Cookie Dough Brownies

Back when my older boys were growing up they were involved in scouts  and there were potluck dinners to be attended both there and with other places, I was asked to bring these brownies to a lot of those potlucks. They are fantastic and very rich and because you start with your favorite brownie mix (a plain fudge one please) they are easy to put together. And who doesn't love cookie dough? Which is what the topping tastes like but with no worries about raw eggs like with real cookie dough.

The brownie layer of these brownies calls for 1 cup of chocolate chips and then there is another 1 cup of chocolate chips in the glaze. You will need a regular 12 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips to make this recipe (using half in each place)

Cookie Dough Brownies

Brownie layer:

1 box (about 19 to 20 oz size) fudge brownie mix

the ingredients called for on the box of brownie mix

1 cup (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Filling layer

½ (1 stick) softened butter

½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

Glaze

1 cup (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or temperature specified on your brownie mix) Grease the bottom of a 13”x9” baking dish and set aside.

Combine the brownie mix and ingredients called for on the box in a bowl and comine as directed on the box. After the ingredients are combined add the 1 cup of chocolate chips and stir just to distribute evenly. Pour batter in prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake according to directions on your brownie mix box.

Be careful not to over-bake!

In a large bowl beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the milk and vanilla and blend well. Add flour and mix until well combined.

Spread this filling evenly over the cooled brownies.

In a small microwave safe bowl combine the remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips and oil and melt in the microwave on medium for 1 to 2 minutes just until melted. Stir until smooth.

Carefully spread the chocolate mixture over the filling on the brownies and spread to cover. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts over the top and press down lightly.

Allow to cool completely, cut into bars (36)

Store in refrigerator

Beer Can Chicken

We make this chicken several time every summer and it is really popular every time I start just like I do every time I cook a whole bird, I brine the chicken. If you have never brined a bird check out my blog post on roasted chicken (here) to find my brine recipe. I use the same brine whether anytime I cook a whole bird everything from a Cornish game hen to a turkey. For a small bird (like the Cornish game hen) I only brine for an hour or two, the chicken today for 4 to 6 hours and for that turkey overnight. It really does make a difference in the not only the flavor but the moistness of your finished bird.

For beer can chicken I buy a 12 pack of beer in 12 oz cans at the beginning of every summer. These are reserved as my “cooking beer” and by summer's end they will be gone. I use them in a lot things from the this chicken to BBQ sauce.

So on the morning you want to cook your beer can chicken get that chicken into the brine solution and let it hang out in the fridge soaking up the brine all day. About 3 hours before we want to eat we get the charcoal grill started up, I want that charcoal to burning really well and have a chance to get the grill nice and hot. I do only cook on charcoal and in a typical week we can go through 20 to 40 pounds of charcoal in the summer, especially if it is hot and I want to avoid my kitchen. We started using a charcoal chimney several years ago and I haven't bought lighter fluid since. We find we can taste the lighter fluid in the food so we are much happier with this method.

We are going to cook our chicken using the indirect heat method. After those coals get a chance to get going really well, divide them into two piles one of each side of your grill. Add more charcoal to each pile, you need to have enough to maintain a medium fire for about 1 ½ to 2 hours depending on how big your chicken is. In the open space between these piles of charcoal place an aluminum foil pan to catch the drippings from your chicken. Place your rack on the grill.

Now drain the brine off the chicken and rinse off the skin then dry the surface off with some paper towels.

Open your can of beer and make several additional openings in the top with a can opener. Pour off ½ to 2/3 cup of beer from the can and add a couple of peeled cloves of garlic to the beer in the can. Coat the outside of the can with vegetable oil.

When you are ready to grill the chicken carefully place the chicken over the can (inserting the can into the opening in the chicken)

When placing the chicken and beer can on the grill you will have to adjust the balance a bit to make it stand up. This can be tricky the first time but be patient and you should be able to balance the combination. Now carefully lower the lid on your grill and cook the chicken for about 1 ½ to 2 hours or until the chicken is cooked through (meat thermometer inserted in the thigh should read 180 degrees Fahrenheit)

Carefully, using thick hot pads and a spatula (long tongs and an extra set of hands are good too) remove the chicken and the can from the grill. Remember the contents of the can are extremely hot don't get it on yourself. Carefully remove the can from the chicken (you might need to twist it a bit to get it to release) and discard the contents of the can.

Allow the chicken to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting up and serving.

Potato Salad

We eat a lot of potato salad at our house, I find it to be one of my comfort foods. In the summer it just seems to be the perfect partner with so many of the main dishes we enjoy, especially those that come off the grill. I think another reason I love it so much is it is made ahead, so I don't have to be in the kitchen at the last minute. Face it by dinner time in the summer the kitchen is one of the last places we want to be, especially on a hot day. With potato salad I can make it early in the day and let it sit in the fridge all day. It is one of those dishes that really does need the time to sit too, the flavors need to have time to come together and the potatoes need some time to soak up some of the dressing.

This (like most of my potato salads) is a mayonnaise based version. I grew up eating mayo based potato salad and to me that is what makes it potato salad. I have eaten a few oil/vinegar based salads that were good but for me they don't hit that same comfort food level.

In today's version of potato salad I use a trick I picked up from a friend over 30 years ago. She made the best potato salad and one day I asked her what her secret was. She told me she always used pickle juice in her potato salad in place of vinegar that most recipes call for. I tried it and it is magic.

I may post other versions of  Potato Salad in the future because I tend to change it up a lot from time to time. This is just a really basic version that goes with everything (especially the Beer Can Chicken I am going to post tomorrow)

If you don't have any hard boiled eggs on hand you can boil the eggs along with the potatoes if you want to. Just add them to the pan with the potatoes. They should cook in about the same amount of time as the potatoes. That's a little hint I picked up years ago from another friend.

Potato Salad

6 medium (about 2 lbs.) potatoes, peeled and cut up

1 ½ cups mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon pickle juice

1 Tablespoon prepared mustard (any flavor you like)

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 bunch green onions, white part and tender green part chopped (about ½ cup)

½ cup chopped bread and butter pickle (or your favorite pickle)

4 hard cooked eggs, chopped

paprika (optional)

Place peeled, cubed potatoes in a pan of cold, salted water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and cook until fork tender (mine usually takes about 7 to 10 minutes) Be sure to check them with a fork from time to time. You don't want to over cook them.

Drain and cool potatoes to room temperature.

Meanwhile combine mayonnaise, pickle juice, mustard, salt and pepper until well combined.

In a large bowl combine potatoes, chopped onions, chopped pickles and chopped hard boiled eggs. Add the mayonnaise mixture and mix gently to combine.

Put into a serving bowl, cover and chill until serving time, at least 3 or 4 hours.

Sprinkle top with paprika if desired.

Mediterranean Bagel Sandwiches

These sandwiches were a real favorite of my daughter when she was growing up. She is a real lover of humus and pita bread and these sandwiches have a very similar flavor but in a sandwich form. I loved them because I could make them all at one time and then freeze them for when she needed to pack them in her lunch. They keep very well in the freezer, properly wrapped for about a month.

One wonderful thing about these is that you can pull the frozen sandwich out of the freezer in the morning and put in your lunch bag and it should be thawed by lunch and it will keep the rest of your lunch cold at the same time. We did find that with an insulated lunch bag we needed to give the sandwiches a head start of thawing in the fridge overnight or they were still frozen at lunch time.

You will need either a blender or better yet a food processor to make these. 

 

Mediterranean Bagel Sandwiches

1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans

¼ cup tahini paste (sesame seed paste look in the “healthy food” area of your grocery store)

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced or chopped

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon paprika

½ cup fresh parsley

1 (2 oz) jar pimentos

5 split bagels

Put all the ingredients (except the bagels) into the container of your blender or food processor and process until smooth

Divide the filling between the 5 bagels and spread evenly. Wrap each bagel separately and place them all together in a gallon size freezer bag. Label with the contents and date and freeze.

To serve simply pack a frozen sandwich in your lunch bag. They should thaw in about 4 to 6 hours at room temperature. Can be frozen for up to a month.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

I came up with this recipe years ago because my mom always had several raspberry bushes in the garden. Some years they produced just a few berries then there were those years that they went somewhat overboard. When all the weather conditions were right those few bushes produced so many berries that we had to find was to use them all up. After all you can only use so much jam and eat so many pies in addition to eating them fresh. So I came up with this coffee cake and we have been making (and enjoying) it ever since.

If you need to buy berries it will take about 2 of those little 6 oz containers of berries they sell in the store.

Raspberries are extremely delicate and there is really no way to not smash some (or all) of them as you mix them into the batter this results in a very pretty pink batter.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

Cake:

¾ cup sugar

¼ soft shortening

1 egg

½ cup milk

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh raspberries, washed and well drained.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Grease a flour an 8”x8” baking dish

In a mixing bowl combine the sugar, shortening and egg and mix together thoroughly (until well mixed and a little fluffy)

Add the milk and again mix well.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and mix into the batter. At the very end when everything else is combined add the berries and mix very gently.

Spread batter in prepared pan.

Topping:

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ softened butter

Combine all topping ingredients to make a crumbly topping.

Spread topping over coffee cake batter in pan

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the coffee cake tests done in center.

Serve warm or at room temperature

Mildred's Swedish Cucumbers

This recipe for cucumbers was my mom's and I would be hard pressed to come up with a time that she didn't serve them to guests at her table. So I guess in a way it was her signature dish. It really didn't matter what time of year or the occasion, if she had company for dinner these were almost always part of the meal. They were also to be found in her fridge most of the time for a side with her meals or for the occasional snack. They are really super easy to make and do go with just about everything.

We thought we had lost dish with mom's passing but my daughter was going through some old cook books and she found a recipe card (with many splatters on it) that my mom had typed this on. So her cucumbers will live on for future generations to enjoy.

I know that all my kids love these and I will bet your family will also love this easy side dish. It is really at its best in the warm weather when the produce is at it freshest so give this a try with your dinner. I know we will be having it again soon too. 

Mildred's Swedish Cucumbers

½ cup white vinegar

¼ sugar

2 Tablespoons water

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 Tablespoons fresh dill

2 large cucumbers

Combine the vinegar, sugar, water, salt and pepper in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile remove strips of peel (lengthwise) from the cucumber (leaving strips between) and thinly slice the cucumbers into a container with a lid.

Pour the hot vinegar over the sliced cucumbers add the dill and mix together until well combined.

Cover and chill until serving time.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake for a Crowd

A while back a good friend asked me if I had a recipe for a larger version of my pineapple upside down cake. You see usually when she takes the time to bake it is when the entire family is going to be over and one normal size cake just won't be enough. I told her I knew I had one here some place so I dug it out, made it this week and I am going to share it with all of you too.

This is just as easy as a smaller version but it will feed a crowd. So grab that 9”x 13” baking pan and make this treat for your next gathering. You will notice that I use a can of pineapple tidbits and a can of crushed pineapple for the topping of the this size cake. I do this because it frees me up to cut slightly smaller slices, if I put sliced pineapple on the top my kids expect their piece to have the whole slice of pineapple. If I use the tidbits and crushed it gives a nice even coating of pineapple and I am freed up to cut it wherever I want to cut it. The same goes for the cherries, I usually serve this with a bit of whipped cream and top that with the cherry, feel free to sprinkle the cherries on top of the butter/ brown sugar mixture before you add the pineapple if you want them on the top of the cake.

If you look closely you will notice my topping in the picture is not as wonderfully brown as it should be, that is because I got started making this only to discover I was low on brown sugar. I ended up using part white sugar and part brown sugar in the topping. It tastes fine it just isn't as pretty as using all brown sugar like you should.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake for a Crowd

½ cup butter ( 1 stick)

1 cup brown sugar

1 (20 ounce) can pineapple tidbits (drain but reserve the juice)

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple (drain but reserve the juice)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

5 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups reserved pineapple juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Melt the butter in your 13”x9” baking dish and then add the brown sugar. Mix this together and spread evenly in the bottom of the pan.

Add the drained pineapple tidbits to the pan trying to make an even covering. Then follow with the drained crushed pineapple again in an even layer.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar baking powder and salt and combine.

Combine the oil, eggs, pineapple juice and vanilla extract mixing well.

Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture and using an electric mixer mix on low speed for about 30 seconds to combine (stir often)

Continue mixing with the mixer on medium for 3 more minutes.

Carefully pour your cake batter over your pineapple in the baking pan.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted halfway to the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool in pan 5 minutes then invert onto a large serving platter. Allow the pan to sit over the cake so all the topping can drip down onto the cake.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

16 to 20 servings