What's Cooking Roz ?- Red Velvet Cakes



Everyday -Anytime Red Velvet Cake



Red Velvet Cake  Christmas Theme

Red Velvet Cakes are one of those deserts that one can dress up, as well as  dress down. It is so versatile as far as decor goes. It's hard to make a red velvet cake look bad.

One layer, two layers, three layers as demonstrated above in upper left hand corner. You may omit icing altogether and with an outstanding recipe it will not only taste good,but to any one's surprise it will still look great! Personally, I prefer the Bundt Pan look with a cream cheese icing thin enough to glaze around the center, flowers or no flower adornment in the center.

My point is this, I always saw this classic in decorated in cookie cutter fashion. So I tried to come up with a various ways to uplift the aesthetics without destroying the taste. Cream cheese icing is not typically fond of keeping its shape very well, its best to keep simple embellishments.

Occasionally I will add a red velvet cake to  my portfolio with a different twist on the glam.
Follow Roz to see what other ways to rock this cake throughout the year.

There are countless recipes worldwide, I will post my recipe during the holiday season. As mentioned previously, using pure vegetable oil and a few other tips will make the difference in your Red Velvet cake as plain as night and day.

What's Cooking Roz?- Roz is cooking with Persimmons this week



Honey -Orange glazed  Persimmon Tartlets
This week I am experimenting with persimmon recipes,my own creations , so I will play on the safe side first. Then ,try a wild and out persimmon treat. You never know until you try it, surprise your taste buds I always say.
Persimmons are in season, they are the brightly orange tomato looking fruit. Which are available between  October through January, sometime February. They are often overlooked when it come to Holiday deserts. Persimmons are also surprisingly quite delicious when prepared in savory dishes too. The trick to using persimmons is to make sure they are ripe when adding them desert recipes. Ripe persimmons are tasty just eaten raw; or  halved topped with cream cheese.They are a wonderful addition to muffins, cakes , breads and pies. However if not ripened they are just about inedible, too tart, cottony like texture.

Sharon fruit, kaki , hachiya hence aka persimmons can be cooked, but only after ripening.Otherwise the fruit can be bitter. They are also a good source or vitamin A ,as we might have guessed from the orange color and some vitamin C.



Gumbo Flavor of the Month Series-Let's Make a Pot of Gumbo Ya'll!



Shrimp and Louisiana Smoked Sausage Gumbo

I we have covered the basics or the essentials of cooking Gumbo. The rest of the process is a cinch, this recipe is simple.
It's fun to create your recipes as well, you will find recipes all over the Internet and most cooks and restaurants have their own secret. Have fun with it keep it classic or put a twist on a pot , you never know what will come of it, maybe a blue ribbon or two. Always make your roux before cooking your gumbo,saves a lot of time.

Shrimp and Louisiana Smoked Sausage Gumbo

1 chicken ( 2-3 lbs) *see note
 Creole seasoning or salt and pepper
3-4 tbsp. oil for frying
3qts. water or /chicken stock
1 1/2 lbs. fresh okra
1 large bell pepper,chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large onion,chopped
3-4 cloves of fresh garlic ,minced
1 16oz can of stewed tomatoes
1-2 lbs of Smoked Louisiana Hot Links , sliced
3-4 bay leaves
2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tbsp. file


Cut chicken into to pieces or use party-wings(thawed out). Dredge seasoned chicken in flour, and fry until golden brown. Set aside.

Meanwhile saute okra in about a tsp. of oil until all ropiness is gone.Set aside. In a heavy  Dutch oven combine all of the ingredients except the  File ,shrimp, and chicken stock.Cook stirring occasionally to keep from sticking to pan for appx.15 mins.

Louisiana Hot Links

Add enough stock just to cover dutch oven half-way for now, ( its best to add liquid as needed to get the thickness and full bodied flavor.Bring to a slow boil.Then simmer about an hour, add shrimp, cook 10mins- taste.

 At this point the soup has not merried yet, add additional seasonings to your preference. Add your file last to your pot after all your tasting is done, some prefer file added at the table in your bowl, I like it both ways.

Discover your secret ingredient, experiment, I have my secret ingredient, sorry I can't share.

Serve over steamed white rice.

Bon Appetit!

* Use party wings to save time and for presentation aesthetics, fresh not frozen if possible

Seafood Gumbo  Perfect for Christmas Dinner

Happy Thanksgiving : Vote for your favorite Thanksgiving Day Desert

Sweet Potato Pie

Gumbo Flavor of the Month Series: The Cajun/Creole Trinity

The Cajun/ Creole Trinity

As we continue on our  road to the Gumbo Pot we are now leading up to the heart of it all. Every culture has its own melange of herbs, spices or vegetables that gives it a taste all its own to claim. This is an identifiable,unique blueprint that will distinguish one flavor from another..
 This blueprint lets each taste bud  know whether its Asian food, Latin, African  or American food I'm eating today. With that being said , the trinity or sometimes dubbed the Holy Trinity is likewise used for Cajun/Creole cooking.  The onions, green pepper, and celery  whether roughly chopped or merely a fine mince, is the soul of Cajun/Creole cooking.

Cajun cooking has a history of its own, although both are renowned throughout Louisiana.Cajun style is a low-country ,rustic style.Locally available ingredients were and still commonly used . A roux is used also.

Creole cooking is a refined ,more structured style and is called city cooking. Therefore a larger variety of choice ingredients are used. You can taste the difference between an Cajun and Creole Gumbo. It's a matter of preference, for instance if we compare Cantonese style Chinese food vs. Szechuan or Mandarin its all about location,location, location.
The Creoles have a its own similar and contrasting history too. Both cultures are tied to French descendants settling in Southern Louisiana ,but the Creoles are a mix of French, African, and Spanish in which accounts for the distinction in the seasonings as well.

Bay Leaves,Thyme and Majoram

One last important combo we must not omit. These herbs and spices are not inclusive in the trinity, but are just as equally important. Notice the garlic cloves above with the veggies, and bay leaves thyme and majoram. I would say 90% of the time will be added.


We are almost ready to get our Gumbo pots to a rolling boil now. Thanksgiving is next up ,we won't let Gumbo steal the thunder from Turkey day! By the time Christmas menu planning comes around we will be well informed and equipped to make the best pot of gumbo there is.
Follow my next post, right on up to the recipe. Until next posting ,enjoy.

Creating Fun with leftover cakebatter- Climb out of the Rut!

A Domed Mini-polka Dot Cake

It's definitely all about making fun and the most of what you have.I'm always baking something around the house,whether a pie, cookies or cakes and pastries. Typically we bakers make cupcakes with the extra cake batter that could not fill up our smallest of smallest cake pans. This time I tried something different and I liked the results hopefully you guys will too.
I had a mini-doll cake pan set that is used for cake dolls, instead of creating a doll I covered the baked dome in fondant.

By chance I happened to be out and about with my Granddaughter at the local discount department store and as the cliche goes, I wasn't looking for anything in particular. This polka-dot domed shaped pastry set caught my eye at the checkout counter.
 I already had polka-dot sprinkles in my cake decorating stash to match and Voila!
And the point is, think out of the box from time to time when you're in a creativity rut like I was momentarily. Change the routine around with your baking pans, flip them around, turn them sideways whatever and see what happens.
Just have fun!

It worked out perfect! I had polka-dot sprinkles in my cake decorating stash already and Voila!

photosbynadia@gmail.com

Gumbo Flavor of the Month Series: The Rue to the Velvety Roux!

As promised let's decipher the most important code to make the perfect gumbo roux. And the secret code is patience with a capital P! Although I sometimes cheat myself and cook the quick method.

Before I lay out the basics, well what exactly is a roux? Here we go it's simpler than we think.
It's simply equal parts vegetable oil and flour mixed together in a pan or skillet, cooked on low-heat until the desired color.

 For gumbos and Etouffe we want a dark chocolate roux. You can make a small batch or a large batch,save it store it in the refrigerator to use later especially if you cook Louisiana dishes all the time.
 The color ranges from a blond to brown, again color depends on the recipe at hand, typically the blond or lighter version are made with butter. These are beginnings of your mother sauces.

Take look at the stages of making a roux for gumbo, sometimes you may need to add more oil, it should shine a little as you will see.

Blond Roux

Stir,stir and stir!

 

Chocolate Roux

This is what you want in your Gumbo this year, be it Creole Seafood, Shrimp and Louisiana Smoked Sausage. Smooth ,shiny, clump free roux. It should have a nutty aroma and taste!

Be sure to check out my next posting on the trinity of Louisiana/Creole Cookery ,were almost ready to start a pot cooking for the holidays or anytime you crave it.

Make some roux this week, try it and if you have any questions,subscribe to my post,email me.

"Surprise your tastebuds".