Chocolate Chip & Walnut Muffins

I love chocolate chip muffins so I am always researching different recipes for muffins. I found this recipe and it was so easy to make and so good to eat!

Chocolate Chip & Walnut Muffins

adapted from: http://blogchef.net/?s=chocolate+chip+muffin

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk

½ cup butter (melted and cooled)

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 ounces walnuts, chopped
Additional sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 muffins cups (or muffin tins). In a large bowl mix together flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl stir together eggs, milk, butter and vanilla until well blended. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the milk mixture into the well and stir until well combined. Lightly stir in chocolate chips and chopped nuts.Spoon batter into muffins cups or tins and sprinkle with sugar. Place into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Honey Balsamic Chicken w/ Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Many years ago, my husband and I were eating dinner at Macaroni Grill. My husband ordered Honey Balsamic Chicken w/ Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta...it was soooo good. So I decided when I got home to try and make this recipe. I wasn't sure what was in it or how to make it but I tried and it came out delicious!!

Honey Balsamic Chicken 
Ingredients
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Cup Honey
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 small onion diced
3 garlic cloves minced
Salt & Pepper

Directions
Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with a whisk and pour into a large plastic zip lock bag. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade. Add chicken breast and marinade for at least an hour or up to over night. When ready to cook, wipe off excess marinade and grill 6-7 minutes per side until chicken is fully cooked. While grilling baste the chicken with the reserved marinade.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
1 pound angel hair or thin pasta
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
1/4 cup white wine
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced

Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
In a large saute pan add 2-3 tablespoons of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes. Saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent (about 3-5 minutes). Add sun-dried tomatoes and wine and cook until wine has reduced by half. Set aside until pasta is cooked.
Once large pot of water is boiling add a handful of salt and add pasta. Cook until al dente, about 6-7 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta and add pasta and reserved pasta water to saute pan. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until it is all incorproated. Serve along side Honey Balsamic Chicken.

Meatloaf

Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

 1 tablespoon evoo

1/2 bell pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 small can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 egg

Salt & Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Heat a large saute pan. Add evoo. Saute bell peppers, onions, garlic, carrots, salt and pepper for about 3-4 minutes. Add 1/2 of the can of tomato sauce and cook for another 3-4 minute. Let cool. In a large bowl add egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and cooled vegetables. Mix until combined. Add meat and mix until just combined. Form meat mixture into meatloaf shape. Put on a cookie sheet. Brush the remaining tomato sauce on top of the meatloaf and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Buffalo Chicken Sliders

My husband loves buffalo chicken sandwiches and when I came across a recipe for buffalo chicken burgers I couldn't wait to try it. Boy oh boy they were yummy! :)

Buffalo Chicken Sliders
http://www.howsweeteats.com/2010/08/30/buffalo-chicken-burgers/
Ingredients

1 lb ground chicken breast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese

ranch dressing + buffalo wing sauce for topping

Mini Buns

Directions

Preheat grill or skillet.

In a large bowl combine ground chicken, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, parmesan and buffalo wing sauce. Mix until just combined. Form into small patties.

Grill or pan-fry patties until brown on both sides and cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. In the last 2 minutes, place 1/2 ounce of cheddar cheese on each burger. Place burgers on buns and top with a drizzle of  ranch and buffalo wing dressing.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I am not usually a big pancake fan, however, add chocolate to anything and its delicious! I made these chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and they were moist, gooey, and delicious. Enjoy! :)

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients

2 Eggs

2 cups Milk

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup mixture of dark & milk chocolate chips

Directions

In a large bowl, lightly whisk eggs. Add milk, butter, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Add in flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix till combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips. Heat a griddle or pan. Add butter so pancakes do not stick. Drops scoops of batter onto heated skillet (I used 1/4 cup). Cook until bubbles start to form on the surface and flip. Cook until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Key Lime Pie

Ever since my husband and I went to Key West on vacation and tasted Blond Giraffe's Key Lime Pi we were hooked. It was delicious and I couldn't wait to make it at home!! While at the shop in Key West we bought their key lime juice and it had a recipe for the filling on the back. I made it Friday night and WOW it was delicious!!

Key Lime Pie 
Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
1 package of graham crackers
2 teaspoons of sugar
5 tablespoons of butter, melted.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. In food processor combine graham crackers and sugar until graham crackers are ground up. Put in a bowl and add melted butter. Combine. Put into 9 inch pie dish and spread out until the smooth. Bake 10 minutes so crust can set.

Pie Filling
adapted from: Blond Giraffe
3 Egg Yolks
1 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1- 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup key lime juice
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. In an electric mixer, beat on high speed the egg yolks and lime zest until fluffy. Slowly add the milk and beat until thick. Lower the mixer speed and add in key lime juice until combined. Pour into crust and bake for 10 minutes. Let it cool and refrigerate 30 minutes. Top with whipped cream.

Mongolian Chicken

Lately, I have been on a chinese food kick so I have been searching everywhere for recipes. I found this recipe on a new blog I follow and it was very good.

Mongolian Chicken

adapted from: http://blogchef.net/?s=mongolian+chicken

Ingredients:

1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (sliced into thin strips)

1/2 cup cornstarch (or more, for coating)

2 tablespoons garlic (minced)

1 white onion (sliced)

2 green onions (sliced)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Oil (for frying)

Sauce-

¼ cup chicken broth

1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon dry sherry

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (or less, to your taste)

Directions

In a medium bowl whisk together chicken broth, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, sherry, sugar, soy sauce and crushed red pepper flakes. Set aside.Toss chicken with cornstarch in a bag until all of the strips are thoroughly coated. Heat a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Fry chicken strips in batches until golden brown and fully cooked. Drain on paper towels. Place into the oven to keep warm. Add a tablespoon or two of oil to a wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion and green onions. Season vegetables with salt and pepper. Stir fry until vegetables have reached your desired tenderness. Remove from pan and set aside.

Pour the sauce mixture into the wok and cook until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Add chicken strips into a large serving bowl, pour sauce over chicken, add onions and mix well. Serve with white rice.



Chicken Marengo

Well, its another Wednesday night and that means my parents came over for dinner. It is always a difficult decision deciding what to make. I always end up making a new recipe I have found that my parents and husband are the Ginny pigs for! :) This Wednesday I made Melissa d'Arabian's Chicken Marengo and it was spectacular.

Ingredients

3 large chicken cutlets, sliced into thin paillards (slice while partially frozen)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium sweet onion, sliced

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and julienned

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup beef broth
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes

1/2 tablespoon butter

Directions
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, to taste, and lightly dredge in flour. In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the chicken. Brown on both sides, until nicely golden, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate. In the same pan, add more oil, if needed, along with the onion, mushrooms and peppers and saute until softened and fragrant, but not limp, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomato paste and cook a few minutes to cook out the raw flavor. Turn up the heat, and add the wine/wine to deglaze the pan and let it reduce for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the beef broth and tomatoes. Once the mixture begins to bubble, add the browned paillards and any juices from the chicken and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is warmed through, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and stir in the butter. Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately.

Chicken Caesar Burgers w/ Parmesan Tator Tots

I love Rachael Ray, I own all of her cookbooks and love to watch her shows. As I was browsing around her website I came across this recipe for Chicken Caesar Burgers and since I adore Chicken Caesar Salads, I thought that this recipe can only be good. So, I tried it for dinner and it was okay but next time I will definitely add my own twist to it.

Chicken Caesar Burgers w/ Parmesan Tator Tots

adapted from: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/chicken-caesar-burgers-with-parmigiano-taters/

Ingredients

For the taters:

1 sack frozen tater tots
A couple of handfuls of grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Romano cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1 tablespoon grill seasoning (eyeball it)

For the burgers:

1 1/4 pounds ground chicken breast, the average weight of 1 package

3 garlic cloves, 2 finely chopped, 1 cracked from skin

4 anchovies, finely chopped (optional but recommended)

A handful of Parmigiano Reggiano

Salt and coarse black pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

A handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon zest plus juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus some for drizzling

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 heart romaine lettuce, chopped

2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

4 crusty rolls, split in half

Directions

Start the taters: Combine Parmigiano, salt, rosemary, hot pepper flakes and grill seasoning in a bowl. Pour four portions of taters onto a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake until almost crisp (about halfway through the cooking time on the package), then remove and sprinkle them with a handful of the cheese, tossing them a little to make sure they're coated, and then finish baking them off. Sprinkle them with cheese and herb mixture, tossing them around a bit so the mixture sticks. As the frost starts to melt, the flavorings will set into place.

In a bowl, combine the chicken, finely chopped garlic, anchovies, a handful of cheese, a pinch of salt and a generous amount of pepper, Worcestershire, parsley and lemon zest. Mix the meat and form 4 oval-shaped, rather than round, burger patties. Heat a large nonstick skillet with 1 tablespoon of EVOO, a turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. When hot, add the chicken patties and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Preheat the broiler and toast the bread on a cookie sheet or broiler pan. Once lightly golden in color, remove from oven and rub the breads with cracked garlic. Drizzle bread with the EVOO. Combine Dijon, lemon juice and 2-3 tablespoons of EVOO with salt and pepper, and toss the greens with it. Place the patties on the bun bottoms and top them with a pile of romaine, sliced tomatoes and bun tops. Serve the burgers with the Parmigiano tater tots.

My Bolognese Sauce

Being Italian, my husband and I love bolognese sauce so I make it quite often. This time however, I added some diced mushrooms to the meat and it gave the sauce even more flavor and I used one of our favorite pastas linguine!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 tablespoon evoo

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoons dried basil & 1 tablespoons dried basil

1/2  teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 large onion, finely diced

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 ounce can tomato paste

Salt & Pepper

1 pound favorite pasta

Directions

In a large shallow pot add evoo and heat. Once heated add ground beef. Using a wooden spoon break up the meat. Once meat is broken up add 1 tablespoon garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Mix the spices into meat. Saute until meat is almost fully browned. Add finely diced onion and garlic to meat. Saute for 5-6 minutes. Add small can of tomato paste and incorporate into meat. Cook another 5 minutes. Add 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes and combine. Add more salt and pepper and remaining tablespoon of dried basil.  Cook on simmer for 20 minutes until flavors have developed and meat is nice and tender. Taste for seasoning. If needed add more salt, pepper, dried basil.

Meanwhile, while bolognese sauce cooks, bring water to boil in a large pot. Once the water comes to a boil, salt water with a handful of salt. Add favorite pasta and cook till al dente (between 8-12 minutes).

Once pasta is fully cooked and water is drained add a ladel full of bolognese sauce to pasta and toss around with tongs. Keep adding sauce until desired amount is added. Sprinkle with pecorino romano cheese and serve!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

While browsing around some cooking blogs, I came across this recipe for nutella chocolate chip cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies and these looked just delicious so I thought what the heck, lets try them and they were delicious!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from: http://www.kirbiecravings.com/2010/08/nutella-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup Nutella
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prep baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, the sugar and the brown sugar. Add the eggs and the vanilla until combined.
4. Gradually add the flour until the mixture is combined.
5. Then mix Nutella. Finally add in the chocolate chips.
6. Use ice cream scoop and drop on baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches

I LOVE Chick-fil-a sandwiches and when I saw this recipe in Food Network Magazine I could not wait to try it. And boy oh boy these sandwiches were just delicious and tasted just like chick-fli-a sandwiches. These are a must try!! :)

Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut in half and pounded thin

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

Peanut oil, for frying

1 large egg

1/2 cup nonfat milk

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 tablespoon malted milk powder

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1 sour pickle, cut into 8 slices, plus 1 tablespoon pickle juice from the jar

2 teaspoons white vinegar

4 soft hamburger buns, split

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Directions

Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon each pepper and paprika. Heat about 2 inches peanut oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F. Meanwhile, whisk the egg, milk and 2 tablespoons water in a baking dish. Whisk both flours, the malted milk powder, confectioners sugar, baking soda, dry mustard, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon paprika and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper in another dish. Toss the pickle slices, pickle juice and vinegar in a bowl and set aside. Working in batches, dip the chicken in the egg mixture, turning to coat, then dredge in the flour mixture and shake off any excess. Repeat for a 2nd coating to make chicken extra crispy. Fry the chicken in the hot oil until golden brown, about 4 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed. Drain on paper towels.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spread the cut sides of the buns with some of the butter and lightly toast in the skillet, buttered-side down; spread with more butter. Put 2 pickle slices on each bun bottom; top with a piece of chicken and cover with the bun tops.