Season 2; Week 5; Carla's Banana Bourbon Bundt Pound Cake

Carla's Banana Bourbon Bundt Pound Cake

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 - 8oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
3 sups sugar
4 eggs
2 medium bananas mashed
1/4 cup bourbon
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup pecan pieces

Directions:

Generously grease and flour Bundt pan.  Preheat oven to 325.  Mix flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy.  Add sugar gradually beating with standing mixer 7 minutes.  

Add eggs one at a time beating 1 minute after each egg.

Put bananas, bourbon and vanilla in bowl.  Add bananas and bourbon mixture alternately with flour mixture into egg mixture.  Stir in pecans.  

Spread evenly into pan and bake for 80 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  I start checking it at 60 minutes.  

37 y/o Sunbeam Mixmaster she calls her Work Horse

Before it goes in the oven

This cake is good as a coffee cake in the morning or served with whipping cream at night.  It also freezes well but it has never made it to the freezer at my house.  I hope you all enjoy this cake, it will be great for Memorial Day weekend to snack on.

Banana Bourbon Pound Cake!

Cindy's Mini BBB's with a "Liz" twist

Cindy's BBB Minis

Julie's BBB Cake

Ryno having a slice!

Liz's pound cake with Bourbon butter sauce and ice cream 

 

Season 2; Week 4; Cindy's Spinach Lasagna Rolls

I love lasagna, so when I found a way to make it a little different, and more server-friendly I wanted to give it a try. This was fun to make and is great for entertaining because it is "pretty" and great for portion control.  Can't wait for you all to try it:

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 pound of ground Italian Sausage (whatever kind you like)
1 10-ounce package frozen leaf spinach, thawed, drained, chopped
1 15-oz container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 egg, beaten to blend
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley (I used dried)
salt and pepper
1 jar of your favorite prepared spaghetti sauce (I use Kroger's Marinara, it's $1 and taste great)
8 lasagna noodles, freshly cooked (do not overcook, al dente for handling). You will only use 6, but 2 extra just in case you have any that break
1 1/4 cups grated mozzarella

You'll also need:
A roll of wax paper if you don't have it (it's about $1-2 and in the aluminum foil section of the store)
An 8 x 8 square baking dish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Cook the Italian sausage in a frying pan until thoroughly cooked and in small pieces. Remove from pan, add a little more oil to pan and add spinach and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Cool. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg and parsley in large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 1 cup of spaghetti sauce over bottom of 8-inch square baking dish.
Remove the al dente lasagna noodles from the pot individually and place on wax paper for drying and easy handling (the wax paper keeps them from sticking to the counter). Spread about about 1/3 cup ricotta mixture of each noodle. Sprinkle the cooked sausage (you will have some sausage left over, this will be added to the remaining sauce later) over the ricotta mixture, carefully roll up noodle, starting at 1 short end, to enclose filling. Arrange seam side down in prepared dish. Repeat with remaining noodles, 6 fit just right. Add remaining sausage to remaining spaghetti sauce then pour over noodles. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Bake until cheese melts, about 45 minutes.  I hope you love it!

                                                          Cindy's Lasagna Process

                                                             Garrett's Lasagna

                                                   Garrett's Lasagna....looks Delish!

                                                     Carla's Lasagna

                                                             Julie's Lasagna

Liz's Rolls. Yummmmmmm!

Season 2; Week 3; Garrett's Walnut Chicken with Brown Butter Sauce

Walnut Chicken

(Makes 4 Servings)

8- 3oz Chicken Breast 

3/4 Cups Italian Bread Crumbs

1/4Cup Panko Bread Crumbs

1/2 Cup Cornmeal

1/2 Cup Finely chopped Walnuts

Salt, Pepper, Garlic powder, Oregano to taste. The Italian Bread crumbs have a fair amount of flavor in them. If you use plain bread crumbs, add more seasoning.

1 Poblano Pepper

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Red Onion

1 Yellow Bell Pepper

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

2 Packets of Instant Garlic Mashed Potatoes... You could make your own if you wish. I'm lazy.

Brown Butter Sauce

1 1/2 Sicks of Unsalted Butter

1/2 Teaspoon Tabasco sauce ( I like a lot of it personally)

1/2 cup Toasted Chopped Walnuts

Salt, Pepper to Taste

1/2 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan on med-high heat. Toss the Walnuts in after the butter melts.

Turn heat down to low-medium and cook until the butter browns and cooks down. Sauce is pretty light in texture though. Thickens slightly as it cools. Stir often.

Set Aside.

Directions

Chop Veg julienne and marinate in Soy.

Set Aside

Combine Dry ingredients.

Place each individual Chicken Breast between saran wrap and beat until roughly 1/4- 1/2 in thick.

Coat chicken in dry mix. Pressing firmly on all sides to ensure that coating will not fall off during cooking process.

Preheat oven to 375 allowing the chicken to sit for a short period of time.

Generously coat a saute pan with Olive Oil over Medium-High/ High Heat.

Saute The Chicken Breasts for 2 Minutes on each side.

Place Chicken in the oven for 5 minutes. Adjust cooking time if you couldn't quite pound the meat as thin as the recipe calls for.

In your saute pan, Cook your veg mixture over medium-high heat until peppers begin to char.

Cook Instant Mash.

Scoop of Mash Potatoes, Veg Mixture on top of that, and two pieces of Walnut Chicken on the top of the pile. Smother in Brown Butter sauce.

Enjoy. Will post pics tomorrow.

Garrett

                                 Garrett's Walnut Chicken with Fried Onions on top

                                       Cindy Walnut Chicken
                                                     

                                  Cindy Saute'd peppers and Onions

                                                      Julie's Walnut chicken

                                                                    Liz's Bird.  It was delish!
 

Season 2, Week 2: Julie's Frozen Key Lime Pie

Perfect for Cinco De Mayo Weekend, this pie is so great.  It's cold and tart, Julie will send the picture later, but here are the instructions/recipe:

Please make sure to add that this pie does take several hours to freeze.  I just don't want anyone to make it, and expect to eat it right away.  Could be made in the morning and eaten that night.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

6 tbsp butter- melted

Filling:

6 Extra Large egg yolks- make sure they are at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

sweetened condensed milk - 14oz can

2 tbsp grated lime zest

3/4 cup fresh lime juice - you can use regular limes or key limes

Whipped Topping:

1 cup cold heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350

Combine crust ingredients and form into a pie plate, bake for 10 minutes.

Beat egg yolks and sugar with a paddle attachment until thick (5 minutes)

With mixer on medium speed, add condensed milk, lime zest and lime juice.

Pour into baked pie shell and freeze....for about an hour.

Beat the heavy cream with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form, add sugar and vanilla, beat until firm.

Spread over pie, freeze for several hours.

Enjoy!

                                                       Carla's Key Lime Pie (naked)

                                                           Carla's Key Lime Pie with WC                                  

                                          Cindy's KLP not quite frozen enough, but still delish!

                      Liz's Pie.  She got fancy and topped it with candied limes

Candied Limes

                                              

1 cup sugar

2 limes                                                  

2 tablespoons sugar                                                  

1 cup water

Directions

1. Slice limes into thin wheels(the thinner the better without falling apart). The next time I try this I will probably use my mandolin so that the slices are uniform.   Blanch in a pot of boiling 1 cup of water for 2 min & scoop the lime slices out with a slotted spoon.
2. In the same pot, combine the 1 cup of water from blanching & 1 cup sugar. Bring to a simmer & add lime slices back into the pot. Simmer for 10-15 min, till white pith of limes looks translucent (May take longer if pith is esp thick or dense).
3. Drain & spread out on a cooling rack to dry (I didn't feel like these got completely dry) for at least 1 hour.
4. Put 2 tbsp sugar in shallow bowl or saucer. When limes are dry, coat both sides of the lime slices by pressing them into the sugar (May need more sugar for good coverage).
5. Store in an airtight container & layer between parchment paper or plastic wrap till ready to use.
   
   

   

                                                              Garretts Lime Pie

Weekend Supper Club Season 2

Welcome back everyone and welcome to the newcomers.  Liz has graciously submitted the first recipe, a delicious, aromatic beer bread she calls "Easy Peasy Bread".  I've been smelling it since she sent the recipe. As per last season, please duplicate the recipe exactly as it is written and take pictures of your finished product...or the process along the way...and send them to me through my weekendsupperclub@gmail.com. Please try and complete this one by Sunday, Apr 28.  I will post them all on here. Julie, if you will take next week we will put everyone in order soon, be planning on your recipe to submit.  Thanks for eating supper with us all again, Happy Sharing, C

I’m so excited for this entry. This beer bread is super easy and super yummy. I like to pair it with a nice creamy soup for a quick week night meal or toast it up in the morning and have it with my morning coffee. Just mix everything together and throw it in the oven right when you get home from work. The bread will be ready for dinner. This beer bread is also perfect for little Ryno and Raygan to make with mommyJ

Easy Peasy Beer Bread

Prep time 5 minutes      Cook time 50 minutes

3 cups self-rising flour (self-rising is very important)

½ cup granulated sugar

1 (12oz) dark beer (I went local and used Nimbus Oatmeal Stout)

4-8 Tbs melted butter (I used salted)

Non-stick cooking spray

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, and beer together in no particular order. Spray bread loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour dough ball into loaf pan. Bake for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, pour melted butter on top of bread and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Enjoy!

                                             LOOKS FABULOUS LIZ!!!!

                                                         Carla Sampling the Ingredients

                                                        Cindy and Carla's EPB

                                                                  Garrett's EPB...

                                                            Julie's EPB

Weekend Supper Club, Round 2, Week 3, Chicken 'n Chili Nachos by Julie

Ingredients:

2-4 frozen boneless chicken breasts - (bag of frozen boneless, skinless breasts in the meat section)
1 bag of tortilla chips (scoops work really well with small kids)
1 bottle bbq sauce - flavoring of your choice.
1 can hormel chili with beans.
1 jar cheese dip - I used tostitios smooth and cheesy dip.
Sour cream - optional
Diced tomatoes - optional
Green onion - optional

Directions:

Place frozen chicken breasts in crock pot, top with bottle of bbq sauce, set on low and cook for 4-5 hours, or until chicken is cooked through and can easily shred.
Shred chicken
heat chili on the stove, along with the cheese sauce, place in 2 different pots, cooking until both are heated through.
Place whole bag of chips onto Large plate and top with cheese sauce.
Place shredded bbq chicken on top of chips and cheese, pouring the chili over the chicken.
Top with your desired amount of sour cream, diced tomatoes and green onions.

Enjoy!!!!!

My husband and kids love, love these nachos,(really my kids love anything involving chips...).  I hope you all enjoy as well.

Ingredients you may not have in your pantry:

Weekend Supper Club, Round 2, Week 2: Ice Cream Ball Dessert

This is a really simple dessert and I can't believe I had never made it before but I think you will really enjoy it.  I attended a high-end fundraiser luncheon at River Oaks Country Club benefiting one of the local hospitals here in Houston.  The lunch was great and as usual, heavy for lunch however, they brought out this fabulous, simple dessert that not only looked beautiful and elegant, it was light and perfect after a heavy lunch and/or dinner.

Ingredients:

Ice Cream - any flavor you like, I do think the white ice creams make a prettier presentation than the chocolate because of the contrast, but it really doesn't matter
1 bottle of Smuckers Magic Shell Ice Cream Topper - there are several flavors of this also, I used regular chocolate
Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookies, also choices here, there are lots of flavors and even other makers of this round rolled cookie, it's just there for the effect so pick what you would like.
Your choice of an ice cream nutty topping or crushed almonds (I used a praline topping from Pampered Chef that Carla had given me).

Directions:

Use a large ice cream scoop to make a medium to large perfectly rounded ball of ice cream, one for each person that you will be serving.  Place them in the freezer on a cookie sheet or flat dish lined with waxed paper to keep it from sticking.  I also covered the top with waxed paper just for protection.  This is where all the work is done ahead of time.  When it's time to serve dessert, pull the balls out of the freezer and put in individual dishes, slowly drizzle the Magic Shell Topper on top in order to cover the entire ball (Magic Shell cannot be stored in the refrig and must be shaken well before each use). Immediately sprinkle your ice cream topping on top before the shell sets up and add the two cookies on the side for pizazz.  I tried to drizzle a little chocolate for decor but it didn't turn out very pretty so I'm anxious to see what you guys do. 

Side note:  If you don't have any cute ice cream dishes they have some really cute pedestal clear ones at Wal-Mart for $1.50, definitely worth the buy.  Have fun and I can't wait to see your pictures.

Ice Cream Extras

Ice Cream Ball

Julie's Ice Cream (and 2 for the babies)

Carla's Ice Cream in Crystal

Easter Recollections

I was giving some thought to Easter food and traditions and decided it would be a good week to have Weekend Supper Club Vacation.  Easter is such a traditional day of eating, it is not necessarily a good time to introduce a new dish to your family.  Instead of sharing a recipe I thought it would be fun to share an Easter memory, tradition, or story. 

I was trying to think back on all my Easter memories and decide, if I had to pick one, which would it be....so I picked three:

When I was a little girl my Mom and Dad used to give us traditional Easter baskets, as well as a new Easter dress, shoes, hat and gloves for church. They would sometimes, also give us a real, live, baby chick (or baby duck).  I can close my eyes and remember how fun it was to hold that little chirping ball of fur that wanted nothing more than to run away from me and poop in my hand... but I didn't care...The bad part of course was that I don't recall more than the first day it arrived, so I'm not really sure what ever happened sto them after Easter. I think that's what everyone did back then (50 years ago).  My parents were both from farming families and the birth of the baby chicks/ducks represented Spring. In the country it was a time when hundreds of little baby chicks were running around on new green grass celebrating the beginning of warm weather.

Second, when JJ was about 3 years old I bought 2 baby chicks for him on Easter.  My kids were saying, "what the heck are we gonna do with baby chicks? you know they're going to grow up and poop all over the place!".  We had a lot of fun with those baby chicks and JJ loved them for the 3-4 weeks we had them (we gave them to a friend of Julie's that had chickens).

Third, when Jen was a little girl, probably getting ready to turn 6, we hid Easter eggs for her around our house in Tucson.  We lived in the foothills area and were surrounded by beautiful desert plants (no yard or grass).  We hid the eggs for Jen around the outside of the house, among whatever small piece of greenery or sparse plantings we could.  When she began to look for them she peeked behind a small green bush and stirred up a small nest of baby desert cottontails.  She thought it was the Easter Bunny of course and we couldn't have planned it any better if we tried.  I can still see her face when she saw those baby bunnies lying there.

Traditions are so different and interesting for everyone, I would love for you to take the time and share a story that comes to mind of an Easter in your past.  I will post my next recipe at the beginning of next week and we will resume WSC.  Thanks so much for playing along with me here.  I love you guys and Happy Easter!

Weekend Supper Club, Round 2, Week 1; Liz Moreland
"Arizona Should Have Made It To The Tournament Hot Artichoke Dip"

Due to the NCAA Playoffs this upcoming weekend, Liz submitted a great appetizer/dip perfect for a party! We do have some KY fans at our house however!

Ingredients:

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup Mayonnaise

1 can drained artichoke hearts

Paprika

Directions/Comments:

This is such a yummy and easy dip to throw together. I wouldn't use anything but mayo with this dish, Miracle Whip just won't do.

It's my "go to" for potlucks and gathering with friends. My Mom has been making this one for cocktail parties for over 25 years!

Set oven to 350. In a bowl mix the cheese and mayo together and set aside. Chop the artichoke hearts, pour the hearts in the bowl with the mayo and cheese, Mix. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish (I use a ceramic tortilla holder because it has a lid and is easy to transport). Sprinkle on the paprika, Bake about 15-20 mins until bubbly. I usually serve it with crackers.

Liz's Artichoke Dip

Carla's Artichoke Dip



Cindy's Artichoke Dip



Cute dish from Target for dip



Weekend Supper Club Week 5: Family Style Swiss Steak, from Carla Davis

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons flour
1 large size oven cooking bag
1 (14 1/2oz) can original style stewed tomatoes
1 (10 1/2oz) can condensed beef broth
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (1 1/2 to 2 lbs) boneless round steak
3 medium carrots

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place flour in cooking bag; twist end and shake to coat inside. Place bag in a 13X9X2 inch baking pan. Add tomatoes, broth, onion and pepper; squeeze bag to blend ingredients.  Cut steak into serving size pieces and place in bag in single layer. Place carrots in bag around steak. Close bag with nylon tie; cut 6 slits 1/2 inch long in top. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until steak is tender. Serve over rice or potatoes.

Carla's Swiss Steak

Cindy's Swiss Steak

Jaimie's Swiss Steak

Weekend Supper Club Week 4; White/Phat Chick Enchiladas via Jaimie Petty

This is a very easy dish to make on days when you don't want to step on the scale!

Ingredients:
1 whole fryer chicken
12 flour tortillas-Fajita size
2 cans of cream of mushroom, or chicken soup
4 oz of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup of sour cream
1.5 cups of Monterey Jack cheese
Salt, pepper and chili powder to taste

Directions:
Cook the whole fryer chicken in the crock pot for 6 hrs or the usual time you would cook a chicken, season lightly with salt, pepper and chili powder.
After chicken is fully cooked, take chicken out of crock pot and place in a bowl to let it cool.
Shred the chicken off the bone and place in a bowl. (This will totally burn your fingers BTW) but it's OK because we all know we've done it before.
Mix the cream cheese and half a cup of Monterey Jack cheese in with the shredded chicken.
In another bowl mix the two cans of soup and the sour cream.
In the bottom of a 8 x 11 casserole dish add a generous layer of the soup mixture
Fill the tortillas with however much chicken mixture you desire. I make them fat because....Hello! they are Phat girl enchiladas!!! Roll them up and throw them in the dish.  They don't have to be as tightly squeezed together like the non-white girl version because the THICK sauce needs to seep in, but you do want to try and fit 12 in a dish. Add the remaiunder of the soup mixture to the enhciladas and bake for 20 minutes
Finally add a cup of cheese to the top and bake for another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
I hope you enjoy them as much as my boys do.

Jaimie's Enchiladas

Carla's Enchiladas

Julie's Enchiladas

Liz's Enchiladas

Cindy Enchiladas

WSC WEEK 3

Julie has submitted her recipe for Peanut Butter Pie....I can't wait to make it and the picture makes me hungry just looking at it:

PEANUT BUTTER PIE:

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 tblsp peanut butter (creamy)
1 8oz package of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups thawed whipped topping
1 12oz jar hot fudge topping
15 chocolate Oreo cookies, with chocolate cream
3 tblsp melted butter

Directions:

Crust:

    Crush cookies to resemble fine to coarse crumbs (food processor, or with rolling pin)

Melt butter and add to cookie crumb mixture, mix and press into pie dish.

Bake crust for 8-10 minutes, let cool completely.

Pie:

    With electric mixer, beat softened cream cheese and 1 cup peanut butter unitl thoroughly mixed.

Gently fold/mix in 3 cups thawed whipped topping until completely combined.

Spoon mixture into cooled pie crust, smooth edges to cover whole pie.

Reserve 2-3 tblsp of hot fudge topping in plastic sandwich bag, heat remaining hot fudge in microwave for 60 seconds, stir.

Spread hot fudge topping over entire peanut butter pie.

Refrigerate until hot fudge has begun to set.

Spread remaining thawed whipped topping onto pie, being careful not to mix layers.

Topping:

    Place 2 tblsp peanut butter into sandwich baggie, cut corner of bag and squeeze bag to drizzle on top of pie.

Cut corner of bag containing the hot fudge and do the same, drizzle hot fudge in opposite direction of peanut butter.

Refrigerate until set, and ready to serve.

ENJOY!!!

Cindy's Pie

Liz's Show-off Pie

Carla's Pie

Julie's Pie