A Simple Classic

I am almost embarassed to post such a simple recipe, but these have just a little twist that I think makes them special. When traveling to Austin, our State Capitol, there is a little town called LaGrange. It is home of the famous 'Chicken Ranch' made famous in the play/movie The Best Little Whore House in Texas (how proud we are?). Anyway, there is a little bakery called the Bon Ton. It is about half way from my house to Austin, so a nice place to stop for a little break. They make theses HUGE, Texas-Sized Rice Krispie treats but they add pecans to them and it makes them really good. The grandboys came for a swim a few weeks ago and I decided to have an after swim treat for them. Something so simple, yet yummy.

RICE KRISPIE TREATS

1/4 cup butter
1 bag marshmallows
6 cups crisp rice cereal
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped, toasted pecans

Melt butter and marshmallows together. Add cereal. Add pecans. Stir well. Pour into a well-greased 9 x 13 pan. Cool and cut into squares.

Lemon Nut Cake

It has been a while since I posted. Life has just gotten busy and I don't get as much time or reason to bake. This is a recipe I've had in my files for a long time.

LEMON NUT CAKE

3/4 cup softened butter
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup undiluted evaporated milk
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoons grated lemon rind

Icing:
2 tablespoons lemon rind
1 cup powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice

Cream butter, gradually beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir together flour, and baking soda. Combine evaporated milk and lemon juice. Alternately add dry ingredients and evaporated milk mixture to butter mixture; beat until smooth. Stir in nuts and rind. Spoon into lightly buttered 10-inch tube pan. Bake in slow oven, 325 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and cool completely. Drizzle with icing and sprinkle with lemon rind.

Icing: Stir powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over cake, sprinkle lemon rind.

Chicken/Roasted Garlic/Mushroom Calzones

Olive oil
Butter
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder
2 heads roasted garlic
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pound fresh mushrooms
1 cup Fontina cheese, shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Alfredo sauce
Pizza dough

This is kind of a thrown together recipe. Roast a couple heads of garlic with olive oil until nice and carmelized. Boil 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts with garlic powder, salt and pepper until tender. Cut into small pieces. Sautee a carton of fresh mushrooms in a little butter and olive oil seasoned with more garlic powder, salt and pepper. Take some pizza dough of your choice and make 4 circles. Brush with olive oil and add Italian seasoning and a spoon of jarred (or fresh) Alfredo sauce. Smear some of the roasted garlic on the dough and add the mushrooms and chicken. Add cheese. Fold over and crimp. Brush with olive oil. Cut a few holes in the dough and bake at 425 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown. These are large and 1/2 can easily serve one person.

Pecan Praline Pound Cake

Our annual company Spring Fling was held today. As in years past we have a bake-off. This year's category was pound cake. I defended my title for the last 2 years and won first place. It was a fun day. I kind of combined 2 of my recipes from other cakes and came up with this one.

PECAN PRALINE POUND CAKE

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup toasted chopped pecans

Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Alternately add the flour and heavy cream to butter and sugar mixture ending with flour. Add vanilla and pecans.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Put into a preheated oven at 325 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and a half. Check for doneness because mine took a little longer. Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto cake plate.

GLAZE
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup toasted pecans

Bring butter, milk, and sugar to a boil. Glaze will thicken as it cools. When cool drizzle over cake and sprinkle pecans.

Lemon Nut White Chocolate Cookies

When life gives you lemons they say make lemonade. In this case I went for lemon cookies. Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Life just got a little out of hand for me. Hopefully there will be more occasions for me to post something a little more often. These cookies have only a subtle lemon taste and I don't know if it is because it is humid here today, but they are soft not crispy.




LEMON NUT WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 12 ounce package white chocolate chips (I had a chunk of Ghiardelli white I chopped up)
1 cup walnuts or cashews (of course I used good old Texas pecans)
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in egg and lemon juice; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels, nuts and lemon peel. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in preheated 375° F oven for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 3 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Makes 3 dozen.

Cinnamon Applesauce Cake

Mardi Gras is a pretty big deal around here. Not quite as big as New Orleans, but Galveston does a fine job with the celebration. To celebrate Fat Tuesday yesterday we had a lunch party at work. Seafood Gumbo was served. Traditionally a King cake is served which has a baby inside and whoever gets the baby has to bring the cake next year but also gets good luck the rest of the year. King cakes are usually a sweet roll type of cake in a wreath or braid, but I decided to just do a bundt cake and use the colors (and I tucked the little baby in the bottom after it was baked). Not the best decorated cake, but my coworkers said it was a good cake. Laissez le bon temps rouler (let the good times roll!)

APPLESAUCE CAKE

Cake:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons milk
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cake: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and egg; beat until well combined. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture alternately with applesauce to butter mixture. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a greased bundt or 13 x 9 inch pan, spreading evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes for 9 x 13 or 40-45 minutes for bundt, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat together the cream cheese, milk and vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Beat until creamy. Spread on cooled cake.

White Queso Dip

I'm almost embarassed to post this picture, but I think the recipe is worth posting. I took this to a birthday party last week and the picture taking was done in a hurry as an afterthought.

Queso dip around here is usually just a block of Velveeta and a can of Rotel tomatoes. I wanted to try something new and went on a quest to find a new recipe. I never knew that white queso was such a sought after recipe to try and replicate, but I found lots of information about it. So here is my version.

WHITE QUESO DIP

1 pound Land O'Lakes white American cheese (in Wal Mart deli case)
1 to 1-1/2 cups half and half
1/4 cup finely diced white onion
2 Tablespoons butter
2 cans chopped green chiles

In a small frypan saute the onion in the butter until translucent. In the microwave or on top of a double boiler, melt the cheese with the half and half. You can judge how much to use on how thick or thin you like it. Add the onion and chiles and stir until all incorporated. Serve with tortilla chips.

Cranberry Pecan Bread

We did Christmas breakfast after opening presents. My son made his usual fabulous quiche (best ever I think) and I brought this to have for a sweet treat.

CRANBERRY PECAN BREAD
(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2/3 cup buttermilk
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups craisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x5" loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out extra, or use Pam. Stir together the orange zest, orange juice, buttermilk, butter, and egg in a small bowl. Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula until just moistened. Gently stir in the cranberries and pecans. Do not overmix. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees. Continue to bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes longer. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool at least 1 hour before serving. The bread can then be wrapped and stored at room temperature for several days.

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Wish To YOU

By Catherine Pulsifer

If I could wish a wish for you, it would be for peace and happiness

not only now, but for the whole year through!
I wish that there always be food on your table.

And that you always remember those less fortunate.

May you always take time to share,

and thank those who share with you.
I wish for time, so you may reflect on the blessings that you have,

and that you express your love to those who are dear to you.
May you never feel lonely, because there are those who care.

That you realize: you are special, you are unique,

you make a difference, not only at Christmas, but all year!
I wish for your thoughts to be positive ones,

that you never quit, that you never give up,

and that you continue to learn.

I wish for the love, peace, and joy of Christmas be yours always.

Cookie Exchange 2009

My friend Trudy hosted a cookie exchange at her house this year. We had to bake 8 dozen of a cookie to share with the other bakers. We had a nice assortment of goodies all packed so nice. Below is a picture of the table with all the cookies. I also took a couple of appetizers so we could have something besides sweets to eat. Trudy and I both had made a Rachel Ray appetizer from one of her magazines in the past, Corny Bites. These are really good and easy to throw together. I also took the cranberry/horseradish over cream cheese that I posted at Thanksgiving time. Trudy has the most beautiful Christmas tree with hundreds of ornaments she has collected. We had such a good time sharing baking stories and played a right/left game for a door prize. We think the next time we do this we might do an 'Appetizer Exchange'. I think that's a great idea as a change from the normal cookie exchange.

Here's the table of cookies:

Here are the cookies I made.

MOUNTAIN COOKIES

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

FILLING:
1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup flaked coconut

TOPPING: (optional -- I didn't do this)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Make a deep indentation in the center of each cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the edges just start to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. For the filling, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add pecans and
coconut; mix well. Spoon 1/2 tsp. into each cookie. For topping, heat chocolate chips, butter and water in a small saucepan until melted. Stir in sugar. Drizzle over cookies.

RACHEL RAY'S CHEESY CORN BITES

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1 large egg
1/2 cup frozen corn kernals, defrosted
48 scoop shaped tortilla chips
Chopped chives or cilantro for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese, pepper jack cheese, egg, and corn together. Place a teaspoon in each scoop. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chives or cilantro.

Banana Cookie Bars

Time to begin taking treats to work for the holiday season. I went in search of something new to make and keeping in mind ingredients I had on hand. I used the handy Blog Search and found a couple of entries for this recipe. One at Genesis of a Cook and also at Anna's blog at Cookie Madness. These are a little twist to the normal Magic Cookie Bars.

BANANA COOKIE BARS

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioner sugar
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
2 bananas, mashed
2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup pecans
2/3 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Spray the paper with Pam. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat butter and confectioner sugar until creamy. Add dry mixture. This will be a very stiff dough. Press mixture into prepared baking pan and bake for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix together condensed milk and bananas together until smooth. Once the crust has baked for 15 minutes, take out and pour the banana mixture over it. Combine the chocolate chips, pecans and coconut together in a bowl and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely, roughly around 10-15 minutes. Then, chill in the fridge for about an hour. To chill quicker, place in the freezer for 25 minutes.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

We had a birthday breakfast celebration at work yesterday for a coworker. I went in search of a coffee cake recipe to make. I just love allrecipes.com. Besides getting great recipes, you have other cooks who have posted reviews and made comments about changes they made. According to the group who ate this, it was a good cake.

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Mix in 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Spread 1/2 of batter in the prepared pan. This batter is really thick and this is a bit of a challenge, but just work with it and it.

Prepare the filling: In a medium bowl mix 1/3 cup flour, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and cinnamon. Sprinkle cake batter with 1/2 the filling. Spread second half of batter over the filling, and top with remaining filling.

Bake 35 minutes in the preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Pumpkin Roll

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. My son and daughter-in-law hosted this year. The tables were absolutely beautiful. My son did his usual amazing job of a brined, roasted turkey and also this year there was fried turkey. Everyone brought side dishes and desserts. It was a veritable feast and then some. In addition to my usual traditional dishes I made a pumpkin roll and also an appetizer of cranberry sauce with a little 'twist' poured over cream cheese and served with crackers.

PUMPKIN ROLL

CAKE:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin


FILLING:
1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

FOR CAKE:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan, line with wax paper. Grease paper. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly onto prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto a dish towel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in small mixer bowl until smooth. Add nuts. Carefully unroll cake. Remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour, overnight is best. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired. I saved just a little of the cream cheese filling for decoration.

The ingredients in this might sound a bit odd, but trust me, this stuff is good. The horseradish gives it a little 'kick' and the onion is not overpowering. I kind of reminds me of jalapeno jelly.

CRANBERRY SAUCE OVER CREAM CHEESE

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons horseradish (not the sauce)
1/4 cup sugar

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Let sit until cool. Pour over cream cheese brick and serve with crackers.

Chicken/Spinach Lasagna

My son's birthday and I made dinner for him and his family and a college friend. A break from the traditional lasagna. This one has a white sauce with spinach and chicken. I looked at several recipes and came up with my version.

CHICKEN/SPINACH LASAGNA

2 cups cooked, diced chicken (I used boneless breasts)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup butter
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup half and half
1 package Stouffer's spinach souffle, thawed
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian herbs to season sauce to your taste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Reserve 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese for top of lasagna. Saute onion and garlic in butter. Cool. In a medium size bowl, combine remaining 1 1/3 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, soup, onion and garlic, and half and half and set aside. In another medium size bowl, combine spinach souffle, egg and ricotta. Mix well, then combine with soup mixture and mix all together. Season to taste.

In the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish, spread a little of the sauce. Cover with 3 cooked lasagna noodles. Then layer sauce, cheese, chicken, and more noodles and repeat, ending with a layer of sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake

We are having our Thanksgiving feast at work tomorrow. It is early, but many people will be out of town, so this day worked best. I am taking my usual broccoli casserole. I decided to try a different pumpkin cheesecake than the Paula Deen one I made before. I have to say Paula's didn't split but this one did. The praline topping covers it up nicely though. I used Paula's crust and a couple of different recipes for the filling and this is how I made it:

PUMPKIN PRALINE CHEESECAKE

Crust:
1-3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs2 tablespoons light brown sugar1/2 teaspoon cinnamon1 stick melted butter(I also added about 1/4 cup of ground pecans)In a medium bowl combine crumbs, sugar, cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press into a 9 inch springform pan that has been sprayed with Pam and press into bottom and up the sides. Set aside.

Filling:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
4 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
5 eggs

Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, mix flour, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin. Set aside. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time at low speed just until blended. Beat in pumpkin mixture until smooth. Pour liquid over crust.

Bake for 10 minutes at 450 and then reduce to 370 and bake for another hour or until outside of cake is set but center still jiggles slightly when shaken. Allow to rest in oven for 30 minutes with door open. Cool pan on cooling rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least six hours before serving, overnight is best.

Topping:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons evaporated milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

Bring butter, brown sugar, and milk to a boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. It will thicken as it cools. Add pecans. Pour over cheesecake.