Chocolate Thumbprints

Although I could happily live on chocolate chip cookies for the rest of my entire life, I also like trying new things, like these chocolate thumbprints.

Not only are they cute as can be, these little two bite beauties are pretty tasty too. Buttery, little shortbread rounds with a  creamy chocolate filling, I bet you'll have a hard time eating just one!

Simple enough for everyday, yet pretty enough for a baby shower or holiday plate, these little thumbprint cookies are going in my "keep" file. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the jam and double chocolate versions could be making an appearance really soon.





Chocolate Thumbprints
Martha Stewart

*Makes about 2 dozen*

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Directions

1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together 1 stick butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour, beginning on low speed and increasing to medium high.

2.Roll dough by teaspoonfuls into balls, and place 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and press thumb into tops of cookies to make indentations. Return to oven, and bake until light brown on the edges, 7 to 9 minutes more. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

3.Combine chocolate, 4 tablespoons butter, and corn syrup in a small heat-proof bowl. Set over a pot of simmering water; stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Allow to cool slightly. When cookies are cool, fill the thumbprints with the chocolate mixture.

.

Posted by: Sallie

Salsa Chicken

I recently participated in a recipe exchange and was given this recipe.  It is so delicious and easy!  I was surprised at how good such simple ingredients can taste.

Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1 Jar of salsa (Picante, old el paso whatever you like; choose the heat you like I use mild)
Can of corn or thawed frozen corn
salt/pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
1 cup of shredded jack cheese

Sear the chicken in olive oil seasoned with the salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder place seared chicken in a casserole dish cover with the salsa and corn; bake covered at 350 for 40 minutes. Top with monterey jack cheese a few minutes before it's done.

Serve over white rice (if it's too spicy you can add a tbls of brown sugar while it's cooking).

In the slow cooker just put the chicken in the crock pot after you sear it with the other ingredients and cook it a low for three or four hours or at high for 1 or two hours.

Posted By: Julia

Giada's Marinara Sauce

Picture from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

I've long been a huge fan of Giada De Laurentiis. Her recipes are classic, delicious and usually pretty healthy too. Her marinara sauce is no exception. It turns out smooth, delicious, and thanks to Melanie's fabulous tip, of adding a couple tablespoons of butter, almost silky tasting. I love the adaptability of this recipe as well. The options are endless. Cook up some ground beef or turkey sausage, grilled chicken, or sauteed squash and zucchini for toppings.  Or eat as is for a healthy, vegetarian meal.  It's  delicious in lasagna, manicotti, or as a dip. My husband and I both agreed this is THE marinara sauce we'll be using from now on. My kids love it because there's no CHUNKS and I love it because they're eating their veggies without even knowing it!

Giada's Marinara Sauce
Giada De Laurentiis & Mel's Kitchen Cafe

*Makes about 7 cups of sauce

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 (28-ounce each) cans crushed tomatoes

1/2 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 tablespoon dried oregano

2 dried bay leaves

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter (optional but delicious)

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat until hot and rippling. Add the onion and garlic and saute, stirring very frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until all the vegetables are slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano and bay leaves and simmer, covered, on low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pot, until slightly thickened and the vegetables are completely tender. Stir in the brown sugar. Taste the sauce. Add salt and pepper as needed. Add the butter and stir to combine if you want to round out the flavors and add a dimension of silkiness.

Remove the bay leaves. In a blender or food processor, blend the sauce (in several batches, if necessary) until it is smooth. The sauce can be frozen once it is cooled completely in freezer-safe ziploc bags for up to 6 months.

Posted by: Sallie

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

I know I just posted a recipe for Cheesecake Bars awhile ago, but these were too good not to post. A perfect fall dessert, these bars have a little bit of everything. A delicious, buttery shortbread like crust, a creamy layer of cheesecake, cinnamon and sugar apples, a yummy struesel topping and as if that wasn't enough a drizzle of caramel. Leave it to Paula Deen. I just love her!


Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping

Paula Deen & My Kitchen Cafe
Base:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cream Cheese Layer:

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apples:

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup caramel sauce (homemade recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, two tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9X13-inch baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Then add eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Mix well. Pour over the warm crust.

Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set.

Cool the bars to room temperature. Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

*I cheated and used Mrs. Richardson's Caramel Sauce.*

Caramel Sauce:

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cups half-and-half or cream

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon vanilla



Mix butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.


Posted by: Sallie

Delicious Sugar Cookies

 

My family loves sugar cookies. We have a favorite recipe found here. My husband thinks it is a crime to even look at another recipe. Me, I'm the traitor. What can I say? Sometimes change is good. In this case, very good.

This recipe for sugar cookies is absolutely divine! Like I think I was actually moaning while I took a bite of one. (Good thing I was alone!) I loved the hint of lemon and the sweet buttery flavor. Even though they are cooked at a high temperature they keep their shape fabulously and are super soft, melt in your mouth, delicious!

Delicious Sugar Cookies
Good Things Catered and My Kitchen Cafe
Makes 2-3 dozen sugar cookies (about 2-3 inch size)

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened to cool room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt



Preheat oven to 400 degrees.



In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon zest; mix. Add two cups flour, baking powder and salt. Mix. Add remaining flour and mix just until flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth and soft.

The dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or it can be rolled out right away. Dust a counter with powdered sugar or flour and roll the dough to desired thickness (I prefer my cookies on the thick side so I roll my dough out to about 1/4-inch, maybe even slightly thicker than that). Cut the dough into shapes. Place the cookies on a lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes. The cookies won’t appear browned on top (or on bottom) when they are done baking so don’t let them over bake! I find 7 1/2 minutes is about perfect but if they are even lightly browned on bottom,  decrease the time by 30 seconds. This way they literally melt in my mouth.

Cool the cookies completely on a wire rack before frosting. The baked cookies (unfrosted) can be stored in a tupperware or ziploc bag in the freezer for up to a month. You can also  freeze 1/2 of the sugar cookie dough when you don’t have time or don’t want to roll it out and cut shapes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and then stick it in a freezer-safe ziploc bag and freeze it for up to a month. Take it out the night before you want to roll it out and store it in the refrigerator to thaw (for about 12-15 hours). About 30 minutes before you want to use it,  let it sit on the counter to soften a bit and then  roll it out and cut out the cookies.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

*Note: the key to success here is using really soft cream cheese and beating it with the powdered sugar until no lumps remain.


*Makes about 4 cups of frosting

1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream



In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix until very smooth and light and no lumps remain. In a separate bowl, beat the cream to stiff peaks. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture. Mix until well combined and smooth. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.



Posted by: Sallie

Mini Meatloaves

Even though I have a family of six, none of us are huge eaters. Sometimes this can pose a problem as in we're having leftovers again! There's only so much you can eat of one food before wanting it to disappear.

That's why I was excited to find this mini version of a family favorite.

These mini loaves turned out moist and flavorful. I used a meatloaf mix (I had my butcher mix up the exact amount I needed) but you could easily make your own combination using equal amounts of ground beef and pork. The glaze added the perfect tang.

Not only did it make a perfect amount, instead of taking over and hour to cook, these mini loaves were on the table in about 30 minutes. It was fun to serve everyone their own little loaf and know that I wouldn't be stuck eating meatloaf for the rest of my life!

Mini Meatloaves
The Best 30-Minute Recipe

Makes 4- 5 mini meatloaves.

Meatloaves:

17-20 saltine crackers, crushed fine (about 2/3 cup)

1/4 cup whole milk

1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 large egg

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 pounds ground meat (meatloaf mix or equal parts ground beef and pork)

2 teaspoons oil  (I used canola oil)

Glaze:

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

4 teaspoons cider vinegar

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Stir cracker crumbs, milk, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, egg, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a large bowl. Add ground meat and combine until uniform. Shape mixture into 4-5 oval loaves.

Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Brown meatloaves well on one side (about 3-5 minutes). Carefully flip loaves over and tidy up edges using a spatula . Brown on other side for about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix glaze ingredients together until smooth, then spoon glaze over top of loaves. Put loaves on baking sheet ( I always put a sheet of foil under them to make clean up easier!) and bake until centers of loaves register 160 degrees, about 15 minutes. Serve.

Posted by: Sallie

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

One of my favorite parts of cooking is the challenge. I used to be a terrible bread and roll maker. I would end up with sticky, gooey, dough or really heavy, small, rock like rolls. Every once in awhile I would get lucky and have a batch turn out great. Now am I much more comfortable with yeast breads and (knock on wood) 99% of the time end up with great bread. Those of you who've made or tasted homemade rolls and bread know that there is no comparison to store bought!

So how did I go from being a bread making disaster to getting great results? Unfortunately there is no big, magic secret (that I know of anyway.) It all boils down to PRACTICE. Here are the few things I can share with you that have helped me.

1. Start with good recipes. I like to get my recipes from well known cookbooks, blogs (that I've made great recipes from before), and friends. Try to start out with very simple recipes and progress once you feel comfortable.

2. Invest in a thermometer. If you have recipes that call for a certain water temperature, it takes a lot of the guess work out of the process and will ensure that you are not either killing the yeast (by getting the water too hot) or not activating it enough (by not getting the water hot enough.)

3. Don't over or under flour your dough. This is where experience really comes into play. A dough that is too sticky won't rise properly while a dough that has too much flour results in tough, heavy rolls. Use your recipe as a guideline. If you feel you need to add more flour or water, do it in very small amounts and give it a minute to come together before adding more. Temperature, humidity, etc. all have an effect so use your best judgement. Once you have made a recipe multiple times, you will know what the dough should look like. *Melanie has a great yeast tutorial on her blog with photos and lots of helpful information. http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/11/tutorial-working-with-yeast.html

4. Practice, Practice, Practice. It's how you become successful at anything. Take a class or ask a friend who makes bread to help you.Don't get discouraged. I had a lot of failures! If I can do it, you can too.

Now, on to my recipe (which comes from The Sister's Cafe.) I have been promising myself for about 6 months that I would start making all of our bread. I finally got myself in gear and purchased a wheat grinder and some really good bread pans. I have been trying out different recipes and this one has been one of my favorites. The loaves turned out beautiful! I love using the white wheat flour. It has a much more mellow taste and even my kids (and maybe an unnamed husband) who hate wheat bread like this bread. It makes 5 loaves which is great because you can slice and freeze the leftovers. If you have an electric knife it works fantastically!

Yummy, Easy Whole Wheat Bread
The Sisters Cafe

Yield: 5 loaves

3 1/2 cups hot tap water (helps offset the cool can of milk)
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
3 Tbs instant yeast (like SAF)
2/3 cup oil (I used canola)
1 cup honey (use the same measuring glass as the oil and the honey slides right out)
1 cup white flour
3 Tbs vital wheat gluten
2 Tbs dough enhancer (this is optional--I just happen to have some)
12 cups whole wheat flour (I used white wheat: approx 8c wheat berries= 12 c flour)
1 1/2 TBSsalt

*I ended up adding  1 cup of white flour and 1 cup of white wheat flour more than the recipe called for.*

Grind your wheat (in your electric wheat grinder) while getting everything else ready. Then, using a Bosch or other heavy duty mixer, combine ingredients in the order given, mixing well after half the flour, then add the other half of flour and salt. Add a little extra white flour as needed if dough is too sticky. Knead in mixer for 8 minutes. Dump out dough on your 'Rolpat' or if you don't have one, pour a little oil on your counter top and spread with your hand. Form into a long log, then divide into 5 loaves. Form each loaf into a log shape and place in medium sized nonstick bread pan. Press down the sides of each dough piece to fill the bottom of the pan, leaving the top round and smooth. Let rise in a warm spot until almost desired bread size. (about 1 hour). Bake in preheated 350 oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven to wire racks and brush tops of hot loaves with butter, if desired. Let cool about 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool completely before slicing. (if you can wait that long!!)

Posted by: Sallie