upside down blackberry cake

1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blackberries (if using frozen do not thaw)
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 t. lemon juice
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. milk
Line bottom and sides of a 9" square pan with aluminum foil, then spray with nonstick spray. Place 1/2 c. berries in pan.
In a bowl combine butter and sugar. Add in eggs, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour, baking soda, salt and milk. Fold in berries. Spoon batter over berries in pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto serving platter and remove foil. Serve with whipped cream.

Heath Bar cupcakes

This year I volunteered to bake for our staff's birthdays once a month. This month's treat is Heath Bar cupcakes. I used an extra large tip in a pastry bag to frost the cupcakes..hence the mountain of frosting.
This recipe comes from the food blog mybakingaddiction.com

Heath Bar Cupcakes
Yield | 24 cupcakes
Ingredients

For the Cupcakes
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup Heath English Toffee Bits

For the Buttercream
4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

For the Ganache
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into very small pieces
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla

5 1.4-ounce Heath Bars, chopped into large pieces
Directions

For the Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and espresso water mixture. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined. Fold in Heath English Toffee Bits.
3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.
5. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

For the Buttercream
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

For the Ganache
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream until very hot, but not boiling.
2. Place chocolate pieces in a heat safe bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk the cream and chocolate until smooth and thoroughly combined. Whisk in the honey, corn syrup, and vanilla. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Do not let the glaze sit for too long or it will harden up before you spoon it over the frosting.
3. Spoon the glaze on the tops of the frosted cupcakes, allowing it to drip down the sides a little bit. Don’t add too much glaze or it will drip all over your liners.
4. Top each cupcake with a piece of Heath Bar.
5. Store cupcakes in the refrigerator. Remove them to room temperature one hour before serving.

Roasted Chicken with Lemon-basil-garlic-butter rub

Today there was a great buy at the grocery store on whole chickens. Since I have been craving mashed potatoes all week, I decided to take the time to make a great roasted chicken comfort food dinner.

1 whole chicken
5 T. butter

2 T. chopped scallions
1 c. basil leaves, chopped
4 garlic cloves chopped
zest from one lemon
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped

Heat oven to 400. Cut excess fat away from chicken cavity. In a bowl mix butter, basil, lemon zest and garlic. Carefully pull skin away from chicken and rub butter mixture inside. It helps to rub it from the outside too as this can help cover more area. Put in roasting pan and bake for 20 minutes. Flip chicken over and roast for 2o more minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with parsley and squeeze lemon over top. Bake 2o more minutes. REmove from oven and allow to sit in pan for 15 minutes.

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Basil butter garlic bread

This is a quick recipe using fresh herbs, garlic and butter to make a yummy spread for french bread.

In a food processor mix
1/4 c. butter
2 T. olive oil
large handful of fresh basil
1/4 c. fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves
dash of salt and pepper
Cut open a loaf of french bread and spread both sides with butter spread. Close bread up, wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Remover from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return to oven at 500 until cheese melts:)

zucchini brownies

Recently my daughter shared a yummy zucchini brownie recipe with me. If you were one of the lucky few who were able to nab one at work, and are looking for the recipe...here it is..sorry no pic on this one...but go to This Suburban Housewive's blog (listed at the bottom of my blog page) and you will find a pic and another great food site (my daughter's:)
Zucchini Brownies

1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 c. walnuts (opt.)

Preheat oven to 350*.
Mix sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt.
Then add vegetable oil and vanilla.
Fold in the zucchini and flour and nuts, if desired.
Don't expect to pour this batter into the dishes.
Just dump it in a 13 x9 pan and press it down.
It will become moist as the zucchini cooks and sheds it moisture.
Bake for 25 minutes.

Frosting:
6 T. cocoa powder
1/4 c. margarine or butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. milk
1/2 t. vanilla

Melt margarine/butter and mix cocoa powder in.
Set aside to cool.
Mix rest of ingredients together.
Add in cocoa mixture.
Spread on cooled brownies.

Zucchini Bread

This is one of those tried and true recipes handed down to me from my mother-in-law, Eleanor Grovdahl. It makes two yummy loaves.

3 eggs
1 c. corn oil
2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 c. grated zucchini
3 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
3 t. cinnamon
1 c. nuts
Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add in oil. sugar and vanilla. Beat well. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Flipped Mac N Cheese

My Prevention magazine had some new recipes for flipping ingredients to make meals more healthy. I decided I would give the mac "n cheese recipe a try since this seems to be a comfort food

I crave frequently...

Cook and drain 8 oz. whole wheat macaroni
In a medium saucepan simmer: 1/2 c. fat-free milk, and a 1/2 of a 12 oz. package of butternut squash until combined. Remove from heat and mix in 1 c. shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese,1 c. ham cubes, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. dry mustard and pepper to taste. Pour pasta into a greased 8 x 8 pan, then pour cheese sauce over and mix well.
Top with 1 T. Parmesan cheese and 1 T. bread crumbs.
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Mostaccioli

If you look closely at my picture you will notice that the noodle is not mostaccioli--when I went to make the recipe I didn't have any in the cupboard so I just substituted radittore..I have also made this with penne..any way it is still good!
1# Italian sausage (bulk)
4 c. spaghetti sauce
1# mostaccioli noodles cooked and drained
1 beaten egg
15 oz. ricotta cheese
8 oz. grated Mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese


Brown sausage, drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and noodles. In a bowl combine the egg, ricotta, and Mozarella. In a 13 x 9 pan spread 1/2 the noodle mixture. Top with all of the ricotta mixture. Top with remaining noodle mixture. Cover and bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes.

Berry Crisp

This is a recipe I originally got from my co-worker, Lisa Hedlund for Apple Crisp.
I happened to have about 4 cups of mixed berries that needed to be used..so I adapted it for berries.
Mix well 4 c. berries
3 T. flour
3/4 c. sugar
Put into a loaf pan. Mix the crisp topping:
1/2 c. melted marg.
1 c. oatmeal
1 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar
Pour the topping over the berries and press down. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
Enjoy warm with whipped cream or ice cream. YUM:)

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

Ok, ok, now my friend Ellen dropped off a bag of huge zucchini so tonight I made this to use my zucchini and tomatoes together...I just cut up and added in 3 tomatoes to this recipe.
* 4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
* 1 pound ground beef
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1 can (15 ounces) Italian tomato sauce
* 1 medium green pepper, chopped

Directions

* Place zucchini in strainer; sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 10 minutes. Squeeze out moisture.
* Combine zucchini with the eggs, Parmesan and half of the mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Press into greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.
* Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add tomato sauce; spoon over zucchini mixture.
* Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; add green pepper. Bake 20 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Tortellini with bruschetta

Last week I had tons of zucchini and this week I am enjoying a huge bag full of organic tomatoes from my daughter's garden. We have been trying to do a "Meatless Monday" ..so this is what I came up with for a vegetarian dish using fresh tomatoes.

1 pkg. spinach tortellini
3 large tomatoes
6-8 basil leaves
2 T. chopped onion
2 T. olive oil
1 T. lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Chop tomatoes and slice basil leaves. Put tomatoes, basil, garlic, onion, olive oil and lemon juice in a food processor for 30 seconds. Cook tortellini and drain. Combine with fresh bruschetta. I also saved some of the bruschetta to serve on the side with toasted french bread. Make a salad..and you have a quick healthy dinner:)

Roast Pork with Balsamic Onions and Potatoes

I made this dinner Wednesday before I started back to my busy work schedule. It was a little time consuming so I would recommend it for a weekend or an evening when you are not feeling rushed. It is a Jamie Oliver recipe that I changed around a bit.

1 pork roast
2 large baking potatoes cut in large chunks
1/2 onion cut in large pieces
8 celery stalks cut in large pieces
4 garlic cloves
1 c. balsamic vinegar
1 c. white wine
5 sprigs rosemary
1 fennel bulb with fronds
4 T. olive oil
2 T. butter

Mince the rosemary and about 1/2 c. of the fennel fronds on a cutting board. Mix with about 1 T. of salt and pepper. Roll your pork roast on the herbs, pressing down so the herbs coat the surface of the meat.
Heat your olive oil in a large casserole that can go in the oven...or cook it in a large skillet and transfer it in when ready to bake. When the oil is hot add the meat, and cook searing on all sides. Remove meat and add vegetables, cook for 5 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar. Cook 3 minutes more. Add butter, stirring until it melts. Put the roast back into the pan. Place in a 375 oven for one hour.
After an hour add the wine and cook for 15 minutes more.

This is a great dinner with a simple green vegetable. I also served it with a peach-mango-orange spread I found at Costco. The pork was delicious dipped into the spread.