Olive Garden's Frozen Tiramisu Recipe

Olive Garden's Frozen Tiramisu

Ingredients

1/2 ounce espresso syrup (see below)
3/4 ounce Tuaca Liqueur
3/4 ounce Kahlua Liqueur
1 scoop Vanilla Ice Cream
Ice

Directions

1. Fill a blender with all the ingredients and 1 cup ice.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Add more ice as needed to make it slushy.
4. Serve in a tall glass with whipped cream on top. For a special treat, sugar the rim (like you would salt for a margarita) with chocolate sugar or cocoa powder.

Espresso Syrup

Ingredients

1/4 cup espresso
1/4 cup sugar (superfine works best)

Directions

1. Bring the espresso to a just under a boil in a small saucepan.
2. Add the sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Let cool and store in a clean jar in the refrigerator.

Snickers Candy Bar Recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar
35 individual Kraft caramels
1 cup dry-roasted unsalted peanuts
1 - 12 oz. bag milk-chocolate chips

Directions

1. With the mixer on high speed, combine the corn syrup, butter, vanilla, peanut butter, and salt until creamy.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar.
3. When the mixture has the consistency of dough, remove it from the bowl with your hands and press it into a lightly greased 9x9-inch pan.
4. Put in the refrigerator.
5. Melt the caramels in a small pan over low heat.
6. When the caramel is soft, mix in the peanuts.
7. Pour the mixture over the refrigerated nougat in the pan. Let this cool in the refrigerator.
8. When the refrigerated mixture is firm, melt the chocolate over low heat in a double boiler or in a microwave oven set on high for 2 minutes. Stir halfway through cooking time.
9. When the mixture in the pan has hardened, cut it into 2x1-inch sections.
10. Set each chunk onto a fork and dip into the melted chocolate. Tap the fork against the side of the bowl or pan to knock off any excess chocolate. Then place the chunks on waxed paper to cool at room temperature, or refrigerate for quicker cooling.

Outback Steakhouse's Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe

Outback Steakhouse's Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients

1 cup Mayonnaise (we use Duke's)
2 tablespoons Buttermilk
1 tablespoon Crumbled Blue Cheese
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground Black Pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions
1. Mix well
2. Chill
3. Serve
4. Repeat

Hooter's Buffalo Chicken Wings Recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce
dash ground pepper
dash garlic powder
1/2 cup all−purpose flour
1/4 teas. paprika
1/4 teas. cayenne pepper
1/4 teas. salt
10 chicken wing pieces
vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375. You want just enough oil to cover the wings entirely; an inch or so deep at least.
2. Combine the butter, hot sauce, ground pepper, and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat until the butter is melted and the ingredients are well−blended.
3. Combine the flour, paprika, cayenne powder, and salt in a small bowl.
4. If the wings are frozen, be sure to defrost and dry them. Put the wings in a large bowl and sprinkle the flour mixture over them, coating each wing evenly. Put the wings in the refrigerator 60−90 minutes. This will help the breading to stick to the wings when fried.
5. Put all the wings in the hot oil and fry 10 to 15 minutes or until some parts of the wings begin to turn dark brown.
6. Remove from the oil to a paper towel to drain. Don't let them sit too long, because you want to serve them hot.
7. Quickly put the wings in a large bowl. Add the hot sauce and stir, coating all of the wings evenly.

Serve with bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks on the side.

Hostess Twinkies Secret Recipe

We are saddened by the recent news that Hostess was closing their doors for good and that thousands of people would be out of work.

We are also saddened to think that we will no longer be able to get Hostess Twinkies, Ho Ho's, Ding Dongs and other snack cakes at the corner market.

But with our secret recipe for Hostess Twinkies, perhaps we can save a bit of the magic for ourselves and our children.

Homemade Hostess Twinkies

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons milk, preferably whole
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
• Seven-Minute Frosting

Special Equipment: spice jars, chopstick, piping bag or gun

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position.
2. To make your shiny, single-use Twinkie molds, start with a piece of aluminum foil, preferably heavy-duty, that’s approximately 14 inches long. It should be just a little longer than it is wide. Fold the foil in half lengthwise, then fold it in half again to create a rectangle that’s about 6 inches long and 7 inches wide. Repeat to make a dozen rectangles.
3. Place 1 sheet of folded foil on your work surface, with the long side facing you. Place a standard-size plastic or glass spice jar on its side in the center of the foil, the jar’s long side also facing you. Bring the long sides of the foil up around the jar. The foil won’t reach all the way around, and that’s okay. Fold the foil in around both top and bottom ends of the spice jar, nice and tight. You’ll end up with a sort of trough situation.  Repeat until you have 12 foil Twinkie molds. Spritz the molds with an obscenely generous amount of nonstick spray or use your fingertips to coat the molds with vegetable oil. Place the Twinkie molds on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan. (The Todd Wilbur video below shows this process.)
4. Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
5. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat add the vanilla. Cover to keep warm.
6. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, a large mixing bowl) and reserving the yolks in another bowl. Beat the whites on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat until the whites reach soft, moist peaks.
7. Transfer the beaten egg whites to a large bowl and add the egg yolks to the standing mixer bowl—there’s no need to clean the bowl (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, simply place the egg yolks in a separate large bowl). Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes. Add the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.
8. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg whites and then mix everything on low speed for just 10 seconds (or, if using a hand mixer or whisk, until blended but not thoroughly combined). Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter, and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl. Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes.
9. Immediately scrape the batter into the prepared molds, filling each with about 3/4 inch of batter. Bake until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pan containing the molds to a wire rack and allow the cakes to cool in the molds.
10. Just before filling, remove each cake from the foil. Using the end of a chopstick, poke three holes in the bottom of each cake, just like in the bottom of real Twinkies. Wiggle the tip of the chopstick around quite a lot to make room for the filling. (Again, you can see this in action in the video below.)
11. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fit with a small tip (about 1/4 inch across). Pipe the frosting into the holes you created in the bottom of the cakes. As you fill each cake, hold it in your hand and press your palm gently around it so you can feel the cake expand, taking care not to overfill and crack the cake.
12. Unlike real Twinkies, these won’t last indefinitely. They’re best served still slightly warm.

Chi Chi's Chili Con Queso Recipe

Chi Chi's Chili Con Queso

Ingredients

1 pound Velveeta
1 pint Half and Half
1 4 ounce can of Green Chilis
1 4 ounce can of Pimientos
Tabasco

Directions

1. Melt Velveeta until it becomes stirable. Use a microwave for this.
2. Combine an equal amount of half and half and mix thoroughly.
3. Add chilis and an equal amount of pimientos.
4. Microwave again until the mixture is hot.
5. For a little more spice, add a dash or three of Tabasco at this point.
6. Pour into small bowls and cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnite. Don't leave this step out.
7. Take the bowl out and place into microwave, heat and stir.