Simple Apple Walnut Salad

Simple Apple Walnut Salad

Every fall I get the itch to start cooking (and baking of course) with apple and pumpkin… which doesn’t make much since seeing as it’s still about 90 degrees out. I’m just willing fall to come faster!
This is one of our favorite salads—so simple and we always have the ingredients on hand. Enjoy!
Ingredients (makes 2 large plate salads or 4 side salads):

• Spinach (1/2 bag)
• Romaine lettuce, chopped (1/2 head)
• 1/2 c. feta cheese (gorgonzola works great too)
• 2 apples thinly sliced
• 1 c. candied walnuts (tutorial here)
• Poppy seed dressing, to taste

Mix lettuces first, then add apples, chilled walnuts, and feta. Dress when ready to eat. This salad is great leftover too so only dress what you’re going to eat at that meal! We love this as a main salad or as a side.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Oh My Gosh! This is seriously the BEST Cinnamon Honey Butter that I have EVER had!  It's light and smooth and creamy and perfectly balanced with honey!  I tried it on cornbread muffins and I tried it onhomemade rolls and I even licked some off my finger when I accidentally stuck my hand in the jar?  If the only way you have ever had honey butter is by stirring together some honey and butter then you have been wasting those calories! Believe me - you need to whip it with the mixer and add some powdered sugar and cinnamon! Then, every single calorie you eat will be so worth it!  Can you tell that I really LOVE this stuff?  I will be posting the yummy recipe for these famous cornbread muffins later this week!

Cinnamon Honey Butter

From: Jenn@eatcakefordinner

(Printable Recipe)

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. honey

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Whip the room temperature butter with whisk attachment for 30 seconds.  Add powdered sugar, honey and cinnamon and beat until completely combined and very smooth.  Scrape down sides of bowl and turn up speed and whip for a minute or two or until really light and fluffy.  Yield: about 3/4 cup.  

Jenn's Notes: I don't actually measure the powdered sugar and honey, but I would say that I add right around 1/4 cup of each, maybe slightly more.  Start with 1/4 cup, taste and add more if needed.  You will love this stuff!

Texas Roadhouse Rolls

Texas Roadhouse Rolls

Whoever created the roll recipe at Texas Roadhouse is a genius and whoever decided to give them to guests as a "complimentary appetizer" is a genius.  What is the first thing you hear from people when they talk about Texas Roadhouse?  I hear "I love their rolls," I have never heard anyone start out by saying "I love their pulled pork sandwich," have you?  Don't get me wrong, they have really good food too, but their rolls are unbeatable.  

I found this copycat recipe floating around the blog world and I couldn't wait to give them a try.  Honestly, I was extremely skeptical about these.  Why?  Texas Roadhouse uses a "roll mix" to make their rolls, so I doubt anyone, other than the creator, knows the real recipe.  They also use a combination of butter and margarine (I read the package on the butter the baker was adding to the mix and that is what it said).  I wanted to try them anyway, because secretly, I was hoping maybe they would at least kinda taste like them?

Well, the moment you have been waiting for . . . . Did they taste like the real thing . . . . Mine did NOT taste anything like Texas Roadhouse's?  Maybe it was something I did wrong?  I did use half bread flour and half all-purpose flour?  However, they turned out really really good.  They are way too soft, light and fluffy to be Texas Roadhouse's.  I must say, I have no complaints about these rolls.  I love super soft rolls.  So, if you want a good roll recipe, you can't go wrong with these.  I ate them with cinnamon honey butter and I even preferred them way more than what I made for dinner.  I did eat three of them in one sitting . . . don't tell!

Texas Roadhouse Rolls - Copycat Recipe

adapted from: Good Stuff Maynard

(Printable Recipe)

4 tsp. active dry yeast

1/2 c. warm water

2 c. milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm

3 Tbl. of melted butter, slightly cooled

1/2 c. sugar 

2 quarts all purpose flour (7-8 cups)

2 whole eggs

2 tsp. salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of sugar; let stand until frothy.  Combine yeast mixture, milk, 1/2 cup sugar and enough flour to make a medium batter (about the consistency of pancake batter).  Beat thoroughly.  Add melted butter, eggs and salt.  Beat well.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough.  Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto counter and let dough rest.  Meanwhile, grease a large bowl.  Knead dough until smooth and satiny and put in greased bowl; turn over to grease top. (I used the dough hook on my Kitchen-Aid to knead this for about 4-5 minutes).  Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.  Punch down.  Turn out onto a floured board.  Divide into portions for shaping; let rest 10 minutes.  Shape dough into desired forms.  Place on greased baking sheets.  Let rise until doubled.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Baste immediately with butter.  Yield: 5 to 6 dozen.  Serve with Cinnamon Honey Butter.  

*Jenn's Notes: I shaped my rolls by rolling out the dough into a rectangle, about 1/2-inch thick, then I folded the rectangle in half, making it about 1-inch thick. I used  my rolling pin and rolled over the dough, ever so gently, just to seal the two halves together.  I then used a dough scraper and cut the rolls into squares and placed those on my greased baking sheet.  I cut the recipe in half and I got exactly 12 big rolls and baked them for 16-17 minutes.  In order to get the 5-6 dozen rolls like the recipe states, you would have to make really small rolls.      

Southwestern Grilled Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

(Chad A Elick)

Summer certainly is the time for grilling; to be honest I would be perfectly happy if I didn’t turn my oven on at all during the summer.  With temps of 100 plus all summer, I am sure you can relate.

I started thinking of the foods I love in a whole new way, and since a grill works just like an oven AND a stove, why not cook accordingly?  I love, love, love jalapeno poppers, but wanted them without turning on the oven or standing in front of a pot of boiling oil.  So, I turned to the grill.

This grilled take on jalapeno poppers is absolutely perfect and perhaps even more yummy than the traditional recipe.  These jalapenos are stuffed with a scrumptious southwestern cheese blend, wrapped in bacon, then grilled to perfection!  The entire recipe goes go from prep to plate in 30 minutes and are the perfect addition to your summer barbecue.

With love from our Simple Kitchen to yours!

Southwestern Grilled Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

By DONNA ELICK

• MAKES

  14-18 poppers

• ACTIVE TIME

  30 min.

• TOTAL TIME

  30 min.

• SAVE RECIPE
• PRINT

INGREDIENTS

• 14-18 medium jalapeno peppers
• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 8 oz shredded colby jack cheese
• 1 Tbsp Mrs Dash SW Chipotle Seasoning
• 1 lb bacon , (1 slice per jalapeno)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat grill to medium high.
2. Slice jalapenos lengthwise from stem to tip, leaving the stem intact. Use a small spoon to scrape the seeds and veins from jalapenos.
3. In a medium bowl, combine cheeses and seasoning. Gently squeeze the stem and tip of jalapeno to open the sliced pocket. Add about 1½ tablespoons of mixture to each jalapeno. Set aside.
4. Wrap each jalapeno with a slice of bacon using 1 or 2 toothpicks to secure the bacon.
5. Place poppers on the grill cut side down. YES, down. Once the top has cooked and the cheese starts to soften, use a spatula to loosen the bacon from the grill and flip. Cook until bacon is cooked through about 10-15 minutes.
6. Serve and enjoy!

COOK'S NOTE

If you have a problem with flare-ups on your grill, place a piece of aluminum foil over the grill grates and set the poppers on top.

You can also bake these in the oven. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

KITCHEN COUNTER

Makes 14-18 poppers.

Peach Cobbler Cake

This recipe is such a fun one. If I had to choose a favorite dessert. It would probably be cake.

I make cakes the most. I mean, I will eat any dessert but I seem to always gravitate towards cake.  And this recipe is kind of a cake, and kind of a cobbler.  It is a nice mix of the two really.  And I want to point out right off the top that you can use absolutely any pie filling you want.  This works so good with blueberry, cherry or apple. Whatever you prefer.  So it's a nice recipe to change up so that you don't get bored making the same version over and over.

Now what is really interesting about it is the yeast that is combined with the cake mix.  This really transforms the flavor and texture of the cake mix.  It is incredibly moist and the yeast makes it almost sponge-like.  And then of course, you've got this crumbly topping which makes it kinda like a cobbler.  I hope you'll have a lot of fun with this one!

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix, divided use

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 packet active dry yeast

2/3 cup warm water

2 eggs

2 (21 0z.) cans peach pie filling

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp. milk

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Spray 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

The first thing you need to do is measure out 2 cups of the cake mix.

Put aside the leftover cake mix. We'll use that later for the crumble topping.

In a mixing bowl combine the 2 cups of cake mix, along with the flour and yeast.
Stir until combined.

Then pour in warm water and stir well.

Next add eggs and stir.

Batter will be pretty lumpy. It will be blob like.

Spread the mixture into your prepared baking dish.

This will take you a minute to do as it is kinda stretchy because of the yeast.

Then spread both cans of pie filling on top of cake batter.

Try to spread it out as evenly as possible.

In a bowl, combine the rest of the cake mix (that you set aside earlier) with the butter.

I cubed the butter to help blend it in easier. 

You can use a pastry cutter to combine it together or a fork or even your hands. 

It should be clumpy.

Sprinkle this topping mixture over the pie filling.

  Then bake at 350F degrees for about 45-55 minutes.

Topping should appear golden brown.

Allow the cake to cool for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Now, this next step really isn't totally necessary.

But let's face it, icing makes everything just a bit better.

In a bowl, combine powdered sugar and milk.

Start with a smaller amount of milk and then add more until it gets to the desired consistency.

Drizzle icing all over the top of cake.

And then serve. You can slice it up and serve on a plate, although those peaches can be slippery suckers and can slide a bit off the cake some. 

Or you can serve it up warm in bowls with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. Oh yeah...

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe Here