Cooking with Cuties

Update: Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cakes

2010-09-16T09:30:00.005-04:00

I know we never post on this anymore, but I thought I would share a little update on the Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cakes I wrote about in May. At the end of that post, I said that the Devils Food Cake recipe was amazing, but the logistics of cutting out shapes, stacking them and doing the ganache was too much.

Well, last weekend we were having people over to watch the Bengals (Who Dey!) and I wanted to give it another try. So I made the cake recipe I listed before (I cut it in half and it still made 72 mini cupcakes). Then I made the raspberry cream and just piped it on. So we lost the ganache element, but it was still pretty divine. Everyone loved them and said how light and tasty the cream was on top (instead of a heavy frosting). Absolutely wonderful - I'm so glad I found a way to still use this recipe. This time I didn't want to make a big mess and kept it simple, but I think you could still add the ganache too. Maybe put the ganache on the cupcake and then the cream on top, or spread the cream on top and pour ganache over the whole thing.

PS - Brent said I took a guys day and made it "girly." I guess mini cupcakes and pink raspberry cream are a little dainty. Oh well :)

Chocolate-Coffee Cheesecake with Mocha Sauce

2010-07-06T10:11:00.008-04:00

I hope you all had a happy 4th of July weekend! We really really missed being in Greenville with the Kruithof family. I made this cheesecake for small group last Wednesday and then group was canceled. I ended up serving it to my family Friday night, and it was still delicious!

The recipe is from Southern Living. I found it online forever ago, and have been holding on to it for who knows how long. Thank goodness for CWC which gives me a reason to make all these things!

Recipe:

Ingredients

3 cups crushed chocolate graham crackers (about 20 sheets)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
Cooking Spray
4 (8-ounce) packages Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup coffee liqueur - I used 1/4 cup espresso
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
4 (1-ounce) bittersweet baking chocolate squares

Preparation

1. Stir together crushed graham crackers and butter; press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.

2. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool crust in pan on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

3. Beat cream cheese and 1 cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add coffee liqueur, coffee granules, and 1 teaspoon vanilla, beating at low speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears after each addition.

4. Remove and reserve 1 cup cream cheese mixture. Pour remaining batter into prepared crust.

5. Microwave chocolate squares in a medium-size glass bowl 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds; let cool slightly. Stir reserved 1 cup cream cheese mixture into melted chocolate, blending well. Spoon chocolate mixture in lines on top of batter in springform pan; gently swirl with a knife.

6. Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until almost set. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven, with door closed, 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven, and gently run a knife around outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. (Do not remove sides of pan.) Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.

7. Remove sides of springform pan. Serve with Mocha Sauce.

MOCHA SAUCE

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee

Preparation

1. Cook chocolate morsels, whipping cream, and butter in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring often, 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in 1/4 cup brewed coffee. Serve sauce warm.

Here's the crust and cheesecake batter:

This is the chocolate cheesecake process. You are supposed to put the chocolate batter in lines on top. That was kind of hard with the thick consistency. You can see mine is pretty much random spoonfuls. I think swirling it with the knife mixed it up pretty well though.

Right out of the oven - all puffed up:

The finished cheesecake, making the sauce. I made the sauce a couple hours in advance and just kept it in the pot. I turned the heat on low right before serving to warm it up.

Beautiful

This was a super yummy recipe. It's a fun one to make and serve. I like making fancy cheesecakes...with a name like "Chocolate-Coffee Cheesecake with Mocha Sauce" it sounds like I'm serving something from Cheesecake Factory. It was just the right amount of coffee-flavoring. Not at all overbearing. My favorite part by far was the Mocha Sauce. I kept going back to get more for my cheesecake. Now I have some extra, but I think it will be really good on ice cream. My only complaint was the crust. It seemed really thick on the side and kind of dry. It wasn't a big deal, I just left a lot of mine on the plate.

Brent gave this a "solid 8." Sarah said "No way" and gave it a 9.5 (only 0.5 taken off for the crust). If you like cheesecake, mocha and impressing guests :), I definitely recommend it!

Breakfast Quiches to Go

2010-06-26T11:34:00.012-04:00

A few months ago I joined a Bunco group, which has been so much fun! There are 12 girls in the group and you meet once a month, so everyone gets a chance to host once a year. This month I was the host, so I was looking for some individual size appetizers. I decided to try these little breakfast quiches. They are made in regular size muffin trays so they aren't quite mini, but still good for a shower or party.

Here's the recipe:

	2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated garlic butter crescent dinner rolls (8 rolls each)
	1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
	3 eggs
	1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
	1 box (9 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
	1/4 teaspoon salt
	1/8 teaspoon pepper
	1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

	Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 16 (2 3/4x1 1/4-inch) muffin cups with cooking spray.
	Separate each can of crescent dough into 8 triangles. Press 1 triangle on bottom and up side of each muffin cup.
	In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in onion, spinach, salt and pepper until well mixed. Fold in cheese. Fill each cup to the top with egg mixture (do not overfill).
	Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and edges of rolls are golden brown. Remove from pan. Serve warm.

I don't have that many pictures because it was really easy to make. You just put the Pillsbury dough in the muffin tins (can any recipe with Pillsbury crescents turn out bad??).

Then you mix the other ingredients and pour them in the cups.

I had a little extra of the filling, so I just poured that in muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. They turned out really well too - and I'm sure they are better for you than the ones with crusts.

The quiche turned out really yummy. I would definitely make them again. I like that they are packed with spinach (a superfood!). I think having a cream cheese base is a nice touch too. The inside part is so good you could certainly make them all without crusts, but Brent said that was his favorite part...

They all were eaten up, so I give them an A+!

Just for fun, here are some other pictures from the party:

Biscuits and Gravy

2010-06-26T10:44:00.003-04:00

So I have to be honest. I have always kind of been grossed out by biscuits and gravy, but Cole loves it! So I decided to try the Pioneer Woman's recipe for biscuits and gravy for Father's Day. It was actually pretty simple! She uses canned biscuits, so it's much simpler, and it was actually pretty good... horrible for you... but good!

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 lb. breakfast sausage

1 can (16oz.) canned biscuits

2 Tbsp. flour

1 cup milk

salt

pepper

Slice the sausage and cook until cooked through and drain on a paper towel. Then cook the biscuits according to directions on can.

Use the grease left in the sausage pan to make the gravy. Add flour to the grease until it thickens, whisking constantly. The pioneer woman took the grease out of the pan and added a little and then added flour until she got a good balance between flour and grease, adding one or the other until you're happy with the consistency. Let the gravy brown a little in the pan.

Then add your milk. This is another step you have to kind of feel out. It looks like mine is a little too thick, but I was scared of losing the sausage flavor. I probably could have added more milk though. She has step by step photos that you can look at to know how it should turn out. Add salt and pepper to taste. Now you're ready to pour it over your biscuits! And that's it!

So here's the finished breakfast tray. Even though I know it's one of the worst things you could eat, I'd probably make it again- very rarely- as a special treat for my husband. He loved it!!

Product Review: Beaba Babycook

2010-06-22T10:48:00.004-04:00

So I know this isnt really what Cooking with Cuties is for, but this is what I spend a lot of time doing.. so I thought I would share it with you mamas. For Christmas my mother-in-law got me a Beaba Babycook to make my own baby food.

I cannot RAVE enough about this product. You can steam and puree the fruits or veggies in the same compartment. Below is a tutorial on how to use the Babycook. Hope you enjoy.

First you add water to the Babycook. The product comes with directions on how much water to add, depending on what fruit or vegetable you are using.

You then cut up the fruit (I used Nectarines) and add it to the Babycook. You turn the switch on to the "steam" icon and wait until the light turns off.
Once the light is off... you take out the fruit in the "basket" it is steamed in. You then choose how much of the water produced from the steam you would like to mix in your fruit. I use all the water because that is where the nutrients go after steaming. Add it back to the fruit.
You then hold the knob on the puree icon until fruit is pureed to desired amount.
Lastly, pour baby food into desired containers. I have been using leftover Gerber Organics containers, along with ice trays. I freeze the baby food in an ice tray and then pop them out of the tray and store in freezer friendly Ziplock bags.

Its as easy as that!! I love love love making Henry baby food.. and its probably because I have this amazing baby food maker.

**I did this review on my own and did not receive anything from Beaba for conducting it.

Some good ones

2010-06-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

I have a few recipes that I've tried that have turned out really good and although I didn't photograph my prep (since they weren't supposed to be CWC recipes), I wanted to share them anyway. I guess I'm learning that I should just go ahead and photograph every time I try something new.... just in case. I'm sure thats what The Pioneer Woman does!!

Barbecue Chicken -- I threw this together because I just happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. I made it exactly as directed and it was wonderful. The meat was tender and my mini taste testers loved it. Thats always a good thing!

Linguine with Creamy Zucchini Sauce -- Again, made this just as directed. I have a plethora of zucchini and summer squash on hand because we've been visiting the farmer's market so often and have been looking for new ways to use it. We tried this and it was a big hit! I served it with some garlic bread and didn't even realize we didn't have any meat, but I bet this would be fabulous with some grilled chicken! Once again, the mini taste testers loved it!

Southern Peach Cobbler -- This was one of our earlier challenges but I never posted the recipe I tried! This wasn't it, I didn't like the recipe I tried, but I really liked this one! It was super simple and it turned out great. I doubled the recipe, made 2 cobblers and brought one to David's grandparents. Everyone who ate it loved it.

That's all for now! I'm going to try to photograph everything I cook from now on... just in case.

Honey Grilled Shrimp

2010-06-16T22:37:00.004-04:00

After our wonderful cruise, David and I are trying to make spending alone time together a priority. Of course, we have always known its important, but life happened fast. 3 babies in 20 months can really turn the life you're used to upside down! Thats what happened for us. We have started taking Friday/Saturday night to turn things off and talk. On one of the blogs I enjoy reading she mentioned having cocktails and appetizers on Friday nights. I thought that was a great idea! So this past Saturday we grilled shrimp and opened a bottle of Prosecco after the kids went to bed. It was so nice.

I didn't plan on sharing this shrimp recipe on CWC. It wasn't really a big deal, I just pulled something up on allrecipes.com (big surprise, thats one of my favorite sites!). But, this was too good not to share. The shrimp were out of this world! David and I gobbled them up and he has suggested we make them again several times already. I've got to buy more shrimp!

Honey Grilled Shrimp

Ingredients

* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 tablespoon ground black pepper
* 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
* 2 tablespoons dry white wine
* 2 tablespoons Italian-style salad dressing
* 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails attached
* 1/4 cup honey
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
* skewers

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together garlic powder, black pepper, 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce, wine, and salad dressing; add shrimp, and toss to coat. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. Preheat grill for high heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.
3. In a small bowl, stir together honey, melted butter, and remaining 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. Set aside for basting.
4. Lightly oil grill grate. Grill shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque. Baste occasionally with the honey-butter sauce while grilling.

Baked Chicken & Apple Sausage Penne

2010-06-11T15:55:00.003-04:00

I saw these chicken & apple sausages on sale at the grocery store the other day and picked up a package. This is pretty huge for me! I've hated sausage all my life (the fennel seeds found in most sausage reminds me of the spider teeth in the old Ewok movie). I'm married to a sausage lover! So, I knew it would be a good idea to deal with my hatred and find a way to like sausage.

After my baby boy, Kru, was born a fried of mine brought me a baked casserole, just like the one I made the other night, with chicken & apple sausage, it may have even been the same sausage. And, I liked it! So, when I saw this, I knew I could do it!! I could cook sausage.

Here is the sausage I bought:

And these are all of the ingredients (except I decided at the last minute to throw in a can of diced tomatoes, I'm glad I did, they were a good addition):

It was super simple. I cooked the pasta (1/2 the box. Oh, and next time I'll buy whole wheat pasta! Thats what I normally buy but the kids were fussing when I was in the pasta isle, this was on sale and somehow it ended up in the cart. I didn't think about it until I got home. Switching to whole wheat pasta is an easy switch, we can't even tell the difference). Cut up the sausage. Drained the pasta, put the noodles back into my big pot and added the sausage, spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. I dumped all of that into my baking dish, sprinkled some cheese on top and baked it at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

It was SO GOOD! I was actually surprised how much I liked it. My girls liked it, too. Sometimes they had a hard time chewing up the sausage and spit it back out. But they did like it. I think the thick outer stuff is what they had a hard time with (I know thats called "casing" but that word kinda grosses me out and I didn't even want to type it but I also didn't want to sound like I didn't know what I was talking bout, Ha!).

David was out of town. Can you believe it?!? I finally make a sausage meal -- FOR MY HUSBAND!! -- and prepare it when he's out of town. Oh, well. I have more sausage in the freezer and will make it for him soon (he did get some of the leftovers and loved it!). My dad came over for dinner one night and ate 2 full bowls of leftovers, so I guess he liked it. Yea!!

This is a keeper, I'll make this again and again. Especially considering how easy it was. Since the sausage is precooked, it couldn't have been easier.

Fudge-Strawberry Cream Torte

2010-06-10T13:16:00.011-04:00

Last night I made this Fudge-Strawberry Cream Torte for our small group. It was definitely a hit! Everyone was raving and saying it must have taken me all day to make. But it really wasn't too hard. It's a good one to keep in mind after all you Moms go strawberry picking!

The recipe:

Fudge-Strawberry Cream Torte

Brownie Layers
1 box (19.5 oz) Pillsbury® Brownie Classics Traditional fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
3 eggs

(This depends on the brownie mix you use. I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate brownies and it only called for one egg, so that's what I did.)

Strawberry Cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 container (6 oz) Yoplait® Thick & Creamy strawberry yogurt
1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries

Chocolate Fudge
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 oz)

Garnish
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
6 small to medium fresh whole strawberries, halved

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottoms of 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray. Put down wax paper lining and spray that with cooking spray too. Make brownie mix as directed on box for cake-like brownies using oil, water and eggs. Spread half of batter evenly in each pan. Bake 18 to 23 minutes. (I'm not sure how long mine actually baked. I set it for 15 and just kept checking.) Cool on wire racks 10 minutes. Run knife around brownie layers to loosen. Place wire racks upside down over pans; turn racks and pans over. Remove pans. Cool completely, about 35 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, beat granulated sugar and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in strawberry yogurt until smooth and creamy. Fold in chopped strawberries. Refrigerate while brownie layers cool.

3. In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until cream begins to boil. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips; press into cream. Cover; let stand 3 minutes. Vigorously beat with wire whisk until smooth. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4. To assemble torte, place 1 brownie layer on serving plate. Spread half of strawberry cream evenly over brownie to within 1 inch of edge. Carefully spoon and spread half of chocolate fudge almost to edge of strawberry cream. Repeat layers, ending with chocolate fudge. Arrange halved strawberries in spoke fashion on top of torte. (I decided not to do this. Instead I spread the ganache down the sides too, and put a strawberry next to it at the end.) Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. If refrigerated for more than 3 hours, let sit at least 10 minutes before serving.

5. To serve, sprinkle powdered sugar over top of torte and around plate. Carefully cut torte with hot knife into wedges to avoid “cracking” of chocolate fudge on top. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

Here's the cream filling with chopped strawberries:

Making the "fudge" - which is really like ganache

Two brownies layers - I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate brownies, which really added to the richness

Layering process (Please note that for the last picture I switched to a different cake stand. It was a very risky thing to do, but I thought the glass one had too many fingerprints. I definitely do not recommend this - I practically gave myself a heart attack).

The end product - yum yum!

Brent displayed these so wonderfully. He's the best.

One thing I really appreciated about this recipe was the final presentation. It seems like my desserts always taste good but look a mess! The cream filling was really creamy and unique - I think it was the yogurt, which I haven't seen in a cake recipe before.

Brent gave this an A- (he said he would rather have a dessert that has ice cream on the side), but that I should definitely make it again. He had a second piece after everyone left, which is a good sign! I thought it was very yummy, and a crowd hit for sure!

Breakfast Broccoli Frittata

2010-06-08T08:47:00.016-04:00

This recipe is from the book Superfoods Rx by Steven Pratt. I just finished reading the book last week. If you haven't read it, I really recommend it. It's so interesting learning about the health benefits of these 14 "SuperFoods." It has changed the way I think about eating, and you'd be surprised how many you already eat. It's fun to try to squeeze even more into my meal planning. I think Brent is probably sick of hearing me talk about it! Anyway, this recipe features broccoli, which is one of the SuperFoods. Here it is:

Breakfast Broccoli Frittata

2 medium potatoes, sliced into 1/8 inch rounds (I only needed one)
1-1/2 cups broccoli florets (I used frozen)
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, ribs removed, and chopped (I used orange - another SuperFoods sidekick!)
1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded, ribs removed, and chopped4 large omega-3 eggs
1 cup 1% cottage cheese or fat free ricotta (I used ricotta)1/2 tablespoon fresh dill or 3/4 teaspoon dried dill (I used parsley)
3 tablespoons Asiago or Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pie plate with olive oil spray (I used canola oil spray).
2. Lay the potato slices in a single layer in the bottom on the pie plate. Cut the remaining slices in half and arrange them around the sides of the pie plate. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. In a large saute pan sprayed with olive oil spray, saute the broccoli, onion, and bell peppers for 3-4 minutes or until tender. Add a tablespoon of water if needed to prevent sticking.
4. In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and cottage cheese. Stir in the sauteed veggies, dill, and half the grated cheese. Add the egg mixture to the pie plate and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the egg is set. Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and return the frittata to the oven for a minute or two to allow the cheese to melt. Cut into wedges to serve.

Here are the potatoes on the pie plate. I cut them into even smaller wedges to fit in the empty gaps.

Sauteed Veggies

My helper Cuties: Brent is beating together the eggs and cottage cheese and Walter is just looking cute (and licking everything in the dishwasher).

The egg and veggie mixture:

Browned potatoes

Ready to go in the oven. I didn't have dill so I just sprinkled dried parsley on top. I don't think this added enough flavor...more later. I also put the cheese on top for the whole bake time instead of just at the end...oops.

The end product:

The review: This recipe was just ok, I didn't love it for two recipes. First, I just don't think I'm that crazy about making egg dishes with potatoes. I would rather eat just quiche. Second, I don't think I got the flavoring right. It tasted a little bland, which I think was my fault since I didn't have the main seasoning. I meant to pick up some dill, but I forgot. And I just sprinkled a tiny bit of dried parsley on top instead. So there wasn't much seasoning at all. It would definitely be better with some salt and pepper, or the dill or some other seasoning. Brent liked it more than I did, but then he has to say that, right? :)

That same night I made another recipe from the book - Golden Door Blueberry Bread. I thought this was very tasty. Super dense, and healthy - blueberries, bananas, whole wheat flour, orange zest, no white sugar. I definitely recommend this one!

Strawberry Jam

2010-06-02T10:15:00.006-04:00

Hello!! My name is Elizabeth and I am good friends with Katie. I have been a viewer of cooking with cuties since it started!! I feel honored to get to post on here!! WOO HOO!! I love to cook and try new recipes... I have a blog called The Stone Family Blog, if you want to check it out...

Some friends and I went to a local strawberry patch to pick berries. It was a lot of fun and pretty reasonable for fresh berries (1.75 a lb.) I took my cutie Henry and we saw Sarah (Katie's sister) there with Jack and Noah. Henry tried his first strawberry and loved it!

Because the berries were so ripe, I decided to make jam with them because there is no way I could eat them all before they went bad. I have never made jam before so I looked for the easiest recipe I could find.

Here it is!! Strawberry Jam recipe

Ingredients:

2 lb fresh strawberries, hulled

4 cups of white sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

Crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of crushed berries.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to a rolling boil. Boil, stirring often until the mixture reaches 220 degrees.

Transfer to hot sterile jars leaving headspace in the jar and seal. Process in a water bath. If going to be eaten right away, dont process, just put jars in the refrigerator.

Footnotes: To test for jelling, place three plates in the freezer. after about 10 minutes of boiling, place a tsp of liquid jam on plate. Put back in freezer for one minute. Run your finger through the jam, if jam stays seperated, its ready for canning!

Henry watching his mama make Strawberry jam!

Review:

This was such a fun jam to make. Each process did not take too long and I was able to hang out with Henry and get other things done while making it.

I was not familiar AT ALL about how to process and can jam. Looking back that is something I would have researched before getting started. I think I did it right but felt a little unsure of what I was doing.

The jam tastes great. It is pretty dark red, which I dont really like.. but it has a yummy taste and flavor... good texture and very easily spreadable without being runny.

I ate the jam over scones last night with my sister and friend. They both gave the jam a B+... I think thats what I would give it too... a good jam, but I cant give it an A.

I got the jars for $1.85 a piece at the glass barn in Reading. I plan to give the jam to my neighbors.

Baked French Toast Casserole

2010-06-01T14:00:00.001-04:00

Katie always comes up with these amazing french toast recipes. I just had to try my hand at one. Plus, it was "breakfast for dinner" night at small group, so this sort of food was perfect.

I found a recipe from by Paula Deen on foodnetwork.com and thought I'd give it a try.

It was ok. It got pretty good reviews from our friends but I wasn't crazy about it. I think Katie's creme brulee french toast is MUCH better!! With all the nuts this one reminded me of fall and I think it would have been good with some kind of apple cinnamon syrup (do they make that??) instead of the raspberry syrup (which I bought, I didn't make it) that the recipe calls for.

Since there is a french toast recipe I like better, I doubt I'll make this one again, not because it was that bad, but because there is something much better out there. (Katie, I love your creme brulee french toast, can you tell??)

Baked French Toast Casserole by Paula Deen

* 1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
* Butter, for pan
* 8 large eggs
* 2 cups half-and-half
* 1 cup milk
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* Dash salt
* Praline Topping, recipe follows
* Raspberry Syrup, recipe follows

Directions

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch thick each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 45 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with Raspberry Syrup.

--------------------

Praline Topping:

* 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
* 1 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1 cup chopped pecans
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Spread over bread as directed above.

Raspberry Syrup:

* 1 cup raspberry preserves
* 3 tablespoons water
* 2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur (recommended: Framboise)

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until warm and thinned out like syrup.

Chicken with Balsamic and Garlic Sauce

2010-06-01T08:28:00.008-04:00

I'm always blogging about dessert recipes, so I intentionally chose to do a savory entree this week. Unfortunately, I didn't remember till the end of the preparation that this was my CWC meal. You didn't miss much in the way of pictures though. Just raw chicken in a skillet.

I've had this recipe printed for a long time. I got it from Tastespottin g long ago. I seriously love that site, but I haven't gone in quite a while. If I'm not careful, I can waste an hour looking at all the yummy food pictures!

Chicken with Balsamic and Garlic Sauce

5 boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of
any fat
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter, softened
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 cup of chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large OVEN PROOF skillet over medium high heat. Season the chicken thighs with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Lay the chicken thighs smooth side down in the pan and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Turn the chicken over and place in the oven. Cook for 8 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove chicken from oven and set aside on a platter to rest with a tinfoil tent to keep warm. Return the skillet to the stove over medium high heat (add more olive oil if needed) and add minced garlic. Cook, stirring constantly for 60 seconds then add the balsamic vinegar. Stir, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan for about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Mix the butter and flour together making a paste. Whisk in the flour and butter mixture and let the sauce return to a boil. Simmer until the sauce gets thick - about 1-2 minutes. Pour the sauce over chicken and serve. Enjoy.

Ok, so here is the picture of the sauce. You use the same skillet that you cooked the chicken in so you can get all the browned bits.

My finished picture is at the top of the post. Here's the one from the original Tastespotting recipe. The sauce looks thinner, and more brown. Mine had more of a reddish tint.

We have loved eating outside recently. It's been perfect outdoor dining weather. Isn't summer the best?!

This is the first CWC recipe that I really haven't liked. Brent thought it was great, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I thought it tasted salty. We both agreed that it tasted a lot like teriyaki chicken (which I don't like). It's odd it tasted that way though, since there was no soy sauce in it. I know I won't make this again, but if you like that kind of flavor, you probably enjoy this one.

Best part of the dinner - this butterfly that kept landing on Brent's hair. It would just sit there for the longest time while he moved all around and ate. I thought it was so funny!

Spicy Tilapia

2010-05-27T18:15:00.003-04:00

Okay, I have now officially started my 2010 Cooking with Cuties recipes. For my first, I chose a recipe Dad sent me from work asking me to try it out. Here is the description and recipe:
For a healthy and tasty meal, try seasoning tilapia fillets with cumin and pepper. Combine diced tomatoes with green chilies, sliced green olives, fresh cilantro, and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Spoon this mixture over the tilapia. Bake until flaky and opaque in the center - about 12-15 minutes at 450 degrees. A 3 ounce serving provides about 180 calories and 5 grams of unsaturated fat. Use fresh tomatoes to reduce sodium. Enjoy!

So, I cooked it tonight. It was so easy and the fish was delicious. I made a small Greek salad to go with it and (because I wanted to use it up) split a sweet potato between the two of us. Not only was dinner delicious it was colorful! I would definitely do this one again!

Fruit Pizza

2010-05-27T14:11:00.001-04:00

This was a super easy recipe but I'm behind on my posts so I pulled out something quick and easy. I'm glad I did! These little fruit pizza's were YUMMY!

We had Chris and Regina over for lunch on Sunday and I made these for dessert. They were a big hit! And, since we got together after church the fact that these were easy to pull off in a small amount of time was perfect. Everyone gave them an A+. The ingredients are easy to have on hand (since the "crust" is just store-bought sugar cookie!) so I see these popping up a lot in our future.

We make a fruit dip that is made with cream cheese and marshmallow fluff and thats all the "sauce" is on these pizzas. Of course you could top with any fruit you want, but we had these fresh strawberries and blueberries on hand. I halved the recipe and made tiny pizza's, but the picture on allrecipes.com (where I found the recipe) shows the pizza made in a tart pan and the fruit is arranged in a decorative pattern. Its actually quite pretty! Done that way, I wouldn't hesitate to make this for company.

As I said, it was a big hit. Here are a few pictures of my little taste testers. They are pretty easy to please, but they really seemed to enjoy this one. Their favorite part was the "sauce" and "toppings". They ate that off first, and then ate the cookie.

Fruit Pizza

* 1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
* 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. On an ungreased medium baking sheet, smooth the refrigerated sugar cookie dough into a single layer approximately 1/4 inch thick. Bake in the preheated oven 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned and center is no longer doughy.
3. In a medium bowl, blend the marshmallow creme and cream cheese. Spread the mixture over the baked crust. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

2010-05-25T21:55:00.006-04:00

First of all, thank you ladies for letting me share this little gem! To introduce myself to anyone else who might be reading- I'm Abby, these cuties Cousin/niece, its great to be here! It makes it even more fun to share a recipe when there is a special story to go with it. I especially like using ingredients that are local and fresh when I can!

Growing up, my Dad's favorite summer dessert was strawberry rhubarb pie. Mom always had a big rhubarb plant in the backyard that she was cut and cook up. Well, here in Northern Michigan they haven't yet planted the rhubarb but one day Mom and Dad (TQ and PopPop) were out on a walk in the woods and Mom spotted some wild rhubarb on their property! It still needed a few weeks to mature so the other day John and Mom went on a walk in the woods, armed with a knife and a basket to harvest the wild rhubarb!

I spent the next day making a pie crust, but unfortunately I had a bad pastry day (I'm told they happen to everyone) and alas, there was no crust for the pie. We were not deterred though, Mom went quickly to the Internet to her trusted source on foodnetwork.com and found a recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell for strawberry rhubarb crisp. It was quick, easy, and GREAT!

Ingredients::
Filling:
- 1 quart strawberries, stemmed and quartered
- 4 stalks rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch lengths
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1/4 C cornstarch
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar

Topping:
- 1 1/4 C whole-wheat flour
- 1/2 C rolled oats
- 1 C brown sugar
- 1 1/4 sticks butter, cut into pea sized pieces
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1-2 TBSP water

Directions::

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Filling: Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to be sure everything is well combined. Spoon the filling into 9 individual ramekins or 1 wide shallow baking dish.

Topping: In a food processor combine the flour, oats and brown sugar and pulse to combine. Add the butter, vanilla and salt and pulse pulse pulse until the mixture looks dry and crumbly. Add 1 TBSP of water and pulse until the mixture starts to come together and look crumbly. If the mixture still seems dry add 1 more TBSP of water and pulse to combine.

Crumble the topping over the filling. Bake in the preheated oven until the filling is hot and bubbly all the way through and the topping looks crispy and light brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm and with whipped cream or ice cream.

*note* I made this one with splenda sugars and olivio instead of butter due to the dietary restrictions of PopPop, and it was still fabulous!

Blueberry Caramel Pecan French Toast

2010-05-21T07:44:00.009-04:00

Last night I made this Blueberry Caramel Pecan French Toast. I got the recipe from a Cedarville Alumni magazine - apparently some professor at Cedarville made this for her students every year at a Christmas party (I never had her). But I thought it sounded good so I cut out the recipe and saved it. I love making breakfast things but I never make them in the morning, so sometimes I like to do breakfast for dinner.

Here's the recipe:
Blueberry Caramel Pecan French Toast

Texas toast, cut in half
5 eggs
2-1/2 cups milk
1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Arrange a single layer of bread in greased 9x13 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, 3/4 cup brown sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for eight hours or overnight.

Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Sprinkle pecans over egg mixture. Combine butter and remaining sugar, drizzle over top.

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with blueberries. Bake 10 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

I started the french toast in the morning since we were having it for dinner and it needed to sit in the fridge for 8 hours. Here's the bread with the egg mixture poured over it:

I forgot to take a picture of the butter/brown sugar topping that you put on before putting in the oven (we omitted the pecans). But here's the french toast after cooking for 25 minutes, before adding the blueberries:

And after another 10 minutes in the oven - the finished product!

The critics (yes, Joy is drinking Smirnoff with her breakfast):

I thought this french toast was really good. It was easy to put together, but still a little special since it had the blueberries and "caramel" topping. I would definitely make this again, although I think I still like my Creme Brulee French Toast better (that one will be in the second Tastebook!). But everyone thought it was yummy and went back for seconds. That's success in my book!

Chicken and Broccoli in a Crescent Roll

2010-05-14T15:21:00.006-04:00

So, for my first post, I chose a recipe from one of my friend's blogs. Stephanie, I hope you don't mind me stealing your idea, but it looked so good I had to try it! I wanted something that would be easy to do so I could add it to my fall back recipes, and this was just that- so easy! Here's the recipe:

2 Chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

4 oz. cream cheese

2 c. broccoli, steamed

2 Tbsp. butter

1 package refrigerated crescent rolls

salt and pepper to taste

milk

Lay out crescent rolls in pairs of two triangles making four rectangles by pinching seams together.

Dump all remaining ingredients into a food processor- process until chicken is shredded. Add milk to ease in the mixing process (about 2-3 Tbsp.)

Spoon chicken/broccoli mixture onto crescent roll squares and pinch corners together at top (you may have extra filling).

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until golden.

This is a recipe I really liked because it will be so easy to modify. Cole really like it and so did Savannah (but she'll eat anything!). I only used one chicken breast because mine were really big and I still had plenty of filling.

As a simple, throw-together meal, this one is definitely a winner! We'll be making them again for sure. Maybe next week I'll try something a little more challenging, but this is my kind of cooking!

Banana Dessert Wraps

2010-05-13T22:09:00.013-04:00

After last week's labor intensive Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cakes, I was ready for something a little easier. These Banana Dessert Wraps were perfect! The recipe was a Pillsbury Bake-Off winner (thank you again for that cookbook, Lorren!).

Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1/2	cup coconut
1/2	cup chopped pecans
1	box refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
1/4	cup sugar
1/2	teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4	teaspoon ground nutmeg
4	firm ripe bananas (5 to 6 inch)
1/3	cup semisweet chocolate chips
1	jar (12 oz) hot caramel ice cream topping, heated
	Whipped cream, if desired
1	cup vanilla ice cream

DIRECTIONS:

	1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut and pecans separately on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown; set aside.
	2. Increase oven temperature to 450°F. Remove pie crust from pouch; place flat onto work surface. With rolling pin, roll crust until 12 inches in diameter.
	3. In small bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Reserve 1 tablespoon sugar mixture; sprinkle remaining sugar mixture evenly over crust. Cut crust into 4 wedge-shaped pieces.
	4. Place 1 banana lengthwise on each crust wedge, about 3/4 inch from curved edge (if banana is too long, trim ends to fit within crust, at least 1/4 inch from each edge). Push about 1 rounded tablespoon chocolate chips, points first, into top and sides of each banana.
	5. Bring curved edge and point of each crust wedge up over banana to meet; pinch seam and ends to seal, shaping crust around banana. Sprinkle tops of wrapped bananas with reserved 1 tablespoon sugar mixture; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
	6. Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Cool 5 minutes.
	7. To serve, drizzle or spread about 2 tablespoons warm caramel topping on each individual dessert plate. Top each with baked banana, whipped cream and additional caramel topping, if desired. Sprinkle coconut and pecans over top of each. Serve with ice cream.

Joy and I cut the recipe in half since it was just the two of us. It's super easy - basically you put a cinnamon mixture on refrigerated pie crust, put bananas on top, push chocolate chips into the banana, wrap, sprinkle more cinnamon sugar and pop in the oven! I think it would be a fun dessert to make with kids.

Here's Joy putting the chips in the banana.

All wrapped up with more cinnamon sugar on top:

After cooking for about 11 minutes, the wraps looked nice and golden. Since Joy and I didn't use some of the toppings the recipe listed (the coconut, pecans, whipped cream), I just dribbled the caramel across the top and put ice cream on the side. (Joy's is on the left and mine is the right - notice the different seams techniques, haha!)

It turned out delicious! I was actually kind of surprised because it seemed like it would be plain or dry or something. But the banana and melted chocolate were yummy together, especially with the ice cream and caramel. I think the presentation turned out nice too, and would be even fancier with the other toppings. I would definitely make it again. I'm sad Brent didn't get to try this one. Thank goodness he's coming home tomorrow!

Broccoli Chicken Divan

2010-05-08T20:48:00.006-04:00

Well, I planned to make something a little more impressive this week but with a SICK child, it just didn't happen. Plus, this recipe turned out to be super yummy and a HUGE hit so its worth recording!

Since I didn't plan on this being my CWC recipe, I don't have any pictures of my darling children eating it, but just know they were chowing down!

I made this with a rotisserie chicken. I just pulled all the meat off, chopped it up and put it on top of the broccoli. The broccoli we bought fresh at the Saturday Market downtown. We were back this morning and I picked up 2 more bunches so we can have this for dinner one night this week and so I can leave one frozen for my mom to eat with the girls next week.... while she is babysitting.... while David and I are out of town.... on a cruise! Yea! First time away by ourselves since we became parents. I can't wait!

Anyway, back to the recipe. It came from allrecipes.com. You can find it here. It was a winner. I don't know if it would be something I'd make often if I wasn't also trying to please 2 little girls. But it got them to eat their veggies without any prompting so I know it will be a new regular in our house.

Broccoli Chicken Divan

1 pound chopped fresh broccoli
1 1/2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of broccoli soup
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

Place the broccoli in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain.
Place the cooked broccoli in a 9 inch pie plate. Top with the chicken. In a bowl, mix the soup and milk, and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Mix the melted butter with the bread crumbs, and sprinkle over the cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly brown.

Strawberry Cream Puff Pie -- Joelle

2010-05-02T22:11:00.006-04:00

I'm so glad we're back at it! I've missed Cooking with Cuties.

This week I made a Strawberry Cream Puff Pie. I got the recipe from Real Mom Kitchen. We went to the Farmer's Market yesterday and bought a gallon of fresh strawberries and I thought this recipe would spotlight them perfectly.

I made this for our small group. I started it when the girls went down for their nap today. I made the puff pastry crust and let it cool. Pressley woke up early and was running a 103 degree fever. I sat with her, rocked her, comforted her and tried several times to get up to finish the pie. Every time I tried she cried and cried. I finally convinced her to sit on the counter next to me while I finished. I made the cream layer and then tossed on the strawberries I had already cut up. I thought I was done.

I intended to let the strawberries sit in some sugar water before I put them on the pie but with my little interruption, I forgot. So I tossed a few of the cut up strawberries in a skillet, added about 3 tablespoons of sugar and some water and cooked it until it made a thickened sauce. I let it cool completely then spread it on top of the pie and David said that sauce really "made" it for him. So I guess this sauce is a keeper.

Since Pressley was sick, I stayed home with her and David took the pie with him. He said everyone loved it and gave it an A. I can't grade it for myself since I didn't get to try it. I asked David if he would want me to make it again and he said "Yes, it was really good!". Thats a lot coming from David! He tends to grade me a little on the tough side.

So, I'll call this one a success! I didn't get any pictures of my prep. I planned to get one of my cooked crust and then another picture after each layer but with Pressley it just didn't happen. David did take a couple of pictures of it before it was served.

I will make this again. I can't wait to try it and it seems to be perfect for summer!

The recipe:

Strawberry Cream Puff Pie

Cream Puff Base:
5 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
2/3 cup flour
3 eggs

Cream Cheese Mixture:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar

1. For the cream puff layer, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring the butter, water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the flour all at once and stir quickly until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the mixture until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes.
2. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until the mixture is shiny with a satiny sheen. Don’t overbeat. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring form pan (or in a pinch, you could use a 9-inch circle cake pan). Using an offset spatula, spread the mixture on the bottom and one inch up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and prick pastry with a toothpick 10-12 times. Return to the oven and bake 5-10 minutes more until golden brown but not over baked (you can insert a toothpick into the center and if it comes out with sticky dough, it still needs longer in the oven). Cool completely.
4. For the cream cheese mixture, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar (if you want to ensure there are no lumps, sift the powdered sugar into the cream cheese) and beat with the cream cheese until mixture is smooth and light. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread onto the cooled cream puff shell.
5. Top with fresh sliced strawberries (I mixed 2 cups of strawberries with 2 teaspoon sugar and let them hang out in the fridge while I was prepping the cake) or you can use a 16-ounce bag of frozen strawberries that have been thawed. Mix the thawed strawberries and juice with 1-2 teaspoons sugar and bring to a simmer in a saucepan. Cook until slightly thickened. Cool completely and use as topping for the cake

Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cakes

2010-05-02T13:48:00.016-04:00

And so we're back! I've been saving this recipe for a while now - wondering when I would get the chance to make it. A long while back I was browsing through tastespotting.com and found this post for chocolate raspberry cream cakes. You should definitely check out that link because the step-by-step pictures are so much better than mine! It was one of those recipes that I wanted to try just once, knowing it would be too complicated to become a "stand-by" recipe. Amy left Saturday to help medical relief efforts in Haiti, so we had the family over for a Bon Voyage dinner Friday night. It was the perfect occasion to bust out this dessert. Luckily I had a whole day at home to prepare it...

Here's the recipe:

Devil’s Food Cake:
-3 cups granulated sugar
-2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/8 cups cocoa powder, sift if lumpy.
-1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
-2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
-1 1/2 teaspoons salt
-3 large eggs
-1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk
-3/4 cup vegetable oil
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 1/4 cup hot coffee
-1/4 cup rum or brandy (if you opt out of the booze then use equal parts coffee)

1. Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk.
2. Whisk together, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla until well combined. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Slowly add the hot coffee and rum to the batter and whisk until totally blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be quite runny.
3. Bake in 2 Sheet Pan Half Size lined with parchment. Bake about 20 minutes or until set.

Raspberry cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons raspberry preserves

Chocolate ganache:
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup apricot jam, heated and strained if there are chunks of fruit
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup corn syrup

1. Cut the devil’s food cake with a Heart Cookie Cutter. Depending on the size of your cutter this will get you about 12 2-layer cakes per sheet.
2. To make the cream: whip the heavy cream until soft peaks, add the raspberry preserves and continue whipping until stiff peaks. Fill a Pastry Bags, fitted with a round pastry tip and pipe the cream on half of the heart shaped cakes.
3. Top the cream with another layer of cake. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you make the ganache.
4. Make the ganache: Heat the apricot preserves in a sauce pan over medium low heat until melted. Add the cream, milk and corn syrup and heat until just about to simmer. Remove from heat. Dump in all of the chopped chocolate, swirl the pot to make sure the chocolate is completely covered by the cream. Let sit for about 3 minutes and then gently whisk until smooth.
5. Pour about 1 cup of the hot ganache into a shallow dish and refrigerate for 10 minutes or until slightly firm, but still spreadable.
6. Leave the remainder of the ganache in the pot to keep it pourable.
7. With a small Spatula, spread the refrigerated ganache over the sides of the cakes. The goal is to fill the gap between the layers of cake and make them smooth. We want a smooth surface so that when you pour the ganache over the cakes you will not have any bumps.
8. To pour the ganache on the cakes you will need to set them on a cooling rack that is over a sheet pan lined with parchment. You want to do this to catch all of the dripping chocolate.
9. Slowly pour the ganache over the cake, starting in the middle and working outward. Be sure to check all the sides as you go. As you can see there will be a lot pooled up on the parchment, but you will scrape that up and be able to remelt and use again.
10. If your ganache starts to get too thick, return the pot to the stove and heat on very low heat, just for a moment.
11. Allow the cakes to set at room temperature for about 20 minutes. If you need to refrigerate them, they will loose their shine. Once you return them to room temperature and they warm up the shine will come back.

Here's the batter in the pan. I didn't have a sheet half size pan, so I got a disposable pan at the grocery and used it twice. Cooking and cooling two cakes was one reason I needed to start so early Friday morning.

The two finished cakes - this made more than enough, and the recipe could be simplified by just making one sheet. I think I got 15 cakes total.

I didn't have a heart cookie cutter, but I did have a star from a Christmas pack. I tried that for a while, but they weren't turning out great. So then I got a glass and tried to make circles, till I broke the glass :( Finally I used a bigger plastic cup and made big circles. As you can see, at the end I had a good variety of shapes...

This left a lot of cake left over (all the scraps). I thought I might make Bakerella cake pops, but the cake itself was so good, I found myself just snacking on it while I worked (and the rest of the weekend). My dad took home a big bowl to have with coffee the next morning (this is where I get my sweet tooth), so now it's almost gone.

Here are the cake sandwiches waiting in the fridge as I made the ganache:

Ok, the ganache was the most challenging part. After heating it, you put some of it in the fridge, and use that portion to fill the gaps between the layers. This wasn't really hard, just time consuming to do for 15 cakes.

Then you pour the warm ganache over the cakes. From the pictures on the recipe site, I don't think my ganache was thin enough. It didn't cover very smoothly. Still tasty, but not quite as pretty.

What the end product was supposed to look like:

My end product:

Haha, it looks so thick and gloppy. But it was shiny!

So, here's the review. The elements of this recipe were delicious. I don't even like chocolate cake, but that Devil's Food Cake recipe was amazing. I think it was the combination of the hot coffee, buttermilk and rum...I'm not sure, but it was moist and wonderful. The ganache had apricot jam in it, and that was just a nice subtle touch (probably not even noticable if you didn't know it was there). But all of these things combined to give the cake a really rich, complex taste. Almost everyone loved the dessert (too much chocolate for Brent, but he hadn't been feeling well so he only took one bite). My mom even said it's the best dessert I've ever made. That's quite a statement.

Now, logistically, I don't think I'll make these cakes this way again. Too time consuming, and not even that pretty to look at (well at least my version wasn't that pretty). But the cake, cream and ganache are too good to forget. So I think maybe it would be easy to make cupcakes instead of these cookie cutter shapes - cut them in half, pipe cream on the middle, then pour ganache over top and maybe put a raspberry or something on top. Or, as my mom suggested, just make the sheet cake, cut into squares, and stack them with cream in between and ganache on top. Definitely worth a try!

Peach Cobbler (Lorren)

2009-07-13T15:47:00.004-04:00

I finally made my peach cobbler. Again, I went for quick and easy so I could get caught up on these recipes. I looked for a recipe with canned peaches to save me that step. We had company and I didn't want to spend any extra time in the kitchen. This recipe was very quick and very easy! It was pretty good, too! Not the best peach cobbler I've ever had, but worth repeating. It would be a great recipe for when you need a dessert in a hurry! Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 (29 ounce) can sliced canned peaches, drained
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Pour milk into dry ingredients and then stir in melted margarine. Mix thoroughly.
Pour mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan. Arrange peaches on top and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Give it a try sometime when you need something quick and easy. It was great with vanilla ice cream!

Bourbon Glazed Chicken Minus the Bourbon (Lorren)

2009-07-13T15:28:00.006-04:00

So I really cheated on this salmon recipe. I figured I had put it off long enough, though and had to give it my best shot. I didn't have any bourbon and so I used the marinade that mom used (different brand, but same type). I guess I misunderstood though and thought that she JUST used the marinade. I didn't realize she had marinated the salmon in bourbon first and then used the barbecue sauce. So, I basically just made brown sugar barbecue salmon. Not a great meal, but edible. I bought the cheapest frozen salmon I could find, too (it's been a tight month) and I'm sure that didn't help any. We had the Lotts join us for dinner and everyone ate their meal and said it was pretty good, but you have to take in to account that they were being polite. Savannah wouldn't even put it in her mouth, so we'll have to wait a while before we try salmon on her again. Overall, this wasn't a big success, but I'm sure made properly it's delicious. I'll have to try it the right way sometime.

Week 5: Peach Cobbler (Katie)

2009-06-16T11:15:00.014-04:00

Back from vacation and settled into our new house...and I'm ready to get back to cooking! Sorry it took so long to post this...things have been so busy around here. But, at last, here is my peach cobbler post!

I made this dessert for our small group party on Friday. The recipe is from Cooking Light’s 20th Anniversary Issue. It was voted the best pie/cobbler. It definitely lives up to that title! I made this recipe once last summer, and I was so glad to make it again. Oh, and you are supposed to make Bourbon-Pecan Ice Cream to go with it, but I didn't this time.

Coconut-Peach Cobbler with Bourbon-Pecan Ice Cream

ICE CREAM:

4 cups vanilla low-fat ice cream
¼ cup bourbon
¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted

CRUST:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup flaked sweetened coconut, toasted
6 tablespoons chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
½ cup evaporated fat-free milk
2 large egg yolks

FILLING:

11 cups sliced peeled peaches (about 4 pounds)
1 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of salt
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1. To prepare ice cream, combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl; cover and freeze at least 3 hours.

2. To prepare crust, lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a food processor, and pulse 2 times or until blended. Add coconut and butter, and pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine milk and egg yolks. Remove 1 tablespoon milk mixture; set aside. With processor on, slowly pour remaining milk mixture through food chute; pulse 5 times or just until blended. Press mixture gently into a 6-inch square on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes. Roll dough, still covered, to a 14 x 10-inch rectangle.

3. Preheat oven to 350°.

4. To prepare filling, combine peaches, brown sugar, 6 tablespoons flour, nutmeg, and dash of salt in a large bowl; spoon into a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Remove one sheet of plastic wrap from dough; place dough on peach mixture, pressing to edge of dish. Remove remaining sheet of plastic wrap; brush dough with reserved milk mixture. Cut 6 (2-inch) slits in dough; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until golden. Let stand 30 minutes on a wire rack. Serve with ice cream.

The recipe really isn't difficult to make, although peeling and slicing all those peaches did take a while. Here is the bowl full of peaches:

And here are the peaches after I added the rest of the filling ingredients:

Yummy! The delicious cobbler before it went in the oven:

The final product!

I didn't have my camera out at the party, but my wonderful friend Elizabeth was so kind to take some pictures for me. She took the picture at the top (the piece shot). And here we are enjoying the cobbler:

Since most of our friends were downstairs watching the hockey game, I didn't get to hear everyone's reactions. But the ladies upstairs seemed to enjoy it. Brent said his only complaint was that the peaches weren't quite ripe, so they weren't as soft or sweet as they could have been. I would agree with that. Last year when I made this, the peaches were so soft they were about a day away from rotting. And I did like that cobbler better. So maybe I will make it again later this summer. It's a perfect summer dessert for a crowd!

Here's a picture of our whole small group (minus Elizabeth who is taking the picture). I love these people!

Peach Cobbler (Caroline)

2009-05-27T06:39:00.006-04:00

On Memorial Day, we had Joelle, Dave, Lyla and Pressley and the Rexfords over for dinner. We had chicken and/or steak, corn of the cob, baked potato, fresh green salad and Peach Cobbler a la mode for dessert. I used canned peaches because I thought it would taste better than fresh. Big mistake!! If possible, I would definitely use fresh peaches. The recipe I used was from "Cooks.com".
Canned peach cobbler
1 stick of butter
1 C. flour
1 C. sugar
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 C. milk
1 large can sliced peaches, drained (I used one and a half cans and it was not enough peaches!)

Melt butter in glass loaf pan in the oven (I used 9 x 13 pan because I increased the peaches). Mix together in mixing bowl flour, sugar, baking powder, and milk. When smooth, add drained peaches. Pour on top of melted butter in pan. bake for 40 - 50 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Top should be golden brown when finished.

*Note: Recipe could not have been any easier. What I would change: Definitely use fresh peaches and more of them! Maybe 4 cups...I like more peaches and less bread!

Because it was not very peachy, I'd say everyone gave it a "B" or a "C+". The girls (Lyla and Pressley) liked the ice cream.

Chocolate Intensity (Caroline)

2009-05-19T19:00:00.003-04:00

See Joelle's post below for photos. I loved this recipe. I would definitely do it again, especially if I am trying to impress my guests. The cake was delicious although Dad and I could not eat a piece bigger than 1/2 inch wide because it is sooooo rich. Great recipe, Katie!

Fried Chicken (Caroline)

2009-05-19T18:20:00.008-04:00

By Mom Kruithof

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe (from Simply Recipes)

Ingredients

1 (3 pound) fryer (see Wikipedia on the difference between broilers, fryers, and roasting birds), cut into pieces
2 cups buttermilk
1 large onion, sliced
1/4 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs (parsley, tarragon, thyme) or a teaspoon each of the dried herbs.
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
2 cups grapeseed oil, or other high smoke-point oil such as canola oil, or peanut oil

Method

1 Soak chicken overnight (at least 8 hours and up to two days) in buttermilk with onions, herbs, paprika, and cayenne pepper. (Regarding the use of buttermilk, my mother has had good results from soaking chicken in plain yogurt instead of buttermilk.)

2 Drain in colander, leaving some herbs on chicken. In a large paper or plastic (sturdy) bag, mix flour with seasonings. Meanwhile, heat 2 cups oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet (cast iron, stainless steel, or anodized aluminum - something that can take the heat) on medium high heat until a pinch of flour starts to sizzle when dropped in the hot oil (but not so hot that the pan is smoking). Remember when working with hot oil, always have a pan lid close by.

3 Place chicken pieces in bag with flour and shake until thoroughly coated. Add chicken to hot pan and fry on 1 side for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown, and then use tongs to turn the pieces over and fry for another 10-12 minutes, again until golden brown.

Be careful to keep the oil hot enough to fry the chicken, but not so high as it burns the chicken. To do this on our electric stove we have to alternate the settings between high to medium high several times while we are cooking.

4 Use tongs to remove chicken from pan. Place on a rack over a cookie sheet or broiling pan for the excess oil to drain. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

I can't believe I am 55 years old and I have never made fried chicken before! If I had been more experienced I would have followed the directions better - at least I would not have used such huge breasts! I probably would use skinless chicken tenders so that the chicken meat would have the flavoring I peeled off when I took off the skin on our breasts! Without the skin (which I peeled off after cooking) there was no crust or spice and as a result the chicken, although very moist, was very blah. Dad gave it a "C" then changed it to a "C+" because it was so moist. Frankly, I would rather have dry with flavor than moist boring chicken!!

Week 4: Bourbon Glazed Salmon (Katie)

2009-05-15T12:47:00.014-04:00

Happy Friday, girlies! I made this salmon last night for Joy (since Brent's been out of town, it was the one night this week I actually made dinner). Here's the recipe I used:

Bourbon Glazed Salmon
Adapted from Cooking Light, September 2001

1 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons bourbon
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
Cooking spray
4 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; add salmon fillets. Seal bag, and marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, turning bag once. Remove fillets from bag. Put remaining marinade in a small pan and simmer for at least 10 minutes, reducing the sauce until it thickens.

Preheat broiler.

Place fillets on broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 11 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Drizzle some of the reduced sauce over each filet, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon onions. Serve warm.

Yield: 8 servings

I really like salmon. It's so simple! When I make it, I usually just marinade it with some raspberry or strawberry balsamic dressing and it is yummy! This was a good change though, and still pretty easy. I would definitely make it again. The only changes I made were to cut the marinade ingredients in half and to use 1/8 tsp of ground ginger instead of fresh. Oh and I didn't put seasame seeds or green onions on top.

The bad thing...I did have an abnormally tall piece of salmon, and it got a little close to the broiler. So the top got pretty scorched! Nothing that couldn't be picked off...but it didn't make for the best pictures. Here's what it should have looked like:

Fancy, huh? Here's mine:

Oops, I guess I should have had it on a lower rack...

Anyway, looks don't matter, right? It's all about the taste. My first bite, I didn't think it tasted that different from my regular marinaded salmon. You could just barely taste the brown sugar and bourbon. The original Cooking Light recipe said to throw away the marinade, but the adapted one I used had you cook and reduce the marinade into a sauce. And boy am I glad I did! That sauce was delicious! I wouldn't eat another bite without it - and a lot of it.

Here's Joy pre-first bite (ugh, check out that black top!).

We both decided that as far as salmon goes, this was delicious. For a fish recipe, I would give this 5 stars and a solid A. But out of all the main dishes in the world, it was just above average (what can I say, we're chicken people). Ratings:

Joy: 3.5 stars, B or B+ (wishy washy, huh?)
Katie: 4 stars, A-

I actually did really like this, especially with that sauce! I'd even call it one of my favorite all time seafood recipes, because really, I only have few (the raspberry balsamic salmon and I just found a catfish marniade that was really good). I'd even put this in our Best of 2009 Tastebook, and that says something!

Hope you all have a great weekend! Can't wait to see you in PA in two weeks!

Chocolate Intensity Cake (Joelle and Mom)

2009-05-14T13:57:00.007-04:00

Well, I thought I'd have a chance to get with mom so we could do this post together, but it just hasn't worked out and I don't want to waste any more time! We made our chocolate cakes for Mother's Day dinner.

Joelle's Cake:

Mom's Cake:

We both made slight changes to the recipe. I used almond extract instead of coffee because I don't care for the taste of coffee and chocolate together and since Katie said the coffee taste was a bit strong, i thought I would try this. Mom baked hers a little differently. She can edit this post to give her details but I'm pretty sure she cooked the chocolate with the butter and I know she did something different with the eggs, too.

Because of the changes Mom made our cakes had a very different texture. Mine was more fudgey and Mom's was closer to a cheesecake. They were both very good!

You can tell the different textures in the pictures below. The first cake is mine, the second is moms, which says "Happy Mom Day" on it. She tried to do as the instructions say and put some chocolate in a bag to pipe a design on top but her chocolate was too warm and kept running together. Note to self: don't put the chocolate in the microwave.

In this picture, the closest piece of cake is mine, Mom's is closer to the whipped cream and strawberry.

And here is a picture of each of us enjoying our cake.

I don't have a picture of Lyla actually tasting the cake because she was much to busy picking moms flowers with the root still attached and placing them in her rocking chair. But, she wears the evidence of her "bites" on her chin!

We talked about the "grades" we would give the cake and they pretty much both got an "A". David and I preferred mine better and Mom and Dad liked Moms -- appropriate, right? At first Dad gave mom's an A+ and then took the plus back because he said her texture wasn't what he was expecting. And mom took one bite of mine and said "Ew, I hate raspberry with chocolate" and I told her it was almond, not raspberry and she said it tasted like raspberry and wouldn't take another bite, so, I got an F from her, but I'm not counting that because obviously she doesn't have very good taste. :) But, interestingly... Dad thought mine tasted like it has raspberry in it too, whatever it was, I LOVED the taste, it was right up my alley, which is why I made it according to my taste. Either way, it was delicious.

Chocolate Intesity (Lorren)

2009-05-13T19:52:00.003-04:00

This cake was fun to make. I like that it wasn't just a dump and bake kind of cake. I used a spring-form pan and didn't really have any problem with it. It was hard to get the metal disk off the top of the cake when I inverted it and I ended up taking a chunk out of the cake, but because of the fudge-like texture, I just scraped it off the disk, dumped in on the cake and smoothed it together with a knife. You couldn't even tell it happened! I did get a little lazy at the end though and just poured the ganache over the top instead of taking the time to make it look pretty.
I also found that this was a really hard cake to take photos of! They either came out looking too light or too dark. The actual cake was hard to capture.
The first bite of this cake tasted almost like peanut-butter and chocolate. Weird, because I followed the directions exactly and used coffee. Cole said the same thing after his first bite. The second bite was pure chocolate! This was such a rich cake! I did use semi-sweet chocolate instead of bitter-sweet. This might be the reason it was SO RICH!
Cole is a chocoholic and even he had a hard time finished the whole piece! It definitely needed a full glass of milk! His rating ranged from a 5 to an 8 depending on how much he had eaten. He did have a second piece today, but just a sliver. That was about all either of us could handle at one time. It really was good, just extremely rich! I'm not a huge chocolate eater, so I'd probably give it about a 6 too. It was a great recipe, I probably would just use bitter-sweet chocolate and maybe add milk to the coffee like Katie did to try and tone it down a little bit. The texture was really creamy. I liked that a lot. When I eat a piece now, I have to eat it with milk and strawberry slices (kinda tastes like chocolate covered strawberries- Yum!)
Another note: Cole and I were both wide awake around 2 am. Not sure if that was a coincidence or the big pieces of cake we ate at midnight :) Next time I'll eat it a little earlier in the day!

Bourbon/brown sugar Salmon (Caroline)

2009-05-12T20:28:00.006-04:00

I know you will not believe it but I made my salmon tonight and it is to die for!!! Just as good as Flat Rock Grill. But I cheated...I went to Flat Rock Grill and ordered take away. Just kidding! But I did cheat. I bought the Jack Daniels Bourbon Brown Sugar barbecue sauce. I soaked my salmon in about 1/3 cup of bourbon then cooked it in the frying pan with a little of the barbecue sauce and it is soooooooooo good!!!!! I will definitely do this recipe again (Why wouldn't I...it only took minutes to make and fantastic to eat). Dad hasn't tasted his yet. I'll let you know what he thinks.
Okay, he tasted it and he gave it an A+! I did, too!

Week 3: Chocolate Intensity Cake (Katie)

2009-05-10T21:51:00.018-04:00

I made this week's assignment for Mother's Day, and it was a hit! I picked chocolate intensity cake because Brent was out of town, and I didn't think he'd miss the chocolate overload!

Here's the recipe (from Trish Boyle’s The Cake Book):
Makes one 9-inch cake

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably 62% cocoa), finely chopped
12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brewed coffee
6 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350º F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with a parchment round and butter the parchment. (If you’re using a pan with a removable bottom like a springform, make sure to wrap the pan with 2 or 3 layers of foil.)

Place chopped chocolate in a large bowl. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, stir butter, sugar and coffee until the butter is melted and mixture is boiling. Pour the hot mixture over your chopped chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute then gently stir until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs vigorously until blended. Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Slowly add about 3/4 cup hot chocolate mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly. (Tempering the eggs with a little bit of the hot chocolate mixture will prevent “scrambled eggs” when combining the two mixtures.) Add the egg mixture to the hot chocolate mixture and whisk to combine well. Strain the batter through a sieve (to catch any cooked egg bits) and then pour batter into prepared pan.

Set cake pan in a large roasting pan and fill the pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the center is shiny and set but still a bit jiggly. Transfer cake pan to a cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes.

Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Place a cardboard round on top of the pan and invert the cake onto it. Remove pan and carefully remove the parchment paper. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours before glazing with chocolate glaze. *I chilled overnight before glazing and then chilled for 2 hours more before serving. It was PERFECT!

Bittersweet Ganache
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove pan from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute then gently stir until chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth. Gently stir in the vanilla. Transfer glaze to a small bowl and cover the surface of the glaze with plastic wrap and let cool for 5 minutes at room temperature before using.

To glaze the cake:
Place the chilled cake, still on the cake round, on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Slowly pour the hot glaze onto the center of the cake. Smooth the glaze over the top and sides, letting the excess drip onto the baking sheet. Scrape the extra glaze from the baking sheet and put it in a small ziploc bag. Seal the bag and cut a tiny hole in one of the bottom corners. Gently squeeze the bag over the top of the cake to drizzle the glaze in a decorative pattern. Refrigerate the cake at least one hour before serving. *I chilled the cake overnight and LOVED the texture and flavor of it. I actually prefer to eat it straight from the fridge, nice and chilled! The texture is smooth, rich and creamy and holds up well while eating.

I made just a few little changes...I read somewhere that the cake has a strong coffee flavor. So instead of using 1/2 cup of brewed coffee, I mixed some International French Vanilla Cafe mix with 1/2 cup of milk. For the ganache, I used 4 oz of bittersweet chocolate, and 2 oz of semi-sweet. Then there were a few changes in prep (I didn't strain for "scrambled eggs"), but I mostly stuck to the directions.

Saturday afternoon I made the cake. No trouble with the batter. I set the oven timer for 35 minutes, and when I got it out, it had no "jiggle." I was so upset, thinking I baked it for too long and I should have checked it sooner...but once I took it out of the pan, it looked was just fine.

I put it in the fridge and took it out to glaze around 11:00 pm that night (so it chilled about 10 hours). I didn't have any cardboard laying around, so I used a double layered brown bag. It seemed like so much glaze, layered thick on the top. I thought it looked odd, and I was feeling pretty skeptical at this point. But I put it in a pan, covered it with foil, and back in the fridge it went.

When I got it out of the fridge, the glaze had hardened and looked a lot darker. Since my glaze didn't really "drip" down the baking rack, I used a thin knife to go around the edge of the cake. I probably could have cut this a lot nicer, but I had a crowd waiting!

We ate it chilled, right out of the fridge.

Yum yum! The end product was delicious! Very rich, but not too sweet (thanks to the bittersweet chocolate). And just the right hint of coffee. The texture was so interesting...I read some reviews that said this wasn't like a normal flourless cake, and they were right. It was dense, but it was also creamy and soft (kind of like cheesecake texture). Here's a close up:

Everyone seemed to love the cake (of course maybe they just didn't want to tell me otherwise to my face?). Garret gave it an A+, my dad asked me to send my mom the recipe...overall it seemed like a success!

My mom had another taste after the cake got to room temperature, and said it was like a completely different cake. She said it tasted sweeter, and preferred the chilled bittersweet effect. Interesting. I would definitely make this again - it was worth the effort!

Happy Mother's Day, ladies! I hope your day was glorious! Love you all!

Bread Pudding Follow Up

2009-05-10T20:44:00.010-04:00

So Brent and I went to Molly Malone's this weekend...and they changed their bread pudding! It's probably not something they make in-house, so it must change every so often. Even though it wasn't like I remembered, it was still delicious! The sauce alone was enough to make me swoon! I think there was some kind of berry in it...interesting twist. Check out these pictures:

(Notice Brent couldn't wait till I finished my photo shoot to start eating)

Now isn't that what a bread pudding should look like!?

Week 4 Assignment

2009-05-09T09:07:00.004-04:00

Hello Loves,
I hope you are not sorry you invited me into the "club". I did do the Fried Chicken, I just can't figure how to load my pictures. Since I get to choose the next recipe, my pick is "Salmon marinated with bourbon and brown sugar." It's my favorite when we go to Flat Rock Grill. Happy cooking. Love, Mom

Fried Chicken (Joelle)

2009-05-08T21:31:00.009-04:00

First of all, I'm sorry this post is so late!! I made it on time (last Friday). But didn't post right away -- Sorry!

Second of all, WHAT A MESS!! This has got to be one of the messiest foods I've ever made. And it was all my fault.

I chose a recipe I felt was pretty "classic", it was Paula Dean's recipe, and I figured if its southern and fried, Paula knows how to do it right, right?

My recipe:
Ingredients
Salt and pepper, for seasoning chicken
1 (2 1/2 pound) chicken, cut into pieces
Peanut oil, for frying
3 eggs
1/3 cup water
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
Season the chicken pieces well with salt and pepper and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.

Heat peanut oil in a cast iron skillet to 350 degrees F.

Beat eggs and water in a small bowl. In a shallow bowl, season flour with pepper. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then coat well in flour mixture. Carefully add to oil, in batches if necessary, place lid on top of skillet, and fry until brown and crisp. Remember that dark meat requires a longer cooking time (about 13 to 14 minutes, compared to 8 to 10 minutes for white meat.)

Here is a picture of my prep. Like I said before, M-E-S-S-Y!

After I had all the breading done, I heated my oil. I do not have a thermometer so I started my oil at medium heat. Once the oil was hot I added my chicken. It turned brown instantly. I pretty much only had time to snap this picture before I was worried the chicken was going to burn.

I cut the chicken open to see how well it was cooked. The chicken was only in the oil for about a minute before it turned brown so I was sure the meat would still be pretty raw, and sure enough, it was! See...

So I turned the oil down to medium low, tried the second piece and had about the same result!! At this point my plan was to cook the third piece and them put them in the oven to finish cooking. I turned the oil down to low for the third piece and it cooked PERFECTLY! So, I put the first two pieces back in and cooked them until they were cooked through. My directions said this should take about 8-10 minutes since I was cooking white meat, but I cooked them for at least 30 minutes before they were done. In the end, they turned out very well.

I served it with mashed potatoes with southern gravy (my second attempt, it was yummy, but a little thick), corn on the cob and rolls.

My happy taste testers:

Curtis (David's dad), gave it an A! He ate every bite and complimented me on the meal again the next time I saw him! I love that man!!! :)

David said the breading was really good, great flavor and gave it a B+.

I give it a B. It was good, but the next time I make it I will use boneless, skinless chicken tenders. They will probably cook faster and I'm not a big fan of skin-on, bone-in chicken -- but it is what is commonly used with your classic Fried Chicken and its what Paula uses.

The girls did not try it this time, they were already in bed. I'll give them a taste of the chicken tenders next time I try the recipe. Good pick, Lor! This is a food I plan to play with and find my perfect recipe.

Fried Chicken (Lorren)

2009-05-07T20:53:00.004-04:00

It's taken me a while to post this, but I made fried chicken last Friday night. It was not as hard as I always thought making fried chicken would be and I'm glad to have had the experience. The recipe I used was from allrecipes.com (of course!) and it was quite simple! Here's the recipe I used:

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 (4 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces
3 cups vegetable oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup milk and egg. In a resealable plastic bag, mix together the flour, garlic salt, paprika, pepper and poultry seasoning. Place chicken in bag, seal, and shake to coat. Dip chicken in milk and egg mixture, then once more in flour mixture. Reserve any remaining flour mixture.
In a large skillet, heat oil to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C). Place coated chicken in the hot oil, and brown on all sides. Reduce heat to medium-low, and continue cooking chicken until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet, and drain on paper towels.
Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the frying oil. Over low heat, stir in 2 tablespoons of the reserved flour mixture. Stirring constantly, cook about 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken stock, scraping browned bits off bottom of skillet. Stir in 1 cup milk, and bring all to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve immediately with the chicken. The chicken fried in the pan for 30 minutes (obviously not a healthy meal!) so there wasn't much work. The piece on the left above was some random piece of chicken (looked like the tail?) and had practically no meat on it, so I ended up just throwing it out. I'm not sure if people eat this or not, but it came in the package of chicken so I gave it a try. I won't use it next time.I also had to do two batches of chicken because it didn't all fit in the pan. I made this kind of late at night after Cole had hand surgery and we were impatient, so I tried making the gravy in another pan. Because of this, I didn't have the pan drippings and the gravy was not great. Cole said it wasn't that bad, but I'm not sure I'd even try it again. It probably would be a lot better if I made it exactly like the recipe said to, though, so maybe I would try it. Who knows?

The end product was delicious! I'm not a fried chicken person, but I thought it was pretty good! And Cole, who is definitely a fried chicken person, LOVED it! He gave it a 10! This means a lot coming from him! Not that he's that hard on me, but he just like fried chicken that much!Sorry I don't have any reaction photos, but, like I said, I made it late at night, so Savannah wasn't up and just had left overs the next day. And Cole was recovering from surgery so I didn't think he'd want me taking pictures of him eating his chicken in his boxers :) I'll try to have better photos next time!

Week 2: Fried Chicken (Katie)

2009-05-01T08:38:00.023-04:00

This week Lorren had everyone pick their own Fried Chicken recipe. I have a good one from the Murphin Ridge Inn cookbook, but I wanted to try something new. So I did a search on Taste Spotting and found one that looked perfect for this week.

Here's the recipe I used:

Oven Fried Chicken
Serving size – 3 medium chicken breasts

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8-10 grinds of pepper
3 medium chicken breasts
1 cup of dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder/granules
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried parsely
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10-15 grinds of pepper
1 teaspoon California chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS

In a shallow dish, like a pie plate, combine the buttermilk, ¼ tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp kosher salt, and 8-10 grinds of pepper.

Trim the chicken breast of fat. Gently pound to an even thickness. Place each one in the buttermilk mixture and let sit in the refrigerator overnight (or at least a couple hours). Make sure you use a dish that is wide enough so that all of the chicken can lie flat.

In another shallow dish, combine bread crumbs and seasonings. Stir till evenly combined. Take each breast, one at a time, from the buttermilk (leave all the buttermilk on there - no shaking it off) and place it in the bread crumb mixture. Using a spoon, cover the top with bread crumbs and press all over the surface lightly to help the crumbs adhere.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set a rack on top of the paper. Gently place each chicken breast on the rack. Make sure they aren’t touching, and put the whole thing in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on how much time you have.

Preheat the oven to 400º. Pick up the rack, remove any crumbs from the pan, and drizzle a line of olive oil where each breast will be - about a teaspoon each. Lay each breast flat on the line of oil and drizzle another teaspoon or so over the top of each one. Bake for about 12 minutes, and then turn each one over and bake another 8 minutes or so.

Here's the link to the recipe if you want to see the original post. It has some great step by step pictures.

I didn't make any changes to the recipe. I made the buttermilk mixture the night before and let it sit all night and day. The result was the most tender and moist chicken! That was definitely my favorite thing about the dish.

I also let it sit on the rack in the fridge for an hour after breading. The website said this would help the breading to adhere, and it seemed to work.

Here's the finished product:

Overall, I really liked this recipe. It was easy to make, and I had the spices and breadcrumbs on hand, so all I needed to buy was the chicken and buttermilk. My only caution would be that you really have to plan ahead when making it. Since it has to marinade overnight, and then sit on a rack 30-60 minutes before you cook it, it's not something you can throw together last minute.

As far as taste goes, it really was delicious. Like I said before, it was super moist. And the breading was very flavorful and spice-y (not spicy as in hot, but rather tasting of a lot of spices!). I actually might tone down the spices next time, but that's a preference thing. Brent loved it! I also liked that the coating wasn't too crispy like KFC...it made it easier to eat, and it seemed healthier too :) I will definitely make this again!

Brent: 5 stars, A+
Joy: 5 stars, A
Katie: 4 stars, A-

I know this post is supposed to be about fried chicken, but I can't resist throwing in a picture of our dessert. These Southern-Style Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes were delicious!

Thanks for the great suggestion, Lorren! I'm already brainstorming what to pick for next week!

Lorren's Apple Bread Pudding

2009-04-28T20:14:00.009-04:00

So, I decided to try a different recipe for bread pudding, since the first two reviews weren't great. I got a recipe for Apple Bread Pudding from allrecipes.com. Here it is:

PUDDING
4 cups soft bread cubes
1/4 cup raisins
2 cups peeled and sliced apples
1 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup margarine
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
VANILLA SAUCE
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine bread, raisins, and apples. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 cup margarine. Cook and stir until margarine is melted. Pour over bread mixture in bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Pour bread mixture into prepared dish, and pour egg mixture over bread.
Bake in preheated oven 40 to 50 minutes, or until center is set and apples are tender.
While pudding is baking, mix together sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup margarine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve over bread pudding.

I made the vanilla sauce and poured it over the whole thing for the last 20 minutes of cooking, because others had recommended it and it was starting to look a little dry in the oven. I think it made it a lot more moist. It was pretty easy to make and the verdict... not bad! It kinda reminded me of my recipe for caramel soaked baked french toast. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to fixing myself another bowl after I finish this post.

Savi was so excited about trying her hand at being a "taste-tester". It was right up her alley.Thinking about it...And wanting more! She ate about 3/4 of the bowl happily and then was done.

So ratings? I think Sav and I agree on this one. We give it 4 out of 5 stars. A letter grade of B+. Cole hasn't tried it yet, but he's a chocolate guy. My guess is he won't like it much for dessert but would love it for breakfast!

Joelle's Bread Pudding

2009-04-22T18:35:00.012-04:00

I was very excited about making bread pudding. Its a very simple recipe but I feel like everyone's tastes different! There is a restaurant in Greenville, Smoke on the Water, who makes an amazing bread pudding! It comes in little bread pudding balls and has a sauce on top. Its wonderful!

Mine was only so-so.

I used the recipe Katie listed below but added a little bit of brown sugar and I also used Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon swirl bread. I may have added too much bread. After I added the liquid to the bread I thought it seemed too soupy so I added 2 more slices of bread. I doubt it made a major difference, but I bet without the addition of the bread it would have been more custardy. I also made a Vanilla Sauce to put over top. It was basically water, sugar, corn starch and vanilla extract. It was very good and I think added a little punch to the bread pudding.

Now, my appologies... I took Beautiful, AMAZING pictures with my nice camera but can't find my camera cable to load them to the computer! Ok, so they probably aeren't beautiful and amazing, but you will never know, so I'm going to feel free to brag a little. I'm sure I'll find the cable, but I wanted to get my post up ASAP since the week will be over soon! So, please forgive my bread pudding picture, Yes, its a picture of the leftovers. I'm so embarrassed! But, give me bonus points for having pics of my DARLING girls trying the bread pudding, ok? The girls did not try the Vanilla sauce, too much sugar.

Here is Pressy just after her first bite of bread pudding.

Pressley LOVED it!! Gobbled down every bite I gave her.

And, Lyla after her first bite.

She HATED it!! She spit it out on her tray and did her sour lemon face! YUCK!!

So, our ratings (I loved that Katie gave ratings, what a great idea!).

David -- he said it was "Average", 3 stars. C. And he said he was grading a little harsh because he has big expectations. Whatever.

Joelle -- 3 stars. B-.

Pressley -- 5 stars! A+!

Lyla -- 0 stars. F-.

Pressley wants just a little more and has no problem eating straight out of the dish. Thats my girl!

I can't wait to see what Lorren has planned for us next week!

Week 1: Bread Pudding (Katie)

2009-04-22T09:33:00.002-04:00

I've been so excited to make this bread pudding and write my first post! Doing this blog together will be so fun!

I've seen a couple cooking blogs, so I think I know how this goes...First, here's the recipe Joelle sent us:

Ingredients:

6 slices day-old bread

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk

3/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3.	In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

I didn't have any trouble making the dish - very easy! The only changes I made was to use Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Swirl bread and to leave out the raisins (Brent's request). Here is a picture of the dish BEFORE I put it in the oven:

It was a little hard to tell when the bread pudding was finished. I did exactly 45 minutes, and when I took it out and tapped it, I thought it still jiggled a little too much. But I tested it with a fork, and it turned out to be just right!

I thought the dessert was delicious! Joelle, you picked the right recipe for this week! It was perfect for someone who recently got their wisdom teeth out and can still only eat soft foods :)

Here's Joy and Brent about to take their first bite...

And they loved it! After they'd finished, I asked them to give it a grade and stars...here's the verdict:

Joy: 4 stars, A-
Brent: 4 stars, A-

Now my turn...

I was a little harder critic (that's the cook's job, right?). I would probably give this 3 stars and a "B." Although I thought it was delicious, I think there are still a lot of desserts I prefer (when I can chew :). And I think I've had better bread pudding too. Brent and I went to this restaurant called Molly Malones around St. Patrick's Day and he ordered the bread pudding...now that was divinity! I think maybe it was just richer, and perhaps had a sauce over it? I will have to check when we go again.

Overall though, I would definitely make this again. As Brent said, "I was ecstatic when I got an A- in college." YUM!

Thanks again for starting this blog, Joelle! I can't wait for next week!