Baked Custard

I’m a big fan of pudding and custard, and I’ve always loved flan. I recently found a recipe for a baked custard that looked really easy. It called for 6 personalized sized ramekins, which I don’t have. So instead I used two larger ramekins. To make the custard more like flan, I coated the bottom of each ramekin in brown sugar. It melted and formed something similar to a caramel sauce, yummy! Anyway, if you like custard, give this recipe a shot. It was so easy.

Baked Custard

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated Milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ground nutmeg

Directions

1. PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F.
2. COMBINE eggs, sugar and salt in large mixer bowl. Add evaporated milk, water and vanilla extract; beat until mixed. Pour into six 6-ounce custard cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Place cups in 13 x 9-inch baking pan; fill pan with hot water to 1-inch depth.
3. BAKE for 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove cups to wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. When ready to serve place a plate on the custard cups and quickly flip.

Boneless Buffalo Wings

I love the taste of Buffalo Wings, but I hate wings. So, whenever I go to Applebee's I always (and I do mean always) get the boneless buffalo wings. Well, recently I was feeling like experimenting, so I found a recipe online for making them myself. Let me tell you, it was worth it. These boneless wings were just as good as the ones at Applebee's, and surprisingly they weren’t that difficult to make. Now the one thing I fudged a little bit on was the sauce, which I just bought at the store instead of making myself. I’ll include the sauce recipe in case anyone wants to give it a shot.

Boneless Buffalo Wings

Ingredients

• oil for deep frying
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1/4 cup hot pepper sauce
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Combine flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and paprika in a large bowl. Whisk together the egg and milk in a small bowl. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture, and then roll in the flour blend. Repeat so that each piece of chicken is double coated. Refrigerate breaded chicken for 20 minutes.
3. Fry chicken in the hot oil, in batches. Cook until the exterior is nicely browned, and the juices run clear, 5 to 6 minutes a batch.
4. Combine hot sauce and butter in a small bowl. Microwave sauce on High until melted, 20 to 30 seconds. Pour sauce over the cooked chicken; mix to coat.

Fall Muffins

Its been a while since I've posted courtesy of a road trip that was unexpectedly lengthened. Anyway, I've been meaning to post about these pumpkin and cream cheese muffins for quite a while. They were so good. I definitely would say they can hold their own against the Starbucks muffins. The cream cheese filling, isn't really a filling, but more like a topping. These would be a great Thanksgiving breakfast item! I made these just like the recipe called for from All Recipes. So I'm just going to attach the link. If you make them, enjoy!!!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Cream-Cheese-Muffins/Detail.aspx

Homemade Greek Yogurt

Yogurt is one of those things that you either love or hate. I'm one of those people who love it. I am particularly fond of Greek yogurt. I really like the rich creamy consistency. However, its pretty expensive at the store, so I would rarely purchase it. A couple of months ago I decided I would find out how to make it myself. So I got on my trusty Google search engine and looked up directions. I found directions and decided to go for it. I've been making my own yogurt ever since. I think its pretty easy, but its definitely time consuming. I made a new batch last night; so I thought I would share the recipe for any brave souls who want to give it a try. It is really good with fresh or frozen fruit and honey, or in smoothies. I also use it as a substitute for sour cream or oil in baking.



Ingredients:

• 1 Gallon of milk (I use 1% milk, I had trouble with skim burning)
• 1/2 a cup of plain Greek yogurt (the first time you make this you need to purchase a single size serving of Greek yogurt that has live cultures in it. The brands I'm most familiar with are Oikos, Fage, and Chobani. I've tried making it with all three brands and Chobani is my favorite. I bet if you have a Trader Joe's, their Greek yogurt would also work. After making yogurt once, you can just save 1/2 a cup of your homemade yogurt and use it instead of purchasing yogurt.
• Candy thermometer (or if you're like me I use my meat thermometer that beeps when you reach the desired temperature)
• Saran wrap
• A large towel
• A colander lined with cheese cloth (I use Bounty paper towels)
• A mixing bowl the colander will fit in

Directions:

• Pour the milk into a large, heavy bottomed pot. Turn the stove to medium low and bring the milk to 185*. Stir the milk occasionally. Heating the milk like this kills anything that could be lurking in it. I almost always have burned milk in the bottom of the pot and it doesn't affect the taste of the yogurt, so don't freak out if this happens to you.
• At this point set out your starter yogurt to warm to room temperature.
• When the milk reaches 185* remove from the heat. It needs to cool to 105* You can either let it cool just sitting on the counter or you can quick cool it by putting the pot in the sink with ice water. If you use ice water keep a close eye on it because it cools quite quickly.
• Once the milk has cooled to 105* mix in your yogurt starter. Make sure there are no large clumps.
• Cover the pot with Saran wrap and wrap the pot in a large towel. Place the milk in the oven, with the oven light on. Let it sit for 10 hours. Any longer than this and it becomes more and more sour.
• After 10 hours remove from the oven, the milk should be thickened and there should be a yellowish liquid separated and floating on the top. This is the whey that has separated out. Pour as much of the whey off as you can. Then carefully pour the yogurt into your lined colander. Cover the yogurt with the cheese cloth or paper towels that are sticking out around the edges (if using paper towels you made need to put more paper towels on top) and push as much of the liquid out as you can. Place the colander in the large bowl and put it in the fridge to drip for 2 to 3 hours, or until the yogurt is the consistency you want it.
• After the yogurt has reached your desired consistency, transfer it to an airtight container. The yogurt is good for 2 weeks in the fridge.

Spinach and Pea Manicotti

Okay, if you don't like vegetables don't be freaked out by the recipe name. This manicotti was really really delicious. I didn't really taste like it was full of veggies. I adapted the recipe from Giada De Laurentiis' swiss chard and sweet pea manicotti recipe that I saw her make on the Food Network (have I mentioned yet how much I love the Food Network?). I used spinach instead of chard, regular ol' frozen peas, and the worst part...I used 2 packages of Knorr Alfredo sauce packages to make the sauce, instead of making it from scratch. Can I just point out that homemade sauce costs a small fortune to make, and this turned out to be a really good substitute. Anyway, here is the recipe. I'll include the sauce recipe too, in case anyone reads this and wants to go to the trouble ;).

Spinach and Pea Manicotti

Ingredients:

12 manicotti or cannelloni pasta shells
12 oz fresh spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
3/4 cup frozen petite peas, thawed (I used regular peas)
1 cup shredded mozzarella (4 ounces)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) mozzarella, shredded

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish liberally with butter (or cooking spray like I did).
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Filling:
Using kitchen scissors or a knife, remove the leaves from the stems of the chard. Discard the stems. Chop the leaves into 1-inch pieces. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the chard and cook, stirring constantly, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Place the ricotta cheese, peas, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Add the cooled chard mixture and blend until smooth. Spoon the mixture into a prepared pastry bag (I used a gallon size Ziploc bag and cut a corner out) and fill each manicotti shell with the filling. Place the stuffed manicotti in the prepared baking dish.

*If you use the packaged sauce like I did just follow the directions on the package, pour over the pasta and cover with the mozzarella. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. If you want to make the sauce yourself here’s the recipe.
Fontina Fonduta Sauce:
Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 cups (6 ounces) fontina cheese, grated
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions:
In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring milk and cream to a simmer, over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Add the fontina cheese and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and basil.
Pour the sauce over the stuffed manicotti and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

I'm Back...with Chocolate!

Hello everyone in cyberland. Its been a while because I've been out of town, but I'm back and have quite the backlog to catch you up on. Today, I thought I'd go simple. Nothing beats chocolate-in this case-Chocolate Pudding Cake. This recipe actually took a couple of tries. Not because it was difficult, but because the first time I made it I forgot to add the leavening agent. Oops! Anyway, if you want a really good, easy to make, probably have all the ingredients at home chocolate recipe, this is the one for you. Yummy chocolate cake that makes its own pudding sauce!

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, white sugar, cocoa, the baking powder, and salt.

3. Mix in milk, oil, and vanilla with a fork until smooth.
4. Spread batter evenly in a 9x9 pan (batter will be thick).

5. Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa.

6. Pour boiling water over batter.
7. Bake for 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes.

8. Spoon into dessert dishes or cut into squares and spoon sauce over each serving. Top with ice cream or whipped topping, if desired.

Out of Town

Just in case anyone has been checking to see if I've added anymore tastiness, I thought I would forewarn you. I'm in St. Louis through the first weekend of October. Therefore, there is a high probability that I won't be adding anything until I get back home. So check back in a couple of weeks and I'm sure I'll be back on a role with some yummy recipes for you!