Upside-Down Apple French Toast with Cranberries and Pecans

I was watching Tyler Florence one day and he made this for an episode for a brunch. I just about flipped out of my chair with how good it looked. I had to try it and made it for a late breakfast one Sunday morning. It ROCKED! You've gotta try this. Everyone will think you are a super chef.



4 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 loaf of challah bread, cut into 1 inch-thick slices (I couldn't find this so I used a baguet loaf).
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup light brown sugar, plus more for sprinkling, divided
4 Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Confectioners' sugar, garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a flat dish, crack eggs and add milk, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Whisk until well combined then lay challah slices in mixture to coat and absorb it all, turning occasionally.

Set a 10-inch skillet, seasoned cast iron if you have, over medium heat. Add the butter and 1 cup sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar has melted and caramelized, about 8 minutes. While the sugar is melting, peel apples, core and cut into halves. Remove from heat and gently whisk in the heavy cream. Sprinkle in the pecans, dried cranberries and gently press in the apple halves so there is a flat surface. Lay soaked slices of challah over the top so it is completely covered -you should be able to arrange the large slices and small slices so there is no gaps. Sprinkle the top with some brown sugar and place into the preheated oven. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden and puffy.

When done, allow to cool for 2 to 3 minutes then invert onto a large plate. Dust with confections' sugar, if desired, and serve.

photo source: food network

Garlic Knots

These are so simple to make and taste SO GOOD!


4 tubes of refrigerated biscuits
1 cup oil
3 T parmesan cheese
2 T Italian seasonings (oregano, basil, etc.)
1/2 t paprika
2 t garlic salt

Combine cheese, oil and seasoning in a large bowl. Cut each biscuit into 3rds. Roll each third into a rope, and tie in a knot. Bake according to biscuit package directions being careful not to brown too much. After all biscuits are baked pour oil mixture over them, cover and shake. Freeze at least overnight. To serve, reheat @ 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes or until heated through.

Apple Sauce Donuts

I'm so sorry to say I can't remember where I found this recipe. I'm not very good at deep frying so I made little donut hols instead. Over all these were pretty good.



1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 Tablespoons sour cream
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 1/4 cups flour

Cinnamon/Sugar Coating
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon


Combine sugar, applesauce, sour cream, and butter together in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisk in beaten eggs, until all combined. Add all remaining ingredients, and stir until mixture is completely combined. (The mixture will be think). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. Remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a really well floured counter. Roll out dough to 1/2" thick and cut into donut sized circles, with a hole in the center. Fill a saucepan with vegetable oil or shortening and heat over medium high heat until oil is hot for deep frying. Cook 1 -2 donuts at a time, depending on the size of the pan, turning once the bottoms are deeply golden browned. Once both sides are browned, remove from oil, and drain on a cooling rack, with paper towels underneath. Once donuts are slightly cooled, dredge each in the Cinnamon/Sugar coating. Make approximately 20 donuts.

El Pollo Loco Chicken

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes. It's super easy to make and tastes awesome!



3/4 cup Heinz Chili Sauce
1 lemon, juice of
1 large orange, juice of
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce
4 boneless chicken breasts

For marinade mix all ingredients, except chicken, together. Add chicken and marinate for 4 hours. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Cook on a hot grill for about 10 minutes on each side. Serve with tortillas and salsa.

original source: recipezaar.com

Flap Jack Cake

Red Velvet Cake Mix (mix according to directions)
Your favorite whippie, frosting or ice cream
Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

Take the mixed cake batter and grill like pancakes. Serve warm or cold. My Dad loved this idea and plans on making these the next time he goes camping. Place leftover flap jacks in a Ziploc bag and put in the fridge or freezer until the next time you want cake.

Thai Chicken Satay

2 large limes

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced

1 Tb fresh ginger, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tb soy sauce

3 Tb brown sugar firmly packed

1 Tb Asian sesame oil

4 chicken breasts cut into thick strips

1 small head romaine lettuce, (chopped for a salad, or wash and use as a lettuce wrap.)

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced

1. Make 1 cup Jasmine Rice.

2. Place 8 bamboo skewers in cold water to soak until ready to use. Grate 1 tsp zest from limes and squeeze 1/4 cup juice. In a glass bowl, whisk together the lime zest and juice, vinegar, and peanut butter until smooth. Stir in cilantro, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, and sesame oil.

3. Reserve about 1/2 cup of mixture in a separate bowl for use as sauce. Add the chicken to the marinade and turn to coat.

4. Let stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.Preheat broiler. When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade.

5. Divide the strips among 8 skewers, threading the strips on lengthwise. Place the skewers on baking sheet and place under the broiler. Cook, turning once, until seared on the outside and opaque throughout, about 6 minutes total. Divide the lettuce, rice ,cucumber slices, and chicken skewers onto plates (or bowls). Drizzle with some of the reserved sauce and serve, passing around additional sauce at the table.

Go to The Good Apple to find this and more great tasting recipes!!

picture from thegoodapple.blogspot.com

Cream of Cauliflower

Due to great deals and lack of communication among the adults in the house. {he he} The fridge had a huge amount of fresh cauliflower with no planned use. With the cooling weather I decided to give soup a try. Even as I was slicing and dicing I wasn't quite sure what I would put into the pot. This recipe is based on what I had readily available in the kitchen at the time. This soup actually turned out so well it is now one of my favorite fall soups. It's nice and creamy without being too thick.


4 cups shredded cheddar cheese or cheddar/ Monterrey jack mix
2 medium heads of cauliflower, cut into small and medium sized florets
6-8 stalks of celery, diced in 1/2" pieces
5 medium carrots, pealed and diced into 1/2" pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 cube butter
3 cans (16oz) low sodium chicken broth
6 cups water & 6 chicken bouillon cubes
1 1/2 cups white flour
2-3 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups whole milk (canned milk suggested for at least 1/3 of the milk)
salt and pepper

Place onions, cauliflower, carrots, celery, chicken stalk, water, bouillon cubes in a large stalk pot. Add salt and pepper, bring to a boil for about about 5 minutes. In a separate pan on medium-high heat melt butter, then add milk, flour and nutmeg. (I mixed the flour and nutmeg together before placing in the pot.) Whisk the flour mixture together until it thickens then add to stalk pot, stir often. Add cheese to stalk pot. Bring pot to a simmer until it slightly thickens, about 5 minutes stir often. Serve with a slice of your favorite bread.

Magnolia Bakery Cupcakes

This last weekend my Sister-in-laws and I were throwing our SIL a baby shower. We made these really delicious cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery in New York City. My SIL used to live in NYC so she would always go there just to get one of these cupcakes. She bought the cookbook so she could make them anytime after moving. Anyhow they are really good! You can make them with just a Vanilla Buttercream frosting or Chocolate Buttercream, I've had them both ways and let me tell you you can't go wrong.

TIP: My sis-in-law says the secret to making these cupcakes is to follow the directions EXACTLY and when you are beating the sugar into the butter make sure you beat it for exactly 3 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

(NOTE: These cupcakes don't rise like normal ones, they should kind of be flat on top. I thought I had made them wrong, but nope that's they way the should be.)

Vanilla Buttercream Icing
Makes enough for one 2-layer 9-inch cake or 2 dozen cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6-8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.
Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of a good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar.
If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing
Makes enough for one 2-layer 9-inch cake or 2 dozen cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 9 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cup sifted confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS
To melt the chocolate, place in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat for about 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally until completely smooth and no pieces of chocolate remain. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5-15 minutes, or until lukewarm.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the milk carefully and beat until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for 3 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat on low speed until creamy and of a desired consistency.

Rasberry-Peach Jam

1 (10-12 oz) package frozen red raspberries, thawed (should equal 1/2 c berries and 1/2 c plus a little of berry juice)
2 lbs firm, ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped (about 6 medium peaches)
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp unsalted butter
6 c sugar
3 oz liquid fruit pectin

Put raspberries and juice in 1 quart measuring cup. Add enough peaches to make 4 cups of fruit. Place fruit mixture in a large saucepan and add lemon juice, butter, and sugar. Mix well.

Place over high heat. Bring to a full, rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and quickly stir in fruit pectin. Stir and skim for 5 minutes to cool slightly and to prevent floating fruit.

Ladle quickly into hot, sterilized bottles, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe off any specks of jam from rim of each bottle. Put on lids and bands and process in water bath for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the jars from the hot water bath and listen for the lids (a.k.a. “seals”) to POP! to confirm the sealing.

Yields: 8 half pint jars

Tips & Notes:

1. Microwave lemons for 30-35 seconds and then roll on counter before squeezing the juice. This maximizes the juice extraction.
2. Boil peaches with peel on for 1 minute then immediately transfer peaches into an ice cold water bath to stop the cooking process. This makes the peaches easier to peel and will minimize the amount of fruit that is removed when peeling. Boiling the peaches also cleans them.
   
3. The lids or seals can only be used once for canning.

Slow Cooker Funeral Potatoes

32 ounce bag of frozen hash browns (I try to thaw them out a little bit before cooking them, so they mix better)
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 small onion chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 16 oz sour cream
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Mix all of the above into the slow cooker. I like to spray the slow cooker before putting it in so it doesn't stick.

Then top with:
1 1/2 to 2 cups herb seasoning stuffing mix
4-5 tbsp melted butter or margarine to moisten the stuffing
It's usually done in about 4-5 hours on High. I mix it all up about half way through so that the stuffing part mixes in. It makes a really good flavor.

Garlic Knots

4 tubes of refrigerated biscuits
1 cup oil
3 T. parmesan cheese
2 T. Italian seasoning
1/2 t. paprika
2 t. garlic salt

Combine cheese, oil, and seasonings in a large bowl. Cut each biscuit into 3rds. Roll each third inot a rope, and tie in a knot. Bake according to biscuit package directions being careful not to brown too much. After all biscuits are baked pour oil mixture over them, over and shake. Freeze at least overnight. To serve, reheat @ 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes or until heated through.

original recipe source: Brooke

Pumpkin Muffins

2 1/4 cup flour
1 t. baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 oil (or applesauce for low fat)
1/2 t. salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped cranberries (or nuts, raisins, etc)
your favorite white icing (I like dunkin hines cream cheese frosting)

Beat eggs until foamy; add sugar, oil, pumpkin, in order. Min in dry ingredients. Stir until fully moistened. Fold in berries. Bake @ 350 for 15-20 minutes. Cool and frost.

Note: I couldn't find plain pumpkin at the store so I bought Libby's pumpkin pie filling. We didn't add the pumpkin pie spice and the muffins still turned out great. The muffins were very dense and the chopped cranberries gave the muffin the perfect something "extra".

These babies are so great frosted or...

not frosted.



Original recipe source: Kelly

Pure Taco Heaven!

What you'll need...

3-4 Chicken breast-halves
Taco seasoning pk. (I like the original, ground beef seasoning. The chicken packet has a different flavor.)

Small Corn Tortillas
Mozzarella or Cheddar cheese

Toppings:
Mexican Rice (Click HERE for recipe!)
Lettuce
Tomato and/or Favorite Salsa
Crushed pineapple* (Mmm! Secret ingredient, gives taco a fresh new taste! It’s delicious!)
Green onions
Olives
Sour cream

1. Make Mamma Sue’s Mexican Rice

2. Cut chicken breasts into strips and cook with a little Olive Oil in a non-stick sauce pan. When chicken is done add package of taco seasoning, (fallow the directions.)

3. Heat soft corn tortilla in a bit of olive oil, then sprinkle with mozzarella or cheddar cheese and melt, yes this IS optional for all you non cheese lovers...

4. Grab a plate and start layering your taco! Add a scoop of Mexican rice (to tortilla with cheese) and then top with Chicken, lettuce, crushed pineapple, tomato, favorite salsa, green onions, olives, and sour cream.

5. Mmm! Enjoy and yes... go back for seconds!

Mamma Sue’s Mexican Rice

1 cup uncooked rice
1 T olive oil
4 oz. tomato sauce (can use spaghetti sauce, too.)
2 cups water

½ Finely chopped onion
1 or 2 Crushed garlic
(some times I'll add a little Italian seasoning...(strange i know, MEXICAN rice... but it makes it taste good. of maybe it's just the Italian in me...)
Salt
Pepper

In a non-stick sauce pan, lightly cook rice with olive oil on medium/ low heat. Add tomato sauce and water, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15-20 minutes, till nice and sticky!

Marble Cheesecake Squares

24 oreos, finely crushed (about 2 cups)

3 T butter melted

4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 square (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate for baking, melted

Mix crushed oreos and melted butter together. Press crumb mixture onto the bottom of stoneware bar pan or 9x13 dish. Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in sour cream until well blended. Remove 3/4 cup batter to small bowl. Stir in melted chocolate; set aside. Pour remaining batter over crust, carefully spreading to edges of pan. Place chocolate batter into a small sandwich bag and snip corner with scissors. Pipe chocolate batter in 5 legthwise stripes equal distance apart on top of batter. With a knif cut crosswise through batter several times for marble effect. Bake 18-20 minutes or until set at 350 degrees. Remove pan and place on a cooling rack. Cool bars to room temperature. Refridgerate. Cut into squares before serving.