Baked Pesto Risotto Balls

Ingredients:

• Leftover Pesto Risotto (2 cups risotto with 1/2 cup pesto)
• 1/2 Cup of Italian Bread Crumbs, plus 1/8 of a Cup
• 1/2 Cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Egg
• Non-Stick Olive Oil Spray

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• Add your egg, 1/8 cup of your Italian bread crumbs, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese to your leftover risotto and combine well by mixing with your hands.
• In another bowl combine your 1/2 cup of Italian bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.
• Roll your risotto mixture into bite size balls and then roll them in the bread crumb mixture.  
• Place onto a cooling rack that is sitting on top of a baking sheet to ensure that all sides of the risotto balls get crispy.
• Spray thoroughly with the non-stick spray.
• Bake for about 20-30 minutes until the risotto balls have browned nicely.
• Optionally, you can broil for the last 5 minutes to ensure good color.
• Serve with your favorite marinara sauce and fresh basil.

Cook's Country Texas Sheet Cake

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs plus 2 yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup sour cream

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Chocolate icing

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 18x13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large owl. In another bowl, whisk eggs, yolks, vanilla, and sour cream until smooth.

Heat chocolate, butter, oil, water, and cocoa powder in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture until incorporated. Whisk egg mixture into the batter, then pour into prepared baking pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Set on wire rack.

About 5 minutes before cake is done, heat butter, cream, cocoa, and corn syrup in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Off heat, whisk in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Spread warm icing evenly over hot cake and sprinkle with nuts. Let cake cool to room temperature on wire rack, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until icing is set, about 1 hour longer. (Cake can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature b

Slow Cooker Sweet potato, chicken, and quinoa soup

Author: Chelsea

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  4 hours

Total time:  4 hours 10 mins

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup quinoa (I used a black bean quinoa package)
• 2 large sweet potatoes (1 pound or ~3-1/2 cups)
• 1 can (15.25 ounces) black beans
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) petite diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 packet (1.25 ounces) chili seasoning mix
• 5 cups chicken broth*
• Optional: fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Spray the slow cooker with nonstick spray. Remove the fat from the chicken breasts and put them into the slow cooker along with the rinsed quinoa.
2. (I found a black beans seasoned quinoa package which I used and loved, but regular quinoa will work as well, just make sure to rinse it well.)
3. Remove the skins and chop the sweet potatoes into cubes adding them into the slow cooker.
4. Drain and rinse the black beans and add those in. Add in the undrained petite diced tomatoes, minced garlic, chili seasoning mix, and chicken broth.
5. Place on high for 3-5 hours (It took 4 hours on high for my crockpot.)
6. Using two forks, shred the chicken and stir all the ingredients together.
7. Add salt and pepper and if desired fresh parsley.
8. Serve immediately.

Notes

Instead of chicken broth, I used chicken flavor bouillon cubes and made my own chicken broth - I think it has more flavor and it is cheaper this way!

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas
• 1 cup coconut milk
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt 
• 2 cups brown rice, for serving

Directions

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the coconut oil and the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the salt and curry powder and cook for another minute. Transfer to a slow cooker pot. 

Add the sweet potatoes, stock, tomato puree and chickpeas. Stir and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in the coconut milk and lime juice. 

Serve over the brown rice, topped with the cilantro and yogurt.

Baked Glazed Ham

• Prep time: 30 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Yield: Easily serves a dozen, with leftovers.

Ingredients

• One half ready-to-eat, cooked ham, bone-in, shank end or butt end, about 9-11 pounds

Sweet Hot Honey Mustard Glaze

• 3 Tbsp sweet hot honey mustard (or brown mustard with honey)
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• About 50 cloves

OR
Honey Thyme Glaze

• 3 Tbsp melted butter
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme (or 2 teaspoons dry)
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Honey Thyme Glaze adapted from Gourmet

Method

1 Let ham come close to room temp: Remove the ham from the refrigerator (still wrapped) a couple of hours before you intend to cook it so that it can get closer to room temperature.
2 Score skin and fat (if using non-spiral cut): Place ham, fattier side up, in a foil-lined roasting pan.
If using a non-pre-cut ham, score a diamond pattern in the fat with a sharp knife, about 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch deep, and the parallel lines about 1 1/2-inches apart.
Do not score the meat itself, just the fat and any skin. You can score the fat to as deep as where the fat meets the meat. If you want you can first cut off any skin that might still be on the ham, but it isn't necessary.


3 Insert cloves (if using): If using cloves (with the Sweet Honey Mustard Glaze), you can either put them in before applying the glaze or after. They look better if applied after, but it is easier to see the lines in the ham as a guide for placement if you put them in first.
Place the cloves in the center of the diamonds to form a nice pattern around the top and sides of the ham (or along the edges of some of the precut slices if using spiral cut). Some people put the cloves in the intersection points of the scores. Do as you wish. You just want a nice pattern.

4 Preheat oven to 325°F.

5 Prepare glaze:
If using the sweet honey mustard glaze, mix the mustard with the brown sugar in a small bowl.
If using the honey thyme glaze, mix thyme in with the hot melted butter and let sit for a few minutes. In a small saucepan on high heat, let the cider vinegar reduce down from 1/4 cup to 1 Tbsp, remove from heat. Whisk in the butter and thyme. Add the honey, the brown sugar, and the Worcestershire sauce.

6 Apply glaze: Using a pastry brush, brush whichever glaze you are using over the ham. Only use about third of the glaze (reserve the rest for later in cooking). Try to work the glaze into the scored lines.

7 Bake in oven: Place ham in oven. (If using a spiral cut ham, first wrap tightly in aluminum foil so that the ham doesn't dry out while cooking.) Cook for about 1 1/2 hours (check after 1 hour, will take longer if the ham is not at room temp to begin with), or about 10 minutes per pound, until the internal temperature of the ham is 110°-120° (use a meat thermometer). (Note that the ham is already cooked when you buy it, all you are trying to do is heat it up for eating.)
If using a non-spiral cut ham, baste the ham with the glaze a couple of times during the cooking. If you check on the ham and think that the glaze is at risk of getting too browned (like on the way to burnt), you can cover with a piece of foil.

8 Baste and broil: When the ham has reached the desired temperature, baste again. If using a spiral cut ham, open up the foil to expose the ham before basting.
Place the ham under the broiler for few minutes to get some nice browning on the top. Take the pan out of the oven and brush the ham all over with pan juices. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.


9 Slice: To slice a bone-in ham, cut around the bone first. Then use a long, sharp knife to slice off pieces around the bone.
Another way to slice the ham is to make first a slice on wide end to get a flat lying surface. Then stand the ham upright on the wide end and make slices down the side, working around the bone.

Read more: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/glazed_baked_ham/#ixzz3wHyFI9Gd

Greek Potatoes

Ingredients

• 8 large potatoes, peeled, cut into large wedges ( about 6-7 wedges per potato)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced ( more garlic is a good thing, less garlic is a no-no for this recipe)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano ( get the Mediterranean, it's the best!)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• sea salt
• fresh coarse ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 420°F A reviewer has suggested spraying the baking pan with Pam - that sounds like a great idea!
2. Put all the ingredients into a baking pan large enough to hold them.
3. Season generously with sea salt and black pepper.
4. Make sure your hands are very clean and put them in the pan and give everything a toss to distribute.
5. The garlic will drop into the water/oil solution but its flavour will permeate the potatoes, and this way, it won't burn.
6. Bake for 40 minutes.
7. When a nice golden-brown crust has formed on the potatoes, give them a stir to bring the white underside up, season lightly with a bit more sea salt and pepper and just a light sprinkling of oregano.
8. Add 1/2 cup more water if pan appears to be getting dry, and pop back into oven to brown other side of potatoes.
9. This will take about another 40 minutes.
10. Do not be afraid of overcooking the potatoes- they will be delicious.