Pistachio Bundt Cake

My friend Hong made this super moist pistachio bundt cake that I loved but I had to modify it since Brooke does not like chocolate (hers has chocolate chips in it). I found another recipe that the family enjoyed on Allrecipes.com. Moist, light and easy to make:

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker French vanilla cake mix)
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix 
• 4 eggs 
• 1 1/2 cups water 
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 
• 7 drops green food coloring (optional) 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
2. In a large bowl mix together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, water, oil, almond extract and green food coloring. Blend ingredients, then beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.
3. Pour into prepared 10 inch tube pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie

I saw this on Pinterest and took the holiday break to make all the stuff I wanted to try. I started with chocolate chip cookies because I have a recipe that tastes great but doesn't look like as nice as I would like it. This recipe looks and tastes great. Mike says it's the best cookie I've ever made to date. So here it is, Jacques Torres' Chocolate Chip cookies:

Makes twenty-six 5-inch cookies or 8 1/2 dozen 1 1/4-inch cookie.

Ingredients
1 pound unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons pastry flour
3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Reduce speed to low and add both flours, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and chocolate; mix until well combined.
- Using a 4-ounce scoop for larger cookies or a 1-ounce scoop for smaller cookies, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake until lightly browned, but still soft, about 20 minutes for larger cookies and about 15 minutes for smaller cookies.
- Cool slightly on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips:
1. It took 20 minutes in my oven for my cookies to be golden on top.
2. I used an ice cream scooper and to prep the dough and put them in the refrigerator for a day before baking them to have them look pretty and wrinkly like a bakery cookie.
3. I added 1 1/2 cup of walnuts to mine. I like nuts in my cookies.

Sweet Potato Casserole - no marshmallows!

After years of eating the sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top, I finally learned something. I don’t like it (Yes, I’m a slow learner). I think sweet potatoes just have such a deliciate sweetness by itself that the added marshmallow PLUS sugar in all the recipes I’ve seen, is just too much. Don’t get me wrong, when we go camping, Mike would wrap a cooked sweet potato with a couple of marshmallows and throw it into the fire and this tasty dish really gives s’mores a run for it’s money, but that’s entirely different post…

Back to this, I still wanted to have sweet potatoes on the menu so I decided to try this one from the Pioneer Woman. No marshmallows…just a crispy and crunchy streusel on top. You can never go wrong with streusel! Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 4 whole Medium Sweet Potatoes
• 1 cup Sugar (I cut it by half...I don't like it too sweet.)
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Pecans
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 3/4 sticks Butter

Preparation Instructions

Wash 4 medium sweet potatoes and bake them in a 375-degree oven until fork tender, about 30-35 minutes. When they are finished cooking slice them open and scrape out the flesh into a large bowl.
Add 1 cup of (regular grandulated) sugar, 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of salt. With a potato masher, mash them up just enough—you don’t want to be perfectly smooth.
Now, in a separate bowl, add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup pecans, chopped (that means measure a cup of pecans, then chop them), ½ cup flour, and ¾ stick of butter. With a pastry cutter or fork, mash together until thoroughly combined.
Spread the sweet potato mixture into a regular baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top.
Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mini Spinach Dip Bread Bowls

Its that time of year again-- NFL season. Although hubby likes the typical little smokies in a blanket or wrapped in bacon and brown sugar, I thought I would take advantage of this snack-filled time and try other finger foods.

These bread bowls are a little too froo-froo for football, but they're super cute and very tasty, and my favorite-- VERY easy! The recipe says it makes 10, but I would go ahead and make 12 and fill a whole muffin pan.


Ingredients

• 13.3 oz roll of refrigerated french bread loaf, I used Simply Pillsbury
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
• 3 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup light sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons fresh shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Ancho Chile Pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Garlic Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Sicilian Sea Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 10 muffin cups with non stick cooking spray.  Unroll package of french bread loaf and slice into 10 equal size slices, about 1 inch thick.  Press each slice into about a 3 inch round, I did this by pressing in between my hands.  Press into the bottom and up sides of the muffin cup.  Set aside.

2.  Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat.  Cook and stir spinach until wilted, about 3 minutes then add garlic, cook and stir for another minute then turn heat off.

3.  Place cream cheese, sour cream, cooked spinach and garlic, Parmesan Cheese, Ancho Chili Powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper into a medium bowl.  Mix until well combined.  With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dip into each of the centers of bread bowls.  Top evenly with shredded cheese and bake for 15-17 minutes until just turning brown on edges.  Remove and let cool for 3-5 minutes before removing from oven.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Oh wonderful Pinterest. How I love thee! I've been doing a lot of pinning of things that just look delicious, and I figured it was time to start trying some of these recipes. This recipe definitely did not disappoint. I think it needs a little more of a pumpkin punch, but I don't know how to tweak the recipe without ruining its perfect, soft consistency. I baked a batch about 40 mins after chilling and the next batch after chilling overnight, and both turned out delicious!


For the cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the coating:
1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash of allspice

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin puree, then beat in the egg and vanilla.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until fully incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liner. Mix the coating ingredients in a small bowl. Scoop equal dough balls and roll into the sugar mixture. Set on cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat drinking glass into water, then into the sugar mixture and use to slightly flatten the dough balls. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My neighbor gave me some fresh rhubarb and I decided to make something with it. I never had rhubarb in my life so I decided on something I've heard of before - strawberry rhubarb pie. I had no experience with rhubarb, so I ended up looking up how big I should chop it even. It was fun. I decided I was too lazy to make my own pie crust so I bought the frozen pre-made dough at Trader Joe's. It's awesome - pretty close to homemade and the ingredients list was a lot more natural that they stuff they sell at Ralph's. Mike was a fan. We whipped up some fresh whipped cream and indulged!

Ingredients

•     1 cup white sugar
•     1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•     1 pound fresh rhubarb, chopped
•     2 pints fresh strawberries
•     1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
•     2 tablespoons butter
•     1 egg yolk
•     2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.     In a large bowl, mix flour and sugar. Add strawberries and chopped rhubarb. Toss with sugar and flour and let stand for 30 minutes.
3.     Pour filling into pie crust. Dot top with butter, and cover with top crust. Seal edges of top and bottom crust with water.
4.     Apply yolk to top of pie, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut small holes in top to let steam escape.
5.     Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly and brown. Cool on rack.

Pie Tips

• Definitely let the mixture from step 2 above stand for at least 30 minutes. You will see the fruit absorb all that flour and sugar.
• Try brushing the bottle of the pie crust w/ egg before putting the fruit mixture in. This will help it from getting too soggy.
• After the pie is done, turn off the oven and leave it in there for 20 minutes to avoid a runny pie. This will help it dry out and gel up...if that makes sense.
• Take out the pie and cool on a rack completely before cutting into it.

Crispy Baked Flautas

I'm always a little skeptical when a recipe is a healthy version of something I shamefully enjoy. I took a chance on it, and what do you know? It actually tastes good! Eric confirmed it (and he hates anything labeled "low fat"... each flauta is a little over 150 calories!).

I made the chicken and the spinach filling ahead of time and I just roll and bake when I'm ready to eat! I tweaked the original ingredients a little, but the great thing about this is that you really can fill the flautas with anything you want! 

Ingredients

-1 pound boneless, skinless Chicken breasts

-1 can chicken stock

-2 cups Water

-1 teaspoon Paprika

-1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

-1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

-1 teaspoon ground Cumin

-1 teaspoon Chili Powder

-2 tablespoon chopped jalepenos (I used the pickled kind)

-3 cups Baby Spinach, chopped

-5 burrito-size Flour Tortillas (9 inches)

-6 ounces Queso Quesadilla or other melting cheese, shredded

-1 tablespoon Olive Oil, or cooking spray

Directions

-Preheat the oven to 450*F.

-Put the chicken in a deep sided saute pan and cover with the beer and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred it. Mix together the chicken and seasonings.

-Pour out all but 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the jalapeno and spinach and cook over low heat until for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted.

-Cut the tortillas in half. Spoon 1/10th of the chicken (about 1 tablespoon) along the long edge of a tortilla. Repeat with the spinach and cheese. Roll the tortilla up, starting with the straight edge. Place seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

-Brush the flautas with olive oil or spray with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them over and bake for until 10 minutes, or until crispy (I baked for 7 mins on each side and it was plenty crispy). 

Serve with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole. Enjoy!!