Flourless Dark Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Chocolate Sauce

So this is a couple days late, but when our friends were over, I'd made this "cake" with peanut butter chocolate sauce. I have to say it's sinfully delicious! You don't have to make the sauce, and it would be great with any kind of sauce - white chocolate, caramel, MORE chocolate. : ) Ice cream is a must. It's a little bit of a wait for it, but worth the time and effort. Make and enjoy!

Flourless Dark Chocolate Cake

1 C butter

8 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate

4 (1 oz) squares bittersweet chocolate

1 1/4 C sugar

6 large eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 325. Line a 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper, allowing edges of paper to extend over sides of pan. There will be folds in the paper - that's okay. spray parchment with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine butter and chocolate. Microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring after each until chocolate is melted and smooth. Add sugar, whisking to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, whisking well after each addition.

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture. Spoon into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour. Let cool for 1 hour. Cake will fall during cooling. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Remove side of springform pan. Gently peel back parchment paper. Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream and Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sauce

3/4 C heavy whipping cream

1/2 C light corn syrup

4 oz semisweet chocolate

1/4 C creamy peanut butter

In medium saucepan, combine cream and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat. reduce heat to medium low and add chocolate and peanut butter, stirring until mixture is smooth. Serve warm.

Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken and Pasta

So, am I the world's WORST blogger or what?! It's been a busy few weeks, but we were able to have some great friends over for dinner the other night. We had this Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken with Penne, and I think it was a hit! It's one of those easy recipes that looks really fancy, but isn't hard to prepare. Love those kind! So, here's the recipe to add to your arsenal!

Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken with Penne

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 C flour

2 T olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 C tomato sauce

1/2 C heavy cream

1 T chopped fresh oregano

20 fresh basil leaves

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan for garnish

16 oz penne pasta, cooked and drained according to package

Preheat oven to 350. Coat the chicken in flour, shaking off any excess. Saute in olive oil until golden brown. Set aside to drain.

Saute garlic in same olive oil. Add the remaining ingredients, except parmesan and penne. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to a boil and then remove from heat.

Place chicken in baking dish and pour sauce over the chicken. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cooked through. My saute pans are oven safe, so I just put the chicken in the sauce, make sure it's submerged, and then put that pan into the oven. Works like a dream!

Oh, serve over the penne. Bon Appetit!

Chicken Crepe "Casserole"

So, if you know my mom, you know that she hates ANYTHING that tastes of wine. She made these crepes one time when I was young and thought they were disgusting. It was hilarious to see her face when she tasted them. I didn't think they were bad, which is funny, considering that I, like my mom, do NOT like the taste of wine. This one is for Meghan, so enjoy, girl!

Chicken Crepe "Casserole"

1/2 C black olives, sliced

5 T butter

5 T flour

1 C heavy cream

1 C chicken broth

3/4 C dry white wine

1 C Swiss cheese, shredded

1/2 tsp Worcestershire

2 T parsley

salt and pepper to taste

2 C cooked chicken, diced

2 avocados, sliced

Crepes:

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 C milk

1/2 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 T butter, melted

To prepare crepes, mix all crepe ingredients in a blender. Heat a crepe pan, or 6" nonstick skillet over medium high and pour about 3 T (half a 1/3 C measuring cup) of the batter into the heated pan, turning pan to coat the bottom evenly. Cook until batter is set, then gently turn the crepe with a fork or spatula to lightly brown the other side. remove from pan and stack crepes as you cook them. Makes 8

To prepare chicken mixture, melt butter in saucepan and mix in the flour. Slowly add cream, broth and wine. Cook until it boils and thickens. Blend in 3/4 C cheese, Worcestershire, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix 1 C of the sauce with olives and chicken.

Preheat oven to 375. Place a small amount of chicken and olive mixture in each crepe; roll up and place in a baking dish. Place avocado slices over the crepes and cover with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Broil for 1 minute to brown.

Chocolate Oatmeal Caramel Bars

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for almost anything that says 'caramel' or 'peanut butter'. Although this one is just the caramel, it blends some of my most favorite baking flavors - chocolate, oats and caramel. I made them tonight for a meeting I have tomorrow afternoon. You have to make sure to continually stir the milk mixture so it doesn't burn, but other than that, it's a piece of cake! The recipe calls for Dutch process cocoa powder, which has a deeper chocolate flavor than regular cocoa powder, but either will work. Yummy and comforting. Happy cooking!

Chocolate Oatmeal Caramel Bars

1 1/4 C old fashioned oats

1 C flour

1/2 C plus 2 T brown sugar, divided

2 T unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder

3/4 C butter, melted

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1/3 C butter

1/2 C chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, mix together oats, flour, 1/2 C brown sugar and cocoa powder. Mix together thoroughly and then mix in 3/4 C melted butter. Stir to combine. Reserve 1 C oat crumb mixture, and press the remaining into an ungreased 8x8 pan. Bake for 15 minutes to set the crust.

In a medium saucepan, combine sweetened condensed milk, butter and reserved 2 T brown sugar. Cook and stir on medium heat until thickened and pale in color, about 10 minutes.

Cool milk mixture slightly until thickened; spread evenly over baked crust. Let stand 5 minutes or until set. Mix chopped pecans into reserved crust mixture and sprinkle over caramel layer. Press lightly into caramel.

Bake 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas

Holy cow! It's been way too long since my last post. Kara asked if I have an enchilada recipe that I use and would share here. Of course! Enchiladas are one of my "go to" recipes, since I usually use canned things and leftover chicken. Oh, and the kids love them!

Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas

2 C cooked, diced chicken

1 C sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of onion, garlic, etc.)

1 can diced green chiles

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese (or whatever you like or have on hand)

1/2 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 can enchilada sauce (15 oz size)

1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese (for the top)

8-10 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix together chicken, sour cream, soup, chiles, black beans, 1 1/2 C cheese, garlic, cumin and onion powder. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. Take 1/2 cup of the enchilada mixture and spread it on the bottom of the greased pan. It will NOT cover the bottom of the pan, which is okay.

Take a tortilla, place 1 T enchilada sauce in the tortilla, followed by about 1/4-1/3 C enchilada mixture. It's not an exact science, so just eyeball it. Roll up your tortilla and place it seam side down in the pan. Continue with all the remaining tortillas to fill the pan. Place any leftover enchilada mixture on the TOP of the assembled enchiladas. Top with remaining enchilada sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, until heated through. Remove foil and top with remaining 1/2 C cheese. Bake until cheese melts. Remove and enjoy!

I also do this a lot in a "lasagna" style, layering torn tortillas, filling and then sauce, repeating and stopping with tortilla then just sauce and cheese. That's my cheater's way. : )

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

Okay, so Mom and Dad came over for lunch today, and I had every intention of making chowder. It's kind of an old stand by. While looking for my chowder recipe, I stumbled on this Wild Rice and Mushroom one. It was so very good! Of course, I made some changes to the original recipe, which I thought made it spectacular! LOL. Enjoy!

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

1 T vegetable oil

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced

6 C beef broth

2/3 C wild rice, rinsed and drained

1 1/2 C milk

1/2 C heavy cream

1/4 C flour

1/2 tsp dried thyme, crushed

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 C fresh mushrooms, sliced thinly

In large soup pot, cook the onion in oil until lightly browned. Remove onion from pot and set aside. Place wild rice and beef broth in the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes, or until rice is soft.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine milk, cream, flour, thyme and pepper. Whisk to combine well. After rice is soft, add milk mixture, sliced mushrooms and onions to the rice mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Makes about 7 cups of soup. YUM!

Yummy, Easy, Tortilla Soup

Am I the only one who knew it was national soup month all month? Boy, did I celebrate! We had all sorts of soups, mostly out of necessity, but they were definitely yummy and hearty. Sarah's favorite one is my tortilla soup, which is super easy. We made it for her birthday dinner this year. Here's the recipe, for all you last minute soup lovers!

Corn and Black Bean Tortilla Soup

1 C Corn and Black Bean Salsa

1-2 tsp garlic powder

1 T minced onion

16 oz can refried beans

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with juice

2 C chicken broth

1 1/2 C cooked, diced chicken, if desired

Crushed tortilla chips

Shredded cheddar cheese

Combine everything except chips and cheese in a large saucepan. Over medium to medium low heat, simmer 10 minutes. Serve with crushed tortilla chips and cheese. It's just THAT easy!

Upside Down Banana Walnut French Toast

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! Wasn't it just Easter?! When I was little, it was always the "old people" like mom and dad who would say how fast time goes, and it looks like I'm "old" now, because time really does slip away from me!

I love dishes that I can make ahead and put in the fridge to bake later. I'm not a breakfast person, unless you count Diet Coke, but when I have people over and need to have something, this is a great recipe! I love how you just layer things and then throw it in the fridge for up to a day. That's my kind of breakfast! Hope you all enjoy it - all 4 of you readers! LOL

Upside Down Banana Walnut French Toast

1 1/2 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C butter, melted

1/4 C corn syrup

1/2 C chopped walnuts

3 medium bananas, sliced

1 loaf (about 1 lb) of sliced, unfrosted, cinnamon bread

6 eggs, 1 1/2 C milk

1 tsp vanilla

Lightly grease a 9/13 pan with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, stir together brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and walnuts until smooth. Gently stir in bananas. Spoon banana mixture into baking dish.

Set the heels aside to eat yourself. Arrange 2 layers of bread on banana mixture, tearing bread to fit if needed.

In medium bowl, beat eggs, milk and vanilla with wire whisk until well mixed. Pour over bread. Cover tightly and refrigerate at least1 hour, but no longer than 24 hours.

Heat oven to 325. Uncover bread mixture and bake 45-55 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve portions upside down, spooning sauce from bottom of dish over each serving.

Browned Butter Cookies with Caramel Frosting

Well, this is one of my FAVORITE cookies of all time. It makes a big batch, but it's no surprise when I eat most of these myself. The secret is that you have to frost them as soon as they cool. The frosting locks in the moisture and they stay chewy and fresh for days! Browned butter is a great trick to add to your bag of tricks. Mmmm...

Browned Butter Cookies with Caramel Frosting

1 C butter - do NOT use any substitutes

2 C brown sugar

1/2 C milk

2 eggs

3 1/2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 400. Melt butter in 2-qt heavy saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until butter is light brown. (Butter will foam and you will have to swirl the pan to see the butter. You'll notices dark solids on the bottom of the pan. That's the GOOD stuff!) Cool at least 10 minutes.

Mix browned butter, brown sugar, milk and eggs in a large bowl with a spoon, Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 9-11 minutes, or until almost no indentation remains when touched in the center. Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. While cookies are cooling, make caramel frosting. Spread frosting on cookies.

Caramel Frosting

1/2 C butter

1 C packed brown sugar

1/4 C milk

2 C powdered sugar

Melt butter in 2-qt heavy saucepan over medium heat. (I use the same one from the browned butter. No sense in dirtying another dish!) Stir in brown sugar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling; remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm, about 30 minutes. Gradually stir in powdered sugar. Frost on the cookies.

"Sharon Hornbeck" Chicken and Spinach Salad

So we're having some new friends from church over for dinner. How funny is it that after you ask what people don't eat, that's all you can think of to serve?! If they'd said, "Well, we don't eat any meat or dairy", all I'd be able to think of is meats drowned in some creamy sauce. I do love to think of fun things to cook that meet dietary restrictions though. So here's what's for dinner tonight...

We're having "Sharon Hornbeck Chicken", which is named for Sharon Hornbeck, bet you couldn't have figured THAT one out, right? We were down visiting them a couple years ago in Arizona, and I mentioned how her chicken recipe was our family's favorite. She said, "That's not my recipe...is it?" So she asked me for the recipe. How funny is that? Well, we all thought it was funny. I told her she could still have all the credit for it, so thanks Sharon!

Also, we're having Wilted Spinach Salad with Candied Pepper Bacon...Mmmmm Boy! This is a definite crowd pleaser! Let me know what you think of these if you ever try them!

"Sharon Hornbeck" Chicken

1 whole fryer chicken, cut into pieces

1 C flour

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 C honey

1/3 C soy sauce

1/3 C chili sauce

1/2 tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 350. Wash and dry chicken pieces and pat dry. Place flour and salt and pepper in a paper bag or mix together on a plate. Dredge chicken in flour mixture to lightly coat.

Place chicken in a foil lined pan with a lip around the edge. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, chili sauce, honey and ginger.

After cooking chicken for 45 minutes, increase heat to 400. Baste chicken with the soy mixture every 5 minutes for 15 more minutes, not forgetting to use the juices in the pan to baste as well.

Remove from the oven and ENJOY!

Wilted Spinach Salad with Candied Pepper Bacon

8 slices thick cut bacon

6T plus 1 tsp brown sugar, divided

1 tsp black pepper

12 oz fresh spinach

1 medium apple, cored and cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 C thinly sliced red onion wedges

3 T cider vinegar

4 tsp dijon mustard

4 hard cooked eggs

Preheat oven to 400. Line rimmed cookie sheet with foil. Lay out bacon slices and top with 2T plus 1 tsp brown sugar then sprinkle with black pepper. Bake 22-25 minutes or until crisp; remove bacon to towel lined plate to cool completely. RESERVE 2T bacon drippings from pan. Cut bacon into bite-sized pieces.

In a large bowl, combine spinach, apple and onion. In a small microwave safe bowl, stir together remaining 4T brown sugar, reserved bacon drippings, vinegar and mustard. Cover and microwave the vinegar mixture on high for 2 minutes, or until bubbly. Pour over spinach mixture. Toss to coat. Top with eggs and bacon pieces.

I like to use strawberries instead of apples sometimes, which is AWESOME! I also use whatever kind of vinegar or mustard I have on hand and it always turns out great!

Happy Cooking!!!

Man, oh man!

So, this is supposed to be a cooking sort of blog, but today was all work and no play. I know I don't have to write something on here every day, but it's sort of cathartic I guess. I'm having some new friends over for dinner on Friday, so there should be some new, fun recipes to post that day. I'm hoping to get the apple bread with pecan praline sauce on here tomorrow, so stay tuned!

There's a First Time for Everything!

Well, so I took the advice of the wonderful Audrey Thomason and decided to start a blog! Holy cow! What was I thinking? Like I really need one more thing to occupy my time, right?

After years of cooking (as we mom's tend to do), and throwing large events and cooking for some pretty big crowds, I have some good recipes and what I think are some good ideas. Here's my venue to share them!

I highly anticipate that I will have no more than 4 followers, so probably will be venting a bit too and sharing some funny things my kids say to me. They are oh so witty!

I guess here goes nothing!