Peach Crumb Bars

I love eating peaches when they're a little soft, but still has a little bite to it, and juicy. Peach season is usually at its peak of yumminess around summertime. And during that peak, I like to buy my peaches at Costco or the local farmer's market because they always have the sweetest peaches. Well, I got too excited when I saw them at Costco this past weekend. Without thinking that it was not even summer yet, I bought a box home that cost almost $10. What a huge mistake. The peaches were still too crunchy and not at all sweet. Hubby asked if I could do something else with them because they'll all be going to waste. Luckily, the Brown Eyed Baker was featuring her favorite Bar Dessert recipes the other day and her list included a Peach Crumb Bar recipe. What perfect timing.

The recipe was pretty easy. The hardest part was cutting the butter into the flour mixture. I always hate having to do that whenever a recipe calls for it. But it was well worth it, because it turned my sour peaches into something delicious. Hubby was pleased with it, especially since we didn't have to waste a $10 box of peaches.

Dough

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1 Tbsp. pieces

1 egg, lightly beaten

Filling

5 cups diced peaches (about 7 peaches, peeled)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

2) For the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry cutter (or 2 knives, or forks), cut butter into the mixture. Mix in the egg. Dough will be crumbly. Press half of the dough into the prepared pan. Refrigerate pan and remaining dough while making the filling.

3) For the filling: Place diced peaches in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour over peaches and gently mix.

4) Spread peach mixture over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the peach mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Lula Kebab

Hubby and I decided to have a get together with his side of the family for Father's day this Saturday, instead of the Father's day Sunday. And I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what to make. I finally decided on grilling up some kabobs. I've been asked to feature lula kebabs on this blog a while ago, but never got around to it. I normally just buy the seasoned ground meat at a local Armenian store and grill them at home whenever I had a craving for kebabs. But I have always wondered how to make them. So I searched online for a good recipe. There wasn't many recipes for lula kebabs, but I managed to find this recipe from myrecipes.com. I wanted to do a trial run before I serve it on Saturday, so I gave it a try for dinner tonight.

You can use any type of ground meat for this recipe: beef, chicken, turkey or lamb. I happened to use turkey tonight. But a word of caution if you do decide to use turkey - because turkey is so lean, the final product will be dry. I didn't mind it this time, because this was a trial run. But I'll probably be using ground beef for the get-together. The flavors came out really well on this recipe. Maybe I won't have to go to the Armenian market for my kebab fix.

3 lbs. ground meat

1 large onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint leaves

1 large egg

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 Tbsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

juice of half a lemon

1) Line a baking sheet with wax/parchment paper. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix just until combined. Over mixing may cause the meat to be tough.

2) Gently form meat into 8-inch logs around skewers (Note: if using bamboo skewers, be sure to soak skewers in water for an hour before using to prevent burning. Another tip is to use 2 skewers for better stability for the kebabs). Place kebabs on the baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before grilling.

3) Grill kebabs on a hot grill for about 8 minutes, turning twice, until grill marks appear and meat is firm to the touch.

Indian Basmati Rice Pilaf

I love the Indian rice pilaf that is served in the restaurants. But it never occured to me to look up the recipe. Go figure. However, I heard my friend, Kiran, tell one of our co-workers how to cook rice the Indian way. Unfortunately, I was only able to get bits and pieces of how its done. What I do remember is that the rice must be rinsed thoroughly until the water runs clear and soaked for a while to get rid of the starch, so the rice wouldn't be sticky. Asian rice is normally so sticky that "you can build a house with it," as hubby would say. Indian rice pilaf is soft and fluffy.

I decided to incorporate Kiran's method of cooking the rice with this recipe from Epicurious. It turned out delicious. A lot of the Indian restaurants cook their rice with spices such as cumin seeds. I'll attempt that next time. This rice would go great with my Chicken Tikka Masala or kabobs, which is what I'm making for dinner tonight.

2 cups Basmati rice

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3 1/3 cups water

1 tsp. salt

1) Rinse rice several times until the water runs clear. Soak rice in fresh water for about 20 minutes. Drain well through a fine-mesh sieve. Set aside.

2) In a 4 quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add rice and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Stir in water and salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Once it starts to boil, lower heat to low. Cover and cook, undisturbed, until rice is tender and water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

3) Remove from heat. Let stand, uncovered and undisturbed for 5 minutes. Fluff rice gently with a fork and serve.

French Macarons

There's "macaroons," which is a coconut pastry. Then there's "Macarons," which is an almond-meringue based French pastry. Its 2 almond meringue cookies with a creamy filling sandwiched in between them. But don't let the French hear you call it a cookie. The first time I've ever had French Macarons was when I saw these beautiful, bite-sized morsels in the frozen section at my local Trader Joe's. Yes, I tasted my first French Macaron frozen. And it was delicious. And since then, whenever I encounter Macarons at any bakery, its a must that I order them.

I've seen a few bloggers make Macarons, and they all say how tricky it can be. The recipes I've seen look pretty intimidating, which is why I've delayed my attempt to make them. But I really wanted to make them. So I decided on this recipe from the King Arthur Flour website. The recipe had step-by-step instructions that included photos which made it a bit easier for me.

I wasn't too happy with the end result, however. My cookies didn't have the "feet" on its bottom, which is the fuzzy ring that develops on the bottom from baking. However, the flavors were almost there. I used the vanilla buttercream from my Vanilla Bean cupcake recipe. I'm definitely going to attempt this monster again and play around with different fillings. But for now, since this was a trial run, I wanted to keep the filling simple.

4 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) almond flour or almond meal

4 ounces (about 1 cup) confectioner's sugar

3 large egg whites

a pinch of salt

a pinch of cream of tartar

3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. water

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

1) Pour almond flour and confectioner's sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process for about 20 seconds. Sift mixture through a sieve to remove any large pieces and aerate the mixture. Set aside.

2) In the bowl of an electric mixer, add egg whites, pinch of salt and pinch of cream of tartar. Set aside.

3) In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a rapid boil. Boil for about 2 minutes. The temperature should be between 235-240 deg F. Remove from heat.

4) Immediately start whipping egg whites on high speed until they hold a soft peak at the end of the beater. Then pour hot syrup steadily into egg whites. Stop mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl halfway through pouring the syrup. Continue beating on high speed and steadily pouring syrup. Beat until meringue is smooth, glossy and form soft peaks.

5) Fold in almond flour mixture and stir until well incorporated. Continue stirring with a spatula until the batter runs in ribbons that disappear back into the mass in about 10-20 seconds. Test frequently until you reach this point.

6) Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat, parchment paper, or aluminum foil. Use a teaspoon to place a generous amount of batter on the baking sheet to test consistency. Gently tap the baking sheet to slightly flatten the batter. If the it doesn't flatten out, stir the batter some more. Once the desired consistency has been reached, use a piping bag to deposit a generous amount of batter (about a teaspoon size) on the baking sheet, about an inch apart from each other. Gently tap the baking sheet. Allow to rest for about 2 hours until you can gently touch the tops and come away with a clean finger.

7) Toward the end of resting time, preheat oven to 275 deg F. Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm on top. Cool completely before removing from baking sheet. Use vanilla buttercream to sandwich in between two cookies. Place assembled macarons in an airtight container and store in refrigerator for 2 days.

Paula's Chicken Croquettes with Creole Sauce

So I was watching the Food Network this afternoon while my daughter was taking her nap. Its the only time I get to watch what I want because once she's awake, its always her shows that are on the TV in our house. She usually naps about the same time of the day, so the shows that I always catch are Claire Robinson's 5 Ingredient Fix, Giada de Laurentiis' Giada at Home, and then Paula Deen's Best Dishes. Yeah, she naps for about an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Today on Paula's Best Dishes, she made Chicken Croquettes with Creole Sauce with one of her sons, Jamie. I already have a go-to Chicken Croquettes recipe, but Paula's recipe looked delicious. What did it for me was the creole sauce she put on top of her croquettes. I love anything with a creamy sauce. I had some leftover rotisserie chicken that would go perfect with this recipe, so I gave it a shot. It came out delicious. Its got the flavors of a good crab cake, except made with chicken. And boy was I right about the creole sauce. It took this dish to the top. Hubby really enjoyed this and I'm definitely making this again.

4 Tbsp. butter

1/3 cup minced red bell pepper

1/3 cup minced celery

1/3 cup minced onion

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. seasoned salt (or regular table salt)

1) In a small skillet, melt 2 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add bell pepper, celery and onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

2) In a large bowl, combine chicken, bell pepper mixture and breadcrumbs. Set aside.

3) In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, eggs, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Add to the chicken mixture, tossing gently to combine. Form mixture into about 10 patties.

4) In a large skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Cook chicken cakes until browned, about 3-5 minutes per side. Serve with creole sauce.

Creole sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. creole seasoning

1) Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Its my brother's birthday today. Last year, I made him a Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. This year, I asked him what he wanted me to make for him. He said he didn't have any preference. Well I happen to remember that when I brought over some of my Cookie Dough Truffles a while ago, he had asked if there was a cupcake version of it. I told him that I did find this recipe (from Beantown Baker), but I haven't had a chance to make it yet. I think now was a good time to make his long time request.

This is another recipe for the cookie dough lovers out there like myself. There were 3 components to this cupcake. The cupcake, the cookie dough in the middle, then the frosting. The cookie dough must be made in advance to freeze overnight so that it bakes well the next day. The cupcake and frosting was made on the same day. The cupcake was moist and soft. The flavors of how it came together tasted just like a chocolate chip cookie, so it was really yummy with the burst of cookie dough in the middle. I used the egg-less cookie dough from my Cookie Dough Truffle recipe. In order to achieve that raw cookie dough in the middle, you have to be careful not to over-bake the cupcake, which some of my cupcakes ended up as. But I managed to have a good batch to give my brother. I hope he likes them. Happy Birthday, Bro!

Cupcakes
1 batch egg-less cookie dough, scooped into bite-sized balls and frozen overnight
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 eggs

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2) Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Measure out milk and vanilla together. Set aside.

3) Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds. Add brown sugar. Beat on medium-high until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

4) With the mixer on low-medium, add a fourth of the flour mixture into the butter mixture and beat to combine. Add about a third of the milk/vanilla mixture and beat until combined. Repeat, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture.

5) Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into the cupcake liners about half to three quarters full. Place one ball of frozen cookie dough on top of the batter. Do not press dough down at all. Bake for 20-22 minutes until the edges start to turn golden brown. Cool completely before frosting.

Brown Sugar Frosting

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1) Combine butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Cream together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

2) With the mixer on low-medium, beat in powdered sugar. Add salt, milk and vanilla extract. Continue beating until smooth and combined.

Sweetfire Chicken

I was searching for some new recipe ideas one day and I came across Christine's Kitchen Chronicles. She had a copycat recipe for Panda Express' New Sweetfire Chicken. I haven't had their Sweetfire Chicken, but I have had my fair share of Panda Express dishes that I'm not afraid to admit. You really can't blame me. When I'm tired, lazy and am looking for a nice warm meal but I don't want to slave over a stove, I turn to my local Panda Express to feed my hungry family. Don't get me wrong. Real, authentic Chinese food is what I prefer. But Panda Express is a good alternative to satisfy a craving for Chinese food.

I've been in a main dish funk lately. I haven't made a good meal since last memorial day weekend when I made Barbecue Turkey burgers. And even before that, I don't think I made a good meal. You'll always find dessert recipes every other day on this blog, but main dishes are becoming almost scarce. So I was actually relieved to find this recipe to help me get out of my funk. And what a great recipe it is. Very quick and easy. And yummy. Hubby was real pleased with this one.

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

salt & pepper to taste

3/4 of a red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1/2 of a small onion, sliced

1 1/2 cups drained pineapple chunks

1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce

vegetable oil for frying

1) Pour enough oil to cover bottom of frying pan. Heat oil.

2) In a gallon ziplock bag, mix together flour, cornstarch, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper. Add chicken pieces and coat evenly. Once oil is heated, add chicken pieces. Discard leftover flour mixture. Cook chicken for 4-5 minutes, stirring several times. If pan gets dry, add a little more oil. Once chicken has browned and cooked, remove from heat and set aside.

3) Add bell pepper and onions to the frying pan and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Add sweet chili sauce and stir. Immediately add cooked chicken and pineapple chunks. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Serve over white rice.

Baked Alaska

Sometime last week, one of my co-workers frantically left me a voice message to call her back because it was something really important. And after playing a bit of phone-tag, we finally got a hold of each other and she told me that she wanted to ask for a favor from me. Turns out, that she wanted me to make a dish for her. Her daughter's school was having a fair last week and she was given a recipe to make to bring for the fair. I found it kind of odd that she, a mother of three who knows how to cook, asks me to cook the dish for her. Well, you see, she's a very strict vegetarian and doesn't keep (and is not even allowed to bring) eggs in the house. And because of her culture, she isn't allowed to bring alcohol into the house either. These two ingredients were crucial to the recipe. And because she was a good friend of mine, I told her I'd look at the recipe and let her know if I can do it. So she faxed me the recipe and it turns out that the recipe is for a Baked Alaska. I called her back to let her know that I'd be happy to do it for her. Especially because I have been dying to make Baked Alaska after seeing it on a few cooking shows. So she brought me all the ingredients for the recipe and I went to work.



The recipe was quite easy and looked so yummy. For obvious reasons, I didn't get a chance to taste the dish. But I decided to make it again this past weekend for our Memorial Day BBQ because I had a little bit of the ingredients left. So I made a smaller version of the dessert and I'm so glad I did. It was a yummy, cool and creamy dessert with a delicious crust. I'm glad my co-worker gave me the recipe to make for her. Unfortunately, I don't know the source of the recipe. The recipe called for coffee liqueur, but I didn't have any, so I omitted it. And it still tasted super yummy. Thanks for the recipe Jatinder! I hope your daughter and her teachers enjoyed it as much as I did making it for you :)

3/4 cup vanilla wafer crumbs

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 gallon coffee ice cream, softened

6 (1 1/16 oz) English toffe-flavored candy bars, crushed

1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme

1 Tbsp. coffee flavored liqueur (optional)

3 egg whites

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Combine vanilla wafer crumbs, graham cracker crumbs, pecans, cocoa and melted butter in a medium bowl. Mix until well combined. Press mixture evenly on the bottom of a 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

2) In a large bowl, combine softened ice cream and crushed candy bars. Spoon over cooled crust. Cover and freeze overnight.

3) Whip marshmallow cream. Whisk in liqueur if using. Using a stand mixer, beat white eggs on medium-high until foamy. Gradually add marshmallow mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over the frozen ice cream mixture, making sure edges are sealed. When ready to serve, preheat oven to 475 deg F. Bake for 3 minutes or until lightly browned on top.