Recipes from the Mount Bethel Swap

Munching away while I clean up. Please post your recipes and any pictures of the goodies. They are awesome.

Hummingbird Cake Recipe:
1 cup (110 grams) pecans, toasted and finely chopped
3 cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour
2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup (180 ml) safflower or canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 - 8 ounce (227 grams) can crushed pineapple, do not drain
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium sized bananas)
2 cups of coconut - toasted

Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound box (454 grams) (about 3 2/3 cups) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (55 grams) finely chopped pecans
Garnish: (Optional)
pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray two - 9 x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper.
Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop finely. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
In another large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, pineapple, mashed bananas, coconut, and finely chopped pecans. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and cream cheese, on low speed, until very smooth with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract and then stir in the finely chopped pecans.
To assemble: place one cake, top side down, onto your serving platter. Spread with about a third of the frosting. Gently place the other cake layer, top of cake facing up, onto the frosting, and spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Can garnish with pecan halves. Refrigerate the cake for about one hour so the frosting has time to set.
Serves 10 - 12 people.

That is some elaborate cake!! One taste of it and you know that lots of love, wonderful ingredients, and work went into it. One of the things that I had for breakfast today. Hooray for a "breaking the diet" day.

well there is a lot of fruit in it... LOL

Allison that was one yummy cake!!!
Make sure Michelle gets this recipe, she wanted it...

OLIVE - NUT MIXTURE FOR FINGER SANDWICHES or crackers
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. finely chopped nuts (pecans)
1 c. chopped pimento stuffed olives, well drained
Dash of pepper
Blend the softened cream cheese with mayonnaise until very smooth - no lumps. Stir in chopped pecans, olives and pepper. Mix well, cover; place in refrigerator overnight. Set out at room temperature for about 1 hour until ready to use for little tea-type sandwiches.

HEATH BAR COFFEE CAKE OR DESSERT
2 c. brown sugar
2 c. flour
1 stick butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. soda
Dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Nuts
1 c. milk or sour milk
6 Heath bars - freeze them, they smash up better with a hammer
Mix brown sugar, flour and butter like a pie crust. Remove 1 cup and set aside. To the remaining mixture, add the milk, egg, soda, salt and vanilla. Mix well. Pour in a 9x13 inch greased pan. Sprinkle the 1 cup of dry mixture over the top.
Smash the Heath bars with a hammer (in wrappers). Sprinkle over top. Add nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Freezes well. Put Cool Whip on top for dessert.

All of the above were delicious - will definitely them!
For newcomers or anyone else who didn't get this recipe last SWAP! For the SWAP I made 1 1/2 the amounts listed below.

Jessica’s Curried Chicken, Potato and Egg Salad (6-8 + servings)

Ingredients: Adjust this recipe to suit YOUR tastes! Experiment!

1 cup cut up cooked chicken (I bought a pre-roasted chicken. I favored the white meat but used some dark)
1 lb. boiled red gourmet, yellow or white potatoes (About 4 if large potatoes)
4 - 5 hard boiled eggs, mashed or chopped fine
1/2 - 1 finely chopped medium onion
1-2 stalks chopped celery (can substitute lovage)
1/2 lb. bacon cooked until crisp for crumbling
Any other veggies (chopped colored sweet peppers, carrots (very thin slices), broccoli, etc. for taste and color).
2 -3 tsp dried tarragon or 3-4 tbs. fresh (A must with the chicken!)
Chopped fresh parsley plus: basil, lemon balm, cilantro, lovage, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc - experiment with your own combination!
1-3 tsp mild curry to taste
1/2 tsp garlic pepper, lemon pepper, plain or blended gourmet pepper mix, Garlic & Herb seasoning (McCormick salt free is fabulous!), celery salt, regular or seasoned salt in small quantities. *(Remember: Mayonnaise is salty!)
2-3 tbs. cider vinegar (This brings out all the flavors!)
1 heaping tsp capers (optional)
Mayonnaise as needed to bind and moisten
Cherry tomatoes and parsley for garnish

Cook potatoes till done but not mushy. When cool, cut into bite-sized pieces.
Boil eggs and chop or mash fine. In large bowl combine chicken, potatoes, and eggs.
Add onion, veggies, capers and all seasonings. Add cider vinegar and toss gently.
Mix in mayonnaise until correct consistency.
Sample & adjust seasonings.

Best to put in fridge and let sit overnight for flavors to mingle. Next day add more mayonnaise if needed as well as any other adjustments for seasonings.

Garnish with tomato wedges and parsley.

This message was edited May 15, 2011 6:01 PM

Oh good! I was hoping to get these recipes! I'm printing them out! Here is mine. I got it from my sister-in-law who got it from someone else. There are different versions of it on the web.

Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad

Marinate ahead: Mix the following ingredients and refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving or overnight. I've gotten away with less though. First mix the sugar, vinegar and ramen noodle seasoning packs, then the rest of the wet ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

2 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup chives or green scallions chopped or sliced
3/4 cup mild vegetable oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cider or white vinegar
Oriental flavored seasoning packs from the ramen noodles

Dry Ingredients:
Keep these ingredients separate from the marinade above until just before serving. Otherwise, it won't be crunchy.

3 packages of Maruchen Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad. I've used Nissin brand too. Use the seasoning packs for the marinade above.
1 1/2 cup raw sliced almonds.
1 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds.

Toast the nuts and seeds in the oven on bake for about 7-8 minutes. Spread them out on a cookie sheet or similar. Don't pile them up. I do it in three batches because of the size of the pan I use.
Break up the ramen noodles into small pieces. You can do this in a food processor or by hand.
Store in dry container.
When ready to serve, mix the marinade with the dry ingredients.

Loretta that salad was AMAZING
Gardadore, I made that salad from your recipe you posted last year, did you do something different this year??? it didn't taste the same

It never does taste exactly the same because it depends on what I have available herb wise. There also may have been more potatoes this time than before. I also ran out of the mild curry I am used to and substituted one by McCormick - it just isn't the same. I added celery rather than lovage. The lovage gives it a nice pungent taste so I won't leave that out again. I also didn't put in the fresh lemon balm since it was late at night when I remembered it and I didn't want to go out into the garden! Did you prefer one over the other? What did you think the difference was? Maybe then I can figure out what else I added or left out! I usually use a lot of fresh herbs from my garden but didn't this time partially because things are just coming in.
I imagine when you made it that it tasted a little different as well since you were using your own combinations of seasonings.That's the fun of the salad!

thank you Loretta.. Michele and I will be very happy trying that one out!!!

gardadore, I can never tell what a dish needs or is missing, all I could tell is it tasted different...LOL

As long as it was still edible that's all that matters!! LOL

I've been playing in the dirt and eating my way thru the leftovers which keeps me in such a good mood!! Jessica's chicken salad for lunch yesterday. Stormy's foccacia with cocktails. Roasted beets with my grilled chicken for dinner. Wind's delicious Mexican Fruit Salad for dessert. Today I finished off the Hummingbird Cake and my DH had half of one of the delicious loaf cakes. Mostly everything else was all eaten up on Saturday and it's a good thing, too!

That does it I'm coming back up. LOL

shall I make another cake???

;)

Just bought another roast chicken today!

gardadore - I didn't get to taste it the first time but I thought it was great just the way it was!