Cheese Souffle

This week we made Cheese Souffle in "French Fridays With Dorie."  Let me start by saying the souffle was delicious.  It was light, fluffy, and  delectable - just like a souffle should be.  I was apprehensive about making this dish.  As is stated in Dories book, it has been said a souffle is very fussy, but that isn't the case.  I am so glad I tried this recipe.  I didn't have a souffle mold so I just used a 2-1/2 quart round Corning baking dish.  Now that I have gotten over my fear of making souffles, a souffle mold is going to be on my Mother's Day list. I waited for 30 minutes to put a piece of foil over my souffle so it got a little too brown.  Next time, I will do it at 25 minutes.  The recipe for Cheese Souffle can be found on pages 150-151 in "Around My French Table."

Almost-Famous Pecan Waffles

Yesterday was a lazy morning with the kids having Spring Break.  No rushing out the door with half eaten food in their hands.  I decided is was a waffle type morning.  I found a tasty recipe for Pecan Waffles.  Pecans are  a nut all member of the family like.  I did have to sprinkle some chocolate chips on my daughter waffles but the rest ate them as they were.

This recipe used both whole milk and buttermilk with the common ingredients of flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, eggs, and of course pecans.  The recipe stated to sprinkle the pecans on the waffle batter but I just mixed them into the batter.   Also, the recipe calls for 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, but I only used 1 teaspoon.

The waffles were a hit with the family.  In fact, I could not make them fast enough.  I was a good thing I set one aside for myself or I would not have gotten a taste.  I served the waffles with butter and warm maple syrup.


Almost-Famous Pecan Waffles
From "Food Network Magazine"


Ingredients:
3/4 cups pecans
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract ( I used 1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for brushing and topping
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, melted and cooled
Maple syrup for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spread the pecans on a baking sheet; bake until toasted, 5 to 7 minutes.  Let  cool, then chop.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees F.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.  Whisk the egg, milk, buttermilk, and vanilla in a separate bowl until combined.
4. Stir the egg mixture, melted butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until just combined. (The batter will be lumpy.) Note: You can stir  the pecans in the batter if you wish.
5. Preheat a waffle iron and brush with melted butter.  Ladle some batter into the iron (about 1/2 cup, depending on your waffle iron); sprinkle with 2 tablespoons toasted pecans (if you did not stir them in the batter).
6. Cook until golden brown, then transfer the waffle to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.  Repeat with the remaining batter.
7. Top the waffles with butter and maple syrup.

Makes 6 large waffles

Cherry Almond Irish Oatmeal

One of my favorites for breakfast is oatmeal.   I am particularly fond of Irish Oatmeal or steel cut oats.  I love the chewy nutty texture of steel cut oats.  Being Irish Oatmeal is less processed, it is higher in dietary fiber,  B-vitamins, calcium, and protein.  Today, my oatmeal was made in my crock- pot.  I add the ingredients before I go to bed, and let it cook for 6-7 hours on low.  I added some dried cherries, brown sugar, and cinnamon to the oats.  I also cooked the oats in vanilla flavored almond milk.  The result was a healthy and tasty breakfast.












                                               Cherry Almond Irish Oatmeal




Special Equipment:  Crock-pot

Ingredients

Ingredients:
1 cup Irish Oatmeal (steel cut oats)
1/3-cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup dried cherries
4 cups Almond Milk- Vanilla
Milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, nuts for topping


Directions:

1. Spray crock-pot lightly with cooking spray.
2. Mix together Irish Oatmeal, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.  Add dried cherries and stir until well mixed.
3. Add the almond milk to the oat mixture and stir well.
5. Pour the ingredients into the crock-pot.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours or until the milk is absorbed.
6. Stir the oatmeal before serving. Serve with milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, and nuts if desired.

Makes 6 servings

Steel Cut Oats or Irish Oatmeal

In Crock-pot Ready To Cook

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Saint-Germain-des-Pres Onion Biscuits

This week in "French Fridays With Dorie" I  made Saint-Germain-des Pres Onion Biscuits. I enjoyed making these biscuits. The dough was perfect to work with.   It is amazing what a delicious bread a little flour, sugar, salt, butter, and onion can produce.    The biscuits were fluffy with a hint of onion.   I served the biscuits warm with a thick rich soup.  I plan on making this recipe again, but freezing the dough  for a later use.  This recipe can be found on pages 8-9 in "Around My French Table," or at the Amazon website.

Bailey's Irish Cream Cake

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I started searching for a tasty dessert.  I found a delicious recipe for Bailey's Irish Cream cake.  You start with a cake mix, add pudding, eggs and Bailey's Irish Cream. I modified the recipe some by omitting the nuts and using a chocolate cake mix instead of a yellow cake mix.  The recipe had a cream frosting, but I opted  for a glaze.   You could also dust the cake with confectioners sugar.   The cake was moist and had just the right flavoring of Bailey's Irish Cream.


Bailey's Irish Cream Cake
Adapted from Christmas-Cookies.com

Ingredients:

1 package chocolate cake mix (without pudding)
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
Bailey's Irish Cream glaze (recipe below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients.
3. Beat for 4 minutes with an electric mixer and pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes.  Turn cake out of pan and cool on a cooling rack or invert onto a plate.
6. Glaze and serve.


Bailey Irish Cream Glaze
From Bailey's.com/Irish-recipes
Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons Bailey Original Irish Cream

Directions:
1. Melt butter. Whisk together all of the ingredients until smooth.
2. Drizzle the glaze over the cake.

Chicken Parmigiana With Linguine

The other night I made Chicken Parmigiana for dinner.  I hadn't made it in a while so I thought it would be a nice surprise for the family. It really is quite easy to make.  You get some chicken breasts and flatten them with a meat mallet or a rolling pin (kids like helping with this part) season them, place in a baking dish and cover with your favorite Marinara sauce, and two cheeses.  Pop them in the oven to bake. Serve the chicken over a bed of  linguine. Presto.  The result is a flavorful main course that is satisfying and filling.



                           




Chicken Parmigiana


Ingredients:

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
5 cups Marinara sauce, warmed and divided
½ cup flour
2 eggs beaten
3/4 cup Italian Bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper
4-6 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Linguine
Chopped fresh parsley


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

1. Flatten chicken breasts in a zip lock bag with a meat mallet or rolling pin.  Flatten to 1/3- inch thickness.  Place on a platter.
2. Pour 1 cup Marinara sauce in a 15x10 inch-baking dish. Spread evenly over the bottom of the dish.  Set aside.
3. Spread flour on a plate. Place beaten eggs in a pie pan.  Spread breadcrumbs on another plate.
4. Season both sides of chicken breasts with salt and pepper.  Coat both side of the breasts with flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs.  Place on a platter.  Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.
6. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet.  Place chicken in skillet and cook until brown. Flip and brown the other side.  Add more oil as needed.  Do not crowd your skillet – you may need to brown the chicken in batches.
7. Place browned chicken breasts over the sauce in the baking dish.
8.  Cover the chicken with 2 cups Marinara sauce.  Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the chicken then the grated Parmesan cheese.
9. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until bubbly.
10.  Cook the linguine according to package directions while the chicken is baking.  Drain the noodles and set aside.
11. Remove the Chicken Parmigiana from the oven.  Place cooked linguine on a plate with some Marinara sauce on top.  Place a chicken breast on top of the linguine.  Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve.

Make 4 servings

Flattened Chicken Breast

Breadcrumbs, Eggs, Flour

Sauce in Bottom of  Pan

Chicken On Top Of Sauce

Chicken Covered With Sauce

Chicken With Sauce and Cheeses

Out of Oven

Chicken Parmigiana with Linguine

Roasted Salmon and Lentils

This week our assignment for "French Fridays With Dorie" was Roasted Salmon and Lentils.  To begin with, I am not a big fin fish fan.  However, I decided to take a food adventure and try the dish.   It was quite easy to prepare.  The lentils were cooked with veggies, chicken broth and seasoned with salt and pepper.  The salmon was roasted at a  high temperature for 12 minutes.  I then placed the salmon on the cooked lentils.   The result was a quite tasty dish.     This recipe can be found on pages 300-301 in "Around My French Table."