I know I didn’t come up with a dorky play-on-words title this time – it’s kind of hard to do that with some recipes. I mean, can you think of anything cutesy and catchy for coconut butter thins??? I really can’t…plus, it’s been one heck of a week and to be perfectly honest, I’m tired of thinking. So if it’s alright with you, I’ll just go with the obvious, no-thinking-required post title. Thank you.
This week, Jayne of The Barefoot Kitchen Witch chose Coconut Butter Thins. These are a really thin, crunchy, almost lacy-like cookie with bits of coconut and macadamia nuts and a little lime zest. The recipe also calls for a pinch of Coriander, but I decided to walk on the wild side and try a little curry powder in mine – very odd, yes, but it worked! Mine were also pretty salty (which I LOVED) because I used coarse sea salt- yum! These go into the oven as perfect little shortbread-looking squares, but they spread a little during baking, and come out more flattened and crisp. A nice surprise! You can really taste the lime zest, and surprisingly, you sort of forget that coconut is even in there! I couldn’t even taste it! I think these would be great as a late night snack with a cup of hot tea – they’re so dainty and crisp.
If you would like the recipe, head over to Jayne’s blog . And BE SURE to check my blog out next Tuesday because it’s MY TURN to pick the TWD recipe!!! I’m so stinking excited! Banana Cream Pie chosen by yours truly comin’ your way next week!!! Don’t miss it!
What’s for dinner this weekend? Need a good meal idea? Here’s all you’re gonna need: chicken, barbeque sauce, onions, cheese and tortillas. Have this stuff in your fridge? Good – now, do your husband (or wife…there might a few fellas reading) a big favor and make the following recipe.
Texas Chicken Quesadillas. Miiiiiiighty tasty, in my opinion. Honestly, I don’t really know what makes these “Texan” – I guess the BBQ sauce; everybody knows we Texans slather it on everything we eat…right?? Um, no, not really. But whatever – let’s just go with it for now. This recipe has been really making the rounds in the food blogosphere – and every single foodie that’s made it has just raved about it. So I thought it was about time for me to give it a whirl. I’ll just come right out and say it – these are delicious. Melt in your mouth, cheesy, gooey, spicy, sweet…DELICIOUS. I don’t even like onions, but their so nice and carmelized, they take on a new, sweet flavor that I really dig…..really, really. And drizzled with a little homemade ranch dressing, these babies are pretty hard to beat! So, if you had any doubts about your Friday or Saturday night dinner – doubt no more. Make these quesadillas. Your hard-workin’ man (or lady) will thank you – trust me.
Texas Chicken Quesadillas
-Allrecipes.com
2 TBSP of oil
1-1/2 onions sliced into rings
1 TBSP honey
2 chicken breasts, diced
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 Cup shredded Mexican cheese
8 ten inch flour tortillas
Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until they begin to caramelize. Mix in the honey and stir until it is golden brown. Remove and set aside. Place the remaining oil in the pan and add the chicken. Cook through over a medium high heat. Stir in the BBQ sauce to evenly coat the chicken. Place the chicken, onions and cheese onto a tortilla, top with the other tortilla and cook in your quesadilla maker about 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can cook them in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. ENJOY!
Ok, so you know how once I made that comment about how I have yet to find a brownie recipe as good as the boxed kind? Well, here it is. I’m thrilled. It seems like any “from scratch” brownie recipe I’ve made turns out with a thick, sugary crust on the top (yes, even Dorie’s recipes have turned out that way for me) that I always end up picking off – and it makes for a rather unsightly brownie. This recipe is perfect because you melt the sugar and butter together, thus giving you a paper-thin crust on top – which is what you want with a brownie. Yay!!
Let me just tell you – these brownies blew me away…rocked my socks off…made me wanna slap my mama (as Jess would say). They were GOOD. I took it a step further by adding a drop of peppermint extract and threw in some Andes mint chips along with the chocolate chips. Mmmm MMM! I have an undying love for all things mint/chocolate and these brownies are my new go-to “mint-chocolate-craving” recipe! I’ll probably use this brownie recipe for the rest of my life, too!
Fudgy. Chewy. Chocolatey. Minty. Need I go on? Do yourself a big favor and make these brownies TODAY!
Guaranteed Fudge Brownies
-King Arthur Flour (this is a great website with tons of recipes- check it out!)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa (regular cocoa is fine too)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups chocolate chips
*I added about 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, 1/2 cup Andes mint chips and used half of the amount of chocolate chips called for
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan
In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it’s hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.
Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.
Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9″ x 13″ pan. Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.
* I actually got the idea to make these from a fellow food blogger, but I don’t remember who. If you see this, please let me know who you are so I can give you credit! 🙂
This week’s TWD recipe was Blueberry Crumb Cake, chosen by Sihan of Befuddlement. I was really excited when I saw this week’s choice – I’ve been eyeing this cake for a while now, plus, I have a delicious-smelling “Blueberry Scone” Yankee Candle that makes me crave any kind of blueberry baked goods whenever I burn it. I try not to burn it when I know I’m having company because I don’t want someone to walk into my house thinking I’ve made them some sort of yummy blueberry treat, when I really haven’t. But this weekend worked out perfectly because I was having company and got to burn my yummy-smelling candle because I was indeed baking a blueberry treat for them! Yippee!
I had the most beautiful frozen blueberries for this cake – usually anytime I buy any kind of frozen berries, they’re all clumped together and sort of squished and not all together great-looking. But these blueberries were just perfect. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much flavor….at all. The lemon zest helped some, but not much – in fact, I couldn’t really even taste blueberries. Sad, yes, but it was still really tasty. The crumb topping is really the star of this cake – it’s buttery, slightly crunchy and sweet – I loved it! I can’t wait to try this recipe again, but with fresh blueberries or maybe some raspberries or blackberries. I give it two thumbs up!
If you want the recipe, head over to Sihan’s blog. This is a great cake and tastes best in the morning with your coffee (at least in my opinion!) – give it a try this week!
Mother Nature threw me a curve ball last week. We had been enjoying our first days of perfect Spring weather here – I was working on lots of projects outside in the sun, taking our dog on lots of walks, eating dinner al fresco…it was great; then the next week – BAM! 40 degree weather, high winds, cold rain and dark skies. Bummer. You know what they say – “If you don’t like the weather in Texas, just wait…” You can always count on Texas weather to be weird, wacky and ever-changing. So I just decided to make the best out of the situation and make a delicious, comforting tuna casserole for dinner (I love a hearty casserole when the weather is bad…makes you feel all warm and cozy). So as I was searching for recipes, it seemed like every single one went something like this: 1 can tuna, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 package noodles. Sorry, but no thanks. I needed a serious casserole for some serious weather (Not that I have a problem with condensed soups…I use them in a few things!) So I googled “no soup tuna casserole” – and actually found a few good ones! Including this one:
This was hands-down the best tuna casserole I’ve had yet! And hubby went nuts over it- he said, “I really appreciate a good tuna casserole, and this one is awesome!” That’s all a girl needs to hear, in my opnion. This came together in no time and it keeps really well in the fridge if you have leftovers. I highly recommend this casserole – it’s just perfect all around!
Tuna Casserole
8oz Spaghetti, broken into 4ths
1/2 an onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 package (or 1 small can) mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 small can sliced black olives (optional)
3 oz butter
5 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
Handful chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cans tuna, drained and flaked
Panko bread crumbs, sautéed in butter until beginning to brown
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cook spaghetti as directed on package. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Melt butter in a large saucepan and add onions and pepper. Sauté for a few minutes until beginning to soften. Add mushrooms, peas and olives. Sauté for another minute or two. Add in flour and cook for a further two minutes. Slowly stir in the stock, then the milk. Bring up to a boil until thickened, then remove from heat. Stir in parsley, tuna and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Add spaghetti to the pot and stir to coat.
Place in buttered casserole dish and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top.
Bake for ten to fifteen minutes until top is golden.
*Alternately, you can skip the bread crumbs on top and just top with additional cheddar cheese, which I like to do often.
Recipe source: adapted from Tast.ie
As you all know, yesterday was Saint Patrick’s Day (did you wear your green???). This holiday doesn’t really mean much to me (although it probably should, since I have a good chunk of Irish in me) and I don’t normally do anything to celebrate it except for pinching my hubby for not wearing green…hehe. In fact, I didn’t even have a single “Irish festivity” or dish planned for the occasion…until I saw this recipe for Shepherd’s Pie on one of my absolute favorite food blogs, For the Love of Cooking (apparently a lot of people like to make this dish on St. Patrick’s Day). Honestly, I’ve never really been “attracted” to shepherd’s pie…it never really looked appetizing to me – until yesterday. This recipe and the great-looking pictures really made me think twice about whether or not I wanted to try it. Amazingly enough, I happened to have all the ingredients I needed for it and I thought, “oh.. what the heck!” and set out to make my first shepherd’s pie.
The verdict: it was really easy and absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS! Hubby and I both loved it. I think the milk, cheese, butter and sour cream in the mashed potato topping was what really made it extra special. This is one of our new favorites!
Shepherd’s Pie
-For the Love of Cooking
Mashed Potato Topping:
5-6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into thirds
1/4 cup of milk
3 tbsp sour cream
2-3 tbsp Irish garlic and herb butter (or regular butter)
1/2 cup Irish extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
Boil a large pot of water. Peel the potatoes and cut into thirds. Boil the potatoes for 10-12 minutes or until fork tender. Drain potatoes and place back into the pan. Add the milk, sour cream, butter, cheddar cheese, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper then mash with a masher or blend with a mixer until creamy and smooth. Cover with a lid and set aside.
Meat Filling and Sauce:
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced (I didn’t have onion so I just used onion powder)
2 large carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I used garlic powder)
1 1/2 lbs of lean ground beef
1-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce (I doubled this)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp Irish garlic and herb butter (or regular butter)
2 tbsp flour
1 1/4 cup beef broth (I only had chicken broth, but it worked really well!)
While the potatoes are cooking, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery then cook until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the lean ground beef and cook thoroughly. Add the salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
Once the beef is done cooking, mix the peas into the mixture until well combined. Pour the beef filling into a large baking dish and set aside. In the same skillet over medium heat, add the 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour. Mix thoroughly then slowly add the beef broth. Season with sea salt and pepper (I also added a few shakes of Worcestershire). Pour the sauce over the beef mixture and mix thoroughly. Top the beef and vegetable mixture with the mashed potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy.
According to Dorie, this cake is as French as it gets. Apparently over in Paris, no person’s cooking repertoire is complete without this type of cake. Personally, I love the idea of baking something that is a favorite in people’s homes from another country and culture – it makes me feel special in a way. This French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze was chosen by Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction. It’s basically a lighter pound cake flavored with fresh lemon zest and topped with a lemon marmalade. Unfortunately, none of my grocery stores carry lemon marmalade, so I had to use orange. Boo. This was my first time using orange marmalade and I have quickly come to the conclusion that I don’t like it. The cake was still really good, but I just sort of scraped off the marmalade topping – bummer, because that’s probably supposed to be the best part. Honestly, this cake reminded me a whole lot of my most favoritest lemon cake – Ina’s Lemon Yogurt Cake, (but not near as good, in my opinion). I’m still really glad I tried this – I’ve been looking forward to this recipe for a long time now! I think next time I’ll try topping it with a little lemon curd…mmm, lemon curd.…..
If you want to feel really authentic and French-like, go over to Liliana’s blog and get the recipe for this cake! Perfect for Springtime!
Oops, how’d that get there?! Oh well…Izzy wishes everybody a happy St. Patrick’s Day!!
If someone asked me to make a list of my 5 favorite things in the world- my hubby, cheese and a warm plate of chocolate chip cookies would definitely be in the top 3 (not neccesarily always in that order…). My love for chocolate chip cookies is a deep and profound thing; there’s not much in life that get’s me as excited as making a big ‘ol batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I can remember when I first discovered that I was a “gooey, chewy and warm center” kind of gal- my sister and I were little girls and our Uncle Dit-Dit (that’s my uncle Steve- we called him Dit-Dit) had just moved into his first house and let us girls come over and check things out. It guess it must’ve been around Christmas, because he gave us each a cute little stocking filled with little toys and things and then he made us a batch of chocolate chip cookies. He said he liked them best with the gooey, slightly undercooked centers…so of course from then on, so did I (Honestly, I can’t believe I remember all this!). Incidentally enough, I also credit Uncle Dit-Dit for teaching me how to dunk my Oreos in milk- I can remember sitting at Nana’s kitchen table with Uncle Dit-Dit, and him showing me my very first Oreo dunk.) So, I guess I have good ‘ol Uncle Dit-Dit to thank for my being a raging cookie-holic.
I’ve tried many a chocolate chip cookie recipe – the BFCCC’s-my current favorite, Joelen’s CCC’s made with vanilla pudding, the classic Nestle Tollhouse recipe, and many others. I’m still wanting to try the famous NY Times’ recipe for “the perfect chocolate chip cookie”- that one has definitely made the rounds in the food blogging world. But lately I’ve tried the Pioneer Woman’s recipe and was really pleased. I love that it calls for coffee granules and milk chocolate chips as well as semi-sweet. I definitely left out the flaxseeds because well…flaxseed just ain’t got no place in chocolate chip cookies, in my opinion. Like I said, these were great – hubby really loved them too, but I’m still on the quest for the absolute best chocolate chip cookie…and getting closer every day!
Pioneer Woman’s Good Ol’ Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 PLUS 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 heaping teaspoon instant coffee granules
1 rounded teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 heaping cup milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons flax seed, slightly crushed with rolling pin
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a bowl, stir together butter, margarine, brown sugar, and white sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and stir together.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, instant coffee, baking soda, and salt. Add to wet ingredients in batches, stirring gently after each addition. Stir in flax seed if desired. (which it definitely was not.)
Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop balls of dough on a cookie sheet and bake 11 to 13 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and eat warm.
Big news everybody – BIG news! Last night, I had my first experience with cooking Chinese/Asian food!!! That deserves a big ‘ol freaking cookie! I know that sounds ridiculous, but for whatever reason, I’ve just never gotten around to cooking Chinese food – we usually just head over to Pei Wei or the local take-out place. But now that I’ve discovered these dishes, I think there will be a lot more Chinese food in the future! Yippee!
I’ve got a few of these type of recipes saved, but I chose this Kung Pao Chicken I saw on Pennies on a Platter recently because it has peanuts and I loooooove peanuts! It was super easy and took no time to put together. I paired it with a quick and easy recipe for Fried Rice that I found on Allrecipes.com. And voila! The perfect meal!
The sauce for this chicken was delicious and simple, and of course I loved the crunch of the peanuts. I think next time I’ll add a little more heat – maybe a little Cayenne pepper or a chopped chili- a little more “PAO”! Hehe…
Kung Pao Chicken
-Blog Chef
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” pieces)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons green onions (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
Combine chicken and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to coat. Heat sesame oil in wok (or large deep-dish skillet) over medium heat, add chicken and stir fry 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove chicken from wok.
Add green onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and ginger to the wok and stir fry for 15 seconds.
Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and add the sauce to the wok.
Return chicken to the wok and coat with sauce. Stir in roasted peanuts. Heat thoroughly. Top with additional green onions if desired and serve over white rice. (Or fried rice, in my case!)
The fried rice took about 10 minutes total – I love recipes like this! I think next time I’ll add a little oyster sauce and a tad more soy sauce – other than that, it was perfect!
Fried Rice
-Allrecipes.com
2 cups enriched white rice (I used Minute Rice)
4 cups water
2/3 cup chopped baby carrots
1/2 cup frozen green peas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
soy sauce to taste
sesame oil, to taste
Cook rice according to package directions. In a small saucepan, boil carrots in water about 3 to 5 minutes. Drop peas into boiling water, and drain. Heat wok over high heat. Pour in oil, then stir in carrots and peas; cook about 30 seconds. Crack in eggs, stirring quickly to scramble eggs with vegetables. Stir in cooked rice. Shake in soy sauce, and toss rice to coat. Drizzle with sesame oil, and toss again.
Here in Texas, the weather is about 70 degrees on average, the Bradford Pear trees are blooming again and absolutely gorgeous, people are out flying kites, walking their dogs and playing frisbee (Seriously. I live in Mayberry.) and there are mounds of beautiful, fresh lemons in my kitchen – that means Spring is finally here. Usually, I’m a winter kind of person – I love to bundle up in blankets with my hot cocoa and my hubby in front of a fire and just relax. But this winter was a little less-than-cozy…our heater sucks, so we were freezing cold from November through February. These past few days have been the first that I’ve been warm in a few months. Sad, I know. So naturally, now that the weather has warmed up, I’ve been wearing shorts and of course, making all kinds of lemon desserts. That’s where these custards come in.
Bridget of The Way The Cookie Crumbles chose this weeks’ TWD recipe – Lemon Cup Custards. I was beyond excited when I saw her choice – I love lemon and I love custard. However, these were a little too “eggy” for me….Dorie even said herself that this is a very eggy dessert and those of us who aren’t big fans of desserts like this might want to skip this week. Honestly, I thought I was going to love these and its a crying shame I didn’t. I love flan, and I thought these would be similar, but really they weren’t, in my opinion. Too bad, but I’m really glad I made them and got to try them.
Even though I didn’t care much for this recipe, it was still a delight to be using lemons again. I absolutely love the scent of fresh lemon zest – it makes the whole kitchen smell so fresh and “springy”. Now I’m dying to make this lemon cake again! I guess it’s a good thing that next week’s TWD pick is a French Yogurt Cake with lemon marmalade – can’t wait for that one!
Don’t let my opinion of these custards scare you – if you’re a fan of custard and lemon, you might love this! It’s worth a try, anyway! Head over to Bridget’s blog and get the recipe – its really easy and only uses 4 ingredients.
Now get out there and enjoy Spring! Plant some flowers, take your dog on a long walk, sit outside at night with your hubby and enjoy a bottle of wine, or bake something with lemon – that’s the best way to enjoy the weather! Gosh, I sound like a big, stinking hippy, don’t I? Oh well…guess I should embrace it…“If you’re goinggggg to Saaaan Fraaaancisco…be sure to weeeear some flowers in your haaaaaaair….” Um…sorry. Don’t know exactly where that came from.
