Recipes – Page 13 – a hippie with a minivan

Twice baked Potatoes…

We usually don’t eat that many potatoes… but with Spring here finally we decided to BBQ some steaks the other day and Simon made a special request for these…

Twice baked potatoes are delicious and so versatile…

Here is the way I make them….

First… bake the potatoes….

my favourite way of doing that is by coating the potatoes with olive oil (put some oil in my hand and rub the potatoes) then prick them with a fork and bake at 350 for about 45-50 min… Even if you are not making twice baked potatoes, this is my favourite way to make baked potatoes because the olive oil makes the skins crispy…

then you cut the potato and carefully scoop the inside out into a bowl…. (leave enough potato for the skins to hold their shape and I use a cloth or my baking mitts to hold the potato while it is hot…)

Mash the potatoes in the bowl with whatever you like (I added butter, sour cream, green onions, salt, pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder) then scoop the mashed potatoes back into the skins… (add a bit of cheese on top if you wish) and then bake again until the tops get bits of brown…

So easy and just a great way to make a baked potato more interesting…

Vegetable and teriyaki stuffed sole …

I had no idea what I would do when I started this recipe…

but I knew it would have something to do with stuffing some filets of sole with some veggies…

When I saw the filets all lined up and ready, I had an idea to add more flavour…

so I quickly made a teriyaki sauce with some tamari, fresh ginger, garlic, sugar, garlic powder and water and then thickened with cornstarch…

(really great sauce btw… next time I will try to figure out the amounts so I can share)

brushed it on the fish…

Added a layer of green onions…

Red and yellow peppers and asparagus…

And then rolled it all up and placed in the baking dish…

Added another brushing of teriyaki…

then baked at 350 for about 30 min…

I served it with some Basmati rice and an extra drizzle of teriyaki…

This is definately something I will be making again…

Black Magic…

What an amazing cake!!

Simon loves chocolate… ok… the whole family loves chocolate but it was Simon’s birthday on Thursday so I had to make this…

This recipe comes from Hershey’s and it is rich, dense but light at the same time…

I think that this is going to be my cake recipe from here on in… it is just perfect…

and the frosting… another perfection… a really simple Chocolate Buttercream frosting…

For the cake…

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (2 tbsp of vinegar with added milk to equal 1 cup)

1 cup strong black coffee OR 2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee plus 1 cup boiling water (I used 2 tsp of Cocoa in instead of instant coffee)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. (I used 2 8-inch square pans)

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost as desired. Yields 10 to 12 servings.

For the Frosting…

1/2 cup butter
2 2/3 cups icing sugar, sifted with
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 – 1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

cream the butter… sift together sugar and cocoa… add to the butter with the cream and vanilla… start with 1/3 cup of cream but you might need more… beat with mixer for at least 2 min…