Cajun Dirty Rice, French Bread, and Monster Bars - a guest post!

I'm so excited to have a guest post today from Sara Beth at Market to Meal!  She is a childhood friend and has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  She lives in Asia with her husband and five children, and has a fabulous food blog full of innovative and delicious recipes.  I asked her to share a go-to "company" menu - one more that I'll add to the "Menus for when People Come to Visit" series. Be sure to check out her blog and leave her some love!


I’m Sara Beth. I live in Asia. It might help if you know that about me. I love to cook, but because of where I live, I don’t get to do much the easy way. I kind of like it that way though. Living overseas we often find ourselves with local dinner guests that we didn’t know were coming until that day. The dish I usually throw together for them is Cajun Dirty Rice. My husband is from Louisiana so this is a “home” dish for him. Our local friends like that its something unique to where we’re from. It also is something they find tasty--despite it being quite different from the local fare. I haven’t served it to anyone that didn’t like it yet, no matter where they come from. I always have ground beef in the freezer and rice in the cupboard. Its easy for me to run to a vegetable seller really quick to get the vegetables--they chop up fast if you use a food processor or hand chopper.  They could also be prepped and frozen ahead of time for an even quicker meal. We usually serve this with some sliced tomato, cucumbers soaked in vinegar (yeah, its a southern thing!), and warm French bread! Even though its a yeast bread, I can start it as late as 4pm and still have it on the table for a 6 o’clock dinner. And just for fun, throw together some quick and easy Monster Bars! They’ll probably be different every time you make them depending on what you have, but they are always super yummy!

Chopped vegetables for Cajun Dirty Rice (image from Market to Meal)

CAJUN DIRTY RICE
Spices:
2 tsp garlic powder
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ¼ tsp paprika
1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp oregano
¼ - ½ tsp Cayenne pepper (I use a 1/4 for our family)
2 bay leaves

1 lb ground beef
4 cups chicken broth
¾ cup finely chopped celery
¾ cup finely chopped onion
¾ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
2 Tbs butter
2 cups rice

Brown the ground beef. Drain grease. Add veggies, spices, and chicken broth. Allow to come to a boil. Add butter and rice. Cover and cook on low like you would any rice--about 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. Add additional water if rice isn’t done when water is cooked out. Have a bottle of Tabasco on hand in case you want some extra kick!

French Bread Loaves (image from Market To Meal)

EASY FRENCH BREAD
This really makes a softer crust bread than a traditional French baguette. Maybe more like an Italian bread. But its SUPER yummy and easy. We make it all the time at our house to serve with all kinds of meals!
2 Tbs instant yeast
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs oil
2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups warm water
7 ½ - 8 cups flour
Mix yeast, sugar, oil, salt and warm water in a large bowl. Allow to sit just a couple minutes to make sure your yeast was well activated--it will start growing in the water (I tend to kill mine by using too hot of water--if that isn’t a problem for you, then just power on through!). Add flour a cup or two at a time until you can no longer stir with a spoon. Place on well floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic, and most of the flour has been worked in.
Place in a greased bowl, turning once. Let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Divide dough into 2-4 pieces depending on the size of your pans or oven. On floured surface, roll each piece into a rectangle--about 1/4 inch thick. Roll up, starting on the long edge. Place loaves on greased cookie sheets and make 4 to 5 slashes diagonally across tops. Let rise until double--about 30 minutes. Bake at 400F (205C) for 20 minutes.
Optional egg wash: Whisk together 1 egg with 1 Tbs water. Brush over top of loaves just before
baking.
*This recipe also works great to make into smaller sub-sized or sandwich sized buns!

Monster Bars (image from Market to Meal)

MONSTER BARS
1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup peanut butter (creamy, or chunky if you want peanuts!)
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/3 cups total of M&Ms, chocolate chips/chunks, PB chips, nuts, etc (I like to use M&M's and chocolate chunks together!  I also like using peanut butter chips in the mix when I have them.  Sometimes I add nuts or use chunky peanut butter.)

Cream together butter and sugars. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Add peanut butter. Stir in oats until well combined. Stir in choice of chocolate/chip/nut add-ins, totaling about 1 1/3 cups. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350F (180C) for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven when browning on top and still looks slightly gooey. Don't dry them out by overcooking.

WHOOOO can make an Owl baby mobile? You can!

Guess what? It's a guest blog about a sewing project! This comes from my dear friend Andrea over at The Strategic Homemaker. Andrea and I met very soon after both of us moved to southwest Virginia - we moved from across the state line, whereas she and her husband moved from across the world after a year of teaching English in Asia! Our friendship has grown over such things as picking cherries and berries, cookbooks, being handy and thrifty around the house, becoming next door neighbors, and especially sewing! I'm excited that she's sharing her expertise here.
PS. She very politely refers to folks who are frightened of applique. That was me ... until she taught me how! Thanks, Strategic and Helpful Homemaker!

Several years ago, Mrs. Rhymes with Smile taught me how to sew. I have advanced beyond that first t-shirt quilt, so I am very excited to be guest posting here about a recent sewing project.

I had talked about making a sailboat baby mobile on my own blog here, but here is another idea, and, really, your options for baby mobiles are limited to your imagination.  

This sweet girl’s mama had planned her nursery and displayed this mood board on her family blog. 

Seeing the little owl pillow on the board, I was like, “Hey, an owl mobile would fit right in.” Owls may seem a bit on the creepy side, especially if you watch Youtube videos of owls spinning their heads more than 360 degrees, but this little girl’s room had a lot of Dr. Seuss books, so the owls fit right in with the various characters, and I think they turned out pretty cute.

I designed them to match the pillow. I drew a boxy rectangle pattern with a hint of ears on a piece of paper, and used this pattern to cut out ten fabric pieces to the same shape. Then I decorated five of these pieces with applique to look like owls. 

Some people I know are intimidated by applique. DO NOT BE! You just iron this stuff called Wonder under onto the wrong side of your fabric, and then you cut it into whatever shape you want, basically making your own iron-on stickers for fabric. I usually blanket stitch in a matching colored thread around the ironed-on fabric to give it a finished look, but some of the pieces I used for these owls were small, so I just used a straight stitch a couple of millimeters inside the edge of the fabric.  This ended up looking really good too.

Another reason I like applique is that is uses really small pieces of fabric, so I get to use my scraps, and I hardly ever need to buy any fabric.

Anyway, once you finish decorating the owl fronts, you place your two sides right sides together and sew around the edge, leaving a gap of a couple inches on the bottom. Turn the owls right side out through the gap. Stuff them, and hand stitch the gap closed. Then you knot some thin ribbon and hand stitch the knot to the top of your owl.  Now you can hang your mobile on whatever you want. I used an upside-down plant basket.

Here is the finished product!

I was hoping to have a picture of it hanging up in the baby’s room, but  alas, the family is moving to a new state in a month, and will save it to hang there. 

Let me know if you make one of these, or if you design your own baby mobile to make!

Ginger Crinkles

Yay!  Another guest post - and this one is from my sweetwonderfulfunnyawesomelovely Cousin Becky!  She lives in DC and saves babies on her day (night) job, and does rockin' things like visit the White House, rock climb, and visit me on her time off.  Not only am I thankful to call this girl family (which means she's stuck with the likes of me), I'm so pleased that she sent me this recipe to share!  I have to say though, I'm a little afraid that with all these wonderful guest posts that you've been getting, you're going to stop reading rhymeswithsmile once the holidays are over and we're back to crock pot meals and soup.  

I mean, really.
Who wouldn't want to try a recipe on a guest post by this gal?

Ginger Crinkles 
A recipe from the White House Pastry Kitchen
8 oz (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 whole eggs

1/3 cup molasses

2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 tsp dried ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup granulated sugar (for dipping)

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees

2. Beat butter and brown sugar in large mixing bowl until creamy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Add molasses and fresh ginger.

5. Combine flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a small mixing bowl.

6. Add the flour mixture to large mixing bowl, and stir until combined.

7. Use a small spoon to scoop cookies into small balls, dip in 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, and place on parchment lined baking sheet sugar side up.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or less if you like them chewy.

9. Remove from oven and allow cookies to rest for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Yields 30-36 cookies.

Remember when I went to Europe a couple of summers ago?  It was with this gal.  Read about it here, if you like ... 

Gram's Secret

Many thanks to Cammy for her willingness to guest post today!  I can't wait to try this tip out (as soon as I start cooking again ... maybe next month.)

Secrets.  80+ years of secrets.  My grandmother has had many years to figure out tricks and secrets in life that just work.  It has been a well know fact, in my family, that somehow when Grandma makes a dish with chicken in it, it is so full of flavor, and what she does changes the flavor of an entire dish!  Gram will say that the way you cook the chicken is the key to the whole dish.  Family members have asked for her "secret".  Humbly she shrugs and says, "Oh, I just brown it in a pan."  Well let's just say those directions have never yielded good results for me ... every time my chicken tastes ... well ... not like Grandma's. Several months ago family was together to celebrate the arrival of my nephew.  One night as Gram was making dinner the ladies hovered over her to see what her idea of "browning" is.... and so we got it!  I've done this since then and wow ...

So here is what she does:

This applies to all kinds of chicken (boneless and skinless), and is done even when the chicken will have some sort of a sauce in a dish.

Take whatever chicken pieces and put them into some sort of a large pot.

Add in several cloves of fresh chopped garlic and at least half an onion coarsely chopped.

Add enough oil so that there is somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2" of oil in the pan. The idea is  not to have the chicken covered in oil/deep fried, but much more than just lightly pan fried.  (I have only ever used coconut oil, but I'm sure any other oil you would use to pan fry chicken would work as well). 

Turn the heat to medium high and cover. Allow chicken to cook like this for around 15-20 minutes, flipping after one side has some brown areas on it.  

Note: It should look similar to the picture but if the chicken is going to go in another dish and continue to cook then you don't have to worry about it being cooked all the way though.

So there it is ... the secret -well, her secret - on adding flavor to all of her dishes. I'm sure I would have figured this out one day on my own, but most likely not for another 50 years. I'm so thankful for Gram's secrets and tricks of the trade.

Holiday Sweets 5: Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Creamy peppermint buttercream sandwiched between chocolate shortbread-like cookies: Oh. My. Truly divine. Plus, they are so pretty rolled in the crushed candy canes. Requires a splurge on time (and butter!) but you will be so glad you did. Try to save a few to share with others. ~Mary

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Recipe & photo from Bon Appétit, December 2005  

Yield: Makes about 18 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

Cookies

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

Filling

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 drops (or more) red food coloring

1/2 cup crushed red-and-white-striped candy canes or hard peppermint candies (about 4 ounces) FYI: I prefer the candy canes crushed a little finer than shown in the photo

Directions

For cookies:

Whisk flour, cocoa, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients; beat until blended. Refrigerate dough 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough by level tablespoonfuls, then roll into smooth balls. Place balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using bottom of glass or hands, flatten each ball to 2-inch round (edges will crack). Bake until cookies no longer look wet and small indentation appears when tops of cookies are lightly touched with fingers, about 11 minutes (do not overbake or cookies will become too crisp). Cool on sheet 5 minutes. Transfer chocolate cookies to racks and cool completely.

For filling:
Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl until well blended. Add peppermint extract and 2 drops food coloring. Beat until light pink and well blended, adding more food coloring by dropfuls if darker pink color is desired. Spread 2 generous teaspoons filling evenly over flat side of 1 cookie to edges; top with another cookie, flat side down, pressing gently to adhere. Repeat with remaining cookies and peppermint filling.

Place crushed candy canes on plate. Roll edges of cookie sandwiches in crushed candies (candies will adhere to filling). Cookie sandwiches can be made ahead. Store in single layer in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.

Holiday Sweets 4: Holiday Biscotti

This biscotti is a fun, slightly fancy holiday treat. Making them has become a December tradition for me, often for a cookie exchange. Never made biscotti before? Try them! Perfect with a hot cup of coffee or tea. ~Mary

Holiday Biscotti

Recipe & photo from Foodnetwork.com

Yield: 12-18 cookies, depending on size you make the log and slices 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup dried cranberries

12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped

Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set (optional: cover baking sheet with wax paper). Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

Holiday Sweets 3: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

These bars allow you to enjoy a great combination of flavors and silky-smooth cheesecake texture with no fuss. Enjoy plain or top with a dollop of whipped cream. “A maple pumpkin cheesecake filling sits atop a gingersnap crust for a fantastic fall dessert.” Amen. ~Mary

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Recipe & photo from Brown-Eyed Baker.

INGREDIENTS

For the Crust:42 gingersnap cookies (about 9 ounces)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree (about 2 cups)
2 eggs
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch ground cloves

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper so that it extends over each long side of the pan.

2. Make the Crust: In a food processor, pulse together the gingersnaps and sugar until they become fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a few more times to incorporate. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

3. Making the Filling: While crust is baking, prepare the pumpkin filling. Beat together the cream cheese and the brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Add the pumpkin and mix on low speed until completely incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well until fully incorporated and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Add the evaporated milk, maple syrup and vanilla, and beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves and mix on low to incorporate.

4. Pour the filling over the prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake until the filling is set in the center, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack to cool. Once the bars have cooled to room temperature, you can cut and serve them, or you can refrigerate them and serve them chilled.

5. Using the parchment paper overhangs, lift the bars from the pan and onto a cutting surface. Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream and candy corn, if desired. Store the bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Holiday Sweets 2: Skillet Apple Crisp

Need an easy dessert for upcoming family time?  Check out another fabulous guest post from Mary!  

A delicious and faster alternative to apple pie. The crumble topping and rich apple filling are fantastic. Enjoy!  ~Mary

Skillet Apple Crisp

Recipe & photo from Cook's Illustrated, September 1, 2010

Serves 6 to 8.

Golden Delicious apples are Cook’s Illustrated’s favorite for this recipe, but any sweet, crisp apple such as Honeycrisp or Braeburn can be substituted; they do not recommend Granny Smith apples for this recipe. If your skillet is not ovensafe, prepare the recipe through step 3 and then transfer the filling to a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Top the filling as directed and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Serve the apple crisp warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

INGREDIENTS

Topping

¾ cup (3 ¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

¾ cup pecans, chopped fine

¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats 

½ cup (3 1/2 ounces) packed light brown sugar

¼ cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon table salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

3 pounds Golden Delicious apples (about 7 medium), peeled, cored, halved, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (see note above)

¼ cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup apple cider

2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine flour, pecans, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Stir in butter until mixture is thoroughly moistened and crumbly. Set aside while preparing fruit filling.

2. FOR THE FILLING: Toss apples, granulated sugar, and cinnamon (if using) together in large bowl; set aside. Bring cider to simmer in 12-inch ovensafe skillet over medium heat; cook until reduced to ½ cup, about 5 minutes. Transfer reduced cider to bowl or liquid measuring cup; stir in lemon juice and set aside.

3. Heat butter in now-empty skillet over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add apple mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until apples begin to soften and become translucent, 12 to 14 minutes. (Do not fully cook apples.) Remove pan from heat and gently stir in cider mixture until apples are coated.

4. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks. Place skillet on baking sheet and bake until fruit is tender and topping is deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 minutes, and serve.

Holiday Sweets 1: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting

Special treat: guest posts!  I've asked some friends to help me in the coming weeks by sharing favorite recipes, projects, and/or personal insights.  Mary has been kind enough to share FIVE (yes, FIVE!) delicious holiday treats - all in the "Holiday Sweets" category.  (To be completely honest, we are all hoping that one day Mary will open up her own bakery and dessert catering business.  She knows her stuff, and does such a beautiful job not only of preparing food but also presenting it.  Until that time, we are more than happy to be her guinea pigs and give her feedback on any and all recipes she needs an audience for.)  

"I love the food of the holidays. I love the traditional fare of turkey and stuffing, pumpkin and apple pies. But I also love exploring less common expressions of common flavors. I'm excited to share a few of my favorites with you over the next few weeks while Katherine is enjoying her first busy and blessed holiday season as mama of two."  ~Mary

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Maple–Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe & photo from Smitten Kitchen

Yield: 17 to 18 cupcakes

Cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing pans

1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin

Frosting
1 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/8-1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Make the cupcakes:
1. Preheat the oven to 350° (175°C). Line a cupcake pan with 18 liners.

2. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.

3. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, scraping down the sides after each addition. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat in the pumpkin until smooth. Scoop the batter among the cupcake liners — you’re looking to get them 3/4 full. Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

Make the frosting:
In a stand mixer beat all the ingredients on medium until fluffy. Frost cupcakes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set up frosting.