What's Cooking in the Orange Kitchen

Making a move!

2011-04-15T10:59:00.002-04:00

Obviously life has seriously gotten in the way of this blog. I haven't posted in almost 2 years. To quickly catch you up, I finished nursing school, Jesse got a new job, and we moved to San Diego. Because I have had so many life changes in the past year and half I've decided it would be appropriate to start a new blog. So on the off chance that anyone sees this post, my new blog is called Sunny Side Up in San Diego. Please stop by, get comfy and leave some comments!

Halloween Cupcakes

2009-10-26T15:03:00.007-04:00

I know, I know! I made several promises in my last blog post for different recipes, but I made these last week and they were too cute to be pushed to the end of the line. As many of you know I am in nursing school and because of that I had to quit my full time job last year. But I still love to go back and visit all of my coworkers (especially since one of them happens to be BFF :)) Last week I promised said BFF that I would come have lunch one day since I was off of school. Then she reminded me that there was a birthday earlier that week and politely suggested that I make a special treat for her. Who am I turn down baking? After some secret super spying she reported that the birthday girl really liked chocolate cupcakes with white frosting, the almond flavored kind. Since I had lots of left over buttermilk from Jesse's birthday cake the week before I searched for a chocolate buttermilk cake recipe. The one I found turned out to be amazing and I will definitely make it again. As for the frosting I just went with a basic buttercream and added almond extract. The flavor pairing was perfect. Since it is also my favorite season of all, I colored the buttercream and added some candy corns to the top.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Icing
(Cake source: Good Housekeeping)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3 large eggs
2-3 cups almond buttercream frosting
~50 Candy Corns

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. (24 total)
In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix buttermilk and vanilla; set aside.
In large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat sugar and butter until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 3 minutes or until creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture just until blended, beginning and ending with flour mixture, scraping bowl occasionally.
Pour batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.
Using the 1M or 2D pastry tip, pipe the frosting on the top of the cupcakes. Place 1-3 (depending on style) candy corns on top of each cupcake.

Almond Buttercream
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup softened butter
1 lb confectioners sugar
1 "cap" full almond extract (~1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp buttermilk
4-5 drops yellow food coloring
4-5 drops red food coloring

Beat the shortening and butter together in a mixing bowl for 2-3 minutes or until well combined. Slowly add the confectioners sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time. Half way through adding the confectioners sugar add the buttermilk.
Continue to beat until the frosting is a smooth spreadable texture, but not too soft. If it appears to stiff or dry add a little more buttermilk. If it appears too wet or runny add more confectioners sugar.
When the frosting is the texture you want add the food coloring.

Pumpkin Blondies

2009-10-05T14:30:00.009-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link to find the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Individual Cheesecake Brownies

2009-09-30T14:24:00.005-04:00

Eek! I am so far behind in blogging. Can you believe that this recipe is actually from a party I went to on Labor Day weekend? I have several other recipes and pictures that are just waiting for me to take the time to write the post and post them. I guess that's what happens when you're in nursing school, a new dance season starts and you're still working! Anyhow, you can look forward to pumpkin blondies, three bean five alarm chili, a simple but delicious grilled cheese, pork chops and pumpkin cream cheese muffins in the next week or so.

Now for today's recipe. I love the idea of individual desserts because they are not only cute but also handy. Like a nice little compact brownie to go. For that reason, they are a perfect addition to any outdoor cook out. For this I didn't use a brand new recipe but instead I put a new twist on my old favorite. I did mostly plain cheesecake brownies with chocolate chips but I also did a few peanut butter cheesecake brownies using this filling recipe. They both were a great hit at the party!

Individual Cheesecake Brownies

Supplies

1 batch of brownie batter with 1 cup of chocolate chips added
1 batch of cheesecake filling (below)
2 muffin tins (the 12 muffin size)
toothpicks

Directions

Start by greasing all of the muffin wells. Next fill each well half way with brownie batter. Then add 2-3 tbsp of cheesecake filling to each. Top that with a dollop of brownie batter. Next swirl the brownie batter and cheesecake filling with a toothpick. *My batter was pretty thick so it took a little coaxing on my part to get a nice pretty swirl* Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cheesecake filling

1 block (8 oz) cream cheese*, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar

Use a handmixer to thoroughly blend ingredients. Store in fridge until ready to use.

So You Grew a Garden... Veggie Round-Up!

2009-09-15T14:12:00.017-04:00

It's time for the round-up! I have to admit I was drooling every time I opened a new email submission. These are all really great and wonderfully colorful recipes! As much as I love fall, I am already looking forward to next summers garden so I can personally try all of these fantastic recipes! For my own submission, I used a new recipe for a great dip, it is down at the bottom!

Thanks again to all of my participants. Your recipes are a great inspiration to all gardeners that have run out of ideas for their harvest, as well as non-gardeners just looking for a new way to cook up some veggies!

First up we have Amy from the French Kitchen. She submitted this drool worthy recipe for a cheesy vegetable medley. I love how simple AND delicious this looks. Amy says, "This is such an easy but flavorful dish. I used vegetables from my grandfather's garden and the recipe comes from my mother-in-law. It's simply sauteed chopped veggies and melted cheese. Need I say more?" Nope, no need to say more. You had me at cheese.

Next is Jessica from the Novice Chef. Her sauteed eggplant sounds absolutely amazing. I was excited to see an eggplant submission because I have never actually cooked eggplant before. Now I have a great recipe to start with! Jessica says, "This recipe is one of my favorite ways to cook eggplant. The lemon really gives it something special!"

Molly, from the Rookie Chef, submitted this super colorful kabob. Kabobs are a really fantastic way to use vegetables and make a great presentation on a plate, as you can see from her picture. Molly says, "Rainbow Kabobs are a great way to incorporate six different vegetables into your diet. The wider variety of color, the wider variety of nutrients!"

The next submission comes from Yudith at Blissfully Delicious. This tomato tart looks and sounds so delicious! It makes me extra sad that the darn deer ate my tomato plants! Yudith says, "I love how simple this recipe was. It really showcases these homegrown tomatoes that my mom planted this summer!"

Cate, from Cate's World Kitchen, submitted another great eggplant recipe! Again, another reason for me to pick up an eggplant the next time I'm at the grocery store! Cate says, "The smokiness from the eggplant is what makes this salad, but the citrus and all the fresh vegetables keep it light and perfect for summer."

The Beantown Baker, Jen, submitted this incredible looking potato salad. I love how unique this recipe is, it's a great play on an old favorite. Jen says, "I love heading to my farmers market and just grabbing whatever looks fresh to throw something together for dinner that night. I came home one week with snap peas, cucumbers, and tomatoes which turned into this delicious potato salad."

Janet, from Cooking in Cucamonga, sent me 3 great links from her blog. Spinach and ricotta stuff portabellas, chock full of veggies pasta sauce, and black bean and corn salsa. I am such a sucker for any kind of salsa and hers looks really delicious, so I chose it for the round up. Janet says, "The name 'salsa' is misleading in this recipe. This is not really a salsa, or even a garnish; It is more of a side dish. It's a great summery addition to a bbq or burgers, and can be made even better by using fresh corn."

I almost forgot this next submission! I apologize, Amy! Amy, from Skinny Food by Amy submitted a very unique jalapeno pepper jelly. This jelly looks like so much fun to make, and as she points out in her post, what a great Christmas gift! Amy says, "I've never canned anything before, but I was really excited to try to make this jalapeno jelly. It is going to make great gifts for my family and friends this holiday season!"

Finally, my own submission for the round-up. I have just a few straggling Serrano peppers from my garden and I was looking for a way to use them. When I decided to have a few fellow nursing students over for a study session, I wanted to make a good dip and this recipe seemed like the perfect way to meet both of those needs. This dip certainly did not disappoint me or my guests. It's flavorful, spicy and creamy all at the same time. This will be a must for football Sundays which have FINALLY begun! Also, I used the leftovers as a spread on a burger and it was *amazing*. Give this great dip recipe a try!

Jalapeno Popper Dip
(Adapted from The Rookie Chef)

Ingredients

1 block of neufatchel (reduced fat cream cheese), softened
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
4-5 serrano peppers, seeded, roasted and finely chopped
1/4 cups jarred jalapeno rings, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 - 3/4 cup monterey jack shredded cheese

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Transfer the dip to a nice oven proof serving dish. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese starts to turn golden brown on the edges and is bubbly in the middle. You can also put the ingredients in a crockpot, if you do that I would recommend doubling the recipe.

So You Grew a Garden... Event!

2009-09-07T22:07:00.007-04:00

Summer is coming to a close and that means an end to my vegetable garden. Other than the sad loss of our 14 tomato plants (darn deer!) we had a pretty good run this summer. But this post is not about my garden, I want to see the fruits of YOUR labor! I am very excited to announce the Orange Kitchen's first blogging event! A Veggie Round-Up! What I am looking for are recipes that really highlight garden vegetables. If you would like to participate create a blog post (old posts are OK) and email me your entry! Just check out the guidelines below.

Here are a few simple rules:

The recipe MUST highlight a vegetable. It's great if you grew the vegetable yourself, but don't worry if your veggies are from a farmers market or grocery store.
All entries should be submitted via email to orangekitchencooking@gmail.com.
The email should include: your name, blog name and URL, permanent link to your entry post, the picture you wish to be used in the round-up, and a short (sentence or 2) description of the recipe or your experience making it.
If you do not have a blog feel free to email your name, a photo of the food, a link to where you found the recipe that you used and a short description of the recipe/your experience.
Entries should be submitted by midnight on Saturday, September 12th **EDIT I have decided to make the deadline midnight on Sunday, September 13th! Hopefully the extra weekend day will be helpful to some people! The round up will be posted by Monday, September 14th.
Feel free to use the round-up graphic I created and link back to my site!

I can't wait to see all of your yummy creations!

Ribs

2009-09-04T14:42:00.007-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link to find the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

So You Grew a Garden... Now What? 11

2009-08-27T20:50:00.005-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link to find the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

2009-08-26T18:54:00.007-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Bolognese Sauce

2009-08-20T19:01:00.004-04:00

This is another recipe from Pastor Ryan (via Pioneer Woman). I loved the zucchini cakes so much I figured he wouldn't steer me wrong when it came to pasta sauce. In all honesty, I NEVER follow a recipe when making my pasta sauces. I'm normally just a throw-it-all-together kind of girl, taste testing along the way until I find the flavor I'm looking for. For this I tried to be a good girl and actually follow the recipe.... But it turned out that there were a few changes that I HAD to make :) First I thought the salt and pepper should go in way sooner and I thought red pepper flakes would be a nice addition. Also, I used half carrots and half zucchini because I still have zucchini coming out of my ears! Finally, I like to use half ground beef and half italian sausage in sauce recipes because I like the flavor. I am listing the recipe below with the changes I made.

Bolognese Sauce
(Adapted from The Pioneer Woman courtesy of Pastor Ryan)

1 carrot, grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 large onion, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage
2 tablespoons Oregano flakes
2 tablespoons dried basil flakes
1 tsp red pepper flakes *less if you don't like things very spicy
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups red wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
salt
pepper
1 14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1 28 ounce can tomato puree
1 cup milk (I did add this, but I'm really not convinced it added anything to the sauce, so I may omit next time)
Fresh Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add grated carrots, zucchini and diced onions and cook for a few minutes.
Make a well in the center of the mixture, then add in the ground beef and sausage. Cook for a few minutes until brown, gradually stirring it into the carrot mixture. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper
Add oregano and basil and red pepper flakes.
When the meat is browned and combined with other ingredients, make another well. Add tomato paste and let it heat.
Add garlic and stir to combine.
Make a well in the center of the mixture and add red wine. Stir together, scraping up any bits that stick to the bottom.
Add Worcestershire and stir.
Add canned tomatoes.
Finally, pour in milk, stir, and let simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours—however long you need.

So You Grew a Garden... Now What? 10

2009-08-12T21:45:00.010-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

**Link fixed 7/13/11 to go to the correct post, sorry for any confusion!**

So You Grew a Garden... Now What? 9

2009-08-09T18:15:00.008-04:00

This post has move to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Honey Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-08-06T05:07:00.002-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Dah dah dah dah... It's Elmo Time!!

2009-08-02T14:02:00.008-04:00

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So You Grew a Garden... Now What? 8

2009-07-28T16:53:00.008-04:00

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Buffalo Chicken Salad

2009-07-26T11:53:00.007-04:00

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Mahi Mahi

2009-07-16T08:47:00.006-04:00

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Milk Chocolate Ice Cream with Reese Whoppers

2009-07-14T10:25:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

So You Grew a Garden...Now What? 7

2009-07-13T18:35:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I am already on my seventh "So You Grew a Garden... Now What?" post! If you've been following the series I hope you are finding it to be helpful (and thanks for reading!) If you are just now finding it I hope you get comfy and stay awhile :)! Now onto the actual post!

Today I am sharing another (very very very easy)summer squash recipe because let's face, those babies know how to grow! If you've never grown summer squash before you should try it! It is one of the "easier" vegetables that we've grown. In the past even when we've slacked on caring for our garden and skipped a few days of watering the squash and zucchini just keep on growing. I never seem to run out of either. I only used squash for this recipe today but really it is great for squash, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, you name it (think restaurant vegetable medley). The only reason I used only squash is because I gave several zucchinis away and now I'm waiting for the many many blooms to sprout.

Easy Summer Squash (or zucchini!)

2 1/2 cups of squash or zucchini cut into bite size chunks (This is about 2-3 medium size squash)
3/4-1 cup chicken broth (It could possibly be more depending on the amount of vegetables you use)
2 tbsp lemon garlic butter (see below)
1 tbsp fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a large skillet or wok add the squash and just enough chicken broth to come half way up the squash. Bring to a simmer and cook until the broth is just about gone (this took about 15 minutes). Then add the lemon garlic butter and stir until the butter has melted. Finish with the fresh chopped parsley.

Lemon Garlic Butter

2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp garlic powder
juice squeezed from half a lemon
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Using a fork, combine all of the ingredients until well blended.

So You Grew a Garden...Now What? 6

2009-07-12T09:18:00.001-04:00

Anyone that has grown a garden with cucumbers will tell you that at one point in the summer they will have SO MANY cucumbers they will start leaving them on neighbors doorsteps in the middle of the night, just to get them out of the house. It's only July and I am tempted! We planted a lot of cucumber plants (I thought we planted 5 or 6 but I counted last time I was out there and it's actually 7) this year and all but 2 of them are thriving. The funny part is the Jesse doesn't even like raw cucumbers. But, he does like pickles! So I knew from the beginning that I would be making my own this year. And man oh man am I glad I did! They are so good, crisp and delicious and they will only get better with time.

The process I used was pretty similar to the process for the banana peppers. I used some pickling cucumbers and some of our other types. I made spears from the pickling cucumbers and one of the English cucumbers (by cutting into half and then cutting the halves into spears) and with the "normal" cucumbers I made chips.

Dill Pickles
(I didn't use one specific recipe, instead I read about 100 different kinds and pulled pieces from each one to come up with what I thought was best)

Supplies:
5-6 Pint size jars with lids and rings
1 medium saucepan
1 large stock pot (Like with the banana peppers I used my pasta pot)

Ingredients:
Lots of cucumbers!
5 cups water
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp dry ground mustard
1 tbsp whole pepper corns
10-12 cloves of garlic (I put 2 cloves in each jar which is pretty garlicky, if you are not big on garlic only use one)
Dill - I wanted to use fresh but my grocery store was out so I found this freeze dried dill (right by the garlic) it's supposed to be as close to fresh as you can get. I used about 1 tsp per jar and I am very happy with the taste.

Directions:

Start by sterilizing your jars. (You can read about that in my banana pepper post) While waiting for my jars to come out of the dishwasher I filled 3 big bowls with ice water and a tsp of salt and let the cucumbers soak for at least an hour (hence the shiny cucumbers in the picture). In my research I found that this helps to make the pickles crisp.

In a medium sauce pan bring the water, vinegar, salt, ground mustard, and whole peppercorns to a boil. (In the meantime fill your large stock pot with water and get the water boiling) After bringing it to boil remove from heat and set aside.

While the brine is cooking cut your cucumbers (I made 3 jars of "chips" and 2 jars of spears). Then cut the garlic cloves into slices.

Fill the jars by alternating garlic, dill and cucumbers. Finish with a slice of garlic and some dill. Then pour the brine into each jar leaving 1/2 inch space at the top.

Put the lids on the jars, making sure the seal is good, then put the rings on. Then carefully place each jar in the boiling water and let boil for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes carefully remove the jars from the water and let cool on a rack or towel.

Let the pickles rest for at least 24 hours and then, finally, you can enjoy them! Of course they will get better with time so if you can make yourself wait for 3 or 4 days.....

So You Grew a Garden...Now What? 5

2009-07-11T09:40:00.001-04:00

Every year banana peppers always seem to be our fastest growing and most proliferate pepper plant. We have already picked a ton this year and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to start canning (well technically jarring). Pickled banana peppers from the jar make a perfect sandwich or salad topping. I drool just thinking about biting into a big italian salad with pepperoni, Italian dressing and a banana pepper with some bite. Yum!

The processing of canning these peppers was so much easier than I had expected. It is really just a simple brine poured over banana peppers. Then you put the lid on the jar and boil for 10 minutes. I didn't have any fancy canning tongs to pull the hot jars out of the boiling water so I improvised. I used my large pot with the pasta strainer insert (like this). So when ten minutes was up I just pulled out the strainer and set it on a towel on the counter. When the jar was cool enough I put it in the fridge and just 2 days later I had perfect peppers :)

Pickled Banana Peppers
(I used these 2 sites for inspiration, The Yummy Banana and Clean Eating Club)
Since this was my first time canning I started small and only used enough to fill one jar.

Ingredients
10-12 banana peppers
1 hot pepper
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard seed
1 tsp pepper corns
2 cloves garlic, peeled

Directions
The first thing you need to do is sterilize your jar. A hot water dishwashing cycle should work with a hot dry cycle. After removing from the dishwasher be sure to thouroughly dry the jar, lid and ring.

In a saucepan bring the vinegar, water, salt, peppercorns and mustard seed to a boil. Then remove from heat. In a large stock pot bring plain water to a boil.

While the brine is coming to a boil, slice the peppers into rings. Cut on of the garlic cloves into fourths and layer the peppers and garlic in a jar. Put the second garlic glove on top of the peppers.

Pour the bring over the peppers, leaving 1/2 inch space at the top of the jar. Place the lid on top of the jar making sure that seal is tight, then screw on the ring. Place the jar in the large stock pot of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the hot jar from the boiling water. After cooling for a few minutes check to make sure the jar sealed (If it is not sealed the middle of the lid will pop up and down). If it didn't seal just be sure to always keep it refrigerated. If it did seal you can keep in the pantry until the seal is broken, but I put mine right in the fridge.

After letting the peppers sit for 2 days they are ready to eat! They can be served on top of sandwiches, in salads, in calzones, you name it!

Enchiladas

2009-07-09T16:59:00.004-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

So You Grew a Garden...Now What? 4

2009-07-08T20:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I picked the first head of broccoli from the garden. Not just for the year, but ever! I was so excited when I saw the first tiny florets popping up in the middle of the plant a few weeks ago that I have been dreaming about what I would make with it. My original thought was broccoli cheddar soup. But it's not really soup season and the first head probably would not have been enough to make soup. So I did some more research and I came across something that seemed like a a great unique side dish. Spicy roasted broccoli and peppers. It was the perfect (and different)pair for the enchiladas I made for dinner last night (recipe will be posted tomorrow!).

Spicy Roasted Broccoli and Peppers
(Adapted from Allrecipes)

2 cups broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning
1 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Spread out on a baking sheet or stone. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

So You Grew a Garden...Now What? 3

2009-07-06T19:25:00.000-04:00

Today I am going to feature 2 vegetables. Yellow squash and zucchini. I love zucchini and in the past it has been one of our best successes in the garden. This year is starting out no different. I have already picked 5 or 6 really beautiful zucchinis. The yellow squash is also growing really fast and I've picked several of them as well. If you would like to learn a little more about these vegetables I found this website to be very informative.

I found this recipe on the Food Network website and I am so glad that I tried it. Even my dad who claimed to not like "that kind of stuff" (stuff = vegetables) loved it. The zucchini and squash really soaked up all of the flavor from the garlic, onion and thyme and the egg and cream just helped to smooth it all out. If you have a garden full of zucchini/squash and you want to try something a little different, definitely give this a try. I served this casserole with *Orange Roughy (using this recipe, but please read my note below!*) and plain risotto but it could be paired with just about anything!

Zucchini and Summer Squash Casserole
(Source: Emeril Lagasse via Foodnetwork.com)
I cut the original recipe in half and it easily fed 5 people with left overs. Below I am listing the half recipe as I made it.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pounds summer squash (about 3 medium), sliced into thin rounds
1 pounds zucchini (about 3 medium), sliced into thin rounds
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1 large egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup crushed butter crackers (I only had saltines so I crushed them up in a bowl and added 1 tbsp of melted butter)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional (It says optional but I say, Why would you not add cheese? ;))

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a casserole baking dish with nonstick spray or grease with 1/2 tbsp of butter.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, salt, and black pepper and cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the squash and zucchini and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Stir in the thyme and remove from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to the prepared baking dish, reserving the cooking liquid.

Combine the eggs and cream in a medium bowl and whisk to blend. Gradually whisk the reserved cooking liquid into the egg mixture. When all the cooking liquid is incorporated, pour the mixture over the vegetables in the baking dish. Using a spoon, gently shift the vegetables around so the egg mixture is evenly distributed. Bake until the mixture sets, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle first with the crackers and then with the Parmesan, if using, and return to the oven. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

*After buying this fish, I learned that Orange Roughy is highly susceptible to overfishing because they are very slow to mature and many stocks have already crashed. Next time I will buy a more sustainable fish.

Red, White and Blue Cupcakes!

2009-07-03T17:25:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

So You Grew a Garden...Now What? 2

2009-07-02T20:40:00.000-04:00

Tonight's edition of "So You Grew a Garden... Now What" is dedicated to the impatient gardener. It's so hard to plan your garden and then plant your garden and then....wait. The beauty of Fried Green Tomatoes is that you don't have to wait until your pretty little tomato plant turns red. :)

Like many people the first time I heard of Fried Green Tomatoes was during the movie by the same name. I have always been interested in trying to make my own but I was worried that I wouldn't like them. Finally this year I decided I would try them and make it a part of the series. I was very pleasantly surprised with the flavor of these. The inside is slightly tart and the outside is crispy and delicious. I will absolutely make these again!

Fried Green Tomatoes
(Source: Simply Recipes)

3 medium, firm green tomatoes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
2 beaten eggs
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs or cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt and pepper. Let tomato slices stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, place flour, milk, eggs, and bread crumbs in separate shallow dishes.

2 Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet on medium heat (Be very careful to not get the oil too hot!). Dip tomato slices in milk, then flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 4-6 minutes on each side or until brown. As you cook the rest of the tomatoes, add olive oil as needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

So You Grew a Garden...Now What? 1

2009-07-01T21:29:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

So You Grew a Garden...Now What? Introduction

2009-07-01T18:59:00.000-04:00

I am very excited to announce that I am starting a Summer Time Series of posts! The series is called "So you grew a garden...now what?" For the past 4 years Jesse and I have grown vegetables in our backyard with varying degrees of success. The common trend is that each year by the time we roll around to August we've run out of steam, both in caring for the garden and finding new ways to use the vegetables which suddenly seem to be coming out of our ears. This year we set out to have the largest and most successful garden yet and this includes finding new and exciting ways to use our harvest. I thought it would be fun to share this experience with my readers. I have at least 10 posts planned including ideas for storing the different vegetables and great new recipes that will each highlight different vegetables from the garden. Part 1 will be posted later tonight!

I'll start with a brief description of our garden. In years past we have had small plots behind our garage and we always seemed to overcrowd our plants. This year we made sure to leave plenty of space for everything to grow and we tilled a very large plot in our side yard. The plot is about 19' x 29'. So it's quite large. Here is what we planted:

Tomatoes - 14
Peppers - banana, jalapeno, pimento, bell, red chili
Cucumbers - 5 or 6
Broccoli - 6
Summer Squash - 2
Zucchini - 1
Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Melon - 1 each
Corn - ~3 or 4 small close together rows
Sunflowers - didn't survive the deer :(
Pumpkins and gourds (can't wait for fall!!)
Small planters of basil and flat leaf parsley

Now that you have the background I hope you are looking forward to the first official post of the series which will be posted later tonight!

Cooking With Kids

2009-06-23T20:50:00.000-04:00

Normally on this blog I like to post a picture of a final product and the recipe, but today I am taking a slight deviation. This is because I want to share a really fun experience that I had this past weekend, cooking with two of my cousins. My aunt Ari and her three kids are visiting from Maryland and staying with my mom. I'm not sure how it works in most families but in my family, when someone is visiting from out of town, we try and spend a lot of time together. Saturday was no exception as we spent the day at the park and then in the evening my mom hosted a small cookout. During the day she asked me if I would make some brownies for the evenings dessert. Obviously I said yes and (to my excitement) my two cousins asked if they could help! I have to tell you, cooking with kids is a blast. It was fun teaching them some new tricks and watching them figure out how to do other things on their own. Of course it was easy to see that both of them have helped their mom in the kitchen before because they did such a great job!

The end result were some killer brownies that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Of course we were all so excited to eat them I actually forgot take a picture, oops! I did make a few slight variations to the original recipe that I posted here so I am posting the edited version below all of the pictures. Now check out my baking pro cousins!

I started by having Alli melt the butter on stove.

While Alli was doing that I had Harris measure out the flour.

Then we realized that we didn't have enough cocoa powder so we improvised! I cut up some bakers chocolate and we added it to the sugar/butter on the stove!

Then they took turns stirring the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
When we finally got the brownies in the oven we, of course, had to lick the spoon!

And as with any great project, we needed someone to supervise!

Best Fudge Brownies
(Adapted from King Arthur)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa
2 squares (2 ounces total)semi-sweet bakers chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan

In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Continue to heat briefly, just until it's hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

Add the bakers chocolate and stir until melted. Take off of the heat and set aside to slightly cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.

Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir in the vanilla and then whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth.

Slowly add the dry ingredients and stir just until smooth and combined.

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.

Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Spice Muffins

2009-06-16T22:15:00.000-04:00

Wow, that's a mouthful (no pun intended :))! Seriously though, these muffins are really great. They are everything a good muffin should be. Moist, flavorful and filling without being too heavy. But the very best part about these muffins is the smell. I can't even describe how delicious my house smelled while these muffins were baking. I couldn't wait to eat them so I had one pretty much as soon as they came out of the oven. These are going to be a welcome breakfast treat for the rest of this week.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Spice Muffins
(Adapted from: Food for my Life)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat white flour (I use King Arthurs)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Streusel Topping
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a muffin tin with liners.
In a small bowl blend the dry streusel ingredients. Use your fingers to work butter into the flour/sugar mixture.
Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
In a bowl combine the applesauce, butter and brown sugar.
Add the eggs, one at a time, to the wet ingredients.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
Fill the muffin liners 3/4 of the way full (about 1/3 of cup per muffin) and top with the streusel mixture.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The Chewy

2009-06-10T21:56:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth!

Rice Pilaf

2009-06-06T12:37:00.000-04:00

I can not tell a lie. This recipe was inspired by...... Rice-a-Roni. I have always loved it and could never find a recipe that captured the right texture. I don't think that this recipe is an exact clone, but it's pretty close and darn tasty. It is also really easy to throw together. The other great thing about this recipe is that it makes great leftovers. I actually turned these leftovers into fried rice by adding onions, ginger, an egg, chicken and soy sauce. Yum!

Rice Pilaf with Broken Spaghetti

1 cup of Basmati rice (Basmati rice is really key if you want the right texture)
Handful of dry spaghetti noodles broken into 1 inch pieces
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 cup low sodium vegetable broth (chicken broth would also work)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dry parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper
and salt to taste (I use low sodium broth and add just a pinch of salt at the end)

In a large skillet (that has a lid) heat the oil and butter.
Add the broken noodles to the pan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula (you want the noodles to turn golden brown but not burn).
Add the rice to the pan and continue to cook for another 2 minutes (still stirring to coat the rice evenly with the oil and keep the noodles/rice from scorching).
Add the broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low, put the lid on the pan and let simmer for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes open the lid and fluff with a fork. Then add the seasonings. Put the lid back on and cook for an another 5 minutes.

Southwest BBQ Chicken Pizza....

2009-06-03T20:26:00.003-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Strawberry Ice Cream and Mini Angel Food Cakes

2009-06-02T20:35:00.000-04:00

When I think of angel food cake I usually think of strawberries and whipped cream. It's like they were made to go together. So this weekend when I had a container full of strawberries I thought of a recipe I saw last week for mini angel food cakes. Then my mind started to wander and I suddenly decided that instead of doing just plain old strawberries and whipped cream I would make strawberry ice cream. The combination turned out just as good as I hoped it would be. The only change I would make for next time would be to use cupcake liners. I wanted the angel food cakes to have the crispy golden brown outside like a big angel food cake has but now I think I would like them to look more white and fluffy all over.

So, if you're looking for a great summer dessert stop here! This is it!

Mini Angel Food Cakes
(Source: My Baking Addiction)

Ingredients
6 eggs
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (I used lemon because I was out of almond)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar

Directions
1. Separate eggs; discard yolks or refrigerate for another use. Measure egg whites, adding or removing whites as needed to equal 3/4 cup. Place in a mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare your cupcake pan by lining and/or spraying with non-stick cooking spray. (I would recommend lining the cupcake pan)
3. Meanwhile, sift confectioners' sugar and flour together three times; set aside.
4. Add cream of tartar, extracts and salt to egg whites; beat on high speed.
5. Gradually add sugar, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form.
6. Fold in flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time.
7. Gently spoon batter into prepared cupcake pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets.
8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream
(Source: As found on The Cooking of Joy, originally from Gourmet June 2001)

1 3/4 cups heavy cream
3 (3- by 1-inch) strips fresh lime zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 lb strawberries (3 cups), trimmed and quartered
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Combine cream, zest, and salt in a heavy saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and discard zest.

Whisk eggs with 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl, then add hot cream in a slow stream, whisking. Pour back into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F (do not let boil).

Immediately pour custard through a fine sieve into a metal bowl, then cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, at least until cold, about 2 hours, and up to 1 day.

While custard is chilling, mash strawberries with remaining 1/4 cup sugar and lime juice using an immersion. Stir strawberry mixture into custard.

Freeze in ice-cream maker, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

Double Berry Muffins

2009-05-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

You know, if I'm not careful people are not going to believe me when I say that I don't like cooked fruit... I guess I will say that I am expanding my palate and I can now tolerate different types of cooked fruit in muffin or coffee cake form. But I still say that you won't catch me eating an apple pie anytime soon! Ick.

Now for the recipe at hand. My grocery store had raspberries on sale today for 99 cents and blueberries for 2.50. I bought both and quickly decided that I wanted to make muffins (It's going to be perfect for my 6:30 am rode trip tomorrow!). I used my new favorite search mechanism (searching foodgawker, I'm a sucker for a pretty picture) and I found a recipe that looked a little different from my usual muffin base. It came together pretty quickly and they smell fantastic. I will say that I am not sure that the preserves actually did anything for my muffins other than turning the batter greyish so next time I think I will leave them out. I also think that the crumb topping needs a little adjusting so I will make those changes below. Other than that this recipe turned out great! I would definitely make these muffins again.

Double Berry Muffins
(Source: original recipe for Raspberry and Jam Muffins found on Joy the Baker)

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2- 1 cup frozen or fresh berries (I used raspberries and blueberries)

For the topping:

4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

Put a rack in the upper third of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Generously butter muffin cups or line with cupcake papers.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat; remove from heat. Whisk in milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until well combined.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add milk mixture and stir until just combined. Gently but thoroughly fold in the berries.

Divide batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

For the topping:

Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over batter in cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 18-22 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around edges of muffin tops and carefully remove from cups. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 muffins

Raspberry Swirl Coffee Cake

2009-05-24T15:54:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Shrimp and Feta Linguine

2009-05-23T13:17:00.000-04:00

My sister is home from college for a week (yay!!) and last night she came over to hang out. I really wanted to make something tasty and special for her but I couldn't decide what I wanted to make. I had a few different ideas and finally decided on making a pasta dish with shrimp. From there I just sort of wung (winged?) it. The result was a delicious pasta with shrimp, tomatoes, feta cheese and a light cream sauce.

Shrimp and Feta Linguine

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
4 cloves of garlic, minced
10 oz raw peeled medium size shrimp
1/2 cup white wine
4-5 small campari tomatoes, diced (at my grocery store they come on the vine and are about the size of a golf ball)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dry basil (next time I will use fresh but the fresh stuff at my grocery store didn't look so good)
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1/4 tsp dry parsley
1/3 cup half and half
1/2 pound of linguine
3-4 oz crumbled feta cheese

Start boiling a pot of water, when it is boiling add the linguine and cook until al dente. While the water is boiling heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet. When the butter is melted added the garlic and cook until fragrant (about 2-3 minutes, don't let it brown!). Add the shrimp (and a small shake of salt and pepper)to the pan and cook for one minute. Then add the white wine and bring to a simmer. When the shrimp is pink remove from pan and keep covered. Next add the diced tomatoes to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes stirring often. Add the seasonings and the half and half and bring back to a simmer then turn the heat to low and return the shrimp to the pan. When the linguine is finished, drain the water and toss the pasta in the skillet with the sauce. Finally add the feta cheese.

Three Cheese and Mushroom Pizza

2009-05-20T18:56:00.000-04:00

This weekend I was really craving pizza and not the kind you order from your local Domino's. A few weeks ago I posted a recipe for a really great weeknight pizza dough. I used to make calzones (and have again several times since) but I had yet to make an actual pizza out of it. So Sunday afternoon was the perfect opportunity. The pizza flavor itself was awesome but I thought the crust turned out a little soft. Jesse said he really liked it though. Still, I think next time I will heat my pizza stone in the oven first and then put the dough on the hot stone. That should crisp the dough up more.

Three Cheese and Mushroom Pizza

1 ball of pizza dough
3/4 cup tomato sauce (recipe below)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4-1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
8 Mushrooms (I used baby bellas) sliced

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

To assemble the pizza roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Transfer the rolled out dough toa pizza stone lightly covered with corn meal. Spread the sauce in an even layer leaving about an inch around the edges. Top with the (3) cheeses. Spread the mushrooms on top of the cheese. Bake for 9-11 minutes.

*Next time I will roll out the dough and then put it on a HOT pizza stone while I assemble the pizza. Then bake.

My "Throw it Together Tomato Sauce for Pizza"

1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
Dried oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper

I start by heating the olive oil in a small sauce pan. Then I add the red pepper flakes (about 1/4 tsp, more if you like things spicy) and cook for a minute. Then I add the crushed tomatoes. A few shakes at a time I add the seasonings. I just keep tasting it as I go along until I come up with something that tastes good. I probably used 1/2 tsp of oregano, basil, and garlic powder and 1/4 tsp parsley, onion powder, salt and pepper.
*For real pasta I'll use real garlic and onions and fresh basil. But for pizza I like for my sauce to be pretty smooth so I use powdered.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

2009-05-18T15:28:00.002-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth!

The Simple Things in Life

2009-05-17T10:27:00.000-04:00

Have you ever gone to a party and completely fallen in love with a dish, then you find the person that made it and learn that it is actually really simple and has only a few ingredients? Food doesn't always need to be overly complicated and have the most trendy and exotic ingredients. Sometimes the best things in life are the simple things. Just a few classic ingredients that when put together.... YUM!

That's what this potato salad is. I remember the first time my awesome friend Michelle had this recipe at a party. I remember telling her how much I loved it and asking how it was made, I was shocked at how simple it was! It's just a really good potato salad. Of course it makes sense that she would have a fabulously simple recipe like this because potato salad is in her blood (well figuratively not literally, LOL). Her grandparents own a deli in New York, so her mom was pretty much raised around these sorts of classic deli treats and she passed them on to Michelle.

When Michelle gave me this recipe she just gave me the list of ingredients and said that taste testing is the best way to go. Since this is a food blog I'll go ahead and give you the measurements that I used, but remember, TASTE TASTE TASTE. It's the only way you'll end up with your own perfect potato salad. Also, I should mention that I did ask for permission before posting this recipe. She said as long as I gave a shout out to her family it was fine. :)

My Friend Michelle's Family Potato Salad
(Source: My friend Michelle and the generations before her)

Red potatoes (I bought 3 3 lb bags and after picking out the very smallest ones I probably had 6-7 pounds)
8 boiled eggs chopped into small pieces
2 boiled eggs sliced, for topping
1 smaller jar (15 oz I think) HELLMAN'S mayonnaise (brand is very important according to Michelle)
2 tbsp milk (Michelle didn't say milk but I used some because I was worried I didn't have enough mayo)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp celery seed
3/4 tsp salt (plus some for the water when boiling the potatoes)
A few sprigs of parsley and some paprika for garnishing

Boil the whole red potatoes with the skin on.
While the potatoes are boiling combine the mayonnaise, black pepper, celery seed and salt. I added each ingredient 1/4 tsp at a time taste testing in between to make sure I had the right amounts. Set the mayonnaise mixture in the refrigerator until it's time to combine with the potatoes and eggs.
When the potatoes are done (mine took about 26 minutes) drain the water and let cool for a few minutes. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle start peeling and chopping the potatoes into bite size pieces.
Put 1/2 of the potato pieces and 1/2 of the eggs in the container (I used an aluminum pan that was about 9x13 and 3 inches deep). Top with 1/2 off the mayo mixture and carefully stir with a rubber spatula. Top with the remaining potatoes, eggs, and mayo. Carefully stir with a rubber spatula again until the potatoes are well covered. Finish with the sliced egg, parsley and paprika for a pretty presentation.

Breakfast Casserole

2009-05-02T17:02:00.001-04:00

I think that breakfast casserole is the kind of thing that everyone and their mother has great recipe for. It seems like every family I know has their own version of it. This just happens to be the version that my family has always used (with a few slight modifications on my part). In fact, this casserole is a Christmas tradition for my family. It's not Christmas morning if we're not eating this casserole. I can even remember a late Christmas Eve when the entire family was worn out from the party that my parents had just hosted and my mom saying "Do we really need the casserole?" and everyone responding with a resounding "YES!"

This week I was invited to a brunch and I immediately thought of this casserole. I mean, I've had this blog for almost 2 (!!) years now and I have never blogged it. So last night I threw it all together and this morning I baked it and it was hot and delicious for the brunch.

My Families Breakfast Casserole

6 slices of bread torn into bite size chunks
1 tube of breakfast sausage (I used Jimmy Dean's Reduced Fat Pork Sausage)
8 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper (depending on your own taste, I added this to the recipe that my mom uses because I LOVE pepper)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and start to brown the sausage. While it is browning, in a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk and spices. When the sausage is finished set aside to cool for a minute. Add the the torn bread pieces to the egg mixture and stir until moist. Next stir in the sausage and 1 cup of the cheese. Pour the egg mixture into a 9x13 pan. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

The next morning, bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese on top starts to turn golden brown and bubbly. *I kept the foil over the top for the first 25 minutes. I'm not sure if my mom does that or not.

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

2009-05-01T18:40:00.000-04:00

While I was blog surfing a few weeks ago I came across this incredibly delicious sounding treat on the Beantown Baker blog. As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of cooked fruit and do not generally use it in my desserts, but there is something about the combination of raspberries and chocolate that I just can not resit (besides, preserves don't really count as cooked fruit). When you add cheesecake to the mix I begin to drool. So I knew that I would I be making these scrumptious little delights very soon. This morning was the perfect opportunity. I am not working on Fridays and do not have class until 1 and today I made plans to have lunch with my old coworkers. I figured it was the perfect excuse to make a sweet treat and not have to worry about it laying around the house.

I decided to use a different recipe for the brownies because I wanted to use a 9x13 pan, so, I went back to my new favorite recipe (King Arthur's). Because I used a bigger pan my cheesecake didn't turn out quite as puffy and pretty as the Beantown Bakers. My brownie also did not seem to want to cook, so the 4 brownies right in the middle were very gooey. I think next time I will reduce the oven temperature a few degrees and cook them for longer. Other than the gooey brownies in the middle (which are really not a bad thing in my book) they turned out great! The perfect balance of chocolate, raspberry and cheesecake.

Raspberry Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Brownie Recipe can be found here.

Cheesecake Topping
(Source: Found on Beantown Baker, originally from Baking Bites)

8-oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I also added a 1/2 tsp of raspberry extract)
1/3 cup raspberry preserves/jam (heated mine in the microwave for about 20 seconds so it would be easier to work with)

Prepare brownie batter and pour into a 9x13 pan lined with foil (this makes it easier to pull them out and neatly cut later). Then pour the cheesecake topping over top of the brownie batter. Next drop dollops of the raspberry preserves at random on top of cheesecake. Use a spoon to swirl the raspberry preserves into the cheesecake.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes (mine was closer to 38 and next time I think I will turn my oven down to 340 and bake for 45 minutes straight)

Potato Soup Revisited

2009-04-29T20:38:00.001-04:00

The weather around here has finally been getting warmer and I am very excited for summer and the cookouts that go along with that. So you're probably wondering why I am posting a soup recipe.... Really I just had a craving for potato soup.

A while back I posted a recipe for Potato Soup that was pretty good. But today I decided to see if I could tweak the recipe to come up with a new and better flavor. I think I really hit the mark with this one. The flavor was perfect.

Potato Soup

5-6 russet potatoes, cut into bite size chunks
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/3 cup celery, diced
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/4 cups milk divided
3 tbsp flour
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Boil the potatoes for about 8-10 minutes. While the potatoes are boiling heat the oil and butter in a stock pot over medium heat.

Chop the vegetables and drop into the hot oil/butter. Cook the vegetables until the onions are translucent (about 3-4 minutes).

When the potatoes are done remove from heat, drain the water, and put back into the pan. Lightly mash the potatoes so some are mashed and some are left intact.

When the vegetables are translucent, add the spices then the white wine. Let the wine cook down for 1 minute.

Next add the chicken broth and potatoes and bring to a simmer.

Combine 1/4 cup of milk with 3 tbsp flour, mixing well to make sure there are no lumps. Add to the simmering broth.

Next add the milk and shredded cheese.

Let everything simmer for a few minutes, taste testing to see if you need any more salt or pepper.

It's hoagy time again!

2009-04-28T18:38:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite Italian dishes is Chicken Parmesan. I love the combination of crispy crust, salty Parmesan cheese, and tangy tomato sauce. It's only natural that I would figure out a way to put it on a hoagy roll. But in all honesty, tonight's dinner sort of came together by accident. I desperately need to do a large grocery trip but I was trying to figure out a way to make dinner with out going to the store tonight. So putting together the last 2 hoagy rolls, 1 1/2 chicken breasts, and left over sauce from the pizza I made on Sunday I came up with these Garlic Chicken Parmesan Hoagies. The best part about this dinner is that it came together in under 30 minutes!

Garlic Chicken Parmesan Hoagies

Ingredients

2 hoagy rolls
1 1/2 chicken breasts (about 1/2 pound)
1 egg, whisked
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used plain because that's all that I had but Italian work)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, enough to coat the bottom of a pan
1/2 cup marinara sauce
Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese for topping

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. When the oven is ready put the hoagy rolls in (bottom open side up top open side down) Set a timer and take them out after 8 minutes.

In the meantime, heat the oil in a pan. Cut the chicken into bite size chunks. In a bowl combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Dip the bite size chicken chunks in the egg, then the bread crumb mixture, then put in the hot skillet. Cook the chicken 2 1/2 minutes on both sides (it will cook really quickly since pieces are so small but check one to make sure it's not pink inside before taking out of skillet). While the chicken is cooking heat the marinara sauce in the microwave.

When the chicken is done, assemble the hoagies in the following order: sauce, chicken, a little more sauce, then cheese. Put back in the oven and cook for a few minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Maiden Voyages

2009-04-26T21:05:00.000-04:00

Treat #2 for the World Champions!

The competition that the girls won at worlds was the choreography competition. For this competition each dance school comes up with an original story that is read before the dance begins. Then, the dance should tell the story through both traditional Irish dancing techniques as well as original choreography. The story that our choreography tells is called 'Maiden Voyages'. It tells a tale of young Irish girls who have to leave Ireland and travel to America because their families have no money. Once they arrive in America they start out working as maids and eventually rise to become part of the middle class of America.

So, long story short, I tried to make these cookies look like little ships to represent the story. I was going to pipe milk chocolate on the cookies to look like wood planks, but it was 80 degrees here and we had not yet turned on our air conditioning, so that didn't go so well. To make these ships I used round cookie cutters and then cut the circles in half. When the cookies were finished, but still warm, I stuck a toothpick in them with papers I cut to look like sails. The girls seemed pretty excited when they saw the cookies, so I think I got my point across, even if they weren't as "ship like" as I had hoped.

Brownie Roll Out Cookies
(Source: Smitten Kitchen)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup lightly salted butter, softened (Deb note: I don’t really see “lightly salted” much these days, so I used one stick salted, one stick unsalted)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used the “good” stuff–Droste or Galler–but I can assure you that my mother only used Hershey’s growing up, so your choice)

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.

Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, though, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.) Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Taking on the World....

2009-04-25T11:49:00.001-04:00

That's what a group of dancers from McGing (the school where I teach Irish dancing) did just 2 weeks ago. The World championships for Irish dancing are held every year during Easter week and this year, for the first time ever, they were held in the United States. Also, for the first time, a group of dancers from our school won FIRST PLACE!! Our junior choreography team took first place. We also had a soloist take first in the under 21 competition. Needless to say, it's a pretty exciting time at our dance studio.

To celebrate their win the choreography team is having a party/lock-in at the dance studio tonight and I thought it was a great excuse to bake something cute. I decided to make sugar cookies with a world on them. Turns out, making world cookies with royal icing takes a royal amount of time. I wound up doing half royal icing worlds and half buttercream "1's". I think they turned out pretty well, but I wish they were a little smoother. Next time I will use a smaller piping tip for the outline, I think it will be easier to work with. I'm also making another treat which I will update later today.

Sugar Cookies
(source: Good Things Catered)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest
5 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.
-Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.
-Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest.
-Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time.
-Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute.
-Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away.
-Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes.
-Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.

Royal Icing
(Source: Annie's Eats, she has great instructions for working with the royal icing)

Royal Icing
Ingredients:
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. meringue powder
5 tbsp. water

Chicken Philly Take Two

2009-04-20T22:43:00.000-04:00

Jesse is not a huge fan of leftovers. Usually he'll only eat left over soups and chili, anything else he turns his nose up at... that is unless I can come up with a creative way to disguise the leftovers and turn them into a new meal! That's exactly what I did tonight. I made this pasta with leftover chicken philly filling (say that 3 times fast). I love it when dinner is these is easy and TASTY! Here's what I did....

1. Heat leftover filling in skillet with 1 clove of garlic (pressed), pinch of red pepper flakes, pinch of thyme, pinch of cayenne pepper and pinch of paprika.
2. Add 1/2 cup white wine and reduce by half.
3. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and a 1/4 cup half and half (and a little parmesan cheese because I was feeling cheesy)
4. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
5. Toss with pasta and serve!

Chicken Philly Hoagy

2009-04-19T17:37:00.002-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Do these look familiar to you?

2009-04-16T22:43:00.000-04:00

Every so often a recipe or idea makes it's way around the food blog world. This is one of those ideas. I'm sure you've already seen it on other food blogs but I just had to give it a try because it is too darn cute! And, I wanted to make something fun to celebrate. I finished my first quarter of nursing school!! And I am *hopefully* going to be getting straight A's! So these are celebratory cupcakes.

It's hard to really cite one source for this idea because I have literally seen it everywhere so I will just link the website that pushed me over the edge today, Beantown Baker. I used the filling and ganache recipe found on her blog but I used a different recipe for the cupcakes.

Hostess Fake Out Cupcakes

Cupcake
Source: Hershey's, This is a recipe I have actually made quite a few times but surprisingly I have never blogged! I think this recipe is a great staple for any kitchen. For these cupcakes I cut this recipe in half.

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3.Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

Filling
Source: Beantown Baker

2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine filling ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Reserve 1/2 cup of the filling to use for piping the swirls on top of the cupcakes at the end.

Chocolate Ganache
Source: Beantown Baker

1/4 cup cream
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

In a small saucepan, heat cream until steaming. Remove from the heat, add chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until smooth. Transfer the frosting to a small bowl and dip the top of each cupcake to thoroughly coat.

Assembly

Cut a hole in the top of the cooled cupcakes (about the size of a quarter). Remove that part of the cupcake. I cut the top off of each "hole" to put over top of the filling once piped and set aside.

Fill the hole in the top of each cupcake with the filling. Then put the hole top over the filling.

Dip the top of each cupcake in the chocolate ganache. Put the cupcakes in the fridge for about 5 minutes to set the ganache.

Pipe the swirls on top of the ganache. Then put back in the fridge to set again for 10-15 minutes.

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

2009-04-16T22:19:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Tasty Pizza Dough

2009-04-15T18:56:00.000-04:00

Tonight I went back to an old favorite recipe. We had BBQ chicken calzones. They are always a favorite in our house because they are tasty, fast and easy. Tonight I managed to make them even easier with a new dough recipe. The pizza dough recipes I have used in the past have always required a long rising time, 90 minutes usually. This dough simply rests for 15 minutes (just enough time to make the filling!) and then it's ready to go. The 12 ounce dough recipe made 2 good size calzones, but they are on the thin side so if you like yours thicker (crustier) go for the 1 pound recipe.

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
(Source: As found onAmber's Delectable Delights)

To make 12 ounces dough:
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make 1 pound dough:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup hot water (120-130°F)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 500°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes. *For calzones I split the dough in half and rolled them out into 2 flat cirlces. I put the filling on half of one of the dough circles and then folded the other half over. Then I pinched the edges all the way around. Keep an eye on the baking time. I would recommend 7-10 minutes. Serve immediately

Garlic Knots

2009-04-14T14:30:00.000-04:00

It has been months since I first saw this recipe on Amber's blog. I knew right away that I wanted to try them but, as per usual, life got in the way. Finally, last week I was on spring break from dance and I had a free evening to make them. They were well worth the wait. I really really liked the flavor and texture of these rolls and Jesse liked that they weren't too "yeasty" (his words). I also didn't think they were too difficult to put together. Amber has excellent step by step pictures for making the knots.

The only thing I would do differently next time would be to make them smaller. They were more like sandwich buns than rolls. Which actually I guess worked out in my favor, because for lunch the next day I sliced the roll in half and made an over-medium egg topped it with colby jack cheese then toasted it in the toaster over. Yum!

Also, please excuse the less than perfect pictures. It was too dark to take pictures right when I took them out of the oven and they sort of wrinkled up and lost their knot shape when I stored them over night in a ziplock bag.

Soft Garlic Knots
(As found on Amber's Delectable Delights, adapted from King Arthur)

Ingredients:

Dough
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
Glaze
2-4 cloves peeled, garlic
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon Pizza Seasoning or Italian seasoning, optional

Directions:

1. For the dough - In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the dry ingredients together then add the olive oil, milk and water. Using the paddle attachment or dough hook, mix and knead to form smooth, elastic dough, adding additional water or flour as needed. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, until it’s doubled in bulk.
2. Divide the dough into 8 pieces (Next time I will probably do 10-12 so they won't be so big), and roll each into a rope about 10 inches long; tie each rope into a knot. (Step by step pictures on Amber's blog) Place the knots on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for 45 minutes to about an hour, until very puffy looking.
3. To make glaze - Unpeel garlic cloves. Chop the garlic in a food processor (or you can use a garlic press), with the melted butter.
4. To bake - Bake the knots in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes. They should be set, but only very lightly browned. Remove the knots from the oven, and brush or drizzle them with the seasoned butter. (You can reheat the butter briefly in the microwave, if it’s solidified).

Here is a pic of my DELICIOUS breakfast sandwich!!

The Perfect Dessert

2009-04-09T17:18:00.000-04:00

A giant chocolate chip cookie with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. The combination of sweet, smooth, cold, and chocolate. Yum. There is really not much else I can say about it.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(As found on Annie's Eats)

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven 325°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.

Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.

Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

(Source: The Perfect Scoop by David Lebowitz)

1 cup milk

A pinch of salt

3/4 cups sugar

1 vanilla bean

5 egg yolks

2 cup heavy cream

A few drops of vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk with the tip of a paring knife. Add the bean pod to the milk.

2. Stir together the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Rinse the vanilla bean and put it back into the custard and cream to continue steeping. Chill thoroughly, then remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.

Whole Wheat Muffins

2009-03-22T20:59:00.000-04:00

This week I decided to try a healthier variety of muffin (a weekend full of cookouts and eating out will do that to a girl). I used a few different recipes as inspiration to come up with this super easy muffin. It really made the house smell fantastic and I'm hoping I'll feel less guilty if I decide to grab 2 one morning instead of 1 ;)

Whole Wheat Muffins

2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (I use King Arthur)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup and 2 tbsp applesauce
1 egg

Line muffin tin with liners and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Next add the sugar to the flour mixture and blend. In another medium bowl (or your standing mixer) blend the milk, applesauce and egg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until blended.

Scoop the batter into a muffin tin (about 1/3 cup into each cup). Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes

2009-03-22T11:06:00.001-04:00

As soon as I saw a picture of these cupcakes on Annie's blog a few weeks ago I knew that I would have to try them. I'm not usually a fruit dessert person but for some reason this combination sounded really good to me, plus the recipe calls for the berries to be pureed so there was no risk of me biting into a big chunk of fruit.

I really enjoyed these cupcakes. The flavor was excellent and they were really moist. However, when I first took them out of the oven I was worried because the color was sort of a non-appealing gray and the tops just looked funny (I'm pretty sure I over-mixed the batter). Then came the icing.... That started out as a major disaster. My plan was to use my star tip but the icing was so incredible runny that it just ran all over the side of the cupcake. After adding a LOT more confectioners it was better but in the end I just ran a spatula over the tops and swirled them because they were looking sad and droopy. So beware, these are not the right cupcakes for a star tip swirl on the top. Despite all of that these were a big hit and I would definitely consider making them again.

I doubled this recipe but below I am posting the original recipe. I also added the beans, from the vanilla pod used to make my vanilla sugar, to the batter. Other than that I made the recipe exactly as stated.

Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes
(Source: Annie's Eats)
Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup vanilla sugar*
Beans scraped from 1 vanilla pod
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup blackberry puree (fresh or frozen blackberries, pureed in a food processor or blender and strained through a fine mesh sieve)

*If you do not have vanilla sugar, you can substitute an equal amount of regular sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla extract, added to the batter after the eggs.

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I doubled the recipe but in the end I used closer to 8 cups of powdered sugar!!)
5 tbsp. blackberry puree

For garnish:
Fresh blackberries (optional)

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions. (This is when I added the vanilla beans)

In another bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk and blackberry puree. Add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl of the mixer and mix on low speed until just combined. Mix in the blackberry puree/milk mixture. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated. Do not over-mix.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared paper liners. Bake 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and blackberry puree in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth and well blended. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired and garnish with fresh blackberries (optional).

Half wheat?

2009-03-16T13:06:00.000-04:00

If I use half unbleached all-purpose and half unbleached whole wheat flour does that make the cookies half wheat's? Well, I don't really know the answer to that but I do know that it makes these cookies delicious! This is probably one of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes I have ever made. The cookies are slightly crisp on the outside, chewy and tender on the inside and they have great depth in their flavor. On top of all of that they are also the prettiest chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. I used my medium scoop for these cookies and the centers stayed thick and puffy and they spread just enough to give them a perfect round shape. The original recipe is from the Levain Bakery that was featured on Bobby Flay's show, Throw Down. I made a few modifications (hence the half wheat) so the recipe below is with my modifications. I really think that the whole wheat flour enhanced the flavor, so if you have some give it a try, if not all-purpose is good too.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: Levain Bakery)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I recommend King Arthur)
1 1/2 cups unbleached white whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups good quality semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts (I omitted)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl combine the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Give it a good stir with a fork.
In a large bowl (or standing mixer bowl) cream the butter and sugars. When they are well combined add the eggs and vanilla. Next slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Be VERY careful not to over mix. Stay on low speed!! Add the chocolate chips (and walnuts if using) to the dough and blend with a wooden spoon.
Using a medium scoop, drop by the scoop full onto a baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes (mine were finished at 18 minutes).

Pumpkin Muffins

2009-03-16T12:58:00.000-04:00

I know it's not the right season for pumpkin things but I don't really care :) I love pumpkin flavored baked goods and pumpkin muffins just sounded good. I pulled this recipe from the King Arthur website and it was good. I think when I make them again I will substitute applesauce for the vegetable oil because after a day or so they were kind of dry. Despite that, they did have a great flavor and the tops were beautifully puffy!

Pumpkin Muffins
(Source: King Arthur)

1 cup (8 ounces) pumpkin (about 1/2 of a 15 ounce can)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons (2 5/8 ounces) vegetable oil
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
1/2 cup (4 ounces) milk
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose or King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a large bowl whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, oil, molasses, salt, spices, and milk. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. Add all at once to the wet ingredients and mix until all ingredients are well combined. Drop about 3 tablespoons (or a scant quarter cup) of the batter into the greased leaf molds, or the wells of a prepared muffin pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until firm to the touch for leaf molds; 18 to 20 minutes for regular muffins. Yield: 16 to 18 leaf shaped muffins, or 12 regular muffins.

More Muffins

2009-03-10T16:37:00.000-04:00

I am continuing on my quest to make muffins every weekend but in the process I have realized that if I am going to make them every weekend and blog about them (my goal)..... I am going to have to broaden my horizons. Anyone that knows me well knows that I have a fear of cooked fruit. I don't eat pies, cobblers, breads, etc with big old chunks of mushy cooked fruit. It makes me gag. Typically the only exception to that rule is blueberries in muffins. I thought about this weekend and I decided that if I could handle a blueberry in a muffin I just might be able to handle something else. About 2 years ago I made strawberry bread that was a huge hit and I actually enjoyed it, so I decided I would try and make strawberry muffins.

The result is pretty good. I am in love with the muffin part. There is a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg that is just fantastic. The fruit chunks....I'm handling. I think next time I will pop the strawberries in the fruit processor first that way I won't have to bite into a chunk of them. But all in all this was a great recipe, one that I would make again. I forgot to add the cinnamon sugar topping this time but I think it would make a great addition.

Strawberry Muffins
(Source: Eggs on Sunday)

2 cups all-purpose flour (can substitute up to 1 cup white whole wheat flour, or whole grain pastry flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup diced strawberries

cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling on top

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or silicone muffin cups.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon.

In a separate large bowl, use your fingers to rub together the lemon zest and sugar until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and whisk together until blended. Add the melted butter and whisk until thoroughly combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula. Add the diced strawberries and fold in, just until distributed.

Spoon the muffin batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of each, then bake for 15-18 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger.

Makes 12 muffins.

Also I have to sneak this picture in here because my cat is so cute. She can't stand not knowing what is going on and she just hopped right up in the window sill while I was taking pictures :)

Mmm mmm mmm Muffins

2009-02-20T15:49:00.001-05:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Bliss in a cookie

2009-02-20T08:35:00.000-05:00

I made these cookies for super bowl Sunday and they were a huge hit! They really are the perfect brownie cookies I have been searching for! I like that they are also pretty little cookies, with their shiny tops and mix of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips. They are perfect for when you want a dessert that is portable and pretty. Like a brownie without the crumbs.

Chocolate Bliss Cookies
(Source: The Cookie Bible)

1 package (8 squares) Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour (3/4 cups if you omit nuts)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped Walnuts (optional, I left them out this time but next time I will definitely use them!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the semi-sweet baking squares in the microwave or on a double boiler, stirring often. Once the chocolate has melted add the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Next add the flour and baking powder and mix well. Then add the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop the batter by rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 13-14 minutes. Cool 1 minutes then remove from baking sheet and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Honey Yeast Rolls

2009-02-20T08:25:00.000-05:00

Yum Yum Yum! That's what I have to say about these rolls! I love a slightly sweet dinner roll and this recipe fit the bill perfectly. The only thing I think I would do differently next time is to let them rise a little bit longer. They were just a tiny bit dense. But the flavor was absolutely perfect and they even made a great breakfast for me the rest of the week! Of course I found the recipe on Amber's blog, she's pretty much my bread idol!

Honey Yeast Rolls
(Source: found on Amber's blog, originally from A Cookie a Day)

Ingredients
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 cup warm water (105°-115° F)
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 cups bread flour, separated
vegetable cooking spray
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey

Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the yeast and warm water. Add the honey, oil, salt, and egg and mix well. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix until the dough comes together in a sticky mass. With the mixer on low speed, add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix until it is incorporated into the dough. Switch to the dough hook, and continue kneading on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, about 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 30 seconds. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Punch the dough down and divide into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball and place into a round, lightly greased baking dish, spacing evenly. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes. Mix together the melted butter and honey, and brush lightly over the tops of the rolls. Bake at 400° for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My new favorite brownie....

2009-01-27T15:13:00.001-05:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe!

We are the World....

2008-12-18T22:56:00.000-05:00

So anyone that knows me well knows that I have a small obsession with food. Especially baking (hello! I have a FOOD blog). I like to make, eat, and talk about food, a lot. So naturally when friends come over for dinner and I have a bag of undecorated sugar cookies on the counter, it's bound to come up. This time I roped Michelle and Shane into doing some decorating. One thing led to another and the next thing we know we've got the line up for "We are the World" Really, this post has no new recipe or purpose except to show off the adorable cookies we made and the fun we had. And in case you're wondering, yes, they do taste as good as they look.

8 hours in the kitchen....

2008-12-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

1 batch of cinnamon rolls, 1 batch of homemade marshmallows and 4 kinds of cookies. That's how I spent my day today. I have been planning this day of baking for weeks and it definitely did not disappoint. I am so happy with how all my cookies came out! Rather than bore you with a play by play of my day I 'll just jump right into the recipes and pictures. (OK so really it might be because I'm exhausted and can't think of anything else to say!)

The spread:
Chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, Yule log cookies, thumbprint cookies, sugar cookies and not pictured, marshmallows.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
(Source Smitten Kitchen)

I've made this before, find the recipe here.

Yule Log Cookies
(Source: The Cookie Bible)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup sprinkles

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa and salt, set aside.
Beat butter and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended. Cover and chill dough at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Form dough into 1 inch balls. Shape balls into 2 inch logs about 1/2 inch thickn. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 12 minutes or until set. Let stand on cookies sheets 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks; cool completely.
Melt chocolate chips (in microwave or double boiler) Dip each end of the cookies into the white chocolate then into sprinkles. Return to wire racks and let stand until chocolate is set.

Thumbprint Cookies
(Source: Vintage Victuals)

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour

Seedless Raspberry Preserves (I used seedless Blackberry preserves)

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour and, if necessary, chill until firm enough to handle. With floured hands, roll in 1” balls. Put 1 and ½ inches apart on cookie sheets. Lightly flour your thumb, and make a small indentation in center of each cookie. Fill with raspberry preserves. Bake in preheated 325 degreeoven about 15-20 minutes. Cool on racks. Makes about 4 dozen.

Sugar Cookies
(Source: My Blog :))

Recipe here

Homemade Marshmallows
(Source:Good Things Catered Blog)

Ingredients:
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
water
3 c. granulated sugar
1 1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

powdered sugar for slicing

Directions:
-In large saucepan over medium high heat, combine 3/4 c. water, sugar and corn syrup.
-Meanwhile, in bowl of stand mixer place 3/4 c. water and sprinkle gelatin on top, let plump.
-Bringing sugar mixture to boil, place candy thermometer in middle of mixture, making sure not to touch the side or bottom of the pan and let keep a rolling boil until mixture passes 235 degrees, about 3-5 minutes.
-With mixer on low, carefully pour sugar mixture into mixer bowl and slowly raise beater to high speed.
-Beat sugar mixture on high for five minutes and then add vanilla. (If you'd like to add other flavors here like peppermint, color, or cocoa powder for chocolate, add now).
-Continue beating mixture for an additional 5 minutes.
-Meanwhile, oil a 9x13 pan for large marshmallows or two 10x10 pans for small marshmallows.
-When done beating, pour sugar mixture into pan(s), smooth top and tap to release extra air.
-Leave on counter overnight to form.
-Generously sprinkle working surface with powdered sugar, turn out marshmallow mixture, generously sprinkle with powdered sugar, and cut as desired, lightly coating marshmallow shapes with powdered sugar to avoid sticking.

9x13 pan makes about 96 large marshmallows that can be stored in a container for about a week.

Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls
(Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

Caramel Popcorn Mix

2008-12-10T18:54:00.002-05:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!!

Another cake for work...

2008-11-24T22:23:00.000-05:00

We had another birthday at work! this means another opportunity for me to make a cake. This time the request for a simple white cake with raspberry filling. I'm sure you remember the Daring Baker's challenge when I made Dorie's perfect party cake, which was also a raspberry filled white cake, but I wanted to try a new recipe. The recipe I choose is another great find from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. The cake turned out light and airy, yet moist and still flavorful. I just used the Wilton recipe for butter cream frosting. To make the raspberry filling I mixed equal parts raspberry preserves and butter cream frosting. The filling looked a little less red and a little more brownish (probably due to my all natural preserves) so I added 2 drops of red food coloring. Sadly I did not get a picture of the inside of the cake. Maybe next time!

Classic White Cake
(Source: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

White Cake
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
6 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (6 oz), softened

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease two 9 inch cake pans with vegetable shortening, line the bottom with parchment paper, grease the parchment paper and flour the pans.
Combine milk, eggs whites and extract in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in an electric mixer and mix at slow speed with a paddle attachment. Add butter. Continue beating at slow speed until mixture looks like wet sand (If you’re doing this by hand, sift the dry ingredients together and rub in butter).
Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Do not overmix.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and gently shake to smooth batter. Bake 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes then invert onto racks to cool completely before frosting. Unfrosted cakes can be frozen for 1-2 weeks.
Serves 12-16.

Adapted from Baking Bites.com

Beef Tips and Mushrooms

2008-11-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

Usually when I ask Jesse what he wants for dinner he says "I don't care" or "Whatever" and occasionally "Hamburger Helper" (Did you hear foodie hearts stop all over the world?) So when I ask him what he wants and he makes an actual suggestion - I run with it. That's what happened last week. He said he wanted beef tips and mashed potatoes. OK. I can do this. I mean I know I've had them before. But where to find a recipe... And that's where the trouble started. I couldn't find one that I liked. So I made one up. The sauce and the mushrooms were soooo good. The beef was tough. Really tough. If anyone has any suggestions on how to create tender beef tips, please leave me a comment. I'm not sure if it's the cut of meat I bought or my cooking technique. Oh well. The beef was edible and the rest was awesome. Maybe next time I'll skip the meat and just have mushrooms, gravy and potatoes for dinner!

Beef Tips and Mushrooms

1 lb beef (I used a sirloin beef tip type cut, obviously not the right choice)
3 tbsp olive oil plus enough to coat grill pan
2 tbsp butter
1 shallot finely chopped
1 package baby bella mushrooms
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp dry thyme
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine
3/4 cup low sodium beef broth
Splash of heavy cream

Start by seasoning beef with kosher salt and black pepper. Then heat the grill pan and coat with a little olive oil to keep meat from sticking.

Over medium heat melt butter and mix with olive oil. When the pan is hot add the shallots and cook for a few minutes. When the shallots start to turn a golden color add the baby bella mushrooms and seasonings. While the mushrooms are cooking put the beef on the grill pan.

After letting the mushrooms cook for 5 minutes (keep an eye on them) add the red wine to the pan and let it reduce by half(also scrape the bottom of the pan to get any brown bits that are sticking). Then add the beef broth and let simmer. Keep an eye on the beef and flip when ready.

When the beef is cooked to about medium remove from the grill pan and let sit for a few minutes. Then slice the beef on the diagonal and add the slices to the sauce pan. Let the beef simmer for a few minutes then add the heavy cream. Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noddles.

Italian Potato and Sausage Soup

2008-11-18T18:25:00.000-05:00

OK, I'll admit it. I totally stole this idea from my friend Amber today. We were chatting and I asked her what was for dinner and she said Zuppa Tuscano. So I asked her to show me the recipe and then I ran with it :) I'm sure she won't mind. The recipe she showed me looked good, but I didn't print it out so I just sort of had to wing it. Below is the combination of what I remembered from her recipe and what I just made up. Thanks Amber it was great! Perfect for a cold winter day.

Italian Potato and Sausage Soup

1 lb mild Italian sausage
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2-3 strips bacon
1 shallot finely chopped
1 quart chicken stock
2-3 russet potatoes cut into bite size chunks
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk (or just use half and half instead of heavy cream and milk that would be the smart thing to do)
1 cup chopped Kale
Salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven or stock pot heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot add the sausage and brown. Once brown remove the sausage from the pot and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Now to the pot add the bacon and shallots. When the bacon is ready remove it from the pot and crumble it over the sausage, leave the shallots in the pot. To the shallots add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then add the potatoes and let cook for 15 minutes or until fork tender. Next return the sausage and bacon to the pot and add the heavy cream and kale. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Political Cookies

2008-11-01T18:56:00.000-04:00

I have been debating whether on not I would put these on my blog. Politics can be a pretty sensitive subject with a lot of people and I don't really want to start any debates. But, after careful thought, I decided I would share these cookies with my readers (all 2 of you :)) Not just because these cookies are adorable (which they are) but also because I am proud of my candidate and I think it's OK for people to know that. The last presidential election was my first time voting for the President. At that time I felt like I was voting for the "lesser of two evils". I really wasn't excited about either candidate but I voted anyway. This time around I am actually EXCITED about someone. On that note, if you agree with me, then go Barack the vote! If you don't agree with me, then go out and vote! Sure I wish you would vote for my candidate but this America and everyone deserves to have their voice be heard!

Obama Sugar Cookies

I used this sugar cookie recipe. Then I made a big batch of Wilton's buttercream icing. I split it into three and colored one batch blue, one batch red and left one batch white.

To create the Logo design:

Step 1
Pipe a white circle around the edge of the cookie

Step 2
Pipe one half circle with white icing in the middle of the cookie

Steo 3
Pipe 3 diagonal white lines under the half circle.

Step 4
Using Red icing, fill in between the white lines

Step 5
Using blue icing and a zig zag motion fill in the space between the outer white circle and the inner half circle.

Step 6
Step back and admire you work then take a batch to your local campaign office. Then go VOTE!

Reese Peanut Butter Cake

2008-11-01T18:47:00.000-04:00

Jesse's favorite candy has always been Reese Peanut Butter Cups. I swear he could eat an entire bag of them in a day. So when I saw this recipe on Annie's blog I knew I would have to make it for Jesse's birthday. This recipe is wonderful but can be sort of time consuming. If you ever have a day with nothing to do and feel like unwrapping a million Reese cups, make this!

Reese Cup Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
(Source: Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (optional)

For decorating:
1 ½ - 2 batches peanut butter frosting
miniature Reese’s cups, halved and/or chopped

Directions:
For the cake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 9×2” round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Place the pans on a baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until thoroughly blended into the butter. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk; add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2 (beginning and ending with the dry ingredients). Mix each addition only until it is blended into the batter. Scrape down the bowl and add the melted chocolate, if using, folding it in with a spatula. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 26-30 minutes or until the cakes feel springy to the touch and start to pull away from the sides of the pans. Transfer to wire racks to cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a cardboard circle covered in foil. Spread peanut butter frosting on top of the cake layer. (If desired, sprinkle with chopped Reese’s cups.) Place the second cake layer on top of the frosting. Frost the top and outside of the cake with remaining peanut butter frosting. Decorate with halved and chopped Reese’s cups as desired.

Guts Everywhere!

2008-11-01T17:54:00.000-04:00

Pumpkin guts that is. My latest self assigned project was to make my own pumpkin puree. Using the detailed instructions from Pioneer Woman I was able to successfully make 6 cups of pumpkin puree! With this pumpkin puree I decided to make a pumpkin pie. Below I have the instructions for the pumpkin puree, a crust recipe and the pie filling recipe. Also, if anyone has any pie crust tips for me, I would be extremely grateful! I'm crust challenge. It tasted great but looked AWFUL!

Pumpkin Puree
(source; Pioneer Woman Cooks rewritten in my own words)

Cut the tops of 3-4 small pie pumpkins (can be found in most grocery stores). Next scoop out all of the seeds. Then cut the pumpkin into 4 wedges. Bake the wedges at 350 for 45-50 minutes until they are fork tender. Let the pumpkin wedges cool then remove the skin. Drop chunks of the pumpkin into food processor and process until smooth. Store in 1 cup increments in ziploc bags in the freezer.

Pie Crust
(Same recipe as this DB challenge)

¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces

2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour

¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar

¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt

⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie Filling
(source: Joy of Baking)

3 large eggs

2 cups fresh pumpkin puree or 1 - 15 ounce can (425 grams) pure pumpkin

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl lightly whisk the eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and place on a large baking pan to catch any spills. Bake the pie for about 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust has browned (the center will still look wet). (A knife inserted about 1 inch (2.54 cm) from side of pan will come out almost clean.)

Copy Cat P.F. Chang's

2008-10-07T20:57:00.000-04:00

This is actually another dinner inspired by my friend Christy. She made it a few nights ago and I just knew that Jesse would love it. He is a big fan of Chinese food. The recipe turned out pretty good. My only issue with it was my own fault. Out of habit I seasoned the beef while cooking so the end result was pretty salty. I plan on trying this again, but with chicken and WITHOUT the additional salt. I think I'll be retaining water for a month! Ha!

P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef
(Source: recipezaar, directions re-written by me)
Ingredients

* 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
* 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
* 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 1/2 cup water
* 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
* vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)
* 1 lb flank steak
* 1/4 cup cornstarch
* 2 large green onions

Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a small sauce pan. Add the garlic and ginger and saute on medium heat for about 2 minutes (careful not to burn your garlic!). After 2 minutes add the soy sauce and water and bring to a boil. Once boiling add the brown sugar and reduce heat. Let simmer and thicken while you prepare the beef.

Heat vegetable oil in a wok until it is hot but not smoking. While the oil is heating cut the flank steak into 1/4-1/1 inch strips, against the grain. Coat the the strips in cornstarch and let sit for a few minutes. Next carefully drop the beef strips into the hot oil and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to cook evenly. After 2 minutes remove the beef with a slotted a spoon and place on paper towels while you drain the oil from the wok. Put the now empty wok back on the burner add return the beef to the pan. Cook over medium heat. After 2 or 3 minutes add the sauce to the wok and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the chopped green onions. Serve the beef over rice.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2008-10-05T11:49:00.002-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!!

5 Cheese Spread

2008-10-05T10:20:00.000-04:00

This just could be one of the most adaptable appetizers in history. Really. I made this up last Christmas and I'm not sure I've ever made it exactly the same since, but every time I get a ton of compliments. It works with pretty much any cheese you have on hand. You could even add lump crab meat or shredded chicken to it to create a more substantial spread. Basically what I'm saying is, if you're looking for a great go-to appetizer recipe this is it. Keep in mind that most of the measurements are approximates seeing as I never really make it the exact same way twice. You should use this recipe as a guide and let the cooking God's inspire to make this dish your own.

5 (or 4 or 3 or 6) Cheese Spread
My own recipe

1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/3 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup Neufatchel cheese (light cream cheese)
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dry onion flakes or onion powder
Sprinkle to taste paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2-3/4 cup cheese (This time I used a 5 cheese blend that had mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan, asiago and Romano. Sometimes I use just Parmesan, asiago and Romano. It all depends on what I have or what's on sale or which way the wind the is blowing)

Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for 30 seconds.
Add the seasonings and cheese and pulse until well blended. (I like to do taste tests while adding the seasonings to be sure I don't over season. Just add a little, pulse, taste and repeat)
Spoon into your prettiest dip dish and bake at 375 until golden brown on the edges and bubbly in the middle.
Serve with triscuits, carrots, beer bread cubes, celery, tortilla chips, sliced crusty bread, you name it.

Fall favorite

2008-09-24T19:42:00.000-04:00

It's finally my favorite season again! Some of my favorite things are at their peak in the fall, such as: cool mornings, pumpkins, leaves, candles, haunted houses, and sweatshirts. Fall is also the season for some of my favorite foods! Warm, filling, comfort foods.

My friend Christy mentioned that she had made chicken and dumplings on Monday and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So on Wednesday I took it upon myself to make some of my own. Warning, this meal is super starchy!

Chicken and Dumplings
(My own recipe)

3 chicken breast, roasted and shredded
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 celery stalk, finely diced ~1/4 cup
1/2 of a small onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 tbsp butter
2 cans low sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Bisquick
1/4 cup of milk

In a large stock pot melt the butter. Then add the vegetables and garlic and cook for 5 minutes to soften, add salt and pepper to season. Next add the chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. While the broth is coming to a boil, in a small bowl, stir together the Bisquick and milk. Drop the dough one spoonful at a time into the bowling water. Cook for 5-10 minutes then add the shredded chicken and stir. By this time the broth should have thickened but if it hasn't a little trick I use is to add a 1/4 cup of potato flakes (like instant mashed potatoes)

Since I loooooooove starch, I serve with mashed potatoes :)

I'm still daring!!

2008-09-01T10:41:00.000-04:00

Last month I was not able to complete the challenge so I knew that come hell or high water I was going to make this months. I was super excited when I found out that this months task was to make chocolate eclairs. Eclairs have been on my mind for quite some time now. I watched Alton Brown make them about 9 months ago and I have been looking for an excuse to make them ever since. Of course I waited until the actual posting day to make my eclairs. I thought about doing a "baking live" post yesterday, but then decided against. Who really wants a play by play of me dripping chocolate on my kitchen flour, then stepping in it and making chocolate foot prints all over my house? So I decided to just wait and post today.

For the most part I would call this challenge a success. I honestly didn't really have any trouble pulling the elements together. I was worried about the Pate a Choux because I have never made it before and I always worry about "scrambling" my eggs when I add them to hot things. But the dough was perfectly silky and smooth. Unfortunately I didn't have the right size tip for my pastry bag so I wound up just using a disposable bag and piping from the cut end sans tip. It worked out great.

If I were to do the challenge over again today I would skip the wooden spoon in the door thing or bake for longer because I think mine were undercooked. I also had hoped to not have to slice them in half, instead I was going to poke a hole in the side and fill it that way. That didn't work at all. I wound up making a pretty big mess of myself and the kitchen floor. I'm not sure if it didn't work because the inside was undercooked and there for not as puffy in the middle? I'm not sure. In the end it didn't matter because they were delicious and my husband told me no less than 5 times "These things are amazing".

I would like thank our hosts this month, Tony Tahhan and MeetaK. This was an awesome challenge.

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs

Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

* Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

2. Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.

Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3. Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:

1. The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

* Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
* Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1. Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2. The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.

3. Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:

1. If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create bubbles.
2. The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Cream Puff Dough
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

* ½ cup (125g) whole milk
* ½ cup (125g) water
* 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
* ¼ teaspoon sugar
* ¼ teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
* 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1. In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

2. Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3. Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.

You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4. The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:

1. Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.
2. You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream

* 2 cups (500g) whole milk
* 4 large egg yolks
* 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
* 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona Guanaja, melted
* 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2. Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3. Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4. Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5. Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Notes:

1. The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
2. In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.
3. Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
(makes 1 cup or 300g)

* 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
* 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
* 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2. Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:

1. If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.
2. It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

* 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 1 cup (250 g) water
* ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
* 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1. Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.
2. It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:

1. You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2. This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Garlic Herb Chicken

2008-08-29T20:15:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone

2008-08-11T19:44:00.001-04:00

Do you ever have trouble coming up with something witty to say? I just feel at a loss for words tonight. Maybe it was the migraine that caused me to leave work early, or the 3 hour nap that finally helped the migraine go away or maybe it's the "Olympic brain" I've come down with or even better, maybe it's the start of Bengals preseason (WHO DEY!), I don't know. I just feel in the clouds. I guess all I can really say is I wanted to make home made pizza for dinner tonight but I didn't want to use red sauce. That idea evolved into the bacon ranch idea and then that idea evolved into a calzone. It turned out great. I was happy with the dough I used (a recipe I haven't used before) and I loved being able to use the fresh tomatoes from my garden.

There, did I say enough? Good. Onto the recipe.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone
My own recipe

1 recipe pizza dough (see recipe below)
2 chicken breasts
3 slices of center cut bacon
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
2 tsp fresh parsley finely chopped
~1/2 cup cheese (I used monterey jack and cheddar)
Salt and pepper to taste
Ranch for dipping

Start by cooking the bacon in a skillet over medium high heat, careful not to burn it! When the bacon is crisp set aside between 2 pieces of paper towel.
Drain all but 1 tbsp bacon grease from skillet (if your super health conscious just drain it all and use cooking spray).
Brown both sides of the chicken breast in the bacon grease then cover the skillet and continue cooking until the chicken is no longer pink. When the chicken is done shred with forks and season with salt and pepper.
Then crumble the bacon and add to the chicken.
Roll out the pizza dough in 2 circles. Fill one side of each circle with chicken and bacon mixture, then diced tomatoes, then chopped parsley, and finally cheese. Fold the other half of the circle over the top of the filling and pinch to seal the edges. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Serve with ranch dipping sauce

**Cooks notes***

- As an after though, I think it would also be good to toss the chicken and bacon in ranch before stuffing the calzone.
- This really should make 3 large calzones. The 2 I made were monster sized. Next time I will cut the dough recipe in half or make 3 calzones.

Pizza Dough:
(Source: King Arthur Flour recipes)

* 2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast
* 7/8 to 1 1/8 cups lukewarm water*
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
* *Use the lesser amount in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate), and somewhere in between the rest of the year, or if your house is climate controlled.

* 2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast
* 7 to 9 ounces lukewarm water*
* 7/8 ounce olive oil
* 12 3/4 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
* *Use the lesser amount in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate), and somewhere in between the rest of the year, or if your house is climate controlled.

Directions

1) If you're using active dry yeast, dissolve it, with a pinch of sugar, in 2 tablespoons of the lukewarm water. Let the yeast and water sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, until the mixture has bubbled and expanded. If you're using instant yeast, you can skip this step.

2) Combine the dissolved yeast (or the instant yeast) with the remainder of the ingredients. Mix and knead everything together—by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—till you've made a soft, smooth dough. If you're kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 4 to 5 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. Don't over-knead the dough; it should hold together, but can still look fairly rough on the surface.

3) To make pizza up to 24 hours later, skip to step 5.

4) To make pizza now: Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow it to rise till it's very puffy. This will take about an hour using instant yeast, or 90 minutes using active dry. If it takes longer, that's OK; just give it some extra time.

5) To make pizza later: Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 45 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate the dough for 4 hours (or for up to 24 hours); it will rise slowly as it chills. This step allows you more schedule flexibility; it also develops the crust's flavor. About 2 to 3 hours before you want to serve pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator.

6) Decide what size, shape, and thickness of pizza you want to make. This recipe will make one of the following choices:
Two 1/2"-thick 14" round pizzas (pictured);
Two 3/4"-thick 12" round pizzas;
One 3/4" to 1"-thick 13" x 18" rectangular (Sicilian-style) pizza (pictured);
One 1 1/2"-thick 9" x 13" rectangular pizza;
One 1"-thick 14" round pizza.

7) Divide the dough in half, for two pizzas; or leave it whole for one pizza.

****I did not do the following steps because I can not read directions and I was impatient. After the first I shaped my dough and filled the calzones and immediately baked****

8) If you're making a rectangular pizza, shape the dough into a rough oval. For a round pizza, shape it into a rough circle. In either case, don't pat it flat; just stretch it briefly into shape. Allow the dough to rest, covered with an overturned bowl or lightly greased plastic wrap, for 15 minutes.

9) Use vegetable oil pan spray to lightly grease the pan(s) of your choice. Drizzle olive oil into the bottom of the pan(s). The pan spray keeps the pizza from sticking; the olive oil gives the crust great flavor and crunch.

10) Place the dough in the prepared pan(s). Press it over the bottom of the pan, stretching it towards the edges. You'll probably get about two-thirds of the way there before the dough starts shrinking back; walk away for 15 minutes. Cover the dough while you're away, so it doesn't dry out.

11) When you come back, you should be able to pat the dough closer to the corners of the pan. Repeat the rest and dough-stretch one more time, if necessary; your goal is to get the dough to fill the pan as fully as possible.

12) Allow the dough to rise, covered, till it's noticeably puffy, about 90 minutes (if it hasn't been refrigerated); or 2 to 2 1/2 hours (if it's been refrigerated). Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450°F.

13) Bake the pizza on the lower oven rack till it looks and feels set on top, and is just beginning to brown around the edge of the crust, but is still pale on top. This will take about 8 minutes for thinner crust pizza; about 10 to 12 minutes for medium thickness; and 12 to 14 minutes for thick-crust pizza. If you're baking two pizzas, reverse them in the oven (top to bottom, bottom to top) midway through the baking period.

14) To serve pizza immediately: Remove it from the oven, and arrange your toppings of choice on top. Return to the oven, and bake on the upper oven rack for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned, both top and bottom, and the cheese is melted. Check it midway through, and move it to the bottom rack if the top is browning too much, or the bottom not enough.

15) To serve pizza up to 2 days later: Remove the untopped, partially baked crust from the oven, cool completely on a rack, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature. When ready to serve, top and bake in a preheated 450°F oven, adding a couple of minutes to the baking times noted above. Your goal is a pizza whose crust is browned, and whose toppings are hot/melted.

16) Remove the pizza from the oven, and transfer it from the pan to a rack to cool slightly before serving. For easiest serving, cut with a pair of scissors.

German Chocolate Cake

2008-08-10T11:01:00.000-04:00

At work when some one has a birthday I make a cake for them. For Linda's birthday she requested a German Chocolate Cake. I took this as a challenge for 2 reasons. First, I've never made it before. Second, I have this huge fear of making really ugly baked goods and it just seems like ALL German Chocolate cakes are ugly. But that was what she requested so off I went. First I had to find a recipe. I picked a recipe that had the prettiest picture (haha) and then set about making the cake. It turned out really well. Everyone loved it. I even got a few "best cake ever" comment. I still think the cake could have been prettier but it was a hit.

Of course, after all of my talk about a "pretty cake" my picture is awful, so please ignore it. It was almost 11 pm when I finished and my natural lighting was shot.

German Chocolate Cake
(source: Cooking at Home with America's Test Kitchen 2006, as seen on Leite's Culinaria)

Ingredients
For the filling

4 large egg yolks
One 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted

For the cake

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting the pans
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature

Method
Make the filling
1. Whisk the yolks in a medium saucepan; gradually whisk in the evaporated milk. Add the sugars, butter, and salt and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is boiling, frothy, and slightly thickened, about 6 minutes.

2. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, whisk in the vanilla, then stir in the coconut. Cool until just warm, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cool or cold, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. (The pecans are stirred in just before cake assembly.)

Make the cake
1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position; heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Combine the chocolate and cocoa in a small bowl; pour the boiling water over and let stand to melt the chocolate, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth; set aside until cooled to room temperature.

2. Meanwhile, spray two 9-inch-round by 2-inch-high straight-sided cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and knock out the excess. Sift the flour and baking soda into a medium bowl or onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper.

3. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter, sugars, and salt at medium-low speed until the sugar is moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through. With the mixer running at medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl halfway through. Beat in the vanilla; increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. With the mixer running at low speed, add the chocolate, then increase the speed to medium and beat until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl once (the batter may appear broken). With the mixer running at low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream (in 2 additions), beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and beating in each addition until barely combined. After the final flour addition, beat on low until just combined, then stir the batter by hand with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl, to ensure that the batter is homogenous (the batter will be thick). Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans; spread the batter to the edges of the pans with the rubber spatula and smooth the surfaces.

4. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in the pans 10 minutes, then invert the cakes onto a greased wire rack; peel off and discard the paper rounds. Cool the cakes to room temperature before filling, about 1 hour. (The cooled cakes can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.)

To Assemble
1. Stir the toasted pecans into the chilled filling. Set one cake on a serving platter or cardboard round cut slightly smaller than the cake, and the second cake on a work surface (or leave it on the wire rack). With a serrated knife held so that the blade is parallel with the work surface, use a sawing motion to cut each cake into two even layers. Starting with the first cake, carefully lift off the top layer and set aside.

2. Using an icing spatula, distribute about 1 cup filling evenly on the cake, spreading the filling to the very edge of the cake and leveling the surface. Carefully place the upper cake layer on top of the filling; repeat using the remaining filling and cake layers. If necessary, dust the crumbs off the platter; serve.

Note: The cake may be refrigerated, covered loosely with foil, up to 4 hours (if refrigerated longer than 2 hours, let the cake stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes before serving).

Sugar and Spice Muffins

2008-08-10T10:42:00.000-04:00

Once again it has been way to long since I've updated! For the first time in a couple weeks I have no plans for today so I'm going back and adding all of the stuff that I have been compiling over the last few months.

I'll start with these muffins. I actually made these back in JUNE! I haven't made them again yet but I plan to, maybe even today! These had a great texture and wonderful flavor. I was worried that they might be too sweet, but that wasn't the case at all. They almost have the flavor of a cake doughnut, mmmmm.....

Sugar and Spice muffins
(Source: Allrecipes.com)

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 3/4 cup milk
*
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together oil, 3/4 cup sugar, egg and milk. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture, just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, mix together 3/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

While muffins are still hot, dip tops in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar mixture.

Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies

2008-07-20T17:20:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!!

Better late than never....right?

2008-07-08T08:34:00.000-04:00

Well folks, I have obviously been a total blog SLACKER. May and June are extremely busy months for me, and while I still cook and bake, I just haven't had time to keep up the blog. That being said, I completely missed the May Daring Bakers challenge. Shame, shame, I know. I had every intention of completing the June challenge on time, but sadly we had a death in the family. My wonderful, funny, athletic, handsome Uncle Scott passed away suddenly from cardiac arrest. As a child I always looked forward to the times when Scott would come in town because he was such a fun guy. He would lift me high in the air and spin me around and was full of jokes. He will truly be missed. If you're interested here is a link to a wonderful article about him, it was written by the college where he worked as a volleyball coach. http://www.tnutrojans.com/article/121.php. Scott Jones of America you will missed.

On that note, I dedicate my June challenge to my Uncle Scott. Thank you to our wonderful hosts this month, Kellypea and Ben. Please be sure to check out the Daring Baker's blogroll to see what everyone else is up to.

DANISH BRAID
(source: Sherry Yard's from The Secrets of Baking)

Makes enough for 2 large braids ----------> Yeah, I guess I didn't read this and I made one HUGE braid, LOL, no wonder I didn't think there was enough filling!

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (I used a cream cheese filling)

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
½ cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom (I did not use this)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
¼ cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
½ pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cream Cheese Filling
(My recipe)
1 block of cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup flour
1 egg

In a mixer or with a hand mixer blend all ingredients. Chill for an hour so it won't be to runny (this is an after thought, mine was definitely runny!).

The best mac and cheese you'll ever put in your mouth....

2008-05-18T10:26:00.002-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Penne Ala Vodka

2008-04-29T18:39:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally get it. I've tried vodka sauce before and I just didn't quite understand what all the hype was about. I didn't find it much better than regular sauce and I knew it had a ton more calories/fat. Today, however, I stumbled across a super simple vodka sauce recipe and decided to give it a try. Well I guess super simple is my style because I loved it. It was flavorful and creamy and delicious! I had some left over dough so I made some rolls and dipped them in an olive oil, butter, herb mixture. Thanks Foodie Bride for the perfect simple recipe!

Simple Vodka Sauce
(Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride)
Ingredients
2/3 cup Vodka
pinch crushed red pepper
6 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup crushed tomatoes (canned)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Parm-reggi, grated

Add the red pepper to the vodka, set aside. Melt the butter, add the vodka, and bring the sauce to a boil. Add tomatoes and cream and return sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Toss cheese and sauce with the pasta. Serve and enjoy!

Cheesecake the daring way....

2008-04-27T09:26:00.000-04:00

This months challenge appeared to be really easy. Cheesecake, which I've made before, just with a new twist. Rolled into balls, dipped in chocolate and served like a lollipop. I hate to say it, but I'm really not sure that I can call this a "successful" challenge. This is really the first challenge that I haven't felt very happy with. There were several places where it just seemed to go wrong for me.

First, I under baked my cheesecake. The recipe says to bake for 35-45 minutes. After 60 minutes I finally felt like it was set enough. The center was still a little jiggly, but it usually is with cheesecakes. So I let it cool and then stuck it the fridge to firm up over night. At first touch it seemed firm. But I knew with the very first scoop that something was not right. When I went to try and roll it into a ball it turned to goop in my hand. Only the very outer edges were firm. All I can say is thank goodness for my pampered chef scoop! I used that to form some very sloppy balls.

I had a few topping ideas in my head. I knew I wanted to dip the cheesecake in semi sweet chocolate since I don't really care for milk chocolate. I also planned on rolling them in chocolate sprinkles (or jimmies), drizzling with peanut butter, and I had a grand idea of flavoring the chocolate with raspberry extract. I think the problem was that my cheesecake was very oddly shaped. So it was hard to dip and then roll. Then on the last half of the batch I tried my extract. Big mistake. For some reason my extract turned my perfectly melted smooth chocolate into a stiff, sticky mess. Certainly not suitable for dipping and rolling. So I pitched the chocolate and got lazy on the second half and just drizzled.

The good news is that the cheesecake tasted good, and I managed to take some decent pictures despite their sad sad look. I think I would like to try this recipe again and make sure that my cheesecake is all the way set next time.

There is other good news too! The Daring Baker's have launched a new site that has public forums where non-members can post their baking trials and triumphs! Stop by and check it out. Also check out the blog roll to see what the other DBer's have been up to! Thanks to Elle & Deborah for a very challenging challenge! ;)

Cheesecake Pops

Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.
Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

2008-04-26T08:55:00.001-04:00

I knew the moment I saw this recipe that I would love it. I really can't say no to green chilies. I love them. I also have a hard time saying no to chicken enchiladas. I am happy to report that this recipe did not disappoint me! I'm excited because the flavors are similar (but actually much better) to the chicken enchilada's I have made before, but this recipe is from scratch and uses no cream soups. I did use flour tortillas so I'm not sure if the actually "disqualifies" me from using the word enchiladas, butnext time I will try it with corn tortillas. I also think that the filling would make a great base for enchilada soup. So you'll probably see a post about that soon! Enjoy!

Green Chile Enchiladas
(Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles food blog)

Note: To wet the tortillas before heating and rolling them, I usually hold them under running water for a second. Alternatively, you could brush water on them using a pastry brush.

1 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast (12-16 ounces)
salt and pepper
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 tablespoons water (I used chicken broth)
3 tablespoons butter
½ large onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk plus ¼ cup
4 ounces chopped green chiles, undrained
½ cup sour cream plus 2 tablespoons
1 cup (4 ounces) cheddar, shredded, plus ¾ cup (3 ounces)

1. For chicken: Adjust oven racks to the lower-middle and upper-middle positions; heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 9-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until oil just begins to smoke; swirl skillet to coat evenly with oil. Brown chicken breast skin side down until deep golden, 3 to 4 minutes; turn chicken breast and brown until golden on second side, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Place in oven on lower-middle rack. Roast until thickest part of breast registers about 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 18 to 25 minutes. Using potholder or oven mitt, remove skillet from oven. Transfer chicken to platter and set aside until cool enough to handle. Pour water into hot skillet and scrape with a heat-proof spatula or wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Pour liquid into small bowl. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

2. For filling: Melt butter until foaming in medium saucepan over medium heat; add onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1½ minutes. Do not brown. Gradually whisk in milk and reserved water from deglazing. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat. Stir in green chiles, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Remove from heat, and stir in ½ cup sour cream.

3. For sauce: Set aside ¼ cup of filling mixture. Add an additional ¼ cup milk and 2 tablespoons sour cream and stir until blended.

4. Remove and discard chicken skin. Using fingers or fork, pull chicken off bones into 2-inch shreds and 1-inch chunks. Stir shredded chicken and 1 cup shredded cheddar into filling mixture. Spread ¼ of sauce in bottom of 9×13-inch pan.

5. Lightly wet both sides of four tortillas; place on baking sheet in oven for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Spread approximately ¼ cup of filling down center of each tortilla. Fold in sides and place enchilada, seam side down, in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas until all the filling has been used, wetting and warming tortillas as necessary.

6. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining ¾ cup cheese. Bake on upper-middle rack until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted, 20-25 minutes. Let rest 5-10 minutes and serve.

Black Beans

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic crushed
1/4 of an onion diced
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles)
salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan. When the oil is hot add the onions and garlic. Let the onions sweat out but do not let the garlic burn. After a few minutes add the black beans and chicken broth. Then season the beans with chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Bring the beans to a simmer then add the Rotel tomatoes. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Fit For an Angel

2008-04-22T20:06:00.000-04:00

Sunday afternoon Jesse and I were shopping at Sam's and he started drooling over a stack of pre-packaged angel food cake. He said in an oh-so-subtle way that he wanted to buy one, unless I could make it. Well, I took that as a challenge. Of course I could make one! Then of course I start to wonder if I really could make one. I never have before and really wasn't even sure how an Angel food cake was made. No worries, I have google! I was pleased when a blog I recognized popped on the first page. Baking Bites is a great blog. I usually check it at least once a week. I knew that I would not be let down by her recipe!

I'm not sure what I thought was in an angel food cake, but I was really taken back by the number of egg whites! It took 11! So now I have to find something to make with 11 egg yolks. Maybe some kind of custard or something, not sure yet, I have a few days to use them. Anyway, this recipe was very easy to follow and had the most delightful aroma. I didn't want to wait for it to cool! This recipe is definitely a keeper! The only thing I did differently was use a bundt pan, I didn't have tube pan with a removable bottom. It still worked fine and I had no trouble getting it out of the pan.

The Best Angel Food Cake

(Source: The Best Recipe as seen on Baking Bites)

1 1/2 cups egg whites (10-12 large), room temperature

1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, divided

1 cup sifted cake flour

1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste

1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 325F.

In a small bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar and the cake flour. Set aside.

Beat egg whites until frothy, the add cream of tartar and salt. Beat until fully incorporated then begin to add the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar 1-2 tablespoons at a time. When sugar has been added, beat egg whites to soft peaks. You will know when you have soft peaks because the egg whites will look like soft waves and when you lift the beaters, the peaks will droop back down into the batter. If your batter is falling in ribbons, it is not quite down. Don’t be afraid to slow down the mixer and check a few times as you get close. Do not beat all the way to stiff peaks. Once you have soft peaks, add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat for a few seconds to evenly distribute.

Sift the flour/sugar mixture over the egg whites in 6-8 additions (depending on your proficiency with folding flour into egg whites) and gently fold it in after each addition. It is better to take your time and do it gently than to rush and deflate the egg whites.

Spoon batter into an ungreased 9 inch tube pan with a removable bottom. Smooth the top with a spatula and tap the pan on the counter once or twice to ensure that there are no large bubbles lurking beneath the surface.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly pressed. Mine took 55 minutes.

Remove from oven an invert pan over a bottle. Allow to cool completely or overnight.

Gently run a thin knife around the sides, then around the bottom, of the pan to release the cake when you are ready to serve it.

Sausage and Cheese Calzone

2008-04-20T22:30:00.000-04:00

Ok, I guess it's "technically" a stromboli since I put the sauce in the dough...

Friday night we ate out with my parents and last night we had dinner at a friends house so I definitely wanted to make dinner tonight. I knew that I had some left over pasta sauce and italian sausage in the fridge so I thought about making a baked ziti or something. Then I remembered this dough I made a few weekends ago that I have been dying to try it again. So I settled on making calzones. It's funny because I make BBQ calzones all the time but I had never made one with "traditional" ingredients before. Now I have and I can't wait to do it again. :)

Sausage and Cheese Calzones

1 recipe for pizza dough (below)
1/2 lb italian sausage
1/2 cup pasta sauce
2-3 oz. fresh mozzarella, cubed
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dry parsley
Olive oil for brushing

In a small bowl combine 1 tbsp parmesan cheese and dry spices and set aside. Roll pizza dough into 2 even circles. Fill half of each circle with sauce, then sausage, then cheese. Fold the other half of the dough over the filled side. Pinch edges to seal. Brush each calzone with olive oil then sprinkle with dry spice mixture. Cut 2 inch slashes in the top of the calzones (to release steam). Bake at 425 for 15 -17 minutes.

Jay's Signature Pizza Crust
(Source: Allrecipes.com as seen on Amber's Delectable Delights)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.

Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

**This dough makes enough for 3 calzones. I made 2 for tonight and froze a ball of dough for another time.**

Chewy Chocolate Brownie Cookies

2008-04-19T14:57:00.000-04:00

Tonight we are going to have dinner with one of my very best friends from high school and her fiance. She is making dinner so I told her I would bring dessert. Even though I am always looking for an excuse to bake, I was for some reason stumped. I had no idea what to make. I thought about cheesecake, but Jesse doesn't really like cheese cake so I knew he wouldn't eat that. I also thought about a regular cake, but that seemed like too much. Brownies came to mind but I feel like brownies can some times ::gasp:: be over done. It seems like everyone is always bring brownies. In the midst of the five minute conversation I had in my head about brownies I remembered a cookie I had just tried this week. A bakery near where I work made these delectable chocolate cookies that tasted almost exactly like a brownie. They were rich with a fudgey center, but they were sturdy like a cookie. So I set out on a mission to find a recipe.

I settled on a recipe from Hershey's website since I have yet to be let down by them. These cookies are very good, but they came out a little more "rough" than I was expecting and lighter in color. Maybe I should have blended for longer? OR maybe I should have used half regular cocoa powder and half special dark? Either way the cookies are very much edible and I will be taking them to dinner, but I am still in search of the recipe for that delicious bakery cookie.....

Hershey's Chewy Brownie Cookies
(Source: Hershey's Kitchen)
Ingredients:

* 2/3 cup shortening
* 1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon water
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 eggs
* 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S Dutch Processed Cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
* 1/4 cup chopped walnuts(optional)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Beat shortening, brown sugar, water and vanilla in large bowl on medium speed of mixer until well blended. Add eggs; beat well.

3. Stir together flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating on low speed just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on each cookie, pressing down lightly.

4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are set. Cookies will appear soft and moist. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 3 dozen cookies

**I topped each cookie with chocolate ganache and confectioners sugar. I also added raspberry extract to half of my ganache along with a few drops of red food coloring. The cookies that are pictured have the regular chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

2008-04-13T16:09:00.000-04:00

Wow! That's really the best way to describe these cookies. Perfectly soft, with just the right texture and a great peanut butter taste. They really hit the spot, and that's saying a lot seeing as I have been craving chocolate chip peanut butter cookies for a while now and my expectations were high.

I started my search for the perfect recipe on Friday night. I started on Allrecipes.com. But the problem with allrecipes is that most of the reviews are crap. Half of them say it is the best recipe ever and the other half say it is the worst recipe ever. So you start reading great reviews and you get really excited. Then you come across the bad ones and you just want to throw in the towel. I decided that it would best if I just found a recipe in a blog. You still get first hand experience, plus you can see pics and read about any changes the author made or will make, with out a bunch of negative to throw you off. Now I have heard great things about this blog, but I have some how never really spent much time looking through it. Now that I know how great it is I am sure I will go back and you will see more entries with her recipes. I know that I will for sure make these cookies again. Mmm mmm mmm!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
(Source: Magnolia Bakery Cookbook; found on the Smitten Kitchen blog)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature (I used smooth)
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (for sprinkling) sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips (I used milk chocolate peanut butter swirl chips)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Place sprinkling sugar on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crissscross pattern (I used the back of a palette knife to keep it smooth on top), but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Stuffed Pepper Stew

2008-04-13T15:17:00.000-04:00

I love stuffed peppers but I never think to make them. This recipe was so easy that I had no choice but to make it. I actually got it from a woman I work with. She was heating up leftovers one day for lunch and they looked and smelled so good. Of course having a total food addiction I had to ask her what it was and subsequently steal the recipe. I am so glad I did because this turned out to be a quick and delicious week night meal. Just a warning, this makes a TON. I didn't think to cut it in half but I definitely will the next time I make it. This could easily feed a family of six!

Stuffed Pepper Stew
(This is a Rachael Ray recipe but I'm not sure which cookbook it comes from)

2 tbsp EVOO
1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp allspice (I omitted and used a tsp of chili powder)
4 cloves garlic
1 lg onion cut into bite size pieces
3 green peppers, seeded and cut (I used red and yellow)
1 bay leaf
1 quart chicken stock
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup orzo pasta
12-15 basil leaves,torn
Grated Parmesan to top

Heat medium soup pot over medium high heat with EVOO. When oil is hot add onions, beef, salt, pepper and allspice (or in my case chili powder). Brown the meat for about 5 minutes then add garlic, peppers and bay leaf and cook 7-8 minutes or until veggies are tender. Stir in stock and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook to al dente. Turn off heat and fold in basil. Serve in shallow bowls with grated cheese on top. *I topped with cheese and put under the broiler until the cheese was bubbly and starting to brown.

Dorie's Perfect Party Cake

2008-03-30T11:22:00.000-04:00

It's that time of the month again! Time to showoff, uh I mean reveal, the Daring Baker's challenge. I must admit, I was giddy when I found out what this months challenge was. With last months savory French Bread challenge I was really hoping for something sweet. I also was really excited to make a cake. This challenge was also a little different in that our host, Morven, left a lot of room for personalization. I choose to stick with the recipe as written, but I could have changed anything from the filling flavor to cake flavor.

Another great thing about this months challenge is that my sister was in town. It was so much fun being able to share this challenge with her. She helped me out by zesting the lemons and starting the meringue for the buttercream. It was a fun day in the kitchen for us. Surprisingly it actually went off with out a hitch. Some DBer's had trouble with their cakes not rising. I didn't have this issue. I checked the cakes at 30 minutes and my toothpick came out clean and the cakes were springy so I took them out. I was also so impressed with how easily the buttercream came together. I'm not sure why I was expecting it to be so challenging. The recipe mentions a point where it looks like it is falling apart, and I definitely reached that point but with in seconds it came back together.

I think when I make this cake again I will try using a whipped cream icing. I liked the butter cream but, for me, it was almost a little heavy for the light delicate cake. If you'd like to see what the other DBer's have been up to check out the blogroll here. Thanks again to Morven for a WONDERFUL challenge!

Dorie's Perfect Party Cake
(Source: Baking: From My Home to Your's, Dorie Greenspan)

For the Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour (updated 25 March)
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.
The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.
During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.
You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.
Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but I think it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the refrigerator. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold. Depending on your audience you can serve the cake with just about anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days. Bring it to room temperature before serving. If you want to freeze the cake, slide it into the freezer to set, then wrap it really well – it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer; defrost it, still wrapped overnight in the refrigerator.

Playing Around
Since lemon is such a friendly flavour, feel free to make changes in the preserves: other red preserves – cherry or strawberry – look especially nice, but you can even use plum or blueberry jam.

Fresh Berry Cake
If you will be serving the cake the day it is made, cover each layer of buttercream with fresh berries – use whole raspberries, sliced or halved strawberries or whole blackberries, and match the preserves to the fruit. You can replace the coconut on top of the cake with a crown of berries, or use both coconut and berries. You can also replace the buttercream between the layers with fairly firmly whipped sweetened cream and then either frost the cake with buttercream (the contrast between the lighter whipped cream and the firmer buttercream is nice) or finish it with more whipped cream. If you use whipped cream, you’ll have to store the cake the in the refrigerator – let it sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

**Recipe Tip - To get nice clean cut layers this is what I did; First I scored the cake halfway up all the way around. Then I took a nice clean piece of fishing wire and set it in the score. Then I just pulled it across. It works wonders.

Mmm, mmm, Marsala

2008-03-27T19:38:00.002-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Ultra Crunchy Pork Chops

2008-03-27T19:26:00.001-04:00

This post has moved to the Sunny Side :) Click the link for the recipe, I promise it's worth it!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Blondies

2008-03-16T16:56:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not but I actually had NO plans for today. It is so rare that I actually have a Sunday free from any obligations that I almost (notice I say *almost*) get bored. To keep myself occupied I decided to bake. Deciding to bake is the easy part, deciding what to bake is tricky. I didn't want to make a complete mess out of my kitchen and I didn't have a lot of time to let something rise. I'm also limited by the fact that I don't really enjoy cooked fruit. You may have noticed a complete lack of any fruit pies, cobblers, filling etc. on my blog. It's something that I am working on, but I the thought of apple pie makes me gag. Sorry, maybe that was TMI. Anyway, Jesse requested that I make something with the Reese cups that we bought earlier today and I immediately thought of blondies. Lucky for me I was blog surfing and I came accross the perfect recipe!

The recipe came together pretty quickly, I was a little concerned because the dough seemed really dry and crumbly so I added just a bit more milk. But in the end it came out just fine. Rich and peanut-buttery. Just like I like my dessert.

Chocolate And Peanut Butter Filled Peanut Butter Blondies
(Source: Cooking In an Apron; Adapted from The Savory Notebook)

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margaine, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
8-oz. pkg REESE'S Milk Chocolate Baking Pieces Filled with Peanut Butter Creme (or substitute 3/4 cup chocolate chips & 1/2 peanut butter chips)

Heat oven to 350*F.

Grease 8- or 9-inch baking pan.

Beat peanut butter, butter, and sugars in a large bowl until well blended. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to peanut butter mixture, beating until well blended. Mix in chocolate chips. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

About 16 bars.

Boulanger Adventurier : Pain Francais

2008-03-01T09:14:00.000-05:00

Did my fancy French impress you? Good! ;) So it's that time of the month again, time to reveal the Daring Bakers challenge. This months challenge : French Bread. This months hosts were Mary and Sara. Thank you so much to both of them for a wonderful challenge! I'm not sure that I on my own I would have tackled this.

My first step in this process was to thouroughly read the recipe. To do this I printed it off, all 14 pages. That's not a typo, it is really 14 pages. I tried not to let the size of the recipe intimidate me (but it did). Then I started reading it. I have to say that I am a very visual person, I do much better when I can see and feel the way things are supposed to work. So the first 3 times I read the recipe I felt like all I read was the word "bread". Over and over again. And I thought, surely, there is more to this recipe than just bread. I decided that for the best first step would be to choose the shape of my bread. So I googled it. I found this wonderful little site with great pictures and suddenly the recipe seemed a little less intimidating. I decided that I would make one batard, 2 small boules and an Epi.

Ok, so I have a shape now what do I do?? Back to google. Then I saw the light. A video of Julia Child making the bread! Perfect! After watching the video 2 or 3 times I felt confident that I could do it. So for any one that is interested in attempting this recipe, you must watch this video!

So the adventure began around 11:30 on a Saturday morning. The ingredients came together pretty quickly and the first rise began. I followed the recommendation of the recipe and let it rise in my oven (which was off) with the light on. I was tickled pink when I opened the oven door a few hours later and my dough had tripled in size. The deflating and second rise also went well.

I did notice that after the "cutting and resting" my dough seemed to have formed a slight crust. It made the shaping a little tricky, but a mist of water and working it with my hands loosened it up. Very carefully I placed the shaped dough on my cloth and put it in the off oven for it's final rise. I admit that I think I stopped this final rise a little early. I think my loaves could have gotten just a touch bigger. But they were still fine.

Then came what it now my favorite part, the flipping of the dough from the cloth! I was so nervous about this part! I don't know why, it just didn't click in my head. But I watched Julia's video one extra time before tackling it and it worked! Flip, slash, slide. Once again I was tickled pink. I can't believe it but the part that turned out to be the hardest for me was the slashing. :( I think my dough formed too much of a crust so I couldn't get a nice deep slash. I even tried a razor blade. When I first cut my Epi loaf I didn't cut deep enough so it turned out kind of.....rough.

My final result was a little pale. I think it was because at first I used a brush to brush on the water, then I just used my spray bottle and misted the loaves for the last few times. I think they needed more water to brown properly. So next time I will skip the spray bottle and stick with the brush.

I am still so proud of myself for having completed this challenge. I think I did a pretty good job and I will definitely try making French bread again!

If you would like the recipe (all 14 pages) check out Breadchick's (Mary's) blog.

Cinnamon Rolls

2008-02-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

A while back I made the Cinnabon Clone recipe from allrecipes.com, I remember reading the reviews for that recipe and a couple of people mentioning another recipe that they liked better, also from allrecipes.com. So when I decided that I had to have some Cinnamon rolls this weekend I thought I would try the other recipe. Now that I have tried both recipes I think that I prefer the Cinnabon clone recipe, but I'm still in search for a roll with a nice light tender dough. The dough for this recipe turned out to be pretty tough. I kind of new it would be last night when I went to roll it out. It took a lot of work to get the dough to roll out to the right length. The dough wasn't very elastic at all. In the end to get it to roll out properly I sprayed both sides with a little water and held onto the bottom with one hand while I used my other hand to push the rolling pin away from. Sounds complicated? It was. Then on the last rise the rolls wouldn't quite double in size.

Don't get me wrong, the rolls were still pretty tasty. Just not nearly as light and flaky as I would have liked. But be your own judge. Here is the recipe. I only made a few changes and those will be marked in Italics.

Cinnamon Rolls III
(Source: Allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup warm water
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 1/2 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
* 1 cup warm milk
* 1 egg, room temperature
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 cups bread flour
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
*
* 1/4 cup butter, softened (I added 1/4 tsp vanilla to the butter before spreading on dough)
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3/4 cup chopped pecans (I omitted these)
*
* 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I also used 1/4 tsp lemon extract)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

In the pan of your bread machine, combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Set machine to Dough cycle; press Start.
When Dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough. (At this point I placed a sheet of parchment paper over the dough and used my rolling pin to press the butter/filling into the dough)
Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

Italian Mac and Cheese

2008-02-24T10:33:00.000-05:00

Okay, say what you want about Rachael Ray, but she has with out a doubt changed the way many people think about cooking. America was (and still is) falling into becoming a fast food nation. She showed people how to make real food from real ingredients in a realistic amount of time. And she did it, for the most part, with out using processed box substitutes. So, while her face being plastered on anything that won't move is a little bit annoying and even though some of her food doesn't look appealing to me at all, I still think she has done something good. And I really think she did good with this recipe. Jesse and I both really enjoyed it.

Italian Mac and Cheese
(Source: Top 30- 30 minute meals : Comfort foods; Rachael Ray)

Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb ziti , penne or cavatappi
1 lb Italian sweet sausage
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
3-4 cloves garlic
12 crimini mushrooms
2 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream (I subbed half and half)
2 and 1/2 cups shredded Italian 4-cheese blend
1 can diced tomatoes well drained
1 tsp hot sauce, such as Tabasco
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water and cook pasta just to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a non stick skillet brown and crumble sausage. Drain crumbles on a paper towel-lined plate. Return pant o heat and add evoo, butter, garlic and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Saute 3 to 5 minutes, until mushrooms are lightly golden.

Preheat broiler to high (I skipped this part because I had something in the oven)

To mushrooms, add flour and stir, cooking 2 minutes. Whisk in stock, then stir in cream. Bring cream to a bubble, then stir in 2 cups of 4 cheese blend. When cheese has melted into sauce add tomatoes. When sauce comes to a bubble, remove from heat and adjust seasoning, adding hot sauce, if desired.

Combine cheese sauce with sausage and pasta, transfer to baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and Parmesan over the top and brown under broiler. (Again, I skipped the browning part and just sprinkled with Parmesan before serving.)

Sunday Morning Pancakes

2008-02-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

Spur of the moment I decided that hot chocolate was not enough this morning. I was in the mood for some big fluffy pancakes. I picked the first recipe I came across and this is what I got. I have to admit that I had no milk this morning so I subbed half and half that I watered down a little bit (weird I know but I was craving pancakes and I didn't want to go to the store). I couldn't believe how much these pancakes puffed up! They were super thick and delicious. I think I would have had better results if I used an actual griddle, but we don't have one so a family size skillet had to work. I also cut the recipe in half so I wouldn't have left overs and I wish I wouldn't have. Allrecipes.com says serving size "10", but really they mean 10 pancakes not servings. Below I have the recipe in it's original form, since I wouldn't half it if I made it again.

Clark Gable Pancakes
(recipe source: allrecipes.com)

* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons baking powder (this is really too much I used less)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup milk (i had that weird substitute of half and half and water)
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* I also added about a tbsp of sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the egg, milk, and oil. Add flour, baking powder and salt, mix until smooth.
2. Pour 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake on hot, oiled griddle. Turn when golden brown. Serve hot.