Thursday, September 30, 2010

Spicy Oven Fried Chicken

I've been making this recipe of and on for a couple of years now. It is delicious. The use of buttermilk in the marinade makes is very juicy, while the breading makes it crunchy on the outside. It does have a little kick to it, so if you don't like things spicy, I would decrease the hot sauce and cayenne pepper by half. One of the reasons I make this so infrequently, is because I forget to marinate it! I really like to marinate it overnight, but I'm terrible at recipes that require me to do that. They keep getting pushed off until the next month, but I'm happy to say I made this one this month. I hope you enjoy it!


Spicy Oven Fried Chicken
from Southern Living

Ingredients:
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon hot pepper sauce
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 Tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk buttermilk, hot sauce, mustard, garlic, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, flour, thyme, paprika, cayenne, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, mix well.  Remove chicken from marinade, place in seasoned bread crumb mixture. Turn to coat. Place chicken on a baking rack and let sit for 20 minutes so that crumbs will adhere better. If you don't have time for this step, just omit it.

Meanwhile, put remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a rimmed baking sheet, and place in oven; heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. After about 5 minutes, place chicken on heated baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until crispy, golden and baked through.

This recipe has been linked to Prairie Story's Recipe Swap Thursday.


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A Wine Lover's Cake


Chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream - I wonder what wine pairs well with that? 

Elmo!


Furry, lovable, tasty... Elmo!

Sweet Treat Tuesday- Vanilla Bean Dinosaur Train Cake

Another one of my boys birthdays has come and gone. Saturday, we celebrated my oldest turning 4 years old. Where does the time go?? We had a Dinosaur Train themed birthday party. If you have kids, and you've never seen this show, you should, it's very cute. I attempted the cake again this go around, like I did here in July for my youngest son's birthday party. It turned out pretty well. This one was definitely a little harder, but it was all worth it to see the excitement in my 4 year old. I used a vanilla bean cupcake recipe for the cake, butter cream frosting, and marshmallow fondant for the accents. Since the cake was a "cupcake" recipe, it was actually a little too much for my cake pans, I yet again had a mess on the floor of my oven. But, I have pretty short cake pans, I think that if you have at least 2 inches or higher cake pans (9 inch) then you would be just fine. If not, you may want to remove a 1/2 cup or so of the batter, making sure not to fill your cake pans too high.

Our Dinosaur Train cake!
 Mr. Conductor
 volcano



Vanilla Bean Cake
adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
3 cups cake flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
16 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (If you don't have unsalted butter, just omit the salt.)
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray the inside of your cake pans with nonstick spray with flour in it.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together and set aside. Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.

Add the sugar to the butter mixture, about ¼ cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Combine the buttermilk and the vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Do not fill more than half full or you may have a mess on your hands. Bake 18-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Frost cooled cakes as desired.


Monday, September 27, 2010

Mad for Plaid


October leaves are lovely
They rustle when I run
Sometimes I make a heap
And jump in them for fun!

And sometimes I just put them on a cake... Devil's Food chocolate with plaid buttercream design.  Makes me think of cool weather and fuzzy sweaters!

Corporate Cakes


These were made to celebrate a company's 30th anniversary.

VW Campervan cake


This cake was made to celebrate an 18th birthday. The recipient loves VW campervans!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Vegetable Fried Rice


Ingredients:

For Rice:
  • Rice 2 cup
  • Lime juice 1 Tsp
  • Water 3 1/2 cup
  • Oil 2 Tbsp
  • Spring onion chopped
  • Mushroom 1/2 cup
  • Capsicum 1 small
  • Cabbage 1/4 cup
  • Carrot 1/4 cup
  • Celery chopped
  • Beans 1/4 cup
  • Ginger 1 Tbsp chopped
  • Garlic 1 Tbsp chopped
  • Soy sauce 1 Tbsp
  • Chilli sauce 1/2 Tbsp
  • Tomato sauce 1/2 Tbsp
  • Salt
  • Oil
To prepare rice, wash the rice and drain it for 10 to 15 mins. Add 1 tbsp of oil, salt and 1 tsp lime juice into 3 1/2 cup water and boil it well. Fry the rice in little ghee or oil in low flame. When it starts to crack, pour the boiling water into the rice. Cover it and cook well. When it becomes void of moisture content, remove the rice and keep it aside. Allow it to cool.

Heat oil in a kadai and add chopped ginger and garlic. When it turns light brown colour add beans, carrot and celery and saute well till its soft and crispy. Then add the sauces. Combine well and add celery, mushroom, capsicum and cabbage. Cook it in high flame for few minutes and add the cooked rice and spring onion. Mix well and remove it from fire.

Notice

Hi all,

Just a quick note to let all of you know that I am fully booked until December 2010. Thanks for all the emails and requests but I can only reopen orders in December. Any inconveniences caused is very much regretted.

Hope to be able to create something for all of u in the near future!

Thank you for the continuous support :)

xoxox
ween

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sausage and Cheese Wontons

A couple of weeks ago my mom and I prepared some desserts and appetizers for our family reunion. This was one of the appetizers we made. It came from a collection of recipes her coworkers put together many years ago. They were a big hit at the reunion, and everyone raved about them! Make these for your next party!

Sausage and Cheese Wontons
from Central Office Recipe Collection

Ingredients:
2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
2 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 small can chopped black olives
1 bottle ranch dressing (regular size)
1 pound sausage
1 pack of Wonton wrappers (near the bags of lettuce usually)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray muffin pan(s) with nonstick cooking spray. Place 1 wonton in each cup of the muffin tin. Place in oven for about 6 minutes until wontons begin to brown. Remove from pan, and finish with remaining wontons.

Meanwhile, brown sausage and drain excess grease off. Place sausage and remaining ingredients in a bowl. Mix together until all ingredients are incorporated. Once the wontons are browned, spoon mixture into each shell. Microwave wontons for about 1 minute, or until cheese has melted. Alternatively, you could place them back in the oven for a minute to warm mixture and melt cheese. Just be careful not to burn wontons. Serve warm.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Family Tree (Stumps!)



Six sweet siblings + six cute tree stumps = enough cake for an entire crowd at a fun family reunion!

Each "branch" of this family has it's own confection for the celebration.   Flavors include almond cake with amaretto filling, fudge marble cake with raspberry buttercream filling, and vanilla cake with caramel filling - and all are iced in chocolate buttercream "bark."






Toes in the Sand


A sweet treat for a girl's weekend at the lake... jumbo fudge marble cupcakes with Kahlua buttercream.

S'mores, Anyone?


Rocket is ready for the campfire with his marshmallow on a stick.  Now all we need is a box of graham crackers and a Hershey's bar... or we could just cut into the cake.  It's chocolate fudge with Oreos and cream filling. 

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Chicken Divan

Here is another meal I prepared when trying to use ingredients I already had on hand. It's simple and definitely a comfort casserole. I like the added broccoli in this dish. This was good, but the stove top chicken casserole is still my favorite chicken casserole for now.


Chicken Divan

Ingredients:
1 pkg. frozen broccoli
3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup (substitute here)
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs, soaked in 1 T. melted butter

Directions:
Cook broccoli and drain. Arrange cooked broccoli in a baking dish. Spread chicken on top. In a bowl, mix together soup, mayo, and lemon juice. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with cheese. Combine bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over chicken. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes covered, 5 minutes uncovered.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Tooth Doctor


A birthday cake for - you guessed it - a dentist!  My favorite part of this cake is the "toothpaste" around the base.

Merry Christmas 2010 greetings

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