Category: MISC

MACHO CHICKEN ROJO

MACHO CHICKEN ROJO
4 skinless, boneless breasts, browned and shredded
2 cups red enchilada sauce
juice of 1 lime,
1 small can green chiles
1 large bunch green onions, sliced
1 can rotel tomatoes
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1 cup long grain rice
1 cup cheese

  • Mix all together
  • Bake 1 hour at 360 degrees

APRICOT PORK CHOPS & SCALLOPED POTATOES

As I bring my old recipes over to the new blog I’m evaluating each one on their merits and taking new pictures as necessary.  There are a few (very few) recipes though that I’m re-evaluating as to whether I would ever even make them again.  I’m trying to only post things here that would be served at my table again in the future.
The following recipe was originally tried and posted as a Pork Chops and Scalloped potatoes done in the crock pot with cherries.  While it was okay, but not something we would make again, the recipe itself still had merit so I adjusted the recipe yesterday and tried it again and VOILA we have a recipe I will serve again and again!  This recipe will also work with thinner pork chops as well.

APRICOT PORK CHOPS & SCALLOPED POTATOES
4 bone in pork chops
8 apricots, washed, pitted and sliced thin
3 large potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thin
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
3+ tablespoons Wondra flour
1/8 cup sugar
finely grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

  •  Lay apricots in a single layer in a baking dish and sprinkle with the sugar.  Set aside for an hour or so.
  • Save you nicest looking apricot pieces to lay on top of pork chops. Puree the rest.
  • In a small sauce pan melt the butter.  Whisk in 3 tablespoons of Wondra flour until golden.
  • Gradually add the cream, stirring continuously until smooth.
  • Gradually add in half or more of the apricot puree.
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Spray an 11×7 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Start layering potatoes into the bottom of baking dish, salt and peppering with a dusting of flour and sprinkled with green onions and grated cheese between layers.
  • Once all the potatoes are layered, pour 2/3 of your sauce over the potatoes and allow it to dribble and settle  into all the cracks.
  • Lay pork chops on top of sauce in a single layer.
  • Arrange reserved apricot pieces on top of pork chops.
  • Add remaining puree to remaining sauce and whisk until smooth. 

  • Carefully pour over pork chops.
  • Cover with lid.
  • Bake 1 – 1 1/2 hours (depending on thickness and doneness of chops and potatoes.) Remove lid last 15 minutes.  Potato layer will be bubbly.

SAVORY CORN & PEPPER MUFFINS

Laurie of Quirky Cupcake formed Tuesdays With Dorie as a form of accountability for baking at least once a week using the cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. TWD celebrated it’s 1 year anniversary last week and is still going strong!


Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake chose Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins on page 6. I loved this recipe. I wanted to try out a new pan I received for Christmas, but the batter rose more than I expected so we have these cute rounded leaves. It didn’t affect the flavor at all! Head on over to Rebecca’s for the recipe.

KICKING POTATO SALAD

NOT YOUR MOTHER’S POTATO SALAD
2-3 pounds potatoes, washed well
6 eggs, hard boiled
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 +/- cup Bob’s Bleu Cheese dressing
1 1/2 teaspoon Frank’s red pepper sauce
1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
2 tablespoons orange champagne vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish


  • Hard boil eggs. Cool and set aside.
  • Boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Cool and set aside.
  • Drain pickle relish in sieve for 10 minutes to remove excess juice.
  • Mix together the bleu cheese dressing, hot sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper, onions and garlic until well blended. You may or may not need to add more dressing to reach the desired consistency.

  • Grate the hard boil eggs into the bowl and toss well.
  • Grate 1/2 of the potatoes into the bowl and toss until well blended.
  • Chop remaining potatoes into bite size pieces and fold into mixture.



  • Chill well.
  • Top with paprika garnish before serving.

INDONESIAN PORK ROAST ala TAMY

This is one of those recipes I found somewhere and set aside, but kept peeking back at it now and then.  I finally ran out of reasons not to try it and am kicking myself for not trying it sooner. The changes I made for an even better flavor in our opinion.

INDONESIAN PORK ROAST ala TAMY
2 pound pork tenderloin
4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons reduced-fat JIF creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced
PAM
1/2 cup mango chutney apricot pineapple jam
6-8 slices bacon**
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Combine soy sauce, peanut butter, red pepper flakes and garlic, mixing well.
  • Using a heavy duty cookie sheet or roasting pan line it with heavy duty foil.
  • Spray with pure. Arrange bacon slices.
  • Spread 1/4 of mixture over bacon slices.
  • Top with tenderloin.
  • Spread remaining sauce on top and sides.
  • Wrap bacon slices up and over securing with toothpicks.
  • Roast, uncovered for 45 minutes.
  • Brush evenly with jam and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
  • Turn off oven and let rest 10 minutes.
  • Slice and serve.

**I bought my tenderloin at costco and instead of being a whole tenderloin it was 2 halves. So I used bacon slices to wrap it as a whole and that addition made a fantastic difference.

PORK CHOPS in ORANGE SAUCE

PORK CHOPS in ORANGE SAUCE
4 boneless pork chops
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup cold water

  • Combine paprika and pepper.
  • Rub both sides of all pork chops with mixture.
  • Melt butter in skillet and brown pork chops over medium heat.
  • Combine the orange juice and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
  • Pour over pork chops.
  • Reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes until chops are cooked through.
  • Remove chops and keep warm.
  • Whisk together the flour and water until smooth.
  • Whisk into orange juice mixture and bring to a boil, simmering until thickened.
  • Serve over the chops.

With just the 2 of us, I take the leftover pork chops and shred them into the sauce. We then eat the leftovers over noodles or mashed potatoes.

HOMEMADE BBQ SAUCE

HOMEMADE BBQ SAUCE
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 1/2 cups Portland Ketchup

  • In a large saucepan combine all the ingredients except the ketchup. 
  • Cook uncovered until sugar is dissolved and all ingredient are well blended.
  •  Add ketchup and bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly. 
  • Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring often (about 30 minutes) until dark and thick.

STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE

Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker is our Friday baker at OUR KrAzY kitchen. She posted a recipe for Sour cream coffee cake a while back that is one that she is trying to duplicate from her SIL. It looked and sounded like my grams old recipe that I told her I’d dig out grams recipe for her and then I decided to go a step further and make it and do a post to highlight the good and yummy flavors. You get a light fluffy cake and ooey gooey streusel – YUMMY!

Grams old recipe calls for Bisquick and I no longer use it for health reasons, but make my own so I will include that recipe too.

STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE

CAKE
2 cups bisquick
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons oil

STREUSEL
1 cup bisquick
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons-2 tablespoons cinnamon(based on flavor preference)
4 tablespoons butter

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Generously spray 9×9 square baking dish with PAM.
  • Mix cake ingredients together until well blended.
  • Spread into baking dish, mixture will be thick.
  • Mix streusel ingredients together until fine crumbles.
  • Spread over the cake. With a knife gently cut a star into the cake to gently press some streusel into the cake.
  • Bake 20-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

HOMEMADE BISQUICK
4 ½ cups sifted flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup powdered milk**

  • Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
  • Sift again 2-3 times in a large bowl.
  • Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is similar to cornmeal.
  • Add dry milk.
  • Use in recipes that call for Bisquick or all-purpose mix.

**you can skip this ingredient if your recipe calls for any kind of milk, not water.

ROCKY ROAD MEETS THE BLACK FOREST BROWNIES


ROCKY ROAD MEETS THE BLACK FOREST BROWNIES
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
2 squares Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup marshmallow cream
2 teaspoons PURE vanilla
1-2 teaspoons cherry extract
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 JUMBO eggs
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips, chopped
1/3 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Grease (really well) a 9×9 baking pan. I like to use my stoneware for nice even baking.
  • Melt butter and chopped unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler until smooth and consistent. Set aside to cool.
  • Sift together the flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  • Toss chocolate chip pieces and walnuts with a bit of the flour mixture and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs and vanilla until smooth and consistent.
  • Add cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs and blend well.
  • By hand stir in the flour mixture just until well blended – DO NOT over mix!
  • Fold in the chocolate pieces, cherry pieces and walnuts just until well blended.
  • Warm the marshmallow cream for 15-20 seconds in the microwave (just enough to make it spreadable) and spread it over the chocolate batter in the mixing bowl.
  • With a knife gently and slightly swirl it lightly into the chocolate batter. If you swirl too much it will just become part of the batter instead of clumps of marshmallow.
  • Gently pour the batter into the prepared ban and bake 40-45 minutes or until edges pull away from the sides of the pan.
  • Cool the cake in the pan until completely cooled.

DECADENT CHOCOLATE BROWNIES with CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY SAUCE

DECADENT CHOCOLATE BROWNIES (make 4 ramekins)
2 Tablespoons butter + 1 Tablespoon butter
1 ounce Baker’s Bittersweet Chocolate
1 ounce Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1 1/4 ounce Baker’s sweet German chocolate
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon flour
1/8 scant teaspoon baking powder
1/8 scant teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar

  • Melt 2 tablespoons butter in microwave safe ramekin for 30 seconds, add the bittersweet & semi-sweet chocolate and microwave in 30 second increments until you can stir it smooth. 
  • Set aside to cool slightly. 
  • Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. 
  • Mix together the egg and sugar and beat on high with a hand mixer until slightly thick and turns a dull yellow. 
  • Lower speed and add chocolate mixture to egg mixture. 
  • By hand stir in the flour mixture until consistent in color. 
  • Spoon into ramekins and bake on cookie sheet for 25 minutes or until centers are set. 
  • Just after you put these in the oven, prepare the topping. 
  • Melt the other tablespoon of butter and then add the German sweet chocolate and melt until you can stir smooth. 
  • Just after the brownies come out of the oven, pour the topping over. 
  • Then top again with raspberry sauce and raspberries.

RASPBERRY SAUCE
2 cups fresh raspberries
1/4 cup kirsch or framboise (raspberry liqueur) or eau-de-vie
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  • Puree all the ingredients in a food processor
  • Strain the sauce to remove the seeds. 
  • Store the sauce in the refrigerator in a covered container.
WARNING: THESE ARE RICH & DECADENT!

PEACHY NUT BARS

1 cups all-purpose flour
1 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cups chopped cashews
1/2 + 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 large eggs
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup peach jam

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9″x 13″x 2″ baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. 
  • Combine flour, oats, cashews, 1 cup sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter. Reserve 1 & 1/2 cups of mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Set pan on wire rack to cool. 
  • Beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer. When mixture is creamy, add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat until combined. 
  • Spread apple butter over cooled crust. Spread cream cheese mixture over apple butter. Top with reserved oat mixture. Bake 35-40 minutes or until cream cheese layer is set. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
  • Let cool.  Store in air tight refrigerated container.

OREO COOKIES & CREAM CHEESECAKES

OREO COOKIES & CREAM CHEESECAKES
adapted from Martha Stewart Makes 30

42 OREO cookies, 30 whole and 12 coarsely chopped
4-8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

  • Preheat oven to 275° degrees.
  • Line  muffin tins with paper liners.
  • Place 1 whole Oreo cookie in the bottom of each lined muffin cup.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
  • Gradually add the sugar, and beat until combined.
  • Beat in the vanilla.
  • Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
  • Add in sour cream and salt, beat to combine.
  • Using a large spatula, fold in the chopped Oreo cookies.
  • Divide batter evenly among the cookie-filled muffin cups, fill each cup almost to the top.
  • Bake, rotating muffin tins halfway through, until the filling is set, about 22 to 28 minutes.
  • Transfer the muffins tins to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Refrigerate (in the muffin tins) at least 4 hours (or overnight).
  • Remove from tins just before serving.