Super Sloppy Joe's

 

In college I tried cooking some of Rachael Ray's recipes but I always found them too hard.  Too many ingredients that weren't common.  Maybe she could make those recipes in 30 minutes but it took me a LOT longer than that!  So I kind of gave up on her.  Until my aunt gave me her "Kid Food" cookbook for Christmas.  A few weeks ago I was looking for new recipes and I figured I might could find something in this cookbook so I pulled it out and I made Rachael's Super Sloppy Joe's.  And let me tell you, they were super!  We used to make Sloppy Joe's a lot in our first year of marriage when we were trying to stretch our grocery budget but it was always with the sloppy joe mix package from the store.  These homemade sloppy joe's were so good!  Please give this recipe a try, you won't regret it! (I couldn't find this recipe on her website but if anyone has the link please let me know!)

Super Sloppy Joe's

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 lb Ground Beef (the leaner the better)

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 teaspoons Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick

1 medium Onion, chopped finely

1 small Red Bell Pepper, chopped finely

1 T Red Wine Vinegar

1 T Worcestershire Sauce

2 cups Tomato Sauce

2 T Tomato Paste

4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and slightly buttered

1. Heat a large skilled over M/H head.  Add oil and beef to the pan, spreading it around to break it up.

2. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning, then add to skillet and combine.

3. When meat has browned, add onion and red pepper.  Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add vinegar, stirring briefly, then add Worcestershire, tomato sauce and tomato paste, stirring to combine.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook 5 minutes longer.

5. Serve on toasted buns

Pineapple Zucchini Cake

A few weeks ago we joined Grow Alabama.  This is an organization that you can sign up with to receive a box of locally grown, mostly organic or working towards an organic qualification produce.  Each week you get a list of things for your box and you can eliminate items that you don't want and get an extra portion of items that you want.  We have found it to be a great way to introduce more produce into our diet while knowing that we are supporting local farmers and families. 

The first week that we got a box we received zucchini in our box.  Since it had been too cold to grille and that's usually how I would enjoy zucchini I set out to find some zucchini recipes.  So I started out by searching typical recipe sites and then I went to The Pioneer Woman because I've found that she has great, go-to recipes.  And I found a recipe from her recipe website, Tasty Kitchen.  I had forgotten about Tasty Kitchen but I went and checked it out and if you're not using it for your recipes you should be!  It's full of reader submitted recipes that other people comment on and put their opinions.  It includes ratings and pictures.  It's a great resource!

Anyway, so I found Ree's post about Pineapple Zucchini Cake and I decided to try it.  It is similar to carrot cake so don't flip out too much about there being zucchini in it.  And the pineapple's make it moist.  It is a really delicious cake that's topped with cream cheese icing!  Go check out Ree's post about it which links to the original recipe on Tasty Kitchen or here's the recipe. (BTW, sorry about the quality of the picture.  All I had with me was my camera and it was kind of dark!)

Pineapple Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
    * 1 cup All-purpose Flour
    * 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (can Use All White Flour If You Don't Have This)
    * 1-¼ cup Granulated Sugar
    * 1/2 Cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut
    * 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
    * 1 teaspoon Salt
    * 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
    * Freshly Grated Nutmeg, To Taste (1/4 To 1/2 Tsp?), Optional
    * 1 Pinch Ginger (about 1/16 Tsp Or So), Optional
    * 3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
    * 2 whole Large Eggs
    * 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
    * 2 Cups Grated (unpeeled) Zucchini (*see Note)
    * 1 (20 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple In Juice, Drained (reserve In Case You Need It For The Cake Batter Or The Frosting)
    * FROSTING
    * 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
    * 8 Ounces Low-fat Cream Cheese, Softened (can Use Full-fat Cream Cheese)
    * 2 Cups Powdered Sugar, Approx.
    * 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
    * Splash Of Milk Or Pineapple Juice, If Necessary
    * Chopped Walnuts Or Pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated zucchini, and pineapple into flour mixture. Batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. If it still seems too dry, just add a little splash of the pineapple juice.

Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 33-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Add a splash of milk or pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over top of cake. You can garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired.

NOTES : If your zucchini are huge, scrape the seeds out of the center before you shred it so it’s not too watery. Also, I spread it all out on layers of paper towel to drain it and dry it off a bit. Then I measure out 2 cups. Not sure if this is critical though. Nuts can also be added to the cake batter if desired. This recipe makes a very generous amount of frosting.

And this recipe can be turned into a Carrot Cake just by substituting shredded carrots for the zucchini.

Valentine's Petits Fours

Last year at Valentine's I channeled my inner Bakerella and made Red Velvet Cake Cookies.  They were a huge hit and have been a huge hit multiple times between then and now.  If you haven't ever made them then please go make them for yourself today.  Consider it your Valentine's present to yourself.

This year, I'm channeling my inner MckMama and Amanda to bring you Valentine's Petits Fours.

Yes, I made these myself and yes, I'm rather proud of them.  I had never worked with Fondant before and it was surprisingly easy and, with some vanilla added in, surprisingly tasty.  I've never been a big fondant fan, actually the one thing that I said about my wedding cake was that I didn't want fondant because it always makes cakes (that I had had in the past) taste horrible.  Please excuse me if your wedding cake had fondant on it, I'm sure it tasted lovely, but apparently the bakers in my hometown don't know how to flavor it and keep it from tasting like rubber so I try to avoid it.  That being said, despite how much I've maligned the fondant name in the past, I decided to try these because they were oh so cute and I figured they would look pretty even if they didn't taste good.  I followed Amanda's instructions from MckMama's blog and I think the end result was quite satisfactory!  I didn't get all fancy with the royal icing but the next time I make them I think I will!  Here's my condensed version of the previous post (the post has pictures, etc to go with steps so hop on over there for more detail).

Valentine's Petits Fours
Makes: However many you want to make

You will need:
Oreo Cakesters (my Target had the golden cakesters and they were probably better than original but its your preference)
A box of fondant (from Hobby Lobby)
Rolling Pin (from Hobby Lobby)
Red Food coloring (the gel kind from Hobby Lobby)
Colorless Vanilla extract (from Hobby Lobby)
Cookie Cutters
Royal Icing (if you are so inclined)

Instructions:
- Take a good chunk of fondant and put a little bit of vanilla extract in it and work it in until you feel like the fondant is pretty well flavored.  My precise measuring of the vanilla extra included maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of one of Charlotte's soft tipped spoons. 
- If you are coloring it then add in some food coloring and do the same mixing that you just did before.  To make a deep red it takes a lot of food coloring but start with a little and work your way up to it.
- Break off a piece of the fondant and start rolling it out with the rolling pin.  I rolled it straight on to my granite because that's supposed to be best but if you don't have a stone countertop MckMama recommends rolling it out on wax paper.  Make sure that you bring the ends of the fondant up onto the rolling pin while you're rolling so that they won't stick to the counter making it hard to peel off.
- Once it's rolled fairly thin place the fondant on top of a cakester and use your fingers to gently press it down on the top and sides.  It really helps when you're doing this if you've see Ace of Cakes.  I felt like I was a professional from all of their episodes that I've watched.
- Once the fondant is pressed down on the sides cut around the cakester leaving a little edge.  Then pick up the cakester and using your fingers press the fondant down to seal the edges.
- Decorate as you desire.  I bought a paintbrush at Hobby Lobby and used it to paint water onto the top of the cakester and on to the back of the heart to fuse them together.

Chicken Parmesan

 

This is another Family Circle recipe and, like the last, I couldn't find the recipe online.  I found this recipe to be fairly simple to put together and it was very good.  The only thing that I would recommend is to carefully watch your chicken while it is browning in the skillet because mine didn't take three minutes per side -- that left my chicken pieces a little too browned!

Chicken Parmesan

Serves 6

Prep 20 minutes

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
12 chicken tender filets, about 1 1/2 pounds
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup bottled marinara sauce
12 fresh basil leaves
1 cup shredded four cheese blend

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees
2. Place bread crumbs in a shallow dish and egg in a shallow bowl.  Dip chicken pieces in egg, shaking off excess.  Coat with bread crumbs, place on a plate.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add half the chicken and cook for 3 minutes per side.  Remove to a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Repeat with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and remaining chicken.
4. Spoon marinara sauce over a chicken in dish.  Top each tender with a basil leaf, then sprinkle cheese over chicken.
5. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, until bubbly and cheese melts.  Serve with cooked ziti and marinara sauce, if desired.
   

Potato Salad with Bacon and Parsley

 

This recipe is from Real Simple's June 09 issue.  It was a feature on "Summer Vegetable Sides" but potatoes are always in season -- at least you can always get them at the grocery store -- so I think this is a year round recipe.  This differs from the "traditional" Southern potato salad with a mayonnaise base.  Since Jason isn't a big mayo fan I thought this would be a good recipe.  We enjoyed the recipe but I didn't have as many potatoes as I was supposed to and so the ratio of sauce to potatoes was a little strong.  If you are cooking less potatoes than the recipe calls for I would recommend mixing the sauce in a separate bowl and just putting in enough sauce to lightly coat the potatoes.  My potatoes also cooked a little too long, so make sure you don't overcook them or they'll start falling apart when you're trying to mix in the sauce!

Potato Salad with Bacon and Parsley

Serves 6 Hands-On Time: 10m Total Time: 25m

• 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 slices bacon
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1. Place the potatoes in a pot with water to cover and 1 teaspoon salt and simmer until tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool. Cut into quarters.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. Crumble when cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, mustard, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss with the potatoes, bacon, and parsley.