Homemade Corndogs!

Corn dogs?!? Yes, corn dogs! I host a Book Club for my Mommy group, and we are trying to all bring food based on the theme of the book. This month the book was The Night Circus (a very interesting and wonderful story) so we did circus themed food.

I also took advantage of the opportunity to try some Pinterst recipes!

Cherry limeade from this website:
http://thelittlebrownhouse.us/2011/07/25/diy-sonic-cherry-limeade/

A popcorn cake from this website:
http://cookiesandcups.com/popcorn-cake/

And then I made delicious homemade corndogs, but with yummy chicken sausages loaded with cheese and flavorings- amazing! Here's the recipe:

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk
8 flavored precooked chicken sausages, cut into half
wooden skewers

Mix first 7 ingredients together, refridgerate (batter sticks best when cold). Preheat electric deep fryer to 350. Pat sausages with paper towel. put a skewer in each, dip in batter. (Put batter in drinking glass or mason jar to make dipping easier. Fry for 4-6 minutes, turning if needed, until batter in golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Southwest Steak and a Walmart Giveaway!

During the summer, we love to grill! But grilling good steak can get pricey! Luckily, I was asked to try Walmart's new USDA Choice Steaks so that I could let you know what I think. They have a variety of choice cuts- flank steak, tri tip, ribeye and sirloin are what I saw. And they will give you a refund if you buy them and don't like them- that lets you know they really think that they have a good product.

For our barbecue on a budget, I got some ribeyes. They grilled up deliciously- very tender and great flavor!

Want to try Walmart's USDA Choice Steaks? Leave a comment about your favorite barbecue dish or your best grilling tip and you could win a $25 Walmart gift card! I love being able to share this with one of you! I will pick a comment at random on Friday, August 17th.

So how did I cook my delicious steak, you ask? If you know my blog, you know that I love Southwest flavors! So I wanted to add a Southwest kick to our steaks- a chipotle dry rub and a lime compound butter. And on the side, some Mexican grilled corn. It was all super yummy!

Compound Butter:
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. lime zest
2 tsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. salt
Combine all; roll into a log in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator until ready to eat.

Dry Rub:
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. chipotle powder
1 tsp cumin

2 12 oz. ribeye steaks

Sprinkle steaks with salt to taste, then sprinkle on dry rub and rub in. Grill to desired doneness. Top with slices of butter.

Actually Making Pinterest Recipes?!?

So, I tried to resist the Pinterest for a long time. I mean, what good can come of a website where there are a plethora of delicious recipes, super cute and fun party ideas, beautiful house ideas and craft projects that I will most likely never have the time to try? Then I gave in, and starting pinning with a vengeance, but for months I never actually looked at any of my pins again. I have decided that, while most of my recipe pins are not so healthy, that I should search out the not so deadly ones and actually try some. A few ooey gooey ones slipped in too… It has gone fairly well, and I have tried many veggie recipes. I thought I would share what I found:

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Really, just the title should be enough! I tried this one two ways- the recipe on the tagged section and the recipe on the actual website it came from. The recipe from the website was much better!
http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/04/bacon-wrapped-caramelized-sesame-asparagus/

Loaded Potato Casserole
Not a healthy treat- hashbrowns, bacon, cheese, deliciousness… Very yummy!
http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/01/crack-potatoes.html

Best Broccoli of Your Life
At least, that is how the website advertises it. And, as someone who does not like broccoli at all, it was pretty darn good!
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html

Parmesan chicken Bake
This was super yummy- chicken coated in greek yogurt and parmesan and spices. The chicken was moist and quite tasty!
/www.mykitchenescapades.com/
Mac-Quinoa and Cheese
I came up with that name myself and I must say I am pretty proud of it. It is a pretty healthy recipe that uses quinoa (really high in protein and generally quite healthy) in place of the pasta in macaroni and cheese. And I added yellow squash so there would be a vegtable but without anything green giving it away. It was pretty bland (Hannah was with us, so I omitted the hot sauce it calls for) but when we added a little seasoning salt, it was quite delicious.
http://aroundthetableri.blogspot.com/2012/02/cheesy-quinoa-mac-cheese.html

Lemon Meringue Pie
This was a really good, but time intensive recipe. It was worth it, as I got perfect meringue, but the lemon filling was a bit tart for my taste.
http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2011/05/lemon-meringue-pie.html#more

S'mores Bars
When we went up to stay at Andrew’s parents’ Utah house, it was semi-camping (cabin living, at least) and what would outdoor living be without s'mores? I’d had my eye on this recipe for quite a while, so I jumped at the chance to make them. Yuuuuum!
http://melssweetlife.com/2012/04/05/peanut-butter-cup-smores-bars/

Crème Brulee Cheesecake Bars
Yum, yum, yum. The only thing about these was that I put them in the fridge immediately to cool them down, and the topping wasn’t crunchy. I think there was some condensation from the warm bars that softened the topping. So it did not have the crunch I wanted from a crème brulee bar, but the taste was spot on.
http://passtheplateblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/creme-brulee-cheesecake-bars-and-my.html

Shrimp and Butter- what's not to love?

There have been few things that I have made that make Andrew really stop and gush about. I like to think that this is not because my food is not “wow worthy” but rather that I set the bar too high for myself early on. One of the first things I made for him was shrimp and grits (which he gave me a funny look about when I told him what I was making), but is so delicious that I feel most things are measured against it. When I made this, Andrew went gaga. So you know it really is magical. It is shrimp, layered with butter, lemon and spices and baked. Sounds simple, but is so delectable! And because the shrimp are baked in the shell, it is a fun meal and a long, enjoyable one, when you can chat and just let the butter drip down to your elbows as you unpeel the shrimp and mop up the sauce with a bit of bread. Yum!

Buttery Cajun Shrimp
1 ½ sticks butter, melted
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. Cajun seasoning
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
3 scallions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 pounds medium shrimp, with shells on
1 lemon, thinly sliced
French bread, for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients but shrimp, sliced lemon and bread. Pour half into a 2 quart baking dish. Layer half of shrimp and half the lemon slices. Repeat layers of shrimp and lemon slices. Pour remaining sauce into the dish.
3. Bake, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are pink, about 20 minutes. Serve family style or ladle sauce into individual serving dishes. Serve with French bread for dipping in the tangy, buttery sauce.

(And yes, you know when there is butter, Paula Deen is usually involved! This is from her newest cookbook, the Southern Cooking Bible.)

Creamy Crawfish Pasta

Here is a delicious dinner recipe for you to try: pasta with a delicious creamy crawfish sauce. I lived in New Orleans for 2 years back in the college days, so anything with crawfish is always a treat. To find crawfish in the desert is not so easy, but Walmart does carry them frozen. While they are not quite the same, they are still delicious in this recipe. And the bonus is, the whole thing can be on your table in about 20 minutes. Always a plus!



Creamy Crawfish Pasta

8 ounces linguine
8 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
One small onion, minced
Four garlic cloves, minced
Half green bell pepper, minced
Two celery ribs, minced
One chicken bouillon cube
2 cups cream
1 pound of crawfish tails
10 ounce canned Rotel tomatoes
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
Quarter 1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Hot sauce, to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and keep warm. Melt butter in a large skillet, add flour and cook two minutes. Add green onions and next four ingredients, and sauté until tender. Add bullion cube and the next seven ingredients, cook 10 minutes until thickened. Stir in hot sauce if desired. Serve over pasta.

Tres Leches Cupcakes

I made these delicious tres leches cupcakes for Cinco De Mayo! I had never made tres leches, and it may be possible that I have never even tried it before- cupcakes or regular cake either. But I wanted something traditionally Mexican for our celebration. I looked at many a recipe online, and found one that I tweaked. All the frosting recipes were way more involved than I wanted to commit to- cooking whipped egg whites over a double boiler and adding fresh whipped cream and homemade dulce de leche (by slow baking sweetened condensed milk to caramelize it). Way too much work! So I just mixed a can of pre-made dulce de leche with Cool Whip. May not be traditional, but it was yummy!

Ingredients
6 large eggs, separated
1/4 tsp. of baking soda
1/4 tsp. of salt
1 c. of white sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 c. of all-purpose flour
3/4 c. of coconut milk
1/2 c. of cream
3/4 c. of sweetened condensed milk
1 can dulce de leche
1 large container of Cool Whip
Cinnamon, for garnish

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325. Line muffin pans with paper cups.
With an electric mixer, over medium speed, beat the egg whites, baking soda and salt until soft peaks. Lower the speed of the mixer and add the egg yolks and sugar. Continue mixing until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Add the butter, folding it in with a spatula. Then, mix in the flour in three or four batches, mixing by hand (carefully, so as not to break the air bubbles that will add volume to the cupcakes) until the mixture is well blended.
Pour the batter into the paper-lined muffin pans, filling them only a little halfway. Very important- you want room for the milk you will pour over them.
Bake the cupcakes in a preheated 325 oven for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together the three milks. When the cupcakes come out of the oven and are still warm, poke holes in them all the way to the bottom with a bamboo skewer about 10 times. Get your three milk mixture and pour just a little (a teaspoon-ish, so it doesn't overflow) on the tops of the cupcakes. Wait for the cupcakes to absorb the milk before pouring more on. Once all the milk mixture has been absorbed, which will take many applications, refrigerate- at least 2 hours.
Mix dulce de leche and Cool Whip together and spoon on just before serving. Sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

Cooking on Maternity Leave...

I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed being home with Jackson the past 6 weeks! And I now know the answer to “But what am I going to do with all my time, just sitting around the house all day?” and “Why do people with babies talk about how much laundry there is? A baby can’t need that many clothes!” Ha! I laugh at my pre-baby naiveté! With that said, I think it is time for me to go back to work! I don't say this because I'm tired of diapers and laundry. I say this because I have done an extreme amount of cooking in the past week. This is not so good when I am trying to start working on taking off this baby weight! And, not surprisingly, for those of you who know me, I have been attacking Paula Deen’s new cookbook, The Southern Cooking Bible. I do love me some Paula Deen. But the amount of butter I went through this past week was slightly obscene! Here’s a peek at what I made: Red Wine and Beef Stew page 128 Buttery Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes page 248 The Lady and Sons Hoecakes page 297 Why did I choose this? I don’t drink red wine and I hate stew! But I have to say it was super delicious! And the Hoecakes were good, but not nearly as good as the ones Paula serves in her restaurant!

General Robert E Lee Cake page 386 I made my own lemon curd for the filling in this one, which was delicious! But I remembered a lesson I learned when we were picking out wedding cakes- I HATE buttercream frosting! This cake- when curd, cake and frosting are accounted for- took 7 ½ sticks of butter!!! I threw out what was left, which was most of it, once I counted that up!

Sausage Biscuits page 278 Cause, really, who wouldn’t like biscuits with sausage in them? Andrew, in particular, is a huge fan of all pork products!

Florida Lemon Bars page 352 Pecan and Cream Cheese Stuffed Dates page 7 I made these for a Mommy and Me picnic that I went to. I’m really lucky that I have found a great group of moms to spend time with- they do lots of fun things and its great for Jackson to be around the other babies! The moms all really liked the dates!

Gooey Butter Cake page 354 Absolutely delicious, and definitely gooey!

Taco Salad page 46 I got excited about this one- I do love spicy foods, but it turns out it was just a list of all the things you would normally put together for a taco salad…

Hot Chili and Cheese Dip page 10 Cause who doesn’t love sharing a bowl of dip for lunch while watching a movie?

Old Fashioned White Bread page 281 Making anything with yeast scares me, but this bread was pretty good. A little dense, but homemade bread usually is. I needed some bread to put my jams on. That’s right, I’ve started canning jams and jellies, but that is another blog post for another day…

Here's the recipe for those stuffed dates that were so popular: 3 Tbsp cream cheese, at room temperature 3 Tbsp finely chopped pecans 1/4 tsp black pepper 12 Medjool dates 4 slices bacon, cut into thirds Preheat oven to 400. Stir together cream cheese, pecans and pepper. Stuff into dates (be sure to take pit out). Wrap a piece of bacon around each date and secre with a toothpick. Place on a foil lined cooke sheet, bake for 8 minutes, flip and bake 4-8 mintes more, until bacon is crisp. Serve while hot.

Easter Treats, Post Easter...

So I know it is too late to make these for Easter, but they are also a very Spring-friendly kind of treat as well. These are little bird's nests of deliciousness. I have seen them countless times and thought they were cute, but have never looked up a recipe or made them. I tried them with both butterscotch and chocolate chips, and no one really touched the chocolate ones. They really were not nearly as tasty.



Bird's Nests
1 bag chocolate or butterscotch chips
1/4 cup peanut or almond butter
5 oz. chow mien noodles
Chocolate egg candy or jelly beans

Melt chip for 1 minute in microwave; stir. Heat for 15 second intervals until chips stir smoothly; add peanut butter and stir to combine. Add chow mien noodles and stir until coated. Take about 2 Tablespoons and drop on waxed paper, form into nest shape and add candy to look like eggs in a nest. Enjoy!

Mmmm... Cinnamon Rolls...

Holy cinnamon rolls, batman! I know, it is amazing that I would even attempt such a thing, given my rocky relationship with baking. And something that involves yeast? Yeast?!? Here is what inspired my attempt: 1. a Pioneer Woman Christmas special I happened to see, where she made these sinful looking things (I had never even heard of or seen her before), 2. the fact that cinnamon rolls are, in fact, amazingly delicious, 3. the blog of 2 girls I knew in high school- http://twogirlsturningthirty.wordpress.com/ in which they are trying to accomplish 30 things before they turn 30, and one of them, the adorable Mary Hall, wants to make delicious homemade cinnamon rolls, which made me flash back to the Pioneer Woman Christmas special, which made me realize, 4. I want to be able to make amazingly delicious homemade cinnamon rolls!!!



With much trepidation, I attempted these, and they turned out absolutley amazing! Like, eyes rolling up in your head, hoarding them and snarling at your husband, licking your fingers clean kind of good! And my yeast actually rose!!!



So here is the recipe:
taken from http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

*Before making, please see that this recipe does make 7 pans! You may want to halve it! I did not see that until I was halfway through. So I have many a pan in my freezer, which the Pioneer Woman says is fine- you can just freeze already baked and frosted and just heat them back up later. I plan to really enjoy these once the baby is here and I need a treat when I haven't slept in days!



Ingredients
1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets
8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter (3-4 cups)
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

MAPLE FROSTING:
1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
½ cups Milk
¼ cups Melted Butter
¼ cups Brewed Coffee
⅛ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions
For the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat to just below a boil. Set aside and cool to warm. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk for 1 minute.

Add 8 cups of the flour. Stir until just combined, then cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a relatively warm place for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the remaining 1 cup flour. Stir thoroughly to combine. Use the dough right away, or place in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for up to 3 days, punching down the dough if it rises to the top of the bowl. (Note: dough is easier to work with if it’s been chilled for at least an hour or so beforehand.)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the pan/bowl. On a floured baking surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 30 x 10 inches. The dough should be rolled very thin.

To make the filling, pour 3/4 cup to 1 cup of the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to spread the butter evenly. Generously sprinkle half of the ground cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar over the butter. Don’t be afraid to drizzle on more butter or more sugar! Gooey is the goal.

Now, beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle tightly towards you. Use both hands and work slowly, being careful to keep the roll tight. Don’t worry if the filling oozes as you work; that just means the rolls are going to be divine. When you reach the end, pinch the seam together and flip the roll so that the seam is face down. When you’re finished, you’ll wind up with one long buttery, cinnamony, sugary, gooey log.

Slip a cutting board underneath the roll and with a sharp knife, make 1/2-inch slices. One “log “will produce 20 to 25 rolls. Pour a couple of teaspoons of melted butter into disposable foil cake pans and swirl to coat. Place the sliced rolls in the pans, being careful not to overcrowd. (Each pan will hold 7 to 9 rolls.)

Repeat the rolling/sugar/butter process with the other half of the dough and more pans. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cover all the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise on the countertop for at least 20 minutes before baking. Remove the towel and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Don’t allow the rolls to become overly brown.

While the rolls are baking, make the maple icing: In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee, and salt. Splash in the maple flavoring. Whisk until very smooth. Taste and add in more maple, sugar, butter, or other ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired consistency. The icing should be somewhat thick but still very pourable.

Remove pans from the oven. Immediately drizzle icing over the top. Be sure to get it all around the edges and over the top. As they sit, the rolls will absorb some of the icing’s moisture and flavor. They only get better with time… not that they last for more than a few seconds.

Baby Shower!

I know, I know, I have not been the best blogger lately. I lost focus- not only with the holidays and the new baby coming, but because I don't know what direction I'm heading with the blog. Last year was full of fancy Southwest dinner parties, and I learned about a lot of new ingredients and techniques, but those kind of parties can't happen with the baby on the way. Those took two days to prep for! So what to focus on now? Still not sure...






But here's what I can share – I had my baby shower this past weekend. It was so much fun! My friend Stephanie did all the games and made a delicious belly bump cake, Natalie helped with all the decorations and my mom helped with all the delicious food. And Hannh, the cupcake master that she is, made the most delicious blue velvet cupcakes- they were a hit!





We had a menu of Southern style foods because the name Jackson (what our precious baby boy will be named) is a traditional Southern name. We had shrimp and grits biscuits, barbecue on sweet potato biscuits, turnip green dip, pimento cheese dip, and sausage balls. But the most raved about thing we had were the mini crawfish pies. I got the recipe from an old issue of the Paula Deen magazine, and here it is:

Mini Crawfish Pies

2 tablespoons butter
1 minced red bell pepper
4 minced celery ribs
Three minced shallots
Two cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons parsley
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 pound frozen crawfish tails, thawed and drained
4 boxes frozen mini phyllo shells, thawed
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, celery, shallot, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes, until tender. Stir in flour, cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add cream, 1 tablespoon parsley, and Creole seasoning, stirring until combined. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Add cream cheese, whisking until melted. Stir in crawfish. Remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Place if phyllo shells on ungreased baking sheets. Fill shells evenly with Crawfish mixture.
In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, remaining 1 tablespoon parsley, and melted butter. Sprinkle evenly over crawfish mixture. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Just so you know, the only place in Vegas I have found that has crawfish or phyllo shells is Walmart. Enjoy!

Last 2011 DInner Party

So, this is the last dinner that I made from the cookbook The New Southwest Cookbook. It has been a year of very good food and I have learned a lot about flavors, spices, ingredients and techniques. Our friends and family seem to have enjoyed it as well. I have to be honest about this one- the plan was to have the dinner on New Year’s Eve to end 2011 with good food, but I was so tired after cooking all day and being 7 months pregnant that we ended just relaxing and ringing in the new year with pizza. But it was worth the wait, because this was a pretty good meal once I put it all together!

Appetizer- Sonoran Cactus Fries with Black Bean Caramel Gravy (from Cowboy Club in Sedona, AZ- p. 73)


This was really interesting, because Andrew and I have actually eaten this appetizer in Sedona on the trip when I bought the cookbook that began this whole thing. It had been over a year, but neither of us remembered the fries or the sauce tasting much like what I made. The gravy was made with the juice from cooking black beans (not the actual beans) and sugar and spices, so it was oddly sweet and somewhat chocolaty. Some people at dinner liked it, but I was not a big fan. Have you ever cleaned a cactus pad? Not the easiest thing in the world to do! And I should have cut the cactus much narrower- it was a bit chewy. But overall, it was pretty good.

Soup- Monte Vista Tortilla Soup (from Monte Vista Fire Station in Albuquerque, NM, p. 93)





This was a pretty intense soup. It was a tomato- garlic broth poured over caramelized onions, roasted poblano and red bell peppers and sautéed shrimp, topped with fried tortilla strips and avocados. Many components= lots of work. It was a good soup, but not one of my favorites, and probably not worth all that work.

Entrée- Santa Fe Rib eye with Tobasco Onion Straws (from Zion Lodge, Zion National Park in Springdale, UT, p. 143)
Side- Green Chile Macaroni (from Roaring Fork in Scottsdale, AZ, p.204)



The steak was reaaaaaaally good. Grilled rib eye (a good way to start) topped with homemade pico de gallo, blue cheese and crispy onion straws. The onion straws were soaked in Tobasco before flour and they had the best flavor. I want to make these on a weekly basis just for a snack. Really good steak!
The macaroni was also fantastic. It has sautéed onion, corn and red pepper, a puree of roasted poblano peppers and pepper jack cheese. It had great flavor and texture. And who doesn’t love macaroni and cheese with steak?

Dessert- Prickly Pear “Martini” and Cornmeal Lime Cookies (from De La Tierra, El Monte Sagrado Living Resort in Taos, NM- p.224)



Much like cleaning the cactus pad, peeling the prickly pear (the fruit the cactus makes) was not much fun either. And it is full of seeds, so I had to cut it up and cook it to soften it so I could strain it through a mesh strainer to get the seeds out. Then I made the sorbet base with the puree and some sugar and port wine, and froze all that in my ice cream machine. The cornmeal lime cookies were pretty yummy- a buttery shortbread cookie with a hint of lime.