S'mores Bars

You ready for a sugar shock?? Make these.

FYI: The sweeter bites are those that have fewer pieces of graham cracker. And the main reason these are so sweet in the first place is because I had the bright idea to replace half of the dark chocolate chips with milk chocolate chips. Seemed like a great idea at the time, since s'mores are typically made with milk chocolate, anyway (and the mister doesn't care for dark chocolate).

These are easy, and took me about 20 minutes to prepare. But, when you make these, follow the recipe, and definitely have a glass of milk or cup of black coffee at the ready.

S'mores Bars 
½ cups Unsalted Butter, Softened 
¾ cups Granulated Sugar 
¾ cups Brown Sugar 
2 whole Eggs 
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 
2-¼ cups All-purpose Flour 
1 teaspoon Baking Soda 
½ teaspoons Salt 
¼ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder 
¼ cups Whole Milk 
1 cup Crushed Graham Crackers, (not super fine; you want chunks) 
2 cups Dark Chocolate Chunks 
4-½ cups Mini Marshmallows 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish and set it aside. 

In a large bowl beat together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Set aside. 

In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Slowly add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Beat in milk. Fold in graham crackers. Batter will be thick and sticky. Press batter into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle dark chocolate chunks in a single layer over the top. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with marshmallows. Bake for an additional 5 minutes then turn on the broiler and broil for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until marshmallows brown slightly. 

Remove pan from oven and set it on a rack. Allow bars to cool, slice and serve.

My Chicken Scampi

A+! That's the rating this recipe got all around. Makes me happy because although I based it on another recipe, I'm choosing to believe my changes are what pushed this over the top.

This took me just over an hour to make (I think--didn't pay very close attention), but nothing was hard. My sauce was a little thick, so next time I make it, I'll either cook it for a shorter amount of time, or add a little less flour to the roux. Oh, and this is not low-fat. There is about half a cup of butter in this thing. (That's why it doesn't need bacon.)

M.E.'s Chicken Scampi

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
3/4 c warm milk
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp Gourmet Garden Garlic blend
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
1 c chicken broth
1/4 c white wine

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
garlic salt (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
5-6 boneless skinless chicken breast tenders
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
Juice from 1 lemon

Heat 1 tbsp butter in sauce pan, add flour and cook for 2 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly. Slowly add milk (still stirring) and cook to desired thickness. Cover and set aside. Heat other 3 tbsp butter over low heat. Add garlic, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add the wine and chicken broth. Turn heat up to medium and cook about another 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, melt another tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Season chicken breast pieces with garlic salt and pepper, then lightly coat with flour. Saute until chicken is almost done, then add bell pepper. Add lemon juice for the final minute of cooking.

After sauce has reduced a little, turn heat to low and add reserved white sauce and cook until slightly thickened.

How you serve this dish is up to you. You can add the chicken and peppers to the sauce before serving over your favorite pasta, or you can add the sauce to the pasta and serve the chicken and peppers on top. I, obviously, put the sauce on last. Any which way you do it, it'll be great!

Fusilli with Red Pepper Sauce

It has been a while since I've blogged about a new recipe! And it's not that I haven't been making new things. I have. I've just been short on time. And brain cells.

I have to say: this is one of the best dishes I've made in a long time. Of course, I wish I was inventive enough to have come up with this on my own. But, alas, I still have no idea how to create and combine flavors. But whoever created this did a wonderful job, especially considering I used 2 red peppers instead of 3 and half a red onion instead of a whole. All the same, wonderful flavor. And the fresh basil is the perfect finishing touch!

This recipe doesn't give a prep/cook time estimate, but I'll tell you it took me an hour and a half. That's because I was moving slowly, doing dishes as I went, etc. I also used some time to brown a pound and a half of meat, some of which I added to this dish. (The recipe listed is vegetarian.) If you are a skilled dicer--or if you have a handy dandy food chopper--you might get it all done quicker. I didn't even wait a full 10 minutes for the sauce to cool before blending. I waited about 5, transferred it to a bowl, and used my second favorite hand-held kitchen tool, my immersion blender. LOVE that thing!

So, in the end, if you aren't in a hurry, take the time to try this. I'm sure you can substitute vegetable broth for the wine if you'd prefer.

Rigatoni with Red Pepper Sauce

Kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound rigatoni
1 large red onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and minced
3 red bell peppers, trimmed, seeded, ribs removed, diced
1⁄4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 vegetable bouillon cube
2 cups low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt
3 tablespoons low-fat cream cheese
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh basil leaves
Pepper

Fill the stockpot 3⁄4 full with water and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook pasta according to package directions, then drain in the colander.

Set the fry pan over medium heat. When hot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sweat the onions, garlic, and peppers until onions are translucent, not brown, and peppers are soft.

Stir in the wine, 1 teaspoon salt, the paprika, and the bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the yogurt and cream cheese to the sauce, and allow to cook until just simmering, but not boiling. Take off the heat and cool for about 10 minutes, or long enough to safely transfer the sauce to the blender without risk of being burned by hot liquids. Blend until smooth and lump-free.

Return pasta to stockpot and mix in sauce until pasta is well coated, or transfer pasta to individual plates and spoon sauce on top. Add freshly grated Parmesan, basil, and pepper, as preferred.