Hamburger Stroganoff

I got this recipe from a Relief Society cookbook for a ward I used to live in. It is really easy and reallly really yummy. Adam is a big fan and often requests that I make this for dinner.

Hamburger Stroganoff

serves: 5-6

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1 lb ground beef
6 oz can mushrooms and juice (I sometimes just like to use fresh mushrooms)
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 can undiluted condensed consomme (I use beef broth and that seems to work just fine)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 lb (2 cups) medium noodles
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp parsley

Saute onion and garlic in butter until lightly browned. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Stir in mushrooms, lemon juice, consomme, salt and pepper about 5 minutes. Stir in noodles and cook, covered, 10 to 12 minutes or until noodles are tender. Stir in sour cream. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Move, Job, and Morning Sickness

So Adam and I moved from Rexburg in April to Salt Lake City and I really wasn't cooking or making anything then while trying to get settled. Then I got a job with Seagull book and I had to work pretty much every night and have not been able to cook because of that. And then in July I became pregnant and went through bad morning sickness for three months and I am finally feeling good in my second trimester and I am ready to start cooking again! I really missed food for a while. So that is why there is the big gap between my recipes I am posting now and the ones from a couple months before. I have some really good ones that I've done recently too that I am excited about!

The Perfect Waffle

This is my favorite recipe that I have found so far for my Belgian waffle maker. It is really yummy with the strawberry syrup too.

The Perfect Waffle

Serves 8-10

1 pkg. active dry yeast
¼ cup warm milk (90 degrees F)
3 egg yolks
2¾ cups warm milk (90 degrees F)
¾ cup butter
½ cup white sugar
1½ tsp. iodized salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. Vinegar
3 egg whites

Directions
Dissolve full package of yeast in 1/4 cup warm milk.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the warm milk and the melted butter.
Stir in the yeast mixture, sugar, salt and vanilla.
Stir in the remaining 2 1/2 cups milk alternately with the flour, ending with the flour.
Add vinegar.
Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks; gently fold into the batter.
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. I like to put a couple of cups of water in the microwave and heat for two minutes (or until water boils), and place dough in the microwave with hot water.
Preheat the waffle iron. Brush with oil and spoon batter onto center of iron. Close the lid and bake until steam stops coming from the waffle maker and the waffle is a rich brown.
Place waffle on either cooling rack, or in 200 oven directly on oven rack. -you don't want any steam put off by the waffle to make your crust soggy.
Makes 8 - 10 six inch round waffles.

Strawberry Syrup

I made this a few weeks ago and I have been craving it ever since. I don't have a picture because it was in the morning when I made it and I was just hungry and wanted to dig in. I made homemade waffles and put this over it! I wish I would have made more. If you like breakfast or strawberries, you will love this recipe!


Strawberry Syrup

1 cup sugar
1 Tb. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups thinly sliced and then roughly chopped fresh strawberries

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in saucepan; stir in strawberries.  (The strawberry juices will dissolve the sugar and make a wet mixture.)  Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.

This makes approximately 2 cups of syrup.

(I got this recipe from Sisterscafe.com)

Tres Leches Cake

On special occasions, Adam and I like to go to places like Cafe Rio or Bajios and get their Mexican dessert, Tres Leches. In my All You magazine last month there was a recipe for it, so I made it! And it tasted exactly the same as the one we buy at the restaurants. It called for things that I already have in my cupboards and my fridge which are my favorite recipes. It was very yummy. I think I will make it again soon. You can actually see the moistness running on the plate at the bottom of the cake in the picture. So Good!

Tres Leches Cake

CAKE:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

6 large eggs, separated

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

SOAK:

1 cup whole milk

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 12-oz. can evaporated milk

TOPPING:

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Make cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Mist a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

2. In a bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light, about 3 minutes. Add yolks, one at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three parts to form a stiff batter.

3. Using clean beaters and bowl, beat egg whites until peaks form. Stir 1/3 of whites into batter; fold in remaining whites. Spread batter in pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Use a fork to poke holes on top of cake. Cool to room temperature on a rack.

4. Whisk together whole, condensed and evaporated milks. Pour over cake, cover and chill for at least 4 hours.

5. To serve, whip cream with sugar and vanilla until firm peaks form. Spread over cake and chill 30 minutes to 1 hour. Garnish with fruit, if desired.

Birthday Strawberry Shortcake with Almond Glaze

It was my sister Amber's birthday last week and I wanted to make her a cake. This one looked just really pretty, so my brother, Avram, and I whipped it up for her at his BYU apartment. It was really yummy and rich. It had a great almond flavor through out the cake. It's a great cake to make for special people.

Strawberry Shortcake with Almond Glaze

1 yellow cake mix

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs

1 small vanilla pudding mix

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

2 tsp almond extract

Mix all the above ingredients together for a few minutes until well combined.  Pour the batter into 2 round cake pans.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes.  Let cool for a few minutes and then gently remove from pans and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Almond Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tb butter, melted

2 tsp almond extract

1-2 Tb milk, if needed

Mix the glaze ingredients together while the cake cools.  Once semi cooled, prick the cake with a large fork or the back of a wooden spoon.  Spoon the glaze over the two round cakes letting it sink in.  Save about 1/3 or so of the glaze and set aside.

1 pint whipping cream

powdered sugar to sweeten

1-2 pounds of fresh strawberries, sliced

Whip cream with 2 Tb powdered sugar, using a mixer.  Wash dry and slice the starwberries and set aside.

Assembly:

Place one of the glazed cake rounds on a cake stand or large plate.  Top with freshly whipped cream and a layer of strawberry slices.  Follow with the second cake, more whipped cream and arrange more fresh sliced strawberries on top in a pretty pattern.  Next drizzle the more of the almond glaze over the top and down the sides.  Store in fridge until ready to serve.  Enjoy!

I got this recipe from Sisterscafe.com

Chili's Quesadilla Explosion Salad

This is a super long recipe that I got from Top Secret Recipes 3 cook book but it is way good and I don't feel very guilty eating it. If you would like the recipe, please let me know and I will get it to you, but it's four full pages long out of my cook book and would take me forever to type it up. I'll probably get it up eventually because it was amazing and it's a good alternative to going out to eat and spending all that money on the actual salad at Chili's. So for now, you can enjoy the picture! I really should take some photography lessons.