Chick in a basket, egg in a hole, pop eyes..the list goes on.

I was eating breakfast at a local restaurant with Mike and his parents. His mom proceeded to ask the owner if they have 'chick in a basket'.  They did not. My mother in law then started to describe what is was and suggested they put it on the menu. The owner replied that they have had the same thing on the menu before but they called it 'pop eyes' and said NO ONE ever ordered it and it did poorly on the menu.  I love Mikes mom. She then replied with "well maybe if you had named it chick in a basket, it would've sold better." Bwuahahaha!! In your face restaurant owner!!!  So needless to day since that experience I was DYING to try this infamous chick in a basket! My friend Pam told me about a cook book by Ree Drummond called "The Pioneer Woman Cooks, recipes from an accidental country girl."  it is filled with step by step instructions and photos and has yummy entrees like....what?...you guessed it!! CHICK IN A BASKET!!! Mike is a 'scrambled eggs' kind of guy...but I thought I'd test it out anyways...Holy Cow...He Loved it so much he requested seconds!! recipe as follows. 

Ingrients:
Any bread of your choice, we had white bread on hand
Butter
Large eggs
Salt n Peppa (In my case it's gramps on the flusher.)

Start with your piece of bread and with your choice of shape cutter, cut a hole in the center of the bread.

Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium heat, then place the bread in the skillet and allow it to soak up the butta!

After 1 minute, crack a large egg into the hole. Hence the name "egg in a hole."

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Throw in another tablespoon of butter because c'mon...who doesn't like butter?  not me!

With a spatula, flip to the other side. Move the bread around the skillet to let it soak up the butter.

 I personally prefer eggs over easy. I do love scrambled but there's something about the combo of toast and runny eggs...it's just delicious and comforting and well ....daaaamn good!!  This was soo yummy having the egg IN the toast. lol. Essentially you could just cook an egg and put it over toast, but this way is muuuch better with the buttery bread and crispy edges. Deeelish!!  I think this will be a regular breakfast item in this house. I finally got Mike to eat runny eggs! only took me 5 1/2 years!! He's very stubborn but that's another blog. :-)

Serve on plate and enjoy!!

Bananas Foster Banana Bread

           My blog crush did it again, I found another recipe by B.E.B. and it is such a yummy twist on regular banana bread. Bananas Foster Banana Bread? what doesn't sound good? bananas? yum! walnuts? yum! sugar? yum! RUM? YUUUUUM!! :) I don't think I'd change anything and I wouldn't even know where to start it's such a twist I would've never came up with this. I take that back, My only complaint is I had to double the glaze because I wanted the topping extra moist and the amount of glaze the recipe gives just barely covers the whole loaf. It might've been because I used rum extract versus the 1/4 cup of rum beverage the recipe asked for.  B.E.B says rum extract could be used, so I opted for that since I don't have rum in the house. recipe as follows.

Bananas Foster Banana Bread
Yield: 1 loaf
For the Bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3 medium bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk
For the Streusel Topping:
1½ cups chopped walnuts
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter
For the Rum Glaze:
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) butter
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup rum ( I used 1 Tbl rum imitation rum extract because that's what the hubby brought back from the grocery store. )

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

2. Combine ingredients for streusel topping in a medium bowl and combine with fingers to create a crumbly topping with the butter evenly distributed. Set aside.

3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl to combine. Set aside.

4. On medium speed, beat the sugar and vegetable oil to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each until combined. Add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract; beat to combine. Alternatively add the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat just until the flour is incorporated and finish mixing with a spatula.

5. Spread batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter. Bake until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean, about 60 minutes. (Mine took about 1 hour and 15 minutes for the knife to come out clean in the middle)

6. To make the rum glaze, combine the butter, water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Set aside and cover to keep warm.
 (Totally forgot to picture this like an idiot, but I'm sure you all know how to combine all of these in a saucepan.)

7. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then, using a skewer poke holes all over the top of the loaf. Spoon about ¼ cup of the rum glaze all over the loaf. Let the cake sit for about 5 minutes and then spoon the remaining glaze over it, a little at a time, until it is all absorbed into the bread.   (I just pictured 2 skewers in it so you get my drift...obviously poke plenty of holes in your loaf for the glaze to run down into. ) ENJOY!!

Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting

This is my GO TO peanut butter frosting recipe I found on Allrecipes.com waaay back. The most easiest, yummiest PB frosting!! It is delicious on cakes, as fillers and tops cupcakes beautifully! I'm sure it would top brownies just as nice and be a fab combo!  This is the frosting I used to pipe the  peanut butter fudge cheesecake on my blog. recipe as follows.

Original Recipe Yield 2 cups

  

 Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

 Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. 

Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable.

Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy. This picture is only after 1 minute. keep beating!!!!

Here is a picture of the cake I frosted for my friends bday cake last August. It was a homemade chocolate cake with peanut butter icing with chocolate fudge filling and peanut butter cups ALL OVER!! She was very happy. :) HA HA, I guess I was still impatient then, I could've decorated a little nicer. LOL. I really need to pay attention to detail!.

 They we're even nice enough to include the nutritional information. :) Thanks allrecipes!!

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 209 | Total Fat: 14.1g | Cholesterol: 16mg

Nutritional Information

Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting

Servings Per Recipe: 16
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 209

• Total Fat: 14.1g
• Cholesterol: 16mg
• Sodium: 135mg
• Total Carbs: 18.8g
•     Dietary Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 4.2g

VERY RICH peanut butter fudge cheesecake with an OREO crust

I made this for my coworkers bday last week and I promised some of you I'd post the recipe. Sorry it took me so long. A friend of mine showed me another food blog site called foodbuzz and I totally fell in love with a blog on there. This girls stuff is so simple and realistic and if she makes a recipe that isn't hers she doesn't take credit for it. I admire that, no one likes plagerism. :) Not to mention all of her stuff is gorgeous. I've definitly been eyeing some of the food items she's made but the one that caught my eye first was her peanut butter chocolate cheesecake. Hers is Much prettier than mine. LOL. but for my first time using a spring form pan I don't think I did TOO TOO bad. :) Everyone seemed to love it!  It is a VERY rich cake so I'd only recommend it for those big chocolate lovers. Oh yes, my mystery womens blog is called brown eyed baker, and I totally have a crush on her blog. I'd frickin marry it if I could....Mike who? buahahaha! It overall was very easy to make, I think I'd take my time with decorating next time and not rush it so I can go to bed. who needs sleep? beauty is pain right?...lesson learned. recipe as follows.

Peanut Butter-Fudge Cheesecake
Serves 12-16 (depending on how generous you are with portions)
For the Crust:
32 Oreo cookies, finely crushed or ground in a food processor
5½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt
For the Fudge:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
20 miniature peanut butter cup candies, unwrapped and roughly chopped
For the Cheesecake:
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
For the Ganache Topping:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream

 

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (300 degrees F if you are using a dark or non-stick pan). Butter a 9″ springform pan and set aside.

2. To make the crust, stir the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in a small bowl with a fork until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan. (I like to use the bottom a measuring cup to press the crumbs around the pan. I’ve found that they get evenly distributed that way and end up looking neater around the sides.) Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.

3. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let cool.

4. To make the fudge, put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 1-2 minutes, then add the vanilla extract and stir with a whisk or rubber spatula until smooth and combined. Pour the fudge into the cooled crust and spread evenly over the bottom. Place in freezer for 10 minutes. Remove from freezer and sprinkle surface with the chopped peanut butter cups. Return to freezer for 10 more minutes.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the cheesecake filling. Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and continue to beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Scrape the bowl and mix on low for another 20 seconds.

6. Remove the pan from the freezer and pour the cheesecake filling over the fudge and peanut butter cups. Bake until the sides of the cheesecake are set and the middle just slightly jiggles, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool to room temperature (at least 1 hour). Refrigerate the cheesecake at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled. To unmold the cheesecake, wrap a warm towel around the outside of the springform pan to loosen the crust from the sides. Carefully remove the sides from the springform pan.
7. Before serving, prepare the ganache topping. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1-2 minutes and then stir with a whisk or rubber spatula until smooth. Pour the ganache on the top of the cheese and, using an offset spatula, spread evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Return to the refrigerator to set the ganache, about 20 minutes. Garnish as desired. Brown eyed baker piped a peanut butter frosting, so I did the same. I will post that recipe on my blog as well. ENJOY!!