Friday Recipe: Deviled Chicken Lollipops

Deviled Chicken Lollipops. Not as easy as I usually post, but it's definitely something tasty to eat during the (now) cool autumn days. For some reason I see these as a Sunday afternoon treat. No idea why!

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: --
Cook Time: 25 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 4 to 6 hors d'oeuvres servings

Ingredients:

12 chicken drumettes, skin on
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3 slices sandwich sourdough bread, crusts trimmed, torn into pieces
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 scallions, green and white part, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup honey mustard
Hot sauce, optional

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F or a convection oven to 425 degrees F.

Stand a drumette on its wide end and, holding the narrow bone at the top, use a paring knife to push and scrape the skin and meat downward to expose the bone and make a plump "lollipop" of chicken at the bottom. Repeat with the remaining drumettes. Season generously with salt and pepper and set aside.

Pulse the bread in a food processor to make coarse bread crumbs, (about 12 times). Add the garlic, parsley, scallions, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, to taste, and continue to pulse until finely chopped but not a paste. Transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl and toss with melted butter.

Brush each drumette with some honey mustard. Then press and roll each one in the bread crumbs to coat. Arrange the drumettes (standing up if you can) on a rack set over a baking sheet. Roast until chicken is cooked and the bread crumbs are golden brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve drumettes hot or at room temperature with hot sauce, if desired.

Friday Recipe: Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos

Scrolling through the healthy recipes section on Food Network, I discovered this interesting recipe. I mean what's better than pork in my crockpot with garlic and tacos? If you answered nothing is better, you'd be correct! I feel like I post a lot of pork recipes but they're all delicious and if not fast and easy, then well worth the trouble.

 

If you look at the final directions about seasoning with salt and pepper, I did not. I had already added the salt and pepper pre-cooking and didn't feel the need to add more. I don't add salt to my diet anyway, it contains enough I'm sure, and with all the chiles and garlic why add?

Admission: Hardest part was deseeding the chiles. Have never done that before and realized in about 2 seconds that I needed gloves, a trashcan right next to me, a fan and the window open, and more chiles than they said. Why? Because I didn't want to deal with the deseeding and needed more chiles to make up the lack.

Picture is theirs by Tina Rupp my tacos didn't look like that but they were certainly delicious!

Prep Time: 25 min
Inactive Prep Time: --
Cook Time: 5 hr 11 min
Level: Easy
Serves:   about 8 servings

Ingredients:
3 whole ancho chiles (I admit, I had no idea what these or the Pasilla chiles were. Called 3 different places but found them! Didn't know enough about the recipe to improvise.)
3 whole pasilla chiles
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 to 3 chipotles in adobo sauce (Goya. Yeah, had to look that one up, too.)
1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
Kosher salt (used sea salt)

2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican (seriously? I'm going to buy oregano? Pft: I used what I had in the cabinet.)
3 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (untrimmed), cut into chunks
Freshly ground pepper (or peppercorns, whatever you have!)
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tablespoon cinnamon if you happen to be out of sticks which I never buy anyway)
Corn tortillas, warmed, for serving (Corn tortillas are healthier for you than the wheat but not quite as tasty, I admit. I used soft-shelled. Didn't diminish the taste!)
Assorted taco toppings, for garnish (Like cheese! You wouldn't think pork and cheese would go but cheese makes everything better. Like chocolate though I wouldn't recommend chocolate as a taco topping.)

Directions:
Put the ancho and pasilla chiles and the garlic in a bowl; add 2 to 3 tablespoons water. Microwave on high until soft and pliable, 2 to 3 minutes. Stem and seed the chiles; peel the garlic. Transfer the chiles and garlic to a blender.

Add the chipotles, onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil, honey, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt and the oregano to the blender; puree until smooth. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over high heat; add the chile sauce and fry, stirring, until thick and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Pour in the broth and reduce until slightly thickened.

Season the pork all over with salt and pepper and transfer to a large slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick, then pour in the sauce. Cover and cook on high until the meat is tender, about 5 hours. (Or cook the meat in a large Dutch oven, covered, for 1 hour 45 minutes at 350 degrees; uncover and cook 30 more minutes.)

Discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Shred the pork with 2 forks; season with salt and pepper. Serve the shredded pork in the tortillas, along with toppings.

Per serving (does not include tortillas or garnishes): Calories: 399; Total Fat: 15 grams; Saturated Fat: 4 grams; Protein: 51 grams; Total carbohydrates: 14 grams; Sugar: 5 grams; Fiber: 3 grams; Cholesterol: 147 milligrams; Sodium: 212 milligrams

Recipe: St. Patrick's Day

If you haven't seen the mass of green blanketing the world, then you need to raise that there rock. I say that, but it's my understanding that most places are holding their parades either last weekend or March 16. I guess it's for the Monday morning hangover aspect of it all. I chose one that I'd actually made, but here's a list of more St. Patty's Day recipes.

Lamb and Stout Casserole

Sounds delicious! I haven't made it, but I might for Easter. Lamb + Easter = Yummy deliciousness. Plus stout. Talk about putting an Irish spin on a meal. I usually do lamb with mint. Hmmmm. But I think this has enough universal appeal to give it a whirl.

Prep Time: 30 min
Inactive Prep Time: --
Cook Time: 2 hr 0 min Level: Intermediate Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients
8 ounces bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 pounds lamb shoulder or lamb chops, cut into 1-inch pieces, bones reserved
2 tablespoons Essence, recipe follows
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups diced yellow onions
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced leeks
BR>3 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped parsley
BR>2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 cups Guinness or Murphy's Stout
1 cup beef stock
R>1 pound very small potatoes, about 1-inch in diameter, or quartered larger potatoes
Directions
In a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until the fat is rendered and just brown. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. Remove all but 3 tablespoons oil from the pan. Season the lamb with the Essence and salt, and sprinkle with the flour. Add the meat and bones to the pan and saute until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove the meat and bones from the pan.
Add the onions, carrots and leeks to the pan and saute over medium-high heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, thyme and bay leaves, and cook for 30 seconds. Add the stout, beef stock and potatoes, and return the meat and bones to the pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the lamb and vegetables are tender, about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally and skimming any fat that forms on the surface.
Remove from the heat, adjust seasoning, to taste, and discard the lamb bones. Serve hot 

 

Emeril's Creole Seasoning (Essence):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
Yield: about 2/3 cup

Friday Recipe: White Chocolate Valentine's Cookies

This week, in honor of Valentine's Day, I think cookies are in order! And besides, who doesn't like a cookie? Exactly. These are easy, trust me, because who wants a difficult cookie recipe? Now you can use the pre-made ones in the store, but I always have problems rolling them out to get a shape that isn't lopsided-slightly-round.Your choice. This is from Food Network.

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 2 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 8 min
Level: Easy
Serves: About 3 dozen

Ingredients
Ingredients for 1 recipe Sugar Cookie Dough, at room temperature
1 teaspoon red gel paste food coloring
4 ounces white chocolate, melted
Pink gel paste food coloring

Directions
Start with Alton's Sugar Cookie dough recipe.

Equipment: 2 1/2-by-3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter

• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat until light in color. Add the red food coloring, egg and milk and beat to combine. Proceed with recipe and chill for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Sprinkle a work surface and rolling pin with confectioner's sugar and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move dough frequently to prevent it from sticking and add more confectioner's sugar to the work surface and rolling pin as needed. With a 2 1/2-by-3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut 36 hearts, re-rolling dough as needed. Place at least 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, and bake until cookies are set but not brown, about 7-8 minutes. Let cool on the pan slightly before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
• To make striped Valentine hearts, transfer half of the melted chocolate to a disposable pastry bag, twist the end closed, and using scissors, snip a very small opening in the tip. Starting at the bottom of the cookie, apply gentle pressure to the pastry bag and drizzle lines of chocolate back and forth over the cookie, moving up as the chocolate flows. Allow chocolate to set before eating or packaging.
• To make polka-dot Valentine hearts, color the remaining chocolate with pink food coloring to the desired shade of pink. Transfer to a disposable pastry bag, twist the end closed, and using scissors, snip a very small opening in the tip. Hold the pastry bag perpendicular to the cookie and apply gentle pressure to pipe a dot of chocolate. Release the pressure on the bag until the flow stops, and continue over the surface of the cookie, piping different sized dots, if desired. Gently tap the cookie to settle the chocolate and allow to set before eating or packaging.

Cook's Note: If gel paste food colorings are not available, add liquid food coloring until you achieve desired color. For pink, simply use a little red.

#WickedRomanceGIVEAWAY Seduction of my Proper Wife and ghouly cupcakes

Ghouly Cupcakes from the Food Network Kitchens. Neither the recipe nor the picture are mine.

I will say, that after reading the level (easy) and then the directions for the meringue, I'm thinking Food Network and I have different ideas of easy! Meringue, in my view, is far from easy! I bet regular icing would work also...ok, not as fancy but far, far easier. For me at least.

Oh! Or Cool Whip (or any whipped cream) Sure, it doesn't have that same slightly boasting quality of 'Why yes, I did whip up a small batch of meringue just for these cupcakes!' But think of the easiness and the time saving part. And I'm certain, though I've never tried it, you can dye whipped cream...probably.

Prep Time: 20 min
Inactive Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup root beer, flat
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 8 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 pinch fine salt
• 1 teaspoon banana extract, or more to taste
• 1 to 2 drops pastel food coloring, optional
• Candied eyeballs
• Equipment: 12 cup standard muffin tin

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with cupcake liners or spray footed cupcake holders with nonstick spray.
2. Put the butter, root beer, and cocoa in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on HIGH until the butter melts, about 2 minutes. 
3. Whisk to combine.
4. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla together in a small bowl.
5. Whisk the hot cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients. 
6. Stir in the sour cream mixture just to combine; take care not to overmix. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups, filling each one about 3/4 of the way full, about 1/4 cup per cupcake. 
7. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. 
8.  Cool the cupcakes completely in the tin on a rack. Remove from liners and return cakes to a rack.
9. For Frosting: Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a mixer's bowl above the water. 
10. Whisk the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl by hand. 
11. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 1 to 2 minutes. 
12. Transfer the mixture to a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat at medium-high speed until eggs beat up into a cool stiff meringue, about 5 minutes. 
13. Add a few drops of desired extract and/or food coloring and lightly beat into the meringue.
14. To decorate: Using a spoon, offset spatula or piping bag, dollop, spread or pipe about 1/2 cup meringue on top of each cupcake to make a ghost or monster of your choice. 
15. Decorate with candied eyeballs or other candies. 
16. These can be finished 2 to 3 hours in advance and held at room temperature.

Seduction of my Proper Wife: A Victorian Menage at the Parisian Exposition 

Where to buy:
All Romance
Amazon
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble 

She didn’t recoil from his touch, but when she spoke her voice was very small. “I know.” Lillian cleared her throat and asked in a slightly louder voice, “Will you leave me because of that?”

Philip held her tighter. “I don’t want to.”

Pulling back just enough to kiss her, Philip prayed this would be the turning point. Lillian’s body stiffened in his arms, and she didn’t return his kiss. Sighing, Philip leaned his forehead against hers, and knew before it even happened that she’d relax in his arms. He knew her reactions far too well and hated that even the simplest touch had her flinching in distaste.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Philip whispered. “We’ve been friends for such a long time; I believed becoming lovers would simply be an extension of that. You’ve trusted me with so much in the past, Lillian. Why can’t you trust your body to me?”

“I don’t know,” she said again. But then she cleared her throat and said stronger, “I feel it’s wrong somehow. I feel like…” she hiccupped on a sob, and he knew she desperately tried not to cry again.

Philip allowed her time to control herself, though it didn’t take long.

“I feel as if there is something dark in this,” she admitted.

“It’s not,” he insisted. “We’ve taken our vows; both our bodies and our souls belong to each other now.”

Lillian looked at him with longing, the first time she’d done so, but shook her head, deflating every hope he’d had for them. “I can’t.”

Going rigid in her arms, Philip pulled back. She looked alarmed, confused, and frightened. He studied her for long, long minutes before grasping at the only option he had left. He didn’t know what else to do for her. For them.

“Are you willing to learn from another?”

  Sharing My Favorite Read Giveaway Hop was organized by Reading Romances!

What you can win here: Copy of any of my Regency Menage Tale stories

Number of winners: 2

Open to (INT, US or US/CAN): If you can receive an e-book, you can enter to win!

How to enter: Leave a comment on your favorite holiday recipe WITH email address. Comments with no email or with no holiday recipe won't count.

Hop and enter the other giveaways!

To sign up, please add your link bellow:

Friday Recipe: Pull Apart Graveyard Cupcakes

Yes, there's still plenty of time until Halloween, but this post is about making the food--and you always need at least a little lead time for that! Unless you buy. Which is cool, too, but not as fun. For the next week, I'll be posting recipes from The Food Network with direct links to the site; the pictures are theirs as well. (Unless otherwise noted.)

Today's recipe is labeled as difficult. Yup. Looks that way! But I'm sure there are ways to get around that and make it much easier than it first looks. For instance, sure you can make those little ghosties yourself. Orrrr...you can buy little Halloween decorations (wash them thoroughly!) and stick them on top. And maybe tell your guests about their inedible-ness. Just to be polite!

The tombstones are easy enough--1/2 an oval cookie covered with icing. And I know I've seen pumpkin candies inthe store about this size.

Pull Apart Graveyard Cupcakes

Total Time: 2 hr 35 min
Prep Time: 1 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 25 min

Ingredients


Cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup grape jelly
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk
Frosting:
10 ounces (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, spooned and leveled
3 tablespoons milk
10 chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely crushed

Decorations:
15 large white marshmallows
1/4 cup finely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies (about 3 cookies)
1 tablespoon black or dark green decorating sugar
One 6.4-ounce tube black decorating icing, with tips
5 oval-shaped vanilla and chocolate sandwich cookies
One 7-ounce tube marzipan
3 round lollipops, wrapped
1/4 cup orange decorating sugar
One 6.4-ounce tube green decorating icing, with tips
Seven 8-inch pieces black licorice

Directions
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line two 12-cup standard muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Warm the grape jelly in the microwave until loosened, 20 to 30 seconds, and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Beat together the sugar and eggs in another medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.

While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients and then all of the milk. Follow with the rest of the dry ingredients, taking care not to over mix the batter.

Remove 2 cups of the batter and stir in the grape jelly. Evenly fill the liners about two-thirds full, alternating with yellow and grape batter.

Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly to the touch, 20 to 22 minutes. Place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, and then remove the cupcakes to the rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.

For the frosting: Beat the butter and salt in a large bowl until fluffy and combined. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the milk one tablespoon at a time until the frosting has a nice spreadable consistency. Add the crushed cookies and continue to beat until any large chunks are crushed to smaller bits and the frosting has a speckled, greyish look.

For the decorations: Arrange the cupcakes in 4 rows on a large serving plate or cutting board. Fit a marshmallow between each cupcake, 5 marshmallows per row, to fill in the gaps between the cupcakes. Spread the frosting over the whole rectangle so it looks like one cake. Sprinkle with the cookie crumbs and black decorating sugar.

To make the tombstones: Use the black decorating icing and a small round tip to write "RIP" or other one-word epitaphs on the top half of the oval sandwich cookies and stick into the cupcakes randomly around the graveyard.

To make the ghosts: Remove two-thirds of the tube of marzipan and place between 2 sheets of wax paper or parchment. Roll about 1/8-inch thick and cut into 3 rounds using a 4-inch biscuit cutter. You may need to gather and reroll the scraps for all 3 rounds. Drape over the wrapped lollipops and stick into the cupcakes around the tombstone. Using the black decorating icing and the same round tip, dot eyes and a mouth on the ghosts.

To make the pumpkins and leaves: Divide the remaining marzipan into 4 small pieces and roll each into a ball. Roll in the orange sugar until coated and place around the graveyard. Use the black icing to pipe a small stem. Fit the tube of green decorating icing with a leaf or ribbon tip to dot bits of green grass poking through the dirt around the graveyard and pumpkins.

To make a border: Use 6 pieces of the licorice, trimming to fit, to make a border around the cake, leaving the middle of the front side open. Bend the seventh piece into an upside down "U" and stick into 2 cupcakes in the front to make an arched gateway.

Bread baking

I plan on making the bread this weekend, and thought I'd post the recipe here.

This Gorilla Bread recipe is from Paula Deen's site on the Food Network, I have the recipe, which looked pretty much the same as this one, but not on my computer which is where I keep most of my recipes. Hence the copy/paste method, as opposed to the tedious typing it all in. Yes. It's also called laziness. I can accept that.

Ingredients
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan.

Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.