Christina's Vanilla Pudding

from Bitten

2 1/2 cups half-and-half, cream or whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)

1. Put 2 cups of half-and-half or milk, sugar and salt in a small or medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook just until the mixture begins to steam.

2. Combine the cornstarch and remaining milk or half-and-half in a bowl and blend; there should be no lumps. Add the cornstarch mixture; cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about 5 minutes. Immediately reduce heat to very low and stir for 5 minutes or so until thick. Stir in butter and vanilla extract, if using.

3. Pour the mixture into a 1-quart dish or 4 to 6 small ramekins or bowls. (If the mixture has small lumps, you can put it through a sieve.) Put plastic wrap directly on the pudding to prevent formation of a skin (don't cover if you like skin). Refrigerate until chilled, and serve within a day, with whipped cream if you like.

Variations

To make chocolate pudding, shave or finely chop 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (or I used semisweet chocolate chips). Stir into pudding with the butter.

Christina's Cilantro-Lime Marinade/Vinaigrette

from Our Best Bites

1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1/4 c. white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. Kosher or sea salt
2 tsp. sugar
1 c. canola oil
1/2 c. roughly chopped cilantro, stems removed

In the jar of your blender, combine lime juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, and sugar. Blend until ingredients are completely combined. With the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add cilantro and blend until the cilantro has broken down but still maintains some of its texture. Serve with greens, on any type of Mexican salad, or use as a marinade for any meat.

Christina's Sundried Tomato Risotto

from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

4 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
½ whole Large Yellow Onion, Diced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
2 cups Arborio Rice, Uncooked
8 whole Sundried Tomatoes Packed In Oil, Drained And Minced
1 cup Dry White Wine (optional)
7 cups Chicken Broth
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 cup Parmesan, Freshly Grated
¼ cups Heavy Whipping Cream
Fresh Basil, Chiffonade (optional)

Heat butter and olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add dry rice. Stir to coat and cook for 3 minutes, stirring gently. Pour in wine. Stir and cook over medium-low heat until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add in minced sundried tomatoes and stir.

Begin adding broth, one cup at a time, stirring gently while the rice absorbs the liquid each time. Repeat this until the rice is done—it usually takes between 6 and 8 cups of broth. The rice should have a slight bite to it, but not be crunchy at all.

Remove from heat, then stir in Parmesan and heavy cream. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Christina's Green Enchilada Sauce or Salsa

from Our Best Bites

2-3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, minced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 green peppers, chopped
1-2 jalapenos
1 1/2 lb. tomatillos, husked and quartered or halved
1/2 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
4 c. chicken broth

In a large saucepan or stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until tender and fragrant.

While onions are sauteeing, combine tomatillos, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro in your blender. Process until smooth; you may have to do it in batches and/or add some chicken broth to make things blendable.

Pour the tomatillo mixture over the onions and garlic and add chicken broth, salt, pepper, and cumin. Simmer/boil 15 minutes-1 hour, depending on the consistency you want. The sauce can also be simmered in a slow cooker all day.

Serve over tacos, as an enchilada sauce, inside burritos, or as a dip for chips.

Christina's Brigadeiros

from Serious Eats

1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 T of butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 T powdered sugar

Chocolate sprinkles, mini M&Ms, coconut, crushed pistacios or other nuts, crushed cookies (optional)

1. In heavy saucepan, mix chocolate with condensed milk, stirring constantly under low heat. Add butter to mixture.
2. Stir until mixture no longer sticks to pan.
3 Pour mixture into a bowl and allow to cool completely.When cool, roll into small balls.
4. If you'd like, place toppings in a second bowl. Take a small amount of chocolate from first bowl and roll into a tiny little ball. Coat the ball with second topping, if you'd like.
5. To store, place in sealed container inside your fridge. They'll stay good for two weeks.

Christina's Whole Roasted Chicken

from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

* 3-4lb Whole Chicken
* Something to stuff inside the chicken (Apple, Onion, Lemon, Garlic, Carrot, etc..)
* Canola Oil
* Salt and Pepper (1 1/2 T kosher salt, 1 1/2 t pepper)
* Fresh Herbs (1 -2 Tablespoons)

You can stuff various items into the chicken for roasting and this will provide additional moisture and aromatics that will help to flavor the chicken from the inside.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Pick the herbs from their stems and chop them. Toss those herbs into a bowl and add in your salt and pepper. Add to that 2-3 tablespoons of Canola oil and mix together. 

Stuff the aromatics into the nether regions of your chicken. Pat chicken dry with a clean cloth or paper towel. Begin rubbing the chicken down with your canola-herb-salt-pepper mix. 

Slide your herb coated chicken into oven for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes until they are golden brown and have developed a delicious crust. Once the chickens have roasted, let them rest for 10-15 minutes.

Christina's Crock Pot Beef and Balsamic Onions

from $5 Dinners

1 2.6 lb. beef roast
2 onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

1. In a large pot, sear or brown the beef roast on all sides in a little olive oil.

2. Slice onions into strips. Crush garlic clove with flat part of the knife. 

3. Place seared roast into slow cooker with the oil that it was seared in. Season with salt and pepper.  Add sliced onions and smooshed garlic around the roast.  Sprinkle about 1/4-1/2 cup balsamic vinegar into the slow cooker.

4. Cook on low for 8 hours.

CPK's BBQ Chicken Pizza

from the Pioneer Woman Cooks

1 pizza crust 

1 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 C barbecue sauce (try this one; we love it!) plus more for crust
olive oil, for drizzling
kosher salt for sprinkling
16 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced (or just normal mozzarella works fine)
1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced
cilantro, chopped, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Salt chicken breast on both sides, then place in an ovenproof dish. Pour BBQ sauce over the breast and turn them over to coat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and cut into a fine dice. Set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Roll/stretch out pizza crust. Lay it on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle a little olive oil on the crust, then sprinkle on a little salt. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of extra BBQ sauce on the crust and spread it evenly. Top sauce with half the sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle on half the diced chicken and thinly sliced red onion. Sprinkle again with a little salt, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle on plenty of chopped cilantro. Cut and serve immediately.

Christina's Steak and Mango Salad

from Our Best Bites

1lb steak (the original recipe said flank steak... I don't know the difference between the cuts, so I used whatever we had and it was good)
1 head romaine lettuce or green-lettuce mix 
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 mangoes, sliced
2 avocados sliced
cilantro sprigs for garnish
1/2 C caramelized macadamia nuts (optional, I left them out and they were fine)

Dressing and Marinade


Side note: I thought this made a great marinade, but was lacking as a dressing. I think I would add some grated onion, more brown sugar, orange zest and maybe even a little teriyaki sauce (just a little!) to the dressing. I think pineapple juice could also be good.

1/2 C fresh squeezed orange juice
6 T fresh lime juice
6 T soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1 1/2 T fresh ginger or 1 1/2 tsp dried ginger (I used dried since I don't like ginger chunks.)
3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 C olive oil

In a bowl, whisk together the orange juice, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic (and any extra ingredients you might be tossing in). Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Continue whisking while slowly drizzling in the olive oil until combined. Reserve about 3/4 C* (you could also just choose to add any ingredients to this reserved mix as it will be the dressing) and place the rest of the mixture in a zip-lock bag.

*Important note: Make sure when you're pouring out the 3/4 C you are constantly mixing the mixture to assure even distribution of ingredients.

Lightly score the steak in a diagonal pattern on both sides. Place steak in the zip-lock bag with marinade and leave in fridge for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Caramelize the macadamia nuts, if you want to add them. Basically you saute them in 2 T brown sugar, 1/2 T light corn syrup, 1/2 T butter and 1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional) for about 5 minutes or until they smell fragrant. Like I said, I didn't do this. No nuts and no time. 
Remove steak from fridge about 30 minutes prior to cooking and leave at room temperature. You'll want to let the dressing portion to sit at room temp during this time as well. Heat grill (or grill pan for those of us without grills) to med-high heat. Remove steak from bag and let any excess marinade drip off if cooking on a grill. If using a grill pan, cook it right in the marinade. Cook steak for about 5-8 minutes on each side or until done. In order to stay tender, steak should still be pink in the middle, but nicely seared on the outside. When done, remove from grill and wait at least 5 minutes before cutting to let the juices redistribute. Then slice into thin slices.

Divide lettuce onto plates and top with slices of mango, avocado, and red onion. Add steak slices and drizzle with dressing. Sprinkle macadamia nuts on top and garnish with cilantro.