Wednesday, July 27, 2011

What I have been up to lately and Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits

I haven't really told anyone about this blog yet so I guess I should...

I've had an eventful past few weeks, once I have an actual camera I will make much more of an effort to take pictures.  Until then, you will have to let my eloquent literary tour de force tell the story for you ;P

I went to New York with my parents and cousin who was visiting from Kansas.  We went to the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Times Square.  I have to admit, I love doing those so called touristy things, even though I've done them all a few times before.  As we were leaving, we decided to go to a random brewery AKA beer and fried food overload, I have no regrets in saying that it was absolutely amazing!

Fried pickles



Cheese fries

and we finished it off with some apricot wheat beer.. a perfect beginner and chaser to all of the fried food!

The next weekend, I went to Pittsburgh to visit friends, register for classes, figure out my field placement (another word for internship), and see my new apartment.  For those of you who don't know, I am moving to Pittsburgh to attend the University of Pittsburgh for my MSW in less than a month! I am very excited. 

My friend showed me around and we actually went to the gym (even though what we ate afterwards was completely counterproductive)! It has a cinema room that shows movies as you work out.  It is pretty awesome.  We also went to this really cool bar named Haufenbraus (I think that's how you spell it) and got some amazing beer and german food:

Potato Pancakes with applesauce and sour cream.


beer cheese blend dipping sauce (the best) I can't remember what the other dipping sauces were.  They were all for...

This HUGE soft pretzel, so good!

We also went to the melting pot.  I wish I could live there.

Wisconsin cheese fondue <3


 
Moving on, I registered for classes the next day and was very productive despite the total food hangover.  I have an amazing class schedule with all of my first choice classes and no classes on Thursday or Friday.  I'm doing my placement at Fresenius Dialysis Center.  My apartment is also really nice, I can't wait to post pictures after I have it all set up.

Last weekend I relaxed, went to a pool party, started reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and made these Red Lobster inspired cheddar biscuits:



The recipe is super easy, and the biscuits taste EXACTLY like the ones from Red Lobster! all you need is:

1 small bag of the bisquick cheddar biscuit mix
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (if you're not a big cheese fan, put in less)
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
dried parsley or basil to sprinkle on the top

Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheight
Line a tray with parchment paper or else they will stick!
Combine biscuit mix, water, and cheese.  Add a little bit more water if it is still dry.
Put biscuits in oven for 5 minutes
As you're waiting for the biscuits to bake, add butter, salt, and garlic powder to a sauce pan.  Melt and stir until combined.
After the biscuits have been in the oven for 5 minutes, take them out of the oven and spoon the melted butter/garlic/salt mixture over each one.  If you have a pastry brush, brush the mixture over the biscuit.
Sprinkle dried parsley or basil over the biscuits.
Put in the oven for at least 5 more minutes and continue to check on them until they are lightly browned.

Makes 6 large biscuits.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Recipes!

So I suck at updating..

I made a goal to make at least one recipe a weekend.. here is what I have been up to for the past few weekends. Enjoy the food porn oops I meant culinary delicacies!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layered Cupcakes:




Review: These are AMAZING! I added more peanut butter and sugar because I am addicted. I also put chocolate and peanut butter chips in the batter so that they were scattered throughout the cupcake. They were gone in less than a day because my family devoured them.

Recipe:

This recipe was adapted from jif.com. If peanut butter is your crack, then this website is totally enabling and a major trigger. You've been warned!

Here we go:

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa (depending on how chocolaty you want it, I made mine extra chocolaty!)
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 EGGLAND'S BEST egg
  • 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 1/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter 
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 cup Peanut Butter Chips
  • 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 18 regular-size muffin cups.
  2.  In large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add oil, water, vinegar and vanilla to flour mixture, stirring just until smooth (do not overmix).
  3.  In another large bowl, beat egg, cream cheese, peanut butter and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until creamy.
  4. Sprinkle chocolate and peanut butter chips into both chocolate mixture and peanut butter mixture 
  5.  Spoon 1 level tablespoon chocolate batter into each cup; evenly spread 1 level tablespoon peanut butter filling on top. Repeat layers. Sprinkle tops with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.
  6. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Serve warm or cool. 18 cupcakes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie with Pretzel Crust





Review: This recipe was adapted from Evilchefmom. As with the other recipe, I added more peanut butter and sugar and could definitely taste it.  If you like sweet things, this is for you.

Recipe:

http://www.evilchefmom.com/2010/06/chocolate-peanut-butter-pie.html

Pretzel crust:

2 1/4 c. finely crushed pretzels
1/2 c. & 1 tbsp. sugar

1 c. & 2 tbsp. melted butter (or butter)

Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Press firmly on bottom and sides of 9 inch pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool.

Orange Biscuit Bundt Cake



Review: I have to say I was a little bit disappointed by this recipe. It tasted... kind of dull. Can something taste dull? I need to brush up on my top chef episodes to come up with a more EXTENSIVE vocabulary ;P It would have been much better with homemade biscuits.  At least the cake looked pretty!

Recipe:

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
 
Ingredients:
 
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon shredded orange peel
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup melted butter
2 10 oz packages refrigerated biscuits

Directions:

1. Grease a 10-inch fluted tube pan. Set aside

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine sugar and orange peel (be sure to break up any orange peel clumps). In another small mixing bowl, combine orange juice and melted butter.
3. Separate biscuits. Dip each into the orange juice-butter mixture. Then roll in the sugar-orange peel mixture.
4. In the prepared pan, arrange the biscuits upright with flat sides together. Pour any remaining orange juice-butter mixture over biscuits. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 1 minute. Turn pan upside down on a serving plate. Remove the pan. Cool for 30 to 45 minutes. Serve warm. Garnish center of ring with orange peel strips and fresh herbs, if you like. Makes 10 servings (20 biscuits).

Flatbread with bacon, onions, creme fraiche, and scallion pesto.



Review: Pretty good, but I would recommend adding WAY more bacon and less parsley.  I didn't even know that creme fraiche existed before but now I highly recommend it.

Recipe:
4 thick strips bacon, thinly sliced
1 large white onion, thinly sliced
dash of sugar
salt and white pepper
6 scallions (also called green onions, I never knew!), thinly sliced
1 tablespoon capers
1/4 cup fresh parsley
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 pound frozen pizza dough, thawed
All-purpose flour, for dusting

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 

Roll the pizza dough into an 8-by-14-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough around the rolling pin and unroll it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.  Do this before you get the other ingrediants ready.  It will need to be completely cool before you can add anything or else it will melt the creme fraiche.

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until browned and crispy. Transfer to paper towels to drain; keep warm. Add the onion slices to the drippings in the skillet; sprinkle with the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cook until light brown and tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Combine the scallions, capers and parsley in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste and half of the lemon zest; pulse gently to chop and blend. Turn the processor on and add the olive oil through the top in a steady stream. Transfer the scallion pesto to a bowl; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the creme fraiche and the remaining lemon zest until smooth. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

Spread the creme fraeche mixture on the crust. Dot with the onions and some of the bacon drippings from the pan; sprinkle with the bacon. Slice into pieces and drizzle with scallion pesto.


Most of these recipes are stored in my personal tastebook.  Tastebook condenses the recipes from practically every food site in existence. Also, if you get 10 new people to join, you get to create your own FREE tastebook!

Next weekend:

Hazlenut truffles and red lobster inspired cheddar biscuits!

In the near/far future:

Scrapbooking! I have MOST of the materials for it after a binge buy at Joannes Fabrics, but I don't even know where to start!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Soo...

I've had this blog for a really long time and it is definitely time to update.  I love to cook and people are always asking me for my recipes so I thought it would be fun to post them all on here.  Since I'm talking about food, why not focus on other types of art too, like fashion? And of course the greeting cards that I am obsessed with making, and other fun, crafty things.

So stay tuned!

-ch