Kate’s Cuisine

1 teaspoon canola oil $0.02
1 large onion $0.47
2 teaspoons minced garlic, about 2 cloves $0.02
3 pounds lean pork roast $8.98
1 can Cola or Orange or Ginger Ale $0.25
1 cup ketchup $0.61
2 tablespoons brown sugar $0.02
2 tablespoons molasses $0.12
1/2 cup cider vinegar $0.28
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce $0.12
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce $0.12
1 cup apricot jam (or other fruit jam) $0.46

Total Cost   $11.47

1.) The night before: Heat oil in a large fry pan at medium heat. Finely chop onion and add to pan along with the garlic. Saute until onions are translucent, remove from heat and set aside.

2.) Meanwhile, place pork roast in slow cooker. Pour the following ingredients over the roast in this order: Cola, ketchup, brown sugar, and molasses. Stir.

3.) Add cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, and apricot jam to crock pot. Add sauteed onions to the pot, cover, and place to marinate in the fridge overnight.

4.) In the morning: Return pot to the outer crock, set on low heat and cook for 6 – 8 hours.

5.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here

This was a recipe that I had to try after watching Sandi Richard cook it on Fixing Dinner. Mostly what interested me was that it used jam and Coke as main ingredients, which seemed so weird to me I had to try it. Well, the pork is delicious, and it’s probably one of the tenderest pieces of pork you’ll ever cook. But, it’s not without its problems.

The first major problem has to do with the kind of crock pot I have. There is no insert that sits neatly inside the electrical casing. So when I make this, not only do I need to remember to defrost the pork two days in advance to give it time to thaw and marinate, but I also need to put it together in a different bowl only to transfer it to the crock pot. Not the recipe’s fault at all but, an irritant to me every time I cook this meal nonetheless. And I’m not a big fan of things that need more than a few hours to marinate. While I love the steeped flavour, I simply rarely have the time to pull together a meal more than 24 hours before I eat it.

That being said, who doesn’t love a good crock pot meal? This one is tender and yummy and comes with what every good crock pot recipe should – no muss, and no fuss!

The only Martha recipe I’ve ever been so incredibly disappointed by.

For the Cake:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for the pan $0.72
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans $0.55
3/4 cup cocoa powder $3.00
1 teaspoon baking soda $0.02
1/4 teaspoon salt $.01
1 cup granulated sugar $0.19
1 cup brown sugar $0.20
3 large eggs $0.51
2 teaspoons vanilla extract $0.44
1 1/2 cups buttermilk $1.31

For the Buttercream:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature $0.89
2 jars marshmallow cream $5.98
2/3 cup cocoa powder $2.66
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled $1.32
1 tablespoon vanilla extract $0.66

Total Cost: $18.46

1.) Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and lightly flour two 9″ round cake pans. In a bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

2.) In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well incorporated. Blend in vanilla.

3.) Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrapes the sides as needed along the way.

4.) Pour batter into pans. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before inverting cakes onto rack to cool completely.

5.) Make the buttercream: In mixing bowl, beat butter and marshmallow cream until fluffy. Beat in cocoa, chocolate, vanilla, and one tablespoon water. If too thin, refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

6.) Place one layer on platter. Spread top with 1 cup buttercream. Place second layer on top. Frost entire cake with remaining buttercream and sprinkle with decorations, if desired.

7.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here

When I made this cake for Maddie’s second birthday party, I wanted a cake that I made from scratch, because I had already laid out a feast and why stop now, and I wanted something rich and luscious with velvety frosting. I thought this would be perfect because on the Martha Stewart website, it said that it was the easiest buttercream frosting ever. And buttercream was just the thing I was going for. The fact that it used marshmallow cream to get this frosting did sound a bit odd to me but, how are you ever going to find new great things in the kitchen if you don’t branch out to weird sometimes?

I made the cake and I do have to say, it wasn’t the rich, ‘sink your teeth’ into cake that I was hoping for. It’s definitely much more “cocoa” than it is “chocolate” and yes, you can definitely tell a difference. Also, I made the cake the day before the birthday party. Coincidentally, I was also serving Thanksgiving Dinner as part of Maddie’s birthday so there were a lot of dishes to prepare. I made this the day before, iced it and all, and placed it covered in the fridge. In my mad rush around the kitchen the next day, I forgot to take it out until just minutes before the cake was served.

I’m not sure what happened between making it and serving it, and all the refrigeration in between, but something bad happened. The cake became a hard, dense brick that tasted even more like cocoa and even less like chocolate! Several, very accommodating guests, ate all of it while others, like myself, did not touch it. My brother-in-law said that it reminded him of the Passover cake his aunt makes and he loved it! So I guess it wasn’t a total flop. But to me it was. I don’t know what happened but this cake was not good.

I think even if it had remained the somewhat-airy texture it was before I put it into the fridge, I would not make this cake again. It’s just not that “Oh-So-Chocolatey” taste that I know my family looks for in their cakes and it was just too much trouble for the result.

So disappointing. If you have better luck with it, let me know!

Just as the name says, it’s simple and it’s Martha. What could be bad?

2 loaves Italian bread, torn into bite-sized pieces $3.98
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature, plus more for baking dish $0.30
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced $0.44
4 shallots, minced $2.00
2 garlic cloves, minced $0.02
Coarse salt and ground pepper $0.02
1/2 cup dry white wine $0.25
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped OR 1/4 cup dried parsley flakes $0.25
3 large eggs, lightly beaten $0.51
2 cups chicken broth $1.00

Total Cost   $8.77

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange bread in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Bake until crisp but not browned, about 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.

2.) In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add celery, shallots, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add wine until evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. At this point, you can keep the dried bread out and the vegetables in the fridge after cooking to pull the dish together easily the next day.

3.) To vegetables in bowl, add bread, parsley, and eggs. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and stir to combine. Mix in half of the broth. Continue adding broth just until the bread is moistened but not wet. There should be just enough liquid in the bowl as there is bread to soak it up, with none of the broth sitting in the bottom of the bowl.

4.) Just before roasting turkey, stuff the cavity with 4 cups of stuffing. Spoon remaining stuffing into a casserole dish. Cover with buttered aluminum foil and refrigerate. When turkey is taken out of oven to rest, place covered dish in oven, and bake until it is warmed through, 25 to 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes until crisp and golden.

5.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here

I had only made turkey stuffing once before making it this time for Thanksgiving. And that first time I made it, it was a total flop. And the last time I made it, I also got the recipe from Martha Stewart so I was holding my breath every step of the way with this one.

I have to say, when I pulled it out of the oven and taste tested it, it was fantastic! I didn’t think it would be so good because it was simple to pull together, and things that are easy to cook just can’t taste any good, right? I did dry out the bread crumbs and cook the vegetables the day before which made it a bit easier. Next time I will make sure to tear up the bread into much smaller pieces. That’s my bad, Martha specifically said ‘bite size pieces’ and I made them too big. I would also read all the way to the end of the recipe, where it talks about covering the dish with buttered foil before baking. Apparently, I missed that the day I cooked it and can only imagine how delicious that would be!

I’m so excited I can barely stand it!!! Exactly one week from today, Monday, November 9, the new edition of Woman’s World will be out on newsstands. And of course, this is so exciting to me because Kate’s Cuisine is to be featured in that edition!! Of course, in the magazine I talk about turkey slings as I do in my Roasted Turkey Tips, and how much easier they make cooking a turkey. When the writer for the magazine spoke to me over the phone she did say she couldn’t guarantee me a spot because sometimes things get cut. But she did say that she didn’t think my piece would get cut and that Kate’s Cuisine will specifically be mentioned in the magazine. She also said that even if my piece did get cut, she usually does a make up piece so that you (or me, in this case) can still get featured at some point. Well, it’s a week away and I haven’t heard anything about a make up piece so cross your fingers!!

I’ll be the first in the lineup next Monday waiting for my copy of Woman’s World! Then I’ll let you know if you should rush out and buy your twenty copies!! Well heck, it’s a great magazine, buy the twenty copies anyway.