Cinnamon Rolls

For breakfast on Mother's day, I tried my hand at homemade cinnamon rolls.  I prepared them the night before, so I could just pop them in the oven on Sunday morning.  This ended up working out well.  However, when I was about to put them in the oven on Sunday I got a little worried because they looked severely lopped-sided and were starting to resemble something similar to "the blob" rather than cinnamon rolls.  Luckily when they came out of the oven they were not harmed!

Slightly obsessed with icing, I know.

Ingredients for Dough
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients for filling
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (plus a little extra)
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted


Ingredients for icing
4 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons buttermilk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 425 (unless you are waiting until the morning to bake them).  Place the oven rack in the middle.  Grease a 9" round pan.  To make the dough, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.  Whisk the buttermilk and 2 tablespoons of melted butter in a separate small bowl.  Stir buttermilk mixture into flour with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough until smooth.  If the dough becomes sticky add more flour.  Roll the dough into a 9x12 rectangle on the surface.  Brush with melted butter (see picture).

For the filling, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, salt and 1 tablespoon melted butter into a small bowl.  Stir until the mixture looks like wet sand. (add more butter if needed)  Sprinkle it over the dough (see below).

Tightly roll the dough into a log.  After I rolled mine, I had to cut off some dough on both ends because the cinnamon did not get distributed to those areas.  Cut the log into 8 or 9 pieces and place them in the 9" round pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Meanwhile, make the icing.  In a bowl combine the buttermilk and cream cheese.  Whisk until smooth - the mixture may look like cottage cheese at the beginning, but keeping whisking.  Slowly add the powdered sugar while whisking.

Please excuse my frumpy-looking cinnamon rolls. 

 

Place a piece of foil in a cookie sheet and spray it with cooking spray.  Place a cooling rack on top of that (see below). Carefully place each cinnamon roll on the cooling rack.

Spoon icing over the cinnamon rolls.

I love this icing recipe because it has just a hint of cream cheese AND because you can make as much of it as you want, unlike certain store bought cinnamon rolls that only give you the tiniest bit of icing!

This recipe is adapted from here.

Margaritas

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!  If you're feeling festive tonight, you should try Ben's margarita recipe!  Unlike the margaritas you find at restaurants, this recipe does not call for tons of syrup.  It has just the right about of lime flavor, but not so much that you can only drink one (which is what we're going for, right?).

Disclaimer: These measurements are by no means precise.  I've mentioned before how Ben just kind of eyes ingredients.  I probably haven't seen him use a measuring cup more than five times, ever.  So with that being said, brace yourself for Ben's version of "measured" ingredients.

Ingredients
lime margarita mix
crushed ice
tequila (he used silver)
triple sec

Fill the blender 3/4 full with crushed ice (this is important, because crushed ice is easier to blend, thus leaving fewer large chunks in your margarita).  Carefully blend the ice in the blender.  Use a large spoon to stir the ice around to make sure everything gets blended nicely.  Pour the margarita mix in the blender for 10-12 seconds (with the restrictor cap on the mix).  Pour the tequila for 4 seconds (without the restrictor cap).  Add 1 generous pour of triple sec.  Turn the blender to liquefy and let it blend for about 10 second.  Turn the blender off.  Stir the margarita around with the large spoon and add more crushed ice if needed (about a cup).  Turn the blender on again for a couple of seconds.  Taste and adjust accordingly.  (For Ben that means adding a touch more tequila).

So there you have it.  Those are Ben's measurements.  I tried to translate it into normal, everyday measurements, but that was just impossible.

*I highlighted the restictor caps on the margarita mix and the tequila because the flow of liquid varies greatly whether or not the cap is on, so be careful!

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

In honor of the Kentucky Derby, Ben and I made a chocolate bourbon pecan pie this weekend.  Yummy!  AND I found out that this pie tastes even better after it has been refrigerated overnight.  As overwhelming as pecan pies may seem to be, this recipe breaks it down nicely, plus if you use store bought pie crust (shhh don't tell) it means prep time only takes about 15 minutes!

Ingredients
1 9" premade pie crust
3/4 cup chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup bourbon (or water)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons cornmeal
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Place pre-made pie crust in a glass pie dish.  Sprinkle chocolate morsels and chopped pecans in the bottom of the crust (see picture below).  In a saucepan, mix corn syrup, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and bourbon or water and boil for 3 minutes - stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, butter, cornmeal, vanilla, and salt.  Gradually mix 1/4 of the hot mixture in the egg mixture, whisking constantly.  Continue until all of the hot mixture is incorporated into the egg mixture.  Pour over the crust (see second picture below).  Bake for 55 minutes.  

The recipe I was using didn't call for extra pecans on top, but it makes it look so much better, so 35 minutes into the baking I took the pie out and arranged some pecans on top, then continued baking for 20 more minutes.  If you think the pecans are burning you can place some foil over the pie.

*You'll noticed that I cut back on some of the ingredients compared to Southern Living's recipe, because the pie crust could not hold everything.  But if you got a 10" crust you could probably use the same measurements as the recipe.

This recipe is adapted from Southern Living.

Cornflake Chicken

The Parmesan chicken I made last week was such a hit that I was going to make it again, but when I got home I found that we had no bread crumbs.  Because I wasn't about to get back out and buy some at the store I thought I was going to have to improvise on dinner.  So I looked in the pantry and saw that we had cornflakes.  I have always heard that using cornflakes for chicken is pretty good, but I was never brave enough to try it (putting cereal on my chicken weirded me out a little).  But I thought, well why not?  So I found a new recipe and gave it a shot.  It was amazing!

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 1/3 cup sour cream
2 cups crushed cornflakes
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons Lawry's
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a cooling rack and place it on a cookie sheet. Rinse and trim fat from chicken.  Pat dry with a towel.  Place cornflakes in a gallon size bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into crumbs. In a medium size bowl, mix cornflake crumbs, garlic powder, Lawry's, and salt and pepper.  Generously coat chicken with sour cream.  One piece at a time, place the chicken into cornflake bowl and coat well.  Place on rack.  Repeat with other chicken breasts.  Bake for 45 minutes and broil for 3-4 minutes.

The sour cream is amazing (but when is sour cream not amazing?).  It not only holds the cornflakes in place, but it keeps the chicken moist.  I'm really starting to like these coated chicken recipes.  If anyone else has any good ones and wants to share, send them my way!

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  It's supposed to rain here all weekend.  BOOOO.  But I have my eye on a pie that might be making an appearance next week!

this recipe is adapted from here.

Pomegranate Martini

I've been hearing a lot of buzz about pomegranate martinis, or pomtinis as I call them, and how they are healthier and yummier than other drinks.  Last night, I decided I needed to test this theory and today I am here to report that they are so good AND lower in calorie than other fruity drinks!

Ingredients
pomegranate syrup (grenadine)
vermouth
vodka
sugar
orange slice
ice

Place martini glasses in the freezer or place crushed ice in the glass to chill (see picture below).  Fill the shaker about 1/2 way with ice.  Pour 1 1/2 oz. vodka, 2 oz pomegranate syrup, and 1/2 teaspoon vermouth into the shaker.  Secure the shaker lid and shake until well-blended.  Run an orange slice around the rim of the martini glass and coat the rim with sugar.  Pour liquid into the glass and garnish with a thin orange slice or a pomegranate.  To be honest, if these measurements aren't enough for you, it won't hurt to add a little bit more of everything!

Happy almost summer!

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken

This is a great weeknight meal that doesn't take more than 45 minutes!  To make it crispier, I placed a wire rack on a cookie sheet and baked the chicken on top of that.  The spaghetti is optional, but I would recommend some sort of sauce for it, either red or white.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons Lowry's
2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash (or something similar)
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a wire rack and place on a cookie sheet (see above comment).  In a bowl, mix the olive oil and minced garlic.  In a larger bowl, mix bread crumbs, Lowry's, Mrs. Dash, pepper, 2 types of Parmesan and basil.  Dip each chicken breast in the olive oil first, then in the bread crumb mixture.  Make sure you coat the chicken breasts evenly with the crumbs.  Place on the wire rack and bake for 30 minutes.  Keep the oven rack in the middle of the oven and broil the chicken for 4 minutes (make sure that it does not burn).

*this recipe is adapted from here.

I'm Dating a Food Celebrity, Kind of

I know y'all are probably sick of hearing about how awesome the hotwing team is, but I've got to share just one more thing.  And since this is my blog, I can brag just a little bit more.  A new food blog in Memphis wrote a post about You are the Ranch Beneath my Wings, saying some very kind words about the hotwings!  Check out the post here.  If you live in the Memphis area, this would be a cool blog to follow. 

Search & Destroy Dining Guide also writes about various restaurants, cooking contests, and bars in Memphis.  They rate the food/service/drinks on a 1-5 "skull" system, instead of stars.  Ben's team was lucky enough to receive 5 skulls!  I just realized how silly I sound saying that, but I am so proud of them!

This is the picture that was in the Commercial Appeal on Tuesday. 

Ok, I'm done bragging.  This is the last time you'll hear me say "hotwing"...until the next contest!  HA!

P.S. I ordered five copies of the Commercial Appeal...yeah, I'm that person.