Mini-Cheesecakes

I have a thing for mini-desserts. Not only do I like the fact that they are built in portion control... well, unless you eat multiple of them... but I just think they're so dang cute!!

Mini pies, mini cakes, mini loaves of bread; I've even done small cheesecake tarts before. But for my birthday this year, my in-laws gave me this sweet little mini-cheesecake pan from King Arthur Flour. Two perfect bites of sweet, cheesy goodness in every cake. I also like how quick they are to mix up and bake.

I use my Perfect Graham Cracker Crust recipe and then whip up a basic cheesecake filling, which has nice lemony overtone. The cutest thing, which I did not take advantage of in this instance, is that they end up with a slight dimple in the middle of the cake, perfect for filling with whatever fruit or chocolate topping you think your mini-cheesecakes deserve!

Mini-Cheesecakes
Yield: 12 mini-cheesecakes

1 recipe Perfect Graham Cracker Crust
1 package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the graham cracker crust and tamp about a 1/4-inch layer of crust in the bottom of each pan. Bake at 400 degrees F about 8 minutes or until nicely golden. Let cool.

Adjust the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Pour batter evenly into the twelve molds. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes. After twenty minutes, turn off the oven and let the cakes sit in the oven ten minutes longer. Remove pan from oven and let cool completely. For easiest removal, chill cheesecakes in the refrigerator a few hours until they are firm and then remove the cakes onto a serving dish.

Tortellini Soup

Marianne Galli made this for our Souper Saturday.  First dish gone, easy!  It was really delicious.  Sorry, I didn't take any pictures:). Tortellini Soup

2 Tbls butter 6 garlic clove, minced 1/2 cup onion chopped 4 cups chicken stock 2 cups water 1 9 oz. pkg. cheese tortillini 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with liquid 1 10 oz pkg. spinach 8 basil leaves, sliced 1 egg 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated salt and pepper to taste

1 In a large saucepan, melt butter. Sauté garlic and onion. 2 Add stock and water. 3 Bring to a boil, and add tortellini and reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. 4 Add Tomatoes and cook 4 minutes. 5 Add spinach and basil, cook 1-2 minutes. 6 In a small mixing bowl, whisk egg, Parmesan, salt and pepper. 7 Slowly drizzle into soup and cook 2 minutes.

Servings: 6

Cheesy Bread

I just made this for our monthly Soup Sunday.  Flew off the counter, literally!  It was so delicious.  I loved the flavoring the italian dressing base gave it.  Also, no fail--for those of us who are bread challenged.


Cheesy Bread
From Your Homebased Mom Blog

Dough:
2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 cup warm water (120*F)
1 Tablespoon oil
Topping:
1/4 cup prepared Italian salad dressing
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
dash pepper
1-2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Combine water and oil; add to flour mixture. Add additional flour if needed to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Punch the dough down; place on a greased 16″ pizza pan and pat into a 16″ circle. Combine salad dressing and seasonings, brush evenly over dough, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with cheeses.
For a fluffier cheese bread, at this point, allow the bread to rest for 15 minutes or so. If you’re in a hurry, just skip this rise. (The bread will rise while it bakes, too.)
Preheat the oven to 450*F. Bake for 11 minutes or until golden brown. Slice. Serve warm.

German Pancakes

Whether you call these Dutch Babies, Puff Pancakes, Statch or German Pancakes- the results are the same: pure deliciousness. Mom made these for us when we were growing up, so its a comfort food as well- not sure the origin of the recipe. This is my kids favorite breakfast and that is saying something given that I live in a household full of breakfast fanatics. I make these for dinner sometimes too...just because.

picture courtesy google images

German Pancakes

1 cup milk

6 eggs

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

4-6 Tbs. butter (depending on preference)
1 tsp. vanilla

Sprinkle of cinnamon (depending on preference- I use @ 1 tsp.)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Combine all ingredients, except butter, in blender (or bowl with mixer). Melt butter in 9X13 pan in oven until hot and sizzling. Pour batter into pan and bake 15-20 minutes (watch for desired doneness). The size of the pan will greatly affect the thickness and cooking time so make sure you adjust accordingly. Brian likes to eat these with powdered sugar and applesauce, while us girls prefer maple syrup, but you can eat them however you like!

Perfect Graham Cracker Crust

I am pleased to announce that crumbly graham cracker crusts are no longer going to be a problem I have to deal with. I have always been frustrated by how the traditional graham cracker crust turned out for me.

It made perfect sense to me... I mean, really: crushed up graham crackers, sugar, and butter... there's no glue in there! What is supposed to hold it all together?

Fortunately, the cure is simple and wonderful. If you add one single egg yolk to the mixture, you end up with a perfect graham cracker crust that holds it's own once baked.

Perfect Graham Cracker Crust
Yield: enough for one pie/tart shell

1 pouch graham crackers (there are usually three pouches per box)
4 TBS melted and cooled butter
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
dash cinnamon

Grind the graham crackers into a fine meal. A food processor is easiest, but you can also use a rolling pin and a plastic bag. Then add the remaining ingredients into the mixture and be sure everything is well incorporated. Press into whichever mold or tart shell you choose and bake in a 400 degree F oven until the crust is gently golden, between 8 and 12 minutes depending on the size and thickness of your shell.

Oven Roasted Asparagus

There aren't many things that taste better than asparagus, when its done right. And, this recipe is a sure-fire way to make sure that happens. Super easy, extremely delicious, and totally satisfying. I could eat these all on their own.

picture courtesy google images

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 1 bunch asparagus spears, trimmed
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional- I didn't use this)
• 
  
• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F. Place the asparagus into a mixing bowl, and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat the spears and then arrange them on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper. Bake in the preheated oven until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes depending on thickness. Sprinkle with lemon juice just before serving.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

This sandwiches were amazing and super easy to make!  The pork stayed really moist and I loved the hickory smoke flavor.  I ate just the pork the next day for leftovers.  Reminded me of Cafe Pig...hmmm!


BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

From My Kitchen Cafe Blog


3 to 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (I’ve also used boneless pork loin – not tenderloin – but pork loin with good results)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
1 tablespoon hickory flavored liquid smoke
2 cups barbecue sauce
Rinse the pork shoulder and pat dry. Rub salt and pepper over the pork and place in a slow cooker. Add water and liquid smoke. Cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, until the pork is very tender.
Remove the pork from the slow cooker and discard the remaining liquid. Shred the pork using a couple of forks. Place the meat back in the slow cooker along with the barbecue sauce and continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes until the pork is hot again. Serve on buns with extra barbecue sauce.

Honey Roasted Potatoes

Pic courtesy of allrecipes.com

We had all the siblings here over for Sunday dinner tonight. I decided to make it kinda low-key and just did good old-fashioned BBQ chicken. However, I've been wanting to try some new roasted potato recipes, so I jumped on allrecipes.com and found one of the highest-rated and most interesting roasted potato recipes. I was drawn to them because they seemed so different and they sounded so good. I mean, who doesn't love honey and potatoes??? Ok, so not something I would think to put together either, BUT, let me just tell you- they were scrumptious and definitely the hit tonight (besides Amy's Oreo-laced brownies- c'mon!).

Honey Roasted Red Potatoes

adapted from allrecipes.com

• 1 pound red potatoes, cubed (I used Yukon Gold's with great results)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons onion powder
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly coat an 11x7 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place potatoes in a single layer in prepared dish. In a small bowl, combine onion powder, melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and pepper; drizzle over potatoes and onion.
3. Bake in the preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 45-55 minutes or until tender, stirring every 20 minutes.

Grilled Turkey and Pesto Sandwich

We love sandwiches around here. My husband's been working such late hours that many days by the time he calls to let me know he's on his way, I just can't think about cooking a full-fledged meal.

Yes. Soup and sandwiches visit our house very often.

But, when I'm really looking for a satisfying meal, cold sandwiches just don't quite measure up to the task. Ergo, we eat a lot of soup and grilled sandwiches at our house.

The great thing is that you have almost as much flexibility with a grilled sandwich as a cold one. Granted, I'm not a big fan of lettuce and tomato condiments on a grilled sandwich, for instance, but you can add all kinds of other great things! Besides the regular grilled ham and cheese (yes, I live with a man and, apparently, men cannot abide by a meatless sandwich), the sky's the limit. Swap out your cheeses; go with a variety of meats. My favorites often include caramelized onions and/or mushrooms. Oh, yes, the options are many.

Funny, then, that this one has made so many regular appearances lately. It's much easier to make than a sandwich that requires cooking onions or mushrooms separately. I can slap these together in no time flat, and my husband says they're good! And they have turkey on them. GASP! What, no beef? I guess when you slather a sandwich with pesto, turkey is A-OK.

So, here's the deal: Butter the outsides of your bread and spread the inside of each slice with a little pesto. I have a bunch of homemade pesto in my freezer that I froze in ice cube trays. I use one ice cube worth of pesto per sandwich. I then place a slice of smoke provolone cheese on each slice of bread (read: two slices per sandwich). Fold some deli smoked turkey in the middle, put them together, and grill over medium heat until nice and golden and heated through. Yup. This one's a keeper.

Fast Sugar Cookies

 

Just what it says.  A fast and yummy sugar cookie.

Fast Sugar Cookies

From Favorites and Things Blog

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3 t. vanilla
• 7 cups flour
• 2 t. baking soda
• 4 t. cream of tarter

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Sift dry ingredents together and add to mixture. Foll out 1/4" and cut into shapes. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes. 

*I added a lot more flour in the end to make it more manageable.

Chicken Azteca

I thought I had already posted this recipe but I did a search and didn't see it....so, here it is! I love this recipe. Got it from my BFF and cousin, Katie. It's so friendly in every way. It's quick- usually you have the ingredients-, kids and adults love it, and its very very versatile. And it cooks in a crock pot. I love the crock pot. Especially in the Georgia summers where my AC cannot keep up with 115 heat index outside. YIKES!

Picture courtesy of the tastebook.com (this is SO not what mine looks like by the way)

Chicken Azteca

Combine the following ingredients in the crockpot on high for 5-6 hours:
3-4 Chicken Breasts
2 c. frozen or canned corn
1 can black beans
24 oz. mild salsa (this is usually about one and a half jars so I like to use one jar mild and 1/2 medium)
Ground Cumin to taste (about a tsp.)
Garlic Powder to taste(about a tsp.)

When you are about an hour away from serving chicken should be tender and shreddable. At this point add 8 oz. of cream cheese. I usally cut it up and then throw it in for easy melting. However, this meal can be eaten three ways:
1) As quesadilla filling (I definitely do this with the left overs and put it in my George Foreman)
2) On a salad
3) Over rice

I usually serve it over an option of rice or salad and then do the quesadilla thing for leftovers. I make enough rice for family in my rice cooker. Then I cut up tortillas into strips and bake them in the oven on low broil for 5-10 min. Flip once. Serve with cheese and sour cream.

Stew Dumplings

You ever noticed how sometimes folks start doing something because they think it's convenient and then they forget there ever was an original way to do it? I think stew dumplings fall in that category. When was the last time you had chicken and dumplings with dumplings made from scratch? It seems like everyone now just throws some refrigerator biscuit dough in their stew and calls it good.

There are only two problems with this practice that I can see. First: Biscuit dumplings have a weird texture that in no way resembles scratch dumplings. I find the refrigerator dough dumplings to be very chewy and dense. The real thing is just slightly chewy on the outside and somewhat fluffy on the inside. Second: It only takes me 2.4 minutes to mix up a batch of dumpling dough from scratch. Is that really more trouble than trying to open a roll of store bought biscuits?

Mix this dough together and drop by the tablespoon full on top of any stew you're cooking and see what a difference it makes! You may never look back!

Stew Dumplings
Yield: approximately 6-8 dumplings
Adapted from the New Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
2 TBS cooking oil
1/8 tsp salt
pinch of dried herbs (such as parsley, thyme, or oregano)

Stir together all ingredients. For the most tender dumplings, do not over mix the dough. Drop tablespoon sized blobs of dough onto any finished, bubbling stew (you will not want to have to mix anything else into the stew after you add the dumplings). Reduce heat to just maintain a simmer. Cover the pot and cook 10-12 minutes until dumplings are just cooked through.

Copycat JDawg Sauce

Oh, you guys are gonna love me!  Provo, a.k.a. most amazing food land, has a new hot dog stand that is all the rage at BYU.  Julie introduced this place to me.  Needless to say, their hot dogs are amazing all because of their spectacular sauce!  Here is a copycat version that is so dang good.  A guest at the table said, "I'll never eat another hot dog without it!"

Copycat JDawg Sauce
From Your Homebased Mom Blog
3/4  C ketchup
3/4 C barbeque sauce
1/4 C honey
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp onion power
Mix together and enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I loved the richness of the cream these enchiladas were in.  Same basic recipe with a richer, creamier sauce!

 Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

From Tasty Sensations Blog 

3+ large skinless/boneless chicken breasts
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cube butter
1, 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 small can green chilis
flour tortillas
1 pint whip cream
1 cup monterey jack cheese

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Boil chicken and cut up 2-3 chicken breasts. (Can do this the day before and refrigerate). Saute onion in butter. Add 1 pkg cream cheese and 1 small can green chilis. After cream cheese melts, mix in chicken. Drop chicken/cheese mix in flour tortillas. Put in 13x9 pan. Pour pint of whipping cream on top. Add 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.Great to top off with the black bean salsa dip!

Phyllo Dough Shortcut

Good news! Your life is about to get easier.

For a long time now, I've wondered, do I have to brush phyllo dough with butter to get the best results? I love baking with phyllo dough... those flaky layers get me every time, but I hate brushing each layer with butter. And, in this case, I really mean hate.

So, the other evening I conducted a test. I built two stacks of plain phyllo dough and baked them for comparison. On one I brushed butter like I usually do, on the other, I sprayed plain old cooking spray on each layer. First, I want to let you know that building the stack using the cooking spray was a breeze! It was wonderfully easy and I could control the amount of fat I used somewhat too. When you're trying to brush tissue paper thin sheets of dough with butter, there's no such thing as going easy on the stuff.

I purposefully made the stacks with no flavorings whatsoever. I wanted to be see if I could discern a difference in flavor between the two, because - as we all know - butter has a special flavor profile and if there was a difference, the hassle of brushing might be worth it.

And the good news is: knock yourself out with the cooking spray. Not only was the result just as flaky and puffed as the butter (in fact, maybe even more so), there was no significant flavor difference between the two. Make your life easy! Make phyllo with cooking spray!

NOTE: The cooking spray tower is on the right in the above picture, the butter on the left. When I bit into them, there was really no significant difference in flakiness. I think the difference you see in the picture is due to the edges of the layers sticking more with the butter when I trimmed around each stack before baking. Another kudos to the cooking spray, I suppose!

Heather’s Monterey Chicken and Potatoes

This one's from Aunt Jana.  She had this meal at Aunt Heather's house.  Follow that?:)  She couldn't say enough about the yumminess and the tenderness of the meat, etc!  I will be sure to try it soon...

Heather’s Monterey Chicken and Potatoes

1 ½ lbs Red Potatoes cut into bite size pieces

2 TLBs butter melted

4-6 Boneless chicken breast

1 TLBS lime juice

1 ½ cups or more, cheddar jack shredded cheese (fresh shredded cheese is best)

¼ cup chopped cilantro

3 TLBS salsa

Lime wedges

Place in large casserole dish chicken in the middle, add potatoes all around the edges, pour melted butter over potatoes and lime juice on top of chicken.

Mix salsa, cilantro together place all over the potatoes and around the edges cover with foil and bake for an hour. Add cheese last 10 minutes.

Bake on 425 for an hour

Add lime wedges on individual servings

Pistachio Creme Dessert

My dad jokes that this recipe is in the handbook of the church because so many mormons make it. Whatever...I just think its that good. Its so creamy and delicious that every bite will have you wanting more- its certainly not on the weight watchers menu, so watch out! :) You can use whatever flavor of pudding you prefer- chocolate and pistachio are my favorites. You are only limited by your imagination!

Pistachio Creme Dessert

The Mormon Handbook :)

Crust:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cube butter (room temp) cubed

Mix the flour and butter together and add the nuts. Reserve about 1/4 cup and set aside. Press remaining mixture into a 9x13 pan and cook at 350 for 20 minutes. Cool completely.

Layer One:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 c. fresh whipped cream (or use Cool Whip)

Mix together until smooth and spread on the cooled crust.

Layer Two:
1 small package instant pistachio pudding
1 small package instant vanilla pudding
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together, cool until thickened (about 2 min.) and spread over layer one. Top the whole thing off with a layer of fresh whipped cream and sprinkle reserved crust mixture on top. Enjoy!

Butter Puffs

I made these muffins for a bridal shower. They were all gone within minutes. I made them as mini muffins and they turned out perfect for a social gathering. Yummy!









Mini Butter Puffs/Muffins

recipe & picture by Confessions of a Bake-aholic



Muffins

4 cups flour

2 T baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

4 large eggs

2 cup sour cream

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) warm melted butter



Cinnamon Coating

1-2 sticks butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon



Preheat oven to 375. Coat mini muffin pan with baking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, sugar and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over-mix. The batter should not be smooth. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into one or two muffins comes out clean (about 10 minutes for mini muffins, 12 minutes for standard size muffins). Don't over bake.



Coating

Melt butter in a small bowl. Combine sugar and cinnamon in shallow bowl. While muffins are still quite warm, remove from muffin pan. Dip the entire muffin (one at a time) in melted butter and roll in the cinnamon sugar. Set on a wire rack to cool.



(My mini muffins looked better then the picture above)!

Mozzarella and Tomatoes

This is my summer lunch go-to recipe.  I don't know where I got it from--maybe just my head. 


Garden Tomato (preferably)
Mozzarella
Basil
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Pepper

Slice tomatoes and layer with cheese.  Sprinkle oil, basil, salt and pepper to flavor.  Broil for a few minutes. 

Enjoy.  Savor.  Like dessert.