Polenta Parmesan, Coconut Cake, and Korean Scallion Pancakes

Monday night dinner is potluck at Bu and Kaaren's house. I brought Polenta Parmesan and Coconut Cake. this evening I made myself a Korean Scallion Pancake for dinner.

Polenta Parmesan

Ingredients
6 cups boiling water
2 tsp salt
2 c corn meal
2 cups cold water
1 jar pasta sauce
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded
Parmesan cheese, grated

Bring the 6 cups of water to a boil with the salt.
Mix the corn meal with the 2 cups cold water and gradually whisk into the boiling water.
Bring back to a boil and stir until it has thickened.
Pour corn meal mush into a 9"x13" baking pan.
Let cool.
Pour past sauce over corn meal.
Sprinkle with cheeses.
Bake at 350F for 30 minutes until heated through, and the cheese is bubbling.

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Mrs. Cobb's Coconut Cake from "The Cat Who...Cookbook"
Ok, it appears I am congenitally unable to follow a recipe exactly as written, so this isn't the recipe in the book. This is what I did while reading the recipe in the book.

Cake
5 egg whites
1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup grated coconut in heavy syrup
1 tsp coconut extract
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 c milk

Preheat the oven to 350F
Prepare two 9" cake pans with parchment on the bottom
Whip the egg whites into soft peaks and set aside
Cream the butter and sugar
Mix in the grated coconut
Mix in the coconut extract, baking powder, and salt
Alternate adding the flour and milk
Fold in the egg whites
Divide the batter into the two pans
Bake for about 40 min, until done
Let rest for 10 min before removing from pans
And allow to cool before moving on to the next step.

Filling
1 (15oz) can apricots (in pear juice)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 c coconut cream (with corn syrup)

Drain the juice from the apricots and set aside in case you need it. puree the rest of the ingredients in a blender (the recipe called for 2 Tbsp of sugar but I had a 1/2 cup of coconut syrup left over from the previous recipe). Use the reserved juice to thin the mixture in the blender if necessary.
Cook the puree in a small sauce pan until it thickens.
Spread the puree on top of one of the cooled cakes. Place the second cake on top of the filling.

Frosting
7 oz pure creamed coconut (the recipe called for 6 Tbsp butter)
6 oz cream cheese
2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
Milk as needed

Cream the coconut and the cream cheese together then added the powdered sugar and the extract. If it is too stiff to spread easily add a little milk.
Frost the cake.

I didn't need any extra milk. The pure creamed coconut is the only part I'm not happy with it seems to have a strange flavor. But nobody else seemed to mind. That is the only part I would not do the same.

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Pajeon with Dipping Sauce
Jeon is Korean for Pancake, The jeon name commonly follows its main ingredient.

Ingredients
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cold water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 scallions
soy sauce

1. Whisk together the flour, water, and egg. Set aside while you do step 2.

2. Chop scallions into small pieces. Set aside about 1 Tbsp from the white ends for the dipping sauce.

3. Heat oil in a medium size skillet and saute the scallions until they are just starting to go soft. Add a dash of soy sauce and swoosh it around to season.

4. Turn up the heat and add the batter, spreading it out evenly over the scallions. Cook until the bottom is browning nicely, then flip the pancake. (If this is too hard, slice it down the middle with your spatula and flip it in two parts.) The pancake needs to cook for about 5 minutes before it will be solid enough to flip.

5. While cooking the other side, press down on top with your spatula to make sure all of it comes in contact with the pan. The crispier it is the better.

6. Slide it onto a chopping board and cut into pizza-like wedges. Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!

The jeon name commonly follows its main ingredient.

Dipping Sauce
1/4 c soy sauce
1/2 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 small clove of garlic, finely minced
Scallion, finely minced

Carrot Salad with Raisins and Walnuts

Carrot Salad with Raisins and Walnuts

4 large carrots
1/2 c raisins
1/2 chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 c vinegar

Clean and shred the carrots
Add the raisins, walnuts, sugar, and vinegar
Toss together and let rest for 2 hours
Good for potluck dinners

I was wanting a carrot salad but something light. So I made this up.

Chicken Satay Improvisation

I've been craving Chicken Satay, or as I like to call it Curried Chicken with Peanut Butter Gravy and Rice.

I knew I had the chicken, peanut butter, curry powder, and rice, But I had to wing it on the rest of the spicing.

First I got out the 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced them into bite sized pieces and put them in a ziplock bag. Then I started looking around for spices: 3 teaspoons curry powder, 2 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced, 4 silver dollar sized slices of ginger (I store my ginger in a jar of sherry in the fridge), 1 tablespoon ginger flavored sherry, 2 tablespoons lemon juice (I didn't have lime juice), 2 tablespoons tamari, and 2 tablespoons fish sauce. I let the chicken marinate in all that for a couple of days.

Then I started 1 cup rice to cook, and sauteed the chicken in small batches in a little bit of vegetable oil. I understand that Satay means skewered but I don't like using the broiler and didn't want to mess around with skewers. When all the chicken was cooked I thew out the ginger and cooked the rest of the marinade and the garlic slices. Then I added 1/2 cup peanut butter. If I had a can of coconut milk I would have used it to thin the gravy, but I didn't have any flavored liquids on hand so I had to use water. When the gravy was a good consistency I tasted it. It was a bit bland, so I added 1 tablespoon curry, 1 teaspoon tamari and some salt (I've been craving salt lately). Then I mixed the cooked chicken into the gravy and served it over the rice.

Grandma Tanner's Meatballs and Sauce

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 c grated Parmesan or Romano
2 slices of bread moistened cubed and moistened in milk
1-2 cloves garlic crushed
1/4-1/2 c minced onion
1 t basil
1-2 T flour
2 eggs

Mix well with hands. Roll into balls, let sit
Brown in hot fat quickly or in oven on a dark baking sheet at 400 for 20 min.
Simmer in Marinara for 1 1/2 hours

Marinara
Saute:
2 T olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
2-4 cloves garlic
Add:
1 can tomato paste-large
1 can diced tomatoes-large-28 oz
water to make slighly thin sauce
1 T basil
1/2 T oregano
1 t salt
1 T sugar
1-2 bay leaves
Let simmer several hours

Real baked Mac and Cheese

Cook 1 lb of pasta
sauce:
1/4 c butter-melted
1/3 c flour- add after butter is melted
3 c milk-slowly add while stirring. Bring to a low boil for 1 minute
1 t mustard-add
pepper-add
2 + c grated cheese-stir in until just melted

Combine with pasta. Put into buttered casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour until golden brown.

Really Good Chocolate Cake-Hershey's

2 c sugar
1 3/4 c flour
3/4 c cocoa
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 eggs
1 c milk
1/2 c oil
2 t vanilla
1 c boiling water
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and mix for 2 minutes at med spee. Stir in boiling water-batter will be thin. Pour into 9x13(or 2 9" round pans) greased and floured pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes;remove from pan and cool thoroughly before frosting.

Chocolate frosting:
1/2 c butter-melted
2/3 c cocoa
3 c powdered sugar
1/3 c milk
1 t vanilla
Combine and beat on med until spreading consistency. Add more milk if needed.

White chicken chili

1 c cooked white beans
2 c chicken stock
1 lb chicken breast
1/2 med onion-chopped
1/4 bell pepper -chopped
1/2 t garlic
2 1/2 T butter
2 1/2 T flour
1/2 c milk or half and half
1/2 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin
1/2 T tabasco-or to taste
2-3 oz canned chilis-to taste
garnish with grated Jack cheese or sour cream

Saute vegetables in butter, add diced chicken and chicken stock and all other seasoning except milk and flour. Simmer until vegetables are soft. Combine milk and flour, stir in gradually to thicken, simmer for 1 minute. Serve with garnishes.