Cranberry Baked Beans

Ok, I have to start by saying that I debated long and hard as to whether or not I should blog about this dish.  I got this recipe years ago at the Stowe Farmer's Market where someone was handing them out.  I thought it sounded intriguing so I held on to it.  

Needless to say I finally pulled it out and decided to give it a try for this week's "new recipe" (for those that don't already know, I try to make at least one new recipe a week).  Well, truth be told, we all hated this dish!  Isn't that awful???  I wanted so badly to like it, especially because I don't like to throw food out, but man......none of us could finish the servings we had on our plates.  The only good thing about this dish was the cooking method - I thought the consistency of the end result were pretty spot on.  Unfortunately, it was just way too tart.  I tried to fix it by adding more sugar, but nothing worked and there was no salvaging it for us.  I was pretty bummed out!

So, you're probably wondering why I am bothering with posting this recipe.  Well, in the end I decided that even though we didn't like, someone out there might!  Or, maybe someone out there would like to take a stab at it and maybe turn it into something wonderful.  Who knows, I just figured I'd put it out there....in the spirit of honesty and sharing.  If by chance you decide to give it a try, please let me know how it turned out and what you thought of it!  Good luck!

Cranberry Baked Beans

3 cups dry navy beans
5 cups cranberry juice
1/2 lb bacon, diced
3/4 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup molasses
5 tsp dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground ginger

Place beans in a Dutch oven or soup kettle.  Add water to cover beans by 2 inches.  Bring to a boil, and let it boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, and cover and let it stand at room temp for 1 hour.  Drain beans and discard liquid.  Return beans to pan, and add cranberry juice.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 1 hour or until beans are almost tender.  Drain, reserving cranberry liquid.  Place beans in a 2 1/2 qt casserole or bean pot, and add the remaining ingredients and 1 1/2 cups of the reserved cranberry liquid.  Cover and let bake at 350 for 3 hours, or until beans are tender, stirring every 30 minutes.  Add reserved cranberry liquid as needed.  Serves 10-12.

Baked Eggplant

I love eggplant.  In fact, it might just be my favorite vegetable.  Although, I don't order it when I go out to eat because every time I have gotten it at a restaurant it is just so saturated with oil, and it's usually disgusting.  Who wants to eat an oily, spongy mess??  Actually, the truth of the matter is I don't really care for fried foods period.  One time I tried making general chicken at home, and by the time I was done frying up all the little chicken pieces I was so grossed out I barely ate any of it.  Maybe it's just that I don't care for frying foods at home....I don't know, but I do know that I don't like fried eggplant!

When I finally decided to cook up some eggplant at home I made up my mind right away that I wasn't going to fry it.  I knew I could bake it and that it would turn out way more appetizing.  I am so glad that I attempted to bake it because it really is soooo much better this way!  I do believe I have become an eggplant snob....I pretty much only eat it when I make it.  If the only time you've eaten eggplant is when you've gone out to eat, I am pleading with you to give it another chance and try making it at home.  Once you do I bet you will love it!  Maybe not as much as I do, but you get the point .☺

Baked Breaded Eggplant 

1 very large eggplant, or 2 smaller ones 

1 large egg
2-3 cups (start with 2 and add more if needed) of seasoned breadcrumbs
Olive oil
Garlic Salt to taste
                  
Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil and coat each pan with olive oil (it’s easier if you spread it around with your fingers).  Peel and slice eggplant about a ¼ inch thick.  In a small bowl whisk together the egg with about a tablespoon or two of water.  Pour 2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs on a plate and set aside.  

Dip each piece of eggplant in the egg mixture and then dredge in the bread crumbs and set onto the baking sheets.  Once you’ve finished this process you will need to drizzle a little olive oil on top of each piece of eggplant.  Place in oven and cook for about a ½ hour, turning each slice of eggplant after 15 minutes.  When it's done it should be a nice golden brown, so increase your cooking time if need be. When it comes out of the oven I sprinkle a little garlic salt over all of them.  Serve hot or cold, either way it's yummy!  Serves 4.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I think I mentioned before that I have been on a quest for quite some time to try and replicate the oatmeal raisin cookies that a local sandwich shop makes.  Besides the fact that they taste fabulous, the texture of their cookies is just perfect.  Dense and chewy, just the way I like it.  It has taken me years to come up with this recipe, but I think I've finally achieved it....or at least I've come pretty darn close!

The only way to tell for sure would be to do a side by side taste test, which I have not done yet.  I will have to stop by there and buy one of their cookies so I can be sure that I've cloned their recipe.  Either way, I am very proud of myself for getting this far!  These cookies are so good.  I haven't been able to stop myself from eating them and oatmeal raisin cookies aren't even my favorite cookie!  If you are looking for an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe that is dense and chewy, with a little spice, this recipe is for you!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup butter flavored shortening

1 1/2 cups brown sugar 
2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 cups quick cooking oats
2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 and spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray, and set aside.  In a large bowl cream together the brown sugar and shortening.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until mixture becomes light in color. 

In a separate bowl, sift together all of the dry/remaining ingredients.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until combined.  Place oatmeal in bowl of food processor and pulse about 4-6 times - you want the oatmeal to be somewhat ground, but not completely.  

Add the raisins and oatmeal, and fold them in until combined.  Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheets.  Bake about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let them set on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before removing and placing on wire racks to cool completely. 

Pineapple Coffee Cake

 

Since my son seems to like coffee cake so much, I decided to give this recipe for Pineapple Coffee Cake that I came across months ago a try.  I thought it sounded interesting, but unfortunately my son did not seem too excited about it.  Lucky for me, even if he doesn't love something I've made, he'll eat it anyway.  He's a good boy ;)

Oddly, I was the one who couldn't stay out of this cake!  I really liked it.  I've never had anything quite like it.  It's a very dense cake, and I'm thinking it's not really like coffee cake at all.  To me it seemed more like a dessert cake, but no matter what you call it, I had no problem eating it!  My husband liked it too, but my son couldn't get passed the fact that it's not like other coffee cakes I make and said he'd be fine if I didn't ever make it again.....the stinker!  He did it eat it though, just like I knew he would. This recipe may not have been a "slam dunk" in my house, but I think I will hold on to this recipe anyway.  I'm sure there will come a day when I'll want to make it again.

Pineapple Coffee Cake (sprinkledwithflour.com)

4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups crushed pineapple, drained & reserve the juice

Topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2. cup butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Pineapple Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
reserved pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.  In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, yogurt, vanilla and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until blended, then fold in the pineapple.  Pour batter into your baking dish and add with the topping (below).

Topping: Combine flour, sugar and butter. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly, then mix in the chopped nuts.

Bake cake for 40-45 minutes, or until middle is set and cake is lightly browned. Allow cake to cool for 10 while you make the glaze (see below).

Glaze: Stir the powdered sugar and enough of the pineapple juice to reach your desired consistency. Drizzle over the top of the entire cake.

Chicken with Pesto

I'm not sure why, but chicken and pesto are just a match made in heaven.  They just go together.  So it's no surprise that this is one of my favorite dishes.  As I stated in my post for homemade pesto, pesto itself is tricky in that you either like it or you don't.  Everyone in my house says they like this dish, and they do not love pesto like I do. 

My thought is, if you can get non-pesto lovers to eat this dish, then it is a winner.  What's not to love about this dish anyway - it's chicken smothered in pesto and cheese - YUM!  I could eat this everyday and not get sick of it.  

Chicken with Pesto

4 chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry
3/4 - 1 cup pesto (I use my homemade basil pesto. Click here for the recipe)
Fresh or sliced mozzarella 
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.  In the bottom of the baking dish spread a little less than 1/2 of the pesto all around.  Lay the chicken breasts on top of the pesto, then generously spoon the remaining pesto on top of each piece of chicken.  

Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from and top the chicken with the mozzarella cheese (if you are using fresh mozzarella, just break it up and place it over the top of each chicken breast).  Place back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Basil Pesto

One of the things I love about summer is the harvesting of my garden.  I plant basil every year, lots of it, and one of my favorite things to use it in is pesto.  Oh how I love pesto.  I realize not everyone likes it - it's one of those things where if you like it, then you LOVE it, but if you don't care for it you probably never will.  I look forward to making my own pesto every summer, in fact, I make enough of it so it will last until the next summer! 

Both my son and husband are on the fence when it comes to pesto.  My husband says he likes it, but yet he doesn't seem to ever want me to cook with it.....he claims it gives him heartburn.  Uh, I guess I'll let that one slide.  My son says it's "OK I guess" which pretty much means he'll eat it if he has to.  There is one way I use it though that they both really like....but I'll blog about that another day.

So you might be scratching your head wondering how I "store" all that pesto.  I freeze it of course!  All you do is scoop it into an ice cube try, drizzle a little olive oil over each cube and place the try in the freezer for a couple of hours until it's frozen.  Super easy right?  Once it's frozen you pop each cube out with a little knife and place them into a freezer bag and then back into the freezer it goes....all ready for you to use when ever you need it!  To defrost you can take out what you need and place it in a bowl and let it set on the counter until it thaws, or you can pop it in the microwave for 15-25 seconds (how long depends on the power of your microwave, but it doesn't take long).

Basil Pesto

½ cup pine nuts

8 cloves of garlic

4-5 cups basil, packed

1 tsp salt

½ pepper

1 ¼ cups good olive oil

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

Add nuts and garlic to bowl of food processor, and process about 30 seconds.  Add basil, salt & pepper.  With processor running, slowly add the olive oil until finely pureed. Add Parmesan cheese and puree another minute.

Pizza on the Grill

 
Are you a thin or thick crust person when it comes to pizza?  Everyone in my house loves a thin crispy crust pizza, so it came as no surprise to me that pizza on the grill was BY FAR the best homemade pizza I've ever had.  Actually, it's the best pizza I've ever had, period. 

Don't let the idea of cooking pizza on the grill scare you.  I promise it is easy, and well worth the effort.  I don't have a "recipe" for this.  I'm just going to explain how to do it.  First, you either want to make your own pizza dough or you can buy it - most grocery stores sell pizza dough, and some pizza places will also sell you their dough.  Figure out what you want to have for toppings, and if there is any pre-cooking involved you want to do that before you are ready to start up the grill.  For example, my husband and son like sausage on their pizza and I like carmalized onions on mine, and both these items require cooking before going on your pizza.  Once, your toppings are all set, then you can go ahead a spread out your dough.  For us, we like to make individual pizzas, so I cut the dough up and give everyone their piece and everyone spreads it out to their desired thinness.  Since I like really thin pizza, I find it's best to spread it so thin it seems like it will break because once it hits the heat on the grill it will rise and will end up being thicker than you expected. 

Once you've spread your dough out, spray both sides with cooking spray.  Feel free to brush it will olive oil instead, but I found after doing this several times both ways, that the crust will be crispier if you just spray it with cooking spray.  Make sure your grill is nice and hot, then gently lay the pizza dough directly onto the grill.  Cook for about 5 minutes on one side, then flip it and cook the other side for about 4 minutes.  (The dough pictured here clearly has too much olive oil on it....I might have gotten a little carried away, that's why I switched to the cooking spray instead).

  
Remove the dough from the grill and add your sauce, cheese and toppings.  When your pizzas are ready, put them back on the grill for another 10-12 minutes on medium low heat.  

You want to cook it until the cheese is melted the way you like it.  Personally, I don't like burned/dark brown cheese, so once the cheese is melted and it's a nice golden brown we take it off.  Here's mine after it's cooked (yeah, my pizza is the biggest, and yes I ate every single bite of it all by myself).

Mmmmm, doesn't that look yummy???  This is one of my favorite pizzas - I mixed pesto with regular pizza sauce, and it's topped with mushrooms and carmalized onions.  Oh how I LOVE carmalized onions on pizza....my mouth is watering just looking at this picture!  Anyway, now you see how easy this is, so go try it!