Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

On Wednesdays we try to go to our Music Makers class, but since it was snowing, I decided to stay home. To entertain Josh (and our tummys) we made cookies. Josh loves to help me cook. He loves to help pour the ingredients into the bowl. And, if he's lucky, he gets to lick the spoon when we're done. Today's cookies are the Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies. I make them with the milk chocolate chips. Unfortunately, not all of the chocolate chips make it into the cookies :)

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups Chocolate Chips
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup unsifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Quick Fix for dinner...

Do you ever just have one of those days where you're really hungry, but just don't want to spend lots of time cooking? That's pretty much how today went. This is a quick and yummy dinner. I buy prepared pesto. Usually I only use 1/3 to 1/2 the pint-sized jar, so I freeze the remainder for later use. You can also try adding sun-dried tomatoes or grape tomatoes, cut in half. Serve with a salad and some garlic bread. Dinner in 15 minutes!

Creamy Pesto Chicken & Bowties

3 cups bowtie pasta, cooked
2 TBSP butter
1 lb boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup pesto sauce
½ cup milk

Heat butter in skillet. Add chicken, cook until browned, stirring often. Add soup, pesto and milk. Heat to boil. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Stir in past and heat through.

Granola

This is one of my family's favorite breakfast foods. My little boy Ty doesn't like breakfast very much, but he can't get enough of this granola. I love this granola because it has tons of oatmeal and wheat flour as well as yummy stuff like sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and craisins. It also fills you up for quite a while. I love that for my kids because then they are not begging me for food an hour after breakfast! This is also a good way to use some of those things in your food storage cans.

Granola

6 cups oats
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp. *toasted sesame seeds (I use more.)
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup flaked coconut (I omit this.)
1 cup powdered milk
1 cup dates, raisins or craisins

Sauce:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. maple flavor (I usually just put in a squirt or two of maple syrup.)

Mix the first seven ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir until well coated and pour on two baking sheets. Bake at 250 for 30 minutes. Stir once while baking.

*To toast sesame seeds put them in a skillet on the stove with nothing on them. Watch them so they don't burn. They give the granola an awesome flavor!

Broccoli Salad - yummy!

So truth be told, this has been one choatic week. If I actually took a picture of something that we ate, it would be from McDonald's, Arby's, or some other fast food. Really, it's been one of those weeks. I'm hoping that this week will quickly come to an end and I can start new next week. In the mean time, I was thinking of foods that I would love to make if I had the time. So I pulled up my current favorite salad recipe. It's Jan's recipe and Kraft Food's picture, so I can't take any credit (except I posted it, does that count?) Hope you enjoy!



Broccoli Salad
(Jan Petersen)

1 head broccoli
6 to 8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup raisins or craisins, optional
1/2 cup sliced almonds
8 ounces sharp Cheddar, cut into very small chunks
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Trim off the large leaves from the broccoli stem. Remove the tough stalk at the end and wash broccoli head thoroughly. Cut the head into flowerets and the stem into bite-size pieces. Place in a large bowl. Add the crumbled bacon, onion, amlnods, raisins, and cheese. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, stirring well. Add to broccoli mixture and toss gently.

Tools of the trade...

I've decided that I'm going to start showing my favorite kitchen tools. This week's favorite is my Silpat Baking Mat. They are an absolute must have for any baker. They make cleanup a breeze, and my baking sheets still look brand new after eight years. I wasn't sure if it would be worth the price (about $20 each), but I was wrong. They are definitely worth it. I'm even tempted to go buy two more.

To put my silpats to work this week, we had to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I would have pictures of those, but they don't last long enough for me to find the camera! Our favorite Oatmeal Cookie is found on the lid of Quaker Oatmeal. To be honest, I bet we make only half of the cookies. We eat the other half raw. I love Oatmeal Cookie Dough! - gross I know, but it's true!

Quaker Oatmeal Cookies

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins or milk chocolate chips (optional)
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in oats and, if desired, raisins/chocolate chips/nuts; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday, with all of the snow, I wanted to eat something ooey, gooey and warm. Cinnamon Rolls were the answer. Imagine sitting down in your jammies, under a blanket, with a gooey roll and a glass of milk watching the snow fall. Ahh - Heaven!

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (105-110˚)
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 cups all purpose flour

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2 ½ tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add sugar, salt, eggs, melted butter and flour. Mix well. Knead dough. Put in bowl, cover and let rise in warm place about 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.

Roll dough out onto lightly floured surface. Roll out until dough is approximately 21 x 16” and ¼” thick.
Combine filling ingredients – cinnamon and sugar. Spread softened butter onto dough. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly on top of butter.
Working from the top, roll dough down to bottom edge. Cut into 1 ¾” slices. Place on greased baking pan. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
Bake at 400˚ for 10minutes or until light brown. Frost when you pull out of oven.

Frosting:

8 TBSP butter, softened
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
¼ cup cream cheese, softened
½ tsp vanilla (or almond extract)
1/8 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients. Beat well. Spread onto freshly baked cinnamon rolls.

Chicken & Corn Chowder

I woke up on Saturday with a cold. Nothing makes a cold go away like a bowl of Chicken soup. Since I'm not a fan of Chicken soup, I thought I'd try a recipe from an old Williams Sonoma catalog - Chicken and Corn Chowder. I thought it turned out pretty good. The consistancy is thinner than I like in a chowder, so I added a little cornstarch in the end. If you don't cook with wine, substitute more chicken broth. Next time, I would probably decrease the amount of thyme (a little too much for my taste).

Chicken & Corn Chowder
(Williams Sonoma)

4 bacon slices, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
3/4 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
6 green onions, white and pale green parts, thinly sliced
3 Tbs. minced fresh thyme
2 1/2 cups half-and-half
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Cook the bacon: In a saucepan over medium heat, fry the bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 3 Tbs. of the fat from the pan.

Cook the vegetables and chicken: Add the bell pepper, corn and potatoes to the same pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the peppers are just softened and the corn and potatoes are lightly tinged with gold, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the broth and wine and bring to a boil. Cover and cook until the potatoes are almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and cook, covered, until opaque throughout, 5 to 7 minutes.

Finish the chowder: Stir in the green onions, thyme and half-and-half. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until heated through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the chowder into bowls, sprinkle with the bacon and serve immediately. Serves 4.

***I had this again the nest day for lunch. I decided to sprinkle some grated cheese on top. YUMMY! I definitely recommend this!

Going out to eat - At home...

Ryan and I love a good steak dinner. One of our favorite restaurants is Corbin's Grille in Layton. We seem to always get the same thing...Rib-eye steaks with peppercorn sauce and mushroom risotto. I would consider it heaven on a plate!

I saw the recipe for Corbin's Peppercorn Sauce on GTU. So we thought we could try to make it at home. Luckily, it turned out just as good. We also found a risotto recipe that is very similar. Now we make this for special occasions or if we're in the mood for a good meal. The mushroom risotto is a hands on dish - lots of stirring! It takes patience, but definetly worth every bite!

Pan Seared Beef Tenderloin with Peppercorn Cream Sauce

(Corbin’s Grille)

8 Beef tenderloin steaks 4 oz each

1/4 cup olive oil (used to pan sear steaks with)

1/4 cup brandy

3 TBSP canned green peppercorns

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups beef stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

Soak 3 TBSP of canned green peppercorns in 1/4 cup brandy for 3 hours.

Season the meat to be cooked with salt and pepper. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a sauté pan until hot. A drop of water should dance around in it before evaporating. Add the seasoned steaks and cook until desired doneness. Remove the steaks from the pan and set aside.

Add the brandy soaked peppercorns to the oil and drippings in the sauté pan. Flame the brandy or cook until it is almost gone. Stir in the flour, turn down the heat to low and stir continuously making a roux. Cook for 2-3 minutes and add in beef stock. Stir with a wire whisk until all lumps are gone. Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and stir in until well blended. Pour over steaks or serve on the side. Makes 3 cups. (serves 4)

***Use on any steak. We prefer rib eyes.

Mushroom Risotto

6 cups chicken broth
3 TBSP olive oil, divided
1 pound Portobello mushrooms, sliced thin
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced thin
2 shallots, diced
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
Sea salt to tast
Freshly ground black pepper to tast
3 TBSP chives, finely chopped
4 TBSP butter
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

In a saucepan, warm the broth over low heat.

Warm 2 TBSP olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and their liquid, and set aside.

Add 1 TBSP olive oil to skillet, and stir in the shallots. Cook 1 minute. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed. Add ½ cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth ½ cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir in mushrooms with their liquid, butter, chives, and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.