry so I only use one bowl. 

Irish Soda Bread Our Way

1 Egg

1 pint sour cream

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 t. cream of tartar

1/2 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 cup raisins

Beat egg in mixing bowl, add sour cream and mix well.  Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just barely combined.  Add raisins and mix into sticky dough.  Spread dough in lightly greased iron frying pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes until golden brown. 

A Seat at the Table

Welcome to my second home.  My home away from my other home.  The one where I cook for you.  I love to cook and have been doing it since my father taught me how to make scrambled eggs at the age of 6.  Then my mother taught me how to make No Bake Cookies, then I got my Girl Scout Cooking badge and the rest is history. 

Simple, good food is what I am all about.  You won't see much much (any?) pre-packaged stuff here, but you also won't spend all night in the kitchen here either.  Just simply prepared food that will make you want to stick around for more.   And lots of stories, because I love to talk. 

I remember years ago my brother in law was commenting on his mother's cooking.  He said she cooked because she had to, and that she hated it, and that you could taste it in her cooking.  He said when he ate my food he could taste the love. 

Let the love-in begin.