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The Pioneer Woman Cooks

The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Ah, is there anything sweeter on earth than having your punk-arse little sister visit? Mine’s visiting this week, which means I’ve totally regressed back to childhood and the water’s great! We’ve sipped wine, laughed until we’ve experienced stress incontinence, and cooked until our fingers are pruney and falling off our hands. And our tummies are plump and full. Marlboro Man had to go out of town for a couple of days, so one of the things Betsy and I made was our favorite pasta dish of all time. I taught her how to make it long, long ago, just after I’d left Los Angeles. Betsy graduated from college, lived in various big cities, and now resides in Austin, Texas with her tech-nerd husband, Matt, where she spends her days cooking all the food snob dishes I so unselfishly taught her to make so many years ago. Come along with Betsy and me as we make one of our favorites: Penne a la Betsy, as I like to call it. Just for kicks, put a pot of water on the stove to boil. Add the raw shrimp…

Featured Recipe: Simple Cinnamon Rolls » The official blog of America's favorite frozen dough Look at this perfect little sweet creation. What if I told you that you only needed four ingredients for the rolls and three ingredients for the icing? What if I also told you that you only need 30 minutes prep time (not including thaw time) and less than 15 minutes bake time? All you need are some Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold (I used the Texas rolls because I wanted mine a little bigger), some melted butter, sugar and a little bit of cinnamon. Roll each roll into a 10-inch rope. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Here's where things get a little messy. Immediately transfer them to the other shallow bowl with the cinnamon sugar. Coil each rope and place in a sprayed 9x13-inch baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise. Let them rise until double in size. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Combine icing ingredients and drizzle over warm rolls. Tell me those don't look like you spent all day in the kitchen!

Roasted Cauliflower Linguine with Lemon and Thyme Ok listen up. This is the best dish of pasta I've ever made. Like, ever. In my life. Hands down. And ok...I have said quite a few things are my favoritest beyond compare forever in my life, and they didn't really stick. And I know I said freshman year of college that the Screwdriver would be my go-to drink of choice forever (God, why exactly??) I also know I told you that my Mom's meatballs in homemade tomato sauce would always be my favorite. Have you noticed how much I like to say it's not my fault? Anyway, I can imagine and appreciate your incredulousness. This recipe for linguine with roasted cauliflower in a light lemon sauce was featured in this month's issue of Cooking Light. I'm pretty sure the clincher here is making the pasta sauce in the same skillet used to brown the sausage. This is a simple, light pasta dish that you'll be talking about for days, I promise! Looking for another delicious pasta dish? Roasted Cauliflower Linguine with Lemon and Thyme Yields 4 servings Ingredients:

Dorm Room Spa: 3 Easy DIY Beauty Recipes to Try Photo Credit It’s that taxing in-between time of the semester again – spring break is over, papers and projects are coming due, and finals are looming ahead. It’s clear that college students are stressed right now, and with that stress comes the need for relaxation. Of course, as college students, we can’t all afford to shell out for a trip to a high-end spa. 1. Photo Credit Olive oil isn’t just for cooking — it’s great for your hair, too! To give your hair a conditioning treatment, massage about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into your hair and scalp. Next, take a warm, damp towel and wrap it around your head and treated hair (“turban” it). Finally, rinse out the olive oil with shampoo. 2. This DIY mask, made of nutmeg, honey, and cinnamon, is calming and soothing for stressed-out skin – in addition, it smells absolutely amazing! The secret? To create the mask, mix 2 tablespoons of honey with a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg. 3. Photo Credit Your Thoughts?

SugarBlog - Homemade Hostess Cupcake Cake&Balls This is not a lie... this is the truth... There are times when I will have lots of yummy, homemade baked goods in my house and I will drive to the gas station to get a Hostess Cupcake. They are my favorite. And they are adorable.... They are served in that really cute little tray. Now... you all know I love cake balls. Anyways... This whole thing is easy just a bit time consuming... several steps... but worth it! Now you know for the cake balls you will need to bake the cake and let it cool completely. Then add 1/2 container of cream cheese cake frosting and mix with hands. I used my trusty cookie scoop to make the balls. Then just hollowed them out with my finger :). Once this is done place them in the freezer while you are making the cream filling. Also... The hardest part to this recipe was finding an easy and tasteful cream filling recipe.. but I found one! Cream Filling You will need: 2 tsp very hot water, not boiling 1/4 tsp salt 1 jar marshmallow creme 1/2 cup shortening 1/2 tsp vanilla

SugarBlog - Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries. What?&Yes! Um... ok. Why didn't I think of this?!?!?! Of course you can hollow out a strawberry and stuff it full of cheesecake. Of course you can!!! And just in time for Valentine's Day... perfect excuse to make them! Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries Here's what you need: About 20 strawberries... this was a little over one carton for me. 8 oz pkg softened cream cheese 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 sleeve of graham crackers 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional) First you will want to wash the strawberries and cut off the tops. Now core them! A thin ended apple peeler.... And a small knife.... I liked the knife better! The easiest way to core the strawberries is to hold the entire berry in your hand (wrap your fingers around it) and literally just core out the center. Um... Now to make the filling.... Beat the cream cheese. Now to fill the strawberries!!! I didn't want to hurt my zip lock baggies feelings so I used one to crush the graham crackers in. Oh man.... these are so cute. So......

Deep-Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie for One & Healthy Food For Living By Lauren Zembron, on July 20th, 2012 I know, I know… it seems as though I’ve been posting sweet recipe after sweet recipe (with a little something cheesy thrown in); but you see, after what seemed like a long time during which sweets were unappealing during my first trimester, (what can I say, pregnancy does some strange things to your body!), they’re apparently back with a vengeance on my appetite’s menu. Sooooo if you’re a sweet freak like me, all I can say about my recent recipe post pattern is: you’re welcome. And if you’re not? Now let’s get to this deep-dish cookie. Jenny from Picky Palate recently posted a recipe for a microwavable chocolate chip cookie made in a ramekin that looked so unbelievably delicious I had to make my own (slightly healthier) version. I cut out half of the sugar, subbed in whole wheat pastry flour, and used grain-sweetened chocolate chips (which have less sugar than semi-sweet chips). Now I’m under no delusion that even my version is healthy.

Strawberry Cheesecake Entremet for Daring Bakers An entremet (French baking term) is an ornate dessert with many different layers of cake and pastry creams in a mold, usually served cold. Think Trifle in a mold vs. a glass bowl. The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. I have to admit I was intimidated by this challenge. I made a chocolate jaconde filled with lemon cheesecake, topped with a strawberry mousse and a strawberry gelee. A joconde imprime (French Baking term) is a decorative design baked into a light sponge cake providing an elegant finish to desserts/torts/entremets/ formed in ring molds. Strawberry Cheesecake Entremet Ingredients Patterned Joconde-Décor Paste 7 tablespoons/100g unsalted butter, softened 100g Confectioners’ (icing) sugar 100g egg whites (about four) 110g cake flour Chocolate Joconde Sponge Lemon Cheesecake Filling Strawberry Mousse Strawberry Gelee Directions Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (use stand mixer with blade, hand held mixer, or by hand).

Baked Cheesy Chicken Bake Today’s recipe is a cheesy baked pasta that I found over at Our Best Bites . Sara based the recipe on a Martha Stewart recipe. This yummy dish consists of a cheesy pasta blended with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and mushrooms. Now I know the sun-dried tomatoes aren’t something most of you probably keep on had, so you could just leave them out if you like. Then just up the amount of chicken or mushrooms by 1 cup or I was thinking some broccoli or asparagus tips would also work well in place of the tomatoes. Another great thing about this recipe is it makes two – 2 quart dishes. When I made this recipe I also decided to try it with some pasta samples that I had received from Ronzoni . Finally, the winner of the “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” giveaway from Yoplait and MyBlogSpark is: Kate who said: I always love any kind of berry yogurt. Congrats Kate! Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne Freezer instructions: To freeze, prepare through step 4 and then let pasta cool. Be Sociable, Share!

Kaytucky Chicken I have a really fun recipe for you! And easy, too. It’s hardly any work; the oven does the work for you, but it’s a really fun and tasty way to serve chicken for a change. Serve with an Avocado & Fennel Salad, lots of skillet baked potatoes and a little Green Peppercorn Sauce, but that’s mainly because I’m seriously addicted to how the sauce tastes on potatoes. This was absolutely delicious! Directions: 4 chicken fillets 4 frozen puff pastry sheets 4 oz cream cheese (the firm kind) few rashes of bacon flat-leaf parsley 1 spring onion 1 large egg pepper salt This is what we call ontbijtspek here. I’ve also chopped a spring onion with my cute orange baby Santoku. And I’ve finely chopped a small handful of flat-leaf parsley. Add the spring onions, parsley, crumbled up bacon and a good pinch of pepper to 4 oz firm cream cheese; I’ve opted for low-fat cream cheese. Mix it all up. Make a fairly deep cut in each chicken fillet. Until I ended up with puff pastry looking like this. Kay’s Recipe Card

Chicken Enchiladas aka the best enchiladas ever! Thank you so much to Laura, at Tide and Thyme, for introducing me to this recipe. Seriously - they were so so good I can't even tell you. So good in fact, that the leftovers are really calling my name, and I'm trying so hard to resist.... OK so on to the recipe. I followed her recipe pretty closely, with the exception of a few minor changes. Seriously, make these ASAP! Chicken Enchiladas with Red Chile Sauceadapted from Tide and Thyme, orginally from America's Test Kitchen Combine the onion, jalapeno, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and oil in a large saucepan. cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onions and peppers have softened, 8-10 minutes. Nestle the chicken into the sauce. Strain the sauce through a strainer into a medium bowl, pressing the onion mixture to extract as much liquid as possible. Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Lightly spray the tops of the enchiladas with cooking spray. Reduce heat to 400.

Garlicky Baked Fries I’m never going to make garlic potato fries any other way. These garlic fries, win hands down as the best garlic french fries I’ve ever made. Plus they are baked – so I won’t feel too guilty if I make it every time I’m craving for some potato comfort. When I read that there is garlic infused oil involved, my heart skipped a beat (in a good way, not the way oil would otherwise treat your heart). crispy golden baked fries These garlic fries are incredibly simple to make and are so full of flavour. crunchy potato skin Garlic Fries Adapted from: Lottie + Doof Ingredients: 8 garlic cloves, minced or grated 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 russet potatoes (about 8oz each), each cut into 12 wedges 3 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper Tools:Microplane to grating the garlic warm and soft interior Tagged as: garlic, garlic baked fries, savory bakes, sides

Slutty Brownies I'm not really sure why these are named slutty brownies...what I do know is that they. are. amazing. Are you ready for this? First it's a chocolate chip cookie followed by an Oreo topped by a fudgy brownie. Everything melds together, the Oreo becomes soft, and it's three distinct layers of deliciousness. You may also like: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes Food exists for every occasion. Birthday cakes for birthdays (obvi). Casseroles for cold nights. Chicken soup to rid a cold. Bacon wrapped jalapeños for pot lucks. You know…food for when your heart actually hurts. So yeah…there’s food for this occasion, too. Chocolate pudding is pretty popular for this type of situation, as is a pint of ice cream while calling home to mom. But I…I personally recommend pancakes. There’s carbs (requirement!) From the time I’ve spent on this earth, I’ve learned a thing or two about heartbreak; it’s quite simple, really. It usually happens when two people aren’t on the same page. For this special life occasion, I recommend a new purchase of fancy shoes…paired with a stack of delicious pancakes. Please make them. They can really service any type of predicament or celebration–they’re versatile! Today, though–for me–they’re serving as a pep-talk, from me to myself (and maybe from me to you). So: (Right? Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes Print this recipe!

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