Bruchetta Chicken

Recipe: Bruschetta Chicken

Source: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/04/bruschetta-chicken/

Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ease: 2

Taste: 4

Leftover Value: 6 (The bruschetta kept well overnight)

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Down the Drain!

This recipe made me blurt out Jim Carrey's first truth from the movie, "Liar Liar".

I've had better. 

And yes, just like Carrey's character I also had to question myself after making that statement.

I've had better?!

How, in all that is holy and pure, can any recipe louse up bruschetta?  Unfortunately, truth is truth people.  And I'll tell you nothing but the truth here.

The best part of this recipe was something that really can't be messed up: the tomatoes.  Okay, perhaps they can be messed up.  If you pick out a carton that has mushy gushy tomatoes, then your bruschetta might suffer right off the bat.

However, I meticulously turned, shook, and rolled the pints of tomatoes until I was completely satisfied with the two I purchased.

What I have determined to be the overall problem with this recipe is the lack of ingredients.  Sure, I'll admit, that when I find a recipe with less than five ingredients my heart jumps for joy and suddenly, no matter what the recipe entails, I am convinced it will be the easiest meal ever.

Here's what was needed:

Tomatoes
Garlic
Basil
Oil
Balsamic vinegar

I imagine that the quantity of the said ingredients may have also had an effect on the flavor (but I couldn't imagine putting in more than the five cloves of garlic and 16 basil leaves this recipe already called for).

Despite the fact that going into this recipe I saw five ingredients and thought of a few things I would personally want to add to it, I had to follow the unexplained notion I have to always follow a recipe exactly as it is written my first time through.

In the end, this recipe simply tasted like plain chicken topped with tomatoes.  While the tomatoes themselves were perfect, the recipe was not authentic bruschetta.  Therefore I have to say I've had, and made, better.

Capellini Caprese

Recipe: Capellini Caprese
Source: Kraft Recipes
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/capellini-caprese-111255.aspx
Time: 20-25 minutes
Ease: 1
Taste: 7
Leftover Value: 6
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

When I first got married the extent of my cooking was easy mac and pancakes.  Not together though, I promise.

I swore I would never tackle the dreaded beast known as chicken.  Anything that could potentially cause me harm if not cooked through worried me silly.  I was sure that my soon-to-be-husband and I would either starve or go broke eating out.

After over five years of marriage, we certainly aren't starving.  Quite the contrary, in fact.  (No further comment on that!)  And we try to save the eating out for desperate times.  (You know, those times when you are so hungry that the thought of having to cook in order to eat makes you want to scream and then curl up in the corner in hope that a singing magical food fairy will show up and plop a three-course meal on your lap).

Am I the only one who wishes such things?

Times like that call for a recipe that is quick, but delicious.  We can all butter bread with peanut butter and jelly, and have a meal in seconds flat, but would that satisfy the need for a good home cooked meal?

Definitely not for me.

Capellini Caprese has been the meal that I knew I could count on when I needed to make something quick in order to keep the hunger demons from coming out and possessing my entire being.

Almost everything you need you can have stocked in your pantry.

-capellini or angel hair
-Tuscan house Italian dressing (or any Italian dressing)
-1 onion
-2 cloves garlic, minced 

*(I buy a jar of minced garlic so I always have it on hand)

-grape or cherry tomatoes 

*(Okay, fresh tomatoes are great, but, I always have a can of 

diced tomatoes in the pantry and they work just as well)

-mozzarella cheese
-fresh basil, finely sliced                                                                                                 

I marinated some chicken in Italian dressing the day before, then cooked it for about 10 minutes in the broiler.  This way I was able to add a little protein to my meal, but still finish cooking in under 30 minutes,

When everything was just about ready, I tossed in the chicken to warm it up, then sprinkled everything generously with mozzarella.

It's delicious.  It's flavorful.  And no one needs to know how quickly you were able to make it.

Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes

Recipe: Moist Pumpkin Bundt Cake--Mini Style!

Source: Taste of Home

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Moist-Pumpkin-Bundt-Cake

Time: Approximately 1 hour, so long as you don't make your own pumpkin puree first.

Ease: 3

Taste: 7

Leftover Value: 10

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

By now, you know of my pumpkin puree mission and also of my pumpkin puree failure.  In a flash, here's what it looks like:

Failure photo removed for your safety.

Whew, thank goodness that's over with.  

Before the pumpkin puree failure of two days ago, I made pumpkin puree with these bad boys in mind:

And of course, there is a reason behind them as well.  I decided to make all my Thanksgiving desserts this year mini.  So I thought, 'What on earth is cuter than mini bundt cakes?"

The answer?

Nothing.  Except maybe mini cheese cakes.  Or mini trifles.  Or mini cinnamon rolls.

But more on that later.

This was the first recipe I found when looking for pumpkin bundt cake recipes.  Then I convinced myself that there had to be a better one out there somewhere.  After a very unfortunate amount of wasted time searching, I decided my first instincts had been best.

If you make this bundt cake in a regular bundt cake pan, it will take about an hour to bake.  However, in the mini bundt pan, it takes about 15 minutes per batch.

And please, whatever you do, don't forget to grease the pan on the last batch.  It isn't a pretty situation to deal with.

What I especially loved about these cakes is that they are just as good the next day as they were fresh.  In fact, I'm planning to make them again today, and then freeze them and see how they fare on Thanksgiving.

Yes, I know, I probably do not need to freeze them for the six days until Thanksgiving but I have serious leftover issues.

Please don't judge me.

The only negative, and the reason I gave them a 7 for taste, is that I felt there was something missing.  The missing elements is what I'm titling, 'The Streusel Effect'.  A streusel typically involves some kind of delightfully crumbly, buttery topping.  However, they also tend to have a cinnamon, sugar, and butter mixture hidden somewhere.

Next time I make these pumpkin bundts, my plan is to make the cinnamon-sugar-butter mixture and toss it in the middle of the batter.

I'm beside myself with excitement to see how it turns out.  

How to Make Pumpkin Puree

Until this summer when I made my Better Than Pumpkin Pie I had never made pumpkin pie before. Therefore, I also had never bought canned pumpkin and used it to make pumpkin pie.  I also never had a mental debate over whether to use canned pumpkin or real pumpkin.

After I made Better Than Pumpkin Pie, I became determined to make my own pumpkin puree to use for real pumpkin pie.

Then I decided that I liked Better Than Pumpkin Pie so much, that there was no need to search out a different pumpkin pie recipe.  Pureeing a pumpkin was still in my future though, only I now planned to use it in a pumpkin bundt cake.

This leads me to today's How To.  Sorry for all the detours.  I wish I could promise that it won't happen again.

You'll want to get yourself a few adorable sugar pumpkins.  Buy them a few weeks before you plan to make your pumpkin puree so that they can decorate your house and make you smile.

One 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree = about one and three quarters cups of puree.  Two sugar pumpkins yielded exactly that for me.

Cut the pumpkins in half.  This is the hardest part.  I wanted to cry and call hubby home from work to do it for me.  If you can make it past this point, you'll be fine.

I should say, if I can make it past this point, you'll be fine.

After cutting the pumpkins in half, scoop all their guts out and place in a small bowl.

Lightly oil a baking sheet and put the pumpkin halves face down.  You'll notice that I cut off the stem of my pumpkin.  This is not necessary.  I just like to make life difficult.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

While the pumpkin corpses are baking, grab your bowl of pumpkin guts.  Separate the seeds from the gushy innards and discard all traces of orange.  You must get every single speck of orange off or else utter calamity will befall you.

Just kidding.  But I had you worried, didn't I?  

My two sugar pumpkins yielded half a cup of pumpkin seeds.

I decided to make olive oil and sea salt pumpkin seeds.  

Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the seeds and toss lightly.

Add about one teaspoon of sea salt.  Toss lightly.

Put the pumpkin seeds to the side as your pumpkins finish up baking.

For the love of everything pure, holy, and good, let the pumpkin halves cool for five to ten minutes.  I say this because my fingers are still burning due to my impatience.

After the pumpkin halves have cooled, use a spoon to scoop the pumpkin meat off the skin.  If the pumpkin baked long enough, this should be extremely easy.

If you are anything like me you'll look at your pumpkin skin and say, "Gee, I wish I could do something more with this,"

 

And then you'll realize that trash is trash.  So, you'll put those pumpkin skins in the trash.

Puree the pumpkin meat in a blender or food processor.

When it is smooth and looks like baby food, it's ready.

Either use it immediately in pumpkin pie, pumpkin bundt cake, or anything that calls for canned pumpkin or refrigerate or freeze until you're ready to use it.

When all the excitement of pureeing the pumpkin has died down, spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the pumpkin seeds out.

Bake at 350 until they start to brown or pop off of the pan like popcorn, whichever comes first.  Mine only took about seven minutes.

Toss them in a bowl and feel unashamed as you snack on the entire thing alone.  After all that work pureeing the pumpkins, you've earned this little treat.

 

Bananas for Bread

Recipe: Sour Cream Banana Bread

Source: The Old Farmer's Almanac: Everyday Recipes

Time: Approx. 1 hr 15 min (includes baking time)

Ease: 3

Taste: 7

Leftover Value: 9

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer:  Keep it in the Strainer!

I hate bananas.  However, I say this with great woe.

I wish I liked bananas.  Of all fruit, they seem to be the heartiest and the most durable to being carried around in a purse.  But yet, I cannot eat them.  It is usually when I am extremely starving and I find them sitting on my kitchen table that I choose to give them another try.  To which I am always greatly disappointed.  Something about the aftertaste of a banana makes me wish I'd never met such a creature.

I am fortunate though.  I can bear the taste of banana bread.  So long as it is accompanied by chocolate.  Lots and lots of chocolate.

When the recipe for "Sour Cream Banana Bread" oddly did not involve chocolate at all, I substituted the 1/2 cup of chopped pecans for chocolate chips.  My initial intention was to double the called for chocolate.  However, if you know anything about the average bag of chocolate chips you know that it is approximately two cups worth.

And I just couldn't let that one cup sit alone in the bag without it's counterpart.

The bread turned out as decent as can be, all things considered.  The top of the loaf sort of sunk in as it cooled, but I've made peace with the fact that it might have been the chocolates' fault.

The taste was still delightful, much better than if it had been made with only pecans.
 

Better Butter

This is very important.  

Land O'Lakes now sells their butter in half sticks.

Wait, let me restate that.

Land O'Lakes now sells their butter in half sticks!!

From the looks of it, the fact that this news excites me either means that it doesn't take much to excite me, or I now cook so much that this news holds meaning for me.

Truth be told, it's a little bit of both.

As I went to whip up some gourmet mac and cheese, I discovered the half stick miracle.

The idea that I didn't have to cut a stick of butter in half for my mac and cheese suddenly made Land O'Lakes my favorite butter makers ever.

I'm pretty excited to see where else these tiny butter sticks will come in handy.

I'm also a little excited to try Land O'Lakes cinnamon sugar spread and their butter with olive oil and sea salt.  We'll see if I get lucky the next time I'm in the butter aisle...

Pancakes and Sour Cream?

Recipe: Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes
Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Time: 30 minutes total (includes cooking time)
Ease: 2
Taste: 5
Leftover Value: No leftovers
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Down the Drain

It was not until I reached adulthood that I discovered the delight that is sour cream.  Growing up, the only thing I knew about sour cream was that it was an essential ingredient in my mom's chicken paprika.  We never used it for anything else.  However, once I realized it actually had other uses, suddenly quesadillas, nachos, and potato skins all made sense.

Still to this day I cannot understand what it is about sour cream that makes these things suddenly more wonderful than they are on their own.  I would never crave just sour cream (and I truly hope there is not a soul out there who does) but the thought of it spread on my potato skin or mixed with salsa on a meaty cheesy bite of nacho makes my mouth start to salivate.

I have recently learned though that sour cream is not the answer to improving all foods.

Because of my gained attraction to sour cream, the recipe for "sour cream pancakes" stood out.  And since on Monday I was stuck home waiting for Hurricane Sandy to hit, I decided to give them a try.

The fact that sour cream made up about half of the combined ingredients should have been a warning sign.  To be honest, it was but I had already started making the pancakes when I realized just how much sour cream was in them:

On one end of the scale we have: 1 cup of sour cream

On the other: Approximately 9 tablespoons of other ingredients and 2 eggs

The recipe yielded nine pancakes and they were very thin.  The taste was much lighter than your average Bisquick pancake.  The problem was, even though they were clearly cooked through they still had a very wet (not moist, wet) taste about them.

If that's what floats your boat, give them a try.  But for me, I'll stick with my sour cream free box of pancakes until something better comes around.

Caffe Bene, New York, NY

I promise, I have been cooking.

If you read my other blog you know I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  I have just simply started a new job.  But I must say, I've had so many food related thoughts for posts come into my mind that I've been a little sad to not be able to share them with you.

And it just doesn't feel right cooking a meal without taking a million pictures.

Since I haven't been taking a million pictures of the things I have cooked over the last two months (Poor planning on my part!  Sorry, not perfect just yet....), I'll be starting simple by sharing with you my favorite coffee place in NYC.

Hubby and I were in NYC a few months ago.  He had a meeting to attend for work and I demanded to come along.  So while he sat in a meeting, I shopped in Times Square.

It was a little warm out, so naturally, my thirst grew.  The one piece of advice I'd like to give here is this: when your thirst grows in NYC, do not give in and run into a Starbucks!  You can do better!

Don't get me wrong, I love Starbucks, really I do!  But there is one located five minutes from my house.  So, why buy Starbucks, that I can get at home, when I'm in a city that offers a well rounded variety of possibilities in the coffee department alone?

This little place caught my eye:

and I decided I was going in.

*Confession time.  I did feel a slight pang of guilt that I would be enjoying a delicious coffee whilst hubby was sitting in his boring meeting.  However, I made up for it later.  Wait and see.

Since it was warm out, I went for a Mocha Frappe.  I felt even more guilty because this is hubby's drink of choice, not mine.  I'm typically an iced latte type of person.

But I was so glad I chose it.  It was smooth and creamy with the perfect amount of espresso throughout.  The best part?  I didn't crunch on a single speck of ice like I typically do when drinking a mocha frappe of other coffee establishments.

And, I'm not too proud to admit, it was halfway gone before I had even walked a block away.

I was in such a state of euphoria as I drank my frappe that the time flew by and before I knew it I was waiting for hubby to come out of the Nasdaq building.  Quickly, I confessed my sin of drinking without him and finished my statement by demanding that we go back after dinner.

Hubby got the Mocha Frappe and was, of course, quite impressed.  I ordered a cappuccino and was then talked into one of Caffe Bene's specialties by the girl who rang us up.

Are you ready for this?

Waffle.  Ricotta.  Fig jam (with bacon in it).  Almond slivers.  

Don't think, why?  Just think, wow.  Because it was wow.  So, so, wow!

Never would I have ordered such a thing on my own.  But I was so glad I did.

The one and only downside that I must tell you of Caffe Bene is that there is only one in NYC and only two in all of America.

That makes me a little sad inside.  

But, on the upside, it gives me reason to visit NYC more often.  And, I think I can handle that...

Better Than Pumpkin Pie

Recipe: Better Than Pumpkin Pie
Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/better-than-pumpkin-pie/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=better%20than%20pumpkin%20pie&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page
Time: 1 hour 20 total
Ease: 3
Taste: 10
Leftover Value: 10
Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Keep it in the Strainer!

Not Pumpkin Pie, BETTER Than Pumpkin Pie!

I am not a pumpkin pie lover.  In fact, I can't remember the last Thanksgiving that I ate a slice of pumpkin pie.  I always find them to be too heavy and the consistency to be too thick that after one bite I've had my fill of pumpkin taste.  (Then it's on to the chocolate desserts...)

Therefore, I've never made a pumpkin pie before.  I hear that using real pumpkin to make it can be a bit of an ordeal.  The challenge of using a real pumpkin (rather than canned pumpkin) is the only thing that ever tempts me to try my hand at making pumpkin pie.

But now I don't have to.  My good friend, Amy, who I've known a bazillion years, has a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) membership.  This means that during certain months of the year she gets a share of the local farmers crops.  I'm pretty sure this is the most awesome thing in the world.  Whatever they have a lot of that week, she gets a lot of.  And when she gets a lot, I get to share in her bounty.  Did I mention that I love Amy?

She's brought over anything from kale to collard greens, from zucchini to cucumbers, from red kuri squash to this week's butternut squash.

Amy's mom, Wendy, who I also love very much, sent over a recipe to go with the butternut squash.  It's name: "Better than pumpkin pie" had me intrigued.  I had to make it immediately.

It was everything I have always wanted in a pumpkin pie.  Creamy and light, but not lacking any of the usual flavors of pumpkin pie.  The one exception was it doesn't use any pumpkin.  Not a lick of the orange beast.  As you might have guessed, the secret ingredient in this recipe is the butternut squash from Amy's CSA crop this week.

The squash was not very big, so I thought perhaps I wouldn't have enough for the one and a half cups that the recipe called for.  I was wrong.  It was absolutely perfect.

Peeling and chopping the squash up, on the other hand, was an interesting event, one I wish I had taken pictures of.  

After the squash was chopped, it boiled in water for a few minutes.  Then all the remaining ingredients needed to be blended together with the squash.

It wasn't until I poured my batter into the pre-made pie crust that I bought at Bottom Dollar Food just for this occasion that I remembered reading or hearing somewhere that pies like such should be placed on top of a baking sheet.  I remembered this tip when I tried to pick up the pie and the filling began to shake back and forth until it spilled drastically over the sides of the crust and onto my stove top burner.  (I guess I should mention here that I chose to do this on top of my stove....not a good life choice at all).

After the pie was placed on the baking sheet everything was coming up daisies.  It baked for 50 minutes and despite all that I spilled onto my stove top, the filling was perfect.

I am definitely adding this to my desserts to make for Thanksgiving breakfast*.

 
*I just realized, I've never written about Thanksgiving breakfast.  Look for it around Turkey Day.  You won't want to miss it.

Apples and Buns

I love box mixes.  Especially ones that taste like I slaved for hours and hours in the kitchen, but in reality took about half a minute to mix together.

I had accumulated a few mixes and decided to make them all this weekend (don't worry, I had company over to eat them).  You've already heard about my awesome donuts.  I ordered two boxes of them online and decided this was the weekend to make one of them. 

The other two mixes I had never made before: Nana's Apple Cake Mix and Dove Cinnamon Roll Mix.

My friend Lisa bought me the cinnamon roll mix as a Christmas present along with two boxes of truffle fudge brownie mix.  Lisa is one of my favorite people in the world, not only because she buys me delicious treats that she knows I will love, but because she would never judge me for sitting down and eating the whole tray of cinnamon rolls all by myself.

It's a good thing I had friends to share them with, because otherwise that would be the tale I have to tell you.

They were that good.

They were also that good that they were being devoured so quickly that I had to grab one and put it in hiding for my husband who hadn't come home from work yet.

I do have to tell you that making these cinnamon rolls is not for wimps.  This was not your typical throw-some-water-in-with-the mix-and-it's-done situation.  But I loved it.  It made me feel like I was earning the credit I would receive later for how delicious they were.

And if only I had taken a picture when they were first out of the oven and not half demolished.  That would have been nice.  On the other hand, it is a testament to how scrumptious these cinnamon rolls were.

By the way, that's cream cheese frosting on there and I could eat it by the bowlful, shamelessly.

Now I'd like to introduce you to Nana's Apple Cake Mix.  This was one of those blink-and-you're-done-preparing-it mixes.  Three ingredients: chopped apples, water, and the mix.  I got a little fancy and drizzled caramel on top of my piece and then microwaved it a little.  

I'm wild, I know.

In closing, I think you should know I'm a big advocate of box mixes despite my love for making things from scratch.  After all, every girl needs a break every once in a while.

'Blah' Baked Corn Mash

Recipe: Baked Corn Mash

Source: The Orange Strainer

Time: 45 minutes total

Ease: 2

Taste: 3

Leftover Value: 2

Down the Drain or Keep in the Strainer: Down the Drain!

I gave myself a longer break than normal from posting.  I have my reasons.  After a few unsuccessful recipes, I didn't have the heart to post about my failures right away.  This recipe is one that works great when you follow the original recipe and cook it in a slow cooker, however, my rendition was just blah.  And yes, I have dubbed 'blah' to be a new cooking term.  In fact, in my recipe books, when I don't like a recipe I write 'blah' next to it.

I'm not kidding.  I seriously do that.

Here's what you need**:

1 can creamed corn
1 can frozen corn*
1 cup corn meal*
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp sugar*
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder

**Now, I know you're thinking, 'This recipe was a complete flop, why give the recipe?'.  What I want to make very clear is that this is an awesome recipe when you change three of the ingredients and throw it all into a slow cooker on low for 3 hours.  I've made it for Thanksgiving for the past two or three years and it's a hit.

So, if after reading this post, you think you'll be more successful with the slow cooker just change the items with a * to:

1 quart frozen corn
1 box (8.5 oz) corn muffin mix
2 Tbsp sugar

Now, back to the 'blah' recipe...

Start with a can of creamed corn.  I never tasted the uniqueness that is creamed corn before going with my husband.  And when I had it, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to eat corn like that.  But, it definitely works great in a recipe like this one.  The original recipe calls for a quart of creamed corn, but I never put that much in.  It is too much wet ingredient for me.

Because I was baking this, and had chosen a smaller baking dish, I used less frozen corn than normal.  Normally I will fill the creamed corn can twice.  For this recipe, I filled it once.  However, I'm positive this is not what lead to this recipe's downfall.

Toss in the frozen corn.

This is, I'm sure, what lead to the lack of flavor in my corn mash.  I used a cup of corn meal rather than a box of cornbread mix because, well, I didn't have any cornbread mix.  I realize they are two totally separate things, however, how would I really know if I didn't try?  

Pour the milk all over.

Beat the egg in a separate bowl and then pour all over.

Lightly mix the ingredients together.

Sprinkle the seasonings all over and lightly mix them in.

Top with the butter.

And bake for 45 minutes or longer.

Here is what I have to say in favor of this recipe.  If you, yourself, and yours like a good bland cornbread, this is actually pretty good.  But, if you like something that has a flair of cornbread, but is not dry and bready like cornbread, then make this in the slow cooker with the adjustments at the top and you will not be disappointed.

P.S.  Make it for Thanksgiving along with my slow cooker mac and cheese and everyone will think you've worked so hard all day long.  They'll give you just as much credit as the turkey cooker.  Then you'll smile to yourself thinking about how easy it was to make.

And feel just a little bad that you weren't the one making the turkey.