Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts???

I know. I know.  This is not a picture of the doughnut.  That is because this recipe (to me) was an EPIC FAIL as a doughnut.  But it worked out pretty well as a muffin.  So that is what I'm going to recommend you use this doughnut recipe for.

Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts 
(or muffins)

Ingredients:
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 3/4 c. + 2 T flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease two standard doughnut pans.  (I searched all over for mine and finally found some at Michaels.)  Beat together oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spice, salt, and baking powder until smooth.  Fill the wells of the doughnut pans about 3/4 full.  Bake the doughnuts for 15-18 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes.  Remove the doughnuts and transfer to a rack to cool.  While the doughnuts are still warm (but no longer fragile) gently shake them in a bag with cinnamon-sugar.

In my test kitchen:

I have read countless recipes/reviews about making homemade cake doughnuts that you fry in oil.  The general consensus is that the batter is very thin so it's almost impossible to cut the dough into a doughnut shape.  So then I came across these baked doughnuts.  I thought, "Why not try to bake them first and then fry them afterward for a few seconds to get that yummy crunchy outside that I love so much."  Ummmmmm, didn't really work so well.  It didnt' taste horrible but it didn't taste the way I wanted it to.  I also tried the doughnut exactly as the recipe stated and baked, then coated them in sugar.  They were so-so. 

The site where I pulled this recipe actually suggested that you could make these into  muffins.  So when my first few doughnuts didn't taste amazing, I just added about 1/2 chopped chocolate chips to the batter and put it in a greased muffin tin. (I floured the chocolate chips first to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.)  Then I added some mini-chocolate chips to the top of the muffins just before baking.

If you make muffins, they will need to cook for 23-25 minutes.

~Happy Cooking!

Grilled Peaches and Cream

A fabulous neighbor dropped off some peaches at my house tonight.  I really have the most thoughtful neighbors.  This summer I've noticed a few different recipes in my cooking magazines for grilled peaches so I decided to try my hand at it tonight.  What a fun, fresh, and quick dessert! 

Ingredients:

4 ripe peaches, sliced in half, pits removed

1 oz plain cream cheese, softened
1 T. chopped pecans (optional)

vegetable oil

brown sugar
honey

Directions:

Brush each peach half with vegetable oil.  Sprinkle with brown sugar.  Pour a few tablespoons of vegetable oil on a paper towel and rub the paper towel on a warm grill.  Place the peaches, pit side down on the grill.  Cook on low for 5 minutes.  Turn peaches and cook on the other side for an additional 3 minutes.  Sprinkle peaches with additional brown sugar and place a small dollop of cream cheese on top of the peach.  Drizzle with honey.

In my test kitchen:

I really do love a good crunch so some chopped pecans mixed into the cream cheese would have been so yummy!  I also think honey (maybe 1 T.?) mixed into the cream cheese rather than just drizzled across the top would have been better. 

Overall this was a pretty fun dessert to experiment with!

~Happy Cooking!

Crock Pot Sweet Garlic Chicken

I love how people can easily share recipes and meal ideas on Facebook.  A friend shared this recipe yesterday.  Even though I already had a Sunday meal planned, I already had all the ingredients for this dinner so I decided to try it instead.

Crock Pot Sweet Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken breast

1 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. vinegar
1/4 c. lemon-lime soda

2-3 T. minced garlic

2 T. soy sauce

1 t. pepper

2 T. cornstarch

2 T. water

red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Spray a slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.  Place chicken in slow cooker.  Mix together sugar, vinegar, soda, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper.  Pour over chicken.  Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4 hours.  Remove chicken from crock pot and shred with a fork.  Pour remaining sauce in a saucepan.  Mix together cornstarch and water.  Whisk cornstarch mixture into the sauce.  Bring sauce to a boil for 2-3 minutes.  Reduce heat to simmer and let sauce thicken.  Pour sauce over chicken.  Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Serve over rice or noodles. 

In my test kitchen:

Why is it that chicken dries out sooooo much in a crock pot?  I used thawed, smaller pieces of chicken in this recipe and cooked it on low for 3 hours.  The chicken was PLENTY done.  Next time I'll cook it on low for 2 hours instead and see how it is.  Despite the fact that the chicken is dry, the sauce that goes along with it is great.  So it makes a great meal.  I only had a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar (which the original author recommended) so I used it up and added additional regular white vinegar.  I'll try all apple cider vinegar next time because I think it would have suited this recipe a little better.  I also really like garlic but decided to only use 2 T.  That was more than enough!  You've got to really love garlic to put all 3 T. in this sauce.  And my husband just LOVES spice so I sprinkled quite a bit of the red pepper flakes on his chicken.  I only did a light sprinkle of red pepper on mine and it was almost too spicy for me.  But I really think it added to the flavor of the meal so I would say it shouldn't be an optional ingredient unless you absolutely hate that kind of heat.

Great recipe that I will make again!

~Happy Cooking!

St. Nick's Lime Fizz

I found this fun, refreshing drink in the LionHouse Christmas cookbook.  Truthfully, I think it is more of a summer drink so that is when I usually make it. 

St. Nick’s Lime Fizz

Ingredients:

5 fresh limes, juiced (about ½ cup)

½ c. sugar

1 ½ c. pineapple juice

1 quart lime sherbet

1 16 oz bottle lemon-lime soda

Maraschino cherries, for garnishing

8 thin half-slices lime, for garnishing

Directions:

Place lime juice, sugar, and pineapple juice in a blender and process for 30 seconds.  Add half of the lime sherbet and process again for a few seconds.  Pour mixture into eight 10 oz glasses (two-thirds full.)  Fill glasses almost to the top with lemon-lime soda.  Top each cup with a scoop of sherbet.  Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a half-slice of fresh lime.  Serve with straws.

In my test kitchen:

I highly recommend using a handheld lime or lemon squeezer to juice the limes.  The first few times I made this drink I squeezed them by hand and it took FOREVER!   Plus my fingers were so numb afterward.  Buying the lemon squeezer was the best $5 I ever spent!  Also, I don’t like maraschino cherries so I never garnish the drinks with those.  We keep a little more than 16 oz of Sprite on hand for this drink as well.  It’s nice to be able to top off a drink with a little bit more soda. 

~Happy Cooking!

Potato-Ham Chowder

I got the recipe for this chowder from my mom.   She made it all the time when I was growing up.  I make it a lot during the cooler months of the year but we had a particularly overcast day with some rain last week and I hadn’t made this in awhile so I decided to put this on the table for dinner.  I’ve tweaked a few things to my own liking and I serve it with French bread or rolls. 

Potato-Ham Chowder

Ingredients

3 T. margarine or butter (I use butter and always use 6 T. instead)

¼ c. chopped onion

3 T flour (I use 4 T.)

1 t. chicken flavored instant bouillion granules (I use 2 t.)

¼ t. thyme leaves

¼ t. pepper

2 c. milk

1 c. water

2 c. potatoes (diced and cooked)

9 oz. fresh/frozen vegetables

1 c. cubed cooked ham

Directions:

Cube potatoes and put them in a pot to boil.  Meanwhile, in large saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Stir in onion.  Saute until tender.  Stir in flour, bouillion, thyme, and pepper.  Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly, until smooth and bubbly.  Gradually whisk in milk and water.  Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until mixture boils.  Be sure to whisk along the bottom of the pan so it doesn’t burn.  Drain potatoes.  Stir in potatoes, ham, and vegetables.  Reduce heat; simmer stirring occasionally for 10 minutes until the chowder has thickened.

In my test kitchen:

I cook my potatoes until they are just barely softened.  Otherwise they will fall apart in the soup once they are added in.  Also, I like to use fresh carrots in the chowder.  So I will chop those and add them to the pot of potatoes to boil.  I use frozen peas and corn at the end when I’m adding in the ham.  I used to use canned corn but I have found that it is a little too sweet and changes the taste of the chowder.  Frozen corn is better.  In this most recent attempt to make the chowder, I don’t think I let it simmer long enough.  Which is why it looks more like a soup broth than a chowder.  So be sure to let it simmer long enough to thicken up.

~Happy Cooking!

Banana Nut Cookies

I was watching an episode of Bobby Flay’s Throw Down on the Food Network a couple weeks ago and they were making chocolate chip cookies.  They looked so good that I had to make some too.  I have a Mrs. Fields Cookie Book which is amazing.  For cookie lovers, I highly recommend this book.  Her recipes make thick, soft, cake-like, cookies instead of flat crunchy cookies.  Here is one of my favorites:

Banana Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

2 2/3 c. all-purpose flour

½ t. baking soda

¼ t. salt

1 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed

½ c. white sugar

1 c. salted butter, softened

1 lg egg

1 t. crème de banana liqueur or pure banana extract

¾ c. (1 medium) mashed ripe banana

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 c. chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt.  Mix well with a wire whisk.  Set aside.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend sugars at medium speed.  Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl.  Add egg, extract, and banana, and beat at medium speed until smooth.  Add the flour mixture, 1 c. of chocolate chips, and the walnuts. Blend at low speed until just combined.  Do not overmix.  Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.  Sprinkle cookies with chocolate chips, 6-8 per cookie.  Bake 25-27 minutes or until cookie edges begin to brown.  Transfer immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.

In my test kitchen:

Clint hates nuts.  And I love them.  So I have to add the flour mixture and chocolate chips first, then separate the dough and manually fold in the nuts to my ½ of the cookie dough.  So I usually cut the amount of nuts to ½ c.  I usually add 1 ½ c. of chocolate chips to the batter instead of 1 c. I don’t know how to “sprinkle” the chocolate chips onto rounded tablespoons of dough.  They just fall off.  So I just press 3-4 into the cookie dough ball.  I think mini semi-sweet chocolate chips would also be great in this cookie instead of the regular chips.

This recipe calls for more flour than other recipes, which is why it doesn’t flatten out in the oven.  And it is cooked on a much lower temperature too.  It’s the way I grew up making and eating cookies so I love it!

~Happy Cooking!

Individual Brunch Casseroles

I’m still making a nice Sunday breakfast every week.  I’ve been doing it since the first of the year and I’m really liking that time with my family.  I know the kids don’t really appreciate it yet but I’m hoping they will enjoy it some time down the road.  This was a fun little recipe that was pretty easy to put together.  I didn’t have all the ingredients the recipe called for, nor do I like some of the items they suggested so I tweaked it a little bit and it turned out great.  So this is definitely a recipe that can be adjusted to your liking.

Individual Brunch Casseroles

Ingredients: 

3 c. shredded hashbrowns

¾ c. diced onions

½ c. diced celery

½ c. diced green pepper

2-4 T. vegetable oil

4 eggs

½ t. salt

¼ t. pepper

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

½ lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 can mushrooms stems and pieces, drained

Directions:

In a large skillet, sauté the potatoes, onion, celery, and green pepper in vegetable oil until vegetables are crisp-tender.  If necessary, add more oil to prevent sticking.  Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, salt, pepper.  Add cheese, bacon, and mushrooms; mix well.  Stir in potato mixture.  Pour into four greased individual baking dishes.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

In my test kitchen:

I loathe celery and I didn’t have any green peppers OR mushrooms.  I’m terrible, I know.  But I did have some crumbled pre-cooked turkey sausage that needed to be used.  So I sautéed the potatoes and onions (I minced my onions and probably only used ¼ c. and then added 1 c. turkey sausage.  Because I was using the sausage I did not put bacon in the egg mixture.  Instead, I cooked up 3 slices and crumbled them and sprinkled it on the top of the casserole just before putting it in the oven to give the casserole a little crunch.  I think the green peppers and mushrooms would be a nice addition to the dish but they weren’t missed by my family. 

~Happy Cooking!