Christmas Morning Wifesaver

I've had this for breakfast every Christmas morning for as long as I can remember...and even some Saturday and Sunday mornings throughout the year.  It's one of my most FAVOURITE breakfasts!

I normally cut this recipe in half because there's only two of us and I often substitute the ham for turkey or chicken breast. Bon Appétit!

What you'll need:

16 slices of white bread with thecrusts removed

6-8 slices of canadian back bacon or cooked ham

Enough slices of sharp cheddar cheese to cover the layer

6 eggs

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 - 1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 cup minced onion

1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper

1 -2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3 cups milk

dash of Tabasco sauce or Frank's Red Hot

1/4 lb butter

Special "K" or crushed Cornflakes

Create the Base:

Start by placing 8 slices of bread in a 9 x 13" buttered glass baking dish.  The bottom of the dish should be completely covered.  Cover the bread with the meat slices and then top the meat with the slices of cheddar cheese. 

Cover the meat and cheese with the remaining slices of bread.

The Egg Mixture:

In a bowl, beat the eggs and pepper.  Add in the mustard, onion (I used Epicure's three onion mix (1 tsp) this time), green pepper (icky, I never use these), Worcestershire, milk and Tabasco/Frank's Red Hot.  Pour over bread, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. 

 Christmas Morning (just before you start to open the presents):

In the morning, melt the butter and pour over top.  Cover the bread with crushed cereal.  Bake at 350 degrees uncovered, 1 hour.  Let sit 10 minutes before serving.   

My Christmas morning brunch: Christmas Morning Wife Saver, coffee and mimosas!

Grandma's Lasagna

I know it's been a while, but I hope you'll forgive me after you try my grandma's lasagna recipe!  I LOOOOVE the creamy cheese sauce on top, I think that's why this is my favourite recipe.










 Meat Sauce

1 large onion, chopped

1 large (2 small) clove garlic minced

pinch of basil

pinch of oregano

1/4 cup olive oil or salad oil

2 1/2 cups canned tomatoes (28 oz can)

1 can tomato paste ( 5 1/2 oz)

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

Cheese Sauce

1 small onion chopped very fine

1/2 cup butter or margarine

6 tbsp flour

4 cups hot milk

1 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

pinch salt

4 egg yolks

Step 1...Meat Sauce

Sauté onion, garlic, basil and oregano in the oil until the onion is transparent.  Next, stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1/2 cup water and salt and pepper to taste.  Add the beef, breaking it up with a blending fork and then stir in the bay leaves.  Cover and let cook over low heat for 1 hour.  I use a giant, heavy pot for this (le cruset works best).

I would recommend making this the night before and storing it in the fridge for two reasons.  First, the flavours can blend together nicely.  Second, the fat will solidify on the top and you can scoop it out with a spoon and toss it.  And don't forget to remove the bay leaves!

 Step 2...Cheese Sauce

Sauté the onion in butter for a couple of minutes.  Next, slowly add the  flour and stir to cook away all starchy taste.  

Next, add the hot milk, cheese, and salt and stir with a wire whisk over low heat. When the  sauce thickens, stir a little into egg yolks to prevent the eggs from scrambling and then pour it all back into hot sauce.  Set aside.  

 Step 3...Assembly

I use noodles that are oven ready. First, arrange a layer of noodles on the bottom of a shallow pan long enough for noodles. Add enough meat sauce to cover noodles and then repeat the layers until there is no meat sauce left (usually two layers, but it depends on the size of your pan). Include a layer of ricotta or cottage cheese on top of one meat layer.  End with a layer of noodles and cover them with the cheese sauce.
Cover the pan with tinfoil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.  You know the lasagna is cooked when you can easily insert a knife through the layers.  Next, broil on high for a few minutes to brown the sauce.  Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

I tried to take a shot of the layers, but there was so much cheese sauce!

Key Lime Bars

I LOVE key lime.  I think it started when I visited a friend in Florida and we took a cruise.  The last stop was Key West (where her sister lived) and we stopped in at this store to have frozen key lime pie, dipped in chocolate and placed on a stick.  YUM.

I recently ordered two bottles of key lime juice from this store and devoted an entire Pinterest board to Key Lime recipes.  Here is the first one I'm trying, with some modifications.

The Recipe:

The Crust:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour

Cream Cheese Layer:

1 pkg 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 

1/4 c sugar 

2 Tbsp 2% milk 

1 tsp vanilla extract

Key Lime Layer:

1 1/2 c sugar 

1/4 c all purpose flour 

1 1/4 eggs 

1/2 c key lime juice 

1/2 tsp confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.
4. In another bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, milk, and vanilla until blended; spread over crust to edges of pan. In another small bowl, combine sugar and flour; whisk in eggs and lime juice. Gently pour over cream cheese layer. 
5. Bake for 20-25 min. or until filling is set. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until chilled. Cut into bars. Before serving, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. 

First you will need...

1 cup butter, softened (I used salted)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour


Mix them together really well and press it into the pan.

Now bake it for 15-20 mins until it's slightly golden. I recommend cooling it before the next step!


Next you will need...

 

1 pkg 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 

1/4 c sugar 

2 Tbsp 2% milk 

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, milk, and vanilla until it's blended. Next, spread it over crust to edges of pan.  Again, I recommend cooling it first, otherwise you'll get crust chunks in the layer.  It'll probably taste good, but it won't look as professional.

Mmmmmm

Next you will need...

1 1/2 c sugar 

1/4 c all purpose flour 

1 1/4 eggs 

1/2 c key lime juice 

1/2 tsp confectioners' sugar

So you'll mix the sugar and flour and then you're supposed to add 1 & 1/4 eggs...I wasn't really sure how to divide an egg into quarters, sooo I separated the second egg and used the white.  We'll see whether or not it worked!  Then mix in the lime juice.  Mmmm the pièce de resistance! 

Now pour that over the crust and cream cheese layers and pop it into the oven for 20-25 minutes until it's set.  Now cool it for an hour.

As I'm writing this I'm "patiently" waiting for it to cool for 1 hour in the fridge so I can give you my verdict.  Now that I'm re-reading it, I was supposed to cool it on a wire rack before I popped it into the fridge.  Ooops.  Before I eat it, I'm also supposed to sprinkle confectioner's sugar.

Ok so I don't really know how to sprinkle the sugar well...and quite frankly, I couldn't wait for it to be completely cooled (so when I was jiggling the plate to spread the sugar, a chunk of layer shifted)....and it was SOOO yummy.

The verdict:

I'll do it again...I'll let the crust cool and I'll try to be patient before I steal a slice!

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

Well here is my first attempt at this blog and a new recipe.  My friend Nancy (who got me addicted to pinning in the first place!) pinned this recipe and then said her and her hubby fought over the leftovers...you KNOW I had to try it.

Now I HATE those blogs (no offence) where you have to scroll through step-by-step to learn how to make the recipe.  I'm fairly competent in the kitchen...so I'm going to assume you are and publish the recipe up front.  Feel free to follow along after to laugh with (or at) me as I go through the recipe steps and reveal MY final result (which may or may not vary from the original recipe!)

So without further delay...Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken!

Chicken:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic (I use Epicure)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs. Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.  

First things first...

It's not cooking without some wine!

You will also need...


The chicken (I'm cooking for two, so I used two pieces)...
1 cup corn starch
2 eggs (beaten)
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
Salt & Pepper
A swig of the wine...

So once you've coated the chicken with salt and pepper, cubed it, dipped it in the corn starch THEN the egg...it should look something like the picture below and your fingers should be slightly cemented.

While you're doing that, you should probably heat the oil in a frying pan...but don't do it too soon or it'll smoke and it MIGHT catch fire (mine didn't, it's just a warning!)

I'd recommend just dumping them all in like I did...maybe adding them one or two at-a-time will prevent them from sticking all together and maybe make it a little more effective.  Just saying.

Next...the sauce

You will need

3/4 cup sugar (for the sweet!)

4T ketchup

1T Soy Sauce

1 t minced garlic

1/2 cup vinegar

Then you dump it all in like your kindergarten volcano experiment and whisk it till it's smooth.

Looks tasty huh?

Alright, now it's time to put it all in a greased pan.  I use my Epicure pan.  Then you pop it in the oven and turn it every 15 minutes for an hour (I'm on the 30-45 minute stretch and I'm sooo hungry!)



Note to self...photos will only be published vertically....

And the final product.....

I promise, I will add some steamed broccoli...but I do need to find a recipe for Asian vegetables!

The verdict

First, the last two times that you stir the mixture, don't get your face too close to the oven or you'll inhale a whole bunch of vinegar fumes!

Second, I hope that my coating technique improves with practice.

Drum roll please....but it is quite tasty and I will certainly make it again!