Eclair Cake the Huge Open Faced Eclair!

                                                                                

I love Eclairs & this cake which is really just an open faced giant Eclair sounded intriguing  to me. Most recipes for this call for boxed puddings & chocolate ice cream topping but why go to the trouble of making that buttery Eclair crust & then fill it with imitation fillings. This cake is the real deal no shortcuts about it but BOY is it worth it! Slice into a square of Eclair Heaven! 

CRUST:
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Butter
4 Large Eggs
1/4 TSP Salt
1 Cup Flour
Melt butter in the water by bringing it to a boil. Add salt & flour all at once stirring to get a smooth dough that comes together. Pull of the heat & let come to a slightly warm temp. Now stir in eggs one at a time stirring hard to get dough to come together. It will & it does just work it! Now LIGHTLY & I mean LIGHTLY spray a glass 9x13 pan with a cooking spray like PAM. Plop dough in the pan & work it out & up the sides of the pan about 1/2 inch cover the bottom & sides. You will want the bottom thinner than the sides. Now bake in a 400 degree oven checking at 20 minutes & should be done in 30 minutes give or take. You want a nice brown crust but not dark! This will puff up & look lovely!. Now let cool. 
FILLING:
2/3 Cup Sugar
2 TBS Flour
2 TBS Cornstarch/1/2 TSP Salt
Stir all of the above together. Now add 3 cups whole milk & stir over medium heat until thick & bubbly! Beat 2 egg yolks together. add a little of the hot pudding a little at a time until you have about 1 cup of egg & pudding & then add this back into the pot. Cook & stir until smooth & thick. Remove from heat & add 2 TSP Vanilla & beat again! Let cool completely in the frig! Once cold beat 1 Cup heavy cream until whipped & STIFF peaks form.                                                 

Now fold this into your cold pudding! DELISH! Now fill your crust with this amazing pudding!
                                                             

 Mix up the chocolate gloss for the final step.
CHOCOLATE GLOSS:
1 Cup Sugar
3 TBS Cornstarch
2 OZ. Unsweetened Chocolate
Dash of Salt
3 TBS Butter
1 TSP Vanilla
1 Cup Water
Stir Cornstarch, sugar & salt together in a deep sauce pan. Add water & chocolate & cook over medium heat until thick & bubbly. Remove from heat & stir in butter & vanilla until smooth!  
                                                        

Let cool to warm & then spread over the Eclair filling. CHILL & SERVE you will WOW them with this one!
                                                                              

When I serve this tonight for my Dad's birthday I will add a photo of the serving portion so you may see it for yourself!

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HAM & CABBAGE a One Pot Meal!

                                                                               

I made this dish to use up my leftover Easter Ham but that was not the only reason, it is DELICIOUS TOO! Easy & a one pot clean-up makes it another cooks favorite!

3 LBS Ham Bone in Preferred
Water to cover
1 LB Baby Carrots or Carrots that you peel & cut into quarters
8 Medium Sized Potatoes Peeled
Cabbage enough for 2 wedges per person ( I used 1/2 head of cabbage for mine)
2 Medium Onions Peeled & coarsely Chopped
Place ham in a deep pot & cover with water. Cover with lid & cook about 1 & 1/2 hours to get good broth. Remove ham from the pot so it cools enough for you to remove meat from the bone & cut into large meaty chunks remove the fat & skin. Set meat aside while you cook the next part. Back into the pot add the onions, potatoes & carrots, make sure you have enough broth to keep them covered, if not add more water, cook until almost completely cooked thru about 40 minutes. Now add the meat back into the pot & the cabbage that you cored & cut into serving size wedges. Make sure there is enough broth to cover the carrots & potatoes. Cover with a lid & cook on a nice simmer until cabbage is soft about another 20 minutes. Serve big helpings with lots of broth ladled over the serving. Dollop with pats of butter & salt & pepper to taste! OH BOY!  

Make Ahead Company Mashed Potatoes

                                                                                 

Everyone has their version of this casserole so I thought I would add mine to this blog! So GOOD TOO!

8 Large Potatoes Peeled & boiled until soft!
1, 8oz. Cream Cheese Softened
1 Stick of Butter Softened
1 Cup Sour Cream
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella  Cheese
1 TSP Salt added to the potatoes while boiling
1 TBS Chopped Chives
2 TSP Minced Garlic
1 TBS Parsley
1 TSP Pepper I use white pepper
Paprika to sprinkle over the top!
Grease a 9x13 casserole dish. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cook potatoes in boiling salted water until soft. Drain well & mash. Add the cream cheese & mash again. Add butter, sour cream & seasonings & mash ( I use my electric mixer so these are really whipped potatoes! Pile loosely in the casserole & cover with aluminum foil & freeze until needed. Thaw & sprinkle the top with parsley, paprika & more chives if you desire! Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until lightly browned on top.   DELICIOUS! You may leave out the shredded cheese or switch it up with Cheddar or Swiss. Add bacon bits to the potatoes to jazz this up ! ENDLESS OPTIONS!!
                                                                                    

Stuffed Peppers Judy's Foodies Style!

Stuffed Peppers are a favorite at our house but we like them made differently, no problem really it isn't! Use 2 casserole dishes & bake them in different liquids & EVERYBODY is HAPPY! Follow the recipe below for the stuffing for the peppers just omit one ingredient for the tomato based pepper OR leave it in because cheese is ALWAYS a GOODY! Anyway just see the recipe you will get the idea!

For the beef based peppers:
1 & 1/2 LBS Ground beef LEAN
1 onion
1 cup cooked white rice
1 TBS Parsley Flakes
1 & 1/2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
5 Medium Sized raw Green Peppers slice off the tops & hollow out the seeds. Save the top cut out the stem so you have a circle.
Mix all the ingredients except the broth & the peppers together, place pepper bottoms in a deep casserole dish. Stuff with the beef mixture. Pour broth into the bottom. Cover with the green pepper tops. Cover casserole dish with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour & 35 minutes. Serve ! This makes 5 regular size peppers or 3 HUGE peppers. Picture shows recipe using the huge peppers!

For The Tomato Based Peppers:
1 & 1/2 LBS Ground Turkey or Beef LEAN
Same as above except instead of broth use 1 large can chopped tomatoes including broth. Pour tomatoes & juice over the peppers cover & bake like above! 

As you can see these are HUGE FILLED to the BRIM with GOOD STUFF!                                                                                 


                                                                                 

Authentic & Easy Irish Soda Bread!

Today we sat down to an authentic Irish meal of Corned Beef & Cabbage with this lovely loaf of Soda Bread! I never made Soda Bread before but it is SO EASY & a nice change from biscuits or Italian Bread! Enjoy a loaf you will be GLAD you did!                                                                                









3&1/.2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 TSP Baking Soda
3/4 TSP Sea Salt
1 & 1/2 Cups Buttermilk ( if you do not have buttermilk, just add 1 TBS lemon juice to regular milk & it works just like buttermilk!) I did that for this loaf!

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees. Lightly flour your cookie sheet. In a deep bowl mix flour & salt. In a separate deep bowl mix buttermilk & baking soda. This will foam up very high so you will need that deep bowl. Now stir enough of the wet into the dry just until you get moist clumps. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface & knead for one minute or so until all is combined. Turn dough out onto your cookie sheet & pat into a approx. 6 inch round that is 2 inches high. Cut a deep X into the top reach almost to the edge of the dough.

                                                                                 

 Bake for about 35 minutes until dough sound hollow when you tap on it & it has a nice brown color. Serve warm with lots of butter & if you are me with lots of jam or honey! This version is the true Irish Soda Bread not the sweetened American version! 

DELICIOUS! 

                                                                        

Crispy Chicken Fingers Oven Baked

Delicious Chicken Fingers & baked NOT fried! Moist & juicy with lots of flavor. These will please!

4 Chicken Tenders per person
1 & 1/2 Bread Crumbs
1 Cup Flour
2 eggs beaten with a 1/2 cup milk
1 TSP of each of the following:
Sea salt
Parsley
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Ground Sage
White Pepper or Black if you prefer
1/4 Vegetable oil
Place oil in a large lipped cookie sheet. Spread oil out to coat the pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
 Stir all the seasonings into the bread crumbs.  Wet each chicken tender with water. Dip in flour then dip in egg & milk mixture. Now coat with the bread crumb mixture & place in the oiled pan. Spread them out so the do not touch each other. Bake for 15 minutes then turn them over & bake for another 8 minutes. They should come out crispy & browned.  

                                                                         



  Serve hot & with honey, BBQ Sauce or Ranch Dressing for dipping! This coating was enough for 18 large tenders!
 

You may pan fry these for an EXTRA crunchy tender but baking takes a lot less oil & these are CRUNCHY!