Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray


Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

These were really good dipped in the Cafe Rio Salad Dressing.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Real Italian Calzone

Found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. The filling was very good. I added peppers, olives and some other cheese there. So you can put whatever you like on you pizza.

Real Italian Calzone

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 egg, beaten


DIRECTIONS 


To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled. 


To Make Filling: While dough is rising, combine the ricotta cheese, Cheddar cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms and basil leaves in a large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl and refrigerate to chill. 


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). 


When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 2 equal parts. Roll parts out into thin circles on a lightly floured surface. Fill each circle with 1/2 of the cheese/meat filling and fold over, securing edges by folding in and pressing with a fork. Brush the top of each calzone with egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. 


Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve hot.


Somoa Bars

My boys loved these. Jacob would wake up in the morning (when I was too lazy to get out of bed) and just cut himself a piece. They don't taste exactly like somoas... but they are still delicious. I did (as the note suggests) put the chocolate on top. I just melted it and spread it over the entire top (like magic cookie bars). If you dipped the bars in the chocolate though, the short bread would probably be less crumbly. That is my only complaint, they made a big mess!


Homemade Samoas BarsCookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
First, make the crust.Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.
Topping3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)12-oz good-quality chewy caramels1/4 tsp salt3 tbsp milk10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes 30 bar cookies.
Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.

Somoa's

I personally have never made these... but they sounded really good and who doesn't love Samoas? If you try it leave a comment and let us know how it is. :)

Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Samoas January 23


Homemade Samoas (a.k.a. Caramel de-Lites)Cookies

1 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

up to 2 tbsp milk
Preheat oven to 350F.In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Topping

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12-oz good-quality chewy caramels

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp milk

8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.
While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.
Note: These cookies are fairly time consuming to make, but if you take your time and have fun with them, the results will be worth it. That said, if you want something a little bit quicker, try baking a batch of Samoas Bars instead, which require no rolling and cutting of the dough!

Alton Brown's Brownies

We don't get Food Network channel here in these apartments. And i miss it so much. I got used to watching my favorite shows about food.

You probably know the program on Food Network with Alton Brown guy - Good Eats. It was one of my favorites. On Matt's Birthday i decided to make him brownies, cause he doesn't really eat cakes (i end up eating them by myself). And this recipe got lots of reviews, so i decided to try it out.

Brownies

Soft butter, for greasing the pan (or parchment paper greased with oil spray)
Flour, for dusting the buttered pan (if you're using parchment paper skip this step)
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces melted butter
1 1/4 cups cocoa, sifted (i used just 1 cup and i had Spacial Dark Hershey Cocoa)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour, sifted 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan. 

2. In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine. 

3. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

Notes: I had to adjust baking time. I baked it for 1 hour or a little more. But a toothpick method is gonna help you to decide when to take them out. Oh, i also used 9x13 cake pan instead of the square one, cause i don't like thick brownies.

I know that it's easier just to buy a mix and bake it, but i just wanted to try something special for Matt and they did turn out really good.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Orange Thai Beef Skewers

This one is from Best Bites site. It had a really good flavor and was really easy to make.

1 orange
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 T honey
1T sesame oil
1 t ground ginger
1 t coriander
4 cloves garlic
2-4 t Sriracha chili sauce*

1 1/2 lb flank steak

Grab a bowl for your marinade. Zest your orange and add all of the zest to the bowl. Then cut the orange in half and add all of the juice as well. You should have at least 1/4 C orange juice and anything more than that is just fine. To the orange mixture, add soy sauce, vinegar, honey, sesame oil, ginger, coriander, and garlic. Then add Sriracha to your liking. I've found that once these are marinaded and cooked, the spice mellows quite a bit. I add 2t Sriracha and it's mild enough that my toddler gobbles them up. It's not even really spicey, just flavorful. So if you like heat, I'd do more like 3-4 teaspoons of Sriracha. Whisk the marinade so everything is combined.

Take the flank steak and slice it across the grain into about 1/4" slices.

When you're ready to get cookin' preheat your grill. Then take your skewers (pre-soaked if you're using wood/bamboo ones) and thread on the strips of meat, just like you're stitching.Place them on the grill. These cook really fast. Overcooked flank steak will be tough and chewy, so don't over do it! They should only take about 3-4 minutes on each side. Flip half way through.

Now these don't only cook fast, they cool fast. So get the rest of your meal all ready, set the table, gather the kids, etc. Grill these up at the last minute so you can serve them hot off the grill, literally.

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

I was pretty skeptical of this at first but it really did work and tasted pretty good. Roger and I shared the mug and had it with vanilla ice cream. Use a big mug - it gets bigger when you cook it.

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Garlic Spread

A couple of months ago they were sampling this at Costco. They used this and olive oil on noodles and it was really yummy. We bought some and have also used it for homemade garlic bread. You just make a pizza crust recipe. Roll it out like you are making a pizza crust. I then mixed melted butter and about a tablespoon of this stuff. Move the crust on to your pizza stone and brush the mixture on top. I cut it before I bake it so the breadsticks are already formed. It is one of our favorites!

Banana Cream Pie-in-a-bowl

This one's for you Marianne

Cookie Crunch(below)
1 Package (4 serving size) banana instant pudding
2 cups cold milk
3 ripe medium bananas, sliced
1 container(8oz) cool whip
Peanuts, if desired

1. Bake cookie Crunch. Make pudding mix in Large bowl as directed on package, using 2 cups milk.
2. Layer half of the Cookie Crunch, pudding, bananas and whipped topping in 2 quart serving bowl; repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Top with peanuts. Store covered in refrigerator.

Cookie Crunch:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup firm butter
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

Heat oven to 400. Mix flour and brown sugar in large bowl. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knife, until mixture is crumbly. Stir in peanuts. Press evenly on bottom of ungreased square pan, 9X9X2 inches. Bake about 15 minutes or until light brown. Stir to break up; cool completely. (To cool quickly, place in larger pan in freezer.)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Wheat Bread Recipe

Dasha wanted me to post the recipe for wheat bread I have been using. I got it off the container for the dough enhancer (Blue Chip is the brand I think) I bought. The recipe will make 4 loaves so if you want only 2, cut it in half :). I think that using the dough enhancer and the Vital Wheat Gluten make the bread not as crumbly as previous loaves of bread I have made. It seems to last a bit longer. Also, mom pointed out that yeast and salt don't interact well together. The first few times I made this recipe, it didn't rise as well. The last time I cut the salt in 1/2 and it rose like crazy. It didn't taste any different either. So here you go Dasha!!!

Blend or mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes

  • 6 Cups Warm/Hot water(120-130 degrees F)
  • 2/3 Cup Oil
  • 2/3 Cup Honey
  • 2 Tbsp Instant Yeast

Add:

  • 2 Tbsp Blue Chip Group Dough Enhancer
  • 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/3 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
  • 2 Tbsp Salt (if desired)

Blend and Knead:

Add slowly 9 Cups whole wheat flour until side of bowl is clean or mix on speed 1-2 for 8 minutes.

Shape:

Into loaf pans and let rise until double

Bake:

At 350 F for 30 - 40 minutes.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe was on Best Bites and I thought I would give it a try. It turned out delicious! I didn't refrigerate them overnight - just while we were at church and they turned out perfect. I took some over to the neighbors and they called 15 minutes later raving about them. I also made a cream cheese glaze instead of the one on the recipe. I put both so you can choose what you like. YUM! Watch out Cinnabon!

Dough
1 T active dry yeast
1/2 C warm water (105 degr F/ 40 deg C)
4 1/2 C all-purpose flour (22 1/2 oz 700g)
4 large eggs
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) real butter at room temp

Filling
1/2 C (1 stick) real butter at room temp
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1 T cinnamon

Glaze
1 C powdered sugar
2 T butter, melted
2 T milk or cream
1 t vanilla extract

OR CREAM CHEESE GLAZE
  • 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt


In the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water, allow to bloom for a few minutes, then whisk until smooth. Whisk in 1/2 C of the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.

Add the eggs, sugar, butter, and remaining 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead on medium speed until smooth 10-12 minutes. Add a bit more flour to reduce stickiness if needed.

Cover with plastic wrap, set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

While dough is rising, prepare filling. Take 2 T of the stick of butter and set aside. Beat remaining butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until combined and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute.

Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Roll out into a rectangle about 15x10 in. Spread filling onto dough and roll up length-wise.

Use string or dental floss to score and cut the dough into rolls. You can make 12 small rolls, 10 medium ones, or 8 large. Place cut side up in baking dish. Melt the reserved 2 T butter and brush on top of rolls. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.

The next morning remove from refrigerator and let rise until half again as high, about 1 hour. While rising mix glaze ingredients until combined. Preheat the oven to 350. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Spread the glaze over warm rolls and serve.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes

We like pancakes in the morning. I like to try new recipes of pancakes, so Emma doesn't get bored of the same ones.  These pancakes are really good. 

Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes
makes 8

1 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
pinch salt
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Combine ricotta, milk, egg yolks, and vanilla in a separate bowl. 

Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until stiff. Add the dry ingredients to the ricotta and milk mixture, stirring gently until just combined. Whisk in a small amount of the egg whites to lighten the batter, then fold in the remaining whites. 

Heat a griddle over medium-high heat, and brush the surface with butter. Use a ladle or measuring scoop (we used a 1/3 cup measure) to pour batter onto the griddle. Cook pancakes for about 3 or 4 minutes, then flip, cooking until both sides are golden brown.

Serve with your favorite syrup.