Thanksgiving-the fallout

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Of course the fallout after this huge meal is the guilt. After all, we’re eating upwards of 3,000 calories. Luckily Lean Cuisines are on sale at the grocery store. Maybe I can eat those at least until Christmas. :-)

Thanksgiving is centered around the food. But this year I didn’t even have to cook. It’s good to know a chef. He put together this great meal for us.

A wonderfully brined and moist turkey with macaroni and cheese, green beans and bacon and dinner rolls (store bought). We also had the choice of three deserts; chocolate cake, peach pie with a crumb topping, and sweet potato pie. I loved the sweet potato pie because it had a non-gummy texture and wasn’t overly spiced so the sweet potato flavor came through.

Even Zoie, my smart little border collie mix, got a Thanksgiving plate. You can see her extremely worried face as if she wasn’t going to get anything. But she got all the fixings and she even ate the green beans. It probably helped they were cooked in bacon.

So I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Now I need to prepare for Christmas, and that means cookies. I’m sure I’ll be testing a few recipes that you’ll see here soon. Wish me luck!

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving,2009,green beans,turkey,macaroni and cheese

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Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I wrote this post on Thanksgiving, and set it up to post automatically. I have a feeling I’ll be up extra early to catch some of the Black Friday deals along with herds of crazed shoppers. I’m not proud of it, but hey, I need a griddle and a slow cooker for $13.00.

But if you’re not going shopping you may still have a house full of people to entertain and feed. So why not whip up an easy batch of peanut butter fudge and keep everyone’s sweet tooth in check.

I’ve made fudge recipes before, that ended up crystallized and gritty with un-dissolved sugar. And granted, these sound like peanut butter flavored sugar cubes, but my batch came out creamy with a rich, peanut butter flavor.

Even if you don’t have time to make them for this holiday, they would be perfect for Christmas and New Years. Simple and tasty is the only way to go. 

Printable Version

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Place butter into a medium saucepan and melt it over medium heat.

2. Add brown sugar and milk, stirring.

3. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Remove from heat.

5. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla.

6. Place confectioners' sugar into a large mixing bowl.

7. Pour hot peanut butter mixture over confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth.

8. Pour fudge into an 8 by 8 inch pan.

9. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.

10. Cut into 1-inch squares.

 

Technorati Tags: easy,peanut butter,fudge,sugar,dessert,holidays,candy,candies,Christmas,Thanksgiving

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Baked Honey Mustard Chicken

I don’t want to eat fast food everyday. So quick meals are what get me through the work week. And this recipe for chicken breasts is one of my new favorites. It seems the grocery stores here always have boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale, so I always stock up. But at this rate, I just may grow feathers.

Anyhow, the flavors combine perfectly in this baked chicken dish. You won’t get too much honey or too much mustard flavor, as the two meld together to create a zingy and moist chicken breast. Serve alongside some wild rice.

Printable Version

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

• 1/3 cup honey

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed rosemary

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Arrange chicken pieces in a shallow baking dish.

3. In a saucepan over med-low heat, combine remaining ingredients. Heat and stir until melted and well-blended.

4. Pour over chicken pieces.

5. Bake at 350° for about 45-50 minutes (or until internal temperature of about 177-degrees); basting chicken occasionally.

6. For the last 20 minutes of cooking, sprinkle with some Italian breadcrumbs.

Technorati Tags: easy,chicken breast,honey,mustard,recipe

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Oh No! Where’s My Eggo?

Kellogg is rationing its Eggo products due to flooding and equipment problems at two bakeries. The shortfall could last through mid-2010.

Flooding at an Atlanta bakery during heavy rains in October forced Kellogg to shut down production temporarily. Plus, equipment at Kellogg's largest waffle facility, based in Rossville, Tenn., needs extensive repairs.

Apparently remaining inventory will be rationed to stores across the country based on historical percentage of business.

You could always make waffles from scratch or with homemade Bisquick. It’s almost as fast as the toaster, and probably tastes better too.

 

Technorati Tags: eggo,waffles,shortage,scratch,recipes,breakfast

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Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake

I love cheesecake. But apple cheesecake is not my favorite. With that said, I was up for the challenge to come up with a recipe that worked for me. Let's just say my first venture into the land of apple cheesecake was a complete disaster. I used Granny Smiths and sautéed them much like this recipe calls for. But the apples were still too moist, allowing their juices to mix into the cheesecake batter making for a gloppy mess. This time was different thankfully.

I adapted my base cheesecake recipe with some added brown sugar, apple pie spice (usually a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice) an d apple cider. The apple cider gave it a hint of apple flavor but the star of the cheesecake are the apples themselves. A surprise layer of sweet and caramelized apples are hidden inside this cheesecake. They came out tender and didn’t mess with the texture of the cheesecake batter.

I used Fuji apples this time and I was pleasantly surprised. They don’t fall apart in the frying pan, they hold their texture and even caramelize beautifully with a little added brown sugar. These are my new favorite cooking apples.

The ginger snap crust was great with some added cinnamon and brown sugar. Although the cookies are strong flavored, the crust didn’t overpower all the other flavors.

Overall, this cheesecake is a winner. But now I want to try the recipe with the apples ON TOP of the cheesecake, drizzled with some caramel sauce. That sounds even better.

Printable Version

Filling

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 c. brown sugar

½ c. white sugar

¾ c. milk

4 Tbs. apple cider

4 eggs

1 c. sour cream

¼ c. all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons apple pie spice

Apples

4 tablespoons butter, divided

3 large Fuji, peeled, cored and cut thinly, divided

2 tablespoons brown sugar, divided

Crust

1 ½ c. ginger snap cookie crumbs

2 Tbs. brown sugar

4 Tbs. melted butter

½ tsp. cinnamon

 

Directions

For the Apples

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high. Stir in half of the apples and cook, until they are golden and limp, about 5 to 10 minutes. Scatter the apples with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and cook, tossing to coat, for 1 minute. Scrape apple mixture onto a plate and repeat with remaining apples, butter and sugar. When done, set aside to cool.

For the Crust

In a medium bowl, stir together cookie crumbs, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drizzle in butter and stir to moisten the crumbs. Scoop crumbs into a spring form pan coated with nonstick spray and firmly press them over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Place pan into a preheated oven at 350 degrees and cook for 10 minutes, until the edges are golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the Filling

1. Triple wrap bottom of spring form pan with the wide version of Reynolds foil.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix cream cheese with sugars until smooth. Blend in milk and apple cider, and then mix in eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, apple pie spice and flour until smooth.
3. Pour about a third of the filling into the prepared crust. Add the apples as an even layer, and pour the rest of the filling on top.
4. Use a water bath for the cheesecake. Put spring form pan in larger rectangular pan. Set in oven, and add water until about 1-2 inches high on spring form pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave cheesecake to cool, about 2-3 hours, to prevent cracking from cooling down too fast. Then remove from oven and set on counter to finish cooling to room temperature.

Technorati Tags: apple,cheesecake,spice,ginger snap crust,fall,dessert

 

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Oat-Nut Pancakes

Tired of plain ol’ pancakes? It seems many restaurants have a fascination with thick, heavy pancakes. They’re so thick, they barely get a chance to cook inside, leaving a funny, floury after-taste. They may even go so far as to call them “fluffy.” But as you near the end of your breakfast, you realize you’d rather not see another plate of pancakes any time soon.

There’s really not much to pancakes. It’s basically flour and water or milk. Not exactly the most nutritious by the time it’s drizzled with syrup and butter. But enough preaching. I wanted to try a different take on the regular pancakes. This recipe is said to be a copycat of Ihop’s Harvest Grain & Nut Pancakes. I’ve only eaten at Ihop once so I can’t say if these taste like them or not. But I will say this is a welcome change to Bisquick-style pancakes.

I ground up the oats and mixed all the ingredients together. Once my pan was hot enough I added the batter and waited for the first side to get done. It seemed to take a little longer for these to cook compared to regular pancakes. My pan was lopsided on the bottom so that may have had something to do with it. But I soon found they do indeed cook differently.

Flipping the pancakes was a more delicate process than I’m used to. I had to wait to flip them until the top batter was almost dry. Once I realized how they cook, the rest of the process was easy.  

And the small amount of extra effort paid off. They turned out pillowy, and I mean that in a good way. The syrup didn’t just run off the top, it soaked into every nook and cranny it could, almost like a sponge. The taste was hearty and wholesome from the wheat flour, the oats and walnuts. While the buttermilk helped give it a slight zing.

As for my crappy frying pan? It’s about to be traded in for a nice griddle. That’s the one thing I’ll be after during all these crazy Black Friday sales.

Printable Version

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Quaker Oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Lightly oil a skillet or griddle, and preheat it to medium heat.

2. Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until fine, like flour.

3. Combine ground oats, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

4. In another bowl combine buttermilk, oil, egg and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.

5. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, add nuts and mix well with mixer.

6. Ladle 1/3 cup of the batter onto the hot skillet and cook the pancakes for 2 to 4 minutes per side or until brown.

Technorati Tags: ihop,copycat,oat,nut,pancakes,flap jacks,hot cakes,recipes,breakfast,easy,buttermilk

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The Perfect Roasted Chicken - (in my humble opinion)

I love chicken, mostly because I ate it so much growing up but also because it is so versatile. There are over a million recipes for chicken I'm sure and I'm sure just about as many ways to cook the bird, but the trick is to use the proper technique for each recipe you try. I've roasted countless chicken throughout my time as a cook and I am constantly looking for ways to improve recipes and simplify the process of roasting in general but I have found the classic technique to be the best. This is a dinner I cooked a few nights ago for someone and here's that recipe, try it for yourself and see if it works as well for you!

1 3-4 lb. (approximately) chicken, quartered
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. oregano or marjoram
1/4 tsp. rosemary
2 tsp. fresh parsley, minced
3 cloves garlic
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Wash chicken and cut into quarters.

In a heavy skillet, add olive oil to a depth of 1/4 inch. Add whole cloves garlic and chopped onion.

Measure flour, salt and pepper into a zipper plastic bag. Shake 2 pieces of chicken at a time in the bag until well coated.

Brown the chicken evenly on both sides in the olive oil. There is no need to cook through. Transfer browned chicken and onion slices to a casserole dish or baking pan.

Combine herbs and chicken broth. Baste chicken with broth and a little olive oil, and continue to baste occasionally during the cooking.

Roast chicken for 50 minutes or until tender and juices run clear (depends upon weight of chicken). Breast temperature should be about 160°F.

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