Turkey Day dessert

Yesterday was my friend Katie's baby shower/pampering day. While we were driving to lunch we started talking about food and Thanksgiving. Katie said she made this cake last year and it was incredible. I love Paula Deen and love variations of the traditional pumpkin pie. So this is on the menu now for turkey day.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 15-ounce can of pumpkin
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make the cake, combine all of the ingredients and mix well.  Pat the mixture into a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking pan. 
Prepare filling:
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. 
Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. 
Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.  Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.
Serve with fresh whipped cream.
Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Show: Paula's Home Cooking/Paula's Party

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

I know what you're thinking. It's August. That's a long time from turkey day. Well here's the thing. A while ago, i saw a recipe for a stuffing that I wanted to make. I thought I would remember where I saw this recipe when it was actually time for turkey day. No. I have no idea where I saw that recipe. So because of that and because it looks as if my sister-in-law and her family and by brother-in-law are coming for turkey day, I've decided to start logging recipes.
I may use Jiffy for the cornbread instead of Emeril's recipe. We'll see.

Wild Rice and Cornbread Dressing, from Emeril and Food Network

• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Essence, recipe follows
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Basic Cornbread, recipe follows, or 4 cups crumbled leftover cornbread
• 3/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking dish and set aside.

To cook rice, combine 2 cups chicken stock, water, and rice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, about 1 hour. Drain rice and transfer to a large bowl.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Add onion and celery and season with salt, Essence, and black pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add parsley and thyme and cook another minute. Remove from the heat and add to bowl with rice.

Add 4 cups of crumbled Basic Cornbread and pecans to the rice mixture and stir to combine. Transfer rice mixture to baking dish. Drizzle remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock and butter over mixture. Bake until cornbread is golden and crispy, about 20 minutes.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yield: 2/3 cup

Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William and Morrow, 1993.

Basic Cornbread:

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, or bacon fat, plus 1/2 tablespoon, softened

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with 1/2 tablespoon butter.

Combine eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons melted butter in a large mixing bowl, and whisk to combine. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a separate large bowl, and whisk to combine. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake until top is golden brown and edges have pulled away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

French Toast

I love a good breakfast. It's easily my favorite meal to go out for. One Saturday morning, I decided to make french toast but I was bored with my usual basic recipe. I googled french toast and came across Alton Brown's (yes, from the Food Network) recipe for French Toast. It's so easy and so good!

• 1 c half-and-half
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for about 20 seconds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 slices day old or stale thick sliced bread. We usually use texas toast from a local bakery. Challah or country bread will work too

Whisk together half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. Feel free to do this the night before. Pour custard mix into pie pan. Preheat oven to 375.
I always cook my french toast on a griddle but you can use your favorite skillet too Dip bread into custard allowing each side to soak up some custard. Cook on medium heat until bread in golden brown. Remove from pan or griddle and place on cookie sheet. Once all of your bread is cooked, place your cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 5 minutes.
Serve with maple syrup

Drumstick Treat

I've made this desert a couple of times now and it's quickly becoming the dish that friends ask me to bring to events. I have a couple of friends that are lactose intolerant and they eat this dish. It's just that good! Apparently, my Aunt Kathy made it and gave the recipe to my mom who passed it on to me!

• 2 cups vanilla wafers, crushed
• 1 c spanish peanuts
• 1/2 c butter, melted
  
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/3 c peanut butter
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 4 c whipped cream (2 tubs of Cool Whip)
• 2 small packages of instant chocolate pudding
• 3 c milk
• 1 chocolate candy bar (Hershey bar)

Miz wafers and 2/3 c chopped peanuts with melted butter. Pat into bottom of 9x 13 pan and bake 10 min at 350. Allow to cool.
Mix cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar until smooth. Fold in 2 cups cool whip. Spread over crust and refrigerate.
Mix pudding and milk. Pour over cream cheese layer and refrigerate until set.
Spread remaining 2 c cool whip over top and sprinkle with peanuts and grated chocolate bar.
Cover and freeze. This desert is best when it's very cold but not frozen so pull it out of the freezer a couple of hours before you want to serve

Chicken under a brick

I made this the other night for dinner and it was excellent! Ian said that his piece was a little dry but mine was perfect!

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 4 bricks wrapped in foil

The original recipe called for cutting the chicken in half, but I didn't do this. Cut chicken breasts in half and trim excess fat. Place other ingredients and chicken in resealable bag (Ziploc freezer bag) Refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat grill. Remove chicken from marinade and place on hot, oiled grill. Place brick on top of each piece of chicken. Grill for 2 minutes. Lift brick, be sure to use a thick oven mitt, and turn chicken 90 degrees. (This will create beautiful grill marks). Replace bricks. After another 2 minutes flip chicken over. Again, after 2 minutes turn chicken 90 degrees. Test for doneness and remove from grill.

I served this with rice and broccoli. I can't wait to make it again. Probably next week!

Getting started

I have a yellow binder in my kitchen that's full of recipes. It's bursting and falling apart. I'm going to attempt to organize and share some of the better recipes that I come across.
I just hope I can keep up with this idea of mine! With a four year old, a seven week old, my husband, and a never ending job search it might be a little rough!