Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Both Dr. Sweetpea and I love dipping King's Hawaiian Rolls and we always have a few at home to eat throughout the week. I found this recipe the other day and decided to make them to eat with our Thanksgiving leftovers. These rolls were super easy to make and just as tasty as King's Hawaiian! Definitely a keeper for us! 

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

(Source: Cooks Country)

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup whole milk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons softened

1/3 cup honey

5 1/2 cups (27 1/2 ounces) all­ purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant or rapid­ rise yeast

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 large egg

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Grease large bowl and 13 by 9 ­inch baking dish. Combine pineapple juice, milk, melted butter, and honey in 4­ cup liquid measuring cup and microwave until mixture registers 110 degrees, about 1 minute. (Mixture may appear curdled.)

Using stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix flour, yeast, and salt on low speed until combined, about 5 seconds. Slowly add pineapple juice mixture, followed by egg, vinegar, and vanilla and knead until cohesive mass starts to form, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium­-low and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes. (Dough should clear sides of bowl but will stick to bottom.)

Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form smooth, cohesive ball. Transfer dough to prepared bowl and turn to coat with grease. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until almost doubled in size and fingertip depression in dough springs back slowly, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Gently press down on center of dough to deflate. Place dough on clean counter and divide into thirds. Cut each third into 6 equal pieces (about 2 3/4 ounces per piece). Form each piece into rough ball by pinching and pulling dough edges under so that top is smooth. On counter, cup each ball with your palm and roll in circular motion into smooth, tight ball.

Arrange into 6 rows of 3 in prepared dish and cover loosely with plastic. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours (rolls should almost reach top of dish and edges should be touching). Adjust oven rack to lower-­middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove plastic, transfer rolls to oven, and bake until golden brown and centers register 190 degrees, 20 to 23 minutes, rotating dish halfway through baking. Let rolls cool in dish on wire rack for 10 minutes. Using spatula, slide rolls out onto wire rack, brush with softened butter, and let cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm. (To reheat room temperature rolls, wrap in aluminum foil, place on baking sheet, and bake in 350­ degree oven for 20 minutes.)

The Best Fajita Marinade

There is a restaurant in Houston that Dr. Sweetpea and I went to on a regular basis when we moved here this summer. I think it's a chain since I've seen various locations for this restaurant. Anyway, they have one of THE best steak fajitas that we've tasted. When we first went there, we ate enough fajitas to feed a family of four. Yes, that good.

I was doing some random browsing online one day when I came across THE recipe for this restaurant's steak fajitas. I was skeptical at first but when we made it at home, we were blown away by how it tasted exactly what we had at the restaurant. This will be our fajita marinade for a long time going forward.

El Tiempo's Steak Fajita Marinade

(Source: Houston Food Blog)

For the Black Sauce:

1 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cups low sodium soy sauce

1 3/4 cup A-1 sauce

Mix water, olive oil, soy sauce, and A-1 sauce until well combined. Pour into re-sealable container with lid and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

For the Grill Spice:

1/4 cup ground black pepper

1/4 cup granulated garlic

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons Lawry’s seasoned salt

Mix black pepper, granulated garlic, cumin, and seasoned salt together well and place in a shaker. Keep this mixture covered when not in use.

For the fajitas: Marinade 4 pounds of skirt steak in about 1 cup of black sauce (you can always use more black sauce) for 24 hours. Sprinkle some of the Grill Spice onto the meat before grilling. Once the meat is done cooking, cut it against the grain and serve with tortillas, tomatoes, sour cream, etc. 

Pumpkin Mousse Pie

Dr. Sweetpea has been asking me to make Pumpkin Mousse pie after he devoured the Cranberry Pie that I made earlier this month. So when I came across this recipe, I decided to make it for Dr. Sweetpea to satiate his appetite for Pumpkin Mousse Pie. Needless to say, it was simple to make and absolutely delicious!

Pumpkin Mousse Pie

(Source: MyRecipes.com)

1 (9-inch) frozen pie crust, thawed

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks

Place a baking sheet in oven and preheat to 400ºF. Bake pie crust until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Place crust on a wire rack to cool completely. In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1 Tbsp. cold water and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together pumpkin, pumpkin-pie spice and vanilla until well blended. Place 2 inches water in a double boiler and bring to a simmer. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in top of double boiler and heat, whisking, until mixture registers 160ºF on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from heat and continue to whisk until cool and increased in volume, about 5 minutes. Heat gelatin mixture at 5-second intervals in microwave until dissolved, stirring between intervals. Let cool slightly, then whisk into egg yolk mixture. Fold pumpkin mixture into yolk mixture. Fold in whipped cream. Scrape filling into cooled pie crust and spread evenly. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

Roasted Garlic Soup

This Roasted Garlic Soup is just amazing. Both Dr. Sweetpea and I ate two big bowls of this soup in one sitting. It's creamy, garlicy, and just absolutely addicting. I do have a picture for this, but it looks so plain that it doesn't do any justice to how good this soup is. So just listen to me and make this soup, especially if you love garlic. 

Roasted Garlic Soup

(Source: James Beard Foundation)

2 heads garlic

Olive oil, as needed

1 large onion, diced

2 pounds baking potatoes, medium sized

1 quart chicken stock

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon black pepper

Salt to taste

6 tablespoons heavy cream

Croutons to garnish

Thyme leaves to garnish

To roast the garlic, begin by preheating the oven to 300ºF. Generously coat the garlic with the olive oil. Roast the garlic in a heat-resistant pan such as a cast-iron skillet until the pulp is soft, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the pulp and reserve. Sauté the onions in a small amount of olive oil until they are soft. Add the reserved garlic and sauté 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve. Wash, but do not peel, the potatoes. Cut them into a medium (1/3-inch) dice, and add to the pot. Add the chicken stock, thyme, black pepper, and the garlic and onion mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer until the potatoes are very tender. Purée the contents of the pot in a blender in batches and strain to make it smooth. When ready to serve, bring the soup to a boil. Add the cream, and season with salt and pepper. Garnish the soup with croutons and thyme leaves.

Cranberry Custard Pie

Since Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, I keep seeing fresh bags of cranberries at the grocery stores. Dr. Sweetpea has been begging for me to make some pie using cranberries since last winter, so I decided to make this Cranberry Custard Pie since it seemed really easy. I've never had cranberry pie before, but this definitely blew me out of the water. Dr Sweetpea couldn't stop talking about how much he loves this pie. Definitely something I'll be making yearly around the holidays.

Cranberry Custard Pie

(Source: Food Network)

1 (14 ounce) box refrigerated pie dough (2 sheets)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

3 large eggs

1 (12 ounce) bag cranberries, slightly thawed if frozen

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2/3 cup heavy cream

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Lay 1 sheet of pie dough on a lightly floured surface. Lightly beat 1 egg and brush some on the dough, then place the second sheet of pie dough directly on top. Roll out the double layer of dough into a 12-inch round. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the overhanging dough under itself and crimp with your fingers or a fork. Brush the edge with more beaten egg. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the crust with foil, then fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until lightly golden around the edge, about 15 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until the bottom of the crust is dry, about 5 more minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely. Meanwhile, make the filling: Roughly chop the cranberries and combine with 3/4 cup granulated sugar and the lemon zest in a large bowl. Spread in the cooled crust. Whisk the remaining 2 eggs, the heavy cream, flour and the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a bowl until smooth; pour over the cranberries. Bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Crisp Breaded Chicken and Twice Baked Potatoes

I always love recreating Dr. Sweetpea's favorite childhood meals. So when he told me he used to eat breaded chicken a lot while growing up, I had to find the best recipe! I turned to my America's Test Kitchen cookbook because their recipes never fail me, ever. This chicken is super tender, super moist, and so crispy! Dr. Sweetpea said it reminded him of the meals he at while growing up. I served the chicken with a side of Twice Baked Potatoes and they were perfect together. 

Crisp Breaded Chicken

(Source: America's Test Kitchen)

4 (6­ to 8­ ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenderloins removed, trimmed

Salt and pepper

4-6 slices hearty white sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into 1 1/2 ­inch pieces

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 large eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

Lemon wedges

Adjust oven rack to lower­middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Cover chicken breasts with plastic wrap and pound to even 1/2­inch thickness with meat pounder. Pat cutlets dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Process bread in food processor to fine crumbs, 20 to 30 seconds (you should have 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs). Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan in shallow dish. Place flour in second shallow dish. Lightly beat eggs in third shallow dish. Working with 1 cutlet at a time, dredge in flour, shaking off excess; dip in egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off; and coat with bread crumbs, pressing gently to adhere. Transfer to plate and let sit for 5 minutes. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and cover half of rack with triple layer of paper towels. Heat oil in 12­inch nonstick skillet over medium­ high heat until shimmering. Place 2 cutlets in skillet and cook until deep golden brown and crisp and chicken registers 160 degrees, about 2 1/2 minutes per side, gently pressing on cutlets with spatula for even browning. Place cutlets on paper towel–lined side of prepared wire rack to dry, about 15 seconds per side. Move cutlets to unlined side of wire rack and transfer to oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining 2 cutlets. Serve with lemon wedges.

Cheesy Twice-Baked Potatoes

(Source: Katie Lee)

4 russet potatoes, scrubbed

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, plus more for topping

2 cups grated white cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper              

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Pierce the potatoes with a fork or paring knife a few times on all sides. Place on a baking sheet and bake until fork-tender, 60 to 80 minutes. Let cool slightly (but keep the oven on). Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and cook until softened but not browned, about 2 minutes. Set aside. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthwise. Using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out the flesh, leaving a 1/4-inch rim to preserve the shape of the shells. In a large bowl, mash the potato insides until mostly smooth. Add the butter mixture, sour cream, chives and 1 cup cheese and mix together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the mixture evenly into the 8 potato shells. Top with the remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Top with more chives. Serve warm.