Oven Fries

I love french fries and was craving them the other day and decided to make oven fries. Making double fried fries is a lot of work, a huge mess, and they are so bad for you! This is a super easy recipe and can be done with russet or red potatoes. I just love a crispy golden fry, and this is the recipe to take care of that craving!

Oven Fries

2 Large Russet Potatoes
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Herbs de Provence

Pre-heat a large baking sheet in a 400 degree oven. Cut the potatoes into large fry sized pieces, leaving the skin on. Toss with a generous amount of olive oil, salt & pepper, and herbs de Provence. Arrange fries on the pre-heated baking sheet and bake until just tender turning half way through, about 30 minutes total. Turn on broiler and roast fries until golden brown and crisp, turning often.

Cream Puffs

I would have to say that cream puffs and chocolate éclairs are one of my favorite desserts. I just love the eggy flavor of the dough and then the lightly sweet cream filling, yummy! I made these for dessert a couple weeks ago and of course everyone loved them. They are pretty easy to make and can also be frozen if you need a last minute dessert! I like to use fresh whipped cream, but you can also use a whipped topping, or pudding for the filling. If you want to make them into éclairs, just add some chocolate gnache over the top, it’s even better if you serve them at the table with a bowl of warm gnache so everyone can put as much on as they want.

Cream Puffs

1 Cup Water
½ Cup Butter
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Flour
4 Eggs
2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
½ Cup Powdered Sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan combine the water, butter, and salt and bring to a boil. Add flour all at one time while stirring constantly. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes. Next add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition.
Drop dough by 15 heaping tablespoons (I used a greased 2 ounce ice cream scoop) onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 30-35 minutes or till golden, cool on a wire rack.
Cut tops from the puffs; remove soft dough from the inside. For the filling, whip together cream and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fill each puff with the cream mixture and serve immediately, or keep chilled until ready to serve.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book

Beef Stroganoff

For Easter this year I decided to do something a little out of the ordinary…Beef Stroganoff! I have been craving this dish for quite a while now, I saw Tyler make it on the Food Network, and my food-blogger friend Pam made a version recently, which you can read about here. I remember eating this delicious and hearty dish at my grandmother’s house growing up…I don’t know the key to her success, but it was always really good. I have experimented with several recipes, but never got it just right. I did a combination of Pam and Tyler’s recipes and it was pretty darn good. I had 6 people over for Easter lunch and everyone finished their plates, so I guess it was a success, please enjoy.

Beef Stroganoff

3 Pound Beef Chuck Roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
Flour, for coating beef
1 Large Sweet Onion (Walla Walla, or Vidalia), cut into thin strips
2 Carrots, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch-thick slices
1 Stalk Celery, cut into ¼ inch-thick slices
1 Teaspoon Salt & Pepper
¼ Cup Dry Sherry
6 Sprigs Fresh Thyme, stemmed, minced, and divided
1 Sprig Rosemary, stemmed and minced
4 Cups Beef Broth
3 Bay Leaves
1 ½ Pounds Crimini Mushrooms, sliced ¼ inch thick
1 ½ Pounds White Mushrooms, sliced ¼ inch thick
4 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
16 Ounces Sour Cream
½ Cup Parsley, minced and divided
1 Pound Egg Noodles, prepared per package instructions

Season beef with salt & pepper, then dredge in flour to coat. Coat bottom of a large dutch oven with olive oil and heat over high until just smoking, add ½ of the beef and cook until browned on all sides, remove and set aside. Add more oil to just coat bottom of pan and add remaining beef, and cook until browned on all sides, remove and set aside. Turn heat down to medium and add a little more oil if necessary to coat bottom of pan, add onion, carrots, celery, and salt & pepper and cook until onions are just soft. Deglaze the pan with the sherry, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to bring up all browned bits. Add ½ of the thyme, the rosemary, beef broth and bay leaves, browned beef, and bring to a simmer. Cover and place in a pre-heated 300 degree oven and bake until meat is very tender and almost falling apart, about 3 hours. Remove from oven and place on stove top.
To prepare mushrooms add butter, mushrooms, remaining thyme, and ¼ cup parsley to a large sauté pan and cook over high heat until just tender. Add mushroom mixture to dutch oven along with the dijon mustard and sour cream, adjust seasoning to taste with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve over egg noodles and garnish with remaining parsley.

Jessica’s Lemon Cake

My co-worker Jessica talked about a lemon cake that her grandmother used to make and one day she surprised me and brought it in. Well, I must say I was blown away by the flavor, and how moist it was, then even more shocked to hear that it started with a cake mix! If you know me, you know that I generally make everything from scratch. This is just one of those recipes I had to make because I was craving it. The good thing about this recipe is that it’s very simple and quick to make, definitely something you should keep in your back pocket if you’re in a time pinch and need a quick and easy dessert. Thanks for sharing your grandmother’s recipe Jessica! The only thing I request is that you don’t start calling me Sandra Lee, which would just be downright disrespectful :)

Jessica’s Lemon Cake

Cake
1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 Box Lemon Jello
4 Eggs
¾ Cup Vegetable Oil
¾ Cup Water

Glaze
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Lemons, juice and zest

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom only of a 9x12 inch cake pan.
To make the cake combine all cake ingredients to the bowl of your mixer and mix over medium speed for 4 minutes, and pour into the cake pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and toothpick comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool and poke holes all over the top with a skewer or chopstick for the glaze to soak in.
While cake is cooling, combine the lemon zest & juice, and the powdered sugar, whip with a whisk until well combined. Brush glaze over the top of the cooled cake and serve.

Barbecue Pork Ribs

I don’t think there is anything better that a really good barbeque. I was craving pork ribs the other day so I invited some friends over and made them for dinner (not my friends, the pork ribs). I have tried doing a long indirect-heat grilling before but the meat tends to get a little too dry, so I decided to experiment cooking them in the oven and finishing them off on the grill so they would pick up a nice crust and smoky flavor…well they turned out perfect. The ribs were very moist and tender and the crunchy crust was absolutely wonderful. You can serve them like this or put a bowl of barbecue sauce on the table for people to add on their own.
I served this with a big pan of cornbread, my favorite pasta salad, white wine sangria, and a delicious lemon cake for dessert (I'll be posting that recipe very soon). I think I gained about 10 pounds during this meal, but it was definitely worth it. Oh, don’t forget the roll of paper towels at the table, these things are messy!

Barbecue Pork Ribs

2 Full Racks Pork Spare Ribs
2/3 Cup Chili Powder
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
4 Tablespoons Salt
4 Tablespoons Pepper
2 Teaspoons Cayenne Pepper

Pre heat your oven to 275 degrees and adjust the racks so there is one towards the bottom and one rack in the middle of your oven. Place each rack of ribs on a separate baking sheet and remove the tough clear membrane from the back of the ribs using a butter knife (it is really stuck on there so it takes a bit of muscle).
To make the dry rub, combine all spices. Heavily coat the ribs on both sides with the dry rub, you should use all of this mixture, it will completely cover the meat.
Cover the ribs lightly with aluminum foil and place in the oven, one baking sheet on each rack. Bake for 3 hours, turning the ribs over and switching racks every 30 minutes.
Next pre-heat your grill to a medium heat, or let your charcoal briquettes burn for about 45 minutes if using a charcoal grill. Place the ribs on the grill and continue to cook for about 15 minutes on each side until the coating gets a little charred and crispy. Remove ribs from grill and place back on a baking sheet and cover tightly with foil, let rest for 10 minutes. Now cut into single ribs and serve!

White Wine Sangria

I have been so excited about the sunshine and warm weather the last few days I thought it was time to make a batch of sangria. I usually make a red wine sangria, but felt like that might be a bit heavy yesterday so I switched it up a bit and made it white. I love the combination of citrus with pineapple and peaches and this was my inspiration for this recipe. You can really use any combination of fruit that you like, and berries are always a welcome addition. I like my sangria pretty sweet, but if you like yours a little more tart, then cut back on the amount of sugar. The overall flavor of this recipe is peach/apricot but it could be easily changed to pineapple if you just use pineapple juice in the place of the apricot nectar. In other words, you really can’t go wrong here, just add and taste and adjust to your liking. I know it’s cloudy again today, but if you make a pitcher of this and sit on the couch with a good book and blanket it just might feel like summer!

White Wine Sangria

2 Lemons
2 Limes
1 Orange
1 Red Apple
28-Ounce Can Sliced Peaches in Syrup
28-Ounce Can Pineapple Chunks in Syrup
½ Cup Sugar
12-Ounce Can Apricot Nectar
1.5 Litre Bottle Chablis White Wine, use the cheap stuff here!
12-Ounce Can 7up
1 Bottle Champagne

Cut the lemons, limes, orange, and apple into thin slices and place in a large container. Next add the peaches and pineapple with the syrup. Add the sugar, apricot nectar, and white wine, stir until sugar is dissolved and taste for sweetness, adjust to taste. Just before serving add the 7up and champagne and serve chilled, you may need a few ice cubes! This recipe is pretty large and will be enough for 6-8 people. Cheers!

Chicken Fried Steak-Updated Recipe

My friends and I were watching the Food Network a couple weeks ago and there was a cook off between Bobby Flay and Paula Dean to see who could make the best Chicken Fried Steak. Well, Paula won and all my friends and I were drooling because the steak looked so good. I have made many versions of this dish, but decided to re-create it one more time to see if I could make it even better…well it was a success! I did a buttermilk crust and double dipped the cube steak so that it had an extra thick layer of crispy coating. To top it off I made my sausage gravy and biscuits, enjoy!

Chicken Fried Steak-Updated Recipe

4 Cube Steaks
2 Cups Buttermilk
2 Large Eggs
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt
1 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Sweet Paprika
1 2 Teaspoons Dried Thyme
4 Cups Unbleached Flour
Vegetable Oil, for frying

Mix together all ingredients except the steak and flour, it will foam a bit when you add the baking powder and baking soda. Place the flour in a pie plate or large low dish.
Now, pre-heat a large skillet over medium high heat with at least ¼ inch of vegetable oil in it to fry the steaks.
Dip the cube steaks in the flour, then into the buttermilk mixture, back into the flour, shake off excess. Dip back into the buttermilk mixture and then into the flour and place into frying pan. Cook until dark golden brown, about 5 minutes per side, remove to a wire rack or paper towels to drain.
Serve with Sausage Gravy.