KUMQUAT CHICKEN - - - - - With an Update (at bottom of post)

COMMITMENT:  I have the hardest time trying a new recipe and not messing with it, some how.  I decided that this time, I would do it exactly as it was written, no matter what.  Ah yes, the best of intentions paves a certain road, and mine has several layers of paving.  I found that I didn't have some of the ingredients!  So here we go.  I had to use a little of my Yankee (from a half southerner) initiative to make do.

Kumquat Chicken

Ingredients 

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of catsup
• 1/4 cup of cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp of cornstarch
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks with juice
• 8 or 9 sliced kumquats, seeds removed

I never have brown sugar in my cupboards.  I have been using white sugar and molasses since my single days.  Just add 1 T. molasses to a cup of sugar and you have it!  I also didn't have any green peppers right now.  Just red and orange ones which are sweeter, so I  used an Anaheim Chile pepper, trimmed the seeds and veins really well, there is no heat that way.  I did have pineapple chunks, but they were so large compared to the tiny little kumquat slices that I decided to cut them down to tidbit size.

Directions 

1. Kumquats are very unusual. The flesh is tart/sour and the rind is sweet. They are small and have two seeds that are quite bitter.
2. Place chicken in a casserole dish.
3. Mix all ingredients and pour over the chicken.
4. Cover with foil.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
6. Serve over rice or noodles.
7. I think this could be adapted to slow cooker by setting it on low for 8 - 9 hours.

It's 9:00 pm, so I opted for the crock pot method.  Knowing me, I will have a wonderful, if not strange breakfast! 

I had the hardest time not adding a little ginger and soy sauce, but then 

I would have gone Asian. I will have to add finished pictures tomorrow 

and let you know how good it is

Well, I didn't cover the slow cooker with a towel like I usually.  That helps the cooker cook hotter and this time would have helped the meat at the top of the crock cook through.  That also helps cook foods quite a bit faster.

Anyway, I ended up putting the chicken in an over dish and finished it up in the oven.  Lesson learned, even if I will be cooking it on low all night, cover it or use high!

I did enjoy this dish, OK I confess, I did add a little soy sauce when I ate it.  I did resist the ginger.  It is a little "rindy", I quite liked it.  My husband seemed to enjoy it, but didn't dive back in for seconds.  My 4-year old grandson said it was "Yummy, but now can I have some cinnamin toast?"   Take that as you may.

Mississippi Mud Cake

I forgot to add this to yesterday's post.  I actually started making this one before I figured out what a Texas Sheet Cake was.  It came from a church cook book sent to me as a wedding gift by some lovely sisters living in Arlington, Texas.


When you take the sheet cake out of the oven, have your topping ready on a warm burner to keep it warm.  Grab a jar of marshmallow creme, gently but quickly spread it over the whole cake and then drizzle and spread the candy frosting over the marshmallow layer.


If you want total a decadent chocolate/sugar fix, this will take care of that!  

TEXAS SHEET CAKE

This is a great cake.  It is hard to mess up, bakes in only 25 minutes when you bake it in a cookie sheet and ALWAYS goes like hot cakes at a gathering.

Texas Sheet Cake
Mix in a bowl & set aside:

• 2     C. sugar
• 2     C. flour
• 1/4   t. salt
• 1      t. soda

Mix in a pan and bring to a gentle boil.  Then remove from burner:

• 1     C. margarine ( I use butter since to be soy free)
• 1/4  C. cocoa powder
• 1     C. water

Add buttermilk to pan & mix.  Pour a little hot mixture into beaten eggs to temper while stirring and then add all to pan while mixing.  Add vanilla & mix.

• 1/2   C. buttermilk
• 2           eggs
• 1      t.  vanilla

Add the liquids to the dry ingredients all at once. Mix and pour into a well sprayed cookie sheet or 13" X 9".  If you will want to turn the cake out of pan, be sure to also flour the pan.

13" X 9" pan  ----- bake 45 minutes   at     325 degrees
Cookie sheet  -----bake 25 minutes    at     325 degrees

Five minutes before the cake is done, start your topping.  I call this Candy Frosting.  It keeps well in your fridge if you want to make a big ole' batch for leftovers for later  ;-}


Topping   (This is SO good on brownies, that pantry recipe is HERE)


1/2     C.  margarine (or butter)
6        T.  milk
1/4     C.  cocoa powder
1        lb.  powdered sugar
1        C.  chopped nuts

Mix the margarine, milk, cocoa powder in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Remove from the burner and quickly stir in the powdered sugar and nuts.   If you have a kid in braces or one that is just weird and doesn't like nuts, you can stir in sugar, frost half the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.  Quickly stir nuts in last half of the topping and spread it on the second half!

I grew up on  farm with a pecan orchard and LOVE, LOVE nuts, so we go the rounds around here.  But since nuts are iffy for food allergies, tastes and just plain old expensive, I usually fore go the nuts when making this for a group I'm not sure about other's needs.

I realized that the cherry pie filling was a little lumpy, I scraped it back off and blended it up with some neat little stuff I have called "Instant Clear Gel".  It comes from Walton Feed (waltonfeed.com)  Great stuff, you beat it into the mixture and it thickens after a few minutes without cooking.








Here is the first layer with the filling, looks kind of gory, doesn't it?  I decided it wasn't blood, it was lava, you know like in the dinosaur days, got it?  By this time, I knew I had to pull my oldest daughter's chain a bit, her life just wasn't complicated enough  ;-] 

So we scattered the little dinos all over the cake to surprise everyone when it was cut . . . Big Ole' Hit with all those kids!

I forgot to flour the pan of the second layer, so we had a little problem turning it out . .  OK, it wasn't so little, but could've been worse.  I figured it was a good place to put the little dinosaur that the "digger" (back hoe) is digging up.  Roll with the punches I always say, way too often.

So here is the hill.  It is sugar cookie dough with
some mini chocolate chips in it.  I thought it might make good rocks . . . didn't.  It did make good dirt later however, so I'll take that.

I made the hill by pressing the dough into a corelle cereal bowl (grease it!), baking it in the oven between the two bowls.  I finally had to take the top bowl off and mash the center down to make it hold a good shape.  I trimmed it on one edge with a small sharp knife to make it tip down.

Sarah, my youngest daughter, and I were still puzzling on how to make good rocks when I remembered that I had a bunch of this stuff still.  They worked so well . . .  we were so excited on how cute they turned out!

We melted them in a double boiler to give us more time to work the candy while adding the flavor and color.  By scooping the candy off the top of the blog, it wasn't too hot to handle and for the rocks.  We sprinkled them with cocoa powder to make them look more craggy.








Here is a fuzzy, but closer look at the

"rocks" and "dirt".  This was a really fun
project for Nanny & Aunt Sassy!  We're glad that we got to do it.

LET'S TALK ABOUT COCOA 


Not all cocoa is created equally.

There is just the regular powder that Hershey makes.  Most recipes are made out of this type of cocoa, unless it states otherwise.

I love to use Dutch Cocoa when I can find it.  The last place I found it was at a Sprouts near where I live.  It has a little richer, nicer flavor without being over powering.

Last Christmas I found a Hershey product called, "Special Dark" . . .  they were not kidding!  This cake was made out of it and it was so stinking rich, I could only eat a couple of bites . .  and it had nothing to do with the cherry filling . .  trust me.

WARNING:  This will sound redundant to some of you, but  . . . .  this is not the stuff like "Nestle's Quick" that you make chocolate milk out of!  I have known of that being done more than once!  Makes pretty wimpy chocolate baked goods.

WISHING ALL A HAPPY AND JOYFUL EASTER!

I hope all of us can enjoy this day with friends and family as we remember the "reason for this season":  The resurrection of our Savior and for his atoning sacrifice, enabling us to return to our Heavenly Father .

Texas Sheet Cake

I don't think I have actually put this recipe on here.  It is my secret weapon when it comes to making cakes.  This was my four-year old grand son's birthday cake yesterday.  It has many surprises all through it . .  much to the kid's delight and my daughter's frustration when she was trying to cut it for serving.


This is a very busy weekend, so I may not get this on for a couple of days, but I will show all the steps for the hill, rocks, etc.  It was so fun and was all made with what was on hand and can be stored . . . best kind!