"Should Be" Famous Sarah Leigh Chocolate Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon instant coffee

1 cup PLAIN Greek Yogurt

½ cup butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan...I use a bundt cake pan.

Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and instant coffee together in stand mixer or bowl. Add greek yogurt, butter, and vanilla and mix together until mixture is wet throughout. Put in eggs and beat on high for about 2 minutes, be careful not to over mix the eggs. Last add the boiling water and mix for a minute.

Put mixture into greased pan. For a square or circle cake pan the time will but around 30-35 minutes. For a bundt cake pan the time is 40 min. Make sure to test with a toothpick.

When done let cool for about 30 min to an hour before trying to take out of pan.

 

Enjoy! :)

PARMESAN CRUSTED CHICKEN BREAST WITH LEMON CHARDONNAY BUTTER SAUCE

Ok you are going to want to marinate the chicken breast in a brine for 2 - 3 hours so here is what to do for that

2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
4 large chicken breasts

Make the brine for the chicken by dissolving the salt in the chicken broth in a medium bowl. Cover the chicken breasts with plastic wrap and pound each one to about 1/2-inch thick with a kitchen mallet. If breasts are large, you can cut them in half. Add flattened chicken to brine and chill for 2-3 hours in the fridge.

4 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 cup shredded parm cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

LEMON CHARDONNAY BUTTER SAUCE
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup chardonnay
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp sugar
pinch salt
1 1/3 cup heavy cream


light olive oil




1. when the chicken has marinated, remove the fillets from the brine and dab with paper towels to remove the excess liquid. Beat eggs in med bowl, and put flour on a plate. Combine Panko, Parm, salt, and pepper in another medium bowl To bread the chicken, first coast each fillet with flour, then egg, and then the Parm mixture. Let the breaded fillets rest for a bit on plate in your fridge while you prepare sauce

2. Make the chardonnay butter sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add wine and simmer for 1 min. Stir in lemon juice, sugar, and salt, and then add cream. Simmer over low heat for 10 to 12 min until thicker

3. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a large saute pan, and heat over med/low heat until hot. You can check the heat of the oil by dropping a bread crumb into it. If it starts to sizzle your oil is ready. Saute each breaded chicken fillet in the oil for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until brown. Remove fillets to a paper towel-covered plate until ready to serve. Pile a tbsp of parm cheese on top of each fillet

Knock off Joes Crab Shack's Great Balls of Fire

Filling

2 tsp vege oil
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
6 medium raw shrimp or 1-2 cans of canned shrimp meat
1 cup of lump crab meat or 2-3 cans of canned crab meat
1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
3 tablespoons cream cheese, plus 1 1/2 ounces for the centers
2 tablespoons Panko (Japanese Bread Crumbs)


Breading
2 eggs beaten
1 cup flour
1 cup Panko
6 to 10 cups of vege oil


Ranch Dressing on the side if desired

1. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a saute pan over med heat. add the sliced jalapenos and saute for 2 min. Add the shrimp and cook for another 2 min or until the shrimp is pink.
2. Stir in the crab, Parm, salt, cayenne, garlic, and white pepper. Cook until the crab is hot, about 1 min, then remove from heat and stir in 3 tblsp of cream cheese and 2 tblsp panko. Mix well.
3. Make the crab balls by first beating the eggs in a medium bowl. Pour the flour into another bowl, and pour panko into a third bowl.
4. Form the balls by scooping up a heaping tablespoon of the filling. Press a small marble-size chunk of cream cheese into the center of the filling and form the filling around the cream cheese. This ball should be slightly smaller then a golf ball. Roll the ball in the flour, then in the egg, and back into the flour until its thoroughly covered with flour. Coat the ball with egg again and then roll it in the panko until completely covered. Repeat with each ball and arrange all of the breaded balls on a plate and chill of 30 minutes
5. Preheat your oil to 325 degrees
6. Drop the balls 4 to 6 at a time, into the oil and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown. If the cheese begins to squirt out of the balls when they are frying, remove them from the oil immediately. That means they are done
7. Serve with ranch dressing on the side for dipping!

Left Overs Taco Salad

My mother-in-law Twila Byrum made this for us when we were at her house one time and I thought it was the weirdest thing ever...until I tasted it! Just dump whatever you want into it! Cant think of anything else to do with all those veges that are going to go bad in your fridge?? This is perfect. I will try to give some exact measurements but its really whatever you want to throw in it!
Also great for parties i.e. Super Bowel!

around 1/2 lb left over taco hamburger meat give or take
1 can ranch style beans don't drain
1/2 bag of Doritos (regular or spicy nacho), broken up into about bite size pieces
1 head of lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup cheese give or take, grated
1 can olives, drained
whatever veges you want! Cucumber, bell peppers, jalapeno, carrots, and etc.!

Just mix everything together! Easy as that!

Red Chile-Honey Glazed Salmon

Serves 4 Recipe from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook

Red Chile-Honey Glazed Salmon

1/3 cup of honey
1 tbsp Ancho Chile Poweder
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
four (8-ounce) skin on salmon fillets
2 tbsp canola oil
Jalapeno Crema (optional)
1 can of black beans (optional)

1. To make the glaze for the salmon, whisk together the honey, ancho chile powder, and mustard in small bowel (I actually just whisked it right in the measuring cup to save on dishes! ) and season with salt and pepper

2. Preheat a Grill or large nonstick saute pan over high heat. Brush the salmon with the oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Place the salmon on the grill or in the pan, skin side down, cook until golden brown and a crust has formed, 3 to 4 minutes. Brush the top of the salmon fillets with some glaze, flip over the fillets and continue to cook until a crust has formed and the salmon is cooked to medium about 2 more minutes. The salmon will be pink in the center

3. Seve with black beans and Jalapeno Crema (recipe follows)


Jalapeno Crema

1/2 cup crema, creme fraiche, or sour cream
1 large or 2 small jalapeno chiles, roasted, peeled, and chopped
salt and pepper

Combine everything in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth season with salt and pepper and refrigerate for 30 min before serving. This can be made up to one day in advance


I also served this with Aspargus with Balsalmic Butter and cheddar bay biscuits and those recipes will be coming soon :)

Sweet and Sour Pork (or chicken)

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/2 cup apple cidar vinegar
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup of water
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup canned diced pineapples
1/2 cup sweet pickles
1 pork loin (you can also substitute chicken if you wanted)

1. Mix vinegar, sugar, and water together and bring to a boil.
2. while that is boiling mix corn starch with water to make into a thick wet mixture
3. Once the sauce is boiling slowly mix in the thick cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
4. Bring back to a boil then reduce heat and add pineapples and pickles
5. Bread and fry chicken any way you like and deep fry (I usually just use a flour and egg batter) and serve with sauce or on the side



We can never have sweet and sour pork without fried rice (just the instant stuff works great!) and a salad called a Wop Salad so here is the recipe for that and dont worry if it seems like a lot of food because I think it tastes even better the next day! lol



1/2 cup vege oil
1/4 cup lemon
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp garlic
1 head of lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup colby cheese, grated
1/4 cup onion

Mix all ingredients together and shake until blended....taste test and add more of whatever ingredient you think until it tastes right to you (thats how I do it anyways lol!) chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes...toss remaining ingrediants together and then pour the dressing over the top and mix well

Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs

Country Style Pork Ribs

1 lb country style pork ribs

1 cup of BBQ sauce 

1/4 cup Italian Dressing

1 med. onion or 2 tsp onion salt

seasoned or accent salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

and again pretty much anything else that sounds good for seasoning or marinade

Slice onion into rings and place in bottom of Crock pot or sprinkle onion powder on bottom. Layer Ribs on top of onion. Sprinkle ribs with garlic powder and seasoned salt. Pour BBQ sauce and Italian dressing over ribs making sure to coat them well. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. They will be fall apart tender.