Spicy Sausage Pasta

I love skillet dinners and this one is a winner. It can be a little spicy for young children - I add a little sour cream to their portions to calm the heat.

-Kevin and Amanda

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb smoked sausage

1.5 cups diced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 oz penne pasta

1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each

1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.

Caramel Apple Cake

This cake is definitely a new-found favorite! Everyone loved it so much it was requested in place of apple pie for Thanksgiving. I halve this recipe when using my Demarle Bundt mold.

-Taste of Home

1-1/2 cups canola oil

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3-1/2 cups diced peeled apples

1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

CARAMEL ICING:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup half-and-half cream

1/4 cup butter, cubed

Dash salt

1 cup confectioners' sugar

Chopped walnuts, optional

In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugars and eggs until well blended. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually add to creamed mixture until blended. Fold in the apples, walnuts and vanilla.

Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 325° for 1-1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, cook and stir the brown sugar, cream, butter and salt until sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a small bowl; cool to room temperature. Beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth; drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with walnuts if desired. 

Soft Dinner Rolls

The best rolls ever!

-The Stay at Home Chef

2 cups warm milk

2 tablespoons instant dry yeast

¼ cup white granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons salted butter, softened

2 large eggs

6 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon melted butter

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm milk, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs.

Add in 5½ cups of flour. Using a dough hook, turn the mixer on to a low speed. Once the flour starts to incorporate into the dough, increase the speed to a medium range.

Slowly add the remaining ½ cup of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough mixture should be slightly sticky and soft. Add more or less flour until the dough reaches the desired consistency. The amount of flour you add in bread making is always an approximation and you should go by feel.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased mixing bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise 90 minutes.

Lightly grease a baking sheet. Punch down the dough and form into 24 rolls (2.3-2.4 oz each). Place on the greased baking sheet in six rows of four.

Cover and let rise 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the rolls for 12 to 14 minutes, until lightly browned.

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Remove rolls from oven and brush with melted butter. Serve the rolls warm, or to cool, let rest on the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Once cooled completely, store in a plastic bag.

Cream Puffs

We usually like to make homemade donuts for General Conference, but we have had way too many donuts lately, so my oldest daughter and husband suggested cream puffs. They both helped me make them and I think they turned out great! We used half of the pastry cream to make vanilla filled, and stirred about 1/2 cup Nutella into the rest to make the Nutella pastry cream. Yum!

Pate a choux - Alton Brown

1 cup water

3/4 stick butter (6 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon sugar plus 1/8 teaspoon salt (for sweet)

1 teaspoon salt (for savory)

5 3/4 ounces flour

1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs and 2 whites

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Boil water, butter, and salt or sugar. Add flour and remove from heat. Work mixture together and return to heat. Continue working the mixture until all flour is incorporated and dough forms a ball. Transfer mixture into bowl of a standing mixer and let cool for 3 or 4 minutes.

With mixer on stir or lowest speed add eggs, 1 at a time, making sure the first egg is completely incorporated before continuing. Once all eggs have been added and the mixture is smooth put dough into piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe immediately into golfball-size shapes, 2 inches apart onto parchment lined sheet pans. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Once they are removed from the oven pierce with a paring knife immediately to release steam.

Pastry Cream - Allrecipes

2 cups milk

1/4 cup white sugar

2 egg yolks

1 egg

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don' t curdle or scorch on the bottom.

When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

Black Cherry Ice Cream

For as long as I can remember, homemade ice cream has been part of summer and the Carling family reunions. When I was very young and we camped at the Brown Creek, hand-cranked ice cream makers were used and all the cousins took turns until the adults had to take over when the cranking got too hard. My grandma usually makes banana nut and I'm pretty sure there was always a freezer of vanilla. A few years back my mom made this cherry ice cream for the reunion and it has become my most favorite homemade ice cream flavor. Thanks Mom for another great recipe! I use whole milk instead of half-and-half and don't add any more than 4 cups. 

-Mom Pulsipher

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups heavy cream
4 cups half-and-half (or whole milk)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cherry extract
1/4 tsp. salt
8 oz. jar maraschino cherries, drained and cut in fourths
15 oz. can dark sweet cherries cut in fourths, plus 1/2 cup of the juice (or 2 cups frozen dark sweet cherries, no juice needed)
Additional milk, as needed

Whisk the 3 eggs. Add sugar to eggs and whisk until smooth and sugar is dissolved. Add cream, half-and-half, vanilla, cherry extract, and salt. Refrigerate for half an hour. Stir in cherries and juice. Put in freezer canister. Add a little milk if needed to get a good level. Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream freezer. After churning, place in the freezer, in an air-tight container. It's best to cover the surface of the ice cream with plastic wrap to prevent ice crystals.

Chicken Fajitas

-Taste of Home, modified

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. dried oregano

1 ½ tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. paprika

½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, optional

1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips

½ medium sweet red pepper, julienned

½ medium green pepper, julienned

½ medium sweet yellow pepper, julienned

½ large onion, julienned

6 flour tortillas (8 inches), warmed

Shredded cheddar cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine lime juice and seasonings; add the chicken. Seal and turn to coat; refrigerate for 1-4 hours.

In a large skillet, saute peppers and onions in remaining oil until crisp-tender. Remove and keep warm.

Discard marinade. In the same skillet, cook chicken over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink. Return pepper mixture to pan; heat through.

Spoon filling down the center of tortillas; fold in half. Serve with cheese, taco sauce, salsa, guacamole and sour cream. Yield: 6 servings.