Thin Mint Cupcakes

It has been quite a while since I've baked, and even longer since I've baked cupcakes. When you go from baking cupcakes at least once a week to a few month hiatus, it almost feels like part of my life is missing. So, I chose today to bake. Today, when it's about 90 and humid as all heck. I came home from a funeral today to my house being 81 degrees (seriously.) and almost didn't bake. But, I've been meaning to bake for a week, so I turned on the AC and got to it. We're honeymooning in Costa Rica later this year, so if I can't handle this heat or humidity, I'm going to absolutely melt down there!

I adapted this recipe slightly. I followed it for the cake and frosting, but just changed up the assembly. The cakes turned out okay, but I've used this recipe before, and more often than not, it's disastrous. The batter is super super thin. And it tends to overflow a bit over the edges of the pan, even when I fill them a little less than recommended. My favorite chocolate cake mix is this one, that I found on Annie's Eats. It's slightly more ingredient/labor intensive, but SO worth it. I don't know why I don't just use that one every time. This frosting was easy, and didn't have me leaving unsalted butter out to soften, but it does get that sort of flaky hardened outside to it, which my usual buttercream does not. But, it's delicious. Perfectly chocolatey and minty and smooth. I wish I had left it just slightly thicker for better piping, it was a bit soft so it made my piping a little wobbly. So, how did I change the assembly? Instead of placing a Thin Mint cookie at the bottom of the cupcake before baking, I chose to crush them and top the cupcake with them before fully frosting them. I find that when you bake cookies in the cake batter, they dissolve into the batter and are "lost".

Thin Mint Cupcakes
adapted from Starting to Simmer

1.5 cups flour
1.5 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1.5 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup whole milk
1 tbsp. vinegar
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla

For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk, divided

12 thin mint cookies, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 18 cupcake slots in 2 pans.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer.
3. Combine the milk and vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.
4. Add the milk and vinegar mix, eggs, water, oil, and vanilla to the dry mix and beat for about 3 minutes. It will be thin!
5. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes or until the tops spring back and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
6. Let cool completely.
7. To make the frosting, melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave at 30-second intervals until melted and blended.
8. Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla and 1/4 cup of milk together. On medium speed, with the whisk attachment, add in the chocolate and beat for 3 minutes. Frosting will be thick. Add the peppermint extract and SLOWLY add the remaining milk until you get the consistency you want.
*Peppermint extract is very strong, a little goes a long way. Even when you think it's not enough, you'll get a good peppermint aftertaste easily with this frosting.
9. To assemble:

Take your naked cupcakes

Spread a THIN layer of frosting on them

 Dip them into the crushed c

 So they all look like that

Then frost with whatever icing tip you like! 

Fiesta Chicken Fajitas

There's only 3 days of school left.

Three.

Yes three.

Well actually, I have one and a half day left, since Wednesday I'm chaperoning the trip to Six Flags. With the summer QUICKLY approaching, and the fact that my wedding is less than 4 months away, it's getting down to the wire.

Speaking of, I've been engaged for 1 year today! I can't believe it's been 1 year already! We're finally getting our engagement pictures done this week, we have our cake tasting next week, and we're going to start figuring out Dan's wardrobe tonight.

Next task to start tackling is configuring the centerpieces.

But, let's stick to food, since that's what this blog is about, and the thought of the wedding details still remaining overwhelm me! This recipe is one that I adapted from a crock pot recipe and then doing my own thing with it. I meant to sauté some peppers and onions, but completely forgot.

Fiesta Chicken Fajitas
from me

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 can corn
1/2 can Rotel
1/2 block cream cheese
Any seasonings you like
shredded Mexican style cheese
tortillas
* other toppings you may like: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, etc

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized strips. Cook in a skillet until cooked through.
2. Add the corn, Rotel and cream cheese. Lower heat and let cream cheese melt and combine everything together.
3. Serve chicken on a tortilla with shredded cheese and other toppings.

Beefy Tortellini Casserole

I sort of got my wish - it cooled down a bit today. I was able to turn off the AC and crack the windows open again. Which meant it was a good day for something baked. I wanted something quick enough to make before Dan had to head off to volleyball, and this is pretty easy.

We love us some tortellini in this house. It's a long story how it began, but we eat tortellini just about every other week here. Finding a recipe that takes our tortellini and changes it up a bit is nice. Our standard is tortellini with garlic and olive oil. Dan isn't much of a red sauce guy, so I was a little apprehensive about making this and how he'd like it, but he had a pretty big serving of it, so I was happy.

And so was he.

Beefy Tortellini Casserole
from No. 2 Pencil

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground beef
salt and pepper
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 large package fresh tortellini (such as Buitoni)
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic until soft.
2. Add ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Brown the beef.
3. Once beef is no longer pink, add sauce and crushed tomatoes.
4. Cook 2 minutes, then stir in tortellini and half the cheese.
5. Pour into a greased casserole dish, cover with remaining cheese, and cover tightly with foil.
6. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

The muggy heat has returned. And in typical fashion, our central air worked for a night and has frozen up AGAIN. I think it did this twice a week last summer, which make the dogs and I highly uncomfortable and annoyed. When you and your environment feel sticky and gross, it makes cooking a completely unfun process. Unfun may not be a real word, but it is in my blog...

To make this, I had to boil some chicken, then sauté veggies in butter, then bake it for almost an hour. Maybe I should've just had some ice cream bars for dinner. At least my heat-inducing efforts paid off and it was delicious. I was even a littler nervous about the diced celery and Dan finding it and complaining, but I got a "This is good, even though there's things in it". Success, I got Dan to eat some diced celery and onion. The warmth in the house is making me lose motivation, and making me want to eat all of the Skinny Cow ice cream treats I bought at the grocery store today. Isn't it supposed to rain soon? Maybe that will help cool things down.

The sad thing is, the heat I'm talking about is like low eighties. Which is nothing for a New England summer temperature. In the midst of next month I'll be wishing for it to cool down to this temperature. When it comes to weather I am a whiny brat.

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole
from The Country Cook

3 cups cooked shredded chicken
1/2 medium onion diced, or more if you want more
3 ribs of celery, diced
1 stick butter
1 cup self-rising flour (has to be self-rising)1 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper for seasoning
dried parsley for seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. In a skillet, melt the butter and sauté the celery and onion until soft.
3. Pour into the baking dish and cover with shredded chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Combine the flour and milk and pour over the chicken. Do not mix together.
5. Combine the cream of chicken soup and broth together and pour over the flour mix. Do not mix together.
6. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Sprinkle with dried parsley.

** The mixture will thicken a little as it cools, but I found it slightly too thin to eat on it's own. I served mine over white rice to make it a little more filling. Otherwise, Dan would be back in the kitchen in an hour making a second dinner.

Brown Sugar Spiced Baked Chicken

Welcome back 80 degree weather. I know everyone is joyous that it's finally not raining and broke 80 again, but I actually prefer the low 70s. I know, I know, all you summer fanatics hate me for saying that, but I want a day warm enough to enjoy outside without sweating, and then it cools down just enough at night to throw on a sweatshirt and enjoy a bonfire. Call me crazy. I maybe get 5-6 weeks of that kind of weather here in New England. If I could convince all my friends and family to move away with me, I'd choose a climate to my liking. But, since I'm just not the type to be too far away from family, I guess I'll take the crazy seasons (or sometimes lack-there-of) in New England. I hate the cold and I hate humidity, so more often than not, I am complaining about the weather.

Do you still hate me for saying it?

Last week (though a short week due to Memorial Day) was a long week. I came down with a cold about 12 days ago and can't seem to kick it. Just in time for a long weekend and the week of my birthday. My birthday was great. I got a chance to have dinner with my parents, and we went to the Common Man in Merrimack, NH. Highlight of the meal was definitely the escargot. I also had the braised short ribs, which, while they were delicious, there was just far too much fat and not enough meat to make it worth it.



Escargot! And nails in need of new polish!

Friday night I was able to go out with Dan and friends for a hibachi dinner. Filet and scallops is a good meal to me, and to watch someone entertain me while cooking it is even better. My current entertainment while making dinner tonight is watching Dan install the ceiling fan in our living room. It's almost there, just a few more wires to go....hopefully....

I believe somewhere in the past here on this blog I have scolded myself for the days I forget to take meat out of the freezer and defrost for an upcoming meal. Well, today is not a day for scolding, since I remembered to take the chicken out last night, but even after about 24 hours, it was not nearly defrosted as I needed in the fridge. I went the last stretch using the cold water method. For those of you who don't know, the recommended way to defrost meat is to put it into the fridge for 24 hours or so. If you need to defrost it quicker you can place the meat in a Ziploc bag, remove the air, and submerge it in cold water in a bowl. Change the water every 30 minutes to keep it cold. The warmer the water, the more bacteria can develop (ew!). If need be, you can defrost in the microwave, but you need to cook the chicken immediately after. Using a microwave can be tough, so I never choose that method. And though I know a lot of people who do this - never leave it out at room temperature to defrost. Room temp can equal bacteria city. Of course, I've also read plenty of things that say leaving it out for a short while won't hurt anybody, but to each their own. Better safe than sorry. Mine only needed about an hour in the water, and I was able to marinate my chicken in the spices for half that time, so it worked well for me. In the future, I'd like to marinate my chicken for 1-3 hours like the recipe recommends for that full flavor.

That being said, the flavor of just half an hour marinating in the rub was great! When it baked, some juices ran out and burned onto the foil-lined pan, but the chicken didn't burn onto the pan, so all was good. And if you look at the picture below, one of the chicken breasts grew this pimple thing as it cooked. Not to be alarmed (I was at first), it was just some juices that got trapped. The chicken was just a touch dry, but not as bad as I thought it may have been. Sometimes when baking previously frozen chicken it can dry out quicker because everything may not be an even temperature when cooking.

The fear of burnt chicken

Brown Sugar Spiced Baked Chicken
slightly adapted from Rachel Schultz

3 or 4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. paprika (I used smoked paprika)
1 tsp. oregano

1. Preheat oven to 425. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
2. In a large Ziploc bag, placed sugar and spices. Add chicken, seal, and shake to coat. Let marinate for 1-3 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Bake chicken for 20-25 minutes or until juices run clear.

I served mine with some potatoes and veggies.