Chicken with All Purpose Marinade

I already posted several marinade recipes on my blog since we love to grill. I also love trying out new marinade recipes as much as I can. I think it's a great way add a ton of flavor to meat and it's also a great tenderizer too. I was looking for an all-purpose marinade and saw that the one on Plain Chicken was pinned a ton on Pinterest. So I gave it a whirl, and sure enough, the chicken turned out amazing. This is definitely another marinade that I'll keep around to marinade our meat. Dr. Sweetpea raved about the chicken too!

All Purpose Marinade

(Source: Plain Chicken)

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Whisk together all ingredients. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. Marinate meat an hour to overnight.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is a super simple cake that can be made any day of the week for an easy yet delicious dessert. Dr. Sweetpea loves pineapples and loves maraschino cherries, so I decided to make this cake for dessert one evening and he raved about it! Definitely something that I'll be making often!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

(Source: King Arthur Flour)

TOPPING

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 (20-ounce) can pineapple rings in juice, drained

candied red cherries or maraschino cherries

diced pecans or walnuts, optional

CAKE

3 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor, optional

1 1/3 cups All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9" round cake pan.

To make the topping: Melt the butter, and mix with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.

Space the pineapple rings atop the brown sugar mixture. Place a cherry in the center of each ring. If you're using nuts, scatter them in any empty spaces.

To make the cake: Beat the butter and sugar until fairly smooth.

Beat in the egg, then the salt, baking powder, vanilla, and coconut flavor.

Add the flour alternately with the milk, mixing at medium speed and beginning and ending with the flour. Once the last of the flour is added, mix briefly, just until smooth.

Spoon the thick batter into the prepared pan, spreading it to the edges of the pan. It may not cover the pineapple entirely; that's OK.

Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, wait 3 minutes, then turn the pan over onto a serving plate. 

Wait 30 seconds, then lift the pan off. If anything sticks in the pan, just lift it out and place it back on the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutty Orange Biscotti

Whenever Dr. Sweetpea and I go to Starbucks, we always get a biscotti with our coffee. So to save ourselves a few bucks each time we head to Starbucks, I've been making biscotti from scratch at home. I saw Trisha Yearwood make this on her Food Network show a while back, so I decided to try the recipe out myself. 

Not going to lie, the recipe is super easy but the end result is absolutely delicious!!! Dr. Sweetpea had three in one sitting, not with his coffee, but as dessert. Definitely something I'll be making for us more often. I'll just switch up the flavors next time. 

Nutty Orange Biscotti

(Source: Trisha Yearwood)

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

Grated zest from 1 orange plus 1 teaspoon juice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup chopped almonds or nuts of your choice

Nonstick cooking spray

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the orange zest and juice, oil, almond extract and vanilla extract, beating until blended. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the egg mixture, beating well. Fold in the almonds by hand. Remove the dough to plastic wrap, wrap and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Divide the dough in half. Spray your hands lightly with nonstick cooking spray and shape each portion into a 5-by-8-inch log on the baking sheet. Bake until firm, about 25 minutes. Cool the logs on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Using a serrated knife, cut each log diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Return the biscotti to the baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake for 15 more minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Steakhouse Beef Kebabs

I've been looking for an excellent beef kebab marinade recipe and I think I found it! The meat is super flavorful and so tender when they're grilled. Dr. Sweetpea loved the kebabs so much that we're adding this to our monthly rotation. 

Steakhouse Beef Kebabs

(Source: www.seriouseats.com)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 medium cloves)

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin tips, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, cleaned and halved

1 large red onion, sliced into 1 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 onion layers each)

Whisk together oil, Worcestershire, soy sauce, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, brown sugar, and black pepper in a small bowl. Place beef cubes and mushrooms in a large resealable plastic bag. Add marinade and seal bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Marinate, refrigerated, for at least 1 and up to 5 hours.

Thread beef onto skewers, alternating with mushrooms and onions.

Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over entire surface of coal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Grill skewers until beef is well seared on all sides and center of beef registers between 125-130°F on an instant read thermometer, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer skewers to platter and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

**The only thing I did differently is I threaded the meat and vegetables onto the skewers separately since the veggies cook much faster than the meat.**