Sunday, July 18, 2010

Peanut Butter Bars With Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Bars

1 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. Coach's Oats
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. white flour
1/2 tsp. soda

In a large bowl, cream together peanut butter, egg, butter and brown sugar until light an whippy. Add remaining ingredients, then press into a small cookies sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for exactly nine minutes. Don't overcook it! It might look a little soft and gooey, but it will set as it cools. Allow to cool before frosting & cutting into bars.


Whippy Cocoa Fudge Frosting

2 sticks butter, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips just until barely melted. Using and electric beater/mixer, beat in the butter, then slowly add the powdered sugar and just enough milk to make the frosting a nice, spreadable consistency. Frost cooled bars. Allow frosting to set up for about 30 minutes before cutting. ENJOY!

Corn Chowder

3 large potatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 onion (2 c. chopped)
3 stalks of celery
3-4 ears of corn (about 2 c.)
¼ c. butter
¼ c. olive oil
¾ t. salt
½ t. garlic salt
3 T. flour
1 ½ c. cream
2 c. milk
¾ c. parsley (chopped)
pepper

In a medium pan boil potatoes in water and add about ½ t. salt, this will take about 20 minutes. Stir every few minutes. In the mean time, start on the base of the soup.
In a large pan sauté onions, celery, corn (after being cut off the cob), butter, and olive oil, until vegetables soften, 10-12 minutes. Add garlic salt, salt and flour, mix well and continue to stir over heat for about 3 more minutes. Slowly add cream, stir until all ingredients are fully combined. The soup should be very thick, keep stirring over medium heat, and add milk in ½ cup increments. Add the parsley and cook until soup comes to a boil. Add potatoes (after draining). Let simmer for a few minutes, serve hot. Salt and pepper to taste.
*For more of a hearty chowder, you can add carrots, and also bacon, at the same time as the onions, celery, and corn.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Toasted Sesame Candy Chicken

From my favorite cooking blog Just cook already...
Made this for Trevor the other night and he LOVED it!

serves 6
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 4 fillets)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
cooked rice
sliced scallions (optional)
sweet candy sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
toasted sesame seeds

In a pan, pour about two inches of oil and heat on medium heat till hot. Cut chicken on the diagonal into thick strips, about two inches wide. In a bowl, beat eggs. In another container, place flour.Coat chicken strips in egg mixture first, then generously pat with flour, covering all sides. (I will often give it a couple of coatings) There should be a thick layer of batter on the chicken pieces.When oil is hot, fry chicken pieces (about 3 minutes on each side) till golden brown. Remove chicken, and let rest on a paper towel to drain the oil.To make candy sauce, place soy sauce and sugar in a bowl and mix together, about 30 seconds. The sugar will not completely dissolve, but the mixture should be thick, and not grainy. Add sesame seeds and mix to incorporate. Dip chicken in sauce, covering all sides. Repeat, till all pieces are covered. Serve with rice, drizzle remain sauce over chicken. Garnish with sliced scallions.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Poppy Seed Chicken

LOVE this recipe from just-cook-already.blogspot.com

4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
1 16 oz container sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup
1 stick snack crackers, crushed
2 tsp poppy seed
1/2 cup butter, melted

Precook chicken breasts in boiling water until thoroughly cooked. Remove breasts from water and let cool (save the broth for other things!)

Tear cooled breasts into bite sized pieces, and put in bottom of casserole dish.

Mix together sour cream, cream of chicken soup and cream of mushroom (or cream of celery) soup and spread on top of chicken. Cover with crushed snack crackers. Sprinkle poppy seed on top. Drizzle melted butter on top.

Place in preheated 350°F oven until warmed through, about 20-25 minutes.

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Monday, March 15, 2010

Baked Potato Soup

I made this today for lunch...DELICIOUS!!!! I suggest that if you like Baked Potato Soup you try this recipe...much better than anything I've ever bought.

Ingredients

4 baking potatoes (about 2.5 pounds)

2/3 cup all purpose flour

6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk

1 cup reduced-fat shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 cup reduced-fat sour cream

3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided

6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400 for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes, coarsely mash them. Discard skins.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 min). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Sprinkle each serving with cheese, onions, and bacon.

Yields: 8- 1.5 cup servings.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

Oil - I made an olive oil and vegetable oil mixture - gave the chicken a really nice flavor. But you can use anything you want (olive oil, peanut oil, lard, vegetable oil)
2 C All purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt (the recipe calls for coarse salt - I didn't have it so I used less than a tablespoon of regular iodized salt)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Recipe calls for 1 whole chicken - I used 3 large breasts cut into strips for two of us but if you are making this for 4-6+ people you'll definitely want to use more than that.

Instructions:

Heat about 1/2 inch of the oil or fat over medium heat in a deep fryer, deep skillet or broad saucepan that can later be covered.
While it is heating mix together flour and seasonings in a plastic bag. Toss the chicken in the bag - depending on what you are using a few pieces at a time - close bag and shake until chicken is well coated. Put them on a rack - if you have lots of pieces as you finish.

When the fat/oil reaches 350 degrees add chicken slowly - you can add all the pieces but you will need to raise the heat to high - do not add all the pieces at one time or the temperature will decrease rapidly. Cover the chicken making sure that oxygen can still get inside - please avoid a fire. Chicken will need to cook for 5-7 minutes each side. Make sure to flip over.

Cook Chicken until golden brown.

Serve Hot or at room temperature - Please make sure that your chicken is cooked thoroughly!