Pineapple Casserole

First of all, I should preface this by saying you do NOT need to slice n' dice your own pineapple to do this recipe. It just so happens that I did recently, and figured not many people know how to cut up this wonderful fruit. To be honest, if you don't like your experience with a lobster, you probably won't like your experience with a pineapple. It's a lot of work, a big mess, and sometimes once you bite into it you wish someone else had done all the work for you. So, if you're not feeling laborious, buy pre-cut pineapple! So, anyway... I cut this one wrong. The first thing you should do is cut off the stem on the top. Although it looks cool, it's inedible and a nuisance to cut around. So chop that sucker off.

Next, cut your pineapple around the center of it. There is a rind in the middle, but dont be afraid to cut into it. It's too tough to eat, but it's fairly small and you'll miss a lot of good fruit if you don't scratch beneath the surface!

This is the center of the pineapple...about how much you should have left if you cut it nicely around all sides.

Then, you slice your bigger chunks into about 2 inch slices and cut the fruit away from the hard skin.

Chop up and voila! Fresh fruit, perfect with anything. Pizza, in my opinion... or you could try this mouth-watering rich dish that goes perfect with ham and is suitable for any holiday! Actually, you should make this with canned crushed pineapple... but here goes!

Pineapple Casserole

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 5 slices white bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 6x10 inch baking dish (you could easily do an 8x8)
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the bread cubes and pineapple until well blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the top.
3. Bake in preheated oven until bread points on top are golden brown, 45 to 60 minutes. Cool before serving.(Check around 45... very possible it will be done!)

 So, this isn't exactly the recipe I used but it's quite close. If I find the other one (which I will) I will post that one too but apparently this one is a hit... and it's almost exactly the same as the one I make. Thanks to Joanne for this recipe! I'll have to dig it up! 

Anyway, this is, like I said, really good with ham. It's sweet but savory, dense but airy. It's so delicious and if you'd prefer, you could serve with warm with a scoop of ice cream. Yum!! 

I absolutely need to start doing work. Two more weeks in the semester and I'd rather be doing anything than school work. Ta ta, and Happy Eats!

Kegbus?

So my foodie friends, I've decided that in addition to my own recipes, restaurant experiences AND nutrition tips, I can also spread the word about some pretty cool things I run into.

The weather is getting prettier (well... not today; it's pretty gross). You get the drift...spring is in the air and what better thing to do than enjoy the outdoors at a winery? I've never been but I've heard only good things. The bad thing about a winery is that if you're the one driving, you cannot really enjoy everything. So, I've been researching a solution to this problem and it just so happens I've found one.

http://www.kegbus.com/winetours.php

Yes, a keg bus. I hate kegs at this point, because I'm getting old and lame, but this keg bus takes you and up to 40 friends (does anyone have 40 friends? I have about 10...) around Virginia wine country. Just choose where you want to go and they will pick you up, drive you around, and drop you off home safely before the night is over. The rates are hourly. For a 12 person trip (much more my style) and 6 hours, it would be 60$ a head. But that's for SIX hours. I mean if you only did a two hour tour I'm assuming it would be much cheaper. Anyway, just thought I would give you wino's a heads up!

Ciao.

Penn State Blue White

I spent the weekend at Penn State bar-hopping, tailgating, dining out and lounging in. I didn't eat well but my soul feels well fed by good friends, greasy food and memories from the best place on earth.

Texas Roashouse... hello heavy food. FABULOUS buttery rolls with cinnamon sugar butter. Oh my gosh.

Salad and potato skins? Hey, gotta give and take right?

At least it's roasted chicken... I could have gotten fried. And I got green beans! Which were gross so I didn't eat them...just more buttery rolls.

Tailgate food= yummy. Alex's roommate had one and this was a tasty roast beef sammy with pasta salad (plus a banana, brownie, and pretzels not pictured... oops). Nothin like sun and good food.

Allen Street Grill! A classy State College nook housed above the famous Corner Room. We were hidden in some random back room... got the crab artichoke dip for an app.... Not the BEST choice being that State College is probably four hours from any source of water with crabs in it.

I ordered the blackened steak wrap. If you're ever craving steak, get it in a sandwich or salad. It's much cheaper than a la carte! And ask for the dressing on the side... you'll save yourself hundreds of calories. Oh and don't order fries. Right... I didn't really eat a lot of them!!! I had to save room for my double fudge cookie dough chocolate blizzard from Dairy Queen. Ask Alex, I ate the whole thing. See, if you can't let your hair down and enjoy all the "fruits" of life (or fries, blizzards, etc) than there is no real fun.

Compared to it's usual fiber one for breakfast, half sandwich and fruit for lunch, nuts and yogurt for snack, and chicken, veggies and starch for dinner, my body is in a  bit of culture shock. A weekend off from the kitchen means unhealthier choices but definitely less headache. I miss the Valley!

Well, I'm up in the Happy Valley... never thought I would miss this place as much as I do. One thing about PSU that I think definitely lacks is some of the restaurant choices. I mean yes, the tavern is a legend, and I do love the occasional trip to American Alehouse, but really... in terms of restaurants, I must say, the DC/metropolitan area is where the heart is. Speaking of this...

http://www.dolcezzagelato.com/

Check that puppy out. Dolcezza is a artisanal gelato "chain" that has just opened a new shop in Dupont. I can't say I've ever tried this place, but I can say I LOVE GELATO. If you think gelato is just the snobby version of ice cream you have another thing coming. I'm obviously an ice cream kid, I mean c'mon. But... this sunday (4/25) from noon to 6 p.m. Dolcezza will be giving away FREE scoops of gelato in honor of it's newest location. Don't like gelato? They're also serving 250 lbs of smoked pork. Yum. If I'm home Sunday before this little deal is over you can bet I'm scooting over there to give it a try. Nothing like downtown DC creamy treats on a pretty spring day....

Coca-Cola Cake

Greetings from Georgia! Yep, state number three on our trip all over the country. So far, we've had major success with Kentucky and Massachusetts. I'm noticing a trend in Warren Brown's cookbook. Many of the cakes are made in a meticulous fashion. I, however, am not so meticulous and am more willing to throw a little something here, and bit more chocolate there...

So, on to the coca cola cake & icing.

For the cake:
Dry
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 cups mini marshmallows

Wet
1 cup coca-cola
1/4 cup milk

Creaming
1.5 sticks butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 335 and place the baking rack in the middle position. Grease two 9x2 inch round pans and line with parchment paper

Measure dry ingredients and wet ingredients into separate bowls. Whisk together and set aside.

Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and mix with mixer on low speed for about 3-4minutes
Add eggs one at a time
Alternately add the dry and wet ingredients about a quarter at a time without pausing between additions  
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake about 30 minutes (edges will be just crispy and a toothpick should come out clean in the center) 

Cool cakes 15 minutes and invert onto a wire rack. 
Allow cakes to cool completely before assembling with buttercream. Finish the cake by adding chocolate curls on top and mini marshmallows along the side(To make chocolate shavings, run a veggie peeler along the slightly softened bar of chocolate (make sure it's good quality!) allowing a cur to form. Let the chocolate fall all over the cake.
 
For the Old-Fashion Chocolate Buttercream:
1 cup milk
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-3 oz of bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Quickly whisk together 4 tbsp of the milk with flour. It will be thick, so make sure you whisk it until smooth. Press out any lumps.
Whisk in the rest of the milk and coca powder and transfer mixture into 2-quart heavy bottom sauce pan. Bring to a simmer for about 30 seconds over medium, whisking constantly

Remove pan from heat, cover with lid, and cool for about 15-30 minutes. You can also cover with plastic wrap directly against surface. (This prevents a film or skin to form on the top of the chocolate)

Meanwhile, combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat on high speed

Add contents from the pot to mixer and continue to beat on high until the butter cream is smooth (about 4 minutes or so) Beat in vanilla and and chocolate.

Oh my gosh. SO SO SO GOOD. Try this immediately.

It oozed in the middle because we weer impatient but I think that adds to the charm of amateur baking!

Night Terror!

For some reason, RICK if you're reading this you popped into my mind... read on and you will see why!

I have a coffee addiction. I have a crazy work schedule with weird hours. I have a stressful time figuring out things in my life... All these combined = NIGHT TERRORS!

Has anyone had one before? No, not a nightmare. It's totally different. Think blood curdling scream, racing heart beat, confusion, sometimes violent behavior, running around. Yeah, you probably haven't had one. But I do! Yes, and I had an extreme one last night. I haven't had such a bad one in years. So, today I found the things I need to do cure my ailment:

Sleep more
Drink less caffeine

Avoid fatigue
Avoid stress
Do relaxing things before bed

So I thought, what DE stresses me? Cooking! And food! So, I really want to do more of it. I'm looking for ideas.... recipes? Things to try! So let me know! What makes you feel all warm and fuzzy when you eat it?

But, if this is Rick.. I know you love your themed desserts. So if you ever get bored, you should come up with a NIGHT TERROR dessert :)

Tomorrow... look for Coca-Cola Cake recipe... should be sinful!

Pasta Creation

I was starvinggggg Friday night before coaching, and knew I could not make it until 9:00 pm to eat dinner. We had no leftovers and I am a cheapo so I didn't want to go buy food. Only viable option-- rummage the pantry and see what I can whip up. The payoff? An inexpensive, healthy, fresh dinner...oh and it tasted THE BOMB.

We had some whole wheat flax pasta  which has a great nutty taste and texture. I hate whole wheat pasta normally, so this is an exception. Get some lightly salted water boiling in a big pot while slicing some onions, cherry tomatos and chicken sausage. I think we had an garlic herb chicken sausage that is already precooked but needs to be heated up. I threw the pasta in the pot and sauteed the onions, tomatos and sliced chicken sausage in a sauce pan over medium heat with some olive oil. Once the onions are soft and the chicken sausage is warmed, you can remove it from the heat. Drain the pasta, toss with chicken and veggie mixture. Add parmesan cheese, a splash of olive oil, fresh pepper and some parsley. Delicious!! And really easy!!!

Ciao!