Cook-Aholic

This past weekend I was a cooking fool!  I made all kinds of different recipes just for fun and they all turned out fantastic.  I was very pleased with my feats of culinary talents.  As per usual, the weekend flew by way too fast.  And Sunday night my husband and I are looking at each other going, "What did we do this weekend?"  It had gone by so fast we had already forgotten what we did Friday night, but we didn't forget this:

Come 'n' get it.

For some reason this weekend I channeled the Pioneer Woman and cooked like I was on a ranch and my husband was a cattle rancher and I had to make sure my man was fed!  So for Friday night dinner we had Pioneer Woman's Rib Eye Steak (We used Sirloin Steak, that way we bypass the bone) with a Whiskey Cream Sauce (and because I live in Kentucky I used Bourbon).  It turned out delicious!  It was rich, creamy and I was amazed that I made this homemade country style meal.  I added some carrots and scalloped potatoes for some veggie factor and we honkered down and enjoyed! Again, any recipe I find in her cookbook is not on her blog (for obvious reasons, girl needs to sell books right?).  But I really have enjoyed this book, she uses pictures and great instructions so that I'm not scared to take on some of these recipes. 

Saturday was a day filled with eye exams, eating breakfast out and watching UK basket ball with friends!  We finished up our night watching the hilarious and one of our favorite movies, Bridesmaids.

Sunday I was back in the kitchen "slaving away", I woke up in the morning and was craving eggs and toast.  Then I remember a recipe in my wonderful cookbook that combined the two:

Cast Iron Workout.

Pioneer Woman calls it Egg-In-The-Hole, but my husband calls it Gas House Egg.  Basically you cut a hole out of your bread and crack and egg in the center and cook it up.  I don't like my eggs runny, so I cooked them over medium.  The toast was yummy, buttery and crisp.  Again, I was like, "I'm pretty good at this!" Hahahaha.  I guess when I'm out of my element and cooking new things I get a little scared about how it will turn out, so when it turns out scrumptious I give my self a high five.

But my culinary achievements were not done yet.  I worked on my syllabus for my new class that I am teaching at UK's College of Design that starts on Wednesday so when it came to dinner time, my husband stepped up and cooked dinner for me.  I decided to tackle dessert:

Kentucky Goodness.

I made a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie!  I used a local recipe and would be happy to share.  This turned out to be so delicious.  It is rich I will warn so a small piece goes a long way.  I can't wait to share this pie with my parent's and blow my Mom's mind.

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

-Combine these three ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted.   Cool slightly.

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup bourbon

4 large eggs beaten

-Combine these four ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.  

Once mixed: slowly add the sugar mixture to the egg mixture, whisking constantly while pouring.

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

-Add these two ingredients to the mixture, the chocolate will melt as the egg mixture should be very warm.

-Pour into unbaked pie shell (I just used the pre-made ones in the refrigerated section).

-Bake at 325 for 50-55 minutes until top is browned and set.

Now that I ate like a cowgirl this past weekend, this week will be filled with carrot and celery sticks I'm sure!  But it sure was fun to out these fun things, never thought I could straight up make a pie!  Haha! Here's to a good week!