Thursday, December 31, 2009

Raspberry lemon bars

These are super yummy!! I think raspberry and lemon taste amazing together!

CRUST:
3 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. Baking soda
1/2 t. grated lemon peel
1 c. butter
1 egg-slightly beaten

FILLING:
1 pkg. frozen raspberries (12 oz)
1 1/2 C. sugar
1/4 c. water
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. grated lemon peel
1/2 t. vanilla

ICING:
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar
1-2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. butter-softened

Heat oven to 350. Mix flour, 1 1/2 c. sugar, baking soda, and lemon peel. Cut in butter and egg. Reserve 2 c. of this crust mixture. Press remaining crust mixture into an ungreased jelly roll size pan and bake for 8 min.
Meanwhile in a med. saucepan combine filling ingredients and cook over med-high heat till raspberries are defrosted and filling it thickened, stirring often.
Spread filling over crust. Sprinkle reserved flour mixture over filling. Bake for another 15-20 min. or until golden brown. Cool.
In a small bowl combine icing ingredients. Stir until smooth and drizzle over bars. Enjoy
*make sure you cool completely before icing and cutting!

Floating hamburgers

1 lb. burger
1 t. onion powder
1 bread slice-crumbled
1 egg-beaten
1/8 c. milk
salt and pepper

SAUCE:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can water

Mix everything except for sauce and form into mini hamburgers. Brown in frying pan and place in baking dish. Mix soup and water together and pour over top of burgers. Cover pan and bake at 350 for about an hour. Serve over rice. This is a super easy yummy dinner!!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Chocolate Mint Cookies


Ingredients:
~1 cup of butter softened
~1 cup powdered sugar
~1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
~2 egg yolks
~16 drops of green food coloring
~2 1/2 cups flour
~1/2 tsp baking powder
~1/4 tsp salt
~3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
~3 Tbsp Whipping Cream
~3 Tbsp butter
~18 Andes Mints, cut diagonally in half
Preheat oven to 350* and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl beat 1 cup of butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg yolks and food coloring until well mixed
On low speed add the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Shape into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
Using the end of a wooden spoon, press a deep well into the center of each cookie
Bake about 10 min. or until set
reshape wells if needed
cool completely
Melt the chocolate chips, whipping cream, and 3 tbsp of butter until smooth
Fill each well with chocolate mix
Garnish with the Andes mints.
Enjoy....

Friday, December 18, 2009

Sesame Chicken

1 lb. chicken tenderloins
flour
oil
salt & pepper
2-3 eggs

Heat oil in saute pan. Cut chicken into bitesize chunks (or whatever size you prefer). Mix flour with salt & pepper. Dip chicken in eggs and coat in flour. Brown chicken in hot oil. Place in 9x13 baking dish.

1 t. ginger root(finely chopped)
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. oil
1 clove garlic
sesame seeds (optional)

Brint to boil the ginger root, soy sauce, garlic, honey & oil in pan. Pour over chicken. Top with sesame seeds. Bake at 350` for 20 minutes.
Serve with rice & veggies.


This is a family favorite and super easy to make. If the ginger seems a little stong don't add quite as much. Enjoy!!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Dutch Oven Bread


This was so much fun to make! I was given the recipe by our neighbor and it sounded easy and fun, so I decided to give it a try. It was super easy and the results were fantastic! The bread looks so amazing, like something you would purchase at a bakery. And the bread was absolutely delicious!



Mix:


3 c flour

1/4 tsp yeast

1/2 TBS salt


Add:


1 1/2 c water (max. Can add less)

1 TBS vinegar


Will be very sticky and "shaggy". Cover with plastic wrap and leave for 12-18 hours (yep! That's right! Put it in a corner in your kitchen and forget about it)


Knead into a ball, place on parchment paper, dust with flour, cover with plastic wrap, let rise 2 hours.


Heat oven 450. Put in dutch oven with lid. Let it preheat with the oven. (do this toward the end of the 2 hr rising time)


Cut X into top of ball. Quickly place bread, parchment paper and all, in dutch oven.


Bake with lid on for 30 min.


Bake another 20-30 min with lid off.


Enjoy!!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Bread Bowls and Potato Chowder


There is nothing like soup in bread bowls to warm up cold winter nights! I attempted to make my own the other night and they turned out absolutely delicious! They were sturdy enough for lots of soup and didn't get soggy. And the taste was delicious! I tried a new soup recipe, too. It was the perfect soup for breadbowls! It was super easy, too, since it uses the crockpot.



The recipes are from two cooking blogs that I follow. Here are the links:

http://realmomkitchen.com/214/happy-new-year-and-crockpot-potato-chowder/

http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-favorite-bread-bowls.html
I made the Italian bread bowls