Apple Bread

I think this is a recipe I found in the French language Metro newspaper.

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or applesauce (we used applesauce)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup apples, peeled, cored and diced

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a big bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. In another bowl, mix together applesauce, sugar, brown sugar, egg, orange juice, vanilla and apples. Mix into the dry ingredients.
4. Pour batter into a greased 8 inch loaf pan.
5. Bake 30 to 40 min or until done (our needed almost an hour).

Verdict: This bread took forever to bake. It just didn’t want to be ready. Still, it was a very good bread. Normally, I’ve just had banana breads, but this apple bread had a nice taste to it, even if I thought it was a  little dense.

Corn-Tortilla-Crusted Chicken Tenders

This is a Martha Stewart recipe.

• 10 corn tortillas roughly torn
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 pounds of chicken, cut into smaller pieces
• 2 cups vegetable oil

1. In a food processor, pulse the tortillas until they resemble coarse meal. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to medium bowl. Put the flour in one bowl and the buttermilk in another. Dredge chicken in flour, coat in buttermilk then dredge in corn tortilla crumbs.
2. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chicken in batches until crust is golden and chicken is cooked through.

Verdict: In trying this recipe I have learned that I do not like corn tortillas. The chicken pieces were nice and crunchy, but they just weren’t for me.

M&M Topped Brownies

I am not sure where I found this recipe.

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cup chocolate syrup
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• Chocolate frosting
• 1 cup M&Ms

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 13×9 inch pan and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter. Add chocolate syrup, eggs and vanilla.
3. Add flour and chocolate chips.
4. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake 33 to 38 minutes or until baked through.
5. Let cool completely before frosting. Sprinkle M&Ms over frosting.

Verdict: This recipe was a bit of a disappointment. The brownies were a little dry and didn’t really have a lot of chocolate taste to them.

Skillet Basil Potatoes

This is a Campbell’s recipes.

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small onion, chopped up
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/4 pound of cooked potatoes

1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and basil and cook for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the soup, cheese and water. Reduce heat to low. Heat until cheese is melted, stirring often. Add potatoes and heat through.
   

Verdict: This recipe was a cheesy delicious dish! And easy to make.

Chicken Cordon Blue

I found this recipe online.

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 thin slices of Black Forest ham
• 1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese (we used Swiss)
• 8 teaspoons Dijon or honey mustard (we used Dijon)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place 1 chicken breast between 2 sheets of wax paper and pound to an even thickness of 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining chicken.
3. Spread 2 teaspoons of mustard on each piece. Then place 1 piece of ham  and 1/4 cup of cheese on each piece of chicken. Tightly fold and roll up the chicken pieces. Secure with toothpicks.
4. Coat each chicken piece in flour, dip into eggs then coat with breadcrumbs.
5. Heat oil in a skillet. Add chicken and brown, covered, cooking for 3 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side. Transfer to baking dish and cook another 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. (We sprinkled more cheese on top of ours before baking.)

 

Verdict: This was an easy and delicious dish to make. Then again, I like chicken and cheese, so it’s a winning combination for me!

Vanilla Cupcakes

I’m not sure where I found this recipe originally.

• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine evaporated milk and vinegar. Set aside to thicken slightly.
3. Mix together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.
4. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add half to the wet ingredients and mix. Add the evaporated milk to the batter then the rest of the dry ingredients.
5. Pour into muffin molds and bake 15-20 minutes.

Verdict: These were a little on the dry side, but still very good.

Tomato Basil and Romano Ricotta Spaghetti Pie

I found this recipe on another food blog.

We change the recipe a little, to make one large pie instead of smaller pies.

• Homemade or store bought meat sauce
• 2 cups ricotta
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded Romano cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (we used garlic powder)
• 1 lbs spaghetti noodles
• 1 roll French bread dough (we don’t have this here, so we used crescent roll dough, which I don’t think worked out in the same way)
• 1/4 cup shredded Romano cheese
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1. In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, Romano cheese, salt, pepper and garlic salt
   (or powder).
2. Break the noodles into smaller pieces (we forgot this part) and cook according to package instructions.
3. Unroll the French bread dough and separate into 3 pieces. Press into bottom of springform pans. (We pressed our crescent dough together and placed on the bottom of a large oven dish.) Bake 10 minutes then remove from oven.
4. In layers, place noodles, cheese mixture and meat sauce over bread. Repeat for another layer. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Romano. Bake 25-30 minutes.

Verdict: This was a very tasty dish! I wish we had remembered to cut the noodles, because the long pasta made it kind of hard to serve. I don’t think the bread base really worked, though maybe it was because we didn’t have the right kind. The meal was like a lasagna but with spaghetti as the main noodle, so I loved that!

Currié’s Chicken Pot Pie

I found this recipe on another food blog. Though we used a store bought pie crust instead of making our own.

• 1 pie crust
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup onion
• 4-5 small red potatoes, diced
• 1 cup of carrots, diced
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• Meat from one small roasted chicken, shredded
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter. Once melted, add the flour, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Slowly add milk, while whisking. Slowly add chicken stock, while still whisking. Add the onion, potatoes, carrots, corn, broccoli and chicken. Season to taste.
2. Pour the pot pie mixture into a pie plate. Place pie crust on top. Cut 4 to 5 slits on top (I think we forgot this part).
3. Bake 45-55 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Verdict: This was a good but not great recipe. For some reason while it baked all of the liquid evaporated, so it didn’t really feel like a pot pie while eating it.

Chocolate Oreo Cake

I found this recipe on another food blog. We made one cake instead of cutting them up into mini cakes like the original recipe and we used store bought frosting instead of making the frosting in this recipe.

• 2 ounces bitter or semisweet chocolate, chopped (we used semi sweet)
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (we didn’t use because we use semi-salted butter)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Frosting
• 1 1/4 cup crushed Oreos
• 2/3 cup dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 4-5 tablespoons warm water

1. In a double boiler, melt both chocolates along with the water. Stir until smooth and set aside to let cool to room temperature.
2. Mix together the butter and 1 1/4 cup of the sugar until fluffy. Add in the melted chocolate. Add the egg yolks, one at a time.
3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (if using).  Mix half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture. Add the buttermilk and vanilla, then the rest of the dry ingredients.
4. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff.
5. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the cake batter. Then fold in the remaining egg whites.
6. Divide batter into 2 prepared cake pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until done.
7. Mix together the frosting and the crushed up Ores (we also added some food colouring so that our vanilla frosting was pink).
8. Place the dark chocolate and heavy cream in a double boiler. Let melt 2-3 minutes without stirring. Slowly mix to combine. Add powdered sugar and keep mixing. Add water, one tablespoon at a time until a nice consistency is reached.
9. Frost the top of one cake with the icing, then place the other cake on top of it. Frost top and the sides of the layered cake. Drizzle with chocolate sauce

Verdict: Given all the work in making the cake, they didn’t taste as amazing as I would have hoped. There wasn’t that much of a chocolate flavor to the cake.

Cheeseburger Pasta

I found this recipe online.

• 1 pound ground beef
• 10 3/4 ounce can of tomato soup (here they are sold in 10 ounce cans)
• 10 3/4 ounce can of cheddar soup (also sold here in 10 ounce cans
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups uncooked medium pasta shells

1. Cook beef over medium-high heat, until well browned.
2. Stir the soups, water and pasta in with the beef. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium. Cook until pasta is tender.

Verdict: I would classify the dish we ended up with as a soup, as there seemed to be more liquid in ours then in the picture in the website above. Still, it was a good, hearty soup, though I would probably add more seasoning to it.