Beef Barley Soup

This was a cooking triumph.  My mom said it was the best food she has ever eaten in her whole life.  I can always judge if something is good is if she takes seconds. 

1 carton of beef stock
1  onion
1 carrot
1 cup of uncooked barley
1 can of tomato paste
about a pound of beef.  You can use stew meat but its cheaper if you buy it uncut
several cloves of garlic
mushrooms
parsley flakes
Johnny's salt
a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to brighten up at the end

 Cut up the meat into bite size pieces and brown slightly.  be sure not to crowd the pan.  It doesn't have to be cooked all the way through.  Dice up the onion and slice the carrot.  Chop up the mushrooms.  Add to crock pot or large sauce pan.

Deglaze the pan bay adding the beef stock and scrapping up the bottom.

Add in tomato pasta and broth to the pan.  Add a much of cloves of garlic whole.  Don't worry it will simmer for a long time so it won't be bad.  Add some salt and simmer for at least two hours on low adding water as needed.   Add in some parsley flakes. I lett mine simmer most of the day.  Longer is better.

45 min before serving add in barley and adjust the seasoning. I a little lemon juice or cider vinegar to brighten it up.

Serve with bread and salad.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

1 cup of melted butter
1 1/4 cup of warm milk
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar
2 tablespoon of cinnamon
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of salt
3 1/2 cups of flour (all purpose of bread flour)
2 1/4 teaspoon of yeast

Sprinkle yeast and a pinch of sugar on top of warm milk and let set for 10 min until bubbly.

Whisk in egg yolks, butter (save on tablespoon of later), sugar and salt.  Stir in flour.

Knead in mixer for 5 min and then briefly knead by hand to finish off. Let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled.

Roll out into a long rectangle.  Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle on dough and roll up and place in a loaf pan and let rise for 1/2 hour. Bake at 350 for an hour until golden.  Let cool completely.

Whisk 1 1/2 sticks of soft butter with 1/2 cup of brown sugar and a tablespoon of cinnamon.

Slice and serve with cinnamon butter.

It also makes great french toast.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bark

3 chocolate bars.  Chocolate chips are designed not to melt so they don't work well.
1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of powdered sugar
peanut butter cups chopped up (bought them pre chopped at URM)
You can make any number of variations on this.

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and pour into a lined 9x13 pan.

Whisk together peanut butter and powder sugar. Dollop onto hot chocolate and let rest for a couple min.  Swirl with a knife and press on peanut butter cups. Place in the fridge to set completely.

Chop into pieces and keep cool.

Sweet Scones

These are a quick simple biscuit/scones.

Here's what you need 

2 cups of flour plus more for kneading 

4 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt 

1/3 cup of shorting 

1 egg 

2 teaspoons of vanilla 

1/4 of sugar plus more for dusting 

3/4 cup of cream plus more for topping

 Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Cut shorting into flour mixture until resembles course crumbs.

 Add in eggs, cream, and vanilla until combined. 

Dust dough with flour and knead briefly.

 Roll out into a disk about 1 inch thick and cut with a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter. 

Place on a cookie sheet. Brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until slightly golden.

Cool and served with sweetened cream and jam or lemon curd and of course coffee.

Rancher Huoevos

These are nice and simple spiced up eggs.

Here's what you need

Corn tortillas 

A couple eggs 

Salsa (I used the stuff from Costco)

Red enchilada sauce (about a cup I used left over)

Cilantro

 Heat a skillet with some oil and enchilada sauce and toast tortillas until crispy. 

Pour a little enchilada sauce onto the plate.

 Fry a egg or each tortilla. I like my eggs runny but you can can make them however you like them. 

Place tortilla on sauced plate and top with egg. Too with salsa and cilantro.

Julia's French Bread.

This is not a hard recipe but takes a long time most of which is not active time.

3 cups of bread flour
2 teaspoons of salt
2 1/4 teaspoon of yeast

Put a 1/3 cup of hot tap water into a mixing bowl and sprinkle with yeast and let rest for 10 min.

Sprinkle on salt and slowly add in flour until combined.

Let rest for 3 min.  Knead for10 min by hand or 5 min with a dough hook.  It comes out nicer by hand.  Flour surface as needed.

Rise at room temperature until doubled 3-5 hours. Punch down and rise again.  Shape into two loaves and place a couple cuts on the top.  Rise over night in the fridge,

Bake at 450 for 40 min.  Cool and then slice.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

It was Chris's birthday this week.  Usually we get the chocolate layer cake from Costco but this year I decided to make one.

2/3 cup of cocoa powder
4 tablespoons of esspresso powder
1 cup of hot water
1/2 cup of shortening
a pinch of cayenne
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 2/3 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of cake flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 1/14 teaspoon of baking soda
2/3 cup of butter milk (powdered is fine)
3 eggs

Whisk together hot water, espresso, and cocoa.

 Whisk oil, sugar, and shorting until fluffy.  Add in eggs and beat until fluffy.

Whisk in coca and coffee mixture.  Then add in vanilla, and butter milk.  Add in salt, baking soda, baking powder until well combined.  Slowly add in flour.

Evenly distribute batter between two cake pans that are greased and lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 for35-40 min until a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack.  Once it is completely cooled then proceed to frosting. 

FrostingL

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

1 stick of butter

1/2 brick of cream cheese (not in picture)

4 cups of powderedsugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy.  Add in vanilla and cocoa and then slowly add in powdered sugar.  You might need to add a little milk to adjust consistency.

Using an off set spatula cover first layer and then add second layer and completely cover top and sides.

Decorate with a ganche if desired.  To make bring a 1/4 cup of cream to a simmer add in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Let rest for 5 min and then whisk until glossy.  Let cool for at least 30 min and then use to decorate.

Slice and serve with ice cream.  My husband likes to spell any but happy birthday with the birthday blocks.