Cookbook of the Month Recipe - Corn Dog Casserole

If you look over at the side bar on my blog, you will first see that it says "I am not a food snob." And this recipe right here proves it!!

First of all, I have to say that I was getting really good at scaling recipes down to 2 servings. I got tired of always having so many leftovers in the fridge. And now, it's dark at 5pm. I usually start making dinner at 5 pm. So now I am either stuck with making extra food so I can photograph the leftovers, or trying to make do with the horrible lighting. Oh, the trials of a food blogger!!

For some reason, as soon as I saw this recipe, I couldn't get it out of my head. I'm not ashamed to admit that I love a good hot dog, and a good corn dog as well. But this sounded so easy, I just had to try it. Corn dog flavor without having to get out the fryer? Of course I'd try it!

And I'm not ashamed to admit that I really liked this. Maybe it's the kid in me. (And I know kids would love this meal!!) You do get that taste of corn dogs all wrapped up in an easy casserole. Maybe it's not what you want to share at your next dinner party, but it sure is a kid and family friendly meal!

Recipe Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Corn Dog Casserole
from Recipes from River View

2 cups celery, sliced
1 cup onions, chopped
1 1/2 pounds hot dogs
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon sage
1/3 teaspoon black pepper
18 oz. cornbread mix
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, cook celery and onions until tender. Place in a mixing bowl; set aside. Cut hot dogs into quarters, then into thirds. Place in a skillet, cook until lightly brown. Fold into celery mixture; set aside. Reserve one cup mixture. In another bowl, combine eggs, milk, sage, and black pepper. Fold in hot dog mixture. Stir in cornbread mix. Add on and a half cups cheese. Spread mixture into a greased 3 quart dish. Top with the reserved hot dog mixture and cheese. Bake uncovered at 350F until golden brown.

Emeril 20-40-60

And the winner of Emeril 20-40-60 is:

Heather said...

Emeril has never let me down! I would love to try these recipes!

And it just happens to be Heather's birthday, so she gets another birthday gift! Congrats, Heather!

Spicy Orange-Glazed Drumsticks

The night I was making this meal, my husband's physical therapist was at our house. I just did what I normally do, taking dinner out of the oven, plating it up, and setting up my little photo spot in the dining room. I've been doing this for so long now that taking a picture of my dinner is nothing strange - I forget that to most people, I would probably look like a weirdo. So, I'm taking pictures of the dinner, and the physical therapist asks if this is what I do at dinner time every night. At this point, I realize how strange this must look to him! I quickly explain that I have a food blog, and that is what the pictures are for, and then I quickly disappear into the kitchen to enjoy my dinner. I'm sure that we food bloggers look like crazy people to most of the world!!

Besides looking crazy while taking pictures, this chicken was so easy and delicious. I wish the glaze would have penetrated the chicken a little more, but there was still plenty of flavor. This is a great dish for a weeknight because it takes only minutes to put together - most of the time is just spent in the oven. It's a great dish for one of those nights when you just feel like you don't have the energy to make dinner!

Spicy Orange-Glazed Drumsticks
from Real Simple October 2009

Serves 4

1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/2 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce
8 chicken drumsticks, (about 2 1/2 pounds)
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400º F. In a small bowl, mix the marmalade and chili-garlic sauce.

Season the chicken with 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper. Roast on a foil-lined baking sheet until cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes, brushing with the marmalade mixture during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes

After making the only semi-successful pumpkin bread last week, I still had pumpkin and cream cheese on the brain. So when I saw these cupcakes, I knew I had to make them! Find the recipe on my post at Cafe Zupas today!

Ham and Cheese Pan Souffle

Now, I'm no stranger to chiles. I grew up in New Mexico, and I love chiles in everything. And I've cooked with them often. Usually, if I'm cooking with a spicier chile, I'll wear gloves, especially now that I have a baby and I wouldn't want my hands to get spicy and then get all over the baby. But I don't really bother with a mild chile. Well, to me, Anaheim chiles are not usually spicy. In fact, they are usually pretty mild. So I went about making this meal, and at some point, I must have put a finger in my mouth. All of a sudden, my mouth was on fire! At first, I didn't know where it came from. Then I tasted a bit of one of the chiles I used, and I couldn't believe how spicy it was!! I immediately tried to wash it off my hands with no luck. I searched the internet and even asked my Facebook friends for advice on how to get the spice off my hands so that I wouldn't accidentally touch the baby's face or get my fingers in her mouth. There were all kinds of solutions, but nothing that really worked. Luckily, the spice wore off pretty quickly and we were all ok.

And this dish was worth all the chile worry as well. I was afraid it was going to be too spicy to eat, but I actually liked the hearty kick that it had. And the chiles really mellowed out the next day, so the leftovers were perfect. If you are a fan of breakfast for dinner, this is one that you will love!

Ham and Cheese Pan Souffle
adapted from Food Network Magazine October 2009

Serves 4

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
salt
6 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
8 ounces cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
1 onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 Anaheim chili peppers, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 pound boiled ham, cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat the oven to 400. Cover the potatoes with water in a pot; season with salt, cover and boil until just tender, 2 minutes. Drain.

Whisk the egg yolks, cheese, flour, and pepper to taste in a bowl.

Heat a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the onion and chiles and cook until browned, 4 minutes. Add the ham and cook 3 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the potatoes to the skillet and cook until golden, 4 minutes. Add the paprika, parsley and garlic and cook 1 minute. Transfer to the same bowl.

Beat the egg whites, 2 tablespoons water and 1/2 teaspoon salt with a mixer until soft peaks form. Stir one-third of the whites into the yolk mixture, then gently fold in the rest. Oil the skillet, if dry, and place over medium-low heat. Add the egg mixture, cover and cook until the top just sets, 4 to 6 minutes. Top with the filling and transfer to the oven, uncovered, until set, 5 to 7 minutes.

Clam & Bacon Focaccia

We didn't eat a lot of seafood or fish growing up. My dad loved to fish, so every once in awhile we'd have something like trout. But clams, shrimp or salmon? I don't ever remember having them as a child. But these days, I can't imagine living without them!! Clam chowder is a must and shrimp is so versatile, I would hate to go without it.

But although I love clams, I don't cook with them often at home. I'm really thinking I need to change that. I have never seen fresh clams here, but the canned ones work just fine for this recipe. And I'm betting this would be a great way to introduce clams to someone that is a bit leery of them, because when you cover anything with bacon and cheese, people are going to love it! I made this recipe as a main course, and it was super filling. I do have to say, though, that although I loved the topping, and I loved the focaccia, I probably wouldn't do them together again. The focaccia was just much too thick and it overpowered the flavor of the topping. I'd probably make this more into a pizza and use pizza dough. It might make the meal a bit faster that way, too!

Clam & Bacon Focaccia
from The Recipes of the Five Brothers

Serves 6

1/2 recipe baked focaccia bread (recipe below)
1/2 cup alfredo sauce
1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, drained and sliced
1 can (6 1/2 oz.) minced clams, drained
3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 425F.

Prepare and bake focaccia as directed below. Spoon alfredo sauce over focaccia. Top with basil leaves, mozzarella slices, minced clams and crumbled bacon. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven.

Focaccia

5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 cup warm water
1 package dry yeast
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for drizzling

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt; set aside. In another bowl, combine warm water with yeast; stir until yeast dissolves. Whisk in olive oil. Add yeast mixture to flour. Mix on low speed using an electric mixer about 2 minutes or until well combined. Remove dough from bowl; knead until a smooth ball of dough forms. Place dough in bowl; cover and let rise 60 to 90 minutes or until doubled.

Generously oil a 17x13 inch baking sheet with additional olive oil. Place dough in pan; press and stretch dough evenly with oiled fingers to fill pan. Pierce the dough with a fork at 1-inch intervals. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Cover the focaccia dough and let rise about 45 minutes or until doubled. Preheat oven to 450F. Bake focaccia about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a rack to cool.

Cookbook of the Month Recipe - Layered Pumpkin Loaf

**Don't forget to enter to win a copy of Emeril 20-40-60! Details here.**

A few weeks ago, I was given a loaf of pumpkin bread. The label said it was called a "Pumpkin Cream Loaf." I took it home, and both my husband and I were excited to try it out. After slicing it open, we realized it was nothing more than regular, old pumpkin bread. Not that there is anything wrong with pumpkin bread - I love pumpkin bread. But that "cream" in the title had both of us thinking there would be a creamy center or something different to it.

I hadn't been able to stop thinking about a pumpkin bread with creamy center since that bread. So when I saw this recipe for this Layered Pumpkin Loaf, I knew it would be one that I would be trying out.

This is another recipe where I wish I would have trusted my initial instinct. After noticing that the original recipe called for egg whites, fat free milk, and fat-free cream cheese, I realized that they were trying to cut down on the fat and calories for the recipe. Now, I know that I can always use a lower fat/lower calorie recipe. But last time I tried a "healthy" quick bread, it wasn't the best.

I compromised, and used the egg whites, but used 2% milk and regular cream cheese, because I had them on hand. The final bread was good, but it was missing some richness because of the eggs. Both my husband and I liked it enough to eat more than our fair share of it, and I really love the idea of this bread, but next time, I would make a different pumpkin bread recipe and add the cream cheese layer. Because that cream cheese layer really does bring something special and different to this bread!

Recipe Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Layered Pumpkin Loaf
adapted from Recipes from River View

Makes 1 loaf

1 cup pumpkin
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 egg whites, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

Heat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside.

Mix pumpkin, 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, 3 of the egg whites, milk and oil in a large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, pie spice and salt; stir just until moistened. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and the remaining egg white until well blended.

Spoon half of the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan; spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over the batter. Cover with the remaining pumpkin batter.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 2 hour or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Run a knife or thin spatula around the edges to loosen the bread. Cool in the pan on a wire rack fro 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan to the wire rack to cool completely.