Archive for February, 2009

Banana Nut Cheerios

Friday, February 27th, 2009

 

I grew up on Cheerios. They were the only boxed cereal on the breakfast table when I was a child. Luckily, my love of Cheerios has stayed with me during my adult life.  There is something about their toasted oat goodness that I can’t resist.  so I was very excited when my friends at Blog Spark gave me the opportunity to try the newest addition to the Cheerios family… Banana Nut Cheerios.

I’m a traditionalist when it comes to my toasted oats. Just give me a bowl, my box of classic Cheerios, whole milk (these days it’s Soy milk) and a spoon. No sugar, no fruit, nothing else added, just my cereal and milk. I was a little hesitant to try flavored cheerios. But try them I did. They were fantastic! The flavors of banana, nuts and honey come through in every bite. I thought that they tasted a lot like banana nut bread. The flavor of the new Cheerios inspired me to bake with them. The results were out of this world and I’ll share the recipe with you later in this post. But first….

Blog Spark is giving away 3 gift baskets to my lucky readers!

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The basket includes a coupon for a FREE box of Banana Nut Cheerios, two cereal bowls, a great little fruit bowl/banana rack and a heavy duty loaf pan. (I have to admit that I’m in total love with the fruit bowl. It’s a great size and fits perfectly into my kitchen decor)

To win this gift basket all you need to do is leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite thing to do with Cheerios…or any boxed cereal for that matter.

Three winners will be chosen on Monday evening. (03.02.09)

Now for my Banana Nut Cheerios creation….

I didn’t have to go far to find a fabulous recipe using Cheerios. I went to the Cheerios website and found their recipe for Chocolate Banana Bread.

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It may not be the prettiest banana bread on the block, but it is ultra moist and the flavors and textures are perfect! I hope that you get a chance to try a slice soon!

Good luck to all of my readers in the giveaway! Don’t forget to leave a comment and tell me about your favorite thing to do with Cheerios.

Posted in baking, bread, giveaway | 14 Comments »

Malted Milk Cupcakes and Two Winners!

Saturday, February 21st, 2009

 

To start things off I’d like to announce the winners of the Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce giveaway.

Katherine Aucoin and Vicki

Both of you will receive two bottles of sauce from Country Bob’s. Please e-mail me your addresses so that Al can send out your goodies! (my e-mail address can be found by clicking the “contact” link in my sidebar)

Now for a small confession.

I would like to admit that I use boxed cake mixes. (please don’t hate me!)

I do not use them 100% of the time.  My Gran’s mocha cake, my raspberry and cream cheese filled chocolate cake and my mother’s apple cake are all made from scratch. I would never dream of using a boxed mix for them. Then there are other times when the convenience and precision of a box mix is just what I need.

I grew up on boxed cake mixes, as did my mother.  My grandmother proudly used them in her recipes from the time that cake mixes first hit the market. We all love the fact that these mixes are fool proof and that by adding a few eggs and some oil you can have a light and fluffy cake in no time flat.  Of course I can’t leave a boxed cake mix alone. (I can’t leave any recipe alone!) I have to add things. Today I’m sharing one of those recipes. It’s a basic yellow cake mix taken to the next level by throwing in malted milk powder and crushed malted milk balls. I’ve baked the cake as individual cupcakes and topped them with a chocolate frosting with even more malted flavor thrown in.

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Malted Milk Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1 box of cake mix (yellow or chocolate)
1 cup malted milk balls, crushed
1/3 cup malted milk powder
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups water

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons malted milk powder
1 tablespoon baking cocoa
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups malted milk balls, crushed

In a bowl combine cake mix, 1 cup of crushed malted milk balls and 1/3 cup malted milk powder. Mix well.
To dry cake mixture add eggs, oil and water.
Beat with electric mixer for 3 minutes.

Line cupcake pans with paper or foil liners. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove cupcakes to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: Beat all frosting ingredients (except the crushed malt balls) together until light and smooth.
Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle crushed malt balls on top.

These cupcakes are best if refrigerated overnight before serving.

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Take my word for it…refrigerate these babies over night to let the flavors mingle together. You will be rewarded with sweet malty goodness in the morning. It’s okay. Go ahead, have one with a cup of coffee for breakfast. If you are really jonesin’ for a chocolate fix go for it and use chocolate cake mix instead of the yellow. the cupcakes will be extremely rich and decadent, but still just as wonderful. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you about chocolate sickness ahead of time.

What is your favorite way to prepare a boxed cake mix? Do you add your own special touches or make it just like the box says?

Posted in cakes, chocolate, snacks | 20 Comments »

Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce Giveaway!

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

 

Regular readers of my blog know that I have a few spices and sauces that are staples in my kitchen. Among my go to seasonings are Cavender’s Greek Seasoning, HP Brown Sauce, Old Bay Seasoning and Sriracha Chili Sauce. There is never a time that you would not find these seasoning items in my kitchen.

Thanks to Al Malekovic, I now have a new sauce to add to my seasoning arsenal. Last week Al was kind enough to send me two bottles of his Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce.

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The sauce is named after it’s creator Country Bob Edson. Country Bob perfected his sauce recipe in 1968. After giving his sauce away to friends and family for years he started sell it in 1977. The company describes the results as overwhelming. Country Bob’s Sauce was an instant hit.  The company says that people who try the sauce become lifelong users. After trying the sauce for myself I agree 100% with that statement.

Country Bob’s All Purpose sauce is fantastic straight out of the bottle. So good in fact that even the cats were licking it off of our fingers, going crazy and begging for more. (something that we must get a picture of!) Using our own finger licking test we discovered that the sauce starts off on a sweet note and follows up with a tangy flavor that reminded us of Worcestershire sauce (tamarind, vinegar, garlic and molasses) and ends up smooth on the palate thanks to the tomato paste, sugar and onion.

We were inspired by the finger licking test of Country Bob’s Sauce and Phil and I spent a few hours brainstorming new ways to use this sauce. Al had sent me a recipe booklet to go along with my sauce. The recipes all sounded wonderful, and I’m looking forward to trying them, but I wanted to show my appreciation for Al’s generosity by creating new recipes that could showcase this amazing sauce. ( new recipes are at the end of this post)

I highly recommend Country Bob’s All Purpose sauce. You must try it!  I know that it will be a favorite in our house for years to come.

Al would like to give you the chance to try this amazing sauce as well. So he is giving away two bottles to two of my lucky readers. To enter the giveaway just leave a comment on this post. If you Tweet about this giveaway you will get an additional entry. Deadline for entry is Friday, February 20th at 8:00 PM. Winners will be chosen that evening at 9:00 PM

Now for the recipes!

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Savory Oven Roasted Vegetables

1 medium fennel bulb, sliced
12 fresh Brussels sprouts, quartered
1 package of Melissa’s baby ruby gold potatoes
1/4 cup Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
course ground sea salt
course ground black pepper

In a Ziploc style bag combine the prepared vegetables, Country Bob’s Sauce and olive oil.
Let the vegetables marinade for at least an hour.
Pour vegetables and sauce onto a large baking sheet. Spread out to make a single layer of vegetables.
Sprinkle with sea salt and ground pepper.
Roast at 450 degrees, turning several times until browned and caramelized.

Please use your favorite vegetables for this recipe.
Other great roasting vegetables are cauliflower, asparagus, onions and sweet peppers.

 

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Mushroom Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1/2 cup Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
6 ounces baby button mushrooms
1 medium red onion, sliced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

In a large skillet lightly brown the chicken in the butter over medium-low heat. Do not let butter burn.
Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
Add mushrooms, onions and parsley to the skillet. Saute for 5 minutes.
Add Country Bob’s Sauce, wine and mustard to the skillet. Stir well to combine.
Add chicken back to the skillet,cover, reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm. Turn up the heat on the skillet, stir constantly until sauce is desired thickness.

Posted in Country Bob's Sauce, chicken, free, giveaway, inspiration, vegetables | 15 Comments »

Sweet Potato and Pear Stir Fry

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

 

Today I had a chance to use a favorite food in a new way. There was a bag of sweet potatoes hanging in the kitchen that needed to be used up. I didn’t want to prepare them in a traditional way. I wanted something fresh, full of flavor and totally different. While browsing through the cookbook The New American Plate I came across an amazing stir fry that included sweet potatoes.  What a fabulous idea combining sweet potatoes together with Asian flavors!

If you are trying to include more fresh vegetables and less meat into your meals I highly recommend The New American Plate  cookbook. It’s from the American Institute for Cancer Research and is packed full of amazing recipes.

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Sweet Potato and Pear Stir Fry
(adapted from The New American Plate)

Marinade:

2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon mirin
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

Sauce:

2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon Thai fish sauce
Stir Fry:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into small pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts
1 large Bosc pear, peeled, cored and sliced thin
1 bag of baby spinach leaves (6 oz)

hot cooked rice
cilantro for garnish

Prepare marinade. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover, and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside.

Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. They need to be on the firm side to hold up to stir frying later in the recipe. Drain potatoes and set aside.

In a wok add the vegetable oil, garlic and ginger. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Add the chicken and continue to stir fry for 4 minutes. Remove chicken from wok and set aside.

Add sweet potatoes, peppers and water chestnuts to the wok. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Add the pear, chicken and spinach. Stir fry just until the spinach is wilted.

Stir in the sauce mixture and cook for 3 minutes or until clear and thickened.

Serve over hot cooked rice and garnish with cilantro.

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What  food combination have you put together that you thought would never work…yet turned out fantastic?

Posted in chicken, stir fry, sweet potatoes | 11 Comments »

Pork and Sweet Pepper Chili

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

 

It’s Superbowl season and I’ve noticed that many food blogs have been proudly showing us their game day fare.

I will not be joining in with their Superbowl excitement today. I wish that I could, but when your favorite team has the worst record in NFL history EVER, it’s a little difficult to get excited about today’s big game. However I did find inspiration in all of the wonderful dishes that everyone is making for their parties. Wings, pizza, meatballs, tacos, dips and of course chili.

I really enjoy letting the specials at the grocery store inspire my cooking choices. I picked up pork loin at $1.68 a pound. I also picked up a large bag of mini sweet peppers for$3.99, fresh limes 4 for $1.00 and a bunch of cilantro was $1.25. Bringing my grocery store finds home I decided to jump on the party food bandwagon and whip up a batch of chili. I didn’t want a traditional chili. I find them too heavy and I feel that all of those wonderful flavors get jumbled together and lost. I wanted something with a light, crisp flavor. A chili that let each individual flavor shine through. The result was a pork and sweet pepper chili.

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Pork and Sweet Pepper Chili

4 slices of bacon
1 large sweet onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 quart chicken broth
1 cup of water
1/2 cup white wine
2 pounds pork loin, cubed 
12 multi colored mini peppers, sliced into rings
1 can of Roman beans (cranberry beans) rinsed
1 can  garbanzo beans rinsed
fresh cilantro, chopped
fresh oregano, thyme and rosemary (to taste) chopped
lime wedges for garnish

Fry bacon until crisp, remove from pan. Cool and crumble. Then set aside.
In the bacon drippings fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the pork cubes and cook for  10 minutes.
Pour chicken broth, water and wine into a Dutch oven. Add onion/ pork mixture and bacon to the Dutch oven.
Stir in the herbs. (except the cilantro)
Simmer on low for two hours or until pork is tender.
Add in the sliced peppers, cilantro and beans. Keep simmering until beans are heated through.(about 8 minutes)

To serve ladle into deep bowls, garnish with additional cilantro and lime wedges.
Serve with tortilla chips for dipping and crumbling.

I’ve recently discovered a new broth from College Inn that includes the white wine and the herbs. You can use this broth and omit the wine and fresh herbs (oregano, thyme and rosemary). Make sure to increase the water amount to 1 1/2 cups.

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I’m curious as to what my readers cooked up for their Superbowl parties. What did everyone make?

Posted in College Inn broth, chili, pork, soup | 12 Comments »

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