Mississippi Mud Cake

This cake was shared with some friends at a get together a few weeks ago. I only had a sliver.
I though it was a bit tooo sugary for me. My grandson along with my friends thought it was really good. Even though it was quite easy to make, its not one that I would repeat.

Here are some pictures .

Ropa Vieja (old clothes)

As you can tell baking cakes is what I like to do. Although I do cook everyday. Well I do get Sunday off.:-) My husband and I were both born here in Tampa, Fl, and both are of cuban, spanish decent.

So as you can imagine I cook alot of spanish food. My husband is a true Spaniard. He lovess his white rice, matter of fact if I gave it to him for breakfast he would probably love it.

Today Friday I made what we call Ropa Vieja, Shredded Beef in Tomatoe sauce, the literal translation in english is "old clothes". This is one of my husbands favorite.

I have a cookbook called "Sabor" by author Ana Quinocoes Rodriquez
Spanish cooking is second nature to latins here in Tampa.
So I decided to make her recipe which by the way is very similar to the way my grandmother made it, just a bit of an updated twist.













Here is the recipe if you would like to try it.
Serves 6 to 8
2 teaspsoons salt, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon whole black peppercons
2 pounds flank steak
1/2 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, roughly chop
1 medium green bell pepper roughly chopped
1 medium red bell pepper roughly chopped
2 cups tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1 cup vino seco (dry white cooking wine)
*I use a dry white wine not cooking wine
Lime
1/2 cup canned peas, for garnish
1/4 cup chopped pimentos for garnish

Combine 1/2 quarts water, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the peppercorns in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Add the steak and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and cook for about 2 hours, until the meat is nice and tender.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the tomato sauce, bay leaf, pepper, cumin, oregano, and remaining teaspoon of salt, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Add the vino seco and continue boiling for 5 mininutes.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Drain the flank steak and let it cool to room tempertature or a plate lined with paper towels. use your hands to shred the beef into long strips, if you shred it along the grain, it should come apart easily. Season the steak with salt and peper and a squeeze of lime juice, and add it to the tomatoe mixture. Stir to coat the meat with sauce. Cook over medium-low heat for at least 20 to
30 minutes, to allow the flavors to come together. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Garnish with peas and pimentos before serving.

Chocolate Cake

Here are some pictures of a Chocolate Cake I made a few weeks ago, I did not have the time to post them till now.

This cake was really easy to make. It is one tier of a three tier wedding cake from the same book that I made for my girlfriend's aniversary party. "Wedding Cakes You Can Make" by Dede Wilson.

This cake is really tasty and moist. The Chocolate Buttercream was not overly sweet, it was just right and the filling had Creme de Cacao Buttercream. It was the perfect chocolate cake.

I am part of a group of friends that love to cook , get together and entertain and I am, of course usually the one that brings desert. :-)

Hope you enjoy these pictures.