Copy Cat: Suzie Q

Today, I missed my dear friend Jaren. I stalk her blog religiously (numerous times a day) and seeing her little girl run around with a pony tail, sweet whispy blonde hair, and her toothy grin makes me miss both of them so very much. When Jaren (my first real friend here in Columbus) and Clara left to head to Vegas, Clara was still so new in my eyes, just an itty bitty baby, and now, 10 months have gone by, and she's a precious little girl! Missing Jaren made me want to have her fly into town so we could go to a fabulous restaurant here in town, a place where she used to work: Hucks.

I Love Hucks. It was the first place we went out to eat when we moved here, and I have so many great memories of just eating there. I've had many 'firsts' at Hucks: crawfish, catfish, fried pickles, chicken and dumplings, po boys, and the most monsterous burgers and cheese sticks you've ever seen! You know what they say, " you never forget your first time!" And I won't!

All this missing of the friend and thinking of the food drove me to recreate the best sandwich they have on the menu: The Suzie Q. Although it wasn't a *perfect* replica, it sure hit the spot, and I'd say it was quite a decent knockoff! Mmmmm Mmmmm. Now run, recreate, enjoy.

Ingredients:

* Thick tasty bread of your choice
* Mayo
* Pesto Sauce
* Thick cut black forest ham
* Asparagus
* Provolone or Swiss Cheese (the original is made with provolone, but I like swiss more)

To Make:

* Mix small amount of mayo and pesto sauce together. I used 1 part pesto to 2 parts mayo- I didn't want the pesto to completely overpower the sandwich- it was the perfect mix
* Sautee the asparagus in a little butter on medium heat on the stove, just to brighten them up and cook them slightly- you will still want them to have a crunch!
* Plug in your panini press or whatever you have to grill your sandwich- I used my tried-and-true grilled cheese maker that was the sole reason I survived college. Seriously, I had people from my dorm floor bring their own fixin's for a grilled cheese and they made them in my room. Probably the only reason I had friends. Hmmmmmm. Thank you grilled cheese maker!
* Butter one side of each piece of bread so you have a nice crispy crust as it grills
* Layer ham, then cheese, then line the asparagus along the top. Top with a gooey layer of the pesto mayo, and the last piece of bread
* Grill sandwich until cheese is melty and the bread is a nice golden brown

Then, enjoy your tasty lunch, and picture yourself on a sturdy wooden chair in the middle of a wonderful Mississippi restaurant!

Obsession: Pizza

I've noticed that my obsession are getting more and more unhealthy. Oh well. I'm currently loving pizza. Ok, that's a lie, I'm always in love with pizza, but let's be real, so is everyone else. Being the cheap monetarily-responsible and lazy lazy person I am, ordering out and paying delivery fees doesn't appeal to me. What does appeal to me is the ability to make pizza at home using pre-made mini pizza dough! I found these in the bread section of the commissary and all you do is add ingredients and throw them in the oven.

I should have taken a picture of the package so you know what to look for when you go to find this miracle product, but alas, I did not. Epic fail on my part. Anywho, all you do is preheat your oven to 450, lightly brush the pizza with olive oil, add your toppings, and those it in the oven for about 10 minutes! I've come up with some very tasty combinations over the last week...

Tomato sauce mixed with ricotta cheese (left over from stuffed chicken breasts mentioned earlier), and finely chopped mushrooms as the base. Mozzerella cheese, pepperoni and black olive. Yum.



 Tomato sauce base, lots of ricotta (omg I love ricotta cheese) and mozzerella cheese mix, pepperoni

Left over alfredo sauce base. Topped with spinach, pre-cooked chicken, and cherry tomatoes. Parmesan cheese with a small amount of mozzerella mixed in.


Perfect for lunch, dinner, or just a snack :) The combinations are endless! Its also a great way to get rid of some leftovers you have!

Stuffed Chicken Breast

The next three recipes are from a dinner party we threw at my house a week or so ago (maybe it was longer, who knows... time flies when you're doing nothing). We had a delicious stuffed chicken breast, a beautiful cream corned side dish, and topped it all off with a strawberry cupcake.

Here is the recipe for the chicken Mindy made:

Panko Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach, Tomatoes, and Basil
Recipe from For The Love of Cooking.net  (amazing blog)

Ingredients:
* 1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
* Small handful baby spinach, chopped
* Small handful grape tomatoes, diced (remove seeds if possible)
* 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
* 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
* Dash of oregano
* 2 Chicken breasts
* Italian seasoned panko crumbs
* 2 tablespoons olive oil

To Do:
* Preheat over to 400 degrees
* Combine ricotta, spinach, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined
* Rinse the chicken breasts, then cut along horizontal slit in the center of the chicken breast- butterflying them. Fill the cavity of the chicken with the ricotta mixture. Season each side of chicken with salt and pepper.
* Carefully dip the chicken in the panko crumbs until both sides are evenly covered. Close the slits with toothpicks.
* Heat the olive oil in an oven proof skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, place the chicken in the skillet and cook until chicken is golden brown. Flip the chicken over and repeat.
* Cook in the oven for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through- it took ours a little longer than expected.
* Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving

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

*The* Perfect Strawberry Cupcake

Summertime is strawberry time. I think strawberry jello popsickles, cool strawberry pie with whipped cream, and of course, strawberry cupcakes. When I think cupcakes, I think Mindy's Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook and all the gloriousness that is inside. Seriously, the goodies inside are so picture-perfect, so scrumptious looking, it may as well be considered cupcake baker's porn.

Joygasm!

Strawberry Cupcakes, recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup cake flour (not self rising) this is worth purchasing if you don't already have it
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 8 oz unsalted butter, softened
* 2 1/4 cup sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 1 large egg white
* 1 cup whole milk
* 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups finely chopped strawberries

To Do:

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with liners.
* Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, cake flour, baking powder, salt
* Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Be sure to add each egg one at a time and beat well after each addition
* Mix the milk and vanilla together.
* Add the dry ingredients and the milk mixture, alternating, to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
* Once batter is combined, hand stir in strawberries
* Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full.
* Bake for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting, recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

* 4 large egg whites, room temperature
* 1 1/4 cups sugar
* 3/4 lb unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 1 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, pureed

To Do:

* Place whites and sugar into heatproof mixer bowl set over pot of simmering water. (yay for making a double boiler!) Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Mindy and I just whisked it until dissolved, but it took both of us whisking like crazy- our arms were sore the next day, haha!
* Remove from heat, attach bowl to mixer. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form- about 6 more minutes. Reduce speed and add butter, one piece at a time, whisking well after each addition.
* Switch to paddle attachment, and with mixer on low speed, add the strawberry puree and beat until smooth. Use immediately or refrigerate (note: if you refrigerate, you may need to give it a quick mix again before you frost cupcakes!!!!!!)

Most moist cupcake ever
Look at all those real strawberries in there!

Alfredo Sauce

A few months ago, I went on a no sugar, no carb diet. I completely cut out all carbs except those from veggies. While it was the hardest few months of my life, I did lose weight- like crazy. I'm talking 15 lbs in two months. A-mazing. What's even more amazing is that now, I'm back to eating carbs. While my wasteline isn't as small, my belly and my soul are much more content! Hey, you only live once, right? Right!

I decided to make my own alfredo sauce to enjoy on my carb-packed-and-oh-so-good pasta I have been eating on a regular basis now. Now, I know for a fact that an anonymous source had given my husband the recipe for Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce. Could I find it? Of course not. Did I tear apart my recipe box looking for it, almost to the point of hysteria? Of course I did. Chris must be keeping it a deep dark secret from me. I did, however, find a good recipe from an old 2009 edition of Food Network Magazine. It worked out just fine. Plus, lets face it, Olive Garden alfredo sauce isn't as good unless you have Olive Garden breadsticks to dip it in...

Ingredients:

* 6 tablespoons butter- unsalted
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper
* 1/4 cup reserved water from boiling noodles

To Do:

* Cook pasta. Strain, leaving about 1/4 cup water in pot.
* Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat
* Add heavy cream, stir, and bring to boil
* Remove from heat once a boil is reached.
* Return noodles to pot with water reserve
* Add butter cream mixture to pot with noodles and 3/4 parmesan cheese
* Toss to combine
* Season with salt and pepper, top with extra parmesan cheese.

I did cut the recipe in half, as I am still cooking for one and half at home. Alex loves my cooking, and he can sure take down a lot of it for a 9 month old, but there was no need for me to make the whole batch of sauce!

I tossed my alfredo with some cheese filled tortellinis and some shrimp that I sauteed in butter and garlic salt.

Super Simple Chicken Enchiladas

Need something quick, fast, and in-a-hurry for dinner, but you don't have a lot of time and only the bare essentials? Welcome to my world, pretty much every night. As I may have mentioned before, we fly under the radar here in the Protos house when it comes to fancy-pants ingredients. If the Commissary on base doesn't have it, there's no way in firey hell you will catch me running all the way to town to get it- I'll make due with what I have, thank you! And let me tell you, the Commissary lacks in many departments here.

This tasty mexican dish comes from mi madre (ha, I speak spanish), and only has four ingredients- jackpot! They are quick, simple, and deliciousio (ha, I did it again). Tortillas. Chicken. Sauce. Cheese. Done. I guess if you are feeling really rebellious you can add a fifth ingredient: diced jalapenos! But be careful, don't get too ahead of yourself... five ingredients may just be too many for some to handle (aka me on a bad day)!

Ingredients:

* 8 Flour tortillas
* 1 lb Chicken
* 2 cans Enchilada Sauce- pick whatever heat level you'd like- I used medium
* 8 oz bag Mexican Blend shredded cheese
* Can of diced jalapeno, or chop up one of your own

To Do:

* Cook chicken. I boil mine to make it super tender and easy to shred. You can also throw it in the crockpot or bake it in the oven. Once cooked, shred chicken.

* Mix shredded chicken, one can enchilada sauce, jalapenos, and half the shredded cheese in a large bowl.
* Fill tortillas and roll them tightly. You may need to trim the ends in order to fit them into a casserole dish.
* In casserole dish, lightly coat the bottom of the dish with some enchilada sauce. Place the wrapped tortillas in casserole dish- snuggle them in there nice and tight so they don't come unrolled!
* Top tortillas with remaining enchilada sauce and more shredded cheese.
* Place in oven, uncovered, at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is nice and bubbly.

Guest Blogger: Angie Brown

My name...Angie Brown (nothing cute and catchy...Mindy's mom in law...Chase's mommy) - haha

I've been cooking a long time and as part of my job as the HR manager at the Florida Aquarium, I often cook for staff bbq's, lunches, breakfast, thanksgiving, etc.  At thanksgiving we fry up 12 turkeys, 8 hams, and all the fixins.  I love to cook for people who like to eat!

This recipe is Hot Artichoke Dip.  I acquired this recipe from a long-time friend, Terry, and it's fabulous!  The edges are worn, spills all over the recipe but it's quick, easy, inviting, and everyone loves it.  Even people who don't eat artichokes.

1 pkg. 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and put through chopper or food processor (so the pieces are small)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (so, I cheat on this one and add more because I love cheese)

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil.  (I also cheat on this one and used the refrigerated kind - so fresh and tasty)

1 clove garlic (or 1 tsp garlic in oil - I love to make it easy)

1/2 cup chopped tomato.  This is if you like tomatoes.  You could easily leave it off.

Mix cream cheese and all remaining ingredients, except the tomato.   I use the kitchenaid with paddle but you could use an electric mixer. 

Make sure it's well  blended.

Spoon into 9 inch pie plate bake at 350degrees for 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with tomato if you like.  Serve with any kind of cracker and it's best if it's hot.  That being said, my lovely Mindy would eat it right out of the fridge and cold! 

Enjoy!!!!

Buttermilk Pancakes

Sit back, relax, and grab a nice beverage- its story time.

Yesterday, Alex got to spend some time with his Aunt Mindy and Uncle Chase while I went to an appointment. I came to pick him up and the first thing Chase said was, 'he is sooo his mother's son!'. Uh oh. Ready to be mortified, I asked why. Here was Chase's response:

We were playing with toys in the livingroom with the TV on in the background. He wasn't paying attention to the TV at all, and then all of the sudden the iHop Funnel Cake commercial came on. He whipped his head around so fast and just watched the entire commerical in awe. After it was over, he went right back to his toys and never looked at the TV again.

Sigh. Yes. He is his mother's son. His mama likes herself a good carb-packed breakfast: waffles, french toast, pancakes, funnel cakes with fruit and whipped cream, bacon, eggs, toast, hashbrowns... you name it, I love it. Needless to say, I woke up craving a carby breakfast.

These were perfect. They are my uncle's recipe. They are my favorite pancakes. I remember eating them at my aunts house with lots of butter and warm maple syrup. That was the kicker- the warm maple syrup- we never heated our syrup at home.

(Also, the picture isn't the greatest. I'll admit, I have a very hard time cooking pretty-looking pancakes on the stovetop. I do not have a nice griddle- so they usually come out looking a bit dark and unevenly cooked. These were my first two attempts- of course I ate the better looking, fluffy ones first and forgot to take a picture of them. Oh well, I swear they are still delicious!)

Ingredients:
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

To Do:
* Throw all the ingredients in a mixer. Turn on mixer. Mix.
* Heat skillet or griddle. Ladel pancake mixture onto hot skillet.
* Flip pancakes when batter is nice and bubbly.
* Smother cooked pancakes in butter and obscene amount of nice hot syrup

Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup

Every month, Food Network does a Copy Cat recipe in their magazine. It is a perfect knockoff of famous dishes served in restaurants. This is probably my favorite part of the entire magazine. This one is my favorite Copy Cat recipe to date.

The first time I made this soup was when Chris first abandoned me in Mississippi. He was off to train in Alabama for six weeks. Bummer. We had only lived in the south for a few months and I still had not become familiar with the area. I had never heard of Panera Bread, but the soup looked amazing, so I figured I'd give it a try. Weeks later, I realized there was actually a Panera Bread about an hour from here. Heavenly.

I have made this recipe four or five times, and its turned out perfectly everytime (except my first attempt). Lesson learned: do not add any more cheese than the recipe calls for- in fact- you can do it without the cheese entirely if you'd like! The first time I made this, the amount of cheese just seemed to small, so I added more, and it was too cheesy. (Yes, there is a such a thing as too much cheese, trust me.)

Specks of broccoli and carrot- yay



Ingredients:

* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

* 1 small onion, chopped

* 1/4 cup flour

* 2 cups half-and-half

* 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

* 2 bay leaves

* 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

* salt and pepper

* 4 cups fresh broccoli florets

* 1 large carrot (I used 2)

* 2 1/4 cups (about 8 oz) grated sharp white and yellow cheddar cheese (I just used medium cheddar)

* 4  7-in sourdough bread boules (round loaves) if you'd like to eat yours in a bread bowl

To Do:

* Melt butter in large pot on stovetop over medium heat. Add onions and cook until tender (about 5 minutes). Whisk in flour and cook until golden- just a few minutes.

* Gradually whisk in half-and-half until smooth. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to season- bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, about 20 minutes.

* If you are having bread bowls, prepare them now. Using sharp knife, cut circle into the top of each loaf, remove top, and hollow out the center. Be sure to leave a thick shell.

* Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, another 20 minutes. Once veggies are tender, remove bay leaves.

* Puree the soup in batches in your blender- be sure to get an even mixture of veggies and broth. Blend soup to your preferred thickness. If you like yours chunkier, don't blend for as long- if you like a creamy soup- puree the crap outta that thing!

* Return the blended soup to the pot on the stove and whisk in shredded cheese over a medium heat. This will only take a few minutes. Ladel into bread bowls, and garnish with more shredded cheese if desired