recipe

Charlotte’s Simply Delicious

The current issue of Simple & Delicious is loaded with fabulous recipes from Pesto stuffed Chicken to Apple-Almond Muffins and Wheat Berry Salad. The magazine has mouth-watering desserts and easy 5 ingredient fixes for the Christmas holiday to save your shopping time for ‘merrier’ things. It also happens to contain the latest publication of my cousin Charlotte!

Charlotte is an accomplished novelist and has a series of imaginative books in the works, starting with the published The Elemental Rise of Shade. And although she has the cool artsy life of pouring herself into her writing, she doesn’t spend all of her time in front of her typewriter. (Okay she uses a computer, but somehow the typewriter sounds more romantic, am I right?) Anyway, she also happens to be a solid recipe developer and has had several published recipes. Most recently in the December/January 2016 issue of Taste of Home’s Simple & Delicious. (On stands now!)

If you turn to page 67 of the magazine you will find a cute picture of Charlotte herself and a delicious Spinach-Basil Lasagna, a healthy version of an Italian classic full of flavors like feta and Parmesan and good for you baby spinach. As if that wasn’t outstanding enough it is also health conscious with only 229 calories per serving. (Which also happens to be 1/9th of a 13×9 inch pan, so a good size serving!)

For years Charlotte has made many tasty recipes including (but not limited to) a baked potato pizza and pepperoni pasta salad that have been printed in books and periodicals. Lucky for you, I have access to her culinary genius and will be posting some of her recipes in the future! In the meantime you can check out her developments yourself; I found my mini-magazine near the check-out of my local grocery store.

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

 

Loving Lately ❤ & a Recipe

Loving Lately #1: Oatmeal Cookies

A few of you may be aware that I have been searching for the perfect chewy oatmeal cookie. And the truth is I have been hoping to discover something amazing that has been hidden and that I could reveal to the world, as if the oatmeal cookie wheel hadn’t been invented. Then my good friend Molly came over to my house bearing the best kind of gifts, food. She brought the softest, chewiest, yummiest perfect little oatmeal cookies. Knowing what a talented baker she is, I asked her excitedly, “Molly did you come up with this recipe?” To which she replied “it came from the back of my Quaker Oats.” Of course it did, not sure why I hadn’t thought of that. My apologies and sincere thanks to Quaker Oats for letting me using their Vanishing Oatmeal Cookie recipe with my other brand organic rolled oats.

From www.quakeroats.com

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Cup(s) (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 Cup(s) firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup(s) granulated sugar
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon(s) vanilla
1-1/2 Cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 Teaspoon(s) Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon(s) ground cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon(s) salt (optional)
3 Cup(s) Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 Cup(s) raisins

PREPARATION:
Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Serving Tips: Bar Cookies: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. 24 BARS. VARIATIONS: Stir in 1 cup chopped nuts. Substitute 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or candy-coated chocolate pieces for raisins; omit cinnamon. Substitute 1 cup diced dried mixed fruit. HIGH ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Increase flour to 1-3/4 cups and bake as directed.

Molly didn’t even put raisins in hers, and they were great. And to those of you who sent me more oatmeal cookie recipes to try, I can’t wait to make them too. I think I just like oatmeal cookies.

Best Oatmeal Cookies Ever?

A life-long friend of mine knows I’m into food blogging. So when she came across a recipe that said it was “The Best Oatmeal Cookie Recipe We’ve Ever Tried,” she passed it along my way. How sweet is that? Thank you Monica! Of course, being a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, I had to try it. The recipe came from the Wall Street Journal. I don’t know if I’ve ever made a recipe of theirs before. Apparently there is a newly opened restaurant in Manhattan, and rumor has it they have a good cookie!

The first thing I noticed that was the prep; the instructions said to soak the raisins in hot water for 30 minutes. I wondered if that would make the raisins juicy and plump? Not to disappoint, it made a difference! They also mentioned using old fashioned or rolled oats, which I always do, and agree that they are best for oatmeal cookies. The recipe called for adding the egg and vanilla at the end, after adding the oats and raisins; that was another thing I had never done before. Lastly it was recommended to allow the batter to sit for 4 days, which I will admit I did not do, although it gave me a pass. Something I would not do is bake them again for 17 minutes. There was no leeway. The directions specifically said 17 minutes, and that was too long, at least for my pans and oven- unless my goal was awesome granola.

The result was delicious, almost candy like. They kind of had a shiny sweet exterior that I thought was different from my regular batches. The cookies were big and chewy (when cooked about 14-15 minutes). And I have to say my kids loved them. They baked round and flat and firm. To be completely honest I think they are perfect for ice cream sandwiches! And although I am not disappointed, my quest for the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie is still on. Of course I have been heavily persuaded by the organic “Aussie Bites” from Costco. I think they’re on to something! However, my dad disagrees whole-heartedly. This much I know is true: personal taste is subjective. Am I rambling?

As Seen in the Wall Street Journal:

Active Time: 10-15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour, plus 4 days for chilling dough Makes: 14 cookies

1 cup raisins
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
1½ sticks slightly softened butter
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats
1 extra-large egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

  1. Soak raisins in hot water for 30 minutes, then drain.

  2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

  3. Using an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down frequently. Take care not to overbeat.

  4. Add flour mixture to creamed butter and sugar and mix on low speed until combined. Mix in oats, followed by drained raisins, egg and vanilla.

  5. Use a ¼-cup measure to scoop dough onto a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Flatten each blob with base of measuring cup. Cover baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 days (optional).

  6. To bake cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until cookies are golden-brown on the outside but still soft in the middle, about 17 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheet a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.

—Adapted from Melissa Weller of Sadelle’s, New York City

Thank you Monica! This was a lot of fun!

Lynz Real Cooking’s Chicken Divan

I am thoroughly enjoying my WordPress Cooking Challenge from Healthy in All Hues to make the dishes of 5-7 fellow foodie bloggers. (I chose 8!) I not only enjoy creating recipes, I love making other peoples’ recipes! Why not support my fellow bloggers and try new dishes? Brilliant!

Lynn has an amazing blog about raising nine children and the ups and downs of her experience living in Saudi. (I’m captivated.) At first I was thinking, nine kids! How does she have time to cook? And then I thought, all of those mouths to feed, she probably never leaves the kitchen!

Why have I never heard of Chicken Divan? I am thankful to Lynn for sharing it! It’s nourishing and well, for lack of a better word, delicious! The ultimate retro comfort food! There were a couple steps, and I was moving along… and then I got to the curry. All of the sudden I was reminded of my grandmother, and then I was connected in a much deeper way. And the warm fuzzies kept coming as it baked in the oven and filled my home with a heart-warming aroma I was not accustomed to, but will be from now on. Honest to goodness it just kept getting better!

I prepared the recipe with rice just as Lynn had done in her photo. My only dilemma was that my sauce seemed a little wetter than the one in her picture, so I served it in a bowl over the rice. No disappointment here, it was fantastic, scrumptious and everything I want my food to be! I called my sister right away to say she had to make it for her family. By the way, this is going to be a staple in my repertoire! No wonder everyone (but me) had heard of it before! I think I might start a new challenge: make everything on Lynn’s blog! For the original recipe visit Lynz Real Cooking.

As organic as possible: (my input)

4 slices bread

4 Tbsp butter, melted

1 large crown broccoli, cut into bite size pieces and steamed

5 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded

1 cup mayonnaise

1 large can chicken condensed soup

2 1/2 cups water

1 Tbsp curry

juice of 1 lemon

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 300º

Place bread on baking sheet and place in oven, cook until toasted and turn the oven up to 350º. When cooled break into pieces and toss with melted butter. In the meantime, layer a large casserole dish with the broccoli followed by the shredded chicken. Mix the mayo, soup, water, curry, and lemon juice in a large bowl and pour evenly over the broccoli and chicken. Top the mix with the shredded cheese and toasted bread pieces. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Enjoy the smell of your kitchen. Serve warm (on a bed of rice). YUM!

Sweetima’s Chocolate Mousse

One of the best parts about food blogging is you are constantly coming across new blogs with interesting recipes. Sometimes there is an instant connection, something intriguing that makes you want to know more. For me, I was instantly curious about Sweetima’s soft faded pictures of sweet treats. They all look beautiful, fluffy and light… and I’m a sucker for beautiful desserts.

I was always a salty person growing up, I’d take a bag of chips over brownies, ice cream or cake any day of the week. But that all changed during my first pregnancy. In strong waves of desire, I craved chocolate. All of the sudden I understood words like chocoholic. Nothing else but chocolate would do. When the pregnancy was over, my love of chocolate remained. Now I am officially a sweet and salty person.

I was having a strong yearning for chocolate on the day Sweetima posted the recipe for Chocolate Mousse, and I made a comment (and a mental note) to try this recipe. When fellow blogger, Healthy in all Hues, posted a challenge to make other food blogger’s recipes, it was just the incentive I needed!

The recipe was easy enough to follow, but I must admit I had a little complication with the method. I was doing okay until I had to whisk the egg whites over simmering water. In my prior experiences I whisked the egg whites at room temperature… and this time I really had to be careful not to let it scramble! Maybe because it was only one egg white? Probably because I could use more practice!

I also got a little panicked when the recipe said to divide the mousse into two portions. I don’t like to feel like I’m not going to have enough food. (I felt like my three year old getting one scoop of ice cream.) To compensate I made plenty of whipped cream, more than the optional amount suggested. But I assure you, the recipe was right! The mousse was rich, decadent and satisfying, more than I needed to appease my chocolate appetite.

For the original recipe and more sweet treats check out Sweetima!