food havoc

Buttermilk Pecan muffins

2012-02-01T18:22:00.001-06:00

I made these muffins for breakfast last Saturday; which seems like forever ago. It's been a week.

They tasted delicious and we were really hungry while they baked; all that cinnamon with the pecans, vanilla and brown sugar made for a wonderful smelling kitchen. I loved the crunchy, streusel-like topping and it was extra good having a second layer of pecan goodness in the middle of the muffin.

Supposedly these freeze really well; but I can't speak to that. They didn't last long enough to freeze. I can say they make great snacks and breakfast the next morning.

Ingredients:

¼ cup Butter, softened
1 Egg
1-½ cups Buttermilk
½ cup Sugar
½ tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 cups Flour
¾ tsp Baking Power
¾ tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
¼ cup Brown Sugar
½ tsp Cinnamon
½ cup Finely Chopped Pecans

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper cupcake liners.

In a bowl beat butter, sugar, buttermilk, egg and vanilla. In another bowl combine flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the bowl, mixing thoroughly. It may still be a little lumpy, but no worries.

In a small bowl, mix ½ teaspoon cinnamon with the brown sugar and pecans.

Fill muffin cups half way up with batter. Spoon about a rounded teaspoon of the brown sugar-pecan mixture in each tin of batter, and then repeat with a little more batter to fill the muffin cup up three-quarters. Sprinkle the top with the rest of the brown sugar-pecan mixture.

Bake 25 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins. They can be frozen after baking and completely cooled.

Spinach, Artichoke, And Tortellini Pasta Salad

2012-01-23T19:11:00.000-06:00

This recipe has been in my to-try file for a long time. It has olives in it, which Husband doesn't like, so I haven't made for us.

Today there was a potluck at work and I decided to give it a shot. I usually make tried and tested recipes to share with my coworkers, but this sounded so wonderful and I didn't see how it was going to try out badly.

It was popular! Although it makes a large amount nearly all of it was gone at the end of the day and I have many requests for the recipe. It turned out to be a really good choice for a potluck too. I was able to make it the night before and it can sit out for several hours and still taste great.

When the salad comes together it will seem like a TON of spinach. But the spinach does wilt down as the salad sits.

Adapted from Rachel Ray

Ingredients:

1 (20 oz) Package Fresh Cheese Tortellini
8 ounces Fresh Baby Spinach, chopped
¼ Red Onion, minced
2 Tbsp Jarred Roasted Red Pepper, minced
1 (14 oz)can Baby (Small) Artichoke Hearts, quartered
¼-½ cups Pitted Kalamata Olives, chopped or whole
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
Zest And Juice Of 1 Lemon
¼ cup Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme Leaves, minced
Black Pepper To Taste
½ cup Oil-Packed Sun Dried Tomatoes, julienned - from a jar or from an olive bar
¼ cup Feta Cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Boil a large pot of water. Add tortellini and boil 4-5 minutes or until tender but still firm. Drain pasta and allow to cool. (I have always added pasta to salad while its a little warm. I think it absorbed the flavors of the salad more readily-but whatever you prefer.)

In a large bowl, add chopped spinach, onion, red pepper, artichoke hearts and olives. Toss. Mince garlic or put the cloves through a garlic press and place in a small bowl or jar. Add red wine vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, and black pepper. Whisk or shake to combine. Pour dressing over spinach. Toss well. Add pasta, tomatoes, and feta. Toss again and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Panini Press

2012-01-21T10:30:00.000-06:00

My Christmas present to myself was a Panini press. I had been wanting one for quite a while and, well, everything goes on sale before Christmas. So it was a good time to buy myself a little something. I love sandwiches in general and I order Paninis all the time when we go out. I have tried them at home a couple times using the two skillet method; as in pushing down on the sandwich with the other skillet. I wasn't thrilled with the results so I thought an gadget made for the job would be a worthy investment.

I wanted a small one; for storage and because Husband and I certainly don't one capable of making a bunch of sandwiches at a time. I settled on this model as it was attractive, compact and got great reviews. We have some other kitchen items that are Cuisinart brand and I have been pleased with them.

I have been very happy with it. It heats up quickly, the food heats evenly and its very easy to clean. We haven't made anything terribly greasy with it so it has just been a matter of wiping down the non-stick grill plates once it cools and cleanup is done. We have concentrated on Panini sandwiches and Quesadillas but you can make burgers, sliders, chicken and all sorts of things.

The sandwich above has pork left over from a roast we had a few weekends ago, Provolone cheese, dill pickles and Chipotle mayo on multi-grain bread. I love the pretty grill marks from the Panini press. Its a great way to use up leftover meat.

We do make our sandwiches one at a time. You could probably squish both on at once; but it's easy to manage one at a time and the second person isn't waiting long. This sandwich took 4-5 minutes.

Chicken Chilaquiles

2012-01-09T19:36:00.000-06:00

These were basically another excuse to put nachos on the dinner menu. They are made with chicken instead of the traditional beef and have a tomato base. We like spicy so these contain both jalapeno pepper and Chipotle peppers in adobo. The original recipe didn't call for jalapenos but I happened to have several of them at the moment and I knew it would be good addition.

On the subject of Chipotle peppers in adobo; what to do with the rest of the can after making a recipe? Freeze in Ziploc bag! Take the peppers out of the can, spread in the single layer in the bag and throw in the freezer. You can break off what you need for future recipes and your peppers will last a long time. I tried it and it works great.

I also look for any excuse to buy avocados or guacamole. The first time we had it with chopped avocado over the chicken and this time we had spicy guacamole beside the sour cream; both were delicious.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

¼ cup Onion, finely chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 Can (14 Ounces) Whole Peeled Tomatoes, in puree

1-2 Canned Chipotle Chilies In Adobo, plus the sauce clinging to the chili pepper

1 Cooked Chicken Breast

1 tsp Cilantro

2 cups Tortilla Chips

1 Avocado, chopped

¼ cup Sour Cream

½ cup Mexican Cheese

Directions:

1. Pour oil into heavy skillet, heat and add onion and peppers. Cook and stir over medium heat until tender. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

2. Add tomatoes with their puree (breaking tomatoes up, or chop tomatoes ahead of time) and chipotle with adobo sauce. ( I used a can of diced tomatoes instead. ) Bring to a boil; season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer rapidly until lightly thickened and some of the liquid is evaporated, 6 to 8 minutes.

3. Add chicken and cook, stirring, until hot, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.

4. Divide chips among four shallow bowls; top with chicken mixture and Mexican cheese. Microwave for 30 seconds on high if melted cheese is desired. Garnish with avocado or guacamole and sour cream. Serve warm

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-12-07T20:16:00.001-06:00

If you are looking for a thick, rich, indulgent cookie; look no further. This is it.

The basis of the cookie is cake mix, something I have been meaning to try for a while. I had heard it resulted in a thick, chewy cookie and that is certainly true in this case. The batter is so thick, in fact, it must be flattened a bit on the tray so it takes the shape of a cookie.
It is also such an easy way to make cookies. Other than unwrapping and crushing the peanut butter cups this took me hardly any time to put together.

These aren't really classic holiday cookies, but I have a bunch frozen to bring out later this season. Personally I think a good chocolate peanut butter cookie is good any time of the year. :-)

Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

1 Box Devils Food Cake Mix
1 stick (8 tablespoons) Butter, melted
1 large Egg
2 cups Mini Chocolate Chips
25 Mini peanut butter Cups, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Pour cake mix into a large mixing bow. Add melted butter (I melted the butter in the microwave. Having the butter completely melted makes mixing the batter easier.) egg, chocolate chips and crushed peanut butter cups. I put the peanut butter cups in a Zip lock bag and ran my rolling pin over them to crush them. It's a very thick, heavy batter and I ended up using my hands.

3. Using a tablespoon or a medium cookie scoop drop dough onto a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. The dough does not spread much so they can be closer together then most cookies. With a spoon or your fingers press down slightly on the top of each dough ball.

4. Bake for 11-13 minutes until cooked through. Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to cooling rack. I am normally not good about doing these but these fall apart unless they are allowed to cool

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Pumpkin muffins

2011-12-03T10:38:00.001-06:00

I did some baking this week to donate to a bake sale to benefit the local animal shelter. Anything with animals is a cause near and dear to my heart.

I made these chocolate pecan pie bars that are beyond delicious. My plan was to donate half the pan and keep the other half frozen and have for Christmas. I think they would have to be frozen and stored across town to survive much longer. It doesn't help that they are amazing even straight out of the freezer.

There was leftover pumpkin puree from Thanksgiving so I decided to try this pumpkin muffin recipe. They are nice for a light breakfast or a quick snack. I didn't have sunflower seeds, but I think they would be a nice addition. I could also see mixing in some nuts; pecans sound really good. Husband thought cream cheese frosting would be good, sort of a pumpkin bar in muffin form. I can't argue with that, but I left this batch as is.

I donated six pumpkin muffins, a plate of chocolate pecan pie bars and some milk chocolate fudge.

Adapted from Parade Magazine

Ingredients:

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
¾ tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Ground Ginger
¼ tsp Salt
1 stick Unsalted Butter, softened
½ cup Brown Sugar
2 large Eggs
¾ cup Pumpkin Puree
¼ cup Milk
Sunflower Seeds, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Beat butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Fold in pumpkin puree and milk.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

Fit a regular muffin pan with liners.

Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups ( a cookie scoop works well ) and sprinkle with sunflower seeds if desired. Bake until muffins are puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Italian Chicken soup

2011-11-27T10:58:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting to make chicken noodle soup ever since the weather turned cold, but I wanted something different than the classic egg noodles and chicken in broth. I like all the vegetables in this recipe and the heavy cream made this soup a bit richer and decadent that most classic broth soups.

My original plan was to modify this recipe a bit and use leftover turkey. As it turned out I didn't have enough leftover turkey, but I am glad it worked that way. I had four chicken legs sitting in the freezer with no plans for them and they worked great in this soup along with a chicken breast. Bone-in skin-on chicken makes for tasty stock for the soup, as does a little dark meat.

This recipe is half the original and still produces six large servings.

It is wonderful as leftovers too as I found out for lunch today. The flavors meld and everything gets extra delicious after sitting a few days.

Adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

½ Box Ditalini Pasta (Very Short Macaroni-Type Pasta Noodles)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ Whole Chicken - Breasts, Legs, Thigh Or Any Combination - I used one large breast and 4 legs
4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
½ Whole Medium Onion, Diced
1 Whole Red Bell Peppers, Diced
1 Stalks Celery, Diced
1 Whole Fresh Jalapeno pepper, Diced
1 ½ tsp Olive Oil
1 Can (14-Ounce) Can Whole Tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup Heavy Cream
⅛ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Minced Fresh Oregano
Salt And Freshly Ground Pepper, To Taste
Parmesan Cheese Shavings or grated Parmesan, For Serving

Directions:

Place chicken pieces in a large soup pot and cover with the chicken broth. Cover and bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let chicken sit in broth for an additional 30 minutes. Remove chicken, reserving broth and dice or chop chicken; discarding the skin and bones. Set aside the meat.

Cook pasta in a separate pot according to package directions (mine took about 8 minutes) being sure not to overcook it. Drain pasta and drizzle in a little olive oil to keep it from sticking together.

Dice canned tomatoes if using whole tomatoes and return them to their juice.

Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and oregano and turn off heat, stir constantly for one minute. Set this aside. You can also used dried oregano as the olive oil does a nice job reconstituting the flavor of the dried spice.

Pour chicken broth into a separate container and use the original soup pot to saute onion, red pepper, celery, and jalapeno in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, shredded chicken, and tomatoes with their juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add cooked pasta, cream, and all the oregano and olive oil from the small skillet. Stir to combine and until desired temperature. Turn off heat.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan or shavings. Bread is always good with soup too.

Turkey Ala King

2011-11-25T15:55:00.001-06:00

Turkey Ala King is always on of my plans for leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. I am a sucker for anything with a creamy sauce. Since we only had enough leftover turkey for one recipe; this was it.

I went heavy on the turkey as husband mentioned the last batch had more peas than meat.

Oh the horror. :D

Actually I went heavy on the veggies too. I served it over leftover ciabatta bread; it's delicious over any bread or toast....or toasted bread! I have also served it over buttermilk biscuits which is excellent.

This recipe certainly works with chicken and you could use any cooked cut up chicken or turkey. But I especially like using the meat from a leftover roasted turkey and I think using a little dark meat adds a lot of flavor

The original recipe called for green pepper, which stays out of all of my recipes. That is my idea of horror. But this time I did add some red pepper and I thought it was nice, for both flavor and a little color.

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

¼ cup Butter Or Margarine
½ cup Frozen Peas , thawed
¾ cup Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup Onion, chopped
1/4 cup Red Pepper, chopped
¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
¼ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Pepper
¾ cup Milk
¾ cup Chicken Broth
1 cup Cut-Up Cooked Turkey or Chicken

Directions:

Melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat.

Cook onions, peas, mushrooms and red pepper in butter, stirring occasionally, until onion and pepper is crisp-tender.

Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until bubbly; remove from heat.

Stir in milk and broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Stir in turkey; cook until hot.

Serve over bread or toast.

Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp

2011-11-15T18:32:00.001-06:00

Shrimp is by far my favorite seafood. I make it for husband and I a couple times a month and have it myself for lunch at least a day a week. It's a great main entree choice as it's low in fat and calories; provided you don't smother it with fat. :-) No problem for me, I prefer my shrimp roasted with just a little olive oil.
It also cooks very quickly; and makes it easy to get a meal on the table quickly.

This recipe is light and a nice change from heavy marinara or Alfredo sauces. The lemon zest and fresh juice creates a lovely zesty flavor. The roasted shrimp goes perfectly with the lemon flavor.

Adapted from Ina Garten - Food Network

Ingredients:

Good Olive Oil
14 large Shrimp, peeled and deveined - I also removed the tails
Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Angel Hair Pasta Or Thin Vermicelli - I used about ⅙ of 1 lb box of pasta
1 tablespoon(s) Unsalted Butter, melted
Zest And Juice Of 1 Lemon

Directions:

Place a large pot of water on your cooktop and heat the water to boiling.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the shrimp on a sheet pan with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well, spread them in one layer and roast for 6 to 8 minutes, just until they are pink and cooked through.

I like to use my toaster oven and broil the shrimp on high for about 5-6 minutes until pink.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Toss pasta with the melted butter, a drizzle of olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add reserved cooking liquid a little at a time until the pasta mixes well.. Add the shrimp and serve hot.

Chocolate chip cookies

2011-11-13T13:58:00.001-06:00

One of my baking goals for a long time has been to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. It would be thick, soft, chewy and, of course, taste amazing. I have made lots of good cookies; this recipe I am sharing is delicious. For years I went with the classic Nestle Toll House recipe; which is excellent. I also love these Peanut butter Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies.

But I have never found what I consider to be my idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

That said, these aren't too shabby. They bake up soft, taste great and are nearly irresistible in dough form. Me and cookie dough...it's a sickness. Actually I have never gotten sick; not that it would cure me.

Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Real Butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup Shortening
3/4 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 large Eggs
1 (6 ounce) Package Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts (Optional) I opted not-my perfect cookie does not have nuts.

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening until creamy.

Add sugar and vanilla and beat with a mixer on medium speed until well blended.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt, add slowly allowing ingredients to combine, then beat to blend well.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop batter in 2-tablespoon portions about 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

Bake in a 375°F preheated oven until edges of cookies are brown but an area about 1 inch wide in the center is still pale, about 10 minutes.

Let cookies cool on pan about 5 minutes, then transfer to racks with a spatula.

Yields about 18 cookies and easily doubled if you wish to make more.

Enchilada Stuffed Shells

2011-11-12T16:00:00.001-06:00

I can't remember coming across this recipe; but it has been in my must-try folder on my computer for a while. Pasta and Mexican flavor together sounded so delightful and definitely something different.

I modified the original to incorporate extra spice with more onion, more cumin and the cayenne pepper. As I have mentioned Husband and I like spice and I used mild enchilada sauce; so I wanted to make sure there was plenty of flavor. I have been meaning to try some homemade enchilada sauce but for this recipe I used the canned and it was good.

Canned refried beans aren't my favorite; though I do love refried beans and beans in general. I substituted some black beans I smashed with a fork as I wanted the texture and flavor of beans without the mushiness of canned refried beans. I thought it worked very well.

Adapted from BlogChef.net

Ingredients:

8-10 Jumbo Pasta Shells
½ pound Ground Beef Or Turkey
1 (10 ounce) Can Enchilada Sauce
¼ cup Minced Onion
¼ tsp Dried Oregano
¼ tsp Dried Basil
½ tsp Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
¼ cup Refried Beans Or Smashed Beans
½ cup Shredded Colby Jack Cheese Or Mexican Blend Cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain and set aside. I made a few extra as it was hard to tell how many shells I could fill with the meat mixture.

In a large skillet over medium heat brown meat until no longer pink. Drain any excess fat. Stir in onion, oregano, basil, cumin and pepper. Stir in refried beans. Set aside.

Coat an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and pour half of the can of enchilada sauce evenly over the bottom. Using a small spoon fill the cooked pasta shells with the meat/ bean mixture and place the shells facing up into the bottom of the dish. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tops of the shells making sure to coat the meat mixture of each shell.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. During the last few minutes of cooking, uncover and sprinkle the tops of the shells with cheese. Bake until the cheese has melted.

Serve immediately, spooning some of sauce from the bottom of the pan over the shells if desired. I did as evidence by the picture. :-)

Brat Beer Cheese soup

2011-11-09T17:53:00.000-06:00

Some of my favorite recipes are soup. They tend to be pretty easy and are often just as good reheated. We can enjoy the soup the day I make it and then have a great, quick lunch down the road.
I also happen to love chopping and soups are all about chopping and stirring. :-)

I used Wild Rice bratwurst we buy from a local meat market. They are so delicious; I love them grilled during the summer. I used a dark amber beer as that was all I had available. I think I need to go shopping.....

It went very well with Ciabatta bread. Of course soup and bread is such a great combination.

Adapted from Midwest Living

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Butter Or Margarine
1 medium Onion, finely chopped (½ cup)
1 medium Carrot, coarsely shredded (½ cup)
1 stalk Celery, chopped
3 large Shallots, chopped
1 14-ounce Can Vegetable Broth Or 1-¾ Cups Vegetable Stock
⅓ cup All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Milk, half-and-half or light cream - I used Half and Half
½ tsp Caraway Seeds, crushed
½ tsp Celery Seeds
¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
10 ounces Wisconsin Aged Cheddar Cheese Or Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4 Cooked Smoked Bratwurst, halved lengthwise and sliced into bite sized pieces
1 12-ounce Can Beer Or 12-Ounce Bottle Ale

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, shallots and celery; reduce heat to medium low. Cook, stirring frequently, about 10 to 15 minutes or until the onion is very soft and golden.

2. Stir flour into the onion mixture and slowly add Vegetable broth, stirring to incorporate. Add the milk, caraway seeds, celery seeds and black pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Gradually stir in the cheese; reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring frequently, just until cheese melts. Stir in the bratwurst and beer. Cook, stirring frequently, until heated through.

Chicken Marsala with Spinach and Mushrooms

2011-11-05T10:53:00.001-05:00

Yup, another chicken recipe. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are so convenient for the two of us and good portion size.

The recipe also called for mushrooms, spinach and wine, so it definitely sounded up my alley.

The biggest challenge for me was trying to pound a half a chicken breast flat enough to cook through in two minutes a side. Really?? I think the key, for me anyway, would be to buy those flattened out breasts they sell in the grocery store. Maybe some people can pound meat flat as a pancake, but I am evidently chicken-breast-pounding-challenged. So I improvised. After frying on both sides for a few minutes I stuck them in the oven to bake the rest of the way. The chicken gets softer on the outside than it would obviously be if it were fried until it is done, but this way-it gets done.

The rest is a snap, put the rest of the ingredients in the frying pan; then stir and cook. I served it was smashed potatoes and I am thinking pasta would be great too. It's a very tasty recipe with the wine and sun-dried tomatoes, and of course the spinach and mushrooms which are some of my favorites.

Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Halves
All-Purpose Flour
Salt And Pepper
1 Tbs Dried Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
1 1/2 cups Sliced white Mushrooms
1/3 cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes chopped
3/4 cup Packed Fresh Spinach
1/2 cup sweet white Wine

Directions:

1. Place chicken breasts between two pieces of wax paper, and pound to ¼ inch thick with a meat mallet.
2. Dust chicken with flour, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
3. In a skillet, fry chicken in olive oil over medium heat.
4. Cook about 2 minutes on each side or until cooked through, but not over done.
5. Set aside, and keep warm. (As I mentioned above, no way was my chicken flat enough to be done in that amount of time; I baked in the oven at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. Be careful not to overcook.)
6. In the same pan, melt the butter over medium heat; add mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and cook for approximately 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add wine and cook for 6 more minutes. Stirring and scraping the bottom of pan to release all the flavor.
8. Mix in spinach, and cook for about 2 minutes.
9. Serve over chicken.

Pesto Chicken

2011-11-02T09:55:00.000-05:00

We have been enjoying basil pesto recently. I bought a jar for a fish recipe and we both really liked it. I have made a few recipes with it and also found it makes a great addition to pizza! Just sprinkle a bit on either before or after the pizza sauce. This was Husband's idea; giving credit where credit is due!

This recipe is super quick and easy; and healthy if you don't overdue the pesto and cheese.

Recipe adapted from South Beach diet.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts ( I used one large breast )
Fresh Ground Black Pepper For Seasoning Chicken
Approx ¼ cup Basil Pesto
Approx ¼ cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese ( I used a shredded pizza cheese mixture)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Trim any fat from chicken pieces, then cut lengthwise into 2 to 3 long pieces.

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with non-stick spray. then spread half the basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips over the pesto, and add pepper to taste, then spread remaining basil pesto over the chicken. This originally called for salt and pepper, but I can't imagine needing additional salt with the pesto.

I indicated approximately with the pesto and cheese as I honestly didn't measure. I just added a thin layer of pesto to the bottom of the pan and then over the chicken then sprinkled a reasonable amount of shredded cheese over the baked chicken.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through.

Remove foil and sprinkle chicken with grated mozzarella cheese. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 minutes more, just until cheese is melted. Switch to broil for another 5 minutes to lightly browned the cheese.

Serve hot. Rice is a nice side dish.

Chicken with mushrooms

2011-10-28T19:20:00.000-05:00

I have played around with this recipe a couple times; trying it different ways. While searching for chicken recipes on allrecipes I found this one. With a title like Chicken with Mushrooms I knew I had to try it. We eat a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breasts so I am always up to try something new.
The reviews were good but offered lots of changes in the original recipe; adding and deleting ingredients and changing the preparation. I tried the suggestion to saute the mushrooms and wasn't thrilled with the final results.
This time I decided to make it pretty much exactly as directed and it turned out great. It was also quick and easy for a good weekend meal. I served it with a baked potato; microwaving the potato for five minutes on high before baking it the rest of the time in the oven with the chicken.

Ingredients:

* 1-½ cups Sliced Mushrooms
* 2 Skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
* 1 Eggs, beaten
* ½ cups Seasoned Bread Crumbs
* 1 Tbsp Butter
* 3 ounces Mozzarella Cheese, sliced
* ¼ cups And 2 Tablespoons Chicken Broth Or Wine

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place half of the mushrooms in a 8x8 inch pan. Dip chicken into beaten eggs, then roll in bread crumbs.
3. In skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Brown both sides of chicken in skillet. Place chicken on top of mushrooms, arrange remaining mushrooms on chicken, and top with mozzarella cheese.
4. Pour wine or broth in the pan and bring to a boil, stirring to free up any flavor bits remaining in the pan from the chicken. Pour the mixture into the pan with the chicken and mushrooms.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

BBQ beer chicken

2011-10-22T19:00:00.001-05:00

I have been on a roll....three straight nights of new recipes and they were all good. I finally remembered to get a photo so I am sharing the one from tonight. The other two are definitely worth a repeat so stay tuned. :)

It doesn't get any easier than throwing meat, sauce and spices in the slow cooker, set it on low and come back in eight hours to eat. The meat was falling-apart tender and great flavor from cooking all day. The beer and barbecue sauce make a great base and I could definitely taste the spices. I added a little Cayenne pepper for some spice.

I made a relatively small amount as dinner for the two of us. If you needed a casual main entree for a potluck or family gathering this would be an excellent choice. Cole slaw worked very well as a side.

Sadly we are about to the end of our grilling/outdoor BBQ season here so it was a good way to use up some leftover sauce. I do love that sweet, tangy flavor.

Source: How Sweet it is

Ingredients:

2 large Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
6 ounces Of Beer - I used a darker Amber beer
20 ounces Of Barbecue Sauce - I used Sweet Baby Ray's

Directions:

Trim chicken of any fat and sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and Cayenne pepper. Add to crock pot, then pour in beer and barbecue sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours, stirring a couple times. After 8 hours, shred and serve on buns.

My favorite Apple products

2011-10-06T18:39:00.003-05:00

My French Apple pie

My still warm; just enjoyed for dessert tonight, apple crisp.

My MacBook Pro; writer of blogs, keeper of photos, occasionally sprinkled with flour

as my electronic recipe book.

Our original iPhones, straight out of the box and since upgraded. To this day I can't leave the thing alone.

The iPad.

Thank you Steve Jobs.

Asparagus And Shrimp Quesadilla

2011-09-28T20:17:00.000-05:00

We first had shrimp and asparagus quesadillas on vacation this summer. We arrived at our destination city mid-afternoon and needed a little something; nothing that would spoil dinner, just a little snack. We decided to split an appetizer and were so impressed with these. In fact when we went back to the same restaurant for dinner a couple nights later Husband ordered these quesadillas again for his entree.

I have been on the look-out since for a recipe. I found one that sounded close and gave it a try a couple weeks ago. They were good, but the cheese wasn't quite right. I used a pepper cheese with some diced jalapeño pepper added. It was good spicy flavor but just not quite what we remembered from our previous experience. Husband suggested a smoked cheese as we remember a smoky flavor. This time I used smoked mozzarella along with some regular mozzarella as not to overpower the smoky flavor. A little smoked cheese goes a long way.

I was thrilled with these. The flavor was fantastic and a lot like what I remember from our initial introduction to these great quesadillas.

The cool thing about this sort of recipe is you can add, subtract and substitute ingredients pretty much to your heart's content. Basically you put cheese and something for cheese to melt around between two tortilla shells and fry it up.

Very loosely adapted from Fusion Menus

Ingredients:

1 ounce Smoked Mozzarella Cheese - Grated
1 ounce Mozzarella Cheese- Grated
9 medium Shrimp Per Quesadilla
1 large Garlic Clove- Minced
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
½ tsp Chili Powder
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Coarse Salt
2 Tbsps Canola Oil
1 Tbsps Olive Oil
4 large Flour Tortillas
5-6 stalks Asparagus Trimmed And Cut Into 2 Inch Sized Lengths
2 Green Onions - Thinly Sliced
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Salsa

Directions:

Quesadilla Filling

In a bowl, combine olive oil, minced garlic, cayenne pepper, chili powder, salt, and black pepper.
Marinate the shrimp in the above oil and garlic mixture for 10 minutes.
Chop the asparagus into 1-2 inch pieces and place in a microwave-safe bowl covered with a lid. Microwave the asparagus on high power for 2 minutes or until the asparagus is tender.
Cool the asparagus on a plate.
Slice the green onions and set aside.
Heat a large heavy skillet over moderate heat. Add the shrimp to the hot skillet along with the marinade and cook for a minute, or until the shrimp are cooked.
Transfer the shrimp to a bowl and set aside.

Assemble the Quesadillas

Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to a non-stick pan over medium heat.
Lay a flour tortilla flat on a pan. Place some grated cheese, shrimp, asparagus and green onion on top of it and cover it with another tortilla.
Cook the quesadilla for a few minutes ; turning over halfway through, until the cheese is melted and each side is golden brown.
Cut each quesadilla into 6 or 8 triangles.
Place quesadilla with a spatula on a serving platter and serve with tomatoes or salsa, guacamole and sour cream

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2011-09-24T11:13:00.001-05:00

I don't usually blog about something I don't eat. Most often I have just enjoyed the food for dinner, lunch, breakfast or dessert and the photo was of the food I ate immediately thereafter.
An exception to the rule was the carrot cake I shared about last month. It's one of Husband's favorites; along with bread pudding. He likes, in fact pretty much insists, that they both contain raisins.
I am just not big on raisins.
There were several boxes of leftover raisins from the second pan of carrot cake and he requested Oatmeal Raisin cookies; which is another favorite. More raisins..are we seeing a pattern?

Hey, I love a chance to try a new recipe and aren't these some photogenic cookies? So pretty! The dough was tasty too. I tried a bit after I added the oatmeal and before I added the raisins. The kitchen smelled great as they baked.
Husband was happy with them; they didn't last long.

Recipe adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

1 stick Butter, softened
⅔ cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 Egg
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
½ tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp Salt
1 ½ cups Rolled Oats
¾ cup Raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F
In a large bowl or a stand mixer cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins.

If desired refrigerate the dough for about a half hour. The instructions indicated the cookies cooked up thicker so I did refrigerate the dough. Otherwise the cookies can be baked immediately

The cookies should be two inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in, I actually needed about 13 minutes.), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

French Toast

2011-09-15T19:20:00.000-05:00

French toast is one of my all time favorite breakfast foods. We usually save it for weekends and really don't have it that often; but, oh, so good. :D
This picture was Husband's weekend breakfast. It was made with cinnamon swirl raisin bread. Which is awesome for French toast; or so I am told. I am not a fan of raisins so I opted to use my multi-grain loaf of sandwich bread. It made some delicious French toast in it's own right.
We usually have bacon or sausage with French toast; bacon is my personal favorite. An added benefit is using a bit of resulting bacon grease to fry the toast. Yummy!

Ingredients:

1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
splash of vanilla
4-6 slices of bread
Oil or bacon grease

Directions:

Heat oil or grease in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Whisk egg and milk in a shallow bowl large enough to dip the bread. Add cinnamon and vanilla and mix again.
Dip bread in egg/milk mixture. Turn the bread over and make sure the bread has been completely submerged in the mixture. Transfer to skillet and fry until golden on both sides; about 3-5 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the bread. Repeat with remaining bread. If you are using regular sandwich bread you should get six slices, if using thick slices, such as the raisin bread or French bread this mixture will be enough for about four.

Pumpkin bars

2011-09-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

My coworkers and I had a potluck to celebrate some birthdays. There is always lots of great food and I decided to bring pumpkin bars. I hadn't made them in ages and I couldn't even remember what happened to my old recipe. I decided to just find a recipe online and this one is adapted from Paula Deen on Food Network.
These bars are so incredibly moist. We ate the leftovers two days after I baked them and they were still very moist and fresh tasting. Of course the cream cheese frosting puts them over the top; it doesn't get any better than that.

Ingredients:

For The Pumpkin Bar:

4 Eggs
1 ⅔ cups Granulated Sugar
1 cup Oil ( I used Canola - Vegetable is also fine)
15-ounce Can Pumpkin
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cups Sifted All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda

For The Cream Cheese Frosting:

8-ounce Package Cream Cheese, softened
½ cup Butter Or Margarine, softened
3 cups Sifted Confectioners’ Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray a 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the eggs, sugar, oil, canned pumpkin and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.

Hand mix the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. Spread the batter into the prepared 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. (I needed 35 minutes for the center of the cake to get completely done.) Cool completely.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

2011-09-12T18:42:00.002-05:00

It is getting to be fall, it's officially football season, so we once again have homemade pizza at our house about every weekend. I am happy with my recipe for homemade crust and the baking method; but up to yesterday I was still using store bought sauce. Nothing against most of the sauce I have tried, but I knew it couldn't be that hard to make my own.
This recipe is very easy and quick and results in good flavor and color. The resulting sauce is very thick; which I liked. You could add more sauce if you prefer a thinner tomato sauce. The thickness also varies, of course, with how long the sauce simmers.

I decided to leave it a bit chunky and not puree in the blender. I am now curious to try the recipe with fresh tomatoes in place of the canned sauce, but regardless I was really pleased with the spice in flavor as is.

Adapted from Noble Pig

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Butter
½ cup Onion, finely chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 (8 ounce) Can Tomato Sauce
1 (6 ounce) Can Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp Dried Basil Leaves
1 tsp Dried Oregano Leaves
1 tsp Fennel Seeds
1 Bay Leaf
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Sugar
¼ tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

Melt butter with the oil and add the onion and garlic; saute until soft, about 5 minutes.

Stir in tomato sauce and tomato paste and continue to stir until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a slow simmer. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Remove bay leaf. If a smooth texture is desired puree in a blender. Spread sauce on prepared pizza dough and add your favorite toppings.

Chipotle Chicken and Rice

2011-09-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

The recipe contains Chipotle Peppers in Adobo. It's the second recipe I have ever made using these spicy canned peppers. The first time I tried it, which was months ago, resulted in a chicken recipe so spicy we could hardly eat it. We like spice; so this is saying something.
Some time has passed and I decided to give them another try. We do like spicy, after all, and I knew if I could get the right amount we would probably really like it.
I used one pepper and the adobo sauce that was clinging to it and resisted any urge to add more. Good thing; there was PLENTY of spice with one pepper.
It was easily the best chicken and rice recipe I have every made. Most of my past attempts, made with canned soup, resulted in some pretty blah flavor. There was nothing blah about this recipe.
It was also quick and easy, and I can definitely make it on a work day as it only take about 45 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 large Boneless, skinless chicken breast - cut into large chunks
Coarse Salt And Ground Pepper
1 small Red Onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
1-2 Garlic Cloves, coarsely chopped
½ tsp Ground Cumin
1 Canned Chipotle Chiles In Adobo, minced
1 large Tomatoes, diced large
½ cup Long-Grain White Rice

Directions:

1.In a large heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Season chicken on both sides with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Brown chicken on both sides and transfer to clean plate. The chicken will still be quite raw, but no worries; it spends a lot more time cooking later.

2 Add onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes, scraping bottom of the pan to incorporate all the flavor bits.

3.Add garlic, cumin, and chiles; cook until garlic is soft and fragrant, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and ½ teaspoon salt and cook until tomatoes begin to break down and release their juices. Stir in ½ cup water and return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes.

4.Stir in rice, making sure it is completely submerged in liquid. Cover, and cook until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes more. Check rice when between 5-10 minutes left in cooking. If still firm you may need to add a bit more water.

Peach Cobbler

2011-09-06T15:32:00.000-05:00

I always like to bake with fresh peaches each late summer/early fall and I usually make a peach pie. It is one of my personal favorites and a great excuse to use delicious fresh peaches. Over the weekend I was hungry for a dessert and decided to try something different.

I went to Food Network in search of a recipe and this one got great reviews. One comment I read several times is too much cinnamon. I decided to make the recipe as originally stated and I am so glad I did. I loved the cinnamon and I thought the brown sugar really made this recipe special; both in the filling and cobbler crust. The crust browned beautifully and that last sprinkle of brown sugar gave a nice sugary coating to the top.

Cobbler Filling:

5 Fresh Peaches - Pitted, Peeled And Thinly Sliced
¾ cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Flour

Cobbler Crust:

1 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
⅔ cup Buttermilk
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar, for topping
Whipped Cream or ice cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Generously spray or butter a 1 ½-quart shallow baking dish. Sprinkle peaches with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Mix gently until a thick syrup forms. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile combine all dry ingredients for cobbler crust in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers, to make the texture like coarse crumbs. I prefer my fingers; i just think it gets more evenly mixed. Add buttermilk and stir to form a soft dough.

Remove fruit from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Sprinkle with last tablespoon of brown sugar and return to oven. Bake until fruit is bubbly and crust topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream

Key West Chicken

2011-09-05T10:43:00.002-05:00

I am always on the look out for recipes. This I found in the local newspaper's weekly recipe section. Marinated chicken on the grill is so delicious and this is definitely a different flavor than we have had before. I am a big fan of citrus flavors with chicken so I knew this would be good.
I took a large chicken breast and sliced it in half. Usually I end up with a pretty piece and another that looks pieced together. As you can tell by the photo this time was no exception. But the less pretty piece does show the marinated flavoring on the meat.

The sides for the meal were basically by chance, but they complimented the meat beautifully. We had leftover potato salad from last night that I had served with wild rice brats. There was also half an avocado from the shrimp tacos we enjoyed for lunch earlier in the day. The flavors all tasted great together and I definitely will remember to include an avocado the next time we have this chicken.

Ingredients:

6 Tbs. Soy Sauce
2 Tbs. Honey
2 Tbs. Of Chopped Garlic
Juice Of 1 To 1 ½ Limes
2 Tbs. Of Oil - I used Olive Oil
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Chicken Breasts Split

Directions:

Combine first four ingredients and then slowly whisk in the oil. Add freshly ground pepper to taste. Pour over the chicken and allow to sit in the refrigerator for an hour or so. I used an 8x8 pan, but a Ziploc bag also works very well to marinate meat.

Place the chicken on a hot grill and pour marinade over the meat. Grill until chicken is cooked through.

Carrot Cake

2011-08-14T16:08:00.000-05:00

Husband loves carrot cake, but it's gotta be just so. It has to have raisins and crushed pineapple, be very moist and have lots of great cream cheese frosting. He is a carrot cake connoisseur.

I have made a few different recipes in the past; and they were all pretty good. It has been a while and I decided again for that perfect recipe.

Several things got my attention:

1. This recipe calls for a lot of shredded carrots. Three cups of carrots for 9x9 pan is a lot of carrots compared to my other recipes.
2. The instructions to shred the carrots, mix in the brown sugar and let it sit for an hour. Love that! The carrots juiced up and took on the flavor of the brown sugar.
3. Mixing in the raisins with the carrot mixture seem to plump up the raisins and I am thinking that contributed to them not sinking to the bottom of the cake. I have had that problem in the past and no issues this time.
4. Lots of cinnamon; which made it taste great and smell amazing while it baked.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 cups Grated Carrots
½ cup Brown Sugar
½ cup Raisins
2 Eggs
¾ cup White Sugar
½ cup Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
½ cup Crushed Pineapple, drained
1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes, then stir in raisins.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 9 x 9 inch baking pan.

3. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla until creamy. Stir in the pineapple. (Make sure the pineapple is well drained.) Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Stir in the carrot mixture. Pour evenly into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake tests done with a toothpick. When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting.

The cake is only part of it; carrot cake HAS to have cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients:

½ cup Butter, softened to room temp
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened to room temp
4 cups Confectioners' Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup Chopped Pecans If Desired

Directions:

To Make Frosting: In a stand mixer or bowl using a electric mixer, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Sprinkle with chopped pecans if desired. Frost the cooled cake.

*Both the cake and the frosting can contain nuts if desired; either walnuts or pecans. I didn't opt for either.

I think husband liked it. :-)

Crumb Topped Pecan Strawberry bars

2011-08-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

I love eating breakfast and I have been on a personal crusade to eat healthier cereal. I know many people think "healthy cereal" is an oxymoron, but I do think you can, at least, make better choices. Whole grain with minimal sugar beats overly processed sugar bombs any day. Your digestive tract will thank you. ;-)

Enter these cereal bars made with whole grain cereal. They are more indulgent than a bowl of cereal; but we have been enjoying them for breakfast the last several morning. The original recipe called for cherry; but I am not big fan of cherry. As far as I am concerned any jar of all fruit should work just fine.

Adapted from Relish.com

Ingredients:

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Quick-Cooking Oats
1 cup Puffed Rice Cereal ( I used Kashi 7 whole grain cereal puffs )
1 cup Chopped Pecans
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
¼ cup (½ stick) Butter, softened
¼ cup Vegetable Oil
⅓ cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 (10-ounce) Jar Strawberry All-Fruit Spread ( I used Smucker's Simply Fruit. )

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or spray a 9-inch-square baking pan.

Combine flour, oats, puffed rice, pecans, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter, oil, sugar and vanilla in a stand mixer or in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well-blended and creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix until moistened and a crumbly dough forms. It is less dough and more crumbly.

Reserve 1 1/4 cups of the dough for the topping. Press remaining dough evenly into bottom of pan.

Spread fruit spread evenly over dough in pan. Sprinkle reserved dough mixture over top, leaving some areas uncovered. Gently press down to adhere topping to fruit layer. Bake 30-35 minutes or until deep golden. Cool 15 minutes. Slice into 12 (2 ¼ x 3-inch) bars.

Chili Rubbed Pork chops

2011-08-10T08:14:00.000-05:00

I have experimented with this recipe a couple times now. I love the concept of a spicy rub on a pork chop. The first time I made it; I didn't use a lot of spice rub and it tasted like a pan fried pork chop. Which isn't a bad thing, of course, but we couldn't taste much chili rub. This time I doubled the rub. My plan was also to allow the rub to sit on the pork for a couple hours to hopefully incorporate more flavor; but my work schedule prevented me from getting home in time to make that happen.
There was certainly more flavor this time, but we agree we want to try grilling them next time as opposed to frying in the cast iron.
I served them with the Black Bean and Corn Salad that I blogged about recently and it made a good combination. I added a jalapeño pepper from the Farmer's Market stash to the salad so it was a bit spicier than before.

Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients:

2 large Onions
⅓ cup hot Chili Powder
Kosher Salt
½ tsp Dried Oregano
½ tsp Ground Cumin
¼ tsp Ground Cloves
2 cloves Garlic, smashed
8 Thin-Cut Boneless Pork Chops (About 2 Pounds Total), trimmed
Vegetable Oil, for the cast iron pan

Directions:

Roughly chop ½ onion and garlic and place in a blender or chopper with the chili powder, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, the oregano, cumin and cloves. Puree, adding about ⅓ cup water to make a thick paste.

Slice the remaining 1 ½ onions into thin rings and place in a bowl with the chili puree and pork; toss to coat.

Place vegetable oil a large cast-iron skillet or grill pan and place over high heat. Place 4 pork chops in the skillet and surround with half of the onions. Cook until the pork starts to blacken on the outside and is cooked through. Repeat with the remaining pork chops and onions.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

2011-08-07T16:46:00.000-05:00

It's getting to be harvest season around here so the local Farmer's Market has a lot of offer. I have been in a meal planning slump so I was looking for ideas.

This is our haul yesterday.

Suddenly the meal plan for the week was coming together. Chicken chimichangas tomorrow night to make use of one of those Jalapeno peppers, black bean and corn salad with pork chops later in the week, sweet corn with hamburgers on the grill tonight with a slice of fresh tomato on the burger and I couldn't wait to try the Raspberry jam on toast this morning. I couldn't decide between Rhubarb or Red Raspberry jam so I asked the vendor; he said why decide? Good point, but I decided on the raspberry and it is delicious.

I already had Cilantro Lime chicken tacos on the menu for last night. I hadn't intended to use Jalapeno but with six peppers to use it seemed like a good idea. I only used half of one in the marinade as I didn't want it to over power the lime and cilantro flavor. I thought it turned out perfect. I minced the rest of the pepper and we sprinkled it over the finished taco mixture.

Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

1 small Lime, juice and zest
1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Garlic Cloves, minced
½ small Jalapeno Pepper
¼ tsp Cumin
¼ tsp Onion Powder
¼ tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
¼ tsp Chili Powder
Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste
⅛ cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, trimmed of any fat
Flour Tortillas , warmed
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Green Onions, sliced
Salsa or fresh tomato
Mexican cheese, shredded

Directions:

1 Place all ingredients up to cilantro into a bowl and mix. Place the chicken breast in a large Ziploc bag and pour in the marinade mixture. Place in the refrigerator to marinate for 2-4 hours.

2 Grill chicken breasts until thoroughly cooked. Let the meat rest for a few minutes before slicing into thin slices. Layer the warmed tortilla with sour cream, guacamole, sliced chicken, green onions, diced Jalapeno pepper and tomato or salsa and shredded cheese.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

2011-07-26T19:49:00.000-05:00

I was so hungry for corn on the cob this weekend and despite the fact that it's too early for local corn we bought some. It was pretty good; not quite as good as the local produce will be in a few weeks but at least it satisfied the craving.
The corn was sold in pack of five ears; which meant leftovers. I remembered a corn and black bean salad we bought at the local food co-op a while ago that was delicious. I figured this was my chance to try it out.

Adapted from Rachel Ray

Ingredients:

1 Can, 14 ounces, black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups Fresh corn
1 small Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped
½ Red Onion, chopped
1 ½ tsp Ground Cumin
2 tsp Hot Sauce,
Juice of one Lime
2 Tbsp chopped Fresh Cilantro
2 Tbsp Vegetable Or Olive Oil
Salt And Pepper

Directions:

Combine corn, pepper, onion, cumin, hot sauce, lime juice and oil. Add beans and mix again. Be sure to thoroughly rinse and drain the beans. Taste and add pepper and salt if desired. Refrigerate and allow to set at least a half hour so flavors will meld. Stir once more before serving.

We both really liked it. Husband is a huge fan of fresh cilantro and this was a good chance to harvest from the plant we have potted on the deck. I think the lime and the cilantro really make this salad. I liked the bit of spice from the cumin and hot sauce, but if spicy isn't your thing you could always leave it out.

Spicy Turkey Burgers

2011-07-17T11:06:00.006-05:00

Throwing a burger on the grill is such an easy summer meal. We have both been enjoying turkey burgers when we go out to eat and I decided to try it at home.
I wanted plenty of spice and seasoning as turkey has a lot less fat (and therefore flavor) then hamburger. Some of the flavor was in the meat in the form of Cayenne pepper and garlic and onion flavor, but most came from the spicy guacamole and Pepper Jack cheese. I really like Wholly guacamole and we both enjoyed the spicy variety.

Ingredients:

1 Pound ground turkey breast

½ tsp Garlic Powder
½ tsp Pepper
½ tsp Onion Powder
Salt
Cayenne Pepper
1 Egg

Top Burgers With:

Tomato Slices
Guacamole - spicy if desired
Cheese - Pepper Jack or your choice

Directions:

Combine meat, spices and egg and mix with your hands. Separate into our equal amounts and form into burgers.

Spray one side of patties lightly with no-stick cooking spray. Place burgers carefully on grill. Spray the other side of the patty before flipping. Handle carefully and try to only flip the burgers once. Turkey burgers fall apart much easier then hamburger.

Serve on fresh buns with tomato slices, guacamole and cheese.

I served it with classic potato salad and it was a good combination.

No bake cookies

2011-07-10T19:15:00.002-05:00

I was in the mood for cookies today; but since it's 90 degrees and the humidity is whatever-awful-is I sure wasn't turning on the oven. These cookies don't require baking, are made in one pan and are super easy. Win.
You can also eat as much "dough" as you want; no raw eggs to be found! Not that raw eggs have ever stopped me from cookie dough; it's just too tempting.

Chocolate, Peanut butter and Oatmeal No Bake cookies

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) Butter
2 cups Granulated Sugar
½ cup Milk
4 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
½ cup Peanut Butter
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 cups Quick-Cooking Oats

Directions:

1. Add butter, sugar, milk and cocoa powder to a large saucepan.

2. Stir frequently and allow butter to melt. Heat to a rolling boil and boil for one minute. This whole process takes about 10 minutes.

3. Remove from heat.

4. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats. Mix well.

5. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets. Be careful as the cookies are still pretty hot at this point. The cookies do not spread from the position in which they are placed on the wax paper. Flatten with a spoon if more of a cookie shape is desired.

6. Let cool until set. Or try one warm. They taste great warm; what cookie doesn't?

Yield is 2-3 dozen. I got 2 dozen as I made fairly large cookies.

If you are like me you will leave an inch or so between the cookies on the pan to spread as if you will be baking them. Old habits die hard. They really do harden in the shape they are placed, so you may wish to pat them down a bit. But flat or round they taste the same. Delicious!

Strawberry Spinach salad

2011-07-07T08:46:00.000-05:00

We did some grilling over the 4th of July; enjoying a rare weekend without constant rain. It has been a weird summer.
To celebrate the holiday we had hamburgers and baked beans. I had some leftover spinach from earlier in the week and a few strawberries still hanging on from a huge container I bought. I decided a salad would be a nice addition to round out the meal. I usually make it in a large bowl but for the two of us I decided to do individual servings and I thought it worked really well. The dressing and pecans can get lost in the bottom of a big dish and the individual serving bowls kept that from happening.

Ingredients:

Baby spinach leaves
Sliced strawberries
Pecan halves or pieces

Dressing:

2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons of water
2 Tablespoons of minced red onion
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

Arrange strawberries and pecans over spinach leaves.

Mix dressing and pour over salad shortly before serving.

*I did some recipe searches online and see a bit of oil is a common addition to this dressing. It might make the dressing "stick" to the spinach leaves and I will probably try the the next time I make this salad.

Teriyaki chicken

2011-07-03T16:23:00.000-05:00

I have always loved teriyaki. It is my go-to favorite choice when ordering chicken wings with sauce. I had never tried making it at home before. Certainly I have bought many of the bottled varieties; and they aren't bad at all. But I though a homemade sauce was probably pretty easy and sure enough, it is.

Ingredients:

2 tsp Corn Starch
1 tsp Cold Water
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 ½ Tbsp Rice Vinegar
½ tsp Sesame Oil
2 clove Garlic Minced
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
2 tsp Pineapple Juice
2 Tbsp Crushed Pineapple
1 Chicken Breast Split

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine all ingredients except the chicken breast. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles. Watch the sauce carefully as it can scorch and burn easily.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. Cut chicken into desired size pieces and place in an 8x8 baking dish. Cover chicken in sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Pour sauce from the bottom of the dish over the chicken on the serving plates. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.

This recipe is enough for two serving with a generous amount of sauce. Rice would be a natural side but I decided to just serve it with a side of broccoli for a light lunch today.

I put together this recipe from a number of different sources. I especially like that is contains ingredients I have available. Since I have been making more stir fries I keep rice vinegar and Sesame oil on hand.

I used can pineapple for the crushed pineapple and the sauce. Fresh would obviously be amazing. I was tempted to drop a few pineapple chunks over the top as it came out of the oven, but I didn't want to overdue the sweet.

It's a delicious recipe and can be on the table in about 45 minutes.

Pesto Tomato Cod

2011-06-22T08:21:00.001-05:00

We don't eat a lot of fish. We do eat shrimp prepared many different ways on the regular basis and I eat a lot of salmon; but we don't eat much fish at home. Fish cooks quickly and can be very healthy; so that made this recipe appealing for a weekend dinner.
The pesto with the cod is a great combination. The flavors meld together along with the tomato and wine but the pesto doesn't completely overwhelm the delicate cod.
I used a generous amount of the pesto as I was using up the end of a jar. For the fish I bought two individually packaged servings of cod. A larger piece would make a nice presentation with pesto and tomato slices over the fish. But the individual servings are really convenient for us.

Loosely adapted from Kayotic Kitchen

Cod Fillet
1 Tomato
Basil Pesto (green) 1-2 Tbsp depending on the amount of fish
1/4 cup Dry White Wine
Pepper

Place the cod in an oven dish and generously season it with pepper. You could add salt, but pesto generally contains plenty of salt.

Brush or spoon the pesto over the fish; reserving a small amount of the pesto.

Thinly slice the tomato and place them on top of the fish. Brush the remaining pesto on top of the tomatoes.

Pour in the white wine along the side of the fish and in the bottom of the pan.

Place the dish in a preheated oven and bake at 350℉ for 20 minutes.

7. Spoon some of the cooking liquid over the fish and serve immediately.

Spaghetti pie

2011-04-28T18:15:00.000-05:00

Spaghetti pie makes me think of work; in a good way. My coworkers and I used to browse the hospital cafeteria menu and make sure we made it over when spaghetti pie showed up. It's delicious!
I have been trying to make better choices at work and usually bring a healthy lunch. Yogurt, apples and a low calorie entree having replaced large portion, high calorie cafeteria food. But I have sure missed the spaghetti pie.
I found this recipe in Midwest Living magazine called Inside Out Spaghetti pie. I think it's as much upside down as it is inside out. Meat on the bottom, noodles on the top and cheese and sauce between and on top.
The recipe called for hamburger, but I had 1/2 pound each of Italian sausage and ground turkey. I am sure ground beef would be great too. I also used pasta sauce instead of pizza sauce.

Ingredients:

1 5-ounce Can Evaporated Milk
½ cup Fine Dry Bread Crumbs
1 small Onion, chopped (⅓ cup)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Dried Italian Seasoning, crushed
¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 pound Lean Ground Beef, Italian Sausage, Turkey Sausage Or Ground Turkey
4 ounces Dried Spaghetti
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
8-ounce Pizza Sauce Or Pasta Sauce
1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (4 Ounces)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine evaporated milk, bread crumbs, onion, salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Add ground meat; mix well. Lightly press mixture evenly onto the bottom and up the side of an ungreased 9-inch pie plate. Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until done (160 degrees F). Fat will be present on the top of the meat; carefully tilt pie plate and drain the fat.

2. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain. Return to pan. Stir in butter until melted. Stir in egg and Parmesan cheese until spaghetti is coated.

3. Spread half of the pizza sauce over meat mixture. Top with ½ cup of the mozzarella cheese and the spaghetti mixture. Top with the remaining pizza sauce and the remaining ½ cup mozzarella cheese.

4. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until heated through. (If necessary, cover edges of meat mixture with foil to prevent overbrowning.) Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Turkey Meatball Strogenoff

2011-04-25T19:42:00.001-05:00

I love meatballs and these saucy turkey meatballs were no exception. I tried it for the first time a little over a month ago and it's been back on the menu twice since.

The original recipe is modified a bit by baking the meatballs instead of pan frying them. I find with baking them they stay soft and moist and I can also be assured they are done in the middle. I do like the browning with pan frying, but a tender meatball that I can be assured is fully cooked takes precedence.

The sauce thickens quickly and is very easy. No stirring and stirring and hoping the sauce will finally thicken. (We have all been there!)

Meatballs, creamy sauce and pasta...what's not to love??

Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

Meatballs

½ pound Ground Turkey
1 Egg
¼ cup Minced Onion
½ cup Breadcrumbs
1 Minced Garlic Cloves

Sauce

1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
¼ cup Onion, finely chopped
½ cup Mushroom, thinly sliced
1 clove Garlic
½ cup Chicken Broth
1 tsp Brown Mustard
¼ cup Heavy Cream
½ cup Sour Cream
2 tsp Flour
2 Tbsp Minced Parsley
¼ cup White Wine - Optional
Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
8 ounces Medium Egg Noodles, cooked

Directions:

1. Form meatballs to about 1 1/2 inch size. Place in 8x8 glass dish and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

2 In a large deep skillet, heat butter and olive oil. Add onions and mushrooms and sauté over medium heat until deep golden, about 20 minutes. Add garlic.

3 Blend broth, mustard, heavy cream and sour cream together and set aside. Lower heat.

4 Add flour and cook stirring for a minute.

5 Add liquid mixture and simmer, without boiling until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.

6 Add meatballs to sauce and heat, without boiling until meat is warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

7 Stir in wine, if desired, and parsley and spoon over egg noodles.

Easter Brunch

2011-04-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

2011-04-23T14:24:00.000-05:00

I am hosting Easter brunch tomorrow and the menu is set. Egg bake with bacon and turkey sausage will be the main course along with fruit and these muffins. We will finish with carrot tea cake; which of course will be topped with cream cheese frosting. I can taste it already.

This was the first time I made lemon poppy seed muffins; a little surprising as we both love them. I knew they would be delicious by just the look and scent of the batter. The poppy seeds with all that good lemon zest and fresh juice smelled so good.

Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

½ cup Butter, softened
⅔ cup Sugar
2 large Eggs, separated
1 ⅓ cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
2 Lemons, zest of, grated
¼ tsp Salt
½ cup Buttermilk
2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp Vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat well after each.

In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients, poppy seeds, and lemon zest.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating two times with the buttermilk, then lemon juice, and then vanilla.

Beat just until smooth.

In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold them into the muffin batter until blended.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, ¾-full. A cookie scoop works very well for this. No spills and easier to get the right amount for each muffin.

Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely.

When making cupcakes and muffins these are so handy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

2011-04-17T18:23:00.001-05:00

These are pure decadence. As soon as I saw it I couldn't wait to try it. But I knew I had to wait until we had more people to help us eat them. No way could, or should, two people be consuming an entire pan of these! Plus I don't trust myself around peanut butter and chocolate.

Chocolate and peanut butter over a layer of brownies; how brilliant. Oh, there is also a little cereal. I actually used whole wheat, organic cereal, so they are also incredibly healthy.
Maybe not. But the cereal is healthy and peanut butter has protein. So there.

Credit to How sweet It Is for this amazing recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Batch Brownies-Mix Or Homemade Recipe
½ cup Salted Peanuts
1 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups-Chopped Into Small Pieces
1 ½ cups Milk Chocolate Chips
1 ½ cups Creamy Peanut Butter
½ Tbsp Butter
1 ½-2 cups Cereal

Directions:

Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. They will be thinner then a typical brownie, of course, but they are only the bottom layer. Remove and top with peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 4-6 minutes more.

While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal. You will need approximately 1 1/2 to 2 cups depending on what type of cereal you use. I used a flaky crisp cereal and used about 2 cups. If you use a puff cereal you might use a bit less. You want the mixture thick but still spreadable.

Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top; using a spatula to evenly coat.

Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

5 Minute Chocolate Cake in a cup

2011-04-13T20:15:00.001-05:00

This recipe has taken on a life of its own on the Internet. Google "chocolate cake in a cup" and 6 million hits come up. Add in that it only takes five minutes and people can't help but be interested.

Let's be real; it wouldn't win prizes for consistency or texture. It's made in a microwave. But it is what it is and it is a quick, easy chocolate dessert you can have almost immediately.

Chocolate Cake in a Cup

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp Flour
4 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Cocoa
1 pinch Salt
1 Egg
3 Tbsp Milk
3 Tbsp Oil
3 Tbsp Chocolate Chips (Optional)
A Small Splash Of Vanilla Extract
1 large Coffee Mug (Microwave safe)

Directions:

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. A fork works about as well as anything to mix it.

(Optional chocolate chips....who are we kidding? We are making 5 minute microwave chocolate cake in a coffee cup and we are not adding chocolate chips? I don't think so.
Seriously, do add the chips. They melt and get gooey and wonderful.)

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for about 3 minutes at 1,000 watts. When the cake starts to rise over the top of the mug it is getting done. You will be convinced you will spend the next 10 minutes cleaning your microwave instead of eating chocolate cake. But in my three experiences it hasn't happened yet.

Allow to cool a little (the cake will fall back into the cup) run a butter knife around the edge of the cake and tip out onto a plate or bowl. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or chocolate sauce. A little ice cream or chocolate syrup really does add a lot. I am thinking whip would be good too, but have yet to try it.

You can also cut it in half and share and have a bit more reasonable portion. It's also nice to share.

Balsamic chicken sandwich and Asian slaw

2011-03-31T19:11:00.000-05:00

I found both of these recipes in the Parade magazine that comes in the Sunday paper. I tend to like their recipes as they are usually both easy and at least somewhat healthy.

The chicken sandwich is adapted from Jessica Seinfeld; cookbook author and wife to Jerry Seinfeld. She is known for her recipes that incorporate including vegetables into the diet of fussy children (and possibly husbands). Fortunately Husband and I like veggies and include them willingly in our diet. Her original recipe called for a broccoli puree in with the chicken mixture. Sounded great; but I didn't have any broccoli on hand.

Ingredients:

2 pounds Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
¼ cup Whole-Wheat Flour
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup Balsamic Vinegar
6 Tbsp Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
6 Ciabatta Rolls
6 large Slices Tomato
½ cup Grated Part-Skim Mozzarella
Fresh Basil (Optional)

Directions:

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Spread flour on a plate and toss chicken chunks in flour to coat completely. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Warm oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add chicken. Lower heat to medium and continue to cook until chicken begins to brown, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

3. Add chicken broth, vinegar, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 10–15 minutes stirring occasionally until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center and vinegar mixture is thickened.

4. Place rolls on a large baking sheet. Top each of the 6 bottom halves with a tomato slice (and fresh basil, if desired); divide chicken among them and sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake until cheese is melted and edges of rolls are crisp, 5–7 minutes. Serve immediately.

*That vinegar/brown sugar mixture on the chicken is delicious. Make sure to scrap up all the wonderful sweet, flavorful goodness and get it into the sandwich. Yum.

I didn't have any fresh basil, so I sprinkled a little dried on the tomato slice. Not the same, but I wanted to incorporate the Italian flavor.

The Ciabatta rolls are homemade too. I took my standard recipe for Ciabatta bread and separated the dough in half. I baked a small loaf of bread with one half and made four rolls with the other half. It worked. :) True Ciabatta rolls are pretty putzy; if my internet browsing is to be believed. Maybe someday when I feel like putzing.

From an Italian-ish sandwich to an Asian-ish coleslaw....

Asian Slaw

This is a fun take on traditional coleslaw, with a nice spicy flavor. So far I have served it with Chimichangas and these sandwiches. Both worked. It's very versatile!

Ingredients:

4 cups Shredded Cabbage
1 cup Shredded Carrots
1 small Onion, finely chopped
Pinch Of Pepper
1 ½ Tbsp Rice Vinegar
⅓ cup Mayonnaise
1 ¼ tsp Sesame Oil
½ tsp Sriracha Sauce
¼ tsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds Or Chopped Peanuts (Optional)

Directions:

1. Toss cabbage, carrots and onion in a bowl. Season with pepper.

2. Whisk together vinegar, mayonnaise, sesame oil, sriracha, and sugar until smooth. Taste; add pinch of salt if needed.

3. Pour dressing over shredded vegetables and toss to combine. Serve slaw immediately or chill for a few hours, tossing again before serving. Finish with a shower of sesame seeds or some chopped peanuts, if desired.

Shrimp tacos

2011-03-28T19:03:00.000-05:00

Spring is coming; I hope. This will be a great recipe when the weather finally warms up. It has lots of great fresh flavor.
I have never seen the concept of cole slaw for a base for tacos, but it really worked. Normally I love sour cream with tacos and the cole slaw was that, only better. The avocado was also good with the shrimp. We have become avocado fans recently, so I was happy for another excuse to buy one.

Adapted from Kasey's Kitchen

Ingredients:

Flour Tortillas
Shrimp, cleaned & shelled (plan on 3-4 per taco)
Fresh Garlic - minced
Chili Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Avocado
Tomato
Cole Slaw (see below)

Directions:

Clean, peel and de-vein shrimp. Mince garlic. Mix shrimp, garlic, chili powder, cayenne pepper, olive oil, and salt & pepper together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes to marinate.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and saute shrimp until cooked through, approximately 2 minutes on each side.

Chop avocado and tomato.

Toss together shredded cabbage (or a packaged cole slaw mix), a spoonful of mayo or sour cream, a dash of rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar, seasoned salt, and pepper

Warm tortillas slightly in non stick skillet or microwave, for about 15-20 seconds each.

Top each tortilla with cole slaw, shrimp, avocado and tomato.

*The spices for the shrimp are to taste. I used a pretty generous amount of hot chili powder and cayenne pepper and they still were not overly spicy. I marinated for about 20 minutes, but next time I would like to allow to spice to sit longer.

Irish soda bread

2011-03-16T18:59:00.001-05:00

I am celebrating St. Patrick's Day early this year. Since Thursdays are my busiest work day I decided to make my special meal a day early. I have been wanting to try beef stew using Guinness beer instead of wine for a long time and what more perfect time than St. Patrick's Day?

We almost always have bread with soup; usually either beer cheese bread or Ciabatta bread. But in the spirit of the holiday I thought I would try Irish soda bread. Most recipes I have seen have raisins and sound more sweet. But this recipe even mentioned how well it goes with soup and stews.

This was adapted from the The Unofficial Harry Potter cookbook. It's a Weasley recipe. :)

Ingredients:

4 cups All Purpose Flour Plus Extra For Dusting
1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
1 ½ tsp Cream Of Tartar
1 tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
4 Tbsp Butter (½ Stick)
1 large Egg - Beaten
1 ½ cups Buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. in a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and sugar. Cut the butter in small pieces and work the butter into the flour mixture with your hands. You want the butter cold for this; it is much easier to work it into the flour. Continue rubbing the butter into the flour until combined and the mixture is uniform without any chunks of butter. Fold the beaten egg and buttermilk into the mixture until just mixed and a dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead a couple times until the dough comes together.

2. Form the dough into a circle and place on a cookie sheet or 9 inch round baking dish. Dust extra flour onto the top of the dough and with a shape knife make an X about a ¼ inch deep on the top of the dough.

3. Bake for 15 minutes at 425. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40 minutes until golden brown.

4. Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack.

Don't worry about getting the dough perfectly shaped and round. Every photo I have seen looks very rustic. It supposed to look like that! I did like making it in a round 9 inch pan; it was very easy to manage that way.
To make the X in the dough use the sharpest knife you have. If not you will stretch instead of cut the dough. Not the end of the world, of course, just not the same effect. I have read a razor blade is the absolute best way to cut it.

It did go very well with the stew and is supposed to make amazing toast. I will try that out tomorrow morning.

Creamy Cajun chicken pasta

2011-03-13T18:40:00.003-05:00

This is so good.

Ever since I made Jambalaya for the first time I have made note of any recipe incorporating Cajun spice. Imagine traditional Alfredo with a kick of spicy seasonings. It was also very easy and came together in no time. I could easily make this dish on a weeknight.

Loosely adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

2 small Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into pieces or thin strips
4 ounces Linguine, cooked al dente
1 tsp Cajun Seasoning
½ tsp Hot Chili Powder
2 Tbsp Butter
½ cup Thinly Sliced Fresh Mushrooms
2 Thinly Sliced Green Onion
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp Chopped Sun-Dried Tomatoes
½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 clove Garlic Finely Minced
¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2-3 drops of hot sauce ( optional )

Directions:

1. Place chicken, Cajun seasoning and chili powder in a bowl and toss to coat. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes. Next time I would like to try letting the spices sit on the chicken longer so the meat incorporates the flavor a bit more; but it was great just sitting for 10 minutes.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute chicken and mushrooms in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Cook until most of the liquid is evaporated.

3. Add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, garlic, black pepper, Parmesan cheese and hot sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce has reduced and thickened.

4. Pour over hot linguine or fettuccine. Makes 2 servings

*The original recipe called for the Parmesan cheese to be sprinkled over sauce and pasta at the end. I decided to make it a bit more like Fettuccine Alfredo and stir it in with the whipping cream to help thicken the sauce and it worked beautifully. I suppose you could sprinkle a little extra Parmesan over the finished dish at the end; but not necessary in my opinion.

I used a few drops of Sriracha sauce for extra spice. If you aren't into a lot of spice you could eliminate the hot sauce and the hot chili powder.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-03-06T19:04:00.001-06:00

Funny how many things end up getting made just because I don't want a leftover ingredient to get wasted. In this case I had some spare buttermilk sitting in the refrigerator. I love buttermilk biscuits and figured I would give them a try.
Searching for recipes I found they don't seem to vary much from the following.

Adapted from All Recipes.

Ingredients:

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 ¼ tsp Baking Powder
¾ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Baking Soda
⅓ cup Shortening
¾ cup Buttermilk-I used low fat

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender (actually I have always preferred using a fork) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Roll to 3/4 inch thickness; cut with a floured 2-½-in. biscuit cutter. Place About 1 inch. apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. ( I needed about 11 minutes before they browned ) Serve warm.

You can also brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter. I didn't. I couldn't decide if I wanted to and then forget. Needless to say it wouldn't be bad. Melted butter is rarely a bad thing. :)

Melted butter is nice in the center of the biscuit. I personally like honey.

Orange Ricotta Pancakes

2011-03-05T10:39:00.002-06:00

Wow, almost a month since my last post!

Here's the deal: My lighting has been down. Dear Husband got sick of me complaining about my photos. He insisted it wasn't the camera; it was the lighting. Flash on, flash off, natural light...didn't matter.. I HATED how the photos of my food were turning out.
So I now have a lighting system with two big, bright bulbs that make all the difference. But it used to be set up in the dining room; convenient for taking food photos but had to taken down when we entertained friends for dinner. So after a few weeks we decided to set it up in a spare room upstairs. I think I need to experiment with placement of lights a bit more, but I like having the system out of way.

Anyway-on to the pancakes. Sort of a staple of the weekend breakfast in this house; always made with the box mix. I love the box mix, I have no problem admitting that; easy, turns out every time and delicious. But I have been wanting to try homemade versions of foods that we traditionally eat in processed, mix, or pre-made forms.

One course of action would have been homemade buttermilk pancakes, but I have seen several recipes for ricotta pancakes and they sounded so good. I love ricotta and I was really intrigued with the idea of using it in pancakes.

Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup(s) (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese

1/3 cup(s) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoon(s) grated orange zest (1 orange)

2 teaspoons vanilla

2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons oil ( or bacon grease-in this case )

Confectioners' sugar or maple syrup

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla and orange zest. Whisk in flour until just combined. Pour batter into a measuring cup.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Working in batches, add batter, using a scant ¼ cup for each pancake. Cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serve hot, dusted with confectioners' sugar or drizzled with maple syrup. Makes 4 serving.

The batter is much thicker than I am used to and makes a thick, dense cake. I have been guilty of over-mixing since forever and I think I may have done so with the batter. It is just so easy to keep whisking. :P
They definitely take 4-5 minutes per side to cook. Which seems like forever compared to a box mix of standard cakes.
I loved the flavor with the ricotta and orange. They really stayed with me too. I am always starving in the morning and usually hungry by mid-morning despite always eating breakfast. Not with these pancakes!

It's always great to have lots of underfoot help in the kitchen. :)

Stir Fry Beef and Broccoli

2011-02-08T18:58:00.002-06:00

I have wanted to try a beef and broccoli stir fry recipe for a while. While I am not normally a big fan of steak, I love the tender beef in the stir fry at our local Chinese restaurant.

After looking at many recipes I found this from Betty Crocker. I adapted it to marinate the meat to make it sure it was tender and added some ingredients. I also omitted the carrots and added green onions and garlic to the stir fry.

I loved how it turned out. The beef was very flavorful and very tender. I definitely recommend marinating the beef flank overnight.

Ingredients:

Beef

1/2 to 3/4 pound Beef Flank Steak, cut into thin slices
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar

Sauce

⅓ cup Hoisin Sauce
⅓ cup Water
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Hot Sauce
1 tsp Sesame Oil

Stir-Fry

2 Tbsp Peanut Or Vegetable Oil
2 cups Fresh Small Broccoli Florets
3-4 Chopped Green Onions
3 cloves Minced Garlic
2 Tbsp Water
½ cup Cashew Halves, if desired

Directions:

In medium bowl, mix beef, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Marinade beef for several hours or overnight. A Ziploc bag works well to marinate the meat.

In wok or 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over high heat about 1 minute. Add beef mixture, breaking up clumps of beef with wooden spoon; cook 1 minute without stirring. Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until beef is browned around edges. Transfer beef mixture to clean bowl.

To empty wok, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil; heat over high heat about 1 minute. Add broccoli, green onions and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 2 tablespoons water; cover and cook 2 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until broccoli is crisp-tender.

Return beef mixture to wok. Mix sauce mixture again with wire whisk to recombine; pour into wok. Stir to coat mixture with sauce. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened. Sprinkle each serving with cashews.

Super Bowl food

2011-02-06T18:44:00.001-06:00

Super Bowl Sunday; one of my favorite days of the year. :-)

This year, however, no team I have cheered for has managed to win. Starting with the Vikings and all the way through the playoffs I have been a regular jinx.
But there is always food.

California roll sushi from our local grocery store. I had this particular munchie to myself.

Nachos; a classic Super Bowl appetizer. I started with Chili and Lime flavored chips and layered with Mexican blend cheese, taco meat, green and black olives and green onions. On the side is sour cream and Wholly Guacamole the spicy variety. First time I had tried the spicy variety and it is very good!

Margaritaville shrimp followed the nachos. We tried the Volcano shrimp. Imagine a jalapeno popper with shrimp. Tasty!
Beer is excellent with Super Bowl food. I thought I would mention that.

I would say my ice cream with cashews and caramel sauce followed the rest of food, but it was my afternoon snack. I love chocolate over ice cream, but over the summer I became a real fan of cashews and caramel together.

Back to the game......

Broccoli Pie

2011-02-05T11:53:00.001-06:00

Broccoli pie is one of my favorite sides. It is really delicious, pairs well with different meats and a good way to use up a bunch of broccoli. We buy huge bags of broccoli flowerettes and it can be a challenge to get the bag used before it goes bad. I usually end up making this or quiche...or both!

Adapted from my old tattered Betty Crocker cookbook

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound of fresh broccoli

1/4 cup of finely chopped onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp butter

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup dry plain or seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated dried Parmesan or Romano cheese or a combination

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Prepare and cook broccoli until crisp tender. You can either boil in an inch of water in a saucepan or use a steamer. Drain and cool.
Coarsely chop broccoli and place in greased pie plate. Cook and stir onion in butter until tender, stir in garlic and cook until fragrant. Sprinkle onions and garlic over broccoli.
Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over broccoli evenly.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until it is lightly browned and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

* I am still using up a block of Romano cheese so I grated some up to use in place of dried Parmesan and it was wonderful. Not that I am complaining about having the fresh Romano to use. It has been excellent in salads and pastas and on pizza.

I baked the pie in the oven along with herbed chicken breast.

Sloppy Joes

2011-02-01T18:39:00.002-06:00

These are a great potluck food, Super Bowl munchy, or easy dinner. I bought them to work last Friday for the main dish to our potluck and made a little extra so I could serve it tonight at home. They are at their absolute best in a crock pot, slowly simmering and making everyone hungry when you lift the cover to stir it. I reheated my leftovers in a sauce pan and it still smelled wonderful and made me hungry.
I also think dill pickles made a great addition. :-)

Source: Best of Byerlys Cookbook

Ingredients:

3 pounds Ground Beef
3 cups Chopped Onion
4 cups Chopped Celery
2 cups Chopped Red Bell Pepper (or Green if you prefer)
1 (32 ounce) Bottle Ketchup
1 (12 ounce) Can Tomato Paste
1 (1.25 ounce) Package Chili Seasoning Mix
1 ½ tsp Salt
1 ½ tsp Sugar
½ tsp Pepper
¼ tsp Liquid Smoke

Directions

Brown beef in large kettle or Dutch oven; drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients; simmer 2 hours.

Serve warm on hamburger buns.

Tortellini Chowder

2011-01-23T11:49:00.004-06:00

A meatless main entree-go figure!

Don't feel too sorry for Husband. He had beef stick ends in his possession from Schmidt's Meat Market. His carnivorous tendencies were well taken care of last night.

The weather has been disgusting cold here. 20 below zero disgusting. Soup always sounds great when it is cold and spicy soup with cheesy pasta really hit the spot for me.

Source: Midwest Living Magazine

Ingredients:

⅔ cup Chopped Onion

½ cup Chopped Red Sweet Pepper

⅓ cup Chopped Fresh Green Chili Pepper (Such As Anaheim Or Poblano) I used Anaheim.

2 Tbsp Minced Garlic

1 Fresh Jalapeno Pepper (Seeded, if you like), chopped (about 1 tablespoon)

1 Tbsp Butter Or Margarine

3 cups Chicken Broth

2 cups Cubed Peeled Potatoes

1 tsp Ground Cumin

¼ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper

⅛ tsp Cayenne Pepper

2-3 drops Sriracha Sauce

2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour

2 Tbsp Butter Or Margarine, melted

1 15-¼-ounce Can Whole-Kernel Corn, drained

2 cups Half-And-Half Or Light Cream

2 cups Refrigerated Or Frozen Cheese-Filled Tortellini, cooked and drained

Husband had to take a picture of my chopped onion, peppers and garlic. I think he was just so impressed with all those peppers. That would have been unheard of from me just a few years ago. I will not do green peppers, but I am okay with red and spicy peppers chopped in food. You still wouldn't catch me sticking raw slices of red pepper in my mouth; but this is progress.

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven or kettle, cook the chopped onion, the red sweet pepper, the green chili pepper, the garlic, and the jalapeno pepper in the 1 tablespoon butter or margarine for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, but not brown.

2. Carefully stir in broth, potatoes, cumin, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and Sriracha sauce. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are just tender.

3. In a small bowl or custard cup, stir together flour and 2 tablespoons melted butter; add to soup mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute.

4. Reduce heat and add corn, half-and-half, and tortellini. Heat through. Ladle into soup bowls.

My cheese filled tortellini. Cheese filled pasta fills my heart with joy. I didn't miss the meat. I didn't ask Husband about that because I knew the answer. But, once again, he had his beef stick ends.

We had leftover Ciabatta bread in the freezer; that goes well with any soup.

Chicken pot pie...with photos

2011-01-19T18:14:00.000-06:00

My original post with recipe. I decided this recipe deserved a photo and another recognition. It is that good.

I love chicken pot pie. I even loved chicken pot pie when the only ones I ate were those little frozen ones sold along side the TV dinners. Some people loved Ramon noodles, I loved my pot pies. Along with pizza that was pretty much what kept me alive my first year on my own.
What I can't figure out is why it took me so long to try a homemade pot pie. I have been making pie crusts from scratch for years, and that is the hardest part.

As mentioned in the first post, and it bears repeating, the pie needs time to sit after coming out of the oven. My recipe suggested 10 minutes and that isn't going to do it. You will have nothing resembling a slice; chicken stew with a crust swimming on it would be more accurate.
What I do is make it well ahead of time and we re-heat in the microwave. Other than the leftover feeling from the get-go (but who minds leftovers?) it works great. One pie gives us two meals; another bonus from my standpoint.

Chicken Bacon Alfredo pizza

2011-01-16T14:02:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately the Vikings are out of the playoffs this year, but we are still using football as an excuse to have pizza every weekend.
I have been using this pizza dough recipe for a while and I am very pleased with it. It is easy, turns out every time and tastes great.
The creamy garlic sauce that some pizza chains offer goes so well with chicken. When we talked about doing a chicken pizza I decided to try this Alfredo sauce. I have tried creamy garlic sauces before but have been disappointed in how thin they turned out. Not problem with this sauce; it's very thick and rich.

Source: The Neelys from Food network website

Alfredo Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Butter

1 Clove Garlic, minced

1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes-

1 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour, plus more for work surface

1 cup Heavy Cream

¼ cup Grated Parmesan ( I had fresh Romano Cheese available and used it instead )

Directions:

Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant. Add the flour and cook until light blonde in color. Whisk in the cream, reduce the heat to low, and let simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste.

I loved it. The Alfredo sauce was exactly what I had in mind. It is topped with chicken breast baked with olive oil and fresh ground pepper. I also added fried bacon chopped into bite-sized pieces, black olives and fresh spinach on top. The cheese is an Italian blend.

The only hard part was putting away the leftovers. I could have eaten the whole thing in one sitting!

Thai Honey Peanut Chicken

2011-01-15T18:54:00.001-06:00

This was really easy and really good. I love sweet and spicy.

I made a bit over half of this recipe for the two of us. I did add a bit more curry powder and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of Sriracha sauce. It still wasn't overly spicy, but then again we really like food with heat.
Rather than mix cooked vegetables into the sauce I decided to serve steamed broccoli on the side along with wild and brown rice. I really liked having the three separate flavors on the plate.

Source - Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 pound Chicken, In Chunks

¼ cup Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons Honey

1 Tablespoon Lime Juice

1 tsp Minced Garlic (Approximately 1 Large Clove)

1 Tablespoon Peanut Butter (Heaping Tablespoon Even Better)

½ tsp Curry Powder

1 tsp Sriracha (Optional)

Directions:

Mix ingredients and marinate chicken for 2-3 hours.

Cook chicken in the sauce over medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes or until chicken is done. Reduce heat to medium-low and add precooked veggies if desired. Serve topped with sesame seeds.

To thicken sauce if needed: reduce heat to medium-low and add a cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water).

Chocolate cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Buttercream frosting

2011-01-14T18:57:00.001-06:00

Husband and I were in the grocery store last week and he commented being hungry for cake when we walked through the baking isle. I guess the holidays didn't ruin us for sweets for very long!

I decided to make some cupcakes for ease of freezing leftovers (leftover cupcakes....can you imagine??) and having nice little individual portion sizes.

For me the hardest part of cupcakes is trying not to make a mess when filling the paper liners with the cupcake batter. I remembered a great idea from Barefoot Contessa aka Ina Garten; use a cookie scoop. It works wonderfully! Not only does it eliminate the mess but it makes it much easier to get equal amounts of batter in each liner so the cupcakes bake evenly and get done at the same time.

The buttercream frosting can be made with bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, but I am here to tell you the milk chocolate was amazing. I used milk chocolate baking chips and melted them in the microwave. So easy.

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

½ cup Cocoa Powder
1 cup Boiling Hot Water
1 ⅓ cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
½ cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 cup Granulated White Sugar
2 large Eggs
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter, or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth. Be sure to give the chocolate mixture a stir before adding to the mixing bowl. The chocolate likes to settle on the bottom of the bowl.

Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full with batter using a cookie scoop and bake for about 16-20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with buttercream frosting.

Milk Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup (8 ounces) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
2 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 ounces Semisweet Or Milk Chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions:

1. Using the wire whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes.

2. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Add the melted chocolate and whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

You can store any unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container; let it come to room temperature and then give it a quick whip before using.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

2011-01-12T18:30:00.002-06:00

It took me a few tries to get a shot I even halfway liked of this delectable pumpkin cheesecake. It was first served at Christmas and the leftovers were frozen and eaten on several more occasions. I finally got a reasonable photo on the last piece. Delicious, but not photogenic. Actually I think it was more me than the cheesecake. ;-)

It was both the easiest and best cheesecake I have ever made. I placed a 9x13 pan filled with water in the oven with the cheesecake as recommended to prevent cracking and it really seemed to help.
We froze the leftovers in portion-sized pieces in tin foil. It worked beautifully! The cheesecake was still great several weeks later.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 ¾ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
3 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
4 Tbsp Melted Salted Butter

Filling:

3 (8-ounce) Packages Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) Can Pureed Pumpkin
3 Eggs Plus 1 Egg Yolk
¼ cup Sour Cream
1 ½ cups Sugar
½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
⅛ tsp Fresh Ground Nutmeg
⅛ tsp Ground Cloves
2 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Directions:

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Wrap the bottom of spring form pan with aluminum foil and place a pan of water in the over under the cheesecake. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Turn off heat, open oven door slightly and let the cheesecake sit in the cooling oven for at least 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

When done the cheesecake should still "jiggle" slightly in the center. It will firm up as it sits.

I had no worries of this cheesecake falling. I think the pumpkin helps it set.

Recipe found on Food Network

Pan Fried Chicken and Herb Mashed Potatoes

2011-01-11T20:01:00.002-06:00

Okay, so it's skinless fried chicken. It tastes good. It would be utterly fabulous with skin, and in this case, bones. But you gotta make up for cheesy herb potatoes and the chocolate cupcakes for dessert somehow!

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

1 cups All-Purpose Flour
½ tsp Ground Ginger

½ tsp Hot Paprika
¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon

½ tsp Garlic Powder
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper

½ tsp Fine Sea Salt
4 skinless Chicken Breasts

¼ cups Vegetable Oil

Directions:

1. Sift together first 6 ingredients; place mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Sprinkle salt evenly over chicken. Add chicken, one piece at a time, to bag; seal. Shake bag to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour. Place chicken on a cooling rack; place rack in a jelly-roll pan. Reserve remaining flour mixture. Loosely cover chicken; chill 1 ½ hours. Let chicken stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Return chicken, one piece at a time, to flour mixture, shaking bag to coat chicken. Discard excess flour mixture.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 25 minutes or until done, carefully turning every 5 minutes.

3. Line a clean cooling rack with brown paper bags; arrange chicken in a single layer on bags. Let stand for 5 minutes.

*It also worked well to brown in frying pan and then bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 375 degrees and I have made it this way a couple times. I find it a challenge to keep the coating on the skinless chicken and it is hard to get it to stay in place turning it multiple times in the frying pan.

Herb Mashed Potatoes

I bought some Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs cheese for Christmas eve and served it as an appetizer with crackers. It is really delicious. When I bought it I remembered seeing a recipe for it in potatoes. Sure enough...

Adapted from Big Red Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 pounds potatoes scrubbed
One Package Boursin Garlic And Fine Herbs Cheese
1 tsp Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, as much as you like
½ cup Sour Cream
⅛ to ¼ cups Milk To Creamy Consistency

Directions:

In a large pot of salted water boil potatoes until fork tender: about 20 minutes. Drain water put potatoes in bowl of stand mixer. Mix remaining ingredients into potatoes on medium speed. Add milk until desired creamy consistency.

*I decided to use a hand potato masher for a most rustic texture. I love garlic mashed potatoes and these have great flavor.

Hoisin Pork Tenderloin

2011-01-05T18:49:00.000-06:00

We occasionally buy those pre-marinated pork tenderloins; usually for the grill during the summer. They are always very tender and flavorful. When I read the ingredients I knew I would love this marinade.

Ingredients:

½ cup Hoisin Sauce
¼ cup Sliced Green Onions
¼ cup Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 (1 pound) Pork Tenderloins, trimmed
Cooking Spray
2 Tablespoons Sesame Seeds

Directions:

Combine hoisin, green onions, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and garlic in a large zippered plastic bag. Seal and marinate at least two hours or overnight. Turn bag periodically.

Remove pork from bag, reserving marinade. Place pork on a rack that sits on top of a baking rack. Spray the rack with cooking spray. Bake at 425o F for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top of pork with sesame seeds; bake until meat thermometer reaches 160o F. Place pork on cutting board ; tent with foil and let stand 10 minutes. Cut into ½" thick slices.

Pour reserved marinade into a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to about ⅔ cup; 3 minutes. Serve with pork.

Recipe from Cooking Light

*I marinated the pork for about 18 hours and it was super tender and very infused with the delicious flavor of the marinade.
When I pulled out the meat to sprinkle the sesame seeds I decided to pour some of the reserved marinade over the loin. To still have sauce to serve with the meat I mixed some Hoisin sauce, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar in a sauce pan and heated to boiling. It became thickened after a few minutes and was good poured over the meat for added flavor.

Cheese stuffed shells with Sausage in Tomato sauce

2011-01-01T19:28:00.000-06:00

I knew I would like this recipe. No way possible I could not.

Honestly, it is a lot like lasagna. Meat sauce, pasta and cheese all baked together until it looks and smells fabulous.

This recipe takes a bit of time to put together, but it is very easy. Stuffing the shells took a little practice, but if a little spills out it is really not the end of the world. :) The Romano cheese made a delicious addition to the ricotta that I may incorporate into future lasagna recipes.

Ingredients:

8 ounces Jumbo Pasta Shells
16 ounces Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
½ cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated,
½ cup Grated Romano Cheese
1 Whole Egg
1 Tbsp Basil
2 Tablespoons Minced Parsley
Salt And Pepper, to taste
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
½ Whole Medium Onion, Chopped
1 cup Sliced Mushrooms
5 cloves Garlic, Minced
½ pound Italian Sausage
½ cup Red Wine
1 Whole 28 Ounce Can Crushed Tomatoes
1 Whole 15-Ounce Can Crushed Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Sugar
½ tsp Salt
1 Tablespoons Minced Parsley
1 Tbsp Basil
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta shells for half the cooking time; make sure not to overcook. Drain and rinse in cool water. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, mushrooms and garlic and saute for a minute or two. Add Italian sausage and brown, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. Pour in red wine and let it cook for a minute or two. Pour in cans of crushed tomatoes and stir. Add sugar, salt, basil, parsley and oregano. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a separate bowl, mix ricotta, half the Parmesan, Romano, egg, salt and pepper, basil, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Stir until combined.

To assemble, coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with sauce.

Fill each half-cooked shell with the cheese mixture. Place face down on the sauce. Repeat with shells until cheese mixture is gone. Top shells with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Adapted from Pioneer Woman - one of my favorite blogs!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T09:25:00.002-06:00

Happy Holidays! My Ragdolls, Bella and Bailey, have been enjoying the scents of pine and spending lots of time with the tree.
I will be doing lots of cooking over the next couple days. Appetizers tonight with my side of the family and a big traditional ham dinner with Husband's side on Sunday. Hopefully I will remember to take a little time to grab a photo to get up on the blog.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

2010-12-16T20:11:00.000-06:00

Who doesn't love these cookies? It just seems like they are the go-to favorite holiday treat. Personally I think it's hard to argue with peanut butter and chocolate together.

Ingredients:

½ cups Creamy Peanut Butter
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 cups Packed Light-Brown Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour (Spooned And Leveled)
1 tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
⅓ cups Granulated Sugar, for rolling dough
Milk chocolate stars or kisses or mini peanut butter cups

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer, cream peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add brown sugar; beat until combined, scraping down bowl as needed. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until incorporated.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in flour mixture in two batches.

3. Scoop off dough by the tablespoon; roll into balls. Place granulated sugar on a plate; roll balls in sugar, coating completely. Place 2 inches apart on a nonstick insulated baking sheet.

4. Bake until cookies begin to puff up slightly, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven. Press one star in center of each cookie. Return to oven; continue baking until cookies are golden brown and chocolate has begun to melt, about 6 minutes more. Let cool at least 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to rack to cool completely.

Credit to Martha Stewart.

I prefer stars on my cookies; mostly because they are easier to stack and store. But chocolate kisses make a really adorable cookie. I have never tried the mini peanut butter cups, but I am sure it is awesome.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

2010-12-12T15:30:00.000-06:00

I think of biscotti as hard, crunchy and delicious. This recipe is a bit sweeter than most I have tasted with all that wonderful chocolate and also softer. But it would still be awesome dunked in a cup of coffee; which is my ideal way to east biscotti.

Originally I found a recipe for Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti. Try as I might I couldn't find shelled, unsalted pistachios. I finally decided to substitute with almond. The recipe also called for dark chocolate, for which I substituted milk chocolate. I know, I know...dark chocolate is good for you and some people adore it. I don't and I want my chocolate to be worth every single calorie.

Ingredients:

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cups Sugar
1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
¾ cups Chopped Almonds
4 ounces Milk Chocolate, chopped
3 large Eggs
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
¼ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1.In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir in pistachios and chocolate. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, vanilla, and cocoa. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined (dough will be stiff, so mix with hands if necessary).

2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Divide dough in half and place on sheet. Shape into two 2 ½-by-12-inch logs and sprinkle top of each with 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake until risen and firm, 15 to 20 minutes. Let logs cool completely on sheet, about 30 minutes.

3. Reduce oven to 300 degrees. Using a serrated knife, cut logs crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices in a single layer on baking sheets. Bake until biscotti are dry, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pecan pie bars

2010-12-12T09:12:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting to share this recipe since yesterday afternoon. It has taken me several tries to get any sort of decent picture. Note I said decent, not great or even good. My decent camera is out of town, my old iPhone camera wasn't doing the trick and it took me forever to find the cord to go with the passable camera.

*breathe*

These bars are truly fabulous. They are everything that is good about a pecan pie with chocolate added. How can that be bad?

Recipe found on the wonderful Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

For The Crust:

1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
½ cup (1 stick) Butter, softened
¼ cup Packed Brown Sugar

Filling:

3 large Eggs
¾ cup Corn Syrup
¾ cup Granulated Sugar
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 ¾ cups Coarsely Chopped Semisweet Or Bittersweet Chocolate - Or Chocolate Chunks In A Bag
1 ½ cups Chopped Pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

2. For the crust, mix together the flour, butter and brown sugar until crumbly. Press into the baking pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown.

3. For the filling, beat the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla extract with a wire whisk. Stir in the chunks and pecans. Pour evenly over the baked crust and bake for 25-30 minutes or until set.

4. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cool completely and cut into bars.

*I made the bars in an Airbake 9x13 pan and probably could have baked the crust a little longer as it is a bit crumbly. But that just means you can't walk through the house without dribbling crumbs. It is more a stay on the plate sort of bar.
I highly recommend using the chocolate chunks in a bag-so easy!

I ate my model bars for breakfast this morning; on a plate with a cup of coffee. So far it is the highlight of the day. There is a stupid amount of snow out there and it's -2 degrees. Oh, and the Vikings game has been postponed. Guess I do some more baking today!

My colorful dinner

2010-12-10T19:16:00.001-06:00

After a week which included going out for Mexican food and starting my holiday baking; I decided it was time for a healthy dinner. I made fish tacos this summer and enjoyed them. Using Tilapia which thaws and bakes quickly this came together in about 15 minutes. I baked the fish in the toaster oven with a little olive oil and lemon pepper.

It turned out so pretty! Fish, chopped grape tomatoes, green onions, spinach and Chipotle mayo made a great combination; both looks and taste.

Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge

2010-12-09T18:25:00.002-06:00

My holiday baking is in swing. Bring on the cookies.

I love Christmas candy, but I don't make very much of it. I don't deal with candy thermometers and the like. That sort of baking putziness just doesn't appeal to me. Homemade pie crusts, yes, candy thermometers...nope.
Fudge is my all time favorite and I had to try this new recipe. It sounded very easy and was described as very creamy. Perfect!

Ingredients:

1 Pkg Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 stick Butter
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
½ cup Powdered Sugar
Mini Marshmallows

Directions:

Combine semi-sweet chocolate chips and butter in microwave safe dish and microwave on defrost setting at 2 minute intervals stirring between each interval until smooth. A double boiler method can be used if desired.

Mix in the butter, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth.

Add enough mini-marshmallows to make the mixture lumpy (around 2-3 cups depending on your preference.

Line a baking dish with wax paper and pour fudge mixture over the wax paper.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight and cut into squares.

*The butter and chocolate chips melted in about 5 minutes in the microwave. Double broiler? No idea why anyone would bother with that when it is so easy in the microwave.
Definitely refrigerate for at least 4 hours before attempting to cut the fudge. I tried a bit sooner and it was still soft and sticking to the wax paper. But a few hours later the wax paper came off easily and the process was a snap.

Mint Chocolate Sugar Cookies

2010-12-08T18:48:00.001-06:00

Yes, the cookies are green; it's not your monitor. :)
They taste like an Andes mint. If you like mint you will love these cookies.

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

1 Pouch (1 Lb 1.5 Oz) Betty Crocker® Sugar Cookie Mix
½ cup Butter Or Margarine, softened
¼ - ½ tsp Mint Extract
6 - 8 drops Green Food Color - I did 6 which seemed be plenty.
1 Egg
1 cup Mint Baking Chips
1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chunks

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, extract, food color and egg until soft dough forms. Stir in mint baking chips and chocolate chunks.

Using small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Serve warm or cool completely. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

* I briefly thought about making the cookies from scratch, but ultimately decided it would be less risky to just use the mix and avoid having to adapt my cookie dough recipe.
I immediately stuck them in the freezer to avoid eating them all; saving a few to bring to work. My coworkers raved. My green holiday cookies were a hit.

Broccoli Bacon Quiche

2010-11-30T19:03:00.003-06:00

I posted this recipe last year, but didn't include a photo. It turned out so gorgeous I thought it was worth a rerun.
This recipe is very adjustable to use whatever is on hand. I had some white mushrooms so I sliced them thin and added them with the onions and garlic.

Ingredients:

3-4 strips of bacon
2 tbsp. Butter
1 Onion, minced
1/2 cup thinly sliced white mushrooms
1 tsp. Minced Garlic
2 cups Chopped Fresh Broccoli
1 (9 inch) Unbaked Pie Crust
1 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
4 Eggs, well beaten
3/4 cups Milk
3/4 cup Half and Half
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Fry bacon and allow to cool. Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan (or use bacon grease) Add onions, mushrooms, garlic and broccoli. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Spoon vegetables into crust, break up bacon into small pieces and sprinkle over vegetables and then sprinkle with cheese. . Combine eggs, half and half and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over vegetables, bacon and cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, or until center has set.

*You could chop the broccoli finer, but I like leaving it in larger chunks so you can really tell what is in the dish. I made it tonight for dinner and we are having leftovers tomorrow for breakfast.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T20:16:00.000-06:00

I love pumpkin pie; definitely one of my favorites. If memory serves it is also the first pie I ever made. Lucky for me it was successful.

I found the recipe in my trusty old Betty Crocker cookbook and I have never deviated from it.

Ingredients:

9 inch unbaked pie crust
2 Eggs
¾ cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Ground Ginger
⅛ tsp. Ground Cloves
1 Can (15 Oz) Pumpkin
1 Can (12 Oz) Evaporated Milk

Directions:

Pre-Heat Oven to 425 degrees

In medium bowl, beat eggs slightly with wire whisk or hand beater. Beat in all remaining filling ingredients until well blended.

Pour filling into pie plate. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake about 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 4 hours or until chilled. Store in refrigerator.

*The hardest part of making this pie is getting the filling into the crust instead of the bottom of your oven. Pour half the filling into the crust. Pull the rack out the oven and carefully set the pie on it. Pour the remaining filling into the crust. ( A measuring cup works very well.) Then very carefully push the rack into the oven.
Serve with whipped cream. This is essential. No pumpkin pie without whipped cream.

Chicken Stew with Biscuits

2010-11-20T18:58:00.001-06:00

The snow came last weekend and the cold arrives this weekend. Winter is coming. Yay. :P

It does make me want to turn on the oven and make dinners like chicken pot pie, meatloaf, lasagna and beef stew. I saw this a while ago on the Food Network website listed under one of Ina Garten's most popular recipes. EVERYTHING from Ina is great, so I knew this had to be wonderful. I was not disappointed.
Adapted slightly from this original.

Ingredients:

3 Whole (6 Split) Chicken Breasts, bone in, skin on
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
5 cups Chicken Stock, preferably homemade
2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
12 Tbsp (1 ½ sticks) Unsalted Butter
2 cups Chopped Yellow Onions (2 Onions)
¾ cup Flour
¼ cup Heavy Cream
2 cups Medium-Diced Carrots (4 Carrots)
1 10-ounce Package Frozen Peas (2 Cups)
½ cup Minced Fresh Parsley

For The Biscuits:

2 cups Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 tsp Sugar
¼ pound (1 stick) Cold Unsalted Butter, diced
¾ cup Half-And-Half
½ cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 Egg Mixed With 1 Tablespoon Water, for egg wash

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions and carrots over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and the heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, peas and parsley. Mix well. Place the stew in a 10 x 13 x 2-inch oval or rectangular baking dish. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with parchment or wax paper. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Add the half-and-half and combine on low speed. Mix in the parsley. Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and, with a rolling pin, roll out to ⅜-inch thick. Cut out twelve circles with a 2 ½-inch round cutter.

Remove the stew from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling. Brush them with egg wash, and return the dish to the oven. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are brown and the stew is bubbly.

*I made about half of this recipe; starting with two chicken breasts. It sounds complicated with lots of ingredients and long instructions, but it really isn't difficult. The stew has a few steps, but it's not hard and thickens beautifully. Making the biscuits was easy in the stand mixer. Be very generous with the flour as the dough is sticky, but with that tip in mind rolling out the dough wasn't difficult.
This recipe is lick-the-plate-clean good. You savor every bite.

Calico Beans

2010-11-17T19:45:00.003-06:00

Some people call them Chuck Wagon Beans. I have also heard Cowboy Beans. Whichever name you prefer it means several kinds of beans, meat and a sweet tangy sauce.

Speaking of beans.....

I had a can of Bush's Grillin' Beans left over from grilling season. Since winter has all but officially started thanks to a major storm last weekend it wouldn't be grillin' season again for a while. So the grillin' beans found their way into the crock pot.
Great Northern beans would also work in this recipe, but I really like the Butter Beans. With their white color and larger size they are a nice contrast to the baked and kidney beans.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb of ground beef - I use lean
4-5 slices of bacon
1 onion
1 can baked beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can butter beans
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Fry bacon until crispy, drain on paper towel and cut into small pieces. Add hamburger to frying pan. Chop onion and add to hamburger and cook until hamburger is browned and onion is soft. Combine all ingredients. Place in casserole dish or crock pot.
Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour or put in crock pot for a least 3 hours on low.

I can't vouch for the oven baking method as I have always used the slow cooker for this recipe. The flavors melt together beautifully and the kitchen smells fabulous.

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2010-11-05T19:28:00.002-05:00

I follow a lot of wonderful food blogs. They are a great source of tried-and true recipes that people love and want to share. Occasionally I see a recipe that I know I must try immediately if not sooner.

This was one of them. Found on Simply Recipes

I first had sweet potato fries at a local restaurant years ago and got addicted. They were great by themselves but made extra good with a chipotle mayo dipping sauce. Sadly the place is no longer in business. I have had sweet potato fries a few times since, but I must say, the original place made the best.

Husband doesn't care for them. When I told them I would be making them he said he wouldn't be partaking. Fine. More for me!

So I bought myself one big sweet potato and set out to try it. I wondered how to spice it and decided on salt, pepper, Chinese five-spice, Cajun seasonings and a bit of Spanish Paprika. The pumpkin pie spice sounded interesting, but I wanted more savory than sweet.

Ingredients:

2 pounds Sweet Potatoes, about 3 large ones
¼ cup Olive Or Other Vegetable Oil
1-2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Salt
1-2 Tbsp Spice Or Spice Combination Of Your Choice: Chipotle Powder, smoked paprika, Chinese five-spice, pumpkin pie spice, garam masala, Cajun seasoning, etc.

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 450°F.

2 Peel the sweet potatoes and cut off the ends. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then, if they are very long, in half crosswise. Cut each piece into wedges.

3 Put the sweet potatoes into a large bowl and add the oil. Mix well to combine. Sprinkle with salt, sugar and spices of your choice. Use your hands to mix well, so all pieces are coated with oil and spices.

4 Spread the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a baking sheet; the oil they are coated with should keep them from sticking to the pan. I also used a non stick pan.

5 Bake for a total of 25 to 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn over all of the sweet potato pieces. Return to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until they are well browned. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Since I made sweet potato fries I had to have some Chipotle mayo dipping sauce. I had some bottled Chipotle mayo and mixed it with a little sour cream. It did the trick and satisfied my craving for a while.

Pasta with Spinach, Mascarpone And Parmesan

2010-11-02T19:16:00.002-05:00

This is really good. I can say this for certain as I have eaten it twice in the last 24 hours. Last night I served it with broiled shrimp, which was terrific. But I forgot to get a photo. Today I made it again for myself for lunch, but without the shrimp. Delicious.
Adapted from this Jamie Oliver recipe. His version doesn't have the mushrooms or shrimp.

Ingredients:

1 pound Fettuccine Or Spaghetti
Olive Oil
2 tsp Butter
2 cloves Of Garlic, peeled and sliced
Fresh Sliced Mushrooms
14 ounces Fresh Spinach, washed thoroughly and finely sliced
Sea Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
4 fluid ounces whipping Cream
5 ounces Mascarpone Cheese
2 Handfuls Of Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the pasta, and cook according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile get a frying pan or wok warm, add a drizzle of olive oil, the butter, and add the mushrooms. When the mushrooms have cooked down add the garlic, then add the spinach. After a few minutes it will have wilted down and will be nice and dark. A lot of the liquid will have cooked away and you'll have wonderful intensely flavored spinach. At this point season with salt and pepper until it tastes good, then add the cream, mascarpone and a little ladle of cooking water from the pasta. Let this come to a simmer and then season again.

Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water, then stir it into the spinach sauce. Add the Parmesan and toss everything together. Loosen to a nice silky consistency with some of the reserved cooking water, so it doesn't become too claggy. Check once more for seasoning and serve straight away.

Claggy. I like that word. :)
I adjusted the ingredients and directions to reflect how I made the dish but I had to leave claggy. Which mine wasn't....it was awesome.

Party Pinwheel Wraps

2010-10-30T08:18:00.001-05:00

One of my coworkers hosted a get-together at her house last night. She made chili and cornbread muffins-we all brought a dish to pass. There is always a ton-o-food at this sort of event and everything is fabulous. I decided to do an appetizer and thought of these wraps that always go over big when I have brought them to a work potluck. Sure enough they were the first food we ran out of last night.
I made them in the morning and stuck them in the refrigerator at work.

Ingredients:

4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
½ (1 ounce) Package Ranch Dressing Mix
* 2 Green Onions, minced
2 (12 inch) Flour Tortillas
¼ cup Red Bell Pepper, diced
½ (2 ounce) Can Sliced Black Olives
¼ cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

1. In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, and green onions. Spread this mixture on each tortilla. Sprinkle red pepper, black olives, and cheese (if you'd like) over the cream cheese mixture. Roll up the tortillas, then wrap them tightly in aluminum foil.

2. Chill 2 hours or overnight. Cut off ends of the rolls, and slice the chilled rolls into 1 inch slices.

I skipped the chilling before I sliced them as I didn't have the time. It works fine, just use a sharp knife.

Chardonnay Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

2010-10-26T11:24:00.002-05:00

Soup is so wonderful; especially when cooler weather rolls around. When winter really kicks into high gear a bowl of soup and fresh bread is great comfort food for me. This chicken wild rice soup is incredibly delicious. As you might imagine from the amounts of the ingredients it is also a HUGE recipe. We each had a bowl for lunch on Sunday, packaged up four bowls to give away and still had five large bowls worth to freeze. No complaints from me!!

Ingredients:

1 onion diced
1 red bell pepper diced (You could use green too, though I am personally not a fan.)
3 stalks of celery diced
2 carrots peeled and diced
4 raw chicken breasts chopped into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup white wine
1 Quart chicken stock
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp pepper
1/2 gallon heavy cream (yes, a half a gallon)
4 cups cooked wild rice (about 1 cup uncooked)
1 cup white wine

Directions:

1. Saute onion, red bell pepper, celery and carrots in a large stock pot. ( I mean large. My good sized stock pot was 3/4 full.)

2. Add the chopped raw chicken and cook through until chicken is no longer pink.

3.Deglaze with 1/2 cup of white wine and add chicken stock and seasonings.

4. Add cream. Bring almost to a boil and thicken with roux.

5. Add the rice and wine.

I prefer to thicken after all the ingredients are in the soup and that is what I did in this case.

Rigatoni with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

2010-10-21T18:27:00.000-05:00

The words creamy, pasta and mushrooms always sound good to me. I have been wanting to try this recipe for a while. Not to mention it was a good excuse to buy and try some Marscarpone cheese.
I made about half the following recipe for Husband and I and served it with some chicken seasoned with rosemary and thyme. It is an easy, quick recipe that comes together in under a half hour.

Credit to Giada De Laurentiis from Everyday Italian

Ingredients:

1 pounds Rigatoni Pasta
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Shallots, minced
1 Clove Garlic, minced
Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 pounds Assorted Mushrooms - I used white and portabella
½ cups White Wine
½ cups Vegetable Stock
1 cups (8 ounces) Mascarpone Cheese, at room temperature
½ cups Grated Parmesan
¼ cups Chopped Fresh Chives - I used green onion tops

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. While the pasta is cooking:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the heat to high. Add the wine and cook for 3 minutes until all the liquid evaporates. Add the stock and simmer until liquid is slightly reduced. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the mascarpone cheese. Stir until creamy. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water, and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the mushroom mixture and the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss well to coat pasta, adding the reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Garnish with the chopped chives. Serve immediately.

Breakfast for Dinner

2010-10-13T18:38:00.000-05:00

I was on my own for dinner tonight; and decided to make something as opposed to dig for leftovers in the freezer. I had a bunch of eggs and some leftover mushrooms. Sounded like the makings of an omelet.

Nothing magical or fancy here and I am no expect on omelets; especially not flipping them! I whisked two eggs, a little milk and salt and pepper. I poured it into a heated skillet and added some mushrooms and onions that I had previously sauteed along with a little sharp cheddar cheese.Then it was folded, flipped and tossed on the plate with a bit more cheese on top.

A few red grapes to go with the omelet and I have dinner.

Chimichangas and Cilantro-Lime Rice

2010-10-12T18:53:00.001-05:00

Browsing the Farmer's Market over the weekend I found a stand with Jalapeno peppers and fresh cilantro. I remembered these two recipes I found recently and had been wanting to try.

The chimichanga recipe was adapted from Food Network.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 White Onion, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Jalapeno Pepper, diced (remove seeds for less heat)
1 ½ tsp Chili Powder
½ tsp Ground Cumin
¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon
Kosher Salt
1 small Tomato, chopped, plus more for topping
2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Cilantro
Sriracha Sauce to taste
2 ½ cups Shredded Rotisserie Chicken
¼ cup Sour Cream
Black beans-slightly smashed with a fork
4 10- Inch Flour Tortillas
1 cup Shredded Mexican blend, plus more for topping
Salsa, for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Melt the butter with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a skillet; transfer to a bowl. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the skillet. Add the onion, garlic and jalapeno and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon salt; toast 30 seconds. Add the tomato, cilantro and Sriracha sauce and cook until slightly dry, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken and sour cream and warm through. Remove from the heat.

Brush a rimmed baking sheet with some of the butter-oil mixture. Spread 2 tablespoons black beans down the center of each tortilla, leaving a 2-inch border on both ends. Top with 1 cup chicken mixture and ¼ cup cheese. Fold in the ends and roll up.

Put the chimichangas seam-side down on the baking sheet; brush with the butter-oil mixture. Bake 8 to 10 minutes per side, brushing again after you flip. Top with the salsa, more cheese, lettuce and tomato.

* I feared disaster when the time came to flip it halfway through baking, but it stayed together perfectly. I used 8 inch shells as that is what I had available so they were sort of mini-chimichangas; but it was a good portion size.
I don't keep Rotisserie chicken lying around, so I baked boneless skinless breasts with a little fresh ground pepper and olive oil.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

Cooked White Rice
1 Bunch Fresh Cilantro, chopped
Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice, 4-6 limes for about 4 servings or rice
Coarse Salt, to taste

Cook or re-warm white rice. Fluff with a fork and allow to cool briefly. Begin by adding the juice of one lime to the warm rice, stir to combine and taste. Continue adding fresh lime juice until rice is tangy enough. Repeat with the cilantro, add a few tablespoons at a time until the flavor comes through. Repeat again with the salt (do salt last because the acidity of the lime juice will brighten up the flavors a lot and you may not need as much salt as you normally would), just adding a few pinches at a time and stirring well then tasting. Taste dish again and adjust flavors as needed.

*This was a great accompaniment to the chimichangas. The lime and cilantro made a great fresh, light taste.

Orange-Honey Glazed Chicken

2010-10-09T20:16:00.001-05:00

I use Yummy Soup; a Mac-based recipe management program. It works very well and got even better recently with the ability to easily import recipes on the web.
The program came with some recipes already imported and this was one of them. I was a bit concerned with idea of reducing glaze; but it wasn't hard at all. The glaze thickened up nicely after coming out of the oven and had great flavor.
I made half of the recipe and it maybe could have used a bit more glaze. But I don't think you could really have too much. :)
The hardest part was remembering to keep my bare hand off the handle of the skillet! There are several references to that in the recipe and I can see why.

Attribution: Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups Orange Juice Plus An Additional 2 Tablespoons
⅓ cup Light Corn Syrup
3 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar
⅛ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Table Salt And Ground Black Pepper
½ cup All-Purpose Flour
4 Chicken Breast Halves With Ribs & Skin
2 tsp Vegetable Oil
1 medium Shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk 1 ½ cups orange juice, corn syrup, honey, mustard, vinegar, pepper flakes, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper together in medium bowl.

2. Remote ribs and excess fat from breasts. Trim off any extra overhanging skin as well. Place flour in pie plate, then season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Working with one chicken breast at a time, coat chicken with flour, patting off excess.

3. Heat oil in ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add chicken breasts skin-side down; cook until well browned and most of fat has rendered from skin, 8 to 14 minutes. (If after 3 minutes you don't hear definite sizzling, increase heat to medium-high. If after 6 minutes chicken is darker than lightly browned, reduce heat slightly.) Turn chicken and lightly brown other side, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to plate.

4. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from pan. Add shallot and cook until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase heat to high and add orange juice mixture. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to 1 cup (heatproof spatula should leave slight trail when dragged through glaze), 6 to 10 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and tilt to one side so glaze pools in corner of pan. Using tongs, roll each chicken breast in pooled glaze to coat evenly and place skin-side down in skillet.

5. Transfer skillet to oven and bake chicken until thickest part of breasts registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 25 to 30 minutes, turning chicken skin-side up halfway through cooking. Transfer chicken to platter and let rest 5 minutes. Return skillet to high heat (be careful-handle will be very hot) and cook glaze, stirring constantly, until thick and syrupy (heatproof spatula should leave wide trail when dragged through glaze), about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons orange juice. Spoon 1 teaspoon glaze over each breast and serve, passing remaining glaze at table.

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

2010-10-06T18:20:00.002-05:00

These may bear a slight resemblance to a certain restaurant biscuit. :)

I have tried a number of recipes for cheddar garlic biscuits. These are delicious; moist and very flavorful. We both ate one immediately after they came out of the oven. Of course, they are at their absolute best hot and fresh. One more for each of us with dinner and I froze the rest right away. These babies are best out of sight unless you want to eat the whole batch!

Ingredients:

Mix together in a small bowl and set aside for brushing:
2 tbsp. Butter, melted
¼ tsp. Dried Parsley Flakes
½ tsp. Garlic Powder
Pinch Of Salt

Whisk with a fork in a large bowl:
2 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 tbsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Onion Powder
½ tsp. Garlic Powder
2 tsp. Dried Parsley
¾ cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Add to the bowl all at once:
⅔ cup Milk
⅓ cup Vegetable Oil

Directions:

Place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat to 475. Use an Airbake cookie sheet or double up two cookie sheets together if you don’t have an Airbake.

Stir with a fork just until the dough readily leaves the sides of the bowl. Scoop the dough with a spoon and drop two inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until lightly golden browned on top. Immediately, liberally brush the melted butter mixture over tops of biscuits.

Makes about 10 biscuits.

Chinese Chicken with Green Beans

2010-09-29T18:41:00.001-05:00

Our favorite Chinese restaurant makes wonderful chicken with green beans. It's spicy and flavorful and one of the few times Husband will eat fresh green beans. I decided to find a recipe and give something similar a shot at home.

It required a leisurely stop at the Asian section of the grocery store.

I have been looking for an excuse to buy some Hoisin sauce anyway. That red bottle in back, Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, is hot indeed! 1 1/2 teaspoons of this goes a long way.

Ingredients:
6 ounces Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, very thinly sliced ⅛-inch thick
7 ½ tsp Soy Sauce
¾ tsp Asian Spice Blend, recipe follows
¼ cup Chopped Cooked Shrimp
½ cup Hot Water
¼ cup Vegetable Oil
½ pound Green Beans, stem ends trimmed, cut into 3-inch lengths
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
¼ cup Roughly Chopped Cashews
2 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 ½ tsp Sriracha Sauce
¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the chicken, 4 ½ teaspoons of the soy sauce, and Asian spice blend. Toss to coat and let sit for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the shrimp and water. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and roughly chop. In a large wok or saute pan, heat the oil over high heat. Add the beans and shallow fry until wrinkled, stirring, about 2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the oil and add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 10 seconds.

Add the chicken and stirring constantly, cook until brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chopped shrimp, greens beans, cashews, hoisin, remaining 3 teaspoons of soy sauce, Sriracha sauce, and red pepper flakes. Stir to coat, and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and serve immediately over rice.

Asian Spice Blend

1 tsp 5-spice Powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground Pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

This recipe was adapted from Food Network.

Lots of flavor here and spicy without being overpowering. This recipe was a nice amount for the two of us.

Italian Sausage Lasanga

2010-09-28T20:17:00.004-05:00

Lasagna is one of my absolute favorite foods. I have also been making it for a very long time. I have changed a few things over the years, but never really deviated much from my first ever recipe.

Ingredients:

(for the sauce)
1 pound Italian Sausage (I used 1/2 lb Hot Italian sausage and 1/2 lb Turkey Sausage)
1 medium Onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
1 1/2 cups Chopped Fresh Mushrooms
2 Clove Garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Oregano
1 can (16 oz.) Whole Tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes-see my note)
1 can (15 oz.) Tomato Sauce
12 Uncooked Lasagna Noodles (see my note)
—————————-
(for the cheese mixture)
1 Carton (16 Oz.) Ricotta Or Cottage Cheese
¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 ½ tsp Dried Oregano Leaves
—————————-
(for the top)
2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (8 Ounce Package)
¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Make the sauce- Cook sausage, onion, mushrooms and garlic in a large stockpot, stirring occasionally, until sausage is brown, drain. Stir in 2 tablespoons parsley, sugar, basil, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Use clean kitchen shears to snip the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered about 45 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook noodles as directed on package (don’t overcook), drain. Mix ricotta cheese, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon parsley and oregano. Spread 1 cup of the sauce mixture in an ungreased rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches. Top with 4 noodles overlapping slightly.

Spread 1 cup of the cheese mixture over noodles, spread with 1 cup sauce, sprinkle with ⅔ cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat with 4 noodles, the remaining cheese mixture, 1 cup of the sauce mixture and ⅔ cup of the mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and ¼ cup Parmesan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

*My best pans of lasagna have started with fresh tomatoes in place of both the canned whole tomatoes and the tomato sauce. Nothing wrong with lasagna made that way; I make it all the time in the winter when fresh garden tomatoes are not available. But you cannot beat the fresh taste. It certainly takes a bit more time and effort to cook down the fresh tomatoes, but the final taste is worth every minute.
I have come full circle with cooking the noodles. I started by cooking them fully; then started not boiling them at all and simply letting them cook in the lasagna. The lasagna sets up beautifully that way but I always ended up with some unacceptably crunchy pasta on top.
My method now is to boil them for just a few minutes; basically enough so they are flexible, but certainly not fully cooked. The crunchy on top is eliminated and the pasta gains the wonderful flavors of the sauce and cheese as they cook.
This recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker. The mushrooms were not part of the original but have been a part of my recipe since day one.

Normally with a recipe this large I would cut down the recipe for the two of us. Not with Lasagna. The pan gets separated into individual portions for terrific lunches or quick weekday dinners.

Meatloaf and Butternut Squash

2010-09-26T10:30:00.002-05:00

This time of the year you don't have to look far to find someone with a garden overflowing with squash. A patient brought in a bunch of butternut squash and I grabbed one of the smaller ones for the two of us. One of my coworkers mentioned serving hers with meatloaf and that sounded like a perfect fall meal.

Squash is so easy to prepare and baked in the oven along with the meatloaf. I cut it in half the long way and scooped out the seeds and stringy stuff. I rubbed the meat of the squash with olive oil so it didn't dry out, sprinkled it with kosher salt and put it in a casserole dish with a little water. It baked in the oven covered at 400 degrees for a little over an hour. It was falling-apart tender and very easy to scoop out of the shell. I then mixed in butter and brown sugar. Very tasty.

My meatloaf tends to look like giant meatball instead of a loaf. But I don't think that's a bad thing; it stays juicy and doesn't dry out that way.
My recipe is very basic.

Meatloaf

1 pound of hamburger-I use lean
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
About 1/3 cup of bread crumbs-I used seasoned
1 egg
1 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
Fresh ground pepper and kosher salt to taste

Mix well with hands and form into a loaf (or a ball :) ) and place in a loaf pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

I think ketchup is delicious on meatloaf. It was a very good meal.

Pizza for the football game

2010-09-19T19:47:00.001-05:00

We always have pizza for Vikings games. It's a great tradition at our house and lately I do homemade more often than not.
After years of experimenting I finally found a crust recipe that I love. It is flavorful and tender, yet you can still pick it up to eat it.

American style Pizza Crust by Wolfgang Puck

Ingredients:

Untitled Ingredient
1 Package Active Dry Or Fresh Yeast
1 tsp. Honey
1 cup Warm Water (105º F To 115º F)
3 cups All-Purpose Flour (Use Good Quality All-Purpose Or A Bread Flour)
1 tsp. Kosher Salt
1 tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, plus more for brushing

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and honey in ¼ cup of the warm water.

2. In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour and the salt. Add the oil, yeast mixture, and the remaining ¾ cup of water and mix on low speed until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and clusters around the dough hook, about 5 minutes.

3. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead by hand 2 or 3 minutes longer. The dough should be smooth and firm. Cover the dough with a clean, damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot for about 30 minutes. (When ready, the dough will stretch as it is lightly pulled.)

4. Place a pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 500º F.

5. Divide the dough into 2 balls. Work each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball. Repeat 4 or 5 times. Then on a smooth, unfloured surface, roll the ball under the palm of your hand until the top of the dough is smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. At this point, the balls can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

6. To prepare each pizza, dip the ball of dough into flour, shake off the excess flour, place the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface, and start to stretch the dough. Press down on the center, spreading the dough into an 8-inch circle, with outer border a little thicker than the inner circle. If you find this difficult to do, use a small rolling pin to roll out the dough. Lightly brush the inner circle of the dough with oil and arrange the toppings of your choice over the inner circle.

7. Using a lightly floured baker’s peel or a rimless flat baking tray, slide the pizza onto the baking stone and bake until the pizza crust is nicely browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Remember that the oven is very hot and be careful as you place the pizza into and out of the oven. Transfer the pizza to a firm surface and cut into slices with a pizza cutter or very sharp knife. Serve immediately

*My note: Through trial and error we have found the best way to get the pizza on the heated pizza stone is to use tin foil. Prepare the pizza on the foil and then slide pizza and foil onto the heated stone. The dough going directly on the hot stone makes all the difference in how it cooks. No more soggy crusts! A cookie sheet can be helpful with this process; especially to pull the pizza out of the the oven. Just slide the cookie sheet under the foil.

The above recipe makes a pizza for each of us. Personal pizzas, if you will. I like my pizza traditional: crust, sauce, topping, cheese in that order bottom up. Husband likes to put cheese down on the sauce and then a bit more cheese on top of everything. He likes a lot of meat; I like a bit of meat and more veggies. So now we each our own pizza made the way we want. I eat half for the game and usually half later in the day.
The picture above is my pizza. It looks huge, but it is really only a little bigger than the "personal pizzas" you see offered at restaurants. For topping I have turkey sausage and a few pepperoni, red onions, portabella mushrooms, black olives, a pizza cheese mix and some fresh mozzarella.
It was delicious.
Now if the Vikings can just figure themselves out this season.

Chili

2010-09-15T16:50:00.000-05:00

The weather is getting cooler and chili is a great fall meal. I had actually never made traditional red chili from scratch. We like spicy foods so I wanted to find a recipe with a little kick.

Ingredients:

1 ½ Lbs (750 G) Lean Ground Beef
2 Onions, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
2 Stalks Celery, chopped
1 large Red Bell Pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp (25 ml) Chili Powder
1 ½ tsp (7 ml) Dried Oregano Leaves
1 ½ tsp (7 ml) Ground Cumin
½ tsp (2 ml) Hot Pepper Flakes Or To Taste
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 drops of hot sauce
1 can (28 oz/796 ml) Tomatoes, including juice, chopped
1 cup (250 ml) Reduced-Sodium Beef Broth
1 can (19 oz/540 ml) Pinto Or Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup (50 ml) Chopped Fresh Parsley Or Cilantro

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven or saucepan, cook beef over medium-high heat, breaking up with a wooden spoon, for about 7 minutes or until no longer pink. Place in strainer and drain fat. Return beef to pan.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions, garlic, celery, red pepper, chili powder, oregano, cumin, hot pepper flakes, cayenne pepper and hot sauce; cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.

3. Stir in tomatoes with juice and broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

4. Add beans and parsley; cover and simmer for 10 minutes more.

I added the cayenne pepper and hot sauce and substituted red pepper for the green. I had a huge tomato that needed to be used so instead of the can of tomatoes I used fresh. I really like all the fresh vegetables in this recipe.
It was excellent, very flavorful with a little heat but not overwhelming. Good sized recipe so we get leftovers later in the week. I am betting it will taste even better in a few days.
I made some cornbread muffins go with the chili. Betty Crocker gets the credit for the muffins

Recipe found on cookstr.com

Stuffed chicken breast

2010-09-11T10:43:00.000-05:00

Husband and I were talking about food and he happened to mention bug bag chicken. Yes, that's right.....bug bag chicken. How wonderful does that sound????
Actually it's delicious. I made this Martha Stewart recipe years ago and it was a staple at our house for quite a while. For whatever reason it fell out of the rotation.
The "bug bag" chicken reference should be explained. The mushroom, onion and herb mixture stuffed under the skin looks a bit like the bug bags that like to inhabit flowering trees. Disgusting things and that is where the comparison ends.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1 Shallot, peeled and minced
1 pound White Button Mushrooms, finely chopped
Salt And Freshly Ground Pepper To Taste
¼ cup Dry White Wine
1 cup Finely Chopped Parsley
2 Whole Boneless Chicken Breasts, split

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add garlic and shallot; saute, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms; cook, stirring, until mushrooms release their juices, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add white wine, and continue cooking until liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the parsley. 2. Pull skin back from one chicken breast, keeping skin attached at one end. Season with salt and pepper. Mound ⅓ cup mushroom filling on breast; pull skin back over filling. Tuck ends under breast, forming a ball. Secure with toothpicks. Repeat with remaining chicken and filling. 3. Place stuffed breasts in a roasting pan, keeping them close together but not touching. Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over top. Transfer to oven; roast until skin is golden brown and chicken has cooked through, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve.

It is a quick, easy and tasty recipe. I have never been able to find boneless skin-on chicken breast so I make it with boned. The idea of trying to de-bone and have an intact piece of meat left doesn't fill me with confidence. I served it with cauliflower with white sauce.

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Red Cabbage and Cauliflower Salad

2010-09-07T20:10:00.002-05:00

This salad was also served at our get-together the other night. The recipe has been in the family for a while. I did add the Balsamic vinegar as it seems to be a common ingredient in red cabbage coleslaw. The sour cream was also added as I always use a combination of salad dressing and sour cream in coleslaw.

Ingredients:

1/2 head red cabbage
1/2 head cauliflower
1/4 cup chopped onion
4 slices bacon-fried until crisp
1 cup salad dressing ( I used Miracle Whip light )
1 TBSP Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Finely chop cabbage and cauliflower and layer in a large bowl. Fry bacon and layer chopped bacon and onion over cabbage mixture. Mix salad dressing, vinegar, sour cream and salt and pepper and layer over top of salad. Refrigerate at least one hour and toss salad before serving.
This is a big recipe and makes a lot of salad. Luckily we didn't have a lot left over as it was quite popular. It held up very well and was still good the next day; the red cabbage and cauliflower were still crunchy. The picture above was some I enjoyed for lunch the next day. Very pretty salad!

Spinach Cashew spread

2010-09-06T16:00:00.001-05:00

We had Husband's family over last night to get together and break in our new deck. It is always nice to have a couple appetizers to start the festivities. We served chips and salsa; which is easy and appealing to most, but I wanted one more item. This recipe has been sitting in my "to-try" file for a while and I had spinach to use up.

Ingredients:

1 cup Fresh Baby Spinach, rinsed, with water still clinging lightly to the leaves (about 1 cup, tightly packed)
½ cup Whole Roasted, unsalted cashews
1 Clove Garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp. Sour Cream
1 ounce Cream Cheese
1 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
⅛ tsp. Salt
Black Pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:

Combine the spinach, cashews, and garlic in the bowl of a small food processor or mini-chop and process for about 15 seconds, or until finely chopped and pulverized. Stop the machine and scrape the sides once about halfway through.

Add the remaining ingredients and process an additional 30 seconds, or until creamy, scraping halfway through to incorporate all the ingredients evenly.
Use immediately, or chill and serve. Keep refrigerated.

It's very fresh tasting with all that spinach and a pretty green color. It came together in minutes in my easy chopper and tasted great after being refrigerated for a couple hours.

Pasta Sauce

2010-08-29T19:50:00.001-05:00

The above photo isn't my delicious spaghetti sauce we enjoyed tonight, but it's certainly the most important ingredient.

I quickly learned growing tomatoes that you always end up with more than you could hope to eat fresh; certainly not the two of us. No matter as they lead to fabulous pasta sauce and salsa.

But I dreaded the skin removal process. Pulling tomatoes out of boiling hot water to remove their skins didn't sound like fun. In talking to someone I learned of a much easier method-throw them in the freezer. When they are completely frozen solid put them in hot water. The skin literally falls off. The one thing to remember to to cut out the stem part and any imperfections ahead of time before you stick the tomatoes in the freezer.

At that point the tomatoes were cooked down and when some of liquids had evaporated I added spices, mushrooms, garlic and onions. Tonight I added Italian sausage when I served it for dinner.

Fish Tacos

2010-08-17T18:07:00.000-05:00

Food blogs and restaurants are all about fish tacos lately. I thought it sounded like something different.

My plan was to use tilapia as I had some in the freezer; flavored with lime and garlic. After not being able to find more to go with it I ended up with some frozen lemon-garlic grilled fish fillets.

Looking up sauces for fish tacos I found either Chipotle Mayo or some form of creamy chive sauce. I decided on the spicy Chipotle Mayo sauce to compete with "fishy" taste. I had been looking for an excuse to buy some Kraft Sandwich Shop Mayo-chipotle flavor. For vegetables I chopped up tomatoes, green onions, red pepper and added some cilantro.

I liked it a lot. It was very flavorful and a lower calorie choice for a main entree.

My lunch

2010-08-15T19:06:00.000-05:00

A garden tomato, fresh mozzarella cheese, a little olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper made a delicious light lunch today. The only time missing from the classic Italian Caprese Salad was fresh basil leaves and I had none.

Menu Planning

2010-08-14T13:26:00.000-05:00

People tend to be surprised and usually impressed when I tell them that I plan our weekly menus. But I think they are imaging something fancier and more complicated than it really is. What it does not involve is fussy recipes every night of the week; and certainly not on busy work days.

What it does involve is having our meals figured out to save the stress of coming home at 5:30 PM, hoping to eat by six or shortly after and not having a clue what to make. I went through years of this and we were both sick of the stress.

So before we go grocery shopping every Sunday morning I plan our weekly menu. It starts with what sounds good, what have I been wanting to try or what is currently fresh and in-season. I usually look through our local grocery store's weekly ad and see what strikes me. I then look through my recipes and see what we haven't had for a while. Hopefully at the end I have something designated for each day of the week. I try to do a variety of main entrees and hopefully use up leftovers I may have lurking in the refrigerator in the process.

But make no mistake, it doesn't mean everything is a complicated or fancy dish. Some days might list "leftovers" or "go out to eat" It might also be something incredibly fast and easy like nachos using leftover taco meat. But the point is the plan is there and we can both go to our shared calendar to see what is for dinner.

The benefits are many. The weekly grocery shopping is far more efficient having a plan as opposed to wandering around seeing what looks good, but may not produce meals. I like to think we eat a more balanced diet. Not to mention I am much more likely to make meals, even if I am tired, when they are planned. To me half the battle of weeknight cooking is figuring out what you want to make.

The Power of the first Garden Tomato

2010-08-01T18:41:00.000-05:00

Sometimes one great ingredient can inspire an entire meal. I harvested the first tomato from my plant-in-a-pot yesterday and, of course, needed a worthy use of the gorgeous little guy. They do taste particularly good sliced over a grilled hamburger. Sweet corn is in full season now, so one side was decided. I also remembered I hadn't made creamy cucumber salad yet this year.
A classic summer dinner.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

1 cucumber-peeled and sliced
1/3 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing-I used a combination of the two
1/2 small onion sliced-white, yellow or red is fine
1/2 tsp dried dill-I am sure fresh would be fabulous
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix all and allow to set in refrigerator for a least one hour. I usually stir or shake the container at least once during the setting process to assure the flavors meld together.

Thai Peanut Pasta

2010-07-31T19:01:00.002-05:00

When I came up with idea of a food blog and settled on the name Food Havoc the question became would there ever be havoc? I don't see a lot of food writers blog about their mistakes, accidents, or otherwise bad results.

Honestly, this isn't a post about bad results either, because my mistake luckily did not result in inedible food.

But the fact is the first time I made this recipe I accidentally omitted a couple ingredients. Call it doing two things at once, or just not paying attention: but it could have been a mess.

Ingredients:

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 cup Lite Coconut Milk
⅓ cup Rice Vinegar
¼ cup Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Orange Juice Concentrate
1 tsp Ground Ginger
½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper
¼ tsp Ground Cumin
¼ tsp Ground Allspice
1 pound Thin Spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 Tbsp Cilantro Leaves

Directions:

Preparation 1. Whisk peanut butter, coconut milk, vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice concentrate, Ground Ginger, Crushed Red Pepper, Ground Cumin and Ground Allspice in medium saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or just until mixture comes to a boil. 2.Pour sauce over hot spaghetti. Toss until spaghetti is coated. Sprinkle with Cilantro Leaves and serve.

*The first time I made it I really liked it. I am absolutely no expert whatsoever on Thai food, but I think the peanut noodles that I have had on different occasions tasted pretty close to this recipe. The first time I made it I also forgot the rice vinegar, the soy sauce and the orange juice concentrate. I didn't even realize it until later when I looked back at the recipe to prepare a post!
Luckily, still edible. I made it with the additional ingredients tonight and it was very good; a bit more complex flavor.
My struggle was something to serve with it. For both meals I served chicken flavored with fresh rosemary and that seemed to work just fine.

Creamy White Chicken Chili

2010-07-23T18:32:00.002-05:00

This recipe came my way through a coworker. She mentioned it as her plan for her family's dinner that evening and I had to have the recipe.

Ingredients:

½ pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts Chopped Into ½ Cubes
½ medium Onion Chopped
1 small Cloves Garlic Chopped
1 ½ tsp Oil
1 can Great Northern Beans Drained
½ can Chicken Broth
1 (4 oz) Can Chopped Green Chilies
½ tsp Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
½ tsp Chili Powder
½ tsp Cumin
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
6 ounces Sour Cream

Directions:

In a large saucepan saute chicken, onion and garlic in oil until chicken is done. Add beans, broth, chilies, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add sour cream.

Or-

Slow cooker instructions: cut up chicken, onion and garlic and add to crock pot. Add rest of ingredients except the sour cream and cook on low for 8 hours. Add sour cream about 15 minutes before serving before serving.

*I have made it in the slow cooker the last couple of times and I prefer that method. The flavors meld together and the chicken is very tender. It is also such an easy way to have dinner ready when I get home from work. I did add the last three spices to the original recipe as we like a bit more spice.

Fettuccine Chicken

2010-07-15T09:54:00.002-05:00

I am a sucker for pasta recipes and really love pasta recipes with chicken. A pasta recipe with chicken that can be on the table in about a half hour....I had to try it.

Fettuccine Chicken

1 large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Halves
3/4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Chopped Fresh Thyme Leaves
Garlic Powder And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 Packages Fresh Fettuccine
⅓ cup Mayonnaise ( I used light )
¼ cup Freshly Chopped Green Onions
1 Tbsp Freshly Chopped Parsley Leaves
1 Tbsp Freshly Chopped Basil Leaves
½ tsp Pepper And Garlic Powder
½ tsp Lemon Juice
½ tsp Seasoned Salt
⅓ cup Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Slice chicken breasts lengthwise into 1-inch wide strips. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with thyme, garlic powder and pepper. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through but still juicy; do not overcook.

While chicken is cooking; cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta. Pat excess moisture off pasta with a paper towel, if necessary.

Combine mayonnaise, green onions, parsley, basil, pepper, garlic powder, lemon juice,seasoned salt and sour cream. Pour dressing over pasta and toss gently.

Place chicken strips on top of pasta.

*I adapted this recipe a bit by adding some sour cream instead of part of the mayo. Super easy recipe and I loved how the thick sauce clung to the pasta. Nothing worse then a thin sauce swimming around the plate under the pasta!!

Recipe adapted from Paula Dean on Food Network

Herb Potato Salad

2010-07-14T08:45:00.001-05:00

I have been hungry for potato salad; it always sounds good in the summertime. I made the traditional mayo, mustard and vinegar salad and, of course, German potato salad always sounds wonderful. But I felt like something different.

Herb Potato Salad

Ingredients:
3 pounds Small White Boiling Potatoes
Kosher Salt
2 Tbsp Good Dry White Wine
2 Tbsp Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
½ tsp Dijon Mustard
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
⅔ cup Good Olive Oil
¼ cup Red Onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Tarragon
2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley

Directions
Place the potatoes and 2 tablespoons salt in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a knife. Drain the potatoes in a colander, then place the colander with the potatoes over the empty pot off the heat and cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel. Leave the potatoes to steam for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender but firm.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the wine, chicken stock, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, 2 teaspoons salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Set aside.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into quarters or halves, depending on their size. Place the cut potatoes in a large bowl and pour enough dressing over them to moisten. (As the salad sits, you may need to add more dressing.) Add the onion, tarragon and parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve cold or at room temperature.

*I would have liked to use small new potatoes for this recipe, but I had a good amount of russets on hand. The peel stayed on as it seemed to go with the feel of the recipe. I boiled the potatoes a bit more traditionally as there were full size potatoes but I did let them sit and steam and I liked that. The potatoes were tender but stayed together, mushy isn't good.

It is really delicious and went very well with the fried chicken. The boneless, skinless fried chicken, but it was tasty.

Recipe from the Barefoot Contessa on Food Network

Peach Pie

2010-07-13T19:56:00.000-05:00

I love peach pie; it is one of my favorites. But I don't make one very often because a quality peach pie so much depends on the quality of fruit. Hard to go through the time and effort of a homemade pie with less than stellar ingredients.
While grocery shopping earlier in the week I noticed some nice looking peaches. They looked ripe and even smelled nice and peach-y. So I decided I would give them a shot.

Lovely, huh? I have never bought, much less baked with, white peaches. They were very juicy and I was optimistic we were in for a good pie.
The pie is really good. The white peaches have a more mild peach flavor, but they are very sweet and baked up beautifully.

Cajun Shrimp and Rice

2010-07-12T18:25:00.000-05:00

Jambalaya was an enormous hit a few months ago. When I saw this recipe on the Food Network website it sounded like a lighter version with the same good spicy flavor.

Cajun Shrimp and Rice

1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp Cajun Seasoning
1 pound Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
Kosher Salt And Freshly Ground Pepper
4 Plum Tomatoes, chopped
2 Bunches Scallions, chopped
3 cups Cooked White Rice
3 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Parsley

Heat the butter, olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the Cajun seasoning and shrimp and cook, stirring, until the shrimp begin to curl, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the tomatoes and scallions to the skillet and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the rice and ¼ cup water and continue to cook until the rice is warmed through and the shrimp are opaque, about 3 more minutes. Stir in the parsley.

*I did adjust the instructions a bit by rubbing the shrimp with the Cajun Seasonings and refrigerating for a hour before cooking. I also took the tails off- per Husband's request. Prettier with tails, but easier to eat without. :)

Chicken with Mushrooms

2010-07-08T20:25:00.002-05:00

This recipe had me at the title. We eat a lot of chicken and love mushrooms. I found it browsing through the AllRecipes application on my iPhone.
It was good. I could have used more mushrooms ( I don't think I could ever have too many mushrooms) and I imagined the sauce being thicker and just more of it. It could also use a bit more flavor in the form of spices. But I think it's a recipe worth playing with in the future.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 tbsp. butter
shredded cheese
1/4 cup chicken broth

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Place half of the mushrooms and the onions in a 9x13 inch pan. Dip chicken into beaten eggs, then roll in bread crumbs.

3. In skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Brown both sides of chicken in skillet. Place chicken on top of mushrooms, arrange remaining mushrooms on chicken, and top with mozzarella cheese. Add chicken broth to pan.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Serve over noodles.