Next up on the May Sweet as Pie list was PW’s Restaurant-Style Salsa.  I don’t think this recipe could have been easier.

The basics.

I’ve already packed up my food processor, so I used the blender to pull this together.  Worked great!  After adding the tomatoes and Rotel, I added some onion, jalapeno, and garlic.

I did a quick slice on a jalapeno and left all the seeds and ribs for a spicier blend.

Phillip was the salsa photographer and caught me in a classic pose - hair in my face. The signature hair toss quickly followed, I'm sure.

Coming together.

The recipe called for the juice of half a lime, but I love lime, so I juiced the whole thing.

Finally, pack in some fresh cilantro.

Pretty salsa layers:Phillip requested a chunkier salsa, so we only pulsed it long enough to get it blended.  We adjusted the seasoning after tasting it and put it away to meld overnight.We served the salsa with the Mexican Flatbread Pizza to Mom, Daddy, and Grandmother.  Mom doesn’t do salsa, so she of course had no opinion, and Grandmother loves everything.  So Daddy was my real taste-tester and he really liked it – it was a good blend and had just enough kick.  And Phillip and I really liked it too.  Other than juicing a whole lime, the only thing I did differently with this recipe was to add some extra salt and some ground coriander.  It just needed a little extra seasoning.  Definitely let it “marinate” for a few hours or overnight, as the flavor just gets better and better the longer it sits.

What I really liked about the recipe was that you can make it year-round, even when fresh tomatoes are out of season.  Quick and easy to throw together and it makes plenty for a crowd – a winner in my book.  Although I’m sure salsa made with fresh ingredients would be better, I think this will be a good go-to for parties.

Finally, we rounded out May’s Sweet as Pie list with Mexican Flatbread Pizza.  We served these with PW’s Restaurant-Style Salsa.  Quick and easy – here’s how they came together:

You start with a can of biscuits (the non-flaky kind) and roll them out thin.  Instant flatbreads!Brush with a little olive oil and bake for 8 minutes to crisp.Layer the pizzas with beans, seasoned ground beef, and cheese and then put them back in the oven until the cheese has melted.  We topped ours with tomatoes, lettuce, and sour cream.  

These were surprisingly yummy.  I was a little wary, but I loved how the canned biscuits were used to make the flatbreads.  Everyone liked these and it was nice to be able to let each person customize their pizza with their choice of toppings.  This concept would be great for making traditional pizzas or berry desserts or breakfast pizzas.  There are so many ways to change these up!  I’m planning to try them again soon, but maybe with pesto, grilled chicken, mozzarella, and caramelized onions.  Who’s with me?

Saturday was cooking club day and I planned to make the rest of May’s Sweet as Pie picks, since Mom, Daddy, and Grandmother were coming down to help us do some packing and I’d have an audience.  I got started early with Orange Sweet Rolls, a variation on Pioneer Woman’s favorite cinnamon rolls.

I started by heating milk, oil, and sugar until warm enough to stir in the yeast.

My handy-dandy instant read thermometer that Daddy got me for Christmas one year. I use it all the time.

I added the yeast mixture to 4 cups of all-purpose flour and then put the dough aside to rise for about an hour.

Risen dough. I thought the dough looked really wet at this point and I ended up adding more flour just to get it to a point where I could work with it.

After adding some more flour, baking soda, and baking powder, I split the dough in half and rolled each piece into a large rectangle.  Then it was time for the filling.

The first layer - melted butter (naturally).

Orange marmalade, brown sugar, and just a bit of salt were layered on next.

I love brown sugar. I could eat it by the spoonful. I don't. But I could.

Next, I rolled the dough and filling, sliced the rolls, and placed them in buttered pans.

Not very pretty at this point, but that's okay. We'll call them "rustic".

This recipe makes a lot! Once you have the rolls in the pan, let them rise for another 20 minutes or so.

After baking for about 16 minutes.

While the rolls were baking, I made the icing.  I zested and juiced 2 oranges, then added some milk and powdered sugar.  I think I must have had gargantuan oranges though because my icing was WAY too thin.  I tried my best to thicken it, but just gave up and went with it while it still tasted good.  Worked just fine!  I drizzled icing on each pan of rolls when they came out of the oven.These were delicious and the recipe made nearly 4 full pans of rolls.  However, they took a bit of time to make so I’ll probably only pull this one out on special occasions.  They definitely compare favorably to my favorite store-bought orange rolls by Sister Schubert.  And the best part is, there are plenty to share and enjoy for days!

As you can probably tell from the absence of posts, I’m a little behind on this month’s Sweet as Pie selections.  But finish them I shall and it all starts with Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Parmesan.  I’m actually glad I didn’t make this one earlier in the month because that meant I could make it at home for my mom and grandmother as part of Mother’s Day weekend.  Mom loves Chicken Parmesan, so I figured she’d give it a thorough review.  Here’s how it came together:

I try to use chicken cutlets when I make this dish because they are already thin enough and I save myself the trouble of pounding the chicken out.  Since I was in Rogersville for Mother’s Day, there were no cutlets to be had.  I still refused to pound out the chicken though, so I settled for slicing the breasts in half.  Worked just fine.After dredging the chicken in flour, I pan fried them until golden.

Next it was on to the sauce, which started out with a little onion and garlic saute.

At this point, PW asked me to deglaze the plan with wine.  Normally, I’d be all for this but since (1) Mom hates wine and hates the taste of wine in food and (2) Rogersville is in a dry county, we opted to use chicken broth instead.The tomatoes went in next and I took some liberties with the recipe by adding various seasonings, including a good bit of oregano.

The sauce just wasn't as flavorful as I'd hoped, but this probably had to do somewhat with the wine substitution.

I stirred some of the parmesan into the sauce and added the chicken back to the pan. Then, I sprinkled the rest of the cheese on the chicken and covered the pan to melt the cheese.

The finished product:

This was a pretty good recipe.  I think the only thing missing was a little bolder flavor in the sauce.  Although, maybe the wine would have made all the difference with that.  The whole family enjoyed the dish.  Ultimately though, I think I like my trusty Chicken Parm recipe better (and Mom agrees) – it just has a little extra something that works for me.  Here’s the recipe I usually use – try it out and compare for yourself (and let me know your thoughts):

Chicken Parmesan

For the tomato sauce:

• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or put through garlic press
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. granulated sugar
• Salt and ground black pepper

For the chicken:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2-1 cup panko
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (split or pounded thin) or 4 chicken breast cutlets
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 8 oz. spaghetti or linguine

1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat garlic and oil for sauce together over medium-high heat until garlic starts to sizzle.  Stir in tomatoes, basil, oregano, sugar, a pinch of salt, and a couple of grinds of pepper; bring to a simmer.  Continue to simmer until sauce thickens a bit and flavors meld, 10-12 minutes.  Taste sauce, adjusting salt if necessary.  Cover and keep warm.
2. Beat egg and a heaping 1/4 tsp. salt in a small pie plate until completely broken up.  Mix panko, a heaping 1/4 tsp. salt, and a grind or two of pepper in another small pie plate.
3. Preheat broiler.  Dip both sides of each cutlet in the beaten egg, then in the panko mixture.  Set cutlets on large wire rack set over a jelly roll pan.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a 12-inch skillet.  When oil starts to shimmer, add cutlets and saute until golden brown on each side, about 5-6 minutes total.  Wash and dry wire rack and return to jelly roll pan.  Transfer cutlets to wire rack and top each with equal portions of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Place pan of cutlets 4-5 inches from heat source and broil until cheese melts and is spotty brown, about 3 minutes.
5. Boil spaghetti and 2 tsp. salt while cutlets saute.
6. Serve each cutlet over spaghetti with several tablespoons of sauce.  Top with extra Parmesan cheese.

I woke up early on Sunday morning and wanted something to do, but did I start laundry or do dishes or tackle a couple of work projects I needed to address?  No.  I made a cake.  And as it turns out, that’s a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning.  Here’s how it came together:

Start with a mix on this one.

The recipe called for a half cup of orange juice, which when combined with the pistachio pudding mix, turned the batter this fun color:Eggs, oil, and a little water later, the batter was ready to go.This is a two-toned cake, so after pouring 3/4 of the batter into my bundt pan (thank you, Pam for Baking), I added chocolate syrup to the remaining batter.

Tip: Use the same measuring cup you used for the oil - the syrup slides right out.

Pour the chocolate batter on top of the batter already in the pan – it will sink during the baking process.

You could also use a knife to marble this, but I didn't bother.

Hot out of the oven:This cake was extremely easy to pull together and turned out so moist, even without a ganache topping.  A cake this good you can even eat for breakfast, which Phillip and I both did.  Yum!