I have to admit something.  I don’t like drinking eggnog.  It makes me feel like I’m drinking melted ice cream.  A little too thick for my taste.  However, I do like things that are eggnog flavored.  I like eggnog ice cream.  While visiting my sister in New York one Christmas we went to Jacques Torres shop and I bought a box of holiday truffles.  The white chocolate eggnog truffle was spectacular.  If you’re in NYC this season you should stop by and get one…or more than one.  The gingerbread truffle was also very good.  Oh, and you have to buy the chocolate covered Cherrio’s that they sell!  I’m getting carried away now.

Anyway, I won’t drink a cup of eggnog, but I will eat something that takes like it.  It’s a texture thing I suppose.  I guess I am my mother’s daughter.  I’m not sure if this is acceptable or not, but I felt I should admit this character flaw to you.

I added some rum and nutmeg to the base of this pie.  I contemplated adding cinnamon, but ended up deciding against it.  Maybe I will try it next time.  I used a store bought pie crust to save some time.  I’ve tried my hand at making scratch pie crust before, and I don’t think it’s too terribly hard to make something edible, but achieving a perfect, buttery, flaky crust is no simple task.  It is also a rather time consuming process and makes a mess of your kitchen.  A weeknight dessert should not require a lot of cleaning up.  The refrigerated crusts taste pretty good, so I am OK using them every now and then.

I liked the flavor, and found it pretty similar to eggnog.  The crust had a good crunch, and the filling was smooth and creamy.  I served this with simple sweetened whipped cream (you can use cool whip in a time crunch).  A simple and easy pie.  It may not make you fall over and cry with delight, but it it good.  Try it without the nutmeg and rum for a simple buttermilk pie.

Eggnog Pie

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons rum
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 unbaked pastry shell

1. Combine sugar and flour in a large bowl.
2. Mix in eggs, buttermilk, butter, vanilla, rum and nutmeg.
3. Pour into pie shell.
4. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes.
5. Turn oven temperature down to 350° and bake for 30 minutes more.
6. Let cool; serve with whipped cream.

This chicken salad came about like many meals do for me; I had to either use some chicken thighs I had in the fridge in the next few days, or they would need to be thrown away.  So, I made a decision to do something with them…that something was yet to be determined when I put them in a plastic bag to marinate in some Italian dressing that was almost empty.  After an overnight flavor bath, I still had no plan.  Well, I guess baking them would be a good idea.  So, that’s what I did.

While they were cooking, I went rummaging in the pantry and fridge for some inspiration. Celery…onion…mustard…mayonnaise…basil…Parmesan cheese…pine nuts…Carrie’s Chicken Salad was born.  I will say that the idea for the pine nuts was not my own.  A sandwich place in College Station, Blue Baker, put pine nuts in their chicken salad and it was one of my favorite items on the menu.  That and the Mediterranean pizza.  I sure do miss that place.  If you ever go for breakfast, you must get the spinach, egg and feta breakfast sandwich on a croissant.  It is decadent, but will also keep you full enough to not need a big lunch.  Ok, back to the matter at hand…

I wish I’d measured a bit better when I made this chicken salad so that I could have written an usable recipe.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think this would turn out that great so I just threw the ingredients together and didn’t bother trying to measure or remember how much of anything I used.   The recipe below is a guess, at best, as far as measurements go…so, just go with your gut!  The flavors are great together, so taste as you go and adjust as needed.

Carrie’s Chicken Salad

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts
• 1 1/2 cups Italian salad dressing
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise (or more if needed)
• 3-4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
• 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Marinate the chicken in the Italian dressing for a few hours, or up to overnight
2. Preheat the oven to 350 and bake the chicken for 20-30 minutes on a rimmed baking sheet
3. Let the chicken cool, then shred or chop into bite size pieces
4. Combine chicken, mayonnaise, mustard, celery, red onion, basil, Parmesan, salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Taste and adjust any ingredients as you see fit.
5. Add pine nuts right before serving to keep them nice and crunchy.
6. Serve on toasted bread, over a bed of lettuce, or as a snack with crackers.

I wasn’t expecting these to be anything special, but they were so much better than a normal rice krispy.  These are more adult in flavor, and not as gooey and sticky as the original.  I used Hershey’s dark cocoa and drizzled semi-sweet chocolate on top.  The chocolate makes them decadent, dense and delicious.

There are some tricks to any kind of marshmallow laden goodies.  Marshmallow is sweet and delicious, but also quite sticky and hard to work with.  I use Crisco to grease my pan so that the treats come out easier.  I also chill them in the fridge for about 30 minutes before slicing them.  If possible, turn the entire pan out onto a cutting board so that you can make easier cuts through the bars.  I think next time I will try adding toasted pecans or maybe peanuts to these bars.  They are terrific as they are, pure and simple chocolate, so it’s a tough call.  These are quick, easy and don’t require an oven.  You have no excuse not to try them!

Dark Chocolate Marshmallow Crispy Bars

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• 1 bag (10 1/2 ounces) mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa (spooned and leveled)
• 6 cups crisp rice cereal
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

1. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. In a large saucepan, combine butter, marshmallows, and cocoa. Cook over medium, stirring frequently, until melted, about 6 minutes; stir in rice cereal. Press rice mixture into prepared pan; drizzle with melted chocolate.
3. Chill the bars for 30 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan.  Invert bars onto a cutting board, then flip the bars so that the chocolate side is up.  Cut bars into squares.

Mexican torta is, simply put, a sandwich.  A crazy good sandwich.  I nicknamed these tortas “The Mexican Sloppy Joe”.  You must lean over your plate in order to eat the torta without making a total mess, and you can’t be afraid of having food on your face and hands.  This is a messy meal, but well worth it.

Chorizo and Black Bean Mexican Tortas

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 pound fresh Mexican chorizo, casings removed
• Two 15-ounce cans black beans, drained
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 Mexican bolillo or telera rolls, or kaiser rolls, split
• 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, softened
• 1 Hass avocado, thinly sliced
• Shredded romaine lettuce, sliced tomatoes and sliced pickled jalapeños, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large skillet, heat the 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the chorizo and cook over moderate heat, stirring to break up any lumps, until the meat is browned and no trace of pink remains, about 10 minutes. Add the beans and, using a potato masher, mash until creamy. Cook, stirring often, until hot, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.
2. Heat a griddle or large skillet over moderately high heat. Using your hands, pull out some of the bread from the centers of the rolls to create a small cavity. Brush the cut sides of the rolls with vegetable oil. Transfer the rolls, cut sides down, to the griddle and cook until toasted, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook for about 1 minute longer, until slightly crisp. Transfer to a work surface, cut sides up.
3. Spread the tops of the rolls with the goat cheese. Spread the bottoms with some of the mashed black beans. Top the beans with the avocado, lettuce and pickled jalapeños. Close the sandwiches, cut in half and serve.

There is no rhyme or reason to our house.  I have some modern, some traditional, and some antique furniture and decor.  The problem is that I love certain things about all those styles.  While I dream of a house that would embarrass the homes in Dwell, I know that day will never come.  I am OK with that.  A lot of what we have has been given to me from my mom or Ben’s mom, and I can’t imagine replacing it with anything.  So, welcome to my hodge podge home.

While my mom was here we got pedicures and then went to the store to get ingredients for dinner.  One of the other things my mom brought to me was a wok that I’d bought for $7.99 at IKEA last weekend.  It’s not the best quality piece of cookware I own, but I still wanted to use it.  I decided to make a chicken stir fry and coconut soup.

Here is my lovely mother in the kitchen serving up stir fry and soup.  The last couple times we’ve been together I’ve made her cook dinner with me.  I rarely find myself in the company of people who like to cook, so I took advantage of the situation!  She was such a good sport.  Thanks for humoring me, mom!

This recipe is from Tyler Florence.  I took quite a few shortcuts with this since we were a bit strapped for time.  I used store bought chicken broth, left out the shredded chicken and the fish sauce, and used bean sprouts instead of straw mushrooms.  We served the soup with white rice and spinach.

I liked the clean flavor that the lemon grass and lime juice provide.  The coconut milk makes it nice and rich, but not at all thick or overwhelming.  Adding shredded chicken to this would make it a great choice for a lunch or light dinner.  I liked the bean sprouts, but would have preferred thin slices of mushrooms instead with maybe just a few bean sprouts as a garnish.

Thai Coconut Soup

Ingredients

• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 stalk lemon grass, white part only, cracked open with the flat side of a knife
• 1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 small Thai chilies, halved lengthwise
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 (13-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 can bean sprouts, drained
• 4 limes, juiced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Cooked white rice
• Spinach leaves

Directions

1. Bring the stock to the boil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add the lemon grass, ginger, chilies, and garlic. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and gently simmer for 10 minutes to let the spices infuse the broth.
2. Uncover and stir in the coconut milk, sugar, bean sprouts, and lime juice. Simmer for 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into a soup tureen or individual serving bowls. Serve over rice and spinach leaves.  Garnish with cilantro.

I loved the crunchy breadcrumbs on top of this dish.  The sauteed onions and garlic mixed with tomato paste give the sauce a richer flavor that is more than just milk and cheese.  I used 2% milk and half swiss, half sharp cheddar with a great resulting flavor.  I cooked the chicken in chunks, but ended up kind of shredding it into smaller pieces before adding it to the cheese.  The recipe calls for penne or similar pasta, but I used traditional elbow macaroni.

I was pretty hungry when we ate dinner last night, so my hunger could have contributed for my rave review of this pasta.  However, Ben ate a chimichanga for lunch, so he wasn’t starving…and he had two helpings.  This leads me to believe that this was a true culinary success.  You could add broccoli to this for a little punch of vitamins and color.

This dish was pretty easy to prep and has a quick baking time.  Consider these time saving tips to make life even easier.

1. Use dry bread crumbs instead of fresh.
2. Use rotisserie chicken.
3. Use pre-shredded cheese.
4. Cook the pasta earlier in the day and store it in the fridge.

Mac and Cheese with Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 pound skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves
• 1 to 2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 10 ounces macaroni
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 cups 2 % milk
• 2 cups shredded cheese, 1 cup swiss and 1 cup cheddar
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 cups soft sourdough bread crumbs
• 2 ounces finely shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese (1/2 cup)
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a large skillet cook chicken, Italian or desired seasoning blend, salt, and pepper in hot oil over medium heat until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from skillet; set aside.

2.  In a large pot or kettle cook pasta according to package directions until just tender. Drain; return pasta to pot.

3.  Meanwhile, in the same skillet in which chicken was cooked, cook onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons hot butter over medium heat until tender. Stir in flour until well combined. Stir in tomato paste. Add milk. Cook and stir until mixture is thickened and bubbly; reduce heat. Add the shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is almost melted. Remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add sauce and chicken to cooked pasta in pot; stir to coat. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart square or rectangular baking dish.

4.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl stir together bread crumbs,Parmesan cheese, and 3 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle crumb mixture over pasta mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until crumb mixture is golden and edges are bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The burger recipe came from epicurious, but I used lean ground beef instead of turkey.  Ben cannot eat ground turkey.  Everything else in the recipe stayed the same.  The tomato jam recipe made me have second thoughts about doing this meal on a weeknight, but it was super quick and tasty.  The list of ingredients seems long, but it’s really just a matter of tossing them together and cooking them for 10 minutes.  You wouldn’t have to make the jam, but it’s a great alternative to ketchup on these burgers.  You could halve the jam recipe and have plenty for the burgers.  We used iceberg lettuce (because that’s what I had) but spinach or romaine would be better.

Greek Burgers

• 1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
• 2/3 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/3 cup (about 2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese plus additional for topping
• 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pitted Kalamata olives (about 6)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil plus additional for brushing
• 1 small garlic clove, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 crusty rolls, halved horizontally
• Tomato Jam

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush grill rack with oil.

Gently mix beef, onion, 1/3 cup feta, 3 tablespoons chopped olives, 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, garlic, rosemary, generous 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and generous 1/2 teaspoon pepper in medium bowl. Form into 4 patties, each about 1 inch thick. Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Grill burgers until charred on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Grill cut side of rolls until toasted, about 2 minutes. Assemble burgers with Tomato Jam and additional feta and chopped olives.

Tomato Jam

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup (scant) finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup (scant) finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and garlic; cook until onion is soft and translucent, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Add diced tomatoes with juice, sugar, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until almost all liquid evaporates and mixture is reduced to about 2 1/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Cool.

The cookies on the left were just scooped, the center cookies were scooped, then rolled between my palms, and the far right were rolled in my palms then in coconut.

The combination of flavors and textures is terrific.  The sweetener in these candies/cookies is marshmallow instead of the usual white sugar typical in no-bake cookies like this.  The oats make the cookies hearty, the coconut gives them a nice chew, and the toffee pieces add a nice crunch.  So, if you need a sweet fix and you’re not in the mood to bake a batch of cookies, try these.

Coconut, Oatmeal, Toffee Chocolate No Bake Cookies

• 6 ounces chopped milk or semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/3 cup butter
• 16 large marshmallows
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup toffee pieces
• 2 cups rolled oats

1. Melt butter, chocolate and marshmallows over low heat in a saucepan (or you can use a double boiler).  Stir until mixture is smooth, 5-10 minutes.  Remove from the heat.
2. Mix in in peanut butter, vanilla.  Stir in coconut, oats and toffee pieces until well combined.
3. Scoop by tablespoons onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  Optional: You can roll the mixture into smooth balls and then roll the balls in coconut or toffee pieces for a fancier looking cookie.
4. Chill the cookies for 30 minutes, then serve.