recipe Archives - Page 12 of 15 - The Sarcastic Blonde

crack of the week :: lasagna soup

November 4, 2014

This week’s edition of crack of the week takes us into the cooler temperatures
(the snow/sleet/wintry mix arrived in full force on Friday here in Chicago).

I originally came across this recipe a few weeks ago on pawleys island posh.
I figured:

soup? good.

pasta? good.

top it with cheese + more cheese? good.

The recipe on her site and the recipe on damn delicious are pretty different. Her version was made more with what she had on hand, so it’s good to know this can be altered to suit your pantry items! I did a combo of their recipes to suit what we had…. which should have been everything…. because I went to the store 3 times on Sunday.

three. no joke.
and still forgot things. damn gargabe bags…..
I was so sleep deprived I definitely should not have been driving anywhere.

It is a perfect, super simple soup to throw together….. one of those recipes that is great for the cooler weather and a night with the DVR yelling at Erin Andrews on Dancing with the Stars.

ya know, one of those recipes.

From the Pawley’s Island Posh recipe, I copied the ground turkey as the meat and the addition of tomato sauce, as well as adding 2 cups of water. It definitely needed more broth. From Damn Delicious I copied adding in a whole onion (I love me some onions) and the red pepper flakes for some kick. Oh, and I have no idea what the heck “armoniche pasta” is and couldn’t find it, so I used rotini. All pasta is my friend.

Lasagna Soup

adapted from Damn Delicious + Pawleys Island Posh

dammmmnnn look at that bowl.

climbing that iPhone food photography ladder one sprinkle of basil at a time…..

1 box rotini pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced (or one pre-cut container from the produce section to avoid onion teary eyes)
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 box chicken stock
2 cups water
1 (28-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Mozzarella Cheese + Ricotta + Ground Parmesan for topping
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade for topping (I mean I‘m assuming that means cut up real thin and pretty like)

their pretty photo

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. Add ground turkey to the skillet and cook until browned. Add garlic, onion, oregano and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until well combined, about 1 minute.

Stir in chicken stock and diced tomatoes. season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add 2 cups water if needed to get more broth out of the soup. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in pasta.

Serve immediately with a heaping spoonful of the ricotta, sprinkled with mozzarella, parmesan and basil.

Lifestyle, recipe

crack of the week :: homemade donuts

October 28, 2014

kipper requested donuts as my baking project for Sunday with our new donut pan .

I think I’m going to do chocolate cake donuts next time, but this weekend I made Black and White Baked Donuts.

my “white” glaze was not white at all….. so I ended up just dumping it and using the chocolate only. The chocolate tasted much better anyway 🙂

This recipe is SO EASY. The batter was ready in no time and the glaze took seconds to whip together. I had all of the ingredients on hand too, so I think donuts may become a weekend regular around here.

I really want to do fried donuts, but ~~I don’t know if I trust myself with a big pot of oil~~ kip told me based on my kitchen skills (we got fancy new knives off our registry, I sliced my hand first time using them) that a simmering pot of oil on the stove is probably not my best bet. damn.

and I worked reallllllll hard at getting a pretty photo for the blog.

I think it’s my best work yet.

Black and White Brown Butter Baked Doughnuts

recipe via Joy the Baker

makes 6 doughnuts

Print this Recipe!

For the Doughnuts:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (**I’ll be greatly reducing the nutmeg next round. We both felt the flavor was a bit too strong).

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter (but we’ll only use 2 tablespoons of browned butter for the recipe)

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

pinch of salt

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Vanilla Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a doughnut pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and sugar. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Butter will begin to crackle and pop as it melts. That’s the water melting out of the butter. Once the water has evaporated the butter will quiet down and begin to brown. Keep an eye on it, it browns quickly. The butter will begin to smell nutty. Remove from heat and immediately transfer browned butter (brown bits and all) to a small bowl.

In a small bowl whisk together egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Measure out 2 tablespoons of browned butter and whisk into the wet ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir together until no flour bits remain and all of the ingredients are well combined. Try not to overmix the batter. That might create rubbery doughnuts.

Use a small spoon to dollop batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out and fill each doughnut in the pan three-quarters full with batter.

Place in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and try not to over-bake them. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the doughnuts cool, make the glazes.

To make the chocolate glaze, in a medium bowl whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.

Add 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. Add more milk as necessary to create a thick but still just pourable glaze.

To make the vanilla glaze, in a medium bowl whisk together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract to create a thick put still pourable glaze.

Once the doughnuts are completely cool, spread half of the doughnuts with chocolate glaze, and the remaining half with vanilla class. Return to the wire rack and sprinkle the vanilla side with color sprinkles. Allow to set for about 30 minutes before stacking or serving. Doughnuts are best within 2 days.

I mean my donuts basically look just like hers.

totally.

Lifestyle, recipe

crack of the week :: shrimp and rice casserole

October 14, 2014

we had family dinner Sunday to celebrate Kip’s birthday

so I made one of my tried and true recipes since it was a larger group and I was trying not to blow my new-housewife-husbands-bday-heres our new home-role.

my food photography is particularly awful today

(I know…. how could it get worse…. it can)

because I snapped a blurry picture on my iPhone as everyone started to dig in…. my apologies.

one of these days I’ll get around to learning how to have pretty presentation.

Sooooooo as a total mind game, I put cute shapes around the photos….. it TOTALLY distracts from the bad pictures and makes the food instantly magazine cover worthy…… right ??

just smile and nod like you do when you see a child’s painting and have no clue what the heck it is.

This recipe is a favorite every time I make it.

I often prep it the night before to make things easier.

Also, it doubles very well – I made two for the crowd this weekend and they turned out wonderfully.

So wonderfully that I was planning on having enough extras for Kip and me to have leftovers for two nights of dinner, but there wasn’t a single bite left. For real. That good.

Bomb Diggity Shrimp and Rice Casserole

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

1 six ounce box Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain and Wild Rice

2 TB butter

1 c diced green bell pepper*

(*I often use the precut tricolor pepper packs in the produce section instead. it adds nice color too.)

1 c diced onion

1 c diced celery

11/2 lbs cooked shrimp

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

¾ c mayo

Salt and pepper to taste

½ c white wine

Cook rice according to pkg directions and set aside. Saute green pepper, onion and celery in butter until tender. Combine with rice and all ingredients. Pour into a greased 9/13casserole or round two quart casserole. Cover and bake in a pre-heated 350 oven for 45 minutes!

Serve it with salad and Sister Schuberts Paker House Rolls, the worlds greatest rolls,

and before baking the rolls melt a ton of butter and pour it on top.

Like…. a TON of butter.

What people don’t know won’t hurt em….. and they seriously will think you make bomb ass rolls.

Because YOU DO.

Lifestyle, recipe

crack of the week :: the cronut

October 7, 2014

THE creator of THE cronut has published his recipe for anyone to make.

Only problem….. I thought I’d be itching to make it, but I’m definitely not.

It takes forever. Apparently his own family won’t even attempt it

(I mean…. why would they when he can make it for them?)

but anyways, seeing the article got me back into the cronut-craze-mindset.

Pinterest obviously has a million links to different DIY cronut recipes that can be as simple as using crescent roll dough to a little more complex with making your own dough and refrigerating overnight.

it’s kipper’s 30th birthday this week, and the plan is to host his family for either brunch or dinner sunday at our new place. I’ll be making his requested red velvet cake, but I think that cronuts are going to be making an appearance as well.

:: links for recipes below ::

the official cronut recipe // DIY cronut recipe

and the pinterest link with 9 million cronut recipes

have any of you tried the homemade recipes for a cronut before?

if so, leave me the link to yours in the comments!

Lifestyle, recipe

crack of the week :: skinny stuffed pepper casserole

September 30, 2014

this recipe is a new favorite in our house.

but then again, anything in a casserole dish is always a win to me.

we originally made it a few weeks ago, but it actually is perfect for the arrival of the cooler fall temperatures.

and for those of you that don’t like stuffed peppers, ~~I think you’re weird because what is there to dislike – it’s pretty basic~~, don’t immediately assume this recipe isn’t your thang; my husband hates stuffed peppers and LOVED this.

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

recipe via Skinny Mom

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Serving size: 1 cup

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef (90% or leaner)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1½ Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
2 cups brown rice, cooked
24 oz jar of organic reduced-sugar spaghetti sauce
1 cup reduced-fat, shredded Italian 4 cheese blend

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 2.25 qt casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown lean ground beef with green pepper, red pepper, onion and minced garlic.
Drain excess fat from meat mixture.
Return ground beef, peppers and onion mixture to skillet. Add oregano, Stir in cooked brown rice and spaghetti sauce. Stir ingredients until evenly combined.Transfer meat and sauce to casserole dish. Cover casserole evenly with cheese.
Bake casserole for 20-25 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.

Per Serving (1 cup):

Calories: 297

Calories from fat: 85

and now for what you’ve really been looking forward to : my killer food photography……

Lifestyle, recipe

crack of the week

September 2, 2014

for our party friday, I made two of my favorite simple recipes.

my crack cake + cheese ring.

they take minimal effort and can be made in advance,
which leaves more time for drinking wine (woo!) and changing your dress 20 times before your friends arrive.

I have posted the crack cake recipe before,
but it was a long time ago when I didn’t have as many readers, so I thought I should post it again.

Cheese Ring with Strawberry Preserves

recipe adapted from Southern Living + image via

1 cup mayonaise

1 cup chopped yellow onion

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Strawberry Preserves

Tollhouse Toppers for serving

Combine all ingredients. Put into bundt pan and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. When ready to serve, flip out onto platter and fill the center with strawberry preserves. Surround the edges with Tollhouse Toppers.

It sounds so simple + random, but it is delicious. There is never a bite left.

My bundt pan was being used for my crack cake, so I broke out a wedding gift : mini bundt pans from crate and barrel. or as they call it, bundtlette pan.
It was so cute. I still prefer the single large ring, I think it looks nicer, but this worked in a jam.

Crack Cake

recipe originally from madaket home