Carrot Cake

Carrot cake seems like such a springtime food, doesn't it? A million of these pseudo-healthy desserts pop up around Easter, just as bunnies start hopping around our backyard.

We used a recipe from an ancient cookbook... it's obviously well-loved, because it has no front cover, back cover, table of contents... but the recipe pages are all still intact (although some are starting to tear out). We think that it is the Five Roses: A Guide to Good Cooking (1967?) book, by Elizabeth Driver, which is described on Amazon as a must-have for vintage cookbook collections. So, this carrot cake recipe can be describe as an oldie but a goodie!

• Click on the photo to enlarge!
• Note: we halved the recipe.
• We were SO proud of our decorating creativity! We cut up a real carrot to lay on top of the icing, and used the tips of celery stalks for the leafy greens.

Cream Cheese Frosting (from the same book)

2 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup soft butter or margarine

1 package (113 g) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

• Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add vanilla (we always add a little extra).
• Beat in icing sugar gradually until desired consistency is achieved.
• Ice your cake!

Mixing for 5 minutes was a workout for Lisa's arms.

Look at that bright orange batter!

The cake, uniced. Transfer to platter before icing.

The icing should be pretty thick.

We were SO proud of the decorations!

Cake time!

Orange & Apricot Roast Chicken

Happy Birthday to Mom!

We weren't going to let Mom cook or do dishes for her own birthday dinner! Instead, we filled the house with fruity aromas, scrubbed a few pots and pans, and tried to figure out whether the meat thermometer was lying to us (pretty sure it was). We let her drink wine.

The chicken recipe comes out of a thin little book called "Easy Chicken Dishes". Canadian Living published 8 of these paperback cookbooks, filled with recipes from the Canadian Living test kitchen. Great color photographs illustrate meals that are made from relatively standard ingredients - you can flip through for ideas and not have to rule things out because you're lacking exotic ingredients. And the size of these books is nice! They aren't bulky at all.

Orange & Apricot Roast Chicken

1 chicken (about 3 pounds)

Salt and pepper

2 oranges (unpeeled, sliced)

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup orange juice

12 dried apricots

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cider vinegar --> we used a splash of white vinegar

1 tablespoon grated orange rind

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3/4 cup cold water

• Sprinkle inside of chicken with salt and pepper. Place half of the orange slices inside. Truss chicken.... we didn't know what "trussing" was - but a Google search led us to this helpful site: instructables. As far as we could tell, our chicken came kind of trussed (tied up to make it more compact). After stuffing the oranges in, we just tied the legs of the chicken tightly together.
• In a small roasting pan, melt butter and oil. Put chicken in pan. Roast uncovered, breast side up, in 375 F oven for 45 minutes.
• In small pot, bring orange juice to a boil. This kick-starts the good smells wafting through the house! Remove pot from heat. Add apricots. Let them soak for 20 minutes, then remove and set aside.
• To orange juice left in pot, add sugar, vinegar, orange rind, and mustard. Boil for 3 - 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
• Pour half the juice mixture over the chicken. Arrange apricots around the chicken. Continue to roast chicken for another 10 minutes. Brush with remaining juice mixture. Roast for another 10 - 15 minute or until meat thermometer reads 185 F (85 C).
• Transfer chicken from roasting pan to a platter.
• The cornstarch and water is to make a gravy... which we completely forgot about. Honestly, the chicken was super-moist and really didn't need a gravy. But if you want to try it out, start by removing the fat from the pan drippings. Blend cornstarch and water; stir into pan drippings. Cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper.
• Garnish chicken with the remaining orange slices. Serve with Glazed Dijon Carrots (recipe below).

Orange slices make the chicken very moist!

The flavor (and fruit juices) seep through.

It might be nice to cut up a few of the apricots,

just to make them easier to eat.

Success!

The Dijon flavor in these carrots is unexpected -

a nice spin onclassic orange carrots.

Glazed Dijon Carrots

The recipe for this side dish came from our favorite go-to website: AllRecipes. The search function on that side is so convenient! It's nice to be able to not only search by ingredient, but also search by what kind of dish you want (soup? side dish? Mexican?).

4 large carrots (or 1 package of baby carrots)

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

• In a large pot, bring carrots and water to a boil. Cover, and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes or until tender. You don't want them to be mushy!
• Drain carrots and place in serving dish.
• In a small pot, melt butter. Add brown sugar, mustard, ginger, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved.
• Pour sauce over carrots and toss to coat.

Red cabbage and cranberry stuffed pork tenderloin & carrot souffle

Dinner time! Mom says this is the best Spatula Sisters main course yet. The mix of flavors in the pork really complement each other, and the carrots add an extra splash of color. It's definitely nice enough to be served for company, so add a side dish or two (potatoes? wine?) and invite a few friends over.

The original recipe for the pork came from one of those "Real Cream Real Feast" ads that the Dairy Farmers of Canada put out. We tore it out of House and Home back in October, but didn't get around to making it. The on a lazy Sunday in January, we picked up a red cabbage from the grocery store and decided to try it out!

(Of course, we had cranberries on hand... seriously - the cranberry obsession is getting a little out of hand. last cranberry entry for a while. promise.)

The recipe was a great starting point, but we ended up deviating a ton. The original recipe was for a pork loin roast, and we used pork tenderloin (a package with two). Because there's less room available to stuff a tenderloin, we modified the recipe to make the flavor pack a little more punch in a little less space.

Red Cabbage and Cranberry Stuffed Pork Loin with Cider Cream

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups finely shredded red cabbage --> make sure the pieces aren't too long

3/4 cup cranberries, chopped

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

2 teaspoons dried thyme

Salt & pepper

3 lb pork tenderloin (package with two)

1 cup small cubes crusty whole grain bread --> shortcut: toast a piece of whole wheat bread

1/3 cup 10% half-and-half cream

1/4 cup apple cider or juice

• Preheat oven to 325 F
• In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add cabbage, cranberries, onion, thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Sauté for 10 minutes or until cabbage is starting to brown. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.
• Place pork on cutting board and trim excess fat. Cut a slit in the pork - so it's almost cut in half (but not quite), leaving the ends intact.
• Stir bread and cream into cabbage. Press evenly into the pork, stuffing as much as you can into the opening you've cut. Use toothpicks to secure the stuffing. Place in roasting pan. Brush with some of the apple juice and season with salt & pepper.
• Roast for 2 - 2 1/2 hours, basting twice with remaining apple juice. Cook until meat thermometer registers 155 F. Tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes --> Invest in a meat thermometer! Seriously, it makes cooking meat SO much less intimidating.
• Serve with Cider Cream

Cider Cream

1 1/2 cups apple cider or juice

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup 10% half-and-half cream

Salt & pepper

• In medium saucepan, bring cider and onion to a boil over high heat. Boil for 5 - 10 minutes, or until reduced by about half. Reduce heat to medium. Whisk flour into cream. Cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes or until thickened. Season with salt & pepper.

In the skillet

Toothpicks hold the sides up around the stuffing.

Fresh from the oven!

Ready for the waiting plates... don't forget the cream!

The accompanying carrots were a surprise hit! We had a huge bag of carrots and wanted to try something completely different. This spin on carrots is fluffy and a little sweet. The texture catches you off guard at first, but give them a shot. Let them melt in your mouth and you'll know what we mean.

Carrot Souffle (because "carrot pudding" sounds even weirder)

*Adapted from Diane Morgan's recipe on cookstr.com

5 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1/8 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons grated onion (or finely chopped)

1 cup milk

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

• Place carrots in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, or until carrots are tender. Drain and allow to cool slightly. Use a food processor to purée the carrots, transferring to a small bowl. Add lemon juice.
• Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease soufflé dish with butter.
• Combine 4 tablespoons butter with sugar, flour, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat with hand mixer until smooth. Mix in onion and carrots. Mix in milk and eggs. Pour the bright orange mixture into the soufflé dish.
• Bake, uncovered, for about an hour. Carrots should be puffy and lightly browned (ours didn't really turn brown), and the center should be firm to the touch. Serve immediately.

Check out all that beta carotene!