Pork Ribs.....OMGoodness!!!

About a year ago, The Boy got a little courageous and tried some ribs at our local Chili's Restaurant. I think it was messy-love-at-first-bite because ever since then, if he sees that the menu contains the words "Ribs", he wants nothing else. And, just recently, The Lady has given the messy meal a try and has never looked back.

Over our Spring Break holiday this year, my weekly menu was filled with some non-fast-food yumminess. We've had a good healthy week of menu items and I've tried a few new things that have now made it to the "do again" list. Of course, The Little is my biggest challenge these days and I just refuse to fight at dinner so I usually make her something a little different. The girl's gotta eat. But I'm not doing that for much longer, she needs to grow out of that and fast!

Tonight, my adventure was making pork ribs. I've always been a little intimidated with cooking steaks or ribs. There just seems to be so much precision that is required. My father was always in charge of this when I was a kid and then I married someone who isn't a huge meat eater (unless it's chicken). So it was another daunting project that I brought on myself. The outcome was A-MAZING!! Not one rib was left behind and JB even enjoyed a little. Maybe if this works out, I'll learn to make my own BBQ sauce......

Here's how I did it!

Ingredients:
 - 3 pounds of pork baby back ribs
 - your favorite rib rub
 - 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
 - 1/3 cup soy sauce
 - 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
 - your favorite BBQ sauce






What you do:
 - The night before you want to enjoy your rib meal, prepare the ribs by cutting into portions (about 4 ribs each) followed by rubbing the rib rub on both sides. Refrigerate overnight.

- The next day, you mix up your marinade of vinegar, soy sauce and liquid smoke.

- Place ribs in your slow cooker and then pour marinade over top.

 - Turn your cooker to low and cook for 4-6 hours, turning ribs occasionally. The meat will be done when the meat falls off of the bone. Many slow cookers are different so make sure to check on your meat often to not over cook.

 - Once meat is cooked through, heat up that grill to medium-high heat. Remove your ribs from cooker and coat both sides with the BBQ sauce. Then you will place the ribs on the grill for 15 minutes (turning once) to give the BBQ sauce a little char. It doesn't take long.

Ours turned out like this! You could litterally pull the bone out of the meat with no problem. They were so good. One critique I received from our experienced rib eater, The Boy, was that he likes his ribs with the meat on them. He doesn't want to eat them with a fork and knife. Well, if that's all, I can handle that. Next time I will take them out of the slow cooker a little bit earlier.

We paired these finger-lickin' good ribs with corn on the cob. Needless to say, dinner was a huge hit and Mommy added something else to the "do again" list. Thank you. Thank you very much!

Meatball Subs

I love a good meatball sub! What a great alternative to the traditional spaghetti and meatball dish. We don't usually make these at home but I did today and they were deeeelicious! The Boy had two helpings!!

Here's how I made the Meatballs:

Ingredients:
3 slices of white bread, crusts removed, diced
2/3 cup water
1 1/2 lb of ground beef
1/2 lb of sweet Italian sausage
1/4 cup grated parmesan
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 large egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Light Olive Oil

What to do:
 - Combine bread crumbs and water and let sit for 5 minutes. Drain some of the water off and then mash with a fork.
 - In a large mixing bowl (I used my Kitchenaid Mixer) add: ground beef, sausage, parmesan, garlic, salt, pepper, egg, and bread. Mix until combined.

 - Form meat into 1 1/2" balls. Should make about 25 balls. Then dredge the meatballs in the flour, dusting off any excess.

- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the meatballs and begin browning each side. I don't worry about cooking them through at this point. Just make sure all areas of the meatball are browned. Then set meatballs aside.

Now, here's how I made the Sauce:

Ingredients:
1/2 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
2 - 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
2 Tbs basil, finely chopped

What to do:
 - Cut onion into quarters and peel garlic. Place in a small food processor and puree until paste-like. We do this because other family members do not like chunks of onion in their food but they like the flavor that the onion brings to the dish. Feel free to mince the onion and garlic instead.
 - In the same pot you browned the meatballs, over medium heat, brown the onion and garlic until translucent.
 - Add the water and crushed tomatoes and the bay leaves. Bring to a light boil.


Now, add meatballs back into the pot with the sauce, partially cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes, turning meatballs occasionally. Meatballs will be tender and the sauce will thicken. About 5 minutes before you are ready to serve, drop in the basil and salt and pepper.

Assembly
Then load up you hoagie rolls with a few meatballs, some extra sauce and fresh mozzerella!!

Final Touch
I will then place the subs under a broiler for a quick toasting of the cheeses.

Really, these are amazing!!! You should try them.

The Great Cake Adventure

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes ACTION, PERSEVERANCE, and FACING YOUR FEARS."        -  Gillian Anderson

I truly believe in full disclosure when it comes to creating edibles in the kitchen. So, here goes. I will admit to not really enjoying or being very talented at baking. So you probably won't find many baking projects posted here, unless of course I'm super successful! There are a few things that I've made throughout the years that have turned out great but I usually don't venture out on new ideas very much when it comes to measuring precisely or using the toothpick test. I just don't do it.

I have had to take two big steps forward in the past two months when it has come to birthday cakes. The Boy requested an ice cream cake which you've already read about. I didn't have to bake anything with that project but it was still a little bit outside of my wheelhouse. And, just this week, I made The Hubs birthday cake. I wanted to buy this amazing cake that looked like a big bag of Doritos but the cake-bakery place said they would charge me close to 300 smackers to do it. I simply said "no thanks." Then I asked the birthday boy what kind of cake he wanted. Without hesitation, his response was for me to make vanilla cake with blackberry filling topped with 7-minute frosting. WHAT.....EEK!!?? 

Okay, so I didn't freak out too much. I'm always up for a challenge. I took his challenge and went with it. Now listen, usually I would make everything from scratch but that just wasn't in the cards this time. So I used a box cake and I bought some pre-made icing as a back up. But I promised myself that if this worked out, I would make cake from scratch the next time. I'm kind of excited and scared at the same time. 

Here's what I accomplished this week.  

I baked three 8" round cakes and then turned them upside down to cool completely. I let them stand for about 24 hours before starting on the next step. 

  

Next step was to cut off the tops so that I would have even layers. I'm not sure this is what I was supposed to do but it worked out well. I probably should have found a you-tube instructional video before doing this. But what was done was done. 

Next step was adding the blackberry filling. I also didn't take a leap here. I used JB's favorite store-bought jelly. I just emptied the jar into a bowl and mashed it up with a fork to make it easier to spread without killing the soft cake. 

Here is the naked cake before I covered it up with the 7-minute icing. I am pretty darn proud of myself at this point. But I've never iced a cake like this before. So I was getting nervous again. 

I then made the icing just like I did a few days ago in a test-drive. Feel free to review that journal entry to be reminded of how I accomplished this.

I started the icing process by adding a couple heaping spoonfuls of icing to the top of the cake and working my way down to the plate. I'm sure I saw this done somewhere. I worked my way down hoping to not make too much of a mess of the plate. Then I used the extra icing and piped it through a small hole I cut in a zip-lock baggy to clean up the bottom. It's still not as clean as what the professionals do but it worked out just fine!

Best part, it was not tilting at all. No Leaning Tower of Pisa syndrome happening here! It was perfectly straight on the top.

Next challenge was getting it from my kitchen to Nana's dining room safely! 

It was a total success!!! The Boy was able to handle my driving and protected the cake the entire journey. The cake stayed standing until we cut into it a few hours later! The inside was soft and moist and incredibly yummy. AND it looked beautiful when we cut into it. The layers were perfectly even and the jelly didn't bleed into the spongy goodness.  We brought what was not eaten home to continue to enjoy it. I'm sure it won't last long once everyone wakes up from their peaceful slumbers!

Mediterranean Tuna Cakes and Citrus Mayo

I have been making this recipe for years! It's so deish and I wanted to share it. Best part is the Citrus Mayo so don't leave that out. Enjoy!

Click here for the full recipe! Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Tuna Cakes:
3/4 pounds tuna steaks, finely chopped
3/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried mint
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon onion, minced
1 tablespoon fat-free mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon olive oil
Cooking spray

What to do:
1. To prepare mayonnaise, combine all 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill.
2. To prepare tuna cakes, combine tuna and next 8 ingredients (tuna through salt) in a bowl; stir until well-blended. Divide tuna mixture into 4 equal portions; shape into patties. Dredge patties in 2 tablespoons bread crumbs. Heat oil in nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add patties and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Serve with the mayo and side salad!

Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken and Rice

We have chicken as our main dish about 3-4 times a week. As you can imagine, the same old recipes get tiresome to prepare and even more boring to eat. So, I've been searching for some new ways to create exciting chicken dishes that all of my kiddos and the hubs will enjoy.

On our vacation last summer, we sampled some amazing, authentically Jamaican-prepared Jerk Chicken and I've never forgotten how great it was. The thought of making this on my own was daunting. C'mon! The Jamaicans had been perfecting this meal for many many many years. But I stumbled across this recipe and thought, "I can do that!"

I'm sure our new Jamaican friends don't use a slow cooker and I bet their recipes are not quite the same as this one. But the outcome is pretty close to what I remember enjoying and that is all that matters to us. I took the liberty to make a few modifications to the recipe I found that would better suite our taste buds. This is definitely a "do-again" meal.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the final prepared meal. We were too busy enjoying the dinner and remembering our vacation moments to stop and have a photo-shoot. But I will try to add some the next time I prepare this dish! If you make this and take your own photos, send them my way and I will add yours to this blog post!

Here I am enjoying the spicy aroma as the meat is cooking!

Ingredients:
5 drumsticks and 2 chicken breasts
4 teaspoons of salt
4 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons of onion powder
2 teaspoons of thyme
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of black pepper

What to do:
1. Combine all of the spices together in a large bowl. This will be the rub or the chicken chicken. Feel free to adjust the amount of cayenne pepper based on your desired level of spiciness. You can even leave it out and add a bit more onion powder, but it will still be a bit spicy due to the paprika.

2. Wash each of the chicken pieces in cold water briefly and pat dry. Place the washed chicken meat into the bowl with the rub, and completely rub the spices onto the meat trying to get it under the chicken skin if you can.

3. Place chicken into the slow cooker. No need to add any liquid.

4. Set the slow ­cooker on low heat and cook for 5-­6 hours. When the chicken is done, the meat will fall off the bone.

We served the chicken over steamed white rice and a side salad. The chicken will produce extra juices while cooking so we used these juices as a sauce to spice up the rice. Enjoy!

7-minute frosting cookies...really?

I remember watching my Ginny (Grandmother on my mother's side) when she would make 7-minute frosting for all of our birthday cakes.  I may have been just a kid but I already knew it was the most delicious cake frosting EVER!!  And she made it look so easy! Then I grew up and found that it was so much easier to buy the pre-made frosting at the grocery store. I have no problem admitting that making 7-minute frosting intimidates me a lot.  Just the thought of it would make me sweat.....Then I became a mother of a child who does not like the store-bought frosting......or frosting from any cake bakery EVER....

I love cake! Actually, let me clarify, I love beautiful cakes that can make our birthday party center-pieces look amazing. I have been known to search out the most unique cake designer and order it 6 weeks in advance of the celebration....at a pretty penny, I might add, and then not eat a single slice. Sometimes, the cake looks amazing but tastes terrible. This is when I ask myself, "Why do I do this every time?" But I continue this crazy behavior.

My husband's birthday is why I bring this up. I did my normal search for the most unique cake for his 45th birthday. But what I found was that it was going to cost me $245. WHAT??? I. Just. Said. No! Then I came up the brilliant idea to simply ask my hubs what kind of cake he would like, and to my surprise, he told me!  What have I stumbled onto here....maybe a homemade cake that is enjoyable and that will be devoured. That's the way to go.

So here we are back to the 7-minute frosting. This was part of his request. And now I am hyperventilating and my heartbeat is increasing....how can I live up to my Ginny and my mother who can both make this frosting effortlessly. Oh, let me add that this is the icing that the hub's mother use to make for him when he was a kid. Now I have to live up to my Ginny, my mother, AND his mother. Oh the pressure! But, I have a plan (were you surprised?).

Today, it's two days before his official celebration and I've decided to try it out....Can I say SUCCESS??? I am so proud! Big sigh of relief going on over here.

Here's how I made it (not a family secret recipe):

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

What to do:
Mix the sugar, cream of tartar, salt, water and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld mixer for one minute. Place pan over boiling water in the bottom of the double boiler. Beat constantly for 7 minutes on high speed with the handheld mixer. Then beat in the vanilla.

That's it! Easy-peasy!


Again, here we are, two days before the celebration and I now have a ton of frosting that I should just throw out. But, I can't do that so I decide to try is to make them into meringue cookies. My version of meringue cookies, that is. Or "7-minute frosting cookies".

I simply dumped the icing into a large zip lock bag, cut a corner off, and piped the cookies onto a greased cookie sheet. Then let them bake in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes. I let them cool for a New York minute and then scooped them off of the cookie sheet with a metal spatula to completely cool. They were fluffy and so delicious!

Here they are piped onto the cookie sheet ready for the 250 degree oven. 

Baked and ready to eat!!

Here is The Little who now has a favorite new cookie to enjoy!

Spicy Shrimp in Garlic Sauce!!!

Oh. My. Goodness!!!

I think I've found true love!!! As many of my close family and friends are aware, I have a passion for shrimp.....ALL kinds of shrimp! And I often cook it for myself here at the house but I've never gotten so creative until today. 

I've been reading a lot about preparing paleo-style meals and using oils and aminos to help boost healthy eating. I found a similar recipe for Shrimp in Garlic Sauce and so I thought I would try it out. Here is my version. Let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb shrimp peeled and deveined

• 1 tablespoon ghee

• 3 cloves garlic minced

• 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets

• 2 oz sugar snap peas

• 1/2 tablespoon coconut aminos

• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

• 1 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1/4 cup white wine

• 1/4 cup chicken broth

• juice of 1/2 of a lime

• pepper to taste

What to do:

1. Heat ghee in a large pan or skillet over medium heat and add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add broccoli and sugar snap peas and cook for 1-2 minutes then add shrimp and bay leaf.
2. Increase heat to medium high heat and shake the pan every so often, once the shrimp begins to cook add coconut aminos, fish sauce, sesame oil and red pepper flakes and quickly toss the pan to coat everything in the mixture. Cook for an additional 2 minutes then pour in white wine and chicken broth and reduce heat to medium.
3. Let cook for 5-8 minutes or until vegetables are soft and shrimp is opaque. Squeeze lime juice and crack fresh pepper over the dish and stir to coat and cook for 1-2 more minutes then serve.

Serves 2

Tomato Soup & Honey Buttermilk Bread

This weekend, we celebrated my son's First Communion milestone at church. It was a really great morning that started off with a pancake flip that was served by the church elders to the participating families. After the ceremony, we came home and had our own little lunch to continue the festive moment. Here's what was on the menu: Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Homemade Honey Buttermilk Bread and Homemade Tomato Basil Soup.

Honey Buttermilk Bread - was A-MAZING! Originally, I was looking for a recipe to use the extra buttermilk I had in the refrigerator without it going bad. I thought I would find a pound cake or some cookies which really wasn't what I wanted to create. So I kept looking and then I discovered this! I made it the day before our luncheon. Once it was done, I had a few samples with a tad bit of butter on top. OH. MY. GOODNESS. This amazing bread (click here) was also extremely yummy dunked in the tomato soup we made.

For the luncheon, I made a few small sandwiches with my new chicken salad (see below) favorite. There were zero leftovers!!

Tomato Basil Soup - We love love love tomato soup as well as the creamy tomato basil soup! I've not ever attempted to make tomato basil soup from scratch so I thought this was a perfect occasion. I found this amazing recipe to follow. I made a few alterations to the soup recipe but really nothing too different than what you will find by clicking here. Everyone loved it with a little croutons and Parmesan sprinkled on top. It is definitely a repeat that will be seen on future menus for us!!

Chicken Salad Sandwiches (makes about 4 servings)
A few days ago, I posted a Chicken Salad Sandwich recipe that is simply scrumptious. But I've made a few alterations to help it not be so runny and it is still so good. Here's the updated recipe:

Ingredients:
2-10 ounce cans of chicken breast, drained & shredded
2 boiled eggs, chopped
1 TBS almonds, chopped
1 TBS mayonnaise
1-8 ounce can chopped pineapple, undrained
salt and pepper to taste
favorite type of lettuce
toasted bread
Tomato Basil Soup

Stuffed Pizza Pretzels

Tonight was one of those nights where dinner was almost an after thought......one of those kid-activity-filled nights. So while the boys were finishing up at tae kwon do, I rummaged through my refrigerator and pulled out all the makings of a good pizza. Pepperoni, sauce, cheese and store-bought pizza crust (the kind you find on the refrigerated biscuit and cookie shelf).  But I couldn't have pizza again....we are kind of addicted to pizza of all kinds!! So here's what I did. I made stuffed pizza pretzels! 

Ingredients:

 - store-bought pizza crust

 - pepperoni

 - your favorite pasta sauce

 - mozzarella cheese

 - ranch dressing (for dipping, if you like)

What to do:

 - Roll out the dough and cut three strips lengthwise.

 - Spread out your pepperoni and mozzarella on top and then roll over the side of the dough to seal in the goodness. 

 - Shape rolls into pretzels (this might take some practice) and place on a non-stick baking pan.

 - Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

 - Carefully place pretzel on serving plate along with a cup of the pasta sauce (or ranch dressing) for dipping. Enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

This turned out so amazing!! Thanks to Tyler Florence for the inspiration!! We love celebrating Valentine's Day with our kiddos by making a special meal and dessert. This year, our main dish was something new for us and it turned out amazing! The best part, my sweetheart and I made it together!

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, skinless & boneless, cut in half lengthwise
4 thin slices of prosciutto
1/2 pound Gruyere, grated
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 TBS thyme
1 TBS garlic powder
1 TBS unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
EVOO

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place chicken breasts in large ziplock bag or between two pcs of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of the meat mallet, gently pound the chicken until it is 1/4 inches thick. Remove chicken from plastic and start assembling your pinwheels. On top of each breast, lay 1 slice of prosciutto and cover with cheese. Tuck in the sides of the breasts and roll up tight like a jellyroll. Squeeze log gently to seal. Secure roll with a toothpick if desired. Just make sure to remove toothpicks before serving!

In three separate pie dishes, create the coating by:
1 - Season the flour with salt & pepper.
2 - Mix the bread crumbs with the thyme, garlic, salt & pepper, and melted butter. The butter will help the crust to brown while baking.
3 - Beat together the egg and season with salt & pepper.

Lightly dust the chicken with flour, dip into the egg mixture followed by the bread crumb mixture. Lightly coat the baking pan with olive oil and carefully transfer the roulades onto it. Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and cooked through.

We served this with grilled shrimp, mashed potatoes and salad but this was truly the star of the show tonight! This was a huge family hit!!!  We followed this amazing meal with a chocolate fondue dessert!!

That's what it's all about!

Cucumber Salad

I love love love this easy and refreshing salad!! Did I say I love this salad? Well, it is deeeelish and so simple to make!

Ingredients:
1 large cucumber
2 sprigs green onion, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1 TBS sour cream
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp fresh dill
1 tsp sugar

What to do:
Peel the cucumbers and slice thinly. Place in sandwich bag and sprinkle salt over slices. Zip it up and shake bag to mix well. Place in refrigerator.

Mix onion, sour cream, vinegar, dill and sugar in separate bowl, cover and place in refrigerator.

Refrigerator both cucumbers and dressing for at least one hour.

Drain water from cucumbers and rinse under cool water. Pat dry on paper towels to dry up an access liquid. Last step is to toss the cucumbers in with the dressing and enjoy!!! See, so very simple!!

Whistling Stuffed Jalapeno’s

I have been in LOVE with stuffed Jalapeno's since college. My first jalapeno love connection was found at Trudy's North Star in Austin Texas. If you are ever down that way, do drop in to try a few. And don't forget to order the Mexican Martini to quiet down the jalapeno heat! YUM....great, now I'm homesick.

I'm the only one in the house who likes these amazing green babies and so I thought I'd mix up a small batch. The peppers looked so big and delicious when I bought them - I thought I could only handle about 4 of them. I did let them sit a few days on my counter before making this my entree tonight and everyone knows that peppers tend to get hotter as they ripen. If you don't believe me, try it out or google-it. So, it would be an understatement for me to say that these babies were super spicy-hot.....I had to follow almost every bite with a big gulp of milk. Did you know that milk helps to calm the heat of the pepper? Check this out. Anyway, here's how I made them.

I cut a small cap lengthwise across the top of the pepper to create a jalapeno boat and then carved out the spines and seeds; then filled it with a mixture of the ingredients below, except the colby jack cheese.

Ingredients:
4 large Jalepenos
2 sprigs of green onion, minced
1 TBS fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste
1 strip of cooked bacon, minced
1/4 cup cream cheese
4 small strips of colby jack cheese

Fill each jalapeno boat with the scrumptious mixture and sink the strips of cheese into each pepper. Place in an oven at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. Remove carefully and move to a serving plate and then enjoy!

Now, since we are in Texas, we like almost everything with a little side of ranch and, therefore, I did indulge in this condiment this evening. But they are just as good all by themselves!

Where did I come up with the name of the recipe, you might ask....when I took them out of the oven, they were so steamy hot that the peppers were actually whistling. It was really pretty cool!

Try them out soon!!! Cheers!

The Boiled Egg (part 3) (Breakfast on a Bagel)

It's the final day of our "peel the egg" test and I'm so excited. To be quite honest, I'm a little sick of eating boiled eggs; I usually only have a "2-boiled-egg-breakfast" once a week. I will say that through this little project of mine, I've discovered some really great ways to use boiled eggs in recipes, which will come in handy in a few weeks after we dye boiled eggs for Easter. Don't miss out on today's recipe (see below); it is simply scrumptious!

Today turned out a bit surprising. I thought we would have had a mirrored outcome to the last two days. But every single egg shed a bit of it's white, some more than others. The peeling process was terrible too, the shells came off in small shattered-like fashion and it took about three times as long to get through this process compared to the previous two days.  The peeling issues did not discriminate between a freshly hatched egg and a store bought egg or by the cooling method. Needless to say, it was a messy morning. On the flip-side, the cooking process was great, each egg was cooked perfectly.

Cooking Method: Place eggs in cool water and bring pot to a rolling boil. Remove pot of eggs from heat, cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Cooling Methods: Same as yesterday - one of each type of egg cooled by ice-water bath, cool-water bath, or no bath. Cooling time was 10 minutes.

Results of the Peeling Process:
 - Ice-Water Bath: Most terrible to peel! What a surprise!
 - Cool-Water Bath: A little better to peel than the eggs in iced-water bath.
 - No Bath /Cool on Own: The least amount of egg white was lost with these two. This was even more surprising!

My Big Conclusion: Originally, I didn't document what my hypothesis was at the beginning of this project and I probably should have. I would most likely have sided on the process that I follow each time I boil eggs which is to cook the eggs in a rolling boil for 10 minutes followed by an ice-water bath. But I will admit that this doesn't always guarantee that the shells will fall right off. I will continue to use this method as it does seem to be the easiest. But I think next time I will prepare boiled eggs that are at room temperature and see if the other ways are even better. It just seems like the process will be much longer! The best part of this "eggsperiment" is knowing that there really is no "perfect" way to get easy to peel eggs. So continue to prepare them they way you like. And if you have never been successful in getting an easy-to-peel egg, at least you have some options.

Enjoy your eggs!!!

Breakfast on a Bagel

Ingredients:

2 hard boiled eggs
2 strips of cooked bacon
2 sprigs green onion
1 1/2 TBS ranch dressing
salt and pepper

What to do:
After peeling each egg, throw them into a food processor along with all other ingredients. Push the "on" button and mix thoroughly. When done, spread on a 1/2 a toasted bagel. Then, enjoy!!!

The Boiled Egg (part 2) (Salad Nicoise Lettuce Cups)

(Disclaimer: if you have no clue what I'm writing about today, check out my post from yesterday - Part 1)

So, I started today's "eggsperament" with eggs right out of the refrigerator. I probably should have started with room temperature eggs or given them a little more time in the hot water to cook because when I started to peel the first egg after the cooling stage, I discovered it was not even a soft-boiled egg. So, I went ahead and boiled more water and gave every one of our little fellas 5 more minutes to cook and then back into the cooling stage they went.

Cooking Method: Bring pot full of water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, add eggs and let stand for 20 minutes covered (15 minutes then and extra 5 minutes).

Cooling Methods: Same as yesterday - one of each type of egg cooled by ice-water bath, cool-water bath, or no bath. Cooling time was 10 minutes.

Results of the Peeling Process:
 - Ice-Water Bath: each one was super easy to peel, no egg white was sacraficed!
 - Cool-Water Bath: both eggs were terrible to peel, fell completely apart, salvageable.
 - No Bath /Cool on Own: peeled marvelously!


Cutting into them was great too. They weren't too soft or over-done.

Will have a few for breakfast this morning and make the salad below for lunch today. YUM!

Salad Nicoise Lettuce Cups

Ingredients:
 - 1 can white tuna, drained and shredded
 - 6 cup-shaped romaine lettuce leaves
 - 2 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and quartered
 - 1 1/2 TBS Parmesan
 - Your favorite Caesar dressing (see below for my fave)
 - freshly ground pepper

Caesar Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
 - 6 cloves Garlic, mashed
 - 1 TBS Dijon mustard
 - 1 TBS Vinegar
 - Kosher salt and ground black pepper
 - 2 TBS Mayonnaise
 - 1/2 cup Olive Oil
 - Juice from one small lemon
 - 4 Anchovy Fillets

What to do:
Combine the garlic, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in the food processor and blend completely. Add the mayo, lemon and anchovy fillets and blend to create a thick base. In a steady stream, add the olive oil to create the finished dressing!

The Boiled Egg (part 1) (Chicken Salad Sandwich)

We celebrated a few family birthdays this weekend with a real Texas BBQ. Grandpa smoked some ribs and chicken and I added in skewered shrimp, hamburgers and hot dogs. Along with those main dishes, we made baked beans, potato salad, macaroni and cheese and deviled eggs. It was sure to be an amazing spread....of which no one got any pictures! Geesh....

Anyway, as we are working in the kitchen on the food preparations, we started having issues peeling the boiled eggs that would be part of the potato salad and the deviled eggs. The shells were just not coming off and we were butchering each one as we went a long. After only getting 7 clean eggs out of the 18 that we boiled, it was clear that we needed to start all over. So we started the boiling process again. As we restarted, we discussed the best way to prepare boiled eggs in order to get a clean shell removal. The way that I make boiled eggs was just slightly different than the way my parents make their boiled eggs. Not a huge difference but a difference, nonetheless.

I mentioned that I had heard that the older the egg is, the better the shells are to remove. I also heard that if you give the boiled eggs an ice-bath immediately after they were finished on the stove, this would also ensure a clean peeling experience.  We discussed the different cooking methods as well. Should you start the egg off in a pot full of cool water? Should you boil the water first then drop the eggs in? Should you let them cook for 10 minutes, 12 minutes or 15 minutes? All this talking has led me to a little experiment of my own. Here goes.....

Over the next few days, I'm going to prepare boiled eggs in several different ways.  I bought a dozen eggs from the store and asked a sweet friend of mine for some super fresh eggs from her pet chickens. I've heard conflicting thoughts on how old grocery store bought eggs are. Some research I've read said that most eggs in the grocery store are about 3-5 days old, other sources say they can be up to 20-30 days. I bought this set of eggs from Kroger so let's assume they are about 10 days old. The set of fresh eggs we are using are about 4 days old when we start this experiment.

Here are my findings from today's session:

I placed 3 store-bought eggs and 3 fresh eggs in a pot of cool water and began heating the eggs and water over medium high heat until it was boiling. I then reduced the flame to a slow rolling boil for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes of cooking, I placed one of each type of egg into an ice bath to cool for 10 minutes;

one of each type went into a bowl of cool water from the tap for 10 minutes;

the last two eggs I allowed to cool for 10 minutes on their own without assistance (they didn't cool very much in that 10 minutes).

After the cooling session, I began the peeling process. I was surprised to see that there really wasn't a difference in how easy it was to peel the different types of eggs. There also really wasn't much of difference in the peeling ease based on cooling style. The only issue I had was with the two eggs that were allowed to cool on their own....they were still very hot to the touch and I did rip one up a bit (the egg from the store).

So that concludes today's session - tomorrow I will boil the water first and let the eggs set for 10 minutes in the hot water covered.

Now that I have six eggs to eat, how should I prepare them.......
 - I ate two boiled eggs for my breakfast this morning
 - I will make a few deviled eggs for The Boy for dinner (he and I are the only ones who like them)
 - I will make chicken salad for sandwiches. I've added the recipe below. Enjoy!!

Chicken Salad Sandwiches (makes about 4 servings)

Ingredients:
2-10 ounce cans of chicken breast, drained & shredded
2 boiled eggs, chopped
1 TBS almonds, chopped
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 1/2 TBS mayonnaise
1-8 ounce can chopped pineapple, drained
salt and pepper to taste
favorite type of lettuce
toasted bread

Ice Cream Cake

I love a good birthday cake, who doesn't. I'm not much of a cake eater but for the last 13 or so years I've ordered cakes that would be the centerpiece of the party. I think most everyone does these days and with all the boutique-like cake creators out there, there are so many new options and designs. The fancier they are, the higher priced they are.

This year, The Boy asked for an Ice Cream Cake for his 13th birthday. So, being the good mom that I am, I promptly went out to the local ice cream shop that typically has 31 flavors of the yummy stuff and ordered it for him. When we got it home, lit the candles, and cut into it, we were less than impressed. We were so disappointed that I'm not sure anyone ate any of it and we eventually threw it away without hesitation. Usually, the uneaten portion of our birthday cakes hang around a few days while we continue to enjoy it. Nope, not this one, it met it's doom fast....thank goodness the next day was trash pick up day.

I felt terrible that my boy did not get a good cake on his very special birthday so here's what I did. Thanks to one of my mom-friends for this suggestion....why hadn't I thought of it. When I told her about our sad cake situation, she said, "Why don't you just make one yourself. They're really easy." Eureka!! How original! So, she gave me a few suggestions and here's what I came up with.

Ingredients:
 - 1/2 quart chocolate ice cream
 - 1/2 quart vanilla ice cream
 - 1 large container of cool whip topping
 - hot fudge
 - caramel
 - 1 full bag of Oreo cookies (minus 1) (half the bag should be crumbled)
 - favorite sprinkles

What to do:
 - First I let the chocolate ice cream sit out a little to get soft, then I spread the full container into a 9" springform pan. I compressed it as much as I could so that it would be nice and firm. If the ice cream started to melt a little too much, I just popped it all in the freezer for a quick 5 minute frost.
 - Once the chocolate was in the pan, I drizzled both the caramel and hot fudge over it followed by sprinkling the crumbled Oreos on top. I pressed the Oreos into the ice cream so that they would be buried in the goodness. Then returned it to the freezer for 30 minutes to set.
 - About 15 minutes before the chocolate layer had finished setting, I took the vanilla out to soften, then piled it on top of the chocolate layer, pressing firmly.
 - Once the vanilla layer was done, I took the remaining cookies and placed them around the top like you would a pepperoni pizza. This is not what I would recommend, by the way. It may look pretty but cutting into it later was not so easy....but this is what I did for this cake.
 - Return the entire cake to the freezer for 30 more minutes.
 - I then removed the cake from the freezer and turned it over onto another pan. I quickly covered the pan with a warm towel to melt the ice cream just a bit so that I could remove the pan. This happens quickly so be ready. Then I turned the cake back right-side up onto the serving pan and hurried it back into the freezer where it would freeze for a few more hours.
 - After a few hours, we took it out, so proud of how it looked at this point, and iced the top and sides with the cool whip topping and the sprinkles. Then back into the freezer it went until serving time.

Note: My recommendation is to make this the day before your party. The ice cream really needs time to set or it melts very quickly while you are cutting it. We served it about 5 hours later and it created quite the mess. But the next day it was amazing!

Here's our pictures! The Boy was so happy and I was so proud of myself!! And I didn't spend a fortune or have to order it three weeks in advance! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

this is the chocolate layer topped with the fudge and caramel, before the crumble cookies were added

crumbled cookies added, re-freeze for 30 minutes and add the vanilla layer

the 2nd half of the Oreos (minus 1) ready for the topping

vanilla layer, Oreo layer, re-freeze for 30 minutes, start the whip topping icing, then re-freeze for 8-10 hours

we added sprinkles, candles, a birthday boy and a big wish
did you know that "happy birthday" is 13 candles? worked out great for his big 13th celebration

the finished product - a complete success in our honest opinions!