Twiced Baked Potato Casserole

See Story Below. Theres no point wasted time reading a story about these potatoes when you could already be making them...

Twice Baked Potato Casserole
Recipe by Paula Deen

Ingredients:
* 8 medium baking potatoes
* 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 pint sour cream
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
* 2 gloves garlic, minced
* 1 1/2 teasp. salt
* 1/2 teasp. pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped chives for garnish if desired
* 6 slices bacon, cooked crispy and chopped into pieces

To Make:
* Pierce potatoes and place on baking sheet. Bake for 1 hr 15 mins at 350, until soft
* Peel and mash potatoes in large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese. Stir. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and stir again.
* Spray 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray and fill dish with potato mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.
* Heat oven to 350, remove plastic wrap, and bake casserole 30 to 35 mins.
* Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top, bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted
* Garnish with chives and bacon bits before serving.

Corn Fluff

Yes, Cooker is back. Its April and I'm coming back with a recipe from... Christmastime! It was Christmas Eve and we had our friends over who had just recently had a sweet baby boy. Now, that sweet baby boy is no longer a newborn, but a rolly-polly redhead who could not seem more grown up!
We had filets wrapped in bacon, salad, twiced baked mashed potatoes (see recipe above), and corn fluff.

Corn Fluff. Yes, silly name, seriously bad for you, and dangerously good. Its basically super moist and awesome cornbread. Now, I was never a fan of cornbread in my younger years, but fancify it and I'm game!

I would quote an original author of this recipe, but you can find it online in about 1,000 places. For as common and easy as it is, I can't believe I had never had this recipe until last fall in Mississippi!

Corn Fluff / Corn Casserole

Ingredients:

* 2 (14 oz) cans cream corn

* 2 eggs beaten

* 1 cup sour cream

* 1 stick melted margarine

* 1 small package Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

To Make:

* Mix all ingredients together and bake in a 9x13 pan.

* Cook 1 hour at 350 degrees

* See... I told you it was easy :)

Cheese Scalloped Potatoes

Finally, a sidedish that steals the show and puts the main dish to shame. I do not have a witty story to share with this recipe- I'm not going to waste your time with useless words when you could be in your kitchen making these NOW. The only thing I can say is that it worked perfectly for our 'Mock Easter Dinner' we had a few nights ago. Ham? Good. Green Beans? Good. Crescent Rolls? Good. Scalloped Potatoes? Amazing!

This original recipe is from Emeril Lagasse. Usually, I will admit, his recipes seem to intimidate me, but this one stands on its own with few ingredients, none of which are fancy, and all of which I had in my kitchen already! I did make a few adjustments, which I have noted below....

Emeril Lagasse's Cheese Scalloped Potatoes
(as found on FoodNetwork.com)

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup chopped onion (I omitted this so Alex would eat them)
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 1 1/4 cup milk
* 1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I used mild)
* salt and pepper
* 3 potatoes (scrubbed clean, peeled, and thinly sliced)

To Do:

* Preheat oven to 350
* Cook the onion in pan on medium-high heat with butter until tender. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.
* Whisk in milk and cook until thick and bubbly
* Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper
* Layer half of the sliced potatoes in a casserole dish. Cover with half of the cheese sauce. Add second layer of potato slices and top with remaining sauce.
* Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese on top
* Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.

Additional notes:

* Potatoes always take longer to cook in the oven than you think they will. I had to leave mine in the oven for almost an additional 30 minutes, and I sliced my potatoes fairly thin. After about half an hour, keep checking back on them- do not pull from oven until they are fork tender. Mine were a bit crispy, but Chris said they were just as they were supposed to be. Liar.

* We also, to add to our wasteline (our favorite activity), cooked up two strips of super thick cut pepper bacon in a seperate pan and chopped it to add to the cheese sauce and sprinkled some on top. This MADE the potatoes! Nothing like smokey bacon to pep up a dish!

Grilled Cream Corn with Parmesan

Our side dish for our last minute dinner party was brought by Evelyn- a delicious recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. Evelyn had watched an episode of her show that morning and became instantly inspired. Its easy to see how- this side dish screams summertime! It was bright, flavorful, and was the perfect pair with our stuffed chicken!

Ingredients:

* 6 ears of corn, husks and silks removed
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
* Kosher salt and black pepper
* 1 tablespoon flour
* 3/4 cup heavy cream
* 1/3 cup whole milk
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

To Do:

* Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat gas or charcoal grill
* Grill the corn until tender, turning every 5-6 minutes. Total cook time will be around 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove kernels
* In a medium skillet, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the corn and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
* Stir in flour, cook for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium and add the cream. Simmer until the mixture thickens
* Place half the mixture in a food processor, blend until smooth.
* Pour the pureed mixture back into the skillet and add the milk, cheese, and parsley. Cook over low heat until warmed through.
* Season with more salt and pepper, to taste, and serve

Guest Blogger: Jaren Rabe

When Kelsey asked me to be a guest blogger I was so excited because:
 1.) I have always wanted my 15 minutes of fame and
 2.) I love to cook!

Unfortunately, a lot of the recipes I try changing to be my own end up being mediocre so I never make them again. This recipe, my fans, is not one of those. Yes, I called you guys my fans because you will be once you make this dish. It is just a little spicy, uses fresh ingredients and tastes amazing.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro Rice

Roasted Pork Tenderloins

(This is based off of a recipe by Alton Brown. I changed some
ingredients/measurements and the method used to cook it.)

2 whole pork tenderloins, approximately 2 lbs)
2 limes, zest finely grated
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup honey (the bottle shaped like a bear is usually the best choice)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions (Exactly as I did.)
Trim the pork tenderloins of any excess fat and silver skin. I've
never worked with pork tenderloin that wasn't already prepped for me
so this was super nasty and hard for me to do. The "silver skin" is
the worst part. Wash your hands 4 times after doing this and sanitize
counter twice because raw meat is gross and could poison your family.

Zest the limes. Make sure you zest the top layer of your thumb off
while doing so. The tears, skin and blood add to the experience and
flavor.

Place the zest, lime juice, honey, salt, adobe peppers and minced
garlic in a bowl and stir until honey is not in big globs on the
bottom anymore. Pour the entire marinade mixture into a 1-gallon
resealable bag. Add the pork tenderloin to the bag and seal, removing
as much air as possible and place the bag into another resealable bag
and then place that bag into a bowl and place it in your fridge. The
double bagging + bowl means no raw meat contamination inside your
fridge which could also potentially poison your family. Marinate in
the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, rotating the bag halfway through
the time.

When it is about an hour away from being ready to cook, start the rice!

Cilantro Rice

(This recipe is based off of a recipe by Aida Mollenkamp. I also
changed some things, so I am giving you my version.)

Ingredients:
About 2 cups packed cilantro leaves (I used 2 "bunches" from the store.)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 medium serrano chile, halved lengthwise and seeded
3 1/3 cups free range chicken broth (free range because it makes you
feel better about killing chickens.)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 minced yellow onion (medium sized)
2 cups jasmine rice
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Combine cilantro (I cut off most of the stems but don't worry about
having them in there), garlic, chile, and 2 cups broth in a blender
and process until smooth; set aside.
Be careful not to get the serrano chile juice onto your zested thumb.
If you happen to get some in there anyways, do not put your hands over
your face in pain because then your eyes and thumb will be on fire.
But I digress.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When it
shimmers, add onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add rice
and salt stir to coat in oil and cook until rice becomes opaque, about
2 minutes.

After the rice is opaque, dump everything + the rest of the chicken
broth into a rice cooker and push "white rice" button. If you do not
have a rice cooker, this is what Aida tells you to do:
Carefully pour the cilantro mixture and the remaining 1 1/3 cups broth
into the rice and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce
heat to low so rice is at a simmer. Cover and cook until rice is
tender, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice rest covered for
5 minutes.

If you are awesome and have a rice cooker like me, just walk away and
get the pork out of the fridge while your rice cooks itself. Preheat
your oven to 350 degrees. Put both tenderloins and all the marinade
into a casserole dish and place in preheated oven for 35 minutes.
Check it after 35 minutes and if it does not register 140 on a meat
thermometer or look done when you cut into it, put it back in for 10
more minutes. After it is done, cut it into slices and let it sit in
the marinade and soak it up while you stir up the cilantro rice.
Garnish the pork with the fresh cilantro before serving and add a side
of black beans if you are feeling up to it.

My husband said it was his favorite meal of all time so I took a
picture of his plate to capture the moment. I didn't realize I would
writing the blog on this recipe so I apologize for the crappy phone
picture. Trust me, it tastes WAY better than this picture looks!

Editors Note: Jaren, it looks delicious! Shush your mouth!

Grandma Ann's Mac & Cheese

The biggest vacations we ever took when I was growing up were up to Glasgow, MT. About as far north as you can get in Montana, and almost as far west as you can go (full of beautiful... beautiful... er... uh... plains), was my Grandma Ann's house, the house my mother grew up in. We used to go for Thanksgiving/Hunting Season every year, and the occassional Christmas, Easter, and summer trip.

When I think of my Grandma Ann's house, I think of her stemless glasses, stealing gingerales out of the fridge, rolling down the hill in her backyard, playing G.I Joes, getting squirted by my first grapefruit, the collection of books I learned to read with, her old red car sitting in the driveway, how scary the downstairs storage room was, and playing restaurant downstairs. Yes, the cooker in me came out in the presence of both grandmothers, and we always played restaurant: complete with play-dishes and homemade play-doh. The play-doh was made by my Grandma Ann herself. It was the best. The second she was done making it we would rush to play with the warm, squishy, salty (yes I tried to eat it a few times) mounds of colored goo. It was my number 1 favorite thing that ever came out of her kitchen.

This was my second favorite thing

All Grandmas are known for their cooking. My Grandma made this dish everytime we came to visit. It is my all-time favorite comfort food, and I remember it was such a heavenly experience everytime I ate it. I wish I could say I had a knack for making it, but alas, my first time will live in infamy, as I forgot to boil the noodles first, and I doubt I will ever live it down. So, it turns out I'm giving you more than an amazing recipe for mac & cheese today, I'm handing out life lesson: always, always, always... boil your noodles.

Ingredients:

* 16 oz macaroni noodles (about 2/3 of a box) (cooked, a'hem)
* 16 oz of Kraft Deluxe American Cheese (now, it HAS to be THIS cheese. Walmart no longer sells it. You will find it at any other grocery story, sitting right next to the Velveeta- but do NOT use Velveeta- I swear its just not the same- at all. Find the blue box of Kraft, worship the blue box of Kraft, settle for nothing less than the blue box of Kraft! )
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk (more may be needed, keep the jug out)

To Do:

* Boil Noodles. Duh. Drain noodles. Do not used uncooked noodles. Don't be a moron like myself.
* Cube cheese into medium sized chunks
* Mix 2 eggs with 1 cup milk in bowl.
* In casserole dish, combine COOKED noodles, cheese cubes, and the egg/milk mixture. Stir together.
* Top off the casserole with milk until almost to the top of the dish - this will help make it extra creamy
* Bake covered for 35 minutes at 375F
* Take top off, stir, and bake for 10 more minutes

Delicious as a side dish or just sit down with the entire casserole dish and a fork. I'm not even a little ashamed to say I've done it before. Not even a little.

Fantastic Father's Day Feast

I cannot sing my husband's praises enough. He's a loyal husband, an extremely talented pilot, and his relaxed demeanor brings a sense of calm to our home. Above all else, he is an incredible father. I'll admit I used to worry when I was pregnant: what would he be like with our son? The answer to that: perfect. He loves our son with a passion I've never seen anyone have, and both my boys light up when they see each other. As a wife and mother, it doesn't get any better than that. Because he is such a special man, he deserved a special dinner- one that required a little more time. Yes, my mission statement for this blog is based on not having to spend hours in the kitchen, but this meal will be worth every minute of it. The actual cooking doesn't take long, there is just prep work that needs to be done earlier in the day. If you can get the prep work done before noon, you can rest, relax, watch your husband play xbox (like I did), for the rest of the day!



Ranch Chicken Wings
drizzled with honey hotsauce
Homemade Hearty Coleslaw
Baked Sweet Potato Fries

*Helpful Hint: Get your chicken wings (thawed if you use the frozen ones) in the marinade, and get your coleslaw made earlier in the day! Each need 3 hours in the fridge!

__________

Ranch Chicken Wings (Food Network Magazine- June 2010)

Ingredients:

* 2 lbs chicken wings
* 3  1-oz packets ranch dressing mix (I used 4 since 4 come in a box)
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* Freshly ground pepper
* 3 large eggs
* Vegetable oil, for frying

To Do:

* Toss the wings in 1 packet of ranch dressing in bag. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. (I used two packets of the dressing to make sure they got a good cover.
* Mix flour, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 packet ranch dressing mix in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat eggs, 2 tablespoons of water, and the last ranch dressing packet.
* Dredge the wings a few at a time in the seasoned flour, dip them in the egg, and then back in the flour. (I did most of my wings in this double dredge. The coating turned out super thick after frying. My last batch, I just went from marinade, straight to the egg, then to the flour, and in my opinion they turned out much better.)
* Heat oil in pan over medium heat until deep fryer thermometer registers 350F. Fry the wings until crisp and golden brown, 5-6 minutes per side. Place cooked wings on paper towel to drain excess oil.

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Honey Hot Sauce (Food Network Magazine-June 2010)

Easiest, tastiest wing sauce... ever!

* Combine equal parts honey and hot sauce. (I used 1/4 cup of each). Done.
* You can add more honey to make it sweeter (what I did), or more hot sauce to kick it up a notch (what Chris did).

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Sweet Potato Fries (Paula Deen)

*this recipe makes a gigantic batch of fries, but sure to cut it down based on how many potatoes you use*

Ingredients:

* 1 cup salt
* 1/4 cup black pepper
* 1/4 cup onion powder
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
* Olive oil for tossing
* 5 sweet potatoes- peeled and cut

To Do:

* Pre-heat oven to 450F
* Combine salt, pepper, onion powder, and paprika
* Toss cut potatoes in just enough oil to cover
* Sprinkle potatoes with the seasoning mixture
* Lay potatoes on a foiled baking sheet in a single layer
* Bake for 20 minutes, flipping occassionally.
 (my fries weren't quite a crispy as Chris and I like, so we threw them down into the fryer after making the wings for a minute)

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Hearty Coleslaw (Family Circle Magazine)

(Again, this recipe makes a large quantity. Feel free to cut it down. I only used 1/2 a head of cabbage and we have a ton of leftovers. Delicious, delicious leftovers!)

Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 lbs green cabbage, shredded (about 10 cups) (I only used 1/2 head)
* 2 large carrots, shredded (I used 3)
* 1 1/2 cups reduced-fat mayo
* 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
* 1/2 cup buttermilk
* 1/4 cup dijon mustard
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon celery seed (I omitted this because I didn't have any)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper

To Do:

*  Shred cabbage and carrots. (I have absolutely no knife skills, or the patience to make the veggies super thin, so mine turned out big and chunky, and it was so good!) Mix the veggies in a large bowl.
* In medium bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, buttermilk, mustard, sugar, celery seed, salt, and pepper.
* Pour dressing over veggies and mix well.

* Cover and put in fridge for at least 3 hours

.: Dinner at the Bradleys :.

Tonight, we had a last minute dinner party at Chase and Mindy's. I had this chicken dish by Food Network Magazine (June 2010), and this casserole featured in Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook planned for Chris and I, but it was easily duplicated to accommodate a larger group! The peppers between the two dishes tie it together, and the smells coming from the oven alone will make it worth your while! Enjoy :)



Honey-Lime Roast Chicken

 Ingredients:
* 1 small bunch fresh thyme (our store didn't have any so I used a few dashes of the dried stuff)
* Juice of 2 limes (I used 3 for extra flavor)
* 4 cloves of garlic, smashed
* 3 jalapeno peppers, halved, seeded, and thinly sliced
* 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 2 tablespoons honey (add more if you want to dial down the heat of the jalapeno)
* Kosher salt (I used the regular stuff)
* 3 half chickens (I used a package of chicken legs)
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

To do:
* Strip thyme leaves off the stems, combine with the lime juice, garlic, jalapenos, olive oil, honey, and 1 teaspoon salt. I threw this into a large bag with the chicken breasts. It says to leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour. I threw it into the fridge for 5 hours until it was time to cook.
* Throw into the oven at 425F, skin-side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Pour the marinade on top, and add the pieces of butter on top and sprinkle with salt (I added ground pepper too)
* Roast the chicken, until the skin is amber. I left mine in for about half an hour, but if you use the half chickens, you'll need to go for at least 45 minutes. Thigh meat should register 160F with a meat thermometer.
* Serve on platter with drizzled pan juices and perfectly cooked jalapeno strips (which are yummy on their own, according to Mindy, who ate most of them!)

Remember: Jalapeno soaked fingers do not feel good in your eye- wash your hands after handling- trust me!

Creamed Corn Casserole

Ingredients:
* Nonstick cooking spray
* 2 16-oz bags of frozen whole kernel corn. (I used one 8 oz bag yellow corn, and one 8 oz bag sweet white corn)
* 2 cups chopped red and/or green sweet peppers (I used both)
* 1 cup chopped onion
* 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 can condensed cream of celery soup
* 1 8-oz tub cream cheese spread with chive and onion flavoring or garden vegetable flavoring. (I used 4-oz of both- it was a great combo)
* 1/4 cup milk

To do:
* Coat 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Place corn in colander and run it through water to thaw.
* In saucepan, melt butter and add chopped onion and peppers. Cook until tender. Add corn and black pepper. (See picture above)
* In large bowl, combine the soup, cream cheese spread, and milk. Once combined well, add corn mixture. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish.
* Bake, covered, at 375F for 50-60 minutes until it is bubbly and heated through. (I let it sit and let the sauce thicken for about 5 minutes afterwards)