Cupcakes!

My husbands birthday is coming up in a couple short weeks, and for his birthday I wanted to send him something special, something homemade, but wasn't entirely sure what would survive the journey over there. Originally I had debated making him pies in a mason jar, as I saw the idea on pinterest, but after talking to him realized that they have pies available where they eat dinner, so I brainstormed some more. I finally found these amazing recipes for adult cupcakes and decided that it would be a great birthday treat if I could bake some in mason jars! While I was at it, I wanted to try this champagne cupcake recipe that I had seen on pinterest as well that I thought looked good. At first glance, each of these recipes used a box mix, and there's always a stubborn part of me that says as good as box mixes are, scratch has to be better. So my original plan was to try both the scratch and box versions of these cupcakes, but time got away from me, and after doing the scratch and box versions of the champagne cupcakes and finding I enjoyed the box versions better, decided to settle on the box version for the second. Feel free to try them both out yourself and make your decision though! I gave my neighbors a bit of each and they enjoyed the scratch version better, so maybe it's just me. Either way, here they all are for your experiments and enjoyment :)

Pink Champagne Cupcakes (from scratch)

 (The cupcakes side by side, cut open so you can see how similar they are. At the top is the box mix, bottom is the ones from scratch.)

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup champagne
• 6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line cupcake tins with liners.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with champagne. In a large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites. Pour into cupcake liners. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. I can't remember the exact time, as I just did the same amount of time as the box called for on the box mix.



Pink Champagne Cupcakes (from box)

• 1 box white cake mix
• 3 egg whites
• 1 1/4 cup pink champagne
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3 or 4 drops red food coloring

Mix together and bake according to the directions on the box.

Salted Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

In a bowl combine butter, sugar and salt. Beat till blended. Add the milk and vanilla and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy. If you don't have a wide enough tip on your icing bag, just use none at all and you'll get the look like mine do, and if you don't have an icing bag feel free to use a zip lock bag with one corner snipped out :)

Bailey's Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

(Tip: Don't frost and decorate them while in the cupcake pan still. Makes for a mess! Ooops)

• 1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 3 Large Eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter (butter not margarine)
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
• 10 ounces Bitterweet Chocolate, finely chopped
• 3.5 ounces caramels (about 10-12 candies unwrapped)
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1/3-1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
• 1/4-1/3 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• Caramel Syrup

For the Bailey's Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350. Using a large mixing bowl, add cake mix, eggs, butter, Bailey's and milk and mix on low until combined. Then mix on high for 2 minutes. Pour batter into paper lined cupcake pans. Bake for 20 min. Cool completely.

For the Chocolate Ganache:
Place chopped chocolate in medium bowl and set aside. Using a medium sauce pan, heat whipping cream and caramels over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramels have melted completely.
Pour caramel cream over chocolate and stir until melted.
For Bailey's Buttercream:
In large mixing bowl, cream shortening and vanilla for 2-4 minutes. Add in powder sugar, one cup at a time
Combine Bailey's with cream in measuring cup and slowing add to sugar mixture, using more cream for a creamy consistency, use less milk for a stiff consistency.
To Assemble:
Using a sharp knife, cut out a cone shaped section of the cupcake and set it aside setting next to each   cupcake. Fill Cupcake holes with ganache, and place cake back over hole. Top cupcakes with buttercream.
Garnish with remaining ganache and caramel syrup. (just remember there is uncooked out alcohol in these!)

(Mason jar cupcakes! Accidentally put in too much batter, so not enough room for all of the frosting but I think he'll still like them :) )

Enjoy!

Tardy!

I wondered how long it would take.. I have been very good in getting a post up every Sunday, even through vacations, and yet this would be the week I forget. In my defense, I was gone almost all weekend on a marriage retreat and I started a new job last week so things have just been a bit crazy around my house. I will try to not let it happen again!

This week I did sushi! I've sorta done it before with my in laws once, and a few months ago my mother in law sent me a bunch of stuff for it, including pickled ginger, wasabi, and the nori wrappers. I'd been wanting to try them for a while, and finally had an excuse for it! One of the things I very much so didn't want to do was work with raw fish, I know there are proper ways to do it, but it just makes me so nervous! So I went with a few of the simpler ones, a spicy tuna roll, philadelphia roll, and a california roll. If you're trying this for the first time, or have kids you're worried about liking everything, try the tuna roll and go from there. All in all it turned out very well and I started to get the knack of rolling them! Don't worry if they aren't too pretty at first, it takes a while to get the hang of it :)

Sushi Rice

• 3 cups uncooked short grain rice (not minute!)
• 3 cups water
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Wash the rice and rinse thoroughly. Place rice and water in a rice cooker and set until cooked. Alternately, place rice and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook covered until done, 35 to 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool. Put the cooked rice into a large mixing bowl; pour the vinegar sauce over the hot rice and mix. Allow to cool slightly before using in sushi recipes.



Spicy Tuna Roll

• 1 cup of cooked Sushi Rice
• 1 (6 oz) can solid white tuna in water, drained
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp wasabi paste
• 4 sheets nori
• ½ c. cucumber, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

In small bowl combine tuna, mayonnaise, chili powder and wasabi paste. Break up tuna into small flakes and make sure all ingredients are combined.
Cover a bamboo sushi mat with plastic wrap and lay a sheet of nori, rough side up, on wrap. Firmly pat a thick, even layer of rice over nori. Place 1 Tbsp of cucumber, carrot and avocado in a line along the bottom edge of the sheet, and spread a line of tuna mixture alongside the vegetables.
Pick up edge of nori up , fold the bottom of the nori up , enclosing the filling and tightly roll the sushi into a thick cylinder. Once the sushi is rolled, wrap in the mat and gently squeeze to seal. Cut each roll into 6 pieces and refrigerate 2 hours or until ready to serve. Repeat until all ingredients are used. If you don't have the mat, don't worry, I just rolled mine up on a cutting board. It's a bit messier but it works :)



California Roll

(a good example of how to put everything together so it rolls up nicely)

• 1 cup sushi rice
• 8 nori seaweed sheets
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• ½ cup imitation crab meat, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 avocado, peeled, thinly sliced lengthwise
• ½ cucumber, peeled, cut into long, thin matchsticks

Combine the crab meat and mayonnaise in a bowl, and then put together the roll the same way as the tuna roll was done, sprinkling the rice with the sesame seeds before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Philadelphia Roll

(Forgot to get pictures of this one, sorry!)

• 8-ounce block cold cream cheese, cut into long, thin sticks
• 1 cup cooked sushi rice
• 4 ounces smoked salmon, thinly sliced
• 2 nori seaweed sheets
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Roll together the same way as the other rolls and Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese and Chicken Satay

I wanted to do some fun twists on some kid friendly ideas this week that might interest kids and adults, so I ran through a bunch of recipes and decided to try a few of the more interesting ones. I invited my neighbors over, who have two children, one young and one teenager to be able to try it out and let me know what they thought. The dishes I decided to do were my Pepperjack Mac and Cheese with bacon, Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, and Banana S'mores. Everything turned out pretty awesomely, and of course with the mac and cheese you can always substitute whatever cheeses you'd like. Turned out the kids didn't like banana's though, so I didn't get an opinion on the S'mores, but all of us adults sure liked them! The biggest hit, that I was a bit surprised at, was the peanut sauce, everyone really seemed to like it, and the chicken itself turned out very moist and flavorful.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

(I forgot to try to get a picture until they were almost all gone! But here's the last one, it was quickly eaten after this picture)

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 T sesame oil
• 1/2 t paprika
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 12 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 10 minutes
• 1/2 t sesame oil
• 2 t grated ginger root (peeled first)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 T brown sugar
• 2 T lime juice
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1/2 cup light coconut milk

Cut each chicken breast into strips about 1/2 inch wide and put into a large resealable freezer bag. Combine the next 4 ingredients in a small cup and pour over the chicken. Seal the bag, toss until coated and let stand in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours, turning occasionally. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the chicken and discard any remaining mixture. Thread the chicken accordion-style onto the skewers and arrange on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake for about 15 minutes, turning at halftime until no longer pink.

Heat the sesame oil in a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the ginger root and garlic. Heat and stir for about a minute until fragrant, be careful as these can burn quickly. Add the next 5 ingredients, heat and stir for about 5 minutes until the peanut butter is melted. Add the coconut milk, heat and stir about a minute until bubbling. Cool to room temperature and serve with skewers.

(not the best picture of the sauce, but it was so tasty!)

Pepperjack Mac and Cheese with Bacon

• 6 strips of bacon, cooked and diced
• 4 oz grated pepperjack
• 8 oz grated white cheddar 
• 1 T olive oil, or reserved bacon grease
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• About 1/2 cup of flour
• 2 T butter
• 1 box of rigate pasta (or any other noodle), cooked
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 T italian seasoning
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 cups of heavy cream
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Optional: Vegetables such as peas, broccoli, etc.

Heat oil or grease in a large oven safe pot, and cook onions with seasoning and garlic for a few minutes or until soft. Add broth and cream and bring to a slow boil. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour until it forms a thick paste, it may take more flour than I listed. Let cook for a minute or two on low heat, stirring frequently to ensure it doesn't burn. Add one cup of the reserved cream and broth liquid to the sauce pan, whisking continuously until it is a smooth mixture, and then add that back to the large pot, stirring well. Let boil for about 10 minutes or until the whole mixture is thickened, and then add the cheese. Let cook until the cheese is melted, and add to the pasta along with the bacon and any vegetables you might wish to add (I used peas). Top with bread crumbs and transfer to an oven heated to a broil until it is golden brown on top. Enjoy!

Banana S'mores

• Bananas
• Chocolate chips
• Mini Marshmallows
• Optional: Nuts

I don't have exact measurements for this, it depends how much chocolate or marshmallows you would like, and feel free to experiment and let me know if you happen upon any awesome ideas! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the bananas in half lengthwise, and lay in sheets of tin foil. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and marshmallows in between the two banana halves and close the foil around it tightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until everything is warm and melted. Enjoy!

Baja and Key Limes

With summer slowly winding down I wanted to get some more of the fresh fun summer flavors in, and lately I had been craving some key lime pie, and needed to bring a dessert to an FRG meeting, so I made that, but in bars to make it easier to eat. Sadly it seems not many people in our unit are very adventurous when it comes to food and they barely touched it! Luckily I went to my friends house the next night and it was quickly eaten! To keep along the same lines with the lime and fresh flavors I did fish tacos, something I've never personally eaten before but always wanted to, it was on me and my husbands "Food bucket list" so I thought I would test it out and see if it was worth redoing when he gets home. It most definitely is! I loved them a lot, tacos are so fun cause you can do so many different things with them, and these are a really nice change of pace from the traditional ones.

Baja Fish Tacos

• vegetable oil, for frying
• 1/4 red cabbage, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Juice of one line, plus wedges for serving
• 2 T honey
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• salt to taste
• 12 corn tortillas
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 t chili powder
• pepper to taste
• 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless halibut fillets (I couldn't find halibut so I used cod) cut into 2x1/2 inch pieces
• 1 avocado (if you're like me and have never bought an avocado before, don't get one too squishy!)
• 1/2 cup fresh salsa (recipe below)

Heat about 3 inches vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium-low heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F. Meanwhile, toss the cabbage, cilantro, lime juice, honey and mayonnaise in a bowl. Season the slaw with salt. Warm the tortillas in a skillet over medium-low heat or wrap in a damp paper towel and microwave 25 seconds. Mix the flour, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste in a shallow bowl. Dredge the fish in the flour mixture, then fry in batches until golden and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Season with salt.

Halve, pit and slice the avocado. A few more tips for those who haven't worked with one before: to make pitting easier, smack the pit with the blade to wedge it in there, twist and pull and the pit should easily come out. Fill the tortillas with the fish, avocado, slaw and salsa. Serve with lime wedges.

Fresh Salsa

• 3 large ripe tomatoes, diced, or 1 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 small green pepper, seeded and minced
• 1 4-ounce can of chopped green chiles with juice
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1 T olive oil
• Various optional ingredients: avocado, black beans, mango, red onion, pineapple, limes

Combine all ingredients, and any extra ingredients you may want to add, in a large glass bowl. Stir well with a spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until serving time.

Key Lime Pie 

(Love how the bright green of the lime zest looks on top!)

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 T butter, melted
• 2 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup key lime (or regular lime) juice
• 2 whole large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 T powdered sugar
• 1 T lime zest

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Once chilled, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar and spread over the top of the pie using a spatula. Sprinkle the lime zest as a garnish on top of the sour cream and serve chilled. You can do this in bars, the recipe will stretch it just won't be as thick, simply use a 9x13 dish instead of a the pie pan.

Sliders and Veggie fries

One of the shows on the food network that I enjoy watching sometimes is Diners, Drive ins and Dives. I love diner food, and seeing the different ideas these places come up with is really neat and inspiring. The sliders that I made this week were inspired by one of those episodes, and were a big kick the first time I made it a few months ago. Thought I'd do it one more time and just tweak the recipe a little bit, and they were even better! I wanted something to go with it but didn't wanna do traditional fries, so I thought I'd try a few variants, and did zucchini fries and sweet potato fries. I'm not a huge sweet potato fan but they both turned out pretty good, not as addicting as normal fries but a lot healthier!

Basil Pesto Sliders

• 12 Potato rolls (any type of roll will work really, but the potato ones have my favorite flavor for this)
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 6 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
• Olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 t italian seasoning
• 1/4 t chili powder
• 1/4 t cayenne powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 t basil pesto
• 1/4 t dijon mustard
• 1/2 t rice vinegar

In a small bowl, mix the mayo, pesto, vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Heat the oil in a small frying pan (or use the grease from frying the bacon) and add the onion, garlic and seasonings. Cook until the onions are soft, stirring frequently. Mix the onion and seasoning mixture in a bowl with the meat and roll into balls. I use a big griddle for frying it up but you can use a regular nonstick frying pan. Coat it in butter and brown the burger patties, flattening them while they cook. As they cook, cut the potato rolls in half and toast them on the griddle. After flipping the burgers once, sprinkle them with some of the cheese and bacon and cover with a pot lid to melt the cheese. Spread the bottom roll with the mayo mixture and top with a patty and the top bun. These are so tasty, you can add whatever toppings you'd like, but the basil pesto mayonnaise really has a nice flavor to it and goes so well with the burgers. Enjoy!

Baked Zucchini fries

• 3 medium zucchini, sliced into skinny sticks
• 2 large egg whites, beaten
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 T grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 t dried basil
• pinch of dried oregano
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cooking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. In a small bowl beat the egg whites until frothy. Mix the bread crumbs, seasonings and cheese in a shallow dish. Dip the zucchini sticks in the egg and then in the bread crumb mixture before placing on the cooking sheet. Make sure they're well coated. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a little crispy. Turn them over halfway through cooking to make sure they get brown all the way around. Serve warm and enjoy! They go well dipped in marinara like mozzarella sticks, or ranch dressing which is my favorite!

Baked Sweet Potato fries

• Olive oil
• 5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into skinny sticks
• 1/2 t paprika
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet tray with parchment. In a large bowl toss the sweet potatoes with just enough oil to coat them. Sprinkle with the seasonings and spread in a single layer on the baking sheet, make sure not to over crowd. Bake until they're tender and golden brown, turning occasionally about 20 minutes. Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Foil baked fish and lemonade cake, yum!

This week I decided to do something light and fresh and summery, and some of the first things that came to mind were fish and lemonade. I miss the days when I was younger and would go out to my grandpa's and go fishing off his dock. I have this cook book that I bought before our wedding that I used as one of our guest books (the other was a calvin and hobbs book, my husbands choice!) that has this delicious recipe for Foil-Baked fish with Black Beans and Corn, and I've made it once before, with rave reviews from everyone who had it, even though it was a little bit too spicy for my tastes. So fair warning, I have cut down on the spicy already, but if you and your family aren't fans of too much kick, feel free to omit the adobo chiles altogether, it'll still taste great. I don't live near my family anymore, so I wasn't able to go fishing and had to settle for store bought, but if you get good flash frozen or fresh fish from the store it'll taste just as good. Foil baking is a great way to cook, allowing the food to steam in it's own juices, keeping it nice and moist. Though I haven't tried it, I suppose this recipe would go well grilling or over a fire for some fancy camping food, don't even really neat plates! To follow it up I had seen this awesome looking lemonade cake on pinterest and thought that would go well to keep things light, bright and summery. Enjoy!


Foil-Baked Fish with Black Beans and Corn

• 4 skinless white fish fillets (6-8 ounces each), 1 inch thick (You can use halibut, cod, haddock or most other white fish fillets. I used cod cause I found it to be the cheapest)
• salt and pepper
• 4 T unsalted butter, softened
• 1 t minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo 
• 1/4 t grated zest, and 2 T juice from 1 orange 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (16 ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups corn kernels
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (my local grocery store doesn't carry cilantro and I forgot to pick some up on my big trip into town, but I have this cilantro spray. Not as good as fresh but it helps when I'm not able to get any fresh)

Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pat the fish dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Beat the butter, 1/2 t of chipotle, orange zest, half of the garlic, 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper in a bowl until combined. Spread the butter mixture over the top of the fillets. Combine the beans, corn, 2 T cilantro, orange juice, remaining chipotle and garlic, 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper in a bowl. Lay four 14-inch lengths of heavy duty foil on the counter (regular will work, but it might leak and thats never fun for the cooking or clean up) Divide the mixture evenly over the lower half of each piece of foil, and then top with the fish. Fold the foil over the fish, folding edges to seal. 

Arrange the packets in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the fish is just cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Carefully open the packets and sprinkle with the remaining cilantro. 

Lemonade Layer Cake

Cake

• 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 T butter, softened
• 1 T grated lemon zest
• 3 T thawed lemonade concentrate
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups fat free buttermilk (if it's not something you use often, you can freeze the rest in 2 T servings in an ice cube tray, transfer them to a zip log bag, label and store for the next time!)
• Cooking spray

Frosting

• 2 T butter, softened
• 2 t grated lemon zest
• 2 t thawed lemonade concentrate
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition. Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
2. To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). It'll be quite thick but don't worry, it spreads very well. Chill 1 hour.
3. Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Garnish with lemon slices if you would like. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.

Chicken and Waffles!

Alright, I know it might sound strange, but chicken and waffles are amazing! The mixture of crunchy, soft, sweet and savory is just delicious. You can have them many different ways, some people like it just drizzled in syrup, but personally I like to add a bit of a bite to it. When I was in Disney world with my husband last, we had this amazing chicken and waffle sandwich there, and this is my attempt to at least sort of recreate it. If you don't like spicy, feel free to change the sauce to your tastes, or go with something completely different. If you haven't had chicken and waffles before, don't be afraid to try it! It really is quite good, and sort of fun, but if you don't want to, the waffle and chicken recipes separately are really good as well. Also I decided to try making collard greens as well, as chicken and waffles is sort of a southern thing, and I wanted to add a southern veggie to the meal as well. Collard greens can be a bit bitter, but this recipe really was quite good, with some nice flavors, and the broth cut the bitterness really nicely.

Alton Brown's Basic Waffles

• 4 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 1 cup
• 4 3/4 ounces whole-wheat flour, approximately 1 cup
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 whole eggs, beaten
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted (Not margarine! Using actual butter is very important when you're baking)
• 16 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
• Vegetable spray, for waffle iron

(Most of his measurements are in ounces, but if you don't have a scale, just do around a cup of each of the flours, 2 cups of buttermilk, and a half of a stick of butter, it will turn out fine)
 

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flours, soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In another bowl beat together eggs and melted butter, and then add the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Ladle the recommended amount of waffle batter onto the iron according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Close iron top and cook until the waffle is golden on both sides and is easily removed from iron. I found that these take a bit longer than your usual out of the box waffle batter to crisp up and brown. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.


Double Crunch Chicken Breasts

• 4  large boneless chicken breasts  
• 2 cup flour
• 4 tsp salt
• 4 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground thyme
• 2 tsp ground sage
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 eggs
• 8 tbsp water

Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of saran wrap and pound flat, or to help have thinner chicken breasts, or if you don't have anything decent to pound them flat with, you can butterfly them first. Sift together the dry ingredients in one dish, and beat the eggs and water together in another to make an egg wash.

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dip the meat in the flour and spice mixture. Dip the breast into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.

 Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chicken does not brown too quickly. The thinness of the breast meat practically guarantees that it will be fully cooked by the time the outside is browned. I find just below medium heat worked well. I use a burner setting of about 4 1/2 out of 10 on the dial and fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.

Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before dipping the cooked breasts into the sauce or serving. For my sauce, I simply took a cup of honey, added some siracha chile sauce to it until it was the right spice level for my tastes, and then added a teaspoon of garlic powder, but if you'd prefer a less spicy option I do have another.

 

 (My absolute favorite way to have chicken and waffles is with some creamy coleslaw on top. The recipe is in last weeks blog post, and sadly I didn't get a picture of the chicken and waffles with the coleslaw, but go ahead and try it if you'd like! It goes awesomely with it)

 

 

Honey Garlic Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup honey
¼ cup soya sauce (low sodium soya sauce is best)
1 tsp ground black pepper

 

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the garlic. Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown, should only take 30 seconds or so. Add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily.

 

 

Sauteed Collard Greens

 

 

2 bunches collard or kale greens, about 2 pounds
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, whole
2 quarts chicken broth
1 tablespoon vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

To prepare the greens: cut away the tough stalks and stems from the collards and discard any leaves that are bruised or yellow. Fill the sink with water and salt, the salt helps to remove any impurities. Wash the collards thoroughly to remove the grit, 2 or 3 times, until the water runs clear. Dry thoroughly. Stack up several leaves and roll up lengthwise in a bundle, cut them into 1-inch ribbons. Repeat until all the leaves are shredded. Or you can use the pre washed and cut collard greens, just make sure to dry them very well or your pan will explode when you add them!
Heat a large deep skillet over medium flame and coat with the oil. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes to soften. Add the greens and toss well with the oil and garlic. Pour in the chicken broth and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the greens are wilted and tender; You can cook them for a bit less if you prefer a bit of a crunch to them as I do. Season with salt and pepper and serve.