Brownie Baked Alaska

This past week we celebrated my hubby's Birthday! Instead of a Birthday cake, Luke always requests Baked Alaska. Before meeting Luke, I had heard of Baked Alaska but I never really knew what it was. Boy, was I missing out!! This version (his favorite) has a brownie base, ice cream center, and a toasted meringue top. The key to this concoction is to seal the ice cream layer with the meringue so that when you bake it, the meringue gets toasted like a marshmallow and  the ice cream stays nice and cold. It is really not a difficult thing to make, just plan ahead so that the layers each have time to set properly. I don't think we'll wait a whole year to make this again! 

Here are a couple of pics we took after our bellies were filled with Baked Alaska!

Brownie Baked Alaska

Ingredients: 

• Brownie mix plus any ingredients needed to prepare batter
• 1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream (preferably block, not bucket)
• 6 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 cup sugar

Directions: 

Bake brownie mix in pan as directed on package. Bake slightly less than usual. Cool. 

Cut ½ gallon of ice cream into 1"-thick layers and cover the brownie and refreeze.

To make the meringue, turn electric mixer on high speed, beat 6 egg whites (at room temp). Add ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp cream of tartar, and 1 cup sugar, gradually. Beat until stiff peaks form. To test if meringue is done, rub a little between fingers. If it feels grainy, continue beating. Spread meringue over ice cream and brownie, sealing to edges, leaving none of the ice cream exposed (*this is very important!!) and freeze 

To serve: Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Bake 4-5 min until lightly browned. Serve immediately. 

Symphony Bar Brownies

I almost hate to call this a recipe, but I also hate to keep this "recipe" to myself. These brownies are so simple, but oh so delicious! Basically, in the middle of the brownies is a Hershey's Symphony Bar, an almond toffee milk chocolate candy bar. My favorite time to eat them is after they have cooled and the chocolate in the center has hardened, so you have a moist brownie wrapped around a crunchy chocolate center... am I making your mouth water yet?? Good. You could also sub out the Symphony bar for any other flat candy bar. You can also use a homemade brownie batter recipe if you'd like, I just use the box for simplicity!


Annnnnd here's a picture of Abby playing 'cause she's a cutie. 

Symphony Bar Brownies


Ingredients:

• Brownie mix + any ingredients needed to make batter
• 3 Symphony bars

Directions: 

Prepare brownie mix as directed on box. Pour half of the prepared batter into a 9X13 baking dish. Lay Symphony bars flat on top so that most of the brownie batter is covered by chocolate bar. Pour the remaining brownie batter on top of the chocolate bars. Bake as directed on brownie mix box. 

Walker Chili

The last time I made this chili, it was snowing for most of the day. It was great to come home to a house that smelled of this delicious chili. This recipe comes from my mother-in-law, Amy. It is absolutely delicious and is sort of like a taco chili. We top it with extra-sharp cheddar and we use lean ground beef to make it a bit healthier. It is very hearty and filling, perfect for a cold winter's day!


In other news, we had our Valentine's Day feast yesterday and it turned out so good. Props to Luke for going to the grocery store and getting all the ingredients by himself, it was a lot of stuff! Anyways, I can't wait to share the recipes with you guys! Happy Friday!


 Walker Chili

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
• 3-4 chili peppers, finely chopped
• 2 gloves garlic, minced
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cans kidney beans, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 can corn, drained
• 2 cups water
• 1/8 tsp coriander
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano

Directions

Begin heating olive oil in a large skillet. Once hot, add the onion and cook until clear. Add the ground beef and garlic. When the beef is almost brown, add the bell pepper and chili pepper and continue to cook until the beef is browned. Drain fat if needed.

Pour this into the crock-pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Turn on low and cook for 8 hours. 

Serve with cheese, crackers, and/or sour cream. 

Mexican Cornbread

Growing up, every Christmas morning my mom made this recipe for breakfast. She got this recipe from a fellow student when she and my dad were in Texas for X-ray school. Ever since, it's become a family tradition! When Luke and I went down to Rolla Christmas morning my mom had made this, and boy was it good! Luke had been asking when we were going to make this at least twice a week ever since then. So we finally made it and it turned out great! It's more of a casserole type dish than traditional cornbread so we had it as our main course for dinner the other night. It is crispy on the outside, and moist and flavorful on the inside! If you don't like spicy foods you can use regular sausage rather than the "hot" sausage we used. Or if you like really spicy things you could add some diced chili peppers. Our version is sort of a medium heat I guess!


Speaking of Christmas, I already bought my first present for Luke, am I crazy? I was worried I would forget about it by next Christmas, ha! Cheers!


Mexican Cornbread


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 lb. hot sausage
• 1 box Jiffy Corn Bread Mix
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 - 16 oz. can creamed corn
• 10 oz grated cheddar cheese
• 1 can Rotel, partially drained

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Cook the onion and sausage in a skillet until the meat is browned. Drain excess fat and set aside. 

In a bowl, mix the Jiffy, egg, milk, creamed corn, cheese, and Rotel. 

Fold in the onion and sausage.

Pour into greased 13x9 inch pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Cut and serve. 

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

I love comfort foods, especially in the winter. The only problem is that I don't have a ton of time to cook them during the week. This is the perfect solution. I've taken several shortcuts to save time, but you'd never know! I used my Seasoned Chicken to make this recipe, but I've also used a rotisserie chicken from my grocery store with great results. I add a small can of corn to the mix because it's one of Luke's favorite veggies, but you could take this out or substitute it to fit your liking.This really should be called Super Easy Chicken Pot Pie because it's so simple! Prep time is only about 10 minutes, maybe a little less if you don't care about making it look pretty. 

In other news, I just found out from a friend that our wedding pictures were featured on Lisa Hessel's blog a few days ago! She did such a fabulous job, I loved looking at the pictures again! You can check it out here: http://lisahesselphotography.com/blog/?p=4059

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

• 1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
• 1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can mixed vegetables 
• 1 small can of corn (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 Tbs Italian seasoning
• 2 refrigerated pie crusts

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place one pie crust on the bottom of a greased pie plate.

In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients. 

Poor into the pie plate.

  

Place the second pie crust on top, and crimp the edges. 

Luke is amazing at crimping pie edges, so I had to show one more picture!

Cut a few slits in the top.

Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

It was delicious, and the leftovers were good too! 


I think Abby approves ;)

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

Being from a suburb of Chicago my husband loves deep dish pizza. On our very first date he took me out for deep dish pizza at Pi, the only place to get deep dish in St. Louis. We went there again the night he proposed to me. Needless to say there are some really fond memories associated with this pizza! We decided to try to make our own version of this delicious pizza, using inspiration from  Lou Malnati's, Tortorice's, and Pi. We both think that we have perfected our homemade version! 

This pizza is built way different from your average pizza. First you put down the cheese, then the toppings, then the sauce. Another difference is that the cheese is sliced not shredded.I love this pizza because it tastes so fresh! And just as a side note, when I first heard "deep dish" I automatically thought it meant "thick crust," (which I don't care for generally) but that was absolutely not true! This pizza actually has a thin, buttery crust, it's the pan that makes it deep dish. This recipe makes enough dough for 2 pizzas. We usually freeze one half and then thaw it out when we are ready to make another pizza.

You can substitute or add to our toppings to make your perfect creation!

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

Pizza Dough 

• 2 cups warm water 
• 1 and 1/8 tsp yeast
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 2 lbs bread flour (5-6 cups)
• 1/3 cup butter (plus more for coating the pan), softened
• Yellow cornmeal

Toppings

• 12 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 8 oz provolone cheese, sliced
• Spinach (optional)
• Onions, diced (optional)
• Pepperoni (optional)
• Mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 3 roma tomatoes, diced with seeds removed
• Italian seasoning
• Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions


In a mixer combine the warm water and the yeast and allow the yeast to dissolve then dissolve the salt. Add the remaining ingredients except for the cornmeal and begin to mix the dough using a dough hook on low speed. Once a ball is formed, mix on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes until the dough becomes elastic and smooth. Remove from the mixer and place in a bowl coated with olive oil. Allow the dough to rest for approximately 4 hours. Once the dough is rested, split it in half, putting one half in the freezer for next time.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat deep dish pan with melted butter and sprinkle yellow cornmeal over the bottom.

In a 14" deep dish pizza pan (we have this one from Bed, Bath and Beyond), spread the dough using your fingers at the bottom of the pan and make sure to have enough dough to come up the sides of the pan. Brush the top of the dough with remaining melted butter.

Place the sliced cheese evenly on top of the crust.

Next, add the toppings. For us this was pepperoni and onions on the whole thing plus spinach and mushrooms on my part!

In a bowl, combine the can of crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes. Then pour the mixture over the toppings and spread evenly over the pizza (we use the back of a spoon). Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese. 

Place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes until golden and crispy. Serve and enjoy!

Spicy Shrimp Tempura Sushi

Luke and I both love sushi. A LOT! But it's on the pricey side at restaurants, especially if you eat as much of it as we do! So we decided to try to make it ourselves. I was intimidated at first but actually it was much simpler than I thought it would be. We made a simple roll that consisted of shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado, and spicy sauce (our own concoction!). We kind of cheated and used frozen shrimp tempura, but it was tasty and easy, so a win-win for us! There was no raw seafood in this recipe, so don't be afraid to give this sushi a try! You use the vinegared dressing to make the rice "sticky", which is ideal for making sushi. I hope you find this step by step guide helpful! 

Spicy Shrimp Tempura Sushi

Ingredients

• 4 C sushi rice (short grain white rice)
• 1/8 C + 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• Frozen shrimp tempura
• Cucumber, sliced into thin slivers
• Avocado, sliced into slivers
• Japanese Mayo
• Sriracha hot chili sauce
• Nori paper
• Sushi mat for rolling the sushi 

Directions

I preheat the oven and put the shrimp in to cook, following the directions on the package. 

To make the rice and vinegared dressing:

Cook rice as directed on the package. While rice is cooking prepare the vinegared dressing by dissolving the sugar and salt granules in the vinegar over low heat in a small sauce pan. Immediately remove from the heat and allow it to cool. Empty the hot rice into a bowl and pour the vinegared dressing over the rice. Use a wooden spoon to gently fold the rice so the dressing is distributed evenly.

Next prepare the spicy sauce by combining the Japanese May and the Sriracha hot chili sauce is a bowl. I didn't measure this, I just sort of taste tested it until I got a good, spicy sauce!

Alright now for the fun part! Start by laying down your sushi mat (*hint-we cover ours in plastic wrap to keep rice from sticking in the crevices). Next, lay a sheet of nori paper down on top. I recommend having a bowl of water nearby that you can dip your fingers in every now and then. The rice is very sticky so this helps it to spread out a little easier. 

Start spreading the rice all over the paper. I would recommend leaving about 1 1/2 inches of one end of the paper uncovered. This makes it easier to roll and ensures you don't get too much rice, otherwise the roll is too dense. (Note: this is not pictured, because we figured it out after the first one, ha!)

Next add the shrimp, cucumber, avocado, and sauce to one side, like so.

Begin rolling from the side with the filling. 

Would ya' look at that?? Luke's  a pro sushi roller!

Slice it with a sharp knife. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi. And there you have it folks!!