Cookies -n- Cream Fudge (sorry it's been so long everybody)!

Ingredients
- 3 cups of granulated sugar
-3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter or margarine (oh come on, of course you should get butter haha)
-2/3 cup (.5 fl.-oz can) Evaporated Milk
-2 cups White Morsels (aka white chocolate chips)
-1 jar of marshmallow creme (if you're choosing between the little and big jar, it's the big one)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup of finely crushed Oreos(TM)
-1 cup of crumbled Oreos(TM)


Directions
1. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil (We used an 8x8 and didn't line it; it was fine).
2. Combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk into a medium, heavy-duty saucepan (this will produce a LOT, so make sure that you get a big enough pot. Ours was a 2-quart pot, and it was barely big enough). Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in morsels (chips), marshmallow creme, finely crushed cookies, and vanilla extract. Pour into the pan. Sprinkle crumbled cookies on top. Push them into the fudge so that when it hardens, they'll be stuck in. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.



You're done!! It's delicious, although you kind of feel like you're going to fall over dead if you eat too much; it's that kind of delicious. I mean, check out those pictures. How could something that looks that good be...anything but amazing?

Week 6: Crawfish Etouffee

Andrew does not like this recipe; he's not a fan of onions and peppers, the "taste" apparently, does not sit well. This recipe is a bastardization of a recipe given to me by my mom, which is of course not nearly as good as hers (which is generally made from tails that she/family friends have personally boiled, tailed, and peeled. So, here's the recipe. It's really simple and good for people who want to make something that sounds really impressive but may not be as difficult to make as you might think (but shhhh you don't have to tell anyone else that :P)

Ingredients:
A stick of butter
Half a Bell Pepper
Half an Onion
Crawfish tails (they have them frozen, but you should try to buy them as a Louisiana product)
Rice (I used instant rice because I'm a fan of instant gratification!)
1 can cream of celery
1 can cream of mushroom
cayenne pepper
Tony's seasoning (or some seasoning similar to this)


Directions:
1. Chop the bell pepper half. I use an electric chopper because it makes really fine pieces, but you may hand chop it. You want it minced. Do the same with the onion. Add this to a 2 quart pot on medium-high heat. Add the BUTTER :D
2. Caramelize the peppers and onions (pretty much just stir them every once in a while to make sure they don't stick/burn until they turn squishy. Add some cayenne pepper, not very much (it will be overpowering if you do). Add around 1/8 tsp. Stir.
3. Add 1 can of cream of celery. Stir into caramelized pepper/onion/butter mixture. Add a sprinkle of Tony's. Heat all the way through.

4. Stir in the crawfish tails. Keep the heat on medium-high. Add a sprinkle more of Tony's. Add the can of cream of mushroom.
5. Add Tony's/cayenne pepper to taste. Heat all the way through. Let the heat travel through. Make sure it is stirred and mixed through so the deliciousness can be tasted all the way through :)
6. Serve over rice. (As I said, I used instant rice)



This recipe is delicious and is one of my favorites! It's pretty simple, but it takes a lot of self-decisions. There are no, let sit for x minutes, it's a touch-and-go situation.

Barbecued Zucchini & Cookies: (Chocolate Chip Malted Milk Balls)

After a sort of hiatus that Andrew and I took as a result of a few missed weeks initially due to a trip to Arkansas, then Mardi Gras, and then it had become habit. Although today is not Sunday, we are adding this blog in order to get back in the game!

So, while I was home at my parents' house this past weekend, we barbecued and my mother suggested I post about our barbecued zucchini. So, here's a simple recipe for something I find to be delicious. If you're worried about it being too healthy, read the recipe and you will find you are mistaken!

Barbecued Zucchini

Ingredients
a few whole zucchini, any size, though I would suggest medium-large
BUTTER
A seasoning such as Tony's or Slap Yo' Mama that is made of cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, etc.
A barbecue pit that has been going long enough to be hot and ready

Directions
1. On a cutting board and with a large, sharp knife, slice the zucchini in half lengthwise (don't slice it into a bunch of little pieces like I did the first time I was told to "horizontally slice it").
2. Lay the zucchini with the flat side up and cut slices into it with the knife.
3. Take about a tablespoon of butter per half of zucchini and smother it into the cuts made in step two and coat it. It's okay if it isn't completely smooth because it will melt. Sprinkle the seasoning over the top (not too much, or it will become too salty)
4. Place on a higher rack of the barbecue pit with the butter side up. Leave for about 7 minutes and then flip. After another 7 minutes has passed, flip back up. You may cook to taste. The longer they cook, the softer they will become, so if you prefer it crunchier you may not want to leave it for so long.



QED for this recipe and so onto the next! Chocolate Chip Malted Milk Ball Cookies! Andrew's week has been full of homework and tests, and mine has been filled with the same along with allergies and other troubles, so he proposed that we go out and eat and then bake. I have to admit, he did all of the work. He's the baker of our cooking team, and I prefer what I like to think of is the more substantial dinner part. This recipe called for a lot of recipes with memories, like Ovaltine, which was certainly a flashback to A Christmas Story.


Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of Ovaltine
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups roughly crushed chocolate-covered malted milk balls (like Whoppers)
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels


Directions
1. Whisk flour, Ovaltine, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about three minutes, and scraping down bowl once or twice. Beat in vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl. Add about one-third of flour mixture and mix on low speed. Gradually add remaining flour mixture, mixing just until blended. Stir in crushed malted milk balls and chocolate morsels. To crush the Whoppers, Andrew put them in a sturdy bowl and crushed them using a wooden spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and chill dough for at least two hours or overnight (I'm pretty sure we didn't do this and it turned out fine. The softer the dough, the more likely the cookies are to spread).
3. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (we also didn't line it, but it should be fine again. It doesn't stick).
4. Drop chilled dough by generously rounded tablespoon two inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake until edges and tops just begin to turn light golden brown, about twelve minutes. Place sheets on racks to cool for five minutes, then remove cookies from sheets and place directly on racks to cool completely.


You're done and they're pretty good. It's like biting into a chocolate chip cookie with an extra surprise!

Week 4: Smore Cookies :)

I like making regular food, you know, like meals, but I decided to break down and pick a dessert for this week. But next time!!! Le sigh. Anyway, we decided to use a recipe that combines the deliciousness of smores with the awesomeness of the classic chocolate chip cookie. Prepare yourself for a smorgasbord of amazing.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about one of those enclosed packs out of the box)
1 tsp of baking soda
1 twp salt
1 dash of cinnamon
2 softened sticks of butter
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups miniature chocolate chips (about a bag)
1.5 cups of mini-marshmallows (we used about half a bag)
2 chopped Hershey bars (we had to use about 2.5 bars, not the huge bars)

Steps to Yummy:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and a dash of cinnamon. In a second, bigger bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until creamy.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth.

Stir in the chocolate chips. (this will seem like a LOT of chocolate chips)
3. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (ours didn't stick, but also we noticed that the cookies didn't get taller after baking, but they did horizontally expand)
4. Bake for 8 minutes (on the top rack) and remove from the oven. Push 3-4 marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey bar into each of the cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes (we baked for an additional 2 minutes instead) or until fully cooked.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Andrew says: They were pretty good, but I still prefer the cinnamon roll. I didn't taste the graham crackers, and we should have used less chocolate chips.
Lacey says: they weren't bad, but they made my stomach hurt after 2. And they're a little messy to eat.
Michael (guest judge) says: they stick together, don't stack them!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls-Week 3

This week it was Andrew's turn, and he first thought, hmm, maybe a king cake but stumbleupon provided him with the idea of homemade cinnamon rolls, right down to the icing.

Cinnamon Roll Recipe + Icing Recipe
Cinnamon Roll Ingredients:
1 quart of whole milk
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of sugar
2 packages of active yeast
8 cups of all-purpose flour + 1 cup flour
1 heaping tsp of baking powder
1 scant tsp of baking soda
1 heaping tbs of salt
1.5-2 cups flour (Plus flour to spread out on the table)
1 cup of sugar
ground cinnamon

Directions for Cinnamon Rolls:
1. Mix 1 quart of whole milk, 1 cup of vegetable oil, and one cup of sugar in a pan. "scald" the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool for 45 min.-1 hour.

2. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm (NOT HOT), sprinkle in 2 packets of active dry yeast. Let sit for a minute and then add 8 cups of all purpose flour.
3. Stir the mixture together. Cover and let sit for at least an hour. After an hour the dough will have risen. Add 1 cup of flour.

4. Add 1 heaping tsp of baking powder, 1 scant tsp of baking soda, and 1 heaping tablespoon of salt. Stir the mixture together. (We had to add much more flour to make the next step a lot easier because our dough was too wet).

5. Sprinkle surface (a counter, preferably) generously with flour. Also, preheat the oven to 400C.
6. Form half of the dough into a rough rectangle, then roll it thin, trying to maintain a general rectangular shape. Increase both its length and width as you roll.
7. Drizzle on the 1.5-2 cups of butter over the dough, and sprinkle over it with 1 cup of sugar. Now generously cover it with cinnamon (remember, they're "cinnamon" rolls!).
8. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Some of the butter/sugar/cinnamon mixture is going to ooze out the end, but it will be okay. be careful because this gets messy! Pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
9. Take the roll and cut them into pieces 3/4"-1" thick. Put around seven per pie tin. (this should fill about 3.5 pie tins.


10. Repeat for other half of the dough.
11. Let the rolls sit for 20-30 minutes to rise, and then bake them at 400 degrees until light golden brown. This takes about 15-18 minutes. Our stove, which has an electric oven, baked them in about 16 minutes.
12. Take them out.
13. Ice them and enjoy :)


Icing Ingredients:
1 bag of confectioner's sugar
2 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup of melted butter
1/4 cup of brewed coffee
1/8 tsp of salt

Directions for Icing:
1. In a large mixing bowl, add 1 bag of powdered sugar. Then add 2 tsp of maple flavoring, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/4 cup of melted butter, 1/4 cup of brewed coffee, and the salt.

2. Mix well. It will be thick and pourable. Pour over the cooked cinnamon rolls and enjoy!!!




Andrew's Review: Thumbs up, they're delicious. I want to make them again right now.
Lacey's Review: They were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I felt like I was going to get sick almost, though, because they were so rich and sweet.

Chicken and Dumplings-Week 2

Hi! It was my choice this time, and I picked out this. Andrew favors fowl...

Chicken and Dumplings Recipe:
1 chicken or chicken pieces, about 4.5-5.5 lbs (we used boneless, but remember it swells!)
4 cups of water
4 cups of chicken broth (generally a box is about 4 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried leaf thyme (Don't worry if it seems strong, it will become much fainter after cooking)
2 carrots, cut into chunks (opt)
2 ribs celery, cut in chunks (opt)
1 medium onion, cut into chunks (opt)
(the previously mentioned three items are used for the broth)
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup milk
2-4 tbs butter
*Alterations by us: No Carrots, No Celery*

Directions:
1. Wash chicken and place into a large stockpot; add water and chicken broth. Add the 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, thyme, carrots, celery, and onion and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 60-75 minutes, or until chicken is very tender.
2. Remove chicken to a large bowl and set aside to cool. Strain broth into another bowl, then pour back into the stockpot discarding the solids.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt. With ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk just until dough clumps together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead about 5 times. Roll the dough out to about 1/8" thickness and cut into 3x1 inch strips or squares. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter. (We didn't use rolled dumplings, we rolled out the dough and then made small ball-like shapes).
4. Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Stir in the 1 cup of milk and the butter. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
5. Drop the dumplings, a few at a time, into the boiling chicken broth. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

6. Meanwhile, remove cooled chicken from bones and cut into pieces. Add the chicken pieces to the simmering broth and heat through.


Our Opinion:
Andrew- I like it; it is different from the chicken and dumplings than I've had as a child, and is probably the first time I've had it in a decade, but I really like it. I like it more than the crack dip.
Lacey- AMAZING! It was SO GOOD. There was almost too much chicken for the broth, so be careful of how much you use if you're using boneless. The variations we made to the recipes didn't make it taste bad or anything. I think, if anything, it made it better. The yield is also very large.

A Delicious Dip to start the New Year! + Update

Today we're trying crack dip, also known as buffalo chicken dip. We couldn't find any buffalo sauce, so we're using hot barbecue sauce. Firstly, here's the recipe:

8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup ranch salad dressing
1/4 cup blue cheese salad dressing (either of the salad dressings may substitute the other if you do not care for blue cheese or ranch salad dressing)
1/2 cup buffalo sauce or buffalo style barbecue sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (shredded mozzarella cheese can be substituted)
2 cans chicken breast (one can use rotisserie chicken, chicken breast, etc, in lieu of the canned variety)


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a baking dish, mix cream cheese, salad dressings, buffalo sauce, and cheese. Stir until combined. Stir in chicken.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the dish is heated through. Serve with what is your preference, tortilla chips, hard bread, vegetables, etc.
We also sprinkled cheese on the top of ours.

So was it good?
Andrew's Review: It was great! The taste is a little surprising, from its appearance you would think it would be more cheesy, meaty, and salty, but it's actually tangy. The hot barbecue sauce didn't come through strongly, but overall I really liked it.
Lacey's Review: I think next time we will find the buffalo sauce. To me, it tastes a bit like barbecued chips, but tangier. It was delicious, but not my favorite.

Update

So I had lied to make Andrew feel better earlier; the past one was actually really really really bad. We remade it today with the appropriate ingredients (aka actual Buffalo Wing sauce etc), and it was AWESOME!!! It's crazy how bad the hot barbecue sauce made it. We generally tweak our recipes, but that was one time it did NOT work out okay. So, new review: with the appropriate ingredients, it's amazing. If not, it's really really bad. Let's just say I couldn't even suck it up and eat it for the people who would have appreciated food.

Super Update!

So this time we made it with crumbled blue cheese instead of Mozzarella. Honestly, it tasted almost exactly the same...the real difference was texture. It was a lot thicker with Mozzerella...almost creamier, I suppose from the melted cheese! Blue cheese doesn't have that same thickness. It's still delicious :D
Andrew liked it best in this manner. I liked it best in the previous update (above). I like the texture more.