Italian Wedding Soup

Tomorrow is the wedding of my favorite Bachelor--Sean.  I think that Chris is pretty happy that he is finally getting married because he has been my TV crush for over a year.  I decided to have a wedding themed dinner that we can eat while watching the wedding.  I contemplated looking up the menu plan for their actual wedding, but I never got around to it.  Chris suggested that I make Italian Wedding soup and I agreed.  We will also be eating wedding cake (white cupcakes with white frosting, actually.)

When I pulled out my Italian Wedding Soup Recipe, I noticed that it was falling apart and realized that I needed to put it online.  My mom gave me this recipe several years ago over the phone.  She often dumbs down recipes for me, so I am not sure how complex this recipe is, but it is delicious!

Meatballs:

1 lb ground pork
3/4 c Italian Bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/2 c Parm cheese

Mix ingredients together and make small meatballs.  Freeze on cookie sheet

Next, boil 8 oz aciniepe pasta until cooked- about 10-12 minutes.  Set aside.

Take out your pressure cooker and add

1 T olive oil
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 C finely chopped onion
1 1/2 coarsely chopped carrots

Cook 3-4 minutes (lid off)

Next, add 2 quarts chicken broth.  Bring to boil.

Add frozen meatballs

Put lid on pressure cooker.  Cook 10 minutes.  Let broth depressurize. Take off lid.

Add 9-10 oz baby spinach.  Add cooked pasta.  Add Parmesan cheese to taste.

Sugar Bear Fudge

I decided to try making some old fashioned fudge because my son-in-law has a soy allergy, and the easy no-fail fudge contain soy lecithin. I was delighted by the results from this recipe. I love the little addition of honey. It flavors the fudge and it prevents it from hardening.

2 Cups packed brown sugar
12 Oz can of evaporated milk
1/2 C butter
2 T honey
1/2 t Salt
2 C mini marshmallows
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Toast the nuts in the oven and allow to cool completely.  Line a loaf pan with foil and spread a thin layer of butter all over the foil.

Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter, honey, and salt in a 5-6 qt pot. Stir constantly while heating on a medium low heat. When the butter is melted the heat can be turned up a little. Put in a candy thermometer and bring the mixture to a soft ball stage.(234-238 degrees). Remove from heat.  Add the toasted nuts and mini marshmallows. Mix until the marshmallows are melted and the nuts are well incorporated, then mix for about one more minute. Pour into the loaf pan. This fudge may take up to a day to set up, so don’t panic if it seems a little soft for the first day.

Zucchini Relish with a kick!

                                                                                                                                            

                             Vegetables
10 Cups chopped zucchini (I used one of my monster zucchinis and took out the seeds.)
3  Cups chopped onion
3 large red bell peppers, chopped
3 Jalapenos, seeded and chopped
5 Tablespoons kosher salt

Spice/ vinegar mix
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 cups vinegar
1 teaspoon cracked red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Directions:
Coarsely chop raw vegetables and pulse them through a food processer until they are about the right size for relish. Measure the vegetables at this point for the recipe. Put the vegies into a large plastic container and add the salt. Mix the salt in.  Cover with plastic wrap and let the mixture stand over night.

The next day... 
Before you start any other prep work, put 6 or 7 pint mason jars, 6 or 7 rings, and 6 or 7 lids into your dishwasher on the hottest setting and allow the dishwasher to run when you are working. Start a big pot of water to boil to process the relish.

Put the vegetables into a colander and rinse with fresh water. Press out most of the water. You will have to do this in several batches. Set the vegetables aside for a few moments.

Put all of the ingredients for the spice/vinegar mix in a pot and bring to a full boil.  Add all of the vegetables and bring to a boil again.  Boil for about 10-15 minutes. Ladle the hot relish into the hot jars, leaving about 1/2 inch of head space.  Wipe off the rims with a moist paper towel.  Cover the jars with lids and tighten the rings down.  Put the full jars into a big pot of water and make sure that all of the jars are covered with at least on inch of boiling water.  Put the lid on the pot and allow the jars to remain in the boiling water for 10 minutes.  Remove the jars and put them on the counter.  You will hear several pops in the next few minutes as the jars seal. Any jar that has not sealed after about an hour should be put in the refrigerator and used up in a month or two.

This recipe will make about 6 pints or relish.  You can easily double or triple the recipe.  One monster zucchini will make about 6 pints of relish.  It has a great flavor and is crispy.  I am not going to tell anyone that it is a zucchini relish.  I am going to call it Garden Relish and let that fly. It honestly tastes a little better than regular cucumber pickle relish.  I just ate a cracker topped with cream cheese and relish. Delicious!

Chocolate Orange Zucchini Cake

 

 

Makes one bundt pan

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

1 C butter

2 C sugar

3 eggs

2 t vanilla

½ C milk

3 C grated zucchini (grate, squeeze out excess water, packed)

1 T orange zest

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Glaze

1 C chocolate chips

1/4 C butter

¼ C buttermilk

1 t vanilla

2 C powdered sugar

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees  or 325 degrees for a convection oven. Spray cooking spray into a Bundt pan.

2.     In a medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

3.     In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla and milk to the butter mixture. Stir in dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Fold in zucchini, orange zest, and nuts.

4.     Pour into prepared Bundt cake pan. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Glaze

 

Melt the butter and chocolate chips in a medium pan.  Add the butter milk.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Adjust the thickness of the glaze by adding more buttermilk or more powdered sugar. The glaze should be the correct consistency to pour onto the cake and then to spread it around. Glaze the cake three times with thin coats, allowing 15 minutes between coats.

Gluten Free Texas Sheet Cake

Texas Sheet Cake {Gluten-free}

 

Cake:

• 2 cups Gluten Free--I used Life Tastes Good Again
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum (omit if using a flour blend that contains xanthan)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 cup salted butter
• ⅓ cup cocoa powder (I use part Hershey’s Dark Cocoa, and part regular cocoa)
• 1 cup water
• ½ c. buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Spray jelly roll pan (15″x9″x1″ pan) with cooking oil.
2. In your mixing bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, cocoa, and 1 cup water. Bring just to boiling, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and add to dry ingredients, beat until combined.
4. Add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla to mixing bowl and beat for one minute on low-medium speed.
5. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted into cake will come out with moist crumbs attached, but not wet batter.
6. Place pan on a cooling rack to cool.

Fudge Frosting:

I used the frosting recipe found on the Texas Sheet Cake that Bonnie posted a while ago.