Sili - Cupcake Molds

Ok this isnt really a food or restaurant review, but I have a friend who made me cupcakes in little silicone molds, they are re-usable, are non-stick and you can bake them free standing on a cookie sheet, they are sturdy enough they do not need to be put into a muffin tin. Awesome huh? I love making cupcakes, so I just ordered some for myself. You can get them at William Sonoma. They even have cute holiday molds.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese.

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbsPreheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.
Remember to save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese.

Greek Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

Tonights dinner is gonna be soooo freakin' good, that's all I have to say....

INGREDIENTS
4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry white vermouth or wine or white cooking wine
6 plum tomatoes, chopped and juices reserved, or 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) tomatoes, drained and finely chopped, juices reserved 1 Tbs.
dried Greek oregano, crumbled, or 2 Tbs. minced fresh oregano
Sea salt,
to taste Red pepper flakes, to taste
paprika, to taste
2/3 cup coarsely crumbled feta cheese, preferably Greek or Bulgarian
2 lb. large shrimp, peeled, with tail segments intact, and deveined
2 Tbs. minced fresh mint, plus mint sprigs for garnish (optional)
DIRECTIONS
In a large, nonreactive, flameproof casserole or sauté pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shallots and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the wine and tomatoes (but not their juices). Add the oregano now, if using dried. Season with salt, red pepper flakes and paprika. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add some of the reserved tomato juices if you prefer a thinner sauce. Stir in the cheese, then the shrimp. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the shrimp are evenly pink and the cheese is beginning to melt, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with the oregano, if using fresh, and the minced mint. Garnish with the mint sprigs and serve immediately from the pan. Serves 4.

Tortilla Soup

I am making this for quick dinner, tonight Eric and I are going on a date to a Haunted House with some friends and I thought warm soup before we went out would be just perfect. Also to be a little healthier I substituted the tortilla strips for wheat torillas cut into strips and baked them drizzled in olive oil in the oven instead of frying them. Ya for BFL!!!


Ingredients

tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped, or 1 pasilla or green bell pepper and 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon tomato paste
6 cups chicken stock
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 cups vegetable oil, for frying
6 stale corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
a pinch of garlic powder,onion salt and thyme
1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and chopped, for garnish
Chipotle Crema, accompaniment, recipe followsIn a Dutch oven or large heavy pot, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, peppers, salt, cumin, and coriander for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cilantro and lime juice, and stir well. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot or electric fryer to 350 degrees F. Add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until golden and crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Season with the Essence.

Ladle the soup into 4 or 6 serving bowls. Garnish each serving with the diced avocado, the fried tortilla strips, and Chipotle Crema.

Chipotle Crema:
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt In the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients. Process on high speed until smooth. Serve with the soup.

6 Hour Chili

I made this chili this morning and it is cooking in the slow cooker right now and it it smells so good, I cannot wait for Eric to get home from work so we can eat it.

Ingredients

5 lb. ground beef
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 can (28 oz.) chopped tomatoes with
juices
6 to 8 Tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/3 cup cornmeal
2 cups unsalted beef stock
Sour cream, chopped red onion, grated,
cheddar cheese and/or chopped fresh cilantro
for garnish

Directions

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, brown half the beef, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a slow cooker. Repeat with the remaining beef.

Add the garlic, yellow onion, tomatoes with juices, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, cornmeal and stock to the slow cooker and stir to blend. Cover and cook for 6 hours according to the manufacturers instructions.

Skim the fat off the surface of the chili. Ladle the chili into warmed bowls and garnish with sour cream, red onion, cheese and/or cilantro. Serves 8 to 10.

Easy Kids Banana with Crushed Graham Cracker Snack

This is super easy kids snack that Adyson loves. You get a couple of graham cracker and put them in a plastic bag and crush them by rolling your fist over them or a rolling pin. Then you cut you a banana in bite size pieces and put the pieces in the plastic bag with the crushed up graham crackers. then you give it to your toddler and have them shake it up until the bananas are coated in the graham cracker crumbs. Take them out and put them on a dish for a healthy kid approved finger food.

Ruth's Chris Sweet Potato Casserole

If you have ever been to Ruth's Chris and not ordered their sweet potatoes with a pecan crust, you are out of your mind, they so so good and so sweet they could honestly be a dessert, honestly, they are great well I recently read a press release form a couple years ago from Ruth's Chris giving out their recipe, I was just looking for a copycat but here is the real deal. You will not be disappointed!

CRUST
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans preferred)
1/3 stick butter -- melted
SWEET POTATO MIXTURE
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs -- well beaten
1 stick butter -- ( 1/2 cup) melted
Combine brown sugar, flour, nuts and butter in mixing bowl. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and butter in a mixing bowl in the order listed. Mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the surface of the sweet potato mixture evenly with the crust mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to set at least 30 minutes before serving.

Creamy Potatoes

I am so excited to make the peach slow cooker ribs that I previously posted this week, I am making them tomorrow, Sunday, but I was trying to think of a great side dish for them, so I am doing these yummy mashed potatoes. I can't wait for tomorrow. Eric will be proud.
Potato Directions

It’s a ratio of 3 large regular potatoes to 1 sweet potato. And, instead of boiling them in just water, you add chicken boullion so the potatoes absorb that flavor. Mash them with butter, sour cream, salt and pepper.

Brazilian French Toast

Ingredients

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup water
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbs. dark rum (or rum flavoring)
Pinch of salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
8 baguette slices, cut diagonally 1 inch thick
Canola oil for frying

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, water, vanilla, rum, salt and eggs. Pour into a shallow baking dish. Place the baguette slices in the egg mixture, then turn them over; they should be completely submerged in the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

In a deep fryer, or a deep pan pour in oil and heat to 375°F according to the manufacturer’s instructions or put on medium-high heat if using a pan. Working in batches, fry the bread until golden and crispy, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a platter and sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar. Serve immediately.

Slow Cooker Peach Glazed Ribs

I am so excited, i am making these this weekend, I have heard from a reliable source they are excellent and i am all about slow cooker meals, so here goes! Plus it looks easy enough.
Peach Glazed Ribs

3 lbs. pork country style ribs
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 18 oz. jar peach or apricot preserves
1/2 C. orange juice
2 Tbsp. bottled teriyaki sauce
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (less if you are a wuss)
4 cloves garlic, minced

In 5 to 6 quart slow cooker, place onion. Add ribs. In a medium bowl combine peach preserves, OJ, teriyaki sauce, crushed red pepper flakes and garlic. Reserve 1 C. of mixture to use as a sauce for serving. Chill until needed. Pour remaining peach mixture over ribs in cooker.
Cover and cook on low setting for 7 to 8 hours. or on high for 4-5 hours (I don’t recommend high, they dry out)
For sauce, in a small sauce pan bring reserved peach mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove ribs and onion from cooker. Discard cooking liquid. Pour sauce over ribs and serve atop bed of onions.
*****Extra step for presentation. I preheat the broiler, lay the ribs on a baking sheet, and baste with some of the reserved sauce. Place them under the broiler just enough to carmelize the sauce and give them some great color!

Bacon Wrapped Grilled Jalapeno Poppers

Practically everyone we have made these for has asked for the recipe so i thought I would put it on the site so i can just direct people there instead. They are so easy and a crowd pleaser!

Grilled Jalapeno Poppers
Items Needed
12 jalapeno peppers
brick of cream cheese
cajun seasoning
2 garlic cloves
12 strips of bacon
toothpicks (soaked in water for 30 minutes-hr)

How to Prepare
half all your jalapenos vertically and scrape out vein and seeds with a small spoon. Bring cream cheese to room temp or slighlty heat in microwave so it is mixable but not runny. Presh or mince your garlic into the cheese and add enough cajun seasoning to slighly color the mixture. You can add as much or as little as you like (to taste). Fill each jalapeno half with the cajun cheese mixture. Cut your bacon strips in half horizontally. Wrap the bacon around the halfed peppers so that it locks in so to speak, the cheese. Push a toothpick all the way through the pepper so that you are basically pinning the back to the pepper once wrapped around.

How to Cook
Grilled. You can place them on a grill and grill with the cheese side facing up for about 5-10 minutes grill them. You will get lots of flare ups from the bacon grease but this is fine as you want the poppers to be charred a bit giving them the taste of roasted peppers. Remove when done to your liking and enjoy!

Broiled. Basically the preparation is the same but you place them on a cooking sheet and broil in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until as done as you would like.

Easy Creme Brulee

1/2 vanilla bean
2 cups heavy cream
3 egg yolks
Pinch of salt

1/4 cup plus 4 Tbs. sugar

Preheat an oven to 300°F. Have a pot of boiling water ready. Line a baking pan that is 2 to 3 inches deep with a small kitchen towel.

Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise down the middle and scrape the seeds into a 2-quart saucepan. Add the cream, stir to mix and set the pan over medium-low heat. Warm the cream until bubbles form around the edges of the pan and steam begins to rise from the surface. Remove from the heat and set aside to steep, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, salt and the 1/4 cup sugar until smooth and blended. Gradually add the cream to the egg mixture, whisking until blended. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Divide the custard among four 5- or 6-oz. ramekins and place the ramekins in the prepared baking pan. Add boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the custard is just set around the edges, 35 to 40 minutes.

Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

Just before serving, sprinkle 1 Tbs. of the sugar evenly over each custard. Using a kitchen torch, melt the sugar according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

A fun new thing....

ok so anyone who knows me and Eric knows we love food, good restaurants, the food network and most of all Eric's cooking. Yes, I admit my husband is a fabulous cook, grill man and everything, on our old website, we had a part where we put up our favorite recipes and reviewed good restaurants we had recently been to, so I thought it would fun to do a blog on it now. Eric can put in his favorite gourmet recipes, I can add my easy crock pot recipes and we can tell you our favorite places to eat. Local and when we travel. Bon appetite!

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

Every year for the last 2 year I have made some kind of Halloween treat on Halloween Day and Ady and I take it around to some of our neighbors, mostly our neighbors who have kids Ady plays with. This is what i am doing this year, except I am not going to lie, I am buying cream cheese frosting not making one from scratch, but I have made this frosting before and it is very good for thsoe of you who want to go the extra mile....

For the cupcakes:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 can (15 oz.) solid-packed pumpkin (about
1 3/4 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs

For the frosting:
14 oz. pure white chocolate, finely chopped
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature, cut
into tablespoon-size pieces
12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room
temperature, cut into tablespoon-size pieces

Food coloring
Colored sugars and decorating pens



Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line three 12-cup muffin tins with decorative cupcake papers.

To make the cupcakes, in a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Toss the walnuts and raisins with the flour mixture. (This will help prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin tins.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.

Add the flour mixture in three additions, stirring with a large wooden spoon until just combined.

Fill the muffin tins about three-fourths full. Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the tins to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the tins and let cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a double boiler, melt the white chocolate, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Let stand until just warm to the touch. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until smooth and blended. Add the melted chocolate and beat again until smooth. Use the frosting immediately, coloring it as desired. Spread 1 to 2 Tbs. frosting over each cupcake and decorate with colored sugars and decorating pens. Makes 36 cupcakes.