Saturday 30 March 2013

"Red Lobster" Cheddar Bay Biscuits

You know when you go to Red Lobster and you stuff your pie-hole with biscuits?

And if you're my sister-in-law, Victoria, you stuff them in your purse and politely ask for more?

Sorry I just totally outed you on the Internet.

I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and the claim was that these are the EXACT recipe that they use at Red Lobster.

While I have no idea if this claim is true or not - I thought these would be perfect to go with the Lobster Pot Pie I was serving for dinner with my parents.

They're actually incredibly easy too.


Start out by combining Bisquick and cold butter with a pastry blender until the butter is about the size of peas.


Yes.  You read that right.  Bisquick.

I have no idea what to say.

Then add shredded cheddar, milk and 1/4 tsp garlic.


Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.  It's going to be really sticky and wet, but don't worry - that's how it's supposed to be.

I think.

On a side note.  I really hope I don't get weirdos visiting this blog because of the sticky and wet comment. 

Then divide the batter into 9 equal portions on a baking sheet.  I would say a 1/3 measuring cup to divide the batter would be the right size.


Then bake for 15 - 17 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned.

Then make your topping.


Melt butter and stir in garlic powder and parsley flakes.


Brush onto the tops of the biscuits and let set.

These turned out AWESOME.  Really, really good.


I would venture to claim that they're even BETTER than the ones you can get at Red Lobster - those ones always seem to be super-salty and a little dry.

These ones though.  Ugh.  YOU try not to eat them all in one sitting.

They're perfect - tender and flavourful.  So delicious.

I absolutely recommend serving them warm if at all humanly possible.

Have a great day!

The Cane girl.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Luscious Lemon Pie

For whatever reason, I lately have become OBSESSED with pies.  Not fruit pies, although I would give my left arm for a Bumbleberry Pie. 

Bumbleberry.

I found this pie on Pinterest, and was immediately intrigued.

Three ingredients, plus the pie crust.

Really?

Could it actually be done?

Stranger things have happened.

But, because I'm strange, I desperately wanted to change things. 

The original recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk, bottled lemon juice, and Cool Whip.

Blech.

Maybe not, but I really prefer fresh ingredients.

Cause I'm strange.

So I switched out the bottled lemon juice for freshly squeezed lemons and the Cool Whip for freshly whipped cream.

I suppose the only concern I had was the condensed milk.  The recipe calls for a 10 ounce can - which is actually like 414 ml, but the only can size I could get is 300 ml.

I had no idea if it would come together - but I threw caution to the wind and went ahead anyway.

I'm a wild child.

I threw together a graham cracker crust with 1 1/2 cups graham crackers and 4 Tablespoons melted butter (because I BOUGHT what I THOUGHT was a graham cracker crust and it turned out to be a chocolate cookie crust - but I can use it) and pressed it into the bottom and sides of a pie plate.  Then put it in the fridge to chill.



Then get to the pie filling.


Start out by whipping the cream until stiff peaks form.

Then in a clean stand mixer bowl, combine the condensed milk and lemon juice.  It will start to thicken, but I helped the process along by whipping the mixture.  You want the mixture to be the consistency of yogurt.



Then gently fold in the whipped cream.


Pour the mixture into the chilled crust and put in the fridge to set up.


Chill the pie for at least a few hours - I made mine in the morning and it was perfectly set up a few hours later. 

And when it was served?

It was light and fluffy, with the lightest lemon flavour and a perfectly crisp crust.


Basically, it was the most completely delightful dessert I've had all week.

I have to tell you that it really is best the day it's served.  When I pulled it out the next day, I found that it had slightly separated and the crust was a little soggy.  The majority of it however, was just as it was the day before.

Just shove it down the hatch the day you make it and you won't have to worry.


And because it's like eating a cloud, you might just be able to do that.

Enjoy!

The Cane girl.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Lobster Pot Pie

Two years ago, I decided to stop boring my Mom telling her about all the yummy things I was making.  Rambling on and on about all the little details and driving her crazy. 

So I started this blog.  For the longest time, I actually kept it really private, restricting the settings so that only people who actually knew the link could find it.

The reason why?  Long and boring. 

And a while ago I changed my privacy settings so that it would just be out there in the universe.  I also started sharing on Facebook in January.

The response has been overwhelming and really exciting. 

Today marks my 2 year blogiversary.  I thought about what I could do to mark this day and I knew what would be just perfect. 

I saw this on Tastespotting and couldn't stop thinking about it.

I was somewhat intimidated by the long list of ingredients and many, many steps required.

But I put my hair up and went to it.


Before I go any further, I have to say that I was completely confounded by the leeks.  I had no idea how to deal with them.  I found this GREAT video on YouTube, and I was confounded no longer.

If you're unsure about leeks, you can check out this video here

After all the veggies are all chopped and ready to go, heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.


Add the leeks, carrots, celery, potatoes, garlic, and bay leaf to the olive oil.


Add the Old Bay seasoning and a little salt and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes until the veggies are softened.


Add the butter and stir until melted.


Sprinkle on the flour and stir to combine.  Cook for about 1 minute.


Add the white wine and cook until thickened - it won't take long.


Add the seafood stock.


Add the half and half.  Stir to combine and bring to a bubbling simmer and cook for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring constantly.


This is where you want to cook the lobster tails in boiling water for 5 minutes.  There are four lobster tails here.  It took four to make the recipe recommended 1 1/2 pounds total weight.  Mine were probably super-small.


I AM in land-locked Alberta, after all.

Run under cold water then remove the meat from the shells and chop into 1-inch pieces.


When the vegetable mixture has finished cooking - it will be thick and heavenly - add the peas.


Then the lobster meat and the chopped parsley and simmer for another 5 minutes or so.


Fish out the bay leaf and pour the mixture into a casserole dish.  I was going to serve this in individual ramekins as recommended - and I thought that my french onion soup dishes would be big enough, but they were way too small.  They would only hold 1 cup of the lobster mixture.


Top with puff pastry.


Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the puff pastry is golden.  I would recommend two things.  Firstly, when cutting the puff pastry, cut it so that it hangs over the edges of the ramekin/casserole dish.  Secondly, brush the puff pastry with melted butter so that it cooks to be really nice and golden.

Mine pulled away from the edges.


At the last minute, I decided that I wanted to serve this over rice.


Told you I'm strange.

Truthfully, I expected this to be way more rich than it actually was.  And it was completely delicious and wonderful.  The only change I would make is to use heavy cream instead of half and half because I thought the sauce wasn't as thick as it could have been.


Yeah - just trust me and make it.

And maybe snuggle with a sweet puppy if there's one about.


Have fun and enjoy!

The Cane girl.

Sunday 17 March 2013

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yep - another Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Are you getting sick of these yet?

Too bad.

Just kidding - I care if you're bored.

But bear with me.  I'm sorting through my tortilla soup recipes and there are surprisingly few that meet my criteria.

I might get through them sooner than I thought.

On the easy scale - this soup was as easy as they come.  Really - the most labour intensive thing I had to do was shred the chicken.

I love that.


To start out with, mix the taco seasoning, water, and tomato sauce in the bowl of a slow cooker.  Crockpot, if you will.


Then add the cream of chicken soup and the milk and whisk until smooth.


Add the chicken, the drained black beans, the drained corn, and the diced tomatoes. 



I stirred mine all together.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.  The chicken was completely cooked at 6 hours.  Then I pulled it out and shredded it up.  I added it back to the soup and stirred it again.


I topped this bowl with shredded cheddar, which was fine.  Another bowl I topped with shredded cheddar and crushed Tostitos scoops (I happened to have some - I don't generally have Tostitos in the house!).  Know what?  Those chips added something a little extra.....

Maybe I should consider having some around all the time.

I would definitely say that this is my Number 2 runner up soup.  Super-yummy, super-easy, hearty, and warm.

And after 1 and a half feet of snow since Thursday - I really needed something warm and filling.

Goodness - isn't Winter over YET?

This is the Cane girl - signing off.

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Biscoff Cream Pie

When I first starting snooping around the Internet looking at food, this stuff called Biscoff was revolving all over the place - and it continues to be one of the most talked about item in the food blog world.

But - being from Canada - I had no CLUE what people were talking about. 

I knew I needed to get my hands on some as. soon. as. possible.

And while on vacation in Florida over Christmas, I dragged my sister-in-law to Wal-Mart one evening after coming back from the Animal Kingdom so I could get some.

Being that I had to drag it across a border, we held off sampling it until back in Canada. 

Then we dug in.

Oh.  My.  We Canucks are so deprived.

Biscoff cookies are given out as a treat when flying with Delta airline.  They were so incredibly popular, that the company that distributed the cookies started making them available in stores.  I'm not sure how they got around to making and distributing the spread, but they did.

Biscoff spread is the same consistency as peanut butter, and is kind of cinnamony and caramely.  Is that a word?  Cinnamony.  Anyway, the flavour is kind of hard to describe.

But it's SO. SO. SO. good!

Since I only had so much to work with (I only brought back three jars!  Geez!), I had to be super-choosy about what I wanted to do with it.

Even though I just wanted to eat it directly from the jar with a spoon.

I turned to Darla at Bakingdom.  I remembered she'd done a couple of things with Biscoff and I was POSITIVE she would have a killer recipe that I could try.

Oh boy.

Does she EVER.

This pie.

Start with the base.  Darla recommends using chocolate cookie crumbs, but I decided to use shortbread cookies because I really wanted the Biscoff to shine.


Crush up the shortbread cookies, I used my mini food processor, and combine with melted butter.


Press the cookie mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate.


Then put the base into the refrigerator while the filling is made.  I recommend starting with the whipped cream.


Do this by pouring the whipping cream into the bowl of a stand mixer loaded with the whisk attachment.  (I prefer this statement to "bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, attached".)


Then start whipping the bejaysus out of it - on medium speed - until it starts to thicken.  Then reduce the speed to low and pour in the sugar.


Then whip the bejaysus out of it some more, until stiff peaks form.

Stiff peaks?

Like this.


Or this.


Then add in the vanilla and stir to combine.  And set aside.


Then move on to the other part of the filling.


In a clean stand mixer bowl (garsh I love having TWO bowls!) with the paddle attachment loaded, beat softened cream cheese until smooth.


Then add the Biscoff and beat to combine.


Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the icing sugar and mix until well combined.


Then add in two cups of the whipped cream.


And gently fold everything together until it combines.  Just a hint, when I was mixing this all together it didn't look like it would EVER combine and I FREAKED thinking I'd done something wrong.  But, I was persistent and just kept folding and folding.  Eventually it did come together.

It looks like this when combined.


And tastes DIVINE.  There was some concern that it would make it into the base.  A BIG concern.

Anyway.  Pour any remaining filling to the refrigerating base and smooth it out to make it as flat as possible.


FLAT I say.


Then top with the rest of the whipped cream.


You could top this with crushed Biscoff cookies or other delightful and pretty-making things. 

I don't have those types of things. 


And return to the fridge for 3 hours or so.

By the time 3 hours was over, I was too full from supper and too tired to cut pie - so I just left it for the next day.

A tip from me to you.  When I got this out of the fridge, I was so excited to try it that I foolishly cut into it and COMPLETELY mangled the first piece I got out, because the base had adhered itself to the bottom of the pie plate and I couldn't tell if I'd cut through the base or not.

It doesn't help that I STILL don't have a pie-lifter thingy.

After I got the first piece out - which I proceeded to eat because it was too ugly to take pictures of.  I went back and cut out a second piece.  Which came out of the pie plate BETTER than the first piece, but was still a pain to get out.

Then I took some pictures.


After taking pictures, I returned the pie to the counter and proceeded to cut up the rest of the pie (I was delivering some to my neighbor, Alison).

Guess WHAT.  The rest of the pie came out so. much. more. easily.  I have no idea why.  But my advice is to take the pie out and leave it alone for maybe 15 minutes.  Then cut.

I have no idea if that will help - but it might.  Let me know.

Back to the pie.

Oh.  Wow. 

Darla is a GENIUS of epic proportions.

Now I'm kind of regretting sharing with Alison.  And I don't suppose I could ask for it back....  *sniff*

It's light and fluffy and decadent and wonderful.  I was quite happy with the shortbread crust.

It's a completely delicious pie and one that I will look forward to making every time I bring home Biscoff spread.


And there will definitely be a next time.

Definitely.

This is the Cane girl - signing off.