Hash Brown Waffles

Monday was International Waffle Day.  Who knew, right?  I decided to celebrate by making a twist on the classic waffle--Hash Brown Waffles!  Indeed, they're nothing like a traditional waffle other than the shape.  The recipe could not be simpler.  Start by heating your waffle iron.  Mine is round and divided into four sections.  It's not a Belgian waffle maker, though.  The holes in the waffles are the normal size for a waffle.  Once the iron is heated, coat the top and bottom lightly with cooking spray and add your hash browns.  I used frozen ones and didn't thaw them beforehand.  I'm sure using freshly shredded potatoes would work just as well.  I used about a cup and a half for my waffle iron.  You want to make sure your "waffle" is thick enough or it will be difficult to remove when it's done.

Dollop with a little butter or bacon fat.  I used bacon fat because I happened to have some on hand!  Press the top down and apply firm pressure for about 30 seconds or until the potatoes have softened enough for it to close.  Cook for 4-6 minutes or until crispy on the outside and lightly browned.  Keep a close on them so they don't burn. 

I decided to top mine with two eggs, over easy.  The best part was when the middles broke and the yolk flowed into the holes of the hashbrown waffle.  So delicious...and practical.  Ha!

Hash Brown Waffles

1.5 cups frozen hash browns
Cooking spray
Butter or bacon fat

Heat waffle iron on the highest setting.  Coat the top and bottom of iron with cooking spray and add hash browns to the iron.  Dollop with butter or bacon fat.

Close the lid and hold firmly until the potatoes begin to soften.  Let cook 4-6 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy.

Acorn Squash

Until trying this recipe several weeks ago, I had never eaten acorn squash.  I've tried (and, for the most part, liked) just about every other type of squash, but never acorn.  A friend recommended it and suggested roasting it with brown sugar and butter in the hollowed out part.  I tried it and loved it!  We've had it several times since then and it's a perfect side dish for when you already have your oven going for another dish, like meatloaf or a casserole.  I'm not sure of the proper way to eat it, but we just eat it as pictured above, scooping the flesh out with a fork.  One squash makes 2 generous servings.

Acorn Squash

1 acorn squash
4 t. butter
4 t. brown sugar
cinnamon (optional)

Cut an acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Place each half flesh side down in a baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Flip the halves over and add 2 t. butter and 2 t. brown sugar to the middle of each.  Sprinkle with a little cinnamon if desired.  Return to oven and bake an additional 30-45 minutes until very tender. 

I like to score mine and then swirl them to better distribute the butter and brown sugar after baking.  So delicious!

Roast Sticky Chicken

This is one of the first recipes I ever made from allrecipes.com .  I love LOVE rotisserie chicken, both on its own and for the convenience of using it in recipes.  It's so much cheaper to roast your own chicken, though, and you get to control the ingredients.  I like this recipe because it's simple to throw together at the last minute, but it's also good to let the chicken marinate ahead of time, as the recipe suggests.  Either way, it's a wholesome, versatile chicken recipe.  I usually roast two birds at once to make better use of having the oven turned on for five hours.  I like to shred the extra meat and use it in casseroles, soups, sandwiches, or to freeze.  It's so juicy and flavorful, not to mention easy!

Roast Sticky Chicken Rotisserie Style
allrecipes.com

4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 onions, quartered

2 (4 pound)whole chickens

In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Remove and discard giblets from chicken. Rinse chicken cavity, and pat dry with paper towel. Rub each chicken inside and out with spice mixture. Place 1 onion into the cavity of each chicken. Place chickens in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours (optional).

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).

Place chickens in a roasting pan. Bake uncovered for 5 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Let the chickens stand for 10 minutes before carving.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  I wanted to share a few pictures of my girls.  We did this photo shoot a few weeks ago and the girls looked so cute.  Clara was reluctant to get too close to Alice for a picture, though.  In the one of them together, I had to bribe her with Smarties to get her to sit for it.   Alice kept drooling on her and Clara was freaking out, thinking it would get on her.  She definitely doesn't like for Alice to get too close to her.  Hopefully that will change, though! 

I've found a new place in my house to set up for a photo shoot.  I've been trying to find rooms with the best light and I think Alice's nursery is actually the best spot with the most room.  That's where we took these.  They're done with all natural light which was a challenge this day because the sun kept moving in and out of the clouds.  We had fun, though, and the girls were adorable!

Chicken with Pineapple Fried Rice

I came across this recipe on The Pioneer Woman Cooks a while back and made it that week.  The idea of pineapple fried rice sounded so yummy, with the sweet and salty combination.  The original recipe is actually for pork chops, but I had chicken on hand to use up.  The sauce for the chicken is  delicious, but pretty salty, so be careful how much you actually ladle over your rice.  Fresh pineapple is a must and I think grilling it adds a nice, subtle flavor to the rice. 

Chicken with Pineapple Fried Rice

adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

 

½ whole Pineapple, Cut Into Spears And Skewered

2 cups White Or Brown Rice, Cooked

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved and pounded thin

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 Tablespoon Canola Oil

1 whole Large Onion, Sliced

6 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (more To Taste, Or If More Liquid Is Needed)

1 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Honey

1 Tablespoon Sriracha, Or Other Hot Sauce

Salt To Taste

3 cloves Minced Garlic

2 whole Eggs

1-½ cup Frozen Peas

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (additional)

Cook rice according to package instructions. Set aside.

Grill or saute pineapple spears until they have good marks/color on the outside. Slice, then set aside.
(Note: soak wooden skewers in water for a few hours first.)

Heat butter and oil over medium high heat, then add the chicken to the pan. Saute on both sides until they have nice color.

Throw in the sliced onions and work them into the crevices between the chicken breasts. Shake the pan and move the onions around and let them cook for a good couple of minutes. When the onions are starting to soften, add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and hot sauce. Shake the pan, stir it around, and let it cook and bubble up for a good couple of minutes until the chicken is completely cooked and the sauce is thicker.

Remove the chicken to a bowl, then let the sauce bubble up and cook for another 30 to 45 seconds. Pour it over the chicken. Set aside.

Add a small amount of oil to the same pan (without cleaning it) and return it to the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir it around, then crack in the eggs and immediately stir them to scramble them a bit. Add peas and a couple of tablespoons (additional) soy sauce. Add cooked rice and stir it around to cook for a couple of minutes.

To serve, pile rice on a plate, then top with a chicken breast half and onions from the sauce. Drizzle a little bit of sauce over the top.

Chicken, Green Beans and Potatoes

I've seen this recipe on a few different blogs and finally got around to making it the other night.  I've actually made it twice now and the whole family really likes it.  The first time through, I used frozen green beans.  While that was fine, it was much better with fresh green beans.  I also used a mix of white and red potatoes because that's what I happened to have on hand.  They both came out great, so I think you could use either...or both!  Now I need to look for a recipe to make my own Italian Dressing Mix.  I did cut back on the amount of butter from the original recipe (1/2 cup down to 1/4 cup) and I thought it was plenty.  Enjoy this comforting, one pot meal!

Green Beans, Chicken and Potatoes
adapted from Julie's Eats & Treats

4 medium potatoes, cut
2 c. green beans, cut
1 lb chicken breasts
1/4 c. butter
1 package Italian dressing mix

Cut green beans up. Fill half of the pan with green beans.
Cut potatoes up. Fill the other half of the pan with the potatoes.
Cover the vegetables with the chicken breasts.
Cut butter up and layer over the green beans, potatoes and chicken. Sprinkle Italian dressing over the entire pan. Cover with foil.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr.

 

Banana Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

I had been enjoying my Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal recipe for several weeks when it occurred to me to try a new flavor.  I adapted the recipe to make a Banana Blueberry version and I have to say, it blew the other recipe out of the water!  They're both excellent, but this new version reminds me so much of banana bread.  I love the pop you get from the blueberries, too.  Of course, use over ripe bananas for this to get a sweeter flavor.  I think it would also be good to replace the blueberries with raisins, but I probably won't.  I love blueberries too much to do that.  Anyway, here's the recipe.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Banana Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

3 c. Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
1 egg
2 mashed (very ripe) bananas
1 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. blueberries (I used frozen berries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt. Add milk, egg, bananas and vanilla and stir well. Combine with blueberries (do not thaw if using frozen berries). Place in an 8x8 baking dish and bake, covered, for one hour. Yields 6-8 servings.

Flower Petal Cake

I've been seeing this new technique {at least--new to me!} around the Internet.  I think it's called a Petal Cake, but I'm not sure if that's an official name or not.  I just saw that on one particular site.  Anyway, I think it does look a lot like petals, so I'll stick with that.  Another trend I've noticed with design in general is the "ombre" effect, or gradually darkening shades of the same color.  For this cake, I combined the two for a neat effect on the side of the cake.  It was quite simple, but fairly time consuming.  I think the side work took me about 30 minutes.  If I were doing it all in the same color, it would have been a bit faster since I wouldn't be switching pastry bags all the time. 

To start, I frosted a 2 layer chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream.  I didn't worry about getting the sides perfectly smooth since I'd be covering them up.  I did keep them as even as I could, though. 

I used Wilton's Sky Blue coloring paste and made 4 shades of frosting, each a little darker than the last.  I only used a very small amount for the lightest color because I wanted it to blend in with the white on top of the cake.  I also labeled my parchment bags so that I wouldn't get them mixed up.  I would recommend using Wilton's #12 round tip for these.  Unfortunately, I only have one of those, so I just cut holes in the end of my parchment roughly the same size as the #12 tip.  I think it would have looked neater if I had used the actual decorating tip, though.

Starting at the bottom, I piped a large circle (about an inch in diameter) of each color, working up to the top of the cake.

Then I used the tip of my small, angled spatula to swipe the icing.  I started in the middle of the bottom circle and pulled it to the right, creating a "tail."  I wiped the excess off on the edge of a bowl and swiped the next circle, working my way up.

Then I repeated the process with the next column of circles.

30 minutes later, and this is what it looked like.  I think it's a really pretty effect!  It definitely hides imperfections if your frosting doesn't get as smooth as you'd like it.  It's definitely not a difficult technique.  It just takes a little time.  I sat on a barstool at my bar and worked on it while I watched TV. 

This is the finished product.  It was for a 50th birthday gal who is a big Elvis fan.  The Elvis and "50" are made from candy melts, piped onto parchment paper.  I've never really decorated the sides of my cakes much.  I mainly just focus on the top part.  I think I'll be using this technique a lot from now on, though!

Pork Carnitas with Guacamole Salsa

I ran across this recipe for pork carnitas on Pinterest.  I'm so glad I finally got my pinboards organized into recipe categories.  I had been lumping all of my recipes together and it was overwhelming trying to find something to make.  Since I re-organized, I've been trying many more new recipes.  I <3 Pinterest!

I had never made pork like this before, but I think it's a pretty foolproof method.  Cooking it for two hours in the oven really tenderizes the meat so that it practically melts off of your fork.  I love the little hint of citrus you get from the orange juice, too.  I served this in Homemade Flour Tortillas with Guacamole Salsa....another recipe I came across on Pinterest.  I have to be careful around my husband because he gets annoyed when every other thing out of my mouth is, "I saw on Pinterest (insert aweseme project/recipe/idea here).  Haha.  He's not a big Pinterest fan.

Anyway, this was a delicious meal.  The recipe was originally adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe, so it must be good, right?  Theirs is my favorite cooking magazine.  I love how they put so much research into each recipe.  The guacamole salsa reminded me of a sauce I've eaten several times in Mexico.  The nice thing is, it doesn't turn brown like guacamole does when it's exposed to air.

Pork Carnitas
My Kitchen Escapades

4 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
2 Tb fresh lime juice
2 C water
1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, including the spent orange halves and juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered. Once it simmers, cover pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until the meat falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours.

Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and place it on a large foil-lined jelly roll pan. Remove and discard everything from the pot except for the cooking liquid. Place pot over medium high heat on the stove and boil until thick and syrupy, about 20 minutes. You should have about 1 C of liquid remaining when it is finished.
While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces. Once the liquid has become a syrup, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Try not to break up the pork any further. Taste and add additional salt and pepper.

Spread the pork back onto the foil lined pan and evenly spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the jelly roll pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings.

Guacamole Salsa
Frosted Bake Shop

1 lb. tomatillos (or more if you want it thinner)

1 jalapeno pepper (I used half and it wasn't hot at all)

1/3 bunch cilantro

1 thick slice of onion

1 garlic clove

1 avocado

1 tsp. salt

 

Peel and wash the tomatillos.  Cut them into quarters and put in the blender. Follow with the jalapeno, cilantro, onion, garlic, avocado & salt. Be sure to put the tomatillos in the bottom of the blender and not the avocado so it doesn't stick to the blade. You might have to help it start by shaking or using a mixer at first. But, once it gets going the juice from the tomatillos will help move the other ingredients around.  Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Flour tortillas.  In my experience, premade flour tortillas have always been rather dry and tough.  I just accepted it, though, because the idea of making them myself never really crossed my mind.  Until recently.  I came upon a blog post by Homesick Texan about her quest to find the perfect flour tortilla recipe.  Apparently there's what's known as "Texas" style tortillas that are light and puffy, unlike the flat, thin ones I was used to.  I'm guessing this has to do with the baking powder in the recipe.

After reading her post, I felt confident enough to try making these tortillas myself.  The recipe is very simple and uses basic pantry ingredients, so I didn't have much to lose.  I was thrilled with the end result.  The tortillas were puffy, tender and chewy at the same time.  I used them for soft tacos, but I could easily have just rolled one up to dip in refried beans.  They were that good!  I think once you've had homemade tortillas, there's no going back.

Texas Flour Tortillas
Homesick Texan

Two cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.