Cranberry Chicken

We're having cranberry chicken for dinner tonight. It's delicious. You can find the recipe here, courtesy of my friend Alyssa. Try it, it's yummy!

Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

This is actually the first Bundt cake I've made. Go me, right?

What You'll Need:

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

3 cups peeled, finely chopped cooking apple (I ran four peeled and cored Granny Smiths through my food processor. You could also use a box grater.)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

A handful of raisins (optional)

For the Glaze:

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 tbsp evaporated milk

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs in a bowl at medium speed until creamy. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon with a whisk; add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, beating well. Stir in the apple and pecans (and raisins, if using.) Pour the batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until the cake passes the toothpick test. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Place a serving platter on the pan, and turn the whole thing upside down to remove the cake. Combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring constantly, for about two minutes or until the butter is melted. Drizzle the glaze over the cake (it will be a heavy drizzle!)

Garlic-Parmesan Chicken

I made this a week or two ago with some spaghetti and pasta sauce. It was quite yummy.

What You'll Need:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup dry bread crumbs

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried basil leaves

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded flat

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish. In a bowl, blend the olive oil and garlic. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan, basil, and pepper. Dip each chicken piece in the oil mixture, then in the bread crumb mixture (roll the chicken around in the crumbs to ensure that it's well coated.) Arrange the chicken in the prepared baking dish, and, if you like, sprinkle with some of the remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink and its juices run clear.