Restaurant Style Steak

Restaurant Style Steak

Ingredients:

• filet mignon - 2, 8 ounce filets
• kosher salt - 4 teaspoons
• freshly cracked pepper - 4 teaspoons
• butter - 1 stick
• olive oil - 1 tablespoon
• garlic - 2 cloves, chopped
• parsley - 1 tablespoon, chopped
• thyme - 1 tablespoon, chopped
• lemon zest - 1 teaspoon

Instructions:

1. Take 1/2 stick of butter, softened, and mix well with the peeled, chopped garlic, the chopped herbs, and the lemon zest.  Form into a log and refrigerate.  Generously season the filet's with salt and pepper, approximately 1 teaspoon of seasoning per side.

2. Heat the remainder of the butter (1/2 stick) and the olive oil in a cast iron skillet to a screaming hot temperature. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.   Sear the filets in a screaming hot pan for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until a nice brown crust has formed. While the steak is searing, continue to spoon the residual butter in the pan on top of the meat while it's cooking.  Once both sides are seared, place in the center of the oven for about 6-8 minutes, depending upon how thick your steak is.  

3. In the last minute of cooking, take the log of compound butter and slice a nice thick piece to place on top. Your steak will be ready when it is approximately 135 degrees in the center, or when you push lightly on the top center of the steak and it gently and slowly bounces back.  (Note, this is medium rare. 150 degrees is medium. 170 degrees is well done.)

Mmmm. Steak. We used 12-oz. New York strip steak. It really made a difference to pan sear the meat first. It was so juice on the inside. We didn't make the herbed butter, though. That was a little much for us.  Sean always wants his with A1 and I always want ranch dressing with mine. But I'm sure it would have been delicious.

I don't have a cast iron skillet so we transferred the meat to a cookie sheet lined with foil. Worked just fine.

Crock Pot Chocolate Lava Cake

Crock Pot Chocolate Lava Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix
1 1/4 C milk
1/2 C vegetable or canola oil
3 eggs
1 (3.9 ounce) instant chocolate pudding
2 C milk (I used 1 %)
1 (12 ounce) bag milk chocolate chips
parchment paper

1. Grab a 3-4 quart crock pot and line it with parchment paper. Spray the inside of the paper with cooking spray. The parchment paper helps the cake cook without burning along the edges. You can make it without the paper, just be sure to watch it closely.
2. Find yourself a nice chocolate cake mix and pour it into your stand mixer or medium-sized mixing bowl.
3. Add 1 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup oil and 3 eggs. Beat on low-speed for 1 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the bowl and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the batter in nice and glossy.
4. Pour the batter into the lined crock pot.
5. Pour one small box of chocolate pudding into your stand mixer or medium-sized mixing bowl. Add 2 cups cold milk and beat it until the pudding thickens. Should take about 3-4 minutes.
6. Pour the pudding over the top of the cake batter. Don't stir it. Really, cross my heart and hope to die. It will cook up best if you leave the layers be.
7. Grab a bag of milk chocolate chips and pour the pretty little things all over the top of the pudding. Again, please do not stir it.
8. Cover the crock and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours, or until the top of the cake is set. The bottom layer of the cake will be all gooey and soft. Yum.
9. Place some on a plate and add a  cool scoop of ice cream or whipped cream right on top.

The original recipe says to cook this on low but it was not even close to being ready after 2 hours so I turned it up to high for another hour and it was perfect. So if you cook this on low I'd say it needs 3 or 4 hours to cook.
The bottom of the cake will be gooey and it's supposed to be. Make sure to get all that gooey goodness with your cake. Delicious with ice cream! It was so fun making cake in a crock pot!

Slow Cooker Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Slow Cooker Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

4 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard or 1/4 teaspoon of bottled mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Boil the macaroni in water for six minutes and drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Heat over medium high heat and stir until the cheese melts. Spray your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Combine cheese mixture, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper in your slow cooker. Add the drained macaroni and stir again. Cook on low for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally (I cooked mine for about 2 hours and stirred it twice and it was perfect).

The kids gobbled this up! Fun for me to try a new recipe, too!

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

• 1-1/4 pound Ground Chuck
• 1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
•  Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1-1/4 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.

To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.

Serve with crusty French bread.

I obviously didn't take this picture. I forgot last night and now it's in a tupperware container looking not as pretty as this one. Anyway, we all really liked this meal. Such simple ingredients making very kid friendly, in my opinion. I bet this would freeze well too. Make a whole batch and freeze half of it. We ate ours with garlic toast. Mmmm.

Chicken Fried Chicken with Country Gravy

Chicken Fried Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
oil

Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets heavy-duty plastic wrap and flatten to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Season with half the salt and pepper. Set aside.
Combine cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, and remaining salt and pepper. In a separate bowl whisk together milk and eggs. Dredge chicken in cracker crumb mixture; dip in milk mixture; dredge in cracker mixture again. Pour oil to a depth of 1/2-inch in a large skillet. Over medium high heat fry chicken 5 minutes per side until golden brown. Remove to wire rack in a cookie sheet. Keep chicken warm in a 225*F oven.

Country Gravy
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups milk
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat  until browned, about 5-10 minutes. Gradually stir in milk so that no lumps form, and continue cooking and stirring until thickened. If gravy becomes too thick, add more milk.

This has always been one of Sean's favorite meals and tonight was my first time making it. It's so satisfying to cook food you know people will love.  And then watch them enjoy it. Ahhhh. The chicken was delicious! That crust is awesome and the chicken was moist and tender on the inside.
Unfortunately I burned the gravy a little. I used the left over oil from frying the chicken and I think that was a mistake. It was already over cooked and it just didn't turn out. So, for the gravy I would suggest using a new batch. of oil. Next time I'll know how to make it better!

I got the recipe for the chicken here. The gravy recipe wasn't making sense to me so we found a different recipe for that here.

Homemade Copycat Big Mac Recipe

Homemade Copycat Big Mac Recipe:

(Makes 4 burgers)

Ingredients:Burger:4 sesame seed hamburger buns
4 additional bottom halves of hamburger buns
Special sauce (recipe below)
Shredded lettuce
2 pounds ground beef, split into 8 patties and grilled/cooked
Dill pickle slices
8 slices cheddar cheese

Special Sauce:1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons French dressing
4 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 Tablespoon minced white onion
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:Mix all sauce ingredients together until combined and let chill in the fridge.  To assemble, starting from the bottom:  bottom bun, special sauce, shredded lettuce, hamburger patty, two dill pickles, slice of cheese, additional bottom bun, special sauce, shredded lettuce, hamburger patty,  two dill pickles, top bun.

WOW!!! De-freaking-licious! I can't believe how good these were. That sauce tastes exactly like the real stuff. Sean chose this for his special birthday dinner. It was amazing. We obviously chose not to add the extra bun and burger patty and I think it would have been way too much for us if we had. 

You HAVE to use shredded lettuce and cheese singles or this won't taste nearly as good. Will be making these again!!!

Who need's McDonalds?!

Ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Ultimate Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Ingredients:
For the Chocolate Cake Layers

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as canola, soybean or vegetable blend
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
For the Peanut Butter Frosting

10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
For the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 9-inch round cake pans.
Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.
For the Chocolate Cake Layers
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine them
well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the
vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the
bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the 3 prepared cake pans.
3. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center
comes out almost clean. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully
peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely. Wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and place in the
freezer for at least half an hour, or up to a couple of days, in advance.
For the Peanut Butter Frosting

4. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.

Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and
scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3
to 4 minutes.
5. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.
For the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze

6. In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over simmering water, combine the chocolate, peanut

butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is
smooth.
7. Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth. Use while still warm.
Assemble the Cake
8. To frost the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or large serving plate. Spread 2/3
cup cup of the Peanut Butter Frosting evenly over the top. Repeat with the next layer. Place the last
layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Refrigerate the
frosted cake for at least half an hour to set the frosting.
9. To decorate with the Chocolate–Peanut Butter Glaze, simply pour the glaze over the top of the
cake, and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down
the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes to allow the glaze
and frosting to set completely. Remove about 1 hour before serving.

Wow this cake was intense. And way more work than I was expecting. If I ever get to take cooking classes I would love to learn more about making layer cakes. I suck at it. I did take a picture of the whole cake but it looks terrible so I just didn't post it. It turnout pretty on the inside though :)

This is one of those recipes where you need to read through the whole thing first before you start cooking. There were a lot of things I messed up on. And it probably wouldn't have felt like so much work if I did what the blogger suggests and make it over a couple of days.

When you make the chocolate glaze, let it cool/set for a few minutes before pouring it on the cake. Mine was all runny and warm so it just spilled over the top of the cake and pooled up on the plate. So hideous.

It was very rich and delicious though. The kids gobbled it up! It's a lot like the strawberry cake I made where the frosting in the middle would have been plenty.