Crazy Cooking Challenge-Dilled Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix

I am so glad that Tina over at Mom’s Crazy Cooking is continuing to host Crazy Cooking Challenge.  I have so much fun with this every month.  If you would like to join in the fun, just click on over to get the details and to see what the challenges are for the next several months.

This month’s challenge is Ranch Dressing /Dip.  I suspect that most cooks have their own special recipe for this, and I am sharing a variation that is one of my favorites.  I wanted to change my basic Ranch Dressing Mix recipe up a bit; so, since I really like dill, I decided to add dried dill to the rest of the ingredients.  I guess I could say it turned out well, I am tempted to eat it by the spoonful.

To vary this when using it as a dip, I sometimes add some finely chopped dill pickle, some finely chopped black olives and some finely chopped red pepper just because I like them.

The dry mix ingredients can be kept tightly sealed for a long time if stored in a cool, dry place. Because of the paprika, the dressing/dip is a light pink color and not white like most ranch dressings.

Dilled Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix
3 T. dried minced onion
1 T. dried parsley
1 T. dried minced garlic
2 t. paprika
2 t. sugar
1 t. coarsely ground pepper
1 t. tarragon
1 T. dried dill
1 t. salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Store in a tightly covered container in a cool, dry place.  Makes about 7 to 8 tablespoons of mix, enough for 7 to 8 batches of dressing/dip.

To Make Dressing/Dip
1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 c. buttermilk or regular milk (add more for dressing, less for dip)
2 T. dill pickle juice
1 T. Dilled Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix

In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk or milk and the dill pickle juice.  Mix well.  Add dip mix and mix until well combined.  Place in a covered container and chill at least a few hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.  Makes 1 3/4 to 2 c. dressing or dip.  Serve as a salad dressing or as a dip with crackers, pita chips, or veggies for dippers.  I like to put this on baked potatoes, too.

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Peanut Butter/Chocolate Cheesecake Cups

It is time for another Crazy Cooking Challenge hosted by Tina over at Mom’s Crazy Cooking.  This month’s subject is Cheesecake.

Since Tina changed the guidelines last month, and we can now find our recipes anywhere, I decided to share a long time favorite of mine.  I don’t make a lot of cheesecake, but I do love these little Peanut Butter/Chocolate Cheesecake Cups.  Peanut Butter and Chocolate just go so well together.  I have been making this recipe for many years.  I clipped it from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.


If I am buying cream cheese just for this recipe, I buy one 8-oz. pkg. and one 3 oz. pkg.  I, however, usually have 8 oz. pkgs. of cream cheese on hand and use 1 1/2 8 oz. pkgs. of cream cheese.  It doesn’t seem to make much difference in the final result.

You MUST use creamy peanut butter in this recipe.  I tried crunchy once, and it just did not work.  The peanut butter and chocolate mixture stayed separated.  I use a measuring tablespoon to distribute the batters into the muffin cups. I like to drop the chocolate mixture into the peanut butter mixture and just let it settle.  This usually results in a little ring of peanut butter batter showing around the edges of the chocolate.

For an elegant presentation, peel off the paper liners, invert the cups on a dessert plate and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

These are great to take to a party or a potluck.

Peanut Butter/Chocolate Cheesecake Cups
from Better Homes and Gardens magazine

3/4 c. crushed chocolate covered graham crackers
11 to 12-oz. cream cheese, softened  (may be low fat, but not fat-free)
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs at room temperature and slightly beaten
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/3 c. creamy peanut butter

Line a 2 1/2-inch muffin pan with paper baking cups.  Place about 1 T. crushed chocolate covered graham crackers in the bottom of each cup, spreading evenly.  In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy.  Beat in milk.  Add eggs, beating until just blended.   (Do not overmix.)  Divide batter in half.  Stir melted chocolate into one-half the batter, mixing until smooth.  Stir peanut butter into the second half of the batter, mixing until smooth.  Place 2 T. peanut butter mixture in each muffin cup.  Spread evenly.  Spoon 2 T. chocolate mixture into the center of the peanut butter mixture and let it settle.  Bake at 325 degrees 20-25 minutes or until set.  Cool on a wire rack.  Place in a covered container and chill until serving time.  Peel off paper cups and invert onto a dessert dish to serve.  Top with a dollop of whipped cream.  Makes 12 cheesecake cups.

Linking to:  Crazy Cooking Challenge

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Japanese Fried Chicken

When I saw that Fried Chicken was the subject for this month’s Crazy Cooking Challenge, I knew that I wanted to do a different kind of recipe and that I wanted to use chicken thighs.  We eat thighs a lot at our house, both because we like them and they make an inexpensive main dish.

After a bit of searching, I found Chicken Karaage-Japanese Fried Chicken over at Just Hungry.  I knew that I had found what I wanted to make.

I wasn’t sure about the need to deep fry this.  Hubby is the deep fryer in this family and does it in a commercial deep fryer that he has in his shop.  I don’t have a small electric deep fryer so knew I would have to do this the old-fashioned way in a saucepan on the stove.  The recipe sounded so good, however, that I decided to plunge ahead.

I used 6 chicken thighs and boned them myself.  Boneless thighs are available if one wishes to skip this step.  I chose to leave the skin as Makiko suggested.  Because I had more chicken than used in the original recipe, I doubled the marinade ingredients which seemed to make enough.  I did not have any sake so used mirin.  Makiko lists sherry as the first preferred substitute for sake so I could have used that.

Potato starch is the preferred coating for Karaage although cornstarch can be used.  I had potato starch on hand so did use that.  It gave the chicken a crisp, shattery coating like a potato chip.  The cornstarch is supposed to give a heavier coating more like a tortilla chip.  I needed to use about 1 1/2 cups of potato starch for the amount of chicken pieces that I had.

I got my oil too hot initially and the first chicken pieces turned out a bit black.  They tasted OK, just were not very pretty.  The ones in the photo are better, but my picture is not as nice as the one on Makiko’s original post.  The potato starch also seemed to leave some residue which shows in the photo also.  The chicken was done so I am not sure why that happened.  It did not affect the flavor of the chicken.

Though not traditional, I chose to make a Sweet and Sour Sauce to serve with the chicken.  We thought it was all very good.  I will definitely make this dish again, but I will have hubby do the deep frying.

.

Chicken Karaage
adapted from Just Hungry

6 chicken thighs, boned and cut into large bite-size pieces
1 piece fresh ginger (about the size of your thumb), grated
6 T. soy sauce (I use low sodium)
2 T. sake, sherry, or mirin
about 1 1/2 c. potato starch or cornstarch

Combine ginger, soy sauce, and sake, sherry, or mirin.  Pour over chicken pieces and mix well.  Let marinate for about 30 minutes.  Heat oil in a pan or deep fryer to abut 355 degrees.  Drain chicken pieces and roll in potato starch.  Add a few pieces at a time to the hot oil and fry until a deep golden brown and the chicken is cooked through.  Drain on a wire rack with paper towels placed underneath.  Makes about 4 servings.  Serve with Sweet and Sour Sauce, if desired.

Sweet and Sour Sauce
3/4 c. pineapple juice (this is a 6 oz. can)
3/4 c. vinegar (I use rice vinegar)
3/4 c. ketchup
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
3 T. cornstarch

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and mix well.  Place over medium heat and stir until thick and clear.  Store in the refrigerator.  This will keep for awhile.  Makes abut 2 c.

Each month for the Crazy Cooking Challenge our hostess, Tina, assigns a specific dish to make.  Until this month, we were to obtain the recipe from another blog.  Now we can obtain the recipe from anywhere, even dream one up.  This is such a fun challenge to do.  I invite you to join us next month and share a recipe for cheesecake.  Just click on over to Tina's Crazy Cooking Challenge page to sign up.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Loaded Pizza Grilled Cheese

 When I saw that grilled cheese was the topic for May’s Crazy Cooking Challenge, I knew that I wanted to do something pizza inspired.  I found a recipe for Pepperoni Pizza Grilled Cheese at Never Enough Thyme.  I wanted a few more things in my sandwich so here is my take on that recipe.

Lana made a compound butter.  I did, too, but added garlic powder to mine, used Italian seasonings instead of oregano, and used 1/4 c. parmesan cheese.

I make my own no cook pizza sauce so I made up a recipe of that.  If I have leftover pizza sauce, I put it in ice cube trays and freeze i.  I put the frozen in a freezer bag; and when I want just a little pizza sauce, I put them in a bowl and thaw in the microwave. 

Besides cheese and pepperoni, I wanted Italian sausage, olives and green onion in my sandwich.  I browned up a pound of Italian sausage, drained it and blotted it with paper towels.  That is the amount that I had on hand so there was extra sausage.  I divided it into 1/4 c. amounts, put that in snack bags and put them into a freezer bag for the freezer.

I like to degrease my pepperoni so I put the amount needed for the sandwich between two pieces of paper towel and microwave it for 5 seconds.

A sturdy bread is needed to hold all the filling in this sandwich.  I used a multi-grain bread in my sandwich, but any favorite sturdy bread can be used.

I found a mozzarella/ provolone cheese blend at my local grocery store.  They had both sliced and shredded, and it was BOGO so I got both.  I ended up using the shredded.

Although I did not do it when I made this sandwich, I like Lana’s idea to brown the sandwich on both sides and then put it in a 325 degree oven to finish melting the cheese.  I think this would be good to do when making a number of sandwiches at a time.

Italian Garlic and Cheese Butter
!/2 c. butter, softened
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. Italian seasoning
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese (shelf stable)

Combine ingredients and mix well.  Chill to let the flavors blend but bring to room temperature to spread on your sandwich.  Makes about 3/4 c.

No Cook Pizza Sauce
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 t. sugar or to taste
1 t. dry oregano
1/2 t. marjoram
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. garlic salt or 1/4 t. each garlic powder and salt

Combine ingredients and let set at least one hour to let flavors blend.  If using sooner than that I would heat the mixture until it boils and simmer 5 to 10 minutes.  Makes 1 cup.

To make one sandwich:
2 slices bread of choice
2 T. Italian Garlic and Cheese Butter
2 T. pizza sauce
enough pepperoni slices to cover 1 slice of bread, usually 5 to 6
1/4 c. mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. Italian sausage, cooked
sliced ripe olives as desired
sliced green onion as desired

Place pizza slices between two layers of paper towel and microwave 5 seconds to degrease and cook slightly.  Set aside.  Place a skillet over medium heat and start  heating it up.  Spread one side of one slice of bread with about 1 T. butter mixture.  Place in skillet.  Spread about 1 T. pizza sauce on the other side of bread.  Arrange pizza slices on the bread.  Top  with the cheese.  Sprinkle the Italian sausage over the cheese.  Top with the amount of sliced ripe olives and green onions desired.  Spread remaining pizza sauce on second slice of bread.  Place bread on sandwich and spread remaining butter on the top side.  Press down lightly to help keep ingredients together.  Continue cooking on first side until bread is as brown as you like.  Turn sandwich and cook on second side until it is as brown as you like and cheese has melted.  Remove sandwich to a plate, cut it in half and enjoy.  Makes 1 sandwich.

Come and join in for next month's challenge.  You can get all the details at Tina's Mom's Crazy Cooking blog.

Linking to:  Crazy Cooking Challenge

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti

This month's assignment for the Crazy Cooking Challenge was to find  and make a dish that contained spaghetti and a red sauce.  We prefer baked spaghetti, and I found Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti at  Plain Chicken.  She has another one called Baked Spasagna (love the name) that I considered also, but I had all the ingredients to make the first one so decided that it would be a good one to go with.  Update:  Just yesterday she posted a recipe for Easy Spasagna which is a simplified version of the Baked Spasagna.  Since they all sound delicious, I will be making all three of them at some point.

Of course, I can never leave well enough alone so I did make some changes.  I like to add additional vegetables to dishes like this so I added chopped onion, celery, carrots, red and yellow peppers.  I am also a cheesehead so had to add some additional cheese.   I would love sliced black olives added to this, but hubby doesn’t like them, so I will have to save that for when I make this for a church potluck.

I broke the spaghetti in half before I cooked it, but had some trouble when mixing in the cream cheese.  I may not have let the cream cheese soften enough.  Next time I will break the spaghetti into thirds.

I used Ragu Sauce 4 Cheese flavor.  I use 1/3 c. water to rinse out the sauce jar.  This little bit of water, put in the empty sauce jar and shaken, gets all the sauce out of the jar and doesn't affect the flavor of the sauce.  I have included that 1/3 c. water in the recipe.

I liked this dish a lot and will be making it again.

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti
adapted from Plain Chicken
12 oz. spaghetti
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/3 c. chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/3 c. chopped carrot
1/3 c. chopped yellow pepper
1/3 c. chopped red pepper
1 (28 oz.) jar prepared spaghetti sauce
1/3 c. water
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese (low-fat is OK)
1 t. Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (8 oz.) pkg. shredded Italian cheese or mozzarella, divided
1/2 c. parmesan cheese, grated (the refrigerated kind)

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  While water is heating and spaghetti is cooking, brown ground beef, onion, celery, carrots, red and yellow peppers until brown.  Add spaghetti sauce.  Rinse out sauce jar with measured out water and add to skillet.  Drain cooked spaghetti.  Put spaghetti back in pan and mix in cream cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic.  Mix until spaghetti is thoroughly coated.  Place a layer of sauce/ground beef mixture in bottom of a greased 9x13-inch baking pan.  Cover with spaghetti mixture.  Sprinkle 1 c. of cheese over the spaghetti.  Spread remaining sauce mixture over spaghetti.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Remove cover and sprinkle remaining cup of cheese and parmesan cheese over the top.  Return to oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.  Makes at least 8 servings.

Participating in this challenge is great fun.  One can easily sit out any month if one is too busy or not interested in the subject.  For information about participating in the challenge just click on over to Tina's blog.

Linking to Ingredient Spotlight

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Fudge Ripple Cake

When I saw this cake at Mrs. Happy Homemaker, I knew that I had to make it.  Her cake looked wonderful and delicious.  I had only one problem (I thought), and that was that I did not have any layer cake pans.  I never make layer cakes and long ago disposed of my pans.  Nevertheless, I knew that I would forge on.  Thus begins the Saga of the Fudge Ripple Cake.

I gathered my ingredients and stirred up the cake.  I use Saco Cultured Buttermilk Blend so  I used that instead of liquid buttermilk.  I decided to use butter instead of the shortening that was used in the original recipe.  I lined a 9x13-inch pan with foil so that I could remove the cake from the pan easily.

Next I stirred up the cream cheese/sweetened condensed milk topping.  I make my own homemade sweetened condensed milk so I had made up a batch of that.  I poured the mixture over the cake batter and baked the cake.  When I took the cake from the oven I noticed that the top did not look like the pictures in Mrs. Happy Homemaker’s post.  It didn’t seem like a problem.

Since I was going to lose daylight to take pictures, I let the cake set overnight before I made the frosting.  The next day I made up the frosting.  I had only 1 cup of cocoa so used that instead of the 1 1/3 cups cocoa asked for.  The frosting was plenty chocolaty enough for me, but use the 1 1/3 cups if you are really into chocolate.

I removed the cake from the pan and put it in a jelly-roll pan to frost as I have nothing in which to store a rectangular cake that is not left in the pan.  Being far from a cake decorator, I did my best to apply the frosting.  I did have frosting left over which I froze to use another time.

I cut my cake through the middle anxious to see the ripple.  Oh, my!  There were no ripples.  What there was, was a layer of cream cheese underneath the cake.  So what happened?  Well, perhaps two things.  When I made the homemade sweetened condensed milk, I almost burned it.  Since I wasn’t sure that I would be able to use that batch, I poured the whole batch into a plastic container instead of dividing it up like I always did in the past.  The milk may not have thickened up as much as it should have before I used it.  I used low-fat cream cheese.  Maybe I should have used the regular.  I may have forgotten the cornstarch.  At any rate, this is what the bottom of my cake looked like.

Was all lost?  Of course not.  The cake is a moist chocolaty cake just the way I like it.  The frosting is firm and fudgy and stays in place.  And the cream cheese layer is a little surprise at the bottom.  In spite of what happened, this is a very good cake

 

So make this cake.  Ripple or no ripples you will be glad you did.  I am giving you the exact ingredients  Mrs. Happy Homemaker did.

Fudge Ripple Cake
Mrs. Happy Homemaker blog

For the cake:
1/2 cup shortening
1.5 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1.5 teaspoon baking soda
1.5 cups buttermilk

For the Ripple:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Frosting:
2/3 cup butter, softened
5 3/4 cups powdered sugar (I did put it through a sieve)
1 1/3 cups cocoa
1 heaping cup heavy cream

Grease and flour two (9-inch) round cake pans.  Beat shortening and sugar together with an electric mixer.  Add the eggs, beating on medium speed.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk ending with the flour mixture.  Beat 3 minutes at high speed, stopping once to scrape down sides.  Stir in the vanilla.  Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

Beat cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, and cornstarch at medium speed until creamy.  Gradually add the sweetened condensed milk, beating well.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  Divide the cream cheese mixture between the two cake pans, pouring on top and spreading to evenly cover the cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  After removing from the oven, use a large spatula or wide knife to press the cake down somewhat.  Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Using an electric mixer, beat 2/3 cup butter until creamy.  Add the powdered sugar, cocoa and heavy cream.  Stir in low until combined.  Beat at high speed until creamy.  Spread frosting between the cake layers and on top and sides of cake.  Slice.  Enjoy.  Repeat.

Since I did not get any ripples in my cake, I decided to make Chocolate Ripple No-Machine Ice Cream to serve with the cake.  I will be back with that post later today.

Be sure to check out the links below to see all the great chocolate cakes that other bloggers have made.

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I joined the Crazy Cooking Challenge over at Moms Crazy Cooking and found out that Chocolate Chip Cookies were the theme for September, I knew immediately what cookies I wanted to make. 

When I first started following cooking blogs I was lucky enough to find Mel’s Kitchen Café.  This was one of the first blogs that I signed up to get emails from.  She always has great recipes.  I have made a number of her recipes, and they were always successful.

One of Mel’s biggest hits at our house has been her Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies.  They are from 2008, and I am so glad that I stumbled across them while looking through her old posts.  The first time that I made these cookies, my husband decided that they were his new favorite chocolate chip cookie.

These are very different cookies, made using graham cracker crumbs and sweetened condensed milk.  There are no eggs in the dough which means that one can Eat The Cookie Dough.  Of course, I Would Never Do That.  To keep the cost of making these cookie down, I make homemade sweetened condensed milk which looks and tastes just like the commercial product.

Frugal Tip:  It takes about one sleeve of graham crackers to make the 1 1/2 cups needed for the recipe.  If I find that I am a tablespoon or two short, I just use some plain dry bread crumbs.  It doesn’t seem to make a difference.  Mel leaves the nuts out, but I use them; and I always toast them for better flavor.

Mel's directions said to use an ungreased baking pan, but the cookies stuck and were difficult to remove when I did that, so I grease the cookie sheets or use foil or parchment paper to bake the cookies.  I have changed the directions to reflect this.

Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies
From Mel’s Kitchen Café
From Debbie R. via Aunt Marilyn

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
2 cups (1 package) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped (I usually leave these out due to my husband’s preference – the cookies are delicious with or without nuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk and butter until smooth. Add graham cracker crumb mixture; mix well. Stir in coconut, chocolate chips and walnuts.  Drop by rounded tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Please visit the other participants, pick you favorite recipe and vote for it.  Maybe your choice will be the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.