Heath Bar Cookies

I made these cookies for my friend Liz and her husband and baby when they moved to a nearby town. We have been very good friends for many years but for the last 3 years she lived over an hour away. When she told me they were moving closer and would now be only 15 minutes away, I did a little happy dance then started to plan what I was going to put in their welcome to Maryland basket.

I was hoping to have a Maryland themed basket with all types of crab do-dads but when I ran across this recipe I knew these would be perfect. I first tried Heath Bar cookies several years ago at a local bakery and they were so rich and yummy that I was a little worried that these wouldn't live up to that. Boy was I wrong! These cookies are just the right balance of buttery toffee goodness.

My friend and her husband still rave about these cookies so I figured these were a must for the blog. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking soda
1 cup Butter, softened
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Brown sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cups Toffee bites



Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside. In a stand mixer cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. Slowly mix the flour into the butter mixture until well combined. Now fold in the toffee bites. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes up to overnight.

Spoon about 2 tablespoon of cookie dough into the palm of your hand and gently form a ball. Place each ball on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, checking after 8 minutes for browned edges. Once the edges start to brown remove them from the oven and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet. Then allow them to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Verði þér að góðu

Adapted from: The Novice Chef

Ginger Steak Salad

I think I've said before that my husband is an extremely picky eater so when I saw this recipe I was a little nervous about making it. Then I remembered how much he likes the salad dressing at a local Japanese restaurant which also has a ginger base. I figure if he likes that, he may like this too and what really sealed the deal is that I already had all of the ingredients. Score!

I was so surprised when my husband ate this he fell in love with the dressing. He has even asked me to make this dressing to have in the fridge for whenever we have salad. Double score! I'm finally getting him to eat salad without his old stand by Italian dressing.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Ingredients:
Marinade:

2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp. Sherry
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 whole Rib-eye steak
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Salad Dressing:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 Tbsp lime juice
2-3 garlic cloves, finely diced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced (optional)

Salad:
2 green onions, sliced
8 ounces salad green

Directions:

Combine the marinade ingredients in a ziploc bag and place steak in the bag. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. I usually put it in the fridge before I leave for work so it's nice and tasty when I get home.

Combine the salad dressing ingredients and green onions. Whisk it to within an inch of its life.

When the steak has finished marinating, heat a skillet until it's nice and hot. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the steak about 1 1/2-2 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove from the skillet and allow to rest and cool slightly.

Toss the salad greens with 3/4 of the dressing. Thinly slice the steak and place on top of the salad greens. Pour the remaining dressing over the top and enjoy.

Καλή όρεξη! (Kalí óreksi!)

Adapted from: The Pioneer Woman

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

I've been a long time fan of the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. I love watching her show because she makes everything look so elegant and easy but I guess that's what The Food Network is for. So when I was spending a Saturday morning shopping at Target I passed by the book section and who did I see but Ina smiling at me. She was looking at me as if she were calling my name and who can resist Ina and her good olive oil. Obviously, I'm not a trained Chef so I don't know what the hell good olive oil is so clearly I needed Ina to show me the way. With Ina in hand, I headed for the checkout. About 15 minutes later I was at home flipping through the cookbook.

Now I think is the appropriate time for an honest review of the Barefoot Contessa's cookbook Back To Basics. I'm a very visual person and I typically pick recipes by the picture so Back To Basics was right up my alley. Each recipe has a picture of the finished product so this immediately made me want to cook everything is the cookbook. The majority of the recipes seem to be fairly straight forward and easy to follow but have a boatload of ingredients. Her Beef Stew has 17 ingredients. That must be one fabulous Beef Stew.

I took the lazy way out and picked a recipe with only 9 ingredients. Oh, and it looked great. Once I started putting it together to marinate, everything was fragrant I wanted to eat the raw chicken. Given the risk of salmonella, I decided to just let it marinate and eat it after it's cooked. I'm so glad I waited until it's cooked because holy mackerel it was good. I always figured Ina was a good chef but this just confirmed it.

Ingredients:
1 (3 pound) chicken, flatted
Kosher salt
1/3 Cup olive oil
2 tsp grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
1/3 Cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 Tbsp minced garlic (approximately 3 cloves)
1 Tbsp rosemary, fresh and minced
ground black pepper
1 lemon, halved



Directions:

Sprinkle the chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt on each side.

Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and 1 teaspoon of pepper in a glass dish that is big enough to hold the flatten chicken. Add the chicken and mix to coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Heat up your grill. I used an indoor grill because I was too lazy to prepare the charcoal grill. Place the chicken on the grill, skin side up and weight it down with the dish you used to marinate the chicken. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until the underside is golden brown. Turn the chicken skin side down and weight it down with the same dish. Cook for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Place the cut lemons of the grill, cut side down for 10 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the grill and place on a cutting board and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Cut the chicken into quarters, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve with the cut lemons. Enjoy!

잘 먹겠습니다 (jal meokkesseumnida)

Adapted from: Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins

I've had this recipe in my folder for about 6 months and I finally got around to making it. I can't believe I waited that long to try these because they were really good. They were very moist and and had an awesome crumble. Even my picky husband gave them two thumbs up! I was initally thrown by the amount of poppy seeds for this recipe and was worried how that was going to effect the taste and the lemony (is that a word) flavor. Much to my surprise it wasn't a poppy seed overload. In fact it was a perfect amount. I love the contrasting color of the poppy seed against the yellow of the lemon batter. It bakes into this yummy goodness that in my world is a perfectly healthy muffin for a morning or midday treat. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

2/3 Cup lemon sugar or granulated sugar

2 large eggs, separated

1 1/3 Cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

zest of 2 lemons

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 Cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 Tbsp. raw sugar

Directions:

Lemon Sugar:

Zest 3 large lemon being careful not to zest the bitter white pith. Place the lemon zest in a food processor and add 1/2 cup sugar. Pulse until the zest is incorporated. Add another 1/2 cup and continue to pulse until the zest is finely ground. This can stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Muffins:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 muffin tins with beautiful liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, and lemon sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time making sure to beat well after each addition.

In another bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, lemon zest, and salt. Put the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2 additions alternating with the buttermilk, then the lemon juice and vanilla. Beat until just smooth.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. Using a large spatula , gently fold the egg whites into the batter until blended.

Pour batter evenly into each liner about three-fourths full. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

b'tayavon בתיאבון

Adapted from: Williams-Sonoma

Carrot-Zucchini Muffins

I've had this recipe in my recipe binder for about a year but always found other things to make and it got pushed further and further back so when I saw carrots and zucchini at the farmer's market I immediately remembered this recipe. I can't believe I didn't make this sooner. OMG, these muffins were delish!



They were fairly easy to make but I think it would have been more time consuming if I didn't have a food processor to shred the carrots and zucchini. These muffins have a yummy brown sugar and cinnamon taste that compliments the zucchini beautifully. I took these to work and got rave reviews. I hope you enjoys these as much as my coworkers did.



Ingredients:
2/3 Cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2/3 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 Cup zucchini, finely shredded
1/2 Cup carrots, finely shredded
1/2Cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 2 muffin tins with liners.

Shred zucchini and carrots. I used my food processor to make the job fast and easy.

In a stand mixer bowl, beat the oil with eggs, sugars (white and brown) and vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and add to the wet ingredients. Mix until well combined.

Fill the muffin cups evenly with the batter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Buon appetito!

Adapted from: Southern Food

Black-Bottom Cupcakes

I saw these cupcakes and I couldn't resist. I actually can't resist anything chocolate. I've had these many times from Starbucks and always loved every bite so I was a little hesitant about making these. I was afraid mine would pale in comparison. I'm happy to tell you that Starbucks better watch out because this recipe for Black-Bottom cupcakes is sure to give them a run for their money.


Ingredients:

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 Cup sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsly chopped

Cupcake:
1 1/2 Cups flour
1 Cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
5 Tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Cup water
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1Tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Filling:
Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and egg together until smooth. Stir in the chopped chocolate.

Cupcake:
Preheat the over to 350 degrees and make sure the rack is in the center of the oven. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift together flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and fill the hole with the wet ingredients and stir until smooth. DO NOT OVER MIX OR YOUR CUPCAKE WILL BE TOUGH. Now pour the batter evenly into the liners.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

T'boftë mire!


Adapted from: The Great Book of Chocolate

Hot Wings

Every Friday evening I sit down with my cookbooks, recipe binder and notepad to make my menu and grocery list for the following week. Last Friday I was at a loss for what to make for next Friday's dinner so I turned to Jason and asked him what he wanted. His usual answer to that question is steak and potatoes which is why I don't bother asking anymore but he threw me for a loop when he said he wanted wings. With a request like that how could I say no. After all, I do love a good wing. Most of the time when we want wings we'll go to a local bar when it's $.20 wing night but I just knew I could make a wing to rival $.20 wing night. I consulted my favorite blogs and found this on PW's website.

This recipe is very easy and very tasty. You can also substitute the Franks Hot Sauce for any flavor wing sauce. You can always check out the sauces at Cluck-U which tend to be good especially if you're making wings for some who like it extremely hot and others who like them mild. The Frank's Hot Sauce tends to be somewhat mild with just a little tingle on the lips at the end.

Ingredients:

2 pounds chicken wingettes or drummettes

Canola oil or peanut oil

2 sticks butter

1 bottles Frank's Red Hot Sauce (12 ounces)

Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pat dry the wings with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.

In a deep skillet or a deep fryer, if you have one, pour about 1 1/2 inches of oil or to the minimum fill line in the fryer. Heat the oil until it reaches about 360 degrees. When the oil reaches 360, place the wings in the oil. Use a pair of tongs to move them around to prevent from sticking to the bottom.

While the chicken is frying, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the entire bottle of Franks Hot Sauce. Stir well until combined. Add Tabasco sauce to taste.

When the chicken is done, place them on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Place a few wings in the saucepan at a time stirring to coat the entire wing. Repeat until all of the chicken has been coated with yummy goodness.

Serve with blue cheese or ranch dip.

食飯 (sihk faahn)

Adapted from: Pioneer Woman