Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad with Artichoke Hearts

by penji1
Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad with Artichoke Hearts

Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad with Artichoke Hearts

Another yummy dinner for day 60 of social distancing/quarantining/sheltering in place, whatever you want to call it!

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1 pound

7 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3/4 pound pasta

1 1/4 cups canned, drained artichoke hearts, rinsed and cut into 6 wedges each

3 scallions including green tops, chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1  Preheat grill.  Coat chicken with 1 tablespoon oil and season with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.  Grill until just done, 4 – 5 minutes per side.  Let chicken rest 5 minutes before slicing.

2  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  Transfer pasta to large bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon oil.

3  Add chicken, artichokes, scallions, 5 tablespoons oil, vinegar, remaining salt and pepper, and Parmesan and toss well.

recipe from Food and Wine

 

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Bars

by penji1
Chewy Chocolate Caramel Bars

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Bars

I made these on Tuesday, later afternoon, and this morning, Thursday, there is one left so I think it’s safe to say that they were a hit.

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Bars

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Bars

I think we all can see how the Johnson family is going to come out of quarantine . . .

1 German chocolate cake mix

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 (5 oz) can (2/3 cup) evaporated milk

1 (14 oz) bag caramels, unwrapped or 1 bag caramel bits

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup chocolate chips

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 9 x 13″ pan.

2  Beat together cake mix, melted butter, and 1/3 cup evaporated milk until smooth.  Spread half the dough in prepared pan.

3  Cook caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk in saucepan over medium low heat until melted and smooth.  Pour over dough layer in pan evenly.  Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate chips.  Crumble remaining dough over top.

4  Bake for 25 minutes.  Cool in pan before cutting.

recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

Toffee Pecan Skillet Brownies

by penji1
Toffee Pecan Skillet Brownies

Toffee Pecan Skillet Brownies

This is what I made myself for Mother’s Day dessert and it was magnificent!  It will definitely go into the regular rotation which is the highest praise I can give it.  The hubs has already requested it for Father’s Day.

Toffee Pecan Skillet Brownies

Toffee Pecan Skillet Brownies

Even just the brownies themselves looked pretty great before all the other deliciousness got added to them.  I’m pretty sure if you try it, you will fall in love with it too.  This just might be the most successful quarantine bake to date.

brownies

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped pecans

topping

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 stick butter

2 tablespoons corn syrup

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped pecans

coarse sea salt

ice cream or whipped cream for serving

1  For the brownies, preheat oven to 325.  Butter a 10″ cast iron skillet.  Combine butter and chocolate in saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring, until melted and smooth, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in both sugars until dissolved.  Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until smooth and glossy, then whisk in vanilla.  Stir in flour and salt until combined, then stir in pecans.  Spread batter in skillet.

2  Bake until brownies are slightly cracked on top and toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean, about 35 – 40 minutes.  Transfer to rack and let cool.

3  For the topping, as soon as the brownies come out of the oven, combine sugar, butter and corn syrup in saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to medium to maintain a steady simmer, and cook, without stirring, until sugar is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes.  Carefully pour in heavy cream and simmer until thickened, about 5 – 8 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in pecans.  Let cool until thickened but still pourable, about 20 minutes.  Pour topping over brownies and let sit 1 hour.  Sprinkle with sea salt before serving.

recipe from Food Network

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Parmesan

by penji1
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Parmesan

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Parmesan

I hated brussel sprouts when I was a kid.  I remember them being mushy and awful.  My daughter brought some home from the store a while ago and we roasted them and now I love them.  These were especially delicious with the addition of the balsamic.  More quarantine cooking, when will it end?  (The quarantine, not the cooking, we all know that will never end.)

1 pound brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1  Preheat oven to 400.  Line a large baking sheet with foil.

2  Toss brusell sprouts with oil, garlic, pepper and salt.  Spread out on  pan.

3  Roast, shaking every 5 minutes, until crispy and fork tender, about 20 minutes. Toss with balsamic and then sprinkle with Parmesan.  Continue roasting for another minute, until cheese is melted.

recipe from All Recipes

Strawberry Blondies

by penji1
Strawberry Blondies

Strawberry Blondies

These were surprisingly delicious!

Strawberry Blondies

Strawberry Blondies

But then they are full of fresh strawberries, butter, brown sugar, and white chocolate so I don’t know why I was surprised.  Another successful quarantine bake.

12 strawberries, stems removed

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Process half of the strawberries in a small food processor until finely chopped.

2  Melt white chocolate chips on medium 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.  Add melted chocolate to strawberries in food processor and process to combine.

3  Pour strawberry mixture, melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and stir to combine.  Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir again to combine.

4  Grease wells of an individual brownie pan or cupcake pan with cooking spray for baking and put one scoop of batter into each well.  Cut remaining strawberries in half and place one half on top of each batter filled well.

5  Bake for 18 – 22 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.  Let cool 5 minutes in pan before removing.

recipe from Pampered Chef

Hearty Beef Ragu

by penji1
Hearty Beef Ragu

Hearty Beef Ragu

This was definitely a hearty meal and tasty too.  Lots of leftovers which always taste better the next day.  Another good quarantine meal.

4 cups pasta

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 (14.5 oz each) cans Italian diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (24 oz) jar spaghetti sauce

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Parmesan cheese for topping

1  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until beef is browned through, about 6 – 8 minutes, breaking up beef into crumbles.  Drain.

2  Stir in tomatoes, sauce, garlic powder, and pepper.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 5 -10 minutes,  Stir pasta into sauce.  Serve topped with Parmesan.

recipe from Taste of Home

Disney Parks Churro Bites

by penji1
Disney Parks Churro Bites

Disney Parks Churro Bites

UPDATE (to post below)

I got a bigger tip and the churro bites came out much better!  I ordered this one from Amazon and it was perfect for churros, as you can see when looking at the two pictures.  They turned out almost just like the churros you get at Disneyland and not like churro fries!

Disney Parks Churro Bites

Disney Parks Churro Bites

I decided to give another Disney recipe a go, this time churros.  They tasted good but the biggest tip that I had (a Wilton 1M) to pipe them with just wasn’t big enough so they ended up being small and crunchy, without that yummy tender churro inside.  I ordered a bigger tip on Amazon so I’ll probably give them another try when that arrives.  Still it was a mostly successful quarantine bake!

1 cup water

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, divided

1 1/4 cups flour

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil or Crisco shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1  Combine water, butter, salt and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in saucepan over medium heat.  Bring pot to roiling boil.  Reduce heat to low.

2  Add flour and stir vigorously until mixture forms a ball.  Remove from heat and let rest 5 – 7 minutes.

3  Add eggs, one at a time, and stir until combined.

4  Heat oil in medium skillet or saucepan over medium high heat until temperature reaches 350.

5  Spoon dough into piping bag fitted with large star tip.  Pipe 1″ strip of dough over saucepan, cut with knife, and drop into hot oil.  Repeat until churro bites fill saucepan with room to fry.

6  Fry until golden brown.  Remove with slotted spoon or mesh spider strainer.  Drain on paper towel.

7  Mix sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in medium bowl.  Toss churro bites until coated.

recipe from Disney Parks Blog

Skillet Taco Pie

by penji1
Skillet Taco Pie

Skillet Taco Pie

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo last night with this for dinner.  It was yummy, like a taco in a bowl.  Another quarantine 30 minute, one pot dinner for the books.  Day 52 people, not that I’m keeping track or anything.

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey

1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/2 cup salsa

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

couple handfuls of broken up tortilla chips

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

shredded lettuce

chopped tomatoes

1  Cook ground beef in large skillet until browned.  Stir in chilies, beans, tomato sauce, salsa, chili powder and cumin.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium.  Simmer, covered, until thickened, about 5 minutes.

2  Top mixture with tortilla chips, onions, cheese, lettuce and tomato.  (I let everyone build their own instead of layering it all in the pan.)

recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

Mickey Mouse Shaped Classic Sourdough Waffles (and Sourdough Pancakes)

by penji1
Mickey Mouse Shaped Classic Sourdough Waffles (or Pancakes)
Mickey Mouse Shaped Classic Sourdough Waffles (or Pancakes)

My kids gave me my Mother’s Day gift early and it was a Mickey Mouse waffle maker!  If you follow my blog, then you know that I am seriously into waffles. As of today, I have 7 waffle makers – a Mickey Mouse, a Death Star, an old four square one that we got when we were first married 35 years ago and it still works , a round Belgian, a square Belgian,  a small one that make waffle bowls, and a Bubble Waffle maker.  Wasn’t that fascinating?  Anyone still reading?  If so, I’m branching out in my sourdough skills during this lovely time of sheltering in place and so decided to try sourdough waffles and this weekend we will try sourdough pancakes with this same recipe which was yum-o!

Overnight Sponge

1 cup sourdough starter, unfed/discard

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 cups buttermilk

batter

2 eggs

1/4 cup melted butter or oil

all of the overnight sponge

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1  For the overnight sponge, stir down starter and remove one cup (before feeding).  In a large mixing bowl, stir together starter, flour, sugar, and buttermilk.  Cover and let rest at cool room temperature (65 – 70 degrees) for about 12 hours or overnight.

2  In a small mixing bowl, beat together eggs,  and butter or oil.  Add the overnight sponge, salt and baking soda and stir to combine.  Make waffles or pancakes as you usually do!

UPDATE!

Sourdough Pancakes
Sourdough Pancakes

We tried sourdough waffles last weekend and this weekend we tried sourdough pancakes.

Sourdough Pancakes
Sourdough Pancakes

See how fluffy they are?  My husband said they were the best pancakes he’s ever had and he is a pancake connoisseur, and yes, I had to look up how to spell connoisseur.

recipe from King Arthur Flour 

May the Fourth Chewbacca Oreos

by penji1

May the Fourth Chewbacca Oreos

May the Fourth Chewbacca Oreos

Happy Star Wars Day!

May the Fourth Chewbacca Oreos

May the Fourth Chewbacca Oreos

May the Fourth be with you!

May the Fourth Chewbacca Oreos

May the Fourth Chewbacca Oreos

It’s the little things in life, especially when you’re in quarantine going on day 50, yes 50 days of sheltering in place.  I might be a tad stir crazy.

1 bag chocolate candy melts

Oreos

candy eyes

chocolate jimmies

1 bag black candy melts

small sugar pearls

1  Melt candy melts according to package directions.  Dip an Oreo in the melted chocolate with a spoon and shake gently to remove excess chocolate.  Carefully place dipped Oreo on wax paper lined cookie sheet.

2  Place two candy eyes on the dipped Oreo then shake chocolate jimmies over whole cookie to cover top.  Repeat with desired number of Oreos.  Place in fridge until chocolate is set.

3  Melt a small amount, maybe 1/2 – 1 cup, of the black candy melts according to package directions.  Pour melted black candy melts into a sandwich baggie and snip off a corner.  Squeeze a line out for Chewbacca’s utility belt and place sugar pearls on top of the belt line.  Place in fridge until chocolate is set.

idea from The Awesome Muse