Easy Italian Pasta Bake

by penji1

This recipe came from Kraft Foods in an email.  It truly couldn’t be any easier.

1 pound extra lean ground beef

(optional seasoning to add to meat when cooking:  1 teaspoon Italian seasoning and 3 cloves garlic, pressed)

3 cups whole wheat penne pasta, cooked and drained

1 (26 oz can or jar) pasta sauce

1/3 cup Kraft grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 1/2 cups Kraft 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella cheese

1  Heat oven to 375.  Brown meat (and seasoning, if desired) in large skillet, drain.  Add pasta, sauce and 1/2 the Parmesan and mix well.

2  Spoon into 13 x 9″ dish and top with remaining cheese.

3  Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.

Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

by penji1

Courtney is having dinner with friends tonight so I volunteered to make them dessert.  She wanted chocolate cake so I went to my big file folder of recipes that I want to make one day and found this one.  It’s a Kraft recipe which I received in an email.

1 package (2 layer size) white cake mix plus ingredients to make cake (the closest I had to white was French vanilla so that’s what I used)

4 squares semi sweet baking chocolate, divided (didn’t have any so used my Dove chocolate which I have a bunch of!)

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup Cool Whip, thawed (I used the whole 8 oz tub)

1  Prepare cake batter and bake in 13 x 9″ baking pan as directed on package.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Pierce cake with large fork at 1/2″ intervals.

2  Melt 3 of the chocolate squares as directed on package and set aside.  Place milks and sour cream in blender and blend until smooth.  (I whisked it all together in a large bowl.)  Add melted chocolate and mix well.  Gradually pour over cake, re-piercing holes in cake as needed until milk mixture is absorbed.  (There is a lot of liquid.  Don’t worry about it all absorbing while you are pouring; the cake will soak it all up while it’s in the fridge.)  Refrigerate 1 hour.  Meanwhile, make curls or shavings from remaining chocolate square.

3  Frost top of cake with Cool Whip and top with chocolate curls or shavings.  Store in refrigerator.

Sticky Pecan Buns

by penji1

This recipe comes from the same article that the Breakfast Biscuits did, still can’t remember which magazine I clipped it from.  Another quick, easy and tasty recipe made with refrigerated biscuits such as Pillsbury Grands.

Start with 1 tube (16 – 16.3 oz, 8 biscuits) and an oven set at 350.  In bowl, microwave 3 tablespoons butter on high 1 minute.  Stir in 1/3 cup brown sugar and cook 1 more minute, stirring once.  Stir in 3/4 cup pecans (I used walnuts), chopped then spread in 8″ cake pan.  Mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (this wasn’t enough so I’d double it).  With hand, flatten biscuits to 1/8″; spread heaping teaspoon cinnamon sugar in center.  Roll tightly and cut in half.  Place, cut sides down, in pan.  Bake 30 – 35 minutes or until golden brown.  Invert onto plate and serve warm.

 

Sally Lunn Batter Bread

by penji1

This recipe comes from my big, blue “The Taste of Home Baking Book”.  My Sunday School lesson today had a great story about making bread so last night I decided to make a small loaf of bread for each of the kids in my class (I only have 8).  I found this recipe which didn’t look too hard and had all of the ingredients referred to in my bread story.  I’m not really a bread maker, the yeast always scares me but these came out pretty good although they were a little crumbly.

bread:

1 package (1/4 oz) active dry yeast (I have a bottle of yeast in the fridge and it said that 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast are equivalent to 1 package)

1/2 cup warm water (110 – 115 degrees) (I used my meat thermometer to check the temp)

1 cup warm milk (110 – 115 degrees) (ditto the thermometer)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 eggs

5 1/2 – 6 cups flour

honey butter:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup honey

1  In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water.  Add the milk, butter, sugar, salt, eggs and 3 cups of the flour; beat until smooth.  Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.  Do not knead.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

2  Stir the dough down.  Spoon into a greased and floured 10″ tube pan.  (I used about 9 mini loaf pans.)  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

3  Bake at 400 for 25 – 30 minutes (less for small loaves, 15 – 20) or until golden brown.  Remove from pan to wire rack to cool.

4  Combine the honey butter ingredients until smooth.  Serve with bread.

Grands! Biscuit Taco Cups

by penji1

Pillsbury Grands biscuits are on sale at my local grocery store Smiths and with a coupon, they are less than a dollar a tube so I bought a bunch of them.  This recipe comes from http://www.pillsbury.com.  It was quick, easy and yummy, my 3 favorite things in a recipe!

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1 (15 oz) can spicy chili beans, undrained (I used a can of black beans and drained and rinsed them)

1 (1.25 oz) package taco seasoning mix

1/2 cup water

1 (16.3 oz) can Pillsbury Grands! refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup lettuce

1/2 cup chopped tomato

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup salsa

1  Heat oven to 375.  Brown ground beef in large skillet over medium high heat until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently.  Drain.

2  Add chili beans, taco seasoning and water and mix well.  Reduce heat to medium, simmer 10 minutes or until ground beef mixture is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.

3  Meanwhile, spray outside bottom and sides of 8 (6 oz) custard cups lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  (You could also use your muffin pan and just turn it upside down.)  Separate dough into 8 biscuits.  Roll or pat each biscuit to form 4 1/2″ round.  Place rounds over outside of sprayed cups; press to fit over bottom and part way down sides of cups.  Place cups, upside down, in ungreased 15 x 10 x 1″ baking pan (or on a cookie sheet).

4  Bake at 375 for 14 – 16 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Remove pan from oven.  Carefully remove biscuit cups from custard cups.  Place biscuit cups, right side up, in same baking pan or on sheet.  Spoon beef mixture evenly into each cup.

5   Top with cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and salsa.

Breakfast Biscuits

by penji1

Here’s a quick and easy and yummy breakfast idea.  I cut this out of a magazine but can’t remember which one.  🙂

Start with 1 tube (16 – 16.3 oz; 8 biscuits) (like Pillsbury Grands) and an oven set at 350.  Place biscuits on cookie sheet and top each with 1 tablespoon shredded Pepper Jack cheese.  (I used cheddar.)  Bake 17 – 20 minutes or until golden.  In large bowl, whisk 12 eggs, 4 oz sliced ham (we used bacon instead which we cooked separately from the eggs), 1/2 cup more of cheese and 3 sliced green onions (we used a little bit of a regular onion).  Cook in 12″ nonstick skillet on medium 6 minutes or until set, stirring.  Serve in split biscuits.  Makes 8.

Black and White Chocolate Macadamia Bars

by penji1

It was my friend Julie’s birthday on Tuesday and when I saw her on Thursday at book group, I asked her if she had gotten enough chocolate on her birthday.  She paused a moment before answering and then replied in a disappointed tone, “No,  I did not!” so these fudgey, gooey bars are a late birthday present for my funny, crazy friend Julie.  Happy Birthday Julie, enjoy!  (The recipe comes from Betty Crocker again (how I love her!).

cookie base:

1 (1 pd, 1.5 oz) pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

2 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 egg

fudge filling:

1 (12 oz) bag semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts (I used walnuts)

1/4 cup white vanilla baking chips

1 teaspoon oil

1  Heat oven to 350.  Spray 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.

2  In a large bowl, mix cookie mix, flour, butter and egg until well mixed (batter will be thick).  Press dough into bottom of prepared pan.  Bake 16 – 18 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool 10 minutes.

3  Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt 1 cup of chocolate chips and half of sweetened condensed milk over medium low heat, stirring frequently, removing from heat when melted and smooth.  Stir in remaining sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla.  Spread over crust.  Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chocolate chips and nuts.

4  Bake 22 – 25 minutes or until set.  Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

5  For white chocolate drizzle, place white chips and oil in small resealable bag.  Microwave on medium for 1 minute – 1 minute 15 seconds, turning bag over after 25 seconds.  Squeeze bag until chips are melted and smooth.  Cut small tip off 1 corner of bag and drizzle over bars.  Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting into bars.

Mocha – Toffee Truffle Bars

by penji1

This recipe comes from http://www.bettycrocker.com and it is so good and gooey!  I made these for my niece and her husband who are coming to spend the long weekend with us.

1 (1 pd, 1.5 oz) pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1 (11.5 oz) package milk chocolate chips (2 cups) (can also use semisweet or bittersweet – I used the milk)

1 (8 oz) package toffee bits (1 1/2 cups) (I had some homemade toffee in the candy jar that someone had given me so I chopped it up with my PC Food Chopper and used that)

1 cup chopped pecans (the toffee I used had almonds on it so I used almonds instead of pecans)

1  Heat oven to 350.  In large bowl, stir cookie mix, melted butter and egg until soft dough forms.  Spread dough in bottom of 9 x 13″ ungreased pan.  Bake 12 – 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

2  Meanwhile, in a small microwavable bowl, microwave sweetened condensed milk uncovered on high for 1 minute.  Stir in instant coffee until coffee is mostly dissolved.  (I had to heat it for another minute after I added the coffee to get it to dissolve almost all the way.)

3  Sprinkle warm crust with chocolate chips, toffee bits and nuts.  Drizzle sweetened condensed milk mixture evenly over nuts.

4  Bake 23 – 27 minutes or until top is golden brown and bubbly in center.  Cool completely, about 2 hours before cutting into bars.  Store covered at room temperature.

White Chocolate Mousse Pastry Horns

by penji1

Second treat for Book Group tonight.  These were awesome!  A Pampered Chef recipe from their “Simply Sweet” cookbook which is one of my favorite cookbooks.  I doubled the recipe because 8 was just not going to be enough.

filling:

2 squares (1 oz each) white chocolate for baking, chopped (I used a Dove Chocolate Discoveries white chocolate bar which are conveniently sized at 2 oz)

2 large marshmallows, sliced into quarters (I’ve found the easiest way to cut marshmallows is to spray your kitchen shears with Pam and then cut away)

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream, divided

1/4 cup powdered sugar

pastry horns:

8 sugar ice cream cones

1/2 package (1 sheet) frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

1 egg white

1 teaspoon water

1 tablespoon coarse white decorating sugar (I used my Wilton White Sparkling Sugar Spinkles)

Prepare filling:

1  Place chocolate, marshmallows and 1 tablespoon of cream in bowl.  Microwave on high 30 – 60 seconds or until chocolate is softened.  Stir until smooth.  Cool slightly.  Place remaining 1 cup cream and powdered sugar in mixing bowl and beat on high until soft peaks form.  Stir 1/2 cup of whipped cream into chocolate mixture with a whisk then fold in remaining whipped cream.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Form molds for pastry horns:

2  Preheat oven to 400.  Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Wrap each ice cream cone in a 6″ wide strip of foil, folding over excess foil at wide end to create a handle.  Spray molds with cooking spray.  (Be careful with the cooking spray here.  I sprayed too much on the first mold and couldn’t get the pastry to stick to it so you want enough to keep it from sticking after baking but not so much that you can’t get the dough to stay in place before baking.)

Prepare pastry horns:

3  Unfold pastry onto lightly floured surface and roll into a 10″ square using a rolling pin.  Cut into sixteen 5/8″ strips using Pastry Wheel fitted with fluted wheel.  (I don’t have a pastry wheel so I used my pizza cutter which worked great.)  For each horn,  starting at pointed tip of each mold,  wrap 1 pastry strip around horn, slightly overlapping edges of pastry strip and pinching tip.  Press end of 2nd pastry strip onto end of 1st strip.  Continue wrapping 2nd strip.  Place seam side down on pan.

Bake and finish horns:

4  Whisk together egg white and water in small bowl.  Lightly brush tops of horns with egg mixture; sprinkle with decorating sugar.  Bake 20 – 22 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes.  Carefully remove molds and cool completely.  Attach open star tip to East Accent Decorator and fill with filling.  Pipe filling into horns.

White Chocolate and Berry Crostini

by penji1

Book Group tonight at my house so the perfect time to try out a couple of new recipes.  This is a Dove Chocolate Discoveries recipe from their Spring/Summer 2009 Entertaining Guide, very good but very crunchy.  (Maybe a little too crunchy?  Maybe I didn’t do it right although I did follow the instructions.  Any thoughts from anyone out there?  Am I talking to myself?).

24 slices French baguette, cut 1/4″ thick

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

1 DCD Chef Series White Chocolate bar (2 oz), melted

1/4 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped (I went with sliced almonds mainly because I have a big bag of them in the cupboard)

1  Preheat oven to 375.  Thinly slice baguette;  arrange slices on baking sheet.  Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until light golden brown and crisp.  (My DCD director Kathie suggested lightly toasting the bread instead of baking it which will make the bread a little less crunchy.)

2  Coarsely chop white chocolate.  Melt chocolate in microwave on high at 20 second intervals, stirring in between each until smooth.

3  Arrange sliced strawberries on each crostini slice.  Drizzle each generously with melted white chocolate and sprinkle with nuts.