Kitchen Adventures 11.1

Every now and then you read a recipe and think it will turn out perfectly, then when you get halfway through it you realize things could go terribly wrong. At that point, you turn to salvage mode and try to find a way to save the dish so it's not a complete wash. This happened to me with this recipe. Everything looked fine at first, but as I went along I realized I would have to do some adjusting to make things turn out right. Fortunately, I made the correct adjustments and it turned out pretty well. I'm getting better at this improvisation in the kitchen thing!

This is a nice casserole recipe that could feed a family or a couple people for a few days. It came from the binder my aunt gave me several years ago. I'm posting it with changes I made so you can learn from my experiences. The oddest thing that happened when making this was that I used more meat than I was supposed to but cut almost everything else in half. It turned out pretty meaty, but it was still good.

Burrito Bake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 1/2 c. grated Monterrey jack cheese
1/4 c. chopped onion (I omitted this)
1 pkg. crescent rolls
1 can refried beans

Directions:

Brown the beef and onion, then drain. Stir in the dry taco seasoning. Press the crescent rolls in the bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Use a second package of crescent rolls is one won't cover it. Spread refried beans over rolls. Use a second can if one won't cover it. Add the beef mixture to the top and then top it all with the cheeses. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil to brown the cheese at the end.

Kitchen Adventures 10.7

There is an abundance of recipes available for coating pork chops or chicken or fish with some type of bread crumb mixture or another and then baking said meat. I've used many of these recipes, and they always turn out good. I have not found many that use nuts for coating, though. I am a nut lover, and I'm particularly fond of pistachios. I even got a huge bag of them for Christmas from my parents, and I was very excited about this! When I saw a recipe using pistachios as a coating for pork chops, I had to try it.

I have made this recipe before, and both times it has turned out well. One piece of adv ice: line your baking sheet with foil. This will make your clean-up go so much quicker, because these suckers tend to stick to the pan. It's totally worth it, though!

This recipe is from Every Day with Rachael Ray.

Pistachio-Crusted Pork Chops

Ingredients:

1/2 c. shelled pistachios
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
Salt
1/4 c. breadcrumbs
Four 1-inch thick pork chops
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 c. olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a food processor (I used a blender), grind up the pistachios, garlic, lemon peel, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Transfer this mixture to a shallow bowl and toss with the breadcrumbs.
2. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Dip each chop into the egg and then into the breadcrumb mixture. Transfer them to a foil-lined baking sheet.
3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chops and cook until golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Place the chops back on the baking sheet when done and drizzle with olive oil. Bake about 20 minutes

Kitchen Adventures 10.6

It struck me yesterday that my blogging to baking ratio has gotten greatly disproportional. I'm doing way more baking and cooking than blogging, and it just gets me further in the hole each time! Yesterday did not help the situation, though it did help my hungry tummy. I made a couple sides and a dessert for our Easter dinner, which was a delicious and fun time with friends. But, this post will not address those delicious dishes. Instead, today we'll talk about a scrumptious breakfast from my last family visit.

Karen and Ryan, my sister and brother-in-law, came down to visit me over their spring break in March. We had a wonderful time running around Norman and OKC! We toured OU, ate at Cafe Plaid, drove around Norman, went to the movies, ate at Hideaway, went to the OU art museum, ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, found almost every Sherwin-Williams store in the OKC metro area, went to the OKC bombing memorial, walked around Bricktown and Bass Pro Shops, met up with friends at the Library, went shopping, ate at Tarahumara's and Crimson and Whipped Cream. As you can see, we did a lot! And we ate a lot. :) We didn't eat out all the time, though. These two are coffee lovers, and I have some espresso powder left from an earlier baking adventure, so I thought I'd try to find something that could use some of this up. While flipping through one of my new Rachael Ray magazines, I came across a french toast recipe that incorporates espresso powder. I couldn't pass it up, so we had it their first morning here. It was nice to make breakfast with Karen and chat while things were cooking. We even said our prayer before eating. Mom would be proud. :)

This recipe is from Every Day with Rachael Ray.

French Toast with Espresso Cream

Ingredients:

2 T. instant espresso powder
1 c. sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs
1/4 c. heavy cream
1/4 tsp. salt
Eight 1/2-inch thick slices chullah bread (I used ciabatta bread)
4 T. melted butter

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the espresso powder with 1/4 cup hot water. Remove 2 T. of the espresso into a cup for later. Whisk the condensed milk into the remaining espresso.
2. In a baking dish, whisk together the eggs, cream, salt, and reserved espresso. Place the bread slices in the dish and turn to coat.
3. Melt 2 T. butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add 4 slices of bread to the pan and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes, then flip the bread over and cook an additional 2 minutes or until golden brown. Do this again with the remaining butter and bread. Drizzle the espresso cream over the french toast when serving.

Kitchen Adventures 10.5

Most people tend to have their go=to dish for parties or special occasions. Some people always bring the brownies; others always bring the chips and dip. I can usually be counted on for some type of dessert, no matter the affair, though occasionally I do mix it up. For a recent cookout, I chose to bring a dessert, but since it was a spur-of-the-moment event, I had to go with what I had on hand. Luckily, I had quite a few ingredients. I thought about making brownies from scratch, then found another new recipe while looking for the brownie one. It was neat to try something new, and it was pretty delicious.

As a note, I did not make the original version of this recipe. I made a variation as I knew one of the hosts loves peanut butter and I thought he would really enjoy that variation.

This recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Revel Bars

Ingredients:

6 T. butter, softened
2 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
3 c. quick cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped peanuts (optional)
1/2 c. peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar and baking soda and beat until combined, scraping the bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Beat and stir in the flour, then stir in the oats.
2. For filling: in a medium saucepan combine the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and sweetened condensed milk. Cook over low heat until the chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the peanuts and 2 tsp. vanilla.
3. Press 2/3 (about 3 1/2 c.) of the oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1 baking sheet. Spread filling evenly over the oat mixture and top with dollops of the remaining oat mixture.
4. Bake about 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack and cut into bars when cooled.

Kitchen Adventures 10.4

I am always on the lookout for quick and easy dinner recipes. I'm not much of a cook--I much prefer baking- and most of my dinner recipes usually involve the oven. Typically, this means dinner takes a little longer. To compensate for a longer cooking (and waiting) time, I try to find things that do not take long to prepare. This recipe definitely falls into that category.

I have made several variations of this recipe, and I am sure there are many more to be made. I used this one since it had been on my list for awhile and I had cornflakes on hand. It proved to be quite yummy and very simple.

This recipe came for Every Day with Rachael Ray.

Crunchy Parmesan Chicken

Ingredients:

1 c. cornflakes, lightly crushed
3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
3 large eggs, beaten
Four 6 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
5 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a shallow bowl, combine the cornflake, cheese, and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper. Place the beaten eggs in another shallow bowl. Coat each chicken breast with the cornflake mixture, dip in the eggs, then back in the cornflake mixture and place on a wax paper-lined baking sheet.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes per side. Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake the chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Note: if some chicken breasts are larger than others they may need to bake longer. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

The pictures did not turn out too well, but they give you an idea. These were some of the juiciest chicken breasts I have ever had. It made me think I had cooked them wrong!

Kitchen Adventures 10.3

Ah, it's good to be back and sharing recipes! Life has definitely been busy over the past month. The parents came to visit in early March, the sister and brother-in-law came to visit a week later, work got crazy busy, and of course there are always social things to be done. I'm going to try and do some catching up today, so we'll see how that goes.

As I have mentioned before, I am more aware of dietary restrictions such as gluten free these days since I have several friends and co-workers that have to follow those guidelines. Hence, I am always looking for easy GF recipes I can share with them. While flipping through some of my Rachael Ray magazines my parents brought me, I stumbled across a GF pie recipe. This was perfect, since I had just been talking with a friend about GF pie crusts and finding a way to make them. I of course had to tell her the secret: use Chex instead of graham crackers. If you think about it, Chex have always been gluten free, but now the product can be advertised that way. I have never thought about using them as a substitute, but it was pretty delicious.

Included with this information was a recipe I just couldn't resist. Chocolate and peanut butter has to be one of the best culinary combinations ever. The timing was perfect, too, since I wanted to make a pie to celebrate PI Day (I told you I had some catching up to do). Even though I'm no longer taking math classes, I remember with fondness celebrating my first PI Day in Mr. Wertenberger's trig class. I had been looking for a great recipe to share at work to celebrate and this one fit the ticket.

This recipe came from the February 2011 Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine.

Double Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pudding Pie

Ingredients:

3 c. Chocolate or Rice Chex cereal, finely crushed
5 T. butter, melted
12 oz. semisweet baking chocolate, chopped, plus more for chocolate shavings
1 1/2 T. unsweetened baking cocoa, sifted
2 c. half-and-half
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg plus 3 egg yolks
6 T. whipping cream, plus 1 c. whipping cream, whipped for topping
1/2 c. white vanilla baking chips
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

Directions:

1. Stir together the crushed cereal and melted butter in a small bowl. Press this mixture in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate the crust for 30 minutes or until set. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the crust for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with one-third (4 oz.) of the chopped chocolate after removing the crust from the oven.
2. Meanwhile, in a large heatproof bowl, mix the cocoa and remaining chopped chocolate together. In a 1-quart heavy saucepan, heat the half-and-half over medium-high heat until it is almost boiling. In a medium heatproof bowl, beat the sugar, egg and egg yolks together with a whisk until the mixture is light yellow. Slowly beat in half of the hot half-and-half, then pour this egg mixture into the saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and heat the mixture just to boiling. Cook this mixture, beating with a whisk, for about 1 minute or until thickened. Pour this through a sieve into the cocoa mixture and beat with a whisk until smooth. Pour this into the crust and refrigerate 30 minutes or until fairly set. (As a short cut, you could just buy instant pie pudding and use that. I realized that after I had made it.)
3. Wipe out the saucepan, then add 6 T. cream to the pan. Heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Place the vanilla baking chips and peanut butter in a medium heatproof bowl and pour the hot cream over them and let stand until chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes. Beat this with a whisk until smooth. Spread this mixture evenly over the chilled pie and refrigerate until firm, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. If desired, serve with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Here is a picture of the delicious creation.



For more gluten free recipes, check out chex.com/glutenfree