A Special Treat for the Dad in Your Life

What is it?

Drunk Cupcakes!!!  I first saw this recipe on Ashley's blog and made a mental note to make them.  Well last weekend my friend's girlfriend threw him a surprise birthday party that was casino themed.  What does my friend like to do at the casino? Drink and play poker or roulette, so  I thought drunken cupcakes would tie in with the theme nicely.  I just put spoonfuls of icing on top to make it more "manly" and added a cheap poker chip on top to give it more of a casino theme.

These cupcakes are seriously so moist it is the best chocolate cupcake batter I have ever had. I made them for his party on Saturday, then for my coworkers on Tuesday because I didnt get to eat enough of them on Saturday lol.

Why is this perfect for a father's day treat?  Ummm because the batter has Guinness in it and the ganache filling has whiskey and the icing has Baileys in it!  My dad's ears perked up a bit when he heard about them so I'll be making them again this weekend for him (and me) to enjoy ha.

Happy Father's Day :)

Baking Under The Influence: Caramel Apple Cupcakes and Donuts

    First off I wanted to say I've noticed I have gotten a bunch new followers so I wanted to say "hi"!


classy plastic wine glasses leftover from my birthday wine party

 Sometimes you feel like drinking a bunch of wine and baking things, if you are me this happens a lot.  So I'd like to introduce you to the first in a series of posts that are what I shall call BUI (Baking Under the Influence). 
    So a little bit ago Fooding with Emily and I went to the Fiestaware Sale and decided that we needed a snack for the undgodly hour of wake up.  A few days beforehand, Emily found a recipe in Rachel Ray's Magazine and we decided this would be it.








Here is what you will need for this nomfest:

• 1 bottle of your favorite wine (optional)
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 rome apples (about 1 pound), peeled and shredded ( we used the food processor to shred)
• 1 1/2 cups chewy caramel candies
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Enjoy bottle of wine while completing the tasks below:

Arrange a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350°. Line a cupcake pan with baking liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Whisk in the oil and vanilla. Stir into the flour mixture until just combined; stir in the apples.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan until almost full. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

    In a small, microwavable bowl, combine the caramels and cream. Microwave for 1 minute at medium power, then stir; repeat in 30-second intervals until melted and smooth. Let cool. Spread the frosting generously on the cooled cupcakes.

    The only bad thing we both could say about these was the the caramel "frosting" will rip your emeffing teeth out if you eat it after it has cooled a bit. It is definitely still delish and edible but you have to eat it very carefully ha. I would suggest a brown sugar or spiced icing that wont rip your teeth out.

First Real Dinner Party

Last night I hosted my first real dinner party. We recently got a new couch, dining table, 6 chairs, china closet, corner peice, and buffet so I wanted to break it in with some nums.
I just got my girl Ina's new cookbook "How Easy Is That?" so I decided to try a few out of there.

The first one I tried was the Lemon Chicken Breast

It was pretty easy to prepare and cooked up nice.
Here is what you will need:
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 X 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.
Yes i just copied and pasted from that website ha.  I didn't get to take any pictures though and I won't steal the one from her website.  The chicken turned out very moist and flavorful.

Next up I made Cous Cous with Roasted Pine Nuts
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade (eff that hoe)
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups couscous (12 ounces)
½ cup pine nuts, toasted (watch out, you can burn them in apprx 4 seconds)
½ cup minced fresh parsley

First note not from Ina- pine nuts are super expensive now for some reason and I know this would still be delish without them so feel free to leave them out. 

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned. Add the chicken stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a full boil. Stir in the couscous, turn off the heat, cover, and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, stir in the pine nuts and parsley, and serve hot.
I seriosuly could have eaten all this cous cous myself it was THAT good. I highly reccomend it- bitch was right,  it was easy!

Finally for dessert I made a pretzel chocloate pie with homemade chocolate pudding that I adapted from Foodess!
It was really easy and a great way to use up extra egg yolks....in fact I might go home and make more tonight :)

Pretzel Crust

To crush pretzels, use a food processor or seal inside a large freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin. Crush about 1/4 cup extra for sprinkling on top of pie.

1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels
1/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine crushed pretzels with sugar and melted butter. Press into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake for 10-12 minutes until browned. Cool completely.

Dark Chocolate Filling

• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup cream (you can use 10% or heavy cream)
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips 

 

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch and cocoa in a medium sized pot. Add yolks and whisk to combine. Place the pot on the stove over medium heat, and whisk in the milk and cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until pudding thickens and bubbles begin to form. ( It takes a little bit but you will definitaley notice) Reduce heat and continue cooking 3-5 minutes, continuing to stir. Try not to bring the pudding to a boil or you might scramble the egg. (However don’t panic if this happens by accident, you can strain out the egg bits).

Remove pudding from heat and stir in chocolate until melted.  Cover pudding with plastic wrap, pushing the plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding – this prevents a skin from forming on top. Transfer pudding to fridge, and chill for at least 2 hours.

Top with remaining pretzels and favorite whipped topping!

Crock Pot Week: Day 7

Ok day 7 is finally here! This recipe is once again simple and only has three ingredients.

1 pot roast
1 can of beef broth
1 package of italian dressing mix


Pour the italian dressing mix on the pot roast and pat until evenly. Pour the beef stock into the crock pot and place the seasoned roast in afterward. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

If you want more delish recipes, head on over to my friend and moh's blog Fooding with Emily

Crock Pot Week: Day 6

My latest crock pot adventure was a success! Last night I made Chili and 5 Minute Microwave Corn Bread.

Ya! Microwave Corn Bread! and it was pretty tasty too!

Crock Pot Turkey Chili

1 pound ground turkey
2 cans of black beans drained
2 cans Busch's chili beans drained
2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chillies with juice
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
chili powder
cinnamon

Brown the ground turkey. While the turkey is cooking, dump the remaining ingredients into the crock pot. Dump the turkey in and stir. Near the end of cooking season with chili powder and cinnamon to taste :). I cooked this on high for 3 hours but you could cook it on low and let it simmer all day.

5 Minute Microwave Cornbread

I saw this recipe as I was hunting for a corn bread recipe last night and didn't feel like letting one cook for 40 mins. So I was decided to try it and figured if it sucked, I'd only be 5 mins behind.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

In a small microwave safe pan (I used a glass pan), mix together all of the ingredients.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
That's it! It cant get much simpler than this.


Above is the original recipe but I thought it needed adjusting because everyone likes their cornbread a certain way. I thought I liked mine sweeter so I added 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of oil because I read in the reviews that the original recipe could be dry. I microwaved this an additional 30 seconds due to the added moisture. In the end I ended up thinking it needed more salt so I just sprinkled it with salt and it was good!

Overall the cornbread was good. I think with a few more trys at it it will be perfect. Definitely not as good as oven cornbread but really great to have on hand when you don't have a lot of time or simply just don't feel like it :P.

Crock Pot Week: Day 4

Day 4 was another hit! This one is called Autumn Delight- not sure why, but it was tasty.

What you need:
4-6 cube steaks
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I used low fat)
1 cup water
1 package french onion soup mix
olive oil


Brown the steaks in the olive oil, then place them in the crock pot.
Combine water, canned soup, and soup mix in a bowl and mix well. Pour the mixture over the steaks and cook on LOW 4-6 hours.

I made baked potatoes in the microwave when I got home and VOILA!


Not exactly "food porn" but you get the idea!

Crock Pot Week: Day 3

Today I was ambitious and made dinner and dessert in the crock pot!
First up, dinner was a spicy chicken breast. This recipe has been one of my favorites so far and I will definitely make it again.

Chicken and spicy black bean tacos

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained (15 oz)
1 can of tomatoes with green chillis such as RoTel, (10oz)
1 1/2 teaspoons chilli powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1 package chicken
Olive oil
Tortillas and taco toppings of your liking

Drain and rinse the black beans, drain the can of RoTel and pour into the crock pot.
In a bowl toss chicken in spices and small amount of olive oil until the chicken is coated. Place on top of beans and tomatoes in crock pot.
Set the crock pot on high for 1 3/4 hours.
Once cooked remove from crock pot and enjoy with tortillas and taco toppings!



Now for Dessert!

Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 large sized box instant chocolate pudding
3 cups of milk
1 box of chocolate cake mix and the ingredients to prepare it

Whisk together the pudding mix and the milk in the crockpot. Prepared the cake mix according to the box instructions and CAREFULLY pour on top of the pudding mixture. Cook on high for 1 1/2 hours. Mine actually took about 2 hours to cook all the way through.

This was kinda like a cheap imitator of one of those molten chocolate cakes.
The cake overall was pretty good, I definitely enjoyed the cake/ pudding combo in my mouth.

Crock Pot Week: Day 2

Ok so this next recipe was good but nothing amazing. I actually got home from work a little early and just made this knowing we would eat a late dinner. Its good for one of those "let's see what the pantry has" nights.
This kinda reminds me of a super easy Chicken Parmesan.

Here it goes:
1 package of chicken boobies
1 box of penne pasta (uncooked)
1/2 of a larger jar of pasta or enough to cover

I placed the chicken boobies in the crock pot and covered them with some sauce. I place the noodles uncooked on top and then covered them in some sauce. I let it go on high for about 4 hours. If you are looking for a faster cook time the chicken should be done in approx 1.5 hours. The pasta was definitely mushy much like it would be in pasta bake of some sorts but it wasn't bad, so if you don't like mushy pasta, cook it separately :) I just served this with some Parmesan cheese, a salad and some garlic bread.

Day 3: dinner AND dessert!

Crock Pot Week: Day 1

Ok so I've decided that I'm going to use my crock pot for a week straight! Today is day 1. I have made a pot roast with carrots and roasted red skinned potatoes. You can put the potatoes in with the recipe also if you'd like.
1 pot roast about 3 pounds
1 small bag of baby carrots
1/2 bag red skinned potatoes or whatever potatoes you may like
1 packet of French onion soup mix
1/2 cup water

Place the pot roast in the crock pot and pour the French onion soup mix on top. Place the carrots and potatoes on top and pour the 1/2 cup of water on top. Set the crock pot on low for 7 to 9 hours, come home from work and dinner's ready!

I usually throw the potatoes in with the pot roast, but today I made them a different way.
I cut up the potatoes and coated them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I put the oven on 425 degrees for 25 minutes. This temperature cooked the potatoes and left them nice and crispy!

Hope you all enjoy!