Flourless Chocolate Cake

Whether you're on a gluten-free diet or not, if you're a chocolate lover, this cake is for you! This is definitely NOT cake-like, but more fudgey and dense and delicious. Make this for the chocolate lovers in your life!

1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup white sugar
18 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
6 eggs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch round cake pan (I used a 9-inch cake pan and added 5 minutes to the cooking time) and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside. Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.

Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

We had a little get together with the girls today since a friend was visiting from out of town, so I figured I'd have some desserts ready for us after we got back from lunch. These are really easy, and gluten free! Perfect for Rachel!

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the ingredients and roll into small balls. Roll the balls in white sugar, place on cookie sheet and make the ever-so-recognizable peanut butter cookie design using the back of a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes and let cool.

Peppered Beef Tenderloin

Jim was in charge of this one. He found a really good sale on a beef tenderloin, so we cut it in half so we could make two meals out of it. The recipe was found on All Recipes and scaled down to what we needed. It was really good!

1.5 tbsp. coarsely ground pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tbsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp. salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 pound beef tenderloin

Combine the pepper, oil, lemon peel, salt and garlic; rub over tenderloin. Place on a greased rack in a foil-lined roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-65 minutes or until beef reaches desired doneness (for medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 145 degrees F; medium, 160 degrees F; well-done, 170 degrees F). Cover and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Chicken Avocado Bacon Wrap

We had some leftover chicken that we had marinated in Newman's Own Lighten Up Light Lime Vinaigrette. We decided to make a wrap with a few items we had around the house...and a few items I had to pick up at the store. It was quite delish and quick and easy!

leftover chicken shredded or cut into strips
1 avocado, sliced thin
shredded cheese
romaine lettuce
watercress
2-4 strips of bacon
tomato, sliced thin

we made 2-3 wraps out of this

Just layer everything on the wrap of your choice, roll it up and enjoy!

Taco Bake

I found this recipe on All Recipes but made some minor changes of my own. For some reason I tend to gravitate toward some type of Mexican-type food, so below is what I made.

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (4 ounce) can green chiles
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup sour cream - I didn't have any sour cream so I used cottage cheese instead
2/3 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
2 tbsp. RedHot sauce
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice
corn tortilla chips - I used Blue Corn Kettle Style Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef, onion and garlic. Once ground beef is cooked through, add the chiles, water, sour cream (or cottage cheese), taco seasoning mix and RedHot sauce. Let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. In the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish, place a layer of tortilla chips. Cover with a layer of the meat mixture then a layer of cheese. Repeat this process until the last layer is cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.

Ukrainian Chicken Kiev

I went to yoga class and came home to this yummy dinner. Jim scaled the original recipe from 8 servings to 4 servings. He only used 2 chicken breasts but they're HUGE so the recipe below worked out fine.

2 large or 4 small-ish skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp. and 2 tsp. butter, softened
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg
1 tbsp. and 1-1/2 tsp. water
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 cup vegetable oil

Place each chicken breast between a sheet of wax paper and pound, using a mallet or rolling pin, to about 1/8 inch thickness; be careful not to 'break' the chicken. Wrap and refrigerate until seasoned butter is frozen.

To Make Seasoned Butter: In a small bowl combine the softened butter, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and mix well. Spread mixture into a 2x4 inch rectangle on a piece of aluminum foil; freeze until firm. When butter is firm, cut into 2-4 equal size pieces and place one piece on each chicken breast. Fold in edges of chicken and roll to encase butter completely. Secure with toothpicks.

In a small bowl, beat egg with water. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the 1/8 teaspoon pepper, 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder, dill weed and flour. Place bread crumbs in a separate shallow dish or bowl. Dip chicken rolls in seasoned flour, then egg mixture, then crumbs. Place coated chicken in a shallow dish, cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When oil is hot, deep fry chicken rolls for about 5 minutes, then turn over and deep fry for another 5 minutes until golden and cooked through, with no pink showing inside. At this point Jim popped them into a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to make sure the chicken was cooked all the way through.

Autumn Apple Cake

So I was browsing through my first issue of Cooking Light and came across this recipe. I was so glad I had everything I needed to make this. I realize the ingredients aren't that much to ask to have on hand, but I actually had a Pink Lady apple AND golden raisins. Awesome. The best thing was that I actually wanted to bake something today, but wasn't sure what...this fit the bill. It's yummy!

Cooking spray
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup finely chopped peeled Pink Lady apple (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts - I didn't use them since we're not really fans of nuts in our desserts
1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray, and dust with 1 tablespoon flour. Weigh or lightly spoon 6.75 ounces flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 6.75 ounces flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer until well blended. Beat in vanilla and egg. Beat in flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in apple and raisins. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over cake. Cut into wedges.

Chicken Piccata

Pretty much the only reason I decided to make this is because I took chicken out of the freezer and we've had capers sitting in our cupboard forever! I found this over on the Food Network website. It turned out good. I just served it over some brown rice.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, about 6 ounces each
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp. drained bottled capers, rinsed and chopped
Additional kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sprinkle a small amount of water on a large plastic sheet of plastic wrap. Place 2 of the breast halves on top of the plastic and sprinkle again with water. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap and pound with a rolling pin or meat pounder until about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with the remaining 2 breast halves.

Mix the flour with the salt and pepper in a shallow pie plate. Heat half of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Working in 2 batches, place the chicken in the flour mixture and turn to coat on all sides. Shake off the excess flour and add to the skillet. Cook until lightly browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate or platter and cover loosely with foil. Repeat with the remaining oil and chicken.

Pour off the fat from the skillet and return the skillet to the heat. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring to pick up and browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 3 minutes. Return the chicken to the skillet and simmer, turning often, until warmed through and the sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the butter and the capers. Season with salt and pepper and heat just until the butter has melted.

Creamy Skillet Turkey

So I took some turkey breasts out of the freezer with really no idea what to do with them. I was apparently too preoccupied with my new Nintendo DS game I bought earlier in the day, so Jim ended up taking over cooking duties. He found a Lipton Vegetable Soup packet in the cupboard with a recipe for creamy skillet chicken, so we figured it work fine for turkey as well. It was really good!

1 tbsp. Olive Oil
4 boneless, skinless turkey breast halves (about 1-1/4 lbs.)
1 envelope Lipton Recipe Secrets Vegetable Soup Mix
1 cup milk*
1 cup water
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat Olive Oil over medium-high heat and brown turkey, turning once. Remove turkey; keep warm. In same skillet, bring Lipton Recipe Secrets Vegetable Soup Mix blended with milk/half-and-half and water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes. Stir in cream cheese until melted and simmer 3 minutes. Add turkey and cook 5 minutes or until turkey is thoroughly cooked. Serve with warm buttermilk biscuits, hot cooked rice or noodles.

*Jim actually used 1/2 cup half-and-half and a 1/2 cup of milk. We had some half-and-half to get rid of

Chic Greek Salad

I know some people absolutely despise Rachael Ray, but she does have some pretty tasty recipes...this being one of them. And it's so easy! I did have to stop by the store on the way home to pick up some of the ingredients, but I was dead set on making this! Especially since I pretty much ate like crap this week and this is all veggies, so it made me feel better. I did have a few Costco mini spinach pie things on the side, but they were so yummy!!

1/2 seedless cucumber, chopped
2 vine-ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 can quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
Coarse salt and black pepper
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 small shallot, minced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, eyeball it
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball the amount
2 cans imported tuna in oil, drained
12 pepperoncini hot peppers
1 cup pitted kalamata olives

Arrange the cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and peppers, artichoke hearts and parsley on a platter. Squeeze the lemon juice over the platter, juicing the fruit cut-side-up to keep the seeds from falling into salad. Season with salt and pepper. Place shallots, vinegar and oregano in a bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Whisk in extra-virgin olive oil in a slow stream. Pour dressing over salad. Garnish salad with chunks of tuna, hot peppers and olives. We added some feta to the top too.

This makes a TON of salad, but now we have lunch for tomorrow. Enjoy!