"Gourmet's" Fried Mozzarella Balls

***Okay, so maybe these aren't the healthiest things in the world...I mean, it is fried cheese after all. However, every once in a while you just need to indulge! Haha. These are definitely worth it!! This recipe came from the same issue of Gourmet magazine as the lasagne below. The only thing that I did differently was use fresh mozzarella that came seasoned with italian herbs. It turned out even better with the herbs mixed in. Just look at that cheesy goodness in the photo!***

Fried Mozzarella Balls
Makes about 3 dozen
Active time: 25 min
Start to finish: 45 min

Gourmet Magazine

January 2009

From Gourmet:
"These bite-size mozzarella balls have a crisp outer shell and a perfectly gooey center. For an even creamier texture, make your own fresh mozzarella. View more of our favorite recipes from this issue."

Ingredients:

About 5 cups vegetable oil
1 lb drained marinated bocconcini (small mozzarella balls), patted dry
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup plain fine dry bread crumbs

Equipment:
A deep-fat thermometer

Accompaniment:
warm homemade or bottled spicy tomato sauce

Directions:
Heat about 1 1/2 inches oil to 360°F in a 3 1/2- to 4-qt heavy saucepan.

Meanwhile, double-coat bocconcini by dipping in eggs, then in bread crumbs, and repeating. Transfer to a sheet of wax paper.

Working in batches of 10, lower balls into oil with a slotted spoon and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 30 seconds per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt. (Return oil to 360°F between batches.)

Yummy Blueberry Muffins

***Brad and I had a craving for something yummy last Sunday morning. I had some fresh blueberries hanging out in the fridge, so these blueberry muffins sounded perfect. If you don't have any fresh blueberries on-hand, frozen blueberries work just fine. The lemon zest in these muffins were the secret ingredient...they add the perfect little zing to each bite. And just look at that blueberry goodness! ;)

I used a trick that I learned from Giada De Laurentiis when making these muffins:

- Place blueberries in a fine mesh strainer over your mixer bowl. Add flour to blueberries and shake until all flour makes it into the mixer bowl below. A thin layer of flour should remain on all blueberries (see photo below). This will prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins during the baking process! This will also result in nice, sifted flour in the mixing bowl...you can then proceed with the recipe, adding the sugar, baking powder and salt to the flour.

One more thing...I sprinkled a little sugar over each muffin before baking. This just makes them extra yummy.

Enjoy!***

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour (180 g)

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg beaten

3/4 cup milk (180 ml)

1/4 cup cooking oil

3/4 cup blueberries (120 g)

1 tsp lemon peel (5 ml) (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. (See note above regarding the flour trick!)

In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture, all at once, to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Yes, the batter should be lumpy. (If you try to stir all the lumps out, your muffins will be very tough.)

Carefully fold in blueberries and optional lemon peel.

Grease muffin cups, or line with paper bake cups; fill each 2/3 full. Bake at 400°F for 19 - 21 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from pans; serve warm with butter.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

Traditional Pot Roast

***This is one of my favorite comfort foods! Not only does it make the house smell down-right delicious, but it tastes amazing too! The best way to prepare this is with a slow cooker...it makes the meat so tender that it just falls apart and melts in your mouth.

This is how my Mom always prepared this classic dish, so it's still the recipe that I use (with a few additions). This doesn't come from any cookbook...just from memory. Sometimes, those recipes are the best! ;)

Feel free to play around with the ingredients. You can add garlic, or even substitute some of the beef stock with red wine!


Oh, and this is also great the next day...once all the flavors have really come together. If you like pot roast, you may also like this ITALIAN POT ROAST that I posted a few months ago. It's also fantastic!***



Ingredients:
One 3-4 lb. boneless chuck roast
1 cup water
Beef Stock
2-3 Tbsp. Amazing Taste Beef Seasoning (or your favorite seasoning will do!)
1 Onion, diced
1 package baby carrots
8 - 10 small, new potatoes or 2 large russet potatoes, cut into wedges
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) Cream of Mushroom soup
Garlic Salt, to taste



Directions:
Place roast in slow cooker and add water. Layer the chopped onion, potatoes, baby carrots and Cream of Mushroom soup around roast. Sprinkle Amazing Taste seasoning over all ingredients. Add enough beef stock to cover all ingredients, and stir to combine...making sure that the roast remains on the bottom. Season with garlic salt.



Cook on high for approximately 5 - 7 hours, or until meat is very tender...stirring occasionally. Serve hot!

Taco Soup

***Alrighty, here's the Taco Soup recipe that I mentioned in my Halloween post below. We had so much fun making this at our little Halloween party. It was SUPER easy to make, and you know that I love any recipe that I can use my Dutch Oven on. ;)

I found this recipe on Monica's food blog, Buon Appetito! ...be sure to hop over and check her site out also!

I'll definitely be making this again in the upcoming chilly months. It will be perfect on a cold winter night...plus, it couldn't be easier to throw together. The only change that I made to the original recipe was the addition of water...you'll see my notes below.

Enjoy!***

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef (I use round)
1 onion, chopped
1 can chili beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn, drained
1 can rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix

2 to 4 cups water (add water until your desired consistency is reached)

Directions:

Heat dutch oven to medium heat. Add about 1 tbsp. olive oil to pot, and saute the onion until softened (about 3 - 5 minutes). Add the ground beef and brown.

Drain the beef on paper towels to remove the excess oil. Add beef/onion mixture back to dutch oven.

Add all other ingredients and cook on Med to Med-Hi for about 30 minutes, covered.

Serve with Fritos, shredded cheese, and sour cream if desired.

Chocolatey Hazelnut Brownies ....Mmmmm.....

***The other night, I had a major craving for a brownie (or 2!)...nothing too fancy, just a chocolatey, nutty, delicious brownie. I hit the jackpot with this recipe. It calls for walnuts, but I used hazelnuts instead. I also sprinkled chocolate chips over the top of the batter before baking. The result: Chocolate Heaven! Consider this a warning though - they are seriously addicting. Do not make these if you're on a diet, LOL.

I did double the recipe and then cooked them in a square baking dish instead of a loaf pan. Also, instead of regular shortening, I used margarine. After doubling the recipe, I started with 1 stick margarine, but the batter seemed to be too thick. I added another 1/2 stick melted butter and that brought the batter to the perfect consistency.

I found this recipe in a great cookbook that Brad recently surprised me with. It's "The Taste of Home Cookbook." I highly recommend it! The recipes are all easy to make (there's over 1,200 recipes!), and most of them call for ingredients that you probably already have on hand. Plus, when you buy the cookbook, you get a FREE subscription to Taste of Home magazine...can't beat that!***

Ingredients:
1/4 cup shortening (I used 1 1/2 sticks margarine, instead)
3 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I used hazelnuts)

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, cream shortening and cocoa; beat in egg, sugar and vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in walnuts.

Pour into a greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Yield: 8 brownies.

Editor's Note: This recipe may be doubled and baked in an 8-in. square pan for 20-25 minutes.

Source: "The Taste of Home Cookbook"

Also: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Walnut-Brownies

GrannyRene's Chicken & Dumplings / Steamed Cabbage

***My sweet grandmother, GrannyRene, recently came to stay with us, and we had so much fun! We got into the kitchen and cooked up a storm...Chicken & Dumplings, Steamed Cabbage, Collard Greens w/Ham...just to name a few of her specialties. Growing up, she made Chicken & Dumplings often. It has always been a favorite of mine...just the smell of it cooking brings back so many wonderful memories. I've made her Chicken & Dumplings before, but I really wanted GrannyRene to teach me how first-hand. She has several tricks that make them really special! She even wrote down all the recipes for me. I've included a scan of those too. In my opinion, you can't beat a hand-written recipe lovingly written by the cook!

There are so many ways that you can make Chicken & Dumplings (with herbs, onions, etc.), however, GrannyRene's simple recipe is packed with flavor and will always be my favorite! The flavor in this dish will surprise you, considering the short ingredient list. It's perfect on a cool fall evening, and it is the ultimate comfort food!***

Chicken & Dumplings

- GrannyRene's Original Recipe

Ingredients:

1 (2 lb.) whole, boiler chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup (you can also use cream of chicken soup instead)

2 Qts. water

1/2 cup flour

1 (12 oz) package of frozen dumplings

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut chicken up into desired pieces. Wash and remove excess fat and skin.

Put chicken in a heavy pot and cook in 2 quarts of water until fully cooked and tender. Remove from broth and let cool. Remove meat from bone, tearing into bite-sized pieces.

Add cream of mushroom soup to chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Let broth come to a boil.

Take the dumplings and break into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle dumplings with all-purpose flour until they are covered well (see above photo). Add dumplings to the chicken broth. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook until dumplings are done (The flour on the dumplings will help to thicken the broth). Add the bite-sized chicken pieces to make your meal complete!

Steamed Cabbage

- GrannyRene's Recipe

Ingredients:

1 medium cabbage

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup water

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

To prepare cabbage for cooking, remove first 2-3 outer leaves of cabbage. Cut into four quarters. Remove the center stem of each quarter (see photo below). Wash and drain on paper towels.

Take outer half of each quarter of cabbage and cut into small strips (see photo below).

Place 1 cup water in a large pot and heat over medium-high heat. Put cabbage strips in pot; add olive oil and cook about 20 minutes.

Cut up the remaining cabbage and add to the pot (see below). Cook about 10 minutes longer. By cooking some of the cabbage longer than the rest, you will end up with a nice mixture of soft and crunchy cabbage.

The Best Carrot Cake You've Ever Had!

***I guess that you could say this is the cake that started it all!! I made this cake for Brad's birthday...the very first year we were together. It was such a hit, that I've made it countless times for many birthdays over the last few years. My cake baking skills have definitely gotten much better...especially the last few times I've made cakes. This is because of a few new purchases: 1) An icing spatula and 2) A piping bag w/assorted decorating tips. Who would have thought such simple things would make such a big difference!

I had a ton of fun making this cake. I was especially proud of the carrot ribbons on top. I originally posted this recipe HERE, but I wanted to re-post so that I could add a few tips/tricks to the recipe (and show off this pretty creation!).***

Ingredients:

2 c. sugar
2 c. plain flour

1 1/2 c. cooking oil

4 eggs

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 c. grated carrots

1/2 c. or more chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix sugar, eggs and oil. Beat well. Sift flour and dry ingredients; slowly add to other mixture. Add carrots and nuts.

Divide and pour batter into 3 greased and floured cake pans.

***Tip: I also add parchment paper rounds to the bottom of my cake pans...this keeps the cake from sticking and the results are perfect cake layers every time! First, I grease the pans with Crisco shortening. Then, I add the parchment rounds. I then grease the top of the parchment rounds and then flour the entire pan surface. Here's a video that shows you how.***

Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Place cake pans on a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and continue to cool on rack. Cake layers should be completely cool before attempting to assemble the cake. If not, the cakes will melt the cream cheese icing!

Use Cream Cheese Icing between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1/2 stick margarine

1 box confectioners sugar (10x)

2 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until creamy and smooth (I use the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid Stand Mixer). Add vanilla. Slowly add small portions of the confectioners sugar and mix until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Peach & Blueberry Cobbler

***This cobbler is one of the best I've ever had...thanks to a secret ingredient that I discovered while making the Danish Pastry Braid. Okay, okay...I'll tell you what it is...cardamom. Now, it isn't the cheapest thing on the spice aisle (although it still isn't THAT expensive, don't worry!), but it's worth every penny in my opinion. You've got to give it a try if you've never used it before. It does have somewhat of a strong flavor, so use it sparingly the first time around. It goes perfectly in baked, fruit desserts...among many other things.

Last week, I happened to have some fresh Clanton peaches and a pint of beautiful blueberries. I got to thinking that a peach and blueberry cobbler would be perfect. I found THIS recipe over at Not Quite June Cleaver...absolutely delish!***

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, halved
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cardamom
1 cup milk
4 ripe peaches, sliced
1 pint blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt a half stick of butter in a 9-inch square baking dish. Melt the other half and mix with self-rising flour, sugar, vanilla, cardamom, and milk.

Mix all ingredients but the fruit and the butter you melted in the dish with a whisk until smooth. Pour into dish. Add fruit.

Sprinkle the top with a sugar/cinnamon mix before baking to make it a little crispy on top.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until golden on top.

Source: Not Quite June Cleaver

Chicken with Cranberry Sauce

***Wow...this was good! I recently got the Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook by Martha Stewart Living magazine. I have to say that I really love this cookbook. When it comes to cookbooks, I am a photo kind of girl. I like a lot of pretty, color photographs to go along with the recipes. This book doesn't disappoint. There's a beautiful photo for every single recipe...and there's 250 recipes! They are arranged in the book by season, which is really nice. And to top it all off, all the recipes are pretty simple and most of them can be prepared in about 30 minutes. It has quickly become one of my favorite cookbooks.

This recipe caught my eye. It seemed like an interesting combination...chicken and cranberries. I couldn't find fresh cranberries, so I had to use dried cranberries from a bag. However, they worked good too! This dish was a little sweet and savory all in one. It went especially well with the mashed sweet potatoes posted below...like I said in that post, it almost felt like Thanksgiving!***

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 bone-in chicken breasts (8 ounces each)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup cranberries (I had to use dried cranberries...they were just as yummy!)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch (mixed with 1 tablespoon water)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Rub evenly under chicken skin. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; roast skin side up until skin is golden brown and meat is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt remaining tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add sage and remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme; cook 1 minute. Add broth; simmer until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 10 to 15 minutes. Strain mixture; return to saucepan.

Add cranberries and sugar; boil until berries burst, 5 to 8 minutes. Whisk in cornstarch mixture; return to a boil. Cook until slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat (sauce will thicken as it stands). Season with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon sauce over chicken.

Source: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook by Martha Stewart Living magazine

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

***I must have been in a holiday sort of mood the other night, because I made sweet potato puree and chicken with a cranberry sauce....it almost felt like Thanksgiving...hah. Anyway, this is one of my favorite ways to prepare sweet potatoes. I found THIS recipe over at 101 Cookbooks, and used it as inspiration...I did change it up a little bit.

And did you know that the sweet potato ranks #1 in nutrition?? I found the following info @ http://www.foodreference.com/:

"The reasons the sweet potato took first place? Dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. The sweet potato received a score of 184; the vegetable ranked in second place was more than 100 points behind with a score of 83. The numbers for the nutritional sweet potato speak for themselves: almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits with only about 130 to 160 calories!"

How cool is that??***

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes, cleaned and left damp

1/2 - 3/4 cup milk or heavy cream

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

Salt & Pepper

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup light brown sugar (add more or less to your liking)

1 Tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Pierce each potato 2 - 3 times with a fork. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until tender to a fork tip, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool until warm enough to handle, 10 to 15 minutes. Peel and discard the skin. Place the peeled potatoes into a medium sized bowl and mash with a potato masher.

Meanwhile, pour the milk (or cream) into a 2-quart pot, add the vanilla and brown sugar; stir and heat over medium heat just until hot. Remove from heat. Slowly pour the mixture over the potatoes (in small increments), stir, and add the butter and cinnamon. Keep adding the milk mixture until you achieve the desired consistency.

Stir well. Enjoy!

Beautiful Danish Pastry Braid!

This is my 5th Daring Bakers Challenge, and I have to say that this was my favorite! I've always wanted to try baking a pastry, so when I found out what this month's challenge was, I was pretty excited! After completing this challange, I've added a few new words to my baking vocabulary such as "butter-laminated dough", "Beurrage", and "Detrempe."

FYI:

Laminated Dough - layered dough created by sandwiching butter between layers of dough

Beurrage – butter block (this is the butter that is sandwiched in the dough)

Detrempe – ball of dough

Interesting, huh?

I only wish that the process of making these braids and pastries were faster...it ended up being a 2-day process. I can't complain though, because that only makes you savor the final product more! This was my first attempt at laminated dough. I found completing the "turns" and folds to be fun. My butter block stayed in place, which made the process pretty easy. It just takes a lot of patience.

The cardamom and orange zest added such a wonderful, authentic flavor to these danishes. The original recipe called for an apple filling, but we were allowed to choose our filling as long as it was homemade. I chose to make a mixed berry filling for the Danish Braid, and I drizzled a hazelnut-coffee glaze over the top. Both of these ideas came from this very helpful video:

Instructional Video - Just click on "Danish Pastry Braid" after following the link.

Another great idea would be to make a savory filling instead of sweet, such as cheese, spinach, etc.

Our gracious hosts this month were Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What's Cookin'?.

You can find the entire recipe HERE

I think I'm going to let these photos do the rest of the talking...this braid was SO good...I will no doubt be making this time and time again. Sorry there are so many photos...can you tell I had fun with this challenge??

After cutting the strips...

Close-up of the mixed berry filling (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and strawberry)

After completing the braiding...

After the final rise...ready for the oven!

A croissant ready for the oven...

Hot and fresh out of the oven!

With the hazelnut coffee glaze...my favorite! I made it by mixing a little coffee with confectioner's sugar.

Fresh croissant...

Just look at those layers inside!

A platter of goodies...

Purple Potato Gratin

So, I'm strolling the produce section at Whole Foods last week, and what do I see?...Purple potatoes! I didn't think twice...I snatched them up, excited about making some sort of fun, purple dish.

I googled purple potato recipes and a plethora of different things came up. I decided to not go too crazy...I mean, I was using PURPLE potatoes after all...haha. I chose to stick with a classic gratin recipe. I came across THIS recipe at "Eating Out Loud." It looked and sounded delish.

Sadly, I didn't have any bacon on-hand. I know...tragic, right?? This dish would have been so much better with the bacon. I also didn't have any shallots, but I used an onion instead.

DID YOU KNOW?

"Purple Potatoes also called Blue Potatoes or Delta Blues truly are naturally purple! This is from the same powerful antioxidant that give blueberries their brilliant color. Purple Peruvian Potatoes were some of the first potatoes harvested. They were saved for Inca kings. Used in Mexican cooking, purple potatoes are gaining popularity in the U.S. They have a naturally creamy flavor and texture and hold their shape well for salads."

Source: http://www.deliciousorganics.com/recipes/potatoes.htm

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons flour

2/3 cup grated cheese

2 lbs purple potatoes, unpeeled and sliced thinly

1 cup sliced shallots (I used one onion)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 slices bacon

1/2 cup grated parmesan

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

To make the gratin sauce place the butter into a small pan and melt. Add flour and stir to combine, cooking over medium heat for about 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and stir until thickened. Stir in cheese, when melted remove from heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

In a frying pan, add the olive oil and shallots. Sautee until shallots are slightly brown and carmelized. Remove from the pan. Add bacon and cook until cooked through but not crispy (it will get crispy in a later portion of the recipe, don't worry). Cut bacon into 1 inch pieces.

Grease a gratin dish or shallow baking dish. Add half of the sliced potatoes to the dish. Sprinkle the shallots over the potato layer. Add the remaining potato slices to the dish. Pour the gratin sauce over the top of the potatoes, spooning into any visible cracks and crevices. Top with parmesan cheese. As a final step, add the bacon over the top. Place into a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

Source: Allen's Food Blog @ Eating Out Loud