Broccoli Cheese Casserole

{Delicious}

We had our February AHS Potluck and our theme last month was "comfort food". I ended up not making anything and just contributing milk (which to be fair is a comfort food of mine) since I was too busy hosting it--it was our largest potluck yet! We had 19 attendees total so it was a lot of fun... but also a lot of work. One of the delicious items that we partook of was Broccoli Casserole, which Christina F. made with modifications from Paula Deen's recipe. I loved it and was inspired to make similar changes for myself. And I'm calling it Broccoli Cheese Casserole, like the one I make (almost) every Thanksgiving.

Broccoli Cheese Casserole
adapted from Paula Deen's Broccoli Casserole
Makes 6-8 servings

1 16 oz. packages frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1 (10 3/4 oz) can of condensed cream of chicken soup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups crushed Cheez-Its (I might use less next time because the topping was a bit too salty for me)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Garlic salt and pepper (I just put in a reasonable amount, didn't measure)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, cheese, soup and eggs. Mix well with a metal spoon. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish.

3. Top with the crushed Cheez-Its and pour the melted butter evenly over the crackers. Bake for 35 minutes or until set and browned.

I love this recipe because it is so easy! And the result is delicious :)

{Fresh out of the oven}

White Chocolate Filled Snickerdoodles

Remember how I made those oreo cheesecakes last June? And then I made some more in March? [link not available yet] Well, I am finally done with my list of people I need to give baked goods to. YAY! Granted, I've still only met about 1/3 of them in person, but at least they know I appreciate them!

This time, instead of making my go-to oreo cheesecakes, I made white chocolate filled snickerdoodles. Like I mentioned before, I'm not big on baking cookies. But I again had white chocolate at home (they were on sale!) and this recipe from my bookmarks was calling my name. It seemed pretty simple, which was a large reason why I was attracted to it.

White Chocolate Filled Snickerdoodles from Cookies & Cups
makes approximately 24 cookies

1/2 cup shortening, I used butter flavored
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp sugar
approx 24 white chocolate pieces

1. Beat the shortening, butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar together. Set aside.
For some reason, I completely forgot to include vanilla in mine. Not sure if that affected colour/taste, but the cookies looked and tasted fine. I'm sure they would have been better though had I added the vanilla.
2. Mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together.
3. Then mix with the creamed sugar mixture until incorporated.
4. Chill dough for at least 1 hour in refrigerator.
5. Preheat oven to 350°
6. Mix 2 Tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl
7. Scoop a rounded tablespoon sized ball of dough and form it around 1 white chocolate piece. Roll the dough in the cinnamon sugar mix. Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet 2 inches apart.
8. Bake for 10 minutes or until edges slightly golden.
9. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet 3 minutes before transferring to wire rack to finish cooling.

The best part of this whole experience is that I had a couple of friends help me out. And one of them is a pastry chef. She taught me to "work smarter, not harder". Some examples of this:
-- When chilling dough, don't do it in a ball. Do it as a flat rectangle. Not only will the dough chill faster, but it will chill evenly (if in a ball, the middle of the ball will not chill as much as the outer parts).
-- Also, chill the dough in the freezer. It'll be faster than the refridgerator (this was important as we started at 8pm on Saturday).
-- I followed instructions and formed my dough around a white chocolate piece. As I'm a slow person in the kitchen, this was going to be a time-consuming process. She immediately cut down on the time by just inserting the white chocolate piece into the middle of the dough ball and then just covering up the hole.

In case you are a cookie n00b like me, I hope this helped you. Always remember, work smarter, not harder.

The Elvis Presley Sandwich

Have you ever heard of The Elvis Sandwich? I've been a fan of Elvis ever since I was little, but I had never heard of this sandwich until The Korea Times did a piece on it. It's a sandwich that has peanut butter, banana, and bacon, and is called "The Elvis Sandwich" because it was one of his favourite things to eat. You can find a little more history on Wikipedia.


Picture from Serious Eats
While the sandwich ingredients remain the same, it seems like everyone's opinion varies on how much of each ingredient should be used. For example, Serious Eats recommends half a banana for one sandwich, while the Food Network lists one banana total for four sandwiches. All Recipes, on the other hand, has you using one banana for just one sandwich.

I made it tonight, with white bread, butter, an entire banana, and a nice amount of honey. (No peanut butter since I'm allergic and no bacon in the house either) Toasted it all over the stove and devoured it afterwards--delicious! Make your own sometime :)

Cookies & Cream Cheesecakes with a Twist

{Sliced in half}

I made Martha Stewart's Cookies & Cream Cheesecakes again yesterday. But this time, I did something a little different...


{Prep for my cheesecakes}
I made a batch of 24 regular-sized cupcakes and 12 mini-cupcakes. Since you can't fit a whole Oreo at the bottom of the mini ones, I had extra Oreos left over. So I crushed them and used them as a garnish.


{All ready to go}
What do you think? I think they look pretty nice.

I made them to give out at work. I work with many people on a daily basis but I never get to see them face-to-face. So this was my opportunity to: 1. finally meet them in person and 2. give them a little token of my appreciation for always being so kind and cooperative with me.

I personalised each cupcake with the person's name. They were all very thankful that I took the time and energy to bake for them and go around the lot to give them out. Success!

{Personalised cheesecakes}

Creamy Macaroni & Cheese

{Mini serving of mac&cheese}

I had printed out the recipe for smitten kitchen's adaptation of Martha Stewart's mac-n-cheese over a month ago. It might have been two months ago. I bought all the ingredients, but somehow I never got around to making it. Probably because the April AHS potluck never happened. And the May one kept on getting delayed. But last night it finally happened. And the day before, the mac-n-cheese finally happened.

Another excuse I have for not baking and/or cooking lately is because I got a new job! So I've been uber busy dealing with that. But this Friday we got out early because of the long weekend, so I had time to make miniature mac&cheese in addition to the large casserole dish version. The macaroni and cheese is really good. Everyone at the potluck loved it. And I think it's pretty darn good too. My only complaint is that I used too little bread, which was my fault because I was too lazy to cut more slices of the loaf I had. Tsk tsk Esther. But other than that, it was a success!

And side note, I recommend halving the recipe that smitten kitchen posted. So what I'm posting below is the halved version.

Martha Stewart’s Creamy Mac-and-Cheese
Makes 6 servings

1/2 stick unsalted butter, plus more for casserole
3 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to l/2-inch pieces
2 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for water
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 1/4 cups (about 9 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
1 cup (about 4 ounces) grated Gruyère
1/2 pound elbow macaroni

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a large casserole dish; set aside. Place the bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the bread, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside.

2. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

3. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8 to 12 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, and 3/4 cups Gruyère; set the cheese sauce aside.

5. Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook the macaroni until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir the macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cups cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Gruyère, and the breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.

{In the large casserole dish; I left it in the oven a little longer so it's more browned/crispy}

IKEA Swedish Coffee Rolls

{Swedish Coffee Rolls}

Wow, it's been a long time since I last baked! I was actually told to not bake desserts anymore by my mother since I was spending all this time and money on making these desserts but just giving them away since I wasn't making them for any specific event (such as a potluck). Instead, I should focus on food that we would be consuming ourselves. So I made Pioneer Woman's Sour Cream Noodle Bake again a little over 2 weeks ago. And then it was my birthday, which I make a week-long celebration out of, so I was too busy stuffing my face with (free) food to even think about baking. Last week I finished up all the leftovers. I also went to IKEA last week. I love that place. My mum wanted us to try making their Swedish Coffee Roll Mix so I bought it. I usually don't like buying box mixes, since I believe in baking from scratch, but I doubt I'll ever make Swedish coffee rolls from scratch so I decided to try this.


{Mix from a Box!}
I finally got around to making them yesterday. They were pretty easy to make, especially since I now have an actual legit rolling pin (thanks Keri!). After making the dough and rolling it out, I applied margarine and sprinkled sugar and cinnamon. Then we made rolls, let them rise, then did an egg wash and sprinkled brown sugar on top. And then they just popped in the toaster oven for around 10 minutes! (I actually left them in for 15 minutes though.)


{Cooling Down}
I had actually split my dough in half, so I made two batches, 12 rolls each. That is why the rolls look so small compared to the ones on the box. They looked and smelled pretty good, but they weren't so great taste-wise. Maybe it's because I don't drink coffee? So I've been eating them with strawberry jam for breakfast. Yum!

Orange-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with White Chocolate

{Delicious}

Those cookies were good. Really good. But the thing is, I'm not the biggest fan of cookies. There's a reason why I never felt compelled to make them before. And now that I have, I didn't feel like making them again. I'm weird like that.

But I still had my bar of Lindt white chocolate. Yes, I know it's good until November 2011. But that bar is so tempting! I would eat it whole if it stayed in my house much longer. So what to make? After going through all my bookmarked recipes and not really finding anything that called out to me, I pulled out my trusty Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook yesterday to see what she had for me. And you know what? She did not fail me. Her Orange-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes looked really good and were perfect since we had oranges in the house! I figured that oranges and white chocolate would compliment each other so this would be the perfect cupcake to put my white chocolate in. Score!


{Ingredients}
Orange-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with White Chocolate
Makes 12 cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup heavy cream (I used whipping cream since that's what I had at home)
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (from 1 orange)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (I also added 1/4 tsp lemon extract for a little extra citrus oomph)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup regular sugar and 1/2 cup vanilla sugar)
2 vanilla beans, halved length-wise, seeds scraped and reserved (I used 1 vanilla bean)
2 large eggs
2/3 of a 4.4oz Lindt white chocolate bar, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, combine cream, orange juice, and vanilla extract.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter, sugar, vanilla bean seeds, and zest until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of the cream mixture, and beating until just combined.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. (Mine were a bit more full since I had added the white chocolate). Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.


{All cooled down and ready to be frosted; can you see the white chocolate peeking out?}
Since it was already dinnertime by the time the cupcakes were done (I started them really late), I decided to hold off on the frosting until today. For my frosting, I decided to modify Martha's Cream Cheese Frosting for this particular cupcake.

Cream Cheese Frosting with Orange Zest
Makes 2 cups

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and then vanilla, and then zest, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

I decided to garnish them with some white chocolate shavings. This is completely optional, of course.


{White Chocolate shavings on top}
I loved looking at and smelling the cupcakes. You can really smell the orange and I love that you can see the vanilla bean seeds in the cupcake. The cupcakes are a little denser than I would like them to be, so next time I would probably use a little less flour. But they were delicious. There wasn't a lot of white chocolate inside, but there was enough. I would probably use the whole bar next time though. The vanilla flavour is very subtle, probably since I only used one vanilla bean instead of two. I might compensate with more vanilla extract next time. But overall, they are a hit! And they are so beautiful to me. I hope you agree~

{And there's white chocolate inside!}