Devilish Chocolate Angel Cake

This is the third antique cake I've made from the 1920's cookbook Cakes Cookies and Confections. They call it a chocolate angel cake, but it's not as light as the angel food cakes I've had. The recipe calls for chocolate icing, but I topped with whip cream and strawberries instead. My husband likes the cake by itself with coffee. When you're separating the egg whites remove any membrane strings because they won't mix well and will create white spots of cooked egg in your cake (yuck). I set aside the egg yolks to use in homemade ice cream.

Ingredients:
10 egg whites
2 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Beat till stiff. Sift cocoa with sugar five times. Add to eggs slowly. Add vanilla. Sift flour fives times and fold in last. Bake in slow oven one hour. Cover with chocolate icing.

Note: The foreword of the cookbook says to bake angel cakes at 320 degrees for 1 hour.

Breaded and Baked Chicken

We intended to grill outdoors tonight, but due to severe thunderstorms we moved dinner inside. On a rainy day something baked is comforting anyway. I was glad I found this recipe on cooks.com because it called for staples we keep in our pantry and fridge.


Ingredients:
3 whole chicken breasts
1/2 cup grated cheese
1 tsp pepper
2 cups bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:
Skin  and cut chicken breasts in half. Combine bread crumbs, cheese, garlic salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in butter, then dredge in bread crumb mixture. Place in lightly greased baking pan. Sprinkle chicken with remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.

Bountiful Brown Rice Bowls

I made a big batch of brown rice on Sunday evening and it served as lunch during the week. This dish is convenient, budget friendly, and tasty! You can modify your bountiful bowl to fresh ingredients on hand or your cravings.

Ingredients: 
Brown rice
Black beans
Cilantro
Salsa
Sour cream
Avocado
Colby jack cheese

Directions: 
Make brown rice according to package. Drain black beans from can. If you're making the beans ahead of time you can cook with cilantro, onions, and garlic. Combine rice and beans and reheat. Top with cilantro, salsa, sour cream, avocado, and cheese to taste.

Another combination I like is brown rice, edamame, garbanzo beans and a little soy sauce.

Pretty Easy Pesto

I love pasta. I also love how convenient it can be. An awesome meal can be ready in the time it takes to boil water. Spaghetti sauce and pesto both freeze well. Tonight I made this easy recipe for pesto and doubled the batch to freeze half for next time. The other neat thing about pasta is you can change up the common pairings and have whatever noodle with whichever sauce you fancy. The recipe calls for linguine, but we used angel hair. We also used manchego cheese instead of pecornio and added breadcrumbs to the dish. Tap into your creative side and enjoy something Italian inspired!


Ingredients: 
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp pine nuts
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp freshly grated pecornio cheese
Freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 linguine

Directions:
Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts, salt and olive oil in a blender or food process and process until smooth. Remove to a bowl. If making a large batch you can freeze the excess in an ice cube tray for future convenience! For the amount to be served immediately stir in the cheeses. Taste for seasoning.

Cook the pasta in a large pan of rapidly boiling water until it is al dente. Just before draining, take about 4 tsp of the cooking water and stir into the sauce. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce and serve.

This recipe comes from The Ultimate Italian Cookbook.