Chicken and sausage jambalaya

Not my first choice for a meal, but I was surprised at how much I liked it! It made me want to cook rice more often. It took the rice 40+ minutes to bake. We had to leave for an appointment so that ended up setting dinner back about 2 and 1/2 hours. But it was still good! I really wanted to add some cheese but I knew that wasn’t authentic. It already was screwed because I omitted the green peppers and celery, just because I don’t really like them. I did stir some sour cream into my portion.

I used Emeril’s famous seasoning recipe to season the chicken, veggies, and sauce.

http://newfinmysoup.blogspot.com/2012/02/take-me-back-to-new-orleans-donalds.html

http://kitchencatharsis.blogspot.com/2012/02/cajun-jambalaya.html?m=1

http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/09/shrimp-jambalaya.html

http://purelandorganic.blogspot.com/2011/11/chicken-and-sausage-jambalaya.html

Creme brûlée cupcake

The cupcake was so fluffy and tasty! All egg whites, no eggs. It uses the reverse creaming method, which makes the batter have the best texture. Cross between a regular cupcake and angel food cake. I used chilled creme brûlée spooned on top of the cupcake as the frosting. I baked the creme in a baking dish, then chilled. I used a big spoon to scoop out the creme brûlée and placed it upside down on the cupcake. I used the raw sugar and my new torch to brûlée the top. The creme brûlée as frosting idea came from the Cupcake Project blog.

http://sweetapolita.com/2011/07/fluffy-vanilla-cake-with-whipped-vanilla-bean-frosting/

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/creme-brulee/

http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2011/10/creme-brulee-cupcakes.html

Cornmeal buttermilk pancakes

These were yummy! The cornmeal is a nice touch. I could even add a little more next time. The ratio is half cornmeal, half flour. They were a good complement to Jacob’s favorite crockpot ribs. Pioneer Woman has a version that is pretty similar.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cornmeal-Buttermilk-Pancakes-4979

Chicken artichoke white lasagna

I made a half batch of a normal chicken lasagna, but used a loaf pan. It should have made three servings but Jacob and I accidentally finished it. It was really hard to decide how to layer everything. Honestly, I was not that impressed. The layers were way thin. The parts were definitely better than the sum. Our lasagna only used about half of everything I made (chicken artichoke mixed with a little béchamel, cottage cheese egg layer, cheese, and lasagna noodles.) The leftovers will be made into a panini, which I think will be much better! I baked the leftover cottage cheese mix in a small ramekin.

My layers:

Cheese

Bechamel

Noodle

Cottage cheese

Chicken artichoke

Bechamel

Noodle

Cottage cheese mix

Shredded mozz/provolone

Chicken artichoke mixed with béchamel

Noodle

Bechamel

http://www.tammysrecipes.com/white_chicken_lasagna

http://www.doesnotcookwellwithothers.com/2012/03/recipe-swap-white-cheese-chicken.html

http://rockonmommies.com/rachael/2011/11/whats-for-dinner-make-ahead-white-chicken-lasagna/

http://notesfromthetable.blogspot.com/2010/08/spinach-mushroom-lasagna.html

Peanut butter cup ice cream

I needed to cut down the recipe for the ice cream because a full recipe is just too much for Jacob and me. I made 1/3 of the recipe. It was nice not having to worry about making a custard. I made a chocolate fudge swirl sauce, and I stirred in chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups. It would be cool to get the mini pb cups, they are so cute!

http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/06/09/peanut-butter-cup-ice-cream/

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/08/06/chocolate-fudge-swirl-peanut-butter-ice-cream/

Steakhouse mushroom burgers

A nice variation on a burger! Heavy because of the sauce but at least the burger was 1/2 meat 1/2 mushroom!

http://www.pink-parsley.com/2011/05/steakhouse-mushroom-burgers-with.html

Buttermilk sandwich bread/rolls

Lovely fluffy light texture, great taste. The loaf sliced perfectly. Will make, again and again and again! One whole recipe makes a loaf and several rolls.

Buttermilk Sandwich Bread (or Rolls) aka White Bread

Smoked salmon potato cakes

Very good! I liked the relish on top a lot. It could have used a dipping sauce but a squeeze of lemon did the trick. I used Market Street house smoked salmon, which was good. Pretty smoky though! I mixed shredded salmon into the mashed potatoes, bead crumbs, etc. So it was a mashed potato cake!

 

Smoked salmon potato cakes

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2008/09/24/herbed-potato-cakes-smoked-salmon-and-roasted-red-/

Thin mint cookie tart

I made 1/2 of the crust recipe, and I modified the filling recipe because I only had 1/4 cup of cream. I used my cream, 1.5 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, 6 cookies, 1 oz cream cheese, and 1 egg. I didn’t make the topping because I was out of cream. I split the crust/filling between three mini tart pans. I baked the crust for 9 minutes, and the filling for 17. When I checked the filling, it was already set. I could have baked it a few minutes less because the recipe said the middle should not be completely set.

http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/951421/thin-mint-cookie-tart-recipe

Broccoli cheese soup, improved

I boiled/simmered the soup after adding the chicken stock for a good hour, then refrigerated the soup for a day or two after blending. The day I wanted to eat the soup, I heated it and stirred in the milk/cream and cheese. While working on the soup, I roasted the broccoli. It took a good 30-45 minutes, fyi. The soup ended up being a little over 2 pounds, and it made 5 servings. The soup tasted amazing! A great side was a pretzel roll spread with my homemade fig/cranberry/apricot jam.

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 tiny green apple, diced
• 1 yukon potato, diced (I didn’t use all of it)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4-1/2 cup beer
• Worchestershire sauce
• Red pepper flakes/cayenne
• 1/2 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (I didn’t puree about 1/2 of them. I wanted to use them as a garnish, so I removed some, but they smelled off by the time I was ready to finish the soup)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 5 oz cheese (mix of cheddar and fontina)
• Fresh thyme
• Roasted broccoli (Cook’s Illustrated recipe – Roasted broccoli with garlic and anchovies)