Royal Wedding Groom's Cake Bites

I am SO intrigued by the McVities Biscuit Chocolate Cake that Prince William had for his Groom's Cake. I had been watching coverage of the Royal Wedding all week and they kept mentioning this cake and how it is a secret palace recipe, that Prince William loved as a child, made with McVities Rich Tea Biscuits. It sounded SO yummy. So I searched the internet and found a copy cat recipe that I thought I could modify using ingredients from my grocery store (which sadly does not have McVities Biscuits). So this is the recipe that I came up with. My goodness it was fantastic. These little bites are... Heavenly. Blissful. Naughty. Delicious.

Royal Wedding Groom's Cake Bites

3/4 cup butter, cut into cubes (that's 1 1/2 sticks)
15 oz semi sweet chocolate (use good chocolate - I used Belgian chocolate chips)
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons light corn syrup (or Lyle's Golden Syrup if you can find it)
1, 7.05 oz pkg Le Petite Beurre butter cookies (or McVities Rich Tea Biscuits), coarsely chopped

In a double boiler, melt chocolate with butter. Remove from heat and stir in cream and corn syrup until smooth. Add chopped cookies and stir. Now from here there are 2 methods: bites made in a mini-muffin pan or a flat round cake made in a spring form pan. I have a Demarle mini-muffin form, which is kind of like a silicone mini muffin pan, so I used that. Scoop chocolate mixture into the mini muffin cups, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 3 hours. You could also place parchment in the bottom of a 9" spring form pan and butter the sides and put the mixture into that, smooth mixture evenly, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for 3 hours. When chilled serve in thin slices. Either way is great.

This is the actual Royal Wedding Groom's Cake. Isn't it pretty?! And I bet it was SO delicious!

Royal Wedding Celebration Dinner

I loved watching the Royal Wedding yesterday!! Didn't Kate look beautiful?! Last night we had a fun English dinner to celebrate the Royal Wedding. I don't really have a recipe for you, but I thought I'd share our dinner for kicks. We had bangers (beef brats), mash, peas, and jelly. I couldn't bring my self to mush up the peas for mushy peas so we just had buttered peas. Oh and then we had Royal Wedding Groom's Cake Bites for dessert based on Prince William's Groom's Cake which was a secret recipe Chocolate McVities Biscuit cake. I'll list that recipe separately because those little bites were SO darn good!!

Crockpot Bowtie Pasta Bake

This is a great crockpot pasta dish. The sauce simmers all day so it is nice and flavorful when you add the pasta right before you serve it. Also it is a great way to sneak spinach into your kids. Feel free to reduce the meat amount to 1 lb if you would like.

Crockpot Bowtie Pasta Bake

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1, 15 oz can tomato sauce
1, 15 oz can diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
salt/pepper
couple big handfuls fresh baby spinach
1 lb bowtie pasta, cooked
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Brown ground beef and onion. Add garlic and cook for a minute. Drain fat. Put cooked ground beef mixture in crockpot. Add tomato sauce, tomatoes, oregano, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper. Stir. Cook on low for about 6 hours. During last 1/2 hour of cooking add spinach, cooked pasta, grated Parmesan, and mozzarella. Serve with extra Parmesan for topping if desired.

Crockpot Split Pea Soup

When I have a left over ham bone (like I did from Easter dinner) I like to make either ham and bean soup or split pea soup. This year I went for split pea. This is an easy crockpot recipe and it tastes great. Split pea soup is not very photogenic, but it is hearty and yummy and tastes great with French bread or fresh rolls.

Crockpot Split Pea Soup

1 lb dried split peas
5 cans or 8 3/4 cups chicken broth
4 carrots, chopped
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped small
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
left over ham bone
about 2 cups diced ham
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt (less if you use table salt)
1 bay leaf

Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove bay leaf and ham bone. Serve.

Best Bites Key Lime Tarts

Whoa. These are tart little tarts! Scrumptious, but they make you pucker. I think I'm going to add 1/4 cup sugar and a little lime zest next time, to suit my taste, but if you are a fan of tartness these would be great as is. My family loved that this dessert is made in mini-graham cracker crusts. Anything mini goes over well around here.

Best Bites Key Lime Tarts

5 egg yolks
1, 14 oz, can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lime or key lime juice (I used key limes)
2 drops green food coloring, optional (the tarts will be yellow without this)
10 mini graham cracker tart shells
whipped cream


Preheat oven to 350. Combine eggs yolks, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and food coloring. Whisk well to combine. Pour into tart shells and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 11-16 minutes or until filling just starts to set up. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temp, then refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with whipped cream.

Southern Plate Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

Here's another Funeral Potatoes recipe. This one is from The Southern Plate cookbook. It is very rich and cheesy and yummy. We had it on Easter with ham and asparagus and it was delicious. I might top it next time with the ubiquitous buttery cornflakes, because I love that, but as is it's still great.

Southern Plate Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

1 can cream of chicken
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 lb bag frozen shredded hashbrowns, thawed

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl combine soup, onion, melted butter, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Add cheese and hashbrowns and mix well. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake for about 45 minutes or until bubbly and starting to brown.

Savory Pull Apart Bread

This is a great bread recipe! I got the recipe from my friend Carolyn over at Carries Cooking Corner and it is awesome. I did change it just slightly by cutting up the dough into squares rather than strips, just so that it would be easier to pull apart. I bet this recipe could be adapted to use different herbs with great success - maybe finely chopped fresh or dried rosemary or garlic bread seasoning.


Savory Pull Apart Bread

1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted
dried dill (or other herb/herb blend of choice)

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine water and yeast and let stand for 5 minutes. In a separate bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons of softened butter. Add to the yeast mixture and mix. Add egg and beat for 3 minutes with dough hook. Add remaining flour until a soft dough is formed that pulls away from sides of bowl (you may use more or less than 1 1/2 cups flour). Knead with dough hook for another few minutes then turn out dough onto a floured surface.

Roll out dough into rectangle shape. Cut long strips of dough and then cut the other way to create lots of squares. Place a layer of dough squares in the bottom of a greased bundt pan. Drizzle the layer with melted butter and then sprinkle generously with dill. Do another layer of dough squares, then butter and dill, repeating until you use up all the dough ending with butter and dill. Cover with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap and let rise for 1-1 1/2 hours, or until it has risen almost to the top of the bundt pan.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-23 minutes. Turn out onto a plate and serve.

Danish Meat Patties

These Danish Meat Patties (I wish I could come up with a better name for this recipe) are very yummy and taste a lot like Swedish Meatballs. In fact I might try shaping the meat mixture into meatballs next time; for some reason my kids like meatballs better than patties. I got the recipe from The Convection Oven Bible so the instructions are written for a convection oven, but you can bake them in a regular oven for a longer period of time, probably 45 min - 1 hour. I served the patties with Ikea Swedish Meatball Gravy (packets that you can buy at Ikea) and Roasted Red Potatoes. Satisfying and delicious.

Danish Meat Patties

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork (I ground my own from boneless porkchops in the food processor)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups fresh bread crumbs
4 tablespoons flour
2 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 cup carbonated water (I used club soda)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large bowl combine ground meats, onion, bread crumbs, flour, eggs, salt, pepper, and allspice. Mix well together. Mix in carbonated water until thoroughly incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, measure out portions of the meat mixture and form into oval patties. Makes about 15 patties. Place on parchment lined baking sheets (I had to use 2). Combine melted butter and oil and drizzle over patties. Convection bake or roast at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until patties are browned and start to crisp. Serve with Swedish Meatball sauce if desired.

Parmesan Chicken Tenders

I think I found my family's, and definitely my kids', new favorite chicken tenders. These are so great. I love the way my house smells when I'm cooking something yummy and these chicken tenders smelled so good as they cooked. I got the recipe from the Food Nanny cookbook and modified it just slightly. The tenders come out crispy, yet moist on the inside.

Parmesan Chicken Tenders

2 eggs
1 tablespoon water
2 cups panko bread crumbs (I found these right next to the regular bread crumbs in my grocery store)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 lbs chicken breast tenders
1/3 cup butter
salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 11"x15" baking dish (or if you don't have that you can use a 9x13 baking dish and a 8x8 baking dish so you have enough room for all the chicken).

Beat eggs with water and pour into a shallow dish or pie plate. Mix together the panko, Parmesan, and garlic salt and pour into a separate shallow dish or pie plate. Take each chicken tender and dip in the egg then the bread crumb mixture. Arrange breaded tenders in the greased baking dish (or dishes). Melt the 1/3 cup butter in a glass measuring cup in the microwave and drizzle over the chicken tenders. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through. If desired, sprinkle with salt to taste when they come out of the oven.

Buttery Cornmeal Crescent Rolls

These rolls are truly wonderful. You would think the cornmeal would make these rolls heavy, but they aren't. They are light and buttery and have just a slight cornbreadish taste which makes them quite cool. I really really like these rolls and have a feeling I'll be making them often. The recipe is from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, a blog that I have gotten so many great recipes from. Oh, I almost forgot, I served these with Cinnamon Butter and wow it was a perfect combination.

Buttery Cornmeal Crescent Rolls

2 cups milk
2/3 cup yellow corn meal
1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast (SAF)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
5-6 cups bread flour (I used slightly less than 5 1/2 cups)

In a saucepan heat milk just until it starts to bubble on the sides (which is scalding the milk). Add the cornmeal and cook, turning down heat so it doesn't boil, stirring until thickened. Remove from heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl if you are making the rolls by hand). Let the mixture rest in the mixer until it cools to lukewarm (for me it was about 25 minutes).

Add the yeast, butter, and sugar. Mix. Add the salt and eggs. Mix well. Add the flour, gradually, until a soft dough forms and pulls away from sides of mixer. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Divide the dough into 3 equal portions (I got out my scale and measured them). Roll each portion into a 10 inch circle and cut into 8 wedges, pizza style. Roll up each triangle starting at wide end to form crescent roll shapes. Pinch pointy end of dough into the roll so it doesn't unravel. Place rolls on a greased sheet pan if you would like the rolls to be pull-apart type rolls. If you would like free formed rolls place the rolls on 2 greased sheet pans, 12 rolls per sheet. Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap and let rolls rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes for rolls on 1 sheet pan (they take longer to bake through cause they're all stuck together), or for 2 sheet pans bake for 10-12 minutes, until browned. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter if desired.

Cinnamon Butter

My family and I went to Texas Roadhouse and we had wonderful rolls with their fabulous cinnamon butter. I could not believe how good that cinnamon butter tasted. Yum. So I thought I'd try and make it at home.  This is what I came up with after looking at some copy-cat recipes. We had it last night with Buttery Cornmeal Crescent Rolls and wow it was good!

Cinnamon Butter

1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste

Combine all in a bowl with a hand mixer until well mixed and smooth. Serve on rolls, bread, toast, pancakes, or waffles.

Cheese Steak Sandwiches

Everyone loves a good sandwich, right?! Well this one is good! I can't remember who I got the recipe from (sorry wonderful cheese steak sandwich creator), but it is great. Even my 4 year old ate this sandwich without complaint. How can you go wrong with something smothered in melted cheese? You can't. It is delicious.

Cheese Steak Sandwiches

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons butter (plus more for buttering rolls)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon A1 Steak Sauce
1 lb deli roast beef (Boar's Head Natural is good)
salt and pepper
8 slices provolone cheese
8 sandwich rolls (I used large whole wheat hamburger buns)

Preheat oven to broil setting. Butter both halves of the sandwich rolls and toast either in the oven or on a griddle.

In a large skillet melt the butter, add the onion and cook until onion softens and starts to turn golden. Stir in garlic and oregano and cook 30 seconds. Add steak sauce and stir to combine. Add slices of roast beef to the skillet and cook until heated through, making sure the slices are separated.

Place the 8 bottom parts of the rolls on a cookie sheet. Place the meat mixture on top of the roll bottoms. Top with cheese and broil until cheese is melted. Top with top halves of rolls and serve immediately.

Classic French Toast

 
This is classic and oh so good French Toast. I love it! This is another great recipe from the Food Nanny cookbook. My family would be happy to have breakfast for dinner every night, especially if I made yummy French toast. I made it with Rudi's Organic Country White Bread because it was the thickest I could find in the store, but this would also be great with sliced French bread.

Classic French Toast

8 thick slices white bread
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon melted butter

Preheat a griddle to medium high heat (I set mine to 375).

In a bowl combine eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt; whisking well to blend. Add cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into a shallow dish or pie plate.

Combine oil and butter in a bowl and spread 2 teaspoons of this mixture over the griddle. Dip one slice of bread into the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides evenly; carefully place on the skillet. Repeat with as many slices of bread as will fit on the griddle. Fry until the bread is browned on both sides. Serve slices immediately with butter and syrup.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

This is another great recipe from Pioneer Woman. I think she is amazing. Every recipe I have tried from her site has been great. I especially like this easy and very tasty noodle casserole. So homey and comforting. I served it with some homemade French bread and mixed veggies and the whole family gobbled it up. 

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

1 lb ground beef
1, 15 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
8 oz wide egg noodles
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups small curd cottage cheese (I used 4% milk fat)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown beef in a large skillet. Drain fat. Add tomato sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare other ingredients.

Cook egg noodles to al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, cottage cheese and green onions.Add plently of freshly ground black pepper. Add noodles and stir.

To assemble: add half of the noodles to a 9x13 (or slightly smaller) baking dish. Top with half of the meat mixture. Sprinkle with half the sharp cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, and a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Creamy White Chicken Chili

I love this chicken chili! Just a little while ago I made a crockpot version of chicken chili, but I like this one much better. That said, this one does have a stick of butter, half and half, and 2 cups of cheese in it. Hmm, I wonder why it tastes better.:) Not exactly health food, but dang tasty. My kids all loved this and begged me to put in thermoses for their school lunches the next day. Success. I hope you like it too!

Creamy White Chicken Chili

1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
4 cups half and half
1 can chicken broth (about 2 cups)
2 cans navy beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
2, 4 oz cans chopped green chilies
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
3 cups cooked and cubed chicken
tabasco sauce, a few good shakes
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper
sour cream for topping

Melt butter in a large saucepan or stockpot. Add onion and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook another minute. Stir in flour and cook for a few minutes stirring. Whisk in chicken broth and half and half and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer for about 3 minutes, or until thickened. Add beans, chilies, cheese, chicken, tabasco, chili powder, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Spinach Mandarin Salad

Yummy!! I really like this salad. It has a great combination of flavors. The recipe is from the Best Bites cookbook. I used a bag of spinach and spring greens mix, 1 head of romaine lettuce, and Brianna's Home Style Poppy Seed Dressing (from the store). You could also use the poppy seed dressing that I use on my Spinach Salad.

Spinach Mandarin Salad

8 oz baby spinach (half a bag)
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 small red onion, sliced very thin
1 large avocado, cubed
1-2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1, 11 oz can mandarin oranges, drained
poppy seed dressing

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine. Add desired amount of dressing and toss. Serve immediately.

Homemade Tortillas

I made my very own flour tortillas. And, curiously, making them gave me a lot of satisfaction. I was very pleased to discover that not only are tortillas easy to make, but that they taste great. So much better than store bought or even the heat your own kind from Costco. I got this recipe from my friend Corinne. Thanks Corinne! I used non-hydrogenated shortening (Spectrum brand) because I recently read In Defense of Food and it scared me (super scared me), especially the parts about trans fats. As I've been searching around on the internet I've discovered you can also use oil in the place of shortening. I'm might try that next time.


Homemade Tortillas

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (I'm going to cut this in half next time to make them less poofy)
1 teaspoon salt
4-6 tablespoons shortening or lard
1 1/4 cups hot tap water

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender (I finished this by hand). Add water a little at a time, stirring with a spoon to bring dough together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until dough is nice and smooth, adding dustings of flour as needed. Form dough into 12 small golf ball size balls. Cover dough balls with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out dough balls on a floured surface into 8-10" rounds. Heat a frying pan and cook tortillas over medium high heat until browned (about 30 seconds), flip and cook until browned on the other side. Serve warm.