Blueberry Muffin Tops

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off Top 100 Finalist - Entry by Susan Spicko

Top of the Muffin to you! We can't discuss this recipe without a Seinfeld reference. These "muffin cookies," as my son is calling them, are really good. Light and fluffy with a crispy edge much like a muffin top. I have to wonder how Pillsbury feels about recipes like this where they take the cookie dough and make a new batter out of it. I thought that changing the dough into a new dough might be a sort of cheat, but after trying this I can see the value in it. Could it be the cookie dough in the batter that makes the edges crispier than a regular muffin dough would create? I don't think I could ever come up with something like this. Playing with baking recipes intimidates me. Cooking is more creative and like art, open to any and all possibilities than baking. I feel like baking is a true science and certain rules must not be broken. It must be the addition of the baking soda and baking powder that makes the cookie dough turn into a light fluffy muffin. Good stuff! Of the four recipes I have tried from the Top 100, this is my current vote for the million. I can't say it is the best of the 100, but it is the best of my four trials. Good luck Susan - I think you have a pretty good chance!

Blueberry Muffin Tops by Susan Spicko

INGREDIENTS

1	roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
1 1/4	cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
1/4	cup sugar
2	tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Butter
1/2	teaspoon baking powder
1/4	teaspoon baking soda
1	package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1	EGGLAND’S BEST egg
1/3	cup milk
2	to 3 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2	tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/4	cups fresh or frozen (thawed) blueberries

DIRECTIONS

1.	Let cookie dough stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper. In small bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the flour, sugar and butter with fork until crumbly; set aside to use for topping. In another small bowl, mix remaining 1 cup flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside.
2.	In medium bowl, beat dough and cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until blended. On low speed, beat in egg, milk, lemon peel and lemon juice until well blended. Stir in flour mixture just until combined (do not overmix; mixture will be a thick batter). Carefully fold in blueberries. (If using thawed berries, rinse and pat dry with paper towel before adding.)
3.	Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls 1 to 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets, using rubber spatula to scrape batter from tablespoon. Bake 3 minutes; remove from oven. Sprinkle each muffin top with about 1 teaspoon crumb topping; immediately return to oven.
4.	Bake 16 to 20 minutes longer or just until edges begin to brown. Cool on cookie sheets 2 to 3 minutes before removing to cooling racks. Serve warm or cool. I was worried the blueberries would run and make my muffins purple, but they folded in pretty well. I had to get my pretty roses in the picture, they are just opening and so lovely.

Deep Dish Chicken Cordon Blue

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off Top 100 Finalist - Entered by Amy Warren

I was planning on slowing down my Taste Test Month, but our life just got crazy and I need to cook to keep my mind at rest. Our house got picked to be on a national TV show! Not sharing all the details on a blog until I get the OK from the producer. We have just over a week till the show starts taping and they don't want me to do anything to change my house until they get here. It has not even been 24 hours and I am so antsy! I can't keep my mind still and I want to go on a cleaning spree but the tv show wants me to wait, so the only thing I can do is cook and blog. Get ready for lots of posts!

We had this dish tonight for dinner. Hate to be a harsh critic or mean blogger, but this really does not get my vote for a million. I get the idea and find it creative to put these flavors together in a casserole, but I just didn't love it. My husband liked it and the 3 year old ate it so it was not a disaster by any account. I just found it too heavy and while it has likeness to Chicken Cordon Blue, I was not fooled. It was a super rich casserole.

Seriously, stay tuned, so much more to come this week. Gotta cook! I will make several sweets/dessert type Pillsbury 100's this week. We are going to find that million dollar recipe!


Deep Dish Chicken Cordon Blue by Amy Warren

INGREDIENTS

1	can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (8 rolls)
2	tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Unsalted or Salted Butter
1	tablespoon Crisco® 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil
1	medium onion, thinly sliced
1	clove garlic, finely chopped
1	box (13.25 oz) frozen baked honey-battered chicken tenders, thawed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or 1 deli rotisserie chicken (2 to 2 1/2 lb), shredded
16	slices (1 oz each) Muenster cheese
1/4	cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4	cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
2	tablespoons Dijon mustard
2	teaspoons lemon juice
1	teaspoon honey
1	teaspoon horseradish sauce or cream-style prepared horseradish
1/2	teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1	lb shaved cooked brown-sugar or maple-glazed ham (from deli)

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Unroll crescent rolls in baking dish; press perforations to seal. Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown.
2.	Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. Remove from heat; stir in cut-up chicken tenders.
3.	Place 8 slices of the Muenster cheese over baked crust. In small bowl, stir Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, honey, horseradish sauce and thyme until well blended. Spoon half of the mayonnaise mixture evenly over cheese on crust.
4.	Spoon chicken mixture evenly over mayonnaise mixture on crust. Spoon remaining mayonnaise mixture evenly over chicken. Cover chicken evenly with ham. Top with remaining 8 slices Muenster cheese.
5.	Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and filling is thoroughly heated.

As you can see I tried a few cheeses; Swiss and Gouda. Maybe it was the Gouda that left the heavy feeling, the Swiss was better. Worth a try if you are a Cordon Blue fan.

Blueberry-Almond Creme Muffins

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off Top 100 Finalist - Cynthia Bowser

I made this recipe this weekend as another Pillsbury Top 100 Finalist taste test. Makes a great muffin, sort of sophisticated, not too sweet like too many breakfast muffins these days. I had to do some substitutions so it was not the exact recipe entered. I used apricot and cherry preserves in the muffins and I only made a few with almonds, the rest I used graham cracker crumbs (got a nut allergy in the house). This was a great recipe, but not sure if this is the million dollar recipe. Maybe my standards are too high, but I feel if you are going to win a million dollars you have to do something that has never been done with the Pillsbury product. There are many recipes in the Top 100 that are sandwiches or burgers and they use Pillsbury products for the bun/bread. How is that a million dollar idea? Pillsbury dough is meant to be bread. If it has a great burger in it, that is nice, but how is that a Pillsbury original? Just my two cents, which is all I have since I ain't winning a million dollars. These muffins are good, worth making again.

Blueberry-Almond Creme Muffins by Cynthia Bowser

INGREDIENTS

4	oz cream cheese (half of 8-oz package), softened
1/2	cup sugar
1/4	teaspoon almond extract
1/4	teaspoon vanilla
1/2	cup Fisher® Chef’s Naturals® Blanched Slivered Almonds, finely chopped
1	can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Flaky Layers refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (8 biscuits)
3	tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Unsalted or Salted Butter, melted
1/4	cup Smucker's® Blueberry Preserves

DIRECTIONS

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Generously spray 8 regular-size muffin cups (2 3/4x1 1/4 inches) with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray.
2.	In medium bowl, stir cream cheese, 1/4 cup of the sugar, almond extract and vanilla until smooth and creamy; set aside.
3.	In medium shallow bowl, mix almonds and remaining 1/4 cup sugar.
4.	Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Separate 1 biscuit into 3 layers. Brush 1 layer with melted butter. Firmly press layer, butter side down, into almond mixture, coating evenly. Place layer, almond side down, in bottom and up side of muffin cup. Fill with 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture; spread evenly. Top with second biscuit layer; press edges of layers together. Spoon 1/2 tablespoon of the preserves onto middle of second layer. Brush third biscuit layer with melted butter; firmly press, butter side down, into almond mixture. Place third layer, almond side up, on second layer; press edge of third layer into edge of second layer.
5.	Repeat with remaining biscuits, refrigerating biscuits if dough becomes too soft to separate. Sprinkle any remaining almond mixture onto tops of biscuits.
6.	Bake 17 to 27 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove muffins from pan to cooling rack. Cool 15 minutes before serving.

Cheery-Cherry Chicken with Crispy Onion Grits

Contest: French's Cook Off 2009 - Erin Ronouf Mylroie

Winner of the People's Choice Award

As a child of the south, you would think I would love a good recipe with grits, but I was kind of not excited about this recipe. We only had a grits a few times when I was a kid. My parents are both from Illinois, so they would make grits every now and then when they felt like trying to be Southern. My mom never made them right and they always put maple syrup on them because they didn't know how to eat grits. Maple syrup is not right, so I was never too impressed with grits and never made them myself. I first had good grits in college when I worked at the Fredonia Hotel, they made a jalapeno cheddar baked grits. Yum.

I made this recipe tonight for dinner and while cooking the chicken I almost chickened out on the grits and made mashed potatoes instead. I only had 2 potatoes and one had been gnawed on by a baby so mashed potatoes were out and grits were in. This turned out to be a really great dish! I was surprised how good the honey mustard and cherry were together, not too sweet but packed with flavor. I thought the grits would seem out of place and the French's Onions seemed like more of an after thought than part of the recipe, but again I was wrong. Grits and French's Onions were a great base for this chicken! I would use it anytime instead of couscous or rice. This recipe is proof, I need to go outside my comfort zone to win contests. Loved this dish and I will make it again.

Cheery-Cherry Chicken with Crispy Onion Grits by Erin Ronouf Mylroie

Ingredients:
1 tbsp FRENCH'S® Classic Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp FRENCH'S® Honey Mustard
3/4 cup FRENCH'S® French Fried Onions
1 lb chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup cherry preserves
1 cup instant grits
2 tbsp chopped parsley
26 oz water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Sprikle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and FRENCH'S Worcestershire sauce. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook for four minutes per side, or until nicely browned. In a small bowl combine FRENCH'S honey mustard, 1/4 cup water, and cherry preserves. Add to chicken in pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for five minutes or until sauce is warmed through and chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Slowly whisk in grits and 1/4 teaspoon salt; reduce heat to low and cook for 6 minutes, or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Keep grits warm Chop FRENCH's Fried onions into small pieces. In a medium bowl, combine parsley and FRENCH'S fried onions. Stir 1/2 cup mixture into grits. To serve, divide grits between each of four bowls. Cover with one chicken breast and cherry pan sauce. Sprinkle with remaining FRENCH's onion/parsley mixture, dividing evenly, and serve. Yield: 4 servings, Prep Time: 25 minutes

Turkey Swedish Meatballs

Contest: French's Cook Off - my own entry

Love this recipe, but didn't figure it had much of a chance in the French's contest. It isn't super original, but it is a family crowd pleaser, even the baby can eat this. I was inspired by Ikea meatballs, the best part of visiting an Ikea Store. This is a regular in The Rotation at our house. Enjoy!

Turkey Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 cup FRENCH'S® French Fried Onions
1.25 lb Ground Turkey
1 Egg
1/4 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
2 tsp Butter
1 12 oz Jar of Chicken Gravy
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Directions:
Mix together ground turkey, French's French Fried Onions, egg, allspice, nutmeg, and salt. Form 16 golf ball sized meatballs. In large skillet melt butter over medium/high heat. Drop meatballs into the pan. Rotate every 2-3 minutes till meatballs are well browned on all sides and cooked through. Remove meatballs from pan and keep warm in a separate dish. Turn heat down to low then add jar of gravy. Stir scrapping the bottom of the pan and mixing the butter and drippings into the gravy for 3-4 minutes or until gravy is hot. Mix sour cream into gravy and stir for one minute. Serve meatballs topped with gravy and fresh cracked pepper.


There really is no way to take a pretty picture of meat with gravy. Trust me though, good meal!

Southwest Mini Cresent Burritos

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off Top 100 Finalist by Sharon Shelton

Testing month continues! I didn't get a chance to enter this Pillsbury Bake Off but I am already preparing for the next one. In the meantime, I figure I should try as many of the Top 100 Finalist recipes as I can. The top 100 go to Orlando, Fl to participate in the live Bake Off. The winner will be awarded one million dollars on April 12th. Crazy! A million dollars for a recipe!

Tonight's recipe got a great review from the husband and 2 year old. I liked how easy it was to make. I was able to pull this dinner together in minutes with a screaming baby on my leg (it has been a rough week around here). Big vote for ease! I liked the flavor, as I love all things Tex-Mex, but not sure if it is a million dollar recipe. Great meal, just not a crazy original use of Pillsbury product. Easy for me to make such bold reviews when I can't even get a response from any contests. Just sharing my thoughts. I would highly suggest this for a quick, family pleasing dinner!

Southwest Mini Crescent Burritos
By Sharon Shelton

INGREDIENTS
1 box (9 oz) Green Giant® frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
1 cup shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup canned black beans, drained, rinsed
1/2 cup Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ Niblets® frozen corn
1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese (4 oz)
1 package (1 oz) taco seasoning mix
2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated garlic butter crescent dinner rolls (16 rolls)
1 EGGLAND’S BEST egg white, beaten
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup salsa
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, mix spinach, chicken, beans, corn, cheese and taco seasoning mix; set aside.
2. Unroll 1 can of crescent dough; press perforations to seal. Press or roll into 13x9-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into thirds to make 6 squares.
3. Spoon about 1/4 cup spinach mixture onto center of each square. Bring up one side of dough over filling and roll up, folding in sides as you roll. Pinch seam to seal. On ungreased cookie sheet, place rolls seam sides down and 2 inches apart. Repeat with second can of dough and remaining spinach mixture. Brush rolls with egg white.
4. Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Serve warm with sour cream and salsa.


Pretty little pockets!

Steak Gorgonzola Quesadillas

Contest: French's Cook Off 2009 - My own entry

I really thought this recipe had a chance. 1. It is trendy with the steak and Gorgonzola. 2. Quesadillas are always a hit. And 3. I thought it was very creative to make the quesadilla on the grill. But it didn't win. This was the first big contest I entered and it was a bit intimidating. I guess it was also a first for French's and by looks of a huge success for them, not so much for me. They received over 2,000 recipes and likely a million hits on their website. French's Marketing folks did a great internet campaign with this one. Voting was all on-line, they encouraged entries to make a YouTube video and you could link it to Facebook and probably Twitter, I didn't participate in that part. The contest had 20 finalist, 10 as judged by the French's people and 10 based on popular vote. The top recipes had over 20,000 votes! Who are these people!?! I thought I was doing good when I reached 100. Just like high school, I quickly realized I had no chance with the popular vote. I held out hope for this recipe, but got no response. I still like it.

Steak Gorgonzola Quesadillas

Ingredients:
1/4 cup FRENCH'S® Classic Worcestershire Sauce
2 cup FRENCH'S® French Fried Onions
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1.5 lb Flank Steak
1 cup Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese
8 8 Inch Flour Tortillas
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 cup Sour Cream
Directions:
Create a marinade with 1/4 cup French's Classic Worcestershire Sauce and 1/4 cup olive oil. Marinade meat while preparing grill and other items or overnight if time permits. Grill flank steak over medium flame. Approximately 5-7 minutes per side or until it reaches your preferred degree of done. Slice flank steak in angular cuts against the grain to create small strips of steak for quesadillas. Using a pastry brush, brush olive oil on one side of 4 flour tortillas. Place tortillas, oiled side down, on grill over low heat. Immediately top tortillas with steak, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and French's French Fried Onions then top with another flour tortilla. Using pastry brush apply olive oil to top tortilla. This should take a few minutes, once complete flip quesadillas and close grill cover cook an additional 2-3 minutes or until tortillas are crisp and cheese has melted to sealed quesadillas together. Remove from grill. Repeat with remaining flour tortillas and ingredients. Slice quesadillas in half with pizza cutter and serve with a sour cream on the side.