Orzo and Potato Parmesan

This was a pretty good dish. Although it is more of a side dish than a main dish. It was too salty though, so I would suggest going light on the salt, and reducing the Parmesan cheese as well. I only used 3/4 cup of Parmesan, and it was more than enough. Oh and I used chicken bullion instead of vegetable bullion.

Orzo and Potato Parmesan

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups water
• 1 cube vegetable bouillon
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in orzo and garlic, and saute until lightly browned. Place potatoes, carrot, and onion in the saucepan. Continue to cook and stir until tender. Season with dried Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
2. Mix water into the saucepan. Stir in vegetable bouillon until dissolved. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes, or until orzo is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Top with Parmesan cheese to serve.

Easy Batter Fruit Cobbler

I made this last night for FHE dessert. It was really easy and tasty. I used about 1 1/2 cups of frozen peaches and 1/2 cup fresh blueberries. I thought it turned out really well.

Easy Batter Fruit Cobbler

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups of sliced fresh peaches or nectarines, or whole blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination of fruits (or a 12-ounce package of frozen berries)
• 1 tablespoon sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, and heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put butter in an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan; set in oven to melt. When butter has melted, remove pan from oven.
3. Whisk flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Add milk; whisk to form a smooth batter. Pour batter into pan, then scatter fruit over batter. Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tb. of sugar.
4. Bake until batter browns and fruit bubbles, 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Oatmeal cookies with add-ins

I wanted to make some cookies for a friend's birthday. I've had this recipe for years and have never tried it. I think I got it from a newspaper, but I can't remember which one, or maybe it was a news program - I can't remember. There are so many different way to make these. Today I chose white chocolate chips and crasins. So good!

1 c. brown sugar
1 c. softened butter
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 c. rolled oats

Add-ins - pick one or two
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. crasins
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. pecan gems
1/2 c. macademia nuts
1/2 c. cashews
1/2 c. dried apricots

I didn't write down directions, but I imagine this would work:

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until mixed well. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients just until combined.
Drop by rounded tablespoons on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

Sweet Pork

I found this recipe on Jamie's recipe blog. I've been wanting to try it for some time, and I finally did. It it really good. It makes a ton, so we have plenty of leftovers, and I can even use it in a salad later, if there's still some left. It was really easy. The only change I made was that I used one 8 oz can of tomato sauce in place of 1 cup of salsa - I didn't have enough salsa and I was worried about it being too spicy for the kids. I think the spice level probably would have been fine, so either way it is great!

Sweet Pork

Yield: 8 servings

• 1 3 lb pork loin roast (be sure the roast is completely thawed)
• 1 16 oz jar Salsa (2 C salsa)
• 1 can green chilies
• ½ C brown sugar
• 1 can black beans, undrained
• Tortillas
• Cheese
• Lettuce
• Tomato

1. In the bottom of a large crock pot mix salsa, green chilies, brown sugar, and black beans.
2. Add the pork roast and cook on high for 4 hours.
3. Take the meat out of the Crockpot and shred it up with a fork.
4. Return meat to the Crockpot and cook 1 more hour.5. Serve on tortillas with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.

Coconut Mud Bars

I made this for our FHE caroling activity. I got the recipe from Mrs. Field's Best Ever Cookie Book. Since I had some whipping cream in the fridge from the pumpkin pie cake I made last week, I looked for a recipe where I could use up the rest of it. I wouldn't recommend substituting milk for the cream here. I didn't use coconut extract.

Bottom Layer
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 c. (packed) dark brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 c.) unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into small pieces

Ganache
10 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 c. heavy cream

Topping
4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. coconut extract (optional)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. shredded coconut
1 1/2 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Make the bottom layer: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. With a pastry blender (mine broke last week - it was the best $1 purchase at DI !), cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is set. Place the pan on a rack to cook, but leave oven on.

Meanwhile make the ganache: Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Ins a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Pour the ganache over the crust and refrigerate for 15 minutes to set the ganache.

Prepare the topping: In a medium bowl, cream the butter. Add the granulated sugar, vanilla, and coconut extract, if desired, and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs. Stir in the coconut and pecans.

Drop the coconut-pecan mixture evenly over the ganache and spread gently. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Set the pan on a wire rack to cook. Cut into bars. The recipe says 24, but I cut it into 32.

Pumpkin Pie Cake

I made this for the ward Christmas Party. Someone asked for the recipe and I realized I haven't made it since I started this blog. I got the recipe from Connie H* when I worked at Beehive Clothing. I've seen many versions of this recipe, but this is the one I like. I did change a few things though.

1 white cake mix (set aside 1 cup for the topping)
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 egg
1 large (29 oz) can pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
2 beaten eggs
1/3 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. milk
1 c. white sugar

For topping :
reserved 1 cup cake mix
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. cold butter or margarine
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together cake mix and flour. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add egg and mix well. Press into bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large bowl combine pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, eggs, brown sugar, milk and white sugar. Pour over crust in pan.

In a medium bowl mix one cup of reserved cake mix with sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle over pumpkin mixture.

Bake for 45 minutes at 375 F. Cool for at least 2 hours. Top with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream.

Farfalle Special

I made this a while ago, but never posted it. I made a lot of substitutions because I needed to use ingredients I had on hand, but I think it would taste great as written. I just used milk instead of cream, I used Parmesan Cheese in stead of Roquefort and some egg noodles and rotini since I didn't have farfalle. I also only used about 16 ounces, but that was a lot of pasta.

Farfalle Special

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 2 slices bacon
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3/4 cup fresh mushrooms, quartered
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 2 ounces Roquefort cheese
• 1 (4 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 18 ounces farfalle (bow tie) pasta

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
   
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon and onion in the butter for 7 to 8 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Stir in the heavy cream, salt, pepper, Roquefort cheese and tomato sauce; cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Pour over cooked farfalle pasta and serve.