Kendra's Recipes

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The Best Chocolate Cake Ever

Another recipe I got from Kevin & Amanda's Recipes. It is labeled the best chocolate cake ever, even though it was delicious, I have eaten alot of GOOOOD chocolate cake. It was actually quite simple to make and tasted of extreme chocolate.

Ingredients:
1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 pkg. Jell_O instant chocolate pudding mix
1 c. sour cream
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
2 c. mini semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a VERY large bowl (4 qt), mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 mins after that. It usually takes around 45 mins for two, 9-inch pie pans.

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1 c. shortening (Crisco)
4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. heavy whipping cream

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream shortening until fluffy. Add sugar and continue creaming until well blended. Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken

I grabbed this recipe from Kevin & Amanda's recipes. It was excellent and my picky eater Dewayne even liked it (maybe because the title contains the word cheeseburger).

Ingredients:
*2T. olive oil (I used vegetable oil)
*2T. butter
*6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, split
*1/4c. teriyaki sauce
*1/2c. Ranch dressing
*1c. shredded Cheddar cheese
*1/2lb. bacon... fried, drained, crumbled (or bacon bits)

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, heat oil & butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts, and saute 4 to 5 minutes each side, until lightly browned.
*Place browned chicken breasts in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Cover with teriyaki sauce and dressing.
*Sprinkle with cheese and top with bacon bits. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Fry Sauce

I seen Fry Sauce on an episode of Guy's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and also read about it on a forum I visit often. Needless to say I had to try it and loved it. I eat with fries and onion rings. It is super simple and something different than plain ol' ketchup.

Ingredients:

*ketchup

*mayonnaise

Instructions:

*Use the same amounts of ketchup and mayonnaise. If you want to make 1/2 cup... mix 1/4 c. ketchup with 1/4 c. mayonnaise. Make sure to mix together well. Yes it is that simple.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Zucchini Pizza

This recipe came from one of the best people in the world, Carolyn H. She is an excellent cook, which is expected from a mother of 13. Me and my mom can't wait for the zucchini to come in to fix this dish. It is more like a casserole than a pizza. You can use whatever ingredients you want. This is one of my favorite dishes and I could eat a whole pan by myself.

Ingredients:

*zucchini, sliced

*onions, sliced

*green bell peppers, sliced

*sliced mushrooms (in a jar)

*cubed ham

*sliced pepperoni

*shredded cheese

Directions:

Spray a glass pan with nonstick spray. Layer the ingredients ending with the shredded cheese. Relayer until all ingredients are gone, always ending with shredded cheese. (I made a small and didn't relayer in the photos below). Bake in a 350 degrees oven until the cheese is melted and browning and the vegetables are tender.

Ready for the oven.

Fresh out of the oven.

Homemade Croutons

OutBack again!! As with the cheese fries, Dewayne and I love Outback salads. They are just the best salads ever. We use the same dressing we use for the cheese fries, but I add an extra 1/4 cup of milk. In hopes to mimic OutBack salads, I searched for a crouton recipe and this (with a few alterations) is what I came up with. The croutons were great and even better stored and served on salads a couple of days later. Dewayne said the salads were just as good as Outback, I thought they were great, but I guess I am partial to Outback. Maybe it is just the idea of getting to actually sit down and eat at restaurant, considering that is a rare occasion for us.

Ingredients:
*1 loaf bread
*1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks)
*1 1/4 T. cajun seasoning
*1/4 c. finely chopped garlic (I used minced garlic)

Directions:
*Cut bread into bite sized pieces... melt butter until it looks like mayonnaise. DO NOT MELT TO A LIQUID, CROUTONS WILL NOT TURN OUT!!!
*Add garlic and seasoning to butter and blend well and set aside.
*Put bread on a cookie sheet and toast in a 350 degrees oven until golden brown and starting to get crunchy.
*Remove from oven and be sure to let cool completely.
*Place butter mixture into a large bowl and coat bread cubes gently. (I used my hands to make sure bread cubes were coated evenly).
*Place croutons back on baking sheet and bake 15 to 20 minutes on 350 degrees. After the baking time I had to put my oven on low broil and let the croutons brown. BE SURE TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THEM, THEY WILL BURN!! THROUGHOUT BAKING TAKE THE CROUTONS OUT AND TOSS AROUND TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE PRETTY MUCH EVENLY BAKED!!
*Store extras in an airtight container.

Bread cubes after the first toasting.

Butter mixture.

Bread cubes evenly coated with the butter mixture.

Looking all yummy and golden brown on a salad.

Ready to eat.

Wait a minute, I have to have lots of that spicy dressing, now it is ready to eat.

Molten Lava cakes

I have tried these cakes at Chili's and a few other restaurants. When I saw Paula Deen's Molten Lava Cakes, I had to try them. They were really good and simple to make. I just wish I would have had a package of Dream Whip to whip up, instead of the ice cream.

Ingredients:
*6 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
*2 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
*10 tablespoons (1 1/4 stick) butter
*1/2 cup all-purpose flour
*1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
*3 large eggs
*3 egg yolks
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*2 tablespoons orange liqueur (I used 1 tsp. orange extract)

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
*Grease 6 (6-ounce) custard cups. Melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave, or in a double boiler. Add the flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and orange liqueur. Divide the batter evenly among the custard cups. Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes. The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates.

Getting ready to put the chocolate & butter in the microwave.

Melted & out of the microwave.

Stirred up melted butter & chocolate.

Remaining ingredients stirred in.

Ready for the oven.

Fresh out of the oven.

All yummied up.

MMMMMM!!!!!

Twice Baked Potatoes

My mom used to fix these for us when we were younger and my mammaw fixed them occasionally when we were older. It is like a loaded potato, already combined for you. Dewayne absolutley loved these. If you want to make more potatoes, just increase the ingredients and you can add more of anything if you want.

Ingredients:

*2 lg. baked potatoes

*1 c. shredded cheddar

*1/4 c. + 2 T. sour cream

*1/4 c. + 2 T. butter

* 1/2 T. salt

* 1/2 T. pepper

*bacon pieces, if desired (I just used leftover crumbled bacon)

Instructions:

*Prepare your potatoes as you normally do... microwave, oven. I do mine in the microwave everytime now (thanks to my aunt Harlene). The time to cook is just so much less.

*Slice the potatoes in half. Take a spoon and scoop out the entire contents of the potato, being careful not to tear the hull (skin). Place the potato insides in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the cheddar, sour cream, butter, salt, pepper and bacon pieces... stir to combine after each addition. After adding all ingredients, mash with a potato masher and carefully place back into the potato skins.

*Bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degrees oven. Remove from oven and sprinkle with additional shredded cheese and bacon pieces. Place back in oven for 5 more minutes. Serve with additional butter.

Potatoes fresh out of the microwave.