Friday, August 30, 2013

Peach Pudding

So what exactly is a Peach Pudding?  It's kinda like a peach cobbler except the topping isn't quite as crunchy. Every bit as good though.  Last week we had this dessert as the sweet ending to our Honey Molasses BBQ Chicken meal and it was oh so good.  Please serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.  The ice cream makes it.  But we all knew that.

 






Ingredients for pudding:

· 1 cup all-purpose flour
· 1/2 cup sugar
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
· 1/2 cup milk
· 3 cups sliced, peeled, fresh or frozen peaches
· 1 1/2 cups water
· 1/2 cup white sugar
· 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
· 1 tablespoon butter
· 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the milk just until combined; fold in peaches.
3. Spread into a greased 8-in. square baking dish.
4. In a large saucepan, combine the water, white sugar, brown sugar, butter and nutmeg. Bring to boil, stirring until sugars are dissolved. Pour over top of peach mixture.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until filling is bubbly and a toothpick inserted in topping comes out clean.
6. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Honey Molasses BBQ Chicken

This may be my favorite BBQ Chicken recipe ever.  The main reason?  the sauce is amazing.  I used it to marinate the chicken breasts;  then I used some more to baste them while they were on the grill;  then I used more to dip them in.  Please note that I didn't use the same batch for all three of the above because there is this thing called food safety and cross contamination and blah, blah, blah and well, don't do it.  Hospitals are a bad place to be.  Unless, of course,  you're having a baby and then it is totally worth it.

Here are the Cast of Characters:

Note that I did use the thick Worcestershire Sauce because that's all I had and we did fine. 


 
 Cookin' up the good stuff.

Oh, look at those manly hands.  I love those hands. 

 
 The Big Green Egger doing its thang. 


Meal completion.  You'll notice some roasted vegetables, Party Potatoes (because everywhere these potatoes go, there's a party - I'm sorry, that's a bad joke) and for health food sake, watermelon and cantaloupe.   All and all, it was a pretty good meal.  The best part might have been the sweet ending, Peach Pudding. 





Ingredients:
· 2 1/2 cups ketchup
· 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
· 1/2 cup honey
· 1/4 cup Liquid Smoke
· 1/4 cup molasses
· 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
· 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
· 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
· 2 teaspoons onion powder
· 2 teaspoons garlic powder
· 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
· 4 chicken breasts, can use boneless or bone-in
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
·1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, combine the first 11 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Set aside 1/2 cup sauce for basting; cover and refrigerate remaining sauce for later use.
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
3. Coat the grill rack with cooking spray.
4. Prepare grill for indirect heat, using a drip pan. Place chicken skin side down over drip pan and grill, covered, over indirect medium heat for 20 minutes. Turn; grill 20-30 minutes longer or until juices run clear, basting occasionally with reserved sauce.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Pineapple Pecan Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients for Cake:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 cups white sugar
· 2 teaspoons baking soda
· 2 eggs
· 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
· 1 cup chopped pecans

Ingredients for Icing:
· 1 stick butter, softened
· 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
· 2 cups powdered sugar
· 1 tablespoon vanilla

· Additional chopped pecans for garnish

Directions for Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Add in the eggs, pineapple along with the juice, and 1 cup chopped pecans. Stir just until moistened.
3. Pour into a greased 9×13 inch baking pan. Bake for about 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
4. Cool completely.

Directions for Icing:
1. Combine butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
2. Spread icing on top of cake. Sprinkle with pecans, if desired.

This is a dense cake but oh, so good.  I mean, really, can you go wrong with pineapple, pecans and cream cheese icing?   That would be a no.
Enjoy!



Monday, August 19, 2013

Onion Mix Meatloaf

Ingredients:
1 envelope Lipton onion mushroom soup mix
2 pounds ground beef or ground round
1 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/2 cup ketchup (can use ¼ cup ketchup and ¼ cup BBQ sauce)

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Mix all ingredients in a large bowl with your hands until ingredients are distributed evenly throughout the mixture. Don’t overwork it.
3.  Shape into loaf and place in a greased glass baking dish.
4.  Bake for 1 hour.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Grilled Pound Cake S'mores Sandwiches

Ingredients:
4 thin slices Sara Lee All Butter Pound Cake
2 tablespoons Nutella or 4 small chocolate pieces
2 tablespoons marshmallow fluff
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Heat a non-stick pan over medium low heat. Melt the butter in the pan.
2. Spread Nutella on 2 slices of pound cake. Spread marshmallow fluff on the remaining 2 slices of pound cake. Top the pieces spread with Nutella with the pieces spread with marshmallow to make a sandwich.
3. Place both sandwiches in the hot pan with the melted butter. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the pound cake is golden brown on bottom.
4. Flip and cook another 2 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.


Friday, August 9, 2013

Apple Pizza

Ingredients:

Crust:
2  1/3 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, cubed

Apple Topping:
4 cups sliced peeled tart apples
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cheese Topping:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping

Streusel:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed


Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a saucepan, heat water, milk and butter to 120°-130°. Add to dry ingredients; beat for 2 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. Turn onto a floured surface; cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook and stir apples in butter over medium heat for 2 minutes. Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon; stir into skillet. Cook 3 minutes longer. Reduce heat to low; cook, uncovered, for 4-6 minutes or until apples are tender, stirring frequently.
3. In a small bowl, combine the cheese topping ingredients.
4. For streusel, in a small bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until crumbly.
5. Pat dough onto a greased 14-in. pizza pan, building up edges slightly. Spread with cheese topping, then apple topping. Sprinkle with streusel.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  
Serve warm or cold.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Peanut Butter and Jelly Waffles

Ingredients:
1  1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs, separated
1  1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Jelly of your choice

Directions:
1.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.
2.  In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, milk, peanut butter and butter; stir mixture into dry ingredients just until moistened.
3.  In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.
4.  Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions until golden brown. Serve with jelly.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Easy Yeast Rolls

Ingredients:
1 ¼ ounce package active dry yeast
¾ cup warm water
2 ½ cups + ½ - 1 cup prepared biscuit mix
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup melted butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Dissolve the yeast in the water.
Put the 2 1/2 cups of biscuit mix in a large bowl; stir in the sugar. Add the yeast mixture, stirring vigorously.
Sprinkle the work surface generously with the remaining 1/2 to 1 cup biscuit mix.
Turn the dough out onto the surface and knead well, 15 to 20 times. Shape the dough as desired. (Suggested: heaping tablespoons of dough into balls).
Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Just before putting into oven, brush rolls with melted butter. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush the rolls again with melted butter while they’re hot.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Peanut Butter Toffee Turtle Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose baking mix
2/3 cup almond toffee bits
2/3 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
2/3 cup milk chocolate morsels
10 ounce vanilla caramels
2 to 3 tablespoons whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk chocolate morsels, melted

Directions:
TIP: The chocolate drizzle on the cookies will harden as it cools.
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2.  Beat butter, sugars and peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
3.  Add egg, beating until blended. Add baking mix, beating at low speed just until blended.

4.  Stir in toffee bits, chopped peanuts, and 2/3 cup chocolate morsels.
5.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto nongreased baking sheets; flatten dough with hand.
6.  Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
7.  Cool cookies on baking sheets 1 minute; remove cookies to wire racks.
8.  Microwave caramels and 2 tablespoons cream in a glass bowl at HIGH 1 minute; stir. 9.  Continue to microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring until caramels melt and mixture is smooth; add remaining cream, if necessary. Stir in vanilla. Spoon caramel mixture evenly onto tops of cookies; drizzle evenly with melted chocolate.