brokenyolks

I LOVE THIS BREAD!!!

2012-01-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

I have made this bread multiple times and am in LOVE with baking my own bread. I have to admit I DO have issues with it coming out with a puffy top, but I suspect it has something to do with being at altitude here in Colorado Springs. I have used additional gluten, which is supposed to help combat the 'puffy' issue, but it didn't help much. This bread is a PERFECT dense, whole wheat bread! I make three loaves at once and freeze them. Once defrosted I slice as needed and put in the toaster to give it that fresh out of the oven taste!

Simple Whole Wheat Bread:

3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup honey
5 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted
In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.
Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely

Throw Together Chili!

2011-11-30T20:50:00.001-07:00

I don't know what it is about chasing after a two year old, but I am not motivated to take a lot of time with dinner these days. As a result, I stumbled upon a SWEET concoction (yeah, that means I actually made a recipe up all by myself!).

I found a recipe for the world's BEST Fajita Seasoning in the October 2009 Edition of Cuisine at Home. I LOVE getting flank steak at Costco and using this seasoning on Fajita's. I'm surprised I haven't posted the Fajita's on my blog yet....but all you really need is the seasoning...which you'll get because it was part of my Throw Together Chili.

Throw Together Chili
2 Tablespoons Fajita Seasoning (See recipe below)
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 pound chorizo
1-14 oz. can pinto beans with chili sauce
1-12 oz. can navy beans (or other white beans), drained and rinsed
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 can tomato sauce

On medium heat in a large pan add oil and onions. Cook until soft. Add chorizo and Fajita Seasoning, crumble meat while cooking through. Add beans, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Let simmer for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

Fajita Seasoning:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon of EACH paprika, onion powder, dried oregano and kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of EACH ground coriander, garlic powder, and black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of EACH red pepper flakes, ground ginger and cayenne pepper

This chili is great stand alone and ROCKS over tortilla chips for chili cheese nachos! OH YEAH!

BEST CUPCAKES EVER!!!!!!!

2011-10-05T16:34:00.001-06:00

I know I have a tendency of speaking in absolutes, but I'm not kidding you when I say, "THESE ARE THE BEST CUPCAKES I HAVE EVER HAD!!!" I was searching for a unique and FABULOUS cupcake recipe for my husband's birthday. I have recently been caught watching the t.v. show Cupcake Wars on Food Network, so I thought that would be a good place to start researching. My husband LOVES pineapple and spicy flavors so I knew this was a winner before I even saw the ingredients. The 31 five-star ratings helped too.

When I pulled these babies out of the oven I kept myself from making a carnal mistake of tasting a cupcake without frosting on it. I quickly whipped up a batch of frosting and frosted a mini-cuppy-cake (I doubled the recipe and got 24 cupcakes and 18 mini-cuppy-cakes) and popped it in my mouth. Oh heaven! The combination of the Chinese Five Spice and the Ginger frosting were PERFECTION in my mouth!!! The layers of flavor punched my taste buds over and over. Talk about BAM! The inventor of this recipe is a GENIUS!!!!

This is the only cake I want for my birthday until I die....and even after that I want someone to make the cake and leave it on my tombstone in an effort to keep my dead body from rising up and starting a zombie revolution!

Five Spice Pineapple Carrot Cupcakes:

Carrot Cupcake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup crushed pineapple

3 large eggs

1 cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups shredded carrots (about 3 to 4 medium-sized carrots)

Frosting, recipe follows

Crystallized ginger, as garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and Chinese five-spice powder.

In another large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, crushed pineapple, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and carrots. Then slowly add the flour mixture and beat with an electric hand mixer until just combined, about 2 minutes.

Fill the cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake until the cupcakes are set, about 20 to 22 minutes. When they can be handled safely, remove them from the muffin tins and let cool completely on wire racks before frosting. Garnish with crystallized ginger.

Frosting:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons Madagascar vanilla extract

2 teaspoons Chinese ground ginger

3 cups powdered sugar

In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and ginger. Blend thee ingredients with an electric hand mixer until a creamy consistency is reached, while slowly adding the powdered sugar.

Pesto Salmon

2011-09-25T21:33:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe before now. This is a recipe Alex turned me on to several years ago when we were first dating. I used to be that girl who needed tarter sauce to stomach fish so the first time I had this recipe I felt like I was choking it down. Now that my palate is more refined (LOL!!!) I LOVE this recipe!

I topped the salmon fillets with my favorite pesto recipe and cooked them at 475F for about 15 minutes. I know, you're wondering why I would cook the fish at such a high temperature. I was cooking the salmon with the butternut squash from the previous post and wanted to make sure they finished cooking around the same time. I REALLY enjoyed the way the salmon cooked at the high temperature. Because it was so high it cooked the olive oil completely out of the pesto frying the salmon almost and leaving a yummy basil, garlic, pine nut and parmesan goodness on top. I LOVE when I find a new means of cooking something I LOVE!

Roasted Butternut Squash

2011-09-25T21:22:00.000-06:00

With Fall come the cravings for Fall foods. Within the last few years I have really started liking all kinds of squash. Tonight I was planning on making a Martha Stewart recipe for twice baked butternut squash, but I got started cooking too late to make the recipe. I opted to roast the squash with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, thyme and rosemary cooked at 475F for 40 minutes. The balsamic vinegar ended up tasting more vinegary that I expected and caused a coating on the butternut squash that made you taste the vinegar first and then the squash. I do think I will try this concoction again.

Goat Cheese!

2011-09-25T20:34:00.000-06:00

Friday I was watching Diners, Drive In's and Dives and saw recipe for Blueberry Goat Cheese Pie. Guy Fieri has been doing that show for something like 2-3 years now. He has been to TONS of restaurants and seen thousands of recipes. Not much surprises him these days. But this pie did! I have never been a fan of goat cheese, it was Guy Fieri's reaction to this pie that made me want to make it. He was stunned when he tasted it...and I wanted to be stunned too!

Soon after baking the pie I took it to my monthly BUNCO as dessert. Many of the people steered clear when I told them it was a goat cheese blueberry pie. I probably would have too, under other circumstances. The few people who did try it said they couldn't get past the basil. That first night the basil did stand out. After letting the pie hang out in my refrigerator overnight the flavors were able to meld together for a seriously KNOCK OUT dessert! **However! I will tell you Alex was NOT a fan of this pie*** He doesn't like goat cheese and couldn't get past its distinct taste in the pie. I loved this pie, in part because so many people tried it and walked away with different opinions with regard to the individual ingredients. This should be renamed 'Controversy Pie!'

Cooking note: I did have to cook this for nearly DOUBLE the time the recipe called for. Not sure if that is due to my altitude here in Colorado. I also didn't make the topping because I realized too late that I didn't have almonds.

Blueberry Goat Cheese Pie:

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 to 3/4 cups cold margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
Cold water

Filling:

1/2 cup soft goat cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
5 cups fresh blueberries

Topping:

1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted margarine

Directions

For the crust:

Combine the flour, margarine, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Work with your fingers

gathering and crumbling until you have a crumbly mixture, about the size of peas.

In small amounts, slowly add cold water, gently incorporating by hand. As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

For the filling: Mix the goat cheese, heavy cream, egg, sugar, flour, salt and basil together in a bowl. Add the blueberries and mix to desired texture.

For the topping: Mix the almonds, sugar and margarine in bowl, set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out the dough and place in a 10-inch pie pan. Pour the filling into the crust and sprinkle the topping over the top. Bake 25 minutes, rotating at the pie halfway through.

Gettin' the BBQ fired up!

2011-09-18T19:52:00.000-06:00

Alex FINALLY broke down and bought a gas grill this summer. I have been harassing him for years to get a gas grill because of the convenience of being able to light it up and start cooking. He refused because he feels charcoal tastes better than gas. That might be the case, but it isn't as versatile as a gas grill because you can't control the temperature of the grill. I won and Alex is happy to have been on the losing end of this disagreement. :)

I've been on a Bobby Flay kick lately. I think I just need to use up the spices in my cupboard. I don't know how he figures out how to combine so many different flavors that compliment each other so well and layer the tastes. He must waste a TON of spices!

Spice Rubbed Chicken Tacos:

Grilled Poblanos:

3 large poblanos
Canola oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Coleslaw:

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed
3 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small head cabbage, cored, finely shredded
2 carrots, finely shredded
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
3 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

Chicken:

2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts (8 ounces each)
Canola oil
8 flour tortillas
2 grilled sliced poblanos
Barbecued onions
Coleslaw
Guacamole, recipe follows

For the poblanos:

Heat the grill to high.

Brush the poblanos with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the chiles on the grill and cook until charred on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from the grill, place in a bowl and cover with plastic for 10 minutes. Remove the skin, seeds and stem and cut into thin slices.

For the Cole Slaw:

Whisk together the mayo, sugar, celery, celery seed, vinegar and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the cabbage, carrot, onion and scallion and stir to combine, season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Let slaw sit at least 15 minutes before serving.

For the Chicken:

Heat the grill to high.

Whisk together the ancho, cinnamon, cumin, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper in a small bowl.

Season top side of the breasts with the rub mixture, turn over and season the back with the remaining salt. Drizzle with some of the oil and place on the grill, rub side down and grill until lightly golden brown and a crust has formed, about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken over, close the lid and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 6 minutes longer. Remove from the grill and let rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Grill the flour tortillas briefly, just to mark and heat. To build the taco, fold each tortilla around some of the chicken, poblanos, onions, coleslaw and guacamole.

These tacos were a HIT!!! So yummy and flavorful! Despite all the steps and ingredients involved in making these tacos, they were surprisingly easy to make! The left over chicken made for GREAT quesadilla's the next day too!

Truly Magic Sauce

2011-09-18T19:37:00.000-06:00

I was scoping out Grilling blogs this week and stumbled upon a KILLER recipe for a chimichurri type marinade. The sauce is so crazy simple I'm surprised I didn't think of something like this myself, but then again, I'm not awesome at making up new recipes. :)

MAGIC SAUCE!
2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 medium cloves of garlic, smashed into a paste
1 well-crumbled bay leaf
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon + fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

The author of this blog suggested doubling the batch because you can use it on EVERYTHING!!!!! I marinated a flank steak over night in this sauce and it was UNREAL!!!! It was tender, perfectly flavored and I found myself wishing I had reserved some Magic Sauce to use a a steak sauce while eating it! I did drizzle some on my eggs before I used it as a marinade and it WAS magical. :)

'Tis the season for PUMPKIN!

2011-09-18T19:24:00.000-06:00

My favorite thing about fall? PUMPKINS! I was dismayed to find that none of the grocery stores had pumpkin stocked when I searched it out. I searched high and low and ended up finding it at Sunflower Market. I plan to buy a case of it when the regular grocery stores start carrying it.

I've recently become addicted to Pinterest. I originally thought it was just a crafting web site, but no, like an outfit...pin it...like a recipe...pin it! Then you can scroll through all the 'pins' other people have found and you can pin it on your wall. I have been pinning recipes like nobody's business! I am especially glad I found the following recipe. It is supposed to be a knock off of the Starbucks Pumpkin Scones, but I think they're better! I am always disgusted that the food at Starbucks isn't made fresh in their individual stores. Everything is day old...or more! These babies are FRESH! Warm from the oven scones beat hard crumbly ones ANY DAY!...especially if they are pumpkin! :)

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Knock Off Recipe:

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Ingredients :

2 cups all-purpose flour

7 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

6 tablespoons cold butter

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

3 tablespoons half-and-half

1 large egg

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

2 tablespoons whole milk

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

2 tablespoons whole milk

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 pinch ginger

1 pinch ground cloves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.

Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

To make the plain glaze:

Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.
When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.

To make the spiced icing

Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.

I'm not sure why people who create these recipes call for SO MUCH glaze! Let alone TWO glazes! I didn't bother with the plain glaze and halved the spiced glaze. I have more than enough for the scones. The glaze really IS the frosting on this recipe! It was SO tasty and spicy!!! If I ever get around to making pumpkin donuts, I'm going to use this glaze on them too!!!

AMAZING Peach Cobbler!!!!

2011-09-09T21:12:00.000-06:00

'Tis the season for peaches!!! I got a whole flat of peaches at Costco with the intention of canning them, but never made it that far. They were going to go bad in a couple of days if I didn't so something with them so I searched out a recipe for peach cobbler on allrecipes.com com before my husband yelled at me for buying peaches and letting them go bad.

Growing up my mom made the same peach cobbler over and over and over again. I wanted to try something different and this recipe had over 1,000 reviews and a nearly five star rating. I followed all the direction EXACTLY and the top of my crisp came out looking like the top hadn't gotten enough moisture to make it crust over. I was pretty skeptical...until I tasted it!!! HOLY HELL! Trust me when I tell you this is the BEST peach cobbler I have EVER had!!! The cobbler I grew up with had a sweet biscuit like crust on top and the topping on this was much more crisp like. I am thinking it would be fun to combine the recipe from my childhood with this one and make an even BETTER peach cobbler. :)

Peach Cobbler
8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

MIX TOGETHER:
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

HA! The Queen of NOT Follow Directions just realized I forgot to add the hot water!!!! No wonder it didn't have enough moisture to crust the top! Still, it turned out heavenly!!! I have to admit, I ate WAY too much of this cobbler! I'm going to need to hit the gym hard for a WEEK to make up for this one!

MOJO!

2011-08-22T20:54:00.001-06:00

My neighbor lent me her Estefan Kitchen Cuban cookbook by Emilio and Gloria Estefan. It is always so cool to me to learn the customary differences between cuisines. I was looking for a pork marinade for pork tacos. I found a steal in the Mojo Criollo recipe. They use this recipe in many of their dishes like the pork for Cuban Sandwiches. I definitely plan on trying that out too!

Mojo Criollo
10 to 12 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 cup naranja agria (sour orange) - you can substitute 2 parts lemon juice with 1 part orange juice.
1/4 cup olive oil

In batches of 6 cloves, peel and mash the garlic using a mortar and pestle (or crush in a garlic press).

In a small bowl, combine the mashed garlic with the salt, pepper and oregano.

Stir in the naranja agria juice and olive oil.

I marinated pork in this for about four hours, pan fried it, and chopped it up for pork tacos with white onion and cilantro salsa. AWESOME!!!!!!

Mesa Grill....my new favorite restaurant I've never visited.

2011-08-22T20:36:00.000-06:00

This last week I wanted some Southwestern cooking, so I broke Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook. I am not a huge Bobby Flay fan. I think he is loud, cocky and obnoxious. His food is loud, flavorful and bold, which is PERFECT when we are talking about food, so I'll forgive him his shortcomings. :)

I wanted to make something unusual, but tasty and I found his recipe for Fry Bread Taquitos with Jerk Chicken, Red Cabbage-Jicama Slaw, and Mango Habanero Hot Sauce. VERY unusual, but very TASTY!!!!

This recipe sounds time consuming, but I assure you, it isn't as bad as it sounds. From start to finish this took me about an hour and a half. So I guess if you think a 30 minute meal is time consuming, this might be too much for you.

Fry Bread Taquitos with Jerk Chicken, Red Cabbage-Jicama Slaw, and Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
Fry Bread Taquitos
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon dry milk powder
Kosher Salt
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening or lard
2 cups canola oil

To make taquitos, combine the flour, baking powder, milk powder, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture is crumbly, add 3/4 cup cold water. Place on a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until smooth. Cover with a kitchen towel and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a large high sided saute pan until it reaches 360 F as measured on a deep-frying thermometer (or just wing it! That's what I did).

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll out each piece into a four inch circle about 1/8 of an inch thick. Fry the bread in batches in the oil until golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a sheet pan lined with paper towels and season with salt.

Jerk Rubbed Chicken Breasts:
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon habanero chile powder (I substituted guallio chile powder because I had it on hand)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
4 8-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons canola oil

To make the jerk rub, combine the coriander, ginger, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, habanero powder, black pepper, thyme, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves in a small bowl. the rub will keep for up to 6 months in an air tight container.

Rub the top of each breast with 1 heaping tablespoon of the jerk rub.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Pace the chicken in the pan, rub side down, and cook until golden brown and the crust has formed, about 3 minutes. Turn the breasts over and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing each breast on the bias into 1/4 - in warm tacquitos, topped with red cabbage-jicama slaw and drizzled with mango-habenero hot sauce.

Red Cabbage-Jicama Slaw:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder (I also substituted guallio here too)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground back pepper
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 small head of cabbage, thinly shredded
1 small jicama, peeled and thinly shredded
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Whisk together the lime juice, ancho powder, salt, pepper, honey, and oil in a large bowl.

Add the cabbage, jicama, and cilantro and toss well to combine. Let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes and up to 4 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Mango Habanero Hot Sauce:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 small Spanish onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 habenero chile, chopped
2 to 4 tablespoons honey, depending on the sweetness of the mangoes
1 cup white wine vinegar (I used straight up whine vinegar)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the mangoes, habanero, and 1 cup of water and cook stirring often, until the mangoes get very soft and the water evaporates, 8-10 minutes. Add the honey and vinegar and cook over low heat until the mixture thickens slightly, 5-7 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. If the mixture is too thick to pour, add a few more tablespoons of water. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer set over a small bowl; season with salt.

This is what I have to say about this recipe and most Bobby Flay recipes I have come across: If you want rid your cabinets of spices, make one of his recipes!

The overall tastes of this recipe are out of this world when combined together. I snatched a taste of the fry bread before everything else was finished and it was heavy on the oil because it has vegetable shortening in it. I did omit the milk powder because I didn't have any...I wonder if it would have made a difference? But with the chicken, slaw and mango habanero sauce it was divine!

I seeded the habanero for the sauce and I was kicking myself when it was all done. I was so worried it would overheat the sauce. Keep the habanero whole!

My husband was over the moon about this recipe! He told me to add it to our guest repertoire. So if you come to dinner at my house, you might get lucky enough to have this recipe!

Strawberry Muffins

2011-08-08T22:13:00.000-06:00

I am a touch crazy when it comes to muffins. I am constantly searching out new recipes for a muffin to dream about, crave and DEVOUR! This recipe is pretty damn PERFECT! The consistency of these muffins was not too dense, not too fluffy and got better as they cooled down. The best part? They weren't flat! They actually raised to have nice puffy tops at altitude.

I have not made strawberry muffins before, but had some strawberries I needed to use up. The recipe also claims you can use defrosted strawberries cut up too. I know what I am doing with my Costco sized bag of frozen strawberries!!! I have seriously been craving these babies since I made them. The recipes makes 8-9 muffins, which I LOVE because it keeps me from eating too many! Several people on Allrecipes.com suggested making a glaze for the top of the muffins so I tried it out (1/2 cup powdered sugar with 1/2 tsp vanilla). HEAVEN!!!!!! I suspect I'll be craving these babies the next time I'm pregnant!

Strawberry Muffins
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour1 cup chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oil an 8 cup muffin tin, or use paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, and egg. Beat lightly. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.

Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from the touch. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.

Chicken, Peas and Pesto...OH MY!

2011-07-26T22:34:00.000-06:00

We visited my husband's sister recently who is gluten-intolerant and I scored an AMAZING recipe from her. Well, not a recipe as much as an idea. I've been trying to eat less bread/carbs an increase the amount of veggies I get in my diet. Because how can you encourage your child to eat their veggies when you aren't serving them! My sister-in-law threw together a quick meal of leftover chicken, pesto and peas to make a quick salad. My carb loving gut instinct was to turn my nose up, but I felt obligated because I was her guest. :) SO GLAD I FELT OBLIGATED!!!! I've been thinking about that salad for three weeks and decided to finally make it myself. Only requirement...MAKE OR PURCHASE AWESOME PESTO!!!

Chicken, Peas and Pesto:
1 breast of chicken cooked and cut into bite sized cubes
1/4 cup pesto (homemade or store bought)
1 cup frozen peas

Combine everything into a skillet and cook until peas are warmed through on medium heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ellie Krieger Pumpkin Muffins

2011-07-21T20:46:00.000-06:00

I am ALWAYS on the search for ways to use pumpkin, in part because I LOVE pumpkin and also because it is a good way to sneak in vegetables into my daughter's food without her knowing. :) Ellie Krieger, Food Network Celebrity Chef, is all about making yummy comfort dishes healthy and flavorful and I am GLAD for it! Because if it is healthy, it means I can eat more of them. I actually made these muffins in a mini-muffin pan so I could freeze them for later gorging. It actually paid off...except for when I defrost the zip-lock bag full of mini muffins. I have managed to eat the entire bag each time.

These muffins are chalked full of spice and flavor, which is why I LOVE them...I don't just love them, I'm addicted to them. I've even used the measurements from the spices for these muffins to make pumpkin pancakes. LAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Those are the angels singing.

Ellie Krieger Pumpkin Muffin Recipe:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

Salmon Salad with Balsamic Reduction as a dressing

2011-07-21T20:33:00.000-06:00

Several months back I took my daughter to the Children's Museum in Pueblo, Colorado. Pueblo is a pretty small town so you wouldn't imagine they'd have a cool Children's Museum let alone a SWEET cafeteria that serves gourmet meals. I ordered at a window that reminded me of Mel's Diner from the t.v. show Alice and quite honestly didn't expect much from the salmon salad I ordered. I was happily surprised when my salad arrived. It was loaded with lettuce, salmon, tomatoes, carrots and...a balsamic reduction salad dressing that was TO DIE FOR!!!!! Why don't I come up with idea's like this when I'm cooking?!

The dressing was sharp, but full of HUGE amounts of flavor. It wasn't think like a buttermilk based dressing or runny like a vinaigrette, it was...PERFECT! I have made this recipe a couple of times and it really doesn't do justice to the reduction at the Children's Museum. In the meantime, I'll take it!

Balsamic Reduction:
1 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed

Pour balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan, and add the crushed garlic; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the vinegar has reduced to 1/4 cup. Set aside, and cool to room temperature.

Corn Bread Heaven!!!

2011-07-21T20:19:00.000-06:00

Alex came home with leftover smoked BBQ beef brisket from a work party last week. What goes with BBQ'd beef brisket? Besides coleslaw and baked beans? CORN BREAD!!!! I have tried several recipes and find most of them quite bland, especially the one on the Quaker corn bread package. BLECH! I'm not totally sure what steered me to the following recipe, but I am GLAD I tried it out. I don't think I will make another corn bread...EVER!

Reader beware...this recipe actually calls for mayonnaise. I was pretty squeamish about it too, but I put my faith in the good folks of Tennessee that they wouldn't steer me wrong when it comes to corn bread. And they didn't. I HIGHLY suggest using a heavy dutch over skillet for this recipe. Put some canola oil in the bottom of the pan and I PROMISE you won't be disappointed!!!! I didn't have buttermilk when I made this recipe so I used regular milk and added a Tablespoon of lemon juice to curdle the milk.

You know what is the BEST part about this recipe? It's gluten free!!!

West Tennessee Corn Bread:
1 egg
1/4 mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg, mayonnaise, buttermilk and oil until smooth. Combine the cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt; add to egg mixture and beat just until combined. Grease an ovenproof 6-in. skillet or round baking dish; dust with cornmeal. Add batter. Bake at 425 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

This is a KEEPER!

2011-07-21T20:04:00.000-06:00

I LOVE Chinese food! Let me clarify, I LOVE Chinese take out. However, I am pretty wary when it comes to finding a new take out joint because of MSG issues and the super fried factor. I found a pretty sweet recipe for Sweet and Sour Sauce on Allrecipes.com. I was a little nervous because the last recipe for Chinese food I pulled from Allrecipes.com was HORRIBLE, despite all the great reviews (which could very well be a result of the chef...i.e., ME). The sweet and sour sauces you get at regular Chinese restaurants is a cherry red, this sauce is the color of whiskey. This makes a sweet and tangy sweet and sour sauce. I TOTALLY prefer this to the stuff you get at take out restaurants.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Place the sugar, vinegar, water, soy sauce, ketchup and cornstarch in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir continuously until the mixture has thickened.

I poured this over pan seared cubes of chicken breast over rice. Even my picky two year old LOVED this sauce!!!

Chocolate Cupcakes & Peanut Butter Icing...Uh HEAVEN!!!!!

2011-07-15T15:14:00.000-06:00

I LOVE CUP CAKES! What an ingenious idea to create a pan in which to make mini-cakes. Don't want to make a whole cake? Make a cupcake! I was asked to bring dessert to dinner at a friend's house, but I didn't want anything super decadent because I'm trying to watch my calories so I decided to make cupcakes in hopes it would keep me from eating too much dessert. Nice try. :)

These cupcakes can best be described as Reese's Peanut Butter Cupcakes! NO LIE! The frosting tastes EXACTLY like the inside of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Oh my! I thought with the sour cream that these cupcakes would be super moist, but no so. :( I'm not sure if it is the altitude (remember I'm baking at 7,000ft), the recipe or (more likely) me! I would definitely be interested in feedback on how these babies turn out for you!

Ina Garten's Chocolate Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Icing

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.
Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Another 40th Birthday Cake!

2011-06-25T13:15:00.000-06:00

I am NOT a cake decorator by any stretch of the imagination. I just enjoy making and decorating cakes. It's a fun creative outlet that is SUPER tasty!

I recently had a friend turn 40 and I offered to make her a birthday cake. I searched online for some ideas, because I don't have any original ideas when it comes to decorating cakes. :) I really wanted to find something that was girlie, but included a skull. This design was a WINNER! I loved the little grim reaper and the daisies. For the life of me, I can't find the site I got this design from so I can reference it.

I am always in search of new fondant recipes so I thought I would try the following recipe instead of the corn syrup one I have used in the past.

Basic Fondant Recipe
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3; cup sweetened condensed milk
5 cups sifted confectioners sugar (+ 1 cup for work surface)

Beat butter, vanilla, and salt together until soft. Add condensed milk slowly and beat until mixture is very light. Add the confectioners' sugar cup-by-cup. Dust your work surface with an extra cup of confectioners sugar. Turn your fondant mixture out onto the work surface and work the powdered sugar in with your hands.

My biggest complaint with the corn syrup fondant is the consistency and the way it gets shiny after applied on the cake. I was hoping this recipe would offer a better consistency, but it was nearly IDENTICAL to the corn syrup version. This recipe didn't taste anywhere near as good as the corn syrup version. It was like a combination of the corn syrup and the marshmallow version. I'd don't think I'll use it again since I got similar results to the corn syrup without getting a better taste.

My daughter's birthday is coming up and I have purchased the Duff brand of fondant because I have heard some GREAT reviews about his fondant. I'll keep you posted!

Yogurt Pie? Oh YEAH!

2011-06-23T22:42:00.000-06:00

I LOVE to recipe surf, especially for fun kid foods (there is a kid in all of us). I came across a recipe on a blog called 'Cooking with my Kid' that had a recipe for a Yogurt Parfait PIE! That's right, a PIE! What things does my two year old like? Fruit, yogurt, cheerios and graham crackers!

Yogurt Parfait Pie Recipe
Prep Time: 8 to 10 hours (mostly unattended) Cooking Time: 5 to 10 mins

Crust Ingredients:
1 ½ cups finely crushed graham crackers
3 tablespoons lowfat vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Ingredients for the Filling:
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup water
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 ½ cups nonfat or lowfat vanilla yogurt
1 envelop unflavored gelatin

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, crushed Cheerios and sugar.

3. Work the mixture together with your hands until it becomes clumpy and moist.
4. Press mixture into a 9 inch pie plate making sure to push it up along the sides.

5.    Bake in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until set and just starting to brown.
6.    Let cool completely (overnight is best) before adding filling. - I TOTALLY FORGOT TO DO THIS!
7.    To make the filling, combine strawberries, blueberries and sugar in a medium bowl and set aside.

8. In a small saucepan, over low heat, whisk together ¼ cup water, egg yolks and cornstarch and continue stirring until thick. Remove from heat.

9. Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over remaining ¼ cup water, whisk together and dissolve over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

10. Combine egg mixture and gelatin.
11. Combine yogurt with berries and then fold berries into egg / gelatin mixture.

12. Pour into prepared piecrust and refrigerate until set. At least 2 hours.

This was a little unusual. It was like pudding and jello all at the same time. I REALLY liked the crust. It was super moist, which made for a difficult time spreading it along the pie pan. My husband thought it was a dessert, but when you consider it only has three tablespoons of sugar...it's healthy! :)

Lesson Learned!

2011-06-23T22:11:00.001-06:00

Crash and burn! Not really something you want to read in a cooking blog. Some people put signs for no solicitation on their front door, but I should have a sign that reads, 'Upon entering this house you agree to be a guinea pig for all food concoctions that enter your mouth.' Oh yes, I even invited people over to my house for this one.

Come friends, come to my house and learn to make pizza...ON THE GRILL!!! Oh, it will be spectacular! Nice smokey flavor, melted cheese, grills marks on the pizza dough! Guess what I learned about grilling pizza? DON'T DO IT ON A CHARCOAL GRILL WITH HOT COALS!!!! Know what ELSE I learned? don't put olive oil on the dough before you put it on the grill. Oh yeah, I did that too.

I had seen this recipe cooked on a gas grill a week ago, I grilled pizza dough using my indoor grill pan, but I hadn't made this recipe on a charcoal grill. Thank goodness I had extra dough. I was able to recover by using my indoor grill pan, but didn't have a lid big enough to cover it once I had the toppings on so I found myself...oh the shame...I MICROWAVED it so the cheese would melt. *sigh* Pure embarrassment. LOL!!!

Now don't discount this recipe because I am a schmuck! When it was made it on a gas grill it turned out really good!

Grilled Veggie Pizza
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1/4 of a white onion
1/2 red pepper
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil - or regular olive oil
1 loaf of Rhoades frozen bread
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Defrost bread according to package instructions. Slice zucchini and yellow squash into thin equal size pieces. Cut onion into half moons and red pepper into small bite sized pieces. Place cut veggies into bowl and toss with Italian seasoning, olive oil and cheese. At this point you can put the veggies in a grill basket or you can saute them in a pan on the stove top.

Roll out dough and shape by preference. Grill on low heat for 3-5 minutes on each side. Take off grill and load up with veggie and cheese mixture. Put back on covered grill until cheese is melted.

Grilled pizza is fun and creative. Learn from my mistakes and enjoy! :) And to my friends...thanks for continuing to be my friend after this fiasco!

Love random finds!

2011-06-21T21:10:00.001-06:00

I got a wild hair tonight and thought it would be fun to create a want-to-be, lazy girl's version of focaccia/naan. I had a loaf of Rhoades frozen bread to be used. I followed the quick rise instructions on the package (place in non-stick pan, pre-heat oven to 200 degrees F, then turn off and add boiling water to a pan beneath the bread), rolled it out with a rolling pin,

spread garlic infused canola oil over both sides and

GRILLED IT!!!!

Oh MY! Was this a tasty method for cooking dough! I had some seasonings for bread dipping and soaked up their yummy goodness with this GRILLED BREAD!!! I think I have found a replacement for garlic bread! I used my indoor, stove top, grill pan to cook the bread, but now that I know it will turn out, I'm going to do it on our charcoal grill next time!

Crunched for Time!

2011-06-20T20:45:00.001-06:00

I hate when the 4pm hour hits at my house. Invariably, I have put off making a decision about what to cook for dinner and my stomach is starting to grumble. DOH! Today was no different. I had left overs from taco's I was considering making stuffed baked potatoes with, but I didn't want to go to the hassle of baking the potatoes. LAZY! A couple of months ago I purchased the Deep Dish Baker from Pampered Chef. This INGENIOUS product allows you to cook recipes you would normally make in the oven...IN THE MICROWAVE! It ROCKS!!!! You can roast a whole chicken in the microwave in 25-35 minutes using this product!!! It saved my day! Pampered Chef also sells a recipe book specifically for recipes you can make using the Deep Dish Baker. I scored a SWEET recipe from it that would use up my taco leftovers!

Family Burrito Bake
1 medium onion
1 lb 90% lean ground beef
2 tbsp Southwestern Seasoning Mix
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 can Mexican-style corn
1 jar chunky salsa, divided
1 can refried beans
3 tbsp water
7 6-inch corn corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Colby & Monterey Jack cheese blend, divided

Coarsely chop onion. In Deep Covered Baker, combine onion, beef, seasoning mix and pressed garlic; mix well. Microwave, covered on High for 6-8 minutes or until beef is no longer pink, breaking crumbles halfway through. Drain beef mixture. Combine beef mixture, corn and 1 cup of the salsa, mix well. combine refried beans and water, mix well.

To assemble, place two tortillas over bottom of baker. Cut one tortilla to fill any gaps as layers are assembled. Spread one-third of the beans evenly over tortillas. Top with one-third of the beef mixture and one-third of the cheese. Repeat layers one time. Arrange remaining two tortillas over cheese. Top with remaining beans and beef mixture.

Microwave, covered, on High for 12-15 minutes or until center is hot. Carefully remove baker from microwave using oven mitts. Top evenly with remaining salsa and cheese. Let stand, covered for 10 minutes before serving.

HOLY MOLY!!!! This recipes was AWESOME!!!! It was CRAZY fast and pretty healthy at 340 calories per serving (assuming 8 servings). If you don't have a Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker...get yourself one!!! I can't believe how fast and easy it was to use the Deep Dish Baker. Because it is stoneware and has a lid, it quickly cooks meals evenly in the microwave. I'm looking forward to making more meals with this dish!!!

Thai Chicken Salad

2011-01-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

I am always on the search for new recipes for lettuce wraps. The October edition of Cusine at Home magazine had an O.K. one I tried out this week. Instead of making actual lettuce wraps I made a salad which keeps me from wilting left ove lettuce because I don't use it all.

I liked this salad well enough, but the peanut sauce was ultimately lacking. The recipe definitely called for too much peanut butter. I would have liked it to have some vinegar and more oil...runnier and more flavorful. However, give it a shot and let me know your thoughts.

Thai Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
3 Tbsp natural creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced and ground into a paste
1 Tbsp freash lime juice
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp fish sauce - which I left out because fish sauce is straight up barf!
1 tsp Sriracha sauce - definitely could have used more if you like spicy

For the Chickn Salad
6 oz. cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups broccoli slaw
2 Tbsp peanuts
8 large Bibb lettuce leaves - I served over a spring salad mix

Whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, water, honey, fish sauce, and Sraracha for the sauce in a small bowl. Toss chicken, slaw mix and peanuts with peanut sauce; chill covered until needed. To searve, divide salad among lettuce leaves.

I really liked the addition of the broccoli slaw in this recipe, which was what drew me to it in the first place. I would TOTALLY make this again, but with a different dressing/peanut sauce.

Chicken Divan...with inpromptu ingredients.

2010-12-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid my mom used to make chicken divan a lot. I remember disliking the exotic taste of the curry at first, but over time it grew on me. Now I consider it comfort food. I was craving some comfort the other day and decided to make some. After my visit to the Costco to pick up a rotisserie chicken I realized I didn't have any cream of chicken soup to start the base of my sauce. DAMN!!! Lightening fast thinking...make my own cream of chicken! And that is just what I did. I don't think I will EVER use cream of chicken again.

Chicken Divan - made up style:
1/2 Rotisserie Chicken - I always get mine at Costco and they are GIANORMOUS so I only used half.
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon corn starch
2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup cheese
2 cups broccoli - frozen or fresh

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

Cut up half a rotisserie chicken into small bite sized pieces and set aside.

In medium saucepan melt butter. Add flour and cook for a minute. Add milk, cornstarch and curry. Allow sauce to thicken.

Add cheese and stir until melted.

In medium to large baking dish combine chicken and broccoli. Pour sauce over top and stir to combine.

Cook for 25 minutes.

When I type the recipe out it sounds all thought out and professional, but it couldn't be farther from the truth! When I realized I didn't have the cream of chicken I went to making a roux. I was only going to add one cup of milk because I was going to make a smaller batch, but then thought better of it when I saw how much sauce that would give me. I decided that AFTER I had added the milk. I was worried that making more roux would mess up the recipe at that point so I opted to add cornstarch to thicken it up. BINGO!!! I REALLY liked the taste of the sauce. Canned sauces are handy when you need them, but if you can avoid them...DO!!!

Perfect Little Muffin Pan

2010-12-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

O.K., I'm going to make a shameless plug for Pampered Chef. In part because I started selling Pampered Chef, but more importantly, BECAUSE THIS PAN FREAKING ROCKS!!!! Pampered Chef has a silly number of appetizer recipes you can make in this pan. On future posts, I'll highlight some of my favorite appetizer recipes. Today I'm going to share my first made up recipe I created in this pan for Thanksgiving appetizers.

So my Dad is pretty crazy about Brie en Cruet. He gets a big round bite of Brie, puts some kind of jam on top and wraps it all up in puff pastry. It is good, but I wasn't have a large crowd at my house for Thanksgiving and I wasn't sure about the palates of some of my guests. As a result, I created the following recipe.

Mini-Brie en Cruet:

2 packages refrigerated Pillsbury croissant dough

1 pie slice of brie - my favorite is Presidente

1 small jar of your favorite jam - I used a raspberry habenero jam for a little KICK!

Open croissant package and cut the already pre-cut slices in half. Push them into place in your mini-muffin pan. (Pampered Chef also sells a wooden dowl to help you with this task.) - Sorry, I can't help myself. :) Cut the brie into squares small enough to fit into pan without overflowing from the croissant dough. If you are not keen on the rind around the brie, you can cut it off. Spoon a small amount of jam on top and close the croissant dough around cheese and jam like it is a package.

Cook according to instruction on croissant dough package.

Another option for this SWEET pan is the obvious...MINI-MUFFINS! Now that my daughter is eating everything we are eating this is a FABULOUS option for kid sized muffins. Today I made blueberry oatmeal muffins in this pan. I love them because they are small and bite sized (and we all know food in cute shapes and small sizes taste better) and my daughter loved them because they fit her hand well.

Bisquick Sweet Muffins

2/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups Original Bisquick mix

1/3 cup sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Prep your muffin pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, beat milk, oil and egg with wire whisk or fork until blended. Stir in Bisquick mix and sugar just until moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bake 8-9 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy your bite sized goodness!!!

Jesus Pie!

2010-10-18T21:15:00.000-06:00

Jesus was a Shepherd...and this shepherd's pie ROCKS...THE WORLD!!!! I came up with a rather hair-brained idea of cooking a chicken, a pork roast AND a beef roast at the same time in a gianormous roasting pan. The whole idea was to maximize my Mommy Time and spend less time on meals. I was worried after I cooked up the meat that when I used it in another dish it would be overcooked and not taste good. Oh goodness, was I WRONG!!! The beef roast I used for this dish was HEAVENLY!!!

I searched recipes for left over beef roast and found a recipe by Paula Deen for a Shepherd's Pie. I was worried when the recipe called for 14 tablespoons of butter. SERIOUSLY...come on Paula Deen. That is an utter JOKE! So I modified the recipe.

Rock Your World Shepherd's Pie:
1/2 red onion, peeled and chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 pounds leftover pot roast, cubed
Salt and black pepper
5-6 medium red new potatoes
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 cups milk
2 1/4 cups instant biscuit mix
1 1/2 cups niblet corn or mixed vegetables

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pot Roast Layer:
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute onion in olive oil. Add pot roast and cook until browned. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

Potato Layer:
Place potatoes in pressure cooker and cook for 9 minutes at pressure until fork tender. Drain potatoes and transfer to a mixing bowl. Scrape skins off potatoes and smash to a consistency you like. Add 1/2 cup heated milk, 1/2 stick butter, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Whip until mixed. Adjust thickness by adding more milk, if desired.

Biscuit Layer:

Combine biscuit mix and 3/4 cups of milk. Mix until combined.

Spray a 9 by 9 by 2-inch pan (or any similar casserole dish) with cooking spray. Layer mashed potatoes halfway up the sides of the dish.

Next, spread a layer of corn or mixed vegetables on top of the potatoes. Then add the layer of pot roast and onions.

Spread the biscuit mix over the meat. Bake for approximately 35 to 45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

I'm not kidding you...this is one of the best meals I have had in a LONG time! AWESOME!!!!! Do I hear angels singing? :)

Pure and Simple

2010-10-18T14:20:00.001-06:00

I love fast and easy meals loaded with TASTE. This dish is the ticket! Alex made a rendition of this recipe on one of our first dates. I am not normally a fan of Salami, but it TOTALLY rounds off this dish with a perfect salty flavor. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I was so impressed with Alex's coking abilities after this meal. :) It has become a staple at our house.

Simple Salami and Pasta:
1/2 box fettucine
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 small zucchini, sliced into thin strips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 lb Salami, sliced into thin strips
1 Tbsp capers (optional)

Cook fettucine according to directions on box. In a saute pan add olive oil and cook zucchini for 3-5 minutes at medium heat. Add garlic and heavy cream. Cook until cream is heated through, 1-2 minutes. Add salami, capers and cooked fettucine. Toss dish to ensure everything is completely covered with cream. Serve immediately.

The next time you want to impress, pull out this recipe and knock 'em dead. :)

Caprese Chicken?

2010-09-22T21:45:00.000-06:00

There is a KILLER little Italian cafe in the Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake that served me my first EVER Caprese sandwich with a gianormous piece of fresh mozzarella, thick slices of roma tomatoes, full leaves of basil and a to-die-for olive oil and balsamic vinegar to it top off between soft pieces of ciabatta bread. This recipe reminds me of those sandwiches.

I was looking for fresh ideas for dinner and stumbled upon a pretty cool website called http://www.momswhothink.com/. They have weekly recipe ideas for those in need of suggestions...like me! A lot of the recipes on this site remind me of the dishes I had growing up, like tuna casserole, beef stroganoff and meatloaf.

Baked Pesto Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ cup basil pesto
2 plum tomatoes, diced
shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Cover cookie sheet with foil.

Put pesto and chicken in bowl. Toss until chicken is covered. Place in cooking dish and top with diced tomatoes.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Sprinkle with cheese
Bake another 3-5 minutes.
Serve with a box of angel hair pasta.

To fancy up this dish a little I added two teaspoons each olive oil and butter to the angel hair pasta and a 1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese. This is one of my new FAVORITE recipes!

Casserole, Chicken and Rice style!

2010-09-17T14:36:00.000-06:00

Admit it...sometimes all you want is a straight up casserole, whether it be tuna casserole or one of those recipes from the Campbell's soup can. :) I was in just that kind of mood when I made up the following recipe. In college I used to buy those boxed recipes that you just added chicken to complete the meal to impress my boyfriend. HA! Funny enough, I was trying to recreate those meals.

Chicken and Rice Casserole
2 cooked chicken breasts cubed
2 cups wild rice, cooked
1+ cup of cheese, to your preference
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of celery....I recall the recipe in college always had cream of mushroom, but Alex doesn't like mushrooms. So use your best judgement.
3/4 cup salsa
1 medium onion...or less, keep on reading.

Combine all the ingredients in a baking dish.

Set oven to 400 F and cook for 30 minutes until bubbly.

This recipe was SUPER yummy...except for one fact...you REALLY ought to cook the onions BEFORE you mix them with all the other ingredients. I also added WAY too much onion. I had to pick it out to keep it from over-powering the rest of the dish. But, you live and you learn...which hopefully you learn from my mistake!

Harvest Time - APPLES II

2010-09-16T13:40:00.000-06:00

I had a specific recipe in mind when Alex and I went to the Happy Apple Orchard to pick apples. What better at harvest time than APPLE PIE! A couple of years ago for Christmas my sister gave me a compliation of canning recipes. I don't know where those recipes came from, so I just want to make it clear that this is NOT my recipe and I don't know whose it is, but it ROCKS!

I haven't done much canning outside of jams, as I am afraid of screwing it up. A couple of years ago I made spiced peach jam. I did something wrong because the pectin didn't make it set and I ended up with 12 jars of spiced peach syrup...which was yummy, but I digress. This recipe was super easy, tastey and I didn't even break a jar when I used my pressure cooker to seal the jars! WHOOHOOO!!!

Apple Pie Filling
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
5 1/2 -6 pounds apples or 24 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples

In large pan blend first 4 ingredients. add salt, stir in water. Cook and stir until clear, thick and blubbling--sort of foamy. Add raw apples to syrup as it is cooking and heat through. Add lemon juice.

Pack apples in jars leaving 1" head space and fill with hot syrup. To seal, process in steaming water bath, 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts.

The easiest option for sealing these is to add the apples and syrup while they are still hot and turn them upside down until cool. This is how I can my jams. This time I opted to seal my cans using a pressure cooker. I have a medium sized pressure cooker and was able to can three jars at a time. I placed three pints sized jars in the pressure cooker, made sure they were not touching, filled it with 1 cup of water and placed the lid on it. Once the pressure was established, I 'cooked' the jars for 5-6 minutes then turned the stop top off and allowed the pressure to reduce naturally.

VOILA! Now I have apple pie filling anytime I want it!

Harvest Time - APPLES!

2010-09-15T13:59:00.000-06:00

This weekend we went to Happy Apple Farms in Penrose, Colorado picked apples. What an awesome experience. You get to pretend you live on a farm, walk out to the orchard and pick some yummy apples. For those who want to enhance their experience...they have tractor rides to the orchard. The best part of this fantasy...when you are tired and hot and want to stop...you can. :)

When we got home, I was on the hunt for apple recipes. What is sweet, smooth, can be spread over nice warm bread and reminds you of fall? APPLE BUTTER! Be forewarned, Apple Butter does not have actual butter in it. Apple Butter is extremely well cooked apples mashed into the consistency of jam. A couple of recipes I saw actually called for apple sauce instead of apples...I guess if your lazy...just kidding. Whatever it takes for you to make this yummy concoction.

I found this recipe on GroupRecipes.com. This is a new web site for me and I was pretty skeptical, but the recipe ROCKED! A MUST HAVE tool is an apple peeler.

Yes, it looks like a medievil torture tool. As a result, you should keep tabs on where your hands are while using it so you don't lose a digit or more likely, cut yourself.

Place the apple on the prongs and twist the crank so it approaches the peeler and CRANK!

The peeler with peel, core and cut the apple into a nice spiral. You can also remove the knife that cuts the apple into a spiral so it only peels and cores the apple.

Apple Butter in the Crock Pot
12 medium Granny Smith or other cooking apples peeled and cut into fourths

1-1/2 cup packed brown sugar shopping list
1/2 cup apple juice shopping list
1 teaspoon ground allspice shopping list
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg shopping list
1/2 teaspoons ground cloves shopping list

Mix all ingredients in crock pot.

Cover and cook on low for 10 hours (I put it on high for 5 hours and stirred it occassionally so it didn't burn around the edges). Mash apples with potato masher or large fork. Cook uncovered on low for 2 hours stirring occasionally until mixture is very thick. Cool 2 hours. Spoon apple butter into container.

Cover and store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks.

The apples we picked were not Granny Smith apples, but worked just fine. I suspect the taste with Granny Smith's would be AWESOME! Alex and I tried this out on toast, but I was dreaming of freshly baked homemade bread. I DIG the flavor of this recipe over variations I have made in the past. I'm planning on making this as Christmas presents for friends.

HAPPY HARVEST!

Slow Cooker...Jamaican Jerk Style

2010-08-29T19:47:00.000-06:00

My mother-in-law gave me a Cuisine at Home Slow Cooker Menus cook book and it ROCKS! Cuisine at Home offers healthy recipes with GREAT cooking tips in their magazines. Alex really digs Jamaican Jerk seasoning so I thought I would surprise him Barefoot Contessa style (you know how Ina Garten always surprises her husband Jeffery with some yummy meal when he comes home from business trips?) with a Jamaican Jerk-Chicken Sandwich.

I am so-so when it comes to Jamaican food. I dig all the spices in the food, but sometimes it is a little unusual on my taste buds. This recipe was AWESOME!!!!! FREAKIN' EASY, too!!!! If you are thinking cole slaw is blech...think again. The coleslaw on top of the sandwich COMPLETES this recipe. Notice the coleslaw is on the side in the picture...I couldn't fit it on the sandwich for a pretty picture, but we DID eat the coleslaw on top of the sandwiches.

Jamaican Jerk-Chicken Sandwich
3 Tbsp purchased Jamaican Jerk seasoning
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp each kosher salt and black pepper
2 bone-in chicken breasts, skin removed - I couldn't find bone-in and it turned out GREAT
4 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
1 cup breked coffee
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp seeded and minced jalapeno chile pepper
1 Tbsp minced garlic
6 ciabatta rolls
Mango Coleslaw

Combine jerk seasoning, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Coat chicken with seasonings. Place chicken pieces, bone side down, in a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker.

Stir together coffee, lime juice, molasses, jalapeno, and garlic for the sauce in a measuring cup with a pour spout.

Add sauce to the slow cooker. cover, cook on low-heat for 4-5 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker. Remove and discard bones, then shred chicken.

Return meat to the slow cooker, mixing with sauce in the slow cooker.

Serve chicken on sliced ciabatta bread topped with Mango Coleslaw.

Mango Coleslaw
1 pkg coleslaw mix
2 fresh mangos, peeled, pitted and diced (two cups)
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp minced jalapeno chile pepper
2 tspminced lime zest
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp each kosher salt and black pepper

Combine coleslaw mix, mangos and clinatro into a bowl.

Whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, lime zest, jalapeno, garlic, salt and pepper;

stir into coleslaw mixture.

Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

2010-08-29T19:25:00.000-06:00

Apparently the new rage is baking with bacon. (?) Yes, I said baking with bacon. Some friends of ours visited a bakery in Boulder, Colorado that sells chocolate bacon cupcakes and of course, I HAD to test them out. I figured the salty sweet combination would ROCK! It was unique for sure, but I don't think I will be making these babies again any time soon.

My only concern with this recipe was baking the bacon INTO the cake batter. Bacon is supposed to be crispy and I was worried the bacon would become soft during baking. It did. I think I would have preferred to ONLY have bacon on top as a garnish. The chocolate cake recipe without the bacon is AWESOME!!!!

I used the Hershey's Chocolate Frosting recipe from th back of the Hershey's cocoa box. FREAKING AMAZING!!! I'm not kidding you, this is the BEST chocolate frosting I have EVER had!!!! So if the whole bacon cupcake thing didn't meet my expections, at least I found a killer chocolate cupcake and frosting recipe. ENJOY!

Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes
12 slices bacon

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup cold, strong, brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, 3/4 cup cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Stir just until blended. Mix in 3/4 of the bacon, reserving the rest for garnish. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.

Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter. Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting and sprinkle reserved bacon crumbles on top. Dust with additional cocoa powder.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

A Taste of Santa Fe

2010-07-16T09:28:00.001-06:00

Alex and I just got back from a trip to Santa Fe. Oh GOODNESS, do I LOVE that town! I think it is most appropriate for cities to put in place ordinances requiring builders to stay with the same general design when constructing buildings. It gives the location a unified feel. I dig it!

While we were in Santa Fe we hit several FABULOUS restaurants, museums, shops, cathedrals, art galleries, ancient indian dwellings and a SWEET outdoor concert featuring Cuban music. I wanna move to Santa Fe! Since I can't do that right now, I'll settle on a reminder of the yummy food we had.

On our first day cruising around Santa Fe we visited a restaurant called, Cafe Pasqual. The main dining room was a decent size and they were able to fit an inordinate number of people for the lunch service. They offer organic soda's, organic food AND a kick ass cookbook so you don't have to miss out on the experience.

The first recipe that caught my eye in Cafe Pasqual's cook book was the Chorizo Quiche with Cornmeal Crust. I LOVE chorizo. And if this cook book isn't cool enough, they have a recipe to make your OWN chorizo!!! SWEET!!!!!

Chorizo Quiche with Cornmeal Crust:
Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
1 large organic egg - you can use the straight up hormoned eggs if you don't have organic. :)
1 teaspoon ice water, plus more if needed

Chorizo Filling:
3 large organic eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
8 oz chorizo sausage, crumbled and uncooked - I JUST BARELY noticed this says to use uncooked chorizo. I cooked mine up because I didn't think it would cook fully in the quiche otherwise.
1/2 cup chopped green onions, green and white parts
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

To Make the Crust:
Lightly butter a glass baking dish 9 inches in diameter by 2 1/2 inches high. Put the flour, cornmeal and butter into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process in short bursts until it has the consistency of small peas. Add in the egg and egg yolk and process again for a moment. Turn this mixture out onto a work surface and add in just as much ice water as it takes to work the dough into a firm ball....I didn't need to add any additional water because it was pretty warm when I made the dough and the butter was all the moisture I needed. :)

Flour your work surface and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick and fit it into the glass dish. Crimp th edges of the dough and refrigerate the crust for at least 20 minutes before baking to allow the gluten in th edough to relax. Prepare the filling while the crust chills.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Filling:
Put the eggs and the heavy cream into a bowl and which together. Add the chorizo and green onions and which again. (I highly suggest cooking the chorizo before hand - I think it is weird it doesn't require it.)

Preheat the crust for 5 minutes (it is funny to have to re-type a recipe after I have made it, because I TOTALLY missed this step when I was making it), then sprinkle the bottom of the shell with half of the cheese. Pour the filling mixture over it and top with the rest of the cheese. Sprinkler the top with the cayenne pepper. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the custard is set, the top is a light golden color, and a knife inserted into the center comes out cleen. Allow for about 30 minutes of cooling time. Serve while warm. DON'T SKIMP ON THE COOLING TIME. When mine came out of the oven it was all puffed up. It needed the full 30 minutes to sink and set completely.

I was kind of surprised this recipe didn't have any salt and pepper in it. I added a tiny bit while I was cooking it. I LOVED the cornmeal crust on this quiche. What an ingenious idea! The ingredients for this dish are so simple, I was a little surprised at the burst of flavor when I tasted it. This is DEFINITELY going into my repetoire of recipes for future use!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

2010-07-04T22:23:00.000-06:00

I have started a 4th of July tradition of making individual cherry pies to help celebrate the festivites. This is the second year in a row I have made the yummy goodness. When I was a kid we used to go to the Hostess store and pick out our favorite pie flavor. They had cherry, blackberry, blueberry, vanilla and chocolate pudding pies....Oh, the memory of having one of those pies in my small childhood hand. And now it ROCKS that I can make ANY flavor I choose. YES!

It took me awhile to perfect this recipe. Many of the recipes out there require you to deep fry your pie. Yeah....I don't deep fry ANYTHING anymore. This is a total side note....but today we went to the arts festival here in Colorado Springs and they were serving giant corn dogs. The novelty of a giant corn dog was more than I could handle and I purchased one. Oh goodness, did I get sick to my stomach! UG! Deep frying is BA-A-A-A-D! Back to pies....I figured if you bake real pies, why couldn't I back my individual fruit pies? BINGO!

4th of July Fruit Pies!
Cherry Filling:
4 cups cherries, rinsed, stemmed and pitted

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Combine cherries, sugar and lemon juice in pan and cook down until the cherries have released some of their juices, about 10-15 minutes. Add almond extract and cornstarch. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the juice becomes a thick sauce. Allow sauce to cool before use.

At this point you can use the premade pie crusts from the grocery store, or if you feel adventurous, you can use my recipe for pie crusts. Roll out the pie crust and cut into 3-4 inch circles. I used a regular cereal bowl to ensure my circles were all the same size. Spoon about 8-9 cherries with sauce into the center of the pie crust and fold the crust over on itself. Crimp the two edges together to create a seal. Do your best not to let the filling seep out the edges or you will get a bad seal. Cut a small whole in the pie and place on a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook for 11-13 minutes.

Glaze: From Rebecca Rather Rather Sweet Bakery cookbook
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all together and whisk out lumps. Use a pastry brush to brush over warm pastries. Allow pastry to cool before serving.

To fondant...or not to fondant....

2010-06-16T21:01:00.000-06:00

My daughter's birthday is coming, like I mentioned before, and I have been testing out fondants and icing recipes to figure out which is the best one. Because my little girlie only turns one once...and her first taste of yummy sweetness has to be FABULOUS!!!

I have never used fondant before and was pretty nervous about it. I found several webs sites that instruct you on how to make and use fondant, but the one I liked the most is http://whatscookingamerica.net/. The writer doesn't talk down to you and I found the information VERY helpful. The recipe for buttercream frosting is OUTSTANDING! I think I am going to use it EVERY time I need frosting. I have had a life long relationship with cream cheese frosting, but I think I can now say...creamcheese frosting has its place. **

The recipe for fondant on the whatscookingamerica site is a marshmallow based recipe. Someone had told me about this kind of recipe in the past, but I thought they were up in the night about adding marshmallows to frosting! They weren't. :) While I LOVED the texture of this recipe...which made it very easy to use...the taste was WAY sugary! I even had Alex take it into work for his co-workers to taste and get their honest opinions. They agreed on the sugary front. They also weren't so keen on the texture.

But look how cute and professional the cake turned out! However, notice the right side where I tried to fold the fondant into itself. The whatscookingamerica web site suggested using Crisco to smooth the folds, but it didn't work too well.

The second recipe I tried out was from Allrecipes.com. I was skeptical about this recipe because the reviews either loved it, or hated it. I think this recipe is really the lesser of the two evils...the evils being the laymans fondant. :) The consistency reminded me of play dough. It wasn't as easy to work with and tore easily...but the TASTE WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD! It was PERFECTLY complimentary to the buttercream frosting I got from whatscookingamerica.com. And when it comes to cooking...yeah, it is cool if it looks nice, but if it isn't yummy? Why bother eating it.

Strawberry Salsa

2010-06-13T13:51:00.000-06:00

Summer is the BEST time of year for fruit. *Sigh* I wish summer could last all year! I wanted to take advantage of the FABULOUS fruit by making a strawberry salsa. I know...at first you think...'Strawberry Salsa? Onions, jalapenos, and STRAWBERRYS? BARF!' I'm not trying to ruin the strawberries, but enhance their yumminess in new dish. :) This is almost the exact same recipe I use for straight up pico de gallo, but with strawberries instead of tomatoes.

I PROMISE....this recipe ROCKS!!!

Strawberry Salsa:
Pint of Strawberries
1/3 Red Onion
1 Jalapeno
1/3 cup Cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

Dice strawberies, red onion, jalapeno and cilantro into a bowl.

Add salt and pepper, olive oil and balamic vinegar. Let marinate for at least an hour before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

This would actually be GREAT over salad greens. I added some avocado to the salsa when I thought about the salad angle. Very tasty!

Ladybug ATTACK!

2010-06-11T10:05:00.000-06:00

That's right! Our home has been overrun with ladybugs! Ladybug cupcakes, that is. My daughter's first birthday is right around the corner and I have been testing out several recipes for her birthday cake. Since we are inviting all of her pint-sized buddies over for a birthday party, I thought I would try out some miniature desserts.

A girlfriend of mine made these cupcakes for my baby shower when I was pregnant with Kate. She found the recipe on Parenting.com. Those folks at Parenting.com are pretty clever when it comes to ULTRA CUTE cakes and cupcakes.

Because the decoracting of these babies is rather labor intensive, the recipe calls for store bought cake mix, frosting and cookies. I suppose if you wanted to go over the top, you could make the cake and frosting from scratch...however, I don't suggest it. The novelty of these cupcakes is what makes them YUMMY!

Ladybug Cupcakes:
•1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
•Green food coloring
•12 unfrosted cupcakes baked in green paper liners*
•½ cup green decorating sugar
•12 green gumdrops
•3 Tbsp granulated white sugar
•Red food coloring
•½ cup red decorating sugar
•12 Mallomars
•½ can (1 cup) chocolate frosting
•24 brown M&M's Minis
•1 Tbsp chocolate sprinkles
*Green paper liners can be purchased at Confectioneryhouse.com.

What you'll need:
•A rolling pin or a heavy bottle
•Kitchen shears or scissors
•1 resealable sandwich-size plastic bag (Ziploc)

For the leaf cupcakes:
1.Tint 1 cup of the vanilla frosting green with the green food coloring.
2.Spread the green frosting evenly on top of the cupcakes.
3.Place the green decorating sugar into a small bowl. Roll the edge of each cupcake in the green sugar to coat.
4.Using a rolling pin or a clean, heavy bottle, roll out the green gumdrops in the granulated white sugar to flatten. Using kitchen shears or clean scissors, cut each flattened gumdropinto 2 leaves. Arrange the leaves on one edge of a cupcake. Repeat with the remaining gumdrops and cupcakes.

For the ladybugs:
1.Tint 1 cup of the vanilla frosting with the red food coloring.
2.Spoon the red sugar into a small bowl.
3.Cover each Mallomar with red frosting. Roll each frosted Mallomar in red sugar to coat completely.
4.Place one sugar-coated Mallomar on each leaf cupcake.

For the decoration:
1.Spoon the chocolate frosting into a resealable plastic bag and snip a small corner of the bag. Pipe a line of chocolate frosting down the center of the red cookie; pipe an oval onto the front of the red cookie for the ladybug's head.
2.Place 2 brown M&M's Minis on either side of the chocolate line; stick 2 chocolate sprinkles upright into the ladybug's frosting head.
3.Continue with the remaining cupcakes.

This recipe was so labor intensive that I omitted the rolling out of the gumdrops...SERIOUSLY! I found some sour patch candies that cut them into the shape of leaves...that was insanely time consuming for 24 cupcakes. I also used Oreo Cakesters instead of Mallomars. I am not way too keen on Marshmallow unless it is on a s'more. :) I 86'ed the sugary sprinkles too because I wanted to keep the expense to a minimum...I'm so cheap.

I took the cupcakes to a Memorial Day BBQ and they were a HIT! YEAH!!!!

Veggie Mac 'N Cheese

2010-05-23T06:33:00.000-06:00

My daughter is starting to eat more finger foods and I have been trying to feed her more of the food Alex and I eat. It's amazing how you start to evaluate your meals when you know your child is going to be eating it too. Mac 'N Cheese is a childhood favorite of every kid. My personal favorite was the stuff in the box...UG! One thing that has become very important to me with my daughter is to ensure she is eating unprocessed foods. I have made her baby food since day one...(1) because I like to cook and have all the handy gadets, (2) it is CHEAP! and (3) It hasn't sat on a shelf for who knows how long and I know what is going into her food. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an organic zealot, I just like to know she isn't eating a lot of processed foods. Me on the other hand...I eat WAY TOO many processed foods. Hence the need to evaluate what things she is getting off my plate.

I found this PHENOMENAL recipe for Veggie Mac 'N Cheese at Parent.com. It has all the cheesy goodness of Mac 'N Cheese...much more cheesy goodness than the boxed stuff...and it is packed with veggies. I honestly can't get over how much I dig this recipe.

Veggie Mac N cheese

1 1/2 cups dried tubular pasta, such as elbow macaroni
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/4-inch slices
10 oz. of frozen or fresh broccoli, stems sliced, florets separated
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 cup low-fat plain cottage cheese
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard (country style)
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
4 to 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded (depends on how cheesy you want it)
4 oz. part-skim mozzarella cheese, coarsely shredded
1 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray or margarine.

2. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 4 minutes. Stir in the carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the broccoli and cook for 2 minutes more. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, and return the pasta and vegetables to the saucepan. Stir in the peas.

3. In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese with the reserved liquid from the cooked pasta. Add the mustard, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper and blend until smooth. Stir into the pasta and vegetables. Mix in the cheddar and mozzarella and pour into the baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
4. Bake uncovered until the top is golden brown (about 20 to 25 minutes), then let it set for 10 minutes to firm up. Serves 4. Note: This dish can be prepared a day before it is baked.

I was kind of afraid of the whole cottage cheese part when I saw this recipe, but it replaces the need for making a roux. Very ingenious on the part of the recipe-makers. :) This was the first time my daughter had pasta, so she was kind of trepidatious. But I suspect she is going to be shoveling this stuff into her mouth in a couple of months.

Lettuce Wraps - Take Two!

2010-04-27T20:07:00.000-06:00

Awhile back I did a post for PF Chang's lettuce wraps. I wasn't overly pleased with how they turned out and I certainly didn't think they were PF Chang quality. I've had a serious hankering for lettuce wraps so I set out in search of better recipe. And did I find it! WHOOOHOOO!!!!

This recipe is SO much more flavorful that the one I found at recipezaar. But what can you expect from a web site that doesn't spell czar correctly? I hate this 'cute' little marketing ploy everyone does these days by spelling their names incorrectly. How are the kids of this country going to learn to spell? But I get side tracked. :)

I found this recipe on my all time favorite recipe web site allrecipes.com...notice they spell their name correctly. :) This recipe received an almost perfect five star scoring out of almost 17,000 people! IT ROCKED!!!! Even Alex was impressed and he isn't as fond of cute finger foods as I am.

Lettuce Wraps - the RIGHT way!
16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves

1 pound lean ground beef
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons minced pickled ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Asian chile pepper sauce (optional)
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.

In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.

Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!

The recipe calls for ground beef...which I am not a fan of...so I used cooked chicken breasts that I cut up into cubes and cooked in the sauce. I also 86'd the water chestnuts and replaced them with cashews...SO MUCH BETTER!!! This recipe is going to be a repeater.

Penance

2010-04-25T22:02:00.001-06:00

I don't know about you, but I have completely been sucked into the new cupcake craze that has hit the country. Who wouldn't love sweet, little treats in a perfectly, packaged portion? A new cupcake shop ( that will remain name-less) opened in Colorado Springs and I HAD to check it out. I had an overall bad experience at the shop and was less than impressed with their product. If you are going to charge me $3.00 a cupcake, I EXPECT it to be something to write home about! As a result, I slammed them in an online review at yelp.com. I went as far as to say that I could bake a better cupcake. Well, I started to feel guilty because the only GREAT cupcake I had ever baked where the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes I made for St. Paddy's Day. I have since felt obligated to bake a KILLER cupcake to help myself feel less guilty about my review.

AND IT DID IT!!!! I can HONESTLY say I CAN make better cupcakes than that silly cupcake shop who charges $3.00+ a cupcake with nasty, sugary frosting that masks the flavor of their cupcakes so you can tell the different flavors apart. Oh, goodness...I am getting carried away.

My big gripe about cupcakes you get at these hoytie-toydie bakeries is they advertise orange creamcicle cupcakes and peanut butter cupcakes. But when you take a bit of them you wonder "what flavor was that cupcakes again?" If I order a key lime cupcake, I want my taste buds to register the limey-ness in the frosting AND the cake! I struggled to find a recipe that met my criteria, so I combined three different recipes for the ultimate Key Lime Cupcake.

ULTIMATE KEY LIME CUPCAKES

Cupcakes - adapted from Open Source Cupcakes
3 cups cake flour sifted (Regular all purpose flour worked just fine.)
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups milk
2 Tablespoons key lime juice
2 Tablespoons grated key lime zest

Preheat your oven to 350 and line your muffin tin.

In medium bowl sift all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt. Set aside.

In large bowl, add butter and sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer. Slowly add your flour mixture, alternately with milk. Beat well after each addition. Beat until mixture is smooth. Fill cupcake liners about ¾ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely on rack before icing.

Key Lime Pie “Filling” - from Bake Space Adapted from the Editors of Easy Home Cooking Magazine

6 oz cream cheese softened
5 oz key lime juice
7 oz sweetened condensed milk

Place all ingredients in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and blend for 2 minutes. Place in a seperate bowl and place in fridge for 2 hours.

Topping: - from allrecipes.com

1 (4-serving size) package vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup Key lime or regular lime juice
4 drops green food color
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In large bowl, beat pudding mix and whipping cream with wire whisk 2 minutes. Let stand 3 minutes. Beat in 1/4 cup Key lime juice and the food color; stir in powdered sugar until smooth. Cover and refrigerate.

Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened*
8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, softened*
2 tablespoons key lime juice
1 teaspoon key lime zest or lemon zest (I used zest of one whole lime. )**
4 to 5 cups confectioners' sugar

Combine softened cream cheese, softened butter, lime juice, and zest in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add sugar, one cup at a time, mixing in between. May use between four to five cups of sugar for this recipe, depending on the consistency you want. If it is too thin, add more sugar slowly to the mixture

Yes, these cupcakes are involved...but they were OH SO LIMEY!!!! I made each part of the cupcake in the order listed above. I made the cupcakes the night before so they were perfectly cool before manhandling the additional tast into them. Second, I made the 'filling'. I actually cut holes in the cupcake to fill them. Third, I made the topping and piped it with a pastry bag to cover the hole made from the filing. Fourth, I made the frosting and piped that on top of the topping.

Because of all the cream cheese and butter in this recipe I refrigerated the finished cupcakes until I needed them for a party I was going to that night. I pulled them out 45 mintues before I left to get to room temp. That night the cake part was a little dense, but the flavor was RIGHT ON! I left a couple of cupcakes behind to make sure I could get a second taste (because I knew there wouldn't be any left over from the party). I left those out overnight...oops! But the next day...they were PERFECT!!! The cake part wasn't dense at all!

Falafel Veggie Burgers

2010-04-23T20:19:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Alex and I checked out a local Israeli restaurant and tried the falafel. FABULOUS! It was like fried hummus. I instantly fell in love. What do I do when I find a food I love? I find a recipe so I can make it at home. I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com.

If you'll notice, the title of this blog entry is Falafel Veggie BURGERS. I visited a local restaurant that had the BEST veggie burger I have EVER had. TRULY! It was made our of chickpeas. I searched the net high and low looking for yummy recipes for chickpea veggie burgers. I found a couple, but they looked rather bland. So I figured I would search out straight up falafel...and stumbled upon the falafel recipe I had been wanting to make. Instead of having these babies on a pita, I put them on hamburger buns with lettuce and mayo. FREAKING PHENOMENAL!!!! I am going to make these ALL the time!!! We had them with a side of sweet potato fries. I gorged myself on this meal tonight and just typing the words out is making my mouth water!!!

Sean's Falafel:
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained

1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying
1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon mayonnaise

In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin.

In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.

In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.

In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

I am getting pretty bad at taking pictures of the completed product. The meals are too FAB to plate it up, take a picture and then eat...I just dive right in. :) ENJOY!!!

HAPPY EASTER with Leg of Lamb!

2010-04-06T09:42:00.001-06:00

The second half of the Easter from two years ago was the leg of lamb I served for dinner. When I was a kid, I had a friend named Tricia that we invited over for Easter dinner one year. Lamb was a tradition at our house on Easter...but my parents served it with BARFY mint jelly. Not only did they serve it with mint jelly, my dad slathered it ALL OVER the poor lamb while it was cooking so it had a crust of mint jelly on the outside. UG!

I wanted to maintain the tradition of lamb for Easter, but I NEEDED to improve the recipe. I score this SWEET Bobby Flay recipe for leg of lamb marinated in greek yogurt. HOLY MOLY! This recipe ROCKS!!!!!! The first time I made it, I didn't have Greek yogurt...I didn't even know greeks had their own yogurt. :) Fortunately, Dannon now carrys their own Greek yogurt in regular grocery stores. If you can't find Greek yogurt, you can use regular plain yogurt by straining it with a paper towl to get rid of the excess moisture.

Bobby Flay Leg of Lamb
1 de-boned (5 pound) leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat
5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups Greek-style yogurt
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 to 5 dashes hot pepper sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Using a paring knife, make several small slits over the entire surface of the lamb, and stuff the slits with the sliced garlic. Add the yogurt, mint, cumin and hot pepper sauce to the work bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Place the lamb on a large baking sheet and rub the entire leg with the yogurt mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight. TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! Don't marinate it for an hour or two and then throw it in the oven...it isn't necessarily for taste as much as it is for tenderness.

Preheat the grill to high. Remove the lamb from the marinade and season well with salt and pepper. Place the lamb, skin side down, on the grill. Grill until the skin side is golden brown, then turn the lamb over, and reduce the heat of the grill to medium so that the grill maintains a constant temperature of 350 degrees F. Continue grilling until a thermometer inserted deep into the meat reaches a temperature of 145 degrees F for medium-rare doneness, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove lamb from grill, cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice the meat on the bias into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Instead of grilling this dish, we cooked it in the oven at 350 degrees F until it was 147 degrees F. I cooked the potatoes with the roast the entire time it was in the oven. They turned out PERFECT and caught us some of the juices from the roast. This recipe makes the most tender lamb I have EVER had! I'm going to make gyro's out of the left over lamb tonight! YUM!!!!!

HAPPY EASTER with Eggs Benedict

2010-04-06T09:22:00.000-06:00

Since having my daughter I have been trying to solidify our family holiday traditions. Two years ago we invited friends over for an Easter brunch of eggs benedict. That year I bought Williams Sonoma's egg poacher pan and their fun Easter linens and we decorated cupcake's in the shape of Easter eggs with my egg shaped muffin pan. It was AWESOME! I wanted to recreate that Easter brunch of years gone by. It isn't as though my daughter can appreciate it at 9 months, but it makes me feel better knowing she has something to look forward to at the holidays.

The first time I made eggs benedict, I used a recipe that called to combine the egg and butter in a blender with the butter cooking the egg. It emulsified FABULOUSLY, but while I was keeping it warm on the stove as my friends were showing up, it separated. It was still GREAT...what isn't great smothered in egg and butter?...but it didn't make for a pretty presentation.

This recipe ROCKED! I cooked up the hollandaise sauce in a homeade double boiler using a metal mixing bowl over a pan of boiling water. The key to this recipe is whisking the sauce the entire cooking time as you slowly add the butter. AND....it didn't separate! I left it out ALL DAY expecting it to separate and it didn't! I had to throw it out afterward, but at least I was reassured that this recipe is fail safe.

I poached (HAHAHAHA) this recipe off Allrecipes.com. This truly is a handy website. I LOVE that the recipes are rated. There is nothing worse that spending a huge amount of time creating a dish only to find that it BLOWS!

Eggs Benedict
4 egg yolks
3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pinch ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 cup butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 eggs
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
8 strips Canadian-style bacon
4 English muffins, split
2 tablespoons butter, softened

To Make Hollandaise: Fill the bottom of a double boiler part-way with water. Make sure that water does not touch the top pan. Bring water to a gentle simmer. In the top of the double boiler, whisk together egg yolks, lemon juice, white pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1 tablespoon water.

Add the melted butter to egg yolk mixture 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time while whisking yolks constantly. If hollandaise begins to get too thick, add a teaspoon or two of hot water. Continue whisking until all butter is incorporated. Whisk in salt, then remove from heat. Place a lid on pan to keep sauce warm.

Preheat oven on broiler setting. To Poach Eggs: Fill a large saucepan with 3 inches of water. Bring water to a gentle simmer, then add vinegar. Carefully break eggs into simmering water, and allow to cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Yolks should still be soft in center. Remove eggs from water with a slotted spoon and set on a warm plate. (FYI - This pan from Williams Sonoma makes poaching eggs so EASY! Sadly, the pan has doubled in price since I bought it two years ago.)

While eggs are poaching, brown the bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat and toast the English muffins on a baking sheet under the broiler.

Spread toasted muffins with softened butter, and top each one with a slice of bacon, followed by one poached egg. Place 2 muffins on each plate and drizzle with hollandaise sauce. Sprinkle with chopped chives and serve immediately.

My only complaint about this recipe is that I thought it tasted a little too lemony. Alex and my mom LOVED it! Sometimes I wonder if they say that stuff to make me feel better about slaving away in the kitchen. You'll have to let me know what you think!

Appetizers for BUNCO!

2010-03-21T13:49:00.000-06:00

Never in my life did I ever think I would be the BUNCO type. But when you move to a city where you don't know many people, you learn to expand your horizon's. Thank goodness I did! BUNCO really is a fun and mindless game and a GREAT way for the ladies to hang out on a Saturday night.

We have LOTS of salmon in our freezer...thank you, Costco...so I decided whatever I made was going to have salmon in it. I opted for a variation on a smoked salmon cream cheese dip. Alex and I smoked our own salmon with a stove top smoker my dad gave us. LOVE this product! Makes smoking salmon SO EASY!!!!

I have a ravioli maker that REALLY helps out for this dish. You can do it without this item, but if you are challenged with sealing your 'pillows' like I am, you'll appreciate the ravioli maker. I got mine at Williams Sonoma a couple of years ago.

Smoked Salmon Dip Pillows
8 oz smoked salmon
8 oz room temperature cream cheese
6 tablespoons green onions
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 egg + an extra egg for an egg wash
1 package frozen puff pastry

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Defrost puff pastry for 30 minutes.

Mix together smoked salmon, cream cheese, green onions heavy cream and egg until well combined and set aside.

Cut puff pastry into three pieces on the fold. Roll out so it will fit over the ravioli 'pot'. Fill each 'pot' with the salmon mixture, about a teaspoon in each.

Roll out another piece of puff pastry for the top of the pillow. Place the metal ravioli cutter on top and press down until pieces are separated. You may need a ravioli cutter for this part.

Place pillows on a greased cookie sheet and brush with egg wash. Cook for 12-14 minutes. Serve immediately.

These babies were a HIT at BUNCO! And I won the most games for the night! YEAH!!!

HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY!!!

2010-03-17T15:26:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting to make Guinness cupcakes FOREVER! Last year for St. Patrick's day I was pregnant and felt too miserable to go to great lengths to make a dessert. But this year....GUINNESS CUPCAKES, BABY!

These are Irish Car Bomb's in a PERFECTLY packaged cupcake! They are a little labor intensive, but SO worth it! I will find a way to put Guinness in EVERY chocolate cupcake I ever make from now until I die.

I have a NEATO tool to share that I stumbled upon while making these cupcakes. Because I don't follow directions well, I realized half way through that I didn't have enough muffin tins to make all the cupcakes. I had pulled out some new cupcake papers I had just bought and showed them to Alex. He pointed out to me that I could cook the cupcakes in these papers...Yeah...WHATEVER...But NO...I REALLY COULD!!! Reynolds Backing Cups ROCK!!!

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
Thank you to Confessions of a Tart for linking me to the recipe.
Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting (see Recipe Notes)
3 to 4 cups confections sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.

Put the butter with the beer in a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a mixer bowl, beat the eggas and the sour cream together. Add the beer/butter/cocoa mixture and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat briefly just to combine. Using a rubbet spatula, fold the batter until completely combined, making sure to incorporate little pockets of flour on the bottom so that the batter is of equal consistency everywhere.

Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way if you want flatter cupcakes and 3/4 if you want domed. Bake for about 17 minutes, or until a toothpick or a slim knife inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely to room temperature.

Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

NOTE: Just in case you are impatient, like me, and think it would be better and faster to do this step by putting the chocolate in the cream on the stove...DON'T...if the temperature gets too high, the oils in the chocolate will separate and make chocolate chunky floating in its oils, rather than smooth and tasty! I had to redo this part to get the beautiful ganache you see below.

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes.

I didn't actually wait for the ganache to be cool before I piped it. I didnt even using a piping bag. I poured it into the hole in the cupcake I made.

Make the frosting: In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter for several minutes until very light and fluffly. Slowly add the powdered sugar, letting it incorporate, utnil the butter becomes thicker and stiff (you will know when this happens). Slowly drizzle the Bailey's (or milk or cream or a combination thereof) and whip until combined. Ice and decorate the cupcakes.

Just in case you are wondering why the recipe says 3-4 cups of powdered sugar...they bank on you shooting powdered sugar all over your kitchen. :)

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Marinades ROCK!

2010-03-12T20:37:00.001-07:00

These days I am all about simple and pure yummy...all at the same time. How do I do it? Marinades! As I mentioned in my previous post, I like getting my meats at Costco but get tired of same old, same old. Since my flank steak marinade was so successful I decided to try it out with salmon. OH YEAH, BABY! I scored this recipe off Allrecipes.com. If you haven't checked this site you...DO IT! I always search recipes by highest rating and I haven't been let down yet.

Grilled Gingered Salmon
1 cup soy sauce

1 cup muscovado (dark brown) sugar
1 (5 inch) piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 (3 pound) whole salmon fillet with skin
1 untreated cedar plank

The recipe calls for three pounds of Salmon, but because it was just Alex and I tonight, only used a pound so I reduced the recipe into a third. The original recipe called to grill the salmon on the cedar plank, but we weren't up for grilling tonight so we cooked the salmon in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

The marinade looked so fabulous I just couldn't dump it down the drain. So I pulled a Rachael Ray and made a sauce out of it by cooking it down on the stove top on medium for 10 minutes. We served it up over rice and drizzled the sauce over the top. FREAKING FABULOUS!!!! The salmon by itself with great, but the sauce added some SERIOUS flavor...especially to the rice.

I have to apologize up front for this picture...it was taken with my cell phone. It was the only way you were going to see this dish before I devoured it. :)

Alton Brown sure is quirky...but makes a GREAT flank steak!

2010-03-11T09:42:00.002-07:00

For those of you that shop at Costco, you can appreciate getting food items in BULK. I like being able to shop once and have food stashed in the freezer for when I don't feel like getting out and doing the grocery shopping. The draw back to this method of shopping is you end up eating the same food over and over and over. It can get a bit tedious. I like to get the flank steak Costco offers, but I found I kept making fajita's with it. That doesn't do me any good, especially if I am trying to get my blog readers new yummy recipes. :) I decided for a change of pace and stumbled upon a recipe by Alton Brown.

I LOVE Food Network. In fact, before child, I used to spend my Saturdays and Sundays camped out watching my favorite cooking shows. Alton Brown was never on my line up of shows I drooled over. I appreciate the fact he is a food GEEK, but I just can't get into that guy. His food, on the other hand, I can appreciate!

Freaking Yummy Flank Steak! (this isn't what Alton Brown calls it, but he also calls for you to use your blow dryer to blow on the charcoal...GEEK!)

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 scallions, washed and cut in 1/2
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar or Mexican brown sugar
2 pounds inside skirt steak, cut into 3 equal pieces

Heat charcoal, preferably natural chunk, until grey ash appears. In a blender, put in oil, soy sauce, scallions, garlic, lime juice, red pepper, cumin, and sugar and puree. In a large heavy duty, zip top bag, put pieces of skirt steak and pour in marinade. Seal bag, removing as much air as possible. Allow steak to marinate for 1 hour in refrigerator.

Remove steak from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Using a blow dryer, blow charcoal clean of ash. Once clean of ash lay steaks directly onto hot coals for 1 minute per side. When finished cooking, place meat in double thickness of aluminum foil, wrap, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Remove meat from foil, reserving foil and juices. Slice thinly across the grain of the meat. Return to foil pouch and toss with juice. Serve with grilled peppers and onions, if desired.

I've included the recipe in it's entirity from Food Network's web site...Alex and I didn't go to the lengths of using the blow dryer on the coals...just in case you're wondering. I marinated the steak as the recipe called for and then Alex just threw it on the grill until medium well.

THIS IS THE BEST RECIPE FOR FLANK STEAK I HAVE COME ACROSS!!!! You HAVE to try this. If I was going to open a restaurant, I would use this recipe. It was so good, you only get pictures of what we didn't eat the first night. We used the leftovers over greens and had a KILLER steak salad.

Muffins to start the year off with!

2010-01-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

As Alex and I were planning our wedding I was your typical bride, buying up every wedding magazine known to woman. I could look at wedding dresses ALL DAY LONG and many times I did. Through all the magazine whoring I did, I found a FABULOUS magazine called Modern Bride Beauty & Fitness. It has all the requisite make up and hair stuff, workout tips, but more importantly, it had a food section!

I LOVE muffins. Blueberry muffins were the only thing I craved while I was pregnant. Sadly, I had misplaced this magazine and couldn't make my FAVORITE muffins. But one of the benefits of moving is that displaced items have a way of becoming placed again. :) I should mention, when I was pregnant I didn't just crave blueberry muffins. I craved blueberry muffins with streusel on top. But those muffins will give you a muffin top! These babies only have 162 calories each! Well, maybe a little more because it doesn't take into consideration the frozen blueberries I add...but their fruit, they can't be that bad.

Granola-Streusel Muffins
1 cup unbleached all purpose-flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup reduced-fat (2%) milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons all-natural chunky applesauce

Streausel Topping
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespooons instant oils

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, sift together first 5 ingredients. make a well in the center and pour in next 4 ingredients. fold ingredients together just until combined; don't overmix or the muffins will be dense. Evenly divide batter among muffing cups. For topping: In a small bowl, whisk together oil, flour and sugar until smooth. Drizzle on muffins then sprinkle with oats. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Again, I added frozen blueberries to these muffins for the added fruit bonus. I also added an extra tablespoon of flour to the struesel topping because I don't like it all runny. You're going to DIG these muffins! Naturally, I LOVE these muffins so much, I ate them before I realized I didn't get a picture of the finished product...that happens a lot around here.

Macaroni Grill Knock off Recipe

2010-01-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

I was so pleased by the Cafe Rio knock off receip I found that I decided to look for other resturant knock off recipes. I found a blog http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/friday-favorite-macaroni-grill-penne-rustica/ that had a GREAT recipe for a Rustic Grilled Chicken Penne Pasta. I have never had this dish at Macaroni Grill, but will definitely look into it the next time I am there. This dish ROCKED!

User BEWARE: This recipe makes a SILLY amount of food. I halfed the recipe and had enough for SEVERAL left-overs. The blog I got this from is done by a Mormon lady who takes this dish to her ailing neighbors. Having been raised mormon, this made me giggle. They are DEFINITELY all about their casserole dishes and this recipe totally fits that bill. Don't let that scare you...this is a GREAT recipe...even if it is pretty rich.

12 oz. grilled chicken breast (marinate in olive oil and garlic salt overnight, then grill on barbecue for best flavor) - We just cooked the chicken in a skillet on the stove top. It came out VERY tender!!!

½ pack thick bacon
48 oz. (3 boxes) penne pasta
2 large red bell peppers- diced
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp paprika

Gratinata Sauce:
2 tsp butter
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 cup marsala wine OR 1/3 cup apple juice + 2 tbsp red wine vinegar +enough chicken broth to equal 1 cup
1 tsp dijon or dry mustard
1 tsp salt1 tsp chopped rosemary
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
8 cups heavy cream

Sauté garlic in butter in large pan. Add marsala wine, mustard, salt, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and heavy cream.Cook pasta according to directions.

Cook bacon.

Slice chicken into medium-bite size pieces.

Combine sauce, cooked pasta, diced chicken, cooked bacon, bell peppers, parmesan cheese, and paprika and mix thoroughly. Spread in pans. Top with chopped rosemary and mozzarella cheese.

Bake @ 475 for 10 minutes. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator the day of. Cover with foil and bake @ 375 for 1 hour. Remove foil during the last 15 minutes.

This recipe was honestly so fabulous, I forgot to take a picture of the cooked product because I jumped right into it!

Cafe Rio.....WHERE ARE YOU?!

2010-01-09T20:50:00.001-07:00

I remember the first Cafe Rio they opened in Salt Lake City. It is on Fort Union right by Target. That place was where the 'Cool' people ate. I used to ALWAYS order their chile con queso and their PORK SALAD. Oh....that pork salad. I DREAM about that pork salad. Their 'Salad' is comprised of a a torilla at the bottom of a bowl with a little melted cheese on top, your choice of black or pinto beans, rice, lettuce and the most heavenly pork! But let's not forget the tomatillo dressing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I am broken there are no Cafe Rio's in the Colorado Springs area. What do I do in a pinch? I find a knock off recipe online and compare.

Cafe Rio Knock Off Pork Salad Recipe:

LIME-CILANTRO RICE
2 Tbsp. oil
4 c. long grain rice (6 c. water)
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
juice of 2 limes
2 tsp. crushed garlic

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add rice, cilantro, and garlic. Saute 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water and lime juice and bring to boil. Then reduce heat and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice (about 20 minutes). You can also use a rice cooker if you have one.

This rice is hideous! DON'T MAKE IT! UG! There is nothing more to say...JUST DON'T make it!

CAFE RIO PORK
pork roast
1 (16 oz.) bottle of salsa
1 can coke
2 c. brown sugar

Place pork in crock-pot and fill it half way up with water. Cook roast on high for 5 hours. Drain off water. Cut pork in thirds. Mix together ingredients (salsa, coke, brown sugar) and put on top of pork. Cook an additional 3 hours on high. Shred pork with forks. Leave it on low until ready to serve.

I have to admit, the pork was pretty impressive. The meat was falling to pieces! However, next time I make this, I will not use the salsa. It gave the pork a pot roast sort of taste that it just didn't need. It took away from the sweetness of the meat. I also don't recall there being salsa in the Cafe Rio version.

CREAMY TOMATILLA SALAD DRESSING
1 packet hidden valley ranch buttermilk dressing
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. mayo or sour cream
2-3 tomatillas (peel off outer leaf/shell)
1 tsp. crushed garlic
Â¾ bunch fresh cilantro
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
juice from 1 lime (about 2 tsp.)
salt & pepper

Blend all ingredients in the blender. Refrigerate.

I wasn't sure anyone would be able to duplicate the Cafe Rio dressing, but this came REALLY close. It was altogether WAY too runny. You could half the buttermilk and I think it would resolve the runny issue. Otherwise, the taste on this dressing is RIGHT ON!!!! I used this dressing for a lot of things besides this pork. I dipped quesadilla's in it, put in on other salads...HEAVEN!!!!

Alex and I opted not to make salads out of this recipe and unded up just making tacos and using the dressing to 'dress the tacos'. YUM!!! I got my Cafe Rio fix long distance. :)

Comfort Food...Chicken Pot Pie

2009-11-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

Something about the cold weather makes me want comfort food. Maybe because it gets dark so early in the winter months, or quite possibly because I know I have until next spring to really worry about my gut. :) As a kid I used to love those nasty chicken pot pies you get in the frozen food section in their own individual pie tins. They are for chicken pot pie what Kraft is for Mac and Cheese. I have tried a couple of different chicken pot pie recipes over the years, but this one beats them all hands down!

This recipe came to me via Allrecipes.com.

Chicken Pot Pie:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

The BEST and I mean absolutely BEST part of this recipe is the sauce/gravy. It is so similar to the chicken pot pies I remember as a kid...it actually reminded me of HOT LUNCHES in elementary school. I know, you probably think I have finally snapped, but this recipe completely does justice to your comfort food cravings. And the CHICKEN! Holy tenderness, Batman! You have to worry....well, if you're me, you have to worry about overcooking chicken and making it tough and dry. The chicken came out so PERFECT! Using the premade pie crusts made this a REALLY easy recipe. Because the pie crusts made the recipe so easy I decided to add a flourish to my top by using a pumpkin cookie cutter and placing them on top with little spaces so the heat could escape. I highly suggest you check this recipe out.

Thanksgiving Leftovers - Stuffing Pancakes

2009-11-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

That's right...Thanksgiving leftovers. My Dad just came for a visit and we celebrated Thansgiving with him a little early. As a result, I already have leftovers. The morning after, my Dad headed for the kitchen to cook himself up some breakfast. Since he is the one that inspired my own cooking, I hurried after him. To my horror and surprise, he told me he was going to make a stuffing pancake. The shock and awe didn't last too long...I trust my Dad's judgement when it comes to pancakes. When I was growing up my Dad created something called a noodle pancake (recipe to come around Christmas). He combined eggs and ramen noodles and put spaghetti sauce on them. I know it sounds like a pure oddity...rest assured it ROCKS. We have it EVERY year at my house on Christmas morning. I get sidetracked...BACK to Stuffing Pancakes.

Stuffing Pancakes:
1 1/2 cups of leftover stuffing...my Dad made stuffing with cranberries, sausage and onions...YUM!
1 egg

Mix leftover stuffing and egg together. Heat a greased frying pan on medium heat and cook evenly on both sides about 2-3 minutes on both sides. You want to make sure the egg is cooked through.

Serve with left over gravy and cranberry relish.

My Dad scores again. Very tasty pancakes...it makes me wish I had stuffing around more often.

Cashew Chicken...Williams Sonoma Style

2009-10-18T08:22:00.000-06:00

I used to surf the recipe section of Williams Sonoma's web site ALL the time drooling over the pictures of the FABULOUS dishes and adding them to my online recipe box. I have a TON of recipes in this online box that I have never made because I didn't have the time before...until now! Being a stay-at-home mom has some SERIOUS perks!

When going to a Chinese restaurant, Cashew Chicken isn't my very first choice of what to order...but I LOVE cashews and we happened to have 1 cup that needed to be used up.

Cashew Chicken
3 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. rice wine or dry sherry
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Asian sesame oil
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cornstarch
3 Tbs. corn or peanut oil
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup salted roasted cashews
Steamed rice for serving

In a large bowl, stir together 2 Tbs. of the soy sauce, the wine and ginger. Stir in the chicken to coat evenly and set aside for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbs. water, the remaining 1 Tbs. soy sauce, the Worcestershire sauce, sesame oil, sugar and cornstarch, and stir to dissolve the sugar and cornstarch.

Stir-fry the chicken

Heat a wok or large fry pan over high heat until very hot and add 2 Tbs. of the corn oil. Remove the chicken from the marinade, draining it well, and discard the marinade. Add the chicken to the wok and stir-fry until opaque, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a bowl.

Return the wok to medium heat and add the remaining 1 Tbs. corn oil. Add the green onions and stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Return the chicken to the wok and add the cashews. Give the sauce a quick stir, add to the pan and stir until the sauce thickens slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately with the steamed rice. Serves 4.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series, Asian, by Farina Wong Kingsley (Oxmoor House, 2007).

I didn't notice until I started cooking this meal that it lacked the veggie element of most Cashew Chicken dishes...that was really too bad. I like meals with different textures in them and this just didn't have it. When I marinated the chicken I did it for an hour rather than the 15 minutes the recipe called for. I've always thought that if a little of something is good, then a LOT has to be even better...that isn't always the case. The chicken SOAKED up the soy sauce and over powered the dish.

Overall this wasn't too bad. I'd totally make it again and add my own flourishes...like veggies...to improve this dish. I'd also stick to the marinating instructions rather than improvising. :)

TINGA!

2009-09-29T15:53:00.000-06:00

When ones moves away from their home, they realize they miss the three F's...family...friends...food. There is a great restaurant in downtown Salt Lake called the Red Iguana. They have a dish there calleld Tinga Poblana that is made with shredded pork and is in a spicy red sauce. I LOVE this dish. I order it every time I go to the Red Iguana. I have yet to find a killer mexican restaurant here in Colorado...but I haven't been out looking. If you have any suggestions, definitely let me know!

I went off in search of a recipe for Tinga Poblana online and I found a pretty decent recipe online from the Homesick Texan. I frequent this blog often and cook up a lot of the recipes our Homesick friend posts. I have yet to be disappointed. You should definitely check this blog out.

Tinga:
1 pound of pork shoulder or tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound of Mexican chorizo (do not use Spanish chorizo. It’s a completely different meat. )
1 bay leaf
1 large onion
5 cloves of garlic
3 chipotle peppers in adobo
1 cup of peeled ripe Roma tomatoes (about 4). You can use canned ones if tomatoes aren’t in season
1/2 teaspoon of Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 cup of cilantro
3 tablespoons of either sugar, brown sugar or maple syrup
Black pepper
Salt
1 avocado thinly sliced
Cortija cheese
1 lime cut into wedges

First you want to brine your pork for at least four hours.

Put the pork in a bowl and cover with six cups of water. Add six tablespoons of salt, three tablespoons of sugar and two tablespoons of black pepper and a clove of garlic, minced. Cover with a plate to keep the meat underwater, and refrigerate for four hours, brining it up to eight hours. (Do not over-brine!). After you’re done brining the meat, rinse the meat. pat it dry and throw out the brine water.

Place brined pork in a large pot with half the onion (uncut), the bay leaf, a clove of garlic and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes until tender.

Take out cooked pork (save the cooking water) and when cool shred it. Set it aside.

Dice the other half of the onion and mince the three remaining garlic cloves.

Cook the chorizo out of its casing in a dry skillet until brown, about eight minutes. Carefully tilting the skillet, drain the oil to one side and then remove the chorizo.

Puree the tomatoes in a blender with the three minced garlic cloves and chipotle peppers with adobo.

Transfer the chorizo oil to a pot, and then cook the onions in the oil on medium for about five minutes or until soft and then add the tomato-chipotle puree, Mexican oregano and thyme.

Cook for five minutes on medium, and then add the shredded pork, chorizo, 1/4 cup of cilantro and one cup of the pork cooking water (you should freeze the leftover pork cooking water because it will make a good stock for cooking beans).

Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. It should be thick. If it’s too liquidy, just cook uncovered for a few minutes. Add salt to taste.

Serve on fresh tostadas, either store bought or made from corn tortillas. To make tostadas, heat an inch of oil in a skillet and fry whole tortillas on each side a couple of minutes until crisp. Place a hearty spoonful of tinga on the crisp tostada and then sprinkle on top cotija cheese (if not available, you can substitute Monterrey jack or sour cream) and the remaining cilantro. Serve with sliced avocado and lime wedges. This recipe will yield about 10 to 12 tostadas.

While I was cooking this recipe up I started to think the ingredients sounds a LOT like a salsa I make from the Herdez Salsa Casera. The Salsa Casera has all the tomatoes, onions, garlic and cilantro this recipe calls for and I throw it in a blender and add a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce for added heat and flavor. When I had my first taste of this meal...it tasted like I had put my salsa on top of nicely cooked pork and chorizo. It was good!

Even though the Tinga Poblana at the Red Iguana doesn't have chorizo in it and isn't served on a tostada or tortilla chips...I'll take this recipe as a substitute in the mean time.

ENJOY!

Sunday Pumpkin Waffles

2009-09-27T10:58:00.000-06:00

I don't know what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but the chill has been in the air here in Colorado Springs for nearly two weeks. As a result, I decided today was the day to officially open pumpkin season in our kitchen! I found this KILLER, and I mean KILLER, pumpkin waffle recipe at Pumpkins Waffles Blog. This person is persuing the perfect pumpkin waffle recipe and I think they have found it with this one!

At first this appeared rather time intensive for Sunday morning waffles...but the three bowls it took to make this recipe were WORTH IT! The only thing I modified with this recipe was the buttermilk. I didn't have buttermilk and didn't feel like running to the store just to get it when the recipe only calls for a 1/3 cup.

Ultimate Pumpkin Waffles:

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/8 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*

2 large eggs

1/4 cup whole milk

1/3 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

3 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and warm

*Grated and lightly packed into the spoon, use slightly less than 1/2 tsp. Grated and loosely scooped, this is about 1 tsp. of nutmeg. If you have to use pre-grated, dried nutmeg, use slightly less than 1/4 tsp.

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl: wisk to blend. The waffles are spicy, so if you’re not a big spice fan, cut the quantities in half.

2. Separate egg: yolks go in a medium sized bowl and whites get set aside in a smaller bowl.

3. Add pumpkin, buttermilk and milk to the egg yolks. Wisk to blend and set aside.

4. Whip egg whites with a hand mixer on high until stiff peaks form – about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Set aside.

5. Pour warm butter into the yolk/buttermilk/milk/pumpkin mixture. As you pour, wisk to combine; this is crucial for keeping the butter from firming up on contact with the cold milk(s) in the bowl.

6. Add all of the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and slowly mix them together until just combined. The batter is thick, so it may appear to be slightly lumpy. That will smooth out when the egg whites are added. Do not overmix, as doing so will toughen the waffle texture.

7. Plug in the waffle iron and set the temp as desired. Higher temperatures tend to work best.

8. Slide the whipped egg whites out of the bowl and onto the mixture you just prepared. Gently fold them in until no white bits are obvious.

9. Once the waffle iron is heated, you’re ready to pour the batter!

When Alex got is first taste of these waffles he said, "They taste like pumpkin pie!" They were indeed yummy! Just in case you are thinking of skipping the step of separating the eggs and beating the egg whites...DON'T! It is totally worth it. These waffles were fluffy!

Welcome to open pumpkin season!

Scones

2009-09-22T08:20:00.005-06:00

Coming from Utah, I always thought scones were fried flat bread...that's what we call scones. I remember being at a coffee shop and seeing they had scones on their menu and being shocked silly when they brought me out this crumbly dry bread. What the...? Since then, I have come to really enjoy scones.

I was searching out recipes for dinner this last week and got side tracked when I came across the following recipe for scones on Allrecipes.com.

Grandma Johnson's Scones:
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup raisins (optional) - I used cranberries instead of raisins.

I also added a teaspoon of vanilla on the urging of some of the reviews on Allrecipes.com

In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened.Mix in the raisins...or cranberries in my case.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. If you read my blog often, you'll know there is always a little trauma in the making of yummy food. The trauma of this dish involved the binding of the scone batter. The reviews on Allrecipes.com mentioned the crumbly nature of these scones and gave some suggestions to change the texture. When it came time to turn the dough out and knead it, the trauma began. This dough was CRUM-BLY! I tried molding it together and cutting it, but the pieces just crumbled apart. Fortunately I own a handy-dandy scone pan that came to my rescue. I stuffed the scone batter into my pan and crossed my fingers. These babies came out PERFECT! They were so yummy and perfectly crumbly! You can add whatever flavors to this recipe you want...chocolate chips, orange rind, vanilla bean. This is a GREAT starter recipe. I will definitely be making this one again and again.

Vodka on the Rocks...Wait no...Vodka Sauce on Tortellini

2009-09-16T16:40:00.006-06:00

We have some friends in Utah that make a killer Pasta with Vodka sauce that I have been missing since we moved. Their version is somewhat bastardized due to the fact it is made with a jar of Alfredo sauce and a jar of spaghetti sauce...but I'll tell you! It is out of this world!!!

I wanted to find an authentic recipe and to my surprise, I found that it is really made with Vodka. I found the following recipe on Pioneer Woman's blog. I figured if it had vodka in it...it couldn't be half bad. Instead of serving this over regular old pasta, we served it over tortellini's. THAT was a good call!

Pasta alla Vodka:
1 medium onion, chopped finely

2 to 3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 to 1 cup vodka

1 can tomato puree

1 cup heavy cream

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound pasta

1 cup grate Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, being careful not to overcook. In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add in chopped onions and garlic. Stir and allow to cook for two minutes. Pour in vodka. Stir and cook for three minutes. Add in tomato puree and stir. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream. Allow to simmer, being careful not to overheat. Stir in red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water in case sauce is too thick. Add cooked pasta to the sauce, tossing to combine. Splash in a little water if it needs it. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Pour mixture into large serving bowl.

Eat it out of the serving bowl. Faint. Repeat as needed.

I was pretty optimistic about this one, especially after reading the last line of the recipe, "Eat it out of the serving bowl. Faint. Repeat as needed." Yeah, I don't think I would go that far. It was a good recipe, but the only chunk factor in it came from the onions. It was lacking in some way. I think next time I will puree my own tomatoes and leave some of them chunky to counter balance the onions.

Stay at Home Mom...so much time for cooking!

2009-09-11T15:06:00.007-06:00

Alex and I are getting settled in our new digs. We really like the house and LOVE the neighborhood. We actually have deer that come into our backyard! Check it out!These guys come in the evening to feast on our neighbors garden. They are making me think twice about planting a garden next spring...Hopefully our dogs can keep them at bay. LOL!

As a result of giving birth and moving...I have become a stay-at-home mom. I will wait for the laughing to subside. Yes, for those who know me, this is pretty comical. I have always been the career, working girl with ambitions that would take me to the moon and back...and now I stay at home and make my husbands lunch in the morning. An added bonus to the stay-at-home mom thing is I get more time to cook! WHOOHOO!!!! Each week I am scouring the net in search of new fun recipes with the full intent of posting all our yummy meals here. I have to tell you all...the reason I started this blog was so I could show off to my father the new dishes I was cooking. He loves to cook and we like to call each other and brag about the good stuff we make. Now that we live far away...we need it even more.

O.K., let's get past all the nostalgia and get to cooking! I was searching out chicken recipes because I got a raging deal on chicken breasts at Safeway and scored this recipe from Tarts and Calories.

Roasted Chicken and Corn Chowder:
2 cups shredded roasted chicken - instead of purchasing a rotisserie chicken, I baked my chicken breasts in the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
1 red pepper, diced
1 potato, diced
2 strips bacon, sliced in 1-inch pieces
1 tsp dried thyme
3 cups frozen corn
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
1 tbsp Tabasco
2 limes
Salt
Cilantro for garnish

In a large stock pot, fry the bacon until crispy and the fat renders out. Scoop out the bacon and set aside on a paper towel lined plate. Into the pot of yummy, yummy bacon fat, add the potatoes, pepper and corn. Cook for five minutes and add in the stock, milk, thyme and Tabasco sauce. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Using an immersion blender, puree the mixture. I left it a little chunky in this case, but it's up to you how smooth you'd like it. If you don't own an immersion blender, use a regular one and just puree half of it, if you want a rustic texture.

Then toss in the chicken, bacon pieces and the juice of one lime. Season with desired amount of salt. Garnish bowl with another squeeze of lime and some cilantro. I added a little bit of white onion and garlic to this recipe...because lets face it...what isn't made better with a little onion and garlic? I also left out the thyme because I thought we had some and realized too late that we didn't. I made Alex do my grocery shopping this week and he scored me nice thick pieces of bacon...this recipe is worth making just to smell the bacon cooking in the pan. Oh goodness!!!! I was going to forgo using the immersion blender on half the soup, but when I added everything it needed something to thicken it up, so I gave in. It turned out pretty good.

So the stove top in the house that Alex and I purchased has one temperature...high! It doesn't matter what you set the temperature to it always cooks it at high. I set the temperature to below medium and went to change Kate's diaper and came back to a boiling pan that was almost overflowing. YIKES! I can't wait to get our new gas stove!

Overall, I think this was a decent recipe. Alex told me more bacon would make it better. :) Next time I try this one I am going to play with it a little.

Going Away...Party!

2009-09-03T09:30:00.005-06:00

Sheesh. I have been neglecting my blog in a big way! Not because I haven't been posting stuff...but because I have been cooking and taking pictures and NOT posting them. Shame on me! That is what having a kid and moving out of state will do to a girl.

As I mentioned in my last post Alex and I are...well, at this point...have moved to Colorado. For our last weekend in our house in Utah, we threw a going away party so we could hang out with all our friends one last time. For the occasion I made my favorite, easy, pasta salad. I made up this recipe several summers back when I was trying to think of a side dish to bring to a BBQ. This pasta salad has been a hit ever since.

Sarah's Kick Ass Pasta Salad: note - this is the doubled recipe

2 boxes colorful pasta

2 cans chicken - I prefer to use Costco's Kirkland brand

2 cans artichoke hearts

1 can olives, chopped

2 red peppers, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
2 packages Italian dressing seasoning

1/3 cup mayo

1/4 cup olive oil

Cook pasta according to directions on box and set aside. Combine chicken, artichoke hearts, olives, peppers and onion together in a bowl. In a separate smaller bowl, combine Italian dressing, mayo and olive oil. Add mayo mix to other ingredients. Toss until all ingredients are covered with the dressing mixture.

This recipe is doubled and makes a TON! The salad was a huge hit at our going away party. It is perfect for a large gathering and is just as good as a main course.

I killed BBQ Beef Brisket

2009-08-12T14:02:00.005-06:00

Alex and I are relocating to Colorado so we have been trying to clean all the food out of our freezer. I pulled out a beef brisket we got from Costco a couple of weeks ago and found a pretty decent recipe at Allrecipes.com for BBQ beef brisket. It looked easy enough...but I managed to kill it. I blame it on the vague instructions in the recipe.

BBQ Beef Brisket:

4 pounds beef brisket
salt to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup barbecue sauce - I used Famous Dave's BBQ sauce.
1 cup water - I used beer because of the suggestion from the other users.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees).

Sprinkle both sides of brisket with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Place in a large covered roasting pan.
Cook covered with no water at 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) allowing 1 hour per pound.

Before last hour of cooking, remove brisket and slice.

Return slices to pan and add barbecue sauce mixed with water. Cover meat with sauce, cover, and cook 1 hour longer.

I don't like recipes that tell you how long to cook the meat based on the weight of the piece of meat you are using. Because we purchased the meat at Costco we had repackaged it from the original packaging. As a result, I didn't know exactly how much meat I was working with. I cooked the meat for too long and charred the outside. UG! Fortunately, it was still edible.

I definitely suggest trying out this recipe. It is KILLER! Word to the wise...know the weight of the meat you are using!

Cooking After Baby

2009-08-09T14:59:00.004-06:00

On July 7th, 2009 I delivered our daughter Kate. WOW! Has life changed. I still LOVE to cook, but haven't had much time to do it now that Kate has arrived.

Being a mother takes a lot of time and energy. I did manage to cook up my first meal (besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) this last week. Alex and I make this dish a lot with many variations. It has become a quick and easy favorite.

Pasta with Spicy Italian Sausage and Peppers:

1 pound Pasta - any kind that suits your fancy

1 pound precooked Spicy Italian Sausage

2 Red Peppers, sliced lengthwise

1/2 White Onion

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

2 tablespoons Olive Oil for cooking

Cook pasta according to instructions on package. Cut precooked spicy Italian sausage into 1/2 inch wedges and set aside. Heat olive oil in pan and add onion. Cook until onion is still white, but on the verge of turning translucent. Add garlic and red peppers. I wait to add the garlic until this point because I am the QUEEN of burning garlic in dishes like this. Cook until peppers are soft, but not falling apart. Add sausage wedges and cook until they are warmed through. Prior to serving, add Parmesan cheese to the sausage/pepper mix. Serve hot over cooked pasta.

There are seriously a ton of different ways you can do this. You can add the past to the sausage/pepper mix with a 1/2 cup of the cooking water to create a little bit of a sauce. You can also use beef stock instead of the pasta water or you can leave out the water all together like we did this time. This is a really EASY and fast dish for those lazy cooking nights.

Salmon and Couscous...who knew?

2009-05-22T19:00:00.004-06:00

When I was growing up my dad got on a couscous kick and it totally creeped me out. It looked so grainy. No part of it appealed to me. As I got older and saw it more in cafes and restaurants I always remembered my dad eating it by the pan load. UG!

A month or two ago Alex brought some couscous home and told me we had to try it. I was pretty reluctant, but agreed. Surprise, surprise it was pretty dang good. Tonight we were wrangling for ideas of what to make. I wanted to BBQ and Alex wanted couscous. So we compromised. I got online and searched Salmon and Couscous and picked the first recipe that came up...it so happened to be a Food Network recipe by Bobby Deen of all people. Yes, his mother is Paula Deen, who is hell bent on giving everyone heart disease. Who would have thought he would be capable or allowed to create such a healthy recipe.

Salmon and Couscous:
Olive oil
4 (4-ounce) pieces salmon
Lime

The recipe calls to bake the salmon at 350F putting the lime juice and olive oil on top, but we grilled it and drizzled the lime juice over the top after it was done cooking.

Couscous:
2 1/4 cups water or chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons butter
10 ounces couscous
1 cup diced tomatoes - we used canned tomatoes rather than fresh
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup green onions

Combine water or chicken stock, salt and butter in a saucepan, over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in couscous. Add diced tomatoes, crumbled feta, and green onions. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork, and serve hot or cold.

We also added pitted kalamata olives to the couscous and it was FABULOUS!

Alex wasn't so keen on the idea of the feta so I left it out until I was plating up my meal....so one picture is with feta and the other is without. :)

This is a GREAT light recipe. The additional ingredients in the couscous add some serious flavor to this dish. I usually like my salmon with a little tarter sauce....and even went as far to make some up...but didn't use it with this dish because the couscous was so AWESOME! Take the leap...try it out!

Thai Mango Rice!!!

2009-05-19T20:25:00.005-06:00

Alex and I had dinner with some friends at a FABULOUS Thai restaurant called Sawadee in downtown Salt Lake. Our friends, Tom and Kortney introduced us to this place and consequently introduced us to the dish in this post. Each couple decided order the Thai Mango Sticky Rice to go. Alex and I didn't get around to eating our desert for two days. By that point the rice had sucked up all the 'Sweetness' but we decided we LOVED the desert!

I decided to search out a recipe online so we could have Thai Mango Rice any time. I found a GREAT recipe for Thai Mango Sticky Rice on About.com (http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaidesserts/r/thaidessert.htm). Alex didn't want to make a special trip to the Thai food store down the street so we made it with regular minute rice. NOT BAD AT ALL!!!! If you want to find the original recipe, check out the link. This is the recipe I made.

Thai Mango Rice:
2 cups Minute Rice
1 3/4 cups water
1-2 ripe mangoes, cut into bite-size pieces

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 can good-quality coconut milk
1/4 tsp. + pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder dissolved in 2 Tbsp. water

Make the Minute rice as directed on the box, but instead of using two cups of water with the 2 cups of rice use 1 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup of coconut milk and add 1 Tbsp. brown sugar.

Warm the rest of the can of coconut milk with 1/4 cup sugar, a pinch of salt, and 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring over medium heat (5 minutes).

Add cornstarch (dissolved in the water) to the sauce and stir to thicken it slightly. As it thickens, turn down heat to low. When thickened, remove from heat. Be careful not to boil the coconut milk.

The original recipe has two suggestions for serving this rice, but I mixed the sauce with the rice and stirred them together until completely mixed. I topped the rice with fresh mangoes cut into small bite sized pieces.

This recipe KICKS ASS and totally resembles the flavor of the Thai Mango Sticky Rice we ordered at Sawadee. Using the minute rice didn't change the dish much...but I can't call it 'Sticky Rice' as a result. :)

I hope you make this over and over again like Alex and I will be doing!!!!!

MINI Corn Dogs

2009-05-03T09:52:00.005-06:00

Oh yeah! I don't care who you are....you secretly think corn dogs are the bomb! I LOVE corn dogs, but they pack on the fat like nobody's business. I scored a TOTALLY sweet recipe for Bakes Mini Corn Dogs from this month's issue of Food Network Magazine. I wasn't sure what to expect from these babies, but did they deliver! AND they are cute and small...well, the picture in the magazine makes them look cute and small. Mine turned out bulky and huge...but it was my first time and they tasted FABULOUS...so who cares what they looked like, right?

Baked Mini Corn Dogs:
1 cup reduced-fat milk
1 package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and kneading
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
9 reduced fat hot dogs, halved crosswise - I used 3 brats and cut them into 3-4 small pieces
1 large egg, beaten - I omitted this part
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds (optional) - I omitted this too

Warm the milk to about 100 F in a sauce pan; pour into a medium bowl. Spring in the yeast and left soften for about 2 minutes. Stir in the olive oil, brown sugar and corn meal with a wooden spoon. Add the flour, salt, baking soda and cayenne pepper; stir to make a sticky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Meanwhile, insert a wooden stick or small skewer into each hot dog half about 1 inch deep; set aside. Preheat the oven to 450 F and lightly oil a large backing sheet. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 18 pieces. With our palms, roll each piece into a 10-inch length. Wrap each piece around a hot dog half, tucking and pressing the edges to seal; place on the baking sheet. Brush the dough-wrapped dogs with the beaten egg; sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired. Bake until golden brown, 15 minutes.

The Food Network magazine also had a suggestion for spicing up your condiments. I added wasabi paste to the mustard to give a FABULOUS kick. Try it out!

Kolaches

2009-03-15T10:51:00.004-06:00

I was playing around online this weekend and saw a recipe for Kolaches. I was curious about them because I had seen a recipe for Kolaches in Rebecca Rather's, The Pastry Queen cook book The first comment on the blogger's site mentioned The Pastry Queen cook book and I took this to mean I HAD to make these babies for breakfast Saturday morning. So at 10pm Friday night I got started making the dough.

When I told Alex I was making this recipe he told me it was a Polish recipe his family used to make when he was a kid. I told him the recipe said it was a Czech recipe so we agreed to call it an Eastern European recipe. It is fun to find family history in food!

The original recipe says it yield 16 to 18 buns, but I have found these recipes make nearly double what the recipe says it does so I halved the recipe. I have included the full recipe...but I am warning you in advance!

Kolaches:

Dough:

2 cups milk

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast

1/2 cup luke warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoons salt

8 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Peach Filling:

2 cups pitted, chopped peaches

1 cup good quality peach jam - we used my spiced peach jam

Streusel Topping:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

To make the dough: Warm the milk in a medium saucepan set over medium heat until it begins to steam and form a skin; do not boil. cool for 10 to 15 minutes until it registers 110 to 115 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Dissolve the yeast in the luke warm water and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Melt the butter. Let cool for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, and melted butter. Add the cooled milk and yeast mixture. Gradually add the flour to the batter, 2 cups at a time. User your hands or a wooden spoon to mix the flour with the wet ingredients. Keep adding the flour until it is completely incorporated and the dough begins to hold together. use a light touch; don't pound or overwork the dough or you'll get tough kolaches. The dough will be sticky, moist, and light.

Lightly grease a large bowl with vegetable oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in size, 1 or 2 hours (a dent should remain when the dough is touched lightly). Leaving the dough in the bowl, punch it down until it deflates. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

I am not a born baker and I am a VERY slow learner. See this picture. This is what my dough looked like the next morning. It didn't rise at all for me in the 1 1/2 I let it rise in a warm oven. I was worried I destroyed the recipe because I am not friendly with yeast...but the recipe is VERY forgiving. Thank goodness!!!

For the peach filling: combine 2 cups pitted, chopped peaches with 1 cup good quality peach jam in a medium bowl.

Grease a 12 by 17 inch baking sheet with butter or cooking spray. With lightly oiled fingertips, shape the dough into 2 1/2 inch-diameter balls, about the size of small limes. arrange the balls evenly on the baking pan.

To fill the kolaches, user your thumb or finger to make a generous indentation in the middle of each dough ball. mount about 1 heaping teaspoonful of peach filling in the indentation. Cover the rolls with a clean tea towel and let the rolls rise in a warm, draft free place until almost doubled in size. About 1 hour. THIS is where the recipe was forgiving of me. I put the kolaches in a warm oven and the DID double in size.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

To make the streusel topping: user your hands or a food processor to mix the flour, sugar, and butter until crumbly. Scatter the topping over the kolaches just before baking.

Bake the kolaches until lightly browned on top 25 to 30 minutesCook the Kolaches for 20 minutes before serving.

Rebecca Rather includes several variations to this recipe at the end of the recipe. Once of those variations is for cheese-filled Kolaches. I used a combination of the cheese and peach filling for my Kolaches.

For cheese-filled Kolaches: combine 1 14-ounce carton dry-curd cottage cheese (I used cream cheese) with 1/4 cup sugar, the grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 2 egg yolks.

This recipe was pretty dang good. I liked it because it sounds pretty decadent, but it turned out to be a great combination of sweet and bread. Alex LOVED these babies!!!!

Love of Cookbooks

2009-03-13T19:42:00.005-06:00

I tell you Goodcook.com is the BEST website! I have scored something like 7-10 cookbooks on this site for 50% off the sale price when all is said and done. My most recent purchase was Crescent City Cooking by Susan Spicer. This is a fun Cajun cookbook by a chef from New Orleans. I found a pretty sweet recipe for Caribbean Crab Pilaf with Coconut Milk.

The flavors in this dish sounded awesome together. I'd like to say it was everything I thought it would be, but the flavors weren't as strong as I would have liked them to be and it was DEFINITELY better the next day after the flavors had an opportunity to meld together.

Caribbean Crab Pilaf with Coconut Milk:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups medium- or long-grain rice

1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and diced - we didn't peel it...that's too much work

1 pound lump crab meat, picked free of shells

1 1/2 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk

1 teaspoon Angostura bitters

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon salt

Hot sauce

1 /4 cup finely sliced scallions

1/4 cup each chopped fresh basil and/or cilantro, optional

Heat the oil and butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and add the onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, then add the curry powder and pepper and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Add the rice and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the tomato, crabmeat, coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups water, bitters, lime juice, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand covered for an additional 10 minutes. Stir the rice and season it with the salt and hot sauce. Serve garnished with scallions and herbs.

O.K. here are the pointers you REALLY should not miss out on. 1 teaspoon of salt is no where near enough to make this flavorful. I took leftovers to work the day after we made this and I had to steal salt from the nasty restaurant downstairs. :) Also, the recipe says the basil or cilantro garnish is optional...it is NOT optional. Next time I am going to use chicken stock instead of water for some added flavor.

I definitely think you should try this out. It has a great mesh of flavors.

Empanaditas

2009-03-06T19:46:00.004-07:00

I love to collect cook books. Every time I travel I like to pick up a new cook book that will remind me of the area. Six ago I visited San Francisco with some friends and spent a day in Sonoma wine tasting, of course. At one of the winery's I found by dream cook book. 'Potatoes, from mash to fries.' I LOVE potatoes! The funny thing is I have only ever made this recipe from the book.

This recipe is AWESOME! It reminds me of living on my own because it was cheap to make and really yummy. I used to make this with nutritional yeast when I was vegan. :) This recipe has a lot of memories for me and I hope it it creates memories for you too.

Empanaditas:

1 medium potatoes, cut in 1/4 inch dice

3 scallions

3/4 cups canned corn kernels, drained

1 or 2 green chilies, seeded and finely chopped

3 oz. queso fresco

2 teaspoons dried marjoram

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Cuban Chorizo diced - this isn't a part of the original recipe, but you can add anything you want!

Pastry:

See recipe

I don't like the recipe the book has for pastry dough because if you have been reading my blog you know I sucked at making pastry dough until I scored a sweet recipe from my friend Jen.

Parboil the potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain well, and let cool. Combine the remaining filling ingredients in a bowl, stir in the potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Follow instructions for the pastry.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch think, the cut out 16 rounds, 5 inches in diameter, using a small saucer as a guide. Knead and re-roll any trimmings. Place 1 tablespoon filling on each round a little off center. I made mine a little bigger and use more filling.

Dampen the edges of the pastry with a little water and fold in half over the filling. Using the tines of a fork, press the edges together to seal them.

The recipe calls to fry these babies in a deep pan filled 1/2 way up with oil at 375 for about 3-5 minutes until brown. That is too much oil for me so I bake these at 375 for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.

These make great snacks or a yummy meal.

I never used up all the filling so I used the leftovers to make a breakfast burrito with them. YUM!!!!!!

Veggie Cream Cheese

2009-02-13T20:47:00.002-07:00

I don't know about you, but I LOVE bagels. I especially dig flavored cream cheese. Since becoming pregnant I have become a fan of all natural and try to eat few processed foods. You never know what stuff they put in that cream cheese at the bagel shop to preserve it. You really don't know what they put in cream cheese to preserve it.

Regardless if this recipe is more natural than what you would get at the bagel shop...I'm going to pretend that it is because it makes me feel better about devouring my morning bagel.

Veggie Cream Cheese:

8oz. package of 1/3 fat cream cheese

1 carrot, shredded

3 green onions, minced

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

Mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 weeks. I'm sure this would keep longer...but I'm pregnant and can't afford to see how long it will stretch.

Man...it's 9pm and I am jonsing for a bagel.

Noodles in a Hurray!

2009-01-14T20:07:00.004-07:00

For Christmas, Alex's sister gave us a subscription to a cooking magazine called Cuisine at Home. We got our first issue two days ago. So far, I like it. There are a lot of recipes in there I normally wouldn't make, but I am glad as it will expand our cooking experience.

Soba Noodle Salad:

For the Noodles:

1 box soba noodles (8 oz.)

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon EACH: low-sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, and minced fresh garlic.

1 teaspoon chile garlic sauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 teaspoons sesame oil

3/4 cup snow peas, halved crosswise

3/4 cup sliced red or yellow sweet pepper

3/4 cup bias-sliced scallions

3/4 cup bean sprouts - our stupid grocery store doesn't carry bean sprouts so we had to pass

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro

For the Shrimp:

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 teaspoons fresh ginger root

2 teaspoons minced garlic

20 medium shrimp

Salt and Pepper

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds - we passed on these too.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for noodles. Cook noodles according to the package directions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

Whisk peanut butter, broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger root and chile garlic sauce together in saucepan over medium heat just until peanut butter melts. Stir in lime juice and sesame oil, set aside.

Toss noodles, peanut sauce, snow peas, sweet pepper, scallions, sprouts and cilantro together in a bowl to coat.

Combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons ginger root and garlic in a bowl. Toss with shrimp; season with salt and pepper.

Saute shrimp in remaining olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Serve on top of noodles and garnish with sesame seeds.

This is a pretty decent dish. The noodles and peanut sauce ROCK! Alex thought it was weird that the veggies weren't cooked up at all, but I LOVED the crunchiness of the veggies. This would be a GREAT dish with or without meat. You should definitely check it out.

Penguins!!!

2008-12-31T19:22:00.006-07:00

These little babies are the CUTEST EVER!!!!!!!

In my hiatus from blogging I also stopped looking at food blogs because a lot of foods did not appeal to me. Quite honestly I was too tired by the time I came home from work to do much more than eat and go straight to bed. It is so nice to be in my second trimester!

This week when I got up the effort to start looking at blogs again, Megan's Cooking caught my eye. She made the cutest little penguin appetizers. We are having a couple of friends over for dinner so I thought I would try this recipe out. I was worried it would be really time consuming so I didn't have high expectations. WRONG! These babies are EASY to make and so damn cute!!!!! When they are all bunched up they look like they are keeping their eggs warm.

Penguins:
18 jumbo ripe Black olives
18 small ripe Black olives1
(8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 carrot (about 6 inches long and 1 inch wide)
18 long fresh chives
18 toothpicks

Cut a slit lengthwise from top to bottom in each jumbo olive. Fill each cavity of the jumbo olives with about a teaspoon of cream cheese (I used a knife and pushed the cream cheese in a little at a time through the top hole). This makes the the white stripe in penguins chest.

Cut carrot into 1/4 inch slices, then out of each slice cut a small pie shaped piece. This makes the feet, save the piece you cut out, this will be the beak. In the x slit in the center of each small olive (where the pit was removed) press the small piece of carrot into the hole with the pointed end out. Using a toothpick, stack head ( small olive ), body (large olive) and feet (carrot slice), adjusting so that beak, cream cheese breast and notch in carrot line up. Tie chive around neck for the scarf.

Not only are these little guys cute, they are TASTY! The chive is a requirement. If you don't use it as a scarf, you should chop them up in the cream cheese. Thanks for the idea Megan!!!

Seriously! This is so easy. You have to make these for your next cocktail party.