Stephanies Kitchen – 2008 July

Mini Meatloaves

July 15, 2008 By Steph 14 Comments

So every week I sit down and I plan out my menu for dinners for the next week. For the last 3 years, I’ve had meatloaf on the menu, and for the past 3 years I’ve always skipped it and it was then put on the menu for the next week, and so on. I’m not sure why I’ve had such a hard time making meatloaf. I grew up eating meatloaf. I’ve never met a meatloaf that I didn’t like. But for some reason, I’ve lacked the motivation to actually make it. But this week, I finally gave in and decided to try it out. I added a little bit of this and a little bit of that, hoping that everything would turn out tasty. And I must say, I wish I wouldn’t have waited so long. It was so delicious, so tasty and so perfect. I found some tasty Brocciflower (half cauliflower/half broccoli) which was so delicious as a side and of course mashed potatoes to finish it off. Some tasty down home cookin’ and comfort food to boot. That’s my kind of meal!

Mini Meatloaves

recipe by Stephanie

serves 4

1 lb. ground beef

olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

2 eggs

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon tomato paste

salt and pepper

ketchup

1. In a skillet, add olive oil and onions and cook until onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add worcestershire sauce and set aside to cool slightly.

2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add parsley, bread crumbs, cheese, tomato paste,salt and pepper. Mix together until well incorporated. Add ground beef and mix with hands just until combined. Do not overmix. Separate into 4 even patties and shape into loafs. Place on baking sheet and cover the tops of the loaves with ketchup. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches between 155 to 160 degrees.

Filed Under: ground beef, main dishes

Lemony Lemon Muffins

July 14, 2008 By Steph 16 Comments

I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I think cookie week really tuckered me out and I haven’t been cooking or baking much since. I’m finally over that and ready to get back in the kitchen!

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, than you know how much I love lemon. Anything lemon really. But put it in cake or muffins and I’m in. I’m all in. So yet another muffin recipe from Stephanie’s Kitchen. If you love lemon bundt cake, than you will simply adore these little beauties. They are topped with a sugary streusel, and if that wasn’t enough, top that with a lemon glaze and you have yourself one tasty little muffin. Please..try it. You’ll love it. I promise.

Lemony Lemon Muffins

makes 24 muffins

For the muffins:

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the streusel:

1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cold butter

For the glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, butter, lemon peel and lemon juice. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix, just until moistened. Grease or paper line muffin cups and fill the batter 3/4 full.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and butter. Using your hands or a pastry blender, mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter.

3. Bake muffins at 350 degrees for about 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and remove onto a wire rack.

4. Mix together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over muffins.

Filed Under: lemon, muffins

Buttery Vanilla Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Buttercream

July 8, 2008 By Steph 22 Comments

I’ve been trying to come up with more and more of my own recipes. I realized that it’s probably not the best idea to post all of the recipes out of the cookbooks that I haven’t actually written myself. So I’ve been trying to get my brain thinking and I’ve been experimenting and trying to become a more creative artist in the kitchen. Hopefully that all works out…it’s coming slowly though. So, I just found these cute muffin cups that I wanted to use, and I was trying to create a half pound cake half cupcake recipe. I had the recipe all on paper hoping it would all work out. My daughter helped me get the batter made and as I’m scooping it into the muffin cups I realize that I only added half the butter as I intended. They turned out beautifully despite the mistake. Extremely buttery and moist. The perfect cupcake. I must not have had my baking “mojo” properly connected because another mistake of filling the muffin cups too full ended up as huge mess in my oven. But they were salvaged. These cupcakes were perfect. I topped them off with a creamy chocolate buttercream frosting. Delicious!

Buttery Vanilla Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Buttercream

recipe by Stephanie

makes 12 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla (or you could use almond or lemon)

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (or half and half or milk)

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add milk. Add eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated. Slowly add the dry ingredients until well mixed. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Batter should be fluffy and creamy.

2. Line muffin tin with muffin cups. Fill the cups only 1/2 full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely in muffin tin. Transfer to wire rack to frost.

3. For the frosting, in a mixer cream the butter. Add the cocoa and mix thoroughly. Add vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup cup at a time, alternating with the cream until consistency is fluffy and creamy. Frost on cooled cupcakes.

I felt so honored when I received not 1 but 2 Yummy Blog Awards! One from my good friend Jenny at Picky Palate and the second one from the lovely Leslie at The Hungry Housewife. Thanks girls! It made my day and made me feel very special! I’ve met some of the nicest people here in Foodie Land. I love seeing the creativity that comes from the blogs I love and it inspires me to do better! So now I want to pass this great award on to 5 other great Food Blogs. I could choose so many, but here are the glorious blogs I chose:

Holly at Phemomenom: Holly bakes so many wonderful treats, I really wish I lived next door. I could easily make everything on her blog and die a happy girl. She is not afraid of a little flour and sugar, and I love that about her blog!

Lindsey at Cafe Johnsonia: I would hope that someday she does open her own cafe, because I would be a loyal customer! Everything that Lindsey makes seems so fresh, healthy and delicious! Â I love pulling up her blog nearly everyday and finding a new and delicious post and my mouth waters every time!

Lori at Recipe Girl: Lori’s blog is outstanding. I love seeing her new posts and the bounty of recipes she has on hand! She always has something new and delicious waiting for me when I turn on my computer!

Kalyn at Kalyn’s Kitchen: Kalyn is all about healthy, and so when I look at her blog, it inspires me to be more healthy in my cooking. It is easy to get so many wonderful ideas to lighten up your diet! Something I need for sure…

Emiline at Sugarplum: Emiline is truly original. She creates all of her own recipes and it is truly an inspiration! Her recipes are all mouthwatering. I’ve made a few and they were all completely delicious!

Make sure you check out these great blogs and be inspired!

Filed Under: blogging award, cupcakes, desserts

Last Day of Cookie Week, Lemon Shortbread Cookie Cups, and Giveaway Winners

July 4, 2008 By Steph 21 Comments

Here it is, the last day of Cookie Week. I know, I know, grab a tissue, so sad! I’ve really enjoyed baking all of these wonderful goodies, and now I won’t have to have anymore for a very long time. (Who am I kidding?) No, it’s not the end of my baking, but I sure am taking a break for a while. I just bought a new baby though, and it just might take up much of my time for a while. My beautiful little Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker! I just need some yummy ice cream recipes now! I haven’t had much luck so far, but I’m not giving up. I will somehow conquer the Ice Cream Dream Machine!

So…I know the suspense has been dreadful to find out the winner of the wonderful cookbooks! I’ve been so excited for the giveaway, and I won’t leave you in suspense any longer! Drum roll please…..

The winner of Cookies Galore is……Elisebeth! Please email me your address so I can get this out to you pronto!

The winner of Martha Stewart’s Cookies is….Stupendous Treats! Please email me your address so I can get this mailed ASAP!

Congrats to you both, and I truly hope that you enjoy your new cookbooks!

Now onto the last cookie recipe of the week! I have definitely saved the best for last. I am very proud of this recipe, because I thought it up in my own brain and created it from scratch! And I was very surprised that it turned out even better than I imagined it to. I LOVE lemon bars. Really, anything lemon is on my good side, but lemon bars..ooh…the mix between the butter shortbread and the tart gooey lemon filling and don’t forget that layer of powdered sugar. Yum! So, I really wanted to make it into some sort of cookie, instead of a bar. This is what I came up with. Modeled after the Twisted Peanut Butter Cups that I made a while back, I made a shortbread crust and molded it into mini muffin tins. I baked those off and than filled them with delicious lemon filling. I did end up adjusting the recipe a bit so that when you make them, you have enough filling to fill the middles more than I did. They should be filled to the top of the cup. My husband even got wide eyed when he tasted them, AND went in for seconds..and thirds! Let me tell you, that is not like my husband. He told me that they reminded him of mini lemon meringue pies. So, I was worried that you guys wouldn’t really consider these a “cookie”. But they felt like a cookie to me. So they went on the list. And they definitely won as my favorite. I hope you try them and fall in love with them. Make them for a dinner party, and people will be so impressed with you!

Thanks for all the nice comments this week, and most of all thanks for your entries in the giveaway. It was so fun reading all of the comments and hearing everyones favorite cookie. I’m pretty sure the all time favorite was the chocolate chip cookie! Sometimes simple really is best! I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!

Mini Lemon Shortbread Cookie Cups

recipe by Stephanie

makes 24 mini cookie cups

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour

8 tablespoons cold butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/8 cup whole milk

To Complete:

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting the tops

1. Using a food processor if possible (it will work best, but if you don’t have one, just use a mixer) process the flour and butter until they resemble course crumbs. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

2. Divide dough into 24 equal balls and place in greased mini muffin tins. Push down on the bottom and sculpt the dough up the sides to the rim of the cup. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden.

3. Make filling – Cream together the eggs and the sugar. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well blended and smooth. Fill each cup with filling until it reaches the rim of the cup. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until set. Â Let cool slightly. Remove cups from muffin tins and let cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Filed Under: cookie week, cookies, giveaway, lemon

Day 4 of Cookie Week – Peanut Butter Fancies

July 2, 2008 By Steph 10 Comments

On to Day 4! Remember that today is the last day to enter in the Giveaway! I am quite new to this giveaway thing, and noticed that I probably should have mentioned that I need to have a way to get a hold of you (via email, or blog) if you are a winner. I’ve had quite a few anonymous entries, and those obviously aren’t in for the running, because I don’t know who you are! I will know better next time to mention that before hand. Oops! But, if you are one of the many anonymous’s please just enter again and let me know your email address!

Now on to the cookie of the day. I hope you have enjoyed the cookies I have posted so far. I worked so hard to get the best of the best! This one is no exception. If you love peanut butter and chocolate, than this cookie is for you! It doesn’t get much richer than this, but let me tell you that it is worth it! Yum. Combining peanut butter, peanut butter cups and milk and semisweet chocolate on top, you have yourself one extremely happy cookie. And you will be happy too if you give these a try!

Now, I promised some expert cookie advice. Now, this is mainly for my sweet mother who claims that she is not a “good cookie maker”. Love ya Mom! There are some simple tricks to make sure you have a perfect cookie every time. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I have learned a few tricks through the years that have helped me be more successful at cookie baking. Here are they are:

1. Always use room temperature butter. It needs to be soft, but not melted to get the perfect creamed mixture.

2. Always whisk together your dry ingredients before adding it to your creamed mixture. If you own a sifter (I don’t), use it. If you don’t have one, use a whisk. Same thing. It needs to be evenly blended to make sure the baking soda or powder and salt get evenly distributed.

3. If your batter isn’t very thick and extremely sticky, add more flour. Not too much, just enough to get the batter to a thick enough consistency. If you don’t have enough flour, your cookies will be horribly flat. I don’t like a flat cookie, unless it’s really supposed to be flat.

4. Don’t overbake your cookies. The cookies continue baking on the baking sheet, even after being removed from the oven, so remove them right before you they get to be too golden. They will set up perfectly once removed from the oven.

5. If possible, let your cookie dough chill in the fridge for at least an hour before baking.

Now, don’t hold me accountable if you don’t agree with some of these tips, they work for me, so I just though I should pass them along! Be sure to let me know if you have anymore great cookie tips! I would love to hear them!

Peanut Butter Cup Fancies

makes 10-12 large cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups quartered miniature peanut butter cups (about 30 cups)

1/2 cup melted milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips for drizzling

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. Cream the peanut butter and butter in a mixer. Add the sugars and beat until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix just until just combined. Stir in the peanut butter cups. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until firm enough to handle.

3. Roll into large balls (about 1/3 cup each) and flatten on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, until just turning golden. Do not over bake! Cool slightly and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

4. Drizzle cookies with melted chocolate.

Filed Under: cookie week, cookies