I made this stuff up! Cooking with Mimi

Baked Fried Chicken

I made this chicken for dinner tonight and it was really good. Definately a make again. The original recipe I found on pinterest but I tweaked it to fit my taste.

Baked Fried Chicken

• 
  Place thawed chicken breast tenderloin strips in a bowl of buttermilk. I used 6 chicken breasts that I sliced in half.  Let soak for 20-30 min.
  Mix in a Gallon Size Ziploc or Large Bowl:  
  1/2 tsp. Salt
  1 T Montreal Chicken Seasoning or Johnny's Seasoning Salt
  3/4 tsp Pepper
  1 c. Flour
  1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
  2 tsp. Paprika
  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into a few pieces and place in 2- 9x13 pans. Melt butter in pre-heated oven.
  Spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray the pan, if needed, to make sure that there are no dry spots.
  Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. You can either shake the chicken in the bag, until coated, or dip each piece in the bowl until coated.
  Place each piece of chicken in the pan.
  Cook for 20 min. Turn each piece of chicken and continue cooking for 20 more minutes, or until cooked through.

Pesto Fondue

Pesto Fondue

• 3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 1/4 cups dry white wine
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup pesto

In a large saucepan, add the pesto mixture and white wine until it reaches a slow rolling boil.

In a large bowl, toss the shredded mozzerella and parmesan cheese with cornstarch. Slowly stir it into saucepan with the boiling pesto/wine one small handful at a time. Stir over medium heat until it is melted and stringy. It may take about 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to fondue pot or little crockpot.

Crockpot Apple Cider

This was a great recipe the perfect balance of sweet and tart. It makes your house smell like heaven! I did this on top of the stove because my crockpots were in use.

Crockpot Apple Cider

• 1 gallon Apple Juice (100% juice)
• 1/2 gallon pineapple juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 clove pieces
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 orange sliced
• Juice from one lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients in a big pot and simmer for 2-3 hours. Or in a large crockpot simmer 2 hours on high, then turn to low or keep warm and can be left on for a day. Really good to add cinnamon whiskey to or buttershots.

Beer Cheese Dip

No picture of this but it was a keeper. This recipe comes from The Hungry Housewive's blog. We warmed our dip and really liked it that way.

Beer Cheese Dip

16 oz Cream Cheese, softened

32 oz Velveeta Cheese, cubed

3 cloves Garlic, minced

2 jars Old English Cheese

18 oz Dark Beer, stirred to remove bubbles (1 1/2 bottles of beer)

2 Loafs of Round Bread (not sliced)

1 Tbsp Parsley for garnish

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, mix cream cheese until smooth.

Add the two jars of Old English Cheese and incorporate with the cream cheese until smooth.

Add 1/2 of the cubed Velveeta Cheese into the cream cheese and mix until smooth.

Blend in the 3 cloves of garlic.

Blend in one bottle of beer.

Add the remaining Velveeta Cheese and blend.

Add in the remaining beer.

With the mixer on medium high, blend the cheese until smooth. Be sure to keep you beaters in the cheese mixture as much as possible to reduce the amount of air in the cheese. This will take about 5 minutes. You can add more beer if your dip is too thick.

To prepare the bread bowl, cut a lid out of one of the loafs of bread and remove.

Scoop out the bread out of the center of the bread to make a “bowl”. Set that bread aside, you will use it to dip. Take care not to tear through the bread or your dip will leak through.

Take the other loaf of bread and cube it into 1″ cubes.

Pour the beer cheese into the bread bowl and arrange the cut up bread around the bowl.

Garnish with parsley

Serve immediately or make up to 3 days in advance. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Hot Cocoa

I set up a Hot Cocoa bar Christmas Eve night. I will definatley be doing this again. This Hot Cocoa recipe is meant for a crockpot but I did it on top of the stove and it was good that way as well.  Be careful with your heat or it will burn.

Hot Cocoa

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 6 cups milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Stir all ingredients together in your crockpot or until combined on top of the stove. Enjoy!

Crostini with Mushrooms, Prosciutto, and Blue Cheese

I've had the recipe for a while. It was yummy!

Crostini with Mushrooms, Proscuitto, and Blue Cheese

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 lb shitake mushrooms
• 4 ounces crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped thinly sliced prosciutto, I used danish bacon
• 18 1/2 inch thinly sliced sourdough baguette

Melt butter in large skillet over medium high heat. Add all mushrooms and garlic and saute until mushrooms are cooked through and brown, about 10 minutes. Add cream and boil until liquid is completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add blue cheese and stir until it melts. Mix in prosciutto. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer mushroom mixture into a bowl. (This can be made a day ahead of time and refrigerate)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange bread slices on baking sheet. Bake until just golden about 5 minutes. Mound 1 generous tablespoon on each slice. Return to oven and bake about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Marshmallows

Homemade marshmallows are definately worth the work. I used a recipe from foodnetwork.com and it was Alton Browns. We did an in between recipe and used a sheet pan but didn't spread it all the way out because we wanted not so big and not so small marshmallows. Tim called me crazy for making marshmallows but by the time we were done he was a believer! Yummy!!

Homemade Marshmallows

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup ice cold water, divided
• 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray

Directions

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

For regular marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

For miniature marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Line 4 half sheet pans with parchment paper, spray the paper with nonstick cooking spray and dust with the confectioners' sugar mixture.

Scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round piping tip. Pipe the mixture onto the prepared sheet pans lengthwise, leaving about 1-inch between each strip. Sprinkle the tops with enough of the remaining cornstarch and sugar mixture to lightly cover. Let the strips set for 4 hours or up to overnight.

Cut into 1/2 inch pieces using a pizza wheel or scissors dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining sugar mixture and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Baked French toast

Baked French Toast

1 loaf sourdough bread (I used Pepperidge Farm)
8 eggs
2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

1.  Grease a 9x13 pan with butter.  Tear bread into bite-size chunks and place evenly in the pan.
2.  Mix together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla.  Pour evenly over bread.  Cover tightly and store in the fridge for several hours (I put mine in overnight....it was about 12 hours).
3.  In a medium bowl mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it all looks nice and crumbly (like small pebbles, according to P-Dub).  Place in a ziploc bag and put in fridge.
4.  When ready to bake, take pan and bag out of fridge.  Remove wrap and evenly sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top.  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees (or 45 minutes if you like it more soft and pudding-like).

Notes:

• You can serve with syrup, but we made a quick glaze with powdered sugar and milk.  Delish!
• If you don't have brown sugar, mix 1/2 Tbsp. molasses with 1/2 cup sugar until well blended.
• Like I said, you can bake it for less time if you like it softer, but I love how the top gets crispy when it's baked for an hour.  The underneath part is still somewhat soft.  One hour in my 350-oven was just right.
• The directions said to scoop out, but I wanted to be able to control the portions so I cut it into 12 servings (they were large, and this is rich, so you could serve other breakfast dishes and use this as more of a side dish and get 24 servings).

Makes 12 large servings

Source:  slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Turkey Breast and Stuffing

I love turkey breast in the crockpot. Besides cooking a turkey in the bag in the oven it's my favorite way to cook it. No picture but it's an easy one.

Turkey Breast and Stuffing

• 1 turkey breast thawed out and rinsed off well any size will work as long as it fits your crockpot
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• Johnny's seasoning salt
• Montreal Chicken Seasoning from Costco
• 2 boxes Stove top stuffing

Place your rinsed turkey breast into the crockpot making sure you've removed the gravy packet. Drizzle your melted butter over the turkey and then generously season the outside of the turkey with both Johnny's and Montreal Chicken seasoning. I'd say about a tsp of each at least. I don't measure just shake it on til it looks right. Cover and cook on high for at least 4 hours. Mine was approx 5 lbs and I cooked it for 5 hours, so this will depend on the size of your bird. You could certainly cook it on low but the time would be probably 6-8 hours depending on the size of your turkey breast. When you have about 2 hours left to cook mix up your stove top stuffing according to the box directions and add it around your bird in the crockpot. Cover and enjoy!

Pumpkin Roll

This was my Grandma Anderson's recipe and I can't believe I've never posted it before now.. She made it always for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And now looking back it makes me stop and think. Grandma was a diabetic and couldn't eat hardly any of what she baked but man could she bake. I miss her but making her recipes makes me feel a little closer to her. So enjoy!

 

Pumpkin Roll

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir in pumpkin puree, eggs. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Spread the mixture evenly.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
4. Lay a damp linen towel on the counter, sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar, and turn the cake onto the towel. Carefully roll the towel up (lengthwise) with the cake in it. Place the cake-in-towel on a cooling rack and let it cool for 20 minutes.
5. Make the icing: In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sugar with an electric mixer.
6. When the cake has cooled 40 minutes at least, unroll it and spread icing onto it. Immediately re-roll (not in the towel this time), and wrap it with plastic wrap. Keep the cake refrigerated or freeze it for up to 6 months in plastic wrap. Cut the cake in slices just before serving.