Nestle has a new baking chocolate coming out and I am quite excited! So click the link below and get a free bag. If you don’t bake you can bring me the bag and I will make something with it (This is a hint to the people I work with!)
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My sister came in town this weekend to learn to cook. She has taken an interest in cooking this summer which is exciting for my Mom and I because that’s one more person that can help with Thanksgiving dinner! She is a vegetarian so I was trying to find easy recipes for her that she can whip up in between classes that also fit her new lifestyle. She mentioned wanting to learn to bake bread so I gave her a crash course while she was here. I wanted to show her something easy that would demonstrate the basics as well as something that she could use regularly. So I honed in on a french bread recipe. I wouldn’t call this a baguette because I tend to think that has a crisper crust, this is more along the lines of the softer crust you get at the grocery store, but better tasting!
I think this is a great bread to start with because it requires very little ingredients and doesn’t take all day. Just resist the urge to eat the whole thing when it comes out of the oven!
French Bread
1 cup water
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water and then stir in sugar. Allow yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes until creamy. In a large bowl, add 2 cups of flour and yeast mixture and stir. Add salt and stir. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead in remaining 1/2 cup flour until dough is not longer sticky.
2. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. (I tend to cover the bowl with a towel damped with hot water. I also set it either in the laundry room with the dryer on or near a window so it stays warm enough)Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
3. Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 16×12 inch rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 8×12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at 12 inch side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches, or make one lengthwise slash on each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.
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Seriously. These are the best and easiest brownies you have ever made. They require the use of one saucepan and a 8×8 baking dish. In 10 minutes the hard work is done and the chocolatey goodness is put in the oven to set, just enough to create a nice crust but still moist in the center. These little babies were a hit at the office and with my loveable husband (couldn’t you just pinch those cheeks!)
Best Brownies Ever
1 stick butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I just used chocolate chips)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan, met the butter and chocolate over medium low heat, making sure not to scorch the chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in sugar until dissolved. Add one egg at a time, mixing well to incorporate. Stir in vanilla, flour and nuts/chips.
3. Pour batter into a greased 8×8 inch pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges begin to pull from the edges and the middle has just set (You don’t want to overbake these!). Allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into squares!
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This is simple sauce recipe that I threw in a plastic bag over the weekend and then heated up to pour over a pork loin I had. I am glad I made it separate from the pork as, ofcourse, Evan detected the mustard and didn’t care for it. Nonetheless I thought it was good. This makes a fair amount of sauce but you can keep it and reheat it for later. This would probably be great on chicken to but I love pairing pork and fruit sauces.
Spicy Marmalade Sauce
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup apricot preserves
2 T. dijon mustard
1-2 T. horseradish
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. worsteshire sauce
1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until warmed. Serve over pork Chops or pork loin.
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So Evan decided he has a hankering for fried chicken. I don’t know who he thinks he is, or who he married, but I do not claim to be a southern cook. I cook healthy balanced meals that almost always include some kind of green veggie. (not that Evan eats the green veggie, but still, it is there). But because I am such a loving wife, I went out and bought a cast iron skillet and a tub of Crisco and decided we were going to fry some chicken.
What is hard about this dish is that I don’t normally eat fried chicken so it’s hard for me to know how to fix it. Luckily we happened to DVR an episode of Good Eats in which Alton shows an easy step by step method to fry up our favorite bird (Leave it to the southerners to turn an otherwise healthy protein into a grease pit). We re-watched the show and set up our stations just as Alton suggested. We armed ourselves with three sets of tongs and our handy digital thermometer. All and all the process went smoothly. The chicken burned just a bit because we have a flat topped stove and I think the direct heat kinda threw the cooking process off. But nonetheless the chicken is all gone between Evan’s two helpings at dinner and his breakfast the next morning. Thank goodness for his morning basketball games!
Alton’s Fried Chicken
1 broiler/fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups low fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
(I used Emeril’s Bam seasoning instead of this mixture)
Flour, for dredging
Vegetable shortening, for frying
Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.
Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)
Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don’t drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it’s a gas oven.
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So I thought I would post my final Wilton cake. I wasn’t as pleased with the final outcome as my previous cakes. For one thing, I used twice as much butter as was called for in the cake recipe, but Evan didn’t seem to mind that. In addition, it was about 110 degrees outside that day so the fondant was not cooperating. I now have so much more respect for cake decorators that churn out 15 cakes each weekend during the height of the summer wedding season. I am quite happy with the flowers on top though. They took about 2 hours in total to make about 8 but I think they are worth the work.
So in all, I am quite happy with my progress in the 3 month cake class. I am kinda glad it is over just because I am sick of making icing each week, but I do miss the people I met during the class. Though I have a feeling we will meet again 
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Well I have always been employed but now I have a real, big girl job in an office! I never thought I would be happy about this, but I actually am. The last 9 months have been interesting and I definitely learned alot about myself but now it’s time to get to work and be a productive part of the business world. I start Tuesday but don’t worry I will still be posting- probably more of my quick weeknight meal creations and a few desserts (there are two pregnant women in the office!)
And now…we celebrate!
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Because Evan and I have been eating like absolute crap the past couple of weeks, so we have put ourselves on a chicken diet for a little while. We have had quite a bit of red meat between the two of us (well more Evan- something about a 28 ounce porterhouse in Orlando- ouch!) so it is time to lighten things up. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and thought it would be fun to mix things up and grill some kabobs. It also allowed us to try out some kabob holders I never though we would use (they worked quite well!)
I loved the flavor of this chicken, we also added some pineapple to the baskets because Evan loves to grill pineapple- though I don’t think there is much he doesn’t like grilled! The chili is not at all spicy, it just adds a nice bit of smokiness. Though add more cayenne to spice it up. We also threw in some hickory woods chips to the grill which added another nice depth of flavor but I know this marinade would stand well on it’s own. I let my chicken marinade for an entire 24 hours, but I am sure you could throw this together in the morning for dinner that night.
Chili Lime Chicken Kabobs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
cayenne pepper to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
skewers
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, and lime juice. Season with chili powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Place the chicken in a shallow baking dish with the sauce, and stir to coat. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.
Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade.
Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the chicken juices run clear.
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