Cinnamon French Toast Bake

I love cinnamon buns and french toast, so the idea of creating two in one was a no brainer! This recipe is from Pillsbury's website. Very easy to prepare and great for a breakfast or bunch party!

Ingredients

1/4 cup Butter, melted

2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing

6 eggs

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used 1/2 tsp)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1cup Chopped Pecans (or any nuts you like)

1 cup maple syrup (I used 1/2 cup)

Garnish

Icing from cinnamon rolls

Powdered sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup, if desired (I only used 1/4 cup)

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Pour melted butter into ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Separate both cans of dough into 16 rolls; set icing aside. Cut each roll into 8 pieces; place pieces over butter in dish.

• In medium bowl, beat eggs. Beat in cream, cinnamon and vanilla until well blended; gently pour over roll pieces. Sprinkle with pecans; drizzle with 1 cup syrup.
• Bake 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove covers from icing; microwave on Medium (50%) 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle.
• Drizzle icing over top; sprinkle with powdered sugar. If desired, spoon syrup from dish over individual servings. Serve with the additional 1/2 cup maple syrup.

Note: make sure that the egg mixture is completely absorbed by the roll pieces. If not, you might get a thin layer of " cooked egg" at the bottom of your dish.





Rack of Lamb with Chili Garlic Sauce



I've never really worked with lamb before and I was inspiried after watching "rack of lamb" as a featured main dish a thousand times on food network. It looked SO good on the screen, I thought "how bad could this be?" ;)  This recipe is my own and I hope you give it a try, it was simply delicious and makes for a very pretty presentation for you next dinner party!

Ingredients:

Rack of Lamb (I used only 1 rack)

1 heaping tablespoon of garlic/ginger paste

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp red chili flakes

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of dried rosemary (if you have fresh go with that and use a bit more)

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl with the olive (this is the marinade). Take a plastic storage bag and place the rack of lamb in and pour the entire mixture into bag. Massage the meat with the marinade and place in the fridge for a couple of hours (longer the better).

Take meat out 30 mins prior to cooking to allow the meat to come to room temperature. Bring 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a medium/high heat in a large sautee pan (use a pan that is oven safe). Place the lamb fat side down to get a good sear. Flip over after 3-4 mins. Place a sheet of foil over the lamb loosely and transfer pan to the oven. For medium, cook for 20 minutes. For medium-well 35 minutes should do it. Allow meat to rest for 15 minutes (with foil) to allow the juices from the meat to redistribute. Slice and serve with garlic chili sauce (below) and with your favorite sides!

Chili Garlic Sauce

1/2 cup of good quality mayo

2 tablespoons of thai garlic chili sauce

1 teaspoon of sirachi hot sauce

1 tablespoon of water (to help thin out the sauce)

Mix it all up and drizzle it over the meat. (Its a great sauce to dip anything in really!)

Spicy Chicken Empanadas

Who doesn't love a good empanada? Whether its savory or sweet, I love them all! I get a little help from the store and buy pre-made empanada dough, stock up on a few extra--that way you're always ready to go! This recipe is truly an original. I'm not one to "measure," as I am more of a "pinch of this, and a dash of that" kinda girl. Below is my recipe. These are great to serve as appetizers or even as the main course!

Ingredients

1lb of ground chicken ( ground beef or lamb would work well)

1 medium sized red potato (peeled, cut into cubes)

1 medium sized onion

1/4 cup of peas (thawed out)

1 heaping tablespoon of garlic/ginger paste

1 tablespoon of coriander powder

1 tablespoon of cumin

2 green chilies, finely chopped (can leave out if you want it mild)

1 big pinch of red pepper flakes

salt and black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/4 cup of water

1 package of Goya Empanada dough (local grocery, frozen isle)

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saute pot over medium high heat. Add in chopped onion, and saute until the onion is translucent. Add in the ground chicken, garlic/ginger paste, coriander, cumin, pepper(s), salt and black pepper. Break up the chicken as you cook it through so you're not left with big chunks of chicken. When the chicken is cooked through, add in the diced potato and 1/4 cup of water and cover the pot with a lid. Stir occasionally and cook the potatoes until they are fork tender. Throw in the peas in the last five minutes of cooking and set aside.

Take the empanada dough (bring to room temperature before use; follow package instructions), a place 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of the circle. Remember not to overfill. Fold the empanada dough over and use a fork to press the dough to ensure its sealed completely. It also makes a pretty design. Each package contains 10 discs. Repeat until all discs are filled. At this point, you can start frying them or freeze them to make another day.

I use a deep fryer, set temperature to 375. Drop the empanadas in and turn over after 1 minute until its golden brown. Drain on paper towel and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce: I served it with Raita (yogurt sauce with cilantro), but my husband really likes to dip his in taco sauce. Its a nice cross between Pakistani and Mexican. The flavors compliment each other very well!

Bone Fish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp

Bone Fish Grill's hands-down best appetizer on the menu is their signature Bang Bang Shrimp. Actually its the best dish on their entire menu! I've ordered this numerous times wishing I had some jasmine rice to go with it and I'd be good to go! I recreated this at home and followed a copycat recipe that I ofcourse tweaked. Recipe with my tweaks below:

Ingredients
1/2 cup good quality mayonnaise (I like Hellmann's)
1/4 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (Can be found in the international isle at your local market)
3 drops Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (or to taste)
1 pound shelled and deveined shrimp ( I prefer using medium-large sized shrimp)
Dry cornstarch (I added some salt and black pepper to this)
oil for frying ( I used vegetable oil)
lettuce (Romanie, or Butter Letteuce works well)
chopped scallions


Preparation

Mix mayonnaise with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce. Add hot sauce to taste. I added a little water to thin the sauce out a bit. Dredge the shrimp in cornstarch. Deep fat fry the shrimp until lightly brown. Drain on paper towel, put in a bowl and coat with the sauce. Serve in a lettuce lined bowl, top with chopped scallions. Or to load up on some carbs, serve it along the side of white rice, I prefer Jasmine, which has a nice floral aroma and sauteed green beans. Serve right away as you lose the crunchy factor if you let this dish sit out for awhile.


Rice
1 cup of washed jasmine rice, 2 cups of water; cook in the rice cooker. You can make it over the stove too. Serves 2.


Garlic Green Beans
1 lb of fresh green beans, cut off ends; Blanch in hot water for 2-3 mins; remove and drop into a big bowl of ice water (this shocks the beans and stops it from cooking any further and keeps your beans nice and green). In another saute pan, drizzle 1 tbspn of olive oil and throw in 2 minced garlic cloves (more the better, if you love garlic like me!), toss in the green beans and serve!

Almond Flan

I simply love Flan. Its the perfect ending to any meal really! Its smooth and creamy with the bitter-sweet caramel sauce drizzled all over what could be better? How about bumping up the flavor factor and pairing it with ALMONDS. The nutty flavor goes oh so well with this, it was a match made in heaven. A real crowd pleaser, in my opinion. I followed this recipe below that I found at All Recipes.com and tweaked it! Recipe as follows with my tweaks:

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs (I used 5 eggs)
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I substituted Vanilla for Almond Extract)
• 1/4 cup of toasted, sliced almonds

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt sugar until liquefied and golden in color. Carefully pour hot syrup into the 9 inch round glass baking dish , turning the dish to evenly coat the bottom and sides.
3. Evenly sprinkle the toasted almonds over the syrup while hot. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour egg mixture into baking dish.
5. Place pie dish in a larger glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water.
6. Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center. If knife comes out clean, it's ready.
7. To serve, carefully invert on serving plate with edges when completely cool (I suggest cooling the flan in the refrigerator for one hour prior to serving).