Ninja Foodie Texas Sheet Cake for Two

 

This cake is delicious and an excellent way to stop me from eating my way through a full sheet cake.  There is so much chocolaty goodness and I’m so weak.. lol.

 It will actually serve four to six people at one serving per person but I just had to make sure there would be cake at breakfast to go with a cup of coffee.  I deserve it for making a smaller cake, RIGHT? 

My Ninja Foodie is the One Lid 6.5 qt but it’s fine to use the larger one.  I used the Fat Daddio's 8 x 3" Round Cake pan and a silicone cover.  Here are the links for those and the 7" as well.  If anyone tries it with a bundt cake, let me know and show some pictures!   I'm sure it will work. 

 It takes about 15 min to stir up the batter and the frosting cooks up in about 5 min.  Cook time is 20 min, so it takes about 40-45 min to make this recipe. 

 I made the cake and frosting on the stove, but you could absolutely make the cake and frosting in the NF pot if you wanted but you will still have to wash the pot in-between.  Anyway, I’m sure you can figure that out, I just wanted you to know that you COULD make the whole recipe in the NF. The object is to get the icing onto the cake while the frosting and the cake are both still hot.

SO... let's get started

Ingredients:

Cake batter:

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
•  2 ½ cups of water for the steam in the foodie
  

Cake frosting:

•        2 tablespoons butter
•        1 tablespoon cocoa powder
•      1½ tablespoons milk
•        1 cup powdered sugar
•        ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
•       ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
•      ¼ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts or NO nuts if you like)

Instructions

To make the cake:

Note: I used an 8x3” Fat Daddy round cake pan and it makes a really thin cake which is similar to how the larger sheet cakes do it.  You could use a 7” round pan and have a thicker cake.  Just use a toothpick to check the center when baked and add a couple of minutes to cook more if needed.  Remember, this is a really soft cake anyway.  I used olive oil to coat the pan but you can also use butter. 

•       Coat the cake pan with olive oil or butter. 
•       Stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
•       In a 1-quart saucepan (or the Ninja Foodie Pot), heat the butter, water, and cocoa powder over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until mixture comes to a light simmer and butter has completely melted.
•      Slowly whisk in the dry ingredients until well mixed.
•       Whisk in egg white, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Bake the cake:

•      Pour 2 ½ cups of water into the Ninja Foodie pot and turn the vent to steam.
•      Cover the cake pan with a silicone lid or foil.
•     Place the filled, covered cake pan in the NF rack on the low figuration and lower into the NF.
•     Slide the lever to Steam Crisp
•     Set the NF to 300 Degrees and 20 minutes.
•      Turn it on.  It will take about 10-15 min to come to pressure and then it will begin counting down.
•    When the NF shuts off, Check the cake with a toothpick.  It’s a soft cake, but if you feel it should cook more, just shut the lid and set the NF to cook for 3 more minutes. 
•       You can leave the cake in the pan or turn it out onto a plate to get ready to pour the icing on. 

Make the Frosting.

•        I made the frosting in a 1-quart pot on the stove, but you can make it in the NJ pot after you take out     the  cake if you want to keep this a 1 pot project. 
•        Melt the butter and add the cocoa powder and milk and stir until the mixture is simmering.
•         Turn off the heat and start adding the confectioners sugar ¼ cup at a time while you whisk it. 
•       If it’s too thick turn on the heat again and add a tablespoon of milk. 
•       Add the nuts if you are using them. 
•       Immediately pour the icing over the cake.
•       Let the cake cool for at least an hour, 2 is better if you can resist!  ENJOY!
  

Ninja Foodie OL 501 - Mexican Green Stew/Soup

 

Ninja Foodie Mexican Green Chili Stew

 

 

I just started making this soup about a year ago in my slow cooker and it simmered for about 8-10 hours.  I made it again last night in about an hour including prep, pre-pressure, cook time and pressure release.  It was delicious and I’m even more excited about my Ninja Foodie OL501 cooker as I learn the science behind the different cooking methods.  I’ll bring you along as I go.

 

Ingredients

2lbs of pork

4 cups of chicken stock or beef broth low sodium

I can of stewed tomatoes  - Drain the liquid and save

4 tbsp olive oil                       

1 lb Yukon gold potatoes ( you can use any firm potato)

4 carrots 1/4 “ rounds

5 cloves of garlic

1 yellow onion

½ to 1 cup celery to taste

1 cup of corn

8 oz can of hatch or green chilis, you can also add fresh Jalapeno

Fresh parsley to taste ( you can substitute Cilantro if you like it)

2 tsp of chili powder

1 tsp of Cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

¼ cup flour

3 tbls of cornstarch

 

Directions:

Prep:

Cut the pork into cubes about 1” in size

Cut up the potatoes, carrots, celery

Rough chop the garlic

Mince the parsley

Open the can of tomatoes and drain and save the liquid.  Rough cut the stewed tomato slices while in the can.  You can use diced tomatoes but they get lost in this soup

 

Cook:

Turn on the NF and place the slide on Air Fry / Stovetop

Turn the knob to Sear/Saute and add the olive oil to heat up while you prepare the meat

Add the salt and black pepper to a brown bag or zip lock and toss the pork cubes in flour/salt/pepper mixture until fully coated.

Add the pork to the heated olive oil and stir until well Browned

Remove pork and put to the side

Add in the garlic and onions and saute until the garlic just begins to brown

Deglaze the pan with liquid saved from the stewed tomatoes removing all the delicious brown bits from the pan

Begin adding in the cut potatoes, celery and carrots

Add the stewed tomatoes

Add the 4 cups of Chicken Broth

Stir the spices into ½ cup water (you can also substitute beer for the water to add a little flavor)

 

Pressure cook:

Push the slide to from Air Fry / Stovetop to Pressure

Close the lid and seal the valve

And pressure cook on high  for 20 min

Natural pressure release.  For 10 minutes

Quick release…

 

After opening… mix the cornstarch and use to thicken the soup as you desire.  I love the thinner soup but it thickens nicely with cornstarch.

 

This soup freezes beautifully and is a welcome quick dinner which can also be reheated in the NF on some night when time is at a minimum and you are tired and hungry.

 

ENJOY and please comment later if you make this recipe.

 

2020 Garden Wrap-up

 

 I think all in all, the 2020 Garden was a success, even with a Covid 19 pandemic and pretty much finished as the heavy heat hit in July. The winter garden gave us a lot of enjoyment from the spinach, kale and lettuce I planted in late September.  It was still in full swing when the big freeze hit in February.  The above freezing temps weren't bothering it at all and it wasn't until temps fell into long periods of below 25F and then to freezing sleet and snow that it finally died off.  That was a fluke storm so I'm still going to plant again next year and might get all the way to the spring with the greens this time if we don't have another big freeze.  I LOVED using the straw bales and I’m definitely doing that again.

Hay Bales - Let's talk about the bales.  It was a success and I'm going to plant them again this year and increase the formation and the number of bales.  The cucumbers grew very well as did the Roma tomatoes and green beans.  In my garden, the problem is always sun and getting enough of it.  I do get at least 6 hours in the main garden area.  I tried to grow in four bales against my fence with just the morning sun but it just wasn't enough.  I did get a few green beans and cucumbers but that was about it.  The bales were REALLY starting to break down by June.  I think I may have over-conditioned a little but I think mostly it’s the Gulf Coast humidity just breaks them down faster than what gardeners in other Zones experience.  I don’t think I’ll ever get two seasons from my bales.  But let me say this, the compost left from them is STELLAR.  I used a lot of it in my containers and I’m going to use the rest for potatoes in the Spring.  I'm trying somthing new in 2021 so stay tuned.

Again, the squash was a miserable disappointment and the squash borers found the plants every time, even when I used the sevin dust.  I think it's important to get a jump in the spring, get what fruit I can before they show up in late June.  

Tomatoes were growing GREAT in the pot and and in the bales.  The problem again was squirrels.  I tried everything.  I put these little bags over the tomatoes but they stole those too and drug them out into the yard.  I have a new plan of attack for 2021 so stay tuned for that as well!  On a side note, I loved the Brandywine tomato at first but I swear, I think it fell to every single tomato difugalty in the book.  Whoever said they were not disease resistant was telling the dang truth.  I'm not growing it again this next year.  I tried a determinant tomato for a late season run that I planted in July, but they stupid squirrels got that too.  I also didn't like the cherry tomato I grew because the fruit was the size of grapes or blueberries and I just didn't like it.  I'll be looking for a bigger size cherry next year.

As for garden timing, I started all the seeds I used in February and it really went really well.  I think using those jiffy pods helped.  I was also conditioning straw bales (started on 2/22)  during this time and was ready to get plants in the dirt and bales on March 7^th.  I think it was a little early for the peppers to go out, I think the still cool evenings stunted them as they didn’t do well at all.  I also think a possum was visiting them.. lol.

 

I started using a watering system this year and I don’t know how I ever lived without one.  This is one of the best new ideas I’ve had for the garden.  I did have help from my husband to put it in but really, It’s so simple that anyone can do it.  I am using it abain and expanding it for the new garden set up.  I got some of the original set up from Drip Depot and then I discovered that there is a sprinkler warehouse close to me and got the rest from them.  I highly recommend putting in the time and money.  It’s not that expensive at all and worth it in the long run.

 

Well, so much for looking back, time to move forward and get on with Spring 2021.

20 Days in & The Mushrooms have arrived!

Now we are about 20 days in and I think the Garden is looking pretty good.  It looks like the soil amending I did is paying off.  The kale and the lettuce is crazy and we are eating salads as well as cooked spinach and kale almost every day.  This is one of the instances where these smaller tubs are actually producing MORE food than we can eat.  I’d definitely be giving away k6ale if I weren’t under a stay at home order for COVID 19, it’s growing like crazy.  The bales are coming along very nicely as well.  So far, I love growing in the bales.

When the mushrooms first popped up, I admit I panicked a little.  WTH is this I thought, sure that my efforts to hay bale garden were doomed.  But a few trips to the Facebook groups let me know that all was ok and they would go away.  These are Inky Cap Mushrooms and have been used in the past to actually make ink.  I tried pulling them but there was really no point.  They would wilt in the sun by 1pm or so and be totally restored by the next morning.

As you can see, the mushrooms inky black gets onto the plants but again, I was assured that this would not harm them and it didn’t.  They do eventually go away which I was very glad to see. But it’s really a good thing to see them because it means that the bales are properly breaking down and it’s going to be a good season!

Another little panic happened with all this grass.  Seasoned gardeners told me it would go away and it did.

Planting the Container Garden - March 7 Planting Day

After the haybales were planted, it’s time to get going on the container garden Charles built for me.  I love it so much.  It’s just high enough for me to work in it comfortably and it was really reasonable to build.  Even so, Charles mutters about our food being the most expensive in the state…. Lol.

I have reworked all the soil and added good container soil as well as compost and 13-13-13 fertilizer, which I also used on the hay bales in the last stage of conditioning.  I try to rotate the plants from year to year, but it’s really hard with this small of a garden space and I also have to consider the plants that need the most sun, because that’s premium real estate here.  The way I handle that is to pretty much take all the soil out, amend it and put it back in.  Cant do that with a ground garden huh?

 

This year, I bought this tub from Arbor Gate specifically for my slicer tomatoes.  I decided to plant Brandywines and I bought those from Arbor Gate as well.  Brandywines are notorious for getting various defugalties so I’ll have to keep an eye on them.  I am going to pay close attention to pruning them as well.  They are an indeterminate tomato so they are really going to grow and get out of hand if I don’t keep at them.  

I started these cherry tomatoes (that’s what I call all small tomatoes) from seed and they are Burpee Red Currants.  These will need watching as well since they are also indeterminate and will definitely crawl all over the place.

This is something new this year because I wanted to do all I can to provide food for pollinators and invite to my garden.  These are African Blue Basil plants and Beverly at Arbor Gate said they are the best way to get bees to visit because they love them.  I’ll show a video of them in another blog post.  I also planted some Ferry Morse Butterfly Flower and some seeds we bought while in the Italian Alps, Gentiana Acaulas, Alpin Enzian.  I started those in the Green house and I'll say more about them later.

This year I decided not to grow bell peppers and grow Poblano peppers instead.  I grew the Ferry Morse Poblanos and Habaneros from seed which was a huge success!  Starting the seeds and using the greenhouse is fun and saving me money.  Maybe now Charles won’t call them the most expensive peppers in the US anymore!

The Oregano over-wintered very well and I took this opportunity to thin them and transplanted a few pots to give to my friends.  Unfortunately, the COVID 19 virus hit and I couldn’t deliver them.  So, I’ve just been watering them because I don’t really have a place for them.  I also added these flowers, Calabrocoa Superbells in a further attempt to bring pollinators.

I planted these Basil plants I bought from Arbor Gate.  I tried unsuccessfully to grow these from seed and it was disappointing.  We eat a LOT of Basil and I am hoping to be able to freeze some in cubes for the upcoming winter so I’ll need to plant more as we go along.

I was a little thrown with what to do with these tubs because I planted them at the end of January on a whim with Kale, spinach and lettuce and they grew like gangbusters.  I know the lettuce isn’t going to last through heat so I’ll just plant this tub a little later.  I found some room at the back of the Kale tub for some Cayenne pepper plants that I bought from Arbor Gate.

Planting the Bales

Now that the bales are conditioned and the temperature has dropped I was very excited to actually get started planting.  This gauge worked ok but next year, I'll be ready with a longer one to get to the middle of the bales. Planting these bales is some of the easiest planting I've ever done.  I just used a spade to gently pry an opening and popped the plants in.  Easy Peasy!  I used some potting soil on top of one bale to hold seeds in place but other than that, it was all done in about 30 min.  So far so good!

 

I decided to put Strawberries at the ends of two of the bales.
 

I'm happy to get this yellow summer squash in.  I know... I'm going to have to fight the squash borers.

This is the Cucumber row and I'll be training them up this trellis.  There are a couple of bean plants in there as well.  They are supposed to grow well together.

These are the Roma Tomatoes I grew from seed.  This is my first successful seed transplant ever!  I put down some


I think this bale is probably going to suffer because it's going to get less sun.  I have laid down about 2" of potting soil on the top to sew carrots.  I have never been successful with carrots but I'm going to try again because Charles loves them.  Planted a couple of strawberries at the end of this bale too.

Now that the bales are planted, it's time to get on with planting the container garden!