SRC - Smoking Bishop

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Culinary Adventures with Camilla, which belongs to Camilla, our lovely leader of group B.   Camilla is a mom of 3 boys, a freelance writer and photographer and cookbook reviewer.  

As this was the December reveal I went straight to the Christmas recipes.  I was happy to see that a few years ago she had made a Dickensian Christmas Eve feast.  I was immediately drawn to the Figgy Pudding until Randal reminded me that at the time I was considering my recipe choice there was 3 weeks until Christmas and neither one of us would probably want to eat figgy pudding that early in the month.  I still really want to make the pudding though, maybe this year will be the year I actually do it!  

I finally decided on Smoking Bishop.  I had never actually heard of it before, but after doing a little research I found out that it is basically a type of mulled wine, infused with roasted citrus fruits and port.  It was popular in Victorian England at Christmas time and it appears in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  

1 bottle red wine
1/2 bottle water
5 oranges
1 grapefruit
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
handful of cloves (around 20)
5 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise pods
1/2 bottle port

Bake the fruit at 350 for 1 hour.  Add the cloves and set aside.

Simmer the red wine, water, sugar, cinnamon and star anise over low heat for 30 minutes.  Take off the heat, add the roasted fruit, cover and leave over night at room temperature.  

The next day remove and juice the fruit.  Add in the juice and port and heat on low.

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SRC - Latkes

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Oh! You Cook.  Dena has a great blog with an emphasis on Kosher foods, she is also a cookbook author of The Everything Kosher Slowcooker Cookbook.

I am really not familiar with Kosher foods, so it was really interesting and informative spending time looking through Dena's blog.  I usually go straight to the dessert section of my assigned blog each month, I was tempted by the apple fritter muffins  and the treacle tart  because it is such a classic English tart, in the end though I went with something that is completely new to me and that was the potato latkes.

They are quick and easy to make, we had them on a night that Randal grilled steaks and they were a great side to have.  We loved them and decided we would definitely be making these again!

2 large potatoes
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 tsp  kosher salt
vegetable oil

Peel and grate the potatoes.  Place the potatoes in paper towels and roll up to remove as much liquid as possible.  Place potatoes in a large bowl, add the diced onion, egg, flour and salt.  Mix together.

Add oil to a frying pan, enough to cover the bottom of the pan, heat over medium high heat.  Add heaping tablespoons of the potato mixture to the pan, flatten out and fry for 3-5 minutes per side, until browned.  It is traditional to serve with apple sauce.

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SRC - Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Cookaholic Wife.   Nichole's blog is just so cute and I love her blog colours! She lives in Maryland with her husband and 2 cats and has been blogging since 2009.

I always love looking through all the recipes on my assigned blogs and for the first time I almost had my husband make my SRC recipe as he makes an outstanding shrimp fried rice and I saw that Nichole had a couple of different shrimp fried rice  recipes, but at the last minute I went with the Pink Lemonade Cupcakes  because I was making cupcakes for my daycare twins' 4th birthday party anyway and I already had purchased pink lemons at Central Market not really having an exact idea of what to do with them, so it just seemed like the perfect choice!

I decided against colouring the cupcakes pink, only because I wanted to colour the frosting pink so I wouldn't have to colour the fondant to make the little number fours, colouring fondant is just a sticky nightmare in my opinion!

I also went with my favourite cream cheese frosting and topped them with the Variegated Pink Lemons.

Cupcakes:
1 box white cake mix
1 tsp pink lemonade drink powder
3 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
zest from 1/2 a lemon

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
2 cups icing sugar
Pink food colouring

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a cupcake baking pan with liners.

Mix together the water and lemonade mix.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, lemon zest and water mixture.  Beat for 2-3 minutes, fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy, add in a few drops of pink food colouring and mix well.

     

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SRC - Pork Fajitas

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Cooking Mimi by Micha.  Micha's blog is full of wonderful looking recipes and I had a lot of fun looking through them all trying to decide what to make. It’s a mix of traditional Southern food, good old American home cooking, and her favorite ethnic inspired dishes.  Some of the recipes we  considered were the  Chicken Paprikash and the Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake  because even though it's still 90 plus degrees here in TX, fall has officially arrived in our house!

We eventually settled on the  Pork Fajitas as Randal thought they looked good and fajitas are not something we make often, plus we have never had pork fajitas before.

We both really enjoyed them and would definitely make them again. We found a great deal on boneless pork ribs, which were perfect for this dish.  The seasoning and flavours were great and we served ours with a touch of sour cream and our favourite mango salsa on the side.

1 lb boneless pork chops
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
flour tortillas
grated cheese and sour cream for serving

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice and taco seasoning in a large bowl.  Add the pork chops to the bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Slice the pork chops into strips and cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes.  Remove the pork,  add the sliced peppers and onion and cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add the pork back into the pepper mixture.  Serve with tortillas, cheese and sour cream.

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SRC - Fresh Peach Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog  Jessie Weaver.  One of the things I love the most about the SRC is discovering new food blogs.  Jessie is a mom of 3 from Chattanooga, TN, who, very interestingly, lives on-campus at a private high school with her husband, a dorm parent.

Randal helped me decide on this peach cake as it was really different from any other desserts we have made.  Last month we chose a salad  so this time we went with a sweet option.  When I first read over the recipe I was a little stumped by one of the ingredients in the frosting - Milnot.  I had never heard of it, but Randal was pretty sure it was some kind of canned milk product like evaporated or condensed milk.  A little Googling later and I discovered he was correct, and that we could substitute half and half for the Milnot because it is very difficult to find in stores.

Randal said it reminded him a little bit of the oatmeal cake his mom used to make.  The cake was brown and fluffy for the most part and a little dense wherever there was a peach.   It had a nice glaze on top with nuts and coconut.   Fresh peaches on the side made it perfect. 

Cake: 

2 eggs
2 1/2 cups mashed peaches
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:

1/2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup milnot or half and half
1 cup coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

To make the cake, in a large bowl beat the eggs, add in the chopped peaches and stir together.  Add in all the dry ingredients and pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan and bake for 1 hour.

To make the topping, add all the ingredients to a saucepan, stir together and bring to a boil, reduce to heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until thickened.  Pour over warm cake.

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SRC - Italian Summer Salad

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog  Miz Helen's Country Cottage.  I was so thrilled to be assigned Helen's blog.  I have been reading her blog for a long time now, have contributed to her full plate Thursday link ups and she always leaves sweet comments every reveal day.  

As always my first stop was the dessert recipes and it didn't take me long to decide on the lemon cheesecake.  I sent Randal the link and fully expecting my sugar addict husband to be all for it and I was truly stunned that his response was "looks great, but how about this Italian summer salad".  I think I read his email 3 times just to make sure my husband was suggesting a salad over a cheesecake!  He has decided to try and eat more healthy and I want to support that idea.

Because it is just the two of us and the recipe makes quite a lot, I decided to halve the entire recipe.  It still made a lot and we had it several times over a few days.   It has a fresh and vibrant taste with lots and lots of vegetables, although I did leave out the yellow squash and olives.   We enjoyed it very much!

Salad: 

8 oz pasta, any variety

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1/2 English cucumber, chopped

1 courgette, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 cup mozzarella cheese, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp  sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

 

To make the dressing,  combine the olive oil, vinegar and spices in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a large bowl, add the chopped vegetables and the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper.  Pour the dressing over the vegetables and set aside.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and let cool.

Combine the cooled pasta with the vegetables, add in the mozzarella cheese, mix together and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

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SRC - Carrot Cake Cookies

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal!  I love getting my blog assignment each month and this month I was assigned the blog Its Yummi.    I know I have said it before but I always go straight to the desserts, and more specifically cupcakes if there are any.  I surprised myself this month though, because I kept looking at and thinking about these  Carrot Cake Cookies.  Usually I don't even consider making a cookie recipe no matter how good it looks as cookies are just not my thing (and by that I mean, I generally cannot make a decent cookie).  I have burnt so many cookies it is ridiculous, I just have zero instincts for baking a decent cookie so I usually avoid them.   

However, around the time I was deciding on my SRC choice I was asked to make cupcakes for a bridal shower, and one of the requested items was my pineapple carrot cake.  Sadly, I have tried but failed before at turning that recipe into cupcakes but I kept thinking that these cookies would be a great alternative if I could actually get them to come out good. Plus, it would give the bridal shower a taste of carrot cake but in cookie form.

They turned out amazing!!   Wow - they came out perfectly - probably the best batch of cookies I've made, and the customer for the bridal shower was thrilled that I threw these in with their cupcake order.   

I was a little concerned as I made them because they were very stiff as the wet and dry ingredients came together, but I stuck with the recipe (okay, I added another tsp of vanilla even though it wasn't needed, but see, no instincts for making a good cookie!) and they baked perfectly.  They were perfectly round, had a lightly crisp bottom and a cake-like texture.   Best of all, they tasted really, really good.  I will definitely be making these cookies again.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp orange zest

1 tsp vanilla extract 

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups oats

1 cup grated carrots 

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup flaked coconut

Cream cheese frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
2 cups icing sugar

Walnut halves for topping

Preheat oven to 350.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until combined.  Add in the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Beat until combined.

Add in the eggs, orange zest, vanilla extract and flour, mix until combined.

Take the bowl off the stand mixer and stir in by hand the oats, carrots, coconut and walnuts.

Drop cookie dough by tablespoons about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy.

Frost the cooled cookies with the cream cheese frosting and top with a walnut half.

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SRC - Steak Grilled Cheese with Beer Braised Onions

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal,  this month I was assigned the blog Wildflours Cottage Kitchen.  I usually send my assigned blog to my husband and have him help pick the recipe, but this time I found so many things I wanted to make on Kelly's blog that were right up our alley that I didn't need any help!

I somehow managed to narrow down my list to these pub style steak sandwiches,  Korean bbq pork chops and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  The steak sandwiches won over the others, because for one, being English I love pub food and have spent many an hour in the pub, and I also love the combination of beer and cheese and as this recipe combined both of those things I knew it was the winner!

For any kind of grilled sandwich I have found that the best bread to use is English toasting bread, it is a little dryer and stiffer than regular white bread and always grills up nice and crispy and holds up to all the fillings of the sandwich.  I left Randal in charge of the steak and he decided to grill one of our favourites, a flat iron steak that we sliced up and it worked out perfectly.  These were fantastic and we will be having these again soon!

1 flat iron steak
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Onions:
1 large onion, sliced
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp dark brown sugar
1/4 cup beer

Other ingredients:
4 slices
English toasting bread
4 slices provolone cheese
4 slices havarti cheese
4 tbsp butter

For the steak, mix together the salt, pepper and garlic powder and coat the steak on both sides.  Grill the steak for around 8 minutes each side.  Leave to rest.

To make the onions, in a large pan, melt the butter, add the onions, seasonings and beer and cook until caramelized, about 15-20 minutes.

To assemble the sandwiches, slice the steak against the grain.  On 2 slices of the bread, place a slice of each of the cheeses, pile on the steak, top with onions and the remaining cheese slices.

On a heated griddle, add 2 tablespoons butter, once melted place the sandwiches on the griddle.  Butter the top bread slice and leave to toast until golden brown, flip and toast the other side of the sandwiches.   

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SRC - Tiramisu Cupcakes

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal,  this month I was assigned the blog Pale Yellow. April is my birthday month and with the reveal just a few days before my birthday and once I read that Tracy calls herself a baking blogger I went right to the cupcake recipes to find something sweet to make for my birthday dessert.  

Tracy has a lot of delicious looking cupcake recipes, I was torn between the Sangria Cupcakes and these Tiramisu Cupcakes.  In the end I went with the tiramisu as a good tiramisu is probably one of my favourite desserts, so those flavours in cupcake form sounded amazing to me.  

I have made many different kinds of cupcakes over the years, but there is just something about espresso soaked cake topped with mascarpone frosting and a dusting of cocoa that made these one of my very favourite.

Cupcakes:
3/4 cup and 3 tbsp cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk
1 vanilla bean
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs and 3 egg yolks

Syrup:
1/4 cup hot coffee
1 1/2 tbsp kahlua
3 tbsp sugar

Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz mascarpone
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tap vanilla extract
cocoa powder for dusting
chocolate shavings

Preheat oven to 325, line a cupcake pan with liners.

To make the cupcakes, place the milk in a saucepan, split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, place the seeds and the pod into the pan.  Heat until simmering.

Add the buttter, turn off the heat, stir until the butter has melted and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the eggs and sugar.  Mix until combined.  Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Whisk until the sugar has dissolved.  Put the bowl back on the mixer and whisk until the egg mixture is pale and fluffy.  Add in the dry ingredients.  Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and add to the cake batter. 

Divide batter between cupcake liners and bake for 18 minutes.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the syrup by stirring the kahlua and sugar into the hot coffee.

Once the cupcakes are baked, poke holes in each cake and brush on the soaking syrup.  Leave cakes to cool completely.

To make the frosting, whisk the cream to stiff peaks.

Beat together the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Fold in the whipped cream and pipe onto cupckes, dust with cocoa powder and top with chocolate shavings.
 

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