Kelsey Can–Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whether you are from Kentucky or not, there is no better combination than bourbon and chocolate! Bourbon chocolate milkshakes, bourbon chocolate cakes, and now bourbon chocolate chip cookies…you can’t go wrong. I was at Keeneland this past week and I could kick myself for not taking these! These would be perfect for a Derby party though!
I made these cookies a few weeks ago and found two things, you can freeze the dough and they are good or you can bake the cookies immediately are they are good. If you freeze them, they seem to be chewy, but if you bake them as they are they seem to be very light.

Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield 3 dozen small cookies

2 ½ cups of flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt (plus more)
1 stick of butter (softened)
1 cup plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
4-6 tablespoons bourbon
2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt together. This is simple for me to put in a quart mason jar with a lid and shake. Mix together the two sugars until well combined. Combine the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy, 3 minutes or so. Add in the egg. Slowly add in the bourbon. Once incorporated, add in the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips last.

*You can add in 2/3 cup of toasted chopped walnuts if you wish!

I used a small cookie scoop and portioned out cookies. Bake in a preheated 350⁰F oven for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will not turn a brown color, so don’t over bake. Once cooked, sprinkle top with salt and enjoy!

Kelsey Can–Avocado Egg Rolls

I always thought I wasn’t a fan of avocado, until I tried these egg rolls from The Cheesecake Factory! These yummy egg rolls are in the appetizer section of the menu, but they are enough to eat as a meal! After I had them, I knew I had to find a recipe. I tried the recipe found twice, first to try out the recipe, second to make it my own. Surprisingly, these egg rolls were very close to The Cheesecake Factory! So, here is goes, Kelsey Can-Avocado Egg Rolls Copy Cat

Avocado Egg Rolls

Dipping Sauce:

¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup cashews (lightly salted)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup cilantro
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
Salt to taste

Mix ingredients together in a blender or a small shake blender (like a Bullet). Blend until all is mixed together, but not pulverized. Taste for salt. Chill until ready to serve. (The longer it sits the better!)

Egg Rolls:
2 large avocados, diced into small pieces
4 sundried tomatoes packed in oil
¼ cup chopped red onion
½ jalapeno, chopped, seeds removed
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
8 egg rolls
1 egg

Mix all ingerdients except avocado, egg rolls, and egg together. Blend in small blender or chop all ingredients as fine as you can. Mix in bowl with chopped avocado. When all ingredients are mixed well, take one tablespoon of the mixture and put in the center of the egg roll with the egg roll with a corner facing you (diagonal, mixture should be from corner to corner in the middle). The package of the egg rolls should tell you the right way to wrap them, if not, follow this. Whisk the egg and use a brush to put the egg on the outsides of the roll. Fold it corner to corner tucking the mixture in, then the sides, and then the top. Make all egg rolls until ready to cook. Place 1-2 inches of oil (vegetable, canola, anything) in a skillet and heat to medium. Fry on medium until golden. Frying will be fast, so be careful not to burn them! You can also use a deep fryer!

When they are finished, cut on the diagonal and serve with the sauce!

Avocado Egg Rolls with Cashew Dipping Sauce

Kelsey Can–Make Ahead Potatoes

I picked up this great recipe for Make Ahead Potatoes. These potatoes are so delicious and would be perfect to prepare the day before or the week of Thanksgiving! Or anytime! I made some last week and had leftovers, the potatoes are still good! I’ve been reheating in the oven. I didn’t think any kind of leftover potato was any good, but this recipe proved me wrong.

Make Ahead Potatoes
10 larges potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup sour cream
1 8oz package of cream cheese
6 tablespoons of butter (divided, 4 T and 2 T)
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
3/4 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
Paprika
Boil potatoes starting in cold water until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl. Add the sour cream, cream cheese, 4 tablespoons of butter, dried onion, and salt to the potatoes. Mash all the ingredients with a hand masher or a mixer. Spread the mixture in a greased 13×9 baking dish. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and pour over the top of the potatoes. Sprinkle the top with paprika.

After this step, you can either refrigerate your potato mixture until you are ready to bake them or you can bake immediately. Whenever you decide to bake, place in a preheated 350°F oven and bake covered with foil for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 20 minutes. If you have refrigerated your potatoes, let them come to room temperature before baking (about 30 minutes).
I haven’t tried, but I’m sure you could probably freeze these potatoes and let them thaw before you bake them.
This is a simple recipe, next time I make them I might try adding in things like bacon bits or shredded cheese. There is nothing wrong with bacon or cheese!

Kelsey Can–Brussel Sprouts

It hasn’t been very long ago that I tried my first brussels sprout. I loved them! I wanted to try different recipes because I feel like it’s a vegetable no one ever buys. It took me 22 years to finally taste one! I was at a restaurant and had their version of brussel sprouts. They. Were. AMAZING! I tried recreating the recipe for myself. They were almost as good!

Bacon, Blue Cheese Brussle Sprouts

Ingredients:

1 bag brussel sprouts (the frozen kind you steam in the bag)

2 pieces of bacon, cooked, grease reserved

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/4 cup blue cheese

Cook the bacon, drain, and save about 2 teaspoons of grease in the skillet. While the bacon is cooking, steam the sprouts in the microwave. When they are finished steaming, pour the bag into the bacon grease. Cook them until they have a little crispiness to them. Add the two tablespoons of white wine vinegar. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle on top. Add the blue cheese to the top. After the cheese is melted a little, eat! They are delicious and so easy to do!

Kelsey Can–Gifts in a Jar part 2

If you haven’t read my first post about Gifts in a Jar, read that first! You can find it in the previous post. As I told you before, I made these gifts for Christmas! The second recipe is Penne with Artichokes and it looks delicious!

To start, layer these ingredients in a quart jar.

Penne with Artichokes Mix:

3 cups uncooked tricolor penne or rotini pasta (I used a mixture of tricolored and regular)

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoe halves, cut into pieces (found mine next to the salad add ins, like nuts, croutons, etc. You don’t want the tomatoes in any liquid)

1/4 cup grated Romano cheese (with the cans of Parmesan, not the refrigerated kind)

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (or garlic powder)

1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (less for less spicy)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Layer 1 1/2 cups penne, sun dried tomatoes, and remaining 1 1/2 cup penne in 1-quart food storage jar with tight fitting lid. Place Romano cheese, parsley, garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper into a small storage bag (sandwich bag without the zip is best). Close bag with twist tie; cut of top of bag. Place on top of penne. Close jar.

Cover top of jar with fabric and ribbon. The fabric should be about 6 inch circles. Attach recipe card.

The recipe card should be typed with these instructions:

1 jar Penne with Artichokes Mix

4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can (14.5 oz) quartered artichokes, drained

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup roasted red pepper strips

1. Remove cheese packet from jar; set aside.

2. Place water, salt, and remaining contents of jar in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil 12-15 minutes or until pasta is tender. Drain and return to pan.

3. Stir in artichokes, butter, olive oil, red pepper strips, and contents of cheese packet. Cover and cook over medium heat 3-5 minutes until hot.

Makes 4-5 servings

You can use Avery brand index cards to type the recipe card on, I used they worked out well! Avery had a cute kitchen design I used as the background of my card.

Kelsey Can–Gifts in a Jar

Collecting cookbooks are a hobby of mine! I could sit and read a cookbook like it was a novel. One of the cookbooks I have is called “Gifts in a Jar” and I had never used it until this past Christmas. http://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Jar-Soups-Chilis-More/dp/0785378022/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420474007&sr=1-1&keywords=gifts+in+a+jar+soups+chili Here is the link to the same book I used.

Spicy Chili Mac Gifts in a Jar

The recipes were all meals, they weren’t like some of the gifts in the jar like cookies. (Although cookies would be good!) Some of the ingredients seemed like things I would never be able to find, but there were some recipes that looked good, sounded good, and I could find the ingredients easy.  I made two different gift recipes from this book. The first one was Spicy Chili Mac.

Ingredients to fill the jar:

1/4 cup dried pinto beans

1/4 cup dried red kidney beans

1 package (1.25 oz) chili seasoning mix

2 tablespoons dried minced onion

2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (if you don’t want it spicy, leave this out)

1 1/2 cups uncooked rotini pasta (or penne)

Layer the pinto and kidney beans in a 1-quart food storage jar with a lid. Mix the chili seasoning, onion, bouillon granules, and pepper flakes in a small bag (a sandwich bag without the zip would be best, use a twist tie to tie up the bag). Place the bag on top of the beans. Add the pasta over the top. Close the jar.

Cover the top with fabric, attach ribbon and the recipe card.

On the recipe card, add these instructions:

1 jar Spicy Chili Mac Mix

4-5 cups of water

2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey, browned and drained

Shredded Cheese (optional)

1. Remove pasta and seasoning packet from jar; set aside.

2. Place beans in a large bowl; cover with water. Soak 6-8 hours or overnight. (To quick soak beans, place beans in large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat, let soak, uncovered 1 hour.) Drain beans; discard water.

3. Combine soaked beans, water, tomatoes, ground beef, and contents of seasoning packet in Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover; reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Add pasta and simmer 30-45 minutes. Serve with cheddar cheese.

Makes 8-10 servings

I got some Avery index cards (product 3381) and typed the instructions on the card. It worked out really well!

I have another Gift in a Jar recipe to post, it is Penne with Artichokes!

Kelsey Can–Easy Zucchini

Zucchini is always available, regardless of the season. Unlike other vegetables like tomatoes, they taste just about as good as they do when they are in season. This recipe is simple and so good! I have been known to eat just this for a meal before!

Easy Zucchini

3 tablespoons of butter

2 small zucchini

Feta cheese

Cherry tomatoes (optional)

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cut the zucchini in thin slices. Put the zucchini in the melted butter. Cook uncovered flipping often. After 5 minutes or so, see if all the zucchini has become soft, it should all look golden. The zucchini on the bottom can be a little blistered (what you are looking for). When it all looks cooked, sprinkle feta cheese over the top, just to cover. Add in the cherry tomatoes (split in half) at this step, too. Cover for one minute or so. Serve.

This is such a delicious, easy side (or meal) and tastes great in the summer when the zucchini is fresh from the garden! Also gives you another way of serving zucchini!

Kelsey Can–Roast

Recently I got a Dutch Oven. I had watched for years on the Food Network all these chefs making great meals in their dutch ovens, and I had to have one! I finally got one and put it to good use, I made a roast! I went off a general recipe, but I added in a few things the original recipe didn’t call for. I started with the roast and sprinkled it with salt and pepper liberally. It was about a 4 pound roast, but any size (or stew pieces) would do. I poured about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the pot and turned the heat on medium high. I seared the meat on both sides and the outsides, about 3-5 minutes each. After the outsides were all brown, I put the roast on a plate. I added to the pot 3 onions I had cut in half, then in half again. I added them to the pot and cooked them about 5 minutes, just stirring them around the brown bits in the bottom. I took those out and put them on the plate with the roast. I added in 1 small bag of baby carrots, then half of another small bag. I stirred them all around the brown bits and cooked them for about 5 minutes. I removed the carrots also and I was left with the brown bits in the bottom of the pot.

Yummy brown bits before deglazing with the cooking wine

I added in 1 cup of red cooking wine (or port) (if you don’t want to use wine, replace this step with beef broth). I cut the heat to about medium and took a spoon (can use a whisk) and scrape the bottom. You just want to get all those good brown bits at the bottom off the bottom. After the bottom is clean, add in 4 cups of beef broth. Replace the meat and add in the carrots and onions. Use a sprig of fresh thyme and rosemary (or a palmful of dried) and put in the pot. Add in 1 clove or 1 teaspoon of pre-chopped garlic, put the lid on, and place in a 275°F oven for 4-5 hours.

Roast before cooking

Two hours before it is finished, add in 3-4 potatoes cut into chunks. I didn’t even peel mine. Serve over some cornbread and enjoy! It’s delicious and the meat and veggies are fork tender!

Roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions

1 3-5 pound roast

3 onions

1 bag baby carrots

3-4 potatoes

1 clove garlic

Roast after cooking

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup red cooking wine (port) (optional)

4 cups beef broth

Salt

Pepper

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven. Liberally season the roast with salt and pepper. Sear the meat on all sides. Add the onions and carrots, one batch at a time cooking in the same pot. After the meat is seared, the carrots sauteed for 5 minutes and the onions sauteed for 5 minutes, remove the vegetables and the meat. Deglaze the pot with 1 cup red cooking wine or 1 cup beef broth. Scrape the bottom with whisk or wooden spoon. Add in the 4 cups beef broth. Replace the meat, onions, and carrots. Add in the garlic and rosemary and thyme. Cook with the lid on at 275°F for 4-5 hours. Two hours before serving, add in the potatoes, cut into large chunks. Continue cooking with the lid on. Serve over cornbread.

Kelsey Can–Strawberry Cake

I. Love. Strawberries. Strawberry anything I guarantee I will love it! My neighbor made the greatest strawberry cake ever, and thankfully shared her recipe! There are a few variations I have read, but it’s all generally the same (and all equally delicious!).

The day I got the ingredients to make this cake was Christmas Eve Eve. There was not a strawberry cake mix to be found, no powdered sugar, and only a few boxes of strawberry gelatin left on the shelves.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 box white cake (18.25 oz) (or you can use strawberry for extra strawberry-ness, this day I could only find a 15 oz box)

1 3 oz box strawberry gelatin

4 eggs

3/4 cup of oil

1/2 cup water

12 oz frozen unsweetened strawberries, thawed, mashed, and 1/3 cup reserved (I reserved 1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix all the cake ingredients together and pour into a greased 13×9 pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. You can also make a layered cake, just use round cake pans.

After the cake has baked and the center is completely done, remove the cake from the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes. You don’t want the cake to be too hot that the icing melts completely off of it. Icing on a 13×9 can be put on a warm cake. If you choose to make a layered cake, be sure the cake cools completely. The cooler the cake and icing are, the more stiff the icing is and harder to spread.

Strawberry Cake Mix

Strawberry Cake Icing:

1/3 cup reserved strawberries

1 stick of butter

1 pound box (or 3 3/4 cups) of powdered sugar

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and strawberries. Pour over the warm cake.

I made this for Christmas Eve and it was fabulous! It’s such an easy, yummy dessert. And anyone who loves strawberries will love this cake. I usually don’t complain to lick the icing bowl! 🙂 Enjoy!

Strawberry Cake

Kelsey Can–Cinnamon Rolls

Remember my bread post? If not, you can find it here Kelsey Can–Bread! Last weekend was my sister’s birthday and she had a few friends spend the night. Being the nice sister I am, I made them cinnamon rolls for the next morning! I took out my starter, made the bread, let it rise, divided it, and made the dough like I was going to make cinnamon bread. Instead of putting the loaf in the pan, I cut the dough into 5 pieces, about every 2 inches I made a cut. I let the rolls rise for a few hours and baked them at 350°F for 20-25 minutes. If you want icing (who doesn’t?) mix together 1 cup powdered sugar to 2-3 tablespoons of milk. Enjoy! (I never got a finished picture, sorry!)