Smoked Gouda Mornay Sauce

Just a smoked Gouda mornay sauce was not the original plan for tonight's recipe. I had bought a pre-cut butternut squash the other day and wanted to make a butternut mornay sauce, but that didn't happen. Here's why...

With the new pup, getting time in to cook dinner and to clean up after is slim, especially when it's just me and Dan's at work. I had some store-bought fresh tortellini, the ingredients for a mornay and the squash. To save time and not have to clean so many dishes, I looked up some information about cooking a squash in the microwave. I was definitely skeptic about the directions I read for this method, it seemed to me the squash would be dry, which it was. The directions just called me to place the squash cut-side down on a plate and microwave for 4-5 minutes increments until soft, and then puree it. It came out thick and dry and none of my blenders (I tried a few) would puree it, not even with a bit of added milk to loosen it up. That went down the disposal...

I figured in case that didn't pan out that I would at least still have my mornay sauce for my tortellini, so something homemade and all my efforts weren't wasted. I winged the sauce, so below are my estimates for measurements. I do recommend adding more milk than I did, maybe 2 full cups rather than the 1 and 1/4 I added. The sauce thickens up after cooking and it got pretty thick, so more milk may keep it a little more thinned out.

Smoked Gouda Mornay Sauce

3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
pinch of white ground pepper
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and let cook for about 2 minutes.
2. Slowly add milk (1/2 cup at a time), and whisk constantly to mix. Cook for 4 minutes, whisking constantly.
3. Whisk in spices.
4. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese.
5. Serve over pasta.

The sauce really thickened up after this

Nutella-Stuffed Pumpkin Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Longest recipe name ever? I think so.

So, remember yesterday when I asked everyone to wish me luck trying to cook with the two pups here and Dan at work? Good thing this recipe came together rather quickly, or else it never would have happened. I was able to distract Lana with 3 ice cubes for a good part of it, and Tess just lays in the kitchen while I bake anyways.

After baking was done all hell broke loose. The dogs were crazy outside, Lana learned to jump over our make-shift baby gate in the hall (make-shift meaning it's two laundry baskets blocking the hallways), and I am bleeding from several bite areas. She is now sound asleep at the other end of the couch. I always say I need to keep her awake as much as I can at night so she'll be tied throughout the night when she needs to be crated but right now I just need her to sleep....

These muffins are great. I read the recipe knowing that I should have most of the ingredients and it would be easy to whip up on a weeknight. I got all prepared for it today and then re-read the recipe. Oh no! Did I still have whole wheat flour left? Did I have plain Greek yogurt (which I never have)?

Yes, yes I did. I actually had almost a whole bag of whole wheat flour and 2 containers of nonfat Greek yogurt in the fridge. I knew it was meant to be. I had to make these. And so, I did. These are delicious. I like how the recipe used the whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt. It kept them moist and gave them a little less sweetness. I was a little worried with all the spices, chocolate chunks, and Nutella that they would be very sweet, almost cupcake like, but they weren't. They held up nicely as muffins.

I learned 2 new things today. The first was how to make brown butter, which is simple enough, but I think I should have left mine on the heat a little longer. I also learned that baking the muffins at a higher temperature just at the beginning will give them a rounder top. Mine weren't as round as the original poster's muffins, but the probably puffed up a little more than if they hadn't been baked at a higher temperature at first.

Although, right as I'm writing this I'm thinking they would make great cupcakes without the Nutella inside the cake, but the Nutella swirled into a nice buttercream....

Nutella-Stuffed Pumpkin Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Muffins
from Veggie and the Beast

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs (room temp)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice (I didn't have any so I just omitted this)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2/3 cup chocolate chunks (or chips)
about 12 teaspoons hazelnut spread (Nutella)

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Cut butter in chunks and melt in a small saucepan over medium low heat, whisking frequently. You will notice some foam on top around the edges, keep whisking. When you begin to see little brown specks appear at the bottom, remove from heat and whisk for another 30-45 seconds. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool a bit.
3. While the butter is cooling, mix the flours, baking soda, spices and salt together in a medium mixing bowl.
4. Add the pumpkin puree and sugars to the stand mixer bowl with the slightly cooled butter. Beat on medium-low until creamy and combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to combine.
5. Slowly add the flour mix to the pumpkin mix. Fold in the yogurt and then fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Place liners in 12-14 muffin tin cups. (Mine made 12)
7. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of muffin mix into each liner.
8. Place a teaspoon of Nutella on top the muffin mix and cover with another tablespoon or so of muffin mix. The mix should be just about level with the liner.
8. Bake for 5 minutes at 425. Lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 15 minutes.

Easy Weeknight Chicken Pot Pie

While in the grocery store yesterday, I grabbed one of those cans of Progresso Recipe Starters. The creamy roasted garlic one has a recipe for a chicken pot pie on the back. I love chicken pot pie and Dan would never eat it, so I figured I'd make it on a night when he's at work... like tonight.

This recipe is incredibly easy. You could cook your own chicken, which is better than using a rotisserie chicken, but for the sake of saving time, the rotisserie is a great option. I thought the taste of this was great too. It's not your standard gravy filling, you get the garlic sauce with chicken stock, the poultry seasoning, and the rotisserie chicken adds some flavor as well over plain chicken.

This took 6 ingredients. It was delicious, easy, and only needed 6 ingredients. Love it!

Easy Weeknight Chicken Pot Pie
from Progresso

1 box of refrigerated pie crusts
1 can Progresso Recipe Starters creamy roasted garlic with chicken stock cooking sauce
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 bag (14 oz) frozen mixed vegetables (I used corn, carrots, green beans, peas and lima beans)
1.5 cups chopped cooked chicken

1. Preheat oven to 425. Prepare pie crusts as directed on the box for a 2-crust pie in a 9-inch pie plate.
2. In a 2-quart saucepan, using a wire whisk, mix together the cooking sauce, flour, poultry seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Add vegetables and heat to boiling. Boil for 2 minutes stirring frequently.
3. Add chicken and mix to combine. Pour filling into the prepared pie crust.
4. Top with other crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top of the crust.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, covering crust edges with foil after 15 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning.

** I recommend cooking a little bit longer until you get a nice golden crust. Mine could have used an extra 5 minutes.

Honey Mustard Chicken

 

Sleepy Lana!

Puppies are a handful.

If it wasn't for Dan, I may have pulled all of my hair out already. Dan has been good enough to take Lana outside with him while doing yard work and tire her out so I can still cook dinner and spend some time with our older pup Tess.

Glamour Shot

I am not looking forward to tomorrow and Thursday night. Dan has to work. That leaves me to cook and wrangle up the pups on my own. Wish me luck.

Tonight's dinner was a Pinterest find, and I adapted it a little to my own taste. Dan loves bacon-wrapped chicken, or bacon-wrapped anything, but I tend to always be a little squeamish about the bacon being so soft. I always feel like it's not cooked enough, even though I know it is. Check out the original recipe, or follow min if you'd like. I'm sure they are both delicious (and they're not THAT different anyways). This chicken was still nice and moist and had a great flavor, a very nice fresher honey mustard taste. You could use a bottled honey mustard, but the fresh honey gives it a really nice sweetness, where the bacon gives it saltiness and the Mozzarella mellows everything together. I will definitely make this again, it's absurdly easy and packed with flavor. I may even try piercing the chicken and marinating it in the honey mustard mix.

Honey Mustard Chicken
from All Recipes

4 large chicken breasts (I used 5 since a couple were on the smaller end)
1/2 cup prepared mustard
3/4 cup honey
Lemon pepper seasoning (I didn't have this, I used Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute)
4 slices bacon, cut in half (I used 5)
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 and spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the mustard and honey until combined.
3. Place the chicken in the baking dish and pour the honey mustard mixture over chicken, being sure to cover each chicken breast.
4. Bake for 25 minutes.
5. Place 2 slices of bacon on each chicken breast, covering the breast. Sprinkle them with the cheese.
6. Return to oven for 10-15 more minutes, until bacon is cooked, cheese is melted and juices run clear.

Spicy Sausage Skillet Pasta

Two posts in one day isn't something I'd normally do. I would usually schedule them to post the next day, but with everything going on (Hurricane Puppy), I'm afraid I'd forget I even posted it.

Tonight's dinner was super easy, I was even able to make it with two rambunctious dogs in the kitchen with me. As I was at the stove, Lana was climbing all over Tess's head biting her ears. I had to put the spoon down a few times and break it up. Poor Tess only gets a break from Hurricane Lana when she naps.

I doubled everything in this recipe other than the onions and ro-tel tomatoes. I figured some leftovers would be good. This recipe was spicier than I thought it would be. I mean, I know the name says spicy, but I figured with only one can of tomatoes and chiles, and double the pasta, broth and cream, that it wouldn't be as bad. Maybe I need a milder can of tomatoes next time? Anyways, although spicier than expected, it was still very good. The following recipe is the original recipe, not my doubled version.

Spicy Sausage Skillet Pasta
from Kevin and Amanda

1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup diced onions
1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced (I used turkey kielbasa)
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. Campanelle (or any pasta you want)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
salt and pepper
1 pkg. Monterrey Jack shredded cheese

1. Heat olive oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sausage and cook until slightly browned, about 4 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add pasta, cream, broth and tomatoes. Reduce heat and cover to simmer for 15-20 minutes until pasta is tender.
4. Mix in half of the cheese. Top with other half of the cheese and broil for 2 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Bacon Cheeseburger Bakes

It's been quite a week. Last week I was on a cooking spree, cooking more new things in one week than I have in a while, and I was feeling very motivated. I guess that motivation is what led to this:

Baby Lana!

That's right, we got a puppy. Dan and I have talked about getting a second dog, and wanted to actually rescue and older one that was already house trained, but a friend of ours had this dog and we decided we'd go for it. I definitely know why I said I didn't want another puppy...the crate training, frequent potty trips, frequent potty cleanups, making sure the older dog gets a break from the puppy when needed, and no more nights out on a whim until she's fully trained...

That made grocery shopping and planning this week tough. So far, I've gotten two days in of some more home-cooked meals. Yesterday's was rushed and didn't exactly come out the way I wanted it to. If I had spent more time on it, it may have come out just right. It wasn't a total failure, just could have been better, if I wasn't exhausted and keeping my eye on the pup every 10 seconds while keeping my eye on the skillet. These are supposed to be more calzone-like, but I didn't bother to beat the egg to give the dough a nice crisp bake, so I called these "bakes" since that's what they came out to be. Plus, a calzone should be made with pizza dough, not crescent rolls. Maybe these can be called crescent pockets or something.....

The crescent roll dough softened up quickly, so trying to fill them and fold them and seal them was tricky. Once the hot filling was in them, they began to sort of melt as I was filling the others. You definitely want to make sure the dough is chilled enough to work with.

Bacon Cheeseburger Bakes
from Pillsbury

4 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup dried minced onion
2-3 pickles, diced (I used bread and butter spears)
1/4 cup ranch dressing
4 slices American cheese, cut in half
2 can crescent rolls
1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375. Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat and cook bacon for 2 minutes. Add the ground beef and onions and cook until no longer pink. Drain if necessary.
2. Add the pickles and ranch dressing and stir. (I only added the pickles to certain rolls when I filled them since Dan doesn't like them).
3. Unroll the crescent rolls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press together two triangles to form a rectangle, being sure to seal the perforations.
4. Place a big spoonful of hamburger filling onto each rectangle, top with a piece of cheese, and fold over to close. Seal all edges.
5. Brush tops with beaten egg and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and rolls are cooked through.

As you can see, mine aren't so pretty, but they were tasty. I would actually add more ranch dressing to it.

Also, use pickles! And if you do, use bread and butter pickles. The sweetness of the bread and butter variety are great in this! I'm not so sure I'd even want to try these with dill pickles in them...and I love pickles.

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

Why not start off with a picture?

Don't you just love when you look at a recipe and think to yourself, "Piece of cake", and then, that recipe turns out to not be a piece of cake? Yeah...this was one of those.

So last night, I was speeding along through making the cakes for this. The only thing that took any amount of time was zesting the limes. A side note on that: I hate zesting citrus. Anyways, after they baked, some had come out not so great and flat, but most were great, and the recipe made 30 cupcakes (probably would've made 34), so I had some extras to spare. Well, first of all, after cooling for 10 minutes, half of them started separating from the cupcake liners, as if they were shrinking. Maybe it's the lime juice in the recipe...the 3 limes made quite a bit of juice and it made the cake super limey. I knew the frosting would have to be extra sweet and have a good hint of booze to cut through that lime.

So, today, I planned on whipping up the filling and frosting. I always read the comments on bloggers' recipes, and the comments on the filling was that it never got thick enough for anyone. I figured I'd give it a shot, and if it wasn't thick enough then I just wouldn't have filled cupcakes.

I didn't have filled cupcakes. The more I thought about it, there's no way that strawberries, 2 tablespoon of sugar, the juice of one lime and half a cup of tequila would puree into anything other than a liquid with strawberry seeds in it.

ANYWAYS, I then started on the frosting. That came out just fine by adding a little more puree than called for an extra tablespoon of tequila. I also brushed the tops of the cakes with tequila too. If I'm going to make boozy cupcakes, they're going to BOOZY cupcakes. I didn't go steal a water bottle full of tequila from my parents' liquor cabinet for nothing.

I also never bake cupcakes with anyone around. For two reasons. First, I can listen to whatever music I want without Dan complaining about how "weird" it is. Second, I make my kitchen look like someone set a toddler loose and said "Go bake, you tiny uncoordinated chef!". Seriously, This is how I bake...

Frosting tips everywhere

Pink sugar crystals

Strawberry tequila puree that you can see dripped on the counter

Stand mixer complete with powdered sugar dusting and surrounded by bowls and puree drips

Why I am such a messy cook I have no idea. Why did I go through the trouble of making these "piece of cake" cupcakes? For a birthday. Not just any birthday, my future sister -in-law's birthday, so they need to be some good cupcakes. I am not a sweets person, so whenever I bake anything, I barely eat it. I will always have a bite of a cupcake, because I won't serve anything to anyone unless I'm sure it's good. This cupcake...is....FANTASTIC. It's not overpowering with sugar, which is why I never eat baked goods. The cake, like I said, is super limey. And since the frosting has some fresh strawberries and tequila, it cuts through that sugar flavor. Usually, I like a standard buttercream frosting, because I just hate to use shortening. It just looks like a big can of spreadable calories to me. But, truth is, frosting that has some shortening in it, has a nice smooth texture that I like as opposed to just butter and powdered sugar. I actually ate the whole cupcake this time!

So here's to you Emily! Cheers!

Complete with pink sugared rim!

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes
from The Baker Chick

For the cake:
3 cups flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 limes, zested and juiced
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

For the puree:
1 (8 oz) pkg. strawberries, tops cut off
2 tbsp. sugar
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/2 cup tequila of choice

For the frosting:
1 cup shortening
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly chilled
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp. tequila of choice
1/2 cup of strawberry tequila puree

*Pink sprinkles for a sugared rim (optional)

For the cakes:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Line 2 (or more) cupcake pans with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth, about 3-5 minutes, on medium-high speed.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides as needed. Then beat in the lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mix in three increments, alternating with the buttermilk, so you end with the flour mix. Beat until just incorporated.
6. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For the puree:
In a food processor, pulse together all ingredients. (Voila!)

For the frosting:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the shortening and butter until smooth.
2. Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with 1 tablespoon of the puree at a time. Add as much puree as you see fit to your taste. Add in the tequila and mix until everything is incorporated.

To assemble:
1. Brush cupcake tops with tequila.
2. Frost a ring around the cupcakes and dip into pink sugar or sprinkles. (see picture below)
3. Continue frosting in any way you like.
4. Eat!

Swiss, Ham, Corn and Leek Quiche

I suppose I should keep this cooking/baking surge going.

Dan is working tonight, so that gives me the opportunity to make something he won't eat. I'm not sure why, but lately I've been craving quiche...maybe it's from the mini ones I had at the bridal shower a few weeks ago. I needed some baking supplies, so I figured picking stuff up for dinner was a good choice. I love quiches and I'm not sure why I don't make them more often. I almost always have the supplies I need at home, give or take some heavy cream and whatever ingredients I want to add. This quiche is a crustless quiche. I usually prefer mine with a crust, but I figured I'd give this a try.

I adapted the original recipe slightly. Instead of onions, I chose leeks. What I love about leeks is you know they're pretty fresh because they're still covered with some dirt when you buy them. I can take them home and know they haven't had overkill with washing, which can cause vegetables to spoil quicker. Just a few cuts and a rinse under water and I have a nice clean leek! Anyways, I also added in some corn, since I had a cup of leftover frozen corn in the freezer. The cooking time was longer than the original recipe stated as well. It said 20-25 minutes, but after 25 minutes my middle was still very runny/jiggly. Mine cooked for 40 minutes before I felt it was thoroughly cooked. The other bonus to this recipe is that I now have breakfast and lunch for tomorrow!

Swiss, Ham, Corn and Leek Quiche
adapted from She Knows

some softened butter for butter the dish
3 tbsp. plain, dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp. butter
2 leeks, white parts clean and sliced
1.5 cups diced ham
1 cup frozen corn
1 (8 oz) pkg. shredded Swiss cheese
5 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp black pepper
**If you're worried about over-browning of the quiche, fit some foil over the pan to create a cover to use later if needed.

1. Preheat oven to 400. Butter a pie plate or quiche pan.
2. Spread the breadcrumbs in the buttered plate.
3. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, melt the tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Saute the leeks, ham and corn for 5-8 minutes, until leeks are softened. Spread over the breadcrumbs in the plate and cover with Swiss cheese.
4. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream and pepper. Pour over the cheese.
5. Bake for 40 minutes (check around 25-30 minutes and play it by ear).  If you check it and it needs more time but is browning, cover with the pre-fitted foil cover.

This quiche is seriously delicious! I almost chose a different kind of cheese, but stuck with the Swiss and I'm glad I did. The corn added a really nice sweetness with the cheese and the saltiness of the ham. The only thing that would make this quiche better is a crust and zero calories!

Fresh out of the oven

After settling a little

Chocolate Stout Cake

As I type this, I think of the description of this blog...the words "culinary disasters" is in there, and it's for reasons like tonight. My disaster has nothing to do with the outcome of this recipe, just me being a space cadet and leaving one of the burners on the stove....for like an hour or so....with an aluminum pan lid sitting on top if it....that I just grabbed with my fingers to clear off the stove without knowing the burner under it was still on from before I put the cake in the oven...

It's not every night I can say I sat on the couch watching TV clenching a bag of frozen broccoli.

So, as you all know, I started Weight Watchers. I did good for a week, then events came up, and then my week-long beach vacation came up, and then it was back to work. Needless to say, I've been decent about breakfast and lunch, good with snacks, but dinner...no healthy dinners lately. Well, tonight I made my easy fajitas which were pretty healthy.

 I really wanted to bake tonight, so I looked up some recipes and found one where I had almost everything, just missing a couple of ingredients. Of course, I decided this after I went grocery shopping, so Dan came to my rescue by grabbing me some stout, sour cream and cool whip. He really is the best!

I'm not one for making cakes. This one seemed pretty simple. It only takes one pan and doesn't need to be put together with frosting, nor does it need to be frosted at all. I followed the original recipe, but decided to top mine with a cinnamon powdered sugar dusting. You could serve this cake with fresh berries (recommended by the original website), caramel, a fruit sauce/compote, or better yet - fresh whipped cream. If I was serving this to people immediately and not just consuming it at home/work, I would've made fresh whipped cream, but I don't like when it sits longer than a few hours, so cool whip will do. If you decide to make fresh whipped cream for this, which you should, mix in some cinnamon or some Bailey's with it, and make it a flavored whipped cream. I literally just thought of that right now, and am kicking myself because that's not how I'm going to eat it. If it wasn't 9 o'clock at night I may have made a run for whipping cream and Bailey's.

I liked this cake because it wasn't super sweet, and it was nice and moist. I don't like when a cake is too sweet or you can feel the sugar you chew the cake...uck! You get the hint of stout as well. If you like a sweeter cake, then definitely top it with some caramel or chocolate sauce to give it some extra sweetness!

Lastly, I really need to learn how to do proper food photography.

 

Chocolate Stout Cake
from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

1 cup stout (I used Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into thirds
2 cups sugar (I only had 1 and 3/4 cup before I ran out)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter the sides of a 9" spring form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the stout and butter until butter is melted. Remove from heat.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and cocoa powder. Add this to the butter mix and mix to combine.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Switch the the whisk attachment and whisk in the chocolate mixture on low speed.
5. In the same bowl you mixed the sugar and cocoa in, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Add this to the stand mixer and whisk on low speed until combined.
6. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Top with whatever you like and serve. I mixed together a little powdered sugar and cinnamon and sprinkled it on the cake and top my slice with a dollop of cool whip.