This recipe should just be named....

FABULOUS!

My friend Danielle of Make No Little Meals emailed me this recipe a couple weeks ago saying I HAD to try it. Right she was! If you are into the sweet/salty combo this is the recipe for you! I will make these again....and again....and again!

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars

(from Food and Wine)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2. 1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

One 12-ounce bag bittersweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups mini pretzels, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper, allowing overhang on the 2 long ends.

2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium speed until light, 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chips and pretzels.

3. Spread the batter in the pan and top with the sprinkles. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden; the center will still be a little gooey. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool completely.

4. Run the tip of a knife around the side of the pan and lift the bar out using the parchment paper. Cut into 24 squares and serve.

Our summer '09 potato side dish staple

This year I made my grilled potatoes time and time again as a side dish to meals. I've even served these to company! So I finally decided to write down the recipe and document it for the blog!!!

The olive oil mixture is - in essence - what my mixture is for my breakfast homefries. But that's another recipe I need to write down one of these days.

I actually got the idea for these potatoes after my aunt cooked some on the grill with some olive oil on them. I decided to take things one step further and, as Emeril would say, "kick things up a notch." They are so delicious and easy. Microwaving the potatoes in advance cuts down on the cook time on the grill so things don't overcook. But in my opinion, you want to get a little grilled crust on these - it's amazing what a great taste grilling can give any sort of food!

I've made this recipe with white potatoes and red potatoes. There are merits to either type so I suggest them both equally if you are going to give these a try!

Robin’s Grilled Potatoes

4 medium sized potatoes (I’ve done this with both white & red potatoes, comes out great with either type)

3 – 4 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ - 2 tablespoons yellow mustard

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Dash of salt

¼ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Scrub potatoes clean, leaving skin on. Pierce each potato several times with a fork and place in microwave for 5-8 minutes or until potatoes are nearly fully cooked (time in microwave will depend on the size & type of potato you use). Let potatoes cool down a bit.

In the meantime, combine the remainder of ingredients in a small bowl.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut each potato lengthwise down the middle. Coat each potato generously in olive oil mixture, saving any remaining mixture. Let potatoes “marinate” with mixture on for 10-15 minutes.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Place potatoes on grill, cut side down on grates for 3-4 minutes, then flip over (to skin side). While skin side is cooking, baste cut side of the potatoes with any remaining olive oil mixture. After 3-4 minutes, flip potatoes back over to cut side down on grill grates, baste skin side again if there is any remaining olive oil mixture. Close grill cover and cook for another 2-4 minutes until cut side of the potato is nice and crusty.

Grilling season may be winding down...

...but we're still "getting our grill on."

I watched Giada make this recipe on her show the week before last. It just sounded TOO good not to try, and also perfect timing. I'd just taken chicken breasts out of the freezer that morning to make in a couple of nights for dinner.

We loved this BBQ sauce. I wish I had made extra so I could bottle it or something! It was delicious and I can't wait to try it on steak!

Chicken or Steak with Balsamic BBQ Sauce

(from FoodNetwork.com)

For the Balsamic BBQ sauce:

1 cup balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the chicken or steak:

4 pieces chicken (any combination of breast or leg-and-thigh pieces) or 4 pieces of New York strip or Club strip steak

Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the BBQ sauce:

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/3, about 15 to 20 minutes.

For the chicken or steak:

Place a grill pan over medium heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Lightly coat with some of the BBQ sauce using a pastry brush. Place the meat on the grill. Place the remaining BBQ sauce, still in the small saucepan, over low heat or on the edge of a gas or charcoal grill and allow to gently simmer while the meat cooks.

Cook the chicken about 8 minutes per side. Cook the steaks starting at about 4 minutes per side until a meat thermometer reads the desired temperature, 120 degrees F for medium rare, 135 degrees F for medium (about 6 minutes per side), 155 degrees F for well done (about 9 minutes per side). Continually brush the meat with BBQ sauce every few minutes. Remove the meat from the grill and let rest for at least 5 minutes. Serve with the heated BBQ sauce alongside.

Alternately, the chicken can be baked in the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the chicken skin side up in a baking dish and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven and spoon the BBQ sauce all over the top of the chicken. Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

Kabob time!

This past Labor Day weekend we had some very good friends over for an afternoon/evening of fun. It was just a small crowd of us (5 people) and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and definitely do something on the grill. It may be September but we grill here well into October as long s the weather cooperates!

I'd mentioned to my husband a couple weeks earlier how we hadn't done any kind of kabobs on the grill this season at all. When we made plans with our friends to come over this past weekend I looked at it as the perfect opportunity to have grilled kabobs. Any bigger of a crowd I'd question the amount of skewering time (I'd rather be socializing with our friends) but for that many people I could handle it!

I decided to do beef and chicken, alternating with green peppers, yellow summer squash, tomatoes, and onions. They were a thing of beauty and I will eventually have some really fantastic pictures of them for you as our good friend Matt has gotten into photography the past few months and was kind enough to take some before and after pictures for me.

I used two different marinades - a light one for the chicken, tomatoes, and squash and a little bolder flavored one for the beef, onions and peppers. It was a nice mix when all of the food was together. So here are the respective marinades I used, both courtesy of MyRecipes.com.


Chicken Vegetable Kabobs
(from MyRecipes.com)

4 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
8 (8-inch) wooden or metal skewers


Cut chicken into 2- x 1-inch strips.

Whisk together 1/4 cup white wine, orange juice, olive oil, and next 4 ingredients, reserving 1/4 cup for basting. Pour remaining marinade into a shallow dish or large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; add chicken strips. Cover or seal, and chill 2 hours, turning chicken occasionally.

Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes to prevent burning.

Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade.

Thread chicken and vegetables onto 8 (8-inch) skewers.

Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 15 to 20 minutes or until done, turning occasionally and basting with reserved marinade.


Marinated Beef Kabobs with Vegetables
(from MyRecipes.com)

1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (3 1/2-pound) eye of round roast, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
12 small whole onions
1 pound large whole mushrooms
2 green bell peppers, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces


Stir together first 10 ingredients; reserve 1/2 cup marinade, and chill. Pour remaining marinade into a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Add meat cubes; seal and chill 8 hours. Drain, discarding marinade.

Thread meat and vegetables onto 12-inch skewers.

Grill, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat 16 minutes, basting with reserved marinade and turning often

Way behind, once again

Well I'm just going to stop apologizing and just admit that yes, I made this recipe well over a month ago and am only blogging about it now....

This was a recipe shared by one of the lovely ladies on my Nest board. The ingredients sounded unique and I wasn't sold on it until one of the other ladies tried the recipe and LOVED it. Between a rave review and my curiousity I just had to try this.

And let me just say, I am SO glad I did! This is one fabulous marinade. My pork chops came out so juicy and tender and flavorful! Anyone who did not know the contents of the marinade would never guess coffee and molasses were two of the key ingredients! I highly recommend this one!

Molasses-Coffee Marinated Pork Chops

1 Cup cooled strong coffee
6 Ounces molasses
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Cloves minced garlic
1 Teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger
6 sprigs - 8 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 Teaspoon black pepper
4 (1" thick each) bone in pork chop


Place all of the ingredients into a 1 gallon zip top bag, seal, and shake to combine. Place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Remove the pork chops from the marinade. Transfer the marinade to a small saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high, and boil gently, stirring often, until reduced to about 1/2 cup liquid, 12-15 minutes. Remove the thyme stems after the glaze has reduced.

Meanwhile, grill pork chops 3-4 minutes per side or until they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Allow the pork chops to rest 4-5 minutes before serving with the glaze.

Warning: Crazy lady baking in 90+ degree weather

Yeah. That would be me.

I don't know what came over me the other day. We have had quite an odd summer in New England, a lot of rain, and the typical hot humid summer days only really began coming with frequency the past two weeks or so.

So the hot weather is finally here, we are struggling to keep our 1st floor of the house cool with one window a/c unit and what do I decide I would like to do? You got it: bake a batch of cookies!

In my defense, I only baked half a batch so it was 1 pan and done. Also I threw these right in when I started to preheat and adjusted the cooking time slightly to make up for it (it really was not a huge adjustment either). The urge could not be controlled and I'm glad it couldn't because these suckers came out GREAT!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chips Cookies
(from Hersheyskitchens.com)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Cinnamon Chips
3/4 cup raisins


Heat oven to 350°F.

Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips and raisins (batter will be stiff). Drop by heaping teaspoons unto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes on until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. About 4 dozen.

BAR VARIATION: Spread batter into lightly greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350°F. for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool; cut into bars. About 3 dozen bars.

Bacon? Did you say bacon?

I just mentioned in my previous post that last week we had my sister-in-law and her boyfriend over for dinner. Her boyfriend LOVES bacon, and, for the record - so does my husband. He says I don't make enough bacon. I, on the other hand, can take or leave bacon so he's probably right that I don't make it enough!

When I decided on a BBQ themed dinner, I thought cornbread was in order but then I thought about how to incorporate bacon into the meal as well. The beans in my previous post took care of that to an extent, but I figured I'd search for a bacon cornbread recipe just to mix things up. Lo and behold I found this incredibly quick & easy recipe which was a hit. Between the 4 of us all but 1 piece was eaten by the end of the night!

Cheese & Bacon Cornbread
(from about.com)

:
1 package corn muffin mix (i.e., Jiffy)
1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
6 slices crisply cooked and crumbled bacon
1 egg
Milk, as label directs

Empty corn muffin mix into a medium mixing bowl. Save about 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese and bacon for topping; stir remaining cheese and bacon into muffin mix. Mis in egg and milk, following label directions.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking dish. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes; sprinkle reserved cheese and bacon over top and bake 10 minutes longer, or until cornbread browned and firm.

Yes. I'm a slacker.

At least I admit it!!!



Summer 2009 has been a fairly busy one, not as busy as last summer when I was a bridesmaid in 2 weddings, a matron of honor in another - that meant 3 bridal showers, 2 bachelorette parties, 3 rehearsal nights. Oh and did I mention there were 3 baby showers last summer too?



This summer has been decidedly more quiet as far as "big events" like those go, but we've been consistently busy on the weekends. I've been sticking to a lot of tried and true recipes and other meals I just know how to make, but I have been trying new things here and there. The frequency of new recipes though, has definitely decreased as we've been on a tighter budget. I love to cook and bake, but it can get pricey. But make no mistake about it - I still love to cook and bake, I'm just trying to do it more frugally than before!

Anyway that's enough of my ramblings - now onto the recipe! Last week we had my sister-in-law and her boyfriend over for dinner. I made a BBQ themed dinner - pulled pork, corn on the cob, cornbread, and baked beans.

The baked bean recipe below is a great "shortcut" recipe. It uses canned beans rather than dried ones which cuts down on a lot of prep time, and for the most part includes a lot of "run of the mill" ingredients you probably have in your house already. I left out the chipotle in this recipe and I know that probably takes out the "blazin'" part of this recipe. But it was a great recipe nonetheless!



Blazin' Baked Beans
(from MyRecipes.com)

1/4 pound finely diced bacon slices (raw)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
5 (16-ounce) cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 (18-ounce) jar low-sodium barbecue sauce
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan, and set bacon aside. Add onion to drippings in pan; sauté 3 minutes.
Combine bacon, onion, and remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon the bean mixture into a 13 x 9-inch or 2 1/2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Hamming it up!!

I'm beginning to realize I'm pretty behind on blogging about recipes these days.

This is one I made, well, over a month ago! I had bought a small ham at the market at a great price. Ham's not something I really think to cook unless it's a holiday or special occasion but this little guy was good for a nice meal for my husband & I and enough for some yummy leftovers. We love leftovers here at this house!

Anyway I'm leaving this recipe in tact with the original measurements. Obviously I scaled it down since my ham was not that large. This was a fantastic recipe - so flavorful, easy to make, and the ham was so moist when it came out of the oven. It's a definite keeper!

Fresh Baked Ham with Whisky and Cola Glaze
(from FoodNetwork.com)

1 (8-pound) fresh ham (shank and leg of pork)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon Essence, recipe follows
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Whole cloves
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup whisky
4 cups cola drink
Wild Pecan Rice, Bacon, and Tasso Dressing, recipe follows


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

With a sharp knife, puncture and score the skin of the ham, making parallel 1/2-inch-deep incisions. Turn the ham and score again to make a grid-like pattern.

In a small bowl combine the salt, Essence, pepper, and cayenne. Rub evenly all over the ham. Place the ham, fatty side up, in a large roasting pan. Place 1 clove where the lines intersect on the ham. Rub the sugar evenly over the ham, pressing to pack. Pour 2 cups of cola into the bottom of the roasting pan and bake for 1 hour. In a container, combine the whisky and the remaining 2 cups of cola.

Baste the ham with the whiskey and cola and continue to bake, basting every 15 minutes with the whisky and coke mixture and pan juices, until the ham is cooked through, the skin is crisp and dark, and a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Remove from the oven and let rest at least 20 minutes before carving. To serve, slice the meat thinly across the grain and arrange on a platter.


Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

* 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
* 2 tablespoons salt
* 2 tablespoons garlic powder
* 1 tablespoon black pepper
* 1 tablespoon onion powder
* 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
* 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
* 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Steak - it's what was for dinner

I don't buy a lot of steak here, typically because it's pricier and also because red meat isn't the healthiest thing out there. But every now and again when it's on sale I'll buy us some nice hearty steaks.

Given that it's the summer time I of course wanted to grill these and am always looking for a new marinade recipe to try. This is an Applebee's copycat recipe that I do have to say came out great. The only thing I would change next time is to marinate it a bit longer. I had it marinating about 5 hours and I think I'd prefer to do it at least 8 hours or even overnight just so the steaks soaked up more of that delicious flavor.

Applebee’s Bourbon Street Steak

1/2 Cup steak sauce
1/4 Cup bourbon whiskey
1 Tablespoon honey
2 Teaspoon mustard
4 (10 oz. each) steak

Combine all the ingredients except the steaks in a baking dish or resealable plastic storage bag; mix well. Add the steaks; cover (or seal) and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the grill to medium−high heat. Grill the steaks for 12-15 minutes, or until desired doneness, turning them over halfway through the grilling.