Quick Gossip

Did everyone hear that Perez Hilton is reporting that Martha is going to be a grandma? Alexis has tried for years to get pregnant and now is using a surrogate who is expecting – or so Perez says.

Blondies

I have a special place in my heart for blondies. I shared my favorite recipe for them previously on this blog. Lately I’ve been obsessed with The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook. I love the idea of this cookbook – that the editors tried every conceivable way of making recipes until they hit upon the very best method. The book has a blondie recipe and I had to check it out to see if it is better than my recipe

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

12 tbsp melted butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup pecans

1 /2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk brown sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Fold dry ingredients in. Fold in nuts and chips. Place in 13×9 pan lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Mine took longer to cook. These were delicious. I used only chocolate chips and did not add nuts or white chocolate, which I think would make it even better. This had that rich, buttery taste that blondies have and it was soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. It’s definitely in close contention with my recipe!

Yes, Another Giveaway!

Are you excited? Another giveaway of Martha swag for my blog readers. Sad that you didn’t win last week’s treat boxes? Well cheer up. This week MSLO is giving away 10 sets of Martha Stewart Holiday Compartment Treat Boxes. These are smaller than last week’s, but just as cute. It’s the same snowflake pattern. Each set comes with 6 boxes, 24 compartments, 24 sheets of tissue paper, 6 pieces of ribbon, and 6 labels. I used these last year as well. They’re really great for small cookies and for candy. Brownies and bar cookies fit well in each compartment also. They are super cute. Last year I used these to give an uncle a “tower of treats” like you see in those food gift catalogs. I stacked all 6 boxes (each filled with different things I’d made) and tied it all with a big ribbon. He was thrilled. Good luck!

Here’s how to win. Leave a comment on this post, then visit No Pot Cooking and leave a comment on any post. You MUST comment in both places to be eligible. Please use the same name so I can match you up! You must enter by midnight on Friday December 3, 2010. I’ll randomly and blindly select ten winners by random number drawing (numbers assigned in order of comments here). Sorry, offer limited to U.S. addresses only and entrants age 18 and up only. One entry per person. Winners notified by email given when entering, not responsible for email transmission problems. You are responsible for notifying me of your correct  address if you are selected as a winner. Contest closes at midnight Eastern time on 12/3/10. Prize is nontransferable and may not be redeemed for cash. MarthaAndMe reserves the right to announce the name of the winners on the blog. Prizes will be sent by MSLO to winners and MarthaAndMe is not liable for any failure of MSLO to deliver.

Martha Mondays: Tgiving Leftovers

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for picking this week’s project – Thanksgiving leftover recipes. I picked the turkey wrap (we could choose any project from the gallery of leftover ideas). I have to say I was pretty surprised that I liked it as much as I did. It was pretty simple – just mayo, vinegar and mustard mixed with turkey and rolled up with shredded carrot and lettuce in a tortilla. I would definitely make this again. It doesn’t quite top my favorite leftover sandwich which is just turkey with Miracle Whip and lettuce on potato bread.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving! We had a 16 lb turkey (local, organic, pasture raised) and ALL of the turkey meat vanished yesterday. I made the turkey with Martha’s method (rubbing it with butter and covering it with cheesecloth soaked in butter). It was gorgeous and delicious. We had regular stuffing, cornbread stuffing,mashed potatoes, roasted carrot/parsnip/rutabaga and roasted Brussels sprouts, and of course, pumpkin pie. Needless to say I am nibbling carrot sticks this week to try to make up for it all.

Next week’s assignment can be found here. Don’t miss out – it’s cookies!

Winners!

Winners of the Martha Stewart Treat boxes are:

Maggi Rasch

Angie Arthur

Michelle Levine

Arlene Anthony

Debbie Koenig

Megan Pires

Sara Stall-Ryan

Nicole Hartman

Rachel Dickinson

Shannon Baas

 

If you won, I need your address! There will be another MS giveaway this week, so check back to enter!

Stuffed Chicken Breast

I must sound like a spokesperson for the Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook, but I swear I’m not. My latest recipe from this cookbook is Stuffed Chicken Breasts. Chicken cordon bleu is one of those things that was always on the menu 20 years ago. And you always got a really bad version of it banquets. So I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this recipe.

Filling:

1 tbsp butter

1 small onion, minced

1 small garlic clove, minced

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp minced thyme

2 ounces cheddar, shredded

4 slices deli ham

Chicken:

1 (5-6 oz) chicken skinless boneless chicken breasts

3/4 cup flour

2 eggs

1 tbsp plus 3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 slices white bread, made into coarse crumbs and dried

Melt the butter and add onion and cook 15-20 min. Add garlic and cook 20 seconds.

Mix the cream cheese with a mixer until fluffy, 1 minute. Stir in the onion mixture and add thyme and cheddar and salt and pepper to taste.

Butterfly the chicken and then pound it to 1/4 inch thickness. Place the chicken smooth side down and spread with 1/4 of the cheese mixture. Salt and pepper it. Place 1 slice ham on top. Roll up the cutlet from the tapered end, folding in the edges to form a neat cylinder. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450. Beat egg with 1 tbsp oil. Dip chicken in flour, egg, then breadcrumbs. Place on a wire rack and let it rest 5 min.

Heat 3/4 cup oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat until shimmery. Add the chicken, seam side down, and cook 2 min until golden. Turn and cook the other side 2-3 minutes. Transfer seam side down to a baking sheet and baked at 450 about 15 min until the center is 165 degrees.

Wow. It really worked. The chicken had an incredible crunchy outside and a divine creamy center. A couple of things I would do differently: I would use less cream cheese and more of some other cheese. It was a little bland. I would also use less oil for the pan frying aspect of this. Other than that, I highly recommend this recipe!

Neil’s Pancakes

I watched with a grumbling stomach as the owner of the Clinton St Baking Company made his pancakes for Martha on a recent episode. I have to say I am pretty committed to my own pancake recipe (which was also my mom’s) and to my oatmeal pancake recipe, which I love. However, these pancakes looked great. And apparently people line up in the street to get them, so I had to try them! The main difference is that you whip the egg whites for this recipe, which is supposed to make them fluffy and light.

Honestly, I didn’t really think these were much fluffier than the kind I usually make. I think the trick to truly fluffy pancakes is a professional griddle, which I don’t have. However, the pancakes were good. Everyone enjoyed them, Dude Martha especially, since there is vanilla in them and he likes that flavor a lot. I’m glad I tried them, but will probably stick with my own recipes for pancakes.

For a really fun, and EASY breakfast recipe, check out my crescent roll and egg muffin tin recipe on No Pot Cooking.

Martha Mondays

If you’re looking for next week’s Martha Mondays project you can find it here:

https://marthaandme.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/updated-martha-mondays-picks-and-some-news/

Congratulations

Winners of the 10 MS Holiday punch around the page snow flake sets are:

April Jacques

Kendra Gillilan

Darcy Bishop

Stephanie Thompson

Stephanie Allen

Becky Seelentag

Sharon Harmon

Vicki Kusina

Amy Hill

Sarah Allen

Another Giveaway!

This week I’m giving away 10 separate Martha Stewart Holidays treat boxes kits. Each package contains 6  matchbox style boxes, 6 sheets of tissue paper, 6 self-adhesive labels and 6 ribbons.  Dimensions aren’t given but they seem to be 6 inches wide by about 8 1/2 inches long and about 3 inches tall each. I used Martha Stewart treat boxes last year and they are fantastic. I gave away lots of cookies using these. It’s perfect to have the tissue paper, labels and ribbons all provided for you. I also found the boxes to be of high quality. They held together, kept their shape, and could hold as many cookies as I could fit. MSLO is providing the prizes and sent me a sample to try as well.

Here’s how to win. Leave a comment on this post, then visit the NoPotCooking fan page on Facebook and “like” it before Saturday, November 27, 2010. I’ll randomly and blindly select ten winners by random number drawing (numbers assigned in order of subscription time). Sorry, offer limited to U.S. addresses only and entrants age 18 and up only. One entry per person. Winners notified by email given when entering, not responsible for email transmission problems. You are responsible for notifying me of your correct  address if you are selected as a winner. Contest closes at midnight Eastern time on 11/26/10. Prize is nontransferable and may not be redeemed for cash. MarthaAndMe reserves the right to announce the name of the winner on the blog. Prizes will be sent by MSLO to winner.