Sunday, December 15, 2013

Easy BBQ Ribs


1 rack of ribs                                                    Rib Rub
1/4 cup pancake syrup                                     1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Peel off tough membrane that covers the bony side of the ribs (use a spoon to start the detachment and peel off). Apply rub to ribs on all sides.
Lay ribs on two layers of foil, shiny side out and meaty side down. Lay two layers of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up to seal. Place on baking sheet and bake for 2-2 1/2 hours or until meat is starting to shrink away from the ends of the bone.

Remove from oven. Heat broiler. Cut ribs into serving sized portions of 2 or 3 ribs. Arrange on broiler pan, bony side up. Brush on sauce. Broil for 1 or 2 minutes until sauce is cooked on and bubbly. Turn ribs over. Repeat on other side. Alternately, you can grill the ribs on your grill to cook on the sauce.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Best Asparagus!

Best Asparagus!
(ellaclaireinspired.com)

1 lb. Asparagus, washed                                                              1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1 Cup Water                                                                                 1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1/2 to 1 Tbs Butter                                                                        2 Tbs. Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt
A Handful of Shredded Parmesan Cheese


First, chop the woody bottoms off of your Asparagus. Put asparagus in a pan wide enough to hold them without bending their heads. They can overlap each other if they need to. Add 1 cup of water and place on high heat on the stove. Cook, covered, on high for 4-6 minutes, depending on the thickness, until asparagus is tender, yet still nice and firm. Carefully shake your spears back and forth halfway through your cook time. You will have all kinds of steam whistling out of the lid. That's ok! When your Asparagus is finished cooking, discard remaining liquid. (you will be sautéing the asparagus a bit more in the next step, so in this step, err on the side of under cooking it so you don't end up with mushy asparagus). Place butter, garlic salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan over your spears, and begin to sauté them over medium high heat until butter is melted and the Parmesan begins to get gooey and lightly browned, but not burned. Some will crust on the pan and you can scrape it off. Trust me, that is the good stuff. Remove from heat and place on a pretty plate. Sprinkle with a handful of shredded Parmesan.

Pumpkin Waffles

Pumpkin Waffles
(http://www.number-2-pencil.com)

        2 cups of all-pupose flour
        3 tablespoons of firmly packed dark brown sugar
        2 teaspoons of baking powder
        1 teaspoon of baking soda
        1 teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
        1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
        1 1/2 cups of milk
        1 cup of canned 100% pure pumpkin
        1 egg yolk plus 3 egg whites
        4 tablespoons of melted cooled butter
        2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar


In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
Combine milk, pumpkin, butter, egg yolk and vinegar in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Add pumpkin mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Gently fold in egg whites.

Use batter immediately in waffle maker.

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Instructions from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
yellow and orange food coloring

Optional:
Sanding sugar, coarse raw sugar, or sprinkles
almond bark or white chocolate, melted

Instructions:
Divide prepared sugar cookie dough into three equal portions.  Leave one as is and color one other portion yellow and another portion orange.
Line a standard loaf pan with plastic wrap.  Gently press layer of uncolored dough into bottom of pan and smooth flat, keeping it at least 1/2-3/4 inches high (you don’t have to use the whole pan if you have a small batch of dough) or larger if desired.  Layer orange dough on top of previous layer and smooth.  Finally layer yellow dough and smooth on top.  Wrap plastic over dough and chill until firm, 30-60 minutes in freezer or 1-2 hours in fridge.  Or you can store the dough in fridge for 2-3 days before baking.
Remove plastic and slice loaf into 1/4 inch slices. Trim top of slice to make straight line.  Cut each slice into triangle shape and dip top side in sugar if desired.  Bake according to sugar cookie directions.  Cool completely and then if desired, dip ends in almond bark or white chocolate and decorate with sprinkles.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Cilantro Lime Chicken Bake


1. Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade (for 4 chicken breasts)
3/4 c vegtable oil                                                      1/2 tsp salt -1/4 tsp black pepper
Juice and zest of 2 limes                                         1/2 C finely chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic -2 tsp sugar
*I put everything in blender and have it mix and chop it

2. Cilantro Lime Rice (See Other Recipe)
(Cilantro Lime Rice)

3. Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
1/4 batch prepared Ranch Buttermilk Dressing             ¼ cup cilantro
1 tomatillo (quartered)                                                            juice of 1 lime
-salt & pepper to taste
*Blend all ingredients in blender and chill for 2 hours before serving.

4. Sour cream for 3rd layer
5. Can of tomatoes, can of black beans, can of corn mixed together

**To create your bake: Layer cilantro lime rice, can mixture, grilled chicken, and sour cream. Cover the top with shredded pepperjack cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until heated through, about 20 min. Then turn on broil until the cheese crisps a little. When serving, drizzle tomatillo dressing on top and ENJOY!


(adapted from http://sugarbabyboutique.blogspot.com/2012/08/cilantro-lime-chicken-rice-bake.html)

Baked Fried Chicken


Place thawed chicken breast tenderloin strips in a bowl of milk. Let soak for 20-30 min. 
Mix in a Gallon Size Ziploc or Large Bowl:  
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 T Season All
3/4 tsp Pepper
1 c. Flour
2 tsp. Paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into a few pieces and place in a 9x13 pan. Melt butter in pre-heated oven.

Spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray the pan, if needed, to make sure that there are no dry spots.

Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. You can either shake the chicken in the bag, until coated, or dip each piece in the bowl until coated.

Place each piece of chicken in the pan.

Cook for 20 min. Turn each piece of chicken and continue cooking for 20 more minutes, or until cooked through.

(This made enough for me to fill a 13x9 pan. There is enough batter for a bigger pan though. I also used some pork tenderloin and it tasted GREAT as well!)

http://thewondertwins.blogspot.com/2011/10/mondays-menu-baked-fried-chicken.html