Orange Pull-Aparts

ORANGE PULL-APARTS from Shirley Aaron

1/2 C. butter

1/2 C sugar

3 Beaten eggs

2 Pkgs. yeast

1/4 C. Warm water (to activate yeast)

1 C. Hot water

2 Tsp. salt

4 1/2 C. Flour

1/3 C. Shaklee N.P.S. or I just added flour instead when I didn’t have it.

Orange rind, grated

Melt butter, let cool; add remaining ingredients in order given. Let stand until raised double.Punch down and refrigerate. Next day, 3 hours before serving, roll into rectangle the size of the Tupperware pie sheet (mine measures: 15 X 21 inches). Spread with soft butter completely and sprinkle with sugar and grated orange rind. Cut into 2-inch squares. Stack squares into towers and stand them up in greased Bundt pan (butter side of square to the next unbuttered square) until pan is full. Press down and let rise to the top of Bunt pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 min. until golden brown.

Notes from Lizzie: Shaklee NPS is a protein supplement: I added more flour. If you have a pie sheet I recommend using it to roll the dough out. Take directly from frig. and roll out before the dough gets real sticky on you (some light flouring required). Here's a photo of the "towers" but keep in mind my dough was a little warm and thus gooey.

Blue Corn Bread

This is my Aunt Lenore's recipe. I love this cornbread!

Blue Corn Bread

2 c. blue cornmeal (you can use yellow cornmeal too)
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. sour cream
2 c. milk
2 eggs

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

TUSCAN CHICKEN WITH RED POTATO CRUST

3 garlic cloves
Extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups/plus thinly sliced red potatoes
Cubed boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp. herbs de province
4 tsp. cloves sliced garlic
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. salt plus 1 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste


In large ziplock bag combine potatoes, sliced garlic, about 3 T. olive oil, 2 T. salt, and 1/2 to 1 t. black pepper. Shake to coat and leave to marinate while doing the following.

In ovenproof stockpot with lid, brown the chicken in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add vinegar and stir pan to deglaze. Add broth, herbs, and garlic. Simmer 10 minutes. Layer potatoes on top of chicken. Pour liquid into pan. Place pot, covered, in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. Uncover. Let brown for 15 more minutes.

Optional Add Ins: mushrooms or onions
Pairs great with Roasted Asparagus as a side dish.

CAULIFLOWER SALAD

This is a great salad to go along with meat, BBQ's, and holidays. We often use it as a filler when we do holiday parties because it does not take up room in the over and is something different than a green salad.

1 head of lettuce
1 head of diced cauliflower, stems included
1 lb. bacon
1 small green pepper
1 small onion
1 pkg. dry Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
Parmesan Cheese
2 cups of real mayo

Use a 9*13 dish. Layer lettuce on bottom of dish, then cauliflower, then bacon, followed by green pepper, and onion. Sprinkle Seasons Italian Dressing Mix over top of this. Then sprinkle salad with Parmesan cheese. Next spread mayo over the whole thing. Marinate over night. Stir well just before serving.

DALMATIAN CUPCAKES

I do not like cake, but these are soooo good and come with a surprise in the middle. I eat them by two's. Two in the morning, two for lunch, and two for an afternoon snack. Kids especially love them.

2 packages (3oz. each) Cream Cheese
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 1/2 cups Miniature Chocolate Chips
1 box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Devils Food Cake Mix
1 1/3 cups Water
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
3 Eggs
1 container Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy Vanilla Frosting

Heat over to 350 (325 for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cups in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. In medium bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, and one egg with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Stir in one cup of chocolate chips; set aside.
In large bowl beat cake mix, water, oil, and three eggs on low speed for two minutes. Divide batter among muffin cups (about 1/4 cup in each). Top each with one heaping teaspoon on the cream cheese mixture.
Bake 17-22 minutes or until tops spring back when touched lightly. Cool for ten minutes in pan. Remove from pan, cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Frost with frosting. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.

Salsa

You gotta try this salsa! Last week at our quarterly enrichment meeting at church we had a mystery dinner. We were served this salsa as an appetizer and it's pretty much all I ate! Everything else was good, but I just loved the taste of this salsa and I don't even like avocados. Saturday night I made a quick pit stop at the grocery store and made the salsa for Trent...he also loved it. In fact, the dinner I made went straight into the fridge for leftovers and our family had chips and salsa for dinner! My kids thought they died and went to heaven, who gets to eat snacks for dinner???? Kathy Bedke was kind enough to share her yummy recipe with me and now I'm sharing it with you! Enjoy!

1 can corn niblets, drained
1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 bunch green onions, chopped (i used my cuisinart)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
4-5 tomatoes, chopped
avocados, to taste

Mix together, put on dressing and then stir in avocados.

Dressing:
3 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons oil, not olive
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons tabasco sauce

Serve with tortilla chips!

Daring Baker's Challenge - August

I am so excited to make this post! Most of you know that I love to cook and especially bake, so I thought it was about time that I joined the Daring Bakers. It's an online group that makes something different each month...in secret and then everyone shares their tips and ideas online! If you want to check out more about this group go to the Daring Bakers Blogroll here. Thank you for welcoming me into the Daring Bakers!

This months challenge was Eclairs. They just happen to one of my most favorite desserts, so naturally I was totally excited to make them. My grandmother used to make them for me when I was little and will still make them for me upon request. I've make them with her, but this cream puff dough was super easy and turned out wonderful. I put a vanilla custard inside the eclairs instead of the chocolate pastry cream that the recipe called for. Divine!

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.
Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

[bNotes:[/b]
1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

2) In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly
 in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)


• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

Vanilla Custard
Mix together: 3 T cornstarch, 1/3 cup sugar and a dash of salt. Mix in 1/2 cup cold milk. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups scalded milk. Cook, stirring constantly until thick 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla or any other flavor if you want. Put plastic wrap over the top of custard in pan while cooling so a skin doesn't form.