Sunday Dinner

Today as we were making a dessert, Joe suggested that we take a picture and then we could post it on our blog. I was happy that he liked my blog enough to want to post on it and also enough to stake a claim to it. :) I love my husband!

As I mentioned before, we got a whole bunch of apples from our friend. Besides eating a few, the first thing we made with them was

Apple Cobbler Crisp


















We actually made dessert first, but for dinner we made Roasted Chicken with Ginger, Chile and Lime. It was a delicious recipe from Everyday Foods. Thanks, Martha Stewart!














Roasted Chicken with Ginger, Chile and Lime
2 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon butter, at room temperature
1 shallot, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 piece (2 inches long) fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon finely chopped pickled jalapeño chile
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons ground coriander
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 whole chicken (3 ½ pounds)
2 large onions, thickly sliced
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges (optional)
1. Make the ginger-chile butter: In a small bowl, using a spoon, mash together 2 tablespoons butter, shallot, ginger, jalapeño, lime juice, coriander, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 425°. Using fingers, gently loosen skin from chicken breasts. With a small spoon, insert butter mixture evenly between skin and meat; pat skin back down. Tie chicken legs together with cotton kitchen twine; tuck wing tips underneath. Rub chicken with remaining ½ teaspoon butter; season generously with salt and pepper. On a rimmed baking sheet, arrange onions in a single layer; place chicken on top.
3. Roast until chicken is well browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in a thigh (without touching bone) reads 175°, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board, and tent with oil; let rest 10 minutes (the temperature will rise by about 5 degrees).
4. On baking sheet, stir onions together with pan juices. Carve chicken; serve with onions and, if desired, lime wedges.

Per serving: 557 calories; 34 grams fat; 50.4 grams protein; 10.3 grams carbohydrates; 1.9 grams fiberNote: After taking it out of the oven, let the chicken rest at least 10 minutes. This will make the meat moister and easier to carve.

No-bakes

I really have come a long way since when we were first married two years ago. I mean - I created the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe all by myself. But I still have not been able to perfect a chocolate/peanut butter no-bake cookie recipe.
We used my sister's recipe before but we must have done something wrong because they turned out gooey. I found one online and it actually worked really well. I still want to improve on it a little, but they weren't very dry or too runny. Yay!

Our friend gave us loads of apples today, so now it's really time to get creative and see what we can come up with. My husband as the chef, and me as the taster. It works best that way.

No-bakes - The best so far
2 C Sugar
1/2 C Milk
1/2 C butter
1/4 C cocoa powder
Bring to a rolling boil, then boil and stir for 1 1/2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 C peanut butter and 1 tsp. Vanilla.
Add 3 C Quick Oats, and mix all together. Drop quickly to parchment or waxed paper.

I should try making just one big cookie - see how that goes. :)

Snow - Cold! Muffins - Warm!

It snowed today. Yes, it's April 18th, in Salt Lake City, and it snowed. It made me wish for something warm and sweet. So here is a recipe I modified for

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
15oz canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter - melted
6 ounces chocolate chips
Toasted Pecans (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl - mix well. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Add the pumpkin and the butter. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix gently, just to combine everything. Add chocolate chips and mix lightly until just combined. Divide into muffin cups; top with pecans if desired. Bake a 12 cup muffin pan for 20 to 25 minutes. Do not over bake. Test w/toothpick. They should still seem a little underdone when removed from the oven.

I'll see if I can post a picture when they come out of the oven. Since it makes more than 12 regular size muffins, I just put the extra in a mini loaf pan.