Chocolate Silk Pie

I am in love with chocolate cream pie. I have never attempted to make it until now. This recipe is so easy to make that I can't believe I have gone 41 years without making chocolate pie for myself. I used a pre-made crust, which was extremely lame of me. It made the pie slightly sub-standard. I recommend making your own pie crust, you can find a great recipe and tutorial here. 

1 unbaked pastry shell 9 inches

1 jar marshmallow creme  (7 oz)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butter, cubed

2 squares (1 oz each) of unsweetened chocolate

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons confectioners sugar

Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy duty foil. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove foil, bake 5 minutes longer. Cool.

Meanwhile, in a heavy saucepan, combine the marshmallow creme, chocolate chips, butter, and unsweetened chocolate; cook and stir over low heat until the chocolate is smooth. Cool. Fold in the whipped cream; pour into crust. (I wanted a smoother texture, so I beat this mixture for a few minutes with a mixer.) For topping, in a large mixing bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Spread over filling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Garnish with grated chocolate if desired.
*recipe courtesy of Quick Cooking Magazine

Cheddar Herb Biscuits

These are the best biscuits I have ever tasted. I have made them so many times since I first tried this recipe, that the kids now say, "You're making those again?" I can't help myself. They are so easy, go good with so many things, and I crave them on a regular basis. I substitute 1/2 cup of the white flour for 1/2 cup of wheat flour to make them a little healthier. I can get 12 biscuits out of this recipe. They are also great the next day for breakfast. I heat for 10-15 seconds in the microwave, and place a fried egg in the middle...delicious! 

Biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
3 tablespoons butter, cold
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Buttery Topping:
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, garlic powder and salt. Cut in shortening and butter until coarse crumbs are formed. Lightly mix in grated cheese. Mix in buttermilk just until moist (dry spots here and there are ok - the biscuits will be tough if they are overmixed). Drop the biscuits onto a greased or lined baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until browned and golden. While the biscuits are baking, in a small bowl combine butter, parsley, garlic powder and salt. Right when the biscuits come out of the oven, brush the butter/herb mixture over the biscuits evenly. Serve immediately.

*recipe from melskitchencafe.com

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I am a big fan of sweet and sour things, so these are some of my favorite meatballs. I used to fry meatballs, but hated standing there browning them on all sides. I recommend baking them, it's a lot easier!

INGREDIENTS:
Meatballs:
1 ½ pounds ground beef
2 eggs
2/3 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons milk

For the meatballs, in a large bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients except for the ground beef and mix well. Add the ground beef and mix until combined. Form ground beef mixture into 1 to 1 1/2-inch meatballs. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, turn meatballs and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes until done. Drain on a paper towel.

Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1/4 cup barbeque sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine ingredients and blend thoroughly. Heat in a small saucepan until combined and sugar is dissolved then add meatballs. Serve over rice.

*recipe adapted from melskitchencafe.com

Gingerbread Waffles with Lemon Sauce

What's better than warm gingerbread? How about warm gingerbread with lemon sauce? This is a wonderful variety of an amazing breakfast food we call...waffles. When we had these growing up, we usually had them for dinner. The buttery lemon sauce is a perfect combination with the gingerbread, and there's no need to put anything else on it. If you have a fancy waffle iron that makes four squares at a time (I finally got my first one a few months ago) you will only have enough batter to make two. That would only feed about one and a half people at my house. So I tripled the recipe so we would have breakfast leftovers for a few days.

Waffles:

2 Tbl melted butter

1/4 cup light molasses

2 Tbl light brown sugar, packed

1 egg, separated

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg yolk, and milk. Add dry ingredients and mix. In medium size bowl, beat egg white with clean beaters until stiff, moist peaks form. Fold into other ingredients. Bake in a pre-heated waffle iron. Serve with lemon sauce.

Lemon Sauce:

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbl cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup water

1 tsp grated lemon rind

4 Tbl lemon juice

2 Tbl butter

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt with 1/4 cup water. Add remaining water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Cool slightly. Makes 1 3/4 cups.

Shells and Cheese

There's no question when I think of comfort food, I think of homemade macaroni and cheese. I absolutely love it and never get tired of eating it. Unfortunately, when I tell my family we are having macaroni and cheese for dinner, they are not as enthused as I am. I saw this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs and had to give it a try. I used whole grain shells instead of macaroni noodles and really liked the mixture of the two cheeses. I think next time I make this, I will cut the cayenne pepper in half. It wasn't too hot, but I just wanted to taste a little less of it. 

Normally, I don't care for left over mac and cheese, it's just not the same as when you first make it. I was surprised that I could actually eat it the next day and that it was still fairly creamy. The trick is to not over heat it but just warm it enough to take the chill off. I will definitely make this one again. I cut this recipe in half  and it still served 6, I didn't want too much left over. 

INGREDIENTS:

Bread Crumb Topping:
6 slices white or wheat hearty sandwich bread, torn into rough pieces
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 6 pieces

Pasta and Cheese:
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon table salt
5 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
5 cups milk, lowfat, skim or whole
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
1 teaspoon table salt

DIRECTIONS:

For the bread crumbs, pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs and butter are well combined and crumbs are fine. Set aside.

For the pasta and cheese, bring 4 quarts water to boil in a large pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender, about 1 minute past the al dente stage. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

Adjust a rack in the oven to middle or lower-middle position and preheat the broiler.

In now-empty Dutch oven or pot, heat butter over medium heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses, a handful at a time, and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9-by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Watch carefully so the crumbs don’t burn!

* recipe from melskitchencafe.com