Your Recipes That I've Tried

I have my own recipes I post every Sunday but lately I've been trying a lot of other people's recipes and putting them to the test. Rather than try to pass them off as my own I figured it would better to share our test kitchen results here with you.

My pictures are limited but each of these links has a picture. View them only if your keyboard is drool-proof.

1. Panettone. Or, more specifically, French Toast Panettone from Food Blogga.
In the interest of full disclosure here I've known Susan for about a year now and have had the pleasure of meeting her in person (she's about the nicest person you'd ever meet) and she happens to be my partner on an upcoming project. While on the phone one day with her I was commenting on her gorgeous post about panettone French toast and asking if she had a recipe for the Italian panettone.

She let me know that panettone is not something that mere mortals can make, it is spontaneously generated in authentic Italian bakeries from a mysterious life force and that I should just buy one there. "Don't even try this at home" was the clear message. So I hung my head in sadness, knowing that there is not even one Italian bakery to be found in the entire state of Alaska. No panetonne for me.

Well the next thing I know I've got a package on my front door overflowing with homemade almond biscotti, gorgeous blood oranges and an honest-to-goodness Italian panettone straight from San Diego's Little Italy.

And there was much rejoicing.

Anyway, I decided to put her recipe to the test and straightaway made a batch of French toast (with Italian bread? Kind of ironic but there it is) and asked my hungry crew what the verdict was. Basically it was this: if my regular French toast is a 5 this stuff is a 20.

So let it be written so let it be done. The only problem is now my friendly panettone dealer has got me hooked on the stuff and pretty soon I'm going to be knocking over convenience stores to finance my next fix of the airy, sweet, buttery, orange-infused goodness.

2. Buttermilk Syrup from Hanging out the Wash.
In conjunction with the aforesaid panettone ecstasy I decided that mere maple-flavored syrup wasn't good enough. If you remember a couple weeks ago I posted a simple recipe for homemade syrup that we use all the time here and some of the comments it got cracked me up.

I don't think that if I'd advocated drowning kittens that I would have got more indignation from readers--apparently REAL maple syrup goes deep with those who happen to live close enought to get the stuff. They spotted my weakness right away and went in for the kill.

"This is NOT maple syrup." "This is maple-FLAVORED syrup." "I wouldn't eat this if I was starving in the desert and was given the choice between a bowl of this stuff and gnawing off my own leg." Was the general tone.

Point taken. I humbly bow and ask forgiveness. I'm afraid you've caught me living a lie because I've only used maple-flavored syrup for most of my life. Why?? Because a bottle of the real stuff with enough syrup to feed this crew for one meal would cost over $5 and I'm too darn cheap to pay that. Even for pancakes.

But, to bring this long story to a close I came across this post from Hanging out the Wash who touted the wonders of her Buttermilk Syrup and it was enough to tempt. I made up a batch to go with my panettone and I have to say it was very, very good.

You might want to accompany your meal with a side order of Lipitor but I really can't complain about the flavor, it was wonderful. A little more involved than my regular recipe but much more flavorful and thick.

3. Peanut Butter Brownies from PieKnits.
I've had this recipe sitting around for ages but only got around to making it this past month. It uses 1/2 cup of peanut butter in the mix which made some of the best-textured brownies I've ever had from scratch. Brownies are rather tricky and you can easily overbeat them or over cook but these turned out terrific.

She suggests using Nutella as a substitute for either a part or all of the peanut butter, as it too is a nut butter and has the proper consistency but I haven't had the chance to try that theory out. I can only imagine they'd be even better.

4. Slashed Chicken from Thinking About.
Julie does the same thing I do and posts recipes every so often. Recipes and book reviews are some of her favorite things to write about and I've tried a few of her recipes over the last two years and this one was really tasty. I think she got it from Williams-Sonoma but it went wonderfully with the side order of Saffron Orzo that I made and posted about several months ago.

5. Key Lime Cheesecake from Chocolate on My Cranium.
Last summer I had a Godiva key lime truffle and I still dream about it. I wouldn't have thought the flavors would blend so perfectly but each bite was pure heaven and when I saw this recipe I decided right away I couldn't rest until I'd tried it out.

I made it during the Christmas holidays--Christmas Eve I think--and it was very good. Nice texture and easy to put together though I think I would have liked just a tad more of the lime flavor which wasn't as strong as the chocolate. If you haven't made cheesecake before this would be a great place to start, it's a good one, and in my opinion cheesecake is one of the things that is ALWAYS better homemade. You just can't get a better cheesecake in a deli, store or bakery than you can make at home. The texture is so much better and the flavor is richer. Sorry Cheesecake Factory but it's the truth.

6. Egg Muffins by Kaylyn's Kitchen.
I'm always looking for good breakfast ideas and I liked these because not only were they very easy to make up, they keep for a long time after baking and they're good for breakfast on the go or a nice little brunch affair.

Grace is my quiche lover and so these appealed to her quiche-lovin' palette while not killing those who prefer to consume their eggs without a crust.

The boys thought they were just fancy scrambled eggs and Grace thought they were fancy mini-quiches. Everyone's happy.

7. Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares by Smitten Kitchen. I went into this recipe with very high hopes--kind of like when you go into a movie with these really high expectations? Well you know what happens when that's the case. Things rarely live up to all the hype and that was the case with these guys.

They were alright, but given the extreme amount of work they required and the small amount of actual treats the energy produced I'd have to say I' ndever make these again. I didn't think the texture was that great either.

Though I should be fair and say that when I made these it was a very--no, make that HUGELY--odd afternoon. I was woke up on a Saturday morning with a phone call from a woman whose daughter was a friend of Lillian's and apparently my dear five year-old had arranged an impromptu play day for herself without telling me and this woman had the foresight to call to confirm the plans before showing up on my doorstep.

I apologized for the mix up (did I mention this was pretty early on a Saturday?) but that really didn't deter her and I wasn't really able to gracefully escape her suggestion that the children still get together. She came over with her two children and instead of dropping the daughter off she stayed. And stayed. And staaaaaayyyyed. It was hours and I had all these things to get done but suddenly I was playing hostess and being forced to listen to her quandry of whether to be married to her jet-setting Australian boyfriend in Ireland, Macedonia or Australia (they just couldn't decide) So consequently my baking efforts were a little scatterbrained. I may have made a mistake amid all the chatter but still . . . not again.

8. Healthy Chili by Food Blogga. Again with the Food Blogga--but when she says "children will love" she means it. I have my own chili recipe that works fine--nothing stellar--but I decided to break out of the mold and try something new and this one was really good. Grace said without shame that it was the best chili she'd had so you can take that as a glowing recommendation.

9. Devil Dog Cake by Smitten Kitchen.
I love saying the name to this one over and over . . . "Devil Dog, Devil Dog, Devil Dog." Sounds like something you'd find at the ballpark at the concessions stand but no, it's a strange name for what is essentially a giant Hostess Ding Dong.

For those of you not acquainted with Hostess Ding Dongs I'm not sure what to say. I'll stay right here while you go quietly Google it because really, you just haven't lived.

Back? Good! Well, now that we're all on the same page again I have to say that I had very high hopes for this one. It intimidated me a bit so I put it off and put it off until finally I could stand it no longer and I gave it a try.

First, there is more chocolate in this recipe than in the entire town of Hershey, Pennsylvania. You mix 3 ounces of chocolate in with 1 and 1/2 cups coffee (though I substituted hot chocolate instead). Milk would probably have been better. Then you use 1 and 1/2 cups of cocoa powder. ONE and ONE HALF CUPS people! That's like the equivalent of three cakes. Seriously.

And that doesn't even include the ganache frosting which is more chocolate. The bottom line? It's a marvelously rich cake, nearly more like a brownie in color and richness, and you'll want to cut the pieces small. Or maybe not? Who knows.

The "marshmallow" frosting really didn't taste like the stuff in the Ding Dongs which was a huge disappointment. I can't believe I just wrote that sentence. No one will ever call me "gourmet" again after that, I promise you. You see in the top picture where I'm ready to frost it on the outside. I mostly posted that picture to make Grace mad--she was goofing off and talking to me while I was baking and I told her I was going to post it just to tweak her and she dared me. I win.

All in all a lot of work for the richest, densest cake you'll ever eat and it was really good. Not exactly like a Ding Dong but probably close enough.

10. Grandma's Chocolate Pie from Homesick Texan.
Another Christmas recipe that I made for the big day--in our family you don't just make "a" pie for Christmas, you make one for each person. That way everyone has a fine selection and there are always leftovers for the next three months.

Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little but I made four pies, this one being among them, and it was very good. Better than my original chocolate pie recipe I've used for years because this one cut more easily and neatly. I had thought that it was going to be more of a silk pie texture but it's really a custard, which I discovered very quickly when I actually got into baking the recipe, but that didn't stop us from snarfing it down.

I'm starting to wonder if we eat too many sweets, judging from the rather large representation of sweet stuff on this list. Where are the Brussel sprouts? I should eat more vegetables.

11. Raspberry Coffee Cake/Danish Braid from Kiddio. This one's a definite keeper. I made this for a breakfast a few weeks ago and it was very well received though I did substitute blueberries for raspberries. Nothing against raspberries you understand, it's just what I had on hand.

The thing that's nice about this is the pastry. If you're ever afraid of working with the stuff this one is easily rolled and prepared and shouldn't give you any trouble. And then it's fluffier and more substantial than a traditional pie crust style pastry, the cheese and leaven gives it some oomph.

12. Cornish Game Hens by Motherhood for Dummies. When I saw this post it shocked me that I'd never in my entire life eaten a Cornish game hen. Never. It's not as if it's an issue with me or anything it's just that coming from a huge family of eight it wasn't something you'd find on the menu and then I never, ever order meat when I'm in a restaurant. Never. It's always the same: soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas or pizza. Period. No meat as an entree.

So I was excited to surprise the kids with their "very own cute little chickens" as they were called. And let me tell you it was a big hit. The kids loved having a personalized fowl and were thrilled at the cuteness thereof. There really isn't anything to it, just as her recipe says you just get some bottled marinade if you want to be fast and follow the package directions on the bird.

Fancy schmancy and oh so tasty.

13. 5 Minute Chocolate Cake by Emily Rose. I have saved the very best for last. This is my new ultimate, favorite, go-to recipe that I can't believe I've lived without thus far. This is the deal: You put a few easy ingredients in a mug. Stir. Microwave three minutes. You've got cake.

And not just any cake--really really good cake that smells so fine cooking that your mailman stopping by sniffs and wants to know what you're baking.

The only thing is, the recipe makes quite a large mug o' cake. It's very dense, almost like a brownie, and I made the mistake--well not really a mistake now, nothing involving chocolate cake is ever a true mistake is it?--of making it for the kids for their after-school snack. They gobbled it up but once we'd finished we all realized that we'd never be hungry again. The meal was that big.

So we ended up skipping dinner and calling the whole chocolate cake thing good. Andrew was out of town so who was going to force us to do otherwise right?

Anyway, the recipe is so easy I've got it memorized though I won't list it here so you'll have to go to the source to find it. I promise it will be worth the click.

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