Sweet Lemon Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

Sweet Lemon Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup chopped pecans

2 tsp lemon zest

3 tsp butter, melted

1 can Grand's Biscuits, cut into quarters

2 Tbs lemon juice

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Step 1

In a bowl, combine the sugar, raisins, pecans, lemon zest, and butter.
Step 2
Add the quartered Grand's biscuits to the raisin/nut mixture. Stir to coat each piece. Place biscuit mixture into a greased bundt pan or a  bread pan which ever is easier for you .
Step 3
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until browned on top. Turn out on plate. 
Step 4
Mix together the lemon juice and powdered sugar. Drizzle over the warm cake. Serve warm.

                               In a bowl, combine the sugar, raisins, pecans, lemon zest, and butter.

  There are multiple varitions of this pull apart cake . I will listing more later on including blueberry and cranberry orange . 

Chicken Club Casserole

Chicken Club Casserole

Ingredients 

1 lb spiral pasta, cooked
4 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
1 cup crumbled cooked bacon
1 cup milk
1 cup mayonnaise
4 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients EXCEPT the shredded cheese.

Step 2

Pour contents of bowl into the baking dish. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Step 3 
Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Garlic Fingers & My Pizza Dough

Fail-Proof Pizza Dough and Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

You will never need another pizza dough recipe after this one! 

 2-12 INCH PIZZA CRUSTS; ABOUT 1 LB. OF DOUGH

INGREDIENTS:

for the pizza dough-

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup...depending on the heat & humidity}

for the cheesy garlic bread sticks-

1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough from above

2 tablespoons softened salted butter

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese {use the real stuff!}

1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese

{salt & pepper, if desired}

DIRECTIONS:

For the pizza dough--In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix. Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn't stick to your hands. Once you reach this stage, knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean! {*This is the point when you could freeze your dough!! Divide into portions, place into freezer bags, seal removing all air and freeze. To use, remove from freezer and let sit out to get to room temperature and double in size; 6-8 hours. Then use as you'd like.} Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn't dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That's it! Use as desired.

For the Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks- Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. You can use a baking sheet too ... Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.

Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}

Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}

Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken 

4 chicken breasts
garlic, minced 
4 T brown sugar, 
3 t olive oil 
heat oven to 500°F and grease a casserole dish. sauté garlic Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture. Add salt and pepper. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes. added more brown sugar at the end. THIS RECIPE IS VERY VERSATILE . You can also do it with pork chops which honestly I find  lends it self even better . 

Garlic Parmesan pull-apart Bread

 *this is perfect for kids you can add pepperoni/pizza sauce etc into the layers and make it an entire meal*
Ingredients

1 can of refrigerated Grands biscuits (not the flaky layers)
1/2 stick of butter
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian Seasoning (I omitted) 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Throw the cold 1/2 stick of butter in a bundt pan and let it melt in the preheating oven.

Step 2
While the butter melts, cut the Grands biscuits into quarters. In a bowl, toss the biscuit pieces, garlic, Italian Seasoning, and Parmesan cheese together.

Step 3

Once the butter is melted, add the biscuit mixture, sprinkling with any cheese and garlic that gets let behind in the bowl.

Step 4

Bake at 350 degrees for 20- 22 minutes until golden brown. Turn out on a dish and enjoy!

Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta

Serves 2-4

1 lb raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
3 cloves garlic, minced – divided
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon basil, chopped fine
4 oz dry linguine

Grated parmesan

Place the shrimp in a bowl and add one teaspoon of garlic, the lemon zest and the vegetable oil.  Stir and let marinate while the pasta cooks.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, but cook for one minute less than instructed.

During the last three minutes of the pasta cooking time heat the butter in  a large skillet until it foams.  Add the remaining garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the shrimp with the marinade and cook for 30 seconds, or until the shrimp are just turning pink.  Add the basil and stir to combine.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid, then drain the pasta and add it directly to the pan – work quickly or your shrimp will over cook.  Stir to combine, allowing the shrimp and past to cook the rest of the way, about one minute more.  If the sauce does not coat the pasta completely add a bit of the cooking liquid to thin it out. 

Top with grated parmesan and a spritz of lemon juice.  Enjoy.

Scallop Potatos

Scallop Potatos 

1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups onion, diced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cloves garlic
2 1/4 cups shredded cheese (I used a blend of cheddar, mozzarella, and monterey jack), divided
1/3 cup chives, snipped
4 large yukon gold potatoes (any kind will do), skins on, thinly sliced

I started by preheating the oven to 375 degrees (F). To make the sauce, I melted the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then the diced onion was cooked in the melted butter until soft. Next, I stirred the flour thoroughly into the onions and added the milk and garlic using a garlic press. The sauce was stirred over medium/high heat until it began to bubble and thicken. I removed it from the heat and stirred in 2 cups of the grated cheese. The sauce was set aside.

Next, I fwazzed a deep 9x9 ceramic casserole dish with some cooking spray. A single layer of potato slices was layered in the bottom of the dish, followed by a sprinkling of snipped chives. Another layer of potato came next, followed by more chives. I continued like this until the potatoes were used up.

The sauce was then poured over the potatoes and the whole thing was given a good shimmy shake on the counter top to get the sauce to ooze down into all the nooks and crannies. The top was sprinkled with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese and another sprinkling of chives. I then placed the casserole dish on a baking sheet in case it bubbled over (it didn't) and baked it for 60 minutes until brown and bubbly.