Deviled Chicken

Please siblings, if you should try any of the recipes I post, please make it be this one! I made this on a whim tonight based on things I had on hand, and it was quite a pleasant surprise! Used a recipe off of allrecipes.com but made some modifications with things I like to cook with and recommendations made by commentors. Served it on a bed of mac and cheese, and will definitely keep this recipe in my usual rotation of recipes!

Ingredients

• 1/8 cup butter
• 1/2 cup miracle whip
• 2 tablespoons spicy honey mustard
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (16 ounce) package Stovetop corn bread stuffing mix

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Empty stuffing mix ontp a baking sheet or cutting board and crush the bread crumbs to minimize large pieces
3. Melt butter/margarine and mix in a small bowl with mayonnaise and mustard. Pour mixture into a shallow bowl or plate.
4. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Roll seasoned chicken breasts in mayonnaise mixture, then dredge in stuffing mix and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked all the way through.

Triple Strawberry Cupcake

I made a cupcake bouquet for Angie for V-day for a friend. Her friend likes strawberry cupcakes with vanilla frosting. So I made this cupcake from my Cupcake Doctor book called Pretty in Pink. I'm going to call it a Triple Strawberry Cupcake so it makes sense. Hahaha. I topped it with my favorite Swiss Meringue Buttercream and it was delicious. Very moist from the real strawberries.

Triple Strawberry Cupcakes (AKA Pretty in Pink)
Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix (I used strawberry cake mix...that made it triple)
  
• 1 package (3 ounces) strawberry gelatin
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries with juice from 1 1/2 cups whole berries (see “The Cupcake Doctor Says” below)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.
2. Place the cake mix, gelatin, strawber­ries and juice, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat 2 minutes more on low speed, scraping down the sides again if needed. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. Place the pans in the oven.
3. Bake the cupcakes until they are lightly golden around the edges and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cup­cakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your finger­tips. Place them on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

The Cupcake Doctor Says…
“Although these cupcakes put the season's best berries to good use, they are also perfect for those berries that arrive at your market from far away and have little juice and less flavor than good local berries. If you are using juicy berries, drain them well and use only the juice that clings to them when the berries have been chopped for the cake and the frosting. A pinch of cinnamon picks up the strawberry flavor in the cup­cake batter.”

Source: The Cupcake Doctor, by Anne Byrn

Dutch Baby Pancake

Baked in a large, hot skillet, the thin, eggy batter puffs up like a popover. To serve, slide the pancake from the skillet onto a plate and dust with powder sugar.

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
lemon wedges

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add butter to melt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together all ingredients, except confectioners’ sugar, until smooth. Pour over melted butter in skillet. Bake until puffed and brown, about 20 minutes. Slide pancake onto a serving platter. Serve immediately, cut into wedges, with confectioners’ sugar sifted over the top. Serve with a lemon wedge.

Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms

This was adapted from Ina Garten's stuffed mushrooms. We did not use sherry since we didn't have any and just marinated the mushrooms in red wine (Merlot) and olive oil. We also did not have any mascarpone cheese, so we used a combination of cream cheese and goat cheese that we had in the fridge. Goat cheese can be very strong so the ratio was 3 to 1, cream cheese to goat cheese. The filling is so good and rich and it was really easy to make.

I included Ina's original recipe and marked our adaptations in italics:

Ingredients

• 16 extra-large white mushrooms
• 5 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Marsala wine or medium sherry (Merlot or any red wine you have)
• 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from the casings
• 6 scallions, white and green parts, minced
• 2 garlic cloves minced (I used 3 cloves)
• 2/3 cup panko crumbs
• 5 ounces mascarpone cheese, preferably from Italy (1 ounce goat cheese & 4 ounces cream cheese, mixed together)
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until it's completely browned. Add the chopped mushroom stems and cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in the scallions and garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the panko crumbs, stirring to combine evenly with all the other ingredients. Finally, swirl in the mascarpone and continue cooking until the mascarpone has melted and made the sausage mixture creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste, Cool slightly.
4. Fill each mushroom generously with the sausage mixture. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish large enough to hold all the mushrooms in a snug single layer. Bake until the stuffing for 50 minutes, until the stuffing is browned and crusty.

Pigs in a Blanket

We spent Super Bowl XLIV at Steve and Jenny's with the babies and watched the Saints beat the Colts (31-17) in a very exciting game.

Here is the simple pigs in the blanket we always make.

Ingredients:

• 1 Pilsburry Crescent rolls (Each triangle cut into 3, the long way)
• 1 packages of Aidell's chicken apple sausages, mini (Or Lil Smokies)
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Prepare a baking sheet but wrapping with foil.
2. Roll a sausage into the cut Crescent roll.
3. Brush with egg wash.
4. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until golden and puffed.
5. Serve with ketchup!

Zucchini Bread

I started with a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com and substitute the white flour for wheat flour. It came out perfectly. It does have a hint of a wheat taste for those of you who don't like wheat but we're use to it in my family. Top with some honey whip and it's perfect. (I omitted the nuts to keep it kid-friendly.)

Ingredients

• 3 cups wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil (OR ½ cup veg oil & ½ cup apple sauce)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 55 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Honey Whip

I made this up to replicate Souplantation's Honey Whipped butter. It came out perfectly and really complimented my zucchini bread:

Ingredients:

• butter, room temperature
• honey

Directions:

1. Whip up butter on medium speed until soft and fluffy
2. Turn the mixer to low and pour a even stream of honey into the mixer and count to 26.
3. Scrape the bowl down and whip for 1-2 minutes.
4. Serve on your favorite muffin or bread!

On top of warm zucchini bread.