Day 2 - the sweet side of bacon

Alright, a day late but I'll double up on posts today. So I promised candied bacon and I have delivered. I decided to try a few different ways, and I'll go through how they were and the opinions on them. First off, when doing candied bacon, always bake it, and preferably bake it on a baking rack. I'm visiting friends and they don't have one so I ended up using the tin foil method. Worked alright, but it ends up a lot more sticky and gooey than I prefer for my candied bacon. Alright, so the first two ways, were just with brown sugar. I used a ton of brown sugar on both sides on one, and a lighter amount of brown sugar on both sides of the other. Both were decent, but the general consensus was that the lighter amount let more bacon flavor come through and was better. It also wasn't as cloyingly sweet.
The second way, was in this syrup/brown sugar/ mustard mixture, which gave it a bit of sweet and spicy and was really good. It was sort of difficult to work with however, as it's so thick and sticky that coating the bacon in it was difficult. I did that in two different amounts as well, but by the end of the baking process you couldn't really tell a difference cause it all just oozed all over. It was tasty though, a taste similar to honey roasted peanuts, and this is a recipe we'll be going back for, to make some other goodies like bacon chocolate chip cookies and such. I'll try the baking rack method too next time and give you an update on how much better that went.
Note: We used maple bacon, which added to the sweetness. If you were to use a thicker cut, peppery bacon, it'd be a whole different story, but if you do, let me know how it goes! That is my personal favorite kind of bacon.

And on to the recipes!

For the brown sugar bacon, not really a recipe needed. just sprinkle some on, depending on how sweet you want it, on both sides. For the super brown sugar one I hid the entirety of the bacon in brown sugar (I love sugar and sweet stuff mmkay?) the other one was a lighter sprinkle over it. Then just lay it on the sheet pan or baking rack and bake at 350 for around 15-20 minutes. If you don't use the baking rack be careful! It really stiffens up after you take it out, so you don't need to have it super crispy or it'll start to burn with all of that sugar.

Now, for the syrupy one. There is an exact recipe but I usually just sorta guess. Don't want a lot of spicy? cut down on those ingredients. Want more? then add more, play with it, have fun. But I'll give you the measurements here in case you wanna go by the book (I just didn't want to candy 1 lb of bacon!)
 1lb good quality sliced bacon
2 T pure maple syrup (they recommended against pancake syrup, I used it and had no problems, wasn't going to splurge on special syrup for bacon)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 t dijon mustard
1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, and then add the bacon, mixing with your hands to get the best coverage. It's not going to cover it completely and it's going to seem a bit dry but that's how it's supposed to be. If you want more, make more of the mixture. Lay it out on the baking sheet and let it bake for 15-20 minutes, it should get very crispy, but if you don't have the baking rack don't worry about it because it won't get THAT crispy without it. Well enjoy! Try different combinations, let me know how it goes, experiment :) I only used a few slices of bacon at a time so if something didn't turn out I didn't waste the whole batch. Have a recipe to share? Comment and let me know :)

30 days of bacon kick off!

So I'd been wanting to kick start this blog back up, but was struggling through a few different ideas. In the end I decided to go with bacon! Who doesn't like bacon? Bacon recipes flood every online place from pinterest to facebook, from the normal to the insane. So I thought, why not try some of these out? I went through and compiled some lists from the savory to the sweet to the crazy out there ones, and challenged myself to do 30 days worth of the recipes, so here goes!

To start off with, I wanted something fairly simple, different ways to cook bacon. Typically, in my family, we would just cook it on a stove top, but I'd seen things for frying and baking that I wanted to try out! There were two different ways to bake the bacon. One is lifting it off the cooking surface, which definitely reduces the amount of grease, and gets you crisper bacon, however it doesn't really keep that bacony- look or texture, it ends up really flat, straight and fairly dry
. If you want a healthier version, try that! If you just want a quick easy way to cook bacon, I'd suggest the other baking method. This one you line a baking sheet for easy clean up, and the bacon has the chance to sorta wrinkle up and stays nice and moist. Also watch your baking times like crazy! I went on the short end of them and ended up overcooking it. Make sure you check it every couple minutes. Finally, there's deep frying. Definitely not the healthy version, but man does it make some crispy flavorful bacon! Best way to do that is to thread it on a skewer so it holds some shape and submerge it for only a minute or two. No special recipe for that one, so this is all I'll have for it, I don't have a picture either. My favorite method would have to be the second baking one I'd say, I personally don't like terribly crisp bacon.

Alright, so for the kind of recipes. The first method requires a baking rack, that you place on top of a baking sheet and lay your bacon on. Then you simply pop it in the oven for roughly 15-20 minutes at 325. But remember, check it often! Nothing worse than burnt bacon :(

The second method you can use tin foil or parchment paper. I feel like tin foil produces better results but that's partly cause I hate buying parchment paper cause I so infrequently use it! This time, put it in the oven at 375 for 15-20. Lean towards the shorter cooking time and check frequently! I hope this has helped a little, and here is a picture to show you what I mean on how the bacon turns out, left is the baking rack, right is the tin foil :) Good luck with your bacon adventures and I hope you check back for more of mine!

Tomorrow: Candied bacon - We started savory, going sweet tomorrow!

Colorado-bound

This week was sort of a rushed mash of dinners, hence the late blog post. My sister is currently visiting us, and we found out recently that we will be moving to Colorado sometime in the next 2 months, so between company and attempting to put together everything for the move and get the house ready we've been a bit busy and preoccupied. Whenever we have company though, I always try to make new recipes and try new meals, so I was still able to fit in a few meals, and both were a hit! The first one was the baked chicken taquitos, the recipe I had for it was originally an appetizer, but paired with some spanish rice it made a great meal and everyone loved it. The second was Chicken Taco Chili, which turned out a bit more soupy than I normally like, but when you serve it over rice the rice soaks all the liquid up and it's really good. The recipe makes a ton though, we've had it for 2 dinners so far and have enough to have it for another dinner, but I love recipes that end up surprising me with how many it will feed. I didn't intend for this post to have a tex-mex sort of feel to it, but it ended up happening anyways! Hope you enjoy the recipes, and I apologize for the lack of photos. :)

Baked Chicken Taquitos

• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup salsa (green or red)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• 12 (6 inch) flour tortillas
• kosher salt
• cooking spray


Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silpat matte or foil lightly coated with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients (except the tortillas.) Working with a few tortillas at a time, heat them in the microwave between two paper towels until they are soft enough to roll (about 20 – 30 seconds). Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto the lower third of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can. Place the rolled tortilla seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas until the mixture is gone, making sure the taquitos are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt (don’t skip the salt!) Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crisp and golden. Serve with salsa, sour cream or guacamole.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

• 1 onion, chopped 
• 1 16-oz can black beans 
• 1 16-oz can kidney beans 
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 10 oz package frozen corn kernels 
• 2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies 
• 1 packet taco seasoning 
• 1 tbsp cumin 
• 1 tbsp chili powder 
• 24 0z. (3) boneless skinless chicken breasts 
• chili peppers, chopped (optional)
• chopped fresh cilantro 

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream (extra points).

Visitors!

This week my sister came to visit, and as we were having company I decided to try some fun new recipes I'd been waiting to try. The first was a frozen hot chocolate, which was great as it's just started to warm up here. Sadly we weren't quite patient enough for the ice to freeze and so we just ate them old rather than frozen, but it was still delicious! The other recipe is something that had been hanging around my pinterest account for a while, and fit great because I had to work and didn't want to have to rely on frozen pizzas too many time. So I went the slow cooker route and made honey sesame chicken in my crock pot. It turned out great as well and we'll definitely have to be having it again sometime! As far as the contest goes we didn't have many entries so there isn't really much need for any wait, so I'll be getting those cookbooks sent out today :) Enjoy the recipes and thanks to everyone who shared this blog!

Frozen Hot Chocolate

• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons (1 packet) hot cocoa mix
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk, divided
• 4½ cups ice cubes
• whipped cream

Combine sugar, cocoa mix, and butter in top of double boiler that is set over gently boiling water (a bowl set over a pot of boiling water will work just as well, so long as it sits close enough to the water). Stir often until melted and smooth paste forms. Add semi-sweet & white chocolate chips; stir. When chips begin to melt, slowly stir in 1/2 cup evaporated milk. Stir until smooth and velvety. Cool to room temperature. Combine chocolate base mixture, remaining evaporated milk and ice in blender (in batches, if necessary); cover. Blend until smooth. Pour into individual glasses. Top each with whipped cream. Sprinkle with additional chopped chocolate chips & mini marshmallows, if desired. Serve with a straw and spoon.

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

• 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 4 chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 packets minute rice, optional
• 1/2 tablespoon (or more) sesame seeds
• 3 scallions, chopped

Place chicken in Crock Pot and lightly season both sides with salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, combine onion, garlic, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, oil and red pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or high for 2 hours. Remove chicken to a cutting board, leaving sauce. Shred chicken into bite-sized pieces; set aside. Prepare rice according to package instructions. In a small bowl, dissolve 4 teaspoons cornstarch in 1/3 cup water; add to crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Cover and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes, or until slightly thickened. Add cooked rice to 4 plates, top with chicken and spoon sauce over top. Sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

Pampered Chef Recipe (and contest of sorts)

Last weekend I had a pampered chef party, it was great, even though many people didn't show up we had a great time and I got to try a new great recipe which I decided to share with everyone here! I'll get to that in just a minute though, I used to be a pampered chef consultant, and even though I got out of it, I still have a bunch of their old recipe books sitting around the house, and I love them! Each one has a small selection of appetizers, entrees and desserts, and every one I've tried has turned out pretty great. The books are only $2 a piece, and really handy to have, I've even used some in place of cards for some of the cooks in my life before! (if you're interested in the recipes they might have, scroll to the bottom for how you can get a digital copy of some) I have an open pampered chef party going online right now, and if you're interested in taking a look or ordering anything just follow this link.   Now that I've gotten that shameless plug out of the way, on to the recipe! My pampered chef consultant made German Chocolate Lava Cake in the microwave! The recipe calls for one of their products, which is a small covered baker. It's pretty great (but a little pricey, so any microwave safe dish with a lid should work) and looks wonderful, so transfers straight from the microwave to the table to serve. Sorry I don't have any pictures to go with this, I was too busy entertaining :) Hope you enjoy it! I also have a little contest of sorts,

German Chocolate Lava Cake

• 2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 2 t canola oil
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (9 oz) small package devils food cake mix
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

Microwave coconut in uncovered baker on high for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every 30 seconds. Spread it out on a plate to cool. Brush same baker with oil. Mix pecans, half of the coconut and 1 cup of the condensed milk in a small bowl until blended. Mix cake mix, sour cream, remaining condensed milk and egg in a large bowl until blended. Pour batter into baker. Pour coconut mixture evenly over the batter. Microwave uncovered on high 3-5 minutes or until the center of the cake look moist (but not wet). Cover baker and let stand 5 minutes. Microwave chocolate in uncovered bowl on high 45-60 seconds or until almost melted. Stir until smooth. Pour melted chocolate into resealable plastic bag and trim the corner. Sprinkle cake with remaining coconut and drizzle with chocolate. Enjoy!
Note: Remember, not all microwaves cook at the same speeds, so if you're worried yours cooks too high or too low, just stop it a minute or so early and check the top just to be safe.

Contest Time!!!

Lately I've been scanning in a bunch of my pampered chef cookbooks, so I have them all on digital file right now, and I thought I would offer them up as an incentive to share about this blog with your friends. These are cookbooks that you won't be able to buy anywhere, as they're seasonal ones that pampered chef doesn't sell anymore. All you have to do is comment on this post with your email address and name, and share this blog with your friends, family, tweet, facebook, etc. and tell them to comment on any of the blog posts with the name of the person who sent them, and whoever has the most by the next blog post will get an email with all 3 digital cookbooks! The person with the second most comments will get 1 of the digital cookbooks sent to their email. Good luck!

Mash up

This week was just sort of a mash up of a recipe I'd been wanting to do for a little while, and a spur the moment one I saw Paula Deen making on tv and had a sudden craving for. They all turned out great, the soup was delicious and super easy, and the chocolate bread hit the chocolate craving I was having that day. Not much to say really this week, so I'll just jump straight to the recipes, enjoy!

Zuppa Toscana copycat recipe (from olive garden)

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 10 cups water
• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale (our grocery store didn't have kale so I threw in some sweet peas instead and it worked fine)
• Optional: shredded parmesan cheese

Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft. Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through, garnish with parmesan cheese and serve. Delicious and super easy!

Chocolate Bread

• Butter, for pans
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour (2) 9 by 5-inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla at medium-low speed with an electric mixer until combined. Beat in the chocolate morsels and pecans. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Shield the bread with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

Valentines day

 This Valentine's Day was something I had been scheming together for quite a while now. In the 4 years since my husband and I started dating we have only spent one Valentine's day together, and that was only a week or two after we got married and was not very largely celebrated as we had just come back from our honeymoon. Between long distance dating, basic training and field exercises, we've never really gotten to go all out for a valentine's day, but this year I decided to change that. Starting weeks in advance, I started planning up a menu, thinking up decorations and the lead up to it. The 13 days leading up to it I surprised him with a little treat each day with a cheesy quote on it "I'm nuts about you" "Beer my valentine?" and they only got worse as the days went on. Then I made up our living room like an elementary schoolroom, we're talking pink, red, and purple hearts all over the place. Since my husband had to work most of the day, I didn't plan too much (and he told me after dinner he something planned) so after all of that, I just focused on an awesome meal. Chocolate covered strawberries as an appetizer of sorts, rib eye steaks cooked to perfection (for us, that means rare!) paired with roasted cauliflower with parmesan and finished off with mini strawberry pies. It all turned out delicious! If you haven't cooked steaks very often and are particular, a few little hints to remember, first of it will continue to cook a little even after you take it off the pan, so if you don't like your steaks super dead remember, you can always cook it a lil longer, so take it out a bit early! There are three different ways to check how done your steak is, the worst way is cutting into it, a decent way is to use a thermometer, but if you don't have one, another good way is the finger test, which is explained here: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/the_finger_test_to_check_the_doneness_of_meat/ and last but not least, two of the most important (but often forgotten) things are to let it come to room temperature before cooking, and to let it rest when it is done the full time. Steaks are something I'm always worried that I will mess up as it can be such an expensive cut of meat, but you'll only get better with practice :) Hopefully my tips help, and I hope you all had a great valentine's day! (I didn't get many pictures of the actual meal because we were so hungry and just dug in)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

• 16 ounces milk chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 pound fresh strawberries with leaves
• Optional: White or dark chocolate chips

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally until smooth. Holding them by the toothpicks, dip the strawberries into the chocolate mixture. Turn the strawberries upside down and insert the toothpick into styrofoam for the chocolate to cool, or lay on a sheet of parchment paper. You can drizzle with white or dark chocolate if you desire but they'll taste fine how they are!



Pan-Seared Rib-Eye

• 1 boneless rib eye steak, 1 1/2 inches thick
• Canola oil, to coat
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Place a 10-to-12-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven and heat the oven to 500 degrees F. Bring the steak to room temperature. When the oven reaches temperature, remove the skillet and place on the range over high heat. Coat the steak lightly with oil and sprinkle both sides with a generous pinch of salt. Grind on black pepper. Immediately place the steak in the middle of the hot, dry skillet. Cook 30 seconds without moving. Turn with tongs and cook another 30 seconds, then put the pan straight into the oven for 2 minutes. Flip the steak and cook for another 2 minutes. (This time is for medium-rare steak, for our steaks I shortened the time a bit. If you prefer medium, add a minute to both of the oven turns.) Remove the steak from the skillet, cover loosely with foil and rest for 2 minutes. Serve whole or slice thin and fan onto plate.

Roasted Parmesan Cauliflower

• 6 ounces cauliflower florets (1.5 cups)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the cauliflour, boiling for about 5 minutes or until it starts to get tender. Drain and add the rest of the ingredients except olive oil. Toss. Drizzle on the oil. Toss. Put mixture into a small nonstick dish. Place into a 425°F preheated oven. Bake for 15 - 17 minutes; stir once. You want it to be lightly browned and tender. Serve.


Mini Strawberry Pies

• 1 roll Pre-made refrigerated pie dough (Or you can use homemade)
• 2 oz cream cheese
• sprinkle of sugar
• 1 cup diced strawberries
• Optional: Hot fudge sauce, whipped cream.

Preheat the oven to 225 F Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many pieces as you can, after rerolling a few times I got enough to make 4 mini pies. Top one with strawberry, sprinkled sugar and cream cheese and then another one of the hearts, sealing the edges with a fork. Prick the middle of each one once with a fork. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Garnish with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream and serve.