Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers

After making the Tex Mex Egg Rolls we still had a lot of the filling left that I wasn't sure what to do with, other than freeze it.  I think it was Randal who came up with the idea to make stuffed peppers with it, he really loves stuffed peppers and his favourite filling is dirty rice, so this isn't too far from that. 

2 cups tex mex egg roll filling
1/2 cup corn
1 can rotel
1 can tomato sauce
Colby jack cheese
2 red bell peppers

Preheat oven to 350

Mix together the egg roll filling, corn and rotel.

Cut bell peppers in half and remove seeds, season with salt and pepper and fill each pepper with half a cup of the rice mixture. Pour the tomato sauce over the top of the peppers and bake for 45 minutes, until peppers are tender.  Top with cheese and bake for another 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.
  

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  Hamburgers, corn on the cob and watermelon

Tuesday:  Roast chicken with lemon pepper fettucini

Wednesday:  Homemade pizza (didn't make it last week)

Thursday:  Cod, garlic butter orzo and green beans

Friday:  Eating out


See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Carrot-Pineapple Cupcakes

I made these a couple of weeks ago when I was testing out carrot cake recipes.  These come from The Butch Bakery Cookbook.

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup drained crushed pineapple

Cream cheese frosting:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
9 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)

Preheat oven to 350

In a mudium bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs, applesauce and vanilla.  Stir in the flour mixture, add the walnuts, raisins, carrots and pineapple and mix just until combined.  Fill lined cupcake pans 2/3 full and bake for 22 minutes.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add half of the icing sugar, the heavy cream and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Add the rest of the icing sugar and continue to beat until thick and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.

 

Watermelon Salsa

I made this salsa to go along with the tex mex egg rolls. Randal and I both love fruit salsas but we usually make them with pineapple or mango, so a watermelon salsa was new to us and we both really liked it.

3 cups watermelon, diced
1/2 an english cucumber, diced
2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl whisk together the lime juice, zest, sugar and pepper.  Add in the watermelon, cucumber, jalapenos and basil, stir together and refrigerate.  Add the salt just before serving.



Linked to: Kitchen Fun, It's a Blog Party, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Tutus and Tea Parties, Crumbs and Chaos

Tex Mex Egg Rolls

I have never made egg rolls before, I've always been worried that I wouldn't roll them correctly and they would just come apart in the pan and end up a huge mess, but luckily I was wrong. These egg rolls were easy to make and stayed together perfectly, and as Randal loves all things tex mex I thought this would be the perfect recipe to attempt.   We both loved these, and Randal even said it was his favourite part of dinner and when that dinner includes one of his favourite things (sweet corn tamale cakes) you know these have to be good!

1 box yellow rice (I used Zatarains yellow rice)
1 lb hot pork sausage
1 can black beans
1 can rotel
2 cups shredded monterey jack
1 packet taco seasoning
Egg roll wrappers
1 large egg, beaten

Cook the yellow rice according to the directions on the box and leave to cool completely.

Cook the sausage until no longer pink, drain and leave to cool completely.

Stir together the rice, sausage, black beans, rotel, cheese and taco seasoning.

Place a third cup of mixture onto the center of each egg roll wrapper.  Fold top corner of wrapper over the filling, tucking the tip of the wrapper under the filling. Fold left and right corners over filling. Lightly brush the remaining corner with egg, tightly roll the filled end toward the remaining corner and press to seal.

Fry the egg rolls at 375 for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown.





Linked to: Chic on a Shoestring, Joy in the Jumble , The Hungry Hypo, Blissful and domestic, Dwell on Joy, Stuff and Nonsense, Six Sisters Stuff, Tutus and Tea Parties, Crumbs and Chaos, Eat At Home

Red Velvet Cake

Last week I was making carrot cakes and this week I was asked to make a red velvet cake for a colleague of Randal's.  I tried out a few different recipes but this was the one I settled on for Rick.  It's a very moist cake from Saveur and definitely the best of the ones we tried.

2 1/2 cups plus
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp  cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp  white distilled vinegar

Frosting:
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
12 oz. butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups icing sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350. Grease three 8" round cake pans.

Sift remaining flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt into a bowl. Beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar in a bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Divide batter evenly between pans. Bake for 25 minutes.

To make the frosting beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer until well combined.  Add sugar and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, 5–7 minutes.

Put 1 cake layer on a cake plate and spread frosting on top.  Set another layer on top and repeat frosting.  Set remaining layer on top and frost top and sides with the remaining frosting.  

Linked to: Gooseberry Patch, It's Just Called Spicy, Laugh Love and Craft, Newlyweds, Seven Thirty Three, Jaq's Studio, Creations By Kara, Mrs Fox's Sweets, Michelle's Tasty Creations, Something Swanky, Mom on Timeout, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, These Peas Taste Funny

Honey Rosemary Pork Chops

I found this pork chop recipe on pinterest, it's originally from Plain Chicken. We had some fresh rosemary from Sue to use up and I thought these pork chops would be a great way to do just that. Randal and I both loved the honey rosemary combination and we both said that we would definitely be making these again.

Boneless pork chops
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Mix the honey, rosemary and olive oil together in a small bowl. 

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, brush half of the honey mixture over the pork chops.  Grill the pork chops for 6-8 minutes per side.  Remove the cooked pork chops from the grill and brush with the remaining glaze, leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.



Linked to: Serendipity and Spice, Eye Heart, Blessed With Grace, Mandy's Recipe Box

Potato and Green Bean Salad

Randal and I both love potato salad, but it seems I only ever make the same one I grew up eating.  There is nothing wrong with that, it's a great potato salad recipe, but when I found this recipe for a lemony potato and green bean salad it looked so different from our usual potato salad that I had to try it.

1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and halved

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1/4 cup mayonnaise 

3 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Juice of 1 lemon, plus 1 teaspoon grated zest

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a colander with a slotted spoon. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the colander with the potatoes, run under cold water and pat dry.

Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, 1 tablespoon mustard, the parsley, lemon juice and zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in a bowl. Add the potatoes, green beans and onion. 

Linked to:  Flour Me With Love, Couponing and Cooking, Sweet and Savory, All The Small Stuff

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  Sweet and sour chicken, jasmine rice

Tuesday:  Zuppa toscana soup and BLT's

Wednesday:  Homemade pizza and salad

Thursday:  Sweet corn tamale cakes

Friday:  Eating out

See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Caramel Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

I have made cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream before, but I usually make a chocolate cupcake with the salted caramel buttercream.  This is another recipe from the Butch Bakery Cookbook and I really wanted to try it because it's a caramel filled cupcake with the salty caramel buttercream.  These cakes are good but messy and the frosting was too soft to be able to pipe onto the cupcakes.

Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk

Caramel Sauce:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp salt

Salted Caramel Buttercream:
3/4 cup caramel sauce
2 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp egg beaters
1/4 tsp salt

To make the cupcakes preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes.  Add the eggs and vanilla, beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and milk, mixing until just combined.  Fill lined cupcake pans 3/4 full and bake for 20-22 minutes.

To make the caramel sauce in a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.  Add the dark and light brown sugars, milk and salt and bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat and let cool.

To make the buttercream, in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the caramel sauce, icing sugar, butter, egg beaters and salt until thick and creamy, about 3 minutes.

While the cupcakes are still warm poke each cupcake with a skewer about 6 times and drizzle a tablespoon of the caramel sauce over each one.  Let them cool completely and spread the tops of each cupcake with 2 tablespoons of the buttercream and sprinkle each one with coarse salt.
  

Wake Up Call Cupcakes

These cupcakes come from the Butch Bakery Cookbook.  I knew I had to make these chocolate espresso cakes as soon as I saw them, and topped with the coffee buttercream and chocolate sawdust I was so happy that I did!

Cupcakes:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup valrhona cocoa
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp bittersweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp espresso powder
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp kahlua
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Coffee Buttercream:
1.5 tbsp kahlua
1.5 tbsp valrhona cocoa
1.5 tbsp vanilla extract
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3 3/4 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp egg beaters
pinch of salt

Chocolate Sawdust:
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp valrhona cocoa

Preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 cupcake pans with liners.

In a small pan, bring the water to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in the cocoa, chocolate chips and espresso powder and stir together.  Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, add flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add in the eggs, oil, kahlua and vanilla and add in the melted chocolate and espresso mixture. Mix together until the ingredients are all combined, fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes.

To make the buttercream, combine the espresso powder, kahlua, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt in a small bowl and stir together.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the icing sugar and egg beaters and mix together. Add in the coffee and cocoa mixture and continue beating for for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth.

To make the chocolate sawdust combine the sugarand cocoa powder together in a small bowl.

Once cupcakes are cooled, frost with the coffee buttercream and top with a sprinkle of the chocolate sawdust.



Linked to:  Michelle's Tasty Creations, Two Yellow Birds, Something Swanky, Frugal Follies, Mom On Time Out, A Little Nosh, Momnivores-Dilemma, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, A Creative Princess, These Peas Taste Funny, What's Cooking, Love?, Happy Hour Projects, Rattlebridge Farm, Six Sisters Stuff, Addicted to Recipes, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, Create With Joy, Bru crew Life, Mom's Crazy Cooking

Pineapple Carrot Cake

Randal loves carrot cake, but he is so fussy about it. I can't count the number of times I have made a carrot cake just for him to look at it and immediately decide it's not the kind he likes.  His ultimate cake is from a restaurant called  J. Alexander's, that cake is so moist and so rich that I can barely eat a bite of it, but it has become the cake that Randal judges all others by.  I had just about given up trying to make something that he would like, I even found a copycat recipe for the J. Alexander's cake but that didn't turn out right either.

Over the last couple of days I actually made 3 different carrot cake recipes, the J. Alexander's copycat recipe, this pineapple carrot cake from The Cooking Photographer and a carrot cake cupcake recipe.  Randal's boss had asked me to make a carrot cake for his family, so I was testing out recipies and really wasn't even trying to create a cake that Randal would love, but out of the 3 recipes I actually managed to bake Randal's perfect carrot cake.  I think the secret to this cake is the hot buttery glaze that you pour over the warm cake.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups Sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple
2 cups shredded carrot
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream cheese frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
Seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
2 cups icing sugar

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

In a small bowl mix the eggs, buttermilk, sugar and vanilla. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add in the pineapple, coconut, carrot and walnuts and mix well. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

To make the glaze combine all ingredients in a medium pan and bring to a boil, and let boil for a minute or two.  Pour over the cooked cake when still warm, cool completely before frosting.

To make the cream cheese frosting in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat for 3 minutes, until thick and fluffy.

Linked to: Creations by Kara, Free Pretty Things, Laugh, Love and Craft, Polkadots On Parade, Junk in Their Trunk, Newlyweds, It's Just Called Spicy

Apple Crumble and Custard

I pinned this easy apple crumble recipe a couple of weeks ago from The Food Fox and couldn't wait to make it.  Growing up in England fruit crumbles (my favourite being rhubarb) and custard were a staple sunday night pudding in our house, of course back then the custard my mum made was Birds custard, but these days nothing beats the creme anglaise recipe from SaraBeth's Bakery. 

4  granny smith apples, skinned, cored and diced
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp butter
2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup all purpose flour
4 tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a baking dish or pie plate, place the diced apple, sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice.  Top with the butter.

To make the crumble, in a small bowl combine the flour, sugar and cold butter cubes and rub together with your fingertips until mixture looks like sand.

Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the apples and bake for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes raise the oven to 400 and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Creme Anglaise
1.5 cups heavy cream
1.5 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Seeds from 1 plumped Vanilla Bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
8 large egg yolks

Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan, and add the sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla beans and add to the milk, then split the vanilla beans in half and add that to the milk also. Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl and leave near the stove. Place a sieve over a second large bowl.

Heat the cream mixture over medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar, until the mixture is very hot but not boiling. Slowly whisk half of the cream mixture into the yolks. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the crème anglaise is thick enough to coat the spatula. Pour through the sieve to remove the vanilla beans and any cooked egg pieces, leave to cool for 15 minutes.

Linked to: Serendipity and Spice, Sew Can Do, Making the World Cuter, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Ninth Street Notions, Eye Heart, Crazy For Crust, Chef In Training

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  Coronation chicken sandwiches, fruit salad

Tuesday:   Chili lime panko breaded chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans (didn't make this last week)

Wednesday:  Pizza burgers, potato and green bean salad

Thursday:  Italian sausage spaghetti, salad

Friday:  Eating out

See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Orange Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Another cupcake recipe from the amazing Annies Eats.  I loved the flavour combination of these, and the frosting was amazing, although I was a tiny bit dissapointed with the cupcakes because they ended up being a little more dense and muffin like in texture than I wanted them to be. 

4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp grated orange zest
2 plumped vanilla beans
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Vanilla bean frosting

3 sticks plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 cups icing sugar
2 plumped vanilla beans
2 tbsp heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pans with liners.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking powder and salt.

In a measuring jug combine the orange juice, cream and vanilla.

In the bowl of an electric mixer add the butter and sugar and scrape the seeds from the plumped vanilla beans and add those to the bowl, with the orange zest.  Beat for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs one at a time.

In 3 additions add the dry ingredients, alternating with the wet ingredients, mix until combined.  Fill each liner 3/4 full and bake for 22 minutes.

To make the frosting beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Add the icing sugar and beat until combined.  Mix in the scraped vanilla seeds and the salt, and the heavy cream, beat on medium high for 4 minutes.

Lemonade Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting

I pinned this recipe from The Family Kitchen a long time ago, waiting for spring to arrive to I could make this lemonade cupcake.  However, now that I made it I am actually a little unsure if I should post this recipe or not, and the only reason I am is because I made these for Randal to take to work and he had a lot of comments from people saying that they enjoyed the flavours of this cupcake. 

I was not that happy with it though, the cake was a little too dense for my liking and the frosting while it tasted good, just didn't look perfect to me.  I think I would definitely play around with the flavours of this cupcake, and really, they were fine, just not my preference.

1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
grated zest and juice of a lemon
1 cup milk, divided

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture a third at a time, alternating with half the milk and half the lemon juice after each of the first 2 additions of flour. Beat until just combined.
Fill lined cupcake pans 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes.

Fresh Raspberry Frosting
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup butter, softened
3 cups icing sugar

In a small pan bring the raspberries to a boil.  Press the raspberries through a sieve to remove seeds.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and half the sugar until smooth. Add the raspberry puree, then the rest of the sugar and beat for a minute.

   

Jalapeno Popper Quiche

Randal loves jalapeno poppers, especially the ones from Arby's that come with that bronco berry sauce that contains no berries.  Usually though, quiche and Randal do not mix, but when I saw this jalapeno popper version from Closet Cooking I thought he might actually eat this one. 

We both really liked this quiche, although I will say that it is quite spicy so if you prefer a milder quiche clean out the seeds from the jalapenos.  I left the seeds in one of the jalapenos even though the recipe says to leave them in both, but I knew that would be too spicy for me, and even with one it was still hot!

1 frozen pie crust, defrosted

1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature

2 jalapenos, diced

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cream

5 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 jalapeno, sliced

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Place the pie crust in a 9 inch pie pan, prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and bake for 10 minutes.

While the pie crust is baking, heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan until barely simmering.

When the pie crust has baked for 10 minutes, remove from oven and lower the oven to 350.  Spread the softened cream cheese over the bottom of the crust, and top with the diced jalapenos.

In a bowl lightly beat the 5 eggs, and slowly add the warm milk and cream.  Stir in the spices.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with 8 jalapeno slices, bake for 10 minutes.  Then top with the grated cheese and bake for 5 minutes.

 Linked to: Simple Living, Kitchen Fun, House of Hepworths, Tutus & Tea Parties, Six Sisiters Stuff, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Addicted to Recipes, Couponing & Cooking, The Southern Institute, Serendipity and Spice, Making the World Cuter, Skip To My Lou, Sweet and Savory, Cozy Home Scenes, It's a Blog Party, Jaqs Studio, Newlyweds 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Biscoff Buttercream

When Randal tried these cupcakes yesterday he declared them the best cake I've ever made.  He has had this particular chocolate cake before as it's my go to chocolate cake recipe, it was the biscoff buttercream that was new.  For those of you who don't know what biscoff spread is, it's basically cookie butter and it tastes just as good as it sounds!

Chocolate cupcakes:

¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

6 tbsp. valrhona cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
½ cup black coffee
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp. vanilla extract

In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, blend in half of the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. Blend in the coffee, buttermilk and vanilla just until smooth. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Divide between baking cups and bake at 350 for 22-24 minutes.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Biscoff buttercream:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup salted butter, softened

3/4 cup biscoff spread

1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups icing sugar
3 Tbsp milk

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and biscoff until smooth.  Add the vanilla and icing sugar and mix until combined, add the milk and beat until combined.


Linked to: Michelle's Tasty Creations, Something Swanky, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, What's Cooking, Love?, A Little Nosh, Allie Makes, A Creative Princess, These Peas Taste Funny, Simple Living, Tutus & Tea Parties, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Addicted to Recipes, Couponing & Cooking, The Southern Institute, Serendipity and Spice, Crazy For Crust, Funky Polkadot Giraffe

Orange-Barbecued Chicken

This is a recipe from one of those little recipe magazines you find at the grocery store check out.  I'm trying to go through them and pull out recipes to try because otherwise they are just sitting there gathering dust!

I wasn't so sure about this when I decided to try it, I knew that Randal would probably like it but I really dislike anything with a bbq sauce on it.  I was pleasantly surprised by this though, it's sweet and a little spicy and baking them in the oven makes this an easy dinner for us.

2 lb chicken thighs

3/4 cup chili sauce

1/3 cup orange marmalade

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 375

Place chicken in a baking dish and combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour sauce over chicken and bake for 45 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:  Orange bbq chicken, corn on the cob, salad
Tuesday:  Jalapeno popper quiche and layered pea salad

Wednesday:  Chicken enchiladas, rice and black beans

Thursday:  Pork curry, jasmine rice

Friday:  Chili lime panko breaded chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans

See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Key Lime Cupcakes

I am slowly working my way through a huge bag of key limes, and these cupcakes from My madison bistro were a great way to use a few of them. I absolutely loved these cupcakes, can't say enough good things about them.  Randal  took them to work this morning and from what I hear everyone who tried them liked them also.

Cupcakes:
1 ¾ cups cake flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 ½ tbsp key lime juice
1 tbsp key lime zest
1 drop green food colouring
¾ cup buttermilk

Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
8 ounces cream cheese
2 ¼ cups icing sugar
1 tbsp key lime zest

Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.

Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, set aside.

Using a mixer beat the butter until softened. Add sugar and beat for four minutes, until fluffy. Add eggs, lime juice, zest, and food colouring and mix.

Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour.  Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full. Bake 22-25 minutes. Cool and frost with cream cheese icing and sprinkle additional lime zest over frosting.

To make the frosting, beat the butter until softened.  Add the cream cheese and slowly add icing sugar until combined. Beat in zest.

Linked to: Something Swanky, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Stuff and Nonsense, What's Cooking, Love?, A Little Nosh, Brandy's Crafts, Momnivores-Dilemma, Allie Makes, A Creative Princess, These Peas Taste Funny, Two Yellow Birds Decor, Michelle's Tasty Creations, Blissful and Domestic, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo, Tutus and Tea Parties, Six Sisters Stuff, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Create With Joy, Mrs Fox's Sweets, Bru Crew Life, Mom's Crazy Cooking

Lemon Chess Pie

Randal has been asking me to make a buttermilk chess pie for a long time, but I've never tried one and to be honest from what I've seen they don't really appeal to me much, so when I saw this recipe for a lemon version over at Ezra Pound Cake, I thought this would be a good way to try a chess pie as I usually love everythng lemon. This is actually a nice lemon pie, and maybe someday soon I'll make the plain buttermilk version that Randal really wants!

1 frozen pie crust, defrosted
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp cornmeal
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350.

Whisk eggs in a medium bowl and whick in the sugar, cornmeal, flour, salt, melted butter, buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla.

Unroll the defrosted pie crust and lay it in a 9 inch pie plate. Pour the filling into the unbaked pie crust, and bake in the middle of the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the pie is golden brown on top and almost set.

Grilled Chicken with Meyer Lemon Salsa

I bought some really nice meyer lemons from central market and went looking for recipes to make with them. One of the first things I found was this grilled chicken with meyer lemon salsa. I love fruit salsa so I knew I had to try it. We both really liked this, although I probaby enjoyed this a little more than Randal because I am in love with lemon, so I knew I would love this recipe from bon appetit.

Salsa
5 Meyer lemons
1/2 cup chopped English cucumber
3 tbsp thinly sliced spring onions
1 serrano chile, finely chopped
1/4 tsp sugar

Chicken kebabs
1-1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-1/2" pieces
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 tsp cracked coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric

Using a sharp knife, cut all peel and white pith from lemons and discard. Working over a medium bowl, cut between membranes to release segments into bowl, along with the lemon juice. Combine segments, 1 Tbsp strained lemon juice, cucumber, 2 Tbsp spring onions, and chile in a small bowl and mix well. Stir in sugar and season salsa with salt and set aside.

Place chicken in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. In a mini-processor or blender, puree yogurt, vegetable oil, garlic, coriander, and turmeric. Pour marinade over chicken. Let marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes. Thread pieces of chicken onto skewers and grill skewers over medium-high heat on a grill.

Linked to: This chick cooks, Mandy's recipe box, Lady behind the curtain, Simple Living,