belle cooks

chocolate buttercream cupcakes

Had to do something special for all of my dessert lovers! This recipe is pretty easy since you can do everything in one bowl. If you’ve got a stand mixer you’re in luck cause you can throw everything in there and just walk away. These are my favorite cupcakes because the creaminess of the icing takes the cake to a new level.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
3/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon (kosher) salt
2 eggs
2 cups of milk
1 stick of melted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Icing Ingredients:

2 sticks (1 cup) of soft butter
3 1/2 cups of confectionary sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt to a bowl & mix a bit just to blend your dry goods. Blend in eggs for about a minute.

3. Add milk, blend for another couple of minutes until consistent and then add your butter and vanilla extract. Once liquidy, yet consistent you’re ready to pour into your cup cake pans.

4. Put your cakes in the over and set timer for 20 minutes.

5. Take the butter for the icing and blend on medium for 3-4 minutes. Add in the confectionary sugar and cocoa powder about a cup at a time (otherwise it will blow everywhere).

6. Add milk and vanilla extract and blend for another 4-5 minutes. After this if you feel it is too runny, add more confectionary sugar. If it’s too hard, add more milk (teaspoon at a time).

7. After 20 minutes do a test to see if the cakes are done. If a toothpick comes out of them clean they’re ready. Let cool for 30 minutes or more, then apply icing.

Used your recipe to make chili - delicious! Please post more recipes/cooking tips/recipes you love.

THANK YOU for your cooking sagacity.

natural remedies from your kitchen

a pasta PSA

just a quick word about pasta preperation. stop adding oil to the water when you’re boiling it! i don’t know where this practice came from, but all it does it make your pasta slick such that the sauce slides right off. all you need is salt to make the pasta not stick together.

kinda jamaican oxtails

got some oxtails and when it came time to cook them i couldn’t decide between black american style or jamaican style. when i asked for opinion the jamaicans said “i didn’t know black americans made oxtails” and the southern blacks this way said “jamaicans do that too?”. so i just took what i like from both and came up with this. the technique is probably more american but i enjoy the ingredients of jamaican and spices of both. here’s what i came up with (and they are damn good):

prep time: several hours

ingredients:

3 lbs of ox tails

1 lime

1 cup of flour

3 tbsp of kosher salt

2 tbsp ground pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

16 oz of beef broth

1 beer (i used guinness)

2 stalks of celery

2 cans of tomatoes (or two tomatoes)

1 medium onion

2 carrots

2 garlic cloves

3 sprigs of thyme

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp celery seed

2-3 bay leaves

1 can of butter beans (optional)

preparation:

rinse your oxtails in cold water, squeeze a limes juice over them. take the flour, 2 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp of pepper and put it in a bag. in a large pot (or dutch oven preferably) heat your olive oil on high. in the meantime drop the oxtails a few at a time into the seasoned flour mixture and once the oil is hot, start to fry them.

once the oxtails are browned on all sides add the beer broth. let this simmer while you chop up your onions, carrots, tomatoes (if not canned), garlic and celery.

add all of your veggies to the broth and tails. now you’ll want to add all of the spices: thyme, salt and pepper, thyme, oregano, bay leaves and celery seed. stir it up and let it get to boiling point.

once it’s bubbling add your beer & reduce the heat. let it cook on low for around 3 hours (or until the meat seems to be falling off the bone) stirring occasionally. at this point you should add the beans and let it cook for another 20 minutes.

now you just have to decide whether or not you want to serve over rice or potatoes. i’m a divided soul in that regard, so it’s up to you :)

How to make Beer Batter

by request…i take those, you know. email me at lauren@bellecooks.com or use the message feature here if theres something you’re curious about. i’ll try to help!

beer batter is a simple way to really cook a fried food up a notch. I use it primarily for fish and onion rings but the skies the limit really. beer’s main function in the batter is to thin it out a bit but please never underestimate how much it contributes to the taste. for this reason I recommend using the best beer you can afford or have present. i’m not suggesting frying up some chi may necessarily, but maybe not miller high life.

ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 can of beer

1 egg

1 glove of garlic

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp paprika

preparation:

chop up your garlic as fine as possible, like really mince it. mix garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and egg in a boil. add in the flour and whisk it all together. gradually add beer, whisking to prevent lumps.

now you can add your cod, or vidalla, or twinkie. whatever.

make sure your oil is HOT before you drop anything with beer batter though. otherwise it’s falling into pieces.

winter sangria

it’s just so pretty, people always want this recipe. i’m sure it’s not a huge shock that i love a good drink since alcohol isn’t so different from food as far as quality is concerned. at the heart of a good drink is fresh ingredients and creativity.

prep time: 10 minutes

ingredients:

2 bottles of lambrusco

1 cup of orange juice

1 orange

1 honey crisp apple

1 granny smith

2 cinnamon sticks

3 tbsp sugar

preparation:

chop up the fruit & pour the sugar over it. mash it up with a fork just so that the sugar dissolves a bit & the juices release from the fruit.

pour in the liquids and give it a quick whirl. throw the cinnamon sticks in and let it settle for about 5 minutes. this only gets better with time so feel free to pre make it if you’re having an event.

louisiana sausage links

I recognize that this particular recipe won’t be all that applicable for most as it requires a meat grinder (or finding a butcher who will grind a pork butt for you) but considering how difficult it is to find good sausage recipes I’m sharing it none the less. Plus I figured even if you can’t make it, maybe you’re curious as to how it’s done.

prep time: 1 hr

yields: around 18 four inch links

ingredients:

3-4 lb pork shoulder butt*

1 cup of red wine (I use Sangiovese)

1/2 shallot

2 gloves of garlic

5 tbsp kosher salt

3 tbsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp cayenne

1 tbsp paprika (hungarian preferred)

1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp cloves

hog casings

preparation:

if you’re grinding it yourself start by removing all of the meat from the bone & cubing it. put the cubed meat, wine, chopped shallots and garlic and spices to a boil & mix it up a bit.

run it through the grinder twice on the most coarse setting you have. it needs to cycle through twice to be sure it’s texture is correct.

if you had it ground elsewhere skip that step and just mix all the ingredients together by hand.

stuff it into hog casings. twist & knot.

*it’s important to use the shoulder butt specifically. whats that? well animals who walk on all 4s have four shoulders, the one closest to the butt. it’s necessary because good sausage needs to have a specific ratio of fat and meat that is natural for this cut.

panko mozzarella sticks

i love me some panko, no other breadcrumb does the trick. if you aren’t privy they are japanese breadcrumbs that are more crispy and airy than the standard. don’t be intimidated though, you can find them at general grocery stores. this is a crunchy spin on the classic finger food that’s simple enough to make that theres no good reason not to indulge.

preparation: 10 minutes, freeze time 20-60 minutes, cook time 2 minutes

ingredients:

1 pack of mozzarella sticks

1 cup of all purpose flour

2 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 tsp salt

2 cups of panko

1.2 tbsp parsley

3 cups of canola oil

preparation:

start by cutting the sticks in half in the middle. take them and roll them around in the flour which will stick to them a bit. i like to just toss mine in a bag.

whisk together the egg, milk & salt in a separate bowl. swish the now floured cheese sticks around in it. some of the egg wash may roll off, so do it until the sticks are good and coated with liquid.

next mix together the panko & parsley on a plate and roll the egg washed cheese sticks in the breadcrumb mix until they are coated. place them in a freezer safe container & then freeze for 20 minutes minimum (but up to an hour is more ideal if you have time). this will help them to stay together when you fry them.

after they’ve frozen for a bit, heat the oil on high for about 5 minutes. you want to make sure it’s good and hot since dropping the sticks in too cool oil will make them fall apart. when you go to fry them just dip a tip in to see if it bubbles. when it does, drop them.

these cook pretty damn quickly so don’t go running errands when you cook them. 2 minutes may be all you need.

serve with marinara sauce or be like me and eat them by themselves. they’re that good.

not just a madvillan song

for christmas my dad got me a meat grinder in support of my all-fresh-everything kitchen movement. i was really excited about the prospect of making my own sausage (which is incredibly complicated, by the way) and other italian meats. it didn’t really occur to me that i could make my own burger though.

glad i did. there really is nothing better. i ground up a medley of new york strip, top sirloin and chuck to make meat balls. i also ran garlic cloves and an onion through so it’d get incorporated together.

that was really fun. now i want to be a butcher.