Whiskey Chicken Drummers

Whiskey Chicken Drummers

Hi everybody :)

One day while watching Rachael Ray Show, this recipe caught my attention. Since it has my favorite part of the chicken, the drumsticks or drummers as she calls them, I wanted to give it a try.  Let's get it started.

Whiskey Chicken Drummers adapted Rachael Ray Show

Ingredients

For the marinade:

         2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (I used Worcestershire Pepper Blend)
         2 tablespoons whiskey or bourbon
         2 tablespoons hot sauce (such as Frank's® Red Hot®)
         2 tablespoons cider vinegar
        12 chicken leg drummers
        Salt and pepper ( I use Rosemary, Basil and Citrus Salt)

For the sauce:

          3  tablespoons butter
          2 large cloves garlic, minced
          2 shots whiskey
          1/3 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce (such as Frank's® Red Hot®)
          1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

Chopped or sliced scallions
Carrot and celery sticks (celery not shown)

Mix marinade ingredients in a large baggie. Season drummers with salt and pepper, and add them to the marinade. Refrigerate 3 hours then bring up to room temp.

Preheat oven to 300ºF. Arrange a wire rack over a baking sheet. Arrange drummers on the rack and slow cook 1 hour and 15-30 minutes.

For the sauce, melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic, swirl 2 minutes, 

then add whiskey, hot sauce and pepper. Drop heat to low, let simmer for 5 minutes.

Toss drummers with sauce and top with scallions. Serve with carrot and celery sticks alongside.

What I Did and/or Think:
I followed the recipe exactly but only did half of the whiskey because I only used 5 drumsticks. I also let my drumsticks or drummers marinaded overnight. 


The Taste: These drummers were very tasty. A little too spicy for me, but my son and his friend LOVE them. I used the full amount of the hot sauce in the recipe, next time I'll do half. So this will be REPEATED!  

ENJOY! Come again... 

Linked to:
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Chocolate Turtle Pudding Poke Cake: My 100th Post!

Chocolate Turtle Pudding Poke Cake: My 100th Post!

Hi everybody :)

Bring your favorite chocolate dessert to Roxana’s Home Baking #chocolateparty and win amazing prizes from OXO, Calphalon, Keurig, Imperial Sugar, Honey Ridge Farms and Land O’ Lakes® Butter

Today is my 100th post! YES! From the time when I posted Red Velvet Cake, my very first post to now. WOW! I didn't know NOTHING about blogging back then, I'm still learning now. I started out because I just wanted to share my joy of baking with the world. 

During the few months I been blogging, I notice my most popular post is the Red Velvet Poke Cake. So to celebrate, for days, I been thinking of a way to make an out-of-this-world-amazing chocolate poke cake. I think I accomplish my mission, Chocolate Turtle Pudding Poke Cake. Here's  what I did...

 Chocolate Turtle Pudding Poke Cake inspired My Recipes America's Favorite Food
 or online here.
 
The Cake:

 














1 (18.25-oz.) package devil's food cake mix
3 large eggs
1  cup milk, buttermilk , sour cream, or water
1/2 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules 
1 tablespoon cocoa  + more for sprinkling pan

The Filling:

 














2 (3.9-oz.) package chocolate instant pudding mix (prepare as directed on the box)
1/2 cup Dulce de Leche (I used homemade following this recipe)
2 Tablespoon Kahlua, optional

The Topping:

 












1 (16-oz.) can ready-to-spread chocolate fudge frosting (save about 3 tablespoons for drizzling)
4 oz. (1/2  8 oz. container)  Cool Whip, thawed
5 (1.76-oz.) packages turtle candies (2 packages for garnishing) 3 turtles per pack or 15 turtles
Dulce de leche for garnish

DIRECTIONS 

For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 13 by 9 inches pan sprinkle with cocoa. Set aside.

Beat cake mix and remaining ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute; beat at medium speed 2 minutes. 

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 30 to 32 minutes
Remove from oven.  Let cool for a few minutes. Then, with a wooden spoon handle, large fork or skewer poke holes in the warm cake at 1/2-inch intervals. Be sure to poke right down to the bottom of the cake. You want holes big enough so that the pudding has plenty of room to get to the bottom.

For the Pudding Filling:
Whisk together prepared pudding,  Dulce de Leche, and Kahlua, if desired, in a bowl until well blended.

Pour pudding over cake. (There will be some pudding mixture left over, so enjoy :).  Making sure to get right into the holes as much pudding as possible. Cover and put in the refrigerator to set for about 2 hours.

For the Topping:
Cut 6 turtle candies in half, and set aside for garnish. Dice remaining 9 turtle candies In a large bowl, fold cool whip into chocolate fudge frosting and diced candies. Spread over top of cake.

Drizzle with Dulce de Leche and fudge frosting over top; place turtle candies halves on top of each servings.

 
What I Think:
Although  I made the Dulce de Leche, it can be purchase at your local  supermarket.  It's very simple to make using the link provided,  just make ahead and refrigerate the day before. 

The Taste: The cake was DELICIOUS! It also best to serve this cake well chilled, so plan ahead or a day before serving.  The chocolate flavors intensify overnight!  This chocolaty sensation is definitely a GREAT REPEAT!  

For a more caramel taste, I think this would also be great,  just only using the Dulce de Leche for the filling. I think I'll try it that way next :)

ENJOY! Come again...

Linked to:
Feature Friday Link Party: Blissful and Domestic
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage 
Foodie Fridays @ Designs By Gollum
The Mandatory Mooch Tasty Thursday 
  @ 21st Century Housewife 
Food-Tastic Fridays @ Not Your Ordinary RecipesFoodie Friday @ Simple Living 
Simply Link Party: Simply Designing
Friday Flair Party: Whipper Berry
Foodie Friends Friday @ Foodie Friends FridayIt's a Hodgepodge Friday 
The Better Baker Weekend Potluck 
Show Case Your Talent  @What's Cooking Love
Shaken Together Life: {what's shakin' link party} 
Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest: Fresh Eggs Daily   
Miss Information: Freakin' Did It Friday  
 Strut Your Stuff Saturday @ Six Sister's Stuff
Something Swanky: Sweet Treats and Swanky Stuff Saturday 
Sunday Sweet Confessions: Mommy's Sweet Confessions  
Sweets for Saturday @ Sweet As Sugar Cookies 
Melt In Your Mouth Monday @ Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms 
Cupcakes Garden.: Just Desserts Thursday Link Party 
Sweet 2 eat Baking: Sugar Slice Sunday Link Party
Roxana’s Home Baking #chocolateparty   

Classic Pecan Pie with a Twist: Praline Liqueur Pecan Pie

Classic Pecan Pie with a Twist: Praline Liqueur Pecan Pie

Praline Liqueur Pecan Pie

Hi everybody

Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom  sponsored by Whirlpool and enter to win a new Whirlpool Range!
 
I wanted to enter this contest over at Tidy Mom's blog. But to my dismay, I DID NOT have a single pie recipe on my blog to submit. So I went to my cookbooks, and this recipe caught my attention. I LOVE pecan pie, plus I have all the ingredients on hand, so pecan pie it is. 

But I wanted to add a special ingredient to the pie, you may have heard of Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie, so how about a New Orleans Praline Pecan Liqueur Pecan Pie! Pecan Pie with a Twist!

Classic Pecan Pie adapted Treasury of Christmas Recipes

Makes 8 servings
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 55 minutes, plus cooling

Ingredients:

 
 













3 eggs
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup brown + 1/3 cup granulated sugar)
1 cup KARO Light or Dark Corn Syrup
2 tablespoons MAZOLA® Margarine melted (I used Land of Lakes Butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste)
1 1/2 cups pecan halves (I used 2 1/4 cup pecan)
2 tablespoons New Orleans Praline Pecan Liqueur (The Twist), optional
Easy-As-Pie Crust (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl beat eggs slightly. Add sugar(s), corn syrup, margarine and vanilla; stir until well blended. (with the liqueur added)

Stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Easy-As-Pie Crust
Makes 1 (9 inch) pie crust
Preparation Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 CUP MAZOLA® Margarine (I used Land of Lakes Butter) 
2 tablespoons cold water

In medium bowl mix flour and salt With pastry blender or 2 knives cut in margarine until mixture resembles fine crumbs. 

   (I grated the butter into the flour and salt and place in freezer for 1 hour)

Sprinkle water over flour mixture while tossing with fork to blend well.  Press dough firmly into ball. On lightly floured surface roll out to 12-inch circle. Fit loosely into 9-inch pie plate. 

   (I doubled the recipe to make 2 crusts, one for later)

Trim and flute edge. Fill and bake according to recipe.   The Unbaked Pie

 The Baked Pie 

What I Did and/or Think:
The changes I made are in Italic & Purple.I added extra nuts, because I always love my pecan pie extra nutty. I made an all-butter crust and kept all the ingredient for it COLD by freezing them for about an hour.

The Taste: MMMMMmmmm DELICIOUS! Pecan Pie is a tradition in my household, but this is the first time I ever considered adding a liqueur to the ingredients. I love the flavor it added to the filling. The filling wasn't overly sweet either. The crust; buttery and flaky, perfect. It's a REPEAT!

ENJOY! Come again...

Linked to:
4th Annual # Love the Pie Party 
What's Cooking Wednesday @ Confessions of an Overworked Mom
Cast Party Wednesday-Lady Behind the Curtain
Bizzy Bake Recipe Box 
Whatcha' Whipped Up Wednesday @ DJ's Sugar Shack 
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts  
{Wow Me Wednesday} @Ginger Snap Crafts 
Wednesdays Adorned From Above
Sew Much Ado - We Did It Wednesday   
Rae Gun Ramblings - What We Wore, Read, and Made Link Party   
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar and Dots  
Sugar & Spice and Everything Nice @Seven Thirty Three 
The Mandatory Mooch Tasty Thursday
Katherine Martinelli: Thanksgiving Blog Hop

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

 Hi everybody 

I know my little smiley face is missing, I'm not in a smiley face mood today. Sometimes, I feel like I'm just moving around on autopilot. Losing Jennifer, around the same time and the same reason I lost my mom eight years ago, still have me on this emotional roller-coaster...

I been sharing some of my favorite comfort foods, baking breads and cookies, because it seems to help me to stay focus. So let's get it started...

I'm making another one of my favorite comfort foods, Chicken and Dumplings. What makes this recipe sooooo easy is that Roastisire chicken, purchase at the deli/cafe, store-brought broth, and canned biscuits are use, so the majority of the work in making this is done!

Easy Chicken and Dumplings adapted My Recipes America's Favorite Food

Ingredients:

1 (32-oz.) container low-sodium chicken broth {used 2 (14.5-oz.) cans + Better Than Bouillon Beef Base, reduced sodium & enough water to make 32 oz.}   
3 cups shredded cooked chicken (about 1 1/2 lb.)
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning 
1 (10.2-oz.) can refrigerated jumbo buttermilk biscuits (I used 4 biscuits, rolled flat, and squared)
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced

Directions:

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; return to a low boil.

Place biscuits on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat each biscuit to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips. (I cut the biscuits into squares)

(I sprinkled Mrs Dash Onion & Herb Seasoning on the biscuits)
Drop strips, 1 at a time, into boiling broth mixture. 

 (Most of the seasoning came off the dumplings.)
Add carrots and celery. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent dumplings from sticking. Note: One roasted chicken yields about 3 cups of meat.

 (I added 2 tablespoon cornstarch with 1/4 cup water to thicken, 3 minutes before it's done, along with 3 green onions)

What I Did and/or Think:

The  changes I made are in Purple & Italic.



With the leftover biscuit and straps, I made biscuit  "crackers."  Just roll out biscuit as in the picture above, seasoned with Mrs. Dash.  Cut out with cookie cutter; I used a leaf cutter. Place on a lightly greased sheet pan in a 350 degree oven for about 6 min or until edges are lightly brown, watch carefully.

Biscuit "Crackers"

The Taste: I LOVE the taste of this. If you're looking for a quick and easy chicken and dumpling without all the "work" in making it, than look no further. THIS IS IT! REPEAT.




















ENJOY! Come again...

Linked  to:

Kathe With an E You're Gonna Love It  
Show Me What You Got Tuesday's at ODH 
Trick or Treat Tuesday: Inside BruCrew Life
Tasty Tuesday (Food Only) @ Naptime Creation  
33 Shades of Green-Tasty Tuesday  
The Winthrop Chronicles Link Party
Take-a-Look Tuesday Sugar Bee Crafts 
Show Me What Ya Got  #99
Tuesday's Table: Time for the Holidays!