Cheesecake Brownies and a Cheesecake Brownie Sundae

The hubby's birthday was this past Thursday, and he has a very big sweet tooth. Unfortunately, since my van broke down, I haven't been able to shop for him. I scrounged around the kitchen and found a brownie box mix. I had a few eggs and some cream cheese and voila!

I mixed the brownies up like the package said using an extra egg for the 'cake-like' texture. I poured it in a greased and floured 10 inch cake pan and mixed up the cheesecake layer...

1 8oz cream cheese, room temp
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together with a mixer until combined. Do not over mix. Pour over the brownie mix. Most people swirl the mix for that pretty look, but I think the tastes mix and kind of weaken the cheesecake flavor. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until set and the sides start to pull away from the pan. Cool completely and chill for a couple of hours.

For the sundae:
Slice a wedge and add vanilla ice cream and homemade chocolate syrup!

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Livers

I was inspired by our trip to the Beach this passed weekend. We went to Broadway at the Beach, and the boys had to go into the Man Cave store. That was when I found this t-shirt!

Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

1 lb. chicken livers
Approximately 8 oz. bacon (not thick cut)
Teriyaki sauce, Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste and Glaze
Kebab skewers

Wrap bacon around chicken liver, stretching the bacon to fit, if needed. Secure with a skewer. Repeat until skewer is full. Repeat with remaining chicken livers and skewers.

Pour teriyaki sauce over skewers, reserving about 1/4 cup. Marinate skewers for at least 4 hours, but no more than 8 hours.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place skewers on grill and baste with reserved teriyaki sauce. Cook until bacon is done about 7 minutes and flip skewers. Baste again with teriyaki sauce and cook for another 7 minutes making sure not to burn the bacon.

Southern Candied Pecan Pound Cake

I had a friend ask me to make a Pecan Pound Cake a few weeks ago. I told her to give me a little time to round up some pecans. I have pecan trees in my yard, but they have not been producing the last couple of years. I hate to spend a lot of money on pecans when I have the trees! Ugh! Anyway, I finally found some, so here I go... The next step was to come up with a recipe that I felt would make the most of the precious pecans I had. I looked through all my Mama's and my Grandmamas' recipes and this is what I came up with...

Pound Cake:

1 cup pecan halves, broken into pieces and toasted

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2¼ cups self-rising flour

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1⅓ cups granulated sugar

5 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup sour cream

Candied Pecans:

1 cup pecan halves

2 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

Caramel:

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare two loaf pans by lightly greasing them with shortening and dusting with flour.

Toast the pecans by placing them in a dry sauce pan over medium heat. Toss and stir constantly. Cool, and then toss with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.

Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Add the vanilla along with the last egg. 

With the mixer on low speed, add about ½ of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add the sour cream, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and then add the remaining ½ flour mixture, mix just until blended, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Do not over mix.  Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold 1 cup toasted pecans into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan

and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon.

Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 or 15 minutes then remove cake from the pan and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Candied Pecans:

Melt butter over Medium-High heat. Add pecans and toss to coat.
Add sugar, and stir until caramelized, approximately 3-5 minutes. Stir and watch constantly, because they can turn quickly and burn. Spread on wax paper and cool.

Caramel: 

Combine the sugar, butter and corn syrup. Heat to a boiling and stir constantly. Cook about 3 or 4 minutes. (This sauce is not supposed to be a brown and thick caramel. It is supposed to be used as the “glue” to adhere the candied pecans to the cake. Re:picture)

Once the cake has cooled some, start “gluing” the candied pecans on the top of the loaf cake with the caramel sauce. Don’t worry about having chunks or clusters of pecans, just attached them with the caramel. I also used the remaining caramel as decoration. I reheated the caramel and put it in a plastic bag, cut the corner and piped the caramel over the cakes. 

ENJOY!

These made their way to Columbia,

and one traveled on to the beach! :-)

Baked Catfish and Hush Puppies

Even though it was a wet weekend, my guys found enough of a break in the weather to catch a couple of catfish...

This one was 20-25 lbs!

Elliott made a crawfish trap.

 So far he's only caught one, but, hey, he caught one!!!

Well, after the fish were cleaned and cut into fillets,
I baked it in Italian dressing, lemon and onion.
Click here for the Baked Fish Recipe

...and Hush Puppies!!!
Click here for the Hush Puppies Recipe

Rustic Country-Style Mashed Taters

Last night, I put the slab of ribs in the oven, and I started wondering what to do for a side. I thought that Pan Fried Potatoes and Onions would be great! I oiled the pan, and I sliced all the potatoes and cut the onions into chunks. I dumped them into the hot pan and added salt, pepper and minced garlic. Well, I got side tracked, and the potatoes stuck to the bottom of the pan really bad stuck. Nothing was burnt, so I decided to just give up on that and add some beef broth to loosen up all those brown bits in the bottom, and I stirred them unto the potato mixture. The hubby look at the pan and asked, "Soooo, what is this?" I said, "Let's just call them 'Rustic Mashed Potatoes'!" "Sounds good to me!" LOL

2 large Baking Potatoes, sliced

4 small Onions, cubed

2 Garlic cloves, minced
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons Oil
1 cup Beef Broth

Pour oil in the pan and heat over medium heat, and add potatoes and onions. Cook covered until a crust forms on the bottom of the potatoes, add garlic and flip potatoes. When the potatoes are brown, push the potatoes and onions to one side. Pour half the broth on the browned crust in the bottom of the pan and loosen the bits with a spatula. Push the potato mixture to the other side and repeat the process. When all the crust and brown bits are loosened, stir the potatoes to incorporate all the seasoning from the browned crust and bits. Add more broth if needed. Check for seasonings, and serve, with some Baby Back Ribs!

Baby Back Ribs

Stuffed Mushrooms

1 pound fresh button mushrooms

2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon Greek Seasoning

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, ground

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Clean mushrooms and remove stems. Set caps to the side and finely chop the stems. Combine chopped mushroom stems and other ingredients and mix well. Place mushroom caps on a baking sheet. Spoon 1 teaspoon of stuffing into each mushroom. Top with a little extra cheese and Kosher salt, if desired. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is browned.