Pineapple Upside Down Cake Freezer Jam

For May's edition of Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Micha, the blogger behind Cookin' Mimi.  She says, "The food you will find here on Cookin’ Mimi is exactly what I cook every day. It’s a mix of traditional Southern food, good old American home cooking, and my favorite ethnic inspired dishes."

After browsing Micha's blog, I settled on this Pineapple Upside Down Cake Freezer Jam.  If you haven't made freezer jam, give it a try!  It's easy to make and who doesn't love homemade jam on their toast??!!!  I found this recipe intriguing, I love the idea of pineapple upside down cake in a jam.

This jam is a beautiful color and is a tasty addition to any morning breakfast.  I'm also thinking I will give this a try as a glaze for grilled chicken.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Freezer Jam
Recipe Courtesy of Cookin' Mimi

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 Tablespoons Instant pectin
• 2 20 ounce cans crushed pineapple in pineapple juice- drained
• 1/4 cup diced maraschino cherries
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 1/2 pint freezer jars or containers

Instructions

1. In a large bowl stir together the sugars and the pectin. Mix until well blended.
2. Add the pineapple, cherries, and vanilla. Mix for three minutes.
3. Ladle into clean freezer jars, leaving about 1/2 inch head space. Add lid.
4. Let sit until thickened, about 30 minutes.
5. Label and refrigerate or freeze.
6. Refrigerate for 3 weeks or freeze for up to one year.

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Pineapple Casserole

Looking for a different side dish to go with ham?  This pineapple casserole pairs beautifully with ham or even alongside a baked chicken.  There's a variation of this recipe that add cheddar cheese.  What do you think?  Despite the great reviews, I couldn't bring myself to try it!  The dish reminds me of bread pudding.

 Pineapple Casserole

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 8 eggs
• 10 slices white bread, cubed
• 2 (20-oz) cans crushed pineapple, with juice

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter an 9" x 13" or 3-qt casserole dish.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or with a stand mixer. Add the eggs in one at a time. Use a spatula to fold in the bread and pineapple (plus the juice). Stir the mixture gently until just incorporated and then pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish.
3. Bake for 1 hour until it is light brown and bubbly. Let the casserole cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Sweet Potato Puff with Crunchy Topping

 As a kid, sweet potatoes were a tradition.  You know the ones, baked in the oven and topped with marshmallows.  My Dad would have them no other way.   I was never a fan!  Fast forward, a few years (okay more than a few),  I am a fan of sweet potatoes prepared this way!  Of course, these go perfectly alongside ham!  Don't wait for next Easter to give this one a try, it's worth having soon with or without ham!

Sweet Potato Puff with Crunchy Topping

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, cubed (about 5 C)
2 T soft butter
2 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp Kosher salt flakes
1 T white sugar
2 T soft butter
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ C pecan pieces
2 T brown sugar
2 T panko bread crumbs
2 T white flour
2 T melted butter

Preparation

1. Peel the sweet potatoes, cut into cubes and place in a pot. Cover with water and boil until the sweet potato chunks are soft and will mash easily (about 20 – 25 minutes).

2. Drain sweet potatoes, add the soft butter, and mash. When completely smooth with no lumps, add the beaten eggs, white sugar, salt flakes, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until everything is evenly incorporated.

3. Coat casserole dish with a light spray of oil. Mound the sweet potato mixture into the dish and even the top with a spatula.

4. In a separate bowl mix the pecan pieces, brown sugar, panko bread crumbs and white flour. Drizzle the melted butter over top while mixing everything together until a nice crumble forms. At this point the sweet potato mixture and the crumble can be covered and refrigerated separately until ready for assembly the next day.

5. When you are ready to bake the casserole, sprinkle the pecan crumble evenly over the top and place the dish in the oven  (350 F). Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until the sweet potato puffs up a bit and the topping is nicely browned.

Krackle Crunch Bars

It's the second Monday of the month and time for Secret Recipe Club.  This month, I was assigned Dena the blogger behind Oh! You Cook!, proving Kosher and Delicious are not mutually exclusive.
 Dena says "You don't have to be kosher (or even Jewish) to enjoy my recipes or musings."  She is also the author of The Everything Kosher Slowcooker Cookbook.

In search of a recipe for Tim's treat day at the office, these Krackle Crunch Bars caught my eye.  Knowing I had some rice krispies and a hersheys bar that needed to be used up, this was the perfect recipe.  If you're looking for an easy treat or something for the kids or grandkids to help with, give this one a try!  It's both easy and delicious.  These need to go to the office with Tim before I eat way too many!

Krackle Crunch Bars - Easy
Recipe courtesy of Oh! You Cook!
Yield: about 2 pounds

1 (24 oz.) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp. solid vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)
2-3 cups Rice Krispies, depending upon how much crunch you like

Line a medium to large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.

Add chocolate chips to a 3-quart heat-safe bowl.  Dot with the vegetable shortening.  Nuke at full power for 1 minute.  Stir, then continue to nuke at full power for 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

Fold in Rice Krispies. Pour and scrape chocolate mixture onto the baking sheet, using a spatula to spread out mixture evenly almost to the edges of the cookie sheet and to desired thickness. 


Place cookie sheet in fridge until chocolate sets up completely, about 1 hour.  Break up crunch bars into desired-sized pieces.

Serve immediately, or store in a tightly covered container at cool room temperature for up to a week.  You can optionally refrigerate or freeze up to a month.

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Carrots Slow Roasted on Coffee Beans

Every once in a while, I find a really unique recipe to try.  Carrots roasted on coffee beans, that's pretty unusual.

If you like coffee, you'll love this recipe.  The carrots slow roast in the oven for 2 - 3 hours, filling the kitchen with a wonderful coffee smell.   The flavor of these was okay but they needed a little more spice.  I'd like to give this recipe another try and rub the carrots with cumin.

Carrots Slow Roasted on Coffee Beans
Recipe Courtesy of Splendid Table

Ingredients

• 1 lb.  (no thicker than 1/2 in/12 mm in diameter), peeled
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• Coarse sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 cup medium-roast coffee beans, preferably decaf

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 225°F. Place a cast-iron skillet over medium heat to heat for about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the carrots, olive oil, and garlic and toss until the carrots are slicked with oil and the garlic bits are distributed evenly. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

Add the coffee beans to the hot skillet and remove from heat. Shake until the coffee is aromatic and the beans look a bit oily, about 3 minutes. Scatter the carrots over the beans in a single layer and cover the pan with a lid or a sheet of heavy-duty alumnum foil. Bake until the carrots are fork-tender and infused with coffee oil, 2 to 3 hours. 

Lift the carrots from the bed of coffee beans and serve immediately. Discard the coffee.

Store: for up to 3 days, covered in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in a low oven.

Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars

Do you have a favorite Girl Scout cookie?  For me, it's Thin Mints!!  Besides eating way too many of these cookies, I love using them in recipes.  One of my favorites is this mint pie.  I've been making this recipe for years, since high school and that's lots of years!!

I needed something for treat day at Tim's office and wanted to use ingredients I had in the house.  I keep a box or two of Thin Mints in the garage freezer.  Out of sight out of mind, I kind of forget they are out there, so I am not tempted to eat them.  Too bad that doesn't work with ice cream.   While not as gooey as traditional gooey butter cake, these bars are a delicious combination of mint and chocolate!  I believe Tim said they got a thumbs up from his coworkers.

Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars

 Recipe Courtesy of Picky Palate

 1 Yellow Cake Mix

1 stick softened butter

1 large egg

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup Andes Mint pieces (I used crushed thin mint cookies)

1 small can Sweetened Condensed Milk

20 Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies, broken into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a 9×13 inch baking dish with non stick cooking spray.

2. Place cake mix, butter and egg into a large bowl, mix until dough forms. Using hands is easiest to mix together. Press dough into bottom of prepared baking dish. Top evenly with chocolate chips and Andes mints. Drizzle sweet milk over top and top with broken pieces of Thin Mint Cookies. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until baked through. Immediately after removing from oven, take a plastic knife around edges to loosen. Let cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 12 bars

Deconstructed Nutella Cheesecake

Last year Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla rallied some blogging friends to help her celebrate her 15th wedding anniversary. She was only looking for fifteen cheesecake recipes. But we posted waaaaaay more than #FifteenCheesecakes.

It was such a hit and we all had so much fun that she decided to see if she could get enthusiasm for another round of cheesecakes. Yep. This is an encore performance by some of her favorite foodie bloggers.

Happy Anniversary, Camilla!  Cheer's to many more!!

Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts.  I love to eat it, who doesn't? Making it is fun, too.  This year, I decided to choose a deconstructed cheesecake.   The crumbs for the crust go in first, topping with the cheesecake mixture and a little bit of fruit.    Easy and beautiful!!  I love when a restaurant serves a small dessert, like this one.  Perfect when you just want a bite or two!!

DECONSTRUCTED NO BAKE NUTELLA CHEESECAKES (Adapted from Sweet & Savory by Shinee)

4 oreos, crushed
2 heaped tsp. butter, melted
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp. nutella

Place the oreos in a small bowl. Add the melted butter and stir to combine. Divide this mixture between two dessert glasses, reserving a teaspoon for garnishing if desired. Place in the refrigerator.
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and nutella together until smooth and thick. Fit a piping bag with a large star nozzle and fill with the cream cheese mixture. Pipe the mixture into the glasses, garnish with the reserved crumb mixture or fresh fruit, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

More than #SixteenCheesecakes

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