Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

 

 

In honor of my Brother's birthday, I thought I'd post our favorite Chocolate

Cake recipe.This is a really moist chocolate cake.

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups Flour (High Altitude - add 2 more Tablespoons)

2 Cups Sugar (High Altitude - only use 1 2/3 Cups of Sugar)

2 teaspoons baking powder (High Altitude - 1 1/2 teaspoons)

2 teaspoons baking soda (High Altitude - 1 1/2 teaspoons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

9 Tablespoons Cocoa

7 Tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons coffee (already made) (High Altitude -3 Teaspoons)

2 Cups of boiling water (High Altitude - add 3 more Tablespoons)

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the dry ingredients.  Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients.  The batter will be thin.  Bake for 30-40 minutes. 

 

Chocolate Icing

1 Cup sugar

1/4 Cup butter

1/4 Cup milk

1/4 Cup cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

 

Combine sugar, butter, milk and cocoa in a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat; boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add the vanilla and salt.  Pour the icing evenly over the cake.

 

This cake is a great cake to use with buttercream icing as well.  It is great for making birthday cakes.    I'll post my buttercream icing in another post.  It's not really an Ethiopia friendly recipe because it takes lots of imported ingredients. Here are some cakes I've made with this cake recipe:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Egg Salad

Egg Salad

 

 

This recipe is adapted from Ellie Krieger's egg salad recipe.  It makes 4 servings.

 

8 hard boiled eggs

4 teaspoons mayonaise

1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

2 Tablespoons chopped onions

Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional:  2 pickles (chopped small) & 1 teaspoon dill

 

Dice 4 whole eggs & 4 egg whites.  Mix them together with a fork in a medium sized bowl. Add the mayonaise, dijon mustard and stir with a forkm mashing somewhat for desired consistency.  Stir in the onion, pickles and dill.  Season with salt and pepper.  Put the egg salad on bread or in a tortilla, add lettuce, onion and red bell pepper.  It is delicious!

 

School Lunch

School Lunch

 

Here's what we packed for lunch this week.  What did you make?  I'm always looking for new ideas!

 

We had some Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato left over from BLT night, so I made a BLT wrap with mayonnaise, a hard boiled egg, sliced cucumber with honey mustard drizzled over the top & a smoothie to drink. The strawberries were for snack time.

 

 

I packed a smoothie pop for snack, although my daughter informed me this week that she doesn't want smoothie pops for snack anymore. Apparently they take too long to eat and they take up too much of her recess time. :-) For lunch she had quesadilla, sliced tomato's, a hard boiled egg and chocolate milk. The brownie was for dessert.

 

 

 Smoothie pop for snack. Egg Salad sandwich, banana and mango, cheese slices and chocolate milk.

 

 

 

 

Double Chocolate Cookies

Double Chocolate Cookies

 

 

Ingredients:

1 Cup butter

3/4 Cups brown sugar

3/4 Cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 Cups flour

3 Tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda (high altitude - 1/2 teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Cups of Chocolate Chips (or broken up chocolate pieces)

 

Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Add the vanilla.  Stir the dry ingredients together and then add the dry ingredients to the wet.  Add the chocolate chips.  Roll into balls and place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Makes 80 cookies.

 

Chips

CHIPS

 

 

Do you need an easy side dish for a sandwich?  Try this, but don't try it if you've just come back from the States.  Give yourself a few weeks to get acclimated to food in Ethiopia again & then give it a try.  These are not like Lay's potato chips . . . they have a bit of a crunch to them, but we enjoy them.

 

Buy a package of chips at the store (the kinds at Shoa are much better than

 the ones you get at a local souk)

 

 

Add a little salt and pepper and enjoy!

 

 

BLT

BLT

 

 

Do you need an easy dinner?  Try making a Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich.  Toast the bread and butter it.  Put mayonnaise on the bread and then layer cooked bacon, lettuce and tomato.  It's delicious & easy for those nights you need a quick dinner.  Serve it with chips for an easy side.

 

Lasagna / Zucchini Lasagna

Lasagna

 

 

We love lasagna around our house!  We eat it at least twice a month.  The thing I love about lasagna is that it makes two meals for our family.  I can make two pans of lasagna on Friday and we will eat one on Friday night and have plenty for leftovers on Sunday night. 

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups Ricotta

3 eggs, beaten

2 balls of Mozzarella (about 2 cups)

6 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

1/4 teaspoon oregano

3 dashes of garlic powder

1 package of lasagna noodles (I like the no-cook noodles

 they have at Shoa, it doesn't take the entire box of noodles)

1 batch of Marinara Sauce

 

Combine ricotta, eggs, mozzarella, parmesan, oregano and garlic powder.  In 2 bread pans, layer pasta, cheese mixture and sauce.  I make 4 layers.  Sometimes I sprinkle a little bit of provolone on top of the lasagna.  Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

 

You can also make this recipe with Zucchini instead of noodles.  Use the same ingredients.  Slice the zucchini real thin and then grill the zucchini.  Layer the zucchini, cheese mixture and sauce.  I have found that zucchini lasagna does not tend to absorb all the sauce, so it can have a lot of liquid.  It still tastes good like that, but if you add a layer of noodles in the middle, it will soak up a bit of the liquid.

 

Zucchini Lasagna

 

 

Chocolate Syrup

Chocolate Syrup

 

 

My kids LOVE chocolate milk! Chocolate syrup is so easy to make & it is much cheaper to make it yourself than to buy chocolate syrup in the store. 

 

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 Cups sugar

3/4 Cups hot water

Dash of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

 

Mix sugar, salt and cocoa in a saucepan.  Add enough water to make a paste, stir & then add the the remainder of the water.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.  Take it off the heat and add the vanilla.  Pour at once into a jar.  When cool, cover and store it in the fridge.

 

 

 

Brownies

Brownies

 

 

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup butter

1/2 Cup margarine

1 2/3 Cups sugar

4 eggs

3/4 Cup cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Cup and 2 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon baking powder (1/2 teaspoon high altitude)

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Blend butter, margarine and sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.  Add vanilla.  In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet.  Mix well.  Bake in a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.   

 

Resurrection Rolls - Easter

Resurrection Rolls

 

 

We made these Resurrection Rolls at Easter and since Ethiopian Easter was this past weekend, I thought I would go ahead and post this.  This is a great activity to do with your kids on Easter Weekend.  The sweet roll recipe is adapted from the sweet roll bread machine recipe on allrecipes.com.

 

 Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of warm water (110 degrees)

1 Tablespoon yeast

1/2 cups warm milk

1 egg

1/3 cup of butter, softened

1/3 Cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

 

Dissolve the yeast in the water for 5 minutes.  In a bowl, mix the milk, egg, 1/3 cup of butter, sugar, salt and flour.  Add the yeast mixture to the main mixture.  Mix the dough together and then knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes. 

 

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and place in a warm place (I put mine inside my oven with the oven turned off).  Let it rise for 1 hour.

 

Punch the dough down.  Divide the dough in half.  Roll each half into a 12 inch circle.  Cut each circle into 8 wedges.  In a small bowl, melt 1/4 cup of butter.  In another small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.  Take a large marshmallow (you can get these at Bambis) and roll it in butter.  Dip the marshmallow in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Place the marshmallow in one wedge of dough and wrap the dough totally around the marshmallow.  Make sure you pinch all the holes together because if there are any holes, the marshmallow will leak out while it is cooking.  I used a little water to help pinch all the holes together.

 

Place the rolls on a baking sheet, cover with a cloth and place it in a warm place and let it rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

 

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

 

When I did this I used this story with my kids:

 

When we punched down the dough, it represented the soldiers beating Jesus and hanging him on the cross.  After he died, the people put spices on his body (sugar/cinnamon mixture) and wrapped him in cloth (the dough).  They put him in the tomb (we covered the rolls with a cloth and put them in an unheated oven).  After you cook the rolls, the marshmallows will be melted, so the rolls will be empty on the inside (representing the empty tomb and Jesus' resurrection).

 

 

 

 

Smoothie / Smoothie Pop - Strawberry Banana

Smoothie / Smoothie Pop - Strawberry Banana

We love smoothie's around our house!  They are super easy & we love to freeze any leftovers so the kids can have "smoothie pops."

Ingredients:

2 large containers of plain yogurt*

4 bananas

1 1/2 Cups strawberries **

4 Tablespoons of Honey

1/4 Cup of milk powder

1/2 Cup of water

(optional:  fresh spinach)

Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.  If you are using spinach, put one yogurt in the blender, then add the spinach and blend.  Add the other yogurt and blend again until smooth.  Then you can add the rest of the ingredients.

*  I buy a lot of yogurt at once and then I freeze it.  When I want a smoothie for lunch, I pull 2 yogurts out of the freezer that morning and let them defrost on the cabinet.

**  I buy 4 containers of strawberries at a time.  I wash them and have my houseworker cut them up into small pieces.  Then I lay them on a cookie sheet and put them in my freezer.  Once they are frozen, I put them in a ziplock bag and pull them out each time I need them.

School Lunch

School Lunch

 

I only have one child who is currently in school.  I've always struggled with packing a school lunch.  I used to do a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some chips and a drink.  It was bothering me that my child wasn't getting much good nutrition at lunch, so lately I've worked harder to plan ahead and pack a healthy lunch.  Here's what I've come up with this week:

 

A frozen smoothie pop for snack time, a hard boiled egg, carrots with a honey mustard dipping sauce and a cheese sandwich with cinnamon raisin bread.

 

 

A smoothie pop for snack time, leftover pizza, carrots with a hummus dipping sauce and strawberries.

 

 

A smoothie pop for snack.  Leftover pizza, carrots with a hummus

 dipping sauce and chocolate milk.

 

 

As you can see, I haven't branched out too much, but I'm working on it.  What did you make for school lunch this week?

 

 



Granola Bars

Granola Bars

 

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it has become a delicious addition to our menu. 

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups oats (I buy the cheaper kind that's in a box)

3/4 Cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Cup flour

3/4 Cup raisins

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 Cup honey

1 egg, beaten

1/2 Cup oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

 

Preheat your oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 pan.  In a large bowl, mix oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt.  Make a well in the center and pour in honey, egg, oil and vanilla.  Mix well and then pat the mixture evenly into the pan.  Bake 25-30 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes and then cut them while they are soft.  Leave them in the pan another 10 minutes to cool and then remove from pan and let them cool on a wire rack. This recipe makes 12 granola bars.

 

We've also used this granola as cereal.  You have to bake it until it is well done in the oven (35-45 minutes).  Let it cook and then break the mixture into tiny pieces for cereal.

 

 

 

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cream of Mushroom Soup

 

 

This is one of my favorite soups of all time.  It is so delicious. 

 

Ingredients:

2 Cans of mushrooms (or a package of fresh mushrooms)

1 Tablespoon Oil

3 Tablespoons Butter

1 Onion Chopped

1 Tablespoon of Flour

2 Cups of Water

2 Vegetable Bouillon Cubes

2 Cups of Milk

1 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

 

Finely slice the mushrooms.  Heat the oil and 1/2 of the butter in a heavy sauce pan.  Add the onion, and 3/4 of the mushrooms.  Fry for 1-2 minutes.  Cover and sweat over low heat for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.  Add the water (I use the mushroom juice as part of this if I use canned mushrooms), bouillon cube, milk and dried basil.  Boil for 15 minutes partly covered.  Once cooked, blend this mixture in the blender.  I have a hand held blender that I stick in the pot & it is so handy for this soup.  Saute the reserved mushrooms in the other half of the butter.  Combine all.  Heat to a boil and then serve.  Serves 4-6.

 

 

This recipe came from the Soup Bible, page 143

 

Cream of Chicken Soup

CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP

 

 

I used to get discouraged every time I read a recipe and it called for a can of cream of chicken soup.  Since then, I've learned how to make cream of chicken soup & it works perfectly in a recipe that calls for a can of cream of chicken soup.  This recipe equals one can of cream of chicken soup.

 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Tablespoons butter

 3 1/2 Tablespoons flour

1 1/2  Cups hot milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 chicken bouillon cubes

 

Melt butter in a sauce pan.  Whisk in the flour.  Stir over medium heat until the butter and flour foam together, about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add 1 1/2 Cups warm milk and the chicken bouillon.  Bring to a boil & Whisk over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.  The sauce should thicken and coat a spoon nicely.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

 

 

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP:

If you would like to make Cream of Mushroom soup, melt butter in a sauce pan.  Whisk in the flour.  Stir over medium heat until the butter and flour foam together, about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat. Open a can of mushrooms and add 1 1/2 Cups of mushroom juice and 1/2 Cup of milk powder to the flour and butter mixture.  Dice up half of the can of mushrooms very small.  Add them to the pan.  Bring to a boil and whisk over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.  The sauce should thicken and coat a spoon nicely.  Add salt and  pepper to taste.

 

I adapted this recipe from Julia Child's White Sauce

 

 



Beef Enchiladas

Beef Enchiladas

 

 

We love to make this dish around our house.  It is a little time consuming & I usually prepare a couple days in advance if I'm going to make it.  The first thing you need to do is make corn tortillas.

 

Enchilada Ingredients:

1/2 Kilo Ground Beef (you could use 1 Kilo if you want to fill them with a bit more meat)

1 Cup chopped onions

1/4 Cup water

1 Taco Seasoning Packet

1 Cup plain yogurt

1 batch of cream of chicken soup

2 Cups of mozzarella cheese

1/4 to 1/2 Cup provolone

Corn Tortillas

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a skillet cook the beef and onion.  Stir in 1/4 Cup of water and the taco seasoning.  Simmer.  In a bowl, combine the yogurt, soup and cheese.  Spoon the meat mixture and the cheese mixture onto each tortilla.  Roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in a well-oiled baking dish.  Spoon the remaining yogurt/cheese mixture on top of the tortillas.  Sprinkle the shredded provolone cheese on top.  Bake 20-30 minutes

 

 

Tortilla Chips

TORTILLA CHIPS

 

 

Make a batch of corn tortillas.  Cut each corn tortilla into 4 pieces. Heat 1/2 liter of oil in a frying pan.  Put 5-6 pieces of tortilla and fry until they start to turn light brown.  Turn once to make sure both sides of the chip brown.

 

Corn Tortilla's

Corn Tortilla's

 

 

Ingredients:

1 Cup flour

1/2 Cup Cornmeal*

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small egg, beaten

1 1/2 Cups cold water

 

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.  Add the egg and water, mixing well.  Warm a lightly oiled frying pan.  Place a couple of Tablespoons of batter and spread it in a circle with a spoon.  If you teach your houseworker to do this, she will be really good at pouring the batter because it is just like pouring injera batter.  Cook on low heat, turn and cook for another 30 seconds or so.  Set on a plate to cool.  Makes 12 corn tortillas.

 

* Cornmeal - I buy the dried field corn they sell.  I have my guard take it

to the mill and have it ground.

Mexican Rice

Mexican Rice

 

 

I got this recipe from my friend Natalie.  We make this rice any time we make anything

Mexican.  It's so good. 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 Cup rice

3 Tablespoons Oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 Cup chopped onions

2 Cups Chicken broth (1 chicken maggi cube & 2 Cups of water)

1/2 Cup tomato sauce (or 1/4 Cup tomato paste & 1/4 Cup water)

 

In a saucepan, heat oil and brown the uncooked rice.  Add the salt, garlic powder and onions.  Add the chicken broth and tomato sauce.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Garlic (chopped fine)

1/3 Cup tomato paste
1/3 Cup water

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

  We have Monday Night Movie Night at our house each week.  We eat pizza together and watch a family friendly movie.  It's one of our favorite nights each week!  This is the pizza sauce recipe I use.  I like to make it in bulk and freeze it. We have pepperoni mailed to us, so the pepperoni in this picture is from America.  Some toppings we use that we can get here:  mushrooms, olives, bacon, pineapple, sausage balls, hamburger balls.

Saute the garlic in the butter.  Add the tomato paste & water.  Add the basil and oregano.  Cover and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Here's a picture of the pizza crust with just the pizza sauce. This recipe makes enough pizza sauce for 2 pizza's.  It freezes well if you want to make it in bulk.  I tend to get a large can of tomato paste and make several batches at once.

Pizza Crust

Pizza Crust

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 T dry yeast

1 Cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

1 Tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 Cups flour

 

Dissolve the yeast in warm water.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Let rest for 5 minutes.  Press the dough into a pizza pan.  Bake the crust at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes to get the crust a little bit crispy before you put on any of the rest of the pizza ingredients.

 

French Toast

FRENCH TOAST

 

 

This recipe is courtesy of Betty Crocker.  It's pretty easy to make & doesn't take  a lot of dishes to prepare, so the clean-up is easy. 

 

Ingredients:

 

3 eggs

3/4 Cup milk

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

 8 slices of bread

 

 

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt.  Heat your skillet or griddle. Dip both sides of the bread in the egg mixture & place on the griddle.

 

This dish can also be made ahead of time.  Arrange the dipped bread pieces in a baking pan, overlapping the edges slightly.  Drizzle the remaining egg mixture on top.  Cover and put it in the fridge (for a few hours or overnight).  Cook in a skillet or you can bake them in the oven. 

 

If you are cooking them in the oven, bake at 500 degrees for 5-8 minutes.  Turn the bread and bake 2-4 minutes longer.

 

Hummus

Hummus

 

 

In a blender combine,

2 cans of chick peas (drained)

6-8 cloves of garlic

Blend together adding a little water

 

In another bowl, combine,

3/4 Cup tahini (I usually find this at Fantu near the oil section)

Juice from 1 small lime

salt to taste

 

Add the chick pea mixture and stir.  Spread on a plate and add a little olive oil.

 

I have a hand-held blender.  I use it to make this dish all in one bowl.  It's so simple, easy & delicious!

 

I like to make a big batch of Hummus & serve it for dinner.  I cut up cheese, carrots, cucumbers, pickles, bell peppers and any other veggies I have on hand.  I also cut tortilla's in to fourths and serve some mint leaves with them.  It's delicious to wrap the veggies in the tortillas with a little mint & then dip it in the hummus.

 

Flour Tortilla's

FLOUR TORTILLAS

 

 

I taught my houseworker to make tortillas & she makes them for us once a week so we can have them on hand.  Tortillas are easy to make, but they are a bit time consuming.

 

Ingredients:

 

2 Cups Flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon Margarine

3/4 Cup tepid water

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

 

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl; cut in the Margarine.  Add water gradually.  Mix with a fork to make a stiff dough.  Form the dough into a ball and knead thoroughly on a floured board until smooth.  Divide into 11 balls and roll on a lightly floured surface.  Cook on a greased skillet.