Spinach & Sage Dressing

This little side dish here is one of my favorites. The flavors go so well together. I love the savory flavor of the sage with the onions, mushrooms, and spinach. Dressing does not need to be a holiday exclusive dish! I like to prepare this dish year round. And, as you know, dressing from a box just isn't the same.

This recipe started as the filling for my stuffed mushrooms. Then, over the years, it's morphed into its own dish which I serve either alone as a side dish or use as a stuffing. You can roll it up in a pork tenderloin or stuff it in the center of a chicken breast. I'm telling you, this is some good stuff!

Spinach and Sage Dressing
Yield: 4 side servings or enough to stuff one pork tenderloin

3 TBS butter
1 cup diced onion
1 1/2 cup diced mushroom
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz fresh spinach, chopped
1 TBS ground sage
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup ground Parmesan
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Melt the butter in a saute pan. Saute the onions and mushrooms over medium-high heat until tender and lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook one minute. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the spinach, stirring to wilt. Add the sage, salt, and Parmesan, stirring to mix. Lastly, add the bread crumbs, stirring to moisten. Serve immediately as a side dish or let cool before stuffing into pork loin or chicken breasts.

Chocolate Cupcakes

To watch this Video-Recipe please click HERE!!

Hi everyone! Today's recipe is another Halloween idea, but it can be used for any other time of the year as well,  I'm going to be showing you how to make "Chocolate Cupcakes",  these are delicious, they came out so good, they reminded me of  one of my favorite Mexican treats "Pinguinos Marinela" Pinguinos are a very famous, soft and chocolaty Chocolate cupcakes filled with whipped cream,  of course my version is not filled with cream, but the bread part of the cupcake tasted almost the same! They melted in my mouth, they were so soft and moist! if you like sweets and chocolate, you should definitely give these a try!

Makes 18 cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 2¼ cups of cake flour
• 3 oz of unsweetened chocolate
• 1 stick of unsalted butter soften
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2¼ cups of light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup of boiling water

Chocolate Icing Ingredients:
2  stick of unsalted butter
½ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup plus 2  tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

For decoration:
Chocolate sprinkles (optional)
Red Sugar (optional)
Halloween Pumpkin Sprinkles (optional)
(in the picture above, I also used Pre-made Orange Icing)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Melt the chocolate. (you can melt in the microwave or in a double boiler.) Set aside until ready to use it

Sift the flour, also sift in 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt, stir together and set aside until ready to use.

In an electric mixer blend 1 stick of butter on medium speed  for 1 or 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.  Add in the Light brown sugar, blend until well combined.  Reduce the speed to low, add the eggs one at a time. (Blend each egg for 30 seconds before adding the next one.) Continue to blend on high for 5 minutes. (These 5 minutes of blending are very important to get a super soft and moist cupcake, so do not blend for less than 5 minutes! )

After 5 minutes, you should have a very creamy, and soft texture, almost like a Mousse.
Reduce the speed and add in the Vanilla extract, followed by the melted chocolate, blend for 2 more minutes on high. Reduce the speed again, add a third of the flour mixture, then add half the sour cream, blend for 30 seconds. Add the second third of the flour, followed by the rest of the sour cream, blend again for 30 seconds, and finally add the rest of the flour. Blend on medium speed for 1 more minute or until well combined. Reduce the speed to low, and add in ½ cup of boiling water, blend until everything is incorporated.  Pour batter into your cupcake pan and bake at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes or until cooked.

Let them cool completely before  decorating them.

To make the Chocolate Icing:

In an electric mixer blend 1 stick of butter for 2 minutes on high or until soft and creamy. Reduce the speed, Add in the vanilla extract, and cocoa powder, mix well until incorporated, scrape down the sides,  add in the powdered sugar, and half the heavy whipping cream, mix for 2 minutes on high or until all the ingredients are well incorporated, then add the rest of heavy cream and continue to mix for 3 minutes on high or until you get a creamy and fluffy consistency.

Decorate the cupcakes any way you like.
I used a Pastry Bag, I began decorating right in the middle of the cupcake, going outwards to the outer edge of the cupcake.  Or you can start decorating around the edges and go inwards all the way to the center of the cupcake. To finish, sprinkle with some chocolate sprinkles and colored sugar.

Enjoy!

Hamburger Buns

We are moved in! Well, everything is in here anyways. We still have a lot of stuff to put away... and a lot of stuff that still needs to find a home. This townhouse living is challenging! We're definitely going to have to get a storage unit. Yup, those three dish pack boxes full of mason jars will not be able to live with me this go around. So sad. Fortunately, despite still having a ways to go on being truly "moved in," my kitchen is unpacked, put away, and usable. I've been having a great time getting back into the kitchen making stuff I haven't really been able to make for the last two-plus months.

Today and tomorrow my husband gets off from work due to the storm, so we are trying to find a balance between getting things done and enjoying a little down time. I thought a little baking was in order. My husband's been hankering for cheeseburgers, but since I neglected to get buns when I was at the grocery last, I decided to making them for the first time. Wow! They were delicious and, really, quite simple to make. The dough is so easy to work with and they puff up beautifully in the oven. I highly recommend this recipe. Kudo's to the folks at King Arthur's Flour for making such a great recipe available to all!

The first step is to simply mix all the ingredients for the dough together and mix/knead until the dough comes together and is smooth and supple, about five minutes. The dough is then placed in an oiled bowl and covered to allow it to rise until it is double in volume, one to two hours. You know it's ready when you give it a gentle poke and the hole remains.

Dump the dough out and divide it into eight even pieces. This was easiest to accomplish with a kitchen scale. I weighed the total amount of dough and then divided that weight by eight. I then cut each piece until it was the appropriate size, in this case 111 grams.

Take each piece and smoosh it flat on the counter to degas it.

Then bring up the sides and pinch them together. Continue doing this, pulling the dough taunt to form a nice, smooth ball. You are pinching the dough together on the bottom of the future bun. This dough is so nice to work with; the dough pinches together easily and cleanly.

When finished, each piece should look smooth and make a nice round ball.

Place each ball on a parchment lined baking sheet. Eight will fit in a somewhat staggered fashion on an 11x17 inch baking sheet. Press each ball flat using a measuring cup or similar device. To keep the cup from sticking to the dough, lubricate it with a little bit of oil first. Press the dough flat until it is about three to four inches across.

Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap to keep the buns from drying out. Let rise for an hour or so, until nicely puffed.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and once it is ready, remove the plastic wrap and brush the tops of the buns with egg white wash. You could brush them with butter, but I found the egg white wash produced superior results. If you want, you can toss sesame seeds on at this point. The egg wash will help them to stick to the bun as it bakes.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until gorgeously golden. Remove and let cool before slicing and using or freezing.

Just a moment ago, I mentioned that I found the egg white wash superior to simply brushing the bun with butter. In this picture, the butter bun is on the right while the egg wash bun is on the left. The egg wash produces a bun that is beautifully golden and shiny. Once the buns come out of the oven, I do brush them all with butter because it helps to keep the top of the bun soft and glossy. As you might imagine, these homemade buns are more dense than the store bought kind, but they have such a wonderful flavor, you'll never regret the change!

Hamburger Buns
Yield: 8 4-inch buns
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

1 cup warm water
2 TBS melted butter
1 large egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 TBS instant yeast
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Mix all ingredients together and knead until the dough comes together and is soft and smooth, about five minutes. Place in an oiled bowl and cover; let rise for about an hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Turn the dough out onto the counter and divide into eight even pieces. A scale is the most accurate way to accomplish this task. Taking each portion of dough in turn, press it flat against the counter to degas the dough. Then pull up the edges and pinch together in the middle to form a nice, smooth ball of dough. Place seam side down on a parchment lined 11x17 inch baking sheet. To fit all eight, the buns will need to be staggered slightly. Oil the bottom of a flat measuring cup or similar to press each dough ball flat into a 3-4 inch diameter circle. Cover the buns with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour, until they are nicely puffed.

Once the buns are about finished rising, preheat the oven. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the top of each bun with a wash of egg white. Add sesame seeds, if desired. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the buns are beautifully golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing and using or freezing.

Chocolate Cookies for Halloween

To watch this Video-Recipe click HERE!!

Hi everyone, today's recipe is another Halloween idea, I hope you like it! These delicious Chocolate cookies are perfect to make with your children, so if you got any children at home, let them have fun in the kitchen, decorating these beautiful cookies!

Makes 2 dozens
Ingredients:

• 1½ cups of all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 1½ sticks of unsalted butter soften (3/4 cups)
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

You will also need:

• Halloween Cookie Cutters
• Black, Orange and Green Icing (Use your favorite colors) (you can buy it at most grocery stores)
• Chocolate Sprinkles (optional)
• Red Sugar (optional)
• Pumpkin Sprinkles  (optional)
• Black and white Decorating Gels (use your favorite colors)(you can buy it at most grocery stores)

Preparation:
Melt the semisweet chocolate chips. (you can melt them in the microwave or in a double boiler)

Mix the flour with ¼ teaspoon of salt, mix well and set aside for a minute.

In an electric mixer, cream the butter for about 1 or 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.  Scrape down the sides and add in the melted chocolate, continue to blend on medium speed for 1 more minute or until well combined. Add in 1½ teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 large egg, mix well for another minute and add 2 tablespoons of unsweetened Cocoa Powder, blend for 30 seconds, then add in half the powdered sugar, blend for 30 more seconds and add the rest of the sugar. Continue to mix on medium-high for 2 more minutes or until all the ingredients are well incorporated and have a nice and smooth creamy texture.

Scrape down the sides, reduce the speed to low, and slowly add in the flour.  Continue to mix on low speed until all the ingredients are well incorporated into a soft dough.

Cover the dough with some parchment paper and refrigerate for 1 hour before using it.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Place the dough on a floured surface, sprinkle some  flour over the dough, to prevent it from sticking to your rolling pin, and roll it out to a ¼in thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Place them on a baking sheet and bake the cookies at 350ºF for 12-15 or until they are done.

Let the cookies cool completely before decorating them.

Decorate your cookies any way you want,  just be creative and have fun with the design.






Spread some of the icing over the cookie, smooth it out on an even layer and you can either top it with chocolate sprinkles, colored sugar, Halloween sprinkles or make a beautiful design with the decorating gels! 

 

Enjoy!!!

Grandma Heninger's Banana Pie

Banana Cream Pie

Mom was here staying with us and Seth's favorite treat is PIE! I had told him my mom makes the best and he dared to say otherwise! So we put her to the test! And it was AMAZING!!! As we all know, it is the best banana pie!

3c milk (2% is best to prevent a runny pie)
2/3c sugar
1/3c corn starch
dash of salt
2 eggs
1 T butter
1 t vanilla

bananas
whipped cream

Mix dry ingredients together then slowly add milk. Mix well. Cook over medium heat to boil. Beat eggs in separate bowl. Then slowly add a small amount of the hot mixture into eggs and mix to prevent from cooking. Then return egg mixture to pan and bring to just a boil stirring always. This burns easily. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Cool in fridge with plastic wrap touching surface to prevent a film. Add cut bananas after cooled and pour into baked pie crust. Top with whipped cream. Enjoy!

*I felt like there was enough filling for two pies, depending on size of crust!

Cinnamon Belgian Waffles

Its no secret that I love breakfast food and I definitely have my favorite recipe for waffles.  However, I'm always up for trying something new.  In this case, I'm so glad I did.  I might be adding cinnamon to waffles from here on out.  We served this with maple syrup, fresh whipped cream and bananas.  So delicious.

courtesy

Cinnamon Belgian Waffles

Recipe from allrecipes.com

2 eggs, separated

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 Tbs. white sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pinch ground cinnamon (add more if you prefer)

Preheat your waffle iron.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla, buttermilk, and butter until well blended.  Whisk in all dry ingredients- don't overmix.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a mixer until stiff.  Fold gently into the waffle batter.  Cook batter in waffle maker until steam subsides.  This makes about 3 large waffles- so if you are cooking for a crowd, I would definitely double the recipe.

Halloween Mini Pizzas

To watch this Video-Recipe please click HERE!!

Hi everyone! Today's recipe is another Halloween idea, another Halloween Pizza! I just love pizzas, they are one of the easiest and more versatile dishes out there, they are also perfect for any kind of party; easy to make, budget friendly, you can make them in advance, can be eaten warm or cold, so after you bake them, dinner is ready and  you can go ahead and enjoy the party, and the guests can serve themselves!

So yes, Spooky pizzas are a great dish for a Halloween Party! For this recipe I will be making my own pizza crust, but feel free to go buy your favorite pizza crust at the grocery store! It will save you a lot of time...

But if you are willing to make your own pizza, you can make it the night before, and just keep in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.  And even better, this crust can be frozen for up to 2 weeks!

Ingredients: (makes 8 5½in pizzas)
(For the Pizza crust)

• 3½ cups of all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of warm water plus (115ºF)
• 1 package of quick rise Yeast
• ½ tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar

Ingredients to make (top) the pizzas:

• 1 14oz jar of your favorite Pizza Sauce
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
• ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 16-24 cheese slices cut into ghost shapes (2-3 slices per pizza) (cut with a cookie cutter, I'm using White Cheddar Cheese, you can you Havarti, or any other white cheese you like)
• 8-10 slices of bacon cut into Bat shapes (cut with a cookie cutter)
• Black or Green Olives for garnish.

To make the crust: Combine 1 cup or warm water with 1pack. of Quick Rise Yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and ½ teaspoon of salt, mix well until the yeast and sugar have dissolved. Then add in ½ tablespoon of Extra virgin Olive oil. Mix well and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Combine the flour with 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan Cheese, ½ teaspoon of Garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Stir together until well combined and set aside until ready to use.

After 10 minutes or so.  Slowly combine the yeast mixture with the flour mixture. Knead until you get a soft and elastic dough; if the dough seems too dry, feel free to add up to 4 more tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon at a time. after you get the desire texture, (a very soft, non-sticky dough,) continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Then  place the dough in a bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let it rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

Just before you start building the pizzas, preheat the oven to 450ºF.

Cook the bacon in a 400ºF oven for 8-10 minutes or until brown.

Mix 1 tablespoon of extra virgen olive oil with a ¼ teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, mix well and set aside for a minute.

After an hour or so,  the dough should be ready to roll out.  Place the dough on a floured surface and punch it a couple of times, just to get rid of any excess air that might be in the dough.  Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness.  And using a circular cutter, cut the pizza circles.

Brush each circle with the Olive oil mixture and sprinkle each circle with about ½ tablespoon of Parmesan Cheese.  (For super Crispy Pizza dough, bake these for 5 minutes in a 450ºF oven, before adding the tomato sauce!)

Top the circles with the tomato sauce, you want to add plenty of the tomato sauce to each pizza. I added about 2½ tablespoons to each circle. Then top the circles with the Cheese figures, place them right in the middle of each circle, you want to add 2 or 3 slices of cheese per pizza, to make sure the figure holds its form while in the oven. If you only add 1 slice, the cheese will melt before the crust is completely cooked and the figure will disappear  right into the tomato sauce without holding its shape.

Garnish with the bacon, and sliced olives.  Use the olives to create the eyes and the mouth of your ghost.  Bake at 450ºF for 10-12 minutes.

The crust will cook in 8 minutes. You want to remove the pizzas from the oven just after the crust is cooked and the cheese has melted. if you leave them in the oven for too long, the ghost will melt away, and the figure wont be very visible at all.
Thanks it, Enjoy!