Baked Cheese Grits

May 7, 2012 By

The other night we had steak, green beans, cheese grits, and garlic bread. It was sort of the best dinner ever.

What’s your favorite meal?

It includes cheese grits, right?

I know grits are more of a southern dish, like most delicious things, but you can eat these no matter what part of the country you live in. I pinky promise.

I’m not a huge fan of the breakfasty grits, but cover them in cheese and add a little garlic? Oh, yes. I’ll eat the entire dish.

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Baked Cheese Grits

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 cups regular grits
  • 8 ounces Cheddar, cubed
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 4 ounces grated sharp white Cheddar
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 baking dish.
  2. Bring the broth, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to a boil over medium heat.
  3. Stir in the grits and whisk until completely combined.
  4. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the grits are thick, about 8 to 10 minutes.
  5. Add the cubed Cheddar and milk and stir. Gradually stir in the eggs and butter, until well combined.
  6. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the white Cheddar and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until set.
  7. Sprinkle with parsley before serving
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2012/05/07/baked-cheese-grits/

lightly adapted from Paula Deen.

 

11 Comments Filed Under: Cheesy, Cheesy, Side Dish

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

May 2, 2012 By


I made pie.

It was fabulous.

I don’t make pie often, because let’s face it, in order to make pie crust you have to throw flour all over your kitchen and that’s kind of stupid.

I’m a grown up. I don’t like to intentionally make messes. Except for right before I’m getting to go out of town and my husband is staying home. I love making messes then, because it’s a game.

Will he clean it while I’m gone? Will it still be there when I get back?

I kind of always lose that game, because the mess is pretty much never cleaned when I get back home. I went on a week long girls only cruise once and left a dirty pan on the stove and do you know what happened to that pan while I was gone? Nothing. It was still there when I arrived home 6 days later.

I’m not complaining very much. The man works 80 hours a week. That’s actually not an exaggeration, either. So, yeah. I can clean up after myself.

Anyway, that’s why I don’t make very many pies.

This pie? Worth the mess. Times 1,000.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients

    For the crust:
  • 1-1/2 cup shortening (butter works, but not as well)
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pinch of white sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 5 tablespoons cold water
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
    • For the filling:
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 pound fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 pint fresh strawberries, cored and halved
    • For the crumb topping:
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup quick-cooking or rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup cold butter

Instructions

    To make the crust:
  1. Dump the shortening, flour, salt, and sugar into a large bowl and work it together with a pastry cutter until you have coarse crumbs.
  2. Pour in the egg, water, and vinegar and stir until just combined.
  3. Separate into 2 balls of dough and place in freezer bags.
  4. Place each bag in the freezer. You'll only need one ball of dough for this pie, the second should keep in the freezer for 6 months or more.
  5. Remove one ball of dough after 20 minutes in the freezer and roll it out on a floured surface into a 10 inch circle.
  6. Place the dough in the pie pan and tuck the edges under to make a neat, thick crust around the edges. Crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork.
  7. Place in the refrigerator until ready to fill.
    8. To make the filling:
  8. In a large bowl, beat together the egg, sugar, flour, corn starch, and vanilla until well combined.
  9. Dump in the strawberries and rhubarb and toss to coat in the mixture.
  10. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell.
    11. To make the crumb topping:
  11. In a medium bowl, cut together the flour, sugar, oats, and butter with a pastry cutter until you have coarse crumbs.
  12. Sprinkle over the top of the pie.
    13. To bake the pie:
  13. Place the pie in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.
  14. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the fruit is hot and bubbly and the crust is browned.
  15. Cool on a wire rack.
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2012/05/02/strawberry-rhubarb-pie/

Filling and crumb topping adapted from allrecipes.com. Pie crust adapted from The Pioneer Woman.

 

 

 

9 Comments Filed Under: Dessert, Fruit, Pie, Seasonal

Green Beans with Bacon, Onions, and Tomatoes

April 30, 2012 By

I have this weird love of green beans. I’m not a huge veggie fan (I know! You’re shocked!), but green beans? Hand ‘em over.

I like to cook them until all of the nutritional value has evaporated, of course. It just makes them taste so much yummier.

I also like to cook them with bacon. Bacon makes everything edible. Even beans. True story.

You might notice that there are no tomatoes in the photos I’m showing you, but that’s just because I was all out.

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Green Beans with Bacon, Onions, and Tomatoes

Recipe From: 8

Ingredients

  • 6 slices bacon
  • 2 cans (28 oz each) cut green beans
  • 1/2 small onion, diced
  • 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes or 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • salt, to taste

Instructions

  1. Chop the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and place in a large, hot skillet over medium heat.
  2. Fry the bacon until just starting to brown.
  3. Stir in the onions and continue cooking until the bacon crisps and the onions soften.
  4. Dump in the juice from one of the cans of green beans and deglaze the pan. Drain the second can of green beans and add the beans from both cans to the pan. Sprinkle in around a teaspoon of salt.
  5. If you're using fresh tomatoes, stir those in with the green beans now.
  6. Cook over low heat for one hour, stirring in chicken broth as needed to keep the pan from getting too dry.
  7. Stir in the canned tomatoes (drained) and cook for a few minutes until heated through. Add more salt to taste.
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2012/04/30/green-beans-with-bacon-onions-and-tomatoes/

7 Comments Filed Under: Bacon, Side Dish, Veggies

Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

April 25, 2012 By

I usually whip up cookies in no time, with no problems.

These? No.

They were too flat, they were too crispy, the bottoms were burnt before the centers were done, they had too many calories, etc.

Okay, so I fixed all of the problems, except for that last one. Calories are delicious, so I decided to just leave that alone.

This recipe is from Taste of Home, but I changed it up a bit to turn these into bars. It only took me three test batches before I got the idea.

Don’t even ask what happened to the test batches. I’ll admit to nothing.

Now, y’all know that I do quite a lot of baking, so when I say that something is just plain fabulous and a new favorite, I hope you’ll know that I mean it. These are fabulous. They are a new favorite.

My husband took one bite and exclaimed, “These are amazing!”

I usually have to ask him for his opinions and then I always get “They’re good.” No exclamation points attached or anything.

So, yeah. These are amazing! Eat ‘em.

(I’ve had a few people comment that they are having issues getting the dough to bake through without burning the top and bottom. I used a 9×9 pan with no issues, but if you’re worried, try these in a 7×11 or 9×13 dish.)

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Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup malted milk powder
  • 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar, malted milk powder, chocolate syrup, and vanilla for 2 minutes. Beat in the egg until well combined.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir to combine.
  3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix well.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chunks and chips.
  5. Line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper. Press the cookie dough into the dish.
  6. Bake at 375 degrees for 28-30 minutes.
  7. Cool in the pan on a cooling rack.
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2012/04/25/malted-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars/

lightly adapted from Taste of Home

23 Comments Filed Under: Bar Desserts, Cookies, Dessert

Classic Buttermilk Pancake Recipe

April 23, 2012 By

Yes, fine.  You’ll probably save about 3 minutes of time if you decide to make your pancakes from a box mix.

I know those 3 minutes are important minutes that you could be spending shouting at your children to brush their teeth, searching for shoes to put on everyone’s feet (shoes that match, even, because you are Super Woman), and maybe you need that time to explain to your husband that no, his shirt really doesn’t match his tie and he sort of looks like a hobo.

I get it.

You’re busy.

These pancakes are worth the hobo-looking husband and the children going to school in mismatched shoes with stinky breath.

Take the extra 3 minutes, make the pancakes from scratch, and rejoice in all that is buttery, fluffy, and delicious.

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Classic Buttermilk Pancakes

Yield: 4 pancakes

These pancakes always cook up super fluffy and flavorful! They're just as easy as the box mix, but they taste so much better.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup regular milk plus 2 tablespoons vinegar - let sit for 5 minutes)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

  1. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the buttermilk, vanilla, egg, and melted butter until well combined.
  3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together until most of the lumps are gone. Do not overmix.
  4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray.
  5. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet and cook until bubbles form on the surface. Flip the pancake and cook until browned on the bottom and the center is done.
http://bunsinmyoven.com/2012/04/23/classic-buttermilk-pancake-recipe/

lightly adapted from AllRecipes.com

 

8 Comments Filed Under: Breakfast, Easy Breezy Chicken Squeezy
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