White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

The car I normally drive was in the shop this week, and I asked a neighbor if she could take my daughter to and from school.  She was so kind to do that for me.  To repay her kindness the best way I know how, I whipped up a batch of these cookies.  

My kids and I all took a little walk down the road in our pajamas to deliver these.  We went in for a while and chatted while the kids played.  After a little while, I figured I should get my kids out of there before they completely destroy their house and refuse to take off the General Grevious helmet.  As we were walking out, her husband walks up behind her with half a cookie in his hand.  He said, "we need to figure out if her oven is different than ours.  Not to diss you, but your cookies are always burnt on the bottom."  I let him know that it isn't the oven but usually the cookie sheets that burn the bottom.  I told them where I got mine and how I won't use anything else.  

I walked back home, bathed my kids, and put them in bed.  I come downstairs and have a text from her.  She said, "OMG!  Best cookies ever!  My husband is sending me out to get new cookie sheets tomorrow."  

That made me smile.  I am happy to spread the secrets of good cookies to anyone who will listen.  I honestly think that a batch of delicious cookies can bring families closer together and make everyone a little (or a lot) happier.  I mean, who doesn't love a good cookie fresh out of the oven?  Especially cookies like this.  These were incredible and I may or may not have eaten five of them in one evening.  :)

 White Chocolate Macdamia Nut Cookies
source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/white-chocolate-macadamia-nut-cookies-iv/detail.aspx

1/2 c butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c white chocolate chips
1/2 c macadamia nuts

Preheat the oven to 375.

Cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.  The mixture should look lighter in color and fluffy.

Reduce speed to low.  Add the egg and vanilla.  Mix until it's mixed in.

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix until no flour remains.

Add the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.  Stir just until combined.

Use a cookie scoop or ice cream to plop the cookie dough onto cookie sheets.  I got 18 cookies out of this batch.  I like my cookies on the bigger side.

Bake for ten minutes.  They will just be slightly browned on the top and barely around the edge.  Don't over-bake them!  They will set up after a few minutes while cooling and will be nice and chewy.

Remove to a cooling rack or wax paper to finish cooling, if you can keep your paws off of them for that long.  :)

Perfect.  Chewy.  Cookies.

Gourmet Salad with Sweet Vinaigrette

Oh, friends.  I have stumbled upon a gem here.  This salad was found on melskitchencafe.com- an amazing site where every recipe is out of this world.  I haven't tried anything that I haven't loved from her site.  This salad was exceptional.  I originally made it for Christmas Eve dinner as a side dish.  My brother, who has a love for good food like Animal from the Muppets has a love for drums, tasted this salad and said, "This is the best salad I have ever eaten."  That man knows good food!  I will have to agree with him though.  It's got the apples, candied pecans, shaved Parmesan, homemade croutons, and bacon!  What is not to love?  Then, you add the vinaigrette on top of all that.  Mind is blown.  That stuff is so good.  Brace yourself for some deliciousness.

Gourmet Salad with Sweet Vinaigrette
source: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/05/gourmet-green-salad.html

serves 8-10

10-12 c mixed greens
2 apples, diced and tossed in a little lemon juice to prevent browning
1/4 c thinly sliced or shaved Parmesan cheese
1 large carrot, thinly slices or julienned
1/4 c red onion, thinly sliced
5-7 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 c croutons (preferably homemade- see below)
1/4 c candied pecans (see below)

Vinaigrette:
2/3 c red wine vinegar
1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c red onion, diced
2 T dijon mustard
2 t salt
ground pepper, to taste
2 c canola oil

Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.  Toss to combine.

For the dressing, combine the first six ingredients in the blender.  Blend well.  While the blender is still on, slowly add the canola oil.

Serve alongside the salad.  You can drizzle some over and toss it, but I like to keep it on the side in case someone doesn't like as much dressing.

For the candied pecans, heat a small skillet over medium heat.  While it is heating up, add the 1/4 c pecans and 2 T of water and 2 T sugar.  Stir to dissolve.  Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer.  Cook for 5-7 minutes.  Keep a close on eye on them!  Once the sugar water is evaporated, remove the pecans to cool on a single layer on a plate.

For the homemade croutons, cut hamburger buns, rolls, or bread into cubed using a pizza cutter.  You want them to be 1-inch cubes.  Pre-heat the oven to 425.  Place the bread cubes on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with about 2-3 T of olive oil.  Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and some Italian seasoning, if you're feeling a little adventurous.  Toss the cubes with your hands to coat the bread cubes.  Spread them back into a single layer.  Bake them in the oven for 8 minutes.  They won't be completely crunchy, but they will be delicious.

Garlic Parmesan French Bread

My brother called me this past Saturday and asked if we wanted to go cosmic bowling with him, his girlfriend, and his son.  It was late, and we had already put in a full day.  We figured we'd give it a go.  The kids were great; the baby was content- even with the loud top 40 hits playing with the strobe lights a-flashing.  I was tired at first, but not twenty minutes into bowling, I was doing the Gangnam Style dance across the bowling lanes with my nephew.  As I looked down the lanes, I was relieved that we weren't the only ones partaking in this activity while the song was playing.  I was, however, the oldest one dancing like that by about 15 years.  Sigh.  Someday I may act my age, but not anytime soon!

I blame it on my love of cheese.  Cheese is keeping me child-like.  Kids love cheese.  String cheese.  Grilled Cheese.  Cheeseburgers.  Cut-up cheese.  Cheese sticks.  Cheese pizza.  Cheese bread.  Oh, cheese bread.  It is a glorious addition to any meal.  This garlic cheese bread was delicious,  I'm not sure if it was the layer of butter/oil/garlic on the bottom or the perfect golden browned crust.  Maybe it was a mixture of both.  Either way, this stuff is delicious.

Garlic Parmesan French Bread

source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/garlic-bread-recipe/index.html

4  cloves garlic, minced

2 T butter

2 T olive oil

1 loaf French bread, split lengthwise

3 T grated Parmesan or mozzarella (or a combination of both)

parsley

Place garlic, butter, and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl.  Cook for 1 minute.  Set aside.

Pre-heat the broiler on low.  Put the bread, cut side up, on a cookie sheet.  Place in under the broiler for 2-3 minutes or until it is golden brown.  Take the bread out, and brush it with the butter/olive oil mixture.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and parsley on top.  Put back under the broiler for 30 seconds.

Cut it into chunks.

Louisiana Pasta

One night, I wanted to find a recipe using chicken and shrimp in pasta.  I did a little googling, and found this recipe.  Sweet mercy!  It is amazing.  The original recipe was a copycat of a Johnny Carino's recipe for Spicy chicken and shrimp pasta.  I had never had that, but I did have some Lousiana Pasta at Lucille's recently, and it tasted just like this!  I loved the addition of bell pepper and sausage in the Lucille's dish, so I added them to this recipe.  This is one of my favorite dishes ever.  I've made it for company a few times, and they always want seconds, if I didn't polish it off after third helpings.  This stuff is dynamite!

Louisiana Pasta (Lucille's BBQ Copy Cat Recipe)
source: modified from http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-shrimp-and-chicken-pasta-like-carinos-288012

Serves 6-8
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
3 T butter
20 medium shrimp, thawed (I didn't have any on hand but it's tasty with it)
1/2 lb kielbasa sausage, sliced
1 c mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 c sun-dried tomatoes or freshly diced tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips (I only used red)
salt and pepper, to taste
3 c heavy cream
1/2 c Romano and/or Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2- 1 1/2 t cayenne, depending on your spicy preference
16 oz dry penne pasta

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the diced chicken, sausage, shrimp, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, and salt and pepper.  Saute, stirring often, until the mushrooms and shrimp are cooked thoroughly.

Add the cream, Romano or Parmesan, and the cayenne.  The first time I made it, I did the full 1 1/2 t of cayenne.  It was amazing.  My kids thought they were going to breathe fire after taking one bite, so I've toned it down to 1/2 t or less of cayenne.  The dish as Lucille's like this is quite spicy, so I'm sure they would use the full 1 1/2 t of cayenne.

Once it is boiling, reduce to a simmer and let the cream reduce by half.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente by following the directions on the package.  Drain.

If the pasta sauce is still really thin, combine 2 T milk with 2 T corn starch in a small bowl.  Stir to combine.  While stirring the sauce, add the cornstarch mixture slowly.  Let the sauce heat up again, and the mixture should thicken a bit.

Add the drained pasta to the sauce.  Toss to combine.

 You can sprinkle a little more Parmesan on top once it's on the plates.  It's a nice little touch.