Bar-B-Q Chicken Thighs

Supper time!  I felt like Bar-B-Qing on the grill tonight, so I used my dry rub and BBQ sauce to finish them off.  Oh they tasted sooo good.  I found a base for this rub online and tweaked it to fit my taste.  I hope you enjoy.  But don't forget the napkins.  This chicken is finger lick'n good.

Bar-B-Q Chicken thigh with cheesy herb couscous and snap peas

Bar-B-Q Rub

Bar-B-Q Rub

1/4 cup paprika
1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar (heaping)
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 teaspoons meat tenderizer
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
 
Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container.  Use rub on chicken, pork, beef, or shrimp.
 
*

Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding

Here is another recipe from my cook book files.  This is a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding.  The aroma really has me getting ready for this fall.  The smell of spices and pumpkin in the air is so wonderful.  Just knowing the apples will be ready to pick in a couple of weeks has me waiting with anticipation for fall to arrive.  I hope you are enjoying my family recipes, as well as new ones I have created by trial and error.  That way you have the ease of baking without errors.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy my family recipes.

Pumpkin Pie Bread Pudding Recipe

2 (8 count) cans cinnamon rolls
½ stick butter
½ t. salt
15 oz. can pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 can evaporated milk
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
2/3 c. sugar
¼ c. brown sugar

Bake cinnamon rolls according to directions and let cool on cookie sheet. Reserve cinnamon roll icing for topping. Let rolls sit for 1 hour. Cube cinnamon rolls into 1 inch pieces. Melt butter and toss with cinnamon rolls. Spray a 9X13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Layer cinnamon rolls evenly over bottom of baking dish.

In a separate bowl mix: milk, eggs, sugars, pumpkin, spices, and salt until well blended. Pour over rolls in pan.  Let sit for 30 minutes.  Bake on center rack  of oven for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Pour cinnamon roll icing over warm bread pudding and enjoy.  Serve warm plain or with ice cream or whipped topping.


*

Red Velvet Cake

I was inspired by my daughter and her friend to try this red velvet cake recipe.  I used dark cocoa powder instead of regular cocoa powder so the red color isn't as bright as I would like.  Next time I'll try it with regular cocoa powder and see how the color looks then.  The cake was light and very yummy and so was the icing.  I was pleased with how it turned out. 

Red Velvet Cake Recipe

2 1/2 c. cake flour

1 t. salt

2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder (can use dark chocolate for deeper chocoate taste)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. oil

2 large eggs

2 t. no taste red gel color

1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 c. buttermilk

1 1/2 t. baking soda

2 t. apple cider vinegar

1/4 c. sour cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and dust 2 8 inch cake pans with cocoa powder.  Mix flour, cocoa powder, and salt together in a bowl. 

In a separate bowl, mix sugar and oil on medium speed until well combined.  Add one egg at a time mixing completely before adding next egg.  Mix in food coloring and vanilla. 

Add flour mixture alterternating with buttermilk begining and ending with flour mixture (three batches) scraping sides of bowl.

Stir together vinegar and baking soda in small bowl.  Add mixture to batter and mix on medium speed for 10-20 seconds until blended.  Pour evenly into cake pans.  bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in pans for 10 minutes before placing on colling rack.  Completely cool before icing.

Whipped Cream Cheese Icing 

1 can of cream cheese icing

8oz. cream cheese (softened)

1 c. shortening

1 stick butter (softened)

1t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)

Cream the cream cheese with mixer until smooth.  Add shortening and cream until smooth.  Add butter and cream until smooth.  Add vanilla and mix until combined.  Add confectioners sugar until completely blended.  Icing should be nice and fluffy.  Ice cake and keep refrigerated.

I hope you like this cake as much as we did.  Enjoy!

*

Boston Cream Pie

Here is my Boston Cream Pie that I made.  As silly as it may sound, I didn't know until this year that a Bostom Cream Pie is a yellow cake with vanilla filling, covered with ganache.  Here is my version of it.  I decorated the top of the ganache with some melted white chocolate and whipped ganache frosting swirls and shell border. 

Yellow Cake
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 – 8 inch round pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly tapped. Cool 15 minutes before turning out onto cooling racks.


Vanilla Cream Filling Recipe
3/4 cup milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
1 large egg
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions
1. In a saucepan, heat the milk with the vanilla bean and seeds. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in half of the hot milk, then scrape the mixture into the saucepan and whisk over moderate heat, until thick, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla. Strain the pastry cream into a bowl; discard the vanilla bean. Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the pastry cream and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Ganache recipe below:


*

Ganache

This is a picture tutorial I made for chocolate lovers and those who want to learn how to make ganache.  Ganache is a chocolate filling used for desserts.  It's not too sweet and very rich in flavor.   It can also be poured over cakes, cupcakes, and cookies for a smooth icing look.  When beaten, it can be a fluffy frosting.  I hope you take the time to try this marvelous creation. 

 *You can use a heat proof glass bowl over a simmering pan of water in place of a double boiler to melt chocolate.


*