Pineapple Foster Pudding

My best friend Helen and her boyfriend Josh and I were having dinner one night.  She made the meat and potatoes and I was in charge of the dessert.  Do you see a theme here?  For some reason I was in the mood for something with pineapple (not knowing that Josh was not a fan of pineapple) and decided to make a pudding with pineapple on top.  I decided that a homemade rum pudding with a pineapple, brown sugar, bourbon topping would make a wonderful dessert.  Turns out, Josh likes pineapple when I make this dessert.  This was really quick and simple, I made this dessert in about 15 minutes.  The cooling time is the only thing that you need to take into account.  They need about 30 minutes to totally cool, but you can add the pineapple topping as soon as the pudding looks set.  Just remember to let the pineapple mixture cool a bit before you add it to the pudding.

Ingredients:
2 cups of milk, needs to be 1% or above, fat free won't work
1/2 cup white sugar or you can use a Splenda substitute, just follow the instructions for substituting
3 Tbsp of cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp dark rum, I used Meyer's dark rum

Pineapple topping
1 lg can of chunked pineapple, drained well, reserve 1 Tbsp of pineapple juice
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp of butter
2 Tbsp dark rum
pinch cinnamon
tiny pinch of salt


Add the milk to a sauce pan and while it is still cold, add the sugar, cornstarch, salt and butter.  Over low heat, stir the milk mixture on a regular basis.  You really don't want this to burn, so I would stir pretty often.  Once the milk starts to get warm, stir constantly.  When the mixture gets close to boiling, you will be able to tell by the texture, the pudding starts to get thicker and there may be bubbles.  At that stage, let cook for 2 to 3 minutes still stirring.  Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and the rum, stir and then pour into the ramekins.  Refrigerate immediately.

In a frying pan, add the brown sugar and butter and cook until liquid and hot.  Carefully add the pineapple and the pineapple juice.  Cook for approximately 6 to 7 minutes.  Add the dark rum, cinnamon, and salt.  Remove from heat and let them sit for about 5 minutes.  Pour on the top of the slightly cooled pudding.  Put back in the refrigerator and let cool.  Serve and enjoy!

Banana Split Cupcakes

My upstairs neighbors are always helping me out when I need it.  Today I needed to use their CD burner to make a CD for something important and they helped me out.  So I decided in order to pay them back I would make something delicious.  Originally, I was thinking something silky and chocolaty, but then with Valentine's day right around the corner, I decided to do something a little bit different.  I went leafing through my cupcake recipe book and found a delicious recipe for Banana Split Cupcakes.  I didn't change a thing about this recipe, but I do know that the book is now out of print and I'm not sure the recipe is online.  
    This recipe only makes 12 cupcakes, so if you need to make more, make sure to double it.  The cupcakes are delicious.  I normally don't eat a cupcake after I make it, but these were so good, I couldn't resist.  HEAVENLY!  A mini banana split just for me... perfect!

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 medium banana)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup buttermilk  (you can make this with 1/4 cup milk and 1 tsp of vinegar, let sit for 5 minutes)
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped and toasted walnuts  (toast them by putting them in a pan on medium heat, watch carefully and stir, when they start to smelly nutty, remove from heat)
2 milk chocolate bars  (I used three pieces of chocolate chunks from a bag that I had)

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 to 2 Tbsp milk
1/2 cup of toasted coconut (use the same processes as for the nuts, just don't let burn)
12 maraschino cherries

In a bowl combing the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  In another bowl combine the banana, butter, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Add the dry ingredients and stir until mixed well.  Fold in the nuts.  Put cupcake liners in a cupcake pan and then fill 1/4 of the way fill using an ice cream scoop.
Top each one with a piece or pieces of chocolate.  Then fill the with the remaining batter til the cupcakes are 3/4 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.

While they are cooling, mix the frosting.  Use just enough milk to make it smooth, so that may be more or less than 2 Tbsps.  Once the cupcakes are cool, frost and sprinkle immediately with the coconut.  Then take the remaining chocolate bar and heat it in the microwave.  Drizzle over the cupcakes and place a cherry on top!  Enjoy your treat!  No need for a spoon!

Banana Foster Cake

  I have a friend here at Penn State who lived in New Orleans for a while.  We became friends because he comes into the gym every day and works out.  I offered him a cupcake one day after his workout and we've become friends.  So we were talking one day and we got on the subject gumbo and jambalaya.  I told him about my jambalaya recipe, which you can find on here and he bragged about his gumbo recipe.  A few weeks later when things calmed down for everyone, he invited a a bunch of friends over for gumbo night.  I felt the need to bring dessert and thought long and hard about what I could bring that had a New Orleans flair too it and that I had ingredients for, without having to run to the store.  All the recipes online needed special things and I just wasn't going to make a special trip to the store to get them.  So I decided to take a regular butter cake recipe and jazz it up.  This recipe is was a huge hit!  I would tell you to definitely make it and enjoy it with your friends and family!  Bring a little bit of New Orleans home to your house!


   Ingredients
Foster topping :
2-3 bananas, sliced
1/3 c. butter
1/2 c brown sugar
pinch Cinnamon
2 Tbsp dark rum (I used Meyer's)
parchment that is cut out the size and shape of the 9x13 inch pan, grease the pan, place the parchment over it, and then spray with Pam again.

Melt the butter and brown sugar in a pan on the stove over low heat.  When the sugar dissolves take it off the heat, add the rum and cinnamon.  Then pour it in the bottom of a greased 9x13in cake pan.  Layer the slices bananas over the sugar mixture

Cake:
1 boxed butter, yellow cake mix (use the butter type, it is way better)
butter called for on the box
2 Tbsp dark rum (I used Meyer's dark rum)

Mix the cake according to the directions on the box and add the dark rum.  Pout gently over the bananas and sugar mixture.  Place directly in the oven preheated to 325 degrees.  Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until cake is done.  Let cool for about 5 to 10 minutes and then take the tray that you're going to serve it on and hold it against the cake.  USE A HOT PAD!  The cake will still be hot!  Then carefully flip the cake over and  tap on the glass bottom.  The cake should fall right out.  Pull the parchment off the top of the cake and serve!

   This cake is so good, rich, luscious mixture of banana, rum, and caramel.  So GOOD!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecake Light

So I'm a little late it catching my blog up, sorry!  One of the things that my attention has been on is little girl named Carmen who is going through chemo in Washington State.  Her mom runs an amazing bakery, Betty Blue and creates some gorgeous and delicious cupcakes.  Her family is friends with a good friend of mine.  So if you get a chance check out her Facebook page at Caring for Carmen or at her website Caring for Carmen.  She's an amazing young lady and she deserves all the love and support we can give her!  Fight hard Carmen!  <3

   
      I was invited to a Superbowl party this year at my friend Stephanie's house.  I wasn't sure what the menu was going to be (turns about it was delicious tacos), so I decided that I needed to make a light dessert.  Light doesn't mean that it shouldn't have a lot of flavor, so I was caught trying to find something delicious and something that wasn't too heavy or rich.  I was surfing through my email a few days before the Superbowl and came upon the Taste of Home light Valentine's Dessert recipe book.  I decided to leaf through it and in it I found this amazing recipe for Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cheesecake.  I fell in love immediately and decided that this was the answer to my problem.  TOUCHDOWN!  The cheesecake was a huge hit, easy to make, and not that bad for you!
    I actually followed this recipe with fidelity, but when I give this recipe to you, I'm going to suggest that you don't use the chocolate graham crackers.  I am going to suggest that you use just a plain chocolate cookie, like an unfilled Oreo, but I don't know if those exist, however, I would suggest using something with a little more texture.  If you can't find something better, use the graham crackers, they taste good.
  Don't panic if when you go to unmold this cake if the crust seems really lose, it is, but it's still really good and it will be okay.  The recipe makes a lot of crust and even with what falls off, there will still be enough to cover the cake and it will still look okay.  WARNING:   MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TIME TO LET THIS CAKE SETUP IN THE FRIDGE!
 Without further ado, here's the recipe.

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups chocolate Oreo-like cookies about 9 
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 pound fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 packages (8 ounces each) fat-free cream cheese, cubed
1 cup (8 ounces) fat-free cottage cheese
Sugar substitute equivalent to 3/4 cup sugar (I used Spenda Sugar blend) 
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed, divided
12 medium fresh strawberries (optional, I used one and made it the top decoration 
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used less since I used less strawberries) 

Directions 

• In a small bowl, combine cookies crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of a 9-in. springform (or baking dish)  pan coated with cooking spray. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.

• Hull strawberries if necessary; in a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand for 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Transfer to the food processor; add the cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar substitute. Cover and process until smooth.

• Transfer to a large bowl; fold in 2 cups whipped topping. Pour into crust. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until set.

• For garnish, wash strawberries and gently pat with paper towels until completely dry. Cut tops off berries. In a microwave, melt chocolate; stir until smooth. Dip each berry tip until half of the berry is coated, allowing excess to drip off. Place with tips pointing up on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

• Carefully run a knife around edge of springform pan to loosen; remove sides of pan. Garnish cheesecake with chocolate-dipped strawberries and remaining whipped topping.

•  Yield: 12 servings

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

  The last thing I made over break were some chicken wings for my brother to take back to New Orleans with him.  He really wanted teriyaki flavored wings, but he wasn't exactly thrilled with the teriyaki sauce that I made for his beef jerky earlier in the week.  He said it wasn't strong enough and my sense of taste still hadn't returned from being sick earlier in the week.  I went scouring the Internet looking for recipes but my mom's house is not equipped for cooking the way mine is and I didn't have a lot of ingredients here in Ohio that I would have in my apartment in State College.  I needed to find a recipe that was simple and didn't have complicated ingredients but still tasted excellent.  Unfortunately, Food network failed me because their recipe for teriyaki was so complicated I would have had to visit Cleveland in order to find half of the ingredients I needed.  So I decided to try to piece together a recipe using ingredients from a bunch of recipes.  I was nervous, but it turns out, one taste and my brother was hooked!  He ate almost all the wings the moment they came out of the oven and then he raved about them to my mother and my grandpa.  He actually said that they were better than any wings he's ever ordered at a restaurant.  I'll be honest, these wings take some time to make, but they are definitely worth it. 

Recipe
 5lbs or more of chicken wings, I used frozen, but use whatever
1 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 tsp  ground ginger (or more depending on how much ginger you like) or 1/4 tsp fresh ginger
2 tsp of minced garlic from the jar (if you use fresh garlic, 1 tsp.)
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vinegar

2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water

Select a large pot, but not too large, your colander needs to rest above an inch of water in the bottom of the pan.  Once you have the pan, pour an inch of water into the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil.  The object here is to steam the fat out of the chicken wings so that when we bake them in a bit, they will be super crunchy.  Line the colander with chicken wings in a single layer, it may take you several times to do all the chicken wings, but steam them for ten minutes.  They'll be a white color and not completely cooked after 10 minutes, but place them cookie sheet lined with paper towels.  Once they have cooled a bit, rinse them off and put them back on a cookie sheet lined with clean paper towels.  Put the cookie trays in the refrigerator for an hour and let them dry out completely.  This is key so that the wings don't smoke too much.  Put the dry wings on a greased cookie sheet and bake them in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes flip the wings over and cook for another 20 minutes.  In total, cook for 40 minutes. 


     While the wings are cooking, make the sauce so it has time to boil, cool and thicken.  In a blender combine the pineapple juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, brown sugar and vinegar.  Blend until smooth.
Mix the cornstarch and water together and add to the mixture.  Pour into a pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Remove from heat and let cool while the chicken wings cook. 
      When the chicken wings are close to done, grab a big bowl and dump some of the sauce into the pan.  As soon as the wings come out of the oven, remove the wings from the cookie sheet and put them directly into the bowl with the sauce.  Gently stir the wings into the sauce and make sure the wings are completely coated.  Dump onto a plate and serve immediately!!!  
   If you're planning on saving them, once you remove them from the bowl with the sauce in it, dump them on a piece of wax paper and let them cool, that way the sauce won't come off or stick to the tray. 
   These are so good!  Please give them a try.  You could also make them with a Buffalo Garlic sauce.  Instead of the Teriyaki, take 2 tbsp of melted butter, mix it with Buffalo hot sauce and some garlic (to taste) and coat the wings in that sauce instead of the teriyaki. 

No need to go out to your local wing place, grab some beer, put some football on the television, jump into your comfiest jeans and get ready for finger licking good wings. 

Crock pot Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

I don't normally cook with boxed mixes, but I was home in Ohio, my brother needed dinner, mom wasn't home and I was given the order to make something in the crock pot with ham.  Mom had handed me a recipe, but we didn't have the right things I needed to make the recipe so I decided to cross my fingers and improvise.  I poured everything into the crock pot and crossed my fingers.  After about an hour, delicious smell started wafting from the crock pot.  By the time my brother got home, the whole house smelled amazing.  He ended up having two servings right away and then had more for lunch the next day.  The whole crock pot was gone in 2.5 days.  This is definitely a great recipe and a good use for leftover ham.



I know the flash is too bright, but the other pictures were worse.  It tastes great!

Recipe
2 boxes of Au Gratin Potatoes
1 c. of cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 c. sour cream
2.5 c. of milk
2.5 c. of water
1 tbsp Hungarian paprika
1 onion, diced
2 tbsp of minced garlic
2 tsp of Creole seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's Famous Creole Seasoning)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of diced ham

1 Tbsp of cornstarch
1 Tbsp of water

Add all the ingredients into the crock pot.  Turn on low and let cook until the potatoes are soft, at least 4 hours.  Or cook for approximately 2 on high.  After 30 minutes before serving, mix the cornstarch with water and add the mixture to the crock pot.  Serve once the sauce starts to thicken. 

Enchilada Lasagna

   This recipe evolved from sheer laziness on my part.  During finals week I decided that spicy enchiladas sounded really good; I was in the process of catching cold (it ended up being more than a simple cold, it ended up being a three week bronchial problem that resulted in me spending a good portion of my Christmas vacation on the couch with a hot water bottle, vaporizer and Vick's)  but I didn't know that, I just knew that I wanted something spicy that I could taste.  When I got home from the grocery store I was exhausted (this should have been a hint that I was sick)  but I was way too lazy to actually make and roll the enchiladas.  So I decided to turn my spicy enchiladas into lasagna using all the ingredients that I normally would have used for individual enchiladas.  I do have to say, it was a marvelous success.  I like my enchiladas medium spicy, not mouth burning spicy, but leaves a warm tingle in the back of the throat.  You can obviously make them as spicy as you want by adding more jalapenos, cayenne, or your anything of your choice.  I also make mine using ground chicken or turkey, but feel free to use beef, just make sure that you drain it off well before you add the spices and stuff. 

Recipe
1 package of soft burrito shells
1 lb of ground turkey, chicken, or beef
1 package of taco seasoning, pick your favorite kind
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced (or hot pepper of your choice)
1 onion (I pureed mine since I don't like them, but you can just dice it) half for enchiladas and half for the guacamole
pinch of cayenne (to taste)
2 tsp of chili powder
1 can of refried beans
1 bag of Mexican shredded cheese
1 small can of enchilada sauce
2 tomato, diced
1 c. of frozen corn

Guacamole
2 small tomatoes or 1 large tomato, diced
1 avocado
1 tbsp lime juice  (use fresh please!)
the other half of the above minced onion
1 garlic clove minced
1 jalapeno seeded and minced if you like
cilantro
cumin


    So in a skillet, brown the meat.  When the meat is almost browned, throw in half the onion, 2 tomatoes, the jalapenos, the seasoning packet, corn, the water called for on the seasoning packet, 2 tsps of chili powder and a pinch of cayenne.  Let cook until the water is dissolved and the vegetables are soft.  In a separate pot, heat the refried beans so they are easier to spread.  In a 9x9 pan, Pam (butter) the bottom so the burrito shells don't stick and begin the layering process. 
    Tear the shells so that they perfectly cover the bottom, then begin the layering process.  Layer the meat mixture on top of the shells, followed by some of the refried beans, then cheese and then a drizzle of enchilada sauce.  Repeat this until you've used all the meat, cheese, beans, and enchilada sauce.  Your last layer should be the cheese layer, that way you have a nice bubbly, cheesy top. 
Since most of it is cooked, you only need to bake it for 30 minutes (or until piping hot) in a 350 degree oven. 
    Meanwhile, in a bowl, you can whip up my guacamole.  To get into an avocado, BE CAREFUL!  Run you knife around the outside of the avocado, deep enough that you go to the seed.  Then twist it apart.  One side will that the seed stuck in it.  CAREFULLY, take you knife and whack the seed, your knife will stick in the seed and with a gentle twist, you should be able to pop the seed out.  JUST BE CAREFUL!!!!!!!!!  Once you have separated the seed from the avocado, take a spoon and run it around the edges of the avocado between the shell and the flesh.  The avocado flesh should pop right out, put it into a bowl and immediately add the lime juice.  Mash it with a fork and add the rest of the ingredients.  Stir them in gently and add salt and pepper to taste. 
   When the Enchilada Lasagna comes out of the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes so it sets up and then serve with the guacamole.