Paula Deen's Chocolate Trifle

The same episode I was watching when Paula Deen made the cheese biscuits featured here, she also made this cookie chocolate trifle. I have been waiting for a good excuse to make this and when we had our dinner party last week I thought it was the perfect opportunity. Oh my! It is definitely decadent and so good and feeds a crowd.  The 5 adults and 2 kids didn't even make a dent and I took it the next night to a BBQ and we still didn't finish it off. 

It is so, so good!  Paula Deen serves this in her Lady and Sons restaurant.

Today's Ingredients:

3 eggs

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 pound light brown sugar

2 cups self-rising flour

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups chopped peanuts, plus more for layering

    -(I did another cup for layering)

8 oz. chocolate chips

1 cup shredded coconut, optional (unsweetened)

2 (3.4) oz. packages cook-and-serve chocolate pudding mix

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate sauce, for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

Beat together the eggs and butter.

Add the brown sugar, and then gradually add the flour and mix well. 

Stir in the vanilla.

Fold in the nuts, chocolate chips, and coconut, if using.

Spread the batter in the 9x13 pan and bake for 50-55 min.  Cool.

The original recipe calls for 25-30 min., but my middle was gooey

after that amount of time and 55 total min. worked better. 

While the brownie is cooking.  Make the whipped cream and pudding.

For the whipped cream beat together the cream and powdered sugar.

When it's pretty stiff then you know it's done.

Make the pudding according to the package and let cool.  Why cooked

pudding instead of instant?  The only reason I can think of is because

it's thicker and probably won't make the brownie as soggy.  I wouldn't

substitute the instant in this dessert.

Once the brownie has cooled, crumble into chunks.

Scatter 1/3 of the brownies into a glass bowl

(a trifle bowl if you have one).

Spoon half the pudding over the brownies.

Spoon half the whipped cream over the pudding and scatter another

one-third crumbled brownie.  Sprinkle with some chopped peanuts.

Spoon the remaining half pudding and whipped cream, and sprinkle

with some more peanuts.  Layer the remaining one-third brownie and

drizzle with chocolate sauce (optional).

I did not use the chocolate sauce - it is rich enough as it is and

decided to add the last layer of peanuts on top of the top layer of

brownie instead of underneath it.

This dessert is sure to impress!

Chocolate Trifle Printable Recipe Link

Meatless Mondays: Creamy Rice Casserole

We had a dinner party this past weekend for some of my husband's high school friends and I decided to make this.  Mainly because it cooked in the oven and looked super easy.  The hardest part is the roasting the chiles part, which my husband did so I didn't have to.

We roast our chiles on the grill, just until they are charred on all sides and then put them in a plastic bag for about 10 minutes.  Cut the chile lengthwise and lay flat, pull off the stem and scrape out the seeds.  Turn it over and scrape or peel off the skin.  Poblanos are very common and your grocery store should have them.  They are quite large so 2 should do it and I feel that extra chile never hurt anything.  Poblanos are super mild and have a really good flavor.

This is a great side dish or cook up some pinto beans and you have a complete meal which we've also done with the leftovers.

Today's Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup chopped roasted mild green chile, poblano or New Mexican, fresh or frozen
3 cups cooked rice, preferably cooked in chicken stock or vegetable stock
4 oz. asadero or Monterey jack cheese, grated
1/2 cup Crema (see below), creme fraiche, or sour cream
3 tablespoons minches fresh cilantro
Salt to taste

Crema - I haven't ever made it before this weekend, but decided to try it.  It tastes pretty similar to sour cream, but not quite as tart and is thinner.  I can't find non ultra-pasteurized whipped cream so I made the Crema with it and it turned out good so use that if that's all you can find.  If you don't want to make crema, just use the sour cream - it will be just fine.  I'll be posting a Chicken Verde Enchilada recipe where you use the crema in a homemade verde sauce as well so make a double batch if you are going to try that recipe too.

Crema
1 cup whipping cream (preferably not ultra-pasteurized)
2 tablespoons buttermilk

In a small, nonreactive bowl, combine both ingredients.  Cover the bowl loosely, and let it stand at room temperature for 8-24 hours, until the cream is thickened and tart.  Stir the crema well, cover it, and refrigerate it.  Use it as needed.  Crema keeps for up to 10 days.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 pan.

Warm the butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion

and saute until soft.  Stir in the corn and chile and cook for about

5 minutes.

Transfer the corn and chile mixture to a large bowl.  Stir in the rice

and remaining ingredients.

Here it is all stirred together.

Add your Crema or creme fraiche or sour cream and mix well
together.

Spoon the mixture into the baking dish and bake, covered, for

25 min.  Uncover the dish and bake for 5 minutes more.

The poblano and the corn together with the rice is just so nice. 
Mine definitely needed salt so make sure you add a little to
your mixture.

Mexican Shredded Beef

I was watching a Tyler Florence show 4 years ago and he featured this Mexican shredded beef recipe.  It makes the best mexican beef ever.  We mainly use it in tacos, but have also used the leftover beef in quesadillas and burritos.  I also love this beef because it freezes so well and if we're having a full day I'll just pull it out in the morning and we have a great dinner.

Today's Ingredients:

2 pounds beef shoulder

S&P

EVOO

2 garlic cloves, smashed or minced

1 large onion, sliced

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon ancho chile pepper

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin

3 bay leaves

Season all sides of the beef with a fair amount of S&P.  In a large

dutch oven or other heavy pot with a lide, heat 2 tablespoons olive

oil over moderately high heat.  Brown the meat on all sides. 

To get a good crust you need to put it in the pot and don't touch the 

meat for about 2-3 min. per side.  This will result in a good crust. 

If you are moving the meat around you can't get a good crust - which

is also sealing the juices in.  

I slice my onions and then I also cut them in half so they are like half

moons.  Works better in my opinion.

After you have browned the beef on all sides, add the onions to the

pot on the side of the beef and stir back and forth so they are

coated in oil and cooking nicely.  Cook for a few minutes and then
add the garlic.  Keep moving the onions and garlic back and forth
so they don't get burned.

Add the crushed tomatoes, 1 can (28 oz.) of water and the spices. 

There were kids coming over for this meal so I cut the cayenne in half. 

It really isn't overpoweringly spicy once it gets mixed into the tomatoes

and meat at the end, but cut it down some if you are nervous about

lots of heat.

I also already had diced tomatoes in my pantry so I just pulled
out 2 cans and pureed them in my food processor.  Works like a
charm.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer with the lid on for 3

hours until the meat is fork tender.  Let meat cool in the liquid. 

Remove the bay leaves.

Take the meat out and shred and then add in some of the juices

and onions.

I didn't get a good shot of the meat in taco action because we had 2

families coming over for dinner and ate as soon as the meat was
shredded.

Mexican Shredded Beef Printable Recipe



Chocolate-Caramel Bars

I am totally serious when I say these are the BEST bar cookies I've ever made or eaten.  Now I haven't made trays and trays of bar cookies, but when a whole dinner party (us + 2 families) all love them and your husband's co-workers love them, then you know it's one darn good bar cookie.  I am chomping at the bit for a good excuse to make them again.  I can't for us or I'll pretty much eat them all, which would be good for my tummy but not good for my waistline.

You know you want to try them!

Today's Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

1 cup flaked coconut (unsweetened)

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

20 vanilla caramels, unwrapped

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  For crust, in a medium bowl, stir together

flour and brown sugar.  Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until

mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Press into bottom of an ungreased

9x13 pan.  Bake for 15 min. 

See these nice and coarsely chopped pecans - yum!  If you don't have

pecans then I'm sure walnuts would work.  I'm even wondering how

peanuts or pistachios would work out.

Sprinkle pecans and coconut over the hot crust.

I found this flaked - unsweetened coconut in bulk at whole foods for

$1.99 a pound.  Do you know how much coconut it takes to make a

pound?  TONS!  I bought probably 2 cups or so for $.42.  Also, if you

have a WinCo near you they don't have the right coconut in bulk, but

they have caramels and probably pecans.  I've started shopping in the

bulk quite a bit there and it saves me tons of money!  Just a few tips

I wanted to share.

Why unsweetened coconut?  It is already sweet enough as it is and I

also think the sugar in the sweetened coconut might make it burn. 

The unsweetened adds a nice but not overpowering coconut flavor. 

My husband loves to add it to his shakes (meal replacement shakes

not regular high calorie ice cream shakes) so we use it there too.

Meanwhile, for filling in a small bowl, combine sweetened

condensed milk and vanilla.

Carefully pour over pecans and coconut, spreading evenly.  Bake

for 25-30 (I did 25) minutes more or until filling is set. 

Cool in the pan on a wire rack - off the stove for 10 min.

Who knows what happens in the oven, but that filling turns into some

magical caramel gooeyness that is so lovely.  The edges were a little

brown when it came out so I was scared I burned it, but you know

what?  It was my favorite part I think ~ but I am partial to

crunchiness.

A close-up of the yumminess right out of the oven.

In a small saucepan, combine caramels and milk.  Cook and stir

over medium-low heat just until caramels are melted.

Doesn't this caramel look lovely and so smooth?  It takes a bit of

patience so don't rush it!

Drizzle caramel mixture over filling.

Sprinkle with chocolate pieces.  Cool completely.

Even after sitting for about 3 hours the chocolate pieces weren't

firming up.  I put them in the fridge for about an hour and then

got them out about 1/2 hour before we ate them.  Perfect!



I so want to make another pan right now and go eat it all myself!

Chocolate-Caramel Bars Printable Recipe Link





Meatless Mondays: Spicy Black Beans and Polenta

If you've never had polenta, it is just corn meal whisked with water or broth.  It is smooth and creamy and goes so well with the black beans in this dish (that aren't even spicy in my opinion).  It calls for vegetable broth, but I just made my own out of some vegetable paste (essentially like bouillon) mixed with water, so feel free to use bouillon if you have it or some paste to make your own broth.  You could always make with chicken broth/stock as well.

Also, it calls for adding rosemary to the water for the polenta.  I didn't like the little crunchy pieces of rosemary in my nice smooth polenta so next time I won't add it.  If anything, I would add the rosemary to my bean mixture instead.  I don't understand why you'd want to mess up a nice smooth taste.

It was seriously so good - the polenta was perfect with the beans.  Matthew won't touch beans with a 10 foot pole and we ate without Isabelle since she was taking a nap so I can't really say what kids would think.  I bet though that Isabelle would eat it today for lunch if I gave it to her, she LOVES black beans.


Today's Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 small jarred pimiento

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

1 t. dried oregano

2 cans (15 oz. each) black beans

2 cans (14.5 oz. each) vegetable broth

1/2 t. dried rosmary (optional)

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 T. butter



Heat the oil over medium heat in a saucepan that has a lid.  Add

the chopped onion to the pan and cook until the onion is tender.

Add the pimiento, wine (if using) - I didn't use, garlic, and oregano,

and cook for 1 minute more.

Drain one can of beans and add them to the saucepan along with the

other can that is undrained.  Stir well, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer.

Let the mixture cook while you cook the polenta.



Combine the vegetable broth and rosemary in a Dutch oven or

soup pot and bring to a boil, covered, over high heat about 4 min.

Uncover and lower the heat to medium, but maintain a moderate boil.

Whisking constantly, slowly add the cornmeal to the boiling broth.



Continue whisking until the mixture reaches a porridgelike

consistency, 2-3 min.

Remove the polenta from the heat and stir in the grated Parmesan

cheese and butter.

Place some polenta in each serving bowl.  Top with the beans

and serve.

Way easy to make!  I made it easily in under 30 min.

Lemon Greek Chicken

I have had this recipe for about 10 years.  It is from a pampered chef stoneware cookbook and I pull it out often when we have company visiting.

Today's Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts

2 medium baking potatoes

1 medium rell bell pepper (optional)

1 medium red onion, cut into wedges

8 oz. fresh whole mushrooms

2 t. lemon zest

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 T. olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2-3 t. dried oregano leaves

3/4 t. salt

1/8 t. ground black pepper



Preheat your oven to 400.  In a bowl, combine the lemon zest, juice

oil.  Press garlic into the lemon mixture.  Add the oregano, salt

and black pepper.  Mix it all together and set aside for now.

  It is so good and very easy to prepare!

Take your potatoes and cut in half lengthwise and then cut each of

those halves into 4.  I have a fancy schmancy crinkle cutter from

pampered chef so if you have that use it.  Place all the potato

wedges into a 9x13 pan.

Add the bell pepper (if using), onion, mushrooms and half of the

lemon juice mixture.  Toss to coat.

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables; brush with the remaining

lemon juice mixture.  Cover with foil.

Bake for 1 hour or until chicken is no longer pink.  Baste with chicken

and vegetable pan juices after 30 minutes.

It is so good!

Lemon Greek Chicken Printable Recipe