Stephanies Kitchen – 2008 July

Delicious Apple Crisp

July 31, 2008 By Steph 16 Comments

This is one of my favorite desserts ever. I know what you are thinking. This girl has a lot of favorite desserts. Yes, I do. And there is nothing wrong with that!!! Of course, my favorite part is the ‘crisp’. I could eat that and only that. I like a tiny little bite of apple LOADED with crisp. Crispy sweet brown sugar and oats with a touch of cinnamon and a little butter. What’s not to love about that? Yum Yum Yum. Top it off with homemade vanilla ice cream and BAM…you have a sweet little treat. Enjoy!

I’m off to Washington D.C for a little vacation with my hubby. My brave Mother offered to take the kids, so we took her up on her generous offer. Angel. Anyways, I have my smart little computer all set up to post for you while I am away. I promise to read all of your comments as soon as my plane lands back home! I’ll be back before you know it!!! Have a good weekend and a fabulous next week!

Apple Crisp

recipe by Stephanie

4 medium granny smith apples, sliced

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup oats

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/3 cup butter, softened

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg. Using your hands or a pastry blender, mix in the butter until the mixture resembles pea sized crumbs.

2. Spread apples in the pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over the apples.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the crisp is browned and the apples are tender.

4. Serve with ice cream.

Filed Under: apples, desserts

Blueberry Buttermilk Streusel Coffee Cake

July 28, 2008 By Steph 24 Comments

Long name, simple recipe! All I have to say about this recipe is, Yum. I love coffee cake and I love blueberries. I also love the combination of blueberries, lemon zest, and cinnamon. And add a crunchy streusel to the top and hello, heaven! To me, there is nothing quite like it. They blend together so perfectly. I’ve been working on this recipe FOREVER. I was originally trying to make it as bread in a loaf pan and also using plain yogurt. I was having a lot of trouble with the bread rising and cooking in the middle. I finally decided to turn it into a coffee cake and when I tasted this hot out of the oven, I was literally in heaven. I could easily eat the entire pan in about 10 minutes, maybe even sooner. Breakfast, brunch or dessert, this recipe is amazing and you must try it, because if you don’t, you will be missing out on an incredibly tasty treat!

On one last note..My husband and I are taking a kid-less vacation next week to Washington D.C and I was wondering if any of you knowledgeable foodies out there knew any fabulous restaurants that we should not miss out on. I’ve never been there, so I’m clueless! If you do, let me know please!!! Thanks!

Have a great week everyone!

Blueberry Buttermilk Streusel Coffee Cake

recipe by Stephanie

For the Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

For the Streusel:

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pan.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

3. In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. Add vanilla.

4. Slowly add flour mixture, and than buttermilk until just combined. Do not overmix.

5. Stir in blueberries and lemon zest.

6. Pour batter in the pan, it will be slightly thick.

7. Make streusel. Mix sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add butter and mix with hands, or a pastry blender until mixture is the size pea sized crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over cake batter.

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Filed Under: breakfast, cakes

BBQ Chicken Drumettes

July 25, 2008 By Steph 10 Comments

My brain is a complete blank right now. I can’t seem to form coherent sentences, but I will keep trying for the sake of this post! I made these Barbecue Chicken Wingettes the other night and we were definitely licking our fingers clean. Very delicious. And whenever you can get all messy and use your hands is always a fun change. My daughter loved smearing the sauce all over her hands and licking it right off. I think she ate more sauce than actual chicken. The recipe called for “drumettes“, but I could only find chicken labeled as “wingettes“. If you ask me it looks exactly the same, but I may be wrong. Nevertheless, this dish was a hit and I will definitely be making it again! I got the recipe here. Thank you Martha Stewart!

Brown Sugar Barbeque Chicken Drumettes

adapted from Martha Stewart (I scaled it down)

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

course salt and black pepper

2 pounds chicken drumettes, patted dry

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together ketchup, sugar, worcestershire, and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Set aside 1/2 cup for tossing raw chicken; use rest for baked chicken.

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

3. Place drumettes on baking sheets and toss with 1/2 cup sauce.

4. Bake chicken until opaque throughout, 20-25 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Toss baked drumettes with a little more sauce and serve the remaining sauce on the side.

And one more final note, my dear sweet Mother recently started a French Linen business called My French Table. She has some amazing French Imported tablecloths, aprons, kitchen hand towels and napkins. They are really beautiful! Make sure you check it out!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Filed Under: blogging award, chicken, main dishes

Chocolate Caramel Brownies

July 22, 2008 By Steph 29 Comments

Okay, so if you are against using boxed cake mixes, please don’t look any further. But as for me, every once in a while, I think they work and so incredibly useful. In this recipe for instance, I use a boxed German Chocolate Cake mix and let me tell you, these are the best brownies ever! The chocolate and chewy caramel blend together effortlessly and end in a simply indulgent dessert. Yum! I had these at my Aunt’s house years ago and I’ve been making them ever since. They are my go to brownie and I crave them all the time. So simple, yet so delicious!

Chocolate Caramel Brownies

1 box German Chocolate Cake mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 bag wrapped caramels (50 individually wrapped caramels
1/3 cup evaporated milk

1. Mix together the cake mix, melted butter and 1/2 cup evaporated milk. Mix until well incorporated, it will be thick. Press half of batter into a 9×13 inch greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes.
2. While batter is baking, melt caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk in a saucepan until creamy. When brownies are done, poor caramel on top of the cooked portion of brownies. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of caramel. Dot the remaining brownie mix on top of chips and caramel. Return to oven and bake for another 11 minutes. Cool in refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Filed Under: brownies, chocolate, desserts

Low Fat Mini Cheesecake Tarts

July 18, 2008 By Steph 14 Comments

I was craving cheesecake, which is weird for me because I’ve never been a big cheesecake fan. But ever since my first Daring Bakers Challenge, which was the ever so delicious Cheesecake Pops, I’ve been liking it more and more. It’s so bizarre how our taste buds change throughout the years. Anyways, I didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time in the kitchen so I made these little cuties. This is seriously one of the easiest recipes ever but so delicious! Okay, so they’re not completely fat free, but pretty close. I used fat free cream cheese, so the only fat would be from the egg. Not bad though, huh? You can use mini graham crusts, another great idea is to put a vanilla wafer in a muffin cup and poor the cream cheese over that. Just as delicious and easy. I love my cheesecake with fresh sweet strawberries, so that’s how I topped them. Yummy! From start to finish, this yummy dessert only took me 20 minutes, and that’s including baking time! Hope you enjoy it! Have a great weekend everyone!

Low Fat Mini Cheesecake Tarts

1 package (8 oz) fat free cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

crust of your choice

1. Mix the sugar and cream cheese until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, mix until creamy and smooth. Fill tarts to the rim and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until set. When cool, top with topping of your choice. Refrigerate. Enjoy!

Filed Under: desserts