Mini Baked Hamwiches

I've been making these for years, we just call them hamwiches.  For some reason I love them, they're such cheerful little things.  The original recipe is from the King's Hawaiian website.  I've changed it a bit, including cutting back on the butter substantially.  
  
For the rolls, you can use a 12 pack of the stuck together King's Hawaiian rolls, or a store brand.  They just need to be the rectangular stuck together kind, click on the recipe link above to see what I mean.  I personally love the sweet Hawaiian rolls, but my husband prefers the kind that is not sweet.  I am a nice person, so usually use the not sweet variety.
 
Mini Baked Hamwiches
 

12 pack of stuck together rolls

1/2 lb shaved ham

1/2 lb sliced cheddar

4 T butter

1 1/2 t dried minced onion

1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 T dijon mustard
 

Preheat oven to 350.  Slice slab of rolls in half so you have 2 big halves, like a giant hamburger bun.  Place the bottom half in a 9 by 13 baking dish.  Top evenly with ham and cheese, then the top roll half.  Melt butter in microwave.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Spoon evenly over rolls.  Bake until lightly browned. 15-20 minutes (mine took 20).  Cut through sandwiches to separate. 
 
Yield: 4-6 main dish servings

Savory Cornbread

Here's another cornbread recipe!  The other cornbread recipe on my blog is just as good, but the sweet type.  This one has no sugar at all and is a little smoky if you use bacon grease rather than butter.  Unlike a lot of cornbread, this is not dry at all.  It pairs very well with chili or as a topping for any casserole that calls for cornbread batter poured on top since it isn't sweet.  I'll bet it would be very good dried and used for cornbread stuffing as well.
  
This recipe comes from Southern Plate.  My main change is to cut back on the buttermilk by 1/2 a cup, it just turns out too wet when I make it with the 2 C buttermilk described in the original. I also bake it at 350 instead of 450 and use a glass baking dish.  The glass baking dish is because I don't have a cast iron pan, and the lowered temperature is because it bakes much more evenly at the lower temp.
  
I suppose I should add that if you want to get really picky, you should use white cornmeal instead of yellow.  Apparently yellow cornmeal is a no no in southern cooking because livestock typically eat yellow corn.  I, however, like the color of yellow cornmeal better and the brand I like only comes in yellow, so yellow it is.
 
Enjoy!
  
Savory Cornbread
 
1 1/2 C fine cornmeal
3 Tbsp flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 C buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tbsp bacon grease or butter, melted
 
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 7 by 11 baking dish.  Set aside.
 
Stir together dry ingredients.  Pour in buttermilk and egg, stir to combine, then stir in bacon grease until mixture is smooth.  Pour into prepared baking dish.
 
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
  
Yield: 6 large servings

Baked Cheeseburger Sliders

These sliders are one of the easiest things you can make for dinner and involves less than 10 minutes of prep if you are working slowly.  They're also fun and yummy!  
 
For the rolls, this is the kind I mean.  You don't have to buy that specific brand, but the rectangle of stuck together rolls is what you're looking for.  I have a couple of Crow Canyon enamelware baking pans and they are the exact right dimensions for the giant beef patty to match up with the rolls, but a regular 9 by 13 pan will be fine as well.
 
Baked Cheeseburger Sliders
 
1.25 lb ground beef

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

sliced cheese

rectangular pack of 12 dinner rolls

desired toppings like ketchup, mustard mayo, and sliced pickles

 

Preheat oven to 425.

 

Squish beef evenly into 9 by 13 baking dish.  Mix together seasonings in small cup and sprinkle evenly over top.  Bake 30 minutes or until cooked through.

 

Slice rolls in half to make a giant bun.  Lift giant burger patty onto giant bottom bun.  Pour out any accumulated grease from the baking pan and put the giant bottom bun and patty back into the pan.  Top with sliced cheese, then top bun.  Place plan in oven, turn off heat, and leave until buns are toasty and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.  Cut into individual sliders with a large knife.  Top individually with desired toppings and serve!

 

Yield: 4-6 main dish

Bowtie Spinach Alfredo

Here's another great and healthier version of fettuccine alfredo!  It's also really quick and easy to make, you could have this on the table in 20 minutes.  My husband and I both really like it and think the spinach is the perfect addition.  We like the bowties, but you could use a different shape of pasta.  Also, if you prefer using fresh spinach, just leave out the frozen (obviously) and saute 6 C fresh baby spinach with the garlic while making the sauce.  You could toss in some shredded chicken at the end or saute some chopped chicken breast or shrimp before adding the garlic and spinach if you wanted, too.  Heck, even add a can of drained, chopped artichoke hearts if you want a spinach artichoke dip inspired pasta dish.  There are tons of options!
  
The inspiration for this recipe came from Budget Bytes, but it's basically a tweaked version of my Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo.  The cornstarch is necessary to thicken the sauce up a bit since it doesn't have pumpkin to help out. Like the Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo, it reheats very well, just microwave it and add a little milk if necessary to keep it from being dried out.
  
Bowtie Spinach Alfredo
  
1 lb bowtie pasta

12 oz bag frozen spinach

4 Tbsp butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz cream cheese, cubed

2 1/2 C milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 Tbsp milk with 2 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in it 

1 C freshly grated parmesan

 

Cook pasta in salted water until almost done, add spinach and cook another minute or two. Drain thoroughly and return to pot.  Stir in a small amount of butter if the sauce is not almost done so the pasta won't stick together.  Cover with lid and set aside

 

Make the sauce while the pasta cooks.  Melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat.  Saute garlic until tender.  Add cream cheese and 1/2 C milk.  Whisk until as smooth as possible.  Add remaining milk, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a simmer.  Make a slurry with the milk and cornstarch, pour it into the simmering sauce, and stir for a minute or so until thickened. Stir in parmesan until melted

 

Pour sauce over pasta and spinach, toss to combine, and serve.

Yield: 6 servings

Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo

Oh, this recipe is so good!  I'm a lifelong fettuccine alfredo lover and this is among the best.  It's thick, rich, creamy, amazingly delicious, and is less bad for you than traditional fettuccine alfredo.  It's so good that I would serve it to guests with a nice side salad and garlic bread.  This is seems like it would be geared solely towards autumn or winter, but we make it year round.  It's always a good choice for my husband to make because it's so straight forward.  If you're skeptical about the pumpkin flavor, do know that it's pretty mild.  Mostly it adds bulk to the sauce and offers just a little bit of pumpkin deliciousness.  You could add more pumpkin if you felt so inclined, and a little grating of fresh nutmeg.
 
If you have leftovers, unlike regular fettuccine that turns into a horrifying greasy mess, this pumpkin version reheats very well.  Just reheat it in the microwave and stir in a little milk so it isn't dry.  

Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo

4 Tbsp butter

4 cloves minced garlic

15 oz can pumpkin

8 oz cream cheese

2 C milk

1 C freshly grated parmesan, plus more to sprinkle on top

salt to taste

1 lb dry fettuccine noodles

Cook the fettuccine in salted water while you make the sauce.

Saute garlic in butter over low-medium until it barely gets golden, this will take 3 minutes or so.  Garlic burns quickly, so watch it carefully and have the pumpkin ready to add in right when you need it.

Add pumpkin and cream cheese, whisk until smooth.  Whisk in milk and salt.  Heat over low until well combined.  

Add to drained fettuccine, and serve!

Yield: 6 servings

Jam & Oat Bars

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe.  I stumbled upon it recently, couldn't stop thinking about it, and had the ingredients on hand, so whipped it up!  It's so quick to make, and the bars are wonderful.  For some reason I had been reluctant to make this kind of bar with jam instead of making my own fruit filling, and let me tell you, that reluctance was unfounded.  These bars will be made many times over.  I used Bonne Maman cherry preserves for this batch, but it seems like pretty much any jam would work.  Just don't skimp on the jam!  A full 13 oz jar went into this.

 

These bars are pretty perfect as is, but I'd like to experiment with it in the future.  Perhaps applesauce in place of the 3/4 stick of butter (it would still have a full stick!) and half the sugar.  Normally I don't worry about healthifying desserts, but almost 2 sticks of butter really is a lot for such a thin dessert and the jam itself has plenty of sugar.  I'll update this after I try it out!  If those tweaks don't work, well, full butter and sugar it is.

 

Jam & Oat Bars

 

1 1/2 C oats (I used instant)

1 1/2 C flour

1 C brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 3/4 sticks cold salted butter, cut into cubes (add 1/4 tsp salt if your butter is unsalted)

13 oz jar jam (I used Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves)

 

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 dish.  Place first 4 ingredients in bowl of stand mixer and mix until combined.  Add butter and mix until everything comes together in a chunky dough.  Press half of the dough into the prepared dish and spread jam on top, going almost to the edges (jam will burn a little if it touches the edges).  Sprinkle remaining dough on top and press down gently.  Bake until golden, about 35 minutes.

  

Yield: 12 servings

Buffalo Beans

This is a delicious dinner, and happens to be both incredibly easy and dirt cheap.  The original recipe is from the Orangette blog.  I'm not sure why the beans are so good with only 4 ingredients, but they really are, and they're amazing served over rice with a soft boiled egg or two on top.  I keep large cans of pinto beans in my pantry specifically for this recipe.  Oh and I call these Buffalo Beans because the hot sauce I used (Frank's Red Hot Sauce) is the kind traditionally used for buffalo wings.

 

Quick Note: I like to cook the rice in chicken broth and add parsley, but that's up to you.  Also, to soft boil eggs, bring a pot of water to a boil, then gently lower as many eggs as you want to cook into the water.  The eggs should be covered with water.  Set a timer and boil for 5 minutes.  Drain off boiling water, fill the pan with cold water, and let sit for a minute so the eggs are cool enough to handle.  Dry off, peel, and serve.

 

  

Buffalo Beans

 

2 Tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, minced

28 oz can pinto beans, undrained

2 Tbsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce, or other hot sauce to taste

cooked rice

 

toppings:

soft boiled eggs

chopped avocado

grated cheese

 

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat, and add garlic.  Saute until garlic is light golden, then add can of beans and hot sauce.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 15 to 30 minutes, until sauce has thickened as much as you'd like.  Exactly how long this takes will depend on how much liquid is in the can of beans.  Serve beans over rice with optional toppings.

 

Yield: 4 servings

Sour Cream & Onion Biscuits

Ooh, these biscuits are good!  I had some sour cream that needed to be used up and I'm not sure WHY I googled "sour cream biscuits", but I did, and here we are.  The base recipe is from Taste of Home, but I added chives and onion powder because sour cream and onion sure go well together.  The biscuits are wonderful.  They're VERY tender and delightful.  You could easily leave out the chives and onion powder if you want them plain.  The dough is also really easy to make, so a good choice if you're a little intimidated by the idea of making biscuits from scratch!

 

This recipe makes 6 nicely sized biscuits.  You could definitely double it if you need more, I'd suggest making 2 circles of dough on your pan instead of just 1.

 

 

Sour Cream & Onion Biscuits

 

1 C flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

4 tsp dried chives

1/2 tsp onion powder

3/4 C sour cream

2 tsp canola oil

 

Preheat oven to 425 and place a square of parchment paper in a round cake pan.  Set aside.

 

Whisk together dry ingredients.  Stir together sour cream and oil, then add to dry ingredients.  Stir just until evenly combined, no longer than that because the biscuits could turn out tough.  You may need to get in there with your hands to mix the dough.  Dough will be very sticky.

 

Transfer dough to the prepared cake pan and use your hand to evenly press the dough into a 3/4 inch thick circle, it will help if you get your hand wet.  Use a knife to cut the dough into 6 triangles, but don't pull them apart.

 

Bake until golden on top, about 15 minutes.  To serve, just pull the biscuits apart.  These are great with butter!

 

Yield: 6 biscuits

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

My friend recently made these enchiladas and told me how good they were.  She found the recipe here, on Cookpad.  My husband loves creamy enchiladas and I decided to make them right away (with a couple of changes) because I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand except for the chicken and red enchilada sauce.  For the chicken, I just used a rotisserie chicken from the store.  They only cost $4 at Sam's Club and have quite a bit of meat on them.  About 1/3 of the meat went into the enchiladas and the rest will go into chicken soup I made from cooking the bones with water, garlic, and bay leaves in my Instant Pot.

 

As predicted, my husband loved these.  He adores anything sorta Mexican food-ish, and cream cheese, so I knew they'd be right up his alley.  He liked them so much that he requested that I make a new tag on my blog for 10/10 rated recipes.

 

Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

 

4 C cooked, shredded chicken

8 oz cream cheese, softened (I do this in the microwave)

5 oz plain greek yogurt (not vanilla flavored!)

2 1/2 C grated cheddar cheese, divided

28 oz can red enchilada sauce, divided

10 oz can green enchilada sauce (I used 10 oz salsa verde)

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 Tbsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

12 large tortillas

 

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish and an 8 by 8 dish.  Spread 1 C of the red enchilada sauce in the bottom of the larger pan, and 1/2 C in the bottom of the smaller pan, then set them aside.

 

Stir together all ingredients except 1 1/2 C of the cheddar cheese, 1 1/2 C of the red enchilada sauce, and the tortillas.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Spread filling evenly down the middle of tortillas, roll them up, and arrange in the prepared baking dishes, with 8 in the larger pan and 4 in the smaller.  Spread reserved red enchilada sauce on top, with 1 C on the larger pan and 1/2 C on the smaller pan.  Bake for 30 minutes, sprinkle the larger pan with 1 C of the reserved cheddar and the smaller pan with 1/2 C of the reserved cheddar, then return to oven for 10 more minutes.  The smaller pan may not need to bake as long as the larger one, just pull it out when it's bubbling.

 

Yield: 12 servings

Speedy Marinara Sauce with Lemon

This was one of those accidental recipes.  I started out making the 5 Minute Marinara from Barefeet in the Kitchen because I needed marinara to go with my toasted cheese ravioli and didn't want to spend a lot of time on it.  This is a recipe I had come across several months ago and was intrigued by, so it seemed like the perfect time to give it a go.

 

The recipe calls for 3/4 to 1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, and warns that the full amount yields a pretty spicy sauce.  I thought 1 tsp was a good, safe amount.  WRONG!  I tasted it and it was really good, but just that one little spoonful was very spicy.  The only other tomato products I had in my pantry were two small cans of tomato paste, so I added one along with some beef broth, thought it was still too spicy, so added the second can and more beef broth.  At that point, it was still a little spicier than I'd prefer, but definitely bearable, and anyway, I was out of tomatoes.  So I added the lemon zest and carried on with my ravioli.

 

Well, the tweaked recipe ended up being really good.  My husband, who usually isn't fond of lemon in savory dishes, loved it and gave it a rating of 10/10.  I think that's the highest he's ever rated any marinara sauce I've made.  I thought it was excellent, too.  Surprisingly complex flavors, rich, robust, and just really good.  The lemon zest makes it perfect.  The sauce does not taste like it was super quick to whip up and took 10 minutes (if you factor out all the fiddling I had to do) to make!  We only used about 1/2 cup of the sauce total for our ravioli, so have quite a bit left over, but this will probably be my default marinara sauce recipe when I need something quick.  I'll bet it would be great with ground beef added to make spaghetti, or with meatballs.  I'm planning to make Chicken Parmesan Meatballs soon with some of the sauce, and am also curious how it will be on pizza.

 

Quick Note:  I made this with 1 tsp red pepper flakes, but have reduced it to 1/2 tsp in the recipe below because that's how I plan to make it in the future.  1 tsp was still a little too spicy for me.  Also, I chose to use a can of whole tomatoes and pureed it myself instead of the crushed tomatoes that the original recipe calls for.  Whole canned tomatoes tend to be better quality than any of the other canned varieties, and they still have some nice texture when they're pureed.

 

  

Speedy Marinara Sauce with Lemon

 

1/4 C olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

28 oz can whole tomatoes with their liquid, pureed with immersion blender OR crushed with your hands

12 oz can tomato paste

2 C beef broth (or water, plus beef soup base)

zest of 1 lemon

additional salt to taste (I used 1/2 tsp additional)

   

Add olive oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and salt to a large, cold, nonstick skillet.  Heat to medium and saute garlic, stirring constantly, until it's very fragrant and barely beginning to turn golden.  Add can of pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, and beef broth, stir until smooth, and bring to a low simmer.  Simmer gently for 5 minutes.  Turn off heat, add lemon zest, taste, and add additional salt if necessary.

   

Yield: About 10 servings

Baked Lemon Oregano Salmon

This is something I just made one night without using any recipe.  It's barely a recipe anyway since it has so few ingredients and is so straight forward!  Regardless, it tasted really good and my husband and I gobbled it up.  The oregano and lemon went great together.  Usually I gravitate towards dill with salmon, and wait to add the lemon juice until after thesalmon is out of the oven, but I'm glad I tried something different this time because we loved it.  I served it with roasted green beans tossed with bacon grease, baked on the same baking sheet as the salmon, and cheesy mashed potatoes.

 

 

Baked Lemon Oregano Salmon

 

1 salmon filet (mine was about 1 1/2 lb)

salt to taste

pepper to taste

dried oregano to taste

1/2 lemon, cut into slices and seeds removed

 

Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, folding the edges of the foil up to contain any salmon juices.  Lightly grease the foil with canola oil.  Lay the salmonfilet on the foil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dried oregano.  Top evenly with the lemon slices.  Bake until the thickest part of the filet flakes easily with a fork and it looks opaque, about 15-20 minutes.

 

To serve, cut the salmon into serving pieces, making sure each filet gets a lemon slice.  Encourage your fellow diners to press the lemon slice with a fork and spread it around on their piece of salmon.

 

Yield:  About 4 servings

S'more Treat Bars

I found this recipe on the Macaroni and Cheesecake blog while looking for a s'more bar recipe, and made them immediately.  I did make a few small changes (mini chocolate chips and more marshmallows), but the gist is definitely the same.  These bars are a great choice if you're looking for a dessert that is really easy to make and love both Rice Krispie treats and s'mores, like we do!  About half of the bars went to our neighbor as a thanks for helping us move our new couch, but my husband and I polished the rest of the pan off over about 3 days.  Yum!

S'more Treat Bars

12 oz box Golden Grahams cereal

5 Tbsp butter

16 oz bag mini marshmallows, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 C mini chocolate chips

Place the mini chocolate chips in the freezer a few hours before you make this recipe.

Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish and set aside.

Place butter and all but 3 cups of the mini marshmallows in a large pot and melt over medium-high heat, stirring until fully melted.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.  Stir in cereal until evenly coated, then add the additional 2 C marshmallows and 1 C of the frozen chocolate chips.  Stir very quickly and just enough to evenly distribute the additions, you don't want them to melt too much.  

Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish.  Grease your hands (nonstick spray works great for this) and evenly press the cereal mixture into the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 C mini chocolate chips on top of the bars and press down again so they'll stick.

Let bars cool completely, then cut into squares.  These keep well covered tightly and stored at room temperature for a few days.

Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels

This is another recipe from Macaroni and Cheesecake.  We love buffalo chicken, so of course it caught my eye.  I've had bad luck in the past with refrigerated tortilla rolls getting soggy, but these ones were fine.  I used a mixture of new tortillas and slightly stale ones.  The stale ones softened perfectly and the fresh ones were a little softer than that, but still okay.  This is an appetizer recipe, but we actually had them for dinner and loved them!  When I make them for dinner next time, I'm going to cut the cream cheese in half.  They were fine this way, but a bit richer than I would prefer for a main dish.

Quick Note:  I used my food processor to grate the cheddar, chop the green onions, and shred the chicken.

Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I used the breasts from a rotisserie chicken)
2 green onions, finely chopped
8 oz soft style cream cheese, softened briefly in the microwave (this is the cream cheese in a little tub)
1 1/4 C finely grated cheddar cheese
1/2 C Frank's Red Hot Sauce
2 tablespoons dry ranch dressing mix (I used my own)
8 six inch flour tortillas

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except flour tortillas.  Stir until well combined.  Place 1/8 of mixture on each tortilla and spread evenly to the edges with a spatula.  Roll tortillas up tightly, place on a plate, and keep covered in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.  To serve, slice rolls into 3/4 inch wide pinwheels and arrange on a plate.

The pinwheels keep nicely in the refrigerator for a few days.  I experimented with placing two of the rolls in the freezer and will update after they've thawed.

Yield: 8 servings as a main dish and probably about 25 as an appetizer.

Candy Bar Brownies

Yet another recipe from Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mystery series, this time from The Cream Puff Murder!  This is more of an idea than a recipe, but it sure is a good idea.  We polished off the pan of brownies in a day and a half, even though they're very rich.  My husband, the chocolate and brownie lover, said these brownies seemed more like a candy bar than a brownie!  They're good at room temperature, but best a couple of hours after they come out of the oven and are still a little bit warm because the chocolate in the middle isn't completely set up yet. 
 

Quick Note:  The original recipe said to use a mix for a 9 by 13 pan, but to bake it in an 8 by 8 pan.  I used a mix for an 8 by 8 pan and have no regrets, they were perfect.  I fear the larger mix in the smaller pan would have overflowed.  Also, the recipe said to use a plain mix, but I used one with a caramel swirl and we loved how it turned out!  If you can't find a mix with a caramel swirl, you can try swirling in 1/4 C caramel ice cream topping, but no promises on how it will turn out.  I tried doing this recently with Twix brownies and used Smuckers Salted Caramel sauce and the caramel kind of boiled off and disappeared into the batter.

Update 8/15/16: I made these a different way, and they were even better.  I used a regular brownie mix, put chopped peanut butter cups and Hershey bars in the middle according to the directions below.  After the brownies were done baking, I made a caramel sauce by melting 5 oz (by weight) soft caramels with 1/4 C milk over medium-low heat.  I poked some holes in the brownies with a meat fork, then poured the caramel sauce over top.  They were awesome brownies!  So gooey and chocolaty that they were best eaten with a fork.  Good alternative if you have a little more time on your hands and want an over the top brownie or if you can't find a mix with caramel swirl.

 Candy Bar Brownies

 

1 8 by 8 box brownie mix with a caramel swirl (I used Duncan Hines Salted Caramel)

ingredients specified on brownie mix

2 giant size milk chocolate Hershey Symphony candy bars, or other chocolate candy, chopped up
 

Preheat oven to temperature specified on brownie mix and grease an 8 by 8 baking dish.
 
Prepare brownie mix according to box instructions, and spread half of the batter in the prepared baking dish. 
 
Top with the chocolate bars, breaking them as necessary to fit.  You want it to be one flat layer and will have some chocolate left over, but I don't see that as a problem!
 

Spread remaining brownie batter on top of chocolate so it's covered.  Drizzle the caramel evenly over the brownie batter, then use a butter knife to swirl it through the batter.
 

Bake brownies according to box directions.  They're done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.  The melted chocolate may get on the toothpick, but you should be able to tell the difference between melted chocolate and raw brownie batter.
 

Let brownies cool until just a little bit warm (about 2 hours), then serve.  Cover leftovers with foil.  You can serve leftover brownies at room temperature or warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds.

Honey Lemon Pepper Chicken & Pasta

This is a recipe I found on the Averie Cooks blog, and had to make it right away because it looked so unique.  For some reason I haven't seen honey feature prominently in many pasta dishes.  I made a few tweaks, like usual, and the main one was that I cut back on the honey significantly.  It was a good call, because we thought it had the perfect amount of sweetness.  This is a great recipe if you need something really quick and yummy for dinner!

 

 

Honey Lemon Pepper Chicken & Pasta

 

2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into 6 cutlets

lemon pepper to sprinkle

3 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1/3 C honey

1/2 C lemon juice

1 Tbsp lemon pepper (I used Lawry's)

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1/2 tsp dried thyme

13 oz box whole grain angel hair pasta (I used Barilla)
 

Cook the pasta in salted water while you cook the chicken, then strain and set aside.

 

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Sprinkle chicken generously with lemon pepper on both sides, then place in skillet. Brown on both sides.
 

While chicken browns, make the sauce.  Stir together 1 Tbsp olive oil, the honey, lemon juice, 1 Tbsp lemon pepper, rice vinegar, and dried thyme in a small bowl.  When chicken has browned, reduce heat to medium and pour in sauce.  Cook until it has thickened slightly and chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.  The sauce will only thicken a small amount and will remain fairly runny, so don't worry!
 

Remove chicken to a plate and add the cooked pasta.  Mix thoroughly and heat through, then serve on plates next to the chicken.
 

Yield:  6 servings

Ravioli Lasagna

I came up on this recipe at the blog Peaceful Parents, Confident Kids and made it that night, it just looked so good and easy!  You don't even have to cook the ravioli first.  Best of all, it turned out REALLY well.  My lasagna loving husband said he liked it better than regular lasagna, which is saying a lot.  I was worried it may end up a little watery from all the raw spinach, but the ravioli absorbs all the excess liquid very nicely and the entire thing is just divine.

 

 

 Ravioli Lasagna

 

1 lb ground beef

1 26 oz jar/can prepared spaghetti sauce (it doesn't have to be fancy, I used Hunt's Four Cheese)

about 20 oz uncooked, refrigerated cheese ravioli

3 C grated mozzarella

1/3 C grated parmesan

4 oz raw baby spinach

Grease 9 by 13 dish and preheat oven to 350.
 
Cook ground beef in a large skillet over medium high, and then stir in spaghetti sauce.
 
To assemble the lasagna, spread a small amount of the meat sauce in the baking dish, then make a single layer of ravioli, half of the spinach, 2 Tbsp of the parmesan, 1 C of the mozzarella, half of the remaining sauce, the rest of the ravioli, the rest of the spinach, 2 Tbsp of the parmesan, and the rest of the sauce.  Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes.  Remove the foil, top with the remaining 2 C mozzarella and the remaining parmesan.  Bake 20 minutes longer or until it's bubbly throughout and the cheese is browned.  Let the lasagna cool for 10 minutes before serving.
 
Yield: 6-8 servings

Bubble Breakfast Bake

Regrettably, I'm not sure who to credit with this recipe.  A friend shared the recipe on Facebook a few months ago and I saved it.  I've seen a decent number of recipes like this before though and it's not all that unique, so I'm not sure one specific person can be credited with it, anyway.  Maybe the Pillsbury company since it uses canned biscuits?

Anyway, I made this breakfast casserole a couple of months ago when my husband's parents were staying with us.  I figure it deserves to be on my blog since it's the one thing I've made for my in-laws in 9 years that my mother-in-law has requested the recipe for!  She doesn't enjoy cooking very often, so I was flattered that she wanted to make it.  We liked it enough that I'm strongly considering making it for Christmas breakfast since it's so easy and yummy.

The recipe is pretty self explanatory, but I want to specifically mention that you can't judge whether the casserole is done or not just by looking at how browned the biscuits are!  Raw biscuit dough is gross, so either cut into a biscuit in the center to make sure it's done (just sticking in a toothpick isn't enough), or use a digital probe thermometer stuck into a center biscuit and take the casserole out when it hits 190-200.

You can also supposedly refrigerate the mixing bowl of ingredients over night before pouring it in the baking dish and baking it in the morning, but I didn't do that.  It sure would be handy for Christmas morning, though!

 

 

Bubble Breakfast Bake

 

10 eggs

1/2 milk

1/2 tsp salt

4 green onions, sliced

2 C shredded cheddar cheese

1-2 C chopped cooked ham, bacon, or sausage

1  16 oz can flaky layer biscuits, cut into quarters

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 baking dish.
 
Whisk together eggs, milk, and salt, then stir in remaining ingredients except for biscuits.  Gently fold in biscuits.  Pour into greased baking dish and bake until biscuits are cooked through (cut one near the center with a knife to check) and eggs are set.  I cooked mine for 25 minutes, covered the top with foil so the biscuits wouldn't brown too much, then baked 10 minutes more.
 
Yield: 8 servings

Goulash

This recipe is from the Serious Eats website and was created by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.  He calls it American Chop Suey, but I've always known it as goulash.  In all honesty, it's never been one of my favorite foods, though I do have fond memories of my grandmother making it.  My husband requested something with macaroni, tomatoes, and ground beef, though, and I immediately thought of this recipe that I had bookmarked months ago!
 

This recipe does not disappoint.  It is by far the best goulash I have ever had and I don't really see bothering with any other version of the recipe.  How could it not be good with all the pockets of melted mozzarella?  Cheese aside, it's just an awesome recipe with lots of well balanced flavor, especially for a recipe that takes less than an hour to make.  My husband and I both rated it 9 out of 10, which is of course very good!

I mostly stuck to the original recipe, but it calls for letting the macaroni soak in hot water before draining it and adding it to the skillet.  A lot of recipe reviewers said this made the macaroni very mushy, which I of course wanted to avoid.  I compensated by just adding the uncooked noodles right to the skillet and letting it cook for a bit longer.  Perfect!  I also used one can of whole tomatoes and one crushed, but that was an accident, apparently the crushed tomatoes were hiding behind the whole ones on the grocery store shelf.  This probably didn't make a huge difference in the outcome, but crushed tomatoes are definitely thicker/richer than pureed whole tomatoes.  Next time I'll try using all whole tomatoes, but I have zero complaints about how it turned out!
 

 

Goulash

2 T olive oil

2 T butter

1 large onion, finely diced

1 bell pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 C fresh parsley, minced

1 Tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 lb ground beef

2 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, blended until smooth (I used 1 whole, 1 crushed)

1 C chicken broth

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1 lb dry macaroni noodles

salt and pepper to taste (I used 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper)

1 lb mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

3 oz grated parmesan

Heat olive oil and butter in a very large skillet over medium-high until butter is melted.  Add onion and bell pepper and saute until onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.  Add garlic, 1/2 of the parsley, the oregano, and red pepper flakes, and saute 1 minute. 

Raise heat to high and crumble in ground beef.  Saute until meat is cooked through.  Add tomatoes, broth, and Worcestershire sauce, and bring to a boil.  Stir in macaroni, reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and let cook 7 minutes. 

Stir, add salt and pepper to paste, then quickly stir in half of the mozzarella cubes, just enough to evenly disperse the cheese.  Evenly top with the rest of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan.  Cover the skillet, reduce heat to the lowest setting, and cook 3 minutes without stirring.  Remove skillet from heat and let sit 5 minutes more. 

Remove lid, sprinkle with remaining parmesan and parsley, and serve with Worcestershire sauce.

Yield: About 10 servings

Spam, Rice, & Eggs

This is one of those recipes I'm kind of embarrassed to share, both because it's incredibly easy and incredibly unrefined.  Everyone makes fun of Spam, and here I am tossing it into dinner.  My husband convinced me to post the recipe anyway because we enjoy it and the ingredients are basic enough that you can always have them on hand.

Spam, Rice, & Eggs

1 1/2 C raw rice, cooked according to package directions with 1/2 tsp salt (I use this baked brown rice recipe)
1 T butter
1 can Spam, cubed (I use turkey Spam)
6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
soy sauce to taste

Keep the rice warm while you cook the Spam and eggs.  Heat butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium high and add Spam.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned: about 10 minutes.  Remove Spam to a bowl and remove skillet from heat.  Crack eggs directly into skillet, then whisk them with your spatula.  Return pan to stove and scramble eggs over medium low.  When cooked, add salt and pepper to taste.  Return Spam to skillet as well as cooked rice.  Stir to combine and heat the rice through.  Let everyone top their own bowls with soy sauce.
 
Yield: about 6 servings

Secret Recipe Club: Thai Peanut Noodles

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Jess's blog, Inquiring Chef!  I was really excited to get her blog because I'd already poked around on it a bit.  Her blog is just chock full of amazing looking recipes.  I couldn't sleep the day we got our SRC assignments and actually read her entire blog that night, all the way back to when she started it in late 2010!
 

Jess's blog is really interesting, and not just because of the recipes she posts.  She's lived in Thailand with her husband for the past several years.  I absolutely love travel and am fascinated with different cultures, so her blog is a good read!  Jess and her husband also have a pair of pretty much the cutest identical twin baby girls, Molly and Clara.  I even love their names!
 

Anyway, to the recipes.  I marked a good 20 of them as possibilities to make for this blog post.  A couple of weeks ago, I actually made her Parmesan Rosemary Oven Fries, but realized after I made them that she originally adapted the recipe for an SRC post a couple years ago, so I had to pick a different recipe for my post.  No problem, like I said, she has lots of yummy looking recipes.  The ones I considered the most were Chicken and Orzo with Lemon and Olives, Chicken Stew with Rosemary Parmesan Dumplings (any recipe with rosemary catches my eye!), Crispy Scallion Pancakes, Baked Crab Rangoon, Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Chocolate Pots de Creme, Light and Fluffy Whole Wheat Pancakes, Apple Rubies in Coconut Milk, and her very simple looking 5 Minute Baked Ziti.  I fully intend on making the ziti, whole wheat pancakes, chicken with orzo, and apple rubies very soon!
 

In the end, I chose Thai Peanut Noodles.  I've made recipes for peanut noodles a few times in the past, and they've ranged from okay to pretty good.  None of them were good enough for me to make again or post on my blog, though.  I'm happy to say that Jess's recipe makes the cut to qualify for its own blog post, even if I didn't have to post about it!

My only changes were to sprinkle the crushed peanuts on top as a garnish instead of mixing them in, and I used canned Chaokoh coconut milk instead of the lighter kind you drink because I didn't catch that I was supposed to use the drinking kind until after I'd purchased a can.  No regrets, though, because the noodles turned out amazing!  Very creamy and delicious with great peanut, coconut, and curry flavor.  Absolutely no complaints, and I intend to make the recipe with the canned coconut milk in the future.  Next time I'll use another half teaspoon of red curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen brand, turns out it's pretty mild) and spaghetti noodles instead of bucatini, but that's it for alterations.

Just want to note, I served these noodles with Salt & Pepper Tofu Triangles and thinly sliced cucumber tossed with seasoned rice vinegar.  Very satisfying dinner!  I can also confirm that leftover noodles are delicious both cold and reheated.
 

Thai Peanut Noodles
 

8 oz spaghetti noodles

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp red curry paste (or more if you want more spice)

1/4 C peanut butter (the typical kind like Jif or Skippy that has a bit of sugar in it)

1/4 C water

1/2 C coconut milk

1 tsp salt
 

for garnish:
finely chopped peanuts

sliced green onion

Cook pasta in lightly salted water and drain.

While pasta cooks, heat oil over medium in a large nonstick skillet.  Add curry paste and peanut butter, and cook until both are melted and mixed together.  Don't cook at too high a temperature or the peanut butter can separate (I had to throw away my first go at it)!

Stir in water, coconut milk, and salt, and cook until sauce is very smooth and slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes.  Add cooked, drained pasta and toss to coat.  Divide among plates to serve and garnish with chopped peanuts and green onion.

Yield: About 3-4 servings
 

An InLinkz Link-up