Peach Mango Oatmeal Bars

I wanted to make a simple yet delicious cookie for tonight as an after dinner dessert. A cookie that doesn't require a baking several batches of cookies from one recipe, or 6+ different dishes to wash, and quick to put together. After scouring my cookie recipe collection I came across an Oatmeal bar cookie recipe by Ree Drummond from Pioneer Women. She has an incredible site and I absolutely love her show on Foodnetwork.

Anyway, on to the cookies. She used strawberry preserves for the oatmeal bars but I decided to use Peach Mango Preserves. I looooooove anything with Peach and Mangoes!!! These bars are absolutely ridiculously delicious. These bars are slightly chewy, buttery, and fruity! I talked myself into thinking it's healthy because it has oats and ate more than I should have. So go ahead and have a few cookies and don't be afraid to eat more than just one :o)

Peach Mango Oatmeal Bars 

1 3/4 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing pan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup oats

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (10-12 oz) jar Peach Mango Preserves (or preserves of your choice)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan. Mix together the butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Press half the oat mixture into the prepared pan. Spread with the preserves. Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake until light brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely, and then cut into squares.

Lemon Blueberry Bread with Crumble Topping

If someone asked me if there is a flavor combination that represents Spring, then I most definitely pick Lemon/Blueberry. I've always had flavors for each season (ex: Lemon/Blueberry = Spring, Strawberries = Summer, Pumpkin/Apple = Fall, and Peppermint = Winter). Is it just me that does that??

Anyhow, on to the glorious Blueberry Bread...I made this Lemon Blueberry bread for my boyfriend so he can eat it for breakfast, at work, etc. He is in his last year of medical school and busy working at the hospital (future McDreamy?! Yes!). I wanted to make something he can bring to work and snack on during his day. It's not heavy like a pound cake but it's filling enough to satisfy hunger for a few hours until he finds time to grab a bigger meal. 

This Lemon Blueberry Bread is very light and has the perfect amount of blueberries. It's so light it's like eating blueberries on a cloud! The lemon also brings the perfect about of zing to give this bread the extra kick. As for the crumble topping?!?! It's goooood! It gives the bread some texture and who doesn't love a crumble topping?!?! I love eeeeverything with crumble toppings :o) The batter for this recipe is also very versatile so feel free to play around with the filling (ex: raspberry/lemon, strawberry/banana, etc) the possibilities are endless! This recipe makes a lot! So be prepared to have 2 loaves of blueberry bread :o) 

Lemon Blueberry Bread with Crumble Topping 

(LA Times) 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted, plus additional butter for greasing two loaf pans

1 1/2 cups blueberries (or 2 - 3 cups if you like more blueberries)

3 1/2 cups flour, divided

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 lemon, zested

Juice of half a lemon

Crumble Topping:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

To make the crumble topping:

In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

To make the bread:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and grease each of two (8-inch) loaf pans with butter. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, and grease the top of the parchment paper with butter. Wash the blueberries and drain. Lightly dry with a paper towel and place in a small bowl. Toss the berries with 2 tablespoons of the flour to coat. Set aside. Place the remaining flour into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the baking powder, salt, baking soda and sugar. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, then whisk in the milk, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Finally, whisk in the 1 cup of melted butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir the ingredients together lightly just to combine; do not overmix the batter. Lastly, gently fold in the berries. Fill the loaf pans evenly; they should be just over half full. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the two loaves. Place the pans in the oven and bake until done, about 50 minutes. Check the bread every 10 minutes after 30 minutes; if it begins to color too quickly, tent it lightly with aluminum foil.

Authentic Korean Kimbap

Even though I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area, I grew up eating TONS of authentic Korean food during my early childhood years. As I got older I broadened my horizons and starting eating everything from other parts of the world and now less likely to eat Korean food. However, very once in a great while I still have a craving for Gimbap. It's a Korean version of Sushi except the filling ingredients are slightly sauteed in a stir fry pan before rolling them up using a bamboo sushi roller.

Korean Gimbap 

4 Nori sheets (Used to make sushi)

2 cups cooked rice

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sesame oil

1-2 peeled carrots, cut into long strips

1 packaged Korean Yellow Radish

1/2 pound to 1 pound fresh spinach 

In a large mixing bowl, mix cooked rice, 2 tsp salt, and 2 tsp sesame oil. Set aside. Cut carrots into long thin strips. Heat skillet with about a teaspoon of vegetable oil and stir fry carrots with a dash of salt for about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside. Stir fry the spinach with about a teaspoon of oil and a dash of salt until spinach is wilted. 

Place a sheet of Nori on the bamboo mat and evenly spread a layer of rice in the center of it (but not to the edges). Place a thin strip of carrots down the center of the rice (hot dog style), do the same for the spinach, and yellow radish. Roll it up (hot dog style) using the bamboo mat. Once it is rolled, cut into 

1 1/2 inch thick slices. 

**Unfortunately, since this is my mom's recipe, a lot of the ingredients are estimates. She has been making this for the last 20+ years and the ingredient amounts are "eyeball" measurements. 

Spicy Pulled Chicken Quesadilla

I had a hankering for some quesadillas and pulled chicken for quite some time now (oooor since I woke up this morning) and I wanted to make something for dinner that is the best of both worlds. I found a slow cooker pulled chicken recipe a few weeks ago and decided to give it a try today. I'm SOOOOO glad I did because this pulled chicken is absolutely delicious. It took a couple hours for the chicken to cook but it's definitely worth it.  As for the quesadilla? I just threw together a few odds and ends I have in my refrigerator to create this wonderful BBQ'y pulled chicken quesadilla :o)

Spicy Pulled Chicken

3 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Halves

1 (18 oz) bottle Mesquite BBQ Sauce   (I used Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce)

1/2 cup Zesty Italian Salad Dressing

1/4 cup brown sugar     (I used half of the brown sugar)

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

2-3 tablespoons Franks Hot Sauce

Place chicken in the crock pot. In a bowl, mix bottle of barbecue sauce, Zesty Italian Salad Dressing, brown sugar, Worcestershire Sauce and Hot Sauce. Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook 3-4 hours on HIGH or 6-8 hours on LOW. Use 2 forks to shred the chicken. 

Spicy Pulled Chicken Quesadilla

Tortillas

Spicy Pulled Chicken

Refried beans

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Chopped Jalapeno Peppers

Sour Cream 

Heat a tortilla on a skillet for a couple seconds. Spread a thin layer of refried beans on one side of the tortilla. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese and chopped jalapeno peppers on the other side that doesn't have refried beans. Let the cheese melt for a few seconds. Spread a thick layer of Spicy Pulled Chicken on top of the refried beans. Fold the cheese side of the quesadilla over the pulled chicken. Let it heat up for a minute. Place quesadilla on plate and cut into 3 pieces using a pizza cutter. Serve with sour cream and additional pulled chicken. 

Ultimate Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

One of my ultimate favorite comfort food to make is cornbread, more specifically...Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread.

After several trial and errors, I've made the ultimate Jalapeno Cornbread which is absolutely divine. It's moist, slightly sweet, packed with cheese, and a hint of spice. I'm pretty sure this is the recipe that I will be using from now on :o)

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

3 1/4 cups cornbread mix (Krusteaz Honey Cornbread mix)

1 egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup milk 

1 (14.75 oz) can sweet corn, drained

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2-3 Tablespoons chopped Jalapeno

1 scant tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place milk, oil, egg and cornbread mix in medium bowl. Stir until moistened. Mix in corn, chopped jalapeno, sugar, and cheese. Mix until all ingredients are well blended. Divide batter lightly greased 9X13 inch pan. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown.


**11/10/2015 - This is by far Dr. Sweetpea's favorite cornbread recipe. I didn't have canned sweet corn available tonight when I was making this as a side, so I added 1/2 cup of canned crushed pineapple, and it was amazing!!! Definitely another way to change up this recipe.***

Almond Crunch Cookies

Do you have a cookie recipe that has been used so many times over the years that the newspaper clipping is tattered, wrinkled, and about ready to fall apart??? I DO!!! When I was a child, my mom found this Almond Crunch Cookie recipe in a newspaper column and made it yearly for Christmas Cookies. This newspaper recipe has been used sooooo many times that the edges are held together by scotch tape. I firmly believe if a newspaper clipping or index card recipe has blotches, rips, tape and splatters collected over the years...it's a recipe for something absolutely amazing.

I have fond memories of sitting next to my mom at the kitchen table and rolling the dough into balls and then rolling them in slivered almonds. After the cookies were baked my mom would make an incredibly rich cup of Hot Cocoa to go along with the cookies. Nothing beats drinking hot cocoa to wash down the cookies when it's snowing outside in December. I know my childhood years in the kitchen with my mom were so special to me and the reason why I'm so passionate about baking.

So why am I making these cookies in April?!?! Well, these cookies are just toooooooooo good to make once a year. Plus, I couldn't wait until December to eat these again :o)  If you love almonds, these cookies are absolutely sinfully delicious. 

Almond Crunch Cookies 

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup almonds, ground in blender or food processor

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer just until blended. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add egg and almond extract. Beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. On low speed, add ground almonds and flour. Mix just until blended. Do not overmix. If necessary, refrigerate dough 30 minutes or until firm enough to shape. Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll in sliced almonds, coating balls thoroughly. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until cookies are slightly brown around edges. Immediately transfer with a broad spatula to a cool, flat surface covered with wax paper, let cool. 

Glaze:

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Scald cream in small saucepan and remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips and corn syrup. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Gently mix glaze until smooth, careful not to introduce too much air into the chocolate. When cookies are cool, drizzle or dip the cookies while glaze is warm. Refrigerate on waxed paper until glaze has set, about 10 minutes.

Chicken Sausage Rigatoni in a Spicy Vodka Sauce

One of my favorite pasta dishes is Pasta alla Vodka, I absolutely love it. So when I came across a pasta recipe with vodka AND sausage last week I knew it would be an instant must try. However, since I was healing (ever so slowly) from wisdom teeth extraction I decided to wait a few more days to give this recipe a whirl. I went grocery shopping for all the ingredients today and made this dish for dinner...and Ohhhhhhh Myyyyyy Gooosh this is GoOoOoOoOoD!!! It's definitely a calorie bomb but it's most definitely worth it because it is absolutely heavenly. Plus, the recipe is also from one of my favorite Food Network chefs, Sunny Anderson. This recipe does make a lot even with four people eating it as a meal. As for the leftovers? It's my lunch tomorrow at work :o)

Chicken Sausage Rigatoni in a Spicy Vodka Sauce 

(Source: Sunny Anderson)

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound chicken sausage, casings removed*

1/2 cup roughly chopped onion

1 jalapeno, chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup roughly chopped green pepper

1 teaspoon hot paprika

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes with basil**

1/3 cup vodka

1 cup heavy cream

1 pound rigatoni

1 cup grated Asiago cheese

3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves

Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. In a large saute pan over medium heat melt butter with oil. Add chicken sausage and brown, 3 to 4 minutes, breaking up large chunks with a wooden spoon. Add onions, jalapenos and garlic and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add green pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, to taste, and cook 3 minutes more. Generously salt the pasta water and add the rigatoni. Cook until al dente, about 12 minutes. Meanwhile, add tomatoes to the sauce and bring to a simmer, for about 10 minutes. Add vodka and cream and cook a few minutes more. Toss in cheese and chopped parsley. To serve, drain the pasta well and add to the sauce. Mix until pasta is nicely coated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

*Regular Italian Sausage can be used in place of the Chicken sausage

**I used two (14 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with basil

The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

Over the years I've tried many many many maaaany different Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes. Some cookies turned out rock hard and others turned out flat as a pancake. Since I'm a fan of cookies that are chewy in the center and crisp around the edges it has been a journey to find a recipe that I love...buuuut now I can finally say the journey is over!! I was thumbing through the Grand Central Bakery Cookbook a few days ago when I found a marvelous recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. It is EXACTLY what I was looking for in a cookie!! I think this will be my go to recipe from now on :o)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed dark brown sugar 

2 eggs

2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups  rolled oats

1 package (or about 2 cups) of chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. In separate bowl mix all of the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips). Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed, then add the chocolate chips. Place scoops of cookie dough on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes or until edges are slightly golden brown but the center is slightly undercooked. Tap the pan a few times on top of the stove to remove any invisible air bubbles, then let the cookies finish cooking on the hot pan before removing.

*Edit: To prevent your dough from spreading like crazy while baking make sure the oven is preheated. Also, let the dough sit for a good 10 minutes before scooping cooking dough, this will let the dough thicken up a little bit.

Wisdom teeth

The weekend is when I'm usually super excited to be in the kitchen and cook. It's how i usually destress from a long work week. However, this weekend is slightly different, folks. I had my wisdom teeth removed yesterday and definitely not in the mood to do any sort of cooking :o( Plus, I'd be very tempted to eat it and I'm scared to eat anything hard for the next couple of days.

Good news is that I'm looking into various soft food recipes to try while I'm healing. I'm hoping to post some of those in the upcoming days :o)

Pasta Salad

Spring is the perfect time for pasta salad :o) Especially since farmers markets are starting to pop up all over Chicago and the surrounding suburbs with fresh vegetables.

My favorite pasta salad is one that has evolved from a variety of pasta salads I've had in the past and the combination of the dressing I use makes it pretty unique :o)

Pasta Salad 

1 box tri colored pasta

1/2 - 1 cup Caesar salad dressing  

1/2 - 1 cup Italian salad dressing

1 cup sliced grape tomatoes

1 cup sliced sweet peppers (I used mini orange sweet peppers) 

1 small can sliced olives

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 - 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes 

Cook pasta according to directions on box. Once its cooked, run pasta under running cold water. Toss the other ingredients together with the pasta :o) Eat away! 

Apple Pie

One of my favorite desserts (and my boyfriends favorite) is apple pie. Nothing beats the sweet and cinnamony filling inside a brown and crunchy crust. So when I was asked to make apple pie?  I most certainly did. I used a traditional apple pie recipe and added some dried cranberries to add a touch of texture and tartness....and this pie went from ordinary to EXTRAORDINARY!!!! I think from now on I will always be adding dried cranberries to my apple pies from now on.  I can't believe I've been missing out on this for so long.

Cranberry Apple Pie 

6 cups coarsely chopped, peeled apples (6 medium)

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 cup - 1 cup dried cranberries

Pie crust (I have a pie crust recipe posted a while ago)

Heat oven to 425°F. Place 1 pie crust in ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Press firmly against side and bottom. 2 In large bowl, gently mix filling ingredients; spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Top with second crust. Wrap excess top crust under bottom crust edge, pressing edges together to seal; flute. Cut slits or shapes in several places in top crust. 3 Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cover edge of crust with 2- to 3-inch wide strips of foil after first 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours before serving.