Thursday, November 24, 2011

Andy's Stuffing


1 Thanksgiving Cornbread Recipe crumbled
1 cup celery
2 onions
1 carrot
4 eggs
biscuits
cornbread
2-6 oz. bags of toasted baguette

fresh rosemary
fresh tyme
fresh parsley
fresh sage
Turkey giblets, liver & hearts sauted and chopped
3 - 42 oz. cans of Chicken Broth
braised turkey neck, removed the turkey meat
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 stick butter
black pepper

Saute pepper, rosemary, tyme, parsley, sage, celery, carrot & onions in butter until vegetables are soft. Add in chicken broth and all the turkey meats and continue to heat for about 5 minutes.

Combine all the breads in a bowl. Add the liquid and vegetable mixture. After the stuffing has cooled slightly add eggs and half & half.

Butter a cast iron skillet and place in preheated 500 degree oven. When the skillet has warmed, remove it from the oven and place stuffing in the skillet. Adjust the heat to 350 degrees and cook for 20 to 25 minutues or until set. Turn the oven on broil and brown the top.

Now, fend off the tasters. Everyone will be wanting to pick at the crispy creation!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Corn Bread Stuffing

Corn bread
2 T. Bacon grease
1 c. Self-rising corn meal
1/2 c. Self-rising flour
3/4 c. Buttermilk
2 eggs
Mix ingredients and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Dressing
1 recipe of cornbread
4 slices stale bread (cubed)
1 stick butter
2 c. Chopped celery
1 lg. Onion chopped
1 t. Salt
2 t. Poultry seasoning
1/2 t. Pepper
7 c. Chicken broth

Mix ingredients together. Bake at 350 for 50 min.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

German Chocolate Cake with Pecan-Coconut Frosting AND Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting


Pecan-Coconut Frosting

4 large egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and brought to room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups (7 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 c. cocoa
8 oz. package cream cheese
1 lb. confectioners sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 t. vanilla


Let cream cheese and butter warm to room temperature, then cream thoroughly and add vanilla. Add cocoa. Gradually beat in sugar. For good spreading consistency, frosting can be thickened by adding additional sugar or thinned by adding milk.

Cake:
Solid vegetable shortening, for greasing the pans
Flour for dusting the pans
1 pkg. (18.25 oz) plain German chocolate cake mix
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. veg. oil
3 large eggs
1 t. vanilla

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350.
For the pecan-coconut frosting, spread the pecans and coconut on baking sheet, and toast in oven for 7 minutes, or until the pecans deepen in color and the coconut turns golden brown. Remove baking sheet from oven and set aside.

Place evaporated milk, sugar butter, egg yolks, and vanilla in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until thickenev and golden brown in color, 10-12 minutes. Stir in the toasted pecans and coconut. Cool to room remperature and spreading consistency.

Generously grease 2 9-inch round cake pans with solid veg. shortening, then dust with flour. Set pans aside.

Place cake mix, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in mixing bowl. Blend with mixer on low speec for 1 minute. Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down sides if needed. The batter should look well combined. Divide the batter equally into the prepared pans, smoothing it outh with rubber spatula. Place pans in oven side by side.

Bake cakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with finger, 32-34 minutes. Remove pans from oven and place on wire reacks to cool for 10 min. Run a dinner kinife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto rack, then invert again so that cakes are cooling right side up. Allow to cool completely, 30 minutes more.

Place one cake layer, right side up, on serving platter. Spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top of first layer and frost the top with remaining frosting.

Then frost sides with chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Can't wait!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Saltine Toffee Bark



Ingredients
40 saltines
1 cup butter, cubed
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 package (8 ounces) milk chocolate English toffee bits

Directions
Line a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with heavy-duty foil. Arrange saltines in a single layer on foil; set aside.
In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Pour evenly over crackers.
Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until bubbly. Immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Allow chips to soften for a few minutes, then spread over top. Sprinkle with toffee bits. Cool.
Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set. Break into pieces. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 2 pounds.

Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies


(from Nordstrom Cafe)

1 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla extract
2 c. AP flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
Brown Sugar Frosting
Pecan Halves

Beat butter at medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, mixing well. Add egg and vanilla; beat well.

Combine flour, soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well after each addition. Stir in chopped pecans. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls; place on ugreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for
10-12 minutes. Cook on wire reacks, and spread Brown Sugar Frosting over tops. Top each cookie with a pecan half.
Yield: 2 dozen

Brown Sugar Frosting

1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. half-and-half
1 T. butter
1 1/2 to 1 2/3 c. sifted powdered sugar

Combine brown sugar and half-and-half in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil; boil 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter.

Add 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, and beat at medium speed of an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add remaining powdered sugar to desired spreading consistency. Yield 1 1/3 cups.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Cookies and Cream Brownies




*One batch brownies with chopped up Oreos added. (around 12 Oreos)
(20 oz. brownie mix)

*Cookies & Cream Frosting, doubled :)

2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. heavy cream, plus a little extra
approx. 8 oreos, crushed well
Combine all frosting ingredients except the oreos and beat with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. You may need to add a bit more heavy cream to get a spreadable consistency. Mix in crushed oreos (more or less). Spread frosting evenly over cooled brownies.

You can fancy these up by topping each bar with an oreo cookie half like I did or you can top the whole thing with ganache thus smothering the “cream” between two layers of chocolate.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Corn Pudding


1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can cream-style corn, undrained
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 (8 oz.) box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

In a 2 quart baking dish, mix together butter, egg, sour cream, muffin mix, salt and pepper. Add corn and mix thoroughly.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.
Serves 8-10