Itty Bitty Biscuits and Sweet Cherry Barbecue Chicken

Post Edit:
My poundcake recipe will be up and ready, bright and early tomorrow morning. Get it while it's hot!I was on hiatus from cooking this weekend, since we had two family birthdays (my niece Annie Laurie, and my mom, Barbara Ann) and two consecutive nights in restaurants. I'm one of those people that would weigh approximately 2 and 1/2 tons if I ate out every night. If someone puts food out in front of me, by golly, I feel duty bound to eat it all. For Mom's birthday, we spent about 3 hours, eating course after course, starting with mini sliders, and ending with birthday cake and sugared donuts with jam and pastry cream. But still, the highlight of the night was non edible. My Dad suprised my Mom with a new violin. She doesn't play the violin, but she likes collecting instruments to fiddle around on (ha!) and for all of her visiting grandchildren. Sailor pulled out my Mom's new violin and played the obligatory Happy Birthday and a couple of rousing rounds of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow." Excuse us for our merry revelry, if you happened to be at a neighboring table.
The day after, I laid in bed, over satisfied. Full. Maybe even a little guilty. All that merry making has made for tight jeans and a chilling terror of swimsuit season. Time for some action! First in order, a portion size adjustment. That's my favorite easy change, since it doesn't make me feel deprived. (Although a little deprivation might be in order soon.)
In keeping with my assignment and new healthful adjustments, I made my Tuesdays With Dorie biscuits, but bite-sized, and with whole wheat and half and half, instead of cream. Those were easy little changes; especially since half and half is already a decadent indulgence. I filled them with a tangy barbecue chicken, with sweet cherry preserves and bright yellow mustard. A couple of them, with a green salad, for dinner really hit the spot. It's a lot easier to be virtuous when you cook at home. Especially when it's good old-fashioned real food. Even good old-fashioned real itty bitty food.
Itty Bitty Biscuits slightly modified from Dorie Greenspan
Estimated Cost: $1.50 for about 2 dozen itty bitties
2 cups all purpose flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup half and half, plus more if needed
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. In a medium bowl, combine flour, powde, sugar, and salt. Pour in 1 cup half and half and stir. Add half and half by the tablespoon if dough is too dry. Grab it with your hands and knead a couple of times so it can come together. Pat it down onto a floured surface, making the dough about 1/2 inch thick. Cut biscuits about 1 inch in diameter. I use an empty prescription pill bottle. Place biscuits on cookie sheet. You should get about 20-25. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool slightly and serve with butter and honey, or shredded chicken.
Crock Pot Sweet Cherry Chicken
Estimated Cost: $4.50
Quick and Easy!
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/3 cup cherry preserves
1/4 cup yellow mustard
Combine all ingredients and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours. Shred with a fork and season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Next Up:

My Secret Pound Cake Recipe

(from Friday to Sunday only-then it's going back in the Top Secret File)

It wouldn't be Christmas without Tamales

If you live in Southern California, Christmas is time for tamales. Your sweet Mexican friends and neighbors will bring you plastic bags, filled with tasty meat fillings encased in tender corn dough. Muchas Gracias, you will say, and Feliz Navidad. Then when your friends turn their backs, you will devour your tamales, all of them. You will want more, and you might get another bagfull, but you surely will only get them in December for Christmas. But if you move away from Southern California, there's a good chance (sniffle) that no one will ever bring you a tamale again. People might even think that you should go and buy your own tamales, because they are available at every movie theatre.Ay caramba, amigos. Hot tamales are good too, but not for Christmas.

So you will have to resort to making your own tamales.

Warning: Making tamales is messy and time-consuming. Proof: My friend Denise and I turned out a cool six dozen in my kitchen; it took all morning to make them and all afternoon to clean them up.

Warning: Tamales are outrageously delicious and terribly addictive. Proof: West has eaten NOTHING but tamales since I made them-lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner. If this keeps up, I'm going to rename him Westito and buy him a sombrero.

Last year I gave you the in-depth tamale making guide. You've got to click here to get it. This year, I'm giving you the fillings. I make red chile beef, cheese and green chile, and I usually make tomatillo chicken. But this year, I used my sweet and spicy chicken and it's been the run-away favorite. Here's my new three favorite fillings below, and if you give up before you get them made into tamales, they make super-fantastic tacos, too. Feliz Navidad, either way.

Tamales with Sweet and Spicy Chicken

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken (frozen is fine)

1/3 to 1/2 cup brown sugar (use the higher amount for tamales)

1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

generous pinch of crushed red pepper

Place everything in the crockpot and cook on high for about three hours. Shred with fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chicken will absorb extra juices when shredded.

Tamales with Red Chile Beef

1 3 lb. beef roast, any cut

3 garlic cloves

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 (14 ounce) can Mexican style diced tomatoes with green chilies or jalapenos

2-4 tablespoons chile powder

Place all ingredients in crock pot on high for about 5 hours. Shred with fork and carefully discard fat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tamales with Cheese and Green Chilies

shredded cheddar cheese and green chilies

optional: chopped olives, green onions, minced jalapeno

My friend Denise brought over some cans and we made some tamales in there too. Haven't steamed them yet, but I'm anxious to find out how they turn out.

I can't get enough of English Toffee Popcorn

Be Back this weekend with the recipe....

Super Easy Hot and Cheesy Potatoes and Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecue Sauce

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! We have lots of family coming to soak up some sun, sit by my parent's pool (across the street from my house), and watch our little human tadpoles splash around. I'm planning on joining in the poolside revelry, which means food prep has to be kept to a lazy minimum. I'm happy spending the whole day in the kitchen on cold holidays, like Christmas and Thanksgiving, but on warm holidays it feels like indentured servitude to be slaving over a hot stove. So save yourself some work and some pennies and follow my lead to a delicious Memorial Day feast.

Here's what we're having:

Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecued Chicken

Hot and Cheesy Potatoes

Corn on the Cob

From our Garden Spinach Salad with Homemade Ranch

Lemonade

Ice Cream Cones

Buttermilk Brownies

It might seem counter intuitive to serve hot potatoes at the official summer kick off weekend, but they are always a huge hit. I kid you not, I've made these AND potato salad AND put out potato chips for barbecues, and these hot potatoes always go first. (And then there are people like me, who take a heaping scoop of all three, and then go back for seconds.) They couldn't be simpler to put together; no peeling, no pre-cooking, and they always come out perfect.

I'm also including a recipe for my Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecue Sauce that you can throw together and slather on some chicken. It's heavenly and miles above any bottled sauce. It's got tang, sweetness, spice, smoke, and overall fabulous balance. Have barrels of fun and be safe. Put on your sunscreen and eat your veggies and call your mother. See you after the weekend!

Super Easy Hot and Cheesy Potatoes

Estimated Cost: $4.00 to serve 6

Notes: Don't make these ahead of time or the potatoes will turn brown. Sometimes I make a double batch by using the same size of pan but making four layers of potatoes, then increasing the cooking time by 30 minutes.

about 6 medium potatoes, unpeeled, scubbed

1 onion

about 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

about 3/4 cup -1 cup half and half

Coat a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with no stick cooking spray. Thinly slice 3 of the potatoes and layer on the bottom of dish. Sprinkle with half of the onion and season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat with remaining potatoes, onions, and cheese. Pour in half and half at the corners to cover the bottom. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 for about 1 hour or a little longer until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with green onions for garnish, if desired.

Smoky Orange and Honey Barbecue Sauce

Estimated Cost: $2.00

Notes: Set aside half of the sauce to pass at the table. Always be careful to not dip any utensils in the sauce that have been in contact with raw meat juices. Just a little public service announcement. If you don't have a grill, you can dump all the sauce and a few chicken breasts into a crockpot. Yum!
3/4 ketchup

1/4 cup dijon

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup honey

2 tablesooons worcestershire

juice and zest of one orange

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon-1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in medium skillet. Simmer for fifteen minutes. Store in refrigerator for up to one month.

Up Next:

Chipster Topped Brownies

Chicken, Cheddar and Cornbread Salad with Homemade Ranch

When my sister Heidi and I were both pregnant with our boys in New York, I told you that we had daily cravings for chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars. What I didn't tell you was that in between our sweet treats, we'd cleanse the palate with a cool and refreshing cornbread salad. And what I also didn't mention was that it was the middle of February. In icy upstate New York. But we didn't care about such trivial things. (Our husbands were probably wishing for stew, but were smart enough to defer.) I'm never greedier for good food then when I'm pregnant, and the dropping thermometer wasn't going to interfere with my cravings, no sir. As much as I love this salad, now, 100 percent unpregnant, I save it for the golden summer months. And that time is now! Make some before it's time for apple crisps and PTA meetings and Trapper-Keeper folders. I promise that you'll love it, pregnant or 100 percent not.

Money Saving Tips: Plan on making this delectable salad as a way to use up some leftovers. Being creative with your leftovers is a practical way to save your food money, as well as your valuable time. Almost any kind of chopped leftover chicken will work well-even barbecued chicken. And of course, in the starring role is the leftover cornbread. Cut any leftover cornbread into 1 inch cubes and store them in the freezer for making this salad. Never, ever, ever throw out any cornbread. Hoard it for salads in the summer and for stuffing in fall and soup croutons in the winter. I've made this salad with from-scratch cornbread and from cornbread mixes as well, and loved them both, but Ina Garten's cornbread recipe is particularly toothsome here.

Chicken, Cheddar and Cornbread Salad with Homemade Ranch
Estimated Cost: $8.00
Notes: This is so versatile you could almost swap anything. The essential things are the cornbread and the ranch.
8 cups salad greens (I used romaine)
2 cups cornbread cubes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped fully cooked chicken (I used plain poached again)
1 cup canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen thawed
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red onion or scallions
1 large tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Homemade Buttermilk Ranch (scroll down for recipe)
Layer the above ingredients in the order listed on four individual plates. Drizzle with Ranch and serve.
Coming Tomorrow:
Chocolate Chip Cookie "Pizookies"

Leftover Bonus: Tangy Peach BarbecueChicken Cobb Salad

This morning I slept in and barely made it to 9:00 church. Hopeless sinner that I am, all I could think about was going back home and writing this post. I almost walked out in the middle of church. My husband is questioning my sanity. Either that, or he didn't want to sit through church alone with the kids.

I'm enjoying my double life as Prudence Pennywise. So, now I'm home from church, and instead of preparing lunch, or hanging up dresses, or making the unmade beds, I'm here. With you, loyal readers. Loyal readers, like Clumbsy Cookie, the amazing (and kind and encouraging)professional pastry chef, that gave me this new blog award.

I'll pass it on sometime this week. A million yummy thanks!

Now for those leftovers; if you followed along with our Fourth Of July menu, you may have some odds and ends for leftover in your fridge. I used mine to make this fun and very portable Cobb Salad. The blue cheese dressing from the red potato salad is positively heavenly atop the peach barbecue chicken and corn cut from the cob. I also added a sliced peach, which may sound odd, but actually adds a lovely balanced sweetness. If you don't have leftover blue cheese dressing, use any dressing you wish, but you may want to add some cheese to the salad.

Tangy Peach Barbecue Chicken Cobb Salad

Estimated Cost: $4.00 for four servings

Notes: Pack some up for a work lunch for Monday. No need to measure amounts; use as much or as little as you like.

salad greens

leftover Peach Barbecue Chicken, or other barbecue chicken

corn, cut from the cob, or frozen, thawed

sliced cucumbers

chopped red onion or scallions

chopped tomato

sliced peach or apricot

Homemade blue cheese dressing or other dressing

Place greens in a bowl and top with above ingredients in separate small sections. Cover with dressing just before serving.

Coming Tomorrow:

The Best and EASIEST No-Cook Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream

Plus a Meme Tag for me