Cheese Filled Tots

I saw this on Facebook today, it looks delightful!

• 2 lbs frozen hash browns, thawed
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp salt (or more to taste)
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 3 eggs
• brick of cheddar cheese, cut into small, rectangular cubes
• vegetable oil, for frying

1. Combine thawed hash browns, flour, salt, pepper, and eggs in a bowl. 
2. Take a piece of cheese and wrap a palm full of the mixture around it, shaping it into a tot (you may have to squeeze out some excess moisture to make it nice and tight).
3. Fill a large, deep skillet halfway with oil and heat over medium. When the oil is hot, drop in some tots, turning them along the way until they're crispy and golden brown. 
4. Let them cool a bit, then enjoy!

Cupcake Substitutes

Are cake mixes just not doing it for you anymore? How about spicing it up a bit?

Use a box mix.  Add 1 extra egg.  Exchange the water for milk.  And finally, double the amount of oil, but use butter instead. So for example, if the recipe calls for 3 eggs, 1 cup of water and ½ cup of oil, you’d do this: 4 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 cup softened (not melted) butter.

The result is a decadent cake that makes your mouth water!

Golden Biscuits

Today I made golden biscuits, topped with garlic cheese and rosemary chicken, swimming in  safe and thyme gravy.  It was delightful and SOOOO easy!  I baked Pillsbury biscuits, made a oultry gravy and added some sage and thyme, put in cooked chicken, spread it over the biscuits and then sprinkled cheese and a little garlic salt over the top. 

Mmmmm

Gingerbread and Royal Icing

A friend of mine at work is a genius with gingerbread and icing. She makes the most amazing gingerbread houses! This week she was sweet enough to share her recipes with me!

Gingerbread Recipes

Gingerbread Dough I

6 ½ cups flour

2 tab ginger

2 tab cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Stir together, set aside

In bowl of mixer, add:

1 ¼ cups vegetable shortening

4 cups powdered sugar

3 tab lemon juice

2 tab molasses

2/3 cup light corn syrup

Mix until smooth.

Add flour mixture all at once. When crumbly, add ½ cup water plus 3-6 more tablespoons of water to form a firm, evenly moist dough.  You don’t want the dough to be too wet, so add extra water sparingly.

I take the dough out of the mixer before it’s fully combined and give it a few turns on the countertop to even it out. Cover and chill for 2 hours before rolling. Allow to sit for 15 mins on counter before rolling. 

Bake 375 for 15 minutes (give or take)

Makes enough dough for 1 large gingerbread house or many small ones.

*Adapted from Christina Banner’s book, How to Build a Gingerbread House

Gingerbread Dough II

6 ¾ cups flour

1 tab cinnamon

1 ½ tsps. Ginger

½ tsp salt

Stir together in large bowl, set aside

1 ½ cups light corn syrup

1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar

1 cup margarine

Stir together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine corn syrup, brown sugar, and margarine in a 2 quart saucepan.  Stir over medium heat until margarine is melted. (No need to boil) Pour the syrup mixture into the flour mixture.  Mix well.  Child the dough for 1 hour or until it is room temp.

**If you need red or green dough, add the food coloring to the wet ingredients before mixing. This dough bakes well in colors.

Bake at 350 for 12-15  minutes (give or take)

Tips for rolling gingerbread:  If you have a silpat mat, place it on the counter. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and roll the gingerbread atop it all. The silpat will keep the parchment from sliding around the you can easily move the sheets of parchment to baking trays.

Royal Icing

Royal Icing I (Meringue Powder)

3 TAB Meringue Powder

1 lb (4 cups) powdered sugar

5 TAB warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy duty mixer or 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer)  Recipe makes 3 cups

Royal Icing II (eggs)

1 lb (4 cups) powdered sugar

3 large egg whites at room temp

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Mix all together as above.

Note:  Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency.  The icing will be stiff.  Add water by teaspoons to obtain the consistency you want. Cover icing tightly with plastic wrap, as it dries very quickly. 

Cheeseburger Soup

This soup (from the Recipe Critic) was surprisingly delicious! I had my doubts, but it was sooooo good! I'm definitely making this again and again. I doubled the recipe and it made about 5 quarts of soup.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ pound ground beef (use 1 pound)
• ¾ cup chopped onion
• ¾ cup shredded carrots
• ¾ cup diced celery
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups peeled and diced potatoes
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups of Velveeta processed cheese cubed (I used 16 ounces) or- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1½ cups milk
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ cup sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Brown the ground beef in 3 quart saucepan. Drain and set aside.
2. In the same saucepan add 1 T butter and add onion, shredded carrots, parsley flakes, basil and celery. Saute until tender.
3. Add the broth, potatoes and beef and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4. In small skillet melt remaining butter (3 T) and add the flour. Cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to the soup and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
5. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream.

Cookie Butter Wontons and Ice Cream

Ingredients

• Speculoos cookie butter
• Wonton wrappers
• Ice cream of your choice

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F
2. Lay won ton wrapper flat
3. Spoon large helpings of speculoos cookie butter in the center and wrap/close the wrapper.
4. Place filled won tons on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, approx 6-8 minutes
5. Remove after crisped and let cool for 2-5 minutes.
6. Serve with ice cream, caramel sauce and powdered sugar.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

INGREDIENTS:

• 6½ pounds apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used a combination of Granny Smith and Fuji)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (I used whole cloves. The cloves cooked down and broke up during blending)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place apples in slow cooker. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Sprinkle over the apples and stir gently to combine. Cook on low for 10 hours.
2. Stir in vanilla extract, breaking up any large chunks of apples that remain. Cover and cook for an additional 2 hours.
3. Remove cover and use an immersion blender to puree the apple butter until completely smooth. (Alternately, you could puree in batches in a food processor or regular blender.) If you want the apple butter thicker, you can continue to cook it on low with the lid of the slow cooker slightly ajar so that steam can escape.
4. Allow the mixture to cool, then spoon into jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Baked Tomato and Egg Cups

Ingredients

• 4 Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded (large Roma tomatoes)
• 4 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh herbs
• toasted bread for serving
• Shredded mozarella cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450º
2. Place tomatoes on a baking sheet. 
3. Sprinkle marella cheese in bottom of tomato and crack eggs in tomato.
4. Season with salt and pepper
5. Bake for 6-7 minutes if you like your eggs runny. 8-10 for soft set.
6. Remove from oven and top with fresh chopped herbs.
7. Serve as is or on top of a crusty piece of toasted bread.

Poached Grilled Cheese

Simple but delicious. Open-faced grilled cheese sandwich with a poached egg, topped with dill.

Butter Pecan Cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 1¼ cup butter, softened, divided
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup milk

Frosting

• 2 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 pkg (2 lbs) confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 Tb milk, as necessary
• extra chopped pecans for garnish, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour three 9″ round cake pans.
2. In a medium heavy skillet, melt ¼ butter over medium heat. Add pecans; cook until toasted and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Spread across sheet of foil to cool.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine; set aside.
4. In a separate large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
5. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with the flour (flour in 3 parts, milk in 2). Fold in toasted pecans.
6. Divide between cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing from pans. Cool completely.
7. FOR FROSTING: In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla. Beat in enough milk, as necessary, to achieve spreading consistency. Frost cake. Store in refrigerator.

Notes

You may not need to add any milk to the frosting if it is already soft enough.
NOTE: The cake batter itself seems to be based off the old-fashioned 1-2-3-4 cake (1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, and 4 eggs). That is if you don’t count the extra ¼ cup of butter used to toast the nuts. I wasn’t completely impressed with it, but I didn’t think it was bad (a tad dry). I will say though, if you have a favorite white or yellow cake recipe, you should use that instead and then follow the same step for making the toasted butter pecans, add them in, and absolutely use this frosting recipe. If you want to use your own TWO layer recipe instead of a three, then you’ll need to use less pecans, maybe just 1¼ cups would be perfect.

No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars

Ingredients

For the Cookie Dough:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cup mini chocolate chip morsels
For the frosting:
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter with brown sugar until fully combined. Add vanilla and peanut butter, beat until fluffy. Add flour and sweetened condensed milk. Beat until everything is blended well. Fold in the mini chocolate chip morsels.
2. Press into an 8inx8in baking dish.
3. In a microwave safe, medium sized bowl, add peanut butter and chocolate chips for the frosting. Melt for one minute. Stir and spread over the cookie dough.
4. Refrigerate for 3 hours (or overnight). Cut into bite sized pieces. Store in a covered container for up to a week.

Heart Attack Brownies

This weekend  I made heart attack brownies. Cookie dough, candy bars, Oreos, and brownies all in one. I'm not sure I've ever eaten anything like it. I took it to work today and my staff fell into a deep sugar coma.

Peanut Butter Bacon Pie

This week we watching the American Baking Competition on TV and thought we'd try our hand at Francine's Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Pie.

We used the recipe we found online but it proved to be full of holes and inaccurate information. We search several different discussion pages and finally found the correct recipe but we had already messed up it up with the "official" recipe that was posted on the TV website.  What we ended up with was decent but it definitely could have been better.  It looks a lot better than it tasted. One of these days we'll try it again and adjust it more to our liking.

How To Make Waffles from Scratch

Today I ran out of Bisquick and we had a craving for waffles, so what was I supposed to do?  Some would say run to the grocery store, but not me...I made them from scratch here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups warm milk
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and then stir in the milk, butter, and vanilla. Next add the salt, flour, baking powder, and sugar.
2. Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron.  Cook until golden brown.

This recipe made about 5-6 waffles.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Me: "Jason, what do you want for lunch?"
Husband: "Umm, you know, an egg salad sandwich sounds pretty good."
Me: "...."

Yep, it's a first.  I have never made an egg salad sandwich.  Last week when I was in Bellevue, I had two bites of one and couldn't finish it.  It was riddled with overpowering onions and way too much mayo. Growing up we never ate them, so I really had nothing to go off of...

Me: "Umm, what is in an egg salad sandwich exactly?"
Husband: "Mayo, mustard, and eggs."
Me: "Oh..."

So I took off to the kitchen to try my hand at this feat.  I boiled 6 eggs until the yolks were hard and combined them with mustard and mayo.  It was missing something, or rather a lot of things.  It was just TOO plain..  So I fancied it up a bit...or rather a lot...

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 6 hard boiled eggs
• 1 cup Mayonaise
• teaspoon of dill weed
• teaspoon of garlic salt
• fresh ground pepper (to your liking)
• handful of dried onion flakes (approx. 1/8 cup)
• small squirt (about 1 tablespoon) yellow mustard
• Wheat bread

Directions:

1. In a bowl, gently mix all ingredients, then apply to bread.

Very difficult recipe...I know.  This recipe yields about 4-5 sandwiches, depending on how much egg salad you want on your bread.

Glad it's only taken me 27 years to accomplish this great task...

Peruvian Salsa

This recipe is adapted from several I've tried. It makes about 3 cups of salsa.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 large Roma tomatoes or 1-28 oz can of whole canned tomatoes, drained
• 1 medium yellow or purple onion
• 2 cloves of garlic (minced or pressed)
• 2-3 hot peppers
• 1/2- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1.2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• juice of one lemon or lime (optional)

Instructions:

1.  If using fresh tomatoes, add 1/2 inch of water to a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Core and cut tomatoes in half, set them (cut side up) in the skillet. (If you are using whole canned tomatoes,  drain tomatoes and skip to step 3)

2.  While you dice onions, simmer tomatoes until tomatoes start to soften and the skins start to recede.  Peel and discard the skins.

3.  Blend tomatoes, hot peppers, and cilantro in a blender until smooth.

4.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute onion and garlic in hot oil for about 10 seconds-any more time will adjust the taste of the salsa because the onions will release sugars.

5.  Add blended tomato mixture to the skillet with the onions and garlic and stir.

6.  While salsa boils down, season with salt and ground pepper to taste.  Add cumin if desired.

7.  Simmer the salsa on medium-low for about 15 minutes , or until salsa is reduced and thick.  You may need to increase the time if the tomatoes are really juicy.

8.  You can add lime or lemon juice at this point, but be warned that it will temper the spiciness.

ENJOY!

**Notes: 

• For a mild salsa, try poblano peppers (remove all the seeds and veins)
• For spicy salsa, use one hot pepper for every 3 tomatoes.

Save the Produce!

This week we got a Bountiful Basket and as always, it was filled with delicious treats.  My only problem with our baskets are that there is so much food that it often spoils before we can eat it all.  So I had a plan this week, store it properly.  I know, I know, "Duh Abby" but a lot of these items I've never eaten or I've never really thought to store them a different way.

So today I share with you a few secrets to storing ordinary day-to-day produce.

Onions and potatoes

Store in a cool dry place that is well ventilated.  I took paper bags and chopped off the handles and put them in the cupboard.  Putting them in the paper bags allow for ventilation and they don't roll all over the place.  The bags are also sturdy enough that I can move them around a lot without them ripping.

Garlic
Garlic is best stored in a cool, dry place.  When I buy garlic I store it in an airtight container or a plastic bag in a dark environment like the pantry.  Do not put it in the crisper drawer in the refrigerator.

Zucchini

Some people say store in the crisper, but mine tend to go soft really fast.  I have found that they last much longer cool, dry place like my kitchen counter.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pie

Pie Crust Dough:

• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 C shortening
• 1/4 C butter, cut up, or shortening
• 1/4 cup cold water

Directions for Pie Crust (unbaked):

1. In a medium bowl stir together flour and salt.  Cut in shortening and butter until pieces are pea size.
2. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of water at a time until dough is combined.
3. Gather dough into into a ball, kneading gently until it holds together.
4. On a lightly floured surface, flatten the pastry using your hands and then roll pastry from center to edges into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.
5. Place pastry dough in pie plate without stretching it.
6. DO NOT BAKE THE PIE CRUST DOUGH

Filling:

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1/2 C packed brown sugar
• 3/4 C real softened butter
• 1 C chocolate chips
• 1 C chopped pecans

Directions for Pie Filling:

1. Beat eggs on high speed until foamy.  Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar.  Beat in butter.  Stir in morsels and nuts.  Spoon into pie shell.
2. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack or serve slightly warm.

Quiche Night

Tonight Jason had the amazing idea to make a quiche.  

It was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 13 slices bacon
• 7 ounces shredded Swiss/Pepper Jack cheese
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 7 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons alt
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 2 green bell peppers finely chopped

Directions:

1. Place back on in a large, deep skillet.  Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.  Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan or casserole dish.
3. Line bottom of dish with cheese and crumbled bacon.  
4. Combine eggs, butter, peppers, onion, salt, flour, and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 35-60 minutes, until set.
6. Serve hot or cold.

Orange Rolls

This morning I tried my hand at orange rolls, it proved to be much more of a project than I anticipated.  

The whole process took about 2-3 hours and produced four dozen orange crescent rolls.

INGREDIENTS

 Rolls:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 7 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons (2 packages) dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water

Filling:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• Zest of two oranges

Glaze:

• Mix together juice of 2-3 oranges and  approximately 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar. (I juiced the oranges, strained out the chunks, and then added the sugar to the taste and consistency I wanted.)  If you put in too much powdered sugar and don't have any more oranges, try adding a little orange juice.

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir milk, sugar, oil, and salt until sugar is completely dissolved. Add 2 cups of the flour and beat well. Add 2 eggs and stir in. 
2. Dissolve the 2 T. yeast in a 1/2 c. warm water and add to flour mixture. 
3. Mix in the remaining 4 cups of flour. 
4. Put some flour on a pastry board or counter and knead until dough is smooth and not sticky (more flour may be added if sticky). 
5. Put dough into greased bowl and let rise until double (about an hour) in a warm place. 

6.  Divide dough into 6 parts and roll each into a circle. 

7.  Spread 1/6 of the orange/butter filling mixture and cut into 8 wedges. (I use a pizza cutter to cut, it's easier than a knife.)

   

9.  Roll each into a crescent shape and transfer to a baking sheet. (roll the wide end of the triangle to the pointy end)

10.  Cover and let rise at least 1 hour in a warm place. 

11.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. 

12.  Pour on glaze when rolls are still warm. **Warm, not hot.  If the rolls are too hot the glaze will melt right off.