Nana's Brownies

I got this recipe from a friend.  It's her nana's signature.  It's super easy and it freezes well, too.

In a saucepan (large enough to fit all the ingredients) on the stove, melt together:

• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
• 4 oz. (4 squares) unsweetened baking chocolate squares (the packet I usually get comes with 8 squares)

Once melted together, remove from heat (wait approximately 5 minutes or so).

Add 2 cups white sugar

Add 4 beaten eggs

Add 1.5 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. vanilla

I add chocolate bits and walnuts (but I don't measure them).  This is a preference.

Bake in a 13x9 baking pan at 300 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

(This is SUPER SIMPLE compared to all the other stuff you guys have on here.  Hehe...my 1st post :))

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

We had left over rotisserie chicken from Costco so Anh 2 Mike wanted me to cook something that would clear up some space in our fridge. I found two recipes on Allrecipe and took pieces of to make the ingredients I have word. Then I cooked it low and slow to get the flavors to meld together (a trick I got from brother Steve). It was good. Next time I will double the sauce. It came out a litte dry.

Ingredients

• 2 cups diced chicken breast meat (about half a Costco chicken)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can diced green chile peppers, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can corn, rinsed and drained (I used frozen I had in the freezer and defrosted it)
• 1 (6 ounce) can of tomato paste (2 cans next time)
• 2/3 cup water (1 1/3 cup next time)
• 2 tablespoon hot sauce (4 tablespoon next time)
• 1/4 bag of taco seasoning mix (1/2 next time)
• 1 package (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 320 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together chicken and sour cream.
3. In another bowl, mix cilantro, beans, green chile peppers, and corn. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, mix the tomato paste, water, hot sauce, taco seasoning.
5. Spoon a layer of the tomato mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.
6. Layer tortillas on top of the tomato mixture.
7. Spread more sauce, then chicken mixture the bean/corn mixture then sprinkle with cheese. Repeat layers until desired amount (I usually do 3).
8. For the top, spread the tomato sauce then sprinkle with remaining cheese.
9. Cover with foil and put it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours or until melded together and bubbly.
10. Serve with more cilantro and a side of fresh avocado. Yum...

Footnotes
Make the meat layer thin to cut the richness.

Verdict
Served it to Bao and Anh 2 Mike. Anh 2 Mike had seconds. Both says it was good but could use more sauce.

3-Cheese Roasted Garlic Mac n Cheese

We had all this fancy leftover cheese from a wine and cheese party so Bao suggested I made mac n cheese with it. So I did! It was delicious!

Ingredients:

• Any short grain pasta
• Milk
• Roux (butter and flour)
• Cheeses, grated
• Roasted garlic, mashed
• Salt
• Pepper
• Panko bread crust
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta as package directed.
2. Bring milk to a boil over medium heat.
3. Add roux and cook to desire consistency.
4. Add cheese a handful at a time.
5. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add cooked pasta to cheese sauce.
7. Transfer mac n cheese to a baking dish.
8. In a small bowl, mix panko, parmesan cheese and olive oil.
9. Spread breadcrumb mixture over mac n cheese.
10. Bake at 375 until top is golden brown.

Baked Brie

This baked brie has roasted garlic and toasted pine nuts all wrapped in puff pastry. It was delicious! The only baked brie we ever made that was completely devoured!

Ingredients:

• Small Brie wheel
• Garlic, oven roasted
• Pine nuts, lightly toasted
• Store-bought puff pastry, defrosted to room temperature
• Egg, beaten
  

Directions:

1. Roll out the puff pastry so it doesn't puff too much when you bake it.
2. Cut around the puff pastry so you have enough to cover the entire Brie wheel but not too much excess that it will be lumpy on the bottom.
3. Put the pine nuts, and mushrooms on the puff pastry circle you just cut, now put the Brie back on top of it.
4. Wrap until all the ends meet and it's seal.
5. Put the seam side down.
6. Brush with egg wash and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or when puff pastry is golden brown.
   

Classic Lasagna

Well, kind of classic because it's a red sausage with cheese and sausage...not so classic since I put sriracha, sugar and soy sauce in it. But that's the secret, family! Sounds weird but oh so delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 box lasagna noodles, cooked
• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
• sriracha, to taste (optional)
  
• sugar, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste
• soy sauce, to taste (optional)
  
• 1 8oz tub of ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoon fresh parsley (or basil), chopped
  
• 1 (2 cup) bag of shredded mozzarella
• Parmesan cheese
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
   
2. Cook sausage in pan until brown. Add spaghetti sauce and season with sugar, sriracha, soy sauce, salt and pepper.
3. In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, parsley and egg until combined.
4. In a 9 x 13 casserole dish, put a layer of sauce on the bottom so the noodles won't stick and you will get clean cuts.
5. Next layer noodle, then ricotta, mozzarella and meat sauce. Repeat 3x or until you only have 4 noodles left.
6. Top with mozzarella & Parmesan and bake for 20 minutes or golden brown.
   

Banh Chuoi Nuong

(Vietnamese Baked Banana Bread/Pudding)

Growing up Mom always made this with left over bread and overly ripe bananas. I love it. I remember eating it for breakfast the big morning of the Whittier earthquake and how everybody was upset the food tank almost fell on mom but I was upset I lost my banh chuoi during the quake. LOL. (Selfish, fat kid...)

I have a lot of ripe bananas and we bought a bag of day-old bread at Lee's Sandwich for 50 cents. I called Mom and she told me how to do it over the phone. So of course, there are no measurements.

Ingredients:

• Day old French bread
• Milk
• Sugar
• Bananas, sliced length wise
• Butter

Directions:

1. Break the bread into small pieces (1/2 inch cubes or pieces)
2. Mix milk and very little sugar (since bananas are sweet) into the bread in a large bowl. Bread should be soaked with milk mixture.
3. Butter a pan and put a layer of the bread mixture in.
4. Layer bananas next. Sprinkle with sugar to caramelize.
5. Put a thin layer of bread on top of the banana later.
6. Lastly, pour melted butter over the top. Sprinkle with a little more sugar.
7. Bake at 350 degree for an hour.

Notes:

• Don't use too much milk and the cooking time should decrease. Just enough to soften the bread.
• Use salted butter