July, 2020
Anita’s Homemade Whole Wheat-Honey Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
4 1/2 cups of Whole wheat bread flour
1 cup (starter, see my recipe) or 1 Tablespoon of dry instant yeast dissolve into 1/3 cup of warm water + 1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup warm milk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
Preparation
- Place in your stand mixer, flour, milk and homemade starter(yeast). Mix until combined.
2. Add honey and mix.
3. Add molasses.
4. Incorporate whole wheat flour and cocoa powder and mix well until dough leaves the sides of the bowl.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly flour surface. Knead the dough for about 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased glass large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.(oil the bottom of the plastic wrap so dough won’t stick to the plastic wrap when rise up).Place it into the warmest spot in your kitchen and let it rise for about 2 hours.
7. Gently knead the dough again over floured surface but do not over knead it. Place the dough into a floured proofing basket to rise again for about 1 to 2 hours. Cover with towel.
8. Preheat your oven to 450 grades Fahrenheit. Using a pizza stone position it in the middle rack of your oven.
9. Take out hot stone from oven and invert gently the bread over the stone. Score(slash) your bread using a sharp knife or a razor blade. Scoring help create a beautiful loaf of bread to expand and also will inhibits rising with a delicious thin crust.
10. Place it into the heated oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
11. Remove bread from oven. Place bread over a rack to cool for about 45 minutes to an hour. Enjoy!
Anita’s Super Moist Yogurt Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
2 cups cake flour or All-purpose, sifted
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup plain yogurt, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 Tablespoon of instant coffee
1 teaspoon hazelnut or coffee liquor
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 grades Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch spring-form pan with baking spray. Set aside.
- Use a medium saucepan and combine butter, milk, espresso powder, cocoa powder. Heat at medium-low heat stir occasionally until melted. Set aside.
- Sift together flour, sugar, and baking powder into a large bowl. Add into this flour mixture the melted chocolate-butter mix from step 2, and beat for 2 minutes until well combined. Add hazelnut or coffee liquor and mix.
- Whisk in eggs and yogurt until very smooth.
- Pour your chocolate batter into your greased spring-form pan.
- Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle of cake comes out clean.
- Let cake cool in pan for about 20 minutes. Invert into a rack.
Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Sift 1 cup of cocoa powder and 4-5 cups of confectioner’s sugar into a large bowl. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer, cream together 2 1/2 sticks of melted butter and add sifted cocoa powder and confectioner’s sugar in low speed for about 2 minutes. Mix until creamy and well combined.
- Add 1 to tablespoons of heavy cream and 1 teaspoon of coffee liquor(vanilla extract is ok too). Beat in high for another minute or using a whisker.
- Frost your chocolate delicious cake when completely cool.
5. Enjoy this piece of super moist chocolaty heaven!
Anita’s Roasted Baby Eggplant with Meat Sauce
Ingredients for Meat Sauce
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, small diced
16 ounces can diced petite tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation for Meat Sauce
- Preheat oven to 400 grades Fahrenheit.
- Add ground meat to a heated large pan with olive oil and butter.
- Brown meat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add chopped onions and crushed garlic.
- Sauté over medium heat until onions are soft. Add diced tomatoes.
- Seasoned with thyme, rosemary, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Once it start simmering lower the heat. Let the sauce simmer for about 30 to 35 minutes. Roast eggplants meanwhile.
Ingredients for Roasted Eggplant
12 baby eggplant, unpeeled and cut in half lengthwise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 Tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon oregano, ground
Preparation
- Place cut eggplants into a baking sheet. Seasoned with salt, pepper and ground oregano.
- Drizzle over with olive oil.
- Roast eggplants in the pre-heated oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or until tender.
- Remove roasted eggplant from the oven. Top eggplants in the center with meat sauce. Serve warm next to rice. Enjoy!
Anita’s Light and Easy Apple-Raisin Coleslaw Salad
Ingredients
1 head cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, diced
2 green apples (Granny Smith), sliced
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
- Using a large bowl, combine yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and sugar. Whisk well.
- Add coleslaw and toss to combine. Seasoned with salt and pepper.
- Incorporate carrots, apples and raisins. Toss to combine and place covered in refrigerator for at least one hour. Enjoy!
Anita’s Crispy-Easy Grilled Salmon
Ingredients
6 (6 ounces) salmon fillets
3 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1 lemon
Preparation
- Heat the grill on medium-high.
- Use a large zip-log bag and place salmon fillets in. Add to the bag Dijon mustard, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place into the refrigerator and marinade for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from fridge and let it come back at room temperature.
- Place salmon fillets on the grill. Cover the lid and grill until crispy for about 5 to 7 minutes. Flip to the other side and grill for another 4 to 5 minutes until inside is flaky and cooked.
- Serve warm over a mixed green salad. Enjoy!
