Crazy Cooking Challenge: Roasted Jalapeno Ranch Dressing

We have the New and Improved Crazy Cooking Challenge this month.  One of the changes is that we are now able to use any recipe, not just a recipe from another "unprofessional" blog or we can create our own recipe.  That's the option I used for this last minute challenge; my own creation of Jalapeno Ranch Dressing.  Is it all that original?? I doubt it.  I mean, face it - there are just so many ways one can make ranch dressing.  I think I would have liked a little more oomph to it but since I need to be also preparing food my hubby will eat this worked out nicely.
 I served it over some bean quesadillas and thought it was the perfect addition to them.

Roasted Jalapeno Ranch Dressing

Makes a bit over 1/2 cup

1 to 2  roasted jalapenos, seeded

1 garlic clove

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2-3 Tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

kosher salt, to taste

In a food processor, or blender, place in all ingredients and process until smooth.

Mom's Crazy Cooking: Spaghetti Sauce

The challenge for Mom's Crazy Cooking this month was to find a spaghetti sauce.  I liked that this recipe included red wine... something I've really been into these past few months; cooking with wine.  Her recipe used canned tomatoes but I have several gallon bags of roma tomatoes in my freezer that I needed to use up.  Go check out One Couples Kitchen To see her recipe.  She made her sauce using venison, which I bet tasted amazing!

Spaghetti Sauce from Scratch
adapted from One Couples Kitchen

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 6oz can tomato paste
4 1/2 pound roma tomatoes (I had a gallon size bag frozen in my freezer)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup full bodied red wine
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tbsp oregano
1/2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp majoram
1 tsp parsley
1/2 teaspoon baking soda ( this was to help with the acidity of the tomatoes)
1 tablespoon olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

Directions
In a large skillet,cook ground meat until browned and cooked through and set aside.

In a large pot, add olive oil and over medium heat saute onion, stirring often; add garlic.  Add the cooked meat and the wine (this will deglaze the pan) add the remaining ingredients.  Simmer for 2 hours.

Serve over pasta and sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Shaker Chicken Noodle Soup

This month's Moms Crazy Cooking Challenge (the brainchild of  Tina Messick-Hudgens) was to find a recipe for chicken noodle soup.  The challenge isn't necessarily making the recipe, for me it is in finding a recipe.  You see, we have to use a recipe from someone's blog that isn't a professional blog (ie Pioneer Woman, Paula Deen, etc.) While there are a gazillion recipes for chicken soup out in the world wide web, finding one that wasn't originally from on of those professional sites.  Deep into my search I came across this wonderful blog called  Kitchen Trial and Error and found the perfect soup recipe.  This is a recipe that was handed down to her from her mother. It was on a photocopied piece of paper that did not include who it originally came from.
The only change I made was to make my own noodles.  I also leave the noodles cooked, but stored on the side.  If you leave the noodles in the soup they can become mushy and absorb too much liquid.  I put some in a bowl and then ladle on the soup.
Shaker Chicken and Noodle Soup

from Kitchen Trial and Error

serves 8

13 cups chicken stock, divided
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
12 ounces dry egg noodles (I made my own noodles for which the recipe follows)
2 cups cooked diced chicken
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup all purpose flour

in a small saucepan, combine 1 cup stock, vermouth, and butter. bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to about a quarter cup, about 20 minutes. the mixture will darken and be thick and syrupy. remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream. set aside.

see how much it reduces!!






coat the bottom of a stock pot with olive oil and set over medium heat. saute the celery and carrot until softened, about five minutes. add the remaining 12 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil.
.Stir in the chicken and cook until heated through and bring back to a boil.
whisk together the 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 flour until no lumps remain. Add a ladle of hot broth to the mixture and whisk to combine.while continuously stirring the soup, add the flour and water mixture. cook, stirring continuously for about 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. do not let the soup boil.
Stir in the reserved reduced stock, vermouth, butter, and cream mixture. taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately and do not let the soup boil.stir in the reserved reduced stock, vermouth, butter, and cream mixture. taste and season with salt and pepper. serve immediately and do not let the soup boil. leftovers reheat perfectly.

Easy Peasy Homemade Pasta
1 egg
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons cold water
about 1 tablespoon salt
2 cups flour

Beat the egg and egg yolks until light. Add water and salt; beat in.

Work the flour into the mixture, with your hands, to make a stiff dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at least 10 minutes.

Cut into three equal parts. Lightly dust a board with flour and roll out one part of the dough as thin as you desire.... I like mine not too thin, but it can't be too thick either.  Using a sharp knife, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips.  strips

Spread them out on a cookie sheet and let dry.  You aren't looking for a totally dry noodle, but one that has lost most of its surface dampness.  I generally let mine dry at least fifteen minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil.  Boil noodles until just tender... this can take 5-to minutes depending on the thickness.  Drain water and serve.

Crazy Cooking Challenge:Dark chocolate Kahlua Mudslide Fudge

Once again Tina, from the Crazy Cooking Challenge, has given us a task: find a blog that has fudge and recreate it.  Oh my but there are so many wonderful sounding fudge recipes out there!  I wanted to try them all, but my thighs stopped me.  On Pinterest I had pinned a recipe for Kahlua fudge.  This recipe had been pinned many times. I don't expect that I am the only one that will make this recipe, but I did make some adjustments that may separate me from the others.

 Before I get to those changes, please give a big thanks to La Phemme Phoodie.  She has a wonderful blog that just so happened to feature these delectable bits of fudge-y happiness! Click on the above link and give her some blogger love!
This fudge is fantastic.  Its creamy, and not overly sweet.  Even my mom, who dislikes dark chocolate, gives it two thumbs up!  I added a teaspoon of espresso powder right before I added the chocolate.  The original recipe calls for 3 cups total of chocolate but I only did 2 cups and I omitted the nuts (yes dear, I did that for you sweet husband of mine!)  be sure to click on her link to see the original recipe!

Kahlua Creamy Fudge (Adapted from La Phemme Phoodie)
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 (7 0z) jar marshmallow creme*
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup salted butter
1/3 cup Kahlua Mudslide
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Line an 8 inch square pan with baking foil.or parchment paper.
In a 3 1/2 quart saucepan combine sugar, marshmallow, milk, butter, Kahlua and salt. Bring to a rapid boil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; add the espresso powder and chocolate. Stir until melted. Add vanilla. Turn into prepared pan.
Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes and then refrigerate until firm. To serve cut into squares.
Serving: Approximately 2 1/2 pounds

 Here's a tip; make the length of the foil, or parchment, a bit longer  This way all you need to do is cut around the pan and pull out the fudge!.

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Roasted Smashed Potatoes

This month's crazy cooking challenge was "Mashed Potatoes."  In case you are wondering, the crazy cooking challenge is the brainchild of Tina's from moms crazy cooking. Each month you are given a theme (last month was chocolate chip cookies) and you are to be inspired from another persons blog.  Genius!  I love being able to support another fellow blogger!

So, mashed potatoes is the theme for November and there are tons of different recipes out there!  Even my meat and potatoes loving husband enjoyed this challenge! The first recipe I tried was for a twice baked potato that used a package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing.  Oh yeah! It was definitely a keeper recipe and one I will share with you all in the future.  But I was looking for something a bit more different to put up for this challenge and was torn between trying Deep Fried Mashed Potato Balls and one called Roasted Smashed Potatoes.  Laziness won out in the end and I nixed the deep frying for the time being.  Roasted Smashed Potatoes was a bit time consuming, but really quite easy. Be sure to check out Chad's  blog, there is a plethora of information on it.   This was an interesting challenge. It will be nice to have a few new recipes to switch up side dishes from time to time. The idea behind this recipe is to have a crispy exterior and a creamy interior.... crazy as that sounds, it worked!  Super duper yummy!

Roasted Smashed Potatoes

http://www.chadchandler.com/roasted-smashed-potatoes/

2½ pounds baby reds or small Yukon gold potatoes (1½-2 inch in diameter)
3/4 cups water
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
fresh rosemary, thyme or sage for garnish

salt & pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Move the oven rack to the top and bottom positions and preheat the oven to 500°. Place the potatoes on a baking tray and add the water.The potatoes should be fairly small, but if need be you may cut potatoes in half.  Cover pan  tightly with foil so that the potatoes will steam. Place the potatoes on the bottom rack in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes.

Take them out of the oven, remove the foil, and let the potatoes cool down for a few minutes.Drain off water.  Once cooled, drizzle potatoes with olive oil and roll them so that potatoes are evenly coated.
Space them evenly across the tray. Place another baking tray on top of the potatoes and smash them down until they’re only about ½ inch thick. Season them to your own taste; Add more olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper so that all the seasonings run into all of the cracks and depressions. I used some rosemary but it is really to your own preference what seasonings you would like to use.  I think garlic would also work really well with this!

Place the tray back in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes on the top rack. Switch to bottom rack and cook an additional 25 minutes . The bottom of the potatoes should be crisp. If desired, use the broiler on top rack to crisp up the tops more.  Remove from oven and sprinkle tops with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love challenges and even more than that, I love being able to showcase another persons blog. With the Crazy Cooking Challenge, we are given a recipe subject (this month is chocolate chip cookies) and from there we are to just find an intriguing recipe showcasing another persons blog. This is the second month Crazy Cooking Challenge has been in place and I'm just thrilled to now be a part of it. Check it out here to see last months challenge of Macaroni and Cheese!

I've got a new blog obsession with Kristy over at Sweet Treats and More. Here photographs are phenomenal and she just has a nice relaxed way of writing. She has several tasty looking recipes using chocolate chips, but I have thus far contained myself to making the Classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. They were delicious! My boys and hubby just gobbled them up!

Classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Sweet treats and more

1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 c. flour
2 3/4 c. oatmeal
2 c. chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Add baking soda, powder, and salt and mix. Add flour, oatmeal and chocolate chips. Mix until combined. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

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