Devil's Food Cake

On July 29th, MDS turned 39. To celebrate this milestone, we had the usual birthday dinner of Mock Chicken Cordon Bleu. And for dessert, I made cupcakes from this delicious Devil's Food Cake recipe. Now, you could use a boxed mix, but this recipe is so easy, there is no reason to use boxed mixes. Most cake recipes are versatile enough to make in any size pan by adjusting the baking time. I went with cupcakes for this recipe because sometimes when I was a kid, Mom would make cupcakes for birthdays. For frosting, I simply used nutella. The resulting cupcakes were excellent.

July is also the birthday month of my Godfather, Jim O'Brien. Recently, Mom and I were able to make the trip to Lafayette, Indiana to visit Jim and his wife, my Godmother Eileen. I brought some of these cupcakes to celebrate Jim's birthday. Of course, it brought up old memories of the many birthday cakes that Mom made when we were kids. Below is a picture of Jim, Eileen, my brother Joe, my sister Megan, and me. It appears to be Thanksgiving, due to the pumpkin pie and apple pie, but may also be a celebration of my first birthday due to the candle in the apple pie.

Devil's Food Cake 

• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 3 square unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour with sugar, soda and salt. Place shortening, softened to room temperature, in a mixing bowl and stir to soften. Sift in the dry ingredients. Add 1 cup milk. Beat for 2 minutes with a mixer. Add eggs, melted chocolate, vanilla and the remaining milk. Beat one more minute. Pour batter into greased pan. If using 2- 9-inch prepared pan, bake for 35 to 40 minutes. If using cupcake pans, bake for 17 to 23 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting. Enjoy!

Spinach Goetta

Recently, Chris, MDS and I took Mom to Autre Monde, an amazing restaurant in Berwyn. When I was growing up in Riverside, it would have been hard to imagine such an inventive restaurant taking hold on Roosevelt Road in Berwyn, of all places. The menu at Autre Monde focuses on fresh ingredients and meals made from scratch. When we were there for a Sunday brunch, we shared a number of dishes, including delicious cinnamon rolls with an orange glaze and a lovely white wine sangria.

But, what caught Mom's eye was a dish I had never heard of called Goetta, pronounced "Getta." I have not spent any time in Cincinnati, so I was not aware of the cult that has formed in that city around this popular breakfast dish. Goetta is a bit like a potato pancake, except that it is traditionally made from steel cut oats and pork. Now Autre Monde had a vegetable variation of Goetta made with spinach. Mom loves vegetables, so of course, our table had to try the Spinach Goetta. We loved it. To come up with the recipe, I did some research, but only found recipes for the pork variety. But, I think that the recipe below approximates Autre Monde's recipe. Goetta requires preparation. Much of the work is done the day before because it needs to sit in the refrigerator. And, if you make a big batch, you can store some in the freezer for another day. Someday, I might get to Cincinnati to try the real deal, but until then, I will enjoy my Spinach Goetta.

Slow Cooker Spinach Goetta 

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 2 Tbsp. dried minced onion
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

Bring water, salt and pepper to a boil in a slow cooker set to high. Stir in steel cut oats, cover and cook for 60 minutes. If using frozen spinach, allow the spinach to thaw and drain. Stir in the spinach and onion, reduce heat to low and continue cooking for 30 to 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the mixture into a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap. Cool in the refrigerator overnight until firm. 

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cut the refrigerated mixture into thin slices. Cook slices on each side until evenly browned. Enjoy!

To store Goetta slices before pan-frying, use wax paper between each slice. Goetta slices can be stored in the refrigerator for about one week. If freezing Goetta slices, thaw the slices overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Ice Box Rolls

My siblings are serious about bread. If there is a table full of Buckleys at a restaurant, one basket of bread will never be enough. Waiters are often surprised by how fast we can eat bread. We were lucky as kids in that we often had Mom's freshly baked bread. Mom's recipe box has so many bread recipes in it, it feels like I might never run our of new breads to try.

These rolls are super easy to make. The dough does not require kneading and can be made in advance, so that all you need to do is shape and allow time to rise before baking. When I made these rolls, I made some small that could be nice as dinner rolls. I also made some rolls larger that would be great for sandwiches. The rolls are delicious, so give them a try.

Ice Box Rolls 

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 envelope yeast
• 4 cups flour

Cream shortening and sugar. Add boiling water and salt. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water with a dash of sugar. When the first mixture is lukewarm, add the yeast and the egg. Stir well, add flour one cup at a time, mixing well to make a soft dough. Store the dough in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Shape the dough into rolls, place on a cookie sheet. Allow to rise about two to three hours. Bake for 10 minutes at 425. Allow to cool. Enjoy!