Love at First Bite, The Unofficial Twilight Cookbook, Red Velvet Cake, Apple Walnut Cookies, Werewolf Chow, & Edward Cullen's Cornflake Chicken Recipes

 

When you write a cookbook bestseller, it’s like hitting a homerun. Problem with hitting a homerun is you never know if you’ll hit a homerun again. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make it past first base again, and there have been other homeruns, or at least to third base. The formula for cookbook writing success is always the same,  “write what you love.” The formula for recipe formation is, “create what you are interested in.” I’ve never written a recipe that didn’t fascinate me. I didn’t make up something in the kitchen that I didn’t want to eat or drink or share. Sure there have been some epic flops, like when I was eleven and I tried to make fortune cookies from scratch, but there have been a lot of successes too–and a lot of semi-homemade tricks and tips have moved me along the culinary bases. 

“Writing what you love” is a key ingredient to the success of a recipe.  Recipes are meant to be shared, like a box of See’s Candies.

Love at First Bite Cookbook

Red Velvet Cake

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 ounce liquid red food coloring

3/4 cup water

1 yellow cake mix, with pudding in the mix

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon butter

4 tablespoons buttermilk

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions: Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, mix cocoa powder, red food coloring, and part of the water to form a paste. Next, add all of the other ingredients except the white vinegar. Blend for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes with a mixer on medium speed. Then add the vinegar and mix with a spatula. Pour the batter into a bunt or round cake pan, and bake for approximately 35 minutes. This recipe can be made into cupcakes as well.

Apple Cinnamon and Walnut Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup shortening

1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup chopped California walnuts 

1 cup apples – peeled, cored and finely diced

1 cup raisins

¼ cup milk

1 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 ½ tablespoons half-and-half cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Beat shortening and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and blend thoroughly.

3. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

4. Stir half the dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir walnuts, apples, and raisins, then stir in remaining half of dry ingredients and milk. Mix well.

5. Drop from tablespoon 1 ½ inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in the preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minuets. Remove cookies from oven, place on racks to cool slightly, and while still warm, spread with glaze.

6. To make glaze: Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and enough cream to make glaze of spreading consistency. Beat until smooth. Spread on warm cookies.

How comfortable they seemed to be with their fate, here in this happy kitchen, none of these werewolves wanted the same fate for their friend.-Bella 

Werewolf Chow 

9 cups rice cereal, such as Chex brand 

1/4 cup butter or margarine 

1 cup chocolate chips, semisweet, or a combination of 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, not crunchy 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar Directions: Place the cereal in a large zip-seal bag. Next, microwave the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter or margarine for about 1 minute. If the mixture hasn’t melted, stir and place in microwave for another 20 to 30 seconds. Once melted, stir in the vanilla extract. Pour the chocolate chip–peanut butter mixture over the cereal; then add the powdered sugar and shake. Spread the mixture on waxed paper to cool.

 

Kevin, you are such a gourmand.-Pam, The Office TV Show I cooked my way through Julia Child’s Cookbook and now I am half way through the Twilight Cookbook. Last night, I cooked Edward’s Cornflake Chicken.-Kevin Malone, The Office TV Show 

Edward’s Cornflake Chicken 

10 drumsticks, washed 

3 cups of cornflake cereal, crushed

¼ cup of vegetable oil

Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Remove skin off of drumsticks and wash and dry chicken thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. In a large baking dish, pour oil and dip and roll chicken in the oil. In a large plastic sealed type bag, place 3 cups of cornflake cereal, salt and pepper to taste and seal. Make sure all air is out of the bag, and crush cornflakes with a wooden spoon or a rolling pin. Next, take drumsticks one at a time and place in the crushed cornflakes, reseal plastic bag and shake until chicken is thoroughly coated with the crushed cornflakes. Place chicken drumsticks in an ungreased 8 x 11.5 baking dish and bake for forty five minutes, uncovered. Serves 10.

Hash Brown Quiche

Hash Brown Quiche

A great ahead of time quiche, just simply refrigerate and reheat!

 3 cups frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 cup of of cottage cheese or sour cream

1/2 cup of butter

Filling of choice: green onion, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, bacon, ham, sausage

Seasoning: salt, pepper, garlic herb spice

1 cup of grated cheese (cheddar, Monterey jack, your choice)

Directions: Spread the butter in a 9-inch pie plate. Press hash browns onto the bottom and up the sides to serve as a crust. Melt any remaining butter and drizzle over the potatoes. Next, saute veggies, spread over hash browns, in a medium sized bowl, beat eggs, milk, sour cream, seasonings, and cheese, stir well. Pour over the filling. Bake in a 350 degree over for 55 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Let rest for five minutes before cutting into the hash brown quiche. 

Good gluten-free dish!

Bavarian Braised Red Cabbage with Red Wine & Turkey Bacon

 

As a cookbook author, I like exploring the different varieties of food & experiences. I had purchased red cabbage for my annual Christmas Eve homemade egg rolls, so I had leftover cabbage. Oh, what to do with red cabbage? Well, I need purple vegetables and so I took on the challenge instead of find a good tasty recipe,  so I was excited when I found a Bavarian Braised Red Cabbage with Apples and Bacon. I redid the recipe based upon what I had in the refrigerator, I actually had sauerkraut and didn't think of using it, but I would recommend using sauerkraut too if you are a fan.

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 medium sized red onion, finely chopped

4-5 strips of turkey bacon, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely diced

1 small head of red cabbage, shredded

2 Tablespoons of brown sugar

1/4 cup of red wine

1/4 cup of red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons finely grated orange or tangerine zest

1 teaspoon of orange or tangerine juice

1-2 cinnamon sticks

sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions: In a saucepan over medium heat, heat oil and add onion, stirring with a wooden spoon until onion is softened and next, add garlic, cook Turkey bacon, and add cabbage, wine, red wine vinegar. Also add brown sugar and stir often, then add orange zest and remaining ingredients including cinnamon sticks. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until cabbage is softened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.