French Apple Tart

(picture above is before it's cooked)

It's another one from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook! And a darn good one too. Yesterday my sis Heidi and her roommate Brianna stopped by for dinner on their way home from Idaho. They'd been visiting our sister Amy for the 3-day weekend. So I made these teriyaki meatballs for dinner, which were really tasty, and then I'd been really wanting to try this dessert out from my new cookbook, and it did not disappoint! The crust was super flaky and delicious and the fresh tartness of the apples was so tasty. It's hard to go wrong with her recipes, because she gives very detailed specific instructions. Try it out! (Oh, and I forgot to take a picture of the whole thing after it came out of the oven and before we devoured it, so you just get one piece).

French Apple Tart
For the pastry*:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 T. sugar
12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup ice water

For the apples:
4 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup sugar
4 T. (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small-diced
1/2 c. apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam
2 T. Calvados, rum, or water (I used water)

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowls of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10-12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet with parchment paper.

Roll the dough slightly larger than 10x14 inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the apples.
Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and cores with a sharp knife and a melon baller. Slice the apples crosswise in 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place overlapping slices of apples diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with apple slices. Sprinkle with the full 1/2 cup sugar and dot with the butter.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the apples start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The apple juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the Calvados (or water) and brush the apples and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Right before I put it in the oven (not as beautiful as hers, but close):*She also says if you need to do it faster, you can use frozen puff pastry (defrosted), but you'll want to eat in an hour or two after it comes out of the oven. I made the crust and it was AWESOME!

Herb-marinated loin of pork.

So my mom gave the "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics" cookbook for Christmas and it is great! This is the first (and only) thing I've tried so far, but I've got my eye on several others. Anyway, this pork is so tasty. I've decided pretty much anything marinated/cooked in garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and herbs is delicious, so it's hard to go wrong there. This was super easy and very tasty.

Herb-marinated loin of pork

Grated zest of 1 lemon
3/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice (4-6 lemons)
1/2 c. good olive oil, plus extra for brushing the grill
2 T. minced garlic (6 cloves)
1 1/2 T. minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 T. chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Kosher salt
3 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, mustard and 2 tsp. salt in a sturdy 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the pork tenderloins and turn to coat with the marinade. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours but preferable overnight.

When you're ready to cook, build a charcoal fire or heat a gas grill. Brush the cooking grate with oil to prevent the pork from sticking. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and discard the marinade but leave the herbs that cling to the meat. Sprinkle the tenderloins generously with salt and pepper. Grill the tenderloins, turning a few times to brown on all sides, for 15 to 25 minutes (depending on the heat of the coals) until the meat registers 137 degrees at the thickest part. Transfer the tenderloins to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Carve in 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. The thickest part of the tenderloin will be quite pink (it's just fine!) and the thinnest part will be well done. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm, or at room temperature with the juices that collect in the platter.

A few things: First, I bought my pork in a pack of 2 loins, each a little over 1 pound, so I just did two. Second, I have fresh rosemary in my backyard, but I didn't buy thyme, so I used dried thyme and halved the amount. And third, we don't have a grill (yet) and even if we did it's freezing here, so I cooked my loins (haha) in the oven at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes and then I turned on the broiler to brown it on all sides. It turned out really tasty, so I guess it worked. Of course a grill would be better, but this worked out. Oh, and her picture in the book looks way more appetizing than mine. Oh well.

5 minute No-Knead Bread

Maybe one of these days I'll get back to actually posting a recipe every Tuesday. Oh well. Last night I made a delicious (if I do say so myself) beef soup/stew and I tried out this recipe for bread to go along with it. I wanted something nice and hearty and this did the trick. It had a hard thick crust and it was dense and delicious. And it really was less than five minutes to mix together. It does need to rise for a couple hours, but it was extremely easy. As for the soup, I was kind of winging it, so I'll just give you the general idea. I cooked a big chuck roast on Sunday and had gravy with it and I had a lot left over, so I (with the inspiration of my mom) used the gravy and added some water. Then I chopped up potatoes, onions, and carrots and cooked those in there and just added a bay leaf and some garlic, salt, and Worchestershire sauce to taste (and of course I chopped up the beef and added that) and it turned out really tasty! So there's an idea for you if you have leftover pot roast or some type of big piece of beef. :)

And here's the recipe for the bread. I got this from The Sisters' Cafe.

5-minute no-knead bread

1 1/2 T. yeast
1 1/2 T. kosher salt (it's coarser than table salt)
3 cups lukewarm water
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Stir together all ingredients until you have a nice thick dough (really, I just used a rubber spatula). Make sure you stir it enough that there are no dry pockets of flour left in the dough. Cover well (I used plastic wrap) and let rise for 2 hours on the counter.

Sprinkle just a little flour over the dough and divide into 4 parts. Sprinkle with a little more flour to keep your hands from sticking and form into a ball. Place seam side down on parchment paper sprinkled with a little cornmeal. Allow loaves to sit for 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone inside. Also, place a pan Also, place a shallow pan full of warm water on the bottom shelf of oven to make steam during baking. This creates a crusty exterior to the bread. (I didn't do this and mine was still very crusty). Sprinkle loaves with flour again. Using a serrated knife, make several slices across the top of the bread to allow for expansion. Lift parchment paper with loaves on top and place directly on hot stone. Place baking stone on middle shelf of oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes.

*FYI: I don't have a baking stone, but I just used a cookie sheet, and I did preheat it. Also, I halved the recipe because I didn't think we needed 4 loaves for the 2 of us. However, we did polish off 1 loaf at dinner last night. Hehe...

Tasty.....Sunday?

First off, I am feeling very inspired and uplifted after an amazing Sacrament Meeting. I went into today being more relaxed than usual for a Christmas Sunday (all you other LDS musicians know that Christmas Sunday is usually pretty busy). My choir only sang two songs (we sang one last week too) and there was only one other musical number, which was the primary. But it was so great. We had three short speakers (Jeremy was one of them) and the whole spirit of the meeting was wonderful. It was nice to not be so busy and stressed and I was able to enjoy everything a lot more. I was so pleased with my choir. We sang a simple but beautiful arrangement of "Away in a Manger" and then Mack Wilberg's arrangement of "The First Nowell" (that is the correct spelling in this version). Having been the choir director in this ward for about a year and a half now, my choir has become so musical and unified. It's so great. I was so overwhelmed in the last verse of "The First Nowell" when it says "And let us all with one accord sing praises to our heavenly Lord. That hath made heav'n and earth of nought, and with his blood mankind hath bought. Nowell, nowell.." The choir was so unified and their were just singing their hearts out and I loved every minute of it. Of course I was all teary-eyed and so were they, but somehow we managed to keep singing and it was just beautiful. Ahhh. I am fulfilled.

So, onto the treats. If you're like me, you're already on sugar overload, so you probably don't need any more recipes for sweets, but you can come back and look at this next year if you want. :) I have been baking a lot to take treats to visiting teachees, neighbors and the ward choir. In the last 5 days I have made pumpkin bread, Hello-Dollies (like 7-layer bars), snowball cookies, fudge, and English toffee. These are some of my very very favorite Christmasy treats. The great thing about all of these, well most of them, is that they are really easy and don't use too many different bowls/pans. (I hate that. If it wasn't for the dishes, I could cook and bake all day long). So, I thought I would go ahead and put all of these recipes. I know. Crazy. But I didn't post a recipe last week because I was traveling, this week I was a slacker, and next week we'll be traveling again, so there you go. Use them if you'd like; if not, I will just have them on here for my posterity. :)
Pumpkin Bread (from my Aunt Marilyn)

3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. canned pumpkin
1 1/4 c. oil
1 c. chopped nuts

Mix together first 5 ingredients. Then add the rest. Bake in 2 loaf pans at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 15 min. (I told you it was easy).

Hello-Dollies (I think from my Grandma Astle?)

1 cube butter, melted
1 c. graham cracker crumbs (I usually end up using 1 1/2-2)
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. chocolate chips
1 12-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Mix together butter and graham cracker crumbs and press into a 9x13 pan. Add the rest of the ingredients with the sweetened condensed milk last, on the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let stand 10-15 min. Cut while still warm. (Easy again).

Snowball Cookies (from my mother-in-law, Debbie Nowland)

These are so pecan-y and crumbly and delicious. Love them!

1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter
2 1/2 c. sifted flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. finely chopped pecans

Cream together butter and powdered sugar. Blend in rest of ingredients. Refrigerate dough for 1-2 hours. (Dough will be a little dry. Don't be alarmed). Roll (or squeeze/form) dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Roll in additional powdered sugar while they are still warm. Cook on cooling rack. (Again, easy).

FUDGE (Grandma Astle)

Now it starts to get harder...

4 c. sugar
2 cubes butter
1 12-oz. can evaporated milk
32 large marshmallows
2 heaping cups chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts (optional for you, essential for me)

Boil sugar, butter, and milk over medium heat. Stir constantly until it gets to a soft ball stage (use a candy thermometer, it will get to 240 degrees; it takes awhile). Pull off heat. Stir in marshmallows until melted. Add rest. Stir only until chips melt. Pour onto 9x13 pan and beat with a spoon until it is all even. Put in the refrigerator to set. (My grandma says to pour it out onto a marble slab and beat it to form it and then wrap it in small rolls in plastic wrap, but I tried this for my first batch and it didn't work so well. I found that putting it into a pan was a lot easier and then you could just cut it into little pieces. That's my two cents).

English Toffee (Debbie Nowland)
1/2 lb. butter
1 c. sugar
1 T. water
chopped almonds
3-4 large hershey bars or chocolate chips

Melt butter. Add sugar and water. Stir constantly and boil until 300 degrees is reached or it is the color of peanut butter. Pour toffee into foil lined cookie sheet. Place hershey bars on toffee and let melt. Spread and sprinkle with nuts.

We made this for the first time last year and it was a success on the very first try. This year...not as great. I don't know what we did wrong, but the butter started to separate right at the end, so there was all this extra butter when we went to pour it out. It still tasted great (well, 2 of the 3 batches we tried), but it was weird. I'm sure my mother-in-law knows what we did wrong. So, I'm definitely no expert, but maybe you'll have beginner's luck like we did last year. :)

Oh, and I couldn't end this ridiculously long post with out putting up a couple pictures of Eli from our ward Christmas party last night. Santa came and Eli got to sit on his lap. So cute!

Pecan Pie...

...a day late.I know Thanksgiving is over, but some people make pecan pie at Christmas too. This one is a major winner! It is made with real maple syrup instead of corn syrup, but it doesn't taste mapley at all. It just tastes GOOD. Here's the recipe:

Unbeatable Pecan Pie

Crust:

1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. shortening, chilled
ice water to form a dough

Filling:

2 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 c. chopped pecans*
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. real maple syrup
1/2 c. white sugar
1/3 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt

In a bowl, mix together flour and 1/2 tsp. salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in shortening until the chunks are about the size of peas. Ad ice water slowly, a little at a time, to form a dough. Don't knead, just gently bring together. Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll dough out to fit the size of a 9-inch pie plate. Fit dough in and crimp the edges. (I put it back in the fridge at this point or stick it outside or in the garage if you live in a cold state like me :)

In a heavy skillet, melt 2 Tbsp. butter over low heat. Add nuts and stir for about 5 minutes, or until nuts begin to color. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Mix together beaten egg, maple syrup, sugar, 1/3 c. melted butter, vanilla, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir in nuts. Pour filling into crust. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until filling is set. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool.

*I've made this recipe several times and just realized that I've never chopped the pecans. Oh well! It tasted great! Recipe from allrecipes.com

Chinese Chicken Salad

I decided it was time to take a break from laundry, cleaning, and packing. This week's recipe is for easy, light, and delicious Chinese Chicken Salad. I thought it would be good to post something lighter before everyone eats their weight in turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes this week. I love this salad. I just kind of throw everything in, so the amounts will vary depending on what you like, but the dressing is measured and very easy. Here you go!

Chinese Chicken Salad

lettuce (I usually use iceberg)
chopped celery
chopped green onions
slivered almonds
mandarin oranges (I just use a can)
cooked chicken, chopped
crunchy chow mein noodles

Dressing:

1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 T. sugar
1 T. soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. sesame oil*
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Mix together. Toss with salad just before serving. Yum!

*If you don't have it, you can use a little bit of creamy peanut butter. Sounds weird, but it tastes pretty good. Of course, sesame oil is best.

Creamy White Chili and Cornbread

I know I missed last week, so I thought I better do a double-wammy today. This soup comes from the "My Kitchen Cafe" blog. She has a lot of tasty recipes and this one was definitely a winner! (She also happens to be my brother-in-law's cousin). It has a little bit of a kick to it and it has tons of flavor. I've made it twice now and it was delicious both times. I also found a yummy cornbread recipe from Martha Stewart to go with it. Both were really easy and super delicious. (My picture is lame, but it really is good). Yum!

Creamy White Chili

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 (15oz.) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 (4 oz.) cans green chiles (I did one)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Makes about 6 servings. (Or 4 if you're really hungry).

Cornbread

1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. cornmeal
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Melt butter. Stir in sugar. Add eggs quickly and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into other mixture. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Bake in greased 8x8 pan at 375 degrees for 30-40 min.

Tasty Tuesday: Oatmeal Pancakes & Maple Syrup

My sister Amy makes these pancakes a lot, and up until a few weeks ago I had never made them. I don't know WHAT I was thinking! They are so delicious, and I have made them at least 5 times since then. :) What you do is make a dry mix (it makes 10 cups of mix) and then store it in a ziploc bag or something, and then every time you want to make pancakes, you just use some of the mix along with 3 other ingredients and it's so EASY! I love it. They have a great flavor with oats, cinnamon, whole wheat flour, etc. I also love how hearty they are. As a nursing mommy I often get hungry not too long after eating a meal, but these stay with me longer than any other breakfast food. And they're delicious!

To go along with these pancakes, of course you need maple syrup. Here's the dilemma in our family with store-bought maple syrup. You either get pancake syrup which is basically flavored corn syrup - which is not only very bad for you, but Jeremy is also allergic to corn syrup. OR, you pay an arm and a leg for pure maple syrup. SO...we make our own. Jeremy's family always did this growing up, and again I had never made it myself until I made this pancakes for the first time. And it is DELICIOUS! And easy. And it makes plenty so you can store it in the fridge and not have to make it every time. So without further ado, I bring you the recipes...

Oatmeal Pancakes

Mix

4 c. old fashioned oats
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. instant nonfat dry milk
3 T. baking powder
2 T. cinnamon
5 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix all ingredients together well. Store in a sealed gallon-size plastic storage bag or airtight container. Yield: 10 cups of pancake mix.

Pancakes:

2 eggs
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 c. pancake mix
1 c. water

To make pancakes, beat eggs in a large bowl. Gradually beat in oil. Alternately add pancake mix and water to mixture. Blend well. Cook. Yield: about 10-12 pancakes.

**These take some practice to cook, because they're much denser than normal pancakes. Just don't have the pan too hot and keep checking them.

Maple Syrup

2 c. sugar
1 c. water
1/2 tsp. Maple flavoring

Bring sugar and water to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Add 1/2 tsp. maple flavoring.

I told you it was easy! I just store my extra in a jar in the fridge and heat it up for the next use. Yum!!! If you want another delicious syrup recipe, go here.

Tasty Tuesday

Honey Lime EnchiladasOkay, this pictures does not do this justice, but these are seriously the best enchiladas I've ever had. I found this recipe about 2 weeks ago and I've made them THREE TIMES already. Every time I make them, Jeremy acts like Bob on "What About Bob". "Mmmm, these are soooo good". Yes, they really are that good. Anyway, I found the recipe on The Sisters' Cafe blog. As usual I will put up the recipe and add my little notes in italics. You have to try these. They are so tasty!

Honey Lime Enchiladas

1.5 lbs. chicken or pork, cooked and shredded (I've only done chicken, but I'm sure pork would be great; I always cook about 3 chicken breasts in the crockpot for awhile and then it shreds really easily)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 10 oz. cans green enchilada sauce (I usually do half of a 28 oz. can and then freeze the other half; or do a 14 oz. can if you can find it)
Equal parts mozzarella & cheddar cheese, grated (I did monterey jack one time)
8-10 flour tortillas

After chicken/pork is cooked and shredded, combine with honey, lime juice, chili & garlic powder. Let "marinate" in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Grease a 9x13 pan and pour a little bit of the enchilada sauce to coat the bottom of the pan. Fill your tortillas with chicken mixture and a little cheese. Roll up and place seam side down in the pan. Repeat. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle more cheese on top (don't be stingy). Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and then turn on the broiler for a couple minutes so it gets nice and brown. Take out of the oven and DEVOUR!!!

Seriously, the flavor with the honey and lime is just so tasty! I also managed to find an enchilada sauce that was more natural (not loaded with all sorts of icky preservatives and stuff), but of course I threw out the can and can't remember the name of the brand. So next time I get it at the store I'll let you know. I like to avoid processed stuff if I can. I also like the tortillas at Costco that you cook yourself. They're nice and thin and delicious. Anyway, these are amazing! I hope you make them soon. :)

***Also, my mom is here. Yay! We had these last night and she loved them! She got here yesterday and will be here until Friday. Heidi has a concert at BYU with the Kings Singers on Wednesday, so we're excited for that. Eli is also SIX MONTHS today! We have his check-up in an hour, so I'll be sure to post his stats sometime soon. Thanks for reading!

Zuppa Toscana and French Bread

I was in the mood for soup last week, so I was browsing through several cooking blogs/websites I usually look at, and I found a recipe for "Zuppa Toscana", like they have at Olive Garden. Yum! I've had it there before, and I remember really liking it. It's been awhile, but as far I remember, this tasted just like it. I decided if I was going to make soup, I had to make bread to go with it :), so I made Jeremy's mom's french bread. That along with some salad made it a great dinner! By the way, I halved both recipes, since there's only two of us, and it made enough for both of us to have it for lunch the next day. So if you have more than 2, you should probably do the whole recipe. Hope you enjoy it!

Zuppa Toscana
from www.stephanieskitchen.com

1 lb Italian Sausage
2 large russet potatoes, sliced in half and than sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2- 32 ounce cartons chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 bunches kale, chopped (I did a little less than this)
freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, if desired

Brown sausage in large soup pot. Remove sausage and set aside. To the pot add chicken broth, potatoes, onion, and garlic and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add cream and sausage to the pot and warm through. Add kale a couple minutes before serving. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Debbie's French Bread

2 1/4 c. hot water
1 T. yeast
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 c. flour (or more, if needed)

Sprinkle the yeast and 1 T. sugar over 1/4 c. hot water. Set aside so that the yeast can rise (just a few minutes).

Meanwhile, stir the other T. sugar and salt into 2 c. hot water. Add the flour one cup at a time and mix in the yeast mixture when it bubbles. Knead for about 5 minutes. Roll dough in a little bit of oil and leave in a covered bowl 1-3 hours until it doubles in size. Divide the dough and put into bread pan, or make two long loaves and put on a cookie sheet (I use the cookie sheet). Let rise a second time until double in size. Cut a few slashes on the top. Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes in an oven that has a pan of hot water on the lower rack (keeps it moist). Remove from oven and brush with butter.

It's Tuesday!

Honey ChickenI almost forgot to put up a recipe today. But I'm sitting here watching the Biggest Loser and for some reason that made me think of food? I don't know. Anyway, this is a really yummy recipe that my sister Amy gave me and I think she got it from my Aunt Marilyn. It's best served over rice and I like to steam broccoli to go with it too. This is something we eat pretty often and it's really easy! (Which is probably why we eat it often; that and it's delicious). Enjoy!

Honey Chicken

1 3 lb. fryer, cut up (I just cut up a couple chicken breasts)
1 egg yolk
2 T. butter, melted
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 c. honey
salt, pepper, and paprika to taste

Place chicken in a shallow pan. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until done. Turn a few times while baking.

Cinnamon Rolls and Lemon Poppy-Seed Cake

Today is a double-wammy. I promise I do make healthy things too. It just so happens that all the recipes I've posted so far are not so healthy. I'll try and do better next week. :)

So before General Conference last April I was looking around online for a good cinnamon roll recipe and I came across this one. I liked it because you can make the cinnamon rolls the night before, roll them out and put them on the pans, and then cook them the next morning. I'm just going to post the link to the recipe because it's pretty lengthy. So I made them for the first time last April and they worked pretty well and then I tried them again this past weekend and they were FABULOUS! If you do the refrigerator method though, I suggest taking them out several hours before you want to bake them OR put them in a warm oven and they'll rise pretty quickly.
Cinnamon Roll Recipe*: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/CinnamonRollsFantastic.htm

Next is a recipe I tried spur of the moment last week on Jon's birthday. I didn't know they were coming up until about 5:00 that evening, so I had to scrounge around to see what I could come up with. I didn't want to do a boring straight-from-the-box cake, but I didn't have too much on hand to do anything fancy, so I found this recipe in Jeremy's mom's cookbook. It actually does use a cake mix, but it uses a bit more too. Sorry the picture is so bad, but I forgot to take one of just the cake. Here's the recipe.

Lemon Poppy-seed Cake

1 pkg. white or yellow cake mix (I used yellow; it's what I had)
1 cup water
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
4 T. poppyseeds (I only had about 1 1/2 T., but it worked)
1 pkg. instant lemon pudding

Throw all together and mix up. Bake in a well greased bundt pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool cake in pan before taking out. Use a light glaze or powdered sugar and water for frosting. I used a lemon glaze.

Lemon Glaze:

1-2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 T. lemon juice
a little milk, if needed

I just combined the powdered sugar and lemon juice, and then added a little milk to make it a little thinner. Then I just poured it over the cake! (I didn't really measure, but just taste it and see if it needs more lemon or whatever).

*FYI: If you are a vegan (Rebekah) or can't have dairy (Abby), I saw a link to a veganized version of the cinnamon rolls on the comments section of the recipe. I have no idea if that would be any good, but I thought I would mention it. :)

Tasty Tuesday

Waffles & the best syrupI really like both of these recipes. The waffles have the perfect amount of fluffiness and crispness that I like and the syrup is to-die-for good. The waffle recipe comes from Jeremy's mom and the syrup recipe comes from a lady in my parent's ward - she gave it to me at my bridal shower 4 1/2 years ago and it has quickly become a favorite with most of my family. We often like to make waffles on Sunday nights, usually along with eggs and potatoes. Yum! So here are the recipes. Enjoy!

Basic Waffles

2 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk* or sour milk
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter melted, or oil

Preheat waffle iron. Place egg yolks in large mixing bowl, whites in small bowl. To yolks add buttermilk; beat well. Add flour, baking powder, soda and salt; beat until smooth. Stir in melted butter (or oil). Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into batter. Bake in preheated waffle iron.

We have a Belgian Waffle Maker, so this makes about 3 (of 4 squares each), so 12 waffles. We usually half the recipe for the 2 of us, and it's usually perfect (maybe 1-2 extra). If you have a normal waffle iron, it will obviously make more.

*If you don't have buttermilk, use 1 Tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice per 1 cup milk.

Homemade Syrup

1 cube butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil over medium heat (It should be foamy). Take off heat and stir in baking soda. It will foam up a lot, do not be alarmed. Then add vanilla. Serve!

This is seriously the best syrup ever! It tastes kind of like melted frosting. Mmmmm.

"Tasty Tuesdays"

Cooking has become something I really enjoy doing, so I thought it would be fun to post a recipe on here every Tuesday. I am by no means amazing, but I think it's fun, so that's all that matters, right? A lot of my recipes come from other people (mostly family) so I will make sure I always give credit where credit is deserved. I may not be able to come up with something every Tuesday, but I thought it would be fun to try.

So this week I thought I would start off with my Garlic Chicken Pizza recipe that I mentioned in a post week or so ago. I've had a few people request this, so I thought it would be a good one to start with. A year or so ago I was searching for a recipe kind of like this online, and I found one (called Roasted Garlic White Pizza), but I've changed it quite a bit, so now I think I can say it's mine and I won't bother saying where I got it from (especially since I can't remember). So here it goes...

Garlic Chicken Pizza

The Top:

1 1/4 c. milk
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1-2 heads roasted garlic (see recipe below)
(heads, not cloves; 1-2 depending on how much you like)
salt and pepper to taste
2 c. grated mozzarella cheese
2 T. chopped fresh basil (or 1 T. dried)
2 T. chopped fresh parsley (or 1 T. dried)
1 large chicken breast (see recipe below)
a little olive oil, oregano, garlic salt

I start with the garlic and the chicken:

To roast the garlic: Cut off the top, drizzle a little olive oil over, wrap in aluminum foil and stick in a 375 degree oven for 45 min. - 1 hr. until soft (it will smell delicious). Let cool enough so you can handle it and then squish out the cloves.

To cook the chicken: (do this at the same time as your garlic). Drizzle a little olive oil over the chicken breast and sprinkle a little oregano, garlic salt and pepper and cook until done (about the same amount as the garlic). Cut into bite-sized pieces.

While it cooks, I make the dough:

Pizza Dough (this is a recipe from my Aunt Marilyn)

1 1/4 c. lukewarm water
1 Tbsp. yeast
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. oil
3 c. flour (about)
cornmeal, for rolling it out

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Let set 5 minutes. Add salt, sugar and oil. Add flour gradually and mix well. Let rise 20 minutes.

While it rises, I make the sauce:

In a saucepan, melt butter. When it starts to bubble add flour and stir until smooth. Whisk in milk. Get out all the lumps. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper and cook until thick. Turn off heat.

Mash up your roasted garlic cloves and add to the sauce. (If you don't like chunks at all, stick it and the sauce in a blender and blend until smooth).

Assemble:

Roll out your pizza dough in cornmeal and put on your pan (or however you do your pizza, a stone, or whatever). Top with sauce, cheese and chicken (and then a little more cheese).

Bake in a 500 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, until crust and cheese get a little brown. Top with chopped fresh herbs.

I hope this makes sense! It really is tasty. And if you had an herb garden this year, hopefully you still have some so you can have fresh herbs. So yummy! Enjoy!