Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

The cupcakes my sister had at her wedding, delicious!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes

Ingredients
1/2c unsweetened baking cocoa
1 1/3 c brown sugar
1c + 3TBS cake flour
1t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c butter, melted
1/2c buttermilk
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2t pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup nutella
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup boiling water

Directions
Preheat to 350°
Line cupcake pans with liners and set aside.

Sift together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

In a stand mixer, mix the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, nutella, sour cream and hot water until well combined.

Add dry mixture to wet, and mix until just combined--careful not to over mix.

Bake in lined cupcake pans for 18-20 minutes

Cool completely before frosting.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

1/2 cup diced onion

2 carrots diced

2 stalks celery diced

2 cups chicken  - diced/shredded (can be raw or cooked, I think roasted chicken on the bone tastes the best)

1/3 cup flour

6-8 cup chicken broth (I like to use a mix of Better Than Boullion and boxed broth)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

1 Tbls butter

1 Tbls olive oil

Homestyle Noodles  (Amish Country brand found at Walmart)

Heat 1 Tbls. olive oil and 1 Tbls butter in a large pot.  Add onion, carrot, and celery.  Season with salt and pepper and saute until tender.  Add chicken (if raw let it cook through) to vegetable mixture and season with a little more salt, pepper and thyme.  Add flour and stir to coat vegetables and chicken.  Add chicken broth and bay leaf.  Let soup simmer for 30 minutes. Add additional salt and pepper if needed.  Add cooked noodles to soup.  Serve.

Crunchy Parmesan Chicken and Campanella Pasta

My boys love this as long as the chicken is extra crunchy!  I have my easy version (where I just coat the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture) and the more time consuming version of dredging in flour, dipping in egg wash, and coating the chicken in breadcrumb mixture.  The chicken turns out great either way.

1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
6-8 chicken tenders or 3-4 chicken breast cut up and pounded out to same thickness

Combine panko, parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a shallow dish.  If you are doing the easy version, just coat the chicken in this mixture.  If you want the other version, lightly coat the chicken in flour, then dip in egg wash, and then coat with breadcrumb mixture.

In a large non-stick skillet, combine butter and olive oil and heat over medium.  When oil/butter is hot dip one side of chicken in and then flip it over on the other side (that way you don't have to add more oil and butter to cook the other side of the chicken).  Continue this method with the rest of the chicken.  You  may have to do two batches depending on the size of your pan and amount of chicken.  When one batch is cooked through, remove from the pan and then add another tablespoon or two of oil and butter and start again.  Once all of the chicken is done, leave the pan with the dripping and use it for the pasta recipe below.

Campanella Pasta
8oz campanella pasta
1/4 cup grated parmesan
16oz can whole tomatoes, chopped using blender or hand chopper (reserve juice from can)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Cook pasta according to directions on package.  Once cooked, drain and then add to pan used to cook chicken.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese over hot pasta and then add chopped tomatoes, sugar, basil, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine and use reserved tomato juice to thin out sauce if desired.