Parmesan Garlic Skillet Bread

YUM.  This was delicious!  Plain Chicken never fails!  Bizzuck was nice enough to grill steaks (since I haven't cooked dinner in TWO full weeks--nice), and this was the best side we could have had.  I didn't even try to limit myself to a certain number of pieces.  It also doesn't hurt that you probably have everything in your refrigerator already.  This was a big hit; you'll love it.

Parmesan Garlic Skillet Bread

1 can refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits
3 Tbsp butter
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
8" or 10" oven proof skillet

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter in saute pan.  Add garlic, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning.  Cut biscuits in quarters, and toss in saute pan to coat.  Place whole pan in oven, and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven, and slide onto plate for serving.

Teak Dog Tuesday!

When he smells peanut butter, Teak is the best behaved dog you've ever seen.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

When I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray, I was so excited about it.  Pretzels dipped in peanut butter was one of my favorite snacks in college, and these cookies are really good too.  They're a little bit heartier than a regular cookie, and they have a great mixture of salty and sweet.  I changed up the original recipe, which called for 1 cup of creamy peanut butter and 1/3 cup chopped peanuts, and instead I used 1 heaping cup of crunchy peanut butter (I don't think I could live without crunchy peanut butter). 

Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 heaping cup crunchy peanut butter
2 eggs, at room temperature
6 cups miniature pretzels, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.  In a bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.  Using an electric mixer, in a separate bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined.

Place the pretzels in a bowl.  Working in batches, drop a few balls of dough in the bowl and toss to coat.  Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden but still soft to the touch.

Teak Dog Tuesday!

Tomato Soup Pizza

The idea for this came from an old recipe in the Dallas Morning News.  The original recipe used tomato soup instead of pizza sauce, but it gave specific toppings: sun-dried tomatoes, Cheddar cheese, and bacon.  I changed up the toppings (although that sounds like an incredibly delicious pizza), but the tomato soup was the same.  It was excellent.  The mildness of the tomato soup really allowed for the flavor of the toppings to come through.  We'll absolutely make this again.

Tomato Soup Pizza

1 can refrigerated pizza dough
1 can condensed tomato soup
Mozzarella/cheddar cheeses
Desired toppings (we used pepperoni, green bell pepper, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes)

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray, unroll pizza dough, and bake in 400 degree oven for 8 minutes.  Remove pizza from oven and spread soup on half-baked dough.  Top with desired toppings, and put bakc in oven for 6-8 minutes, or until cheese is melted and crust is golden.

Parmesan Chicken

I don't know why I'm always amazed by how good everything is with Parmesan cheese.  This chicken is no exception.  Plus, you have some choice as to how you cook it.  If you're in a hurry, you can cook it in the frying pan.  Feeling healthy?  Bake it!  Or you can go somewhere in between - whatever you like.  It'll be good however you cook it because of the Parmesan cheese.

Parmesan Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp dried basil
1 egg
1-2 Tsbp vegetable oil

Flatten chicken to 1/4" thickness.  In a shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and basil.  In another bowl, beat the egg.  Dip chicken in the egg, then coat in crumb mixture. 

In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes per side or until juices run clear.  OR
In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil over medium heat for 2 minutes per side, and then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until juices run clear.  OR
Bake coated chicken breasts in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Sweet Green Beans

This would be a great side dish for Thanksgiving--or really any night you want to indulge a little bit.  It's based on a recipe from AllRecipes, but I cut down on the fat substantially in this one (if you can believe that), and it was so yummy.  I loved the sweetness of the dish.

Sweet Green Beans

1 (14.5oz) can green beans, strained

2 strips bacon
1 Tsbp butter, melted
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9"x9" baking dish with cooking spray, and pour strained green beans in dish.  On a plate lined with paper towels, partially cook the two slices of bacon in the microwave for 1-1.5 minutes.  Crumble into pieces and put in baking dish with green beans.

Stir brown sugar into melted butter, and pour mixture over beans and bacon, stirring to coat.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until bacon is cooked through and dish is hot.

Pour strained green beans in baking dish. 

Honey Nut Chicken

We really liked this chicken recipe, despite the terrible picture I'm posting (does it look a little like a manatee to you?).  We were so ready to eat by the time I got finished cooking that I forgot to take a picture of it plated up nicely; my only option was to take a picture of the leftovers.  Sorry. 

It's based on an old Racheal Ray recipe, and it was so good!  We'll make this again.

Honey Nut Chicken

1/2 cup (or 2 small packages) honey roasted peanuts
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1 Tbsp grill seasoning blend
2 eggs
A splash of milk
2 tsp (or several drops) hot sauce
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 (6 to 8 oz) pieces of chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 350.  Put nuts, bread crumbs, and grill seasoning in food processor, and pulse to combine the nuts into bread crumbs.  Pour nutty breading onto a plate.  Beat eggs and milk with hot sauce in  a shallow dish.  Pour flour out on a plate.

Dust both sides of the chicken with flour.  Dip chicken into the egg mixture and then coat with the nutty breading.

Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer.  Brown chicken for 2 minutes per side in hot oil or until evenly light golden in color.  Transfer to a baking sheet and cook in oven until juices run clear and until chicken is cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.

Teak Dog Tuesday!

It's been a big couple of weeks for Teak.  He went on his first dove hunt on Saturday and apparently did a decent job retrieving one bird; I don't have any pictures from that as I wasn't there.  The Saturday before that, he surfed with Bizzuck behind the boat--seriously, they surfed together.  Pictures of that will come later, too.  Meanwhile, I just have pictures of him doing what he does best--lying around the house and chewing things.

Corn on the Cob with Parmesan Cheese

We grilled out over the weekend, and this recipe for corn on the cob from Giada De Laurentiis was delicious!  Parmesan cheese makes everything so good!  I made a little too much of the sauce, and it was just sinful as a dipping sauce for the garlic bread.  We should have made this more over the summer, and we'll definitely make this again. 

Corn on the Cob with Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tsbp parsley, chopped
3 ears of yellow corn, husked, halved lengthwise

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic and saute until tender and fragrant, about 1 minute.  Remove the skillet from the heat and cool.  Set aside 1 tablespoon of the Parmesan cheese, and stir the rest into the garlic mixture, along with the parsley and salt. 

Cook the corn in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the corn to a platter.   Brush the Parmesan mixture over the hot corn and serve.  Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of cheese on top of the corn. 

Andrew's Ribs

...Or at least, these are as close to Andrew's ribs as we can get; he's closely guarding the recipe.

We had these last weekend to celebrate Labor Day.  It was perfect for us to cook them low and slow since we were on the river for most of the afternoon.  Once we got back, Biz paid close attention to these, and it really paid off.  They were delicious, and you'll be shocked by how few ingredients it takes--you don't need any spices at all. 

Andrew's Ribs

2 slabs of spare ribs, trimmed
1 large onion, roughly chopped
Barbecue sauce, to baste and serve

Preheat oven to 350.  Place onion in the bottom of a large broiling pan.  Cut the slabs into sections after 4 or 5 ribs, and pile them on top of the onion.  Pour about one inch of water in the bottom of the pan.  Cover the pan tightly with several layers of foil, and bake at 350 for 4-5 hours.  Discard onion/water mixture.

After 5 hours, heat grill to medium-high heat (or in Biz's words, "make it pretty hot"), and grill ribs for 4 minutes per side, basting each side with barbecue sauce.  Turn the ribs 4 times, basting each time.  Remove and serve.

Pepperoni Pizza Bites

These never stood a chance.  They were so good!  I got the idea for these from the Buffalo Chicken Pizza Bites; the recipe is so adaptable and wonderful because you can add any fillings you want.  (I even tried a few of the pizza dough squares with a different sweet filling--cream cheese and strawberry jelly rolled in some cinnamon-sugar, which was also delicious.)  These are so quick, and they were the perfect snack for the first weekend of college football!

Pepperoni Pizza Bites

1 can refrigerated pizza dough
15 slices pepperoni, roughly chopped
3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp tomato sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese, for sprinkling
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425, and thoroughly spray mini-muffin tin with cooking spray.  In a small bowl, combine pepperoni, cream cheese, tomato sauce, and Parmesan cheese.  Set aside. 
Unroll pizza dough into a large rectangle onto a cookie sheet or other large surface.  Cut into 24 small squares (easiest with a pizza cutter).  Put 1 teaspoon of pepperoni mixture in the center of each square, and pinch together seams of dough.  Place seam-side down in mini-muffin tin, and sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese.  Bake 8-10 minutes and serve with pizza sauce if desired.

Teak Dog Tuesday

Champion hole-digger.

Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

I confess that I've only baked a dozen of these cookies.  The rest of the batter is still in the refrigerator, in danger of never seeing the oven because of how yummy it is. 

This couldn't be easier to put together, and you probably have all the ingredients already in your kitchen.  You could definitely add chocolate chips to these; I didn't put them in the batter because I'm not a chocolate fan.  I did melt a baking chocolate square and smear it on top of some of them to please Biz.  The plain peanut butter ones are all mine.

Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

1 box yellow cake mix

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup water

1/2 stick butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, cream together eggs, water, butter, and peanut butter.  Stir in the cake mix and mix well.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes in oven, and allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet before removing to wire racks.

Mammy's Mexican Cornbread

This is GOOD.  I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but it's from Mammy's Restaurant in Natchez, Mississippi (via my mom).  It's easy and quick to throw together, and it's delicious, especially because of the layer of cheese in the middle.  (It's easier to see in the second picture.)  We had this with some tortilla soup--yum.  I'll definitely make this again. 

Mammy's Mexican Cornbread

1 1/2 cups corn bread mix (1 pkg Jiffy)
1 (8oz) can cream corn
2 jalapeno peppers chopped finely
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups greated Cheddar cheese

Mix together all ingredients except cheese.  Heat heavy oiled (10-inch) skillet, and pour in half of the batter.  Sprinkle cheese over batter, keeping cheese from touching the sides of the skillet.  Add remaining batter.  Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes. 

Bizzuck's Birthday Dinner

Happy Birthday, Bizzuck!

Since today is Biz's birthday, I don't have any new recipes to contribute, but I will highlight some good ones I've already posted--the ones Bizzuck requested for his birthday dinner.  He chose the Pesto Chicken Panini Sandwich, the Creamy Mac and Cheese, and of course, Texas Sheet Cake.  That can attest to how delicious they are! 

I'll be back with a new recipe soon.  We're off to celebrate tonight!