Fruited Wild Rice Pilaf (and chicken)

So my sister first made this dish for me as a side. It was incredible! Then I decided to make it and add chicken for our entree. YUMMY! Either way you make it...I PROMISE you'll love it. I also altered the recipe a bit to make it must FASTER and EASIER! So I'll write how I altered it at the end of the post.

1 small onion

1 celery rib, chopped

1 small carrot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon butter

3/4 cup uncooked brown rice

1/3 cup uncooked wild rice

1 can (14 1/2 oz) reduced sodium beef broth or vegetable broth

1 1/4 cups water

3/4 cup golden raisins and cherries (instead of cherries I used dried cranberries)

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp rubbed sage

1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

*3 cups cooked, cubed chicken~optional*

In a large saucepan, saute the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in butter until tender. Add brown rice and wild rice; stir to coat.

Stir in the broth, water, fruit, parsley, salt, thyme, sage and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Remove from the heat; stir in pecans. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving. ENJOY!

***Okay here is how I made it faster and easier. I used the 90 second rice in a bag! One bag of brown rice and one bag of wild rice. I omitted the water and just added a splash of the beef broth (perhaps 1/8 cup or 1/4 cup)

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Okay...how incredible do these look? Yeah...they taste even better! The cupcake is super yummy and rich. The icing...light and creamy. They totally compliment each other and it was incredible! Make them! And enjoy.

Cupcakes:

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

Frosting:

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, at room temp

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix in the melted chocolate. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is blended into the batter. Add the vanilla and beat until the mixture looks creamy and the color has lightened slightly about 1 minute. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the water. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth. *DO NOT OVER MIX!*

Position rack in the middle of the oven. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 18 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Fill each paper liner with a generous 1/4 cup batter, to about 1/3 inch from the top of liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks.

Carefully place a wire rack on top of pan of cupcakes. Protecting your hands with pot holders and holding the pan and rack together, invert them to release the cupcakes onto the wire rack. Turn the cupcakes top side up to cool completely. Repeat with the second pan of cupcakes.

Make the frosting: Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over, but not touching, a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). Stir the chocolate until it is melted and smooth. Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Add the butter, and using an electric mixer on low speed, beat until smoothly blended, about 2 minutes. At firs the mixture will look crumbly, but then it will form a smooth mass. Beat in the melted chocolate. Add the vanilla and cream, mixing to incorporate. On medium speed, beat the frosting for at least 3 minutes, until it looks smooth and creamy and the color lightens.

Using a small spatula, spread about 3 tablespoons of frosting on top of each cupcake, mounding the frosting in the center.

*I only put 2 TBLS frosting (although they were heaping) and that was a ton! I had quite a bit of frosting left over...delish! My uncle got mad at me for disposing of the extra frosting. Sorry Uncle Paul!*

As you can see we all enjoyed, enjoyed, and enjoyed some more!

Top -To-Bottom Crumb Cupcakes

Okay so these were DELISH! I had to send them to my hubby's work so I wouldn't eat them all! However I do, personally, think they should be called a muffin instead of a cupcake. I wanted to eat them for breakfast cause they tasted like amazing coffee cake! :-) Any time of day though...they are incredible.

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola or corn oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Topping:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Make the topping. In a large bowl, stir the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together, breaking up any large pieces of brown sugar. Add the butter. Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer on low speed, a pastry blender, or your fingertips, mix the ingredients together until crumbs form, the largest crumbs should be about 1/2 inch in size.

Make the cupcakes: Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg and yolk and sugar until thickened and lightened to a cream color, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. on low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. Mix in the sour cream until no white streaks remain. mix in the flour mixture until it is Incorporated and the batter is smooth.

Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the crumbs into the bottom of each paper liner. Spoon about 2 1/2 tablespoons of batter into each liner. Spoon the remaining crumbs over the cupcakes, using about 1 1/2 tablespoons for each, the crumb topping will come to about 3/8 inch from the top of the liner.

Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks.

Carefully place a wire rack on top of the pan of cupcakes. Protecting your hands with pot holders and holding the pan and rack together, invert them to release the cupcakes onto the wire rack. turn the cupcakes top side up to cool completely. repeat with the second pan of cupcakes.

Dust the tops of the cupcakes with powdered sugar before serving.