Oh my!

I thought I was one week late but it appears we have been on a several week hiatus. No excuses... life has just gotten real busy with the end of school and beginning of a new job and all. I hear that my sweet sister may be headed to the Magical Kingdom soon so check our site out when you can and we will get back on track as we can.
So, today I am going to replicate a salad I had recently in New York. It was so very yummy and I had to do some research to find the key component. I am not a salad lover but I ate every last drop of this one. Enjoy!!
Here are the ingredients for the base:
 4 Ounces goat cheese
1/2 cup Whipping cream
2 Tbsp. Milk
1 pinch of Salt

Ok, so if you hate goat cheese you are out already. I love goat cheese and this was the bomb!
Whip the cream until it looks like, well.. whipped cream.

Place the milk and the cheese in a bowl and break the cheese down into a soft paste.

Fold the cheese/milk mixture into the whipped cream. I think this could easily make four salads. 

You make a small smear of the goat mousse on the plate.

I know, I know goat cheese AND beets??

Well trust me on this... it was soon good. You just plate up your favorite greens (I used spinach) and then lay beets on top. I will leave mine in bigger strips next time. I also added a bit of bacon to add a third dimension to the salad. A nut would also be nice but you don't want to add too much, the deliciousness is in the simplicity of the dish. 

I make pretty salads and I cannot lie...

The simple joys of......

Cookies!!

We recently had several food opportunities at my workplace and I signed up to bring cookies. I did one semi-home made and one from scratch. I took this opportunity to make PQ's Triple Threat Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Lets get to the semi homemade first shall we?? I took two of those bag of cookie mixes in the sugar cookie variety and mixed them up as directed. A friend had given us a big ole bag of macadamia nuts so I added about a cup of those, a half bag of high quality white chocolate chips and a cup of coconut and made these babies. I ALWAYS have parchment paper on hand and use it religiously but for some reason this is the time I ran out. Never fear, Google assured me to uhhhh read the directions. Some cookies need to be on a greased pan and some not so much. These went straight onto the foil and came off easy peasy. 

Now onto the Rebecca Rather (the Pastry Queen) and her Triple Threat Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

I chopped the chocolate as directed. I could have done this in an electric chopper but I feel like it is rough on it-the chocolate is so dense. I also made the mistake of getting 8 ounces of unsweetened and 3 ounces of bittersweet (the opposite of the directions) so I added additional sugar to the recipe. The lesson here being don't freak out.

Toast the chopped nuts. 

You will mix the chocolate with all of the other ingredients. 

Then the chocolate chips and nuts go in. 

 

Just as the other folks have said who made these have said, I put them in the fridge/freezer before baking. Not for long but they will stay nice and formed if they are nice and cold. I loved these cookies and will definitely make them again. 

Good job Pastry Queen!!

Secrets revealed!!

One of the great things about any hobby is sharing it with friends. Although we all have to eat, I am aware that not everyone likes to eat or cook as much as I do. I am not to obsession level but I would definitely call it a hobby (umm hello I am writing about it and taking photos so, yeah). Anywhoo, I love to share recipes and little tricks that can make life easier.

There are certain foods that are just many friendly and ribs is on that list. I often recommend this recipe to those who are just starting took cook for their husband or family because it is impressive and so very very easy.

Ribs are a financial investment. This is a ta-da mean. You expect them to loooooove them or it is not worth the $$. Go to the store and pick up some ribs. You can get any kind. My peeps love pork so I get those but this recipe works for beef as well.

You will cook these the evening before you want to serve them. *** This is important***

I bought two vacuum packed racks of ribs. You will open them up and cut the rack in half following the space in between two bones. This is messy-I often cook in PJs and an apron-the best. Before you begin this butchery, you will want to lay out about four long strips of foil. Lay one half of a rack on one piece of foil and go to town laying down some flavor town with spices. My hubby has a friend with his own pork rub he gives us for Christmas. If you don't have one just use the spices that you like and have on hand (salt, pepper, chili powder, brown sugar-whatever). Do not put a liquid barbecue sauce on them-this will just run right off and is wasted-trust me on this. Once both sides are covered, you will wrap that half rack up in the foil. Once you have done all four racks you can find a pot you can put them in, in the oven. We use a magnalite pan but you can use a throw away aluminum pan, a cake pan or anything you want. I often have to take one of the oven racks out since this pan is a bit clunky. Turn the oven on 200 degrees and put the pan in. The ideal time to do this is between 8 and 10 pm just before you go to bed. The first time you make them do it on a Friday night. The next morning you will wake up and say mmmm what smells like meat??? This is not always a smell you want to smell when you wake but the secret to ribs is slow and low. If you did not listen and tried to cook these in a few hours during the day fuggetaboutit. Take the ribs out of the oven and turn the oven off. Let the ribs cool. You can put them in the fridge until about one hour before you are ready to eat them. Once you begin to prepare the other items you are serving with the ribs, unwrap them from their foil. This is a great job for a child or spouse. This is the barbecue sauce moment. Grab your favorite and pour it all on. I rub them down like they are getting a massage. Then back into the oven to heat back up. They WILL be fall off the bone good and someone will tell you need to make more the next time. No one has to know how easy it was.....

Raw ribs bathed in spice.

Cooked ribs bathed in sauce, ready to be reheated. 

 

I tried to get a photo of the ribs or the ribs being eaten but they went too fast. What can I say....

Chicken ala Trey and Whiskey Carrots

Chicken ala Trey

This is a family favorite - so much so that we changed the name.  I'm really not sure what the original name was, but Trey asked for this chicken every time he got a choice.  The main thing that I love about it is that it is so adaptable.  Here are the main ingredients:

I use chicken tenderloins, because they cook quickly and are easy to coat.  You will also need one tube of Ritz crackers, a stick of butter, some parmesan cheese and whatever seasoning you prefer.  

Put the Ritz crackers in a bag and crush them, then add the cheese and seasoning.  In a separate bowl, melt the butter.  Take a rinsed chicken tenderloin, put it in the butter, then into the cracker mix and then onto a cookie sheet or 13x9 casserole dish.  This next part is very important and the reason that that it tastes SO good.  When you have coated all of the chicken, pour the remaining butter and crackers over the chicken pieces.  I have been so lazy that I just put the chicken in the pan, then poured all of the butter and crackers on top.  It tastes good that way, but coating each piece is so much better.

Bake on 350* for 30-45 minutes.  Serve with a mixture of cream of chicken soup and sour cream as a dipping sauce.  It was so good that I wish there was some more in the fridge, but we ate it ALL.

Whiskey Carrots

Kati is always a fan of carrots with brown sugar and butter, so I knew this would be a good one.  I got it from Pioneer Woman's new cookbook.  Here are the ingredients:

After I put the chicken in the oven, I put the 1/2 stick of butter and 1/4 cup of whiskey in a skillet.  After it was melted and slightly reduced, I added the brown sugar and carrots.  The recipe said to cook for 10 minutes, but we like our veggies very soft and I had time so I let it simmer until the chicken was ready.   They were delicious!