Roasted-Pepper Pasta Salad

Roasted-Pepper Pasta Salad


Kosher salt
12 ounces mezzi rigatoni or other short tube-shaped pasta
2 bell peppers (red and/or yellow), halved, sstemmed and seeded
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/4 cup almonds
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon
8 ouces bocconcini (small mozzarella balls)
1 bunch fresh basil, leaves torn
Freshly ground pepper

Coconut Cream Cake

COCONUT CREAM CAKE:

Wet Ingredients:

1 c. butter, softened

1 3/4 c. white sugar

1 c. cream of coconut 

4 large eggs

Dry Ingredients:

2 1/2 flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. buttermilk

1 tsp. coconut extract

Separate eggs, set whites aside. Beat wet ingredients together including egg yolks until fluffy. Sit dry ingredients together and stir well. Add dry ingredients to wet using mixer on low speed alternating with buttermilk/extract mixture. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Fold egg whites into batter. Bake at 275-degrees in two 9-inch pans (lightly sprayed with baking spray or what works BEST is lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper) for about 90 minutes (it seems they finish much nicer in the lower heat). After about 60 minutes, do the "toothpick test", repeating every 5-10 min or so until the toothpick comes out clean. After cake is out of the oven and transferred to parchment paper or a cooling rack, poke each cake with a few holes (making sure not to poke all the way through) and drizzle remaining coconut cream over (about 1/2 c. total). This is optional and just keeps the cake extra moist. After the cake cools, transfer to the freezer and freeze overnight.

Frost immediately (see frosting recipe below) after removing from the freezer. Allow to thaw for about an hour before serving. If you want to do a layered cake, put a layer of frosting in-between the two cakes and then continue to frost the remainder of the cake. Sprinkle with lightly toasted, shredded coconut (see below).

COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

1/2 c. butter, softened

8 oz. block cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. coconut extract

1 bag powdered sugar

milk (as needed)

Beat butter, cream cheese, and coconut extract together, adding powdered sugar little by little until reaching desired consistency. If it seems to get too stiff, add about 1 tsp of milk at a time until you get the consistency you want. (add milk to thin it out, add powdered sugar to thicken it up).

Toasted Coconut:

Place contents of about 1/2 bag of sweetened, shredded coconut on a cookie sheet. Spread it out so it makes just a single layer. Bake for appx. 8-10 minutes in a 325-degree oven. Some pieces will still be white and soft, some browned slightly with a little crunch.

Almond Bars

Almond Bars

Ingredients

         4 eggs

         2 cups sugar

         1 cup butter (no substitutes), melted

         2 cups all-purpose flour

         2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

         confectioners' sugar

Directions

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until lemon-colored. Add the butter, flour and extract; mix well. spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Apricot Chicken

Apricot Chicken

Ingredients

         6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

         1 1/2 (1 ounce) packages dry onion soup mix

         1 (10 fluid ounce) bottle Russian-style salad dressing

         1 cup apricot preserves

Directions

1.             Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.             Place the chicken pieces in a 4 quart casserole dish. Mix the soup mix, dressing and jam together, and pour over the chicken.

Cover dish and bake for 1 hour in preheated oven.

Avacado Salsa

Avacado Salsa

Ingredients

         1 (16 ounce) package frozen corn kernels, thawed

         2 (2.25 ounce) cans sliced ripe olives, drained

         1 red bell pepper, chopped

         1 small onion, chopped

         5 cloves garlic, minced

         1/3 cup olive oil

         1/4 cup lemon juice

         3 tablespoons cider vinegar

         1 teaspoon dried oregano

         1/2 teaspoon salt

         1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

         4 avocados - peeled, pitted and diced

Directions

1.             In a large bowl, mix corn, olives, red bell pepper and onion.

2.             In a small bowl, mix garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, cider vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper. Pour into the corn mixture and toss to coat. Cover and chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight.

Stir avocados into the mixture before serving.

Baked Brown Rice

Bake Brown Rice

Ingredients

         1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

         1 (14 ounce) can beef broth

         1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup

         1/4 cup butter, melted

         1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

         1 tablespoon dried basil leaves

Directions

1.             Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.             In a 2 quart casserole dish combine rice, broth, soup, butter, Worcestershire sauce and basil.

3.             Bake covered for 1 hour, stirring once after 30 minutes.

Chocolate Malt Cake

Chocolate Malt Cake:

2 1/4 c. flour

1 1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. milk

1 c. malted milk powder (can be found by the instant breakfasts)

1 c. vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 c. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Malt icing (see recipe below)

Chocolate ganache (see recipe below)

Malted milk balls (Whoppers)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter & flour 2, 9-inch baking pans (you may have a little leftover to make a cupcake or two if you want). In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl, combine milk and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add milk mixture, oil and eggs to flour mixture, beating at a medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla, beating just until combined.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and let cool completely on racks. Frost cakes, pour on ganache (after you pour the ganache over the cake. Place the entire cake in the refrigerator and let cool for at least an hour), and garnish with malted milk balls.

Chocolate Malt Icing:

(this makes a lot of frosting... the original recipe makes a little less but I made extra for the layers. The frosting is so good!)

1 1/2 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream

3/4 c. milted milk powder

7 1/2 c. powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat butter and cocoa powder at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. In a small bowl, combine cream and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add cream mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed to combine. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until smooth.

Chocolate Ganache:

16 oz. bittersweet (or semi-sweet) chocolate (we used chocolate chips)

2 c. heavy whipping cream

Place the chopped chocolate into a medium-sized bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a microwavable container and microwave for 3 to 4 minutes on high, or until it just begins to simmer; be careful not to allow cream to boil over. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 30 seconds or so. Using an electric mixer, beat on low until chocolate mixture is smooth. Use as is for glazing.