SRC Reveal: Root Beer Chicken with BBQ Sauce

It's reveal day for Group A of The Secret Recipe Club.  This month I was assigned the blog Everyday Mom.  Kim is an avid baker and has lots of tasty looking dessert recipes on her blog!  I ended up opting for a savory choice though.  With the weather turning warmer I thought that this Root Beer Chicken looked like a perfect weekend dinner.  This means that my husband, "The Weekend Chef" helped prepare and cook this.  We've cooked chicken like this before but used a beer can.  This is the "non-alcoholic" version! The chicken rub is tasty and it is cooked on the grill.  The sauce was different with an interesting flavor from the root beer, molasses, and orange and lemon juice.  We all enjoyed this dish.  The chicken turned out moist and my kids are big "sauce" lovers.  So they enjoyed this a lot.

Root Beer Chicken with BBQ Sauce

recipe from Everyday Mom

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
Chicken Seasoning (see below)
1 can root beer
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup orange juice
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. molasses
½ tsp. ginger powder
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. onion powder

Directions:
Prepare grill, for indirect cooking.

Wash and pat dry chicken. Generously sprinkle entire chicken with chicken seasoning. Pour out and reserve, 1 cup of root beer. Place chicken on top of open can, so chicken is standing upright. Place chicken on back half of grill, use the legs and can as a tripod to help the chicken stand. Close cover and let chicken cook for at least an hour or until thermometer, placed in thickest part, reads 160°-165°. Remove from heat, let chicken rest for 10 minutes, slice and serve.

While the chicken cooks, combine the 1 cup of root beer set aside and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan. Place over medium high heat, stirring continuously bring to a boil. Once mixture has reached a boil reduce temperature to medium low and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly then serve with roasted chicken.

Chicken Seasoning
(slightly adapted)

2 Tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Lemon Pepper (can use plain pepper and lemon zest)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in small bowl, stir until combined.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

SRC Reveal: Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes

It's reveal day for Group A at The Secret Recipe Club.  This month I was assigned the blog Crumb.  Blogger Isabelle proclaims, "I'm a 30-something coffee-chugging, booty-shaking, bargain-shopping, cookbook-collecting, photo-snapping, trucker-swearing, farmers-market-loving self-taught cook with a Boy and two cats to feed."  I looked through Isabelle's recipes and as soon as I saw this one knew it was the one that I was going to make.  We had not had pancakes for dinner in a long time and strawberries were on sale at the grocery store!  But she has so many great looking recipes on her blog that I will be back!  As for these pancakes, the only change to the recipe below that I made was that I only used vanilla extract rather than 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. of almond extract.  I never thought of adding strawberries into pancake batter. The kids of course loved these!  Breakfast for dinner is always a hit....but whipped cream too?!! Extra special!  I served these pancakes with sausage and pineapple to complete our dinner!  Super tasty!

Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes
recipe very slightly adapted from Crumb

Ingredients:

Strawberry-Yogurt Pancakes:
1 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
2 eggs
½ cup plain Greek-style yogurt
⅔ cup milk
2 tbsp melted butter (plus more for the griddle)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely diced strawberries

Toppings:
Whipped cream
Chopped strawberries
Maple syrup

Directions:
1.In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2.In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, milk, melted butter and vanilla until combined. Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients, and stir with a whisk until the batter is smooth and lump-free.

3.Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Grease lightly with butter. When the butter starts to sizzle, drop in ¼ cup portions of batter.

4.Dot the surface of the pancakes with chopped strawberries. Cook for about 2 minutes or until a few bubbles start to form on the top, then gently flip over and continue cooking until underside is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes longer. Transfer the finished pancakes to a baking tray in a warm oven. Repeat this process until the batter is finished, re-greasing the pan as needed.

5.To serve, stack two or three pancakes onto each plate. Garnish each stack with a spoonful of chopped strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream. For those with a sweet tooth, drizzle with a little maple syrup or dust with icing sugar before digging in.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

The SRC Reveal: Braised Country Style Pork Ribs in Ginger Ale & Hoisin Sauce

It's once again time for The Secret Recipe Club reveal.  This month I was assigned The Keenan Cookbook.  The blog is run by couple Chris and Rachel.  They use their blog as a way to archive their family recipes, old and new.  While perusing the blog I bookmarked these Peach-Upside Down Muffins and this Caramelized Onion & Spinach Olive Oil Quick Bread to make at a later time.  However, I wanted to cook a dinner and ended up making this Braised Country Style Pork Ribs in Ginger Ale & Hoisin Sauce.  I wanted to fit in another cool weather, comfort food type dish while I'm waiting for the warmer weather to arrive.  (Yes, it's technically spring, but it's still feeling pretty chilly here in NY!)  I've braised ribs before in the Dutch Oven and I've cooked with hoisin sauce.  I thought that the ginger ale sounded like an interesting addition to this recipe.  Being a stay-at-home mom I had the luxury of being able to make this meal for a weeknight dinner for us.  However, Chris and Rachel left make-ahead directions, which I've also included.  Otherwise, this would be perfect meal to make when you have a nice, relaxing weekend.  This was super easy to put together.  The longest time was spent shredding the pork (I didn't use boneless ribs!).  I doubled the sauce, as suggested, because we also are a sauce-loving family!  We all enjoyed this dish a lot!  When my son eats all of his dinner and asks for extra sauce on his rice, it's a winner! 

Braised Country Style Pork Ribs in Ginger Ale & Hoisin Sauce
Recipe from The Keenan Cookbook via The Cookin' Canuck

Ingredients:
2 lbs. country-style (boneless) pork ribs
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup good-quality ginger ale
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp water

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2.Season pork ribs with kosher salt and black pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch Oven pan over medium-high heat. Brown the pork, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove the pork to a plate and set aside.

3.Turn the heat to medium and remove all but 1 teaspoon of the oil. Add chopped ginger and garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds. Add ginger ale, chicken broth, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce. Stir with a whisk until the hoisin sauce dissolves. Add the pork ribs to the pan and turn to coat. Put the lid on the Dutch Oven and cook in the oven until the meat is very tender, turning occasionally, about 2 hours.

4.Lower the oven heat to 200 degrees F. Remove the ribs from the braising liquid, place in an oven-proof dish, and keep warm in the oven.

5.Skim fat off the surface of the liquid. Set the saucepan with the braising liquid over medium heat and boil until the sauce reduces by half. In a small bowl, stir together arrowroot or cornstarch and water. Whisk into the sacue and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

6.With two forks, shred the pork into bite-sized pieces and stir into the sauce. Serve over rice. Garnish with sliced green onions.

7.Make-ahead: Once the ribs are cooked, let cool completely. Cover the Dutch Oven and store in the fridge for up to two days. When ready to use, uncover and skim off the fat. Reheat the ribs over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Remove the ribs from the pan, keep warm, and follow the directions above for finishing the sauce.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

The Secret Recipe Club: Healthy Apple Oats Cheesecake Bars

I am excited to be participating in my second month of The Secret Recipe Club.  This month I was assigned Elana's blog, Cook Book of Trial of Error.  This blog is filled with lots of tasty-looking recipes. Unfortuantely for me, I have an aversion to baking with yeast and Elana likes to bake!  She had so many tasty looking breads and rolls, but I just wasn't ready to challenge myself to make them quite yet!  I like how Elana rates each recipe by taste and by difficulty (both out of 5).  Since I had just made Banana Chocolate Chunk Nutella Muffins last month I had to control myself not to make Crunchy Nutella Bites.  For savory dishes, this Red Curry Salmon with Coconut Brown Rice caught my eye, as well as Chicken with Pecan Cream & Mushrooms.  In the end though I decided to go with a sweet dish and made these Healthy Apple Oats Cheesecake Bars.  They had a rating of 4 out of 5 on taste and a difficulty of 1.....my kind of recipe!  My family loves cheesecake and I just don't make it enough.  This was definitely an excuse for me to whip up a special treat for us but it isn't too bad, because "Healthy" is right in the title!  I made a few changes to the recipe on the blog.  The first one being that I used cream cheese instead of cottage cheese.  I don't make cheesecake enough for me to try to make it healthy!  Although I occasionally eat cottage cheese, when I'm on a healthy eating kick, it's not one of my favorite foods.  And I just couldn't see it being as tasty as cream cheese.  My daughter does not like nuts so I omitted the walnuts from the base/streusel.  Based on Elana's  afterthoughts I ended up using an 8"x8" pan.  I should have used less oat mix in the cookie base and saved more for the streusel topping.  The base was thick and I had barely any streusel topping.  While she thought the crust was a little salty I actually enjoyed it.  I might possibly cut it down to 1/4 teaspoon next time but I enjoyed the salty/sweet mix. I'm sorry for this not-so-stellar pic, but please don't let it deter you from making these great bars!

Healthy Apple Oats Cheesecake Bars
recipe slightly adapted from Cook Book of Trial and Error, which was adapted from Cooking with Chopin, adapted from The Pajama Chef

Ingredients:

For the base / streusel:
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda + 1 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

For the cheesecake layer
8 oz bar cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups apple sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8"x8" baking dish.

2. Prepare the cookie base in a large bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir together the oats, flour, salt, and baking powder. Pour 1 tbsp or lemon juice over the baking soda, mix until bubbly and add to the bowl. "Cut in" the butter pieces with two knives or with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then stir in the honey with the spoon. Set aside 1/4 cup of the cookie base. Press the remainder of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.

3. For the cheesecake layer, while the crust is baking, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add the other ingredients, except apple sauce and process until combined.

4. After the cookie base has baked for 10 minutes, remove it from oven. Spread cheesecake filling over the partially-baked crust. Then spread the apple sauce on top. It will most likely sink partially, so you will have swirls rather than 2 separate layers. Sprinkle the reserved cookie topping over the apple sauce and bake for 30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

5. The cheesecake must cool down to room temperate (or even be refrigerated) before removing from the pan and cutting, otherwise it will break and sag.

6. Store in the fridge.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

The Secret Recipe Club: Banana Chocolate Chunk Nutella Muffins

I am so happy to be posting my first recipe from The Secret Recipe Club today.  I had signed up on the wait list ages ago and actually forgot about it, until I got an e-mail inviting me to join.  Each month I will be assigned a different food blog and have to make a recipe from the blog and review it here, on my own blog.  For my first SRC I was assigned Spinach Tiger.  I was hooked from the moment I read the byline:  "Food a woman will love and a man will marry her for...." There were so many recipes that looked good.  These muffins were the first recipe that I made from the blog.  But I have also made the Brussels Sprouts Gnocchi with Sage Butter (see upcoming post!). Some other recipes that I have bookmarked for the future include Raw Beet Salad with Shallot Honey Orange Vinaigrette, Shrimp with Mussels and Scallops in Cream Sauce, and Cast Iron Broccoli Basil Mozzarella Frittata.  I like that Spinach Tiger (her nickname) does not use, "artificial sweetners, food substitutes, aerosol sprays, high fructose corn syrup, or MSG in her cooking." Her photos are beautiful and showcase her recipes in which she takes a modern, healthy approach to old dishes.

Back to these muffins now.  The original recipe called for a cup of spelt flour.  I have never seen (though I haven't really looked very hard for it) spelt flour in the store.  I try to avoid buying ingredients like this, where I may not use it again.  So, I used only all-purpose flour in this recipe.  The only other change that I made to making these muffins was the cook time.  I baked the muffins for only 20 minutes, though the original recipe called for 25-30 minutes.  Just check the doneness with a toothpick. These muffins were super chocolatey and tasty with the dark chocolate bar bits AND the nutella.  Spinach Tiger originally garnished her muffins with hazelnuts but noted that next time she'd try bacon or prosciutto.  Since I had some bacon in the fridge, I decided to garnish a few of the muffins with it (next time I'd make the pieces a lot smaller. As seen in the pic below my pieces were a bit big and didn't stay on top very well).  It was super tasty, with the mixture of saltiness and sweet.  These muffins were a hit in our house and I will definitely make these again!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Nutella Muffins
recipe slightly adapted from Spinach Tiger

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves: 12

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 very ripe bananas
½ cup sugar
½ cup plain yogurt
½ cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
¼ cup Nutella or more
2-3 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Mix together, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt in one bowl. Set aside.

Smash bananas with a fork. Add in sugar, eggs, yogurt, oil, vanilla.

Add to flour mixture. Add in chopped chocolate.

Scoop into muffin pan. Makes 12 muffins.

Spoon in about ¾ teaspoon of Nutella into each muffin. You can use more, if you desire.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Garnish with chopped bacon if desired.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.