~No-Fry Fried Ice Cream~

I'm obviously behind on this because I found this recipe right after Cinco de Mayo.  Someone posted a link to it on Facebook and I quickly bookmarked it.  Now I know exactly what I'll serve to guests whenever I serve dessert.  This. Was. Fabulous.  I mean, I'm a huge fried ice cream fan and almost always have it when I go to authentic Mexican restaurants.  Now I can have them all the time at home without even having to fry it!

Anyways, you're supposed to mix a few cups of corn flakes and mix them with sugar, corn syrup, melted butter and cinnamon.  I used Kellogg's frosted flakes so I didn't have to add any sugar.  Roll some scoops of ice cream in the cereal mixture and place them in a cupcake pan.  Then place them in the freezer until ready to serve.  I served them up with whipped cream and caramel sauce.  Yummy!

~No Fry Fried Ice Cream~

by Tablespoon ( really cool blog )

6 cups honey coated corn flakes cereal, crushed

2 Tablespoons white sugar  

3 Tablespoons butter, melted  

5 Tablespoons corn syrup  

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon  

1 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened  

(optional) Toppings: caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, whipped cream

1.  Combine crushed cereal, sugar, butter, corn syrup. and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

2.  Shape ice cream into 3-inch balls and roll in the cereal mixture, pressing lightly to ensure that the ball is fully coated.

3.  Place ice cream balls in muffin tins and freeze until ready to serve.

These hold very well in the freezer, by the way.  A week later, we were still enjoying these!

4.  To serve top with syrup, whipped topping, and a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.

Enjoy!



Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream Frosting

I lived in El Paso, Texas almost two years before moving here to Germany. It was there that I fell in love with tres leches cake, or three milk cake.  The cake is Latin American in origin and is so aptly named because it is a spongy cake that is soaked in three different types of milk.  Traditional recipes call for evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream.  And the cake has enough of each three milk so as to not be soggy.  It is delicious.

Our house in El Paso was literally two minutes away from a Mexican grocery store that sold these cakes in bulk.  Whenever I had a party to go to, I'd always get this cake.  I miss it!  So, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I decided to make tres leches cake for a potluck at work.  Instead of making a big cake, I decided to make cupcakes and I found this fabulous recipe online via Google.  Turns out, it's a recipe off of the Food Network.  Folks, I have never tasted a more delicious cupcake in my life.  Ever.  Not only was the cake good, but the frosting.  Oh, the frosting.  It is out of this world.

There are slight modifications to this recipe.  Instead of using heavy cream, the cake recipe calls for coconut milk and I was instantly sold on this because I love anything with coconut in it.  And the frosting requires you to make dulce de leche (which is like caramel), which I'd never done until last night.

I'll be honest...this was time-consuming and took a lot of work for cupcakes, but it was worth it.  Next time, I think I'm just going to make this into one big cake.  

I received tons of accolades for these and thank goodness I allowed myself to try one, otherwise, I never would have known just how good they were.  I injected enough of the three milks to ensure that they were soaked, yet not soggy.  And I piled on the frosting, as you can see.  Forgive me for my lack of frosting-piping skills.  It was my first time doing it!  Guys, you have to make this.  You just have to.  You will not be sorry! 

 

Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes

with

Dulce de Leche Buttercream

{from FoodNetwork.com}

For Cake:

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, separated

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cup lightly toasted flaked coconut (Mounds or Angel Flake brand)

For Dulce de Leche Buttercream:

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle brand)

2 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy on medium speed; add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating until all the yellow disappears. Add the vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into cake batter.

Fill standard paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack that has been placed over a baking sheet to cool.

While cupcakes are still warm, stir together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and the coconut milk. Using a meat injector needle, inject each cupcake in several different spots with about 1/2 to 3/4-ounce of the mixture. Or, poke several holes in the top of each of the cupcakes with a 1/4-inch wooden skewer. Pour the milk mixture over each cupcake while they are still warm, filling each hole. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight before icing.

For the Buttercream:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. To make the dulce de leche, pour the sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie plate and cover with foil. Place in a larger roasting pan where pie plate can sit flat. Pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of about halfway up the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Stir until smooth.

Place egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl. Stir the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a small, heavy saucepan. Whisk in the water first, then the dulce de leche and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually whisk the dulce de leche mixture into the 2 egg yolks. Stir in the vanilla. Strain through a wire mesh strainer into a small bowl and set aside to cool completely.

Beat the butter on high speed in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the cooled dulce de leche mixture. Beat in the 1 cup powdered sugar until smooth and spreadable.

Frost each cupcake with a generous amount of dulce de leche buttercream. Refrigerate any remaining buttercream for another use. Sprinkle each cupcake with toasted coconut

Enjoy!

And boy am I going to make more of these soon!

Catching Up: Easter Recipes

Last weekend, we spent Easter with some very good friends here in Stuttgart.  It had been a while since I'd whipped up anything homemade in the kitchen; even then, I wasn't trying to kill myself.  You guys know how I love to keep things simple!

I was asked by the hostess to help her out by bringing a few dishes. Naturally, I agreed to do a side dish as well as a dessert. 

I wanted to do a side dish that I thought would go well with the ham that we were going to have.  The hostess already told me that she was going to have a salad as well as some sweet potatoes.  So I went with a green bean casserole...only this recipe was kicked up a notch.  I didn't think it would be noticeable.  I mean, it's green bean casserole, after all.  However, it was a hit.  Even I thoroughly enjoyed it and intend to make every green bean casserole this way from now on.

~Classy Green Bean Casserole~

{via allrecipes.com}

3 (14.5 ounce) cans French cut green beans, drained

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup coarsely crushed buttery round crackers

2 tablespoon butter, melted

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.In a medium bowl, mix together the green beans, sour cream, condensed soup, salt and pepper. Spoon into a 2 quart casserole dish. Stir melted butter into the crushed crackers, then sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

3.Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned and bubbly.

For dessert, I wanted to have something light and I knew that I wanted to use strawberries.  Enter Kraft Foods' Strawberry Pretzel Squares recipe.  It's similar to a recipe that my cousin always makes back home, only this one incorporates fresh strawberries and a pretzel crust.  I love that sweet and salty combination!  Because we had so many desserts that evening, including a fabulous carrot cake that the hostess made, I had tons leftover (although I was told it was delicious).  No problem though, because I took it to work the next day and it was polished off in no time.  I am definitely making this one again too!

~Strawberry Pretzel Squares~

{via kraftfoods.com}

2 cups finely crushed pretzels

1/2 cup sugar, divided

2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

1-1/2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2 Tbsp. milk

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

2 cups boiling water

1 pkg. (6 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

1-1/2 cups cold water

4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

HEAT oven to 350°F.

1.  Mix pretzel crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 min. Cool.

2.  Beat cream cheese, remaining sugar and milk until blended. Stir in COOL WHIP; spread over crust. Refrigerate.

3.  Add boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression).

4.  Stir berries into gelatin; spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

Enjoy!

Now I'm off to find the perfect Cinco de Mayo recipe for a potluck we're having at work.  Any ideas out there?

Asian Lettuce Wraps & Fried Rice

I could kiss my friend, Angie, for introducing me to one of my new favorite blogs, Our Best Bites.  They have a TON of recipes as well as other craft ideas that I am dying to try.  Anyway, Angie had posted (on Facebook) a recipe for chicken lettuce wraps about two weeks ago and I knew that I was going to make them.  Man, I love me some chicken lettuce wraps.  I love PF Chang's version best, but since I doubt I can find a PF Chang's anywhere in Europe, I figured this recipe would help take the edge off of this serious craving. 

Well, it did--even if I did have to used ground turkey instead of ground chicken since the commissary doesn't sell it.  I may have to go off-post for ground chicken next time.  I made the lettuce wraps last Saturday.  My husband raved about them.  They sure were yummy and so easy to make.

{Asian Lettuce Wraps}

Click here for recipe.

The next day, I decided I still wanted more Asian food, so I pulled up a fried rice recipe (also via Our Best Bites) and paired it up with some pot stickers (that I'd purchased from the commissary in the frozen section--yeah, I was being lazy) that I'd boiled and then lightly pan fried.  Oh my gosh....talk about ultimate comfort and with minimal effort.  My favorite kinds of recipes.

{Fried Rice}

Click here for recipe.

Anyway, since last weekend, a close friend of mine had found and forwarded PF Chang's chicken lettuce wraps recipe to me.  Yipppeeee! When I make them, I'll be sure to let you guys know how it turned out!

Hachis Parmentier

I joined the French Fridays with Dorie cooking group months ago, right before we departed El Paso and haven't done anything with it since we've been in Germany.  I'm going to try to change that soon!  I made this hachis parmentier recipe this past Thanksgiving weekend, but never posted about it.  I enjoyed the dish so much that I had to make it again...and post about it this time. 

Hachis parmentier is the French version of shepherd's pie.  In this particular recipe, instead of using cube steak/beef chuck and making bouillon, I took the easy way out and used ground beef and beef broth.  I mixed parsley, garlic and sauteed mushrooms into the beef filling and topped it off with mashed potatoes.  Instead of using grated gruyere cheese, I used creamed havarti.  Ohhhh...yummy!

When it's done baking, the mashed potatoes get browned and crusty.  And it's great with any kind of vegetable on the side.  Yesterday we had asparagus spears and tonight we had it with sauteed zucchini.  It's my new favorite comfort food dish.

I know...I'm getting tired of using the same backdrop for all my pics, but I'm lacking inspiration lately.

The French Fridays with Dorie group doesn't post the actual recipes because it discourages folks from buying the cookbook.  I'll stay true to that, but leave you guys this link to a simple hachis parmentier.

Enjoy!

~Easy Lemon Chicken Piccata~

So, am I the only dummy who didn't know that you don't just have to use breadcrumbs to bread and saute chicken?  I mean, I know about panko and your normal egg and flour coatings--but potato chips, cereal and Ritz crackers?  This recipe called for crackers.  Since our commissary (which is about a ten minute walk from our house) closed before I even started making dinner (yes, we eat late dinners), we settled for the walk to the shoppette to get any kind of cracker we could find--normal saltines.

This recipe also called for 3 huge lemons and the dish, was a tad bit more lemony than I would have liked.  Still, it tasted great and the hubs and I enjoyed it with some asparagus and cherry tomatoes.  Definitely...if you're looking for something quick, tasty and different to do with your chicken, this is it.  Plus, it's quite spring-y with all its lemony goodness.

Easy Lemon Chicken Piccata

by Kraft Foods (April 2011)

3 large lemons, divided

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb)

1/4 cup Kraft May with Olive Oil Reduced Fat Mayo

22 Ritz Crackers, finely crushed (1 cup)

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup chicken broth

1Tbsp butter

1.  Cut 4 thin lemon slices from half of 1 lemon; squeeze juice from remaining lemons.  Coat chicken with mayo then cracker crumbs.

2.  Heat oil in large skillet on medium high heat.  Add chicken; cook 5 min.  Turn; cook on medium heat 5 min or until chicken is golden brown on both sides and done.  Transfer chicken to platter; sprinkle with parsley.  Cover to keep warm.  Carefully wipe any crumbs from skillet with paper towel.

3.  Add lemon juice and broth to skillet; cook on medium high heat 6 to 8 min or until slightly reduced; stirring occasionally.  Add butter and lemon slices; cook and stir on low heat 3 to 4 min or until butter is melted and lemons are heated through.  Serve over chicken.

~Simple Skillet Pork w/Green Beans~

Wow!  I can't believe the last time I posted it was Thanksgiving!  Where've I been since then?  Well, just about everywhere.  If you go to our family blog, you can get all caught up if you'd like; but in the last few months, we managed to spend the holidays with both our families (in UT and CO), and moved to and got settled into our new home in Stuttgart, Germany. 

Now that we're pretty much settled in, I'm starting to spend more time in the kitchen again (especially since my work schedule has allowed this to happen as of late--early nights, gotta love 'em!).  However, I just haven't felt like blogging about cooking lately.  I just thought that tonight, I'd give it a try.  Maybe this will inspire me to dust off my other cookbooks...perhaps to bake up something nice and sweet!

So you guys know how I LOVE simple recipes?  Well, this particular recipe is just that..  If you were to make it for your friend's they'd mistake it for something you spent the entire evening slaving away to make.  It makes for a wonderful presentation, yet you use very few ingredients--some of which you probably have just lying around in your kitchen.  Chicken is really played out in our house, so pork was a nice change.  And mushrooms are a favorite.  It's always nice when you get to decide just how many mushrooms to put in the sauce.  The recipe called for 2 cups, but I LOVE mushrooms and loaded them in.  This cream sauce was the bomb too....oh my goodness....just take the recipe and try it!

Simple Skillet Pork with Green Beans

by Kraft Food & Family (Spring 2011)

1 lb. pork tenderloin

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 lb. thin fresh green beans

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup Kraft Light Honey Dijon Dressing

2 oz. Philadelphia Neufchatel Cheese, cubed

1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

1.  Cut meat into 3/4 inch thick slices; flatten to 1/2 inch thickness.  Season with garlic powder and black pepper.  Heat oil in large non-stick skillet on medium heat.  Add meat; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done.  Transfer to platter; cover to keep warm.

2.  Add beans to skillet; cook and stir 4 or 5 minutes until crisp-tender.  Transfer to platter with meat.

3.  Cook and stir mushrooms in same skillet 1 minute.  Add next 4 ingredients; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until Neufchatel is completely melted and sauce just comes to a boil.  Serve over meat.

I subscribe to the Food & Family magazine and without fail, they've got several recipes that I'm dying to try.  And ALL of the recipes are as simple as this one, yet utterly delicious.  I'll be making a few more dishes out of this month's issue this week!

My First Turkey!

This Thanksgiving, we had some family come in from California, bringing our total number in the house up to seven!  Because we had so many people and we were bringing them to our friend's house that day, we decided to have more than one turkey--three to be exact.  And I was panicky.  I mean, this was the first time I'd ever made a turkey.  I mean, my mom was always the one who made the turkey!  And this was one of the few times I hadn't been home for Thanksgiving. 

So, in my search for easy turkey recipes, I stumbled upon this one on Jes' blog, Bleu Dress and Dress Blues.  It's a brined turkey recipe that she'd found and apparently, it's an Emeril recipe.  No wonder it turned out soooooo good!  It was tender and juicy and just plain delicious.  Although the process was time-consuming, I'm going to be making my turkey this way for years to come. 

For the brine:

5 gallon bucket

1 cup salt

1 cup brown sugar

2 oranges, quartered

2 lemons, quartered

6 sprigs thyme

4 sprigs rosemary

1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey

Dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water. Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary. (Note: if you have a larger turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water. You want to be able to submerge the entire turkey in the solution)

Remove everything from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water. Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

For making the turkey:

1 large orange, cut into 1/8ths

4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

Salt and pepper

1 large yellow onion, cut into 1/8ths

1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

1/2 bunch sage

3 or 4 sprigs parsley

1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or turkey stock, for basting

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels both inside and out. Place turkey, breast side up, in a large, heavy roasting pan. Rub breast side with orange segments and rub on all sides with the butter, stuffing some underneath the skin. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, remaining orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string. Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup chicken or turkey stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock.

Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Note: All of El Paso was out of rosemary, sage and thyme. So I substituted with the dried herbs and placed them in some cheese cloth and then put that in the brining solution/turkey.

For the gravy:

4 cups turkey broth (from the roasting pan)

1 cup dry white wine

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pour the reserved turkey pan juices into a glass-measuring cup and skim off the fat. Place the roasting pan on 2 stove top burners over medium heat add the pan juice and 1 cup turkey broth and the white wine to the pan, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining 3 cup of broth and bring to a simmer, then transfer to a measuring cup. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, to make a light roux. Add the hot stock, whisking constantly, then simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

I'm mainly making this post so that I have this recipe saved somewhere.  I'll be thinking about having this turkey again for the next year, it was so delicious!  And thanks to Jes for sharing this recipe.  I am eternally grateful!

Cherry Tomato Spaghetti with Toasted Pine Nuts

I haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately--for this blog and my other one.  And I have done some cooking and I just need to get caught up.  I even considered just stopping this cooking blog altogether, seeing how inconsistent I am with it.  Not to mention, we're on the verge of a big military move to Germany and we'll be on leave for a good month and a half...which means no cooking or baking until after we get settled in (we'll be in Germany after the New Year.  But my husband told me to keep it up.  So I will! 

Everyone pretty much knows that I'm a pasta fan.  This particular dish is very similar to the Ribbon Pasta with Tomato, Dill and Ricotta recipe that I posted a while back, and is just as terrific, if not better.  Believe it or not, this is the first time I've ever made a dish with pine nuts in it.  I love how nicely they pair with garlic and fresh cherry tomatoes.  This pasta is very light, but hearty.  And I'm definitely going to make it again.  I'm a huge fettucine fan, so I substituted that in for the spaghetti.  And I think that the colors of the pasta make a for a nice contrast against the vibrant red of the cherry tomatoes.

Cherry Tomato Spaghetti with Toasted Pine Nuts

from Cooking Light

2 (1-ounce) slices sandwich bread

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided

3 cups red cherry tomatoes

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1.  Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 cup. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; pulse to combine.

2.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumb mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove from pan; set aside.

3.  Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan. Add tomatoes to pan; cook for 3 minutes or until tomatoes begin to wrinkle. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and garlic; cook 30 seconds. Cover; reduce heat to low.

4.  Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add pasta, remaining 2 teaspoons oil, basil, pine nuts, salt, and pepper to tomato mixture, stirring to combine. Toss pasta with breadcrumbs; serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Beef Lettuce Wraps

Believe it or not, I have been doing a lot of cooking, I just haven't had time to post what I've been making for dinner lately.  Sorry about that!

I actually made these beef lettuce wraps last night and ummm....they were fantastic.  Both my hubby and I felt like we were eating out at a Vietnamese restaurant--one of our favorites.  The beef is marinated in a brown sugar/lime/fish sauce that is a perfect complement to the mint and cilantro that it's rolled up with.  And it was a very light meal...from Cooking Light, of course!

This is something I'd definitely make for a crowd...either as an appetizer or a main dish.  I'm also going to try it with chicken to see how it turns out!

Beef Lettuce Wraps

by Cooking Light



Cooking spray

1 (1-pound) flank steak, trimmed

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

4 teaspoons dark brown sugar

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

8 Bibb lettuce leaves

1 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 cup torn fresh mint

1/2 cup matchstick-cut English cucumber

1/2 cup torn fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper. Place steak in pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from pan; let stand 10 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across the grain into thin slices.

2. Combine juice, fish sauce, sugar, and jalapeño in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Reserve 4 teaspoons juice mixture in a small serving bowl. Pour remaining juice mixture in a large bowl; add steak, tossing to coat. Place 1 1/2 ounces beef in center of each lettuce leaf; top each with 2 tablespoons onion, 2 tablespoons mint, 1 tablespoon cucumber, and 1 tablespoon cilantro. Sprinkle evenly with peanuts; roll up. Serve with reserved juice mixture.

I'm just now noticing that I never added the red onion!  Oh well, it was still delicious!

Enjoy!

Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork

I've been doing fairly well, creating a dinner menu for the week and sticking to it!  My hubby has enjoyed every dish I've made so far, as have I.  

This dish, Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork was also taken from Cooking Light.  You think I'd be losing weight with these recipes.  Unfortunately, I haven't quite grasped the concept of portion control.  I can't seem to limit myself to one serving.

What's cool is that we happened to have fresh pineapple on hand, so I had the hubby dice it all up for me.  It added the right amount of sweetness to go with the sour of the vinegar sauce.  But it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet like the kind you'd get at your favorite Chinese restaurant. And I just loved the crunch from both the cashews and the snap peas! We had this with steamed rice...yummy!  You can actually see the steam in the picture below, as we ate it right out of the pan!

Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork

by Cooking Light

1 (3 1/2-ounce) bag boil-in-bag long-grain

2 tablespoons cornstarch, divided

1 tablespoon sherry

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1/3 cup finely chopped dry-roasted cashews, unsalted

1/4 cup chopped green onions

2 teaspoons bottled minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed

1 (8-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, drain

 

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch, sherry, and pork, tossing well. Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch, water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and ketchup, stirring with a whisk.

Heat the peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork mixture; stir-fry 3 minutes. Add cashews, green onions, ginger, and garlic; stir-fry 1 minute. Add snow peas and pineapple; stir-fry 3 minutes or until snow peas are crisp-tender.

Add vinegar mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Serve the pork mixture over rice.

Enjoy!

Prosciutto-Gruyere Strombolis & Harvest Apple Tarts

Continuing on with our Cooking Light series...I decided to make these strombolis last night.  They were so easy to make...about 10 minutes to gather all the ingredients (there are only 5!) and roll them all together.  It was nice to come home after a long day at work and literally just pop these into the oven in minutes.  And...they were yummy too.  Of course, no stromboli is complete without some marinara sauce, so I whipped that out as well.

Prosciutto & Gruyere Strombolis

by Cooking Light

1 (11-ounce) can refrigerated French bread dough

2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto

1 cup trimmed arugula

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

 

Preheat oven to 425°.

Unroll dough onto a baking sheet; pat into a 14 x 11-inch rectangle. Cut dough into quarters to form 4 (7 x 5 1/2-inch) rectangles. Top each rectangle with 1/2 ounce prosciutto, 1/4 cup arugula, 2 tablespoons cheese, and 1 tablespoon parsley.



Beginning at short side of each rectangle, roll up the dough, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal (do not seal ends of rolls). Arrange rolls 4 inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until rolls are lightly browned. Serve warm.

Harvest Apple Tart

by Angie at Cocina Diary

Then I decided that we needed a quick dessert.  I've been wanting to try this Harvest Apple Tart recipe that I saw on my friend, Angie's, cooking blog a while back.

Let me just say that if you haven't visited her blog yet, you're missing out.  It's called the Cocina Diary and it's fabulous! 

This recipe is another easy 5-ingredient fix (okay, so it's 6 ingredients) and you should have every ingredient in your pantry already.

Here's what you get:

Complete and utter deliciousness!  Good thing I have some puff pastry and more apples left. I might have to make this again tomorrow evening!

Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

I don't know why I never thought to pull recipes from the Cooking Light website a long time ago.  Everything I've tried so far in the last week or so has been fantastic.  Seriously. 

I would never have thought to use pecans as a base for pasta sauce.  Ever.  I was a bit concerned making the sauce as I'd over-toasted the pecans before putting them in my food processor.

By the way, I just got a Cuisinart food processor the other day at JC Penney's.  It was on sale for $99.99.  I've been dying to get one and finally broke down.  So I thought it would get it's debut helping me make this dish.  When I smelled the pecan puree, I worried that the dish would taste burned, but it didn't.  And then adding the mushrooms to the sauce?  It was fabulous--I mean FABULOUS!!!   

Both my husband and I devoured this dish.  I really had to try hard to leave some leftovers to take for lunch today.  And today, I couldn't wait for lunchtime.  Now I'm sad it's all gone.

Chicken with Pecan Cream and Mushrooms

by Cooking Light

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

1 cup water

1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided

6 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms

4 cups cooked egg noodles

Chopped parsley (optional)

 

1. Place pecans in a food processor; process until smooth (about 1 minute), scraping sides of bowl once. With processor on, add water and 3/4 teaspoon salt; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once.

2.  Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

3.  Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

4.  Add shallots and mushrooms to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in pecan cream; bring to a boil. Cook 1 1/2 minutes. Place 2/3 cup noodles on each of 6 plates. Top each serving with 1 chicken breast half and 1/3 cup sauce. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

I will, without a doubt, be making this pasta dish again and I want to try variations of the recipe...perhaps try a different nut (walnut maybe?) and pair it with rice. Delicious!

Sliders with Shallot Dijon Relish

I decided to keep it simple for dinner on this lazy Sunday evening.  That, and I've been dying to try out the Bella Cucina slider grill that I got on sale at Target the other day.  No joke...I got it for half off--$13.00!  Our friends, Leah and Jay, had purchased a different kind of slider grill that they used a one of their parties a few weeks ago and I vowed then to get one.  Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, I came across this sliders recipe on the Cooking Light website.  The actual "star" of the recipe is the Shallot-Dijon relish. 

I used Grey Poupon's coarse grain mustard, made with whole mustard seeds and I found that it was a little too overpowering when paired with the shallots.  I'd probably go with the regular dijon mustard the next time and easy on the shallots--this is definitely NOT the relish you'll want to make if you plan on kissing someone for the rest of the evening afterwards.  You know what I mean?

Anyway, it's a really sophisticated way to serve up these sliders...you know, something other than your ordinary relish, ketchup and mustard.  And did you know that Pepperidge Farms sells buns specifically for sliders?  They're so cute.

Pardon my pictures.  They're not the best quality! And you might want to invest in a slider grill.  What a fun way to serve burgers to your friends at a get-together...especially during football season!

Sliders with Shallot Dijon Relish

by Cooking Light

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound ground sirloin

Cooking spray

3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons butter, softened

8 (1-ounce) Parker House rolls

16 dill pickle chips

 

1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

2. Combine 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and sirloin. Divide meat mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/4-inch-thick patty. Lightly coat both sides of patties with cooking spray. Place patties on grill rack; grill for 3 minutes on each side or until done.

3. Combine shallots, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and butter in a small bowl, stirring well. Cut rolls in half horizontally. Spread shallot mixture evenly over cut sides of rolls. Layer 1 patty and 2 pickle chips on bottom half of each roll; top with top halves of rolls.

Hope you guys are enjoying the long weekend!

French Fridays with Dorie: Gerard's Mustard Tart

This is my second week participating in the online cooking group, French Fridays with Dorie.  As I mentioned last week, we're taking Dorie Greenspan's new cookbook, Around My French Table, by storm--one recipe at a time.  I've also mentioned before that this group is taking me completely outside my comfort zone as far as being in my kitchen is concerned. I mean, you can't get any more scary than French cooking...Julia Childs style!  And just reading some of the recipes gives me the hee-bee jee-bees.

Lucky for us, we've been given a relatively easy start with last week's gougeres (simple cheese puffs) and now this week's mustard tart.  I didn't realize that mustard is to the French what ketchup is to Americans.  It's the condiment extraordinaire over there.  This particular tart is a recipe of Gerard Jeannin, who owns a bed and breakfast in France called Les Charmilles.  I hope to visit this place one day.

Tons of firsts occurred today (and by the way, I made this first thing this morning.  I've been a little behind all week):

It was my first time (seriously) cutting carrots and leeks into matchsticks (it took me forever)

My first time making tart dough

Shoot...my first time making any kind of tart

What do you think?

Not too bad for my first try, eh?

This is how good the tart is...we ate it for breakfast and we finished the last of it a few hours ago (it's a little past 9:00 p.m.).  It didn't even last the entire day.  It was simply delicious.  I used two different versions of dijon mustard (both Grey Poupon brands and one grainier than the other).  You'd think the mustard flavor would be too overpowering.  Not at all.  And the carrots and leeks not only made for a beautiful presentation of color, they were so tender and tasty. 

The tart was fabulous right out of the oven and (in both my husband's an my opinion) better cold.  No joke!  I am definitely going to make it again.  And it was so simple.  The hardest part for me was making the dough.  I've never really liked dealing with dough...with this tart, pies...it doesn't matter.  I don't think I'll ever be any good at it.

Unfortunately, group members aren't allowed to post recipes on here, but if you're really curious....GET THE BOOK!