Friday, May 29, 2009

M&M's Miracle Cookies

It's a miracle.
Only 5 ingredients... no butter or flour.

Find the recipe HERE.

Caesar Club Sandwich

Peter and I watched Barefoot Contessa make this last week, and we couldn't stop thinking about it! I made it last night and it was so yummy! I used bacon instead of pancetta and I really bought anchovy paste ($2 at Bloom). Peter wants to make sure this stays in the regular dinner rotation!

Caesar Club Sandwich

Ingredients

  • 2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
  • Good olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta
  • 1 large garlic clove, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste
  • 1 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup good mayonnaise
  • 1 large ciabatta bread
  • 2 ounces baby arugula, washed and spun dry
  • 12 sun-dried tomatoes, in oil
  • 2 to 3 ounces Parmesan, shaved

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan skin side up. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through. Cool slightly, discard the skin and bones, and slice the meat thickly. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place the pancetta on another sheet pan in a single layer. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to drain on paper towels.

Place the garlic and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until minced. Add the anchovy paste, mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise and process again to make a smooth dressing. (Refrigerate the Caesar dressing if not using it immediately.)

Slice the ciabatta in half horizontally and separate the top from the bottom. Toast the bread in the oven, cut side up, for 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Spread the cut sides of each piece with the Caesar dressing. Place half the arugula on the bottom piece of bread and then layer in order: the sun-dried tomatoes, shaved Parmesan, crispy pancetta, and sliced chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with another layer of arugula. Place the top slice of ciabatta on top and cut in thirds crosswise. Serve at room temperature.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Get Off Your Butt and Bake

This is the the name of a cooking blog I just found.

Hope you like it!

http://getoffyourbuttandbake.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Easy Pleasing Meatloaf

I got this recipe from Kraft Foods. If you are looking for an easy meatloaf recipe then this is it. My mom says it's nothing like she's had before so I guess it isn't the traditional meatloaf but my family liked it and it was easy!

2 lbs lean ground beef
1 pkg. (6oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce, divided

Oven 375. Mix all ingredients except 1/4 cup barbecue sauce. Shape meat mixture into oval loaf in 13x9 inch baking dish; top with remaining bbq sauce.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Boursin Creamed Spinach

I must admit that this is more creamy than anything, but I'm not complaining. I doubled the recipe to feed 8. Enjoy!

Boursin Creamed Spinach

Ingredients
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup yellow onions, diced
2 T all purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pkg (5.2 oz) boursin cheese
1 pkg 10 oz frozen, chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry of excess moisture
2 T parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp lemon zest
salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg to taste
2/3 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (I used panko)
1 T olive oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425F

Saute onions in 1 T butter until soft about 5 min. Add the flour and stir to coat onion. Gradually whisk in the milk and heavy cream stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Simmer for 1 minute. Stir in Boursin cheese a little at a time until melted and smooth. Remove saucepan from heat. Add spinach, parmesan, lemon zest, and seasonings. Transfer spinach to prepared baking dish.

Combine crumbs, 1 T butter, oil and salt and pepper. Top spinach with crumbs, packing down to adhere.

cook 20 to 25 minutes until crumbs are golden and sauce is bubbly

Macaroni Grill Bread

I don't know if this is, in fact, the macaroni grill bread but it is sure good. The best part about it is that it is a FAST yeast bread that you can get together really quick! Total time from start to finish is a little over an hour. Anyone can do this super simple and tasty bread!

Macaroni Grill Bread

1 tbls. yeast
1 tbls. sugar
1 c warm water
let sit for a few minutes.

add slowly:
2 cups of flour
2 tbls rosemary (fresh is the best)
1 tsp. salt

Let rise in bowl until double in size. (45 min. to an hour) Roll dough into one large round loaf, or two small. Bake at 400 for about 12 minutes, or until top is golden brown. When out of the oven, rub butter over the top and sprinkle with salt. Mmmm.

**I have also left out the rosemary, added a tad more sugar, and eliminated sprinkling the salt at the end to just have a white bread. Still really good!