If you love to cook, you've come to the right place! Every recipe you'll find here has been made by one of us in our home kitchen. Each one is good enough to share with our friends.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Molasses Bread

I received a copy of The Complete Irish Pub Cookbook (ISBN: 978-1-4454-6788-7) for Christmas and the first recipe I tried was this lovely molasses bread. I use a pastry cutter for cutting in the butter, and it seems to take a bit longer than the top end, 55 minutes, to be completely done, even with my slightly bigger than called for loaf pan, although I'm using a pyrex pan, not metal.

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
5 Tbsp lightly salted butter, plus extra to serve
3 Tbsp molasses
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup currants
1/3 cup golden raisins


Preheat the oven to 350*F.  Grease and line a small 6 ½ x 3 ¾ inch loaf pan.
Sift the flour, baking soda, and spices into a bowl.  Lightly rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Whisk the molasses with the eggs and buttermilk, then stir in the sugar.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the molasses mixture.  Mix with a fork, gradually drawing in the flour from around the edges.
Add the currants and golden raisins, and mix to a soft dough.  Spoon the dough into the prepared loaf pan, leveling the surface with a wet spatula.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let rest for about 2 hours to cool completely.
Serve spread thickly with butter.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Smoky Four Cheese Macaroni Bake

The boyfriend found this recipe a few years ago, but we haven't made it again because I found some other macaroni and cheese recipes to try and, well, one can only eat so much mac and cheese.  But I've been thinking of this one lately and thought it was time to make it again.  I love the addition of the liquid smoke.  And all the different types of cheese.  I used preshredded cheeses from the store, and because of that, used a colby-jack blend.  And a whole pound of elbow pasta - I don't think I've seen it in 12 ounce packages (although that was a mistake as I lost track and dumped the whole box into the boiling water before I remembered that it was only supposed to be 12oz).


1 (12 ounce) package macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup minced onion
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring (optional)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese,cubed
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/3 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook for 3 minutes until it begins to soften. Add the garlic, and continue cooking until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 2 minutes more. Slowly stir in the flour, and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.
Stir in the half-and-half and milk, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in mustard powder and liquid smoke; simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, along with the cream cheese, Swiss, Monterey Jack, and Cheddar cheeses; stir until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in the drained macaroni noodles. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs over the macaroni
Bake in preheated oven until bubbly and brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Chicken Parmesan Soup


This recipe is a home run!  It smelled divine cooking all day, and was well worth the wait when it was FINALLY dinner time!

I found this on Pinterest.  Click here for the original website where it was posted.

I added some chopped tomatoes because I had frozen chopped peppers and tomatoes together that were leftover from a recipe I made at Christmas.  I used dried spices -- 1 tsp basil and about 3/4 tsp oregano.  I had half a red onion so I chopped that instead of a white onion.  I skipped the red pepper flakes.  And I picked gemelli for the pasta because I think it's fun.

It was absolutely fabulous!  I served it with mozzarella stuffed breadsticks from Schwann's (thank you Grandma!) and a salad.

Chicken Parmesan Soup

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1/2 pound (raw) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups chicken broth, plus additional if needed
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy!)
4 ounces (uncooked) dry gemelli or penne pasta
Chopped fresh basil or parsley, for garnish

In slow cooker, stir together garlic, bell pepper, crushed tomatoes, chicken, broth, onion, 1/2 cup cheese, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. Cook on high 3-1/2 hours or on low 7 hours.

Transfer chicken breasts to cutting board and coarsely shred; return to slow cooker. Stir in pasta. Cook on high 30 minutes longer or until pasta is cooked al dente. If soup becomes too thick after pasta is cooked, stir in additional broth until desired consistency is reached, and warm through.

Serve garnished with extra Parmesan cheese and chopped basil or parsley.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Cranberry-Orange Scones


This was my first attempt at homemade scones.  DEFINITELY a keeper!

This recipe comes from the December 2014 issue of Food Network Magazine.  It is Ina Garten's recipe and it can be made ahead (which is what I did).  Just put them on the pan and cover them in the fridge until you want to bake them.  Then do the egg wash, sugar, and glaze as directed.

I don't have a paddle attachment, so I used regular beaters.  That worked OK until I added the eggs and cream.  At that point the dough spun right up the beaters!  I ended up mixing the cranberries in by hand, which worked fine.

I froze half of the them unbaked.  I plan to thaw them overnight before baking them in the morning.  I'll post an update on how that worked when I do it!



Ina Garten's Cranberry-Orange Scones
Makes 14-16

4 cups plus 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp grated orange zest (2 oranges)
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced (3 sticks)
4 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 cup dried cranberries
1 egg beaten with 2 Tbsp water, for egg wash
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp confectioner's sugar
4 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and orange zest.  Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas.  Combine the eggs and heavy cream and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly add to the flour and butter mixture.  Mix until just blended.  The dough will look lumpy.  Combine the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of flour, add to the dough and mix on low speed until blended.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it into a ball.  Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough just under 1 inch thick.  You should see small bits of butter in the dough.  Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't stick.  Flour a 3-inch round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough.  Place the scones on the prepared sheet pan.  Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out and cut more circles.

Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash, sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked.  The scones will be firm to the touch.  Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes, then whisk together the confectioner's sugar and orange juice and drizzle over the scones.


I made these for New Year's Day brunch with Caramelized Ham and Swiss Buns and Egg Casserole for Kids.  Fabulous.