Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken

Head on over to C+C Marriage Factory and check out the picture for this recipe - it's what made me save the recipe in the first place. Christina's picture is so light and clean, it didn't remind me of your typical heavy crockpot meal. I have made variations on this recipe, but I liked that there was no salsa added to the chicken, just vegetables and spices. I served this over rice for myself and Chuck had it on tortillas. Delicious!

Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken

Salmon with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze

I love finding new, easy ways of making fish. Basically anything that calls for broiling the fish and then adding a topping is simple and usually delicious. This one did not disappoint - the mustard and brown sugar played nicely off of each other and paired well with the salmon.

I adjusted the amounts to feed just Chuck and myself, since fish doesn't save well, so that is reflected below. The original recipe also calls for lemon wedges and watercress to serve alongside but I didn't need to get that fancy on a weeknight. :)

Salmon with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze

amounts adapted from Everyday Food

Makes 2 servings

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 small shallot, minced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper

2 (roughly 8-ounce) salmon filets, skin removed

Heat broiler to high, with rack in top position. Line a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick foil.

In a small saucepan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add shallot and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add vinegar and cook until slightly evaporated, 1 minute. Add mustard and brown sugar; stir until warm and combined. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Place filets on prepared baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Transfer 1/4 cup glaze to a small dish and brush on top of salmon. Broil salmon until glaze is bubbling and fish is opaque throughout, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness. Brush remaining glaze over filets and serve immediately.

Raspberry Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

You really can't go wrong with a dessert that has cheesecake, chocolate, and raspberry in it. And these little bars definitely did not disappoint. A delicious layer of dark chocolate brownie is topped with a layer of creamy cheesecake swirled with raspberry jam.

The recipe calls for chopped dark chocolate, but you can just as easily use dark chocolate chips. Other than that, the directions were perfect, so the link is below!

Raspberry Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Mother's Day Dinner 2011

This year for Mother's Day, Chuck and I had our families over for dinner to celebrate. I enjoyed spending my second Mother's Day with Abbie as well as with my fantastic mother and fabulous mother-in-law. I wanted dinner to be easy to put together beforehand and asked all the siblings to help with appetizers and dessert. Everyone brought something delicious and we all had a good time eating, drinking, and blowing bubbles with Abbie. :)

Mother's Day Dinner 2011

Appetizers

• Brie-stuffed mushrooms


• Spinach artichoke feta dip with pita chips


• Bacon appetizer crescents


• Assorted cheese and cracker platter

Dinner

• Grilled chicken with barbecue sauce or honey dijon marinade


• Cavatelli salad with artichokes and goat cheese


• Southwestern layered cornbread salad (without the chicken)


• Zucchini and yellow squash gratin
  

Dessert

• Bakery cupcakes


• Cookies and cream cheesecakes


• Assorted cookies

Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake

I was hosting a little ladies' lunch with some friends and saw this in a recent issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray. There is a zucchini bread I make that I really like, so I figured if you add chocolate it just gets even better!

This was a very tasty little snack cake, but personally I would stick with serving it at lunch and not after a fancy dinner party. It was a pretty dense cake, with a nice chocolate taste, and the only way you could tell there was zucchini in it was the texture. A little on the dry side, I would definitely recommend serving it with the vanilla yogurt as pictured and suggested in the recipe. If you don't have espresso powder, ground coffee will do just fine; and I used the more neutral-tasting canola oil instead of olive oil. Enjoy!

Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake

Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding

I was never a huge fan of bread pudding because I always thought it came out too dry and not sweet enough. Well, this one changed my mind! Soaked in a creamy caramel sauce and dotted with chocolate, the bread was moist and delicious.

Make sure you buy a nice egg bread, or challah, for this. The only change I made from the original recipe was to use dark chocolate chips instead of bittersweet, and I would suggest using a whole cup instead of just a half.

If you can't find dulce de leche sauce, mixing equal parts butterscotch and caramel sauce works just fine, and you can really taste the rum so use one of good quality.

Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding

Oven-Fried Shrimp with Aioli

I think I've talked before about how great the recipe section on Williams-Sonoma's website is. It is full of great, classic recipes that always deliver. When I am in need of a dish to either inspire me or to complement a menu I am already working on, I turn there first.

This recipe from there was simple and easy to put together. I almost always use frozen shrimp I buy at the grocery store for any weeknight dish; but since this recipe was so straight forward and I was going to be serving it to friends, I ordered some nice pink Brazilian shrimp from the butcher.

I was able to prepare this slightly in advance, coating the shrimp with panko and then storing them in the fridge until I was ready to bake them right before serving. The aioli is delicious - just don't go overboard on the mayonaise so that you can taste the garlic and lemon in it. Link below!

Oven-Fried Shrimp with Aioli