Crockpot Coconut Chicken Curry

If you are like me and LOVE Indian food, especially Chicken Tikka Masala, then this recipe may just be your new best friend.  Now, if you have never had Indian food, first of all, shame on you, and second MAKE THIS RECIPE!  This recipe is wonderfully flavorful and satisfying.  It is so easy and best of all you get to make dinner at 10 am before the day gets crazy and hectic.  Your house will smell amazing all day and all you have to do to finish it off is make rice and maybe (ok definitely) some Naan bread. I found this recipe at Tasty Kitchen.

Crockpot Coconut Chicken Curry
(4-5 servings)

3 chicken breasts (skinless, boneless) about 2 pounds, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 whole onion
1 whole bell pepper (seeded) I like the sweetness of red bell peppers
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
1 1/2 t salt
1 T curry powder
1 T Garam Masala (Indian Spice Mix)
Fresh Cilantro, chopped (optional)

Cooked rice
Naan bread (we LOVE this recipe)

Place the cubed chicken into the slow cooker. Place the rest of the ingredients (except the water, cornstarch and cilantro) into a food processor or blender and mix until smooth.  Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken in the slow cooker and mix well.  Cook on low for 6 hours.  if it is not thick enough, add some cornstarch mixed with water about 1 hour before serving.  Serve over cooked rice, garnish with chopped cilantro.  Serve with warm Naan bread.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is such a great cookie! It has a rich flavor, chewy center and a hint of toffee flavor from the browned butter. These really are to die for! I found this recipe on Cook's Illustrated. So, when you are wanting a twist to the regular old chocolate chip cookie, this just might be your answer.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
(about 16 cookies)

1 3/4 cups flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/2 t baking soda
14 T butter (1 and 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1/2 t salt
2 t vanilla
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cup chocolate chips (I like to do 1/2 semi-sweet and 1/2 milk chocolate)
3/4 cup pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Whisk together flour and baking soda and set aside.

Heat 10 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet over medium high heat until melted.  Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the butter is a dark golden brown and smells nutty (about 1-3 minutes). Transfer the browned butter to a large heat proof bowl and stir in the remaining 4 T butter until completely melted.

Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to the butter and whisk until completely combined.  Add the egg and the extra yolk and whisk again until smooth and no sugar lumps remain (about 30 seconds).  Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk again for 30 seconds.  Repeat the process of resting and whisking 2 more times until the mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.  Using a wooden spoon stir in the flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using).  Make sure no flour pockets remain.

Divide the dough into 16 pieces, about 3 Tablespoons each.  Place 8 balls on each cookies sheet and cook them one at a time until the cookies are golden brown on the edges and still a little gooey in the middle, about 10-14 minutes. Cool on a wire wrack

Turkey Pesto Grilled Cheese

This is not so much a recipe as it is just a concept, but it has become a staple in my life. My favorite is making this on a good Artisan seed bread (I am still looking for the perfect recipe) but my grocery store has a pretty good version.

Turkey Pesto Grilled Cheese

Artisan bread (seed, crusty, french, or whatever your thing is)

pesto (store bought or homemade)

provolone cheese

herb roasted turkey (I LOVE the Castlewood brand from Sam's club)
Fresh tomatoes

Take two slices of GOOD bread, slather each side with pesto.  Add cheese and turkey.  Now put butter on the outside and grill it on a hot griddle until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted. (I like to put a lid over the top of the sandwich, it helps the cheese to melt).  Once it is all melty, remove from the griddle and add that fresh tomato!

Strawberry-Lime Cream Cake

The one (and ONLY) good thing about having another birthday is getting to make a cake and eat it too! Or in this case having my husband make my cake! I am seriously loving berries and citrus right now so when I saw this cake over at My Kitchen Cafe, I knew it was meant for me! We modified it a little bit. Here is the original and here is what we did...

Strawberry-Lime Cream Cake
(12 servings, or less if you are like me and need more for yourself!)

white cake:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 t vanilla
4 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 2 9-inch round cake pans.  Line the pans with a circle of parchment paper on the bottom and then grease the parchment paper.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the buttermilk, butter and vanilla.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds.  Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.  Add egg whites and  beat for 2 more minutes.  Scraping the sides as needed.  Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 28-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs on it.  Do NOT over bake, this will cause the cake to be dry.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Loosen the sides with a butter knife and remove the cakes from the pans to cool completely.

Strawberry Syrup/puree
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
4 T sugar
1 t lemon juice
combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth

Lime Cream:
4 limes, for 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Zest and juice the limes into a medium bowl.  You should have about 1/2 cup of lime juice.  Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Add the whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble to the cake, cut each cake in half horizontally making 4 cake circles. Place one cake circle on a cake plat and top with 1/3 of the berry puree.  Next, put 1/4 of the lime cream over the berries, spreading to within 1/4 inch of the edges.  Place another cake circle on top and repeat until all the cake circles are used.  Top the cake with the remaining 1/4 of the lime cream and garnish with fresh strawberries and lime slices.  Chill the cake for 1-2 hours before serving to let the cake set up.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

We have a beautiful garden, my husband totally has a green thumb. It is producing squash like CRAZY! So I have started to get creative. That is where this recipe comes in. It is totally vegetarian because when you have gorgeous veggies in your back yard who would want to go to the store? I just used what I had. I will tell you what veggies I used but really, the *options are endless!

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

(about 9 servings)

1 medium zucchini, sliced

1 medium yellow squash, sliced

2 tomatoes, quartered

1 medium onion, sliced

6-8 cloves of garlic

1 red bell pepper, sliced

extra virgin olive oil

salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

no-boil lasagna noodles

24-oz small curd cottage cheese

2-3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

32-oz marinara sauce, homemade or your favorite store bought brand

fresh spinach

Turn your oven on to broil. Cut your veggies and place them on a cookie sheet. Leave the peel on the garlic cloves while you roast them. Drizzle the veggies with the olive oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss them with your hands to coat evenly. Place under the broiler for about 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through. They are done when they start to look dark brown (but not burned) on the edges. Remove the peels from the garlic and finely chop. I like to remove the tomato skins as well. Chop tomatoes and red bell peppers into chunks. Place these back on the cookie sheet and toss to mix.

To assemble:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. Put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Then put a layer of noodles followed by a layer of cottage cheese, then a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and finally a layer of roasted veggies.  Top the veggies with sauce and start the process over again.  You will want to divide all ingredients into 3 equal portions because that is how many layers you will make.  The top layer will be sauce and then mozzarella cheese.  Cover the whole thing with foil and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  Allow the lasagna to sit for 10-20 minutes before serving to let it set.  (I was obviously to excited to let mine set before I served it!) We LOVE to serve ours on a bed of fresh spinach, the spinach gets slightly wilted but not over cooked this way.  It is so good!

*You could also use carrots, mushrooms, kale, etc...

Quick French Baguettes

Bread is one of my favorite things to make. There is just something magical about the fresh baked bread smell filling your house. I also love quick bread recipes, because lets be honest, I am not a very good planner. That is what makes this bread so great! It can literally be done in half an hour! I know, I didn't believe it myself. And to top it off, it is really good bread. So next time you are out of time and need bread in a hurry, this is your go to recipe! I found the original recipe here.

Quick French Baguettes

(2 good sized baguettes)

2 cups very warm water (not hot)

2 1/4 t yeast

2 T honey

1 1/2 t salt

3-4 cups flour

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, whisk together warm water, yeast and honey. Set the bowl on top of the preheating oven for 10 minutes. Stir in the salt and add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough becomes soft but not sticky. Knead the dough until elastic.

Cut the dough into4 even pieces. Roll each piece into a long, thin rope. Twist together 2 of the ropes to form one loaf. Repeat with the other 2 ropes to form the second loaf. Transfer both onto a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

You can now bake the loaves right away (if you are in a hurry) or allow them to rise for an additional 15-30 minutes on top of your warm oven.

Now for the secret: Fill a large bowl with 3-4 cups of ice cubes. Open your oven and place the baking sheet with the baguettes inside, then toss the ice cubes on the *bottom of your oven and quickly shut the door. DO NOT open the door for 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown 15-18 minutes. Rub the tops with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven.

*I have a gas oven, when I put the ice on the bottom of the oven it leaked out and made a mess of water on my floor. I suggest putting foil or a second baking sheet on the bottom of your oven to toss the ice onto.

Blueberry Crisp

Last week we went on this AMAZING family reunion to a beautiful lake in Missouri called Table Rock Lake. We wound far back into rolling green hills and quaint farms to our cabins on the lake.  It was secluded, beautiful, relaxing and wonderful.  There was a you-pick berry farm a few miles away that we frequented throughout the week, coming back with blueberries and blackberries to garnish everything.  While at this farm we had a big bowl of the most delicious Blueberry Crisp with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  We were in blueberry heaven!  So when we got home, we just knew we couldn't wait until our next family reunion to get more of that amazing crisp.  I set out finding a recipe to rival it.  After looking through a million different recipe, I decided I would just give it a try with all the parts I loved the most.  This recipe is what I came up with, and yes, it rivals the one we had at that berry farm!
Besides, July is national Blueberry month, so go get some blueberries!

Blueberry Crisp

(6 servings)

4 cups FRESH blueberries (I guess you could use frozen if you absolutely can not find fresh ones)

1 T fresh lemon juice

1 T cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar 

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 t cinnamon

4 T butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup quick oats

1/2 cup pecans, chopped 

1 t vanilla

a dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9x9 inch square pan or 2-quart baking dish.

Mix together the cornstarch and lemon juice and toss with the blueberries.  Spread these evenly into the prepared pan.

In a bowl, using a pastry blender or fork (I just use my hands), mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon,nutmeg, butter, oats, vanilla, and pecans until combined and crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over the blueberries in the pan.  

Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the blueberries are bubbling.  Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.