Do NOT Fear Food: Citrus Upside Down cake....MADE FOR MOMMIES!!!

Do NOT Fear Food: Citrus Upside Down cake....MADE FOR MOMMIES!!!: Ok I told you my story about baking...I'm just not that kind of gal!  But I did end up baking my upside down cake, making it a bit mor...

Citrus Upside Down cake....MADE FOR MOMMIES!!!

Ok I told you my story about baking...I'm just not that kind of gal!  But I did end up baking my upside down cake, making it a bit more user friendly!!!  So here you go!

Number 1.... I actually used a simple golden boxed cake mix, but I substituted water for Butter Milk, added a nice swig of pure vanilla, (ladies spend the money on the real stuff, it's so much better) and then followed by the rest of the ingredients.  Remember don't add the water, use the butter milk, wait till you see what this does.

Number 2.... I zested one blood orange, one navel orange and one grapefruit and added the zest to the cake mix.  Don't be afraid of grapefruit, it takes on a whole new level of flavor once baked.

Number 3.... I lined my bundt cake pan with parchment paper and laid several slices of peeled oranges, blood oranges, and grapefruit on the parchment paper.  Butter the pan before so that it all comes out easily.

Number 4....and OMG this is the best part.  I combined 1/2 cup of regular granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of light or dark brown sugar and 4 tablespoons of butter to a sauce pan, heated it on a low fire and let it all come to a simmer until the sugar was melted.  It kind of clumped up after that so instead of adding more butter, I decided what would it hurt of I added an orange liqueur to get it all unclumped! GUESS WHAT?  it worked I now had a nice smooth creamy caramel.

Number 5... I poured that creamy caramel all over the top of my orange and grapefruit slices, then with a liqueur and a prayer, I added just a couple of tablespoons more of the orange liqueur to add a bit more flavor or at least that's what I was hoping would happen

Number 6...I poured the cake mix over the top of my orange slices, homemade caramel with orange liqueur and leveled it out.

Number 7....I leveled out my cake mixture all while preheating my oven to the temperature on the cake mixture box.  Then placed the bundt pan in the oven...remember this is NO FEAR FOOD, so you don't need to use a bundt pan, you can use a flat pan, or a spring pan, or just a simple cake pan (with that being said you may not need the entire amount of cake mixture)  PLAY!  PLAY!! PLAY!!!  remember DO NOT FEAR YOUR FOOD or YOUR BAKING...if it does not come out as planned, pour some more caramel on it or some Triple Sec,  have some fun!!!

Then bake that puppy for as long as the box says, test it before removing it from the oven, meaning stick a fork, or a toothpick in it, make sure it comes out clean, then your cake is ready.  THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO DO WITH IT... just turn your pan over on a plate and be amazed at the beauty of this perfect cake....it's great warm with ice cream or just room temp with a glass of sweet wine.  ENJOY AND DO NOT FEAR YOUR FOOD!!!

Baking.......???????

So baking really isn't my thing...it's too scientific, and I absolutely hate to read recipes!!!  But I'm going to give it a try tonight!  And it's not going to be boxed cake.  I'm trying, for the very first time, an upside down cake. 

This one will be a citrus upside down cake...geeze what am I thinking?  Citrus in this house is risky.  I love it, but some don't.  I love grapefruit, and I don't think anyone else does except for my grapefruit XS Energy drinks.  Side note, those Grapefruit XS Energy drinks are great with a shot of cucumber vodka!  

OK back to the cake, I promise to take pictures, along with the bakers prayer in the sidebar.  LOL

Years ago, I found out that St. Lorenzo was the patron saint of Chefs and cooks, and now I'm hoping bakers.  Well St. Lorenzo sits proudly in my kitchen window looking over me and reminding me on a daily basis that the pizza has been in the oven too long, or the lasagna is starting to bubble over.  He's been a great friend along with my wine glass.

So with my head in a bakers book, and my wine beside me and St.  Lorenzo in the window, I will attempt to bake my very first citrus upside down cake!  Bear in mind that I'm not using a particular recipe, which is sort of scary to me, I'm going to attempt my own version with some guidance from a simple cake recipe.

Wish me luck!  I'll keep you posted!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Pineapple Rice!!! YUM!

Yep Sweet and Sour meatballs!!!  Have you ever gone to a Chinese restaurant and you order something sweet and sour and just wonder "how the heck do they do this?"  I did all of the time!  What a yummy flavor, it's seems like only in dreams  LOL

Well it's much easier than you think!  In this dish all I did was make some savory meatballs with pork and chicken!  I like that combo, and being Italian pork is my favorite...I seem to chose that over beef or any other meat.  You can use whatever you like, this is not a law!  

I mixed a bag of sweet potatoes and cauliflower rice and a can of crushed pineapples with their juice into the meat, along with some breadcrumbs (for sturdiness), milk or cream, whatever is your fancy, and 2 eggs to hold it all together. Of course I added salt and pepper to taste!   Realize there are no real  rules to cooking (only baking) so use the appropriate amount of meat for your family!  I have a very large family so I had about 5 pounds of meat.  With that being said, you want to adjust the amount of sweet potato and cauliflower rice and I would not use an entire can of crushed pineapples, maybe half or less depending on how much meat you have!   I rolled them into nice size meatballs, about the size of my palm, then fried them in olive oil.  

In another pot I started my rice, again how much depends on  how many...of course if you want leftovers AND YOU WILL!  make more!  I used 4 cups of rice!  Instead of steaming my rice in water or broth, I steamed it in half pineapple juice and half water.  Using the typical 2 for 1 recipe for every one cup of rice I use two cups of liquid and steam or cook for 20 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed.  A fun additional way to cook rice is in an Instant Pot!  WOW what a nice sticky texture in that puppy!  HEHE

Then right next door to the meatballs and the rice, I started yet another pan...now this is where it starts to get really yummy!  In a fry style pan I added (once again to taste) so about 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of rice vinegar, or white if that's all you have, a few dashes or for those that don't like dash! then about 1 tablespoon plus a bit of soy sauce.  I let that simmer until the sugar is dissolved.  To all of this I pour in a whole can of pineapple juice and a few dashes of Sriracha or some other hot sauce, again whatever you have in your pantry and depending on your heat desire, some like it hot, others not so much and then there's me, I like to KNOW theres hot sauce in there, so my dashes are much larger!  I let that come to a very low simmer, not boil....then I make a slurry!  OK who knows what a slurry is?????  Should I have a test after this?  HEHE  NO....just have fun, a slurry is a mixture of cornstarch, (or cream of tartar, or arrowroot) and liquid, I do save about 1/2 cup of juice for this, I add about a tablespoon of the thickening powder and mix it up until it's smooth and creamy.  Once again, if it doesn't come out exactly as it sounds then add either more liquid or more starch, DON'T FEAR THE FOOD.  Then add this to the pineapple mixture and let is thicken up a bit, this may take about 3-5 minutes, this is just to add some consistency to the sweet and sour sauce.  

Once all of this is ready, your meatballs and your sauce, you add the fried meatballs to the sweet and sour sauce and let that simmer for about 1/2 hour, or more.  The longer is sits in that bath the better those meatballs are going to taste.  About half way through the simmer add some chopped red bell peppers and about I can of drained pineapples or fresh, again whatever makes you happy!  I just happened to have cans of pineapple in my pantry!  Thinly slice up some green onions, these are for the LOOK!!!  

Now for the finale!  In a bowl put however much rice you want, then slather on some of that yummy sweet and sour sauce and a few meatballs, sprinkle on some green onions for a beautiful dish....add a glass of white wine (or red) whatever is your fancy, and ENJOY!!!!!!  

And always remember DO NOT FEAR FOOD!!!