Pasta with Roasted Garlic, Chicken, and Brocolli with a White Cheddar & Wine Sauce

Okay, I admit it - 99% of the time, when a recipe calls for garlic of any sort, I will be using my giant jar of minced garlic.  I just like how the garlic is minced up into really small equal pieces, and all I have to do is scoop it out of the jar.  After coming across this recipe on Annie's Eats, I decided it was time for me to use some "real" garlic to make this dish.  It seemed like the roasted garlic was an integral part of the flavor, and Annie had some very simple directions on roasting the garlic so when I went to the grocery store I bought 2 heads of garlic for the first time in a very long time.

As it turns out, I have been missing out on lots of garlicky flavor!  Roasting the garlic hardly took any effort at all, and it added flavor that cannot be achieved by using store-bought minced garlic.  I think I might be converted!  I'm not going to say that I won't be using jarred garlic at all anymore, but I think now it'll be more like 50/50 instead of 99/1. 

Anyways, this dish was delicious!  It has several different elements that all come together to make a great meal.  It's light and flavorful, and it is definitely going on my repeat list.  The quantities below will serve 2 hungry people, but if I ever make this for four people, I will go ahead and double it.

Ingredients:

8 oz. tube shaped pasta, such as penne
1½ tbsp. butter
¼ cup roasted garlic paste*
1½ tbsp. flour
¼ cup dry white wine (as usual, I used Savignon Blanc)
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese (sharp is best!)
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets and blanched until crisp-tender*
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled and cut into bite size pieces (you can also bake or saute this)
Salt and pepper, to taste

*To make roasted garlic paste, peel the outer papery skins off two heads of garlic, leaving the heads still intact. Slice about a quarter off the top of each head so that all of the cloves are partly exposed. Wrap the heads in foil and bake at 350˚ F for one hour. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool enough to touch, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the peels and smash with a fork to make roasted garlic paste.

*I just boiled the broccoli florets for 5 minutes and set them aside until I was ready to add them in, but you could also steam them.

Directions:
 
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until al dente according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the roasted garlic paste and cook just until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. Whisk the flour into the mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to turn golden brown, 1-2 minutes. Stir the white wine and broth into the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cheddar and stir until melted. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Mix in the broccoli florets and chicken pieces, and cook just until heated through. Mix in the cooked pasta until evenly coated with the sauce. Serve warm.

Roasted Banana Cinnamon Rolls

Even though I'm not a huge breakfast person, I do love to make something good for breakfast on at least one day of the weekend.  My biggest dilemma when deciding what to eat for breakfast is whether to go with sweet or savory.  Do I have some french toast or an omelette?  Do I have waffles with some kind of sweet topping or eggs benedict?  What a tough choice!

As soon as I saw this recipe on Picky Palate, I knew that I wouldn't be having the sweet or savory dilemma in my head during the upcoming weekend because I had to make this right away!  I absolutely love bananas (in the past, I have really enjoyed these bananas foster waffles for breakfast), and I had never even thought about how good they would be combined with cinnamon rolls, but this combination of bananas and brown sugar with cinnamon rolls sounded amazing to me.

These did take a little longer to make than I expected (since you first roast the bananas then assemble and bake the cinnamon rolls, this will take you over an hour), but it was worth it.  The flavor was incredible and this combination tasted just as good as I imagined it would be!  I'll definitely be making these again sometime.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 roll Pillsbury Crescents (the original recipe called for Pillsbury French Bread Loaf, but these Pillsbury Crescents worked well for me or you could also use homemade dough)
4 tablespoons softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place banana slices and cut up pieces of butter into a small baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes. Next, use a fork to smash roasted bananas until well combined.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Unroll Pillsbury Crescent dough - do not tear crescents apart.  Press perforations together to seal so that the douugh is one large rectangle. Spread with softened butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Place dollops of roasted banana mixture evenly over top. Starting from long end, roll up into log shape. Using a sharp knife, cut 1-2 inch slices and place onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until just turning golden brown. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.

Whisk powdered sugar and heavy cream until combined; drizzle over top of warm rolls.

Turkey Burgers

Let me start this off by saying that before I made this recipe, I had never ever eaten a turkey burger before.  I love beef burgers, and I just thought that turkey burgers would taste somewhat burger-like, but definitely sub-par. 

I finally decided to give turkey burgers a try because I'm trying to make myself cook and eat a little healthier (but not healthy enough that I didn't load these babies with some gooey, melty cheese!), and I'm glad I got past my preconcieved notions because these were great!  I'm not saying that I won't be enjoying the occasional beef burger going forward, but I will definitely be making more turkey burgers in the future.

Ingredients:

Turkey Burgers-
1 (1.25 lb) package of ground turkey
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons worstershire sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Salt, pepper & hamburger seasoning, to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon of each)

For Cooking Burgers-
Non-stick cooking spray

For Serving-
4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted
Sharp white cheddar cheese, or any good sharp cheese
1 small red onion, sliced and sauted with some EVOO until softened
Ketchup & mustard, to taste

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together all of the turkey burger ingredients (it works best to use your hands to do this).  Refrigerate for about 10 mintutes (I did this so that the meat mixture wasn't too sticky), then form until 4 hamburger patties (if you want, you can refrigerate again at this point if your patties are too sticky after handling them).

Heat a gas grill to medium-high heat, and spray the grates with some non-stick cooking spray.  Cook burgers for 5-6 minutes on each side, until cooked all the way through.  On the last couple minutes of cooking, place cheese on top to melt.  Serve on hamburger buns with sauteed red onions and the hamburger condiments of your choice.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

There are three main food-related things that I look forward to every summer.  First - summer tomatoes.  They are so much more flavorful than when you buy them in the winter, and they taste even better when you grow them in your own garden!  Second - peaches.  There is nothing better than enjoying a sweet, ripe summer peach on a hot summer day....I will take peaches over watermelon any time!  Third - strawberries.  Sure you can get decent strawberries year-round, but I just feel like strawberries taste sweeter (and better) during the summer months. 

Anyways, this summer is flying by, and I think strawberries have been on my grocery list almost every week for the past couple of months.  While they are delicious on their own, I wanted to use them to make some kind of simple dessert for my family to enjoy while we were at the lake a few weeks ago.  I thought about making some chocolate covered strawberries, but ehhh....I've done that before and wanted something new.

After searching the internet for ideas, I found a winner!  When I saw a recipe for cheesecake stuffed strawberries on The Novice Chef blog (which happens to be a fabulous cooking blog), I knew that I had to make these.  Strawberries and cheesecake go together perfectly, and I knew these would be super good.  Well, they were amazing, and they are such a great idea - try these!

Ingredients:

2 crates of fresh strawberries
1 box of Jello No-Bake Cheesecake, prepared using box directions (basically just beat a cup and a half of milk with the cheesecake mix using an electric mixer for a few minutes - you can also use your own homemade cheesecake filling, but this was super quick and delicious)
Crushed graham cracker crumbs (if you use the Jello No-Bake Cheesecake, graham cracker crumbs are included, and I just used those)

Directions:

First, wash your strawberries and cut off the tops.  Hollow out the inside of the strawberries so that there is some room for the cheesecake filling (I used the tip of a potato peeler for this, but you could also just use a small paring knive). 

Put your prepared cheesecake filling into a large ziploc bag (you could use a pastry bag for this, but I don't have those so ziplocs work perfectly fine).  Cut the tip off one of the corners of the ziploc bag, and squeeze out the cheesecake filling to fill the inside of each strawberry until it is slightly overflowing.

Last, dip the top of each strawberry into the graham cracker crumbs.

You can definitely make these a little bit in advance, but don't make them more than 24 hours in advance or they will be a little bit soggy.  I made these around lunchtime, and they tasted perfect when we had them for dessert after eating dinner that night.  I liked them so much, I made them again for a family party we hosted a couple weeks later :)

Homemade Frosty Paws - Windy's Favorite Summer Dog Treat!

Last summer, I discovered these great little frozen dog treats called Frosty Paws.  I bought them a few times for our sweet doggie, Windy (and she loved them!), but I decided to try and make these at home since they are kind of pricey at my grocery store.  Luckily, Windy loved my homemade version just as much as the store bought ones so I've made these for her a few times. 

It's been hot and muggy here in Chicago lately, so I decided it was time to make another batch of these for Windy.  She loves enjoying her doggie ice cream after a long walk in the heat :)  Here's how to make some homemade frosty paws treats for your doggie:

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) container of low-fat vanilla yogurt
2 bananas
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in your blender.  Divide amongst some small, plastic cups and freeze.  You could also freeze in ice cube trays for smaller treats, but Windy's a big girl so I divided the above recipe into 9 plastic cups:

Look at how cute Windy is!  I'm such a proud mom :)  She is waiting for me to give her some doggie ice cream.

When I serve these to her, I usually put them in the microwave for about 20 seconds just to soften a bit (this makes it easier to get the frosty paws treat out of the cup).  She is a happy girl when she gets some frosty paws!

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

I love making cupcakes for get togethers.  I think that it's a lot easier to make individual desserts so that you don't have to worry about cutting cake or pie into individual servings when you have company over.  Cupcakes can be a little difficult to transport unless you have a cupcake holder, but I served these at a family party that we were hosting at our condo so I didn't have to worry about that this time.  I did invest $25 in this cupcake carrier, and it has worked well for me in the past when I was bringing cupcakes to a party (which I love to do because you can do so many fun things with cupcakes!).

I searched for the perfect cupcake recipe to serve at our party, and I came across this recipe from Annie's Eats that she had adapted from Beantown Baker.  Anything oreo is usually a hit, (which is why I love to bring oreo truffles to parties) and these cupcakes looked perfect so I decided to make them the morning of our party.  These were really tasty and a perfect dessert to serve to celebrate a few birthdays!  Just as a warning for when you're buying the ingredients - I used a whole package of oreos plus a row of oreos from a second package....so I'm glad I ended up buying two packages of oreos.  This recipe will make 24 delicious cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes-
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (I cut each oreo into quarters)

For the frosting-
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. heavy cream

For garnish-
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.  Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.

If you are an oreo fan, you will love these!  I loved the oreo cookie at the bottom of the cupcake, and this frosting really went perfectly with the cupcake.  I highly recommend these :)

White Wine Peach Sangria

I loooooove sangria!  Drinking it reminds me of being in Barcelona, strolling down Las Ramblas and stopping for some tapas and sangria al fresco.  Man, I miss my college days!  I was lucky enough to backpack through Europe for a month with my little sister when I was twenty years old, and Barcelona was a 4 day stop for us.  In addition to the tapas and sangria, we saw the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, went on a biking tour to see all of the historical sites, and partied until 6 in the morning.

Even though it's been more than five years since I visited Spain, I still love to get sangria whenever I'm eating tapas at my favorite tapas place here in Chicago, Cafe Ba Ba Reeba.  I decided I wanted to make some sangria at home.  This recipe from Bobby Flay is so good that I made it twice this month.  It has a great flavor and is very similiar to one of the white wine sangrias that I order from Cafe Be Ba Reeba.

Ingredients:

1 bottle white wine (I just used Savignon Blanc)
3 ounces brandy
2 ounces triple sec
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice
2 ounces simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water brought to a boil for 2 minutes in a small saucepan) and cooled (leftover syrup can be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 1 month)
3 ounces white peach puree (peel peaches, remove pit and puree in a blender with a small amount of water - BUT, I just bought some peach nectar from the grocery store and used that instead)
Fresh peaches, oranges, and apples sliced

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a pitcher and stir to mix. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 48 hours. Serve over ice.  This recipe will make 1 small pitcher.  The first time I made this, I wanted to make a big pitcher so I doubled the recipe:

The second time I made this recipe, I made it for a family party and wanted to make sure we had a bunch so I tripled it:

This is a delicious white wine sangria!  I highly recommend it :)