26 - Cherry Apple Cobbler

I LOVE a good cobbler, but for some reason I forget how easy it is to make one. Seriously, it's so simple! I saved time in the kitchen by replacing fresh, cut fruit with canned pie filling. I used a can of cherry and a can of apple, but you could use any kind you want (oooh, blueberry would be yummy!).  Serve this baby warm with a big ol' scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and you'll be a big hit!

Cherry Apple Cobbler
(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com )

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 - 21oz. can cherry pie filling
1 - 21oz. can apple pie filling

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Put butter in a 9x13 baking dish and place in oven until butter melts.

Blend together flour, baking powder, sugar, and milk.

Pour batter into baking dish over the melted butter. Spoon pie filling on top of the batter, do not stir.

Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown.

#23 - Quick & Easy Pasta Carbonara

Even though today is only the second "official" day of Summer, we are almost halfway through our Summer Break! June has basically been a blur! I have to say that it has NOT been easy to try a new recipe each week. When things get busy I'm much more likely to slip into cooking the same ole, same ole instead of taking the time to plan for something different. There's nothing wrong with tried and true recipes but for the sake of this blog and the challenge I made myself (a new recipe each week), I've got to keep going!

This one is quick and easy, hence the name... Quick & Easy Pasta Carbonara. Fifteen minutes from the stove to the table (or the countertop if you're at my house). Use any kind of pasta you have on hand. I used rigatoni.  It would also be good if you threw some frozen peas in towards the end of cooking. I might try that next time!

Quick & Easy Pasta Carbonara
Serves 4 - 6.

Ingredients

1 pound of pasta

2 large eggs

1 cup grated Italian-blend Cheese 

4 slices bacon, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; reserve 1 cup water and drain well.
• In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and cheese; set aside.
• Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes; leave about 2 tablespoon of bacon grease in the pan.
• Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low.
• Working quickly, stir in pasta and egg mixture, and gently toss to combine; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add reserved pasta water, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
• Serve immediately, topped with more cheese, if desired.

 

#18 - ASPARAGUS AND GRUYERE TARTS

I am SOOOO behind on my recipe posts! It's not that I haven't been cooking, it's that I haven't been posting! I'm going to try to pound out the posts this week to get caught up... no promises!

This recipe is SUPER easy but the finished product looks and tastes FANCY SCHMANCY!  I'm pretty sure that even someone who is not a fan of asparagus might like this one... and if they don't, more for the rest of us! My asparagus was super long, even after cutting it down, so the tarts were probably a little big but I didn't hear anyone complain! You can serve them drizzled with a yummy balsamic reduction (I made that the day before... easy peasy!).  These would be great for appetizers, for brunch, lunch, or as side dish.... or anytime, just because!

ASPARAGUS AND GRUYERE TARTS
(I got 6-8 tarts out of this recipe or you could make one big one!)
Recipe adapted from Joy The Baker

INGREDIENTS:

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed but still cold.

1 egg, beaten

2 cups finely grated gruyere cheese

1-1 1/2 pounds slender asparagus

kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper

olive oil

balsamic reduction (recipe below)

 

DIRECTIONS:

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

 

Unfold thawed puff pastry onto a lightly floured work surface.  Unfold the pastry and slice into thirds at the creases.  Cut each strip in half, creating six equally sized rectangles - I used my asparagus as a gage of how long/wide my strips needed to be.

 

Gently press each rectangle with your fingers, flattening slightly.  With a small pairing knife, score a 1/4 inch boarder along the inside of each rectangle.  Arrange 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.

 

Brush each square lightly with beaten egg. Sprinkle with salt and coarse ground black pepper.  Top with a generous sprinkling of grated cheese.  Press five to six asparagus spears into the cheese. Brush the asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle with more coarsely ground black pepper.

 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until puff pastry is golden brown and asparagus is cooked through. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with balsamic reduction.   Tarts can be stored, well wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

 

BALSAMIC REDUCTION

Recipe from PopSugar

 

All you need is a bottle of balsamic vinegar!

Pour a cup of balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring the heat to a boil without reducing the heat on the stove.

 

At this point, turn down the heat so that boil reduces to a simmer. Stir occasionally and allow to simmer until the vinegar has reduced by at least half (for a thinner reduction) or more (for a more syrupy consistency). However impatient you may be, don't try to increase the heat, unless you want to be left with a stiff, hardened mess!

 

Allow to cool and transfer to an airtight container; store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

 

 

(Recipe #18 of 52)

#16 - Cherry Chip Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Bean Frosting

It had been a long time since any cupcakes came out of my kitchen. There was a time when that was just about all that came out of my oven. A friend of mine mentioned liking cherry chip cake with vanilla frosting so I figured, what the heck... I'll give that a try! It's fun making something with someone specific in mind and a bonus when they actually like it! I also sent a bunch to work with The Hubs because his co-workers are perfect guinea pigs and the cupcakes were a hit with them too.

 

 

Cherry Chip Cupcakes
with Fluffy Vanilla Bean Frosting

Makes 22-24 cupcakes.

CUPCAKES:
1 package plain white cake mix
1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 - 10oz. jar maraschino cherries without stems, drained and finely chopped, juice reserved
1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
1 teaspoon almond extract

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners and set the pans aside.
2. Place the cake mix, yogurt, cherries, cherry juice, oil, egg whites, vanilla and almond extract in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl. Beat for 11/2 to 2 minutes longer on medium, scraping down the side of the bowl again if needed.
3. Spoon or scoop a 1/4 cup of cupcake batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it two thirds of the way full.
4. Bake the cupcakes until they are golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed with a finger, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING:
1 cup shortening, Crisco
1 - 7oz. jar marshmallow cream
2 pounds powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the frosting, place the shortening and marshmallow cream in a large mixing bowl, and blend with an electric mixer on low until creamy. Add powdered sugar, milk, salt, and vanilla bean paste, and blend until smooth. Add more milk if needed.

When cupcakes are cooled, frost generously. Top with a cherry or cherry candy if desired.

#5 - Sun Dried Tomato-Basil Cream Chicken

What can I say other than, “I love this chicken!!”?  Seriously, I’m kinda patting myself on the back for coming up with this one!  It’s super easy and SUPER delicious!

If you can’t find thin sliced chicken breasts, you can just pound out a few regular breasts (the junior higher inside me just giggle while I typed that… hee, hee).  I had to go to two different stores to find sun dried tomatoes.  They are usually with the canned tomatoes.  Sometimes you can find them dried and you just let them sit in some hot water to plump ‘em back up.

I served this with buttered penne rigate pasta and a tossed salad.  It would also be fantastic with garlic mashed red potatoes!  I had a beautiful, soft loaf of Italian bread to go with it, but I forgot about it... I see some sort of French toast in my future!  Anyway, eat up and let me know how you like it!

Sun Dried Tomato-Basil Cream Chicken

Serves: 4
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

¼ cup milk
½ cup dry bread crumbs
1 pound thin sliced skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons butter
½ tablespoon minced garlic
½ cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces sun dried tomatoes, julienned
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
½ cup parmesan; shaved
boursin cheese spread, garlic & herbs flavored
⅛ teaspoon Pepper

Instructions:

Heat skillet over medium high heat.  Place milk and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls.  Dip chicken in milk, and then coat with crumbs.
Melt ½ of the butter in skillet with garlic. Add chicken and cook about 5 min.  Add remaining butter flip chicken and cook another 5-8 min or until chicken is cooked.  Remove and set aside.
Add broth to skillet bring to boil over medium heat.  Stir in cream and sun dried tomatoes; boil and stir for 1 min.
Reduce heat, add parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons boursin cheese, basil and pepper; cook and stir until heated through.
Add the chicken back into the sauce.
Serve chicken covered in sauce and topped with 1 scoop of remaining boursin cheese.

(Recipe 5 of 52)

# 4 - Green Goddess Salad

Last month, I had lunch with my son at the Jazz Kitchen (Downtown Disney).  I had their Green Goddess Salad and have been dreaming of it ever since…

...romaine hearts, Granny Smith apples, cherry tomatoes, apple-wood smoked bacon, toasted pumpkin seeds, feta cheese, Green Goddess dressing… it was oh, so good!!  I just had to try making it at home!

I wanted to make sure my guys would still feel like they were having a “meal” and not just a salad, so I added some chicken to it, but it’s just a good without. Oh, and the anchovies… I didn't have any and refused to get any, so I made my dressing without.  I may have also "over dressed" our salad.  Add the dressing a little bit at a time until you've achieved desired coverage (the recipe makes more than enough).

  

Green Goddess Salad

inspired by Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

3-4 romaine hearts, washed and chopped
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 Granny Smith apple, diced

½ cup pumpkin seeds

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Green Goddess Dressing

1-2 Chicken breasts, cooked and sliced (optional)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss until everything is evenly coated with dressing.  Serve immediately.

Basil Green Goddess Dressing

from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Ingredients:

1 cup good mayonnaise
1 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (6 to 7 scallions)
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 teaspoons anchovy paste (optional)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream

Combine all of the ingredients except the sour cream in a food processor or blender. Blend until creamy and smooth. Add the sour cream and pulse just until blended. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Directions:

Makes about 2 cups.

(Recipe 4 of 52)

#2 - Chocolate Chip Shortbread

I have my 3-month check up with my oncologist tomorrow (Doc Onc) and I almost always take him a treat.  I guess you could call it a bribe… a clean bill of health in exchange for some baked goods.  It’s worked so far!

This time I decided to make shortbread – chocolate chip shortbread.  It’s probably not a great time of year to bring sweets to the office with people being on their New Year’s diets and all, but oh well! It’s not like I’m in there all the time with sweets (thank the Lord!!).

Anyway, after a quick search on Pinterest, I went with a recipe from Delishhh .  I pretty much stayed with the original recipe.  The only thing I did different is that I used 1 cup of mini chocolate chips instead of the 1 ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips called for.  I wanted chocolate in every nibble of cookie. 

They turned out pretty tasty.  Not real sweet.  Crispy.  Chocolaty.  Hope Doc Onc likes ‘em!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Yield: 30-2" cookies

Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

ingredients:

12 tbsp (1 & 1/2 sticks) butter, room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

directions:

Make sure the butter is room temperature and then cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour and salt.

Add the flour and salt to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed until it comes together into a dough. Add the chocolate chips and mix in.

Roll the dough into a log about 2 inches in diameter (roll it wider or skinnier depending on how big you want your cookies). Roll the log in some wax paper.

Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Slice the log into 1/4 inch slices. Place the slices on the sheet. They don't spread much, so they can be pretty close together.

Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.

Remove from the pan and cool to room temp.

Recipe #2 of 52 (keeping up so far!)

Egg Strata Cups

Happy New Year!!

This is usually the time that people resolve to start a diet, exercise, eat healthier, give up sweets… Sounds great! I plan on keeping up with my morning walks, drinking more water, and snaking less. That doesn’t mean that I’m giving up eating yummy things! Moderation (maybe I should have picked that for my “word” of 2015!).

Anyway, that being said, I’ve also decided that I would like to try at least one new recipe every week this year.  Not just sweets.  All kinds of recipes.  That’s 52 recipes in a year.  Can’t be that difficult, right?  We’ll see!

I came up with the first recipe while wanting to use up some of the stuff we had left over from New Year’s… a French baguette, fontina cheese, and Canadian bacon.  It’s one of those “put together the night before” recipes so you have to plan ahead a little, but I think I’m off to a strong start with this one!

I give you Recipe #1, EGG STRATA CUPS!!

Egg Strata Cups

(makes 6)

Ingredients

4 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

2 1/2 cups cubed bread (my baguette was a few days old and it was perfect!)

1 small tomato, seeded and diced

1 cup Canadian bacon, diced

1/2 cup fontina cheese, diced (left over from our cheese plate, so I just cut the slices into smaller chunks)

2 T chives, chopped

Instructions

In a bowl, whisk milk and dry mustard together until well blended. Add eggs, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, combine bread, Canadian bacon, tomato, cheese and chives (I used my hands to mix it all up. Get in there and get messy!).  Spray a non-stick large muffin tin with cooking spray and load with the bread mixture. If you’re fancy-schmancy and have a pop-over pan, that would work too! Pour egg mixture over bread mixture until eggs are evenly distributed. Cover with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator overnight. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-30 minutes until eggs are set. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before serving.  They’re great at room temperature and they’ll keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, if you can keep from eating them all at once!  We couldn’t (so much for “moderation”)!

You could add just about anything to your stratas… bacon, sausage, veg, any kind of cheese.  They’re SUPER easy and SUPER yummy!!  This one’s a keeper!  Enjoy!