Big Mac sauce

 

Sauce—mix together
1 cup Hellman’s Mayo (NOT miracle whip)
6 tbsp ketchup
4 tbsp green relish
2 tbsp finely diced onion
1 tsp white sugar.

Cinnamon Apple Cake

Once again, I am on the internet, searching for stuff to cook.  Looks like we may have a winner.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 large apple, peeled and chopped

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Stuff you will need

9" cake pan

Cutting board

Sharpe knife

Mixing bowl

Whisk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs and oil. Add the cinnamon, white and brown sugars, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Fold in the apples and the nuts and pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup

 

A friend of mine at work really loves Butternut Squash Soup.  So I thought I would give it a try.  Tonya said that I can make this again, which is our code for, it's really good.  If she has said, you don't have to make this again, it's code for, it's trash.  Give it to the sea gulls.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
1 (3-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
½ tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
4 cups vegetable broth 
Freshly ground black pepper

Stuff you will need

Stock pot

Cutting board

Knife

Vegetable peeler

Food processor or Blender or Immersion Blender

Directions

Peel and cube the Butternut Squash.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper and sauté until soft, 8 minutes. 

Add the squash and cook until it begins to soften, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add the garlic, sage, rosemary, and ginger. Stir and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant, then add 4 cups of the broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. 

Cook until the squash is tender, 30 minutes.

Let cool slightly and pour the soup into a blender, working in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth. 

If your soup is too thick, add up to 1 cup more broth and blend. 

Season to taste and serve with parsley, and crusty bread.

Jest Soup

 

Pecan Pie Bread Pudding

Seen this on the internet and I said to myself,  "Self", and I said "Yes?", cause I knew it was me that was speaking.

"You are going to have to make this some day".

Ingredients

1 loaf  French bread

2 ½ cup milk

1 cup whipping cream

4 large eggs beaten

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1 ½ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup pecan chopped

Stuff you will need

Mixing bowls various sizes

Cutting board

Bread knife

Fork

Pam cooking spray

8x8 cooking pan

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cube bread then place in a large mixing bowl.

In another mixing bowl, beat eggs, milk, half & half, sugar, salt, and vanilla. 

Pour over the bread and allow to sit 5 to 10 minutes

In another small mixing bowl, using a fork, mix together, softened butter, brown sugar, and pecans. 

Pour half of the bread mixture into a greased 8x8 inch baking pan.

Top with half of the pecan mixture.

Spoon remaining half of the bread mixture over and top with remaining half of the pecan mixture. 

Press everything down into pan. Pan will be really full.

Place pan on a cookie sheet with a 1-inch edge to catch any mixture that may boil over.

Bake for 50 minutes.

The center will be slightly jiggly but will set when cool.

Allow to cool 20 to 30 minutes before serving so that the slices will hold together.

Chicken and Bacon Fried Rice

Have you ever seen a recipe on Facebook, or the internet, and you thought, yup, this will probably taste GREAT!

Ingredients 

2 tablespoons bacon grease, or the oil of your choice, divided

3 eggs beaten

5 cups COLD cooked rice

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce, plus more for serving

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cups cooked chicken, cut up

1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon, about 1 lb bacon

2/3 cup frozen peas

3 green onions sliced thin

optional: kosher salt only as needed.

Directions

Warm a tablespoon of bacon grease, or oil, in a large skillet over medium heat. Swirl the oil to coat the surface of the pan. 

Pour the eggs into the pan and tilt as needed to spread across the skillet. Let the eggs cook for 2-3 minutes and then flip them over. Cook one more minute. Slide the egg out of the skillet onto a cutting board and allow it to cool. Cut into 1/2-inch wide strips and then cut into small pieces.

Add the remaining tablespoon of grease, or oil, to the skillet and increase heat to medium high. Add the rice and stir to coat. Continue stirring and cooking for about 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil. Stir well, to distribute the sauce throughout the rice. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the rice is heated through.

Add the chicken, bacon, and peas. Stir and cook an additional 3-4 minutes, until everything is hot. Add the eggs and green onions to the skillet. Sprinkle with pepper. Stir gently to mix. 

Enjoy!

Butter Chicken

I've never had buttered chicken and I will have to comment when ever I make this.

Ingredients

1 tbsp Olive oil

1/4 cup Grated yellow onion, from one small onion

4 Garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp Grated ginger

2 tbsp Butter

3/4 cup Chicken stock

8 oz Tomato paste

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 ½ tsp Kosher salt

2 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Garam masala

1 tsp Turmeric

2.5 lb Boneless, skinless, cooked, chicken breast, cut up

2 Tbsp Lemon juice

1 Cup Heavy cream

Fresh cilantro and basmati rice for serving

Directions

In a large skillet with a tight fitting lid, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in onions, garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring often, until onions are soft and garlic and ginger are fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in butter, chicken stock, tomato paste, cinnamon, salt, cumin, garam masala and turmeric. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Stir in chicken and stir until coated. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Stir in lemon juice and heavy cream. Return to a simmer and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Serve butter chicken over basmati rice topped with fresh cilantro.

Cream Cheese Brownies

 

These swirled cream cheese brownies taste like two desserts in one – chocolate brownies and cheesecake. 

Rich fudgy brownies with thick swirls of sweet and tangy cream cheese.

Ingredients

Brownie batter:

½ cup unsalted butter, melted, still warm/hot

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup chocolate chips

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Cream cheese mixture:

8 oz block cream cheese, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 large egg white

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Brownie batter:

Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center of the oven. Line an 8×8* pan with foil or parchment paper, leaving a couple inches of overhang on two sides (this will allow you to lift the whole tray of brownies out of the pan for easy removal). 

Grease the foil/parchment.

Combine granulated sugar and hot butter in a large bowl. Stir it briefly then allow it to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. The heat from the butter will begin to dissolve the sugar (this helps make a shiny/crackly crust), the sugar will not fully dissolve. 

After 5 minutes, whisk the butter and sugar vigorously for 30 seconds. Add eggs, water, and vanilla extract, whisking again for about 30 seconds. Tap all the excess batter off the whisk and remove the whisk from the bowl.

Sprinkle cocoa powder, flour, chocolate chips, and salt over the wet ingredients. Use a rubber/silicone spatula or wooden spoon to stir the mixture until it is glossy and well combined.

Pour about two-thirds of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Set aside the remaining batter while you prepare the cream cheese mixture.

Cream cheese mixture:

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in sugar, followed by flour, egg white, and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Be careful not to overbeat.

Using two tablespoons, alternate dropping portions of cream cheese and portions of the reserved brownie batter all of the top of the batter that is in the pan. Use the tip of a sharp knife to swirl the batter together. Don’t swirl too deep; you are mostly just making visible swirls in the top layer of brownie and cream cheese. There will be some chocolate chips in the brownie batter, so if you get stuck swirling just lift your knife and drag it through another spot.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until it is mostly set but there is still a slight jiggle in the cheesecake areas. You can check doneness with a toothpick; moist fudgy crumbs and melted chocolate are OK, just no thin raw brownie batter. 

Be careful not to over bake. If you notice your cheesecake swirls darkening you can loosely cover the baking dish with foil for the last 5 minutes or so. 

Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely (this will take several hours).