Simple Coffee Cake

This is a really simple coffee cake that I make a lot on the weekends

¼ cup oil

1 beaten egg

½ cup milk

Combine that in a medium bowl

1 ½ cup flour

¾ cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Combine that and add to the milk mixture. Mix well.

Topping:

¼ cup brown sugar

1 TBS flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 TBS melted butter

½ cup chopped nuts

Pour the milk/flour mixture into greased pie pan or 9x9 square pan. Sprinkle with topping and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Oriental Chicken Noodle Salad

When the girls were here for Beckie's birthday, I cooked a lot of food.  I would say that 75% of what I made came from one of Marguerite Henderson's cookbooks.  I recommended Small Parties to everyone before, however Savor the Memories is like the bible in my kitchen.  My copy is covered in food just the way I like it. You should definitely buy yourself a copy.  (Amazon has it for $10, how can you go wrong!)  So in response to demand (Beckie, Kristin & Joanie).  Here is the recipe for Oriental Noodle Salad.

1 pound linguine cooked and rinsed under cold water 
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast poached and cut into 1 inch pieces (you can also be totally lazy like me and shred a rotisserie chicken)
2 cups frozen peas thawed
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 red pepper, cored and cut into thin strips
4 green onions sliced thin on a diagonal

In a mixing bowl stir all these together.

Dressing (this is also awesome to use if you make a Chinese Chicken Salad)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (I use dry and about and 1/8 teaspoon)
2 to 3 drops hot chili oil
2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds and 2 tablespoons black

Whisk it all together except the sesame seeds  (I have this little salad dressing mixer that Beckie calls my beaker, that I use)  Pour over the pasta, toss and sprinkle the top with the sesame seeds.  Chill before serving. 

Now go buy the book!  

Grilled Potato Salad

If it's a recipe from me, of course it's going to be grilled!

Recipe: Grilled white and sweet potato salad

Chef: Rahman "Rock" Harper, the executive chef of Stratford University

Ingredients

• 2 large waxy potatoes, about 1 pound
• 1 or 2 sweet potatoes, about 1 pound
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon cider or to taste(we used Nakano Roasted Garlic Rice Vinegar)
  
• 1 teaspoon Cajun spice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 bunch scallions, both white and green parts, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Baking Directions

Start a gas or charcoal grill, or heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peel potatoes and cut them into slices 1/2-inch thick.

Toss them with half the olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

Grill potatoes over direct but not-too-hot heat, turning them as they brown.

Potatoes will cook in about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove them as they become tender.

When they are done and fairly cool, toss them with remaining ingredients.

Taste and adjust seasoning and serve.

The salad can be covered and refrigerated.

Bring to room temperature before serving.

Quick Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

These cookies are really bad for you...but so good. Brandon LOVES them. My brother in law, Ray, doesn't like cream cheese but he likes these :). I think you could cut this in half because it makes a lot of cookies.

2 packages of Devil's Food cake mix

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, combine the cake mixes, oil, eggs and chocolate chips. Mix well. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and move to a cookie sheet or wax paper. The cookies should flatten as they cool.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth (sometimes I add some food coloring here). Spread the icing mixture on 1/2 of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies.

This makes about 6 dozen sandwiches and they have to be stored in the refrigerator.

Lasagna

Since I begged Jessie to create a new recipe blog I decided that I should contribute...but MOST of the things I cook come from Jessie's cooking blog :). So I won't have a lot of contributions here but I did realize that I get asked to make this lasagna recipe a lot from my mom and my sister in law Liese.

16 oz Spicy Italian Sausage (you can use plain Italian if you don't like spice)

1 cup chopped onion

3 gloves minced garlic

14 1/2 ounce can of diced tomatoes (undrained)

2 - 8 oz cans of tomato sauce

1 TBSP dried Italian seasoning

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

1-2 cups ready made pasta sauce of choice (ex Ragu)

1/2 box dried lasagna noodles

1 beaten egg

15 oz of ricotta cheese

1 TBSP parsley

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 cups of mozzarella cheese (or more :))

For the sauce:

In a large pan, cook sausage, onion and garlic until the meat is fully cooked. Drain the fat. Stir in the diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, pepper, tomato sauce and prepared sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook covered for at least 15 minutes (stirring occasionally)

For the noodles:

Prepare the noodles per the instructions on the package. Drain well.

For the filling:

Combine the egg, ricotta, Parmesan cheese and parsley.

To assemble, spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Then layer 1/2 of the noodles, then 1/2 the filling, 1/2 of the remaining sauce and top with 2 cups of mozzarella. Repeat those layers again.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving :).

Cous Cous with Vegetables

Joanie enjoying some cous cous and a pedi

Kristin knows that I can't say no to her.  She asked me to start posting some recipes again.  While the girls were all here for Beck's Birthday Weekend, I did some cooking.  I cooked almost exclusively from Marguerite Henderson's cookbooks.  This particular recipe is from Small Parties.  Small Parties is an awesome cookbook because it offers recipes in menus so you aren't trying to decide what to make, you just pick a party.  I would definitely recommend this book.  This cous cous is so good that Joanie messaged me on Facebook after she got home, saying she needed some!

Fregole with veggies 

*I have never been able to find Fregole, so I use Israeli cous cous, don't use the regular little cous cous.  Also I use the olive oil to saute the veggies but I don't add any extra.
 

Cook 1 pound of your cous cous according to the directions.  

3 Tb. olive oil

3 cloves of minced garlic

2 large shallots peeled & diced

1 medium zucchini diced

1 carrot peeled & diced

2 Roma tomatoes diced

1/4 cup diced kalamata olives

4 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

 zest & juice of a lemon

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp pepper

In a medium skillet, heat your olive oil over medium.  Add garlic, shallots, zucchini and carrot.  Saute for 2-3 minutes, stir often.  Add cous cous, tomatoes, olives, raisins, pine nuts, lemon zest, juice, parley, salt and pepper.  (You can add the extra olive oil here if you like)  Toss it all to combine.  This can be served hot or cold.  I prefer it cold myself :)