Martha A. Cheves's Blog, page 96

White Chocolate Bugles

I was pretty busy this weekend putting down a new floor in my living room so I didn't have time to do much cooking but since everyone at work expects a new dish on Monday I didn't want to let them down.  So...this is what I came up with.  I love sweet and salty so I decided to drizzle white chocolate over Bugles with a few pretzels and cashews added.  This is PERFECT!  It's simple to make and the kids can even help.  You simply pour your Bugles and whatever else you want to add, into a large bowl.  Melt your white chocolate, drizzle it over the Bugles and stir until evenly coated.  Cool and you have the perfect treat with a sweet and salty taste that I can't get enough of. 

This can be done with milk chocolate but I promise you the taste isn't as good as you get when using the white chocolate. 

Changes - Instead of the pretzels and cashews, add whatever salty or non-salty snack items you might want.  This would be delicious with pecans and I think using butterscotch instead of white chocolate would probably be pretty good too.  Just play with this one and Think With Your Taste Buds.

Great Book to Read

If you want a really great book to read, then I recommend He Kan't Kill Your Future by Sharquent Webster.  This book is the author's own story about her life through drugs, abuse and finally being rescued.  Read my review by going to A Book and A Dish.  Also, you'll find the author's tips creating the perfect BBQ.

Pork Tenderloin Au Jus

My idea for this dish came to me when I found that I had a package of McCormick Recipe Inspirations.  The recipe on the package was actually for apple pork chops but I decided to "Think With My Taste Buds" and create something different using the herbs/spice included in the package.  And I couldn't have chosen a better piece of meat to work with than the pork tenderloin.  It picked up all of the flavors, it was juicy and tender and my kitchen has had a wonderful smell all day. View my recipe by going to Martha's Recipe Cabinet.

Review for Stir, Laugh, Repeat

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Scrumptious, May 3, 2011 By Her personal notes about the recipes add to the fun and I have already started using some of her "TIPS". This would be a perfect gift for the bride to be. I can see it in a bridal shower basket of basic essentials. But I also see it in the library of someone like me who has been married for over 50 years and always looking for some wonderful, quick meals with a new twist - good old southern cooking. The new twist for me - I'm a New England 'girl'. My first cooking adventure with Martha will be the Salmon Puffs. I recommend Stir, Laugh, Repeat to anyone looking for a simpler way to make old favorites without losing the down home feel.

Elizabeth Wilder

Candy Cookies

Cookies are loads of fun to make and so easy to be creative with.  The cookies you see here are all made using a basic sugar cookie mix and chopped candies for flavoring.  For these I doubled the recipe, divided the batter into 5ths and used mini candy bars.  This is a fun cookie to make with the kids.  This is a good cookie to make after Halloween when the kids bring home all of those sweet goodies.

Cheese Cracker Chicken

If you've been following my chicken nugget recipes you will remember that I've made them using crushed potato chips with French fried onions and even some with pretzels.  Well, I'm still working on combinations and this time I used crushed cheddar crackers.  It didn't work, at least for me.  I coated the chicken with ranch dressing and dipped the pieces into the crackers and my glue which is shredded cheese.  The taste wasn't bad but the texture didn't suite my taste.  The crackers ended up being soggy, possibly due to the ranch dressing.  But this combination I'll not be recommending.

Taco Casserole

This is a simple casserole that uses Rotel and taco seasoning.  You can heat this up by using the hot Rotel and/or hot taco seasoning.  I used the mild.  You can use just about any type of paste that you want.  I used elbow mac.  You can also use any cheese you want.  I used a Mexican blend.  The leftovers, if you have any, heat up quite well in the microwave and it also freezes well so you can double the recipe and freeze one. To view the full recipe go to Martha's Recipe Cabinet.

Crabby Rice Patties

When working up this dish I mixed everything but the eggs so I could taste my mixture as I went along.  This allowed me to add as much or as little of the Old Bay seasoning as I wanted and it allowed me to come up with the perfect cheese flavor to fit my taste. I used plain Panko bread crumbs but I'm sure seasoned would be good.  I haven't tried it yet but I want to give this a try using Salmon instead of crab.  Bet that one will be good too.  Now that I've gotten your attention, see the full recipe by going to Martha's Recipe Cabinet.

Magnum Ice Cream

Foodbuzz Tastemakers and Magnum Ice cream sent me a nice little surprise this week.  I received a coupon for a free package of Magnum ice cream bars which came to the stores in the U. S. for the first time this month.  They come in several flavors which I'll tell you about.

Magnum Classic - silky vanilla bean ice cream dipped in a thick layer of Belgian milk chocolate.
Magnum Almond - silky vanilla bean ice cream covered in a thick layer of Belgian milk chocolate with crunchy almonds.
Magnum Double Chocolate - creamy chocolate ice cream enrobed in a luscious chocolatey coating, rich chocolatey sauce and thick Belgian milk chocolate.
Magnum Double Caramel - silky vanilla bean ice cream enrobed in a luscious chocolatey coating, rich caramel sauce and thick Belgian milk chocolate.
Magnum Dark - silky vanilla bean ice cream dipped in 60% cacao Belgian dark chocolate.
Magnum White - silky vanilla bean ice cream dipped in a thick layer of Belgian white chocolate

For those of you who know me, you'll have no problem picking the flavor for me.  For those of you who don't just look at the picture and you will have my choice.  I'm not a chocolate lover but will just about anything made with white chocolate and this ice cream lived up to it's name "Magnum."  The vanilla bean ice cream is so rich, creamy and smooth.  The white chocolate coating is thick and oh so heavenly!  I plan on trying the caramel and almond flavors but I know that the White Chocolate will be my favorite.

Potato Chip Shrimp

Remember the Potato Chip Chicken recipe?  Well, I decided to try it using shrimp.  I did eliminate the French fried onions because I didn't want to cover up the flavor of the shrimp but give it a try if you want.  These are really good!

Find the Potato Chip Chicken recipe by going to Martha's Recipe Cabinet.  Follow the recipe using shrimp instead of chicken.