Friday Recipes

Finally, Friday! Here are six recipes to help you through the weekend. Enjoy!

COOKIE BUTTER LAVA CAKE

This comes from Tablespoon.com, and begins, “You already love lava cakes. With this sweet, spiced version, life is about to get sooo good.” Prep Time: 10 minutes; Total Time: 25 minutes; makes 4 servings.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cookie butter

3 eggs

1/4 cup water

Directions

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

In a stand mixer, beat 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar and cookie butter until smooth.

Add eggs one at a time, beating until smooth and creamy. Add water and mix until fully combined.

Spoon batter evenly into four 6-oz. ramekins (which have been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray).

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or just until the edges have set and the centers are soft (but not jiggly). Dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

CHICKEN PASTA CASSEROLE WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE AND BACKON

This comes from Diana Rattray, About.com’s Southern Food expert. Diana wrote, “Bacon gives this chicken casserole nice smoky flavor, and the combination of American and Cheddar cheeses makes it extra creamy.” Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 45 minutes; Total Time: 65 minutes; Yield: 6 Servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

8 ounces mini penne pasta or elbow macaroni

6 to 8 slices bacon

2 tablespoons butter

1 pound chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cut in 1-inch pieces

4 green onions, sliced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup chicken broth or more milk

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme

8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded

4 ounces American cheese, shreds or chopped

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tablespoon melted butter

Preparation

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water following package directions.

Grease a 2 1/2- to 3-quart baking dish. Heat oven to 350°.

In a large skillet or saucepan, cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon to paper towels; crumble.

Pour off grease in the skillet, leaving about 1 or 2 teaspoons. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and cook the chicken over medium-low heat until cooked through. Add green onions and cook for 1 minute longer.

Add flour and stir until blended into the fat. Gradually stir in the milk, cooking and stirring until slightly thickened. Stir in salt, pepper, and thyme. Add the cheeses and thawed peas, along with crumbled bacon.

Spoon into the prepared baking dish.

Combine bread crumbs with 1 tablespoon melted butter; sprinkle over the casserole. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until topping is browned and casserole is bubbly.

CHICKEN RICE DIVAN BAKE

This also comes from Diana Rattray, About.com’s Southern Food expert. Diana wrote, “This chicken and broccoli recipe is made with rice and cheddar cheese and cooked cubed chicken.” Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 40 minutes; Yield: 4 to 6 Servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 packages (10 ounces each) frozen broccoli spears

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

salt and pepper or seasoned salt blend

1 cup cooked rice

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup sour cream

Preparation

Cook broccoli according to package directions; drain well. Arrange broccoli in 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with half the cheese; top with cubed chicken. Season with salt and pepper; spoon on the cooked rice.

In a saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Blend in flour; add milk. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice and fold in the sour cream.

Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 400° for 15 to 20 minutes.

KEY LIME POUNDCAKE

This is from Kim Serverson in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Kim wrote, “Susan Levin Turner has taught many Southerners, both professional chefs and home cooks, how to bake a proper cake. She has made cakes for politicians and celebrities, and turned out five when the chef Edna Lewis turned 76. “Cakes bring people together for celebrations and funerals and everything in between,” she said. Ms. Turner, who owns Food Glorious Food in Tallahassee, Fla., developed this recipe to combine Key limes, a flavor associated with South Florida, with poundcake, a staple in the more rural, agricultural parts of North Florida. She bakes hers in an old-fashioned large square poundcake pan, but the recipe has been adapted here for a loaf pan, which is a little easier to find and work with. She likes to coat the inside of the greased cake pan with sugar, which helps the cake slide from the pan and offers a little more crispness to the crust. This recipe uses flour instead for tenderness, but the sugar method offers a homey Southern touch. Or use a combination of both.” Time: 1 hour 45 minutes; makes 8 to 10 servings.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing the pan

2 cups all-purpose flour, more for flouring the pan

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature, cut into pieces

1 1/2 cups/297 grams granulated white sugar

4 eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons lime zest

1 tablespoon Key lime juice

For the Glaze:

4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup Key lime juice

2 tablespoons lime zest

Preparation

Make the cake: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Sift the flour and baking powder and set aside.

Mix butter and cream cheese in bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer on medium speed, until blended; gradually add sugar and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes until light in color and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs about a quarter at a time, fully incorporating before adding the next.

Add lime zest and mix to incorporate. Add dry ingredients alternately with lime juice, beginning and ending with flour mixture and adding juice in two additions. Mix just enough to incorporate.

Bake for about 1 hour, or until just set in the middle. Check cake after 30 minutes; if top is browning too quickly, tent with foil. If the cake is not set in the middle after an hour, continue baking, checking middle at 5-minute intervals, until set.

Cool in the pan for 20 minutes; loosen edges and turn out cake onto plate with raised edges to contain the glaze.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a glass bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until well blended and a little fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on slow speed, gradually add confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated, then beat for 20 to 30 seconds.

Mix in the lime juice, then heat the mixture in a microwave oven for a minute or more until it is very warm and loose. Using a wooden skewer, poke several holes in the cake. Pour half the glaze over cake, let sit for 10 minutes, pour remaining glaze over cake and sprinkle with lime zest.

Tip

Recipe can be doubled to make 2 loaves or to fill a 10-by-4-inch tube pan. But a doubled recipe will overflow a smaller Bundt pan, and will almost overflow the bowl of a stand mixer. To mix a double recipe, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs and lime zest and then transfer the batter to a larger bowl and use a hand mixer to combine the flour mixture and lime juice. The recipe for the glaze makes enough for 2 loaves or the round cake without being doubled.

TRADITIONAL BUBBLE AND SQUEAK

This comes from Elaine Lemm, About.com’s British and Irish Food expert. Elaine wrote, “Traditional Bubble and Squeak is the lovely, quirky name for fried left-over vegetables, usually from Sunday Lunch. The origins of the charmng name are not really known but reference is made in the 'Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue', 1785, that ‘Bubble and Squeak, beef and cabbage fried together. It is so called from its bubbling up and squeaking whilst over the fire.’

“Traditionally the Bubble and Squeak will be eaten on a Monday for lunch or dinner, sometimes with a fried egg on top, maybe a little bacon, or meat leftover from lunch the day before. There is no hard and fast rule to this one and really no specific recipe it is simply a way of using up whatever you have left from dinner.

“One main component which is always there is mashed potatoes. The potato is the 'glue' holding all the other vegetables together. I love it made with cabbage as well, if I have some of course.

“Bubble and Squeak is also known as Bubble or Fry. In Ireland Colcannon is made from mashed potatoes, cabbage or Kale and onion and is very similar to Bubble and Squeak, as is Rumbledethumps in Scotland.” Prep Time: 5 minutes; Cook Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 20 minutes; Yield: Depends on leftovers

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

6 tbsp butter, and or vegetable oil (butter tastes the best)

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

Leftover mashed potato

Any leftover vegetables, cabbage, swede, carrots, peas, Brussels Sprouts, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fried bacon pieces (optional)

Preparation

In a large frying pan melt the butter, make sure it doesn't brown. Add the finely chopped onion and fry gently for about 3 mins or until soft and translucent.

Turn the heat up ever so slightly and add the mashed potato and all of the chopped up leftover vegetables. Fry for at last 10 minutes turning them over continuously in the melted butter ensuring the potato and vegetables are thoroughly reheated. Plus you are also aiming to brown the outside edges of the vegetables but not to burning the bubble and squeak, so occasionally press the mixture onto the pan to brown a little then continue stirring.

Finally, when the mixture is heated right through, do one long final press. Press the potato mixture on to the base of the pan with a spatula and leave to cook for 1 min. Flip over and repeat.

Serve as mentioned above with either a fried or poached egg on top, the bacon pieces, or any leftover roast reheated thoroughly.

An alternative is to mix the potato and vegetables and form into small patties then fry as above.

ZUCCHINI-CORN SAUTE

This yummy recipe comes from FamilyTime, and begins, “This four-vegetable medley makes a colorful addition to just about any meal. It is especially enticing with grilled or broiled pork or lamb chops.” Serves: 4; Prep Time: 10 minutes; CookTime: 8 minutes

To view this online, go to http://www.familytime.com/Recipe/ShowRecipe.aspx?RecipeId=14454.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups (about 3 medium) zucchini, sliced

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

1 1/2 cups loose-pack frozen whole-kernel corn

1 cup (about 1 medium) tomato, chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, onion, and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in corn, tomato, and thyme; cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.