The Holiday Kitchen: Sweet Treats- New recipes

 Sea Salt Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C butter

1/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 C butterscotch chips

1 C chocolate chips

sea salt sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In mixer, beat butter and sugar until smooth. 

Add egg and vanilla and mix on low speed until mixed in. 

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just incorporated. 

Using small scoop drop dough onto baking sheet 6-8 per pan. 

Bake until bottom and edges slightly brown approx. 8-10 minutes. 

Let cool for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely and sprinkle with sea salt. 

Browned Butter Brown Sugar Chai Cookie

To be honest this was not my favorite recipe and i had to pivot halfway to make it better but in the end I got about a dozen of good cookies. 

1/2 C browned butter

1 C brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 C Milk

2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp chai + 2 TBSP

1/4 C granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment.

Cream butter and brown sugar. Butter would have been browned 1st then allowed to solidify.

Add egg and milk and mix to combine.

Add the dry ingredients (including 1 tsp chai) and mix until combined.

Scoop dough and mix in sugar mix of granulated sugar and 2 TBSP chai.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges set and golden.

Cool.

Note: this is a very sticky dough. My tip is to spray your scoop or spoon with cooking spray and your hands when rolling.

An Apey's Kitchen Original: Five Spice Pork Stir Fry Bowl with Quinoa

 Ok, Five Spice where have you been all my life! This bowl was amazing! A lot of the ingredients used you may have on hand, but the spices are a bit exotic. I bought all mine from Burlap and Barrel. This is an Asian inspired stir fry using garlic powder, five spice, lemongrass, shallot, and chili crisp. I used quinoa as my base. I also garnished with a bit of Sriracha and Coriander Chili Chutney. 

The ingredients:

Sesame Oil

1 lb. ground pork

1-2 tsp garlic powder

1-2 tsp lemongrass

1-2 tsp five spice

1 TBSP sliced shallot

sprinkle of Chili Crisp

1/4-1/2 C soy sauce

diced carrots

peas

chopped broccoli

2 C chicken broth

1 C quinoa

The recipe:

In a rice cooker or pot cook quinoa in 2 C of chicken broth. 

In a pan, add some sesame oil and brown the ground pork, adding all the spices except the chili crisp. 

Add the soy sauce and vegetables and cook until tender.

Sprinkle the chili crisp on top and stir to combine. 

In a bowl add the quinoa and top with the meat mixture. 

Garnish as desired: sriracha, cilantro, etc. 

This may just go into permanent rotation for me. You can change up the veggies as desired. 

The Soup Kitchen: Persian Soupe Jo (Chicken and Barley)

 A new addition for the soup season. I used two different types of chicken ground and rotisserie. You will need an immersion blender for this recipe, or you can use a blender. 

The ingredients:

1 C barley rinsed

2 TBSP oil

1 white or yellow onion or medium leek finely diced

3 garlic cloves crushed or minced

2 celery stalks finely diced

1 large carrot grated (I used frozen carrots and peas instead)

1 tsp bay leaf powder or 2 bay leaves

8 C Chicken broth

1lb ground chicken cooked

1 C shredder rotisserie chicken

juice if 1 lemon

3 TBSP milk 

small bunch chopped cilantro or parsley

salt 

black pepper

The recipe:

Cook the ground chicken and onion in oil add garlic and veggies stirring occasionally. 

Add the barley and stir until combined

Add the bay leaves or powder and chicken stock and bring to a boil. then lower heat to simmer. 

Add lemon juice, stir and cover with lid ajar. Simmer an additional 30 minutes or until barley is tender. 

Partially blend the soup with an immersion blender.

Add the milk, the rotisserie chicken, the cilantro or parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer a few more minutes until chicken is warmed through. 

Garnish with more cilantro, crushed red pepper and/or olive oil. 

An Apey's Kitchen original recipe: Christmas Chili

I wanted a chili that said Christmas but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so...I decided to make my own. It turned out pretty good i think. 

1 lb ground chicken

1 onion diced

1 green pepper diced

1-2 TBSP Cumin

1 tsp Oregano

2-3 tsp Garlic powder

2 TBSP Chili powder

1 can red kidney beans

1 can white kidney beans

1 can rotel

1 can diced green chiles

4 C chicken broth

1 block cream cheese

1 TBSP masa harina

Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with cilantro, tortilla chips, etc

Cook the chicken, onion, and pepper until cooked through.

Add to slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients except the masa. Make sure you soften the cream cheese.

Cook on Hi 3 hours or Lo 6-8. 

Whisk if there are any large chunks of cream cheese.

Add the masa harina in the last hour to thicken. 

The Holiday Kitchen: Sweet Treats- Seasonal Flavors

 With December and the holiday season come all things baking. I have tried out a couple new cookie recipes for an upcoming party. Both are not ones I would gravitate to normally, but both turned out pretty well. The first cookie is a Candy Cane Chocolate Chip and the second is an Eggnog cookie. 

Candy Cane Chocolate Chip

1/2 C butter softened

1 egg

1.5 C flour

1/2 C sugar

1/3 C brown sugar

1.5 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 C white chocolate chips

3/4 C dark chocolate chips

5 candy canes crushed finely (1/4 C + 1 TBSP apprx)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Cream butter and sugars in mixer until creamy at least 3-4 minutes. Add in vanilla and egg and beat until combined. 

In separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix dry ingredients into wet until well combined. 

Stir in chocolate chips and candy canes. 

Chill the dough for 30-60 minutes. 

Roll dough into balls or use cookie scoop and place on parchment lined baking sheet. 

Bake 9-12 minutes or until slightly golden. 

Cool for several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. 

Eggnog Cookies

2 1/4 C flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (plus 1/4 tsp in sugar mix)

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (plus 1/4 tsp in sugar mix)

1/4 tsp salt

1 C sugar (plus 1/4 C in sugar mix)

3/4 C butter softened

1/4 C eggnog

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg (minus the amounts needed for sugar mix) in a small bowl and set aside. 

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer for approx. 5 minutes. 

Add the eggnog, vanilla, and egg and beat on medium until smooth. 

Gradually add the dry ingredients and beat on low until just blended. 

In small bowl add the extra sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg for sugar mix to roll dough in.

Create balls of dough and roll in the sugar mixture to coat. Place the balls on a prepared baking sheet and gently press down. 

Leave 1 in between each cookie. 

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until bottoms slightly brown. 

Allow to cool before transferring to a wire rack. 

Stay tuned for more baking adventures! I hope this holiday season you are able to try something new as well as your old faithful recipes. 

The Soup Kitchen: Texas Cowboy Stew

 This week's soup is a hearty stew with 3 types of meat reminding me of the Kentucky Burgoo I made except with some veggie differences. The meat used here is bacon, ground beef, and smoked sausage. Where the Burgoo you could use any 3 meats. It is very good and very hearty. You can serve this with cornbread or bread as well.

The ingredients:

4 slices of bacon crumbled

1 lb ground beef

1 package smoked sausage (I used turkey kielbasa)

1 can black beans drained

1 can corn kernels drained (I used frozen corn)

2 cloves garlic

1 can kidney beans drained

1 onion diced

3 medium potatoes cubed

1 can diced tomatoes

2.5 C beef broth

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 C cheese shredded (I used smoked gouda)

The recipe:

Cook the meat and crumble the bacon then add to the crockpot. 

Add the rest of the ingredients to the crockpot and mix well except for the cheese. 

Cook on HI for 4 hours. 

At about 3.5 hours add the shredded cheese and mix in to allow to melt. 

Serve with bread or cornbread. 

Garnish with onion, cilantro, cheese, tortillas, etc

The Breakfast Kitchen: Meaty Breakfast Casserole

 For the meat lovers in your life, this is a loaded casserole full of protein. I used 2 different types of meat. You can adjust it for whatever you have on hand or prefer. I had a ham steak that I wanted to use so my version is using bacon and ham as the meat of choice. It also has a can of Rotel, green peppers, onion and I used Gouda cheese, but you can use whatever cheese you like and mine used garlic, smoked paprika, and rosemary. Since I was using some pretty salty meats, I did not add any extra salt. I also added a secret ingredient I learned about on a cooking show that helps keep the eggs fluffy and from deflating...baking powder. I was amazed and how much of a difference it made and since it has no taste affect you can be liberal with the amount. I will be using this in all my breakfast casseroles going forward. 

For my breakfast casseroles I tend to use about 8 eggs with some milk. I don't really measure the milk out. It would also be good with whipping cream. I then add some cheese to the egg mixture along with the seasonings for the eggs. 

For the meat and veggie mixture I tend to put them in the bottom of the casserole pan and bake for about 10-15 minutes before topping with the egg mixture. I use a crumbled bacon, so this cooks the bacon and softens the veggies first. I set my oven at 350 degrees.