Bourbon Chicken

Bourbon Chicken

2 lbs boneless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flecks
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp ketchup or chili sauce
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

1. Cut the chicken and set aside. Mix together all ingredients below the olive oil in a bowl. Pour mixture into a ziploc bag, add chicken and refrigerate for up to 24 hours to marinate.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add chicken to hot oil just long enough to brown the outside. Remove chicken from the pan.
3. Remove 1/4 cup liquid mixture and stir in cornstarch to dissolve. Add all sauce mixture (including the cornstarch mixture) and chicken to the pan and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Serve over hot rice.

I found this recipe when a friend recommended this recipe blog, http://busymomscookbook.blogspot.com/. It sounded good and involved ingredients I already had in my pantry which is always a plus.

The ingredients:



The sauce came together quickly. I'm nursing and can't eat spicy foods. I lower the heat by using ketchup and reducing the red pepper to 1/2 tsp.

I prepared this last Friday to use on Saturday but didn't get to use it until Sunday. It still worked fine and didn't taste too strong.

I had some difficulty getting the cornstarch to dissolve but after simmering, the lumps cooked out.

The final product: this was good. It was sweet and salty and very addictive. I will be making this again; I'll just make sure to start the water for the rice as soon as the chicken mixture starts to simmer. I underestimated how long it would take for the water to boil and ended up having to wait for quite a while.

Chocolate Peanut Blowouts

Chocolate-Peanut Blowouts

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
3/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts
3/4 cup coarsely chopped bite-sized chocolate-covered peanut butter cups (about 15)

1. Preheat oven to 350º. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in the chocolate pieces, peanuts, and chopped peanut butter cups.
2. Drop dough by generously rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until light brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Makes about 30 cookies.

I like chocolate. I like peanut butter. I thought this would be a good combination of the two flavors in a fun twist on the regular chocolate chip cookie. I found this recipe in The Ultimate Cookie Book from Better Homes and Gardens.

The ingredients:


I followed a suggestion to freeze the peanut butter cups before trying to chop them. That was a good suggestion as it made the cups cut easily without crushing like they would have normally. Even all cut up, peanut butter cups look delicious. Mmmm.

I didn't allow quite enough time for the butter to soften so when I beat it with the peanut butter I ended up with these little lumps.

The lumps were beaten out nicely, though, when I creamed the mixture with the sugars.

Here is the finished dough (sans the mix-ins). This dough included milk which I don't see that often in cookie dough recipes. It made it very light and fluffy.

All the mix-ins. I would never have thought of honey-roasted peanuts in a cookie but seeing them here got me pretty excited. That's a whole lot of goodness being stir into a yummy-smelling dough.

I had some trouble getting the mix-ins to stir in evenly. This resulted in a varied product since some cookies had a lot of peanuts and no peanut butter cups and others had lots of chocolate chips and no peanuts.

They baked up nicely. I cooked them for right around 9 minutes and 30 seconds. As usual, I misjudged the size of the cookies when scooping them out and ended up with lots of little cookies. My final count was 55 cookies and the recipe touted 30. I was still pleased though, because when you're making cookies for a crowd, small ones seem to go over better. My guess is that people don't feel as bad taking a little cookie and are more willing to try something if they don't have to commit to eating a lot.

The finished product: these were quite good. The honey roasted peanuts and the peanut butter cups really did make these special and exciting. They were a very peanutty cookie, maybe a little too heavy on the peanut side (I love chocolate) for my tastes but they went over well. Peanut-butter-based cookies tend to be on the dry side, but with the milk included in the dough, these came out as moister as any other I've tried. These would be phenomenal with a big glass of milk (maybe even chocolate milk if you're feeling really decadent). Mmmm.

Chocolate-Mint Snow-top Cookies

Chocolate-Mint Snow-top Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
6 Tbsp butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp mint flavoring
Powdered sugar

1. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small saucepan heat and stir 1 cup of the chocolate pieces over low heat until smooth; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in melted chocolate, the eggs, vanilla, and mint flavoring. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate pieces. Cover and chill dough in freezer about 30 minutes or until easy to handle.
3. Preheat oven to 350º. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are crackled. Let stand for 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Makes 42 cookies.

The ingredients (minus the vanilla which I forgot to set out for the picture):


I love melting chocolate. I think it's the smell. It might be the consistency of smooth, melted chocolate. Any recipe that involves stiring chocolate pieces around in a hot pot gets an A+ from me.

Mmmm... melted chocolate.

Here is the creamed sugar; it looks so nice and fluffy.

And here is the sugar with the melted chocolate mixed in.

This is the finished dough. It has a subtle smell of mint.

The dough had to freeze for a little bit to make workable. The recipe touts 30 minutes but I'm sure you could leave it in there for a little longer.

The cookies are all covered in powdered sugar and ready to go in the oven.

The first batch of cookies came out a little light on powdered sugar. Apparently the sugar bakes off a little. On the subsequent batches I put a heavier coating of powdered sugar and they came out looking much better.

The finished product: these cookies were pretty good. These were moist and pleasingly chewy. I always like the combination of mint and chocolate and this pairs the two flavors nicely without one overpowering the other. These look great and taste good. I'll make this again, maybe around Christmas with a nice cup of cocoa. Mmmm.

Turkey Meatball Hoagies

Turkey Meatball Heroes

1 (10 oz) box frozen spinach, defrosted in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes on high
2 lbs ground turkey breast
1 small onion, grated or finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 1/3 cups milk
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
2 rounded Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 crusty hero rolls
1 (10 oz) sack shredded Provolone cheese, 2 cups

1. Preheat the oven to 425º. Wring the spinach dry in a clean kitchen towel
2. Place the turkey in a bowl and make a well in the center. Into the well, add the grated onion and garlic, egg, bread crumbs, Parmigiano, about 1/3 cup of the milk, the spinach, salt, and pepper. Form into 16 large balls, and arrange on a nonstick baking sheet. Drizzle the meatballs with about 4 Tbsp of the olive oil, and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, or until cooked through.
3. While meatballs are in the oven, heat the butter in a small saucepot over medium heat. When melted, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the remaining 2 cups milk and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, a minute or two. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and turn the heat dowm to low.
4. Split the hero rolls in half lengthwise and scoop out a little bit of the soft bread so there is more room for the meatballs and sauce. Transfer to a baking sheet and toast in the oven cut side up, until golden brown.
5. Place 4 meatballs on each toasted roll and top with some of the white sauce and the Provolone cheese. Place back in the oven or under the broiler to melt the cheese.

My husband loves meatball sandwiches. His favorite versions normally involve marinara sauce but when I found this recipe in Rachael Ray's Just in Time, I thought it might be a fun alternative. Also I found some ground turkey breast on sale this week; score!

The ingredients (minus salt, pepper, and the extra-virgin olive oil which I forgot to set out):


Ms. Ray calls for defrosted frozen spinach in this recipe but I thought that since I already had fresh spinach around for a recipe later in the week, I could just use that. To get it meatball-ready, I steamed it. It was one of the first times I've used my steamer set that came with my pots and pans. Once again, hooray for kitchen gadgetry!

I've made this recipe before and it makes a ton. I decided to half the recipe and work from there. The only problem with this plan is that it calls for 1 egg and an egg is pretty hard to cut in half. I decided to beat the egg and just use my best guess at half of it.

When the spinach was cooked, I made sure to press out with a spoon as much of the excess water as I could. It probably wasn't as effective as the kitchen towel route that is given in the recipe but it's not as messy either.

Here is the meatball concoction right before I mixed it up. As all of the good cooks I know mix meatloaf or meatballs with their hands, I do too. I heard a crazy story about someone who tries to do it only with spoons but that sounds like a lot of needless work to me.

Here are the meatballs right before I stuck them in the oven. You will notice that even though I halved the recipe, I still have 16 meatballs. I can't find hero rolls at any of the grocery stores in my area so I just buy hoagies instead. It makes for a much smaller and more managable sandwich. You will also notice the large amounts of oil on these meatballs. You're supposed to drizzle these with 4 Tbsp of olive oil (which would be 2 Tbsp when cut in half). The original recipe also includes a red onion salad which I omit but I forgot about that and ended up using the oil meant for the salad to drizzle over the meatballs. That means I used just under double the oil I should have. Oops!

Here are the cooked meatballs. The recipe says it should take 12 to 15 minutes for the large meatballs; I cooked these smaller versions for right around 10 minutes and they came out nicely.

The sauce for this is really just your basic white sauce with a little nutmeg mixed in. I would never have thought of nutmeg on my own but the flavor combination is very interesting and fun.

My husband always thinks it's hilarious that I scoop out some of the bread out of the rolls. I'm sure you could skip this step and it wouldn't make a huge difference but I think it's kind of fun.

Mmmm... toasty rolls all ready for fixings.

I only use 3 meatballs per sandwich because that's what will fit on my rolls.

The white sauce is what makes this sandwich so moist but I've found that it you try to put too much on (mostly if it's running all over the pan instead of just sitting on your sandwich), it will just make your roll all soggy.

I can't find shredded Provolone cheese at our grocery store so I just use a couple slices per sandwich instead.

The finished product: this is one delicious sandwich. It's moist and a little messy and incredibly satisfying. This is one of the few meals my husband can consistently eat faster than me. Even my daughter liked the meatballs and ate the spinach inside without question. The meatballs were a great consistency and very flavorful with the cheese, spinach and garlic. That combination with the melted cheese really was delightful. The white sauce was really wonderful but since you can only get so much to rest on your sandwich, I served it with a dish of sauce for dipping. I think that was a good move and will definitely do that again the next time I serve these.

Caramel Apple Pudding Cake

Caramel Apple Pudding Cake

2 cups thinly sliced, peeled tart cooking apples, such as Granny Smith or Rome Beauty
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup raisins or dried cherries
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

1. Grease a 2-quart square baking dish. Arrange apple slices in the botton of the dish; sprinkle with lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Top evenly with raisins.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Add milk, the 2 Tbsp melted butter, and vanilla; mix well. Stir in pecans. Spread the batter evenly over the apple mixture.
3. In a small saucepan combine the caramel topping, water, and the 1 Tbsp butter; bring to boiling. Pour mixture over batter in baking dish.
4. Bake in a 350º oven about 35 minutes or until center is set. While warm, spoon cake, apples and caramel mixture from bottom of dish into dessert bowls. If desired, serve with ice cream.

Makes 12 servings.
Apples. Caramel. Ice Cream. Enough said. (It came out of the Better Homes and Garden cookbook.)
The ingredients:


I was making this for our small group at church so I wanted to make more than the 12 servings touted in the recipe. I decided to double the recipe and put it in a 9x13 inch baking dish. I've done this before with an apple crisp and it turned out well so I thought I'd try it again. The only issue with this tactic is that I didn't have quite enough lemon juice (which wouldn't be a problem if I kept bottled lemon juice on hand like my mother always does; live and learn). I needed 6 Tbsp for the doubled recipe and I had just over 4 1/2 Tbsp. I thought I'd chance it anyway.

Peeled apples all ready for cutting and slicing. I don't have anything fancy for coring or slicing other than a knife so it took a few more minutes than absolutely necessary.

The apples, raisins and spices looked almost good enough to bake them alone and eat just that. Mmmm... cinnamon and nutmeg.

The dry powders for the cake batter.

The cake batter all mixed together including the pecans.

The batter went fairly well over the apples. I did have just a little trouble with it wanting to stick to the spoon rather than the apples but persistency paid off in the end.

Anything that uses both butter and caramel topping has to be good. This definitely smelled the part once it started boiling.

Pouring the mixture over the batter was actually easier than with the Brownie Pudding. It seemed to hold up a little better and didn't have the tendency to form a well and dissolve a little where the stream hit the batter.

This definitely looked like something that was best served fresh and warm so I decided to transport the prepared cake to our small group leaders' house for baking. This wouldn't be the greatest idea because of the runniness of the topping but I have this super cool carrier. It protected both my lap and our van while in transit.

The final product: I wish I would have thought to take a picture of my bowl when I served it up with ice cream; I was incredible. The apples were delicious, the cake was moist, and the caramel sauce was gooey and wonderful. Doubling this recipe wasn't that difficult and only resulted in a difference in cooking times (40-45 minutes). This recipe was really all I dreamt it would be. I will definitely be making this many times again.

Favorite Oatmeal Cookies

Favorite Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate-covered raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. For oat flour, place 1/2 cup of oats in a blender or 1 cup in a food processor. Cover and blend or process until oats turn into a powder. Transfer powder to a small bowl. If using a blender, repeat with 1/2 cup more oats. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in oat flour and all-purpose flour. Stir in remaining 1 cup rolled oats, the walnuts, and raisins.
3. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack; cool.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

When I came across this recipe in The Ultimate Cookie Book from Better Homes and Gardens, I was intrigued. I like oatmeal raisin cookies and love chocolate-covered raisins. The combination could only be better, right?

The ingredients:


This recipe calls for you to make oat flour. I had never seen that in a recipe. It was fairly simple and another opportunity for me to get out my food processor. I've actually gotten quite a bit of use out of it since starting this blog. Yippee!

Midway through processing the oats, I took the cup off and shook it a little to get the chunks off the bottom (that were stuck underneath the blades). I had to do this a couple more times to make sure everything was evenly processed.

Oat flour.

The dough was a fairly standard dough up until the addition of oat flour. Since it included shortening and butter, it was very smooth and creamy.

Here is the dough after adding the flours.

After the flours are mixed in, I added the raisins, walnuts and remaining oats all at one time. I managed to sneak only a couple chocolate-covered raisins in the process.

The finished dough.

The recipe says to drop dough by heaping teaspoons. I am not the greatest at eyeballing measurements and I underestimated the size of a teaspoons. This resulted in my batch making 42 cookies instead of the touted 36. I even have a cookie spoon that I could have used to get the correct measurement but I went with my old standard of two metal spoons instead because of the stickiness of the dough.

The finished product: these are really fun cookies. The chocolate-covered raisins definitely add a new level to the standard oatmeal cookie. The chocolate and raisin aspect were awesome; the dough was average. It was a basic dough which was good as it didn't take attention away from the star: the chocolate-covered raisins. Next time I might chance it though and add just a little spice to the dough in an attempt to take these cookies from really good to spectacular.