What's Cookin'?

Meatloaf

2011-01-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

I actually don't care much for meatloaf, never have. But, this recipe below is the by far the easiest meal ever, plus, it's the first meatloaf I could eat without gagging. It's from my mom, she swears it's the same recipe she's used forever and I swear her meatloaf growing up had some sort of tomato base to it. As usual, she is probably right as I was a bit of a drama queen when it came to eating so I probably made it out to be something awful without even trying it.

2 lbs ground beef
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
1 packet Onion Soup mix

Squish it all together until all the liquid is soaked up. Pour it into a loaf dish (no need to grease it) and pop it in the oven at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The drippings left over when done make a mean gravy if you add a little cornstarch/water mixture.

Addicting Popcorn

2011-01-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

I had this at a Christmas party last month and was pleasantly surprised because I was just grabbing a handful of plain popcorn.

1 bag of almond bark
1 large bag old dutch popcorn

Melt the whole thing of almond bark in the microwave (like 3 min)
Dump the bag of old dutch into an empty grocery paper bag
Pour the melted almond bark into the bag and shake like crazy.
Once it's all coated, spread it out on some wax paper until it's dry.

That's it. Easy and delicious!

Easy Fudge

2010-11-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

I've had very little time for keeping up these other sections of the blog, but Patrick just sent me this recipe and confirmed it is both easy AND delicious. I think he should send some of the finished product my way so I can judge for myself!

Here's the recipe:

2 packages (11.5 or 12 oz package) of choc chips (1 milk chocolate, 1 dark or semi sweet chocolate)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 or 16 oz)
3 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or peanuts(this is optional)

Combine first three ingredients in a microwaveable bowl.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
Stir everything up and add the nuts if you are using them.
Pour into a 9 by 13 pan (for thinner fudge) or a 9 by 9 pan for the ticker version shown above.

A French Treat

2010-09-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

In 7th grade I took French (and 9th grade and 10th grade). I loved that class. The teacher remains one of my all time favorites and she did her best to include cuisine into our curriculum whenever possible. One day when we showed up for class she had a baguette and a bar of chocolate. She told us it was a common snack for kids when they got home from school. A chocolate sandwich.

Now, it's rare that we have a yummy piece of bread AND a plain chocolate bar laying around our house at the same time, but when we do, you can be sure I will make this:

My guess is that true French children have fresh baguettes from the local market and some sort of savory Belgium chocolate. But, croissants leftover from one of my mom's parties and a Hershey's bar does the trick. It might seem an odd snack but it's super delish!

Deep Fried Pickles

2010-08-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Another State Fair favorite of ours. Another recreation from our party. I know, they sound disgusting...or at least I thought they did. Maybe you think they sound delish! As a side note, if you haven't already, try these at the State Fair. Only, order the ones that also have cream cheese in them. We'll have to investigate this year how they accomplished this addition.

To save myself some time, visit the onion ring recipe. Now, instead of onion slices, use pickle slices. Dredge them in the flour mixture, just the same, and then the batter, and then the Panko bread crumbs. Into the fryer, onto the paper towels, dipped in ranch.

Tedious, but another favorite from the party.

Deep Fried Snickers

2010-08-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

About five years ago the State Fair introduced their latest stick creation. Deep fried candy bars on a stick. I had to try one. If it's made with Snickers, there is a chance I will love it.

My thoughts were mediocre. While tasty, it was WAY too much breading and just fell like a brick into the bottom of my stomach.

At our State Fair party we decided to try them ourselves. Only, I suggested we just use fun size Snickers because I didn't want anyone feeling sick after trying it. The results were outstanding. I think I had four.

Ingredients
Snickers (pick your size, but the fun size worked well for us!)
1.5 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c milk
2 T white vinegar
1 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil).

Freeze your candy bars. Rock hard.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Whisk in the wet ingredients.
Coat the frozen candy bars in a thin layer of flour (or cornstarc).
Dip them in the batter, shaking off the excess but ensuring the candy bar is completely covered.
Fry until golden brown and then just a touch longer to make sure the inside is all melted and gooey.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar
Eat, repeat.

State Fair Corn Dogs

2010-08-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

We recently hosted a "State Fair Warm Up" party with our neighbors. We tried corn dogs, cheese curds, fried pickles, onion rings, and fried snickers. Some recipes worked better than others. The following was Riley's favorite (and Amy's too). Riley worked her way through two large corndogs in a matter of minutes.

Ingredients
1 c flour
2/3 c yellow cornmeal
1/4 c white sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 c buttermilk
1/2 t baking soda
2 pounds hot dogs; room temperature
cornstarch
disposable chop sticks (wooden, found in your Asian section of your grocery store)

In a bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar baking powder, and salt.
Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, buttermilk and baking soda. Mix until everything is smooth and well blended.
Pour the batter into a tall glass and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.
Pat the dogs dry and coat them in a thin layer of cornstarch.
Insert a chopstick into each dog, leaving about 1/2 inch at the top.
Heat the oil to 365
Dip the dogs into the batter a couple times for a nice thick coating of batter.
Place in the fryer. The longer sticks should serve nicely when you want to flip them around (since they will stick out of the oil).
Drain on a paper towel and serve!

Onion Rings

2010-08-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

I've recently decided that onion rings might be one of my favorite foods. But, I'm very picky about them. I don't like them too thick, or too greasy. We have made the following recipe a few times and these onion rings are my absolute favorite.

Ingredients
Yellow Onion, sliced into rings (you decide the thickness)
1 1/4 cups flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
Italian flavor Panko bread crumbs (the Panko part is mandatory)
fryer

Heat the fryer up to 365 degrees.
In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
Dip the onion slices into the flour mixture until they are all coated, set aside.
Whisk the egg and milk into the flour mixture.
Dip the floured rings inot the batter to coat, shake off excess.
Coat battered rings in bread crumbs.
Deep fry the rings 4-5 at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove and drain on a paper towl.

Serve with ketchup or ranch, or your favorite sauce! Delicious!

Beef and Brocolli

2010-06-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

I stole this one off the internet and tried it for the first time on Tuesday. I'm sold. It's good. It's something I used to order every time at P.F. Chang's and this recipe is not far from the restaurant version.

I had to make a few changes, but I'm guessing if you follow the recipe it would only be better.

Jaden's Beef and Brocolli

1 lb (500 g) top sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced into 1/8-in (3-mm)-thick strips
11/2 lbs (750 g) broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
1 tablespoon high-heat cooking oil (I just used olive oil)
1 tablespoon minced garlic

BEEF MARINADE

1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cooking oil (again...olive oil here)
Freshly ground black pepper to season the beef

STIR-FRY SAUCE

3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry) (I had rice vinegar and used 1 tsp of this and 1 tsp of red wine)
2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)

1 In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the Beef Marinade. Add the beef and let mari- nate for 10 minutes at room temperature.

2 In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the Stir-fry Sauce.

3 In a wok or large sauté pan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add the broccoli and cover to steam for 3 minutes. The broccoli should be bright green, crisp tender and you should be able to pierce the stem with a fork. Drain.

4 Discard the water in the pan and dry the pan well. Set the pan over high heat and when hot, add the high-heat cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and fry for 15 to 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the steak strips, keeping them in one layer and fry 30 seconds. Flip the strips and fry the other side. (I did my meat in three batches to prevent overcrowding)

5 Pour in the Stir-fry Sauce and stir to combine. Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 30 seconds. Add the cooked broccoli back into the pan and toss to coat well.

I served it with plain brown rice, but some asian noodles of some sort would have been delicious!

Better Than Anything Cake

2010-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Rob's birthday was yesterday and he requested this cake for his special day. He had it at our niece's first communion party and never stopped talking about it. True to his word, it is delicious. And, best part is that it is super easy to make. Here's the recipe...excuse me while I go deliver pieces of the cake to all my neighbors so it is not sitting in my house where I will consume every last piece.

1 German chocolate cake mix
1 14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 20oz container Caramel topping
1 contatiner Cool Whip
3 Heath bars (chopped up)

Bake the cake according to the package directions. When it is done, set it aside to cool slightly and in a bowl, mix together the sweetened condensed milk and the caramel topping. Now, take the handle of a wooden spoon and poke holes into the still warm cake. About 20 holes is what I did. Now take that milk/caramel mixture and pour it onto/into the cake. I spread it around to make sure the holes were full. Refrigerate for an hour (or longer). Spread the cool whip on top and sprinkle with the Heath bars. Super easy and super delicious!

Taco Puffs/Muffins

2010-03-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

It's about time I post a new recipe on here. I cannot take any credit for the creation of these delicacies. My neighbor found them in some random magazine, and they have become a neighborhood favorite. I call them Taco Puffs. She calles them Taco Muffins, and yet a third neighbor calls them Muffin Tacos. Call them what you want, but they are delicious.

You'll need:
Wonton wrappers
Taco meat
Picante sauce
Shredded cheese
Tomatoes
Olives
Sour Cream

(I skip the olives...yuck. But you get the point, whatever you would put on a taco, you should have on hand)

Brown up the meat and mix in your taco seasoning as directed. Take a mini muffin pan and stuff a wonton wrapper in there to make a little bowl. Spoon in some taco meat, cover with a tablespoon or so of picante sauce, and sprinkle with cheese. Bake these up at 350ish for 20-25 minutes. I get by with about 300 for 20 minutes. Don't want to burn the wontons.

Take them out, garnish with some tomatoes, sour cream, and whatever else your heart desires, and then eat 6 of them right in a row and decide if you should make another batch.

Which, of course, you should.

Red Lobster Copycat Crab Legs

2010-02-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite meals has always been snow crab legs from Red Lobster. I can rip through a pound of those before the rest of the people at the table can enjoy their first bite. Delicious! And, I do prefer snow crab to king crab. Also, I'm not a big fan of the claw meat. Just a little too tough for me.

Anyway, you can imagine my delight when my mom announced she had the recipe for making crab legs identical to Red Lobster's. My delight was compounded on Christmas last year when I tasted her fresh out of the oven crab legs and they were just as great as Red Lobster's. Perhaps even better since they were fresh of out of the oven and not sitting under a heating lamp waiting to be served. You're in luck because she is sharing the secret.

Red Lobster Snow Crab Legs
6 cups water
1 cup vinegar (plain white vinegar)
Old Bay Seasoning (look for a yellow/blue/red can)
Snow Crab Legs

Heat oven to 350. In a large roasting pan, combine water and vinegar. Generously sprinkle Old Bay seasoning over the surface of the water. Heat the water mixture up in the oven.
When water is warmed, place a rack over the roasting pan, lay the crab legs on the rack, and cover with the roasting pan lid (or make a cover with tinfoil). Steam the crab legs for 20-25 minutes. Remove, cool slightly, and enjoy!

We just made these last night. So good! Whip up some cheddar biscuits (recipe on the back of a Bisquick box) and there is no reason to ever go to Red Lobster again! Thanks mom!

Taco Casserole

2010-01-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

This is one of two recipes I have memorized. When Rob and I got married, my sister had everyone included in our wedding party design a quilt square for us. One of our host and hostess (my 2nd parents at the time) put the recipe for Taco Casserole on their square because I called her at least once a month to request it. Then, after we were married, I'd run down the stairs at least once a month to read the recipe off our guest bedroom quilt. I'm happy to report, I have finally memorized it.

Anyway, onto the recipe. For what it's worth, I'm not a big taco fan, yet this remains one of my favorites.

Taco Casserole

1 lb ground beef
3/4 c water
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
2 cups shredded cheese (I find regular works better than "finely" shredded)
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 pk crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9x13 pan, unroll the crescent rolls and press them onto the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake this for 7 minutes then set aside. Meanwhile, brown the hamburger in a skillet. When browned, add the water and the taco seasoning. Mix in the refried beans and remove from heat. In a seperate bowl, mix together the cheese, egg, and sour cream. Now, pour the meat mixture onto the semi-baked crescent rolls, spread it out. Put the cheese mixture on top of the meat mixture and spread to the best of your ability (never seems like enough to cover it...but it works). Bake this for 20 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving. We usually dribble a little taco sauce on our pieces.

Finding a side dish to go with this is difficult. We have settled on either Fritos (yes, that counts as a side dish in our house) or corn.

Also, I split a regular recipe into two seperate square 8 or 9 inch pans. Just divide everything in half and make two seperate pans at the same time. Before the final baking wrap one in cling wrap, then aluminum foil, then seal it in a gallon size bag and put it in the freezer. I thaw it out the night before I'm going to cook it for dinner and just cook it the same as the other (350 for 20 minutes). One night of work, two nights of dinner!

Sausage and Peppers over Pasta

2010-01-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

I'm not even going to attempt to post a picture of this dish because most pictures of food I take give me the exact opposite reaction than they should. But, trust me, this is delicious. It has now become my favorite meal. Since Tuesday was my birthday, I requested our in-house chef make this for me. I don't know where he found the recipe. Maybe he didn't find it, maybe he created it out of thin air, he's been known to do such things. What I do know is that this is absolutely delicious, and absolutely not fat free. Try it today! Or, shop for the ingredients today, and try it tomorrow. It's probably not stuff you have lying around.

I strongly encourage you to read this recipe through before you make it, as I am kind of a random recipe writer and probably have things out of order. As for measurements, well, our personal chef is more of a "visual" guy so these are his best estimates.

1 lb mild Italian sausage
1/4 c onion (whatever your favorite kind is)
1 yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 can diced tomatoes (of course fresh is always better, but a can will do)
1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
2 cloves minced garlic (we like garlic...maybe this is too much for some)
salt and pepper to taste

In one large pot, brown the italian sausage with some salt and pepper. When completely browned, remove from pot. In a seperate skillet, start heating some olive oil and garlic. Add onions to this skillet and sautee until the onions are translucent. Add the can of diced tomatoes (juice and all) and heat this all together. Meanwhile, in the large pot, start heating a bit of olive oil and throw in the peppers. We do these seperately because we like our peppers a little crisp yet browned and if we added them with the rest of the stuff, they would not get browned and might be overcooked. Add the heavy whipping cream to the tomatoes mixture and heat through. Throw the sausage back in with the peppers (in the big pot) and add the tomatoe mixture to the sausage and pepper mixture. Mix this all up and serve it over your choice of noodles. We like whole wheat thin spaghetti. We also like to serve this up with garlic bread.

Yum!

Peppermint Marshmallows

2009-12-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

These are good! For the first time in 7 years (or more) we put fresh candy canes on our tree! I know, gross! Make a mental note never to eat a candy cane off our Christmas tree because you will never know how old they are (unless you come this year...they are brand new)! And, maybe buying candy canes each year will become a new tradition because I used up most of the remainders to make these peppermint marshmallows. They are very easy and require no candy making skills. Candy making thermometers and I do not get along so this was a good thing.

GO HERE for a great tutorial and recipe!

I have added them to both my hot chocolate AND my coffee. Both tasted better because of these dainty little treats.

Chocolate Pretzel Rings

2009-12-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

Salty, sweet....what's not to love. Oh yeah, and easy!

I've gotten a little slack lately for this section of the blog not being updated. Fair enough. My friend Meggan sent me this recipe:

Preheat oven to 225
Spread aluminum foil on a pan
Get those pretzels only available this time of year that are a "O" shape
Spread them out on the aluminum foil
Place a hershey's kiss/hug/caramel fill kiss....whatever you want in the center
Bake for 2 minutes - just enough to melt the chocolate
Remove from oven and immediately push an M&M into the middle
Let cool. Peel from foil and enjoy!

Super delish and easy! Thanks Meggan!

Dump Cake

2009-11-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

Remember when I told you, here, that my style was easy and leaned towards healthy? Well, with today's post, you can forget all about that "healthy" bit. Healthy is not how I would describe this dish. Not in the least. Easy though...easy is definitley in the description.

Here's what you need:

1/2 cake mix (I think yellow tastes the best with this)
1 can pie filling
1 stick of butter

Here's what you do. Oh, and I should note, I have cut this recipe in half because that's plenty of dessert for us. But, it's traditionally made in a 9x13 pan instead of a pie plate.

Okay, on with the show.

Preheat the oven to 350

Spray a pie plate with nonstick spray and dump the pie filling in.

Now take the cake mix, and dump half of it on top of the pie filling. If you have a good eye, just guess where "half" is. If you're a nerd like me, you can calculate that half of the cake mix is 258 grams and use your kitchen scale to get an exact measurement. Save the other half for next time.

Now take that stick of butter (preferably right out of the fridge) and cut it into little pats (or is it "pads"?) and arrange them on top of the cake mix.

Then just pop it into the oven for 45-60 minutes. When the filling is bubbling and the top looks golden, it's done. Now would be a good time for me to insert a completed Dump Cake picture. But, stop searching. It won't be making an appearance today because as soon as it was done, we went over to our neighbors for game night and the dump cake went with us. No time for pictures.

Traditionally, when you do not half the recipe, a lot of people use one can of cherry pie filling and one can of crushed pineapple. Maybe that sounds more appealing to you, but I will stick with my raspberry bliss.

Godiva Chocolate Martini

2009-11-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

I didn't take that picture. I'm not a photographer, that's my sister's job. And someday, when I figure out how to make millions by keeping a blog, I will pay her to be my photographer. In the meantime, I'm going to legally steal images that I find on the internet.

Why? Because doesn't that look yummy? It is. Trust me! Or, stop on by and I'll make you one. They are delicious. Smooth as chocolate milk and just as easy to consume. Just ask my mom. There is a funny story there and I'll happily tell you over a chocolate martini someday!

Here's the recipe:

1.5 shots Godiva chocolate liqueur

1.5 shots Creme de Cocoa

1/2 shot vodka

2.5 shots Half n' Half

Pour all the above into a shaker and shake it up. Pour it into a glass, drink, and repeat. But, remember to get up and walk around a bit inbetween each martini...right mom?

Peppered Steak

2009-11-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe that Rob brought to the marriage. We make it all the time. Especially when our garden is spitting out all those peppers and tomatoes. Also, because I was getting free stew meat from Target about 6 months ago and I have enough, in the freezer, to last us a lifetime.

Ingredients

1 lb stew meat
1/4 c worchestershire sauce
1/2 c beef broth
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 green pepper, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1 tomato, sliced into pieces
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
salt, pepper

Brown the meat in a large skillet with the garlic, salt, and pepper. Once the meat is browned, add the worchestershire and beef broth. Once that reaches a boil, pour everything into a crockpot set on low. I usually start this around 1pm and we eat at 6pm....do what works for you.

Right before dinner, transfer the goodness back into the skillet. Add the pepper. Bring to a boil . Mix the cornstarch and water and pour it, while stiring, into the meat mixture. Continue this process until the sauce reaches your desired thickness. Add the tomato last. I don't like mushy tomatoes, so I add them just before serving making sure they have just enough time to heat through

We serve this over brown rice. It's really great with some garlic bread too....but that's a luxury around here and only appears with this meal when I'm really on the ball.

Chipotle's Carnitas

2009-11-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

A couple people have asked me for the recipe for the Carnitas we made for the Fiesta this past summer. I posted it in the comments section there, but we have been making these pretty routinely around our house, so I thought I'd post the recipe here as well.

The Carnitas end up tasting very similar to Chipotle's carnitas, and if we ever figure out how to successfully duplicate their rice, you'll be the first to know.

Here's what you need:
•One 7lb pork butt, cut into 10 large chunks
•1 very large onion, quartered
•5 chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded & chopped, plus 3 tablespoons adobo sauce from the can
•1 tablespoon ground cumin
•1 tablespoon ground coriander
•1 tablespoon dried oregano
•1 tablespoon salt
•2 bay leaves
•2 to 3 quarts low sodium chicken broth
•2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Just so you know, it's almost impossible to find a 7 lb pork butt. Also, it's embarrassing to yell the words "Pork Butt" to the local butcher across a crowded meat section. Take it from me.

Okay, moving on. You will most likely end up with a 5 pounder at most so just adjust the ingredients accordingly.

Rob usually makes this. I spent 7 years in a food safety lab do far worse things to raw meat than just cutting it up, but still, if I can avoid it, I do.

Add the onions.

It's nice that you don't have to cut the onions much, just big chunks. You know what my super power is? Cutting onions....they don't bother me at all.

From here, you just add the rest of the ingredients right into the pot, except for the oil...save that for later. A note on the chiles, they can be found in the authentic Mexican food section of your grocery store, not the "Ortega Taco Mix" Mexican section. Take it from Rob.

A little 7.5 oz can will give you plenty of chiles.

Then just pour in enough chicken broth to cover everything up (I don't measure that part, but one super large can was enough for this one). Stir it up, cover it, and bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling, uncover it and let it simmer for 3 hours.

After only a half hour, your house will smell delicious.

After 3 hours you'll be drooling, but take this moment to heat your oven up to 450. Drizzle some olive oil (or vegetable oil) on a shallow pan. Use a slotted spoon to take out the large meat chunks and place them on the pan. With a fork, you can pull apart the meat into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Pop that baby in the oven for 20-30 minutes until it's nicely browned. The picture above is pre-oven. Just picture it slightly darker and you have post-oven.

We serve ours with a semi-tasty version of Chipotle's Lime Rice plus cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream. Whatever you happen to like. Rob makes his into tacos or burritos. I prefer the burrito bowl style.

Spooky Pumpkin Muffins

2009-10-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Just in case you need a really last minute treat to bring to a Halloween party....here you go! Grab a box of your favorite muffin mix (I used pumpkin because it seemed seasonally appropriate). Once the muffins are cooled, put some ready made cream cheese frosting into a ziploc baggie. Snip off the corner and pipe on the ghosts. I raided Ellie's candy to find some mini M&Ms for the eys, but chocolate chips would work just as well.

Happy Haunting!!!

Rice Meatballs

2009-10-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

I made it last night. It's easy, and it is one of the only meals that every single child eats. And EATS! This was a favorite of mine growing up (and still is) and it's not rare for Austin to match me meatball for meatball.

We always pair it with "smashed" potatoes and corn. The recipe is a bit versatile too. If you want to, substitute brown rice for the white rice. Or, ground turkey instead of ground beef...whatever floats your boat. Another reason I like this is becuase I can make it the night before or during naptime and just let it hang out in the fridge until "go time".

Rice Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1 egg
1 c rice (if you use instant rice, I find 3/4 cup is plenty)
salt, pepper, garlic salt

Mix ground beef, egg, rice, and seasoning together (use your hands...gross but effective). In a seperate bowl mix together tomato soup and water. Form about 1.5 inch balls out of the meat mixture and plop them into the tomato soup mixture. Bake at 350 for one hour, stirring half way through.

The next day, cut leftover meatballs in half, lay them on a hoagie bun, layer that with a bit of cheese (provolone, white american, etc.) throw them in the toaster oven to heat them up and for a whole new meal!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Final Installment

2009-10-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

I have narrowed it down to two cookie recipes. Both delicious for their own reasons.

Cookie Recipe #1

This is the tweaked version of the original recipe.

1c butter (softened)
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 c chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add room temperature eggs, one at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients in a seperate bowl. Make sure when you measure the flour, that you spoon it into the measuring cup instead of scooping with the measuring cup. This packs in more flour and give an inaccurate amount. Add dry ingredients slowing to butter/sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate the dough for 2+ hours. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Take the pan out, let the cookies sit on the pan for a minute or two before removing them to a cooling rack

Why I liked this cookie
It was chewy. It also remained chewy for quite some time. Days. And, of course, it was very tasty.

Recipe #2 (Patrick, this is yours +vanilla)

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (12 Oz's) semisweet chocolate chips

Cream the sugars with the butter. Add a room temperature egg, mix well. Add the vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in a seperate bowl and mix well before slowly adding them to the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on pan for a few minutes before removing to cooling rack.

Why I liked this cookie
For one, it looked prettier than #1 when it was done. It had a very crispy "outer shell" but a soft center. Not quite as chewy as #1. However, these didn't seem to stay soft quite a long. As I've said before, that's not usually a problem around here.

And those are my picks for chocolate chip cookies.

Moving on.....

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Part III

2009-10-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Since my last cookie post, I've had a couple people send me their recipes. In addition, my friend, who works as a Principal Food Scientist enlisted the help of her whole building for suggestions. In her building, is the Cargill Bake Lab. Also, there is a guy who's title reads "Certified Master Baker". I'm not sure what the certifcation process involves but, back in the day, he made all the formulations for Mrs. Fields. I think I'm in good hands. The unanimous response from her building was that I needed to use cake flour instead of all purpose flour. It gives "shoulders" to a cookie. Today, I finally found said flour at Walmart (both Super Target and Cub were out when I tried to get it a week ago). His other sugestion was that I increase my flour by about 20% to increase my flour to fat ratio. Also, I was informed my all butter cookie is destined for failure in terms of shelf life. However, that does not concern me because none of my cookie attempts sit around this house for more than a day before we devour them.

Other suggestions included: using a convection oven (not possible for me), using a butter/margarine combination, using karo syrup or honey in place of some of the sugar (but then increase the flour to make up for the extra liquid).

Today, I just went with the substitution of cake flour, plus I added 20% more flour than I have been previously used. I'm also going to chilled the dough because that seemed to help a bit last time.

The results
They were okay. I watched them in the oven and I really thought this was going to be it. They were plumping up beautifully. But, by the time they were done, they fell flat. The taste is fine and the texture inside wasn't "cakey" which I was worried about. The outsides were a bit crispier than before, and they seems to be a tiny bit hard along the edges already.

I don't doubt that the above suggestions were accurate. I am not about to argue with a whole building of food scientists. But, it didn't create my perfect cookie. I think that second cookie batch I made (original recipe but with a chilled dough) was my best tasting so far. Perhaps I will just add a little extra flour to that recipe and see what happens. I also have, in my hands, one more recipe that is just a bit different than others I've recieved. After I try out those two options, I will pick my favorite and call it good. Too many wonderful recipes out there to get hung up on one...right?

BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad

2009-10-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

This is a quick meal. Really quick. Most of the ingredients we usually have on hand. Plus, it's versatile so even if you don't have the required ingredients on hand, you can improvise.

We stole this recipe from the Cheesecake Factory. I mean, we don't actually know their recipe, but we made ours based on theirs. And I'm guessing our final recipe is about a 1/4 of their recipe since most of their dishes designed for a single person could easily feed 2-3 people.

Anyway, onto the recipe. Here is what the Cheesecake Factory's looks like:

And then here's what you can more realistically expect your salad to look like:

I realize that second salad does not look appetizing at all, but, trust me, it is. I also have no dreams of being a great food photographer, so I will never learn how to make my food look scrumptous.

Anyway - onto the recipe.

Chicken

Lettuce (spinach, romaine, iceburg, whatever you have on hand)

Can of black beans (rinsed)

Can of corn (or bag of frozen cooked first)

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Ranch Dressing

BBQ Sauce

You can make your chicken however you prefer, or you could even just use those pre-cooked seasoned strips you can find by the deli meat. We like our chicken just a little bit crispy on the outside though, so I heat up some olive oil, toss in a tiny bit of butter. While that is getting nice and hot, I season (salt, pepper, garlic salt) the chicken, then I sprinkle a bit of flour on each side. I'm not going for the "fried" chicken effect, so it's not much flour....just enough for a tiny bit of crispiness. Cook both sides of the chicken until they are a nice golden brown.

And from here, it's really up to you and your pantry. Tonight, we didn't have a cucumber on hand, and I wasn't feeling like tomatoes. Our spinach, which we normally use (added health benefits), was looking a little sad so I went with traditional iceburg, but would have preferred romaine.

Black beans aren't normally on my list of foods I seek out, but they really add something in this salad.

Mix the ranch dressing and BBQ sauce together in a 2:1 ratio (respectively) and enjoy!