Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

For my husband's birthday last month, Aubrey and I surprised him by visiting him at work with a dozen cupcakes to share with his office.  I wanted to do something different and I was inspired by a new drink that my sister and her husband introduced us to - a cocktail of orange Fanta and whipped vodka.  The cupcakes were a little more acceptable for the office, although I'm sure the vodka would have been appreciated!

The recipe is a combination of a few different sources - I adapted the recipe on I Heart Cuppycakes who adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes and Dulcedo.  The cake is really moist and don't skip the orange zest because it adds so much flavor and I love seeing the little bits of zest in the cake.  The marshmallow cream is a great addition to these cupcakes, it really gives it the creamsicle flavor instead of just an orange cupcake. 

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from I Heart Cuppycakes

Cupcakes:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 T citrus olive oil

1 cup sugar

2 T vanilla

2 eggs

Zest of 1 orange

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with paper liners.  (This made 16 cupcakes for me.)

Combine butter, olive oil and sugar and mix on medium high speed about three minutes until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs and mix about one more minute until well incorporated.  Stir in orange zest.  In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Separately combine heavy cream and orange juice.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the cream mixture and repeat, finishing with the flour.  Mix until just incorporated after each addition. 

Scoop batter into prepared liners, filling about 2/3 of the way full.  Bake about twenty minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pans about five minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Marshmallow Cream Filling:

7 oz marshmallow fluff

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Cut butter into small pieces and add to fluff in a mixing bowl.  Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy.  Cut a small cone shape into the top of each cupcake and spoon marshmallow cream into wells allowing the cream to puddle on top of the cupcake slightly.  (Don't add too much, when you add the buttercream, it will cause the cream to move out toward the edges of the cupcakes.)

Orange Buttercream:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/8 - 1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed

Zest of 1 orange

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Add orange juice, zest, and vanilla and mix until well combined.  Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing until incorporated to reach desired consistency.  Whip on medium high speed about two minutes until smooth and creamy.  Transfer to a piping bag fitted with desired tip and pipe onto cupcakes. 

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Lately anything that can be made in five minutes or with one hand is what I'm making for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  These smoothies fit the bill - with a bonus that I only need one hand to drink it too.  Things involving forks and knives haven't been happening too often lately. 

This "recipe" is more of a method, you can change out the fruit to whatever you like best.  The yogurt is a must have for me - but feel free to use plain or vanilla or even another flavor if you prefer - but it really adds to the creamy smooth texture of the smoothie.  I also always combine fruit juice and milk instead of just milk to add some extra flavor.  Orange juice is my favorite but I also sometimes use cranberry juice - it's especially good with blueberries in your smoothie.  My final tip is frozen berries - using frozen berries means you don't have to add ice.  Your smoothie will have so much more flavor if you use frozen fruit instead of ice which dilutes the smoothie.  Occasionally I use frozen banana too - it's a great way to use up bananas that are almost past their prime, peel them, cut them into big chunks and freeze in a Ziploc bag and then use throw them in smoothies.

If you want to add some extra protein to your smoothie, mix in a scoop of protein powder and its a great post workout snack.  I prefer to mix the milk, OJ and powder by itself before adding the fruit because I think it gets rid of the grittiness that can sometimes result from adding protein powder to things.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

8-10 large frozen strawberries
1 banana
1/2 cup milk (I use skim)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for about two minutes until smooth.  Pour and serve.  This makes 2-4 smoothies depending on the serving, for breakfast I usually split this between my husband and I, as a snack, it would serve four.

A Little Leprechaun's Pot of Gold Cake

So having a new baby has been an excuse to celebrate all the little holidays, "it's her first..." has commonly been my rationale.  So making a St. Patrick's Day cake - for a 1 month old baby who can't eat it - didn't seem at all over the top in my mind.  Especially when I had a great idea for a cake to try.  Now if only I could celebrate with things like baby carrots and salad maybe I would be more prepared for Aubrey's first trip to the beach but we'll get there -- and let's be honest, cake is way more fun than carrots and salad. 

  

This cake was a spin off of this cookies and cream cake I made for my husband last year for his birthday.  I tried these Golden Oreos at my in-laws house a couple of months ago and thought they were delicious.  When I saw the spring Oreos in the store the other day, I thought they were cute with the green filling but my mind went back to these.  

This yellow cake recipe isnt the usual one I use, simply because I wanted something quick and this one didn't require beating the egg whites and folding them in separately and also used buttermilk and all purpose flour rather than cake flour.  The result - a quick easy yellow cake recipe, it works great in this instance because its not too soft to hold up to the filling.  

Pot of Gold Cake

Cake:
Recipe from The Modern Baker
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8" cake pans with baking spray or butter and flour and line with parchment paper and spray paper. 

Cream together butter and sugar in a mixing bowl on medium speed about 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing about 1 minute after each addition until well incorporated.  Add half of the flour, half of the baking powder and the salt.  Mix on low speed until just incorporated.  Add buttermilk and mix until incorporated and add remaining flour and baking powder.  Increase the speed to medium and beat an additional 2 minutes. 

Divide batter evenly between pans and bake about 25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then turn out on wire racks, flip them over so they are top side up.  Cool completely then slice each cake layer in half horizontally to make 4 thin layers and assemble.

Golden Oreo Cream Filling
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 package Golden Oreo cookies, crushed

Process cookies in a food processer until they are fine crumbs.  Add heavy cream to a cold mixing bowl (putting the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes prior to mixing will speed up the process) fitted with the whisk attachment and beat 2-3 minutes until cream forms stiff peaks.  Add vanilla extract and blend until mixed.  Gently fold in crushed cookies.  Add 1/3 of the cream mixture in between each layer of cake.

Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 T heavy cream
3 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add vanilla and cream and mix until well incorporated.  Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing on low speed until frosting reaches desired thickness.  Increase speed to medium and whip about 1 minute until smooth.  Tint with gel food coloring as desired and frost cake.  Cover and refrigerate cake if not serving within a couple of hours.

Chipotle Chicken Sliders

Well here's an idea of how far behind I am on blogging -- I actually made these sliders for the Superbowl.  The fact that it's a month later and I'm just now getting around to posting them says nothing about the quality of these sliders but is really just an idea of how crazy my life has been.  Truthfully, I've got even more recipes to post that I made well before these. 

I love sliders -- they are the perfect size for a party so you don't have to commit to just eating a burger.  I quickly made these sliders because I had an open can of chipotles in adobo from my chipotle chicken pasta that I wanted to use some more of rather than freezing.  I used a nice sharp cheddar cheese to top these but I think a monterey jack or pepper jack cheese would also be delicious.  Get some nice fresh rolls from a bakery for these - I used some sourdough rolls that were great.  A little red onion and a cilantro lime mayo are the finishing touches for a great little sandwich.

Chipotle Chicken Sliders

Burgers:
2 T olive oil
1 pound ground chicken
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped + 1 T of the sauce
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
8 rolls
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
8 thin slices of red onion

Mayo:

1/2 cup mayo
1 T lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro
Chop cilantro finely and stir into mayo with lime juice and set aside. 


Preheat a grill pan or skillet over medium high heat and add oil.  Combine all remaining ingredients except rolls, cheese, and onion slices in a large bowl, gently mix until just combined.  Divide mix into eight equal portions and form into small patties, thinning just slightly in the center.  Transfer patties to hot pan, cooking about 2-3 minutes per side until cooked through. 

Meanwhile preheat broiler on low.  On a large sheet pan, cut rolls in half and lay out evenly.  Add burgers and cheese to bottom of rolls.  Broil until cheese is melted and rolls are golden brown.  Spread tops of rolls with mayo and top burgers with onion slices and serve.

King Cake

First of all, I want to say thank you if you are still reading my blog - sorry for the three week interruption in posting but we've been a little busy.  Three weeks ago we welcomed our daughter, Aubrey to the world.  She was born at just over eight pounds the night before Valentine's Day.  Since then life has been an amazing mix of staring at our beautiful baby girl, family and friends visiting and a little sleep deprivation so I haven't spent much time in the kitchen.  I promise I won't turn this into a blog about Aubrey but I have to share a couple pictures to introduce my little girl. 

Photo by Dede Holman Photography

Photo by Dede Holman Photography

As for a recipe - I finally got around to making a king cake yesterday... something that's been on my list of things to make for at least two years.  I always seemed to run out of time during Mardi Gras "season" but got one made just in time this year.  We get a few king cakes delivered to the office every year at work which is where I originally discovered this treat.  It's essentially like a giant cinnamon roll but baked into a ring-shaped cake and decorated with bright purple, yellow and green sugars for festive Mardi Gras flavor.

The dough itself is an easy yeast recipe but it does take a little time.  The initial mixing is very simple but make sure to allow about three hours total for rising time.  The filling is a slightly modified cinnamon and sugar mixture spiked with a little bourbon and raisins.  The icing adds a tart lemon flavor which is a nice mix with the sweetness of the powdered sugar.

King Cake

Recipe adapted from All Recipes

Dough:

1/2 cup half and half

2 T butter

1 package active dry yeast (.25 ounce)

1/3 cup warm water (approx 110 degrees F)

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour plus more for rolling
Zest of 1 lemon

Scald half and half over medium heat, remove from heat and add butter.  While mixture cools, stir together warm water, yeast and 1 T of the sugar in bowl of a stand mixer and let stand until foamy.  When half and half mixture is cooled, add to yeast mixture.  Add remaining sugar and egg and beat until well incorporated.  Add salt, nutmeg and flour one cup at a time.  Stir in lemon zest and switch to dough hook attachment.  Knead with dough hook for about 5-7 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.  It will still be fairly sticky.  Oil a deep bowl and transfer dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until doubled in size. 

Filling:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 T cinnamon

1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
2 T bourbon
1/2 cup raisins

Combine bourbon and raisins in a small bowl and set aside.  Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon and flour and then stir in melted butter. 

Punch down dough and turn out onto a heavily floured surface.  Roll dough out into a large rectangle about 12x16 inches.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread filling mixture over dough in a thin layer leaving about a one inch edge free around the whole rectangle.  Drain raisins and sprinkle over filling.  Begin rolling dough like a jelly roll from the wide edge.  Roll tightly and transfer to baking sheet.  Form dough into an oval, seam side down and pinch edges to seal.  Using a sharp knife or cooking scissors, cut slices into top of dough about every two inches approximately 1/3 of the way through dough.  Cover with a towel and let rise an additional 45 minutes in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake approximately 30 minutes until golden brown. 

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

2 T lemon juice

2 T half and half

3/4 cup demerara sugar

Food coloring in green, yellow and purple

Whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice and half and half until smooth.  Pour over cooled king cake.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and a couple drops of yellow food coloring and stir together.  Transfer to a small bowl or plate.  Add 1/4 cup sugar and a couple drops of green food coloring and stir together.  Transfer to a small bowl or plate.  Add last cup of sugar and purple food coloring and stir to combine.  Sprinkle sugar over icing as desired.

Breakfast in Bed for Your Valentine

Take advantage of the weekend this year and make your sweetheart breakfast in bed.  But take a couple of shortcuts so you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get it done.  These recipes can be made in advance the night before and then just pop them in the oven when you're ready to make them. 

This first recipe is one that we make all the time in my family for holidays and I have to admit that we change up the add-ins pretty much every time we make it.  But the basics stay the same.  This makes a big 9x13 casserole so you may want to cut the recipe back for just a couple people or you'll be eating breakfast casserole for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  This is how we made it on Christmas morning this year.  The recipe was originally adapted from old cookbook that my mom has had for years that I believe was put together by local women as a fundraiser for the country club about 30 years ago. 

Ham and Swiss Breakfast Casserole
Family recipe

8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
8 slices sandwich bread
2 cups thawed frozen spinach
1 roasted red pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz ham, cut into 1/2" chunks
8 oz Swiss cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (if you are going to bake right away).  Spray a 9x13 casserole pan with cooking spray or grease with butter.  In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and milk together.  Add salt and pepper and set aside. 

Cut or tear the bread into about one inch pieces and toss in the pan.  Add vegetables, make sure your frozen spinach is well drained - add it to a double layer of paper towels and wrap it up and squeeze out all the water.  Add garlic and ham and toss everything together in the pan.  Pour egg mixture over the top, pushing everything down if it floats up.  Top with grated cheese.  At this point, you can cover the casserole with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight if desired.

Bake covered for about 30 minutes, remove foil and continue baking an additional 15 to 30 minutes until casserole is set and golden brown.  Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting. 

Some other recipes to try or serve along with your casserole:

Strawberry Scones

Creme Brulee French Toast Casserole

Cinnamon Crunch Coffee Cake

Oatmeal Peach Scones



Cranberry Orange Muffins

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Monkey Bread




Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread

Enjoy -- Happy Valentine's Day!

Soft Pretzels with Jalapeno Cheese Sauce

Well the Superbowl didn't have the outcome that I was hoping for, my team had too many turnovers, I wasn't a fan of the halftime show and the commercials weren't anything exciting, but the food was good at least.  For me these soft pretzels were the highlight of the night.

I debated between a couple different recipes - one from Baking Illustrated and one from Alton Brown.  Although similar the main differences were in the type of flour and the type of sweetener.  The Baking Illustrated recipe used bread flour which has a higher gluten content and therefore creates a chewier dough.  Pretzels are supposed to be chewy so I decided to stick with the bread flour.  The Baking Illustrated recipe also used honey and after reading their explanation, I decided to go with that - it also meant I didn't have to open a package of brown sugar for a couple tablespoons - so it made it a fairly easy decision.  The other key to the recipe which both versions did is to boil the pretzels in a baking soda solution, so make sure you don't skip this step.

The pretzels are best eaten the day they are made or you can freeze them right away and then warm in the oven when you want them.  Don't store them in a covered container on your counter top though or they will end up a little soggy.

I made a simple spicy, garlicky cheese sauce to dip these in because it sounded good and I was already chopping jalapenos and garlic for guacamole and sliders that I was making.  It turned out to be a great dipping sauce for the pretzels adding a spicy kick to the slightly sweet and salty pretzel dough.  They would also be good with mustard or a cheddar cheese sauce.  Of course you can also sub cinnamon and sugar for the salt sprinkled on before baking and make more dessert-like pretzels if you prefer.

Soft Pretzels
Recipe slightly adapted from Baking Illustrated

Dough:
1 package rapid-rise yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt
3 cups bread flour (16 1/2 ounces)
1 cup water, at approximately 110 degrees
Approximately 1 T olive oil

Baking Soda Solution:
Approximately 6 cups water
3 T baking soda
Salt for sprinkling on pretzels

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine all ingredients for the dough.  Make sure you are using rapid rise yeast, or you will need to proof your yeast before mixing.  Mix on low speed until combined and then knead about 5-7 minutes on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Prepare a separate bowl by coating with olive oil, transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat evenly.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about one hour or until doubled in size.  Punch dough down, recover and let rise approximately 30 minutes more.

In a large low pan (a 12" skillet with deep sides or a small dutch oven will work perfectly) bring water and baking soda to a boil over medium high heat.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Separate dough into 12 approximately 2 ounce pieces.  Roll each piece into a long string, about 20 inches in length.  Fold pretzels into shape, twisting the ends over each other and pressing lightly to seal dough into shape.  Transfer pretzels, a few at a time to boiling water, cook 30 seconds on each side, turning with a slotted spoon, drain and transfer to prepared baking pan.  Sprinkle with coarse salt and repeat until all the pretzels have been boiled.  They don't need much room on the baking sheet as they won't spread much in the oven.  Bake approximately 12-14 minutes until dark golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool and serve.

Jalapeno Cheese Sauce

1 T unsalted butter
1 T flour
3/4 cup milk
1 clove garlic, finely grated or minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely minced
1 cup Colby Jack cheese
1/2 -1 tsp cayenne pepper

In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add flour and whisk to combine, cooking about one minute until smooth.  Add milk, whisking to incorporate.  Add garlic and jalapeno.  Switch to a wooden spoon and stir frequently until thickened, about 15 minutes.  The sauce should begin to coat the back of the spoon.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese.  Add cayenne pepper to taste. 

Steelers are going to the Superbowl!

Here we go, Steelers, here we go!

Obviously this is old news but I'm a little behind on starting this Superbowl recipe post.  Since half the fun of the Superbowl is making a bunch of appetizers and snacking all day (at least that's half the fun for me) I've got some great recipes to share with you. 

To start off - here are six recipes from the archives in honor of each of the Steelers past Superbowl victories!

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball

Beer Cheese Fondue

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Since the Steelers are attempting to win their 7th championship game, here's a 7th recipe for spicy sausage pizza roulade. 

This recipe is really easy and essentially a rolled up pizza, so you can change up the filling to whatever your favorite pizza toppings are.  I would recommend staying away from things with a high water content though, like pineapple if it's on the top of your list, so that you don't end up with soggy bread.  You can use any bread dough you want for this - a standard pizza crust from scratch or even roll out a dough like Pillsbury's French bread dough, they even have one that doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup or trans fats.  That's what I used for this one since I didn't have any pizza dough ready to go and I had a coupon to try their Simply Rustic French bread dough. 

Spicy Sausage Pizza Roulade

12 oz hot ground Italian sausage
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pizza or french bread dough
1 tsp pizza seasoning
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded pizza or mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 T butter, softened
1 tsp garlic powder
Pizza sauce for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with baking spray or line with parchment paper.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add sausage and crumble as it browns.  After about 2 minutes, add onions, peppers and garlic.  Cook until sausage is just cooked through and vegetables are softened.  Remove from heat and drain any grease off the sausage.  Lightly flour a smooth counter surface and roll out dough into a large rectangle, about 12x18 inches.  Evenly sprinkle pizza seasoning and crushed red pepper flakes over dough.  Spoon sausage mixture onto bottom third to half of the long edge of the dough, leaving an edge of about one inch open at the outside.  Next add cheeses directly next to the sausage mixture on the 2nd third of the dough, a little overlap is fine.  The final third should be open. 

Begin rolling from sausage side, rolling the dough gently into a long tube.  Pinch the seams to seal the dough and place the dough seam side down on prepared pan.  Fold the ends under slightly, pinching to seal the ends.  Bake about 25 minutes and remove from oven.  Add garlic powder to melted butter and brush over the top of the bread dough and return to the oven for about five more minutes until golden brown.  Cool at least 5-10 minutes before slicing into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Serve with warmed pizza sauce.

Chipotle Chicken Pasta

Have you ever used the chipotle in adobo peppers you can usually find the Mexican or ethnic aisle of your grocery store?  I absolutely love them.  They have such awesome flavor.  I add them to chili, salsa, taco meat, and all kinds of things.  The adobo sauce adds such a great smoky heat.  Chipotles in adobo are dried, smoked jalapeno peppers cooked in a sauce of spices like cumin and garlic among other things, vinegar, tomato sauce and ancho chilis, there is often a little brown sugar added too. They are spicier than a jalapeno though so be careful.  If they are too hot for you, you can scrape out the seeds to cut down on the heat.  The ones I buy come in a small can that looks like this.

As for this pasta, I wanted a spicy pasta with a light cream sauce.  I added lots of bell peppers, onions, and cilantro to give it extra flavor.  I let the chicken marinate in a little lime juice, cilantro and spices for about half an hour before cooking it to give it some extra flavor.  I used whole wheat pasta to make it a little healthier.  I've cut back on the chipotles in this recipe from the way I made it the first time.  Although I was fine with using three chipotle peppers, my husband thought it was just too spicy so I would start with one pepper and taste it along the way.  That way you get the flavor but adjust the heat to suit your own tastes.  I didn't take out the seeds.  Remember though that it will get a little hotter as it cooks.  I used farfalle or bowtie pasta but feel free to substitute whatever shortcut pasta you would like.  This makes a lot of pasta - about 8-10 servings.

Chipotle Chicken Pasta

2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)

1/4 cup lime juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1 tsp ancho chili powder

1 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

1 lb farfalle pasta

1 large red bell pepper, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 red onion, diced

1 chipotle pepper + 1 T of adobo sauce, minced

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Trim fat from chicken breasts and cut into bite-size pieces.  Combine lime juice, 1/2 of minced garlic, 1/2 of cilantro, chili powder, and salt and mix together.  Pour over chicken to coat and marinate chicken about 30 minutes. 

Heat a large pot of water to boiling.  Add generous amount of salt and add pasta.  Cook according to package directions until al dente.  Drain and set aside.  Meanwhile, add olive oil to large saute pan and heat over medium heat.  Add chicken, bell peppers, onions and remaining garlic and cook about 6-8 minutes until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are softened.  Add chicken stock and chipotle pepper and adobo sauce and cook until stock is reduced by about 1/3.  Reduce heat to low and add cream and cheese.  Stir to combine and return pasta to sauce pan and toss to evenly coat with sauce.  Cook about 5 minutes and top with remaining cilantro and serve.

We have a winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my contest this week to win a copy of Michael Chiarello's cookbook Bottega and some lemon-pepper panko breadcrumbs to try courtesy of General Mills and MyBlogSpark.  Thank you to all of you for reading and following my blog!

There were 48 comments telling me about what they would make with panko breadcrumbs -- I got a few new ideas to use from them.  I chose the winner via a random number generator and the winning number was entry number seven.

Amber from Texas Tales said...
How exciting! I love exploring new recipes and reading cookbooks. Would love to win. In the meantime, I'll have to try out these panko bread crumbs. I enjoy cooking our tilapia or catfish in seasoned bread crumbs, and it might be time to mix it up a little!

Amber - I think you'll like the panko -- it will make an extra crispy crust on your fish!  Enjoy the cookbook and thank you for reading my blog!  I've sent you an email with the details. 

Carrot Cake

So for at least the past week I have been wanting carrot cake -- I'm not sure why but I'm chalking it up to pregnancy cravings.  I finally had a halfway decent excuse to make one since we were having friends over for dinner.  While I love the carrot cake cupcakes I've made in the past, I wanted to try a new recipe that used pineapple since I had some crushed pineapple in the fridge that I needed to use up.  (The cupcakes are a great recipe to try if you prefer your carrot cake sans additions.)  It was an excellent decision, I found an Ina Garten recipe that used pineapple (although it called for fresh but I subbed in the canned that I already had) and it also added in raisins and walnuts (although I made another substitution and used pecans since I had those in the pantry).  Just make sure if you do use canned pineapple that you get the kind packed in its own juice not heavy syrup, you don't need to add extra sugar to the recipe.  It turned out to be really moist and topped with a cream cheese frosting, a perfect choice to satisfy my craving.

This cake is really forgiving, there's no complicated mixing instructions, you don't have to sift flour and most of the ingredients you probably have on hand.  I also added some extra spices to the recipe.  It originally called for cinnamon but I added some ginger and nutmeg as well.  A thick cream cheese frosting is always a good combination for carrot or other spice cakes and is really easy to whip up.  I used my normal cream cheese frosting which has a 1:1 ratio of cream cheese to butter.  To that, I add vanilla, milk or cream and powdered sugar.  Make sure you whip the frosting really well to incorporate plenty of air, this will help give it a light texture and make it the right consistency to frost your cake.  I did end up with about an extra cup of frosting even after converting this from a 2-layer to 3-layer cake. 

The original instructions were to use 2 8-inch pans but unless your cake pans are deeper than standard cake pans, I think you would have overflow problems, I split it into 3 8-inch pans and thought the layers were still pretty substantial.  They do bake up pretty flat so there was no trimming required to assemble.

Carrot Cake
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten via Food Network

Cake:
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups canola or vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour, plus 1 T
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
1 pound carrots, peeled and grated
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour three 8-inch round cake pans (or you can use baking spray) and line with parchment paper if desired (I didn't and it came out just fine but with a more delicate cake or if I'm not just making it for myself, I usually do). 

Combine sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and mix on medium speed for about two minutes until light yellow in color.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt and whisk together.  Add to mixing bowl and mix on low speed until just incorporated.  Batter will be pretty thick at this point.  Toss raisins and pecans with remaining one tablespoon of flour.  Fold raisins, pecans, carrots and pineapple into batter until well distributed.   Divide batter evenly among pans and bake about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pans about ten minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 

Frosting:
1 package cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat), at room temperature
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 T milk
1 pound powdered sugar

Combine cream cheese and butter in mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed about three minutes until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and first three tablespoons of milk and mix on low to incorporate.  Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing on low until incorporated.  Increase speed and whip about two minutes, adding additional milk if necessary to reach desired consistency.  When cakes are completely cool, spread about 1/4 of the frosting on top of the first layer, spread evenly, top with 2nd layer, add another 1/4 of the frosting and top with remaining layer.  Add a generous amount of frosting to the top of the cake and smooth working out with a spatula to the edges and down the sides of the cake. 

A Giveaway and an Easy Weeknight Dinner

***This contest is now closed - Thank you for participating!***

Well it's a good thing I didn't make a New Year's resolution to blog more often -- oh wait I did that??  FAIL!  These last couple of weeks have really just gotten away from me.  In a bit of good news, I have gotten a lot done, work has been busy, the nursery is finished and all the baby's laundry is cleaned and put away, and my freezer is full of meals frozen for easy dinners once she arrives.  So there's my excuse.  To make it up to you -- here's a GIVEAWAY for a beautiful cookbook, Bottega by Michael Chiarello Chef Chiarello is the host of Easy Entertaining on the Food Network and chef at Bottega Napa Valley Restaurant.  Along with this great cookbook, you'll also receive a box of the Progresso Lemon-Pepper Panko Breadcrumbs that I used in the recipe below to try out.

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment at the bottom of this post telling me what you would like to try to make or what your favorite dish using panko breadcrumbs is.  For a second chance to win, "like" Homemade by Holman on Facebook by clicking on the link in the side bar of this page and leave a separate comment telling me you're a fan.  All entries must be made before Tuesday, January 25 at 6 pm Eastern and must include a valid email address to be eligible. 

Speaking of the recipe... I promised a quick and easy dinner and this definitely meets those qualifications.  You can have all this ready to go in about twenty minutes.  If you have never used panko breadcrumbs before, they make a much crisper breading than traditional breadcrumbs.  I generally just buy the unflavored variety in the grocery store and season them up as needed but these lemon-pepper flavored breadcrumbs work great with the pesto pasta.  In the interest of full disclosure, I had pesto on hand when I decided to make this as I made a big batch this fall when I had an abundance of basil from the garden and froze it.  But pesto is really easy to make and only takes a few minutes, so I've included the recipe below (although this will make more than you need but you can freeze the extra.)  You can also find pesto in the grocery store if you want a pre-made version.

Lemon Pepper Panko Crusted Chicken with Pesto Pasta

Serves 4

Chicken:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and cut into 4 pieces

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

3 T olive oil

Pasta:

8 oz spaghetti (I used whole wheat)

1/4 cup pesto sauce

Salt

Pesto:
1 cup packed basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil (if desired, you can cook directly on the baking sheet but foil makes for extra easy cleanup).  For the chicken, set up two wide shallow dishes for the breading process.  In one dish, beat egg and add milk, salt and pepper and whisk to combine.  In the second dish, add breadcrumbs.  Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness approximately 1/2" thick.  Dip each piece in the egg mixture, coating both sides and letting any excess drip off before transferring to the breadcrumbs.  Coat both sides, lightly pressing the breadcrumbs into the chicken to ensure they are well-coated.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add chicken breasts and cook about 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown.  Transfer to baking sheet and continue cooking in the oven until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

For the pasta, heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  Generously add salt and add pasta to boiling water.  Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions.  Drain and toss with pesto sauce.

For the pesto, combine basil, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, slowly stream in olive oil with processor running until uniform. Stir in cheese and pour over pasta.

Please note: Giveaway provided by General Mills via MyBlogSpark.  Although these products were provided to me free of charge, the opinions above are my own and are not influenced by General Mills or MyBlogSpark.

Cranberry - Orange Muffins

So as it turns out, the very last thing I baked in 2010 ended up being one of my favorites.  I made these cranberry-orange muffins for breakfast on New Year's Eve and they were delicious.  I've been meaning to try them ever since we had a breakfast tailgate for a football game a couple of months ago and we had some muffins from a local bakery here in town.  I hate to brag, but I think mine were better.  This has convinced me once again that I need to make more recipes from The Pastry Queen cookbook.  Everything I've made out of it so far has been delicious. 

The recipe in the cookbook is for "Essence of Orange Muffins" but as suggested, I added fruit.  I used frozen cranberries (like pumpkin I tend to stock up around Thanksgiving when they go on sale).  You could substitute fresh or dried cranberries as well.  I also used an equal ratio of orange juice to milk instead of 2:1 as the recipe suggested and added a little cinnamon and ginger.  I also decided to skip the glaze and topped half with demerara or turbinado sugar and left half plain.  The extra sugar gives the tops a nice sweet crunch so I recommend adding it.  This is one baked good that its fine to use skim or 2% milk instead of whole milk without any issues as well.  I used skim milk and light sour cream with no problems. 

I baked these in a jumbo size muffin pan and the recipe yielded 12 muffins. 

Cranberry - Orange Muffins
Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen cookbook

3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup fresh/frozen cranberries, roughly chopped
Demerara sugar (about a tsp per muffin)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin tins with baking spray or line with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine milk, orange juice, sour cream, eggs, and butter and whisk until well combined.  In another mixing bowl, add sugar and orange zest.  Use your fingers to rub orange zest into the sugar until distributed and fragrant.  Add in flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.  Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated.  Fold in the cranberries.

Spoon batter into prepared pans (I use an ice cream scoop to make it easier) and fill each muffin cup about 2/3 of the way full.  Sprinkle about one teaspoon of demerara sugar over the top of each muffin.  Bake about 20 - 25 minutes until the tops are golden brown and spring back lightly to the touch.  Cool in pans about 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.