Chicken "Florentine" Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
-3 chicken tenderloins
-1 package spinach tortellini (Trader Joe's)
-1 C baby spinach, chopped
-1 roma tomato, diced
-1 C plain Greek Yogurt mixed with 2 TB honey, 1/4th tsp garlic, salt, and 2-4 TB olive oil to get it to desired consistency
-1/4 C finely chopped pecans
-1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

To start, boil the chicken with 1 TB of butter, a little salt, and some optional herbs like a couple shakes of marjoram and thyme.  They are my favorite things to add to chicken right now.  Boil it for about 30 minutes or until you can shred it with forks.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to directions.  This should take about 5 minutes for most tortellini as they are essentially done when you get them.

Add the spinach, tomato, and pecans to a bowl big enough to mix and store the pasta salad (why mix it just to transfer it to another bowl!).  Add in your drained chicken and pasta.

Toss in your Greek yogurt mix and stir to combine.  Add in the cheese.  Give it a taste and salt as needed.

If you are like me, and have been using salt straight out of the big container because you grabbed the wrong kind to refill your sea salt shaker, you might find that you pour in way too much salt...never fear, counteract it with honey.  I personally think the honey helps it taste richer anyway, which is never a bad thing.

You can also add in a little basil or other herbs as desired.

It has been a really long time since I have had chicken Florentine, but I remember it from Indiana State.  I can't guarantee this is identical, but I can guarantee that is what I used as my inspiration and that this is a pretty darn tasty pasta salad.

For even extra tastiness, add BACON.

Should have seen that one coming.

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Spicy Seared Salmon, Rice Medley, and Avocado

Ingredients (per person):
-1 salmon filet
-1/2 C brown rice medley (Trader Joe's)
-1 Avocado (as much as desired once cut)
-Butter
-Cajun/creole seasoning

Technically...I don't know if these foods are really supposed to go together.  My taste buds, however, would like to put up a pretty good argument for why they do.

Get the recommended amount of water boiling for the rice with 1.5 TB butter and a couple pinches of salt (I used sea salt).  Cook the rice medley as directed.

When there is approximately 6 minutes left, heat a skillet with a tablespoon of butter and drop the salmon filet when it is hot.  Sprinkle the top side with a heavy dusting of your creole seasoning (mine was Zataran's, nothing too fancy) and salt if it does NOT already have it in it (Z's has an obscene amount, so I omit salt). 

Cook the salmon about 3 minutes on the first side, you should notice the butter starting to brown.  Flip and cook another 2-3 until it is done to your liking.  I tend to get mine a nice toasty color on each side.  I tend to err on the side of a little more done when it comes to most meats. 

Also with all meats, you only need to flip this guy once.  Don't mess with it before it is ready!

Cut the avocado in half lengthwise, remove the pit, and scoop out with a spoon in one fell swoop.  Slice that little bugger up and serve alongside your rice and salmon deliciousness.

I happen to eat an entire avocado at a time when I have a spicy something.  I know this may not exactly be the healthiest, even though it is good fat it could still be a lot of fat...but I don't care.  I love avocados and especially love them with zesty fish and rice. And I don't know enough about their nutritional value to know if I should not eat it all at once, so ignorance is bliss ;).

I also happen to be WILD about this rice medley! It is seriously way more delicious than boring white rice.  It had texture, but it got done well.  It had pizzazz.  And it has 6 grams of protein per serving.

And you know how I love protein.

This is going to be a difficult meal to top this week.  It was a nice light dinner that kept me full a long time.  I will be buying that rice medley for some time to come!  A half cup goes a lot further than you would think once it is cooked, so be aware.

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Steak and Roasted Corn Salad

Ingredients:
-8 or so strips of steak per person (whatever cut you like, we prefer thin ones)
-1/2 C corn
-Baby spinach leaves and/or spring mix
-tomatoes
-boiled egg slices
-Parmesan cheese, shredded
-Butter
-Cilantro Dressing

We like to use thin steaks and cook them to well done.  This means about 4-5 minutes per side in a screaming hot skillet or griddle, give or take a few, cooked in a TB or so of butter.  We season ours with seasoned salt and pepper.  You may like your steak cooked differently, so feel free to cook to your liking.  Also consider adding some Mexican seasoning to get another layer of flavor in the dish.

In another skillet, put 2-3 TB of butter in and let it melt.  Plop in the corn and cook until the butter starts to brown.

Throw everything on your plate in a tasty salad and top with cilantro dressing and fresh shredded parmesan cheese.  We got ours from Trader Joe's.  You don't need a lot of dressing, trust me, start very sparingly.  It packs a wollop of fantastic flavor but can be overdone if you are not mindful.  Cilantro is a peppy little herb, and this dressing definitely reflects that.

I like salads that eat like meals.  I really don't like to eat salad just as a side, for some reason, so when one comes across like this that is visually and taste bud-ally interesting, it is something I rave about. Avocado would be good in this salad as well.

Keep in mind this is an EXTREMELY filling dish so you may not want to overload your plate.  Adding avocado in will make it even more filling.

You could toss in some nuts or croutons, but with as much flavor and richness as this salad has, you won't miss the croutons if you pass on them. 

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Homemade Pepperjack Cheese Crackers

Ingredients:
-1/2 Stick of butter, softened
-1 C Flour
-8 oz pepperjack cheese
-Salt
-2 TB* water

Mix the butter, cheese, and pinch of salt in your mixing bowl.  Add in the flour and mix to form a pebbly dough.  Add in the water, a tablespoon or so at a time.  You just want enough water that the dough will hold together when you press it, just enough to come together.  You may need to add more.  Roll out on a floured surface very thin and cut to desired size (cookie cutters work too).

Every block of cheese has a different moisture to it, so it is normal if you need to adjust.

Bake (preferably convect if you have an electric oven) at 350 for 12-17 minutes.  If you are convecting it, it should be on the low end of that time frame, or if you have a gas oven that seems to heat hotter like mine does.  Basically, you just want them to start getting brown and toasty on top.

Pull them out and sprinkle salt on them.  And watch as they disappear!

These are my favorite ones I have made to date.  I had wanted to try pepperjack flavored ones for some time.  The best part is, my food processor just arrived today and I got to test it out on shredding the cheese for these.  Needless to say, I am in LOVE with the food processor and these crackers.  They came out extremely well and were gone in no time.  They make the perfect party snack!

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Black and White Wedding Cake with Gumpaste Calla Lilies

This is probably ranks among our best ever cakes, in my opinion at least.  It is from a while back, but every now and then I run across something that needs to come out of the archives.  This was a cake that I absolutely adored. 

For the sides we just used the lace technique for the top and bottom tiers, and put some black scrolling on the middle tier.  White sixlets (wedding section at Hobby Lobby) were used in the piping around the bottom and top of each tier, plus the middle of the middle layer. (Hah, middle of the middle).

I made gumpaste lilies using the cone shaped forms from Wilton, the Wilton Gumpaste mix, and a lily cutter (basically a glorified heart shape cutter).  All you do is cut the lily shape, roll it out thinner if needed, wrap it around the form with the point side toward the wide base of the form, and wet the edges and stick together.

They can, and should, be made days in advance. Gumpaste needs at least 24 hours to dry.  I also dyed some yellow and made little centers to go in them.  You can buy the plastic ones if you know for sure that little kids won't try to eat them.

The cake is on a three tier stand that is easy to remove the layers, which is really helpful if someone there has to cut it.  Taking a cake apart is no fun when it is a stacked cake.  I like stands like this from a decorating standpoint as well because it gives you another dimension in the top of each layer to decorate, which I find more visually interesting. The back is wrapped in white tulle to make the stand attractive.

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Glazed Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits

Ingredients:
-2.5 C AP flour
-1.5 C milk
-6 TB butter
-1 TB baking powder
-Pinch of salt
-2 TB sugar
-1.5 tsp cinnamon (more if you like a lot of cinnamon)
-1/4 C raisins or other dried fruit

GLAZE:
-1.5 C powdered sugar
-1 to 2 TB milk (less if you want a thicker glaze that sets harder, more if you want a thinner glaze, you can always up the powdered sugar as needed)
-3 shakes of ginger (or use vanilla for flavor, your preference.  I like ginger in everything and like the taste of glaze without vanilla as well)

Preheat your oven to 400F and grease a baking sheet.  Mix up all the biscuit ingredients and drop blobs of them (neat, orderly, similarly sized blobs of course) onto the cookie sheet.  Bake for 14-18 minutes, taking them out when they start to brown a bit.  I use dark nonstick in a gas oven, so my ultimate times may be a little different than yours. I would certainly not let these get too brown, as they are so delightful and soft when they are just starting to brown on top.

Pull them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.

I have a confession, and you might have already noticed it in the picture...I put saran wrap over my wire rack to glaze these...

In my defense, I don't have a dishwasher and I just cleaned off my counter and most of my dishes. I really did not want to get my other baking sheet dirty, so I decided that I would just be wasteful for once.  I am really looking forward to being home for the weekend, and I am really tired of washing off my counter!

I made a thick glaze so I just poured mine straight from the bowl I mixed it in (with a high tech mixer called a knife, mind you) over the biscuits. 

And then I ate one, which explains the gap in the biscuits in the picture.  OMG I must say I really liked it.  And boy were these simple.  They are a lot like a scone, but with no work...I like that about them!

This idea came out of a brainstorm between me and my mom.  It never fails, when I am really flat lining on ideas of what to make for the blog, I always call her up.  When she said this idea, I perked right up from my bleh-mood of not knowing what I wanted to make.  She is definitely where I get my kitchen creativity from.

AND I get to return the favor and bring these home this weekend for tasty enjoyment.

You may find that you want to add more sugar to the base biscuit recipe if you do not want to glaze them.  I, however, did not want an overly sweet biscuit, as when I eat cinnamon raisin English muffins they are not overly sweet.  Plus, I knew I would glaze these so there would be a lot of sugar in that. Adjust it however you see fit.

Breakfast is going to be legit in the morning!

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Chocolate Macarons

Ingredients:
-1.25 C powdered sugar sifted with 1 C almond meal and 2 TB cocoa powder
-1/4 to 1/2 C granulated sugar*
-3 egg whites (I use jumbo, which might be larger than what you typically buy, which is why I have the star in the one above)
-pinch of salt
-1 tsp vanilla

Fillings of choice: (I used nutella, caramel, and a peanut butter fudge icing made of 3 TB butter, 1/2 C peanut butter, 1 C powdered sugar, a little vanilla, and water as needed to thin it out)

Whip the eggs and salt until frothy in your mixer.  Add the vanilla and start streaming in your granulated sugar, slowly.  Beat on high as you add the sugar until stiff glossy peaks form.

Fold in the sifted chocolate almond yumminess until incorporated. Preheat your oven to 280 degrees.  Line some baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats. 

Put the macaron batter into a pastry bag and cut the tip off.  Pipe out circles an inch or so in diameter and let them sit out for 30 minutes to an hour.

Bake the cookies for for 15 minutes (I open mine after the first two to let the humidity out). I like to open mine and cut the heat right before my timer goes off so that it cools down a little slower.

Pop them off the parchment paper (I bake on dark nonstick and they always come off pretty easy but do NOT try to bake them without parchment paper because that does not work at all).

Fill them with your desired fillings, if you have a stiffer filling try to pipe it on parallel to the cookie and move it around with your finger to spread it out. Top it with another cookie.

AND then devour.  Or share them....if you like to share things...

Now, like I said I used larger eggs than what some might so I ended up adding a little under 1/2 C sugar to make the meringue.  Mine did not seem to be whipping up just right, so that is when I decided that more sugar was necessary.  If you are using smaller eggs, you may not need any more than just the 1/4C. 

Macarons are really delicious and you have to be prepared to make them a couple of times to get used to how your oven bakes them and the adjustments you need to make to get them just right.  Mine is a gas oven.

Good luck!

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