Black Forest Dump Cake

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I'm well into my mid-forties and only recently discovered this sweet creation called a "Dump Cake".  While I enjoy my sweets, I've always been more of a "cook" than a "baker".  Cooking, for the most part, doesn't have to be exact. You can add a little broth, a pinch of this, a dash of that and adjust as you go along until you have the exact flavor you're looking for. Baking requires a little more precision. Exact measurements and strictly following the directions. Once it's in the oven there isn't a whole lot of adjusting you can do. Also, I've always found baking to be a lot more time consuming with a much bigger mess to clean up in the kitchen after your delectable makes it's way into the oven. Then I learned about the Dump Cake.  Given it's name since you basically just dump the ingredients into a baking dish and let them do all the work. "That can't possibly work", I said. Lo and behold, it does work and thus was born the sibling to my method of quick cooking. "Semi-Homemade" meet your baby brother, "Lazy Baking"!

Step 1: Grab 2 cans of your favorite pie filling. I'm sure a cooked down fresh fruit will work the same but remember we're going for lazy baking here! Simply dump them into a 9x13 baking dish. You don't even have to grease the dish. But you do have to spread it out evenly over the bottom of the dish.

Step 2:  Take one box of cake mix, your choice. Preferably something that compliments the pie filling you chose. Again just dump that on top of your pie filling and spread it out so your fruit filling is completely covered. Nope don't mix the cake according to directions on box. Just dump the dry mix on!

Step 3:  Cut a stick and a half of butter into pats and place them from end to end of your dish on top of the cake mix.

Put that in a 350 degree oven and bake it for an hour. Let it cool a bit and be amazed that the butter and juice from your pie filling turned that dry cake mix into a crunchy, gooey, cobbleresque cake! It's really great when you serve it up warm!

Seems everywhere I go lately I keep seeing "Chocolate Cherry". Ice cream, brownies, even a paint color! That put me in the mood to try a Black Forest Dump Cake and I'm glad I followed my gut and gave this a shot!

BLACK FOREST DUMP CAKE

2 cans of cherry pie filling

1 box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Triple Fudge Cake Mix

3/4 cup of butter (1 1/2 sticks cut into pats)

Preheat oven to 350

Dump cherry pie filling into bottom of 9x13 baking dish and spread evenly

Dump  dry Triple Fudge cake mix on top of pie filling and spread to completely cover the pie filling.

Evenly space your butter pats on top of the dry cake mix

Bake 45-60 minutes. (My oven usually takes right around the 55 minute mark)

Let cool slightly and serve. A little vanilla ice cream compliments this one nicely if you want to indulge.

Chicken Crescent Squares

What to do with that leftover chicken? I know, it's not a question that we have to ask in this house very often either.  The times we have fried or rotisserie chicken (homemade or carryout) there's always some leftover. Now granted, like everyone else we both pop open that refrigerator door and grab a cold drumstick as a snack the next day. Unfortunately we both have our favorite "parts", so there's some left sitting there. I found this great recipe for Chicken Crescent Squares that is super easy and gives new life to the leftovers.

They are delish, so you don't have to wait until you have leftovers to try them. I buy the Tyson precooked chicken strips or diced chicken all the time to have on hand for a quick salad and it will work just as well. The croutons are usually present for the salads also! The best thing is they are very light! 

My thought while eating these the first time was "Wow, this would make a great dish to serve at a lunch with friends, simple, tasty and light" but that hasn't stopped them from becoming part of our regular dinner rotation!

Chicken Crescent Squares

1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp butter, melted and divided
2 cup chopped cooked chicken
2 Tbsp milk
1/8 tsp pepper
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 cup seasoned croutons, crushed

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine cream cheese and 2 Tbsp butter; stir in chicken, milk and pepper. Set aside.

Unroll crescent dough, separating into 4 rectangles; press perforations to seal. Spoon 1/4 of chicken mixture into center of each rectangle; bring corners of each rectangle together over chicken mixture, and twist gently to seal.

Brush packets with remaining 1 tablespoon of melted butter (I just pick mine up and dunk them in the melted butter), dredge in crushed croutons and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

ENJOY!!

Margarita Cake With Pretzel Crust

Margaritas and summertime go together for me just like Peanut Butter & Jelly. Does everybody  have drinks they like only in certain seasons or I'm just weird like that?  Since I'm a social drinker who loves to get together with friends for a drink or two, I rarely have a cocktail at home throughout the week (save for an occasional glass of wine with dinner).  I will admit, however, that some days the weather just puts me in the mood for a nip of something special. Sunny days can do that to me and make me crave a margarita, so when I saw this Betty Crocker recipe for a Margarita Cake I knew it was something I was going to whip up on a sunny day that I didn't have to go to work.  Given the fact that we've had sunny days a plenty this summer I purchased the ingredients on my last shopping trip and planned ahead to make this one.  I usually purchase our local store label to save a few bucks but admit that I did show respect to Betty Crocker by purchasing their brand since they kindly shared the recipe with me. My final verdict on this cake is a "thumbs up"! The margarita flavor isn't as intense as I thought it might be but I found that to be a good thing. Overall the cake is very light in texture and flavor and turned out to be just the right amount of "sweet" after a spicy meal of those Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches I posted about!

Ingredients

Crust

1 1/2

cups coarsely crushed pretzels

1/2

cup sugar

1/2

cup butter or margarine, melted

Cake

1

box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix

3/4

cup bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix

1/2

cup water

1/3

cup vegetable oil

1

tablespoon grated lime peel

3

egg whites

Topping

1

container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Additional grated lime peel, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only and lightly flour 13x9-inch pan, or spray bottom with baking spray with flour. In medium bowl, mix crust ingredients. Sprinkle evenly on bottom of pan; press gently.

2.  In large bowl, beat cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over crust. 

3. Bake 34 to 39 minutes or until light golden brown and top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Frost with whipped topping; sprinkle with additional lime peel. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

This put a whole new meaning to "after dinner drink" and it really hit the spot! Try it!

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken

It's a pretty sure bet when we order bar food that I'm going to order wings to go with my cold beer and the better half is going to opt for a burger. After several years together I noticed he never orders wings, so I asked him why he didn't like wings when I know he loves chicken. His response made sense but it also made me laugh. "They're too messy and it's just too much for work for such a small amount of chicken".  I was in the mood for a very casual dinner this evening and was craving wings but I know his idea of a very casual meal is a sandwich.  Then I remembered I had a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches.  Giving the recipe a once over before running out to grab the 3 necessary ingredients, it really seemed too simple to be true! Yesterday was a very busy day so simple actually sounded just about perfect about right now, so I gave it a go!

Ingredients:

3 – 5 lbs frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts
12oz bottle of your favorite buffalo sauce (I used Franks Medium)
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix,

Yep, just 3 ingredients. And I love the fact that you can just put your chicken breasts in frozen and not have to panic when you realize you forgot to put them out to thaw!

Directions:

1.  Place frozen chicken breasts into crockpot, pour buffalo sauce over chicken.  Sprinkle ranch mix over top.  Cover with lid and cook on low for about 5 hours.

2.  Remove chicken to a cutting board.  Do not discard sauce!  Shred the chicken with two forks. The chicken should just fall apart.  Place shredded chicken back into sauce still in crockpot.  Stir to coat chicken.

3.  Continue cooking shredded buffalo chicken in crockpot on low for about another hour or until chicken absorbs most of the sauce.  

Simple cooking and SIMPLY AMAZING! He liked them and I liked how easy it was. I'm also putting this in my file for party food!

Pineapple-Orange Blossoms

Saturday mornings are kind of special in our house, as it's the only morning we get to spend together. He gets up for work at 5:30a.m. Mon-Fri and is out the door for work at 6:30a.m.. Since I'm a bartender, it goes without saying that I am not up at those hours unless I happen to still be up.  Sundays he gets up for church but again after working Saturday night until the wee hours, it's another coffee-for-one morning. Which brings me back to Saturday morning. Ahhhhhhhhh!!  Time together! Quality time to me is time spent with someone special over some really great food. Most Saturdays we get in the kitchen together and put together a traditional breakfast or brunch feast ranging from bacon and eggs with hash browns to pancakes or waffles with sausage, warm syrups and of course, COFFEE! But let's face it sometimes you just don't have that energy in the morning. Since Friday nights are our one night out together, those slow-moving Saturday mornings happen more often than they should. It's those mornings I turn to Sandra Lee and the incredible world of "semi-homemade".

What on earth is semi-homemade? It's taking those average, everyday, quick packaged food items found in your grocery and giving them a little home cookin' TLC! Moving forward you're going to see a lot of these types of recipes coming from me because I love them. They rock my world because they're quick and easy but they're still special enough to make you feel like you're spoiling yourself.

This morning was one of those mornings so I whipped up some Pineapple-Orange Blossoms.

3 simple ingredients applied to something many already think is special in it's own right turns the ordinary into the extraordinary!  4 oz of softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple and 1/3 cup of sweet orange marmalade turn Pillsbury Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls into pure bliss.

 You need your cream cheese to be soft, so set it out on the counter as soon as you roll out of bed. I have the added advantage that our two dogs don't understand this "Saturday Morning" concept and wake up at 5:30a.m. like they do every other morning. When they wake me up for the first "out" of the day, I lay out my cream cheese before heading back to bed for a few hours. When you're ready to get cookin', preheat your oven to 350! We start by tossing the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and stirring it up a bit until it's nice and smooth, add in your well drained crushed pineapple. (I use papertowls to make sure I get it on the dryer side. Tear off two sheets of towel and lay one across a plate, dump your pineapple in the middle, lay the other towel on top (or fold it over) and simply squeeze it over the sink. Sure it makes your hands a little sticky but that just makes you feel like you're really cooking!), next add your sweet orange marmalade and stir it up real well. It doesn't have to be perfect, remember we're going for quick and easy. Set that mixture aside and let's get started on the cinnamon rolls.

Pop your can and cut the cinnamon rolls into 8 sections. (Set that container of icing aside, we're going to use it in a bit) Next quarter each section so you have 32 little triangles of ooey gooey goodness. Spray 8 of the 12 cups on your muffin pan with a good quality baking spray or give them a good old-fashioned greasing. Next place four triangles of cinnamon roll into each cup with the triangle points up! Now grab that cream cheese mixture and spoon it equally into the center of the points of each cup.

This is what you should be looking at now!

Bake at 350 for 17-22 minutes. My oven usually finishes them nicely right at the 20 minute mark!

It may have been put together with packaged products but this is when you're going to think Grandma snuck into your kitchen. The smell is heavenly! When the timer goes off, you're going to see something like this

I know you want to just pop one in your mouth right now but hang on, we're almost done!

Cool them in the pan or pop them out onto a backing rack for about 5 minutes.

Put your icing pack that came with the rolls in your microwave for about 20 seconds at 50% power! Now that it's easily pourable, go ahead and plate up those blossoms and smother them!

When you are finished, you'll know the answer to that question you asked halfway through this post. You know when you said....

 "Why would I go through all this when I'd be just as happy with the Cinnamon Rolls?"

THIS is WHY!

Photo Courtesy of Chris Schneider-It's A Matter Of Taste Follower

Now in recipe format:

Ingredients:

1 can Cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing

1/2 c. crushed pineapple (well drained)

1/3c Sweet Orange Marmalade

4 oz cream cheese (softened)

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 8 (2 3/4x1 1/4-inch) muffin cups with baking spray. Separate dough into 8 rolls; set icing aside. Cut each roll into quarters; place 4 quarters, points up and separated slightly, in each muffin cup.

• In small bowl, mix pineapple, marmalade and cream cheese. Place 2 tablespoons mixture into center of dough in each cup.

• Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool in pan on cooling rack 5 minutes. Run knife around edge of muffin cups; remove rolls from cups and place on serving plate.

• Remove cover from icing; microwave on Medium (50%) 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle icing over warm rolls. Serve warm.

Jam Up and Jelly Tight

Am I dating myself?  Yep...this is an Archie's song.  I always thought myself to be more like Betty than Veronica.  Betty was the cute one, Veronica was more glamorous.  Yep, I'm Betty...she would have been the one in the kitchen whipping up dinner for Archie.   Personally, I don't think Veronica would EVER have cooked for Archie OR Reggie.  She's probably a kept woman now, living with Jughead and drinking V-shakes and Martinis to keep her cartoon character figure.
 
What was I talking about?  Oh yeah, Jam...TOMATO Jam. 

Tomato Jam is a decadent, sumptuous and spicy gift from the summer garden.  Think of all those extra tomatoes you are picking right now.  They simply need a little nudge and some love and in a mere hour or two of easy labor, you can give birth to your own half-pint jars of this tomato treasure. 

"Ewwwww...sweet tomatoes...yuk!"  Yep...I heard that and I'm with ya.

I don't have a sweet tooth per se.  My motto has always been, "My favorite dessert is seconds" (helpings, that is).  So...please don't let the word 'jam' throw you.  Tomato jam is more like a chutney, should you choose to make yours a bit chunky.  It's like a fruit spread if you want a smoother texture.  It's all dictated by how finely you chop your fruit.  Yes, darlings, tomatoes are fruit.   Tomato Jam is sweet and spicy and can be enjoyed on a crostini with a bit of sharp, stinky cheese for a delightful accompaniment to wine.  On a morning bagel with cream cheese, it makes you glad you got out of bed.  It is the freaking BOMB when schmeared on a rare burger in place of the oh-so-bourgeois ketchup.   I even like mine as the "T" in a BLT.  Trust me, once you taste it, you'll know where your version fits into your own culinary world.

This recipe was adapted from one I found in the NY Times.  Mark Bittman is pretty much a genius and it took little to improve on his recipe.  He called for cloves, I opted for allspice.  I doubled the cumin and used both cayenne AND crushed red pepper.  Do you see where I'm going with this?  Yep...I like to keep things SPICY.  Don't worry, there's enough sugar to balance the heat.  Your friends will beg you for this recipe...just don't get silly like me and call it "To-Jam".  Disgusting.

Tomato Jam

Makes about 2 half-pint jars

2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped  (Cherry, Grape or Roma tomatoes preferred)                                                                                                         
If using cherry or grape tomatoes, simply cut in half. Do not core.
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 fresh limes, juiced and zested
1 1/3 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4+  teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (or ground cloves)
1 1/3 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes      
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Combine all ingredients except lime zest in a heavy medium saucepan, Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.

2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.  Add the lime zest. Cook for one more  minute.  Pour into hot, sterilized jam jars, wipe any jam off the jar edges, then screw the lids on.  Allow jars to cool completely before storing in the refrigerator.  Jam will keep for two months+.

If you do not have jam jars, you may store in a CLEAN and sterile plastic container.

If you want to store these jars in the pantry you must process them in a water bath.  Simply place tightly closed jars in a pot of  boiling  water for ten minutes.  The water must cover the jars by at least one inch.  After ten minutes, remove jars. Being sure that no liquid is seeping out.  (This means that you do not have the lids on securely enough.)  Allow to cool.  Once the jars cool you will hear the lids “pop” as they are creating a proper vacuum seal.  Properly processed and sealed jars will keep unopened for a year. 

Enjoy!

Super Easy Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff is something I rarely order in a restaurant because it's too time consuming for them to make it to order and I just don't think you can do it right in pre-cooked large batches. It's also something I rarely made at home because I always thought it was just too difficult unless you grab that box of Hamburger Helper at the grocery. Sorry, after my college and early years on my own, I just can't bring myself to eat meals that pop out of a box. Then I found this recipe and my problem was solved. Not only is it easy, but it's delicious. So delicious that my other half went back for seconds and exclaimed during dinner, "This is amazing, the beef just melts in your mouth. You're going to have to make this again."  If you don't like amazing dishes that take just a few simple ingredients and very little prep time then stop reading HERE!

Ready, Set......Go!

2 pounds cubed stew meat
2 cans Campbell's Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 largish onion diced

2-3-4 Tbsps of Worcestershire (It's a matter of taste!)
1/2 cup water
8 oz of cream cheese
1 tsp Garlic Salt
couple dashes of Hot Paprika

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients, except the meat AND the Cream Cheese. Once combined add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 7-8 hours. Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes. 

Serve over egg noodles.