Donut Army

  This cake is a little dense and savory -- as you would expect from something made with cornmeal and rosemary. Undoubtedly, I prefer my desserts sweeter, so my favorite part of this cake is the top portion -- the part featuring icing! If you keep these characteristics in mind, however, it makes a good breakfast or tea cake -- but is not ideal for dessert. Cornmeal Bundt Cake with Pecan Pie Swirl Vegetarian Times Swirl: 6 oz cream cheese, softened 1 egg 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp vanilla Swirl and Topping: 1/2 c sugar 1 T lemon juice 1 c pecans, coarsely chopped 1/3 c powdered sugar Cake Batter: 2 1/4 c flour 3/4 c cornmeal 1 T + 2 tsp rosemary, finely chopped 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 1/4 tsp salt 1/3 c sugar 1 c yogurt 3 eggs, lightly beaten 3/4 c olive oil 1 T vanilla Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray, and dust with flour. To make Swirl, whisk together cream cheese, egg, cinnamon, and vanilla in

I loved these, but they are a horrible mess to eat. If you aren't eating in front of people you are trying to impress, and if you don't mind the possibility of maybe needing to eat some of your burger with a knife and fork, then give these a try. Easily the best part of this burger was the hamburger bun -- recipe follows. Beet, Rice and Goat Cheese Burgers New York Times 2 c brown rice 1 c beet, roasted and diced or grated 1/4 c fresh herbs (parsley and/or dill) 1 15-oz can white beans, drained 1 T lemon juice 1 egg 2 oz goat cheese salt and pepper 2 T canola oil Preheat oven to 375. Combine rice, beets and herbs in a large bowl. Puree beans with lemon juice and egg in a food processor. Add to rice and beets. Add goat cheese, salt and pepper. Combine. Moisten hands and form 6 patties. Working in batches, heat 1 T oil at a time in a cast-iron skillet. Brown patties on one side for 2 minutes. Flip and then place in oven for 10 minutes. Onion-Studded Hambur

This. Is. Incredible. Very, very, rich and you nearly can't believe it came out of your own kitchen. Chicken Tortilla Soup Penzey's One 2 6-oz chicken breasts 3 8" flour tortillas 1 T olive oil or butter (melted) 1/2 tsp coarse salt 4 c stock 1 16-oz jar salsa Garnishes: sour cream Monterey-Jack cheese, shredded cilantro, chopped avocado, sliced scallions, sclied lime wedges To poach chicken, bring 6 of water to a boil. Add the raw chicken and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover. Let sit for 30 minutes in the hot water. Drain and then shred chicken. While you are poaching the chicken, you can also bake the tortillas. Brush both sides of tortillas with oil, sprinkle lightly with salt. Place on a cookie sheet and cut into strips (a pizza cutter does the job). Place into a COLD oven. Turn oven to 375. When oven reaches temperature, turn off oven but don't open the door until it cools down (about 30 minutes). Tortilla strip

This one, I had to try. I wanted to believe in the magic of smoking something inside the house. But unless one of my readers can come up with a way to make this smokiness much headier, then the risk of fire from this method is simply not worth it. Probably much easier to smoke the eggplants on (or in) a grill. Smoked Eggplant Curry Veggie Belly blog 3 tomatoes 6 cashew nuts 1 T butter, ghee, or vegetable oil 1/2 lb eggplant, American or Asian 1/2 tsp ginger paste 1/2 tsp garlic paste 1/4 tsp garam masala 1/4 tsp chili powder 1 tsp lemon juice (or less, if tomatoes are already sweet) For smoking the eggplant: 1 lump charcoal, about the size of a lemon (be sure to use charcoal that is chemical-free) 1 tsp vegetable oil Roast the eggplant in the oven by coating loosely with olive oil, piercing with a fork and placing on the oven rack. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 50 minutes - until soft. Boil a medium pot of water, and drop the tomatoes in whole and let th

  Rustic Spinach Tart Real Simple , October 2004 1 T olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 10-oz package frozen spinach, thawed, chopped, drained, and squeeze of extra moisture (I used fresh spinach that was steamed and squeezed) 1 tsp coarse salt 1 tsp pepper 2 ready-made pie crusts 1 c cottage cheese 10-12 button mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 12-oz jar roasted red pepper, drained and chopped 1 T thyme, fresh (or 1 tsp dried) 1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated 1 egg, lightly beaten Preheat oven to 400. Place the olive oil in a medium skillet and place over medium heat. Add garlic. Cook and stir 1 minute. Add spinach and saute 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Coat a large baking sheet with Pam. Unfold 1 piecrust onto the baking sheet. Spoon spinach mixture evenly over crust, leaving 1 " border around the edge. Layer the cottage cheese, mushrooms, and peppers over the spinach. Sprinkle with thyme and Parmesan. Brush half the egg around

I don't even know how any day that starts with these can be in the same league as any other day on the planet. Life is not fair. Pecan Sticky Rolls Cooking Light, September 2008 Dough:  3/4 c milk, warm 1/4 c sugar 1/2 tsp salt 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 1/4 c warm water 1/2 c egg substitute (I used egg) 3 T butter, melted and cooled 4 c flour, divided Sauce: 3/4 c dark brown sugar 3 T butter, melted 2 T hot water 1/3 c pecan, finely chopped Filling: 2/3 c sugar 1 T cinnamon 1 1/2 T butter, melted To prepare dough, combine the first 3 ingredients in a bowl. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 c warm water and let proof 5 minutes. Stir yeast mixture into milk mixture. Add egg substitute and 3 T melted butter. Stir until combined. Add 3 3/4 c flour to yeast mixture and stir until smooth. Turn dough out and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place dough in a bowl and let rise 45 minutes. Punch dough, turn over, cover and let rise another 45 minutes. Punch

These are a lovely addition to any dinner. They need about 2-3 hours prep time.     Fluffy Buns All-American Vegetarian 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast 1 1/2 c buttermilk, slightly warmed canola oil 2 T sugar 3/4 tsp salt 1 c whole wheat flour 2 c + 2 T bread flour In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with dough hook, combine yeast, buttermilk, 1 T oil, sugar, and salt. Stir in flours to make a soft, slightly stickky dough. Knead until smooth and elastic, working in small amounts of flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Place dough in an oiled bowl, turning to coat with oil. Cover and let rise until doubled, 60-90 minutes. Punch dough down and divided into 8 pieces. Roll into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Press lightly to make disks of dough about 3/4" thick. Cover loosely with a towel and let rise about 1 hour, until light. Preheat oven to 400. Brush tops of buns with oil. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden but not hard. Let cool. Store in plastic

I recently posted some pizza pics to Facebook, and then received a few requests to post the recipe that I had used. In order to make these people happy, I suffered through a second batch of pizzas later in the week in order to produce this post. The Week of the Pizza was inspired by a recent video post in the New York Times featuring Roberta's restaurant in Brooklyn. You can find the original recipe here . It does produce a nice pliable dough that bakes up nicely. But, baker's warning: this is not foolproof, like a cookie dough or some other baked goods. You do need some experience with making bread in order to know when to veer off recipe and trust your instincts. For example, the first time I made these pizzas, the windows were thrown open and a rainstorm was approaching. My dough was excessively wet, and I needed to manually add flour to get the consistency I wanted. Later that same week, a cold front had moved through, and I was making the pizzas with all the windows clo