Heath Bar Cookies

Jim (and the girls) were running out of cookies so I ran across this recipe the other day and gave it a shot. A good shot. The original cookie calls for either chopped up Heath bars or chocolate covered toffee bits. I really didn't want to spend the money buying 8 Heath bars, and I could only find an 8-oz bag of English toffee bit (sans chocolate), so I just bought these and threw in half a bag of milk chocolate chips. It worked. I threw in a photo of the dough showing my handy-dandy cookie scoop I found at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Super cool!

HEATH BAR COOKIES

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped Heath Bar pieces (eight 1.4 oz bars) or 1 (8 oz) package of chocolate-covered toffee bits (I used an 8 oz bag non-chocolate covered toffee bits and about 6 oz milk chocolate chips)

In a medium bowl, whish together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric stand mixer), with an electric handheld mixer, beat together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla and mix until the mixture is very light in color and creamy. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine. Once it is about halfway combined, add the heath bits (or toffee bits and chocolate chips) and mix until all the ingredients are mixed together. Chill the cookie dough a couple of hours.

Preheat the oven to 350. On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or a Silpat liner, scoop the cookie dough into about 1" balls. Place the dough about 2" apart on the cookie sheets (they do spread).

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Just the Black Girls, Please

This blog is, afterall, called The Fulton Girls, right? I really need to post more photos of my babies, especially at the Dog Park. But when I caught the three black sweeties cuddled together underneath my desk, I had to grab the camera. Whenever I'm upstairs, I can almost always count on company. I love these girls.

Crock Pot Pork Chops and THE BEST RICE!

You are getting a double treat today! Both of these recipes are just wonderful! The pork chops have an incredible flavor and being cooked in the crock pot, oh so easy! And this rice is so, so, so, so good! What a wonderful combination of flavors. I used two thick bone-in pork chops and it was plenty for three meals. I will definitely double the sauce recipe for the chops next time. The rice was so good and we kept eating on it, but I would say it is generally a 4-serving dish. I served this with steamed asparagus. I do hope you'll try both of these.......you won't be disappointed.

CROCK POT PORK CHOPS

1 Tbsp EVOO (I used cooking spray)

2 pork chops, boned or not, thick.....at least an inch

S&P

1-2 finely minced garlic cloves

2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp chicken broth

1 Tbsp packed light brown sugar

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 Tbsp cold water

In a large skillet, heat the oil (or cooking spray) over medium-high heat until it is hot. Season the pork chops on both sides with S&P. Brown for 1-2 minutes on each side. Transfer the chops to the crock pot. Add the garlic to the drippings in the skillet and stir constantly over medium heat until the garlic is aromatic and golden (DO NOT BURN.....if you do, scrape the burned garlic out, NOT the drippings, turn heat down, and try again.....burned garlic will ruin your dish). Stir in the soy sauce, broth, brown sugar, and pepper flakes. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour over chops.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on low 6-7 hours (more if you double the recipe) or until meat is tender. If using bone-in pork chops, fish out the bones from teh slow cooker. Remove the chops fromt he slow cooker to a shallow pan or plate, they will most liely be falling aparat in tenderness at this point, and shred the meat. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the sauce in the crock pot. Return the chops to the slower cooker. Turn the slow cooker heat to high and cook for 30 minutes to an hour longer, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Return the pork to the crock pot.

Serve over rice and garnish with green onions (I forgot.....this would have been a nice touch).

BAKED BROWN RICE

1 1/2 cups brown rice

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

Zest and juice from one small lemon, or from half of a large, juicy lemon

1/2 cup Parmesan

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 apple, finely diced (I used a Gala and it was wonderful)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8x8 glass baking dish with Pam. Place the rice and broth in the dish. Stir. Cover tightly with a double layer of aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for five minutes before removing the foil and fluffing with a fork. Stir in lemon, Parm, sugar, and apple. YUMMY!!!

Tuscan Garlic Chicken

I ran across this Olive Garden knock-off recipe the other day on-line. I've not had this dish at OG, but it sounded simple and tasty. And easy. It is, all of these. And I was able to significantly reduce the fat calories by using cooking spray instead of olive oil and used just a touch of cream with a mixture of skim milk and cornstarch (versus all cream). I cooked the fettucine earlier in the afternoon, keeping it in the frig in water, then just poured boiling water over it to reheat, saving the anxiety of trying to get everything timed to come out at the same time. Easy, right? I served this with a simple spinach salad dressed with Julia Child's Basic Vinaigrette (see earlier post) topped with red onions, mandarin orange slices, and goat cheese. This recipe served 2.

TUSCAN GARLIC CHICKEN

1/4 cup flour

S&P to taste

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

2 boneless chicken cutlets, 4-6 oz each

olive oil cooking spray

1/2 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup chicken broth

3 oz fresh spinach

1/4 cup light cream

1 tsp cornstarch

1/2 cup lowfat milk

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

4-6 oz dried fettucine, cooked

Preheat oven to 350.

In a shallow plate or ziplock bag, combine flour, S&P, basil, and oregano. Dip the chicken piecesin the flour mixture until both sides are well coated.

Heat a large nonstick skillet, then spray liberally with cooking spray until hot. Cook each side of the cutlet about 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Don't move the chicken around until they are ready to turn or the coating could fall off.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Place the chicken on the foil and bake 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken (my cutlets were thin 4 oz'ers, it only took 10 minutes).

Either cook the fettucine or warm up water to reheat cooked noodles. Wipe out skillet with a paper towel and return to medium heat, respraying with cooking oil. When hot, add bell pepper and garlic, saute for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in 1/2 Tbsp flour and stir constantly while cooking for another minute. Add the chicken broth to the skillet and bring the mixture to a low simmer, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. In a small liquid measure, whisk together the cornstarch and cream. Add the spinach, milk, and cream mixture to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan.

Toss the cooked pasta with half of the cheese sauce. Place some of the coated pasted on each plate. Top with a breaded chicken breast and spoon some of the sauce over the top of the chicken and pasta. Serve immediately.

Cashew Chicken

How do you get an idea in your head and it just won't leave? For whatever reason, I had a craving for cashew chicken with green peppers. Oddly enough, I had a bit of trouble finding a recipe which included green peppers. I thought that was kinda standard of cashew chicken. Anyway, this is a very simple recipe (with one odd step I had never heard of before) and outstanding results. And the cold leftovers made a mighty tasty snack, too!

CASHEW CHICKEN (serves 2)

8 oz chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup cashews
1/2 small green pepper, cut into small squares
about a tsp of finely minced fresh ginger
4 oz mushrooms, quartered
1/4 sweet onion, chopped

Marinade:

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp rice wine vinegar

Sauce:

1 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp water
2 dashes white pepper
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/8 tsp sesame oil
Salt to taste

Marinate the chicken meat with the baking soda for 15-20 minutes and then thoroughly rinse chicken, leaving NO baking soda.

Pat the chicken meat dry with paper towels and then marinate with the corn starch and vinegar.

Mix the sauce together and set aside.

Heat up a skillet with 1/2 Tbsp cooking oil (I used Pam) and stir-fry the chicken meat until the color turns white and is half-cooked. Dish out and set aside.

Add a bit more oil (or Pam) then add ginger, bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions.

Stir-fry until you smell the peppery aroma from the green peppers and add the chicken meat back in.

Add in the cashews and do a few quick stirs.

Add in the sauce and stir continuously until the chicken is cooked and well-coated with the sauce. Add salt to taste.

I served this over brown rice and also made some egg-drop soup.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treat Cookies

Happy Sunday! And here's an amazing treat for you to try. I'm not a big sweets-eater, but I really had to stop myself from eating the entire batch. This is a pretty dry dough and a bit crumbly, so pack a tight Tablespoon-ish roll. And be sure to use parchment paper or a Silpat or you will never get the marshmellows of of the cookie tray. This recipe made about 5 dozen cookies for me. I found this recipe at www.Stephanieskitchen.com.

PEANUT BUTTER RICE KRISPY TREAT COOKIES

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, room temp

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 (3.4 oz) pkg vanilla instant pudding mix

1 1/2 cup mini marshmellows

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups crisped rice cereal

In a medium bowl, which together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until creamy. Add the pudding mix. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Add the marshmellows and chocolate chips. Stir in the cereal by hand. Scoot onto a baking sheet. Bake at 35o for about 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

Million Dollar Chicken and Quinoa Black Bean Salad

Back in the late '90's we were living in San Antonio. Having found a new all-consuming interest, cooking, I also discovered Central Market. For all foodies out there......TEXAS IS A FOODIE'S VACATION-DESTINATION DREAM!!!! Especially now. When we lived there, Central Market was only in Austin and San Antonio. Even back then, CM was featured on The Travel Channel. Oh my! So worth the trip. By the way, they are now also in the DFW and Houston areas.

Anywho.....CM offers so much. Food demos, classes (with world-famous chefs), and items you could never find in any other market. Well, this was one of their demos. What luck I just happened to be in the store the day this was featured! It became a staple in our home for years. And then, amidst the moves and being apart, I just kind of forgot about it. And then the other day I ran across a similar recipe on-line which triggered my memory and I dug up this CM recipe! And it is just as incredible as I remembered. For the first time ever, I did not serve this on couscous, but made a Quinoa Black Bean Salad to go along with it. And then steamed some broccoli.

The chicken recipe won Ellie Mathews of Seattle, Washington the first prize in a Pillsbury Bakeoff (I don't know what year). It is a fusion of Moroccan and Mexican cuisines. I used two 4 oz chicken cutlets and then halved the rest of the recipe, but am including the recipe in its original format. Although my CM recipe does not indicate number of servings, I'm assuming it is 4, but then, I don't know how much meat is on a chicken thigh (I used breast meat). I hope you'll give it a try!!!!!

MILLION DOLLAR CHICKEN

3 cups hot cooked couscous or rice

1 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil

1/4 cup coarseley chopped almonds

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 chicken thighs, skin removed

1 cup salsa, mild or hot

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp dried currants (I omitted this)

1 Tbsp honey

3/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

While the couscous is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the almonds and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the nuts from the skillet with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the garlic to the skillet, stirring, for 30 seconds. (I did not brown my almonds, and I used olive oil cooking spray to saute the garlic, then added the chicken.) Add the chicken and cook, turning once, for 4-5 minutes, until browned (mine took just a few minutes per side since I had thin cutlets).

Combine the salsa and all the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Add to the chicken and mix well. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes (mine took about 10 minutes), or until the chicken is fork-tender and the juices run clear when pierced with a fork. Stir in the almonds and serve with or over the couscous or rice.

QUINOA BLACK BEAN SALAD

Put 1 1/2 cups of water and 3/4 cups of quinoa into saucepan. Bring to a boil. Turn to simmer and cook, covered, 10-15 minutes, or until water is absorbed.

Toss 3/4 cup canned, rinsed and drained black beans with 3/4 Tbsp of red wine vinegar and S&P to taste.

Mix quinoa, beans, 3/4 cup thawed, frozen corn, a few slices of seeded pickled jalapenos, diced, and chopped cilantro to taste. Toss with dressing to taste (I used about half of this amount):

DRESSING:

2 1/2 Tbsp lime juice

1/2 t salt

3/4 t cumin

2 Tbsp EVOO