Father's Day: 3 recipes in one

I am going to start this post with an apology.  By the time we served dinner on Father's Day, I was too hungry to take a pic.  So, you are just going to have to use your imagination with this one...

Originally, Ryan was planning to make a smoked brisket for Father's Day.  I was all for it.  Less planning and work on my part.  However, when we saw that the weather was going to be rainy and cold all weekend, we scrapped that idea.  Instead, Ryan requested the following:

Pot roast with carrots and onions

Mashed potatoes and gravy

Steamed broccoli

Jello

Rolls

Yellow cake with strawberries and cream

(OK--I decided to have mashed potatoes and jello.  It just went!)

(The explanation paragraphs are color coded to match the colored items on the menu.)

I was reminded that just before we moved, my friend Anna Marie made us pot roast for dinner one evening.  It was seriously the BEST pot roast I had ever tasted and I demanded her recipe.  Turns out it was Pioneer Woman's Pot Roast.  So, that's where I went for Ryan's roast.  Because I forgot to add beef broth to my grocery list, I used 2 cans of chicken broth with 3 beef bullion cubes.  (Again. Has anyone else realized yet that these things are more the norm than the exception?)  I have to say, though, it was still absolutely fabulous.  This recipe has become my absolute favorite Sunday Roast recipe.

And, going back to the whole forgetfulness thing, I'll tell you about our Father's Day jello.  We painted our kitchen (red, of course) on Saturday.  Since it was drying overnight, we had a lot to put away on Sunday morning.  Between assembling the kitchen, getting all 5 of us ready for church, and prepping food, we had a very busy morning.  And, I didn't get a ton of time to prep food prior to our 11 o'clock church meeting.  I made our "Tropical Fusion" jello and put it in the fridge to wait for the pineapple tidbits and chopped maraschino cherries to go in.  When we got home from church, I realized that I had forgotten to stir the fruit into the jello.  By that time, the jello was completely set.  Instead of serving the fruit on top, I broke up the smooth, solid jello and stirred in the fruit bits.  And then I prepared a small box of peach jello (what I had on hand) according to the "Speed Set" directions, then stirred it into the Tropical Fusion and fruit.  By dinner time, the jello was set beautifully--once again smooth and beautiful.  The flavors blended perfectly and it was quite tasty.

OK. Last one. I love watching Alton Brown.  And I consider it quite fortunate that I happened to catch his "Gold Cake" episode sometime last week.  When it came time to make Ryan's yellow cake, I knew I had to give Alton's recipe a try.  Ryan described the cake as "Alton Inspired" because I had to make a few subs.  First of all, I didn't have an accurate kitchen scale.  So, I wasn't able to weigh the ingredients.  Secondly, I didn't have cake flour.  I subbed all-purpose flour. (1 cup cake flour = 1 cup minus 2 Tbls AP flour)  And thirdly, I eyeballed the vanilla and accidentally added way too much.  This being said, it was not my favorite yellow cake.  I thought the butter flavored shortening and too much vanilla gave it an artificial flavor.  And it was a little dry and not very sweet.  Next time, I think I'll switch back to "David's Yellow Cake" from allrecipes.com.  That's my favorite so far.

There you have it.  I hope your Father's Day was as tasty as ours was!

Chocolate Cobbler

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the mood to make a Sunday evening dessert.  I was all set for something cinnamon-y or almond-y, but my normally sugar-shy husband requested something chocolate-y.  For once in my life, I wasn't in the mood for chocolate.  But, since Ryan rarely requests the stuff, I obliged.  I scanned my "Try It Out" folder and saw that I had all of the ingredients on hand for this one.  This chocolate cobbler is just right--a little cake, a little fudge sauce, and a lot of deliciousness.

(Apparently, I didn't take a picture of this one after it was served.)

Chocolate Cobbler
Makes 1 8x8 pan

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
7 Tbls cocoa powder, divided
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cup hot tap water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In medium bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, 3 Tbls cocoa, and 3/4 cup white sugar.  Mix well.  Add milk, melted butter, and vanilla.  Stir until smooth; pour into ungreased 8 in. baking dish.

In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup white sugar, brown sugar, and 4 Tbls cocoa.  Sprinkle mixture evenly over batter.  Pour hot tap water over all.  DO NOT STIR!!

Bake for about 40 min. or until center is set.  Remove from oven; let sit for 5-10 min. before serving.

NOTES:  I didn't change one thing on this!  I will say, it's hard to tell when the center is set.  After all, it's a solid over a not-quite-solid.  So, use your best judgement, but don't overcook it.  And, really, if it's undercooked, I doubt you'd know.  By the way, the sauce is really great over ice cream.

BYU Mint Brownies

A few years ago,my BYU Alumni newsletter announced that the recipe for the famous BYU Mint Brownies was available.  I quickly bookmarked the link so that when I was no longer anywhere near campus, (let alone across the street from the Creamery where I could BUY these wonders), I would still be able to indulge.  Sometime within the past few months, as I was wandering through the baking aisle, I saw peppermint extract and put some in my cart...just in case.  Just in case what?  I don't know.

Yesterday morning, while looking over the recipe I had planned to make for that evening's potluck dinner, (Tex-Mex sheetcake), I realized it called for sweetened condensed milk.  I didn't have sweetened condensed milk--and my day was too busy to go out and get a can--so on to Plan B.  Which, it turned out, was actually Plan BYU.  Apparently, the peppermint extract went into my cart just in case my Plan A dessert fell through and I wanted to try making BYU Mint Brownies.  And try them I did.

Due to our crazy day, we arrived about 25 min. late for the dinner.  Ryan put the brownies on the table and by the time he got his dinner and sat down, 1/4 of the brownies were already gone.  By the time I made it up to the table to grab some, they were half-gone.  And when Ryan went back a minute later to grab a drink, the pan was empty.  Brings back memories of BYU's Women's Conference, doesn't it?

Thank goodness I have the recipe and can make them anytime I want!  Here it is for you--straight from BYU's Alumni website...

BYU Mint Brownies
Makes 9x13 pan (You decide how many servings...)

1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts

5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

12 oz. chocolate icing (recipe follows)

Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

Spread mint icing over cooled brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.


Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Frosting
(From the back of the Hershey's Cocoa container)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

NOTES: I didn't happen to have walnuts, so I added 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips instead.  Nothing wrong with a little more decadence, right?  Also, it says to bake them for 25 min.  Which is exactly what I did.  They came out PRETTY gooey.  I'm not talking prefect-brownie-gooey--I'm talking about "not-quite-cooked-in-the-middle" gooey.  I thought they might firm up a little.  They didn't.  Check them at 25 min., but be careful not to overbake. I didn't mind the gooey-ness, though.  It was like mint brownie batter ice cream, but warm.  YUM!

I didn't add any salt to the mint mixture.  I was using salted butter and figured that included the dash already.

Finally, instead of the milk called for in the frosting recipe, I added chocolate milk.  Again, nothing wrong with a little more decadence.  And, I did need to add more to make it spreadable.

Peanutty Candy Bars

I have a confession to make.  I love food magazines.  First of all, I love getting fun mail--you know, the things that aren't bills or personalized ads.  And, I love reading magazines.  Magazines have short enough articles that I can usually read them before being interrupted by one of the three littles.  After several years of receiving "Simple and Delicious," some of the recipes started to look the same.  So, I let my subscription end.  I thought I wouldn't miss it.  Turns out that I did.  So, I decided to try "Taste of Home" instead.  While I've really enjoyed receiving the magazine regularly, I haven't used as many of the recipes as I would have liked.  (Chalk up one more reason for this blog.)  So, I've pulled out my back issues and have been trying a little here and a little there.

Thursday afternoon was rainy and dreary.  I needed something fun to do with my girls, so I decided to give this recipe a try.  I figured all the oats had to make it ever so slightly healthy.  We LOVED it--and if you like chocolate and peanut butter, you'll love it too! 

Peanutty Candy Bars
Yeild: 2 Doz.

4 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2/3 cup peanut butter, divided
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pkg. (11 oz.) butterscotch chips
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup salted chopped peanuts

In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, butter, 1/2 cup peanut butter, corn syrup, and vanilla.  Press into a greased 9x13 in. pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 min. or until mixture is bubbly around the edges. 
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butterscotch and chocolate chips; stir until smooth.  Stir in peanuts and remaining peanut butter; spread over the oat mixture.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before cutting.

NOTES: The note in the magazine says that low-fat or generic brands of peanut butter don't work in this recipe.  I used Adam's Peanut Butter, which is the kind that doesn't have sugar and has to be refrigerated after opening--and, as you can see, mine turned out fine.  Also, I had to make a few substitutions--white sugar for the brown sugar (forgot I didn't have the brown) and peanut butter chips for the butterscotch chips (because that's what I had in my freezer).  I made a 1/2 recipe and put it in an 8x8 pan, which worked just great.