LIME CORNMEAL CAKE

For years I have read the food columns that Mark Bittman has written in the New York Times, have many of his cookbooks and VB6 books. I have written about him in previous posts. His latest cookbook is 'How to bake everything'.  It has just been published. I don't have a copy yet but I have been reading his blog with the new recipes. One recently posted caught my attention, lemon cornmeal cake. You can substitute ingredients and it is a quick cake to make.  The main ingredients are eggs, butter, sugar, flour, cornmeal, lemon juice and zest. It includes ricotta cheese but if you don't have ricotta you can use buttermilk instead.  You can also add blueberries, slivered almonds or other fruit or nuts.  

I didn't have lemons in the fridge but had limes that needed to be used. So instead of adding lemon juice and lemon zest, I used lime zest and fresh lime juice.  I also added half a cup of frozen cranberries.  The recipe uses 1.5 sticks of butter.  I pondered about using butter or coconut oil and did use butter.  One and half sticks of butter equals three quarters of a cup of butter.  The recipe uses one cup of sugar and instead I used half a cup of splenda.  My concession to making the recipe lower in calories and sugar. 

The cake was delicious and it will be one to make on a frequent basis. 

Batter in springform pan and ready to go into the oven.

Out of the oven and onto a serving plate.

Here is the link to Mark Bittman's blog site for the ingredients and directions to make this cake - 
Mark Bittman's recipe for lemon cornmeal cake.

DOG COOKIES

A colleague at work recently provided me with a recipe for dog cookies.  It is very simple to make.  It is based on tuna for protein and flavouring.  When I first read the ingredient list I thought these dog cookies could easily become savoury crackers.  I didn't use the best quality tuna in that I used light solid tuna in water.  I made likely 5 dozen cookies as I rolled them out thinly.  Both the dog and I like these cookies.  I did some sampling along with the dog after they came out of the oven.  We both thoroughly enjoyed them.  For the next batch that I make, I might half the ingredients and make less cookies.  If I was making them as savoury crackers, I would add herbs and roll them out very thinly.

Cooling off on the baking sheets.

In a storage container that is kept in the fridge. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 - 8 oz tin tuna in water, drained
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups flour
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

Using a mix master or food processor, add all of the ingredients into the bowl and mix on a slow speed for several minutes. If it is too dry or not binding, add a little bit of water and continuing mixing for another minute.  The mixture should resemble dough.  Roll out in the cookie pan to 1/4 or 1/2 inch thickness.  Score the dough into rectangular squares.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.  Let cool in the pan.  Makes at least 3 dozen cookies.  Store them in the fridge.