Texas Size Pecan Banana Crumb Muffins

I have always loved muffins but was afraid to make them.  Yes, I know I have always wanted to make them.  Those nice big fat bakery style muffins that you find in the bakery windows.  They make the entire house smell delicious.  I decided to tackle the task and experiment with flour and goodness.   Of course I had some ripe bananas and I didn’t want to make the traditional banana pudding.  I love cooking, but I also didn’t want to make overly sweet muffins.  Just enough to chomp down as you watch your favorite episode of the Walking Dead or whatever you watch.

Ingredients

 
Muffins

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 5-ripe bananas
• 2.25 oz bag of Pecan Chips
• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup butter

Topping

• ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 4 tbsp flour
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2-tbsp pecan chips {{Optional}}

Utensils

• Texas Size Muffin Pan
• Jumbo baking cups
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• Fork
• 2-Medium bowls
• 1-Small bowl

Part 1: Prep

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Peel and mash the 5-ripe bananas in the medium bowl.

Lightly heat butter till it’s soft.

Part 2: Combination

In second medium bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and sugar.

Combine that with the mashed bananas

Combine the butter and eggs in the now empty medium mixing bowl and beat the eggs and butter together.

Combine that in the banana flour bowl and mixed thoroughly

Add the pecan chips

Mix again till it’s all even

Topping

In the small mixing bowl combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and soft butter.  You may add the pecan chips {{optional}}

Part 3: Baking

Place the Baking cups in the Texas Size muffin pans. 

Fill the muffins batter to half way

Cover with brown sugar topping

Bake for 20-minutes or until brown.

They came out exactly how I was hoping and very yummy :)

Happy cooking

~Irenia Guajardo~

Hellz Writer's Bacon Cheeseburger

For those of you that watch shows like Diners, Drive ins and Dives.  You may have seen those juicy burgers that can take 2-people to eat.  Maybe you have gone to that great hamburger joint that makes their burgers so big and juicy.  Yet, when you go home to make your burger, it tends to be this tiny little patty.  Hardly any flavor and it's dry. Yes, I know.  I have made those tiny little patties.  Which made me seek new ways to make food better.  Before I started to watch the Food Network, I was always experimenting with food.  Call me a self taught Chef.  I love food and if you really enjoy cooking....you will always find ways to cook it better.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs of hamburger meat
• 1 lb Italian sausage {{Optional}}
• 1 package of bacon
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp ground cilantro {{One cube}}
• 1 tbsp Garlic salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp caldo de pollo with tomato
• Buns {{I prefer the wheat kind}}
• Tomatoes
• Cheese {{Optional}}
•  Avocados {{Optional}}
• Onions

Utensils 

• Cutting board
• Measuring spoons
• Knife
• Plate
• Frying pan
• Bowl
• Spatula

Part 1: Prep

• In the bowl put the hamburger meat, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic salt, caldo de pollo, black pepper and ground cilnatro.  {{Optional: Italian sausage}}
• Mixed all the stuff together and let it marinate
• Grab your cutting board and knife onto a clean surface.  Cut your onions, avocados and tomatoes.  Place those on a clean plate

Part 2: Combination

• Wipe off your cutting board and take a handful of marinated hamburger meat
• Place the marinated hamburger meat on the cutting board.
• Form in a circular motion a patty.  Slowly pressing down. Smooth out any cracks, but keep forming it.
• Open your package of bacon
• Grab a strip of bacon. Stretch out the bacon.  Wrap the bacon around the hamburger patty.  Use a secondary bacon strip.  
• Grab 2-more strips of bacon and stretch it.  But go in the opposite direction.
• Repeat this for the remainder of your marinated meat.

Part 3: Cooking

• Cook until bacon is cooked your way.  Either crispy or soft.
• Add your choice of cheese until melted.
• Dress up your burger the way you want.  With tomatoes, avocados and onions or onion rings and whatever else you want.   

Serve with your choice of onion rings, french fries or whatever else you want.
I know I have cooked this hamburger in several different ways.  With cheese and with out.   Using the Italian sausage in it and using jalepenos in it.  So many different ways to make it.  But of course the basic recipe of it allows the hamburger to have so much flavor to it.  I know I have sauteed mushrooms in the grease of hamburgers allowing the flavor to soak into it.  My suggestion is to share with someone because this cheeseburger/hamburger can feed two people.  You will be full.  So either be starving or share.

Happy cooking

~Irenia Guajardo~

Crispy Onion Rings

Have you gone to a restaurant and had their onion rings and thought they're out of this world??  Yet when you go home and try to make them but have no idea how they make it so yummy. You buy those frozen onion rings and they just have that frozen taste to them.  Even going to those fast food places just have that frozen taste about them.  You can honestly pull out the onion from the batter.  There is just something not that great.  I have experimented with different things to getting that wonderful crispy onion rings that you can make at home.


Ingredients

• 1 Onion
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp seasoning salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cups of bread crumbs or cracker crumbs
• 4 cups peanut oil

Utensils  

• Measuring cup
• Teaspoon
• Tablespoon
• 3 bowls
• wire rack 
• Foil
• plate
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Whisk
• Pot
• fork

 Part 1: Prep

• Grab your onion and peel off the outer skin.  Wash your onion.
• Place your cutting board and knife on a clean counter.
• Slice the ends off your onion.  
• Cut your onion in nice thick slices {{about 1/4 inch thick}}
• Place your onion slices in a water bowl to let them soak in some water
• Crush your crackers into crumbs {{Unless you using bread crumbs}}
• Place the oil into your pot.  Heat till it reaches 350 degrees

Part 2: Combing

• Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, garlic in to a bowl
• Drain the onions and dust each one in the flour mixture
• Combine the egg, milk and seasoning salt and into the flour mixture creating the batter
• Set up your wire rack with the foil underneath.

Part 3: Cooking

• Coat your dusted onion rings into the batter and place them on the rack to allow drain the excess batter
• Coat them in the crumbs
• Slowly place each onion ring into the oil and let it fry till they are golden brown. 
• Place them on a paper towel to soak any excess oil.
• Repeat till all your onion rings are completed. 

**Helpful Hints**The cracker crumbs gave my onion rings an extra crunch.  Of course you can play with the seasoning.  I know not everyone has a fryer or a thermometer to tell you how hot your oil is in your pot.  Best thing is to drop a little batter and see it bubble up. Then you know it's ready.  Make sure that you are either working alone or having someone monitor the pot.  You don't want to be careless with hot oil around...

One thing about cooking is have fun....experiment with spices and you'll create a flavor you'll love

~Irenia Guajardo~

Simple Cake Flour Recipe

A lot of recipes call for a cake flour, but naturally your local grocery store isn't always going to carry cake flour.  Why??  Because 80% of the people buy already made cake mixes.   All you add is eggs and oil.  Yet what about those people that love to actually cook from scratch and in your cook book it states "Cake flour".  If you are like me..the first thing you would do is head to the store. Again...like I mentioned.  There is no cake flour at the store.
I was frustrated. But I wanted to know what on earth is cake flour and is it possible to make a batch at home. I search through recipe books on creating an old fashion cake. The one thing I noticed in these old fashion recipes is cornstarch. 
Viola!!

Simple Cake Flour Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  1/4 cup cornstarch

Utensils

• Large Bowl
• Tablespoon measuring spoon
• 1-cup measuring cup

Part 1: Combination

1. Grab your ingredients and place them on a clean surface
2. To gently even out the starch and flour ration.  Place the 2-tbsp of cornstarch in the bottom of the 1-cup measuring cup.
3. Fill the rest cup of with the all-purpose flour.
4. Pour in the bowl or a container
5. Repeat the process until you make 2-cups of cake flour.

This simple cake flour recipe will always be a gem to have on hand when you come across that "Cake flour" in your recipe.  Have fun and happy baking

~Irenia Guajardo~

Hellz Writer's Tres Leches Cake

The name tres leche means three milk, because of the 3-different milks that are used to soak into the cake.
The one thing I have heard about the Tres Leches cake is that many people say the same thing. Some love it and some really don't think it's sweet enough.  Now that is where the challenge began.
To create a Tres Leches that everyone can appreciate. When I first created it...it made a 8" inch circle cake pan.  Just one and well that wasn't enough to feed everyone.  I went back and recreated this sweet recipe
Naturally when you make a cake via a package...you tend to loose a lot of the home cooked feel to it.  I think a lot of people get afraid of trying new things, even though they want to try new things




~Hellz Writer's Tres Leche Cake Recipe~


Ingredients
Cake

• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 6 large eggs
• 2/3 cups oil
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• Strawberries **Optional**

Creamy Sauce

• 12 oz. Evaporated milk
• 14 oz. Sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Whipped topping

• 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp sugar

Utensils

• 2 ~9x13 pans **try to use baking pan that is slightly smaller than the other dish**
• Variety of measuring cups
• A large mixing bowl
• 4 ~Medium sized mixing bowls
• A whisk
• Hand held blender
• Cutting mat
• Can opener
• Knife

  

  Picture A

Directions

Part 1: Prep

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.  
2. Grab all your ingredients and utensils and place them on a clean surface
3. Pour the 12 oz. Evaporated milk, 14 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk, and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream in to a medium size mixing bowl.
4. Use the whisk and mix the milks together.  Don't over whisk.
5. Place the 3-milks mixture in the refrigerator to chill.
6. **Optional** Wash and dry strawberries.  

• Grab mat and knife. Thinly slice all but 5 of the biggest strawberries {{Set aside}}.
• Place them in a medium sized bowl.
• Grab 5 the left over strawberries and add thin slices to them, but not all the way to the top. This will allow you to fan the strawberry {{Picture A}}
• Place these 5 fanned strawberries into strawberry bowl.  Place in refrigerator

Part 2: Combination

1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon into the large mixing bowl. Whisk it all together.
2. Combine the eggs, oil, and vanilla into the medium mixing bowl.  Whisk them till they are combined together.
3. Gently fold the egg mixture with the flour
4. Slowly add the milk into the flour

Part 3: Baking

1. Grab your 9x13 and lightly grease it
2. Pour the cake batter {{I preferred to use the smaller baking pan, because you will be soaking}}
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until your toothpick comes out clean
4. Allow your cake to cool at room temperature for about 20-minutes
5. Grab your second pan and flip your cake into it.  
6. Pierce cake with a fork 10 to 20 times
7. Pour 1/2 the 3-milk cream sauce on to the cake
8. Refrigerate for about 30-minutes.
9. Pull cake out and pour the other 1/2 of the 3-milk cream sauce on to the cake.
10. Refrigerate for another hour. Spooning the cream sauce on it during the hour

 Part 4: Whipped topping

1. Combine heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla into medium mixing bowl
2. Beat on high till you have peaks forming.
3. **Optional** add a thin layer of strawberries on top of the cake
4. Spoon whipped topping in a circular motion{{if you are using strawberries, this way it won't spill over}}.  All over top of cake
5. Refrigerate cake for 20-minutes
6. **Optional** add the fanned strawberries in each corner and one in the center

This cake was a lot of fun to make.  Especially when you hear those that don't like Tres Leches cake and seeing them go back for seconds. Now that is the greatest compliment to ever receive.
I always love a challenge and trying new things, especially the yummy batter....it was so good to lick up.


~Irenia Guajardo~

DIY: Garlic infused Olive oil

This is for those that love garlic, but don't want to spend all that high money on garlic infused olive oil.  Yes, it is a great idea and it is wonderful in cooking, but why spend $8 for a single bottle.  If you are like me, then that bottle is gone in no time.   I decided to make my own.  This is a pretty simple recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of Olive Oil {{You pick}}
• 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic 

Instructions:

• Mince garlic cloves.  I love garlic so the more the merrier, but I tend to stop at 2-cloves.  When I mean mince I mean cutting the cloves of garlic to small pieces.  No mincing is perfect.  We are not on a cooking show.  But  you will be stuffing these pieces down the opening of the bottle. Determine how big or small you want to mince.
• Once minced.  Open the bottle of olive oil.  Naturally you will be placing your garlic pieces inside of the bottle.
• Shake hard or other words vigorously.  Shake it like you are mad at some one. 
• I prefer to let it set in a cool dark place.  I shake it once a day.  
• After 7-days, your garlic infused olive oil shall be ready to be used in your cooking. 

Please play around for your desired flavor.   I know 2-cloves can be much since I live in Salinas, Ca and Gilroy, {{the garlic capital of the world} is right around...well about 30-minutes away.  That is why I stated fresh garlic.  Elephant garlic has a very sweet taste to it.  If you know about garlic then you can always find the flavor you are looking for.

**Be creative** Add Thyme or Rosemary to your garlic flavored olive oil or make several different kinds.  Stores sell fresh herbs, go ahead and add them to your creations.  I have a rosemary and thyme garlic infused olive oil and it took the same amount of time.  You have to shake it every day to help swish the olive oil around, but the smell and flavor is fantastic.

Always have fun with cooking.....

~Irenia Guajardo~

S'mores Cookie recipe

 My sister had informed me of this wonderful annual tradition of hers, a cookie bake off.  Her and her 4-children would compete on the best cookie recipe.  As I pondered and pondered this, I thought why not.  Create my own creative cookie recipe.  After all this is what this blog is about....savory creations that happen in the home or out about in the world.
I have an absolute love for S'mores, but sadly it is a seasonal treat, not unless you are like me and become the evil mad scientist in the house.  I truly don't recommend trying the evil mad scientist one by yourself, best to have two or more people.  I have decided to try and create my version of a S'more smacked right in to your cookie, Hellz Writer style.  Granted it may not be an award winning at the Hensarling annual cookie bake off, but it sure can win smiles.

This will be a 3-part cookie recipe.

~Hellz Writer's S'more Cookie Recipe~

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs or 7-graham crackers
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 bag Marshmallows  
• Baking spray

 Utensils

• 2 large bowls
• Whisk
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• Glass cup
• Spatula 
• Baking sheets
• Melon baller {{you can buy one at Wal~Mart or your local 99 cents store}}

Directions:

Part 1: Prep

1. Grab all your things that are needed and place them on a clean surface. 
2. Grab your 7 whole graham cracker slices and place them in a large bowl. Grab a cup with a flat bottom, I used a glass cup and grind the graham crackers till there is no cracker chunks
3. Heat oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), best to have it nice and hot.
4. Depending on the marshmallow, large ones need to be cut in half

 Part 2: Combination

1. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in to the graham cracker flour and use a whisk to blend it all together
2. In the second bowl, place the softened butter in it {{I cheated and heated till it was liquid}}
3. Add sugars, using whisk to stir together . 
4. Blend in egg and vanilla. 
5. Add combined egg mixture into graham cracker mixture.
6. **Optional** You may add nuts or chocolate pieces at your discretion

Part 3: Baking

1. Grab your cookie sheets and spray them
2. Wash your hands again, please
3. Now I have read recipes where they tell you to use a teaspoon and yet they seem to never come out looking like the recipe.  Grab the melon baller that you bought and grab doughfuls, but enough to make balls.  
4. I would roll the dough in to balls and place them on the cookie sheet.  12-balls per sheet, which could equal to 3-inches apart.
5.  Bake in oven 8 minutes 
6. **Optional** For single S'mores cookie~*~
   In the middle of bake time...ie 4 minutes, press 2 or 3 chocolate pieces on top of cookie.
   Place back in oven for remainder of the 4-minutes.
   Remove and place the cut marshmallow on top
   Place back in oven till top of marshmallow is golden.
7.  Remove out of oven and allow to cool on baking sheet.
8. Flip the cookies over and find the right matches
9. In the picture shown, I used small marshmallows.  Use anywhere from 2 to 4 marshmallows depending on the cookie size.
10. Place chocolate in the middle.
11. Put back in the oven for about a minute or two.
12. Remove from oven and place tops on.  
13. Squish the tops down, Place them back in oven for about another 2 minutes.
14. Cool on sheet about 3 minute and remove to wire racks. 

Yes there looks like a lot of steps but the fact is, all recipes have a lot of steps that people don't seem to tell you.  I even went above and beyond and decided to make a pretty S'more cookies and cheated by buying premade chocolate and vanilla drizzle.  Of course I did make some chocolate and vanilla drizzled cookies.  

Hope you enjoy making these cookies.  They were a lot of fun for me to make.  Guinea pig the roommates I live with and they enjoyed all 4 versions of this yummy cookie.

~Irenia Guajardo~