Heather's favorites

Hello...

I don't think I was on here last May, so this will be my first "favorites" post! Wahoo!

My favorite salad Asian Chicken Salad http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2008/07/asian-chicken-salad.html

Jenn posted this Garlic Basil Shrimp and I have made it a bunch and used chicken and spinach in it and it is still so fab... http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2008/08/garlic-basil-shrimp.html

Mel's Chocolate Chip Cookies are my all time fav cc cookie. I have even substituted the flour for whole wheat pastry flour and they still are so yummy. http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2008/08/mels-award-winning-chocolate-chip.html

My favorite way to cook veggies is roasted http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2008/07/roasted-broccoli-roasted-chicken.html

My sister's Monterrey Chicken is so versatile and easy, I make it all the time and change it up here and there to make it last for 2-3 meals http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2008/07/monterrey-chicken.html

I have made Jenn's Mom's Whole Wheat Bread lots of times http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2008/05/100-whole-wheat-bread.html and I love the sandwich bread recipe for a lighter loaf http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2008/03/honey-whole-wheat-sandwich-bread.html And Tiffany's view on how to make better wheat bread opening my world to dough enhancer and wheat gluten and I am forever grateful for that! http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2008/08/tips-for-better-whole-wheat-bread.html

And I love Le Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup http://recipestop.blogspot.com/2007/12/lamadeleines-tomato-basil-soup.html


And that is more than 5...oh well...I am an overachiever, what can I say?

I also wanted to add that if any of you are Enrichment Leaders in your ward, I have a blog of HFPE ideas and random thoughts at http://thebeautifulbasics.blogspot.com/

Happy Eating!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

OK, so I just had these last night and they were so yummy! I haven't made them, yet -- but I sure enjoyed eating them -- so here's the recipe. (Courtesy of Kellie Munster)

Brownies
1/2 cup butter or marg
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I would leave these out)

Melt butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, beat lightly just until combined (don't over beat). Stir in flour and nuts. Spread batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Cookie Dough
(This looks just like the Toll House recipe)

2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter/marg (I would use 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (I would leave these out)

Combine flour, baking soda & salt. Beat butter sugars and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until creamed. Add eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop dough by tablespoons evenly in brownie batter.

Bake brownies 35-40 minutes on 350 or until toothpick comes out almost clean. Cool completely and frost with frosting.

Frosting
4 oz semi sweet chocolate
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp hot water
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and stir in water and powdered sugar. Mix well and spread over brownies!

Dessert Favs from the Farm

Oh my Goodness! I must say that just about any dessert is my favorite! Here are a few that I make quite a bit . . .

Malaskas
Caramel Apple Crisp
Better than Canadian Sex
With a few additions! I add chopped nuts to the crust and do a layer of vanilla pudding, too!
Texas Sheet Cake

I am really sad to say that I could sit down and eat each of these desserts, in there entirety by myself. I'm gaining weight just thinking about eating them! Thanks for all your contributions -- I love this blog and am at a total loss for what to fix for dinner when my computer is down!

request: favorite desserts

Michelle has spoken. She would like a favorite desserts post! Hop to it!

Michelle's personal favorites from this fabulous recipe blog.

These are not in any kind of order

-Cajun Chicken Linguini
-Tomatillo Burritos
-Carmelized Garlic Chicken
-Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
-Sweet and Sour Chicken

I think favorite desserts need to be a separate category!

request: favorites

So, I made a request last May for everyone to list their favorite recipes. I got a whopping TWO responses {other than mine.} Meggs and Kristin are exempt from this second request. Will you create a post {labeled favorites} and link to your top 5 recipes from the site? They can either be yours or one you found on this blog. Pretty please?

Balsamic Pork Loin morphed into pulled pork sandwiches on Day 2

The pork loin recipe comes from Robin Miller of Quick Fix Meals. I really love balsamic vinegar, so this is a great way to add some rick flavor. You could also do this with pork chops.

Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:
Two 2 pound pork tenderloins trimmed of silver skin if necessary.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard
2 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme or about half as much dried.

Directions:

Coat a shallow roasting pan with cooking spray. Place the pork in the pan and season the top and sides with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, and thyme. Spoon the mixture over the pork then roast for about 45 minutes or until an internal temperature of 165 degrees F is reached. Baste every 15 minutes if possible.

Let the pork stand for 10 minutes before slicing enough for your dinner, I think this will feed 4-6 people.

The leftover pork can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 3 months.

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches:

Ingredients:
The 2nd pork loin from the above recipe and any leftovers
a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce, I like KC Masterpiece
Kaiser rolls

Take the pork tenderloin and with 2 forks, pull apart the pork so it is shredded. Take the port and put it in a pot, empty the bottle of barbecue sauce in and mix. I would probably add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water to thin it out a little if it seems too thick. Cook until warmed through and the pork is coated in the sauce.

Warm Kaiser rolls in over or toast them. Serve the BBQ pork on Kaiser rolls, I would add mustard and a pickle, but that is just me.

And there you go...2 meals and basically just one prep and a warm up!

YUMMMMM!

Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Soup

This is really YUM! Perfect for a cold day!

6 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tbsp flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
6 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup celery, chopped
3/4 cup carrots, chopped
2 cups quartered baby red potatoes
1 cup yellow squash
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 tsp thyme
2 cups light cream
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 cups chopped cooked chicken

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper and mix until smooth. Gradually add the broth, then turn up the heat up to medium high and bring the soup to a boil. Add the mushrooms, celery, carrots, potatoes, squash, corn and thyme. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup, covered until the vegetables are tender.

Add the cream, Parmesan and chicken. Heat the soup for an additional 10 minutes -- do not let the soup boil. Makes about 15 cups.

Mulligatawny

Don't ask me how to pronounce it -- just trust me it's pretty good. We are freezing our behinds off here in Idaho this week so I've got a couple of soup recipes to add to the blog!

4 Tbsp butter (or 2 Tbsp EVOO)
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 apple, cored, peeled & chopped (I used a gala -- but would use a granny smith in the future)
1 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped
1/2 cup flour
2-3 tsp curry powder
5 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
salt & pepper to taste
hot cooked rice to serve soup over

Melt the butter, in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, green pepper, apple and chicken and saute for about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Turn heat to low.

In a small bowl mix together the flour and curry powder. Add the mixture to the pot, then stir and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes. Partially cover the pot and simmer the soup for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Add the salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, place about 1/4 cup of rice in a bowl and ladle the soup over the rice.

Roasted Chicken with Red Potatoes and Asparagus

Dont be shocked Mandy-- I am actually going to post something!

Andrew and I love this meal and it is super easy, healthy, (and no dairy ).

• Cooking spray
• 3 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped into 2 inch cubes
• 2 lb red potatoes, chopped into 2 inch cubes (4-5 medium size)
  
• 1 1/2 cups chopped Roma tomatoes (2-3)
  
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup fresh basil, chopped (dried is fine too)
  
• 8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• Ground pepper to taste

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Add chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, basil, garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary. Add pepper if desired. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning occasionally until tender. Serve.

Smothered Chicken

4 chicken breasts
MOntreal Steak seasoning
1 T veg oil
8-16 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 c srdedded cheddar cheese
1/2 c green onions
1/2 c crumbled bacon
1/2 c chopped tomatoes
1 bottle BBQ sauce ( I use sweet baby rays)

Flatten chicken to 1/4 in thick ( optional)
Sprinkle with montreal steak seasoning, in a skillet brown chicken in oil for 5 min. Cook in a seperat pan the bacon till done, Drain grease and crumble. Then add muchrooms to saute with bacon. top the cooked chicken with BBQ sauce , mushroom/bacon, and onions. Sprinkle smothered chicken with cheese and tomatoes cover and cook until chicken is doen and cheese is melted. About 10 minutes, Serve with Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

The recipe tells you tao also make Honey mustard sauce to have with it, I didn't do this when I made it and wasn't sure you really need it, but here it is if you want to try it with it.

1 C mayo
1 c dijon mustard
1/2 c honey
1/8 tsp cayane pepper
1/4 c lime juice
1 tsp ginger powder

Honey LIme Chicken Enchiladas

This is my new favorite mexican dish! Sweet and spicy at the sime time so different!

6 TB honey
5 TB lime suice ( 1 large lime)
1 TB chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

3 chicken breasts
Montreal steak seasoning ( packets sold by taco seasoning, etc)
1 can black beans
8-10 flour tortillas
1 lb monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 oz green enchilada sauce
1 Cup heavy cream ( or whole milk)

Mix first four ingredients together and set aside. Place chicken in a saute pan and season with half package of montreal seasoning, and cook till almost done, add honee lime mixture to chicken pan and shred chicken. saute until Chicken is completely cooked.

Pour half of enchilada sauce on bottom of 9 x 13 dish Filll flour tortillas with chicken beans, and cheese, save some cheese for top. mix the reamaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover sauces from the chicken. Pour sauce on top of enchiladas ( they will be swimming in liquid its okay) and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 350 for 20-30 min until brown and crispy on top.

Albondigas

I wasn't convinved this was a great recipe when I originally made it, but the leftovers have convinced me. I've eaten this five times already.

2 T olive oil
2 3/4 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
3 quarts beef or chicken broth {I used both}
2 14-oz cans of diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup chunky tomato salsa
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 pound ground beef {I used turkey instead}
1/4 pound bulk pork sausage
6 T yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 cup white rice

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 3/4 cup onions, 2 cloves garlic, and bay leaves. Saute five minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, salsa and 1/4 cup cilantro and bring to boil. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Combine ground beef, sausage, cornmeal, milk, egg , salt, pepper and cumin, then rest of onions, garlic and cilantro in medium bowl. Mix well. Shape mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Add rice and meatballs to soup and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

from Bon Appetit

Breakfast Casserole

Here is the Breakfast Casserole recipe that I made for a Sunday lunch (for picture see picture with German Pancakes). It is adapted from a recipe in our ward cookbook.

1 large bag of hash browns (although I bought a large bag and didn't use the whole thing)
1/2 onion chopped (You can add onions or buy hash browns with onions)
12 eggs
1-2 cups of grated cheese
Meat of choice: 8 oz of cooked breakfast sausage crumbled or 1 cup of cooked chopped up ham or
1 pound of bacon cooked and crumbled (I used ham)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 garlic salt
Pepper to taste

Pour frozen hash brown in greased 9X13 pan. place meat in a layer on top of hash browns. In a large bowl beat eggs with a whisk and add 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of garlic salt, and pepper. Pour egg mixture on to hash browns and meat. Top with cheese. You can now refrigerate overnight if you want to eat it for breakfast or go ahead and bake it now. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, turn oven down to 375 and bake 20 minutes longer.

German Puffy Pancakes

This is from a cookbook Aaron brought me back from Utah " the Essential Mormon Cookbook: Green Jello, Funeral Potatoes, and other Secret Combinations" by Julie Badger Jensen.
These were really good. It recommends that you serve them with sour cream, brown sugar, and strawberries...and we laughed at that but tried it and it was really good. You can also add syrup to that. We also had topping options of pecans, whipped cream, cherry jam, powedered sugar, peaches, and blueberries.

1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Toppings:
3 cups fresh strawberries, halved
2 tablespoons sugar
1 carton of sour cream
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
Maple Syrup

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Put butter in a 9 inch glass pie plate. Place in oven for 5 minutes, or until butter melts and bubbles. While butter is melting put milk, flour, sugar, eggs, and salt in belnder. blend on medium until smooth. remove pie plate from oven. Immediately pour mixture into pie plate. Return pie plate to the oven. bake for 20 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake 8-10 more minutes until edges are puffed and brown. remove from oven, cut into wedges and serve with toppings.
I really like these, they are interesting looking and super easy. I doubled the recipe and had enough for a pie plate, a tart pan, and a round serving dish.
Here is a picture of the breakfast casserole (see next recipe) and the 3 German Pancakes!

Bread Sticks

Andrea's Bread sticks
Yields 12 bread sticks

1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ cups warn water
½ tsp salt
3 cups flour
½ cup butter
garlic salt, Parmesan cheese, and/or salad supreme

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix together yeast mixture, sugar, salt, and flour. Knead for about 3 minutes. Add flour as needed. Let stand for 10 minutes, or longer. Melt butter on cookie sheet. Cut dough into fourths, then into thirds. Roll & twist. Roll in butter, sprinkle with garlic salt, Parmesan cheese and/or salad supreme. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until lightly browned.

La Madeleine`s Strawberries Romanov

Have you been to La Madeleine's? Its a yummy place and my little sister LOVES their Strawberries Romanov, she gets it almost every time we go and savors ever minute of it. We found the recipe and low and behold it has brandy in it! Who would have thought? But, I am sure you could substitute the brandy with an extract or just leave it out. I also use this as a topping on German Puffy Pancakes (without the brandy). This says it will serve 2 but I bet Lindsey would argue that it will only serve her!

Ingredients:


1 cup strawberries, hulled and rinsed
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon brandy



Directions:
Just before serving, rinse berries and trim stems with a paring knife. Mix remaining ingredients and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes.

Put berries in stemmed wine glass and top with sauce.

Cheddar Soup

This is one of my Mom's favorites and a favorite at the tea room that she and my sister used to own. Its creamy and so good!

Ingredients to serve 8
1/4 cup of butter or margarine
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup flour
1 and 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart half and half
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 and 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Saute in the melted butter, the onion, carrots, and celery (I chop these in a food processor) Saute until soft.Gradually stir in the flour and cornstarch.Reduce heat to low and gradually stir in the chicken broth and half and half. Continue cooking and stirring until thickened and smooth.Stir in the baking soda and grated cheddar.Stir until cheese is melted.Add salt and pepper.Enjoy!Note: Be sure to use half and half, not milk.When you add the flour and cornstarch to make the roux, it will quickly thicken, so be sure to stir.

Variations: crumble bacon bits on top or mix with a potatoe soup.

sweet and sour chicken

I have had terrible luck with new recipes lately. I almost didn't try this one because I didn't think I could handle another dud. I'm so, so glad I gave this one a try. It's easily one of our new favorites.

3-4 chicken breasts {I used two huge Costco ones}
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 T ketchup
1/2 c vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Cut chicken into chunks. Season with salt and pepper, dip into cornstarch and then into egg. Fry in the oil until brown but not cooked through. {I did about three minutes one one side, flipped them all over and cooked for another minute or two.} Mix sauce ingredients and pour over chicken in an 8x8 baking dish. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. I thought there was plenty of sauce, but if you want more, you can mix up another batch and simmer over medium heat until thickened. I served this over rice with a side of steamed stir-fry veggies.

from here