Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake Bites #Recipe - Crazy Cooking Challenge

I always enjoy a good cheesecake, so this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge should have been exciting. Except I just made a cheesecake.

Yeah, cheesecake's take a little work and a lot of patience to come out well. This time around I was looking to scale down. When I saw this Chicago Metallic mini cheesecake pan, I knew that was the direction I wanted to go.

I finally chose Nigella's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake and fitted them for the smaller bite-sized treats. Does it get much better than peanut butter and chocolate?

The best part about making mini-cheesecakes? I can have a decadent treat (or two!) in 30 minutes. That is some dangerous information.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake Bites
recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson

You Will Need:

Crust: 

• 1 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 c. salted peanuts
• 1/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Filling:

• 1 (8-ounce) bar of cream cheese
• 1 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

Chocolate Ganache:

3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 Tbsp. whipping cream

1 Tbsp. corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray the mini cheesecake pan with non-stick spray.

In a food processor pulse up the crust ingredients. It should come together when pressed. Divide between the 12 cheesecake cups. Press down firmly. Put in the fridge to chill while you prepare the filling.

In my stand mixer I creamed the cream cheese with sugar, then added one egg at a time. Finish adding the remaining ingredients and beat till smooth. Divide the filling between the cups and bake for about 20 minutes. The filling will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Let the cheesecake cool and then run a knife around the edges. Then wrap up the cheesecakes and refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 2 hours.

Before serving, make ganache. In a small saucepan melt the chocolate chips with the whipping cream. Stir constantly to keep it from burning. Add the corn syrup. Drizzle over the cheesecakes and top with whipping cream if desired.

Enjoy!

Now be sure to check out all the Crazy Cooking Challenge recipes linked up below:

Fried Chicken & Biscuit with Red-Eyed Gravy - July Crazy Cooking Challenge

Have I lost my mind?

Well, granted this site isn't usually filled with fried foods, but when a challenge is thrown down I am there to answer it. Fried chicken is such a traditional dish and I have never attempted it. That makes me determined to master it.

Now when I brought up the challenge to my husband his reaction was worse than I first suspected.  "Fried chicken on a gas range?" Okay, I hadn't really thought of the fire hazard issue. I was determined not to let him and reality spoil my fun. At first my husband suggested I try my little culinary experiment outside on our portable burner. I was less than thrilled with that idea since the weather had been less than pleasant.

Eventually I settled for the portable conduction burner that was still sitting in it's box. It would allow me to use a traditional cast iron skillet (which doesn't have the highest sides!) without the fear of starting a fire in the house. On an induction burner only the pan and it's contents, which must be conductive,  get hot so any splattered oil wouldn't be able to catch fire.

The recipe was another matter.

Tina, from Mom's Crazy Cooking, who puts up the challenge each month changed the rules around this time. Instead of a small blog, we could pull our fried chicken recipe from anywhere. I am not sure that helped me much. In fact I couldn't find a single fried chicken recipe in my cookbook collection.

So one fated night I put on Diners Drive-ins and Dives to watch a segment on the restaurant Foreign and Domestic. They were serving up their classics which included a fried chicken with cheddar pepper biscuit smothered in red-eyed gravy. After a quick check I found the recipe on Food Network. Don't you just adore those late night cooking shows? My search ended almost as fast as it had started.

As you may have guessed, July's challenge is all about fried chicken. Though mine isn't your average chicken. It is dressed up with an entourage of flavors and comfort foods.

Now I cut back on the sides for this one. I got rid of the slaw and lemon jam. I just went for the biscuit (which I knew my husband would love), and flavorful gravy to go along with a buttermilk soaked fried chicken.

Fried Chicken & Biscuit with Red Eyed Gravy
recipe from Food Network via Foreign & Domestic


You Will Need:

Chicken

• 3 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 4 chicken thighs

Cheddar Biscuits:

• 3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 Tbsp. plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/2 c. + 1 1/2 Tbsp. cold shortening, cubed
• 1/4 c. cold butter, cubed, plus more for brushing
• 1 c. shredded sharp Cheddar
• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk

Red-Eye Gravy:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp. brewed coffee
• 3 Tbsp. instant espresso
• 2 c. milk
• 2 c. heavy cream
• 2 c. cooked spicy pork sausage, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. Tabasco
• 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Start marinading the chicken the day before. Combine the buttermilk, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken thighs, cover and marinate for 24 hours.

An hour before the meal start on the cheddar biscuits. Preheat oven to 350. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and pepper in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix.

Add the shortening and butter and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add the cheese and mix. Slowly add the buttermilk till all the dough is moistened.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about an inch thick. Try not to overwork it. Use a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits and place them on a baking dish lined with parchment. Brush with melted butter. Bake until they begin to brown, about 15 minutes.

Now prepare the red-eyed gravy. First brown up the sausage and set aside. Make a roux by combining the butter and flour in a saucepan. 

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently till the roux darkens in color. Add the brewed and instant espresso powder, milk, cream and sausage, and stir well to incorporate the roux. Add the hot sauce, paprika, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low heat until the mixture has a thick, gravy consistency, about 20 minutes.

Now it is time to fry the chicken. Heat a few inches of canola oil in a cast iron skillet to 320 degrees. Combine the flour, salt, pepper and smoked paprika on a plate. Drain the thighs in a colander, and then dredge in the flour mixture. Fry a few pieces at a time in the hot oil . The thighs will turn a deep golden color and the internal temperature will reach 165 degrees.

Wait for it...

When the chicken is done, place on a paper towel lined plate to soak up any extra oil. Let them cool slightly while you prepare the plates.

For each plate place a little gravy on the middle and top with a biscuit and chicken thigh. Add a little more red-eyed gravy on the top... or leave the chicken plain -your choice.

Either way, enjoy! 

Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie #Recipe - June Crazy Cooking Challenge

Mmm... nothing like a fresh fruit smoothie to beat the heat this time of year. Why smoothies? Well, as a Mom I feel less guilty giving my children fruit, yogurt and soy milk than other cold treats.

My kids call them "shmoozies" and we have a whole serious of recipes we enjoy. For this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge I wanted to offer them something new and fun. When I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats, I knew it would be a big hit.

Annie's Eats is one of my favorite food blogs to read. Annie takes some amazing photographs of her recipes and has really inspired me to improve my own food photography. She always features real and delicious looking foods. She's a busy Mom with a passion for what she presents to her readers. I love that she tries to demystify food from scratch and inspires me to spend even more time playing in my kitchen.

This smoothie has all of our favorites in it. The strawberries in our field are ripe and sweet, I always have brown bananas frozen and ready in the freezer, we love making our own Greek yogurt and my kids go wild for fresh pineapple. To make this recipe suitable for my family I took out the flax seed and instead added flax seed oil and switched the milk to soy milk.

Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie
based on Annie's Eats Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie


You Will Need:

• 8 oz. plain Greek yogurt*
• 1 large frozen banana*
• 1½ cups pineapple chunks*
• 1½ cups strawberries*
• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed oil*
• ¼ cup soy milk*

*denotes a slight variation from the original recipe. I used my stash of frozen bananas and fresh strawberries and pineapple.

Add all the ingredient to the blender and process until smooth. You can make the smoothie thicker by adding ice or thin it out with more soy milk.

Now grab a couple of glasses and ... Enjoy!

Now, if you are now in the mood for a smoothie be sure to check out the linky list below with all the other Crazy Cook's Challenge smoothie recipes.

A Very Guiness Corned Beef Grilled Cheese #Recipe - May Crazy Cooking Challenge

This month the Crazy Cooking Challenge tackled a childhood classic, the grilled cheese sandwich.

Crazy Cooking Challenge #9: Grilled Cheese

classic Of course, being a crazy cooking challenge I wanted to find a more grown up version. Something different, something my husband and I would get excited to eat - how about a grilled cheese sandwich with Guinness Beer Bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese and Guinness caramelized onions?

Oh, yes please!

This beauty is the brain child of Kevin from Closet Cooking. Tired of culinary monotony, he dove into cooking with a gusto and found a true passion for food. Now he stays busy in his closet sized kitchen and blogs about his journey. Oh, and he has an amazing list of other grilled cheese twists and more recently a line-up of Cinco de Mayo dishes.

I adore corned beef, but rarely have an excuse to make it outside of St. Patrick's Day. This was my chance to tuck in for a second time in about a month. I was not complaining!

The only thing is I knew I had to change the original rye bread from the beginning. My husband is not a fan and I didn't want to be stuck with a whole loaf to eat myself. I thought long and hard about what kind of bread would pair well with this sandwich... *forehead slap* of course! Already having the remainder of a 6-pack of Guinness handy I might as well create a beer bread.

Ta-da!

Beer bread, if you haven't had the pleasure, is actually a mild and rather sweet loaf of bread. It would be delightful for a plain-old grilled cheese, but in this masterpiece it plays the perfect part. Well, the wrapper for all the ooey-gooey goodness packed inside!

A Very Guinness Corned Beef Grilled Cheese
adapted from closetcooking.com


You Will Need:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced thin*
• 1 cup Guinness
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon butter or mayo*, room temperature
• 2 slices Guinness Beer Bread, lightly toasted* (see recipe below)
• Grated Swiss Cheese*
• 2 ounces cooked corned beef (prepare as directed on the package), sliced thin

*denotes a change from the original recipe

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-low heat.
2. Add the onions and saute until tender and they begin to caramelize.
3. Add 1/4 cup Guinness , cover and simmer until the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 15 minutes and repeat till all the Guinness has been absorbed. Remove from the heat.
4. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce and mustard.
5. Heat a cast iron skillet and sandwich press over medium heat.
6. Spread butter or mayo over the bread slice. Grill till golden, Then flip and top with cheese on both slices. On one slice add the corned beef, and onions. Put the other slice of bread on top and use a sandwich press to smash it down and heat it through. This is optional but it makes for an amazing grilled cheese sandwich.
7. Cook until the outside is golden brown, carefully flip if necessary. Enjoy!

Guinness Beer Bread

You Will Need:

1 1/2 c. room temperature beer (let it sit and go flat for a few hours)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

3 1/2 c. AP flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/3 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 tsp. SAF yeast

Refer to your bread machine instructions for ingredient order. This is for a 2-lb loaf. Set the crust setting to dark for a regular loaf.

Check out the other amazing sandwiches these bloggers have come up with:

Brown Butter Very Blueberry Muffins #Recipe - April Crazy Cooking Challenge

This month the Crazy Cooking Challenge tackled one of my favorites, the blueberry muffin.

 

Crazy Cooking Challenge #8: Blueberry Muffins

I love a nice warm blueberry muffin! Of course choosing just one recipe to highlight was hard. Do I go with a sour cream muffin? Lemon zest? Nuts? Well, as much as I enjoy the warm, nutty flavor in browned butter, I had to go with this Browned Butter Blueberry Muffin from Shutterbean.com. 

Tracy has an amazing blog! She does some great food photography and her recipes and posts are great. She is a domestic diva and proud of it! I will be revisiting her site for more food inspiration in the future.

Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins
(recipe from shutterbean.com, originally from Joy the Baker Cookbook!)


You Will Need:

• 7 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/3 c. milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries, dust them with flour & shake off the excess.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Keep an eye on it. The butter can crackle and I like to cover it with a splatter guard til all the water is cooked out. Browning happens rapidly.  Remove from heat when butter solids become a medium brown color and butter smells slightly nutty. Immediately take the butter off the heat and set aside.
3. Whisk together the milk, egg, yolk and vanilla. Add brown butter and whisk till well combined.

 4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the milk mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir gently to incorporate. Don't over mix. Gently fold in the blueberries. Divide the batter among prepared muffin cups.

Now make the crumb topping for the muffins!

You Will Need:

• 3 Tbsp. salted butter, cold
• 1/2 c, all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar

5. Combine all 3 ingredients in a bowl and crumble it with your fingertips.

6. Spread this over the muffin batter. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Now check out some of the other great blueberry muffin recipes on the linky below. Be sure to vote on your favorite. Mine are the Brown Butter Very Blueberry Muffins.

Homemade Meat Sauce #Recipe - March Crazy Cooking Challenge

What is a great way to dress up simple spaghetti?

Well, how about the perfect homemade meat sauce?

This month's Crazy Cooking Challenge was something I make for my family every week. My kids ask for it and I have my own spin. All veggie, all fresh, every time. But, that isn't the point of this post. This isn't about my recipe. For the challenge we are to find another blogger's recipe to try. I went for something a little different. A nice meat sauce.

This recipe is from mel's kitchen cafe. The family recipe is from scratch and contained a little twist that I had never heard of in a spaghetti sauce before  - balsamic vinegar. 


This recipe makes a lot and is perfect for a large family with plenty left-over to freeze for later. That is my kind of recipe.


Homemade Spaghetti Sauce adapted from mel's kitchen cafe


You Will Need:
3 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 c. Onion, chopped and divided
1 Red Pepper, coarsely chopped
1.5 lbs. Lean Hamburger
5 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 12 oz. can Tomato Paste
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Onion Powder
3 tsp. dried Oregano
3 tsp. dried Basil
1 1/2 tsp. dried Thyme
2 14-oz. can Italian-style diced Tomatoes
2 28-oz. can crushed Tomatoes
1 c. sliced Button Mushrooms
1 1/2 c. Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
2 Bay Leaves
2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar

Saute 1 c. chopped onions in olive oil till soft and translucent. Add garlic and heat for one minute. Then add the beef and brown it through.


Put the remaining onion and red pepper in the blender. Coarsely pulse the mixture. Scrape down the sides and give it another go. Add this to the meat.

Add the paste and spices to the pot and let it become fragrant. Just give it a minute or two on medium heat.

Then go ahead and add the remaining ingredients except for the balsamic vinegar. The sauce may seem thin, but it will tighten up as it simmers for an hour.

15 minutes before serving, add the balsamic vinegar and stir well. Serve over a hot plate of spaghetti noodles and enjoy!

Be sure to check out all the other blogs and recipes for "Spaghetti with Red Sauce"

Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake: Crazy Cooking Challenge (Feb.)

Chocolate cake... happiness in a sinful package. Indulgent, decadent and my idea of pure bliss.

This month's Crazy Cooking Challenge was one I couldn't wait to make. In fact, I made it twice.

  The research for this challenge was actually difficult. I must have spent a few hours drooling over Pinterest and doing random Google searches. Everyone has a chocolate cake recipe, but I was looking for something that 'sang' to me. No ordinary tune was going to do.

Finally I found Sweetapolita and Rosie, a Canadian and self-proclaimed cake addict, hooked me with her amazing photographs, fabulous recipe and dark chocolate cinnamon glaze. Oh, baby! Just like Rosie, I have a very small bundt pan collection, just a Kugelhopf. This chocolaty perfection just seems perfect for the pan, doesn't it?

The final decision was made when I read about her love of photography. It is a skill I hope to acquire for myself as a way to really show off what I create in the kitchen. Be sure to check out her photo... it will send you straight into the kitchen.

Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake with Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Glaze

You will need:

2 sticks of butter, at room temp.

1/2 c. Dark Dutch process cocoa

1 Tbsp. instant espresso powder, dissolved in 3/4 c. water

2 c. Sugar

1 c. Sour Cream, at room temp.

1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract

2 Large Eggs, at room temp.

2 c. AP Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the bundt pan and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Once melted, add the cocoa and stir till smooth. Whisk in the dissolved espresso powder and remove from the heat. 

Whisk in the sugar, sour cream, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.

In a separate bowl. Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well blended. Pour into your prepared bundt pan.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes. The cake will begin to pull away from the sides. Let the cake cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before inverting.

Let the cake cool before making the glaze. On my second attempt I made the cake the day before, wrapped it and then glazed it the following day. The cake was very moist after sitting and was ready to be eaten right afterwards.

Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Glaze

You Will Need:
4 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped
1/3 c. unsalted butter, cubed
1 1/2 tsp. Light Corn Syrup
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Place the ingredient in a double boiler (a bowl over a pot of water will do) and heat slowly to melt. Stir with a rubber spatula until everything is melted and combined.

Let the glaze cool slightly and then spoon or pour over the cooled cake. Place wax paper strips underneath your cake edges to keep the plate or pedestal from getting messy. Enjoy!

Check out the other great bloggers who made a chocolate cake with the Crazy Cooking Challenge this month:

From Scratch Chicken Noodle Soup: Crazy Cooking Challenge (January)

Ready for this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge?

Does it get more classic than Chicken Noodle Soup? The ultimate in comfort foods, touted as the best home remedy for the sniffles and with as many variations as there are fans, there are hundreds of recipes posted online...okay, thousands.

It was so hard to decide on the "perfect" recipe for me. 2012 is all about real food, from scratch whenever possible and this seemed like a great opportunity for just that. The problem? I couldn't find a start to finish from scratch recipe. There was a lot of talk of I found posts about stock, posts for the soup or posts for noodles, but no one tackled them all. So this month I will be featuring not one, but two blog recipes.

This is a knock-your-socks off, old-fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup. Just like Grandma used to make.

First let's start with traditional chicken stock courtesy of Behind the Skillet. I was drawn to this simple way of preparing the chicken because it was different and easy.

For the Broth - You Will Need:
1 raw chicken
salt and pepper

1 large white onion
2 carrots
3 celery ribs
1 whole garlic clove
Couple pinches of mustard seeds
2 bay leaves
12 c. of water

Rinse the thawed chicken and pat it completely dry. Make sure you take out the gizzard and giblets inside. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place the chicken in a roasting pan or skillet just barely larger than the bird. I used a disposable pie plate.

Season liberally with salt and pepper, inside and out.

I have nicknamed this my "four-alarm chicken". I must have set the smoke detector off a dozen times! Be sure to have a roasting pan underneath your bird to collect any overflow. Despite the ringing in my ears, the smell was amazing. I was impressed how easy it was to roast the chicken.

Roast the bird, breast side up for 30 minutes, then flip and continue cooking for at least 20 more minutes depending on the size of your chicken.

Let the bird cool and then start tearing it down. Grab two bowls. Place all the meat in one and the bones, skin and anything else in the other bowl. Set the meat aside for use later.

Now is a great time to chop veggies.

Throw everything into a big stock pot. Bring it up to a boil and then reduce the pot down to a simmer. The pot should simmer for at least 1 to 2 hours.

Once finished, pass the contents through a fine mesh strainer and save the stock. I like to push the juice out of every last vegetable. It is all good stuff! Now the base for our chicken noodle soup is ready.

For the soup and hand made noodles I went over to For The Love of Cooking.

Chicken Noodle Soup - You Will Need:
8 c. of homemade stock
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 1/2 c. carrots, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1 bay leaf
sea salt & fresh black pepper to taste
1 1/2 c. cooked diced chicken
fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Egg Noodles
2 eggs
2 c. flour
3/4  tsp. salt
1/4 c. milk

Saute the onions in olive oil till tender. Add garlic for 30 seconds till warmed through. Add the broth and remaining soup ingredients to your pot. Cook over low heat for 2 hours.

After an hour, start making the noodles. Mix the first 3 ingredients and begin slowly adding the milk until you have a ball of dough. Flour a counter top and roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.

I used a pizza cutter and my rolling pin to cut the noodles. I don't mind a rustic, homemade look.

Let the noodles dry out on the counter for at least an hour before adding them to the soup. The noodles only need a few minutes to cook.

Garnish you bowl with a bit of fresh chopped parsley before serving. Enjoy!

Be sure to check out all the other Crazy Cooks on the Linky. If you enjoyed my recipe, please vote under the picture in the linky. Thanks!