The Wanna-Be Chef

Cornbread Stuffing

2009-12-16T08:33:00.000-08:00

Cornbread Stuffing
by Carlotta Shannon

1 pone of cornbread or 12 cornbread muffins (not sweet cornbread...unless you like it that way. I used Jiffy muffin mixes and it was sweet however it still tasted pretty good )
1/2 loaf of bread, any kind, broken up into pieces
1/2 - 1 pound of plain sausage, crumbled up. (this is your preference...I use half but some people like more sausage in theirs.)
1 onion chopped
4 ribs of celery chopped
2 chicken boullion cubes
1 stick margarine
2 Tbs sage
1 Tbs garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Crumble up all the breads into a large bowl. Add sage and garlic powder to the breads and mix up. Cook raw sausage in skillet and drain off the grease. Cook chopped onions and celery with margarine and boullion cubes in 1 quart of water til butter is melted and boullion is disolved and water is simmering. Add sausage and water w/onion and celery to bread mixture. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. Add more water if needed. Pour into greased cake pan and bake at 350 for 30 -45 minutes or until hot all the way through.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-05-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from a friend of mine at church and she got it from a friend of hers. It is soooooo worth passing along that I am giving you my version of it here. Im not a big fan of Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies...usually they are too thin or too crispy for my liking. However, these are amazing. I could eat 100 of them and after I figured out how good they were, I made them like 6 times in one week! The dough is another story...Ive been tempted to make it just so I could eat the dough.

I know I haven't been very good with this recipe blog but lets face it....my repertoire is pretty lame. We eat the same things every week and usually it doesn't even require a recipe. So occasionally when I find a good recipe, then I will post it here.

Big Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from Our Scoop

CREAM TOGETHER
1/2 cup Margarine
1/2 cup Butter (I used another 1/2 cup of margarine instead of butter)
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup White Sugar

In a separate bowl mix:

2 eggs
2 tsp Vanilla

Tip: Mixing Vanilla and Eggs together in a separate bowl will bring
out the Vanilla flavor more in the cookie.
Add Eggs and Vanilla to the Sugar/Butter mix.

In a separate bowl mix:

2 cups Oats
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Bag of Butterscotch Chips (the original recipe calls for semi-sweet here)
1/2 Bag of Milk Chocolate Chips

Mix all together

Use 1/4 cup of cookie dough for one cookie: This makes Ginormous cookies....I scaled it down a bit and only used about 1/8 cup.

Bake @ 350

13-14 min. Not too long or they get too crispy

Let cool on pan for 2-3 min.

Makes about 24 cookies or double if you reduce the scoop size!

No-Bake Cheesecake

2008-11-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

I got the idea for this cheesecake from Melanie at My Kitchen Cafe. The recipe comes from Martha Stewart and I have to say I was a little intimidated with that little fact. However, it was not difficult at all and the results were amazing! This was seriously so good.....I was surprised. I made this for my sons birthday cake at his request! I had planned on finding some really cool spiders to top it with but got overwhelmed with other things this weekend so I threw these little spiders on it. Still turned out cute, I think.

No-Bake Cheesecake

Martha Stewart

FOR THE CRUST

Vegetable oil cooking spray

18 ounces chocolate wafers (about 90), finely ground (4 1/2 cups) - (I used 2 boxes of chocolate Teddy Grahams but it was a little too much and should have either added a little more butter or just not used all of the cookies! The crust didnt mold together as good as it should have.....)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher)

FOR THE GANACHE

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used semi-sweet & it was just great)

1/2 cup heavy cream

FOR THE FILLING

32 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher)

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold

Make the crust:

Coat a 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Mix wafers, sugar, butter, and salt in a medium bowl. Pat mixture into pan, pressing firmly into bottom and all the way up sides. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to fill.

Make the ganache:

Place chocolate in a food processor. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate. When chocolate begins to melt, process until smooth. Reserve 4 tablespoons ganache for decorating, and spread the remainder evenly on bottom and all the way up sides of crust. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to fill.

Make the filling:

Beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and slowly add sugar and salt. Raise speed to medium-high, and beat until very fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla.Whisk cream until medium-stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of the whipped cream into cream cheese mixture, then fold in remaining whipped cream. Pour filling into crust, and spread evenly. Gently tap bottom of pan on counter to release air bubbles.

Transfer reserved ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip. Starting in the center of the cheesecake, pipe a spiral, spacing lines about 1/2 inch apart. Pull the tip of a paring knife in a gently curved line from the center of the spiral to outer edge. Wipe knife clean, and repeat every inch or so to form a web. Cover, and freeze for at least 1 hour or overnight. Unmold cheesecake, garnish with candy spiders if desired, and serve immediately.

Southwest Chicken Tortilla Soup....

2008-11-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

We had this soup Sunday for my son's birthday party. I forgot to take pictures of it....I know, I know, Im sorry. Bad food blogger, what can I say. I will definiately be making this soup again and will get a picture next time. For now you get to see how much of it was left after the party. This should tell you how good it was. I got the recipe from my friend Kristin. She made it for our Bunko game night and it was soooooo good.

Southwest Chicken Tortilla Soup
Kristin Fowles

1 small white onion diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbs oil
1 lb chicked diced or shredded (I just used a rotisserie chicken from the store)
2 14oz cans chicken broth
1 15 oz can diced tomatos
1 15 oz can diced tomatos with green chilis
1 7 oz can green chilis
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp corriander
1/4 tsp cumin
1 15 oz can white beans (I used great northern beans)
2 cups corn (I just used canned corn, 2 cans)
pepper
chopped cilantro
shredded cheese
tortilla strips

- heat oil. Cook onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chicken broth, tomatos, green chilis, and spices. Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add corn, chicken, and beans then simmer for another 5 minutes (at this point I transferred mixture to a crock pot because it wouldnt all fit in my skillet.) Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Top with chopped cilantro, cheese, tortilla strips and sour cream.

Dinner Rolls....

2008-10-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

I know, another roll recipe! What can I say except that I love bread. We had dinner last night and I've made my go to roll recipe so much lately that I decided to try something new. I found this recipe from "The Picky Palate"....a favorite food blog that I frequent. Mine weren't quite as pretty as hers but that is OK because they were so delicious! I have made a couple of little changes to her actual recipe because I am not privileged enough to own a Bosch or a KitchenAid. I make bread the old fashioned way.....a bowl and a spoon and lots of elbow grease! This roll is very sweet and dense. It reminds me a lot of the rolls you get at Texas Roadhouse......heaven.

Dinner Rolls......adapted from "The Picky Palate"

2 c. milk
1 c. sugar
1 c. oil (I use vegetable)
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 Tbs yeast with 1 tsp. sugar
8 c. flour
Step 1- warm milk in microwave for 1 minute - add sugar, oil and salt to large bowl with the warmed milk
Step 2 - dissolve yeast in 1/2 c. warm water with the tsp. of sugar - set aside
Step 3 - add 2 c. flour to liquid in bowl
Step 4 - beat in 2 eggs ( used my hand and spoon here, mixer is better I'm sure :)
Step 5 - add yeast mixture, mix
Step 6 - mix in 3 c. flour
Step 7 - mix in 3 c. flour
If you don't have a fancy schmancy mixer, then please knead the dough for a few minutes until it is nice and smooth. I did it for about 2-3 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and let rise for 3 hours or until doubled in volume. Divide into 4 balls. Roll out into a pie shape and cut into long triangles. Roll the dough from the widest to the narrowest if you want crescent rolls. This recipe makes a lot and so I did some crescent and others I just rolled in to big balls and put in a greased casserole dish about an inch apart. Let rise for an hour. Bake at 325 fro 15-20 minutes. Brush with butter
**I always turn on my oven when I start making rolls so that the kitchen will heat up and my dough will rise faster. It can cut the rising time literally in half and if you are as busy and time restricted as I am, this is a good thing!**

Sweet & Sour Chicken.....

2008-09-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

Here is another yummy recipe from my friend Melanie at "My Kitchen Cafe" . You might think that I use her food blog the most because she is a friend of mine but you would be wrong! I frequent her blog more often than others because every recipe I have tried, I have loved! More importantly, my family loves them and you should know that I have some very picky eaters. I almost always have at least half of the ingredients for her recipes and they are very simple, which is a bonus for me since I dont really have a lot of time or patience to cook complicated meals. So, I encourage you to check out her blog for more recipes that are sure to please!

I changed a couple of little things to save myself some time on this. The recipe calls to cut chicken into chunks but I find that it takes so much time to dip each one and fry and turn that I decided to use chicken strips or tenders rather than whole breasts. Its really about preference but this does save me a lot of time.

Without further ado.........

Sweet & Sour Chicken
adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks...or... 1 pkg of boneless chicken tenders
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)

Cut breasts into chunks unless you are using tenders. Season with salt and pepper. Pour cornstarch into a platter or just on a plate. Dip chicken into cornstarch covering both sides then dip into the egg. Fry a little in the oil on each side until brown but not cooked all the way through. Place the chicken in a single layer in a baking dish (9x13 at least). Mix sauce ingredients together (below) and pour over the chicken.

Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you want extra sauce with this then make another batch of the sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes or until sauce is thickened and reduced.

Sauce:

3/4 cup sugar
4 Tbs ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Another little side note....I have never turned the chicken every 15 minutes like the recipe calls for and it has turned out fine. This would be another thing that would take too much time for me so, again it would be a preference thing. I also heat my oven to 350 degrees and cook it for 45 minutes.....nothing like shaving 15 minutes off cooking time! If you are impatient like I am, this works great!

French Bread Rolls......

2008-08-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, Ive been meaning to post this recipe for quite some time but everytime I cook them (which is frequently) I forget to get the camera out. I remembered tonight though! This recipe has seriously become so near and dear to me. Thanks to Melanie from "My Kitchen Cafe" for sharing this gem. I seriously make them at least once a week. Ive used the dough for cinnamon rolls too and I must say they are quite tasty. You can make rolls of any shape or size or if you prefer, you can form all of it into a nice french bread loaf. The best part about this recipe is the fact that they are dairy free. Thats right....no butter, no milk, no eggs. My mom cant believe they could taste good without all of that but Im telling you they are Amazing......If you want to make them crusty instead of soft like a true French bread, spray some water into the oven three times in the first five to six minutes of baking and brush them with an egg white/water mixture prior to baking. I prefer soft, melt in your mouth, rolls and so I skip the water and egg and when they come out of the oven, I rub a stick of butter over the tops of them (guess that cancels out the dairy free part......)

French Bread Rolls
adapted from "my kitchen cafe"

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 8-10 minutes.
To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour and mix that together. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. This can take anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes depending on how warm your kitchen is and what kind of yeast you are using (I use rapid rise and it only takes 30 minutes to double) I also heat my oven when I begin the dough to warm my kitchen up (Im not very patient :) ) .

Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 12-14 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Let rise until doubled in volume, about 30-40 minutes or until you get sick of waiting..... Ive never had a batch not turn out. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

A Sinful Dessert.....

2008-07-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

After dinner tonight, I was in the mood to bake. It always seems like I remember the camera and the blog at dessert time but not dinner......this is why my blog is all about the sweets and there arent a lot of actual "meals" on here yet. I will work on it. Back to this yummy dish. I have always wanted to try making a pound cake. I have great memories of visiting my Grandma & Grandpa when they lived in Alabama...... They lived in this Fantastic old house with a wrap around porch. Very southern. My Grandma made the BEST pound cake ever. At least that is how I remember it. So....in honor of her, I decided to make my first one. I humbled myself before the recipe of the greatest Southern cook today..... Paula Deen. I love watching her shows on Food Network. Yum. So, this recipe was taken from "The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook" by Paula H. Deen. We decided that it would taste really great with some Vanilla Bean ice cream and some homemade caramel sauce (which also came from the same cookbook!)....because the pound cake isnt fattening enough by itself! Yeah! Here is the recipe:

Mama's Pound Cake

1/2 pound of butter (2 sticks)

1/2 cup of Crisco shortening

3 cups of sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and shortening together. Add sugar, a little at a time. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Sift together dry ingredients and add to mixture alternately with milk starting and ending with the flour. Add vanilla. Pour into greased and floured tube pan (I used a bundt pan which worked great). Bake for 1 1/2 hours (90 min). I only baked mine for about 80 minutes.....I live in a high altitude and I dont like to overbake my treats!

Caramel Sauce

1 stick butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla

melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and milk and stir well. Continue stirring over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble. Continue cooking and stirring for 2 - 3 more minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Make sure you cook the full 2-3 minutes or your sauce will end up grainy!

Banana Pudding

2008-06-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

adapted from Sally Miller.....

This recipe comes courtesy of Aunt Sally in Kentucky .....again. I wish I had her entire recipe box the only problem being that all of her recipes are in her head! Anyway, this recipe can be changed up with the flavor of pudding. Tonight I made it with Vanilla Pudding instead of Butterscotch which was fine although I prefer the Butterscotch Pudding! Also, the topping could be changed as well.....Sally's topping is more of a Marshmallow Creme Merengue due to the Karo syrup.....I suppose it would be just as good and maybe not as sweet if you made a regular Merengue. Anyway, here it is.....enjoy.

Basics

1 Lg Box Butterscotch Pudding/Pie filling

1 Box Nilla Wafers

2-3 small banana's

Make the pudding according to directions. Use an oven safe bowl and line the bottom with the Nilla Wafers. Now place a layer of bananas over the cookies. Next, spoon 1/3 of the pudding over the layers. Repeat this until the pudding is gone. Set aside and begin the topping.

Topping

3 egg whites

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup of Dark Karo syrup (I used light Karo tonight and it seemed fine)

pinch of salt

1 tsp Vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a double boiler....or if you are like me and dont have one, put an inch of water in the bottom of a large pot and place a smaller one on top of that! using a hand mixer, beat the ingredients until stiff peaks form.....this takes a while so be prepared. Once it is stiff enough, pour over the pudding bowl and place under the broiler (in the oven) until the top browns.

"Faux" Lion House Rolls

2008-04-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Those of you that know the Lion House Rolls know that they are they best rolls on the planet. I swear I could eat an entire tray of them. I have the actual recipe and truthfully it isnt that difficult. However, it is somewhat time consuming. Recently a friend of mine that attends my church gave me this recipe which tastes pretty darn close to the coveted Lion House Rolls and its a bit more simple. It makes a lot too which is great because if you are like me, you eat more than one roll with each meal!

7 cups Flour
2 Tbs yeast (3 1/2 pkts) - use the quick rise
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
Mix together 3 1/2 cup flour, yeast, salt, sugar
Heat 1 1/2 cup milk & shortening until melted. Remove from heat and add rest of milk.
Pour liquid into dry ingredients and add the eggs and the rest of the flour. Mix well.
Knead with flour for 2-3 minutes. Let rise until double in size. Punch down and roll out and shape ( I make crescents) Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Let rise again for 15-30 minutes
Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Sorry I dont have a picture.....I will post one the next time I make them!

Aunt Sally's Broccoli Potato Soup....

2008-04-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

This recipe is soooooo good. While we were living in Kentucky we had the pleasure of being fed on occasion by Denver's Aunt Sally. This woman can cook. I might even try something out of my comfort zone if it is cooked by her. In fact....I cannot stand broccoli. Wont eat it. Never have liked it. Unless it is in this soup! It really is yummy. I fed some to my brother the other day who probably hates broccoli more than I do and got the same reaction...... "Now this is good". So that being said, Im going to post this recipe here with all props going to Sally Miller of Drift Kentucky who so VERY graciously gave me this recipe (and I hear she doesnt give out her recipes often).

Broccoli Potato Soup

6-8 small to medium Russett potatoes peeled and quartered
1 small vidalia onion (or sweet onion if you cant find Vidalia)
2 stalks of broccoli chopped (fresh is best)
1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)
Velveeta Cheese
salt and pepper to taste
milk

~ first add the potatos to a large pot and cover with water. Heat to boiling then add the chopped onion and then the broccoli. Boil until veggies are soft (about 15 min). Drain off water and mash with a potato masher until its the consistency you like ( we like small chunks in ours so I dont mash it up too much). Add butter and cheese and stir a bit then cover and let it sit for a minute to allow the cheese to melt. Stir again until all the cheese is melted through. Add salt and pepper to your liking and then add milk to make a good soup consistency. Serve in bowls and sprinkly celery salt on top.

TIPS:

This was a hard recipe for me to follow at first because everything is so general. This is the way she cooks. "A little of this and a little of that".....no solid measurements. Agh! But, I worked through it and found that it really is all about personal preference. The Velveeta for instance, I used the lower fat version and I use a medium block of it. It comes in a little 8oz size and then I think the size I used was 16oz.....anyway, it depends on how much of the cheese flavor you like. I also use skim milk so this really is a great way to eat a "creamy" soup without all the fat. The celery salt on top at the end really adds some great flavor to the soup so I would definitely suggest using it. Oh, and once I didnt have velveeta and decided to use shredded cheddar cheese....tasty but not a great texture. It ended up being really curdled....not very appetizing so I suggest sticking with Velveeta.

Oreo Cookies.....

2008-04-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from a girl that I worked with years ago....cant remember her name. They are sinfully good and I bet you can't eat just one!

Oreo Cookie

1 box Devils Food cake mix
2 eggs
3/4 shortening

~ mix these ingredients together. Dough will be pretty thick. Roll into quarter sized balls (or bigger if you want a bigger cookie) Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes on 350 degrees. I personally dont cook mine longer than 8 minutes because I prefer a soft and chewy cookie.

Filling

1 lb box of powdered sugar
1 8oz block of cream cheese (softened)
1 cup of butter (yes, that means 2 whole sticks!)
1 tsp vanilla

~cream butter and cream cheese together first. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Add vanilla.

TIPS:

It is best to chill the frosting first before spreading but if you dont have time, then definitely you will need to chill the cookies after otherwise the filling will ooze out and make a huge mess! I always just keep them in the fridge until ready to serve.

The Perfect Biscuit....

2008-04-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

My husband is from the south so gravy and biscuits are a staple for him. This is hard for me because I dont like this particular meal..... I eat my biscuits with butter & jam or honey only. Still, I wanted to find a biscuit that suited me....fluffy....and also my husband.....chewy. I sortof came up with this one on my own based on a few different recipes I found combined with tips for perfect biscuit making. I think these are perfect.....hope you do too!

2 cups self rising flour
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup fat (butter or shortening)
1 cup buttermilk (or plain milk)

~combine flour & sugar. Add butter and blend with a pastry blender until it becomes mealy. Dont over mix though because you dont want the butter to get to soft. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk. Use your hands to fold the flour into the milk until it is all blended. You may have to add a little more milk to make a dough but dont put too much....you dont want it too gooey.

~place onto lightly floured surface and fold the dough over itself 3 to 4 times. This creates layers. Softly roll out the dough but leave it thick. If you roll it too thin you will end up with what I like to call hockey puck biscuits..... Use biscuit cutter to cut out circles. Place the cutout biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet and make sure they are touching each other. I like to place them all in a circular clump in the middle of the sheet. Bake at 415 degrees for about 15 minutes. I prefer to watch them and take them out when they are just browning on the top.

SOME TIPS:

if you use regular all purpose flour, you will need to add leavening agents....ie, salt & baking powder
butter gives the biscuit more flavor but shortening will give you a lighter/fluffier biscuit. Its all about preference.
buttermilk gives the biscuit a distinctive "tang"....sometimes I prefer to use regular milk and they turn out just great either way