Apple Kuchen

This yummy desert is perfect for autumn or winter. It is an apple pie with a custard base. It is best serve chilled due to the filling. This was our Thanksgiving desert and it hit the spot. 

Apple Kuchen

1/2 cup cold butter

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup sugar

6 apples halves sliced thin

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cut butter, flour, salt, baking powder, and two tablespoon of sugar to a coarse crumb. Press firmly into 12 inch tart pan.

Arrange apples over unbaked crust. Sprinkle with mixture of cinnamon and remaining sugar. 

Bake at 400F for 10 minutes.

Mix egg yolks and heavy whipping cream together. Then pour over apples and bake 30 minutes longer at 350F. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

I recently bought some popcorn kernels from the boy scouts. Those little men sure do know their popcorn. When I was ordering from a scout mom at work, I decided to just get the kernels because there are endless flavor options. I decided to start from the basics. 

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Small paper bag (the ice cream or sack lunch size)

1/2 cup of fresh popcorn kernels

Place kernels in paper bag and secure top by folding a few times. Place bag inside microwave vertically. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until popping slows. Once removed sprinkle with salt to taste. 

I dip my popcorn in peanut butter to make it extra yummy and fattening. Give it a try!

Twice Baked Potato

I love my starches. Probably a little to much. Twice baked potatoes always seem like an extra special form of potatoes because they need an extra amount of love to make. That love tastes heavenly.

I did not put strict guidelines on the amount of ingredients. The important part is to taste as you go to make the perfect combination of flavors.

Large potatoes

Sour cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Garlic powder

Green onions

Crispy bacon

Shredded cheese

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Wash potatoes and pat dry. To make skin crispy and delicious, rub olive oil over entire potato and sprinkle with salt.

Place potatoes directly on oven rack and cook for 45-60 mins. Potato should be easy to pierce with a knife. Remove from heat once cooked.

Let cool or your fingers will never forgive you. Once cool enough, cut hole in top of each potato that is big enough to scoop all the insides out and place in bowl. Place empty skins on baking sheet.

Mix sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic powder, green onions, cheese and bacon together with potatoes until you get the desired taste. At this point, you should basically have loaded mashed potatoes. 

Replace loaded potatoes into the skins and sprinkle top with shredded cheese. Return filled potatoes to the oven to heat up. Cheese should be nice and melted. 

Enjoy!

Key Lime Pie

I know that it is technically fall but I still try to eat summery dishes to brighten a drab day. Today is one of those days. Its cold and cloudy out and I needed a pick me up. Key lime pie was one of my childhood favorites because of its tartness. This pie is not for the faint of heart. It can make your lips puckers. 

An authentic key lime pie stands out compared to "fake" key lime pies by two characteristics. The first being the actual use of key limes. These are different from most limes found in the grocery store because they are grown in the Florida Keys and are much smaller and sweeter. For this recipe, I used key lime juice that was found during a trip to the south. This juice has come in handy over the years for an extra kick in recipes.  You can substitute the key lime juice for regular lime juice but it might not be as sweet and tart so add a little extra. 

The second characteristic of an authentic key lime pie is the color. Most restaurants or recipes call for adding green food coloring to give the pie and nice lime color. A true blue (not really) key lime pie has a creamy custard looking appearance.

Key Lime Pie

Filling:

8 Egg Yolks

2 Cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 Cup of Key Lime Juice

Crust:

3 heaping handfuls of ginger snaps or 1 packet of graham crackers

2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter

1-2 tablespoon sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375. 

2. Put ginger snaps or graham crackers in a ziploc back and smash the crap out of it until there are just crumbs. 

3.In a bowl mix melted butter and sugar with crumbs. 

4. Next put crumbs in pie dish and push tightly on crumbs to form the crust. Make sure there are not holes. 

5. Put pie plate on baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes. Lower oven to 350 when crust is done.

6. Beat egg yolks until smooth and add condensed milk. Mix.

7. Slowly add key lime juice.

8. After everything is mixed, pour filling mixture into baked crust and return to over for 15 mins or until  center does not jiggle when moved. 

9. Let pie rest/cool down then place in fridge for 2 hours.

10. Eat!

This pie would be even better with whipped cream. I was fresh out and to lazy to go to the store so I ate it as is.

Pasta Carbonara

This is one of my favorite pastas. Maybe because it is fast and simple. But most likely because there is bacon in it. If there is bacon in it.... I will eat it! I'm guessing this meal isn't the healthiest though. Sometimes you just have to go for it and eat something that will hit the spot and make you happy. :) It tastes like a lighter version of an alfredo sauce

When I tried this particular recipe out, I wished I had a glass of wine and some italian bread to go with the meal. Don't make the same mistake!

Pasta Carbonara

This sauce will be enough for 8 ounces of warm, freshly cooked pasta; always reserve a bit of the cooking water to toss with the sauce and hot pasta.

Ingredients: 

3 slices bacon

1 large egg

1/2 cups heavy cream

1 green pepper cut into small bites

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

8 ounces freshly cooked pasta such as spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine. I used angel hair because it was in my pantry. Reserve 1 cup cooking water.

1. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until finished. Then add the green pepper to the pan to cook. The pepper should get a little soft but still have a crunch to it. Turn heat off when done.

2. While this is cooking, whisk together the heavy cream, egg, salt, and freshly ground black pepper in bowl. You can always add more salt and pepper after everything is mixed together.

3. Drain excess fat from bacon skillet.

4. Put the just-cooked pasta into the skillet where the bacon and green pepper are and place over low heat.

Add the egg-cream mixture and some of the hot pasta cooking water (if needed to make creamy), and toss to coat. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

The great thing about this recipe is the option to change it up to fit your craving. You could replace the green pepper and add peas, onions, or any type of veggie. The options are endless!

Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

This recipe is AMAZING! I love bread in general but if you add chocolate and bananas, i'm all in. By the way, is it weird that I can only spell banana by singing this song? Every.Time. 

Can you see those delicious chips?! Yummy. The loaf was 3/4 gone by the end of the day. It can double as a breakfast or dessert. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 stick softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In medium bowl, beat sugar and butter until soft. Add vanilla and eggs and beat 1 minute. Add flour mixture and beat 1 minute. Beat in banana. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into loaf pan.

4. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. (I had to cook loaf for 10 mins more)

Recipe found here.

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Roasted Garbonzo Beans

Or chickpeas. What ever you call them, they have been all over pinterest lately and i'm starting this cooking kick with a weird recipe. The only time I remember having garbonzo beans is when they are used to make hummus. MMMMMM hummus. Love that stuff. Any ways, I found this recipe for roasted garbonzo beans so I wanted to check out what all the fuss was about. I found this lovely food blog with an easy recipe. Go check out their cute blog.

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients:

1 15-ounce can chickpeas
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain and rinse chickpeas and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.In a medium bowl, combine the spices and the olive oil. Toss the chickpeas in the spice mixture and spread the seasoned chickpeas over a lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes and then remove the pan from the oven. Use a spatula to toss the chickpeas, then replace the pan and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until browned (but not burned) and crispy. Allow to cool. Snack away.

These snacks turned out pretty yummy. They remind me of Cornnuts from the gas stations. There was just the right about of spice. The only part of the recipe I had trouble with was the lined baking sheet. When I put the sheet in the oven, the whole apartment filled with smoke! I tried to just open some windows to let the smoke out but eventually I just removed the wax paper on the sheet and had the chickpeas rest on the baking sheet itself. It did not seem to screw the snack up at all.

A yummy and healthy snack

You can't really see the smoke but it was every where!