Yep. That title says fail #1. Insert sigh here. I hate to say I 'never' fail a recipe, I'm not a cooking God, but it is rare. I don't know what the heck happened with this recipe...
So, my grandma didn't make this casserole very often, in fact, I only really remember ONE time that she made it. It was a baby or wedding shower at my parent's house. I loved it! I requested it often, but I'm not sure my request was ever fulfilled.
There has been many times I've tried recreating this recipe without knowing what's actually in it. I called my grandma once or twice for the recipe, but she never knew where to find it. Every time I've attempted it, it's come out pretty good. I used egg noodles, chicken, mushrooms, onions, red bell peppers, and cream of chicken soup. Everyone liked it. It was in our regular dinner rotation for a while.
I was really excited to receive this recipe from my uncle. I finally had the actual recipe, and boy, my version was off.
The first three ingredients were good. With the exception of her using canned mushrooms and me using fresh. Then, she used pimentos instead of red bell peppers, and she made her own sauce instead of using a canned cream of chicken soup. That is where the recipe went wrong. Allow me to explain.
I noticed this problem immediately. I learned that when making a roux, you use equal parts fat and flour. So, it was a red flag that the recipe called for 1/2 c butter and 1/3 c flour. BUT I had to try it like the recipe says. So, I began. I had a nice paste going on, but then I had to add the milk. I was still okay. Next...chicken broth; two whole cups! This wasn't happening. I stirred and stirred and stirred. Wasn't thickening. I poured it in a 9x13 and tried the sauce again, adding more flour this time. It didn't help. I decided to combine both sauces because I wanted to double the recipe. I added the noodles to the pan and threw it in the oven.
40 minutes later: ding.
Took the 'casserole' out of the oven, and thought it best to use a ladel because it was more like a soup; a "cassoup", if you will. Kevin said it started to thicken as it sat on the stove, but I think the noodles were just soaking up the liquid.
The flavor was okay...a little bland and not quite like I remember. The versions that I made without a recipe tasted better.
I will try this again, as I am determined to get it right. I don't want to add too much more flour because I don't want it to get the flour taste.
If it doesn't come out again, I will try combining her recipe and my recipe and see what happens.
Insert big sigh.
I think we're going out for dinner tonight.
Update: I just had a little bowl as a snack because I wanted to see if the flavors improved overnight. They did. If I would've had this bowl last night, I might not have been so upset with the way it came out. It still wasnt perfect; it needed a little salt and pepper, and I had a hard time tasting the pimento. But it was better than last night. Maybe that's the trick? Put it in the fridge over night and then bake it the next night. Who knows....
Friday, January 6, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Recipe #1: Pineapple Dream Cake
So, Friday, Uncle Dan sent me 20+ of my grandma's recipes. I still don't know how often I will try to make one, but I wanted to do one this weekend to get this whole blog-ball rolling. With wanting to keep up a New Years Day Dinner tradition I started a few years ago, I had to pick a dessert. Well, it just so happened that Pineapple Dream Cake (one of my favs) was one of the recipes Dan sent me (yay!). I made this after dinner today, and now that I am in my pjs, in my bed with my dog Vegas and a glass of red wine, I'm ready for my first "official" blog.
This cake is soooooo good. It's good the way grandma says to make it, and in keeping with the theme of my blog, I made it just as she does. But I am really curious to try it with coconut pudding instead of vanilla and then with some toasted coconut on top of the whipped cream. Mmmmmmmmm, coconut.....
Here's the ingredients:
1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix (I couldn't find Jiffy, so I just used the grocery store brand)
1 large can crushed pineapple
1 8oz package cream cheese (room temperature)
2 cups milk
1 small package instant vanilla pudding
1 container cool whip (room temperature)
You'll also need whatever ingredients the cake mix calls for. Mine called for eggs, oil, and water.
Here are the directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare cake in a mixing bowl according to directions on box. I LOVE my mixing bowls (pictured here). They are nesting bowls by OXO with rubberized bottoms, a little handle, and a spout. Seriously, one of my favorite things in my kitchen!
Anoter favorite kitchen tool...my measuring cups - also by OXO. What I love most about them is that you don't have to get eye-level to see the amount in the cup. You can see from above - genius!
Sorry, I get distracted by kitchen toys. And cooking tips...here's one: when a recipe calls for eggs, don't crack the eggs into your mix. Instead, crack the eggs into a separate bowl and then pour the eggs into whatever you're cooking. Why, you ask. Because I am horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE at cracking eggs and almost always get shells where they're not supposed to be. By cracking the eggs first into a bowl, I can A) make sure the eggs aren't bad, B) make sure I don't have any weird two-yolk eggs (which can ruin a recipe) and C) I can pick out all the egg shell.
Back to the cake...
Once the cake has been mixed well, pour it into a 9x13 pan and pop that baby in the oven. Grandma's recipe says 20-25 minutes, but she was using Jiffy, and I was not. Mine was in there for 40 minutes and it came out just fine. When the cake is done, take it out and let it cool. Once it gets cool, stick it in the fridge, because you want it cold.
While the cake is in the oven, or while it's cooling, start on the topping(s).
Empty the can of pineapple into a strainer and drain off the liquid. You want as little juice as possible, so drain it well. Push it down a bit, mix it around, and push it some more (insert totally inappropriate Salt N Pepa song that I am now singing thanks to this step). Leave the pineapple in the sink to drain. After a while, I put the strainer over a bowl and put it in the fridge.
Unwrap the package of cream cheese and put it in your mixer. Or if you weren't blessed to get a big stand mixer for your wedding, like I was, a hand mixer will do just fine.
Mix the cream cheese on low for 2-3 minutes until creamy.
Slowly add the 2 cups of milk. Slowly means a little at a time...not all at once people. Make sure you are mixing as you pour.
Empty the box of pudding into the milk/cheese mixture and mix for another 2-3 minutes. I took a pic of this step, but it looks just like the one above. If the pudding mix is a little lumpy from the cream cheese, its just because the cream cheese was too cold. This happened to me, but it still tasted just fine, so don't freak out. Put the pudding into the fridge to thicken and get nice and cold until you are ready to "ice" your cake.
When the cake is cooled, dump the pudding mix onto the cake and spread into an even layer. I don't have any fancy cake tools, I just used a rubber spatula. See the lumps? Sigh.
After the pudding is down, take the pineapple and spread it atop the pudding. The method on this one stumped me. I didn't know how I was going to "spread"it. So, I just grabbed a handful and 'sprinkled' it over - worked for me.
Then, grab the Cool Whip and, using a butter knife, throw some dollops on the pineapple. Then, use the knife to GENTLY spread the whipped deliciousness over the cake.
Grandma's recipe said to refridgerate for a few hours, but we couldn't wait. We dug right in. Look at the pretty layers :)
A clean plate is a sign of a job well done.
Disclaimer: This recipe came out of my grandmothers recipe collection. Where it came from before then, I have no clue. I do not intend to plagiarize any published recipes, I just want to cook like my grandma.
This cake is soooooo good. It's good the way grandma says to make it, and in keeping with the theme of my blog, I made it just as she does. But I am really curious to try it with coconut pudding instead of vanilla and then with some toasted coconut on top of the whipped cream. Mmmmmmmmm, coconut.....
Here's the ingredients:
1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix (I couldn't find Jiffy, so I just used the grocery store brand)
1 large can crushed pineapple
1 8oz package cream cheese (room temperature)
2 cups milk
1 small package instant vanilla pudding
1 container cool whip (room temperature)
You'll also need whatever ingredients the cake mix calls for. Mine called for eggs, oil, and water.
Here are the directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare cake in a mixing bowl according to directions on box. I LOVE my mixing bowls (pictured here). They are nesting bowls by OXO with rubberized bottoms, a little handle, and a spout. Seriously, one of my favorite things in my kitchen!
Anoter favorite kitchen tool...my measuring cups - also by OXO. What I love most about them is that you don't have to get eye-level to see the amount in the cup. You can see from above - genius!
Sorry, I get distracted by kitchen toys. And cooking tips...here's one: when a recipe calls for eggs, don't crack the eggs into your mix. Instead, crack the eggs into a separate bowl and then pour the eggs into whatever you're cooking. Why, you ask. Because I am horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE at cracking eggs and almost always get shells where they're not supposed to be. By cracking the eggs first into a bowl, I can A) make sure the eggs aren't bad, B) make sure I don't have any weird two-yolk eggs (which can ruin a recipe) and C) I can pick out all the egg shell.
Back to the cake...
Once the cake has been mixed well, pour it into a 9x13 pan and pop that baby in the oven. Grandma's recipe says 20-25 minutes, but she was using Jiffy, and I was not. Mine was in there for 40 minutes and it came out just fine. When the cake is done, take it out and let it cool. Once it gets cool, stick it in the fridge, because you want it cold.
While the cake is in the oven, or while it's cooling, start on the topping(s).
Empty the can of pineapple into a strainer and drain off the liquid. You want as little juice as possible, so drain it well. Push it down a bit, mix it around, and push it some more (insert totally inappropriate Salt N Pepa song that I am now singing thanks to this step). Leave the pineapple in the sink to drain. After a while, I put the strainer over a bowl and put it in the fridge.
Unwrap the package of cream cheese and put it in your mixer. Or if you weren't blessed to get a big stand mixer for your wedding, like I was, a hand mixer will do just fine.
Mix the cream cheese on low for 2-3 minutes until creamy.
Slowly add the 2 cups of milk. Slowly means a little at a time...not all at once people. Make sure you are mixing as you pour.
Empty the box of pudding into the milk/cheese mixture and mix for another 2-3 minutes. I took a pic of this step, but it looks just like the one above. If the pudding mix is a little lumpy from the cream cheese, its just because the cream cheese was too cold. This happened to me, but it still tasted just fine, so don't freak out. Put the pudding into the fridge to thicken and get nice and cold until you are ready to "ice" your cake.
When the cake is cooled, dump the pudding mix onto the cake and spread into an even layer. I don't have any fancy cake tools, I just used a rubber spatula. See the lumps? Sigh.
After the pudding is down, take the pineapple and spread it atop the pudding. The method on this one stumped me. I didn't know how I was going to "spread"it. So, I just grabbed a handful and 'sprinkled' it over - worked for me.
Then, grab the Cool Whip and, using a butter knife, throw some dollops on the pineapple. Then, use the knife to GENTLY spread the whipped deliciousness over the cake.
Grandma's recipe said to refridgerate for a few hours, but we couldn't wait. We dug right in. Look at the pretty layers :)
A clean plate is a sign of a job well done.
Disclaimer: This recipe came out of my grandmothers recipe collection. Where it came from before then, I have no clue. I do not intend to plagiarize any published recipes, I just want to cook like my grandma.
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