Zelda Cake

I spend a whole Saturday making a birthday cake for my brother-in-law. Behold my Link’s Shield Cake:

I followed most of the instructions provided by Nerdy Nummies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nO54RZeblQ), though I had to figure out a few things on my own. If you want to make this cake, please remember the following tips before you get started:

1. Find an image of the shield online and print it. You will need this image for the next tip.

2. Make a paper template of the shield and each of the decorations (such as the triforce).  It will take one 8.5 by 11 sheet and a bit of another sheet of paper to cover the length of the cake.

--- I cut out all the decorations from the image I printed and placed them on my shield template. This helped me visualize what I was going to do.
--- I used the shield template to cut the cake and the decorations templates to cut the fondant.

3. Prepare all the fondant ahead of time.  By the way, I had “sky blue” icing dye, which was a bit lighter than the blue I needed.  I added a few drops of black to darken my blue fondant. Remember to keep your fondant covered or it will dry out.

---Do not cut the fondant ahead of time.  Cut the shapes just before you’re ready to assemble the cake.

4. Use your own cake recipe. I used this one: http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/best-one-bowl-yellow-cake-recipe/ (delicious!).

This was a lot of work, but my brother-in-law was very happy, so the effort was worth it :-)

Last-Minute Enchiladas

“It’s the middle of the week, and dinner time is fast approaching. What can I make for dinner?”

This is how Last-Minute Enchiladas came to be.  I had a few chicken breasts in the freezer, and that I was not going to make pasta again!

This recipe is quick and easy. There are quite a few shortcuts that make preparation a breeze.

Looks like a lasagna,doesn't it? :-)

Serves: 3-4 people (about 7 large enchiladas)

Ingredients:

*Three chicken breasts (the ones I used were frozen)
*Flour tortillas (I prefer these because they are softer than corn tortillas)
*A jar (16 oz) of your favorite Salsa.  I used Wegmans’ mild salsa.
*1 or 2 cups of shredded Mexican cheese
*2 cups of veggies (sliced or “julienne”).  I used onions and peppers of different colors: red, orange, and yellow
*1 teaspoon of chili powder
*Additional salt to taste

For the broth and to cook the chicken:

*Enough water to cover the chicken (4 to 6 cups)
*Veggies.  I used chunks of onions and peppers, and a few garlic gloves
*One chicken bouillon

Getting all of the ingredients ready:

• Begin by boiling the water with all the ingredients listed for the broth (see above).
• Once the water boils, place the frozen chicken and wait for the water to boil again. Lower the temperature to medium, and let the chicken cook for about 15-20 minutes.  Make sure the chicken is fully cooked before you remove it from the water to let it cool down.
• Sauté the sliced peppers and onions in olive oil.
• In a medium pot, combine the salsa and a cup of the chicken broth (the leftover water from the chicken you just cooked), and bring this mixture to a boil. Add the chili powder and turn down the heat to low-medium. Let the sauce to cook for about 20 minutes or until it is reduced a bit. Once it is done, taste it and add salt if needed.
• Shred the chicken by hand or use a fork. Once the veggies are cooked, add the chicken to the mix and cook it for a few minutes. Then, once the salsa is cooked, add about half of it to the chicken mix. Reserve the rest of the sauce.
• Add 2/3 of the Mexican cheese to the chicken mix and turn off the heat.
• Lastly, use a spoonful of sauce to “grease” a 13X9 baking dish. You may use a cooking brush to spread the sauce evenly on the bottom of the pan.  

Assembling the Enchiladas:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Place a generous amount of chicken mix on a tortilla.  Roll the tortilla and place it in the baking dish with the seam down.  Repeat this step as many times as needed to fill the baking dish.  I used seven flour tortillas.
• Pour the remaining sauce on top of the tortillas, and use a brush to distribute the sauce evenly. Sprinkle the additional Mexican on top.
• Lastly, place the enchiladas uncovered in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Mediterranean-Inspired Burgers

On an impulse, I purchased a tzatziki sauce and some feta cheese a few days ago.  I’ve always liked the taste of this succulent sauce on gyros, but I didn’t know what to do with it at home.  Finally, inspiration struck. Here are two delicious recipes.

Mediterranean-Inspired Burgers

I cannot claim I know anything about authentic Greek food (I really don’t!), but here is my attempt to capture some of my favorite flavors.

Ingredients:

For the beef patties

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 Swanson Flavor Boost pack (beef)

1 egg

1/4 cup of bread crumbs

A pinch of pepper

Mix these ingredients listed above and make the burger patties.  My mix yielded 5 burgers. Cook according to your preferences.   

For the burgers

Buns (of course!)

Toppings

So delicious!

Lettuce or spinach (I used spinach)

Sliced tomatoes

Sliced cucumbers

Sliced red onions

Sliced roasted red peppers (I buy these in jars at BJ’s - delicious!)

Feta cheese

Le Grand Tzatziki Sauce

I piled the toppings in the order listed above, though I placed the patty on top of the feta cheese before I poured the tzatziki sauce on it.

Additional Meal: Chicken Wraps

Here is the miracle sauce!

Mix rotisserie or cooked chicken with chopped red onions and peppers, and add the tzatziki sauce to taste. 

I poured a generous amount of the chicken mix on top of lettuce and feta cheese on a wheat tortilla. Then, I tightly wrapped this tasteful mix. Delish!

Quick Black Bean Chili

Quick Chili with black beans and corn bread

Despite my failure to post updates for a couple of months, I have been able to continue cooking and eating at home (I swear!). 

In the last few weeks, I have experimented by making up by own recipes or tweaking other people’s recipes. One of my most successful “inventions” is the quick chili I made twice already this year (2013).  Chili usually takes some time, so I found a few shortcuts to help me get results in a fraction of the time without sacrificing flavor. Here is my recipe for a super quick chili. Hope you like it!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of ground beef (I used lean beef with very little fat)
• 1 can (15 oz) of black beans
• 1 can (15 oz) of diced tomatoes (I used a “roasted tomatoes with garlic and basil” can)
• 1-2 cups of chopped onions and green/red peppers
• A pinch of cumin
• Chili powder to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste

For the cornbread:

• A box of Jiffy mix for cornbread and the ingredients listed on the box
• 1/3 can (about 4 or 5 oz.) of creamed corn

Making the Chili:

Sautéed the onions and green/red peppers in a bit of olive oil.  Then, remove these from the frying pan.  Use the same frying pan to brown the ground beef so that it “absorbs” the taste of the onions and peppers.  As the meat is cooking, add the cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper.  If you want, you can also add minced garlic to taste. 

Let the meat cook well; then, add the cooked onions and peppers.  Taste this mixture to make sure it has enough salt and pepper.  Then, add the diced tomatoes and crush them as they cook.  They will make a nice sauce as they cook with the meat (10-15 minutes).

Taste the sauce to make sure it doesn’t taste like raw tomatoes.  Then, add the can of black beans (I drained some of the water first).  Let this mixture cook for a few minutes.

Making the cornbread:

Follow the directions on the box, but use only half the milk and add the creamed corn instead.  I used a shallow pan to make bread instead of corn muffins, and this worked out just fine.