Eggplant Parmesan

So Chris first made this for me for Valentine's dinner this past Valentine's. I was quite impressed he came up with making Eggplant Parmesan for me and then even more impressed with how much I loved it! In fact, I've been thinking about making it a lot lately, I just need to remember to get more eggplant!

Instead of your traditional Eggplant Parmesan, this is a little different as it's layered almost like lasagna...and actually the last time I made it I had the idea to add a cottage cheese layer the next time I make it. I added it this time and it was delicious! Feel free to omit the cottage cheese layer if you like;)

Eggplant Parmesan
1 large eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs, approximately (I don't measure but just use as much as needed)
3 1/2 cups Rose sauce, (you can also use regular spaghetti sauce, but we prefer the rose sauce), approximately
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, approximately (again I don't measure but use as much as needed)
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, approximately
1/8 tsp dried basil

Optional cottage cheese layer:
16 oz cottage cheese
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Dip eggplant slices in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with PAM. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes on each side.

In a 9x9 inch baking dish (that has been sprayed with PAM) cover the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce. Then place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce and sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat the sauce, eggplant, cheese layers, ending with the cheeses on top. Sprinkle basil on top.

Optional cottage cheese layer:
Add a layer of the cottage cheese mixture sprinkled with a little mozzarella cheese in place of one or two of the cheese layers.

Cover with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes. Then remove the tin foil and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

*Note: If you don't slice the eggplant thinly enough you might want to bake the dish for an extra 10-15 minutes, as you want to make sure the eggplant is tender before removing the tin foil and baking for the additional 10-15 mins.

Enjoy!

The "I'm Addicted" Chocolate Cupcakes

My sister Rachel is a professional cake decorator and made these cupcakes for our wedding (the first pic). Chris absolutely LOVED them and was thrilled to find a number of them in the freezer waiting for us when we got home from our honeymoon (thanks to my mum for saving them for him).

I made them for Chris as a surprise on our first Valentine's Day thanks to Rachel sending me the recipe. Then I made them for him again this past Valentine's Day and decided I was addicted to them so they've been a staple in our freezer ever since. (They freeze perfectly, you just pull them out of the freezer about 1/2 hour before you want to eat one and voila...fresh yummy addicting cupcakes).

The funny thing is it's only been since this last Valentine's Day that I've become addicted to them...for some reason I'm way more into chocolate now than I ever used to be. In fact, I think I like them even more than Chris now which I wouldn't have thought was possible.

You can use any chocolate cake recipe for the cupcakes, but since Sarah discovered the Extreme Chocolate Cake recipe that's the only one I use. It really is the best.

The "I'm Addicted" Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two muffin tins with liners and then spray with PAM. Make the Extreme Chocolate Cake recipe and pour into each muffin cup. The easiest and non-messiest way I have found to do this is to fill up a large 2 or 4 cup measuring cup with the batter and then pour the batter in to each cup. Be sure not to fill each cup more than 3/4 full as they will overflow and spread flat (instead of making a nice round top like most cupcakes/muffins). Cook the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Remove cupcakes from the pan and cool on a metal rack. Once cooled, fill with chocolate ganache and then frost with Chocolate Buttercream Icing. Then try to eat just one..I dare you;)

If you're feeling really fancy you can top the cupcakes with strawberries dipped in chocolate (Rachel used Dove dark chocolate, but Chris and I like milk chocolate more than dark chocolate, so I use Dove milk chocolate).

Chocolate Ganache/Truffle Filling

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (6 oz)

8 oz (8 squares) semi-sweet or dark Bakers chocolate, depending on your preference

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

Chop the chocolate into fine pieces and put in a bowl, along with the vanilla and salt. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until hot, but not boiling (you will see bubbles forming just around the edges which will tell you it's hot enough). Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let sit for 30 sec or so and then whisk until the chocolate is melted. Cover and refrigerate until it reaches the desired consistency, approximately 2 -3 hours.

Fill a pastry / icing bag with the ganache and using a decorative tip with a large hole fill each cupcake with some ganache. (You'll use the tip to make a hole in the middle of the cupcake and then insert the tip in to the cupcake about 1/2 inch and squeeze some of the ganache into the hole. You'll know when it's enough as the ganache will start coming out the top.)

*Note: If the ganache is left too long in the fridge and you're unable to squeeze it through the pastry bag, let it sit at room temperature for 10 - 15 minutes and try again. You can also handle the bag a little and it will soften from the heat of your hands.

*Note: If filling 24 cupcakes you will most likely have a little ganache left over. No worries, you can keep it in the fridge and eat it with a spoon;) Or spread it on graham crackers or of course use it in another recipe. However, if you're a little more conservative in how much ganache filling you put in to each cupcake you can get away with halving the recipe: 3 oz heavy whipping cream, 4 oz (4 squares) semi-sweet or dark Baker's chocolate, 1/2 tsp vanilla, smallest amount of salt.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

4 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 - 3/4 cup cocoa powder (depends on how chocolate-y you want it) or 3 oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted
1 tsp vanilla

3-4 tbsp milk (just enough to get to the right spreading consistency)

In a large bowl or Kitchen Aid, cream together shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa powder and vanilla and beat till smooth. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Fill a pastry / icing bag with the icing and then using whatever decorative tip you'd like, frost the cupcakes.

*Note: Keep bowl of icing covered with a damp cloth when not in use.

*Note: Icing should be refrigerated in an airtight container when not in use and can be stored for up to 2 weeks. To use after icing has been refrigerated, return to room temperature and re-whip.

The Bestest Carrot Cake...yum, yum

Ok, so I've been craving and wanting to make Carrot Cake forever...well maybe not forever, but for a very very very long time. Don't ask me why I haven't done it before today, because I seriously love it...and with the cream cheese icing...yum, yum as Winnie the Pooh would say (can you tell we watch a lot of Winnie the Pooh at our house?).

This recipe is an old one from when I was living at home, with some changes of course... like the brown sugar (as I really liked how it worked in the Zucchini Bread a couple weeks ago), the pineapple (as I love it in the Best Banana Bread recipe) and then of course substituting half the oil with applesauce.

Carrot Cake

4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil *optional: 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 generous tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup (8 oz can) crushed pineapple, juice drained *optional
3 cups shredded carrots
*optional: 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, etc)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare desired pans (2 - 9 " round or square) by spraying with PAM and covering with a light layer of sugar.

Beat the eggs, oil (and applesauce), milk, sugar and vanilla together until well combined.

In a separate bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and stir together then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until well combined.

Add in the pineapple and shredded carrots and mix thoroughly.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until toothpick inserted in comes out clean. Cool cakes for approximately 10 minutes before removing the cakes from pans and then cool completely.

Frost the cake after it has cooled completely.

*Note: I made one 9 " square pan and then 6 large cupcakes today. The cupcakes take approximately 25-28 mins to cook.

Cream Cheese Icing
8 oz Cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups icing sugar

Cream the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth, then add in the icing sugar one cup at a time and beat in between each cup until smooth and fluffy.

*Note: Just beware this is quite sweet with the icing... in fact I almost couldn't finish the piece shown in the picture above. So go small and then go back for seconds if you like, or don't put as much icing on;)

Enjoy!

Delicious Crumb Topped Zucchini Bread

Ok, this is absolutely delicious! Seriously folks, it really is that good! In fact Jacob (who's 16 months old) can't get enough of it...he whines for some whenever he sees it and when you give him one bite he keeps whining for more...it's that good!

We've had lots of zucchini around the house lately (thanks to Aimee) and I've been wanting to make zucchini bread for days and finally got to it today. I didn't have a recipe, so I spent some time searching on Allrecipes and then did a little experimenting and I have to say I'm thrilled with the result.

Crumb Topped Zucchini Bread
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups grated zucchini, undrained
1 cup crushed pineapple * optional
1 cup chopped walnutes*optional (I didn't add them)

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup regular oats
1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and sugar (or flour) two loaf pans.

Stir together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl.

Beat the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl or KitchenAid. Add the dry ingredients and beat well.

Stir in the zucchini (and pineapple and nuts if desired) until well combined.

Pour batter into prepared pans and put them in the pre-heated oven.

While the bread is cooking, combine the ingredients for the crumb topping.

Bake the bread for approximately 20-25 mins then add the crumb topping and cook an additional 35 to 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean*.

*Note: This is an extremely moist bread, so the toothpick won't come out completely clean, but you will be able to tell the difference in the toothpick between when it's not done and done.

*Note: Cool completely before attempting to cut this baby...as I said it's really moist so it's difficult to make a clean cut when it's still hot. You can cool it on a wire rack and / or remove the bread out of the pans after it's cooled for 1/2 hour or so to speed up the cooling process.

Enjoy!

Creamy Spinach Pesto Pasta

I'm not really sure what to say about this dish except that I was in the mood for a creamy spinach type pasta dish and decided to try to make a pesto sauce out of spinach. I did a google search for spinach pesto and found a recipe on Rachael Ray that helped give me a little direction and voila, this recipe was born. It's a really yummy variation of regular pesto...if you like pesto that is;) And if you want a little lighter or healthy version you could of course leave out the whipping cream (though I wouldn't dare of course).


Creamy Spinach Pesto Pasta
salt
3/4 - 1 lb pasta (whichever kind you would like)
4 cups fresh spinach (packed lightly)
handful of chopped pecans
1/2 cup vegetable / chicken stock
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
a few sprinkles fresh or dried nutmeg
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil, approximately
2 tbsp garlic, minced or 2-3 fresh cloves
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 medium zucchini, chopped, *optional
artichoke hearts, drained and chopped, *optional
chicken breasts or tenders, *optional

Cook noodles to al dente, making sure not to overcook as you will combine them with the sauce and they'll continue to soften at that point.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the spinach pesto by combining the spinach, pecans, vegetable stock, nutmeg, lemon zest and lemon juice and a few sprinkles of salt in a blender or food processor. Pulse to chop everything up and then add approximately 2 tbsp olive oil and continue pulsing to combine.

Place a large skillet over medium heat and heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the diced onion, minced garlic and chopped zucchini and cook until the veggies are done (if you're like me, you like them to have a little bit of a crunch to them still, but otherwise cook them till they're nice and soft). If you're using marinated artichoke hearts you can add them once the veggies are almost done as they won't need to cook as long as the onions and zucchini.

Once the veggies are done add the whipping cream and heat to boiling, allowing the sauce to boil for 2-3 minutes.

Then add the pasta, pesto, mozzarella cheese and salt to taste and toss to combine. If adding chicken, then chop up cooked / poached chicken breasts / tenders and add at this point. Serve warm with an extra sprinkle of mozzarella cheese on top.

You can also put it in a casserole dish and top with mozzarella cheese and broil/bake it for a few minutes if you like a nice cheese layer on top of your pasta.

Enjoy!

Hamburger Buns

We had AJ and Sarah over for dinner on the 4th of July and of course had hamburgers. Sarah asked if the hamburger bun recipe was on the blog yet and as it wasn't I promised I'd get it on soon...so here it is! I know this is only adding to the BBQ kick on here lately, but hey, at least they're really good!

I got this recipe from my mother in law and was happy as I'd just been thinking about finding a recipe to make hamburger buns. It was originally for 12 and I've halved it.

Hamburger Buns
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/8 tsp SAF instant yeast (or half a .25 ounce packet of rapid rise active dry yeast)
1 egg yolk
1/2 tablespoon water

Combine milk, 1/2 cup water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand until lukeward, about 110°F (if the mixture is too hot it will kill the yeast).

In a large bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir until the dough starts to pull together. If using a Kitchen Aid or stand mixer, use the dough hook to mix for about 8 minutes. If not, knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover with Saran Wrap and a dish towel and let stand until doubled in size, approximately 40 mins to 1 hour (again I usually heat the oven up to 175°F and then turn it off and let the dough rise in the warm oven).

Punch down the dough and divide it into 6 portions. They should be a little larger than a golf ball. Make tight balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Let them sit for 5 minutes.

Oil/PAM your hand and then flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide. Cover rolls and let sit until they double in size, about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tbsp of water in a cup or small bowl and brush onto the tops of the rolls.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

Makes 6 buns.

*Note: Chris loves putting grilled onions on his burgers and I have to say they've become an absolute necessity on my veggie burger too! So yummy!!! Avocado is sure good too!

Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Marinades

We had a family lunch today to celebrate Chris's birthday and Chris grilled two different kinds of chicken. The first is called Bengal BBQ chicken and is served at Disneyland. Chris said he just asked for the recipe and they gave it to him. Lucky for him because he loves it.

Chris said he found the second recipe online somewhere years ago. He doesn't know what it's called so I'm calling it Sprite Chicken.

Bengal BBQ
1 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 c. water
1 tbsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper (original recipe only called for 1/2 tsp, but Chris always uses 1 tsp)
1 tbsp fresh garlic
1 tbsp corn starch

Mix all but corn starch. Bring to a low boil over medium heat. Add corn starch to thicken. Marinate in a gallon size ziploc bag for approximately 6 hours. Grill.

*Note: As far as how much chicken this will make, Chris said it's enough marinade for a gallon sized ziploc bag full of chicken.

*Note: This one is on the hotter/spicier side. If you like a little bit of a kick, but not a lot you might want to use only 1/2 a tsp of the cayenne pepper.

Sprite Chicken
1 can Sprite (you can also use 7-Up)
1 cup Soy Sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic (you could also use garlic powder)

Marinate in a gallon size ziploc bag for overnight before grilling.

*Note: As far as how much chicken this will make, Chris said it's enough marinade for a gallon sized ziploc bag full of chicken.

Serve with grilled potatoes, veggies, grilled potatoes with veggies, watermelon (if you're a Parson this is a must), salad, etc.

Enjoy!