Heath Bits Cookies

These were originally a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but come on... Who wouldn't rather have a bit of toffee in their cookie?

Heath Bits Cookies
Originally found at Pin Cookie

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup toffee bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt until well combined. Fold in toffee. Drop dough by the tablespoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. Allow to cool 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

My Notes:
Interesting recipe. It really does create a nice, thin, chewy cookie. And the bit of crunch from the toffee just makes it divine. Be careful--these cookies don't really brown. The bottoms will, but the tops won't, so you don't want to bake them for longer than 10 minutes, even if they don't appear to be done.

Salsa Chicken Casserole

Salsa Chicken Casserole
Originally found at Budget Bytes

1 cup uncooked rice
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (16 oz.) jar salsa
1 cup chicken broth
½ Tbsp chili powder
½ tsp oregano
1.5 lbs. chicken breasts, cut into serving-size portions (about the size of a deck of cards)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place rice, beans, corn, and salsa into 9x13 baking dish. Stir until evenly combined. Add chicken broth, chili powder, and oregano and mix. Push the chicken pieces into the rice mixture. Cover tightly with foil, and bake for one hour. Check for tenderness of rice, and bake up to another 10-15 minutes.

My Notes:
This is actually pretty flavorful. It took forever for the chicken to cook in the container I used (and I had thawed it all out beforehand), but when it was done, the rice was nice and fluffy and oh so much flavor. Definitely something I'll make again.

Turtle Cookies

So I broke my tradition of having at least one post per month. I was away for half of November, which makes trying new recipes a bit challenging (since you're trying to use up all the stuff you have in the fridge so it doesn't spoil while you're away. Which I probably should have done more diligently, since I now have a heck of a task in cleaning out the fridge. Bleh).

But I'm hoping to make up for it a little this week, as I have several recipes on the list that I want to try. Probably won't get to all of them, but if I get 2-3, I'll consider it a success.

Also, I have no idea how I managed it, but I forgot to take a picture of these cookies. I could have sworn I took like 10, but evidently I didn't. So in the interest of getting this blog out, I'm skipping the picture for now. It's flagged for me to remember to take a picture next time.

Turtle Cookies
Originally found at The Kitchen Is My Playground

8 Tbsp butter (1 stick), softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, separated
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp water
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
14 soft caramel candies (the kind you'd use to make caramel apples)
1 tsp milk

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg yolk, 2 Tbsp milk, and vanilla until well combined. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Add to sugar mixture slowly until just combined. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk egg white with 1 tsp water, until frothy. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, then dip in egg white mixture, then roll into pecans. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Just before baking, press an indentation into the center of the cookie. Bake until set, about 12 minutes. Allow to cool 1 minute on sheet, then remove to wire rack.

Place caramels and 1 tsp milk into a microwave safe container, then microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until caramels completely melted, heating more if necessary. Consistency should be thick, but pourable. If needed, additional milk can be added. Spoon a small amount of caramel into indentations in the cookies. Cool completely, then store in airtight container.

My Notes:
Despite what the author of the blog above states, I really don't think these were the most amazing turtle cookies ever. They were a bit dry, and the original recipe for the caramel was way too thin, so I had to adapt that a bit. But they're not bad. A bit time consuming, but not bad. My roommate loved them, especially drenched in the too-thin caramel sauce, so I've decided that I'm just on the picky side. Which is fine, these are probably something I'll make again, I just might try to figure out some way to make them a little more moist.

Buffalo Chickpea Chili

Buffalo Chickpea Chili
Adapted from Naturally Ella

Olive Oil
1/2 small onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water (or vegetable broth)
1/4 cup red lentils
1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp paprika

In a medium saucepan, heat oil. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add tomatoes, water (or broth) and lentils. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add wing sauce, chickpeas, and paprika, and allow to simmer another 10-15 minutes, until lentils are tender. Makes about 4 servings

My Notes:
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this recipe. It's decent, but the only real flavor comes from the wing sauce, which just makes it really spicy. There's no strong depth of flavor like I have in my other chilis. But it is really quick and easy to throw together, and I happened to have all ingredients on hand. This is not something I'd make for a week's worth of food, but may decide to make it as a part of a chili potluck or something. Otherwise, I'll stick with some of my other recipes.

Squash Crusted Quiche

Image Pending

Squash Crusted Quiche
Inspired by Tasty Kitchen and adapted from All Recipes

1 small spaghetti squash
olive oil
4 eggs
1/2 small onion
dash red pepper flakes
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then place cut side down on cooking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, until flesh is tender. Allow to cool, then scoop flesh out and set aside.

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan, then add onion. Saute until onion becomes translucent, then add broccoli. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until broccoli becomes slightly tender. Allow to cool slightly. In a small bowl, beat eggs, then stir in cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Stir in cooled broccoli mixture.

Press squash to sides of a pie tin. Press 1/4 cup cheese into 'crust'. Bake at 350 until cheese melts slightly; this will remove some of the excess moisture in the squash. Remove from oven and pour in egg mixture. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, until egg mixture is set and cheese browns slightly. Allow to cool and serve either slightly warm or at room temperature.

My Notes:
So, my squash was really wet when it went into the oven, and I didn't use a pie tin, I used a springform pan. So about halfway through cooking, it started leaking out the bottom of the pan. I was really worried it was going to be super soggy when it finally came out, but it wasn't too bad. It wasn't crispy, by any stretch of the imagination, but it held together well and was a nice functional crust.

And I got a ton of compliments on it. I brought it to a pie contest (I decided on a very liberal definition of 'pie'), and while it did not win, I did have multiple people come up to me and tell me how good it was, and a couple people asked for the recipe. And, bonus, it's gluten free, so some of my celiac friends can eat it too! Regretfully, since it disappeared so quickly, I didn't get a good picture of it. Sorry folks.