Blueberry Crumble

I found this recipe online somewhere, but I can’t remember where.

• 2 1/2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 1/2 cup oats
• 3/4 cup of pecans or almonds, chopped.
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 tablespoons oil (we used butter instead)

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Toss the berries with the sugar, flour and juice. Place in the bottom of a pie plate.
3. Mix together the oats, almonds, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Mix in the oil (or cut in the butter) until mixture has a crumbly consistency. Sprinkle over top of the berries.
4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Verdict: First off, this definitely had more of a blueberry crisp texture then a crumble. It didn’t hold together at all when you took a serving of it. I didn’t really like the taste that the orange juice gave the berries.

Chicken Tetrazzini

I found this recipe online somewhere, though I didn’t mark down where.

• 5 to 6 ounces of spaghetti, cooked
• 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
• 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 8 ounces of button mushrooms, sliced (we didn’t use)
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 12 ounce can of evaporated milk
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (we used 4)
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 to 3 teaspoons of cornstarch (we used 3)
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 3 – 4 tablespoons Italian flavoured panko (we used 4, though we couldn’t find Italian flavoured Panko so we just added Italian seasoning to our Panko crumbs)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms (if using) and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shallots and minced garlic and sauté, stirring frequently, for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the mushroom mixture to a bowl and return skillet to heat.
3. Add all but 1/4 cup of the evaporated milk to the skillet along with the Parmesan cheese and nutmeg. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce gently boils.
4. Mix the remaining evaporated milk with the cornstarch then add to the sauce. Mix well then remove from heat. Season to taste.
5. Add the cooked noodles, chopped chicken, peas, parsley and mushroom mixture to the sauce and mix well. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with Panko crumbs.
6. Bake uncovered for 15 min.

Verdict: I found this to be a little dry as there wasn’t enough sauce to cover the noodles and chicken to my taste.

Milk Chocolate Cookies

This is a Martha Stewart recipe I found in a cookie cookbook.

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (omitted as we use salted butter)
• 8 ounces of milk chocolate, divided. 4 ounces should be roughly chopped and the other 4 ounces should be cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt (if using).
3. Melt the 4 ounces of coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Let cool slightly after melted.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the cooled melted chocolate, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture.
5. Scoop batter onto baking sheets and bake 15 minutes.

Verdict: We made about 4 dozen. These were delicious. They were very thin cookies, with a crispy texture but still gooey on the inside.