Greek Easter Bread
I made this for Easter dinner with a few alterations for the bread maker.  Right now my kids are thoroughly enjoying the leftovers as french toast for breakfast.  VERY good bread, slightly sweet, plenty of flavor!  Just change the order of ingredients according to your breadmaker's directions, remove the dough and pick up with the original directions with braiding and rising.  Original recipe from Cooking Light.

Greek Easter Bread

1 teaspoon whole allspice

1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick

1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)

Dash of salt

Dash of sugar

2 packages dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons each)

4 3/4 cups bread flour, divided

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons butter

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon water

1 large egg yolk

Preparation

Place allspice and cinnamon in a spice or coffee grinder, and process until finely ground. Set aside.



Combine water, dash of salt, dash of sugar, and yeast in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Let stand for 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to yeast mixture, stirring until well combined. Let stand 20 minutes.



Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in allspice mixture. Add yeast mixture to butter mixture; stir with a whisk until well combined. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt. Add 3 1/2 cups flour, about 1 cup at a time, stirring until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).



Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press 2 fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)



Divide dough into 3 equal portions, shaping each portion into a 14-inch-long rope. Place ropes lengthwise on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray (do not stretch); pinch ends together at one end to seal. Braid ropes; pinch loose ends to seal. Lightly coat dough with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled in size.



Preheat oven to 350°.



Combine 1 tablespoon water and egg yolk, stirring with a whisk. Brush half of yolk mixture over loaf. Let stand for 5 minutes. Repeat procedure with the remaining yolk mixture. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

Atomic Buffalo Turds

Yeah, I know the name sounds.....intriguing.  But we were invited to a party last night and were asked to bring a dish.  So we made these.  Hollowed out jalapeno halves stuffed with cream cheese, a little smokie, and wrapped in bacon, then smoked.

We used Jack Daniels mesquite wood chips in our smoker and were not impressed.  I think we'll make them this way next time...they are definitely worth another try!

18-20 jalapenos
2 blocks cream cheese (any fat content)
cayenne and paprika to taste
1-2 drops liquid smoke
1 package Hillshire Farms Little Smokies
2 lbs.thick cut bacon, cut in half and very lightly browned
Raspberry chipotle glaze

Special equipment: broiler pan or a rack set over a roasting pan, toothpicks, foil for easy clean up

Cut the tops off the jalapenos, then slice lengthwise.  Remove as much of the seeds and membranes desired.  (We removed all of it and it had ZERO kick, negating the "atomic" protion...big mistake!) 

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, cayenne, paprika and liquid smoke to taste(you can also use a spicy barbecue rub, chipotle chili powder, or minced/pureed canned chipotles in adobo sauce to taste; if using chipotle powder or sauce, omit liquid smoke).  Using a knife, fill jalapenos with 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture, then top with little smokie.  Wrap a slice of bacon around the jalapeno and secure with a toothpick.

Place on a baking sheet/broiler pan and bake at 300 degrees for about a hour, maybe longer if the bacon does not appear browned.  (Bacon will not cook to a crisp texture, but it should be browned).  Brush with raspberry chipotle glaze and return to oven for another 20-30 minutes.  Serve warm, with additional glaze on the side.

Ms. Helen's Halibut Chowder

I got this recipe from my co-worker Helen.  I've had her version several times and always enjoyed it.  She also makes it with salmon and it is equally good!  I altered the recipe a little bit, sauteing the veggies first and adding some seasonings, and my husband said, "This is REALLY good!"

2 T butter
6 strips bacon, chopped
1 c diced carrot
1 c diced celery
1 c diced onion
1 lb (or more) halibut, chopped into 1/2 to 1" pieces
4 c milk (any variety, I suggest 2% but will try skim next time)
2 8-oz blocks cream cheese (I used reduced fat, and do not recommend fat free)
30 oz total cream of potato soup
15 oz cream of mushroom soup
1 can sweet corn, drained
Additional seasonings (sorry, I didn't measure): salt, pepper, thyme, paprika, cayenne and Old Bay seasoning)

Melt butter in a large saute pan.  Add chopped bacon, stirring occasionally, until browned and slightly crispy.  Add the carrots, stirring occasionally, until slightly tender.  Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.  Add halibut and cook until flaky.  Remove from heat.

In a large pot, add milk and cream cheese, stirring to blend.  Put over medium heat and stir until cheese has melted.  Add soups.  DO NOT add water.  Whisk ingredients together, bringing to  a simmer.  Let simmer for 5 minutes.  Add reserved halibut mixture and corn and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add up to 1/2 cup water if desired to thin consistency.  Serve hot.

(As for the seasonings, I added salt, pepper, and thyme to the veggies as they were cooking.  I also added the same seasoning to the milk mixture as it was cooking.  I added the same seasonings once it was all put together and simmering, as well as maybe 1 tsp cayenne and 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning.)

Chicken Larb?  Sounds funny, but it is actually quite good!  Use any type of curry sauce you like, we used mild curry sauce because it was what we had on hand, and it had good curry flavor without any heat.  In consideration of time, we used ground turkey meat, which may have had more fat (dark meat), so we look forward to trying it with chicken breast.  We served it on tortilla shells so the kids would eat it, and we all really enjoyed it!  Found on Cooking Light's web site. 

Chicken Larb


Other Time: 27 minutes minutes

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 filled cabbage leaves)
2 tablespoons red curry paste

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/3 cup chopped English cucumber

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

8 cabbage leaves

Thai chile paste (optional)

1. Combine curry paste, chicken, and salt in a food processor; process until smooth. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until done, stirring to crumble. Remove pan from heat; stir in cucumber and next 3 ingredients (through juice). Place 2 cabbage leaves on each of 4 plates; divide chicken mixture evenly among leaves. Serve with chile paste, if desired.
CALORIES 174 ; FAT 4.9g (sat 0.6g,mono 2.6g,poly 1.3g); CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 29mg; CARBOHYDRATE 4.1g; SODIUM 507mg; PROTEIN 26.7g; FIBER 0.3g; IRON 1mg
Cooking Light, JANUARY 2011

S'More pancakes
These are as sweet as the name sounds...definitely a KID pancake.  I tried a bite and it was too much for me, but they might not be bad with just syrup.  My kids said they were awesome though!  I got this recipe from my friend Heather at Out of the Box Into the Kitchen, who got it from Sweet Luvin' In the Kitchen

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/4 cups milk

2 eggs

2 tbsp oil

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Marshmallow Syrup


1 cup marshmallow fluff

1/4 cup HOT water

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients and stir to combine.

Place batter onto hot, greased griddle. Sprinkle on a few chocolate chips. When bubbles start to form on the top, flip and continue to cook until browned.

To make syrup, combine fluff and hot water until soup. Drizzle over pancakes.

My birthday cake!

This cake starts out easy with a boxed cake mix.  The mousse is wonderful, although it is a bit of work.  But totally worth it in the end.  Even Rob loved it!  This one came from myrecipes.com.  I had to alter it a bit because we only had one pint of whipping cream, but it turned out fine.  Very moist and even better the second day!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse Cake






Yield: 1 (8-inch) cake or 8 parfaits





1 (18.25-ounce) package devil's food cake mix without pudding

2 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided

1 (10-ounce) package peanut butter morsels

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Garnish: chopped roasted peanuts



Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour into 2 lightly greased 8-inch round cakepans. Bake according to package directions. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely.



Combine 2/3 cup whipping cream and peanut butter morsels in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until morsels melt and mixture is smooth; remove saucepan from heat. Stir in vanilla extract, and cool 25 minutes.



Beat 1 1/3 cups whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Stir one-third whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Fold into remaining whipped cream. Spread between cake layers; cover and chill.



Bring remaining 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Add chocolate morsels; remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Stir until morsels melt and mixture is smooth.



Pour glaze over cake; garnish, if desired. Serve warm, or chill and serve at room temperature.



Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mousse Parfaits: Cut cooled cake layers into cubes. Layer 8 Parfait glasses evnly with two-thirds peanut butter mixture, cake cubes, and half of cocolate mixture. Top with remaining peanut butter mixture and chocolate mixture; sprinkle each parfait with chopped peanuts, if desired.

This recipe came from Bon Appetit in 2006.  We tried it once and we amazed at how good it was!  Obviously it made it into our "repeat" cookbook.  We don't make it often because it's rather time consuming.  But if you make the sauces ahead (and there are instructions for making ahead) it actually throws together rather quickly come dinner time!  We haven't made any changes to this recipe so the credit goes fully to Bon Appetit magazine.  This a definite "company" dish...go ahead and cook this for your boss, you just might get that promotion!


Pretzel-Crusted Pork Chops with Orange-Mustard Sauce Bon Appétit
September 2006
Grouse Mountain Grill

Crushed pretzels make a better-than-breadcrumb crust.

Yield: Makes 8 servings

1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar

2 oranges

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 large eggs

2 cups crushed pretzel sticks (about 5 ounces)

8 1-inch-thick center-cut pork rib chops

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided

Simmer balsamic vinegar in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 10 minutes. Transfer to small pitcher. DO AHEAD: Balsamic reduction can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Using vegetable peeler, remove peel from oranges (orange part only) in long strips. Slice peel lengthwise into very thin strips. Place peel in heavy small saucepan and add enough cold water to cover peel by 1 inch. Bring to boil; strain. Repeat 2 more times. Return peel to same saucepan. Add 3/4 cup water and sugar. Boil until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Drain. DO AHEAD: Candied orange peel can be made 2 days ahead. Place in small bowl, cover, and refrigerate.

Mix cream, mustard, and 2 tablespoons candied orange peel in heavy small saucepan. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and cook until sauce is reduced to 1 cups, about 12 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

Place flour in shallow bowl. Whisk eggs to blend in another shallow bowl. Spread crushed pretzels on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Working with 1 pork chop at a time, press 1 side of chop into flour, dip floured side only into eggs, then press into pretzels, coating 1 side only. Transfer to baking sheet, coated side up. Repeat with remaining pork chops, flour, eggs, and pretzels. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in each of 2 large ovenproof skillets over medium-high heat. Add 4 pork chops to each skillet, coated side down, and cook until brown, about 2 minutes. Turn chops over and transfer both skillets to oven. Roast until pork is cooked through and thermometer inserted horizontally into chop registers 140°F, about 10 minutes. Let chops stand 5 minutes.

Rewarm sauce. Spoon 2 tablespoons sauce onto each plate and place chop atop sauce. Drizzle with balsamic reduction and garnish with remaining candied orange peel.