This is a quick, easy, and best of all one pan dish that tastes delicious! Unlike most gnocchi recipes, these are cooked in a frying pan until they get a crisp brown butter coating to mimic their crisp brown buttery brussels sprout friends. Butter really does make everything better, and a brown butter sauce kicks it up another notch. I made this as a side dish, but it can be a meal in itself.
Ingredients:
1 lb brussel sprouts
1 -2 tsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 package of gnocchi
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp honey
Shredded parmesan cheese
Clean the brussels sprouts, cut off the bottoms, and cut them in half.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the brussels sprouts flat side down. Season with salt and pepper, and lemon juice. Cook for 5 minutes without stirring until the bottoms are brown.
Sprinkle the sprouts with red pepper flakes, and stir. I only use a little as I don’t like my food spicy, but use as much as you like. Continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes, they should be tender and crisp.
Remove sprouts from the pan and set aside.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the pan. Add the gnocchi making sure they are all separated. Cook covered and without stirring for about 3-4 minutes until the bottoms are brown.
Add the butter and honey to the pan, and season with pepper. Give them a good stir.
Continue cooking while stirring for another few minutes until the butter is foamy and a golden color.
Add the brussels sprouts back into the pan and cook for a few minutes until they are warmed through.
Top with some shredded parmesan cheese, and enjoy!
Monkey Bread is a pull apart sticky bread with a yummy cinnamon brown sugar flavor. I had never had Monkey Bread, and I had always assumed it was a semi difficult bread to make. I’m not exactly sure what made me think of it recently, but I added it to my list of items to try baking. Come to find out you don’t even have to know how to bake to make this insanely delicious treat. All you have to know how to do is open biscuit cans, and everyone will think you slaved in the kitchen for hours with yeast and flour. Am I the only one that jumps whenever those cans pop even though I know it’s coming? Anyway…
I tried making this twice as I wasn’t happy with the first version I made. I looked at different recipes and went with one that ended up being too heavy on the butter, in my opinion. Of course even though I wasn’t crazy about the final result, I couldn’t stop eating it. I was nervous to try making the second one as I didn’t think I have that much willpower. I don’t, oh well.
For the second version I wanted more of a brown sugar taste, like the topping on the Baked French Toast that I make. Have you tried that yet? Make sure you do, you won’t regret it.
I upped the brown sugar, decreased the butter, and voila!
Ingredients:
3 cans of buttermilk biscuits (not flaky)
1 cup sugar
2 – 3 tsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter (unsalted)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large bundt pan, set aside.
Open cans and separate the biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters.
In a large gallon sized zip-lock bag combine the white sugar and cinnamon. I like a stronger cinnamon flavor so I used 3 tsp, if you prefer a more mild taste use 2 tsp.
Add the biscuit pieces to the bag and shake well ensuring all of the pieces are coated with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Layer the coated biscuit pieces in the large greased bundt pan.
In a saucepan combine the brown sugar and butter. Cook oven medium heat until the sugar and butter are melted, and have combined.
Pour the mixture evenly oven the biscuits.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is dark brown, and the biscuits are fully cooked. I suggest putting a cookie sheet on the shelf below the bread as mine overflowed and made a mess of my oven.
Cool for 15-30 minutes before turning onto a plate.
There’s no need to cut it, just pull off the sticky chunks and pop them in your mouth. Enjoy!
While this recipe is for a Coconut Custard Pie, I decided to use the Custard Pie recipe in my mother’s old Betty Crocker Cookbook and tweak it a little. The only ingredients I changed were that I added coconut, and did not add the nutmeg. This was the first custard pie I have made, and Betty once again did not let me down. #stephandbetty
This cookbook was published in 1969 and there are many quotes and tips that you just wouldn’t see today. Above this recipe was the following quote. Oh boy, slightly outdated. You have to laugh, and be thankful that while the recipes have stayed true, some other things have changed.
In a mixing bowl beat the eggs slightly. The original recipe suggests a rotary beater, but I used an electric mixer. I do remember using a rotary beater many times when I was young, however.
Beat in the rest of the ingredients except the coconut. Fold in the coconut.
Pour into your prepared pie plate. I decided to use a ladle, and added the last few scoops once the pie was in the oven so not to spill. Sprinkle remaining 2-3 tbsp of coconut on top of pie.
Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, bake for 15-20 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between the center and the edge comes out clean.
Cool before serving. I prefer custard pie cold, but it can be served at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Beat eggs slightly. Beat in remaining ingredients except for coconut. Fold in coconut.
Pour into prepared pie crust. Use ladle if needed to pour into the crust while already in the oven to prevent spills.
Sprinkle remaining 2-3 tbsp of coconut on top of pie before baking.
Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until knife inserted between the center and edge comes out clean.
This recipe is delicious, there was nothing to change in my opinion, just yummy. I have had Chicken Piccata many a times over the years, whether at an Italian restaurant, or on my mother’s dinner table. However, I realized recently while looking at a restaurant menu that I had never cooked it myself. I also realized I have never made Chicken Marsala which will be my next chicken dish to cook.
If you aren’t familiar with Chicken Piccata, it is a fried chicken breast topped with a lemon butter sauce. I probably had you at butter, right? Let me just say that there is a lot of butter in this recipe, so of course it is going to be good. Butter makes it better! The chicken was tender, and the combination of sauce with capers was perfect.
Unfortunately, I had two hungry men waiting for their dinner and didn’t have the time to get the nicest photos. My son always tells me it’s not how the photos looks that is important, it is how the food tastes. He’s a wise young man.
Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (it may have called for 2 but I used 3)
Salt and pepper
Flour
6 tbsp butter
5 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
I trimmed the chicken breasts and cut them in half. Between plastic wrap I pounded the chicken with a mallet until slightly thin. Next time I think I will pound them a little thinner.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge in the flour until coated.
In a large skillet over med/high heat add 2 tbsp. butter and olive oil. When the mixture is sizzling add 3 pieces of chicken to the pan and cook for 3 minutes.
Flip the chicken and cook for 3 minutes, the chicken should be brown.
Remove the chicken from the pan onto a plate.
Add 2 more tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan. Once it begins to sizzle, cook the other three pieces of chicken the same way. Remove from the pan onto the plate with the other chicken.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon juice, chicken broth, and capers. Return to the stove and heat to boiling while scraping the pan and stirring. Add the chicken back into the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. I flipped the chicken half way through so both sides would be simmering in the sauce.
Remove the chicken from the pan. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the pan and stir vigorously until butter has melted.
Plate the chicken and spoon the sauce and capers over the chicken. Pairs well with a side of pasta.
I have never tasted a Fruit Cake until this cake. They were not something I ever had a desire to taste, and honestly they seemed very unappetizing to me. As I was perusing through my mom’s old Betty Crocker cookbook they caught my eye. I really don’t know why, maybe because of the vintage feel. For whatever reason, they intrigued me. So here we are, a recipe for Fruit Cake.
My mother hated them and would probably be horrified if out of all the pages in that book, I chose to stop at Fruit Cakes. My husband saw the apricots, dates, cherries, and pineapple on the counter and said “You aren’t making a fruit cake, are you fruit cake?”. Then proceeded to tell me he wasn’t going to try it. That went without saying for my children, but I was going to try it. While combining all of the ingredients I just kept thinking how bizarre this whole recipe seemed.
Some of the fruit listed in the ingredients were not something I could find, like candied pineapple or green maraschino cherries. I did find dried pineapple slices and that is what I used. I omitted the nuts as my family has allergies, but I have included them in the recipe.
I have to admit, I didn’t mind it. The dates were a little overpowering, however. If I were to make this again I would use more pineapple and cherries, and less dates. I enjoyed when I got a bite of cherry, but most bites were mostly dates. Overall, not a bad flavor and I can imagine it would be much better tweaked. So if you like fruit cake, I think you would like this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 8 oz. package dried apricots (about 2 cups)
1 8oz. package pitted dates (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups whole Brazil nuts
1 cup drained red and green maraschino cherries
1/3 lb. red and green candied pineapple, cut up (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a loaf pan with aluminum foil, grease the pan.
Leave all the fruit and nuts whole except for the pineapple. The original instructions state to combine all of the ingredients together, which I did. Right after the put in the flour I realized that the dry ingredients should be combined in a small bowl, then added to the fruits.
Pour or spoon the batter into the greased pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. You may want to cover with aluminum foil for the last 30 minutes to prevent excessive browning.
Once the cake is done remove from pan using the aluminum foil, and cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before cutting.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a loaf pan with aluminum foil. Grease pan.
In a mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients.
Spoon into pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Loosely cover with aluminum foil for the last 30 minutes to prevent excessive browning.
Remove from pan with aluminum foil and cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before cutting.
This recipe is another childhood favorite of mine that my mother would make out of her Betty Crocker cookbook. I haven’t had it since I was young, and it brought back such fond memories when I came upon it in the book. I must admit, it tastes even better than I remember. Not only is this another recipe to add to my “Steph and Betty” collection, it has now become a favorite of my family. Yum. I looked the recipe up on-line and it seems they have changed it slightly since the 60’s, but I’m sticking with the original. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
There isn’t much cake as you can see, but it is just enough with all of the delicious fudgy pudding sauce. Before baking the top is covered with a mixture of brown sugar and cocoa which makes a wonderful crunchy layer. It reminds me somewhat of today’s lava cakes. It isn’t hard to make, and will not disappoint. Trust me.
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp shortening, melted
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cup hot water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the flour, sugar, 2 tbsp cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. The original recipe doesn’t suggest sifting, but I always sift when I use cocoa.
Blend in the milk and melted shortening. This is the first time I have ever melted shortening. You can melt it in a saucepan on the stove, or in the microwave as I did. I assumed you should let it cool a little before adding, but not too long as it will re-solidify.
Spread the mixture into an ungreased 9 x 9 square pan or dish. The original recipe said to pour, but I found it was more of a spread.
In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Sprinkle over the batter.
Pour the hot water over the batter.
Bake for 45 minutes. While hot cut into squares; invert each square onto a plate and spoon sauce over each serving.
Betty suggests serving with whipped cream, I think this is more of an ice cream dessert personally. Or plain, it really doesn’t even need a topping.
You may be wondering why these are called Kitchen Sink Cookies. The name comes from the saying “everything but the kitchen sink” which means basically everything you can imagine is in them, except the kitchen sink. I was curious where this expression originated from, and it began during World War II when troops were bombarded and would say they were hit “with everything but the kitchen sink”. Kind of an interesting little fact.
The ingredients I had in the house allowed me to make a salty and sweet cookie. I used chocolate chips, pretzels, coconut, and potato chips. Yes, potato chips. I must admit I was skeptical adding them, and must also admit they were not my favorite ingredient. I have seen them used before in cookies and decided to give it a try. I had planned on using M&Ms until I realized my husband had eaten them, I wasn’t very happy about that. The point of Kitchen Sink cookies is to add whatever you want! You can use butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, toffee bits, nuts, whatever.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. hot water
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate)
1 cup crushed pretzels
1 cup crushed potato chips
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Coarse sea salt (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a stand mixer, or by hand, cream together the softened butter and sugars until smooth.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla.
Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. Add baking soda mixture to the batter along with the salt and combine well.
Add flour and combine well.
Gently mix in the rest of your ingredients.
You can either use a cookie scoop, or roll the dough into balls, and place on an un-greased cookie sheet. If you’d like, sprinkle a little coarse sea salt on the cookies before putting them in the oven.
Bake for about 11 minutes or until cookies start to brown. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
In a stand mixer, or by hand, cream the butter and sugars until smooth.
Add the eggs, combine well. Add the vanilla, combine well.
Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. Add to the mixture along with the 1/2 tsp salt, combine well.
Add flour, combine well. Gently combine the rest of the ingredients into the batter.
Using a cookie scoop, or roll into balls by hand, and place dough on an un-greased cookie sheet. If you'd like, sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for 11 minutes, or until starting to brown.
Let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
I have been promising to make my son Tiramisu for quite some time. With the best of intensions I have purchased marscarpone cheese and lady fingers a number of times, only to then have them expire and go to waste. I have never been a big fan of Tiramisu, and this may have contributed to my avoidance in some way. However, I tried the Tiramisu at Eataly, a restaurant in Boston, and it was one of the best desserts that I have ever had. One of those desserts that you don’t want to end. It was that good.
So once again I purchased the marscarpone and lady fingers determined to not allow these ingredients to go to waste yet again. As I was looking for recipes, I decided to see if Eataly happened to publish their recipe. Well, they do! So that is what I made, and it tasted just like theirs. Delicious!
Did you know that raw eggs were part of the ingredients? I did not, and must admit I am a little funny about that. I am one of those moms that never let my children eat raw cookie dough because they could get sick. However, this dessert is so good that it was worth throwing caution to the wind. The next time I make this dessert I will see if I can find pasteurized eggs.
I made a half recipe as I realized the container of marscarpone I purchased was only one cup, and this recipe calls for two. Use a larger dish than I did when you go to make this, or make a half recipe if you only need a small amount.
On a side note, there is also folding involved in this recipe. If you are a Schitt’s Creek fan then you will appreciate why I was laughing while I was folding. “You just, here’s what you do, you just fold it in”. If you haven’t watched the show I suggest that you do, it’s hilarious.
Ingredients for the full recipe:
2 cups marscarpone cheese
5 eggs (separated into whites and yolks)
5 tbsp. sugar
2 cups heavy cream
4 espresso shots ( I used about a cup of coffee)
1 (8.8 ounce) package of lady fingers
Cocoa powder
Instructions:
Divide the egg whites and yolks into separate mixing bowls.
Combine the yolks with the sugar and mix well. Add the marscarpone to this yolk/sugar mixture and combine well. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside. There is a lot of whipping into stiff peaks in this recipe.
Beat the heavy cream with a hand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Fold the egg whites into the marscarpone mixture.
Fold in the whipped cream.
Pour your espresso or coffee into a shallow bowl. Dip half of the lady fingers quickly into the coffee and line the bottom of the dish. Remember, I halved the recipe so you will need a larger dish than I have used.
Top the lady fingers with half of the marscarpone mixture. Repeat with the rest of the lady fingers and marscarpone mixture.
Sift cocoa powder over the top. As you can see I do nothing neatly when I bake.
Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
Divide the egg whites and yolks into separate bowls. Add sugar to egg yolks and combine well. Add marscarpone in with yolk/sugar mixture and combine well. Set aside.
With electric mixer on high beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
With electric mixer on high beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
Fold egg whites into yolk/sugar/marscarpone mixture.
Fold whipped cream into mixture.
Pour coffee into a wide bowl. Quickly dunk half of the lady fingers into the coffee and arrange on the bottom of a square dish.
Spread half of the marscarpone mixture over the cookies. Repeat with the rest of the cookies and marscarpone mixture.
Sift cocoa powder over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.
Strawberry and rhubarb are such a classic summertime combination. I had never had rhubarb until a number of years ago when we purchased a house that had a large rhubarb bush in the yard. At the time I baked a few things with the rhubarb, but after we moved I stopped. Out of sight, out of mind I guess.
This past Thanksgiving one of my daughter’s friends went to great lengths to track down rhubarb and make us a pie. It was delicious, and ever since my daughter has been mentioning that we should make a rhubarb pie. Yesterday we got some strawberries and rhubarb, and got baking. Wow am I glad we did! Sometimes I don’t realize how much I like something until I bake it myself, and that is why I share the recipes I love.
I pretty much flipped a coin on whether to use corn starch or flour to mix with sugar for this pie. I use corn starch in my blueberry pie and flour in my apple pie, and decided to go with flour for this pie. I kept it simple and wasn’t sure how it would taste. I’m not kidding when I say it is one of the best pies I’ve ever had. Lots of recipes on-line have some other ingredients which seem very unnecessary to me, sometimes simple is the best. You often see this type of pie with a lot of liquid, but as you can see this filling set beautifully.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
2 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup sugar, plus a little extra
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
2 tbsp water
Pie crust
Clean and slice the strawberries and rhubarb, set aside. I cut the strawberries into fourths, and did about 1/4″ – 1/2″ piece for the rhubarb. We started with 4 cups of fruit, but it didn’t seem like enough so we upped it to around 5 cups.
If you are making your own crust it will need to sit in the refrigerator for about an hour so make sure to prepare it first.
In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar and flour. Add the chopped strawberries and rhubarb and combine well. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes.
When you are ready preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Divide your crust in two and roll out the first portion. Line a pie plate with the crust.
Spoon in your strawberry mixture.
Roll out the second portion and top the pie. Cut the excess crust from the edges with a knife. Crimp the top and bottom together with a little water on your fingers.
Beat the egg with about 2 tbsp of water and brush the top of the pie. Sprinkle a little sugar on top as well if you choose. Make a slit in the center so the steam can escape.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until the pie has started to brown and the juices are bubbling. Let cool.
Serve plain, with vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream. However you decide to eat it you will love it!
Clean and chop the strawberries and rhubarb, and set aside. I cut the strawberries into fourths, and did about 1/4" – 1/2" piece for the rhubarb.
If you are making your own crust it will need to sit in the refrigerator for about an hour so make sure to prepare it first.
In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar and flour. Add the chopped strawberries and rhubarb and combine well. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes.
When you are ready preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Divide your crust in two and roll out the first portion. Line a pie plate with the crust. Spoon in the strawberry mixture.
Roll out the second portion and top the pie. Cut the excess crust from the edges with a knife. Crimp the top and bottom together with a little water on your fingers.
Beat the egg with about 2 tbsp of water and brush the top of the pie. Sprinkle a little sugar on top as well if you choose. Make a slit in the center so the steam can escape.
Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until the pie has started to brown and the juices are bubbling.
I had never heard of Indian Pudding until I flipped through the pages of my mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook. I was in the pudding section as I was making Rice Pudding, and happened upon this. It was intriguing and even as it was in the oven, for 3 hours I must add, I still had no idea what to expect. Cornmeal and molasses, hmmm. Come to find out it tasted like brown bread, which was interesting.
I’m not entirely sure this recipe actually worked, but since I am determined to make as many recipes as I can from my mom’s old cookbook I decided to write the blog anyway. Steph and Betty!
As I mentioned the recipe called for a 3 hour baking time. However, it did not mention how to know if the pudding was done. After the 3 hours I thought how could it not be done, right? Well, I’m not really sure it actually was done as it was not set in the center even after sitting for an hour. If I ever am to make this again I would let it cook longer until the pudding seemed set. It did set in the refrigerator and was much better the next day. The only I picture I took was the night of, however, and you can see how loose it was.
Ingredients:
4 cups of milk
2/3 cup molasses
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
In a saucepan combine 3 cups of the milk and molasses and heat over low/medium heat.
In a small mixing bowl combine cornmeal, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Gradually stir into hot milk mixture. Add butter.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes until thickened.
It didn’t seem like it was going to thicken, but it did.
Pour into the casserole.
Pour the remaining 1 cup of milk on top of pudding; do not stir. Bake for 3 hours or until set.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
