Friday, November 26, 2010

Angel Biscuits



Well, we have been a little slow at blogging lately. That is not to say we haven't been busy in the kitchen though. So to jump-start again I will try to catch up on some of the things we have made and just need to blog about. The first one is one of my favorite recipes. These rolls are quick and simple, and always bring back fond memories, like the first time B met my family and they decided she was in charge of making them, talk about trial by fire! :) Luckily she passed with flying colors and we love making these rolls any chance we get.

Recipe
1 Pkg yeast
3/4 C warm water
3 TBS sugar
2 C flour (I like to use half all-purpose flour and half bread flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS oil
Butter


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dissolve the yeast into the warm water and the sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it becomes bubbly.


Add the salt, oil and flour and mix until it forms a soft dough, kneed 2min until smooth.


Roll out the dough to about 1/4-1/2 inch thickness and use a roll cutter or a round glass to cut into circles.


Place place a small 1tsp sized chunk of butter on each roll and fold over. The butter truly is the key in making these rolls amazing.


Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter and add the rolls. Bake at 375 for 12-18min or until the rolls are golden brown

These rolls are best when the are eaten hot out of the oven. You can serve them with just about anything from gravy to honey, but any way you do it you will not be disappointed!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

White Bean and Chicken Chili

A few weeks ago our friend made this recipe and I could't get enough of it! I got the recipe from her blog and adjusted it a little to fit my style. It was so good we ate until we couldn't move, and the best part was that we had enough left over to freeze and enjoy later.

Recipe
1 TBS olive oil


1 large onion, chopped 
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups chicken broth 
3 tsp. cumin
3 15oz. cans white beans
1-3 cans roasted green chili 
½ tsp. oregano
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 cup sour cream 
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (1/2 lb.)

Heat the oil in a large pot. Sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken broth and beans, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 10min.



Add the shredded chicken and simmer for 20min. Then add the oregano, cumin and green chili and simmer for another 30min. I like to use the "hot" chili because it has more flavor, and if you only use 1-2 cans it doesn't add too much heat.


Just before serving, add sour cream and shredded cheese and stir til it melts.


Now that you have been smelling this simmer for the last hour it is finally time to enjoy it! You can serve it with some tortilla chips, or we like to eat it with a baguette. Anyway you do it, you will love it!!













Sunday, August 22, 2010

Cupcakes


One of our favorite things to find in is a great cupcake shop. This past week we found a great cupcake shop called, "That Takes the Cake" thank you to groupon.com. We fell in love with their "Prom Queen" strawberry cupcake and can't wait to try their other amazing flavors. Check out their link for locations and menu :-) Other favorite cupcake places include: Kara's Cupcakes especially their "Sweet Vanilla". Yumm!!

Do you have a favorite cupcake shop in the Bay Area? Let us know! Seriously, tell us where their located and we will check them out!

Almond Cake

My amazing friend and college roommate K-love used to make this all the time. It was one of my favorite things she would make and when I moved out it quickly become a favorite of mine to bake as well. It is super quick to put together and chances are you have all of the necessary ingredients in your kitchen right now. Here's the recipe:

1 C Sugar
1 C Flour
2 tsp Almond extract
1/2 C butter (melted)
2 Eggs
Almonds or Clear standing sugar (optional)

Preheat over to 325 degrees. In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together


Add the butter, extract and eggs


Stir well :-)


Place in a greased round cake pan or as you see I used a pie pan. Both work well!


K-love would sprinkle sliced almonds on the top before baking but as most of you know I'm not a huge fan of nuts. In fact, Katie would leave part of the batter uncovered of almonds just for me :-) I do sugar on the top of it to give it a yummy glaze on the top. Not normal sugar, I use the big sugar crystals that you can find in specialty stores.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.


The end product is so delicious. It's a great snack item if you're looking for something a little sweet but not overbearing. It's also easy to make when you're going to someone's house for dinner or having company over


Enjoy!!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Repost: Feather-Light Donuts (with pictures)

Last month my amazing sister M informed me that June 4th, is National Donut day and we have the best recipe for you. Unfortunately, the first time we posted this recipe we had no pictures to post. But last Sunday I was really "craving" these delicious treats, so K was super sweet & made them for me. These donuts are so delicious as well as light & fluffy. You will just fall in love with them! Secret ingredient- mashed potatoes.

Recipe:
2 pkgs active dry yeast
1 1/2 C warm milk
1 C cold mashed potatoes
1 1/2 C sugar, divided
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
5 1/2- 6 C flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add potatoes, 1/2 C sugar, oil, salt, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and eggs.


Add enough flour to form a soft dough.


Place in a greased bowl for an hour turning once after the first 30 minutes. We could definitely tell our dough was rising because the seran wrap started bubbling out :-)


Punch dough down and roll on a flat surface. Cut into holes and place on a greased baking sheet.


Let rise for another 45 minutes.


Heat oil to 350 degrees. Be careful not to overheat your oil as you may burn the outside of the donut but leave the inside still very doughy. (Burned donuts = yucky smelling smoke!)


Fry donuts until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Roll in cinnamon or/and sugar while still warm. You can also drizzle your favorite icing.


This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen deliciously amazing donuts!! I love, love this donut recipe and so do our neighbors, friends, doorman... pretty much anyone who is around when we make these.

I had a hard time taking pictures because they just smelled so delicious. It's best to eat them right away but you can also store them for a day. If you're eating them the next day, warm them up for 5-10 seconds in the microwave and re-dip them in sugar. Enjoy!!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Our Favorite Gadgets: Perfect Boiled Eggs

We are creating a new blog post called "Our Favorite Gadgets". I (B) will start us off with one of my favorites.

I know you all will find me ridiculous but I can never consistently get boiled eggs. Sometimes I get them right on the dot, sometimes their still a little mushy. Don't get me wrong, I try all the tricks! I've even tried spinning the egg haha. We'll I love this little gadget called the Egg-Perfect Eggtimer that is just a few dollar but super amazing. You place it in the boiling water with your eggs and it will tell you when they are hard boiled. Love it!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Better than Box Brownies


Don't get me wrong, I actually love box brownies (much to my mother's dismay), but these brownies beat them hands-down every time. Plus, they are super quick and easy to make. You can always add a little pizazz by serving them with ice cream and berries, or even adding chocolate chips and nuts. The next time you have a brownie craving tries these out and I guarantee you won't regret it!

Recipe:
1 2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 TBS water
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl beat together the sugar, butter, water, eggs and vanilla


In a separate bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the batter and mix well.

Spread the batter evenly in a greased and lightly floured pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25min until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let the brownies cool for a few minutes, then cut them into squares and enjoy! These make a quick dessert that is always a crowd pleaser. They are nice and chewy like box brownies, but they are more decadent and delicious. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do! Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Turkey Lasagna


Ok M, here is your request #2, an easy and delicious lasagna recipe. We also made this one a little healthier by using ground turkey and zucchini instead of beef. Even though it seems like there are a lot of ingredients this is actually a really quick recipe. I hope you enjoy this lasagna as much as we do.

Recipe
1TBS olive oil
1lbs ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 6oz can tomato paste
3 8oz cans tomato sauce
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 cup shredded zucchini
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
1 8oz carton ricotta cheese
1 egg
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
lasagna noodles, boiled
(you can always opt in for the ready to bake noodles as well)

Chop the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan on med-high heat.


Brown the onions, garlic and turkey in the heated pan.

Add the tomato sauce, paste and stewed tomatoes and mix well. Once the sauce begins to bubble, turn it down to a simmer.


Use a cheese grater to shred the zucchini.

Stir in the zucchini, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste being careful not to over salt it.

In a small bowl mix the ricotta and egg until well blended.

Place a small amount of sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish to keep the lasagna from sticking.

Cover the sauce with a layer of lasagna noodles.

Layer the noodles with half of the sauce and half the ricotta cheese mixture.

Top the layer off with 2 cups of shredded mozzerella cheese.


Repeat another layer with the remaining noodles, sauce, ricotta and mozzarella. Bake the lasagna at 350 degrees for 30min or until it is bubbly.


There is nothing better than a good homemade lasagna. One bite of this and you'll never want another frozen lasagna again! Enjoy!!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Orange Drop Cookies


Sorry M- I know you suggested Dreamsicle Cookies but that suggestion made us crave Orange Drop Cookies. So until we find a good recipe for Dreamsicles hopefully this delicious recipe keeps your tied over! :-)

Recipe:
2/3 C butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 C orange juice
2 TBS grated orange peel  (about 2 large oranges)
2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 
Orange Butter Cream  Frosting (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together the butter, sugar and eggs.


Zest the oranges, being careful to not get into the white part of the flesh.


Add the zest and orange juice to the butter mix and blend well.


 Add the flour, soda, powder and salt. Mix well until the dough is not too sticky.



Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and bake for 8-10 min. Remove to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before frosting.

Orange Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 C butter
3-4 C powdered sugar
2 TBS orange juice (or more as needed)
1 TBS grated orange peel(about 1 large orange)

Cream the butter and 3 cups sugar at high speed. Add the orange juice and peel and beat until creamy. Add more powdered sugar or orange juice as needed to get a smooth spreading consistency.


Top the cookies with a generous dollop of frosting and enjoy. These cookies are even better the second day after the flavor has time to develop, but they are so good its unlikely they will last that long!

** Original recipe found at allrecipes.com