Creamy Mashed Potatoes

I love potatoes.  A lot.  I usually like to make my favorite  Red Garlic Mashed Potatoes, but this was a a great recipe to try.  The potatoes came out so smooth and creamy.  They were literally perfect in everyway and my family definitely enjoyed them.  If you're only cooking for a few people, I would definitely cut this recipe in half.  With 5 lbs of potatoes, we'll have mashed potatoes coming out of our ears for weeks!

Source:  The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
¾ cups Butter
1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
½ cup (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
½ teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper


Directions:

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.

Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with delicious food and good times with family and friends.  I know that I did.  This was an extra special Thanksgiving for me because it was the first time I had ever cooked the meal.  I spent a few weeks preparing everything so that everything would go perfectly.  All of the food turned out fantastic and I was even able to plan everything accordingly so that all of the food was ready at the same time!  I tried a lot of new recipes and even brined and roasted my first turkey.  The items that I prepared included:

Turkey - brined

Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Corn with butter

Cinnamon Applesauce

Strawberry and Banana Jell-o Mold

Rolls

Stuffing

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

The next blog entries will include how to make some of these wonderful dishes as well as how to roast the perfect turkey.  Enjoy!!!

Tres Leches Cake

God, I love Tres Leches cake.  It is so sweet and creamy that I savor each and every single bite as I eat it.  I first tried this cake for the first time in 2004 when I spent a summer in Ecuador.  My host family made this often and it was soooo yummy that I try it on a menu whenever I see it at a restaurant.  Oddly enough, I had never made it on my own before.  I was participating in a baking contest with another girl from work last week and we decided to try making a Tres Leches cake, since neither of us had ever made it before.  We each tried different recipes and they were both outstanding.  We both had problems with using a spring-form pan because the cake kept leaking in the oven.  Eventually, I gave up and made it in a 9 x 13 cake pan and it turned out beautifully.

Source:  Joelen's Culinary Adventures, from Alton Brown

Ingredients:

Cake:
Cooking spray to grease cake pans
6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces sugar
5 whole eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup half-and-half

Topping:
2 cups heavy cream
8 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 lb strawberries

Directions:
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 10-inch metal springform pan and set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Do not remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

For the glaze:
Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half in a 1-quart measuring cup. Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

For the topping:
Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, chop up the strawberries and place in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Toss to combine and set aside until ready to serve.

To serve:
Place the cake on a serving platter. Carefully remove the ring from the springform pan. Slice the cake to serve and garnish with a spoonful of strawberries.

Boeuf Bourguignon

If you have been following my blog closely, you probably noticed that I took a slight hiatus.  I wasn't planning on it being this long, but I went on a very strict diet with limited food options.  Therefore, it was tough to try new recipes that I wasn't supposed to be eating.  The hiatus turned out to be a positive thing because I lost almost 40 pounds!  I also developed a new appreciation for food and a new attitude in regards to trying new food.  I'm going to try to make more of an effort to post healthy recipes, although I will at times post some ones that are not-so-healthy, but delicious nonetheless. 

For my first comeback recipe, I decided to try Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon!  Although I am not a great cook by any means, I love the movie Julie and Julia and I have been wanting to try the famous Boeuf Bourguignon ever since.  If Julie Powell can do it, I can do it.  I bought a beautiful red Le Creuset 7.25 quart french oven for my birthday so I was finally ready to try the recipe!  It was AH-MAZ-ING!! The hubby and I shared a bottle of wine and enjoyed this wonderful meal.  It was not nearly as time-consuming as I thought it would be and I am so excited to host a dinner party in the near future and serve this!

Source:  Joelen's Culinary Adventures, adapted from Julia Child

Ingredients:

6 ounces bacon
3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
1 cup baby carrots
1 sliced large onion
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti
2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
Crumbled bay leaf
18 to 24 small white onions (white pearl onions)
1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter
Chopped chives for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sauté the bacon in a dutch oven (no oil) over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. (The bacon will render and give off enough fat to cook with.) Remove the bacon from the pot and place in a bowl; set aside.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels - it will not brown if it is damp. Add the beef, a few pieces at a time, to the dutch oven to cook in the rendered bacon fat. Sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Remove the beef from the pot and add it to the bacon in the bowl; set aside.

If the bacon fat has been absorbed by sauting the beef at this point, feel free to add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. In the pot, brown the carrots and onions.

Return the beef and bacon to the pot and toss with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the flour over the meat in the pot and toss everything in the pot to coat the beef lightly with the flour. On the stovetop, heat the pot for about 2-3 minutes to lightly cook off some of the flour.

To the pot, stir in the wine along with the stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the pot and set in lower third of preheated oven. Allow the pot to braise very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms:

For the onions - place the unpeeled white pearl onions in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring the saucepan up to a boil over the stovetop and allow the onions to boil for about 5-10 minutes. Remove the onions from the water and cool. Cut off the ends of each pearl onion and remove the outer layer of skin. Once all pearl onions are peeled, saute the pearl onions in a skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter. Allow the pearl onions to caramelize. Remove from the skillet and set them aside to cool.

For the mushrooms - add 2 tablespoons of butter to the same skillet used to prepare the onions. Saute the mushrooms in the butter until caramelized. Remove from the skillet and set them aside to cool.

After the meat has braised, remove and strain the beef and vegetables from the pot with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl; set aside. With the remaining sauce left in the pot, allow it to simmer. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If the sauce is too thin, boil it down rapidly to reduce and thicken. If it's too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning.

At this point, return the beef and vegetables to the thickened sauce, along with the caramelized pearl onions and mushrooms. Gently heat everything over a medium low heat and then serve. Garnish with chopped chives.

Grilled Peach BBQ Chicken Wings

I subscribe to several cooking magazines, such as Cooking Light and Taste of Home.  I especially love Taste of Home because most of the recipes are so simple and delicious, a combination that I love!  For this recipe, my husband, who loves to grill, picked out this recipe.  I'll admit, I wasn't sure about pureeing peaches in barbecue sauce, but the end result was great.  It gave the sauce a wonderful sweetness.  I also really enjoyed the dipping sauce, which surprised me.  I'll admit, heating apple cider vinegar over the stove smells terrible, but the smell goes away and when the sauce cools, it produces a fabulous result. 

In other cooking blog news, I have an exciting little announcement to make in the next couple of days.  For the next 40+ days, my blog is going to take an interesting turn...stay tuned!

Source:  Taste of Home magazine, October & November 2010 issue

Ingredients:

2 cups store-bought barbecue sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, divided
2 peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
Salt
Pepper
24 chicken wings, separated at the joint and tips discarded
1 cup peach jam
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp hot sauce, such as Frank's RedHot, or to taste
Scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced, for topping (I omitted this)

Directions:

In a food processor, combine the barbecue sauce and half of the garlic.  Add the peaches and process until finely chopped; season with about 1-1/2 tsp. salt and about 1/4 tsp. pepper.  Reserve 1/2 cup for basting.  In a resealable plastic bag, toss together the chicken wings and remaining peach barbecue sauce; refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the peach jam, vinegar, remaining garlic, hot sauce, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes; let cool.

Preheat a grill or grill pan to low.  Grill the chicken wings with the grill cover down, turning and basting occasionally with the reserved barbecue sauce, until cooked through, about 30 minutes.  Top with the scallions and serve with the peach jam dipping sauce.

Italian Spiced Chicken Bites

This recipe took so little time to make, it almost seems wrong on how amazing it tasted.  The chicken marinade was wonderful with a little extra heat that I always enjoy.  As I was eating these for dinner, all I could do was think about when I was going to make these next.  They can make an excellent appetizer for parties or even Sunday afternoon football games.  This recipe is a must-make!

Source:  Adapted from Jaime Cooks:  Endevours in Eating & Entertaining

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into roughly 1″ cubes
1 tsp Garlic Powder
½ tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ cup Panko Italian Bread Crumbs (I used plain)
½ cup Plain Bread Crumbs  (I used Italian)

Directions:
 
Rinse and pat dry the chicken breast cubes.

In a bowl combine garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and olive oil in a bowl. Sprinkle over the chicken pieces and toss to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

After the chicken pieces have marinated, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix panko and plain dry bread crumbs in a bowl. Press marinated chicken pieces into the bread crumbs to coat completely.

Place on a baking sheet and bake 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and bread crumbs are golden brown. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

Spicy Rotini and Shrimp

I was having dinner by myself one night so I decided to try something I would like probably a little more than my husband would.  I love spicy food, but he doesn't like it as nearly as much as I do so I usually avoid it.  This dish was yummy with a LOT of heat.  I added nearly a tablespoon of red pepper flakes and it was almost a little too much for me.  For a touch of hotness, just stick with adding only a teaspoon!

Source:  Kelly's Kreative Kitchen, adapted from Homemade by Holman

Ingredients:

1/4 lb uncooked shrimp, deveined
1/2 box rotini pasta (or similar)
1 cup diced tomatoes w/ liquid
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup dry red wine (I used a zinfandel)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp basil
1 tsp red pepper flakes (can add more depending on taste)
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat a pot of water to boiling for pasta. When it comes to a boil, add salt and pasta. Cook until al dente and drain. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter and add olive oil over medium high heat. Add shrimp, season with salt and pepper, and cook until they turn pink. Don't overcook them, once they are opaque, they are done. Set them aside on a cutting board and cut into thirds.

In the same large skillet saute garlic and onions for 2 minutes on medium-high heat. Add the wine and saute another 3 minutes, or until no longer liquidy. Then add diced tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cream, simmer another 5 minutes. Add herbs, cooked shrimp, pasta, and salt & pepper, to taste. Toss and serve warm.