Carrot Kohlrabi Bake

My Sausage Boy had a playdate last week with one of his preschool pals. When I went over to their house to pick him up the mom, Amy, and I got into a discussion about her winter garden. Apparently she has a green thumb and her Dad has an emerald thumb. He can and does grow anything. He set Amy up with lettuces, broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi for her winter garden. Turns out Amy loves it all BUT the kohlrabi. Being her friend, of course I told her I would take it if she insisted. I played it cool, but I was pretty excited to get my hands on the kohlrabi. I mean it's not something you see in the local Kroger and I was having a dinner party for my family, they will eat just about anything. I figure if I screwed it up, I was still pretty safe. See I've eaten it grated raw in slaw, but I wanted to take it into my kitchen and make something with it.

This is kohlrabi in all it's glory.

I admit, it is a strange plant. You eat the bulbous part that grows just above ground. You can eat the greens too. It's a member of the cabbage family and tastes kinda like a radish, but sweeter.  I got mine home and pulled off the roots. Then I snapped off the leaves and gave those to the Girls - who were pretty excited about something new. Then I peeled the bulbs so they would not have a "woody" texture since I was baking them. Once I chopped them up, they were perfect for this recipe. I bet I could even convert Amy into a kohlrabi lover with this one. The carrots are sweet and the kohlrabi adds some bite. It's delicious and my family agreed.

Carrot Kohlrabi Bake
from Birds & Blooms

Ingredients
3 medium kohlrabies, peeled and chopped
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 c chopped onion
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 1/2 c milk
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 c soft bread crumbs

Microwave carrots and kohlrabies in a little water on High for 10 minutes. Drain off the water.

In a small skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Add flour, salt and pepper. Stir until blended. Cook for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk a little at a time. Each time you are waiting for the sauce to thicken before you add the next bit of milk. Add about 1/4 c each time. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened again.

Pour sauce, parsley, lemon into carrot/ kohlrabi mix and stir. Dump into a greased two quart baking dish (basically a little smaller than a 9x13 pan). Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs. (See recipe below to make them.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Soft Bread Crumbs
frozen bread
food processor

I keep these on hand in a bag in the freezer. My kids don't like the ends of bread loaves so I collect them in a bread bag in the freezer. I also use my mistakes - bread that just didn't rise enough when I made it. Or rolls that are always leftover from whatever party/ holiday event was most recent. When I have enough bread frozen, I pull out the food processor. Just put the slices in and turn that baby on. Pulse it until you have large crumbs, then put them all back in the bag and back in the freezer. Easy! You can use them to top mac n cheese, or just about any casserole. You can also use them to bread fish like this. What do you put them on?

The Most Incredible Poundcake Recipe EVER

UPDATE: Welcome pinners. This has become my most popular recipe to date! Wow, you all are really looking for a good great poundcake. I can tell you, you've found it. I hope while you are checking this one out, you'll poke around some other recipes. One easy way to do this is by season. Click on the seasonal link in the cloud list on the right hand sidebar and see what you can make right now. Or you may be interested in the other cakes I've made, including some fun birthday cakes. Either way, I'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment or shoot me an email. tochickenville {at} gmail {dot} come. Thanks for visiting!

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Secret Recipe Club alert!! Why "secret"? In the Club we are assigned another food blog from the members and then secretly make one of their recipes. This month, I was assigned Anne From My Sweet Heart, a blog laser focused on desserts. Just so happens this is a GREAT time for me to make a cake. My aunt, my mother-in-law, brother, AND sister-in-law (she of the Kickin' Vinaigrette dressing) all have birthdays in April!! The kids spend at least two days making all of their cards and sometimes I get to spend some time in the kitchen cooking up a celebration dinner. This month, I got to make dinner for my brother and his wife for their birthdays. My parents joined us for the evening. It was loud  (actually our house is always loud with four kids) with lots of laughing and fun. The big kids put on a gymnastics's show AND a theatre production.

Mom and Dad brought the main dish, a pork loin, which I seasoned and my husband grilled. As usual it was moist, delicious and perfectly delicious. You cannot miss with my Disappearing Pork Loin recipe. I made Kohlrabi-Carrot Bake, Broccoli Salad (which I did not get enough of on Easter), homemade Honey Wheat Seeded bread, cheese grits, a green salad and the afore mentioned delicious pound cake.

This cake is moist and held a perfect crumb. The bottom crust was crispy, but the inside was soft. I served it with strawberries macerated in sugar (directions in the recipe below) and Breyers vanilla bean ice cream. My husband went back for a plain piece because he said the berries just got in his way of tasting the amazing cake. I swapped out a little of the vanilla in the original recipe for some almond, which took it over the top (this does not make it almond tasting, it only adds a little depth of flavor). Whatever you choose, make sure it's good quality, pure extract, not imitation, because it will be the dominate flavor.

This recipe turned out to be the best poundcake I've ever tasted!! Right up there with my favorite cake - Famous Fresh Strawberry Cake. I'm not kidding you folks, this was really THAT good. Find an excuse to make this cake and you will be a hero to your family.

Cream Cheese Poundcake
From My Sweet Heart

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (my preference or you could do lemon, more vanilla, or something else)
6 large eggs
3 cups of sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray and then sprinkle some flour over the spray. Shake it around until the flour covers the oil and then tap out the excess. It should look like this. If you don't have a bundt pan, you can bake it in two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pans for 60 minutes.

In the mixer bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until creamy. Gradually add the sugar with the mixer still running, and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the salt and extracts. Add the eggs to the mix, one at a time. Beat well after each addition. This is easy when you have a little helper.

Stop the electric mixer and sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. With a rubber spatula, gently stir the flour into the mix, until no traces of flour are seen and the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake on center rack for 75 minutes. The top should be golden and become slightly cracked; and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.  Transfer to a wire rack and let the pans cool for 15 minutes. Carefully turn the cake out of the pan onto a wire rack for cooling.

To serve with strawberries. While cake is baking, wash, hull (remove the stems) and cut up the berries. Sprinkle with sugar. Let stand in fridge, every once in a while, give them a stir. You want them to sit for an hour or so. When they are ready, there will be a nice juicy, sweet syrup in the bottom of the bowl.

The most perfect Poundcake recipe EVER. Happy Birthday Nadia and Jason!!

Cheesy Crackers

We made these delicious, crispy cheese crackers in animal shapes to celebrate the arrival of spring. We made them in small animal shapes like pig, bunnies, and chicks. Please note: no animals were harmed in the making of these crackers! ;)

These are little like Cheeze It's but way better! Maybe more like a cheese straw (if you are from the south). They were for a preschool snack and were a big hit. What kid doesn't love cheese and crackers??

Besides the rolling out part, they were really easy. They were delicious plain, but you could serve them with a soft dip or hummus. They are pretty brittle, so it would need to be a smooth dip to keep them from breaking.

Cheesy Crackers

from Family Fun Super Snacks

Ingredients

1 1/4 c flour

1/8 tsp baking powder

1 c (4 oz) grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 c cold butter, cut into chunks

1 tbsp and 1 tsp ice water

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Pour flour and baking powder into food processor and turn on to combine. Add the cheese and the butter. Process until well mixed. Add the water and process again. You should end up with a dough like below.

Since we mixed the entire thing up in the food processor, it was easy clean up, we just tossed the parts in the dishwasher.

We rolled out dough out to 1/8 inch thick, but I think a little thicker would have been better. Use plenty of flour on your rolling surface and pin. Cut into your shapes with cookie cutters and place on an ungreased sheet pan. You know I'm going to say, use a silpat here! ;)

Bake for 7-9 minutes until the bottom is golden. Cool on the baking sheet. Store crackers in Tupperware for freshness.