Yummy--Ken's Sneakers Cookies

Yummy--Ken's Sneakers Cookies

This is not my creation for my brother, Kenny though I'm sure he'd enjoy them since he has the Dawson sweet tooth. Instead, my coworkers enjoyed these treats from the winner of a Plain Dealer cookie recipe contest.

They are supposedly an offshoot of the famous Neiman Marcus cookies (which are amazing) but not much similarity to me. Just good cookies. Winner Ken Mullins claims a yield of 12-15 large cookies, however following his direction of making 1 1/2 inch balls I ended up with nearly 4 dozen cookies.

Ken's Sneakers  
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
3 T. sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 c. chocolate covered raisins
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy.  Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Sift the dry ingredients together and beat into the butter mixture. Stir in the raisins, chips and nuts.

Form dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes.

Cool on pan for a few minutes; remove and finish cooling on racks.

Note: Please, pay attention to the fact that cookie sheets should be greased. I used shortening since I've found it works better than the sprays.
   
           I didn't use the macadamia nuts. I don't like them and didn't have any. Instead, I increased the amount of chips and chocolate covered raisins to make up for that missing half cup of nuts. How can more chocolate be a bad thing?

Yucky--Pepper Crusted Eye Of Round Roast

Yucky--Pepper Crusted Eye of Round Roast 
Gorgeous and expensive piece of meat but the cracked ground black pepper coating over it was too much for me. Spoiled the flavor of the quickly roasted cut that was also on the rare side for me. This was from a woman's magazine and touted as a great holiday dish.

Movin' on....

Yucky--Twice Baked Shallot Stuffed Potatoes

Yucky--Twice Baked Shallot Stuffed Potatoes  
This was a recipe out of a woman's magazine that sounded good. Despite the buttery richness of Yukon Gold potatoes it was just okay. A lot of work and a little pricey for something that didn't deliver.

Yucky -- Spiced Flank Steak

Yucky -- Spiced Flank Steak
I'll admit this was a quick recipe to set up and cook on my gas grill. I picked up a beautiful flank steak at the West Side Market but feel like I wasted it. The rub was a little too spicy for me, what can I say--I'm a spice wimp.

The recipe was from the Plain Dealer food section and is now in the recycle bag.

Moving on.....

Yummy--Potato Corn Fritters

Yummy--Potato Corn Fritters 

The original recipe called for Bob Evans refrigerated hash browns. I couldn't find those, not sure they make they any more. I used frozen and thawed them well, however, my fritters weren't big and fluffy. They were more like mini potato pancakes but they tasted great.

So next time I might try drying the hash browns in a towel or trying to find some refrigerated brand. My last resort could be to be the mix and see if they reconstitute.

Potato Corn Fritters
3 c. frozen corn, thawed and drained
2 pkgs. (8 1/2 oz.) corn muffin mix
1/2 c. fresh basil, chopped
1/2 c. fresh sage, chopped
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
1 pkg. (20 oz.) refrigerated hash brown potatoes
2 T. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 325-degrees. Drop tablespoon size potato mixture in heated oil. Cook 4-5 minutes or until brown. Drain on paper towel.

Dipping Sauce:
1 jar (12 oz.) apricot preserves
1/4 c. mayonaise
1/4 c. sour cream
Zest and juice from 1 lime
Combine all ingredients and serve with Potato Corn Fritters

Yummy--Orange Chip Cheesecake

Yummy--Orange Chip Cheesecake

I needed a quick dessert for a last minute dinner invitation. It was nice to have everything at hand though I confess I forgot to put the mandarin oranges on as a garnish. Raves and happy other diners  plus me.

This is from a Taste Of Home magazine. Sorry, no chance to take a picture.

Orange Chip Cheesecake 
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. orange extract
3/4 to 1 c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 chocolate crumb or graham cracker crust (9 inches)

Topping:
1 1/2 c. (12 oz.) sour cream
2 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained
Additional chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Add salt and orange extract; beat just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into crust.

Bake at 375-degrees for 20 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from the oven; increase temperature to 425-degrees.

In a bowl, combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla; spread over cheesecake.  Bake 5 minutes longer.

Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, garnish with oranges and additional chocolate chips.

Yield: 8 servings

Yummy--Skillet Chicken Parmesan With Crisp Polenta

Yummy--Skillet Chicken Parmesan With Crisp Polenta 

This is one of those quick fixes that you're supposed to be able to put on the table in 30 minutes or less. Well sorry, Woman's Day but I was closer to 45 minutes. It's an impressive looking dish when put on a serving platter and it's not that much of a hassle to put together.

One part of the directions don't make sense on reading or execution. I'll put them in as written and put my suggestions in bold type and a parentheses.

Skillet Chicken Parmesan With Crisp Polenta 

1 large egg
1/3 c. seasoned dried bread crumbs
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 4 oz. each)
2 T. olive oil
1 tube (about 16 oz.) polenta, cut in 12 slices
1/2 c. packaged shredded mozzarella with Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. bottled marinara sauce
Garnish: chopped fresh basil or parsley

Lightly beat egg in a shallow dish. Spread crumbs on a sheet of wax paper or another shallow dish. Dip breasts in egg, then crumbs to coat.

Heat 1 T. oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken; cook 3-4 minutes per side or until golden and cooked through.  Remove chicken to serving dish.

Wipe out skillet with paper towel; add remaining 1 T. oil and heat.  Add polenta slices and cook 3 minutes until bottom slices are golden. Sprinkle tops with 1/4 c. cheese; turn slices over and cook 2-minutes until bottoms are golden and crisp. Remove to a serving platter. (When I did this all the cheese either fell off on the flip or stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Going forward, I would either skip the cheese here or sprinkle it on the flipped stuff and cook it that way.)

Pour marinara sauce into skillet; bring to a simmer.  Add chicken; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. cheese. Cover and cook 1 minute until cheese melts. Serve withe polenta.

Makes 4 servings

My Notes: I used Italian bread crumbs which was a nice touch. I've just done a freezer inventory so I had homemade marinara sauce on hand. I used that instead of bottled marinara. I found polenta in the dairy section of the supermarket marked corn mush. Be careful when you open the tube, there was a lot of water in the packaging that spurted out.