New Recipes

Porter Caramelized Onion Dip, Jalapeno Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms, Chicken Enchilada Pinwheels

Clayton and his beer brewing buddies got together in our garage to brew a Kolsch style beer back on 2/9.  I  love when they brew because it gives me an opportunity to try new recipes on them.  I made an onion dip with the porter that they brewed together and it was pretty tasty.  The chicken enchilada pinwheels were really good too.  The real star of the show though was the mushrooms.  Ahhh, the mushrooms.  They were slighty spicy with a great smoky bacon undertone.  The cheese and buttery panko crumbs made it all come together so well.  I was afraid that they wouldn't eat them but they LOVED them.  Here are the tried-n-true (TNT) recipes if you want to give them a go:

Porter Caramelized Onion Dip

Jalapeno Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

Chicken Enchilada Pinwheels

Thanksgiving Week Events-11/26, 11/28, 11/30/13

Clayton and a birthday cookie skillet from Afton Tavern

For Clayton's 37th birthday, we went out to Afton Tavern to celebrate.  The Stewart family joined us.  We gave him some new shoes and golf pants but the coolest gift came from his mom.  It was a 1983 coffee bean roaster, lol.  Yes, I know that it sounds like a crappy gift but you have no idea.  CJ has been roasting his own coffee beans for a while now using a popcorn machine from the early 80s (he had to do some conversions to make it work).  If you want to know how, google it.  Newer machines don't work as well as the old ones so there is a marketplace on ebay for old popcorn poppers to be used as roasters.  Seriously.  They really do work! We have a nice Jura espresso machine and it serves the homemade roasted beans well.  Anyway, his mom managed to find an actual vintage roaster from the same time.  It has been interesting comparing it to his rigged up version.  His sister sent him some green Kona beans to roast and they are soooo good. 

I have been hosting Thanksgiving almost every year since we started dating in 1997.  To say that I have this down to a fine art, is an understatement.  You should see my crazy turkey day spreadsheets.  Heck if I will ever just wing it.  As long as I follow my plan, everything turns out perfect.  I go big so there is usually enough to feed a small army.  This year, I changed up the sweet potatoes, fruit salad, and corn.  These dishes were so much better this go round.  Here are the new recipes that I used:

Sweet Potatoes Anna

Cranberry Whip (or Cranberry Fluff)

Cream Cheese Corn

My parents came to spend Thanksgiving with us and ended up taking the kids back home with them for the weekend.  We took advantage of our alone time by heading down to Matthews.  I had been wanting Clayton to experience the Carolina Beer Temple for some time now.  I had discovered it with my friend Jessica a while back and knew he would love it.  We were hungry when we arrived so we went to Royal Cafe & Creperie next door first.  Our first crepe was a delicious Philly cheese steak one followed by caramel apple pie crepe.  The one shown in the pic is the dessert one.  Both crepes were so big that we split them both.  At the Carolina Beer Temple, CJ had a Mexi-Cali stout from Bird Song in Charlotte and I had Cold Mountain from Highland Brewing Company in Asheville.  Yum!

Sherried Tomato Soup

We tried this soup today for lunch and it got a big thumbs up from my hubby.  I thought it was rather tasty but I think it needs some noodles in it.  The flavor is very robust.  We both loved the little chunks of tomatoes in it but I think I will try it blended with an immersion blender next time.  Thanks Judith for this new recipe!

Cathy's Sherried Tomato Soup (via Pioneer Woman)

• 6 Tablespoons Butter melted
• 1 Medium Onion Diced
• 1 bottle (46 Oz.) Tomato Juice
• 2 cans (14 Oz. Cans) Diced Tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon (up To 3 T.) Chicken Base
• 3 Tablespoons (up To 6 T.) Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• Black Pepper to taste
• 1 cup Cooking Sherry
• 1-1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• Fresh Parsley chopped
• Fresh Basil chopped

Sauté diced onions in butter until translucent. Then add canned tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken base, sugar, pinch of salt, black pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Add in sherry and cream and stir. Add in parsley and basil to taste.

BTW-My friend omits the sherry and it is still good.  I opted to only use 1/2 C. in it.

Sicilian Chicken Soup

Clayton and I love soup so I started a post asking for favorite recipes on Facebook.  I had many good responses so I designated this week as soup week.  We will be trying 7 new recipes that are guaranteed to be tried-n-true by my friends.  Day 1 started on Monday but then I ended up working on a movie set on Tuesday (12pm-2am), so day 2 got pushed to Wednesday. Well, I was too exhausted on Wednesday and we went out to eat instead.  Tonight will be day 2 and then I will finish day 7 on Tuesday.  I will post each recipe here along with a review so everyone can try these amazing soups. :)

Last week, we tried a recipe and loved it.  This Sicilian Chicken Soup is very much the same as the chicken soup at Carrabba's.  It is very hearty and the flavor is spot on.  I want to thank Amy for sharing it with me. :)

Sicilian Chicken Soup (Carrabba's clone)

• 5 celery ribs
• 4 medium carrots peeled
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 medium potatoes peeled
• 1 large green bell pepper
• 1 14 oz can Italian plum tomatoes (or whole peeled tomatoes)
• 2 chicken breasts ( or 2-3 B/S thighs)
• 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 6 quarts chicken broth
• Salt and pepper
• Romano cheese for topping
• pasta

1. Cook chicken. Reserve broth to cook vegetables in. Tear it into 1 inch pieces, kinda thin, but not shredded.

2. Dice celery, carrots, onion, potatoes and bell pepper into 1/4-inch pieces.

3. Chop tomatoes; reserve all juice. 

4. Place chicken broth, vegetables, tomatoes with their juice, parsley and garlic in a 10-quart stockpot. Season with salt and pepper. Slowly bring soup to a boil over low heat. Partially cover pot and simmer until vegetables are soft enough to mash in the bottom of the pot with the back side of a large cooking spoon. (I did not mash my veggies.)

5. Add chicken and bring it back to a simmer.  

6. Add cooked pasta to soup. Sprinkle the fresh Romano cheese on top.

Note---If you prefer, you can refrigerate and remove the fat that solidifies on the surface of the soup.

Stay tuned for: Day 1-Chicken Verde Stew with Hominy (It was another hit!)

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

I have a serious love for baking breads.  It took me a long time to figure out how to be a decent baker.  Well, if I had started with this method, I would have been a master baker from the age of 14.  The amazing book is Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François.  If you google it, you can find a ton of blogs out there referring to it because everyone is amazed at how easy the method is.  I made the above bread using the master boule recipe.  It yields a sourdough-like bread with a crispy crust.  It is so good! 

Here's the link to the tutorial that will blow your mind: Master Boule Recipe

Hot Cross Buns

For Easter, I decided to make traditional Hot Cross Buns.  I had never had one before.  I can't believe how good they are!!  They are spicy, orange-y goodness.  One thing I will do different next time is to add a thicker "cross" of icing across the top.  I didn't have the correct tip size so I used a smaller one than the one called for in the recipe.  Believe me, the more icing, the better!  Also, I didn't use currants because I couldn't find any at Super Target.  Try this awesome recipe. I promise that is great.  I will be making these every year for Easter from now on.

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker: Hot Cross Buns

A Flour Tortilla Tip

I saw this idea on Pinterest so I cannot take credit for this tip of sheer genius.  It is so good that I thought it was worthy of posting on my blog.  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lay out 6 flour tortillas and brush a thin layer of oil (your choice) on both sides of each tortilla.  I have read that you can use spray oil to do this if you are particularly lazy.  Take tortillas and lay in between the wire racks in your oven.  Bake 7-10 minutes, or until crispy.

I used 2 different sizes of tortillas

Junior's Original Cheesecake

I added cherry pie filling on top.  Yum!

I haven't made a homemade cheesecake in forever.  I picked up a 6 pack of cream cheese from BJ's and decided to give it a go.  This endeavor meant that I had to go buy a spring-form pan so off to AC Moore I went.  I ended up with a 10" pan but most recipes are for 8" or 9" pans.  It took me a while, but I figured out how to convert the recipe for a larger pan.  My mom bought me the Junior's Cheesecake cookbook a while back so I figured it was time to try it out.  I made their original basic cheesecake.  What's different about Junior's cheesecake is that bottom layer of spongecake.  It has a lemony taste and is oh-so-good!  It was way better than graham crackers.  This cake was seriously to die for so try it if you feel inclined.  I found the recipe online for your guys.  It is labor intensive but well worth it!

Juniors Famous Cheesecake

Naked cheesecake, lol

Aunt Judy's Apple Pie

Apple pie doesn't get any better than this.  My Aunt Judy has been using this same recipe for as long as I can remember.  It is super easy and doesn't require a lot of spices.  If you make this, do yourself a favor and make your own pie crust.  Store-bought is not of the same caliber as homemade.  I have a really good recipe for pie crust that I posted on my blog a while back.  If you want simple step-by-step instruction on how to achieve this buttery, flaky, out-of-this-world pie crust, go check out Joy the Baker's blog post about it at: Pie Crust Tutorial

Recipe for the apple pie can be found here: Aunt Judy's Apple Pie

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

These cupcakes are ridiculously good.  Seriously, I kid you not.  The chocolate cake is perfect and the peanut butter frosting is oh-my-gosh.  It's the best stuff on the face of the planet.  I could eat a bowl of the frosting all by itself and be happy.  Trust me on this one.  Make these today.  You're welcome. ;)

Recipe can be found: http://allrecipes.com/personalrecipe/62417099/chocolate-peanut-butter-cupcakes/detail.aspx

Easy Crescent Rolls

I made these rolls recently and received rave reviews so I thought that I would post the recipe here for you guys.  They are super easy to make with a bread machine or mixer but they could easily be kneaded by hand also.  When they come out of the oven, they have a soft center that stretches in large strands of doughy goodness.  When they are completely cool, the texture isn't as impressive but they still taste really good.  Heck, I ate one that was 3 days old and it was still yummy.  I discovered that you can get the original texture back by putting them in a hot oven for a few minutes.  

Crescent Rolls

• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 
  

Directions

1. Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough/Knead and First Rise Cycle; press Start.
2. When cycle finishes, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle. Spread 1/4 cup softened butter over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place, let rise 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden.  Brush additional melted butter all over rolls while still warm.

Birthday Pancakes

Birthday pancakes = 1 happy birthday boy!

Recipe: Cake Batter Pancakes

I can't believe my Hayden is now 9 years old.  Wow, only one year away from double digits.  That's crazy!  I made him some birthday cake pancakes this morning and he loved them.  Clayton did too.  He described them as being like a sugar cookie and I agree (which is exactly why I didn't care for them).  Hayden has chosen to go to Afton Tavern for his birthday lunch.  My mom and dad are coming up to go with us.  I hope he asks for the cookie skillet for dessert because it is sooo dang good.

I have no clue what we will do this evening but it will be something fun.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  

Migas (Pioneer Woman's recipe)

I have never been a fan of dressing up my eggs.  I tend to like them boring and plain.  Well, that attitude has changed since being introduced to migas by my mother-in-law Christie.  She made them for us one time while we were in Wyoming.  They were loaded with cheese, salsa and corn tortillas.  What's not to like?  I swear, they were amazing!  Once I got home, I remembered that Pioneer Woman had covered this egg dish before and decided to give it a go.  They were a hit.  Check out the link below to get PW's version and try them for yourself.  They are soooo good!

Pioneer Woman's Migas  

Lemon Herb Chicken

While I am not a huge fan of lemon, I LOVE this chicken! I got the recipe from Paula Deen forever ago. I tried to look it up on the net but couldn't find it. It appears to me that all of her roast chicken recipes now include lemon pepper seasoning (her own brand, of course). I could swear that this was the chicken that she made for her bag lady chicken noodle soup but the recipe I found was very different. Oh well, I am glad that I got this goody from somewhere. Try it and trust me, you are going to get a thumbs up from even the pickiest of your eaters. My kids don't care for real food (McDonald's, blue box macaroni and frozen corn dogs are more their taste-blech) but they did devour this chicken.

Lemon Herb Chicken

Nectar of the Gods

If there is a condiment in heaven, I am sure it would be this stuff. Clayton and I are huge fans of salsa. The problem is that we have to go to a restaurant to get it. The jarred kind from the grocery store is terrible. I always seem to have a problem when I want to make Mexican food at home. There are no good salsas offered at the grocery store so I usually make guacamole instead. I made quesadillas this week so I scanned the salsa selection at Hay's and decided to make my own. I grabbed all of my fresh ingredients and headed home to try out Pioneer Woman's version of restaurant-style salsa. To my surprise, I didn't need the fresh tomatoes at all. Instead, the recipe called for canned tomatoes. I was a little bit taken aback by this as that just didn't seem right. Why would I use all fresh ingredients with the exception of the key ingredient? Well, now I know. Trust me, it makes all the difference in the world. I was stunned when I first tasted this stuff and you will be too! It is very close to the same salsa served at On The Border. We buy OTB's salsa by the pint occasionally so I should know. It is pretty dang near the same. I implore you to try this recipe if you like salsa from Mexican restaurants. It is so stinkin' good!!

Link to PW's recipe: Salsa

BTW, I was disappointed once I learned about the canned tomatoes being the secret to a good salsa but I have the secret to the white cheese dip that they serve in the Southern states and it is even more disappointing. That stuff is so dang good though!! I will post a recipe for it in the near future. For those back home in NC, it is the same cheese dip served in La Hacienda. ;)

Hawaiian Sweet Bread Rolls

These rolls are remarkable! They are fairly dense with a super soft middle. The pineapple makes them sweet. I prefer to use vanilla over the coconut extract but that's just me. If you don't have a bread machine, these are really easy to knead by hand. The dough really doesn't take much work. When I baked this particular batch, I put them in a round pan and let them cook together. We have since had them baked apart on a baking sheet and we prefer that method. I have a ton of these dough balls in my freezer waiting to be cooked later on. All you have to do is put the dough balls onto a sheet pan and stick them in the freezer to flash freeze for 25-20 minutes. Gather them all into a Ziploc and pull them out whenever you want them. I usually put them on a sheet pan covered with a kitchen towel after lunchtime. They sit at room temp for 3-4 hours (or until doubled) and then I bake them per instructions.  The link to the recipe is provided below. :)

Hawaiian Sweet Bread Rolls

Creme Brulee

I served this incredibly yummy dessert to my neighbors recently. If you are a brulee fan, you would be amazed at how easy it is to make. The custard was so smooth and creamy. The recipe calls for Irish Cream but I didn't use it. In case you missed it, here's the link again: Creme Brulee

Cornbread

My kids and husband used to have an aversion to cornbread but now they love it thanks to this perfect recipe. I found it while perusing the Disney boards. It's supposedly the same stuff that the Hoop de Doo Revue serves up over at Fort Wilderness in Orlando. I honestly have no clue (I have never visited FW) but I can say that this recipe is awesome. It is super easy and sweet. The original recipe called for 1 1/4 cups of sugar in it but I changed it to 3/4 cup in my version.

Sweet Cornbread

Chicken, Corn and Potato Chowder

I found this recipe from a foodie blog and I have to got to tell you all how good it is! It is perfectly thick and creamy. I was leery of adding canned cream corn (that stuff is disgusting in my book) but it seemed to balance out the flavors perfectly. Hubby and I both scarfed this stuff down. If it had crab instead of chicken it it, I would say that it could rival Bonefish Grill's corn chowder with lump crab. That stuff is primo! Click the link below for the recipe. :)

Chicken, Corn and Potato Chowder

New Year's Eve + Recipes-12/31/10

We hosted a fun New Year's Eve party this year with our besties, the Vetters and the Pratts. We all have little kids so we knew that we wouldn't be partying to the break of dawn but that is just fine by us. I am too old for that crap anyway, lol. We didn't really do anything other than visit but it was still alot of fun.

I made the best lasagna on the face of Earth (seriously!), *THE* bread by Pioneer Woman, salad and creme brulee for dessert. The creme brulee was a first for me so I wasn't sure if I could pull it off but it turned out marvelously. The recipe calls for Irish Cream but I left that out since the kiddos were all eating it. I went out to Bed, Bath & Beyond to buy me a torch just for this occasion. If you want to try any of these recipes, here are the links:

World's Best Lasagna
The Bread
Creme Brulee


Happy New Year!!