Heath Bar Cake

I chose this cake for my birthday this year. I loved it! And, if you like chocolate and toffee, you are bound to love it too. Even better... it's super easy!

Surprise! I found this cake at melskitchencafe.com... again!

*Serves 8-10

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-6 (1.4 ounces each) chocolate covered toffee bars (like Heath), chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and center a rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, flour and butter. Crumble these ingredients together with a pastry blender, whisk or two forks until the mixture is crumbly and coarse. Remove 1/2 cup of the crumbs to a small bowl and set aside. To the large bowl with the remaining crumbs, add the buttermilk, egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it to the edges. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the reserved crumbs and chopped Heath bars. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center is no longer gooey but a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs.

Note: I read some comments on the recipe. Don't use the toffee or Heath bits you may find at the store. First, they may not be covered in chocolate. Second, these will tend to be smaller, whereas if you chop it yourself you will get some larger pieces and a larger variety of sizes. Trust me, just chop the bars.

Southwest Burgers

Oh my goodness! I requested these burgers for my birthday. They were so delicious! Regular hamburgers will never be the same.

This recipe is from the Our Best Bites cookbook, but the recipe can also be found at ourbestbites.com.

Burgers:
1 1/2 lb ground chuck or ground sirloin
1-1 1/2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce (I accidentally forgot to add these, and they still turned out great.)
1 1/2 T adobo sauce (from the chipotle chili can)
1/4 C grated onion
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t cumin
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t pepper

Chipotle-lime Mayo:
1/2 C Mayo
2 t lime juice
1 1/2 t adobo sauce (from the canned chipotle chilis)
2T chopped fresh cilantro

4-6 good quality buns
1 tomato
1-2 avocado
lettuce
optional: jack, cotija, or queso fresco cheese (I used Monterrey Jack because that is what I had.)

1. Start by making the sauce. Place mayo, adobo sauce, lime juice and cilantro in a small bowl. Stir it all together. Cover it and set in the fridge. You can make this part up to 2 days ahead of time if you want to. This sauce is the best part of the burger!

2. Preheat grill or indoor grill pan.

3. Place the beef in a bowl and gently crumble with your fingers. Add the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, grated onion, garlic powder, cumin, kosher salt, and pepper. Use your hands to gently mix things together.

4. Divide into 4 patties (or 6 little ones) and place on a preheated grill, indoor grill pan, or skillet. If you want to top with cheese, do so in the last few minutes of grilling. I’d use jack, cotija, or even some queso fresco. While the burgers are cooking, toast buns and spread chipotle-lime sauce generously on each side of each bun.

5. When the burgers are done to your liking let them stand for 5 minutes off the grill/pan and then pop onto your prepared buns. Top with tomato slices, avocado slices, and a crisp piece of lettuce.

Cheesy Skillet Chicken and Rice with Green Beans

This dish is nice and creamy and similar in texture to risotto (so I am told). Definitely a comfort meal. And it only uses one skillet, so the clean up is pretty easy. I will be making this again! I found this recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe (again).

*Serves 4-6

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 ounces white button mushrooms, brushed clean and quartered or sliced
4 medium garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
1 ½ cups long grain white rice
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ pound frozen or fresh green beans
1 cup shredded sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season liberally with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until the oil is rippling and hot. Carefully lay each chicken breast in the skillet and cook until the chicken is well browned on the first side, about 3-4 minutes. Flip the chicken with a pair of tongs and let it brown on the second side, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Drain all but about 1-2 tablespoons oil from the pan.

Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, scraping the browned bits off the bottom and edges of the pan, until the mushrooms begin to soften and start to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Add the rice and continue to cook until the edges of the rice turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken to the pan and cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and the rice is mostly cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the skillet again, brushing off any rice that sticks to the chicken back into the skillet. Cover the chicken with foil to keep warm. Stir the green beans into the skillet, stir the mixture well, cover and continue to cook on low until the beans and rice are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

The Best Blueberry Muffins

These are my new favorite muffins. They have a blueberry jam-like mixture swirled into the tops as well as a lemon sugar topping. Yum! I even used 1/2 whole wheat flour, and you would never guess. I found this recipe a couple of places, but I believe it originally comes from the May/June 2009 Cooks Illustrated magazine. I first found it at Mel's Kitchen Cafe, and I followed her directions. (If you have not checked out her blog, you should. It is one of my favorites!)

Lemon-Sugar Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
zest from one lemon

Muffins:
2 cups frozen blueberries (or 2 cups fresh)
1 1/8 c (1/8 c = 2 tablespoons) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the topping:

Stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.

For the muffins:

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

Rinse one cup frozen berries under cold water and spread on a double layer of paper towels to dry well. Bring remaining one cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with a spoon several times and stirring frequently, until the berries have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Toss the berries that have dried on the paper towels in with the flour mixture. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. The batter will be lumpy with a few dry spots of flour – don’t overmix.

Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill the muffin cups until they are about 3/4 full. Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. Using a skewer (or a chopstick), gently swirl the berry filling into the batter using a figure eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the muffins.

Bake until the top of the muffins are golden and just firm, 17-18 minutes. Cool muffins in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Note: If you are short on time, you can skip the cooking of the 1 cup of blueberries and just mix all 2 cups into the batter. I highly recommend making the blueberry mixture though.

Green Beans and Mushrooms

Ingredents:

1 lb fresh or frozen green beans, trimmed

2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup chopped onion

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 tespoon peper

Directions:

Place beans in a large saucepan and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Meanwhile in a large skillet, saute mushrooms, garlic, onions in butter until tender. Drain beans; add to skillet. Stir in salt and peper; heat through.

Creme Brulee

Ingredients:

1 quart heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 c white sugar, divided

1/4 c brown sugar

6 large egg yolks

2 quarts hot water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Place the cream and vanilla into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup white sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8 ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. In a small bowl combine remaining 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Sift this mixture evenly over custard.

Place dish under boiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn. (Or you can use a torch to melt the sugar)

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until custard is set again.

Notes: My husband requested Creme Brulee for his birthday dessert. I have never made it before and honestly never really liked it. So I got online and looked at a couple different recipes and combined a couple and came up with this and it is so good I am now a fan of Creme Brulee.

Macadamin White Chocolate Chips Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened


• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar


• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)


• 2 eggs


• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• 5 cups flour


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 12 oz package white chocolate chips


• 1 1/2 cups chopped Macadamin Baking Pieces


• Preheat oven to 350


• Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Blend in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia pieces. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking pans.


• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.


• Makes 6 dozen

Saucy Asparagus Chicken

• 1 1/2 lbs. fresh asparaus spears, halved


• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves


• 2 T. oil


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1/4 tsp pepper


• 1 can cream of chicken soup


• 1/2 c. mayonnaise


• 1/2 tsp curry powder


• 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

• Place asparagus in a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. In a skillet over medium heat, bown chicken in oil, both sides, season with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken over asparagus. In a bowl, mix soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder and pour over chicken. Cover and bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until chicken is tender and juice runs clear. Sprinkle with cheese and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.