Blackberry Cobbler

September 15, 2011

I must admit that I am SO excited for fall!! Summer sure took its sweet time arriving in the Pacific Northwest this year and the hot summer days were a welcome change. But now that school has started, football season is here and we’re all settling into a routine once again I am ready for my favorite season. I love warm sweaters, boots, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin candles (see a theme here?), cooler temps and falling leaves. So this wonderful blackberry cobbler is my farewell to summer this year. We were playing at one of our favorite little parks when we spotted tons of delicious, ripe blackberries ready for picking. I turned them into this delicious cobbler that we all loved and will definitely make again each year for blackberry season. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cups white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 cups fresh blackberries, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/4 cup boiling water just until mixture is evenly moist.
In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in cold water. Mix in remaining 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice, and blackberries. Transfer to a skillet, and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Transfer to an 8×8″ baking dish and drop dough onto the top of berry mixture by spoonfuls.
Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until dough is golden brown.

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PF Chang’s Spicy Chicken

September 2, 2011

I LOVE PF Chang’s! My three favorite things to order are their lettuce wraps, crispy green beans and spicy chicken. As I’ve mentioned before, with our family size and the ages of our young kiddos, eating out has become impractical. So I’m trying to recreate our restaurant favorites right at home. This one was spot on! I did have to laugh at myself as my husband and I were sweating a bit while enjoying dinner last night. You see, I read the recipe wrong and when it said 2 teaspoons of Srirachi hot chili sauce, I thought it said 2 tablespoons. I like things on the spicy side so I did two heaping Tablespoons. Oooppps! It was still amazing but definitely not for the faint of heart :)

If you’re a fan of PF Chang’s Spicy Chicken you are going to LOVE this!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds Chicken Breast
2 cups Vegetable Oil, for frying
1 cup Flour
½ teaspoons Salt
¾ teaspoons Baking Soda
1 whole Egg
½ cups Milk
½ cups Water

Spicy Sauce:

2 teaspoons Vegetable Oil
2 Tablespoons Garlic, Chopped Finely
3 Tablespoons Green Onion (chopped)
1 cup Pineapple Juice
2 teaspoons (or more) Hot Chili Sauce (Sriracha – found with the Asian foods in the supermarket)
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
4 teaspoons Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Soy Sauce
¾ teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Water
3 teaspoons Cornstarch

Directions:

Prepare the spicy sauce: heat oil, garlic and green onions over medium heat until soft. Add pineapple juice, chili sauce, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and salt. Combine the water and cornstarch in a separate container. Mix the cornstarch/water mixture into the sauce and stir over medium-low heat until thickened. You can add more chili sauce if you want spicier spicy chicken sauce. Be sure to taste it as you go so you don’t overdo it. Reduce heat to low.

Prepare the chicken: cut the chicken breast into 1-inch cubes and season with salt. Begin heating the 2 cups vegetable oil over medium-high heat.

Prepare the batter: combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together. Batter should be fairly thin. Place chicken cubes in the batter to coat. Batter should be very thin on the chicken.

Once the oil is heated, reduce heat to medium and add chicken cubes a few at a time, letting the batter drip off before placing in the oil. Let them cook for 3-4 minutes and turn halfway through cooking. Cook until golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper-towel-covered plate. Repeat until all chicken is cooked.

Serve chicken over white or brown rice and cover with plenty of spicy sauce. Garnish with additional chopped green onions in desired.

Serves: 4

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Cheeseburger Flatbread Melts

August 30, 2011

This is a quick, easy and VERY kid friendly dinner idea. It’s almost like a sloppy joe on a delicious, buttery flatbread. Gotta love quick meal ideas for the busy back to school season! Next time I am going to do a taco flatbread melt by simply seasoning my meat with taco seasoning and topping with shredded lettuce, tomato and sour cream.

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 cup water
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup ketchup
2 T mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T canola or vegetable oil
1 can Pillsbury thin or regular pizza crust
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Brown and drain ground beef. Add water, vinegar, onion soup mix, ketchup, mustard and garlic. Stir to combine and simmer over low heat. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp canola oil over medium heat in a large, heavy bottomed skillet. Divide the pizza dough into 6-8 equal portions and roll into a round, tortilla-like shape. Fry the dough for one minute on each side or until golden brown and bubbly. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Top with beef mixture and shredded cheese.

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Sweet and Sour Chicken

August 23, 2011

We love Chinese food around here! For some reason it’s one of the cuisines I’ve ventured into the least in my cooking. When the mood strikes we just order take out from our favorite local Chinese restaurant. One of our standard orders is sweet and sour chicken. We love the crispy chicken and tangy sauce. It’s a unanimous favorite at our house. As our family has grown to 6 eating out has become both inconvenient and really spendy. So there are certain things we love to order when we eat out that I’m attempting to replicate at home. This Chinese restaurant favorite was a HUGE hit with our whole family. The chicken was perfectly crispy and the sauce was spot on. My husband and I both agreed that it was better than any we’ve had. I just love when I find that I can often make our restaurant favorites even better right from home! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 large can pineapple chunks, drained (juice reserved)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 3/4 cups water, divided
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2 drops orange food coloring
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 inch cubes
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 egg
1 1/2 cups water
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
Hot Cooked Rice

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups water, sugar, vinegar, reserved pineapple juice, and orange food coloring. Heat to boiling. Turn off heat. Combine 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup water; slowly stir into saucepan. Continue stirring until mixture thickens.
Combine flour, baking soda, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt, white pepper, and egg. Add 1 1/2 cups water gradually to make a thick batter. Stir to blend thoroughly. Add chicken pieces, and stir until chicken is well coated.
Heat oil in skillet or wok to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C). Fry chicken pieces in hot oil 10 minutes, or until golden. Remove chicken, and drain on paper towels.
When ready to serve layer bell peppers, onion, pineapple chunks, and cooked chicken pieces on a platter. Pour hot sweet and sour sauce over top and serve over rice.

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S’mores Cookie Bars

August 22, 2011

A tragic realization hit me this weekend… summer is coming to a close. My older kiddos head back to school in just over two weeks, my newborn baby is suddenly looking huge and as I looked out the window this morning I noticed some of the leaves on our beautiful maple tree are turning red. Fall is just around the corner! I’m ready to hold on to every last moment of summer and S’mores are a part of summer everyone loves. When I saw these cookies floating around food blogs all over the place I knew I had to make them. I had everything in the house too which is always a sign that I am clearly meant to make something :) These bars are the perfect solution to enjoying s’mores without the campfire. These cookies have a graham cracker base and a marshmallow chocolate chip cookie top. I’d say they’re pretty spectacular… I am certain you’ll agree!

Ingredients:

11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.

Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

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Cook’s Illustrated Baked Macaroni and Cheese

August 15, 2011

I love Cook’s Illustrated. I honestly don’t know why I ever attempt making recipes out of other cookbooks when the lovely people at America’s Test Kitchen have the best version of everything. Everyone loves mac and cheese and I am not an exception. I’m also the girl always on the search for the very best recipe for everything. I have several mac and cheese recipes in my recipe book and although they are each really great recipes they weren’t the recipe. The one that makes you throw the others away and stop searching. The problem with most baked macaroni and cheese recipes is they often come out rather dry. And they never reheat well for leftovers. This recipe is perfectly creamy and reheats really well. When I poured it into my casserole dish for baking it honestly looked way too soupy but the finished product was absolutely perfect. My husband loved it and so did all the boys. So very yummy…. macaroni and cheese perfection!

Ingredients:

Topping:
4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into quarters
2 T butter, melted

Macaroni and Cheese:
Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni
6 T butter
1 medium pressed garlic clove
1 t dry mustard
1/4 t cayenne pepper
6 T flour
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
3 1/2 cups whole milk
16 ounces colby jack cheese, shredded (about 5 1/3 cups)
8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 2/3 cups)
Ground black pepper

1. For the topping: process the bread and butter in a food processor fitted with the steel blade until coarsely ground, about six 1-second pulses; set aside.
2. For the macaroni and cheese: adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat to 400 degrees. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a dutch oven over high heat. Stir in 1 T salt and the macaroni; cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and leave it in the colander; set aside.
3. Wipe the pot dry. Add the butter and return to medium heat until melted. Add the garlic, mustard, and cayenne; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk; bring to a simmer and cook, whisking often, until large bubbles form on the surface and the mixture is slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the cheeses gradually until completely melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add the drained pasta to the cheese sauce and stir, breaking up any clumps, until well combined. Pour into a 9 x 13″ baking dish and sprinkle with the bread crumb topping. Bake until golden brown and bubbling around the edges, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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Grilled Southwestern Chicken

August 3, 2011

Once upon a time I had a baby. And then another. And another. And another. Our church has an amazing meals ministry and the lovely ladies who make meals are so talented I think part of the reason I keep having babies is to have meals delivered :) Six weeks ago we welcomed our newest little boy into our family. He is thoroughly adorable and we’re all in love with him! My wonderful friend Mindy brought us a meal and it was SOOOO good! She made us this amazing grilled chicken and I had to get the recipe right away. I made this tonight and we’ve declared it to be our new favorite chicken. It’s amazing! I served it with our favorite rice and grilled up some veggies. The perfect summer meal!

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T minced garlic
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1/2 sea salt
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t tumeric
1/2 seeded, minced jalapeno

Combine all marinade ingredients in large Ziplock bag; add chicken and coat thoroughly. Marinate at least 3 hours. Grill over medium heat for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

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Perfect Pumpkin Muffins

August 3, 2011

I adore just about anything pumpkin and these muffins are a staple in our house. I make them at least twice a week because my family loves them that much. They are super moist, have a wonderful cinnamon-y, pumpkin-y flavor to them and give the ones at Panera a run for their money! You can also easily make this into pumpkin bread. I often make these in mini muffin form for my toddler because they bake up so quickly and they’re the perfect size for little fingers. Enjoy!

Yield: 12 muffins, 24 mini muffins or 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1/2 teaspoon each: cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 cup canned pumpkin

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (for bread decrease to 350).

Beat eggs. Add oil, water and pumpkin. Add spices, sugar, baking soda and flour. Mix well. Pour into muffin liners or greased muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. For mini muffins, bake 8 minutes. For bread, bake for 1 hour.

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The Best Banana Bread

July 26, 2011

I have had countless slices of banana bread over the years. I LOVE quick breads… zucchini, carrot, pumpkin and banana – yum! And of course I’m always in search of the best recipe. My sister in law shared this one with me years ago and I have never made another recipe since. The sour cream in this recipe makes it deliciously moist. When I want a little something extra I top it with cinnamon streusel or add chocolate chips. I often make these in muffin form as well for a quick breakfast. Try this recipe and I’m fairly confident you’ll love it as much as I do!

Ingredients:

2 large overly ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, optional

Cinnamon Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 T flour
1 T butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mash bananas and combine with eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and mix into wet ingredients combining thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips if desired. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
If making muffins, pour batter into well greased muffin tins or into paper liners. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until done.

For optional streusel topping:

Combine brown sugar and flour. Cut in butter and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of bread or muffins before baking.

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Greek Panzanella

July 10, 2011

After a very long food blogging break, I am back! Life is certainly crazy around here especially in light of the fact that we welcomed our fourth son into the world just over two weeks ago. But I miss blogging and there are quite a few recipes making the blog rounds that I am dying to try!

This delicious Greek Panzanella is one of my very favorite salad standbys. I just made an entire batch for myself today and ate a huge plate full for lunch. It is SO yummy! I love the bright flavors from the different veggies and the simple vinaigrette. And whoever thought that bread belonged in salad was a genius in my book! This recipe would be perfect to take to a summer BBQ. It can be eaten at room temp and doesn’t require refrigeration. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

For the salad:

2 tbsp. olive oil

6 cups French bread cubes (1 inch)

Kosher salt

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced ¼-inch thick

1 red bell pepper, large diced

1 yellow bell pepper, large diced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered

½ red onion, sliced thin

6 oz. crumbled feta cheese

2.5 oz. can sliced black olives, drained (kalamatas would also be good if you like that sort of thing)

For the vinaigrette:

2 cloves garlic, minced

1¼ tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. Dijon mustard

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:

To prepare the salad, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan.  Add the bread cubes and sprinkle with salt; cook over medium-low heat, tossing frequently, for 5-10 minutes, until nicely browned.  Remove from the heat.

Combine the cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onion in a large bowl.  To make the vinaigrette, combine the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Whisk in the olive oil to create an emulsion.  Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables.  Add the feta, olives, and bread cubes.  Mix together lightly.  Set aside for 30 minutes to let the flavors blend (if you can wait that long!)

Source: http://annies-eats.net/2010/08/12/greek-panzanella/

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