Cinnamon Ginger Apple Cake

 

Apples = September/Fall for me.  It's the start of the school year so everyone thinks of giving an apple to the teacher.. well they used to do that in the olden days. It's also apple harvesting time and you can find a beautiful bounty of apples to chose from these days.  My favorite apples are Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, McIntosh and Gala.  I got a good deal on Golden Delicious apples the other day at the grocery store so I decided to throw some into a cake.  This cake tasted like apple pie.  I was thrilled to bits because husband and mother both flipped for this cake.  I love when people react like that to something I make... especially something I baked.   I think I will have to make this easy cake recipe many more times to celebrate fall this year.

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
** ingredients on box cake mix.  I always substitute milk for the water in the recipe.
2 cups (peeled and diced) golden delicious apples
1 Tbs ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

Topping:
sliced apples
1/4 cup brown sugar
2-3 Tbs cold butter

Directions:

 Mix cake batter and add ground spices.  The fold in the two cups of apples.   Grease or spray a bundt cake pan well.  If you decided to do the optional topping mix the cold butter and brown sugar.  Place the mixture on the bottom of the bundt pan. Arrange apples slices around bundt pan as shown.

Pour batter over apples in pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes.  Mine was done at 50 minutes.  Test with a wooden skewer or a butter knife near the center of the bundt to check.  Allow cake to cook in pan for 30 minutes and then invert onto cake plate.  Enjoy.

 

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Kitchen Simmer formerly known as Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

Pizza Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Pasta

 

This dish was a bit of an experiment.  I knew I wanted to make a stuffed chicken dish, but I also wanted to wrap bacon around chicken.  So I put all those steps into one dish.  I decided at the last minute to cook the chicken in the sauce and toss the pasta in the sauce.  That was pretty fabulous because it made a wonderful and flavorful side dish.  This meal got a thumbs up from everyone at the table. 

 

Ingredients:
5-6 boneless chicken breast
5-6 slices of good quality bacon
25-30 slices of pepperoni
5-6 slices fresh mozzarella
1 large jar spaghetti sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
red chili flakes to taste
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 Parmesan cheese
1 box pasta cooked in salted water until al dente

Directions:

Butterfly chicken open by using knife to cut through the middle of the breast, but not all the way through.  Season inside of chicken with some salt and black pepper.  Layer some pepperoni slices and sliced mozzarella cheese.  Fold over and enclose the pepperoni and cheese inside the chicken.

 Take a slice of bacon and wrap around chicken.  Pour pasta sauce into baking dish with garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil and red chili flakes.  Place bacon wrapped chicken into dish.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 55 minutes or chicken is cooked through.

Remove baked chicken from cooked sauce and toss cooked pasta in sauce with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

** If you don't the bacon grease, use a spoon to skim out the grease (it will be floating on the top) before tossing the pasta.    

Eat stuffed chicken with pasta.  Enjoy.

 



Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.