Chocolate Cupcakes ~ A Long Overdue Post!

Happy New Year Y'all!! Between a full time job, grad school and the holidays, I have been extremely busy the past few months and therefor neglected my blog.  Forgive me fellow foodies! I promise I will try to do better in this new year.  Today I am excited to share a delicious chocolate cupcake recipe with you. Cupcakes are a bit of an obsession of mine and I can't believe this is the first cupcake recipe I'm blogging about.  I make these for my little cousin Madison all the time.  Easy and delicious! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients 
2 cups boiling water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/4 cups white sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lay out cupcake wrappers in baking tin (I always try to find fun wrappers at the craft store) . In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. 

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Using large cookie scoop, scoop batter into cupcake tins, filling about 2/3 full.


Bake in preheated oven for 13 minutes for mini-cupcakes or 15-17 minutes for regular cupcakes.  Remember though, ovens are not all the same!  Check them when they are a couple minutes away from being done.  If you can insert a toothpick and it's clean when pull it out - they're done! Allow to cool.


This is going to give you around 36 cupcakes, sometimes I half it if I don't need that many. 

Cream Cheese Frosting 

Ingredients
7 cups confectioners' sugar 
1/4 cup butter, softened 
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring if you want :)

Directions
Cream butter and cream cheese together in stand mixer until light and fluffy ( a couple of minutes) 

Add in powdered sugar a cup at a time, stopping periodically to wipe down sides of the bowl.


Mix in cream.

Add in vanilla until just mixed.

Add food coloring to get desired color for frosting.

Ice Cupcakes! Add your choice of sprinkles or decor. Enjoy! 

Another blog coming SOON!

The Best Chicken Alfredo

If there is one thing my husband loves that I cook, it's my chicken alfredo.  This is a recipe that has been evolving for years. It was one of the first dished I ever cooked. I hope you like it just as much as my husband and I do!

Ingredients:
2.5 cups uncooked pasta (I use wheat pasta)
fresh corn cut off of one ear of corn
1/3 a green bell pepper diced
1/3 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 large vidalia onion, diced
2 chicken breasts
blackening seasoning
1 tablespoon butter
olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

Ingredients for alfredo sauce:
1.25 cups heavy cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1.5 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:
Start by dicing all your veggies: dice your onion, bell peppers, and cut your corn off the ear. Throw a little olive oil in a sautee pan (just enough to coat), turn eye about half way between low and medium heat, and throw in your bell peppers, onion, and corn so they can sautee slowly.

Take your two chicken breasts and dice. Flavor generously with blackening seasoning. Throw in sautee pan coated with butter and cook. When cooked through, set aside.

Put water on to boil as chicken is finishing up cooking.  Cook pasta length indicated on box. Use your choice of pasta -penne, fusilli, and fettucini (of course!) all work great. Again, I use wheat pasta because its much better for you.

As your water starts boiling, and you are putting in the pasta to cook, now turn your attention to the sauce.  Melt the butter in a sauce pan and then pour in the cream. Add the egg yolk, and let simmer for about five minutes. Add the freshly grated parmesan and garlic and continue to let simmer. DO NOT USE PRE-SHREDDED PARMESAN. IT WILL NOT HAVE ANYWHERE NEAR THE SAME FLAVOR. Leave sauce simmering on low until pasta is done cooking.

Strain the pasta and return to pot.  Add the blackened chicken, sauteed vegetables, sauce, and fresh basil.  Toss together.

Enjoy!

Grilled Salmon with a Brown Sugar, Soy Sauce Glaze

I promised I'd be doing a lot o new recipes in the next few days and I was not lying! I am so excited to share this grilled salmon with you. It is just fabulous and if you like salmon, you'll love this! It's a favorite at my house. I recently made it or two of my oldest, best friends from high school, and they just raved about it!

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 lemon
1/2 orange
1.5 cloves minced garlic
cooking spray


Directions:
Prepare the grill - throw on your coals and get burning. (I use charcoal, but a gas grill would be fine, too).


While coals are getting ready, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, juice from one lemon and half an orange, and minced garlic in a bowl. Stir well.


Take glaze and pour over salmon in baking pan.


Make sure grill is ready, should be low-medium heat.  Spray grill rack with cooking spray to make sure salmon doesn't stick. 


Grill salmon 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove from grill.

Bon appetite!

Yummy Potato Casserole

Hi Everyone! It's been too long since I've blogged, and I have a lot of time to make up for. I'll be posting lots of recipes in the next week or so. The first one I want to share with you is a delicious potato casserole recipe I found on allrecipes.com.  It is easy and fantastic.

Ingredients
4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 onion, sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese


Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 1 quart casserole dish.


Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.


Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.


I promise you will impress when you serve this. My only notes on this recipe to you would be to grate the cheese yourself instead of buying the shredded cheese (I think it's just so much more flavorful that way). I also use sharp or extra sharp cheese.  My second recommendation to you would be to use vidalia onions, especially this time of year when they're in season. I get fresh ones at the farmer's market every weekend and they are so sweet and good. Enjoy y'all!

recipe link: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/creamy-au-gratin-potatoes/Detail.aspx

A Dinner Party

I recently had some lovely ladies over to my house for dinner.  We had a wonderful time and I think you will really enjoy the recipes from that evening.  I'll start with the appetizer: Warm Mexican Crab Dip, courtesy of Mrs. Paula Deen.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons seeded and chopped jalapeno pepper, plus slices for garnish, optional
• 1/2 cup light beer
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 (8-ounce) block pasteurized prepared cheese product
• 1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and picked for shells
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, (about 2 limes)
• 1/4 cup minced green onion
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• Tortilla chips, for serving, recipe follows

Directions

In a 4-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic and cook stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Stir in the beer and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the cream, cream cheese, and processed cheese, whisking until melted and smooth.

Stir in crabmeat, lime juice, green onion, cilantro, and chili powder and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the salt, black pepper, cayenne, and cumin. Transfer the dip to a serving bowl and garnish with sliced jalapeno pepper, if desired. Serve hot with tortilla chips.

This recipe is SO good.  I have made it several times and it always gets rave reviews.  The main thing that I change about this recipe is that I do not use the cilantro.  I don't like the taste of it and all and if you have ever cooked with it, you know how overpowering it is.  It really takes over a dish.  I also did not use a light beer. I just used what my husband had around the house which was a type of pale ale. Paula Deen suggests you serve this dip with tortilla chips (which she provides a recipe for), but I serve mine with Club crackers.

recipe link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/warm-mexican-crab-dip-recipe/index.html

For my main course, I served Creamy Tomato Basil Soup and a Grilled Chicken Salad.  I am not going to give the recipe for the salad because I wrote about a very similar recipe last month in my Mother's Day Lunch blog. Here is the recipe for the soup:

Ingredients

• 4 tomatoes - peeled, seeded and diced
• 4 cups tomato juice
• 14 leaves fresh basil
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 
  
• Directions
• Place tomatoes and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the stock pot.
• 
  
• Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil.

This soup is amazing. I just can't say enough good things about it. If I had a restaurant, this would be on the menu. The only thing I change about the recipe is that I use cherry tomatoes instead of regular ones. The tomatoes were from my dad's garden and the basil came from my herb garden.  On a side not, I highly recommend having at least a small herb garden if you like to cook. I love mine which I have in two large pots on my back porch. It has rosemary, basil, thyme, dill, oregano, parsley, and cilantro. By far, I use basil the most. I cook with it almost every day!

recipe link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/rich-and-creamy-tomato-basil-soup/Detail.aspx

I made two dressings for my salad: Ranch and an Herb Vinaigrette. I'll talk about the vinaigrette first.

Ingredients

9 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons wildflower honey
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Directions
Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl; slowly whisk in oil until combined. Stir in basil and chives. Store, covered, in refrigerator for up to 5 days

I really enjoyed this dressing and again I had the basil in my little pot garden. Now I only used about half of the canola oil the recipe called for, it. I think if you used it all it would really drown out the tangy flavor of the
white wine vinegar. I also couldn't find wildflower honey and so just used regular. It was great.

recipe link: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/easy-herb-vinaigrette-10000001973621/

Here is the recipe for the Ranch dressing:

Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

• Directions
• In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

I have always wondered what is in ranch dressing to make it taste so dang good! My friends loved this dressing. It was definitely the most popular of the two I made. The lady that shared this recipe says that you can substitute buttermilk for the sour cream, which is what I did after reading reviews of the recipe.  It seems that if you are using it for a dressing use buttermilk, but if you are using it for a dip, use sour cream. 

recipe link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/ranch-dressing-ii/Detail.aspx

For dessert, I made Bread Pudding with a Bourbon Sauce:

Ingredients
1 pound French style bread (the firmer the better)
3 1/4 cups milk
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
Bourbon Sauce, recipe follows

Directions
Tear bread into medium pieces. Add sugar and cinnamon. Mix milk, lightly beaten eggs, and vanilla. Add to bread mixture. Place 1/2 mix in casserole. Layer pecans and raisins, if used. Top with the rest of the mix. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve warm with Bourbon sauce (below).

Bourbon Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar 6 tablespoons butter, melted 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 tablespoon (or more!) Bourbon 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon white corn syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a sauce pan mix all ingredients. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Serve warm.

This bread pudding is delicious.  I went on the search to find a good recipe for this after I had the most amazing bread pudding with bourbon sauce at luncheon for work. I think I succeeded. I may have to put this on the menu, too if I had a restaurant. I made no changes to this recipe at all. 

recipe link: http://southernfood.about.com/od/breadpuddingrecipes/r/bl10424e.htm

I hope you enjoyed all these recipes. Happy cooking y'all!

Finger Lickin' Good Barbecue Sauce!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!! Hope y'all had a great holiday! We sure did! I made a delicious barbecue sauce for our pork spare ribs this weekend, and I am just dying to share it with you!

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup bourbon whiskey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, and whiskey. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Mix in the ground black pepper, salt, ketchup, tomato paste, vinegar, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and hot pepper sauce.
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Run sauce through a strainer if you prefer a smooth sauce.

I followed this amazing recipe EXACTLY! And it was so good!! I did read reviews from others though of this sauce, and made the decision to prepare it a a day ahead and refrigerate it over night.  Let me just say it was absolutely delicious as soon as it all cooked together and I could not tell much of a difference after it had been refrigerated over 24 hours. So, that's up to you whether you want to prepare it in advance or not so it can sit. This sauce was SO good though! The only things I might do differently next time would be to add a little more bourbon for flavor and maybe add a little lemon for some tangyness.   Overall, this is one of the best barbecue sauces I have ever had. I used this to baste and serve with my rack of spare pork ribs, YUM!!!!!

Recipe Link:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/bourbon-whiskey-bbq-sauce/Detail.aspx

Delicious Paula Deen Desserts Y'all!

I recently cooked up a yummy mother's day lunch for my mom and aunt and blogged about the results (not to brag, but I got lots of compliments - yea!!).  I did however leave out the dessert recipes because I cooked up so many things, and would like to share them with you now.  Two delicious desserts, both from southern cooking sensation, Mrs. Paula Deen! The first one I would like to share with you is her strawberry cake. :)

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
• 1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
• 7 cups confectioners' sugar
• Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.

This dessert is absolutely amazing, but I did make a couple of major modifications.  I read lots of reviews on the recipe and cooked this cake and played with the recipe several times before I made it for this event.  First of all, don't use frozen strawberries in syrup - use fresh strawberries! Just puree them in the blender and then add sugar to them for added sweetness: 1-2 tablespoons for the cake recipe, a teaspoon for the frosting.  Also, you will notice from the recipe, that you only are supposed to use a 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree in the strawberry frosting - don't puree up a whole 15 ounces unless you want to use it for something else.  Another note for this recipe: you will notice that in the ingredient list for the icing, Paula lists strawberry extract.  In the recipe directions, she says to use vanilla extract. I make mine with strawberry extract, and it is amazing.  The other major thing you need to modify in this recipe is the cook time - 20 minutes is not near enough! I bake mine for 25 minutes and it comes out perfect! If you make these easy changes, this recipe is really unbelievable, I have gotten so many compliments on this cake.  I actually had this for the first time at my bridal shower in cupcake form at one of my favorite restaurants.  The chef said she couldn't give me the recipe, but winked and told me to google Paula Deen's strawberry cake.  I did as soon as I got home and have made it at least a dozen times since then. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The second dessert recipe I would like to share with you is Paula Deen's peach cobbler recipe, only I converted it to a blackberry cobbler recipe! I have made the peach version many times and it is AMAZING! That is how I knew making it with blackberries would also be delicious!  With the abundance of fresh blackberries this time of year, I couldn't resist making a cobbler made of fresh picked blackberries!

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• Ground cinnamon, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Obviously the major change I made to this was subbing blackberries for peaches. Also, please note, when she says to mix the sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping, she means to first mix the flour and sugar and then to add the milk little by little and mix - not to literally add it slowly. That may be obvious to you, but I didn't figure it out until about my 10th time making it and could not for the life of me figure out why my batter would always bake with so many clumps in it.  One more thing, the cook time is pretty broad, 30-45 minutes. I cook mine for 45 minutes.  This dish is amazing and I know you will enjoy it. I have made it with blackberries, peaches, and blueberries, and it turn out great every time. 

recipe links:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/simply-delicious-strawberry-cake-recipe/index.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/peach-cobbler-recipe/index.html