Garlic Cheddar Biscuits - like Red Lobster's

I've never been to Red Lobster. And, honestly, I don't think I will ever go. Nothing against them - I just hate, hate, hate seafood & even though I know they have more than ocean life to offer, I just can't bear to go to a place with a name that shouts *smelly fish* to me (I know, I know - issues! We've disovered them before - I am full of them - you will find more as you get to know me better!) However, I have this biscuit recipe. And nearly every one I have shared them with has told me they taste just like the Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster. So, if you DO like the house of crustaceans, you'll definitely love these biscuits - and if, like me, you don't - fear not, you'll love 'em, too!!

Here's what you'll need:


Flour, baking powder, salt, butter, milk, shredded cheddar, garlic powder.


In a bowl, sift together the flour, salt & baking powder.


Now cut in your softened (NOT melted!) butter. this is easiest with a pastry blender, but if you don't have one you can make it work with 2 butter knives. (It's just kinda miserable!)



Go to town on it, mashing & combining until you have a bowl of coarse crumbs.


From here you're gonna make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Fill it with your cheese & then pour your milk into the center of it, too.


Now mix, mix, mix until it's all incorporated well. Drop by generously heaped tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. You're only aiming to get 12 out of this so don't be shy!



Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes.


While they are baking melt 1/4 cup of butter & stir in your garlic powder. Brush it generously over the tops of the biscuits when they are fresh out of the oven.


Mmmm...... ENJOY!

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits - like Red Lobster's

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
5 TBsp butter, softened
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar
-----
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp garlic powder


Heat oven to 450.

In a bowl, sift together flour, salt & baking powder. Cut in the softened butter until it looks like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center & fill it with the cheese. Add the milk & stir well to combine.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, until they start to brown.

While biscuits bake, melt remaining butter & stir in garlic powder. Brush mixture over hot biscuits.

Makes 12.

I've added this recipe to
Totally Tasty Tuesday
on Mandy's Recipe Box!

Chocolate Crescents

This morning I was craving a little something sweet. I looked in the fridge & saw one last can of crescent rolls from my more-than-necessary sized package I bought at Costco a little while back & then I had my Ah-Ha! Looked in the cupboard & confirmed that I had a package of mini chocolate chips & immediately turned the oven to preheat! LOL The last time I made these little gems was a couple of years ago. We had some friends over for dinner & after the meal I was wanting a dessert but hadn't planned one because we were trying to be good! (P'shaw - like THAT ever works! LOL). Anyway earlier that day at the store I had bought a bag of cinnamon chips & saw a recipe on the bag for Cinnamon Crescents, so I went right to work & 15 minutes later we were enjoying the dessert we didn't have the willpower to avoid. They were really, really good! I figured anything that is good with cinnamon is GREAT with chocolate, right? Surely you all agree! LOL So I made these today - I hope you enjoy! I know we did!

The ingredients don't get any easier than this!


Crescent rolls & chocolate chips (I prefer mini chips for stuff like this).


Unroll your dough into the little triangles & put 2-3 teaspoons of chips at the end. Resist the urge to heap your spoonfuls - you don't want too much in there. Yes, there is such a thing as too much chocolate! I've been there! LOL


Roll them up, sealing the edges to make sure your ships stay put.


Stick 'em on a baking sheet & pop them into the oven - according to the directions on your rolls. Mine were 10 minutes at 375.


Once they come out you can just dig in or, if you have enough self control you can melt some of your chips & drizzle it back & forth across the tops.



SOOOOO good! These are best warm - the dough is still soft & the filling is nice & melty smooth. Don't get me wrong, room-temp is good too, the dough is just stiffer & the chocolate will harden back up!

Go make these!!

Chocolate Crescents:

1 roll of crescent dough
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Unroll the dough into triangles. Place 2-3 teaspoons of chips at the short edge. Roll up, sealing the edges to contain the chips. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Drizzle tops with additional melted chips. Serve warm.

Sick Day Flash Back! - Spaghetti Sauce

Hey guys. I have to apologize for the drought on my blog! I've had a house full of sick kids (and all the extra laundry that comes from *that* kind of sick in the middle of the night!) topped off by getting the bug myself. So, as we finally turn a corner towards being well again it's time to get the house back in order! I hope you enjoy a peek back at a favorite I posted in the early days of my blog! I promise - I'll make it back into the kitchen this week!!

Spaghetti Sauce:

I make spaghetti sauce once a year - and when I make it, I go big! I made enough today for 14 dinners & my freezer is now full & ready to serve us a tasty, preservative-free, QUICK dinner on the nights where I've either forgotten to thaw any meat or am craving a baked spaghetti.... like we had tonight! You could make this as a single batch, but really, it's just as easy to double it, triple it, or, in my case times-5 it!! LOL

Here are your ingredients:

Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, bell peppers, parsley, lots of spices & some ground beef. Generally speaking I'm not brand specific about many things, but I think Contadina is the best sauce to use in this.

Dice up your parsley, garlic, onions & bell peppers. The size you cut them is the size your chunks will be so if you don't like big pieces of onion/peppers be sure to go for a finer dice.


Next, just pour everything - except the ground beef - into the pot. Or, as Rachael Ray would say, everyone goes into the hot tub together! LOL Don't forget the spices!!


Bring that to a boil over high heat, then cover & reduce the heat to low. Simmer it for an hour, stirring once or twice. About a half hour into it you should get your beef browning.


Then when the hour is up add it to the pot. I mentioned I "times-5'd" this recipe... perhaps I should have just times-4'd it!! LOL I had to pull a little liquid out of the pot to fit all the meat! (This pic is just the first scoop!)


If you think it smelled good simmering without the meat wait 'til you get a whiff of it with the meat! Divine!

Now cover it again & let it go another 20-30 minutes.

MMMMmmmmmmm......


DO YOU SMELL THAT!!!???

Spaghetti Sauce

2 cups canned diced tomatoes
2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 small bay leaves
1 - 1 1/2 pounds ground beef

In a stock pot combine all ingredients except for the beef. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low & let simmer, covered, for an hour.

Crumble beef in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until fully cooked - no pink remaining. Drain the fat & add to the pot. Cover & simmer an additional 20-30 minutes.

Evil Chicken Dinner (A Sweet Heat Chicken)

How do you feel about bacon? OK - dumb question, I know. But what about bacon grease? You good to cook with it? I'll be honest - it skeeves me out a little bit (Paula Deen would be so disappointed in me!) I'm not really sure why - it just does. But this recipe sounded so delicious that I had to get over it & give it a try! The honesty? It was really good. Had great flavor! However, I didn't love the slippery feel the bacon grease left in my mouth so I think next time we try this I'll drain off nearly all of the bacon grease - maybe leave 1 tablespoon in the pan. I might even just drain it all & compensate with a little water or something. We'll see! You can play with it & see what you like. Hubby & the kids didn't seem to mind it at all so if you're not weird like me you might just be fine to serve this as-is!

Here's what we're working with:


Super basic stuff - bacon, chicken, brown sugar & chili powder.

Cut your bacon & chicken up into bite-sized pieces.


Throw the bacon into a skillet & cook it until just about done.


Do not drain off the fat; add the chicken & chili powder.


Cook that, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
Add the brown sugar (& a little water, if necessary). Stir it around & cook until it is all incorporated & the sauce begins to thicken. Keep an eye on it, though - you don't want your sugar to burn or turn to toffee! Call it done after maybe 4-5 minutes.




Serve it up over some rice & enjoy!

Evil Chicken Dinner (A Sweet Heat Chicken):

1 pound bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

3 TBsp chili powder

1 cup brown sugar

up to 1/2 c. water as needed

cooked rice

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until nearly done. Don't drain. Stir in chicken & chili powder. Cook until cooked through. Add sugar & cook until dissolved & sauce begins to thicken, about 4-5 minutes. Be careful once the sugar is added not to let it turn to toffee. Add water to thin the sauce, but keep in mind the sauce is more of a coating. Serve over hot rice.

Source: Mandy's Recipe Box

Wordless Wednesday - Snow Day

(We got a lot of snow this past week - this photo was taken a little farther up the mountain near the Kirkwood ski area. They got almost 10 feet in 1 week - we only got about 2!)

Cream Cheese Brownies

Someone made a request! Can I just tell you that I LOVED getting a request! She was hoping I could come up with some really great cream cheese brownies. She didn't give me a lot of detail about what she liked in a cream cheese brownie - so I kind of just guessed & came up with what I thought would be yummy. Brownies fall into 2 categories for me - fudgy or cakey. And then the richness of the chocolate is another scale you can slide around on. These fall into the cakey texture with a good mild chocolate flavor that won't leave you with a toothache! LOL I still may play around with another recipe to see if I can get a fudgier brownie - but until then these are definitely worth some attention!

Here are the ingredients:


Oil, Sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, salt, baking cocoa, cream cheese, butter, milk.

First up we'll make the cream cheese filling (because if you make the brownie batter first it'll stiffen up quite a bit as it rests for you to make the filling!)

Take 1 of the eggs, softened cream cheese (just at room temperature), butter, sugar, flour, vanilla & milk - all in the quantities listed for the filling.


Blend it up!


Now just set that aside for a minute while we make our brownies.

Mix the first 4 brownie ingredients in a mixer.



In a separate bowl whisk together the next 4 ingredients.


Carefully pour that into the mixing bowl. Remember that cocoa takes a little effort to incorporate so you might want to drape a kitchen towel around the mixer bowl to avoid a dust cloud of cocoa!


So now your batter & filling are both ready to dance a little dance & make a little magic! Pour half the brownie batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Top with all of the cream cheese filling.


Plop the rest of the brownie batter over the top of the cream cheese. Don't worry too much about getting it perfect - just try to be mostly even.


Grab a butter knife & drag it slowly back & forth to create swirls - but don't go too deep - you don't want to get into the bottom batter - jut the top 2 layers.


Bake at 325 for 50-55 minutes or until a 'done-checker' comes out clean. As you can tell by this picture I used a butter knife today (rather than a tooth pick that would have avoided making a big crack in the top! Oh well...)


Ta da!! Now just let them cool for a bit then cut in to squares!


Yummm.... Ah. Good stuff! Cakey, decadent looking brownies that aren't super rich. Just the perfect amount of sweet to satisfy a craving - and not too much sweet so that you can only eat an inch before needing to be done!! LOL You can eat a big one of these!


DIG IN!

Cream Cheese Brownies:

Brownies:

1 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

Cream cheese filing:

1 8-oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
5 TBsp butter or margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar, heaped
2 TBsp flour, heaped
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBsp milk

Blend all ingredients for the filling in a mixing bowl until smooth. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, blend first 4 ingredients for the brownies. in a separate bowl whisk together remaining 4 brownie ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the wet batter & blend thoroughly.

Pour half the brownie batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Top with all the cream cheese filling. Top with remaining brownie batter. Using a butter knife, slowly drag left to right to create swirls.

Bake at 325 for 50-55 minutes.

Sweet Corn Tomalito

Tom-a-WHAT!!?? Tomalito. It's a sweet corn bread pudding type thing. Have you ever been to dinner at Chevy's Fresh Mex? Chances are your meal came with a little yellow scoop of corn *stuff* on the edge of your plate. THAT, my dear, is tomalito! And it's awesome. And it's quite easy to recreate at home. Wanna try!!??

This is what you'll need:

Corn (either a drained can or thawed from the freezer), corn meal, corn flour (masa harina), margarine, milk, sugar, salt, baking powder & water.

First up - you're gonna mix your softened margarine, corn flour & sugar in an 8x8 dish.


Once that looks like a fluffy paste set it aside. Now grab a blender & mix 1 cup of the corn, the water & the corn meal. Don't worry about getting this totally smooth - just blend it together until it's all mixed in.


Pour this into your 8x8 pan with the sugar/flour paste & mix it up.


Once it's blended together add in the rest of the stuff - the other cup of corn, the milk, baking powder & salt.


Here it is all mixed up & ready to cook. Eww. I know - looks pretty gross, doesn't it!!?


From here, I think the traditional way to cook it would be to tightly cover it in plastic wrap & set it on top of a boiling pot of water to steam it ... for FIFTY minutes. Do you have an hour to worry about a side dish!!? Not usually.

Pop it into the microwave on defrost/30% power for about 7 minutes. Then, without opening the microwave, give it another 4 minutes on full power. Hello!!?? 11 minutes instead of 50!? Yes, please & thank you!

When it's done there will still be a wet spot in the middle - but if it's bigger than about a silver dollar give it another minute on full power.


Fluff it with a fork.


Scoop it up & enjoy! It's sweet & light & SO wonderful! This is just about the best thing you can do with a can of corn!

Sweet Corn Tomalito:

5 TBsp margarine, softened
1/4 cup masa harina (corn flour)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups whole kernal corn
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp milk

In an 8x8 pan combine softened margarine, corn flour & sugar. Set aside.

In a blender mix 1 cup of corn, cornmeal & water until combined - but it doesn't need to be smooth. Add this to the sugar/flour mixture and stir well. Add all remaining ingredients (don't forget the remaining cup of corn!) and give another good stir.

Microwave at 30% power (defrost) for 7 minutes. go another 4-5 minutes at full power. When it's done a wet spot no larger than a silver dollar will be in the middle.

Stir/fluff with a fork & serve!