Savory Crescent Chicken Squares

I started my blog because I have found so many great recipes and received inspiration from other food blogs.  One blog I have found some treasures on is Good Eats ‘N Sweet Treats.  One quick and easy dish we have made several times, including this week, is these chicken squares.  I have not spent much time or energy photographing for my blog, so along with my mediocre photo of our chicken squares I wanted to post one from MrsPresley .  It tastes like hers looks- delicious!    Savory Crescent Chicken Squaresfrom Doris Castle on Pillsbury.com

1	(3-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1	tablespoon margarine or butter, softened
2	cups cubed cooked chicken
1	tablespoon chopped fresh chives or onion
1/4	teaspoon salt
1/8	teaspoon pepper
2	tablespoons milk
1	tablespoon chopped pimientos, if desired
1	(8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1	tablespoon margarine or butter, melted
3/4	cup seasoned croutons, crushed (we used the croutons on top the first time and weren’t too impressed so I omitted them this time)  DIRECTIONS 1. Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, combine cream cheese and 1 tablespoon softened margarine; beat until smooth. Add chicken, chives, salt, pepper, milk and pimientos; mix well. 2. Separate dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. Spoon 1/2 cup chicken mixture onto center of each rectangle. Pull 4 corners of dough to center of chicken mixture; twist firmly. Pinch edges to seal. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops of sandwiches with 1 tablespoon melted margarine; sprinkle with crushed croutons. 3. Bake at 350°F. for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

  

Wedding Cake- Before and After

One of my favorite parts of wedding planning was tastings.  I expected to have a hard time choosing which baker to hire but for me the decision was clear- Christine Dahl.  Her cakes were head and shoulders above everyone else’s in my opinion.  Mark preffered Montecito Confections so we ended up getting our Half Dome groom’s cake from them.   Our wedding cake had two flavors: devil’s food with chocolate ganache, white chocolate mousse, raspberries and hazelnuts and lemon chiffon with lemon curd, raspberries and white chocolate mousse.  The groom’s cake was Tiramisu.  Both were a big hit with our guests.   So, why am I writing about this tonight?  We dug into the top of our wedding cake in our hotel on our wedding night but we did put part of it in the freezer the next day.  We decided since we didn’t package it well we should eat it on our 6 month anniversary instead of one year.  Our 6 month anniversary was Monday but we forgot until I was cleaning out the freezer tonight.  Mark was worried it would make us sick but we had to try it.  It wasn’t too bad, but definitely didn’t taste like our wedding day.  I really liked the fondant, but then I love Cadbury eggs so I guess that makes sense.   

Finally…cookies!

I have been telling Mark I need to bake cookies. How can I name my blog Brookie’s Cookies and not make cookies. But we are trying, though not too hard and not to much avail yet, to eat more healthy.Growing up I loved baking. My family, parents’ coworkers and neighbors enjoyed the fruits of those labors. One of my favorites was Susan’s Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Ingredients:  -1/3 c vegetable shortening-1/3 c butter-1/2 c granulated sugar-1/2 c brown sugar-1 egg-1 tsp vanilla-1 1/2 c flour-1/2 tsp soda-6 oz chocolate chips-1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional) Combine shortening, butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl; beat at medium speed until mixed thoroughly.  Blend flour and soda; add to shortening mixture.  Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonful 2″ apart on baking sheet.  Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.  The great thing about this recipe is that it’s doesn’t make too many cookies so I don’t end up either eating too many or throwing them out.  

My New Favorite Wine

We had an amazing brunch at the Four Seasons Biltmore this morning to celebrate our 6 month anniversary. I had heard it was good but between the carving station, caviar station, seafood station, omelette station, waffle/crepe stations, sushi station and dessert station I was in heaven.

I am not much of a wine drinker but over the past year I have started to try more and actually found a few I like. We have been full all day from our incredible brunch, but decided to open a bottle of wine and have some salsa (which is definitely better after 24 hours). This is one of the smoothest, best tasting wines I have ever had. We are definitely going to buy more Ruffino Chianti 2005.

Lava Flow Chocolate Cake

I have been tempted not to share this recipe since we have been able to wow so many dinner guests with this amazing yet simple cake, but it’s really too good not to share. While Mark and I were on our honeymoon in Costa Rica we spent a few nights at the Four Seasons Papagayo. During our stay we made one of the best decisions of our lives (or maybe just our culinary lives) and took a cooking class. In that class we learned how to make their mouth-watering lava cake.

Four Seasons Lava Cake, with our adaptations
Ingredients
-2 c semisweet chocolate chips or 1 c chocolate chips and 1 large dark chocolate bar
-1 c butter, sliced
-1 c powdered sugar
-3 egg yolks
-4 whole eggs
-1/2 c flour

Melt chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Stir until smooth. Fold in sugar. Fold in flour. Add eggs little by little. Divide between 6 ramekins greased cups. Bake at 375 degrees until outside is cooked and center is still gooey. The recipe says 10-15 minutes but it usually takes ours about 20. Let cool for a minute, go around the edge of the cup with a knife to loosen. Place a plate on top of the ramekin and turn upside down until cake falls out on plate. Top with powdered sugar.

Salsa & Enchiladas

Tonight our Japanese friend Nanae came over to learn how to make Mexican food. We made some pretty simple, yet delicious recipes. The salsa recipe is from my Aunt Debbie and the enchilada recipe is one my husband grew up on. Salsa- combine the following. For peak flavor refrigerate overnight.-2 cans diced tomatoes-4 oz can diced green chiles-1 clove minced garlic-juice of one lemon-1 Tbsp olive oil-1/2 purple onion, chopped-1 tsp cumin-1/2 tsp crushed oregano (optional)-1/2 tsp salt-1/4 tsp pepper-1/2 bunch cilantro, choppedGreen Chicken Enchiladas Ingredients:-mozzarella cheese-chicken, cooked and shredded/sliced into 1″ strips-corn tortillas-vegetable oil-diced olives-chopped onion-canned green enchilada sauce (in shallow bowl)We don’t have a recipe we follow and this can be made in various quantities so it’s more a guide than a recipe. Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Dip corn tortillas, one by one, in warm oil for a few seconds until pliable. This is so you can roll the tortilla without it breaking. Dip tortilla in green sauce and coat well. Fill with chicken, onion, olives and cheese. Roll and place in pan. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce, cheese, and olives. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Chocolate Croissants- the easy way

Growing up we went to Disneyland at least once a year. We would arrive early, before the park opened, and go to the bakery on Main Street for chocolate croissants. My mom has a degree in nutrition so chocolate croissants were a real treat for us.Mark and I end up having breakfast for dinner quite a bit when we are trying to use up eggs. These easy chocolate croissants are the perfect addition to our breakfast for dinner.Simple Instructions:Open package and lay out crescent roll triangles.Put approx 1 Tbsp chocolate chips at the wide end.Roll and pinch ends/holes so chocolate will not melt out.Bake as instructed on the crescent roll package.Enjoy with eggs and sausage! ***New tip*** Mark made these this morning and added cinnamon and sugar with the chocolate.  I know, makes them even worse for you but so yummy! 

Moonstruck Chocolate

I was introduced to these delectable chocolates by my dear friend Bethany a few years ago. They are based out of Portland, Oregon and during one of my visits there she took me to one of their chocolate cafes. I have since seen Moonstruck in Oprah’s Magazine, as favors for the Oscars, and on the Williams-Sonoma Website.

Shortly after my husband and I started dating he had the Mayan Collection box from Moonstruck sent to me at work. I think it was then that he won my heart. Yes, sometimes my stomach is the way to my heart. =) We were in Portland on our 1 month anniversary last summer and bought ourselves a box of Moonstruck chocolates to celebrate.

On a recent trip to San Diego, we happened upon boxes of Moonstruck on sale (buy one, get one for a penny) at Hotel Del. We couldn’t pass up such an amazing deal, and purchased 2 boxes a stocking stuffers for each other.

Moonstruck has so many delicious truffles I feel like we have so many left to try. My absolute favorite is the Conquistador Hazelnut Praline Truffle. I have heard great things about the sundae truffles. Hopefully I can try them on our next trip to Portland.

Kat’s Fast Fancy Chicken

This recipe has been one of our favorites since we found it a couple months ago. I have made chicken in cream of mushroom soup before but the wine, cheese and bread and stuffing are what make this recipe. It has amazing flavor and the chicken is so moist!Ingredients6 Boneless Chicken Breasts6 Slices Swiss Cheese (I use provolone)1/4 lb. Fresh Mushrooms, Sliced1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup (I used cream of chicken and mushroom)1/2 Cup White Wine2 Cups Herbed Stuffing Mix1 Stick Butter/MargerineDirectionsPre-heat oven to 350. Place chicken in lightly greased 9×13 baking dish. Top each piece with a slice of swiss cheese. Arrange mushrooms over cheese. Mix soup and wine and pour over chicken. Sprinkle stuffing mix over top and drizzle with butter. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.Recipe from Kat’s blog.I need to start taking pictures, but until then here is the photo that first enticed me from April’s blog.

Artichoke Hummus

We have been having a lazy day around the house today and I decided it would be a great day to organize our kitchen cupboards. What seemed like a tedious task became exciting as I began encountering items I forgot I owned. One such item I came across was my mini food processor. My sister and a couple friends are always making hummus so I decided to give it a try. Mark does not like plain hummus so I made artichoke. When I purchased 10 cans of artichoke hearts on an amazing sale he complained that we would never use them. I bet he’s happy now that I stocked up.

I used this recipe from allrecipes as a place to start .
Ingredients:
1 clove garlic (I missed the second one in the original recipe and 1 clove was enough for us)
1 can garbanzo beans, liquid reserved (mine was 15 ounces, I didn’t use any of the reserved liquid)
4 Tbsp lemon juice (I ran out so it was about 3)
2 Tbsp tahini
cumin to taste (subbed for pepper, per author’s recommendation)
(I omitted salt and did not top with olive oil)
4-5 ounces artichoke hearts (my own addition)

In a food processor, chop the garlic. Pour garbanzo beans into blender, reserving about a tablespoon for garnish. Place lemon juice and tahini in food processor. Add artichoke hearts (I would do this first next time). Blend until creamy and well mixed.

So simple and so delicious. I have to go…my hummus is quickly disappearing and I have only had a couple bites.