Again, not a cookie recipe, but... so good! Note: You prepare this overnight and refrigerate it to bake in the morning. Perfect when you have overnight guests!

French Toast Souffle (serves 4 - can be doubled or tripled!)

4 oz. croissants
2 oz. butter
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
5/8 cup maple syrup (divided)
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
cinnamon, to taste
2 TBSP pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Tear croissants into 1/2 inch chunks. Pulse in food processor until coarsely chopped.
2. Butter 8x8 inch mold (I use a Pyrex dish approx. this size). Spread croissant pieces evenly in bottom.
3. With a mixer at low speed, blend together butter and cream cheese. Add 2 TBSP maple syrup. Gently drop spoonfuls over croissant pieces. (just dollop it on and try to be as even as possible)
4. Beat eggs. Add half-and-half and 1/4 cup maple syrup. Gently pour into pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
5. Bake, uncovered, at 350F until browned and nearly set (center will jiggle a bit, but not too much) about 45 minutes to an hour. Sprinkle pecans on top about 5 minutes before removing from oven.

Mod Note: Our recipe sharing has become so popular I thought I would move the above post and start a new thread. I hope you don't mind, Mere! ~ Sonja

Egg and Cheese Strata

12 slices thin sliced bread
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
5 large eggs, slightly beaten

Butter bread and cut in strips. Layer in glass loaf pan alternating with the cheeses. Add seasonings to milk and mix together with eggs. Pour over bread and let stand in refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350° until lightly browned and puffed, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. A knife inserted into the center should come out clean.

Cinnamon Sticky Buns

Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (105° to 115°)
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 TBSP unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
3 large egg yolks
1 TBSP finely grated orange zest
1 1/4 tsp salt
4 to 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Filling:
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 TBSP ground cinnamon
4 TBSP unsalted butter

Topping:
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 TBSP unsalted butter
3 TBSP honey
1 TBSP light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans

1. Make the dough. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine warm water, yeast and 1 tsp. sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Here's a good photo and description of what the yeast should look like after several minutes.

Add milk, butter, remaining sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, salt and 3 cups flour. Mix on low speed until blended. Switch to a dough hook and then, again on low speed, slowly incorporate the remaining 1 cup of flour. Increase speed to medium, kneading dough until smooth and slightly sticky (adding a little more flour if too wet), 3 to 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large, buttered bowl. Turn dough over in bowl to coat with the butter from the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour (or 2 hours if not in an entirely warm place). After the dough has risen, punch down. Turn out onto a lightly floured cutting board and let sit 20 minutes.

2 Make the filling. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt butter; keep separate.

3 Roll dough out into a 12" x 18" rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Starting with the long side, roll dough into a cylinder. Place seam side down on a flat surface and cut crosswise into 15 slices.

4 Make the topping. In a 1-quart saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, honey and corn syrup over low heat; stir until sugar and butter are melted. Pour mixture into a greased 9" x 13" pan and sprinkle pecans on top.

5 Place dough slices, flat side down, on top of prepared topping. Crowd them so they touch. Cover with plastic wrap, leaving room for the buns to rise, and refrigerate overnight.

6 Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature while the oven preheats. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake buns until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove pan from oven and immediately (and carefully as not to spill hot topping on your toes!) invert onto a serving tray or baking dish. Let buns cool slightly and serve warm.

I'm a big fan of the egg, so I tried out your Strata recipe last weekend (but instead of using a loaf pan I made mini stratas in ramekins, and I used Havarti because it was the only melty cheese I had in the fridge). Very tasty, thank you mere.

I can't bake worth a s**t, somehow anything with yeast or baking soda in it always goes horribly wrong if I'm involved. I have managed to make fresh pasta on a number of occasions, but there's no yeast in that... so it doesn't count (I bought one of those neat hand-cranked pasta machines at Linens & Things. A much better deal than the over priced doo-dads at Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table, but I have to admit I do love wandering around really high end cooking supply stores and drooling over the knife selections).

I'm definitely going to get out the ol' baking pan and give those sticky buns a shot (probably followed by swearing and the smell of burning sugar).

Here's a dish that I've been making for my family since I lived in New Mexico, though it's more old Mexico inspired:


Chicken Verde


Chicken & stuffing:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
10 to 12 brown button, or shiitake mushrooms... (depending on size. You'll need about a cup and a half once sauteed).
3 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1/2 t. Mexican Oregano
olive oil
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese (grate at least a cup, you'll use more later)
1 pinch 'o Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper (to taste)

"Suiza" sauce:
1 can salsa verde (I use the "Valdez" brand which can be found in the Mexican food section at just about any local Mega-mart, but any green salsa will do. Or make your own if you're feeling ambitious some weekend day. It's fun!).
juice of 1 lime (once again, to taste. I like it kinda limey)
3 T. cream

Calabasitas:
1 zucchini
1/2 yellow onion
2 T. cream
1/8 t. fresh ground nutmeg

Garnish:
Chopped scallions and a couple tablespoons of crumbled feta cheese

1). Make stuffing: Heat a saute pan to medium high. Clean and remove stems from mushrooms, then finely dice them, the shallot and crush the garlic. Add a drizzle of oilve oil to the pan, and saute the mushrooms until they reduce in size about half. Add the diced shallot, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and continue sauteing until the onion is translucent and the garlic is softened (avoid crispy browning 'em). Scrape into a bowl, mix in the Monterey Jack cheese, and set aside to cool a bit.

2). Prepare the chicken: You can leave the breast pieces whole, or cut in half for smaller portions. Lay each piece flat on a cutting board, place a hand flat on top and using a thin boning knife parallel with the board, inset into chicken at the small end. Slowly work the knife towards the edge without cutting through, keeping the opening as small as possible. Flip over knife and go the other direction, this makes a neat little chicken pocket.

3). Fill each chicken pocket with the stuffing mixture. If you diced small, you can use a piping bag for this, or just stuff it in with a small spoon or your fingers. Not much comes out while cooking, but if you're a purist you can tie 'em shut. Lightly salt and pepper each side.

4). Make the sauce: In a Cuisinart, or with a stick blender (anything that high speed blends with blades), mix the salsa verde, lime juice and cream until smooth.

4a) Preheat oven to about 350° to 375°

5). Over medium to high heat, brown each side of the stuffed breasts, then transfer to a loaf pan, or baking dish with sides. Pour the suiza sauce over each one (I like to reserve a little), and transfer to oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, top wtih a little Monterey Jack cheese, and bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, depending on oven (just poke a little knife in it to see if it's still pink. if it's still pink, keep cookin' it).

6). While the chicken is cooking, coarse chop the zucchini and yellow onion. Saute over medium heat in the same pan you used for the stuffing and chicken (I like mine a wee bit firm inside). Reduce heat to low, salt and pepper to taste, add a tablespoon of cream and grind a bit of nutmeg on top. The cream will reduce and cling in a minute or so.

7). Once the chicken is done baking, plate with the calabasitas on the side (it looks nice on a cast iron fajita plate, and you can heat 'em a bit first in the oven to keep the food warm). Stir the sauce in the pan, and pour a little around the chicken. Garnish the top little bits of green onion and a few dashes of the crumbled feta.


Mmmmmm.... chicken verde.

Guys, these sound wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm going to break out some of my recipes and share soon, I promise.

A holiday season favorite of mine, Sweet Potato Pie

2 medium sweet potatoes (a pound to a pound and a half)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk (skim is fine)
3 large eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla (I use the pulp of one large pod)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg (I tend to use a bit more, also I grate my nutmeg fresh. Adjust to taste.)
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBS dark rum (Myers is my choice)
1 TBS all purpose flour
1 9-inch pie shell, blind baked as per crust (pie crust is a different recipe)

Preheat over to 400 degrees (200 C) with a shallow baking pan on the bottom rack.

Bake sweet potatoes and then cut off skins and mash into a large mixing bowl until smooth. Melt butter in a small sauce pan and stir in sugar. Then add this mixture to the sweet potatoes along with milk and eggs. Whisk this until it is smooth. The mixture will be runny, you're making a custard here. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and when well blended, pour into blind baked pie shell.

Carefully transfer pie to shallow baking pan on the bottom rack and add hot water to the pan.

Cook about 40 minutes, until the filling is just barely set. It will finish while cooling.

Cool on wire rack. To store, press plastic wrap tightly over the top of the filling and refrigerate. I've never had one last long enough in the house to go bad, but I figure a 2 week life span should be nominal with careful handling.

History: Although sweet potato pie is most often seen as a southern dish, this particular recipe has been traced back to depression/WWII era Southeast DC and the surrounding farmland by several sources.

Twist's pie made me think of something I made the other night. I'm actually trying to DIET during the holiday season. Which is very hard. But sometimes you can find low calorie alternatives that are good. The pie below is low and calories but still very tasty. It is also quick and easy.


Crustless Pumpkin Pie (Low-Calorie)

Ingredients

* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
* 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated skim milk
* 3/4 cup egg substitute
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1-2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2/3 cup splenda sugar substitute

Directions

1
Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.

2
Pour into 9-inch pie pan sprayed with cooking spray.

3
Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes; reduce temperature to 325 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes more.

4
Pie is done when knife inserted into center comes out clean.

Om nom nom,
All these recipes sound Delicious,
I'm gonna have to find a few recipes of my own to post here

i have some excellent recipes but not all of them have legal ingredients.
well this one came to me in a state of deleriousness
from a semi-demi-false-not-god
well the god came down to earth to bestow upon me a message
and it said: there is an order
and the order goes
bread
chocolate sauce
bacon
peanut butter (i like crunchy)
bread
and then it vanished
and many people agree that it is better than one would expect
but i love my sandwiches
i call them god sandwiches

anyone want to hear more recipes
i'll post my killer bean soup recipe some other time

Mere's non-alcoholic Green punch!

2 liters ginger ale
1 lg. container frozen lemonade
1 lg. can pineapple juice (chilled)
1 qt. lime sherbet

Stir together. The lime sherbet melts and makes a milky green punch with foam on top.

i have a good one that only takes 4.5 minutes

ingredients

2-3 slices of bread

a tin of baked beans

instructions
place bread in the toaster and toast until preferred level of brown. simultaneously place beans in microwaveable container and microwave for 2.5 mins at full power. after 2.5 mins stir beans and microwave for a further 2 mins.

Place toast on plate (I butter them) then pour beans over toast.

I call this baked beans on toast.

Cheese Omelette

2 eggs
2 Kraft fat free cheddar slices
3 tbsp cold water (aprox)

Optional:
A pinch of salt & pepper to taste
A splash of liquid egg whites


Combine 2 eggs, and optional ingrediants, in a bowl.
Heat a frying pan on medium. Pour eggs into pan. When the eggs start to bubble (like pancakes), put one slice of cheese on one half, then flip the other half to cover. Place the second slice on top.
Add the water to the empty half of the fry pan. Cover the pan with a pot lid (that fits the frying pan, of course). Continue cooking on medium heat.
When the water has cooked off, your omelette is ready!

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Grow or buy corn still in the husk. 2 per person.

Cut the silk end off of all the ears Do not remove husks! Don't do anything else to them!

Heat grill up to 500-600 degrees.

Put ears on the grill .

Roast 'em for 15 to 20 minutes rotating every 5 min or so.

Cook some sides if you care to like steak, chicken or veggie-kabobs.

Outer leaves will turn black and charred.

Put the ears on a cookie sheet while you're still outside and shuck the husks.

Add a little salt and real butter (for this margarine just won't do)

Eat all you can hold. Absolute ambrosia. Fit for the gods.

Sometimes I don't eat anything else.