Rounding out this month’s Sweet as Pie selection was this Hot Corn Dip from Trisha Yearwood.  Simple to prepare and delicious!  Here’s how it came together:

First I mixed together two cans of Mexican corn, two cans of diced green chiles, Monterey Jack and Parmesan cheeses, and some mayonnaise. Second, I baked it.  And that was it!  This was so quick and easy and could easily be made ahead of time to pop in the oven just before serving.  We enjoyed it with tortilla chips and the leftovers reheated well later in the week.  It had nice flavor without being at all spicy.  If you need an easy potluck party dish, this one is worth the minimal effort. 

For a lighter meal, we made this selection from the Sweet as Pie menu to serve alongside some broiled tilapia.  I love cucumbers and Phillip loves feta, but we didn’t love this dish.  It was a dud for us.  Here’s how it came together:

I cooked some brown rice and mixed it with feta, cucumber, olives, tomatoes, green onion, and corn (we skipped the chickpeas because, well, ewww). 

For the dressing, I mixed lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, mint, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Luckily, these sauteed baby bella mushrooms were delicious.

As easy as this was to throw together, it just didn’t have a flavor profile we were wild about.  It’s always hit or miss with us for Mediterranean/Greek recipes, and this one was just a miss.   Did anyone else have better luck?

I can’t say that I was too excited to see quiche back on the Sweet as Pie menu.  As some of you may recall, I’m not a fan of egg pie.  But, Phillip likes it and I’m not in the habit of skipping recipes, so I gave it a go.  Hands down, the most edible quiche I’ve ever had.  Some of the other club members questioned the number of eggs (only 6) used in this recipe that makes two pie-sized quiches, but I think that is what made it work for me.  Not too eggy!  Also, there’s a lot of cheese.  Here’s how it came together:

First, I browned a package of sausage with sage. 

Meanwhile, I halved 20 grape tomatoes and sprinkled them with salt, and whisked the six eggs with some baking powder.

Finally, I mixed the sausage, tomatoes, eggs, and cheese together with plenty of pepper and some garlic salt (the magic ingredient).  The filling went into two unbaked pie shells.

After about 30 minutes at 350 degrees:

This was super easy, inexpensive, and tasty.  I’d make it again, and probably will the next time we have some weekend guests.  I might even experiment with the ingredients – use a hot sausage, add some onion, switch to gueyere or another type of cheese, etc. – but I think I’ll keep the egg to non-egg ratio exactly the same.

This pick for the Sweet as Pie menu was a little different – instead of making a specific recipe, we were encouraged to try a new recipe or share an old favorite.  With a southern staple like banana pudding, it was sure to be a nice assortment of similar, but slightly different recipes.  I chose a recipe for Baked Banana Pudding from Alton Brown.  I’ve wanted to try it since catching his Good Eats episode on banana puddings.  Banana pudding is one of those things where it is perfectly acceptable to have a strong allegiance to a particular preparation.  In Phillip’s case, he is strongly entrenched in the cold banana pudding camp.  He might not care whether the pudding was once baked or not, but it definitely has to be cold.  I, on the other hand, really like a warm banana pudding.  I also like it cold.  Basically, I really like banana pudding as long as it’s not full of artificial banana flavoring (think bad buffet banana pudding).  This recipe was really good and not at all difficult to make.  Here’s how it came together:

First, I sliced three bananas and sprinkled them with a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.

Then, I combined sugar, flour, salt, half-and-half, and egg yolks to make the pudding.  This required a few minutes of constant stirring.  Once the pudding came to temperature and started thickening, I mixed in some vanilla.

I layered the pudding, bananas, and good ol’ ‘nilla wafers in a glass dish.

The egg whites were whisked in my mixer with a pinch of cream of tartar and a little sugar to make the meringue.  Then, it was into the oven to brown.  The finished product:

I was pretty impressed with my meringue and really loved the taste of the pudding.  Phillip was less impressed with his first helping, which made me sad since I’d been excited to finally make him one of his favorite desserts.  But, his problem was just the temperature – he devoured it once it had chilled!  We enjoyed this one for days.  If you’re looking for a good banana pudding recipe, I think this one is a classic.  Any other favorite banana pudding recipes out there?

The final recipe on this month’s Sweet as Pie list was Easy Chocolate Homemade Ice Cream.  Turns out, this is the same recipe Phillip’s mom uses, so we knew it was going to be good.  With the move last year, we really didn’t have a chance to use our ice cream maker so this was the first time in a while that we’d fired it up.  If you’re looking for an easy homemade ice cream recipe, this is a great option.  Here’s how it came together:

First, whisk together a can of sweetened condensed milk (I always use Eagle Brand) and an 8 oz. container of Cool Whip.

Next, stir in a half gallon of chocolate milk.

Pour into your ice cream freezer and send it twirling.

This was so easy and very good – it tastes like a Wendy’s Frosty and is perfect for a summer treat.  It makes a full container, so make plans to share it!

This was my pick for this month’s Sweet as Pie menu.  It was actually the second time I’d made this one, but the first time was so long ago that it was almost like a brand new recipe.  The feature ingredient in this recipe is Boursin cheese. 

If you’ve never used it, you can usually find it in the deli area at the grocery store.  I like to use the garlic and herbs version.

First I seasoned some chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then cooked them in my cast iron skillet. 

Meanwhile I microwaved red potatoes with chicken broth until the potatoes were tender.  Then, I mashed the potatoes together with some of the Boursin and some chives. 

After removing the chicken from the pan, I sauteed an onion.

I stirred in chicken broth and some white wine before finishing the sauce with more Boursin, chives, and some salt and pepper.

I’m in love with this pan sauce.  I could eat it on just about anything.  It’s good on the chicken and the potatoes, but also goes great with asparagus, broccoli, or other vegetables.  If you’re interested in trying it out, the recipe is below.

• 2 lbs small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (5-ounce) package Boursin cheese
• 1/4 cup minced fresh chives
• 4 (1/2 oz.) bone-in split chicken breasts, trimmed and halved crosswise
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/4 cup dry white wine

Microwave potatoes and 1/2 cup broth in large covered bowl until potatoes are tender, 10-12 minutes.  Add 1/3 cup Boursin and 2 tablespoons chives and, using potato masher, mash mixture.

Meanwhile, pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Cook chicken, skin side down, until well browned, 5 to 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until meat registers 160 degrees, 12 to 15 minutes.  Transfer chicken to platter and tent loosely with foil.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from the skillet.  Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 1 minute.  Add remaining 3/4 cup broth, wine, and any accumulated chicken juices and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

Off heat, whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons Boursin and the remaining 2 tablespoons chives.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour sauce over chicken and serve with potatoes.

Much like my friend Catherine, I love tiny food.  It’s just fun don’t you think?  Anyway, I was excited to try these Baja Chicken & Slaw Sliders.  They looked kind of fancy, but were actually really easy to make, especially if you skipped the chicken-pounding step and just used cutlets.  Here’s how they came together:

First I mixed together sour cream, lime juice, and lime zest.  I also added a little bit of chipotle chili pepper for a kick.

Next, I mixed broccoli slaw mix, onion, cilantro, some jalapeno, lime juice, and sugar. I seasoned the chicken cutlet halves with cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper, and then grilled the chicken on my grill pan.

This recipe called for Hawaiian rolls – I love Hawaiian rolls and they were also on sale that week.  Woohoo!  I toasted them on the grill pan before assembling the sliders.

The finished product – rolls with the sour cream mixture, tomato, chicken, and slaw:

These were great.  Phillip especially loved them (as evidenced by the five he ate!).  The only thing I might change would be to add some more spices to the sour cream mixture just to give it some more dimension.  These would make great party food and I think even kids would go for them, despite the broccoli.  It was easy enough for a weeknight meal and we’ll definitely have them again sometime.

I’ll admit that I was somewhat intimidated by this recipe at first glance.  But, once I got over trying to locate and acquire the ingredients in these Homemade Granola Bars as listed, this snack was very approachable.  I had some oats leftover from the Nutter Butters, so that was easy enough.  I don’t do coconut, almonds aren’t my favorite, I have no interest in spending money on wheat germ (doesn’t that just sound gross), and I was sure dried dates and apricots would be harder to find than they would be to write on my grocery list.  So I just kind of winged it with the ingredients and substituted Cheerios and ground graham crackers for the coconut (delicious, by the way), cashews for the almonds, and dried strawberries and blueberries for the apricots and dates.  I was also a little short on honey, so I made up the difference with molasses.  In the end, while these weren’t Ina’s granola bars exactly, they were still pretty yummy.  Here’s how they came together:

First, I toasted the oats, graham cracker crumbs, and cashews in the oven.

Then I heated butter, honey, molasses, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt together before stirring that mixture in with the oats, graham crackers, cashews, Cheerios, and dried strawberries, blueberries, and cranberries.

After that, it was just a matter of pressing the mixture into a greased dish, baking, and waiting on them to cool.  Easy enough!

This was a nice base recipe and, of course, the variations on this are endless.  What a great way to tailor your snacks to your tastes!