Earl Grey Muffins

I am an avid tea drinker, so it was fitting that I stumbled upon a recipe for tea-flavored muffins and I just HAD to try them!  The taste is very subtle, but very delicious---even for those non-tea drinking people!

Ingredients:
4 Earl Grey tea bags
1 C milk
2 1/2 C self-raising flour
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 TB poppy seeds
1 stick butter, melted
2 eggs
To glaze: honey/powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350°F.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

Warm the milk until it is nearly boiling in a small pan (make sure to watch it carefully-you don't want the milk to burn on the bottom of the pan!), then take off heat, add the tea bags, and let it steep.

Put flour, sugar, and poppy seeds in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.  Add milk mixture (removing tea bags first of course!), butter, and eggs.  Mix gently either with a mixer, spoon, or whisk until smooth.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared liners and bake for 15 minutes or until the top is browned and a toothpick inserted in the muffin come out clean.

**Note: Overcooking them will dry them out!

Cool the muffins on the rack for 10 minutes.  Pour a dab of honey on the top, and brush it around covering the entire top with a knife or your (clean) fingers.  Sprinkle a pinch of powdered sugar and serve!

Crock Pot Lasagna

I am the proud owner of a Crock Pot® now--which is incredible when you are constantly running from one place to another.  There is something so incredible about throwing things together in a Crock Pot® and coming back to a delicious meal in 4-5 hours.  This recipe has been in my family for a long time, and I loved when my mum made it when I was a kid.  I hope you enjoy it as well!

**This recipe is for a 5 qt Crock Pot®
Prep Time: ~15 minutes
Cook Time: 4-5 hours


Ingredients:
1 jar Prego (any kind is fine, but I prefer the Italian Sausage one!)
1 package (8 oz) no-boil lasagna noodles
4 C (16 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 C (12 oz) small-curd cottage cheese
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese


Spread a fourth of the Prego in an ungreased 5-qt slow cooker.  Arrange one third of the noodles over the sauce (break the noodles to fit).  It is okay, even good, if the noodles cover each other.  


Combine the mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, and parmesan cheese in a medium bowl.  Spoon a third of the mixture over the noodles.  Repeat the layers twice (sauce-noodles-cheese order always).  Top with the remaining sauce.  Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are tender.  Enjoy!

Spaghetti Carbonara

I'll be the first to admit that when my friend C mentioned making 'spaghetti carbonara' I flat out had no idea what he was talking about.  Turns out it is a yummy pasta meal!  The only thing to be careful of is this recipe is extremely time-sensitive.  By this I mean that it needs to be eaten right after it's made otherwise it congeals.

1 lb spaghetti

1/4 C heavy cream

3 eggs

1/2 lb bacon, cut into small strips/pieces

1 tsp oil

1/2 an onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 C parmesan cheese 

salt & pepper

1 TB fresh parlsey (optional)

Fill a large pot with water and a pinch of salt.  Heat the water until boiling.

While the water is prepping, add the bacon to a pan and cook slowly (medium-low heat) until crispy.  Removed the bacon from the pan and once it has cooled, break into small pieces.  Set aside.  Add the chopped onion to the pan (you can keep a bit of the bacon grease to aid with the cooking or drain and use a touch of olive oil) and cook until slightly translucent.  Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Set aside.

Once the water has boiled, add the spaghetti and cook according to the package until they become al dente (i.e. tender but a little firm to bite).

While the pasta is cooking, combine the eggs, cheese, cream, and oil into a bowl and whisk until mixed.  Once the pasta is cooked, drain completely and return to the pan.  Pour the egg mixture over the spaghetti and toss until the pasta is coated.  Finally add salt and pepper to taste, the bacon pieces, and finely chopped parsley.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Adapted from: http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/pastanoodles/r/carbonara.htm

Peanut Butter Frosting

If you are looking for a quick way to whip up your own frosting, you're in the right place!

Ingredients:
1/4 C butter, softened
2/3 C creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/4 C cream or whole milk

In a medium bowl, beat together butter and peanut butter until it is light and fluffy--there shouldn't be any chunks.  Slowly beat in 1/2 of the powdered sugar.  Mix in the cream/milk followed by the remaining powdered sugar. If the mixture is too thick, add a little extra cream or milk.  This should make enough to cover 12 cupcakes.

Chocolatey Cupcakes

Instead of doing the typical "Thank you card" I try to do thank you desserts.  I mean, cards are nice and all, but in the end they just end up getting thrown away, recycled, or stored in a box somewhere with all the other thank you cards.  I needed to borrow a DVD from Z's old roommates for a paper, so in return they got some of these scrumptious cupcakes!

Serving Size: 12 cupcakes

Prep Time: ~10 minutes 

Bake Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C whole milk

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Line muffin baking pan with paper liners.

In a small bowl, carefully mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  In a large bowl using an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until creamy (~3-4 minutes).  Once mixed add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.  Add vanilla.  Add flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning with the flour mixture.  Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly.  Let cool on racks and then enjoy!

If you want to try your own frosting with it, try this easy recipe: Peanut Butter Frosting

Adapted from: The Cupcake Bible

Cheesy Baked Manicotti

Z's parents were in town for the day, so while they spent the day catching up and moving more things into his apartment, I went for an amazing sunny drive and did my errands.  It is these kinds of days which remind me why I moved here -- so beautiful!  Needless to say, by 4 PM I was just arriving home and wanted to put together something quick and yummy for my roommate, Z, and myself.  This took just shy of an hour to do the prep, baking, and cooling!  It was "Just ordered this at an Italian restaurant" good -- don't take my word for it, just try it today!

Ingredients:

1/2 TB salt

12 manicotti (8oz box)

2 3/4 C ricotta cheese (~22 oz)

1 C parmesan cheese, grated

3/4 C mozzarella, shredded

1 large egg

1/4 C minced fresh basil

1/4 C minced fresh parsley

1/4 tsp pepper

3 C tomato sauce (you can use any brand, I just used a jar of Prego!)

Adjust an oven rack to the middle slot and preheat the oven to 400 F.  Put 16 cups of water into a large pot and bring to a boil  Once the water is at a full boil, stir in a 1/2 TB of salt and the manicotti noodles.  Cook the noodles, stirring often, so they are tender but still a little firm to the touch (for me this took about 5-7 minutes).  When they are cooked, drain the pan and spread the manicotti tubes out on a baking sheet and let cool.

In a large bowl mix together the ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, egg, basil, and pepper.  Spoon the filling into a large zip-lock bag and cut a hole in the corner of the bag--you will be using this to pipe the filing.  Pick up the manicotti tubes one at a time and fill with the mixture, gently squeezing the bag from the top.  If you prefer, you can also just carefully spoon the mixture into the tubes.  Once they are  filled, arrage them in an oiled 9 X 13 baking dish.

Pour the tomato sauce over the filled pasta.  Take some aluminum foil and tightly wrap the top of baking dish and bake until the sauce is bubbling around the pasta, about 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.   When it is done baking, pull the dish out and let cool for 5 minutes before dishing up!

Adapted from: America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Chicken Parmesan

So last night was a flat dinner...and I decided since it would be [one of the very] last flat dinners I made, I needed to go all out.  This crazy decision resulted in the world's messiest kitchen, 4 million dirty dishes, and 2 hours later, was a beautiful meal.  This chicken parmesan (my first time making it!) was to die for delicious, so please make it and share the love!

Chicken Parmesan 

(Serves 4)

Sauce:

1/2 onion

2Tb olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 can (28 oz; 800 g) crushed tomatoes*

1 tsp dried oregano

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

*I used tomato paste instead and added water to make it less thick!

Chicken:
4 chicken breasts*
Salt
2 eggs
3/4 C breadcrumbs
1 C Parmesan
1/4 C (60 ml) olive oil
8 basil leaves
4 ounces (120 g) mozzarella/Edam cheese
*To adapt this this to a 6 person meal, I used chicken tenderloins instead of breasts, and just did more

Pasta** (I usually use whole wheat penne but you can do it with almost any pasta!)


To prepare the sauce, grate or mince the onion.  Place a pan on medium-high heat and add the olive oil and onion.  Saute for 2-3 minutes.  Next peel the garlic and press them or mince finely.  Add to the pan and cook for 1-2 more minutes.  Then add the tomatoes, oregano, salt, and sugar.  Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat to maintain the simmer.  Cook uncovered for 10-12 minutes.

While this is cooking, preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).  Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry.  Working one at a time, place the chicken under two layers of plastic wrap.  With a meat pounder (if you don't have one of these, use a rubber mallet, empty wine bottle, heavy rolling pin, ketchup bottle, etc) pound the chicken to flatten them to an even thickness.

Salt the chicken pieces generously.  Next obtain two bowls.  In the first bowl whisk the eggs.  In the second bowl mix together 1/2 C parmesan cheese (grated) and the breadcrumbs.  In a separate pan (now can you see how I had so many dirty dishes?!) heat 1/4 C olive oil over medium-high heat.

Dip the chicken pieces one at a time into the egg mixture, then cover both sides with breadcrumbs.  You can use your fingers, tongs or two forks to help with the process.  Layer then into the hot pan.  Turn the heat down to medium and fry the cutlets until they are golden brown in colour (3-4 min per side--if you are doing tenderloins the cooking time on this is significantly reduced!)

In a 9 x 13 in (23 X 33 cm) casserole pan/baking dish, spread 3/4 of the sauce onto the bottom.  Once all of the cutlets are browned, arrange them on top of the tomato sauce and spoon the rest of the sauce over each piece of chicken.  Slice the basil leaves and sprinkle them on top.

Slice the mozzarella/Edam cheese thinly and place the slices on top.  Grate the rest of the parmesan cheese (1/2 C.... or 3/4 C if you really like cheese!) and sprinkle on top.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  

While the chicken is baking, cook the pasta per directions on the box.  One it is to your desired firmness (al dente or other!) drain it and set aside.  One the chicken is done baking, plate it and serve over/next to the pasta and add remaining sauce in the pan on top!



Adapted from: http://zoomyummy.com/2010/10/03/chicken-parmesan/