Julia's French Bread.

This is not a hard recipe but takes a long time most of which is not active time.

3 cups of bread flour
2 teaspoons of salt
2 1/4 teaspoon of yeast

Put a 1/3 cup of hot tap water into a mixing bowl and sprinkle with yeast and let rest for 10 min.

Sprinkle on salt and slowly add in flour until combined.

Let rest for 3 min.  Knead for10 min by hand or 5 min with a dough hook.  It comes out nicer by hand.  Flour surface as needed.

Rise at room temperature until doubled 3-5 hours. Punch down and rise again.  Shape into two loaves and place a couple cuts on the top.  Rise over night in the fridge,

Bake at 450 for 40 min.  Cool and then slice.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

It was Chris's birthday this week.  Usually we get the chocolate layer cake from Costco but this year I decided to make one.

2/3 cup of cocoa powder
4 tablespoons of esspresso powder
1 cup of hot water
1/2 cup of shortening
a pinch of cayenne
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 2/3 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of cake flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 1/14 teaspoon of baking soda
2/3 cup of butter milk (powdered is fine)
3 eggs

Whisk together hot water, espresso, and cocoa.

 Whisk oil, sugar, and shorting until fluffy.  Add in eggs and beat until fluffy.

Whisk in coca and coffee mixture.  Then add in vanilla, and butter milk.  Add in salt, baking soda, baking powder until well combined.  Slowly add in flour.

Evenly distribute batter between two cake pans that are greased and lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 for35-40 min until a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack.  Once it is completely cooled then proceed to frosting. 

FrostingL

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

1 stick of butter

1/2 brick of cream cheese (not in picture)

4 cups of powderedsugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy.  Add in vanilla and cocoa and then slowly add in powdered sugar.  You might need to add a little milk to adjust consistency.

Using an off set spatula cover first layer and then add second layer and completely cover top and sides.

Decorate with a ganche if desired.  To make bring a 1/4 cup of cream to a simmer add in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Let rest for 5 min and then whisk until glossy.  Let cool for at least 30 min and then use to decorate.

Slice and serve with ice cream.  My husband likes to spell any but happy birthday with the birthday blocks.

No Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

These have a more cookie dough texture than a cookie texture. Super easy only took15 min tops.

2 cups of flour
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 soft stick of butter
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 can of sweetened and condensed milk
1 bag of mini chocolate chips
Ganche:
1 cup of regular chocolate chips
1/4 cup of cream

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy

Mix in sweetened and condensed milk, vanilla, and flour.  Then slowly mix in chocolate chips. 

Press into a square pan.  Refrigerate for a couple hours.  To make the ganache (sorry I forgot to take a couple pictures) bring cream to a simmer.  Add in chocolate chips and let rest for five min and then whisk together.  Let cook for 15 min.  Spread cross bars and let set up. Then slice into pieces.

Chicken Bacon Pasta

 For those of you who know me well know I don't like bacon but Chris likes it even though he won't take the trouble to make it.  So, being a good wife I made bacon chicken  pasta.

Dry pasta
a couple chicken tenders
1 1/2cups of cream\
1 1/2 cups of white wine
mushrooms
crumbled bacon
salt and pepper
oil
flour

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and toss with flour.  Add to a hot skillet with oil.  Slice mushrooms and add to chicken.  Season with salt and pepper until tender and golden.

Add wine and bring to a simmer.  Stir in cream and add bacon and simmer.  Stir in cooked pasta.

I love blue cheese so I topped mine with blue cheese. 

Lemon Pepper Chicken and Roasted Vegetables

Roasted vegetables:
You can use any but I used onion, mushrooms, red bell pepper, zucchini

Roughly chop up veggies.  Zest in 2-3 cloves of garlic and sprinkle with salt and lemon pepper and oil.  Bake in a 450 oven for 30ish min until golden brown.

Chicken:
chicken breast
1/3 cup of flour
1/3 cup of bread crumbs
1 teaspoon of lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon of seasoningsalt
oil

Whisk together dry ingridents.  Shake off excess flour and cook in a hot skillet  until golden brown.

 Cook orzo pasta and season with oil and lemon pepper and salt to taste.

Serve chicken, veggies, and pasta with tzatziki sauce.

Salsa Verde Pasta

This took 30 min and only one pot.  No colander or anything so way less dishes.

1/2 pound of penne pasta
1 1/2 cups of salsa verde (i used the stuff they sell at Costco)
1 cup of pepper jack cheese
1 can of chicken broth
1 cup of shredded chicken (you can use diced too)
1 cup of cream
fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk cream, chicken broth, and salsa verde together and bring to a simmer.

Mix in dry pasta and continue to simmer.  Still occasionally to prevent sticking until the pasta  is tender.  About 15-18 min. 

When pasta is done and most of the liquid is absorbed.  Stir in 3/4 of the cheese and melt.  Then stir in chicken.  Be sure the cheese is all the way melted before you add the chicken or it will clump onto the chicken.

Brighten up with a juice from a couple of limes and adjust salt and pepper as needed.  Top with left over cheese.

BBQ chicken Chopped Salad

BBQ dressing:
1 cup of Mayon
1/2 cup of BBQ sauce (I like Stub's)
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 clove of garlic
a couple dashes of hot sauce

Whisk together mayo, sour cream and BBQ sauce.  Add in garlic and hot sauce.  Adjust with salt and pepper as needed.

You can vary the toppings to what you like:
Romain or ice burg lettuce
shredded chicken
cheddar cheese
bacon bites
Picp de Gallo
Tortilla chips of topping

Chop up lettuce and mix with dressing.  Add in chicken, cheese, and bacon.  Mix. Add in pico de gallo.  Top with chips.