Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

 Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 box (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 bag (11 ounces) milk chocolate chips (I like to use the milk chocolate Guittard baking chips)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, or stand-mixer, add the butter, both sugars, pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until creamy and combined.
• Gradually add in the flour and baking soda to the mixture. Beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Drop batter by Tablespoons on un-greased cookie sheets. Bake for only 9 to 10 minutes. (They may not seemed fully baked, but they are. Do not over bake!)
• Remove from oven and let cookies rest and cool on the cookie sheets. No need to transfer to wire racks.
• Serve with milk and enjoy these delicious devils! 

Zucchini Bread

 

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• 2 ¼ cups white sugar

• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 cups grated zucchini

• 1 cup chopped walnuts

• Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4-inch pans.

  2. 1. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.

     2. Beat eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla together in a separate large bowl with an electric mixer until combined; add flour mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini and walnuts until well combined. Pour batter into the prepared pans.

     3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 to 60 minutes. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Coconut-Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Prep: 30 min.         Bake: 8 + 18 min.

Chill: 3 hr.             OVEN: 350 F

INGREDIENTS 

1/2     cup butter                                                

3/4     cup finely crushed graham crackers

1/2     cup all-purpose flour 

1/2     cup flaked coconut

1/2     cup ground pecans 

1/4     cup sugar

1 1/2  8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

2/3     cup sugar

4         eggs  

1        Tbsp. brandy or milk

1        tsp. vanilla 

2         cups blueberries

PREPARATION

1.     Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 13X9X2-inch baking pan; set aside. 

2.    For crust, in a small saucepan melt butter over medium heat until it turns the color of light brown sugar. Remove from heat and set aside.

3.    In a medium bowl mix together graham cracker crumbs, flour, coconut, ground pecans, and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir in butter and mix thoroughly. Evenly press into the bottom of greased pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. 

4.    Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and 2/3 cup sugar on medium until combined. Add eggs, brandy, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Pour over hot crust. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over the cream cheese layer. 

5.     Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until center appears set. Cool in pan on rack. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hrs. Cut into bars. Store, covered, in the refrigerator. 

Magic Cookie Bars

1/2 C. butter

1-1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg. (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 pkg (3-1/2 oz.) coconut
1 c. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a 13x9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle crumbs over melted butter; pour sweetened condensed milk over crumbs. Top evenly with the remaining ingredients. Press down firmly. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting.

Brigadeiro

3 tsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. butter
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
Chocolate jimmies (optional)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cocoa, butter, and sweetened condensed milk. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Form into small balls. If desired, you can roll ball in chocolate jimmies. Eat at once or chill until serves.

Christmas Crack

1 - 12.8 oz. box Rice Chex cereal
1 - 12 oz. box Golden Grahams cereal
1 - 7 oz. bag shredded coconut
1 - 4 oz. bag slivered almonds
1-1/2 c. butter (3 sticks, yes, 3 sticks)
2 c. sugar
2 c. corn syrup

Combine Rice Chex and Golden Grahams, coconut, and almonds in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. In a large saucepan, cook butter, sugar, and corn syrup to the "soft ball" stage...about 234 degrees on a candy thermometer. Pour over cereal mixture and stir until all is well coated (this process needs to be done quickly, as the mixture will start to set). Pour mixture out onto 2 large cookie sheets to cool. Stir it around occasionally to prevent clumping. Store in an airtight container. 

Hawaiian Fried Chicken (Mochiko Chicken)

5 lbs - Boneless Chicken Thighs (Cut into 1 inch bite size pieces)
1 Cup - Mochiko Flour
1 Cup - Corn Starch
1 Cup - Sugar
1 Cup - Aloha Shoyu
8 Cloves - Minced Garlic
2 Inches - Ginger Grated
6 eggs
1 Cup - Cornstarch (for after you marinate and strain the chicken).

Whisk everything together, add chicken, mix, place in fridge overnight. Mix a few times. 

Strain chicken (leaving a little bit of marinade to create a batter). Add in about 1 cup of cornstarch to the strained chicken to make a thick pancake-like batter coating on the chicken. 

Deep fry at 350F until light brown, place on cooling rack.
Increase heat to 400F, fry again till dark brown, place on cooling rack. (alternatively I've started to use an air fryer to finish) 

Carne de Puerco con Rajas

2-1/4 pounds pork, half country-style spareribs and half boneless stewing pork with some fat cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
6 garlic cloves
2 peppercorns
1 tbsp salt or to taste
1-1/4 pounds tomatoes
3 tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed
3 serrano chiles or more to taste
about 6 medium chilacas or 3 poblano chiles, charred, peeled, seeds and veins removed, and torn or cut into narrow strips

Put the pork into a wide pan, cover with water, and set over medium heat.  Crush the garlic with peppercorns and salt and add to the pan.  Cover and cook for about 15 minutes.  Add the whole tomatoes, tomatillos, and chiles and continue cooking until the chiles are soft but not falling apart - about 10 minutes.

Transfer the tomatoes, tomatillos, and chiles to the blender jar with 1 cup of the meat broth and blend to a textured puree.  Take out a second cup of the broth and reserve.

Remove the cover and continue to cook the pork until it is just tender - about 10 minutes.  Remove any remaining broth and reserve.  Continue to cook the meat over low heat until the fat renders out; there should be about 3 tablespoons - remove or make up to that amount with lard.  Lightly brown the meat, add the blended ingredients, and fry over fairly high heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking, for about 5 minutes.  Add the chile strips and the reserved broth - there should be about 2 cups.  If not, make up that amount with water.  Taste for salt and cook 5 more minutes.

Carne Con Chile Guero

The Meat:
2 pounds stewing pork with some fat, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 garlic cloves
salt to taste

The Sauce:
12 guero chiles
12 ounces tomatoes, broiled until soft
6 garlic cloves

Put the pieces into a heavy pan, add water to come just below the surface of the meat, the garlic, and salt, cover, and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.  Drain off half of the broth and continue cooking uncovered until the pork is just tender - about 20 minutes.  Continue cooking until the fat renders out and lightly fries the meat.

Meanwhile, char and peel the chiles, remove the veins and seeds, and chop roughly.  Peel the tomatoes if you like and crush with garlic and chiles to a textured sauce (you can do in a food processor, but not a blender which would puree the mixture).  Add the mixture to the meat in the pan and fry, adding a little more salt if necessary, until the moisture has reduced, about 5 minutes.  Dilute with about 1 cup of the pork broth and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Mexican Rice

1-1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 small onion, diced
2/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
3 ounces canned diced tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups water

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.  Stir in onion and saute until translucent.  Pour the rice into the pan and stir to coat grains with oil.  Mix in cumin, chili powder, tomatoes, salt and water.  Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.  Cook at a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until rice is tender.  Stir occasionally.

Salsa Verde

This is the salsa Rachel makes and taught me how to make.  This recipe is really to taste, so use this as a guide.  Also, when picking out tomatillos make sure you pick out the lighter colored ones.  These measurements are how I like the salsa, but make to your own taste.

10-12 Tomatillos
4 Jalapenos
1/2 bunch Cilantro
4 tbsp Salt
4 cloves Garlic (I used the jarred minced garlic, so it's about 1 tbsp)
1-2 cups Water from boiled tomatillos and jalapenos

De-husk and rinse tomatillos until the stickiness comes off.  Cut the stems off the jalapenos.  Boil tomatillos and jalapenos (my rule of thumb is I boil them until they are the color I want the salsa to be).  Put all ingredients in blender, including water.  Blend well until it looks like a salsa.

Oatmeal Pancakes

2 cups milk
1-1/2 - 2 cups rolled oats
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Pour milk over oats and let stand 2-5 minutes.  Beat in eggs, oil, then remaining ingredients.  Mixture will be thin.  Fry on hot griddle.

Avocado Salsa

1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1 jalapeño, stemmed, cut in fourths
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons finely diced onion

Combine avocado, jalapeño, water, vinegar and salt in blender. Pureé on high.

Pour into medium bowl. Add cilantro and onion; stir to blend. Cover and chill.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Susan's Gravy

Combine
3 cups turkey drippings
2 cups water
Bring to a boil

Add
3/4 cup cold water
3-4 Tbsp cornstarch
Mix together before stirring into boiling mixture

Add to taste
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt
Pepper
Kitchen Bouquet
Tiny egg noodles (if desired)

Marinade for Chicken

1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. whole grain mustard (or ground mustard)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 lime, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. olive oil
Black pepper, ground
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

In a non-reactive container, whisk together ingredients beginning with cider vinegar through salt.  Then whisk in olive oil and pepper.  Place chicken in mixture.  Cover and marinate the chicken in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.  Remove chicken from marinade just before you turn on the grill or broiler to let come up a few degrees.  Discard marinade.