Peanut Butter Blossoms

Tonight is another game night. And we all know by now what happens on game nights...the Little Kitchen Chef attacks her friends with delectable desserts! This week, it's cookies. I do cookies a lot. Mainly because they are very easy to assemble and make ahead of time and who doesn't love cookies, amiright? Typically, I make chocolate chip cookies because they are one of my favorites and it's so easy to make a huge batch of them and freeze the dough in little balls so you can just pop one into the oven when Sweet Tooth starts yelling at you because it's the Lenten season and you've given up sweets for the upteenth time in your life.

Anyways, this week I made peanut butter blossoms. They may be called other names by some or most of you but this is what I've always called them since I was a kid and my second mommy (my babysitter) made them every holiday season. I think this is probably where my love for anything that combines peanut butter with chocolate came from. I blame you, Vickie!

 This particular recipe came from my Grandma's recipe box and is marked with my Great-Aunt Susan's name so I'm assuming my Grandma got it from her sister-in-law at some point. As you can see, it doesn't have any instructions on how to mix the cookies so I just used my knowledge of other cookie recipes and kind of made up my own instructions to mix these puppies up. It seemed to work because they turned out pretty beautifully, if I do say so myself.

What You Need:

• 1 cup Crisco or other shortening
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• unwrapped Hershey kisses

How to Do It:

First, cream together your peanut butter, shortening, and sugars.

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add dry mixture to peanut butter mixture a little at a time, mixing after each addition until just combined.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs lightly. Add vanilla and mix well. After all the dry ingredients are combined with the peanut butter mixture, add the vanilla and egg mixture, stirring to combine. 

Mix on low speed until well combined. And pull some out to roll into a ball.

This one looks a little large and is what I used for the peanut butter cookies that I did not place a Hershey kiss into (apparently, some people don't like chocolate...psh...eye roll). When the balls are formed, roll them in granulated sugar until just coated.

Next, place on a greased cookie sheet, spaced about an inch apart. If you are not using the kisses, smash down the ball by pressing down on them with a fork to make a criss-cross pattern. If  you are using kisses, leave them in the shape of balls.

Bake in a 375°F preheated oven for about 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out cleanly. Be careful not to burn the bottoms (it's easy to do with the sugar on their butts). When the cookies are baked, remove them from the oven onto a cooling rack and immediately press a Hershey kiss into the middle of each.

The cookie will break apart a bit but don't panic, that's what they do. When they are nice and cooled, they will hold their shape perfectly and, if you've made them right, shouldn't break apart. I removed mine from the baking sheet after they had cooled slightly and placed them on a piece of foil (parchment paper or wax paper work well too) to cool the rest of the way before packing them up for the trek to game night.

Enjoy your hard work now! Unless, of course, you did give up sweets for Lent. In that case, I'm sorry to force you to look at these delicious cookies. Oops...Bon appétit!

Brazilian-Style Hot Dogs

Okay. You may have seen the title of this post and thought to yourself, "Brazilian-style? How can there be such a difference in how to make a hot dog?" I'm here to tell you that there is a HUGE difference in how us Americans eat hot dogs and how the Brazilians eat hot dogs. It used to be I thought "hot dog" and I pictured this:

Photo courtesy of the Berks Packing Company

Well. This is great and all. Especially if you're in New York where you can get a hot dog on almost every corner. Or even Chicago for that matter where they put a whole pickle slice on the thing! But I'm telling you, the Brazilians know how to do a hot dog, buddy. I mean, when you think of a hot dog, what goes with it? Potato chips or french fries, right? Yep. It's on a Brazilian hot dog. So I'll just go into my usual list now to show you what you need for a Brazilian-style hot dog and I'll let you be the judge of whether you will try one of these at home.

What You Need:

• hot dogs
• bread (like french bread or Portuguese rolls, not buns)
• tomato sauce
• whole kernel corn
• sweet peas
• mashed potatoes (not pictured)
• ketchup
• mustard
• potato sticks (like the kind French's makes)
• mozzarella cheese

How to Do It:

If you're like me, you probably grew up eating boiled hot dogs, right? Well this is the same thing only instead of cooking the hot dog in water, you cook it in tomato sauce instead. I added a little basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to my tomato sauce to really give it a little something extra. When the hot dog is cooked, slice it in half lengthwise and place on the bread. Spoon in some of the extra tomato sauce then cover with your favorite toppings from the list above. The only thing I didn't have on my hot dog was mashed potatoes which is something you'd typically find on a Brazilian hot dog but I didn't have any nor did I want to waste time making enough mashed potatoes for one hot dog.

Anyways, super easy and convenient and if you're looking for a little something than the generic ketchup and mustard, this is definitely the way to go! Come bem!

Valentine's Day Dinner for Two

For Valentine's Day, Hubby and I had dinner at home which consisted of four courses. The first course was a salad of mixed greens, chopped pecans, and blue cheese crumbles topped with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Second course was a round of bruschetta on toasted bread, which I have made before on several occasions and always receive rave reviews on. The third course was a linguine with white sauce served with sautéed asparagus and a glass of chardonnay. The fourth and final course was a box of chocolate-covered strawberries made earlier by the two of us.

Our dinner was not as fancy as some of the dinners I hope my readers enjoyed but it suited us very well and we didn't have to worry about making last-minute reservations at chic New York restaurants (phew)! Also, it was just fun to have time together in the kitchen. Cooking has always been something the two of us enjoy doing together and this Valentine's Day we got to rediscover that as we cooked (then ate) our way through a four course dinner.

Although these dishes are all easy to prepare, we took our sweet time making each element and it really made our dinner stand out as one of the better ones we've had this year. The two biggest parts of our dinner were the bruschetta and the linguine, both of which I have included the links to so you can find them easily. The salad is too simple to warrant a post of it's own so I'll just outline it: select a salad of mixed greens, crumble some blue cheese over top with chopped pecans as well. Any kind of fruity salad dressing will go well with this salad, although I prefer using fresh strawberries in my salad as well then tossing with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The chocolate-covered strawberries are also too simple for a post of their own. All that needs done there is melted chocolate, milk chocolate is best in my opinion and you can melt chocolate chips in the microwave, and washed strawberries. My only advice is to allow the strawberries to dry before coating them in the melted chocolate. This will help the chocolate to stick to the fruit better.

I hope everyone of you had as splendid a Valentine's Day as Hubby and myself!

Linguine with White Sauce

Any time I have guests over, I am almost always serving pasta. It is absolutely one of the easiest meals to serve to copious amounts of people and is always a crowd-pleaser. People think it's amazing that you slaved away all day in the kitchen preparing a beautiful meal when really, let's be honest here, I can have a spaghetti dinner on the table in twenty minutes or less. I'm like Applebee's, getting your lunch served in under fifteen minutes or it's free! 

As you can see in my photo, there is asparagus on the side of the plate, which I sautéed in a little olive oil and tossed with salt and pepper to taste then garnished with parmesan cheese, and red peppers on top the pasta. I love sweet red peppers with this white sauce, they compliment each other's tastes beautifully and it adds some vegetable and color to a primarily beige carbohydrate dish. You do not have to serve your pasta with either of these elements but I like to throw a little color into any dish I serve to guests because it can really take their eating experience to the next level to not only eat something delicious but beautiful as well.

I'm not gonna lie though, it's always nice to have people fawning over the delectable looking meal you put in front of them, even if you know it took you a mere thirty minutes to throw it together and the rest of your day was spent watching Netflix instead! Oh well. No one needs to know how much time you spent making a delicious meal. All they have to know is it looks and tastes great! That's what this recipe is for. A meal that will take you only the time it takes to cook your pasta, which is about ten minutes if you like al dente. So serve it up and wait for the applause. I know for a fact you will get at least one of these from your guests: "Mmmm...."

What You Need:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2-3 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp. parsley
• 2-3 Tbsp. basil
• flour to thicken (I used about 1 Tbsp.)
• favorite pasta

How to Do It:

When you're waiting for the pasta water to boil, pour cream and chicken broth into a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add butter and when it is just melting, add cheese and spices. Stir occasionally. When pasta water is boiling, add your pasta and cook to your idea of perfection. When you've started cooking your pasta, remove about a cup of the sauce into a separate bowl. Add flour and stir until thick. Replace the thickened sauce to the saucepan and stir. Allow to thicken the remaining sauce until it is to your liking. As I said earlier, I used about a tablespoon to achieve my desired thickness. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain of water and place into a serving bowl. Pour sauce over spaghetti, toss lightly until noodles are coated with sauce and serve!

Marinara Sauce

For our pizza and game night, I was super hungry and couldn't wait for the pizza to come so I whipped up some garlic bread and marinara sauce. 

I had a loaf of Italian bread that I simply cut in half to make garlic bread. All I did for that was melt some butter that I then spooned over the bread, shook some granulated garlic over it, then topped with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. I sprinkled a bit more granulated garlic over the bread and garnished with a small amount of parsley then baked in the oven on 350°F until the cheese was melted and just starting to brown.

For the marinara, I measured as best I could but depending on how much marinara sauce you're making, you may have to adjust the amounts of each element depending on your own taste.

What You Need:

• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp. basil
• 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 roma tomato, seeded and diced
• dash of chili powder
• pinch of salt

How to Do It:

I used a small saucepan and just mixed everything together in it. I kept the sauce over medium-low heat for about forty minutes, stirring often. My biggest advice is that you definitely rid the tomato of seeds before dicing it and putting it into the sauce. I did serve my sauce and the garlic bread warm.

Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Tonight we had friends over again for pizza and games. This time, I made an attempt at stuffed mushrooms! Every time I've ever had stuffed mushrooms, they have been stuffed with crab or lobster or some kind of seafood. And I love crab stuffed mushrooms so much but because of Hubby being vegetarian, I wanted to find some kind of vegetarian option for appetizer mushrooms. So when I found this recipe, I couldn't help but want to try it out!

There almost weren't enough mushrooms! I would have made a dozen so there was enough for three caps each, but my package of mushrooms came with only eleven (c'est la vie). But they were so good, it was beyond difficult to share! I think I'll be making these again very soon. They were fairly easy to assemble and I luckily had most of the ingredients around the house. When I make spinach artichoke dip, I always end up having leftover frozen spinach and I also had leftover cream cheese to use also. Really, all I needed to pick up from the market were mushrooms.

These actually make me think of spinach-artichoke dip in mushrooms instead of on a tortilla chip. Of course, they don't have artichoke hearts in them, just spinach and  cream cheese. But if you're into spinach dip, I know you'll be into these mushrooms too! They're so good and I just know you'll love them! Enjoy!

What You Need:

• 12 large mushroom caps with stems
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 cup packed chopped spinach
• 1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. breadcrumbs
• 1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
• 1 Tbsp. parsley

How to Do It:

Clean mushrooms and remove stems, chop the stems finely. Heat a skillet with about 2 teaspoons olive oil and cook the stems for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the stems reduce to about half the size.

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, spinach, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, scallions, cooked mushroom stems, salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, granulated garlic, and parsley.

Arrange the mushroom caps on a lightly greased baking sheet, cavity side up, and spoon the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over each mushroom and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake on 400°F until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated through and golden on top, or about 12 minutes.

Original Recipe

Queso Blanco

Game night at our place tonight! So I wanted something easy enough to make that could just sit around in one pot and be serve-yourself. I decided on arroz con pollo because I've made it before, it's delicious, and everything gets put into the same pot and cooked together! Easy clean-up for your's truly! 

Because I was making this delicious Latin American dish, I wanted something to go along as an appetizer while the rice dish cooks for about 30 minutes. I love queso blanco so much! When I eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant in Ohio, I typically order it because it's like crack to me (as if Fiesta Tropicana isn't...) and I just cannot get enough!

This queso is a bit closer to the Applebee's version than my favorite from my little Mexican restaurant but it is just as delicious! As I was cooking it, Hubby and I could not keep our chips out of it! It is so incredibly addictive! I think I would eat it on anything!

This delicious appetizer is super-duper easy to make and you'll be so happy you've tried it! You'll be making it all the time for a quick appetizer. Hurry up and get to it, y'all! And try to keep your hands out of the chip bowl until you're ready to serve!

What You Need:

• olive oil
• 1/4 cup white onion, diced finely
• 1 large jalapeño, seeded and stem removed, minced
• 12 oz. white American cheese, shredded
• 4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1/4-2/3 cup cream
• 2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• cilantro, roughly chopped

How to Do It:

First, heat olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add jalapeño and onion, cook until soft, stir frequently.

Reduce heat, add cheese and 1/4 cup cream. Stir until almost melted.

Add tomatoes, cilantro, and a little cream at a time until you have reached your desired consistency.

Serve hot with chips.

Top 15 Recipes to Try in 2015

Original Recipe