Impossible Taco Pie

By now, I’ve featured two other "impossible" pies on Caker Cooking. The first was Impossible Tuna Pie, which was, in fact, possible, so long as you had a box of Bisquick and a blender. The second was Impossible Pie, which was also possible, so long as you had Bisquick and a blen…Hey. Wait a minute. I think I just made a connection. Give me a few days to think it through.

In the meantime, please enjoy a grande helping of this delicious Impossible Taco Pie. Based on my extensive cookbook research, it seems that cakers love Mexican food more than any other. (See Taco Casserole for further proof.) I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s our passion for iceberg lettuce. Or all things corn. Or that we hang sombreros as décor in our rec rooms. Or maybe it’s simply our revenge on the Italians for labeling us “mangiacakes” in the first place.

Oh, who cares? The bottom line is that this pie is filling, flavourful and goes perfectly when served with a (pre-mixed) margarita. Muchos gracias, Mexico!

1 pound ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 ¼ cups milk
¾ cup Bisquick baking mix
3 eggs
2 tomatoes sliced (see note)
1 cup shredded old cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400º. Grease 10 inch quiche pan or large-sized pie plate (10 x 1 ½ inches). Cook and stir beef and onion over medium heat until beef is browned. Drain. Stir in seasoning well. Spread into pan. Beat milk, baking mix and eggs until smooth, 15 seconds in blender on high or 1 minute with hand beater. Pour into plate. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until knife inserted between centre and edge comes out clean, 8 to 10 minutes longer. Cool for 5 minutes. Serve with sour cream, chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce, if desired.

Note: The recipe doesn’t say what to do with the sliced tomatoes, so I added those when I put the cheese on.

UPDATE: Fellow food blogger, Yinzerella, happened to post her recipe for Impossible Taco Pie the same week as me. But does hers look better than mine? You be the judge. Check it out!

Source: Belleville Shrine Club

Caker Cooking Contest Winners!

A couple weeks back, I posted my first-ever Caker Cooking contest. Readers were eligible to win a copy of my recently-released paperback, Natural Order, and a handwritten caker recipe that has yet to appear on this blog!  Bob Barker has nothing on me. 

Five winners were selected at random. I’ve posted their names, along with the recipe they’re getting and where it came from. Suffice to say, five people are pinching themselves right now.

Thanks to everyone who entered – and happy cakering.

Brian

Winner 1: Mary P.

Recipe: Cherries in the Snow

From: With Hearts that Care and Hands that Serve, Outlook and District Volunteer Services

There's something kinda dirty about the name of this dish, but I won't dwell on it.

Winner 2: Luisa C.

Recipe: Creme de Menthe Balls

From: From Our Kitchens....With Love, Glen Ayr United Church Women

There's something kinda...well, I won't dwell on it.

Winner 3: Jen W. 

Recipe: Luscious Rum Gateau

From: Guess What's Coming for Dinner, 1977, Mothers and Others

Truthfully, I'd rather not know "what's" coming for dinner.

Winner 4: Tanis M.

Recipe: Chuck Wagon Casserole

From: Simple 'n' Special, St. Paul's United Church

"Simple 'n' special" pretty much sums up my life philosophy.

Winner 4: Mimi
Recipe: Pink Thing 
From: London Newcomers' Cook Book

I can't remember the last time someone served me Pink Thing, it's been that long.

Miracle Whip Cake

The world can be a traumatic place for cakers when we leave the ruffled curtain comfort of our homes. We have to adapt to new ways of thinking, especially when it comes to food. We learn that orange juice doesn't come from a powder; that whipped cream doesn't come in a container in the freezer section. And we learn that mayonnaise doesn't come in a jar labelled Miracle Whip.

As a condiment, Miracle Whip holds a place of distinction in most caker fridges. It goes into our spinach dips, tuna sandwiches and into our casseroles. In fact, many cakers still use Miracle Whip as a hair conditioner, which explains the funky aroma we have on hot days.

While using mayonnaise in a cake may not seem all that shocking (it replaces the eggs and oil, after all), Miracle Whip takes it to a whole other (caker) dimension. But when taste-tested among cakers and non-cakers alike, this cake got a big thumps up. It's moist, chocolately and light. I guess miracles really do exist.

2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup cold water
1 cup Miracle Whip
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together first 6 ingredients and add all at once the cold water, Miracle Whip and vanilla. Mix just until blended and pour immediately into a greased 9” x 12” greased and floured pan. Bake in 350º oven for 40-45 minutes.

Source: Belleville Shrine Club

After Dinner Mints

You never saw a bigger to-do in my family than when company came to visit. The beach towels would get taken off the living room furniture, the toilet tank fur would be washed, my dad would rake the orange-and-gold shag carpet and my mom would pace back and forth between the front door and the living room window, reminding me to not. Touch. ANYTHING!

After Eight mints were usually reserved for company visits. (Well, in my family, you were lucky if the mints made it until after four.) We even had a silver-plated container to hold the box. My mom was the portrait of sophistication as she passed the mints around, bathed in Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion perfume, asking if she could boil anyone another cup of Nescafé.

These mints reminded me of those company visits and After Eights. I realize that mints made with mashed potatoes might not sound too appetizing. But they’re pretty good. So long as you mash the potatoes really good. (No one likes a chunky mint.) And since potatoes are vegetables, it's safe to assume there’s a vitamin or two in each fluorescent one.

½ cup mashed potatoes
1 teaspoon peppermint flavouring
Food colouring to suit
2 ½ cups sifted icing sugar (see note)

Combine potatoes and half the sugar, add flavouring and colouring. Mix in remaining sugar until still. Knead until smooth. Roll into long rolls, then cut into bite-sized pieces. This mixture may be divided and different colours added – with one left plain (e.g. red, green, yellow, white). Good!

Note: I used more icing sugar to get the right consistency for kneading. It ended up being closer to 3½ cups.

Source: Cook Book of the Mount Royal United Church

Caker Sharing is Caker Caring

Am I paranoid, or is it weird to see Ontario strawberries in August? The way I remember it, there used to be a two-week strawberry season at the end of June. After that, you were SOL and left with those flavourless, heart-sized hollow things from California.

Anyway, I was recently contacted by Caker Cooking reader (and book publicist extraordinaire), Adria, about Frozen Fluffy Strawberry Pie. In her own words:

"Nothing brings back childhood summers more than the sweet smell of strawberries and condensed milk. Mum fancied herself a pie expert, famous for her apple pie with perfect Crisco-aided crusts. But the thought of turning on the oven in July after she’d picked Grandma’s berry bushes clean had her wincing. Frozen Fluffy Strawberry Pie to the rescue. Not for the lactose intolerant, this recipe brings together cream cheese, whipping cream, butter and condensed milk. Add that to some strawberries and coconut and you can basically rename it (Virgin) Strawberry Daiquiri Pie."

I don't know about you, but I don't consider anything with "virgin" in the name a selling feature. However, I'm sure this pie is delicious. Here's the recipe.

Thanks, Adria!

Do YOU have a caker recipe? Why hoard it in shame? Share it and you could be a caker celebrity! Email info@cakercooking dot com.

Sister Vincentia’s Cheeseburger Meat Loaf

As much as I love making (and eating) caker food, I also love the cookbooks the recipes come from. I recently created a cookbook gallery, along with the recipes I’ve featured from each one. Almost every recipe carries the name of the person who submitted it. Sometimes, on a lonely Saturday night, I wonder about these people. Are they still making their Pineapple Cream Cakes and Spaghetti Pies?

While there isn’t anything remarkable about this Cheeseburger Meat Loaf recipe, it was the name of the contributor that caught my attention: Sister Vincentia. It was the most non-caker name I'd come across. Who was she? What was her story? Then I remembered that, in this modern age, everyone is Googlable. So I came across this and was caught off guard by the sadness you sometimes feel for complete strangers.

I can’t resist renaming this meat loaf in her honour. “Sister Vincentia’s Cheeseburger Meat Loaf” has a way of rolling off the tongue, don't you think? Also, the name Vincentia means “the conqueror.” And let me tell you, she conquered this meat loaf. It’s moist and flavourful with a melted ribbon of cheesy goodness.

Wherever you are, Sister Vincentia, I hope the mashed potatoes are as fluffy as clouds.

2 eggs
½ cup light cream
2 slices stale bread, coarsely crumbled
1 small onion
¼ cup finely chopped celery
¼ chopped green pepper
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Dash garlic salt
2 pounds ground beef
3 slices yellow cheese
Tomato sauce or ketchup

Heat over to 350°. Beat eggs in medium mixing bowl. Add cream, beat. Add crumbs to egg mixture. Let set until bread becomes soft. Stir. Add all remaining ingredients except cheese and tomato sauce. Work mixture until well mixed. Place half of mixture into well greased loaf baking dish. Shape and flatten top until even. Lay slices of cheese on surface of loaf. Do not extend over edge. Place remaining meat mixture on top of cheese, shape loaf with hands, sealing edges well. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven. Spread tomato sauce over top. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer or until done. Yield 6-8 servings.

Source: Look ‘N Cook, Mothers Auxiliary, 4th Port Hope Brownie Pack, Port Hope

Peanut Butter Gems

This week, I’m introducing a brand-new feature called “Writers Cooking Caker.” It’s like when Stacy Q guest-starred as Cinnamon on Facts of Life.

Some of you might assume that writers don’t cook; that we’re too busy writing novels about elusive white whales or women involved in S&M relationships to even think about food. But that’s simply not true. After all, food is what feeds the imagination. And can you think of any food more imaginative than caker food? So every now and then, I’ll post a caker recipe from a fellow writer, along with some information about his or her latest book.

This week, I'm welcoming Dani Couture and her Peanut Butter Gems. Dani recently published her first novel, Algoma, a lovely and poignant book about a young family dealing with tragedy. Speaking of lovely, her Peanut Butter Gems ain’t nothing to sneeze at neither. They taste like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. You don’t even have to bake them! How caker is that? And they're delicious. (Especially when frozen IMHO.)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup butter
¾ pound icing sugar (3 cups)

Melt chocolate pieces in top of double boiler. Meanwhile mix together peanut butter, cracker crumbs, butter and icing sugar. Pat this into a 13 x 9-inch pan. (See note.) Spread the melted chocolate on top. Chill and cut into small squares. Freezes very well.

Note: I’m more of an 8 x 8-inch guy myself, so I used that instead. Trouble was, it made the chocolate layer thicker, which made cutting the squares harder, especially once the chocolate was set. If you make them in a square pan, ease up on the chocolate layer. Otherwise, it’ll be tough cutting through and your squares will end up looking more like geometrical shapes.



Source: Hometown Recipes of Amherstburg, Wesley United Church U.C.W.











BONUS RECIPE!!

Dani also passed along her recipe for Aunt Paulette’s Party Potato Bake. They’re like Schwartzies Hash Browns, only with more fat (if you can believe it) because they have a potato chip crust. Aunt Paulette, I'll party with your potatoes anytime.

Aunt Paulette's Party Potato Bake

1 bag of Cavendish hashbrowns (those ones where the potatoes are little square potatoes)
1 tub full fat sour cream
1 cup sharp cheddar
1 medium onion chopped
1 stick salted butter
1 cup crushed plain chips
Salt and Pepper to taste

Saute chopped onion in butter. Empty hashbrown bag into a large bowl, mix in room temp butter, sour cream, sauteed onion, and cheddar. Salt and pepper as you please. Layer mess into a baking tin so it's about 3" deep (too thin and it dries out) Sprinkle crushed chips on top. Bake at 350 for 20 odd minutes depending on your stove.

About Algoma:

A year after watching his brother go through the ice, twelve-year old Ferd refuses to believe Leo is gone. Convinced his brother is still alive, Ferd enters into a campaign of letters to persuade his brother to come home, "mailing" notes in any pool of water he can find. Soon, sopping notes begin to appear around the house – folded squares of paper in the rain reservoir, kitchen sink, and washing machine. Ferd’s mother, Algoma, finds the letters and keeps them to herself in an attempt to hide them from her increasingly distant husband. Gaetan, a bartender who obsessively records the weather, rejects his family’s increasingly erratic behaviour and disappears one night leaving behind his weather journal, a newly pregnant wife, and a son consumed with talking to the dead.

More info.