The real winner!

I've tried several new recipes this week, but this is the real winner. A friend from work requested these Jamie Deen bars after we saw them in the latest Food Network magazine. I took them to work and they were gone pretty quickly, a good measure of success ;)

Chewy Toffee Bars

- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 C packed light brown sugar
- 2 C flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 3/4 C pecans, chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 C toffee pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 350*. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. I used a 9x13 but if you want thicker chewy bars, you can use an 8-inch square dish!

2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add the brown sugar and stir until melted. Let cool 5 minutes.

 

3. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Toast the pecans in a medium skillet over medium heat, 6-8 minutes.
 

4. Stir the eggs, one at a time, into the cooled butter-sugar mixture, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the toffee and toasted pecans (the batter will be very thick!).

 

5. Spread the batter in the prepared dish. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. (Mine only took 35 minutes). Let cool 15 minutes, lift out of pan and cut into pieces.

Greek Pastitsio

This was a blog dish I found a while back and have been wanting to try. My family has it at a local Greek restaurant and every time, my parents talk about how good the homemade version my grandmother used to make.

So when they were in town for a visit this weekend, I thought this was the perfect time to try it!

I found ground lamb at the local farmer's market that morning and mixed it with some local beef I had in the freezer. I only have pictures of the filling as I was making it...I just get in the middle of it and have a hard time remembering to stop and take pictures!

Pastitsio courtesy of Mandy Mortimer

Meat Sauce
- 1-2 lbs beef or lamb mince (or half and half!)
- 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 can tomatoes
- 1 Tbs tomato paste
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

Macaroni Layers
- 1 box macaroni, penne, or ziti
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 C Parmesan/Romano cheese, grated

Bechemal
- 4 C milk
- 6 Tbs butter
- 8 Tbs flour
- 1 C Parmesan/Romano cheese, grated
- 4 egg yolks
- Nutmeg, salt, pepper

Topping
- 1/2 C Parmesan/Romano, grated
- 1 C shredded Mozzarella

1. Heat olive oil in large pot and saute onions until transparent. Add mince abs brown.

2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente.

3. To mince mixture, add canned tomato, tomato paste, crushed garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Set aside to cool.

4. When pasta is cool, mix with 1 C grated cheese and beaten eggs.

5. Melt butter on low heat. Stir in flour and mix with spoon to remove  lumps.

6. Remove from heat and gradually pour in milk, mixing with whisk constantly, until it thickens.

7. Stir in 1 C grated cheese, allow to cool slightly. Stir in egg yolks and mix until smooth.

8. In a lightly greased dish (8x8 or 9x13), spread half the past over the bottom of the dish. Evenly spread sauce over pasta. Pour bechemel over the pasta dn spread evenly.

9. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

10. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving, otherwise you have a sloppy mess!

That's all I'm awake enough to type now, but I've tried a few others this week I'll be passing on too you!

The EPIC Brownies

I didn't just make that name up. That's the real name of these brownies! And after every one's reactions to them at the party tonight- that's what I will continue to call them!

I was nervous...backup

Brownies are hard to make from scratch. I've actually never made homemade brownies that I liked. Because the boxed brownies are really good. Easy to mix in peanut butter cups, mint chips, nuts, heath bars, etc.

But these homemade brownies. These are the way to go! They do have a few more ingredients than a mix, but they are so worth it. They really don't take super long to make, they took a little longer to make today because I was stopping to photograph every step....

The EPIC Brownies

- 1 bag dark chocolate chips
- 3 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 (13 oz) can dulce de leche*
- 1 C sugar
- 1 Tbs vanilla
-  6 eggs
- 1 2/3 C flour
- 2 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbs instant coffee granules*
- 1 C chocolate chips
- 1 C chopped nuts or crushed heath bars or peanut butter cups

*These are the secret ingredients- don't leave them out!

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Butter 9 x 13in. baking dish and set aside. 

2. Melt the butter, dark chocolate, and dulce de leche together in the microwave. Heat for 30 seconds, then stir. Repeat in 30 second intervals until melted. Allow to cool a little. 
                                

3. Mix flour, cocoa, salt, and coffee granules in a separate bowl.

 

 

Continue to melt/stir chocolate/butter/dulce mix!

4. Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla into the chocolate mixture.

 

5. Slowly incorporate the dry mixture and whisk until just combined.

6. Finally add the chocolate chips and goodies :) Stir well.
   - I used Heath bar bits...incredible. You could leave out these extra chocolate chips.

 

7. Pour into baking dish and bake 35-45 minutes. Do NOT over bake! Check at 35 minutes with a toothpick. As soon as it comes out clean, remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely.

       - I took them out at 35 minutes, they were perfect around the edges but really gooey in the middle. Good for topping ice cream, hard to eat with your hands!

Took these to Kathleen's surprise party tonight- they were a hit!

You better believe I licked that spoon!

Free-handing recipes!

I like to follow recipes. Part of the reason I love baking- you need to follow the recipe for it to turn out right. I am envious of those who can go in the kitchen and throw this, that, and the other together to make a great dish. I can't do it. Every time I try, it doesn't turn out well. Even things as simple as stir fry. It's still edible, even palatable, but definitely not great. I like to stick with the recipes, that's where I have success.

We had dinner club at Christina's house tonight. She and her husband are great at 'throw it together without a recipe.' So I will have to pester her to write down the ingredients in the delicious asparagus salad she made. Isn't that stunning??

I watched an episode of Everyday Italian a
couple weeks ago where Giada made this Orzo with Artichoke Pesto and Grilled Corn. And I have been wanting to try it ever since! However, I do not have a food processor, which is necessary for making pesto. So I made some adjustments, using the recipe only as a template- and it turned out!



Orzo with Pesto, Artichoke, and Corn

- 1 lb orzo pasta
- 2 ears corn- cooked (would be great grilled or with TJ's roasted corn)
- 1/2 jar artichoke hearts, chopped
- 1/2 C walnut halves, chopped
- squeeze of fresh lemon juice
- 1 C freshly grated Parmesan
- 1-2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 C cherry tomatoes, cut into halves and thirds
- 1 C fresh pesto
- salt, pepper, oregano to season

1. Boil pasta until al dente. Drain and place in large serving bowl.
 
2. Mix pesto, artichokes, walnuts, Parmesan, lemon, and garlic. Toss with pasta.

3. Add corn and tomatoes, and toss until all ingredients are coated. Add salt, pepper, and oregano to taste and serve!



 We served this alongside gazpacho and lemon-oregano shrimp! Delish!

I played around with blogger for a while last night and found so many different things that I can do to make my blog more visually appealing. Hence the changes. More to come in the future ;)

 

I also realized that it is the pictures from my iPhone that do not show up here. Will work on that. I can see all the pictures when I am working on a blog, just found out that they don't all show up here... will have to find someone techy to help me with that!

 

Have a great holiday weekend!

Another picture-less post

My new recipe for the week was Apple Cider Donuts. I received apple cider last week in my CSA box and was looking for a way to use it, besides just drinking it.

There were several different cake and muffin recipes that looked promising- but the ones which caught my attention were the donuts. Conveniently, I was heading home to Knoxville for the weekend, and my sister got a  donut maker for Christmas :)

I cooked for my family several times over the weekend, but they were not new recipes. We grilled pork tenderloin with a dry rub mix of cumin, Grill Masters, oregano, and garlic and pork chops Saturday night. Grilling out is one of my favorite parts of being home. Monday night I made tomato-sausage risotto.

Later Monday night, I made these donuts. And everyone gave their approval! Perry said they tasted like apple cake- not a bad thing!

Baked Apple Cider Donuts adapted from Hezzi-D's

- 1 C apple cider
- 1 3/4 C flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbs butter, softened
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 C low fat milk

For topping:
- 2 Tbs apple cider
- 1/4 C sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the apple cider to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until the cider has reduced to 1/3 cup. Set aside to cool.

2. Preheat donut maker. Spray with cooking spray.

3. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. 

4. In another medium mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the egg and continue beating. Mix in half the flour mixture.

5. Stir in the milk and then add the remaining flour mixture. Stir until well combined then add in the apple cider. Mix until just combined.
6. Fill the donut molds 2/3 of the way full, close the donut maker, and cook until donuts are golden brown, usually 2-4 minutes. If donuts pull apart when opening the donut maker, they are not finished. They should remove cleanly from the donut maker.

- You can also bake in a donut pan in an oven at 400* for 10-14 minutes -

7. Combine the cinnamon and sugar on a plate. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of sides of a donut with apple cider then dip into the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining donuts. Donuts will keep for 2-3 days.
        - I skipped this step, and they didn't stick around for 2-3 days....


Enjoying some culinary excellence during my travels this week, and after nurses week last week- next week we will be reigning it back in and trying to eat healthy!

Crab Cakes

It seems like forever since I've had a weekend off, but it was just last weekend! This weekend was really good though. Full of food, family, friends, fun. Lots of 'f's in that sentence.

Saturday caught a quick nap (after the "my car didn't start....again" fiasco) after work and then went to a really sweet memorial service that the Children's Hospital does each year. A reminder that for now, here is where I am supposed to be.

After that, I decided I deserved a White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks :) Then headed down the road to Richmond to celebrate "Greaster"  with my cousins and grandparents. My aunt made a big Greek feast and then we headed to watch my cousin play Belle in her high school's Beauty and the Beast musical.

Sunday morning I slept in and was able to spend a long quiet time studying and jounaling. Then ran some errands and stopped by work to put up some "Happy Nurses Week" deco! Love my job.

And when I got home, my grandparents were there to spend the night in C'ville with me! Unfortunately, I have no pictures of us. We didn't do much, ate out twice :) but had fun catching up and enjoying each other's company.



Grown up Mac 'n Cheese for dinner

Monday after seeing my grandparents off, I headed to Michael's, the gym, then to search out crab meat for crab cakes. I bet you thought you were never going to get to that actual recipe. Your getting closer. I must tell you about my hunt for crab meat first. I went to Whole Foods. Because I thought that would be good quality. You know how much crab meat is there?!? $45 a pound! People really pay this? Now, if I were cooking dinner for Kate Middleton, I would buy that. But only then. 

So next I checked out Kroger. They only sell imitation crab meat. Cool. I don't have any weird rules about eating real food or anything. On to Trader Joe's. Success. $10 a pound I can handle for special occasions. Such as Monday night dinner. I also left with trail mix. Don't go shopping at lunch time, after working out.

Meagan and I toured Ashlawn-Highland, the home of James Monroe, this afternoon. I didn't know much about him, but I really enjoyed the tour and learning some history. I felt very Virginian. A couple hours and a meeting at the hospital later, it was dinner time!

Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes from Southern Living Heirloom Cookbook

- 1 lb lump crab meat
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
- 1/8 tsp. hot sauce
- 1/2 C mayonnaise, divided
- 1 3/4 tsp. Old Bay seasoning, divided
- 4 Saltine crackers, crushed (didn't have, so I substituted bread crumbs)
- paprika, lemon wedges, chives

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Pick crabmeat, removing any bits of shell.

 

2. Whisk egg in medium bowl. Whisk in next 4 ingredients, 3 Tbs. mayonnaise, 3/4 tsp Old Bay. Gently stir in crabmeat and bread/cracker crumbs. Shape mixture into patties and place on lightly greased baking sheet.

 

3. Mix rest of mayonnaise and Old Bay. Top crabcakes and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden. Top with chives and lemon if desired.

 

Meagan made asparagus and sweet potato fries to go with! I really enjoyed this dinner. Meagan thought the crabcakes were a little fishy, but you win some, you lose some.

 

Speaking of losing. Last week's recipe. Big time loser. Hence the reason I didn't share. It was a Pinterest recipe recommended by a friend. A chickpea/avocado spread for sandwiches or wraps. And all it tasted like was chickpeas and avocado mushed together. Unimpressive.

However, sweet potato biscuits- worked! Next post ;)

Sweet Potato Biscuits and Bar-b-que

Since I failed at regular biscuits, I decided to try Sweet Potato Biscuits- go figure that logic. They worked a bit better than the others, though I am still determined to master biscuit making.
I again trusted Paula Deen to guide me. I made them to go with Pulled Pork Barbecue I was making for work. Apparently to make up for the lack of new recipe success last week, I made lots of new recipes this week.

Barbecue pork was pretty simple. Once you got past the fact that the pork roast came with skin on. Pig skin, not thin little chicken skin, thick pig skin. Gross. After that, throw it in the crock pot with a can of coke and cook it on low for 6-8 hours. When it's done cooking, drain all the liquid out and shred the meat. Put it back in the crock pot and add barbecue sauce. Keep on warm until ready to serve.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

- 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbs sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 C mashed cooked sweet potatoes (next time I would use more)
- 1/4 C (1/2 stick) softened butter
- 2-4 Tbs milk (depending on the moisture of the potatoes)

1. Preheat oven to 450*. Bake sweet potatoes for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Allow to cool, then peel and mash.

2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate, large bowl, mix the sweet potatoes and butter.

3. Add the flour mixture to the potato mixture and mix to make a soft dough. Then add milk a tablespoon at a time to mixture and continue to cut in until a dough is not sticky. 

4. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and toss lightly until the outside of the dough looks smooth. Roll the dough out to 1/2-inch thick and cut with a biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on a greased pan and coat tops with melted butter. Bake for about 15 minutes.