Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake

Here's another recipe I made ages ago that I am just getting around to posting. I made it twice. The first time I used real butter and frozen blueberries, it was really good. I made it again the next week using I can't believe it's not butter and fresh blueberries. It was okay but not as good as the first time. I'm not sure which of the changes made the difference. If I'm remembering correctly the buttermilk had been in the fridge awhile and had a stronger smell when I made the first cake, I suppose that could have made a difference as well.

The recipe came from epicurious via The Goddess's Kitchen.

Instead of greasing and flouring the pan I used baker's coating. It's fantastic for cake pans. I've never had anything stick when I use it.

Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake 

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups frozen blueberries
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour (or use bakers coating)10-inch-diameter Bundt pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 1 2/3 cups sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in orange peel and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Fold in blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted near center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Cool cake in pan on rack 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack and cool completely. Transfer cake to plate, sift powdered sugar over or makes a glaze using powdered sugar and a small amount of milk (you can always add more milk, once it's too thin it's almost impossible to thicken it up again).

Baker's Coating

I found a recipe for Baker's Coating in a book called Morning Glories by Sharon Kebschull Barrett. It's like a brush on version of Bakers Joy you use it whenever a recipe calls to grease and flour a pan.

I adore this stuff. I never have cakes stick when I use this. All it is is equal parts oil, shortening and flour. The author uses 1 cup of each and suggest a double batch if you bake a lot. However that is wat too much for my needs so I only use 1/4 cup of each.

Baker's Coating

1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour

In a bowl beat all ingredients together with an electric mixture. It will be the consistency of sour cream. Put in an airtight container. It doesn't need to be refrigerated and according to the author it keeps indefinitely.

To use, brush a thin coat onto pan with a pastry brush.

Strawberry Lemon Bars

This is another recipe I meant to post ages ago and never got around to. I found the recipe at Something Sweet. It was ok but I like plain lemon bars better.

Mama Pilla's North Carolina Green Beans

I made this last summer when the beans were coming in. I found the recipe at bitofnutmeg but the link no longer works but it was simple enough to remember and it tasted really good.

fresh green beans
salt pork (or fatback, streak of lean, ham hock, etc.)
water
crockpot

Rinse your beans. Snap the ends off your beans and snap them into 2 or 3 pieces. Place the beans in the crockpot and cover with water. add in 2 or 3 pieces of salt pork. Cook about 6 hours.

Easy Lemon Bars

These are not your usual lemons bars. I like them but they didn't go over well with anyone else. I ended up eating almost the whole pan myself. However having to eat that many bars by myself means I don't think I'll be making them again.

So Easy Slap Ya Momma Lemon Bars

1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
   Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Add the egg and oil; mix until well blended. Mixture will be slightly dry. Reserve one cup for the topping, and pat the rest into an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
   Now, bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Place aside to cool 15mins. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with the sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Spread the mixture evenly over the baked crust. Take the reserved crumble cake mix mixture over the top.
   Bake for an additional 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until filling is set and the topping is lightly toasted. Cool before cutting into bars. Refrigerate leftovers.

unbaked bottom layer

 

baked bottom layer

Cream Cheese Mixture

Unbaked bars

Finished Lemon Bars

Applesauce Cake

I had a jar of applesauce I needed to use up before it expired so I decide to try this recipe from the Ladies Of The House. It was okay, soft and had a good texture but it was missing something. It wasn't spicy enough to be a spice cake and I used more raisins than it called for it didn't seem like enough. Maybe some diced apples or more spices would make it appeal to my taste more.

Real Home Fried Chicken

I tried another recipe from The Contemporary Cowboy Cookbook by Dottie Griffith. The picture in the book looked amazing; crispy,  crunchy and golden. Mine was fine but it wasn't crispy. Maybe it's because they were using bone in, skin on chicken and I was using boneless skinless tenders. I've never fried bone in chicken, is it the skin that makes the difference?

First you soak the chicken in buttermilk. Anytime you are frying chicken the buttermilk is a good idea it makes it juicy and tender. The you dip it in flour seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. The you fry. This recipe had you frying in oil deep enough for the chicken to float. Don't. Not if you are making tenders. It tasted the same as how I normally make them using much less oil.

I would really love a recipe where the tenders are actually crispy.