Bacon Ranch Cheese Bread Pulls

Ok...this was not my original idea. I pulled the recipe from Pinterest. But I did make a few changes, and it was soooo good!

Here is the pin I pulled from Plain Chicken.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf French bread
• 5 thin slices mild cheddar
• 5 thin slices swiss cheese
• 1 package maple bacon
• 1/2 package ranch powder mix (I used Hidden Valley ranch)
•  1 cup butter

Cook bacon. Use your favorite method, but here is an easy way...preheat oven to 375, place bacon slices on foil lined cookie sheet and cook for about 15 minutes. Add time if you like bacon more crispy. Allow bacon to cool, then cut into pieces. Turn oven down to 350 degrees.

Slice french bread into bite sized squares (but not all the way to the bottom). Place bread on a piece of foil large enough to competely wrap bread. Cut cheese slices in half and place inside the sliced bread, alternating swiss and cheddar.  Use more cheese if needed. Place bacon pieces inside slices. Melt butter and mix with ranch powder. Pour mixture over the bread. Wrap in foil and bake for 15 minutes. Unwrap and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Cheers!
CC

CC's Famous Candied Yams

This recipe is my own creation...and I believe I have perfected it. I also have protected my recipe because I love when people ask me to bring the yams to get togethers. But...I live so far from family now, that I feel I should share the recipe so a part of me can live on at the holiday celebrations. I use real yams, not the kind in a can. Please, if you use my recipe, do not taint it with canned yams. It will not come out the same. Also, make it the night before the get together. They taste much better this way.

Ingredients:

•  4 yams peeled, washed and cut into chunks
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cup Mrs. Butterworth's Maple Syrup (use this brand...it tastes better)
• 6 teaspoons Pumpkin Spice
• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 bag mini marshmallows (optional)

In a pot, boil enough water to cover yams, and add in 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. While water is heating up, peel, wash and cut yams into chunks. Typically I cut each one 4 times length wise then each piece into quarters. When water is boiling, add yams and cook until soft.

Drain yams and place in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, remaining pumpkin spice, brown sugar, and syrup. Mix with a mixer until smooth.  Scoop into an 8x8 square baking dish. Place pecans on top and for best result, cover and place in refrigerator over night.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Add marshmallows to the top and bake until marshmallows are golden (usually about 10-15 minutes).

Flops... Ugh and Easter Menu

My confidence was a little shaken...I had two flops in one week. First was my Mole. I could not find the original recipe I used, so I improvised. It was horrible. Then I tried a slow cooker recipe from Pinterest for Orange Chicken. Another fail. It was over cooked and tasted horrible. It really made me feel bad about my ability.

So instead of trying new things, I stuck with some old favorites. But on Sunday, I am hosting Easter dinner. There won't be many people because we are new to the area and we don't have family here...but we do have a couple friends coming. Taking in some of the other "orphan" military transplants. :) I love hosting big dinners and I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's my Easter Menu....what are your plans?

Appetizer:

• Ranch, Bacon and Cheese Pull Apart Bread (recipe from Pinterest). I have made this and it is good! Pull Apart Bread

Dinner

• Honey Baked Ham (pre-made so I can't fail...lol)
• Green Beans with Caramelized Onions
• My Grandma's Carrot Recipe
• Mashed Potatoes or Maybe a Potato Casserole I saw on Pinterest Potato Casserole
• Hawaiian Rolls
• And...Yams...My own personal recipe and they are amazing!

Dessert

•  Lemon Cake

Where have I been?

I have not been ignoring my culinary duties...in fact tonight I am making Mole! Yum yum!

I also started another blog about just my life in general and other projects I work on. Cooking is not the only thing I do..gasp!

Anyway.. due to oe such project we did eat delivery pizza, and sandwiches....and left over sweet red wine sauce chicken. If you haven't checked out that recipe, you should. The sauce is super tasty!

So tomorrow I will be able to post about the Mole. Stay tuned!

Cheers!
CC

Turkey Shepard's Pie

Shepard's pie is really simple to make, and doesn't take too much time. It's a great dish to make for when you have guests, or if you want to cook once and have left overs. Since there are just the two of us, and our little one, we usually have left overs for a few days. This recipe has a lot of flavor. It is made with red wine, but you can omit that if you'd like. This is a great one dish meal, or you can serve it with a side salad like I do. And the great part about this is, you can add in other veggies...some people like it with peas and carrots.

I made this particular recipe with Charles Shaw wine because it is super cheap and still tasty...so that makes it great to cook with. You can use any red wine...I used the Shiraz, Cabernet is also a good one to cook with. The best part about cooking with wine...you can drink the rest! Or...you can do what I did and make some wine sauce for later recipes... here is my wine sauce recipe sweet red wine sauce


Ingredients For the Filling:

• 1 (or 1.3 pound package) ground turkey
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 small can corn, drained
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
•  Worcestershire sauce
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Black pepper, season salt, and Mrs. Dash Original to taste

Ingredients for Potato Topping:

• 2 large brown potatoes (the ones for baking are best)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk (depending on the size of your potatoes you may need more or less)
• Garlic powder, season salt, Mrs. Dash, and black pepper
• 2 oz shredded cheese (I used the Kraft triple cheese mix with cheddar)

Start off by getting the potatoes going. Boil water in a sauce pan and sprinkle in some garlic powder, season salt, and Mrs. Dash. The potatoes will absorb the spices and taste better. Peel, wash, and cut up the potatoes. I do smaller pieces so they cook faster, but not too small. Allow them to boil while you prepare the filling.

In a large skillet, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Add turkey and cut it up into small pieces as you stir. Add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, sprinkle in pepper, season salt, and Mrs. Dash. Cook meat, stirring frequently until browned and cooked through. Stir in tomato paste and corn. Add wine and cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Add in chicken broth and continue to cook until most has evaporated. You should have just a little sauciness to it. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

While the liquid is evaporating from the meat, mash the potatoes. Make sure to test them with a fork to ensure they are tender enough to mash. Drain the potatoes and place them in a mix bowl. Add butter, sour cream, milk, and spices then mash with a mixer until they are smooth. Add more milk if the potatoes are too dry. I also like to taste test them in case I need to add more spices or butter. Fold in cheese.

Put meat in a baking dish, then top with potatoes. Bake for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are slightly golden.

Cheers!
CC

Grasshopper Pie

When I was pregnant, I craved Grasshopper Pie. I went to countless pie shops and asked for it, and you would not believe the looks I got. "What is that? Is it made with grasshoppers?" I know pregnant women can sometimes crave strange things, but no...I was not wanting to eat actual grasshoppers. Apparently, Grasshopper Pie is more of a Southern type of thing and I lived in California. I could have easily made it myself, but I was sick through so much of my pregnancy, that I was not interested in cooking or baking.

Now that I live in the South, it is a well known dessert. It is a chocolate pudding pie with mint cream. And for fun, usually the cream is dyed green. So this would make an excellent St. Patrick's Day dessert.

This recipe comes from a Taste of Home Magazine supplement and is credited to Melissa Sokasits of Warrenville, IL.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cold milk
• 1 3.9oz package of instant chocolate pudding mix (its the smaller box of Jello pudding mix)
• 2 3/4 cups whipped topping (aka cool whip)
• 1 4.67 oz package of Andes candies, chopped
• 1 9in chocolate crumb crust
• 1/4 teaspoon mint extract
• 3 drops green food coloring

Whisk milk and pudding together for about 2 minutes, then let stand for a few minutes while you prepare the topping. In another bowl, combine 2 cups whipped topping, mint extract, and food coloring. Set aside. Add 3/4 cup whipped topping to the pudding mixture and mix well. Fold in half the Andes. Spoon into the pie crust and smooth out. Top with the green whipped topping and sprinkle on remaining Andes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Cheers!
CC

Chicken Satay & Curry Fried Rice

Yesterday was a cooking/baking day for me! I prepared the Chicken Satay early so that it could marinate for several hours (I highly recommend doing this, or allowing it to marinate over night). I also made my own fried rice...it wasn't your traditional fried rice from a restaurant, but it turned out very tasty. I also made Grasshopper Pie and Reeses Peanut Butter Brownies. :) I think tonight, I will take the night off from cooking, although, I did make some cornbread this morning for breakfast.

Chicken satay is a Thai dish. If you have a peanut allergy, this is not a recipe for you as it contains peanut butter. The original recipe came from Quick and Easy Chicken Dishes, a cookbook I have had for some time. I will post a bibliography for it at the bottom of this post. I did make some changes to the recipe...so this is not their original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 package chicken tenderloins (or you can use a package of 4 breast fillets, cut into cubes)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter (I only had crunchy peanut butter and it worked fine)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoons chili paste (I could only find garlic chili sauce at my store, so I used 2 teaspoons of that) HINT: look in the Asian food section of the store for this the cookbook calls it sambal oelek
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger (I found it in a jar in the Asian section of the store)
• 1 onion finely chopped

Make the marinade first and allow chicken to marinate for at least 2 hours, but the longer the better. Over night works as well. To make the marinade, combine everything but the chicken and stir it all together. I suggest mixing it all first then adding the onions. Then add chicken, cover and marinate in the refrigerator. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in a baking dish, and put some of the onions from the sauce on top. Do not add the sauce to the baking dish. Bake chicken for about 30 minutes ensuring it is cooked thoroughly. Place sauce in a pan and cook on medium heat, allowing it to boil and thicken a little. Make sure to stir it frequently. Serve sauce on the side for dipping.

Fried Rice

There are many recipes online for fried rice. I looked at a few and also took what I have seen the cooks do at Asian restaurants...the ones where they cook in front of you at the table. :) I decided since the chicken satay is a Thai dish, to add some curry powder to the recipe. To prepare...you need to precook some white rice and refrigerate it for several hours until it is cold. TIP: I just got a rice cooker and I LOVE it! The rice comes out perfect! For the veggies, I was being lazy and just used a bag of frozen steam in the bag veggies. I used the mix with green beans, water chestnuts, broccoli, and carrots. If you want to use fresh veggies, just be sure to dice and cook them ahead of time.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked, cold white rice
• 1 bag frozen veggies (steam in the bag as directed on the package)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/8 cup soy sauce (add more or less to taste)
• black pepper
• garlic powder
• curry powder
• 2 eggs
• splash of lemon juice

Steam and dice up the veggies. In a small pan, scramble the eggs. In a large skillet or wok, turn heat on to medium and melt butter. Add soy sauce, garlic, pepper, curry powder (just a few dashes), and lemon juice. Mix it up, then add rice and egg and stir well. Cook until rice is hot, stirring frequently. Mix in veggies. I like to do a taste test to see if I need to add more of any of the spices or soy sauce before I serve it up.

Cheers!
CC


Bibliography
Quick and Easy Chicken Dishes, Trident Press International, Second Edition, 2003, Page 10