Category Archives: Recipes

Hot Bacon Jalapeno Cheese Dip

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

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Every year for the Super Bowl Mr. E and I have a snack fest.  It doesn’t matter if we are having a party or if it’s just the two of us.  We make a bunch of snacky type food, plop down in front of the TV, pick a team and stuff our faces! Ha ha 🙂

This year we were CRAVING bacon.  I think we were both reminiscing about the years past when we had Bacon Fest.  (Yes – Bacon Fest – which is a wonderful party we threw a few years in a row where every food item, even the dessert, incorporated bacon!)  One of our favorites from those days was the Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos Wrapped in Bacon.  So for the Super Bowl this year I decided to turn that into a dip – BEST IDEA EVER! LOL.

I started by roasting some of the biggest jalapenos I’ve ever seen and some banana peppers.

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While those were roasting, I cooked a half a package of bacon and, once cooled, crumbled it into small pieces.  I add this and the chopped peppers into a bowl with the cream cheese mixture.

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Then I poured all of this into a shallow baking dish.  When it was hot and bubbly, I pulled it out and served with tortilla chips.  “Yummy” is an understatement!   I really don’t know what this dip wouldn’t be good on. 🙂 It has great pepper flavor with a little bit of heat from the jalapenos.  The great thing about this recipe is if you wanted it hotter you could just add more jalapenos or even throw in a roasted serrano.

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Hot Bacon Jalapeno Cheese Dip

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 medium jalapeno peppers
2 medium banana peppers
½ package of bacon, cooked and crumbled
¼ cup sour cream
¼ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon paprika
 
Roasting the Peppers:
Preheat the oven to 425°.  Place the top rack in the upper half of the oven.  For my oven this is the second slot from the highest.   Place a metal rack (like one you may cool cookies on) in a baking dish and place the whole peppers (washed and dried) on the rack and put them in the oven.  Keep an eye on them; flipping them over so that all sides get browned and the peppers soften.  In my oven this takes 10 to 20 minutes.  Once they are browned and have softened, remove from oven and place in a paper bag to cool.  I’ve found this helps with peeling them later.
 
Once cool, peel, seed and chop the peppers.  Set aside
 
Making the Dip:
Preheat oven to 350°.  Using a mixer, blend the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the sour cream and mix well.  It is important to get the lumps out  or else sometimes they won’t melt right when heated and the consistency will be off.  Then add the cumin and paprika and mix well.  Add in the chopped chilies and crumbled bacon and stir by hand.  Scoop into a shallow baking dish and bake about 20 minutes or until hot and melted.  Serve immediately with chips and enjoy!
 
**As a side note – this would heat up perfectly in a small slow cooker and then stay warm the entire time.  AND if you have those slow cooker plastic liners that you can find at the grocery store; then clean up would be super easy!
 
 

“Stained Glass Candy”

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

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This “candy” is a Christmas tradition around our house going back to when my mom was little and she would make this with her mom! I know its past Christmas but maybe this real intrigue you enough to add it to you baking list for next year or maybe even try it for some mid-year cheer.

So I have the name, “Stained Glass Candy” quoted because this is not the name I grew up calling it. In fact my mom threw a bit of a fit and got a little uppity with me when I told her I was re-naming it! 🙂 So,  the real name of this is….and please, please don’t judge it by its name…but…it’s called Uncooked Fruit Cake.  Wait!! Before you go running- I don’t like fruit cake either but this is different.  I PROMISE!!! 🙂

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This recipe makes a lot and freezes perfectly, which is great because it does take a bit of time. My mom and I always make this together as part of the tradition, which does help it to get done quicker.  Another part of the tradition is that we crush the graham crackers in a zip lock baggy with a rolling pin.  You may be thinking poor girl doesn’t have a food processor – surely she would use that instead.  You would think – but No, we do it with a rolling pin while my food processor continues to collect dust in the cabinet!

(If Mr. E sees this post he will quickly add my food processor to the garage sale pile.  I’ll have to make something soon that uses it so I can justify its continued existence in my cabinet. )

The first time we made this I didn’t know what my mom was talking about when she said we need the packages of candied cherries, pineapple and peels, so I’ve included a picture of what the containers look like to help.

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After crushing the graham crackers we mix those with the cherries, pineapple, dates, raisins and citrus peel in the roasting pan.

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Then we added the melted butter, marshmallow, brandy, whipping cream mixture. The mixing part is really hard and this is another reason to make it with someone – you can take turns mixing!

Once mixed, we placed log shaped portions on pieces of wax paper that had a dusting of powdered sugar on the bottom.  We then used a small mesh colander to dust the top with powder sugar.

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Using the wax paper we pressed on the sides of the log and then rolled it up in the wax paper followed by wrapping each one in foil.  This candy is really rich but oh so delicious with its graham cracker flavor!

Stained Glass Candy

1 lb. Honey Maid graham crackers. (In my opinion this is a recipe where the name matters) finely crushed.
2 cups total of red and green glazed cherries (not maraschino)
1 cup glazed pineapple
1½ cups dried dates, cut into pieces
⅔ cup white or golden mixed raisins
1½ cups total of candied orange peel and lemon peel
16 oz. marshmallows
Brandy extract
1/4 lb. (half a stick) butter
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
Powdered sugar
Wax paper
Foil
 
In a big roasting pan – yes a roasting pan, it makes mixing easier – add the finely crushed graham crackers, raisins, cherries, pineapple, candied peel and dates and mix well.  In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter, marshmallows, brandy extract and whipping cream in the microwave in 30 second intervals – stirring well after each interval until melted.
 
Once the marshmallow mixture is melted add to the graham cracker mixture and mix well.  Try using a big mixing spoon or even a spatula.  If it seems really hard to mix it, that’s normal.  The consistency should be moist enough that it will hold together and a little sticky to the touch.  However, depending on how much liquid is in the candied fruits, you may need to add more crushed graham cracker; the mixture should not be overly moist.
 
**See the picture above for help with this next part** 
 
Place a sheet of wax paper on the counter.  Using a fine mesh colander dust the wax paper with powdered sugar almost to the edges.  Using a spoon scoop some of the graham cracker mixture in a row along the center of the powdered sugar dusted wax paper.  Use the sides of the wax paper and moderate pressure; press and shape the mixture into a log.  Thoroughly dust the top and sides of the log with more powdered sugar.  Then roll up the wax paper, tucking in the sides and wrap in foil. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.  If freezing, put directly in the freezer.  It lasts about 2-3 months if wrapped tightly.  When ready to enjoy, (thaw if necessary) slice thinly and serve!
 
Enjoy!
 

Korean BBQ tacos with Cucumber and Pomegranate Kimchi

02 Sunday Dec 2012

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Every year I see pomegranates in the store and I always want to get one but can never think of what to do with it. I’ve looked up various recipes and some look good; some look okay, but nothing that really seemed worth it.

I remember as a kid in elementary school we use to get them and us girls would pick out the seeds and eat them staining our fingers and lips with their beautiful purple color. The boys would eat a few, but had much more fun throwing them either at each other, at us or at the stucco walls of the building and watching them explode.  Pomegranates soon became banned from school…I think that may have been the last time I had them.

I was excited when I came across a recipe for Korean Barbecue tacos with a Pomegranate-Cucumber Kimchi posted in the AZ Republic from POM.  I didn’t have some of the ingredients the recipe called for (and wasn’t going to buy them) 🙂 so I ended up making a modified version if the original recipe.  It was so very good!  In fact with the next night we used the leftover steak and cucumber kimchi to make an Asian salad.

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The other thing that was good about this recipe was that even though the ingredient list is long it’s really easy to make. The part that took the longest was getting the seeds out of the pomegranate. Which I included a tip below that really helped me.

The original recipe calls for a sweet chili sauce to be added to the kimchi, but that was one of the ingredients I didn’t have so I improvised by adding Sriracha sauce and more honey

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I was feeling lazy, so I didn’t pull out the mandolin to slice the cucumbers, but it would have been so much faster if I had. I made the kimchi first and then the marinade for the steak, so the kimchi probably sat for a 1 ½ hours. Word of warning the ginger and spices get a lot stronger as it sits.  Mr. E and I love ginger and spicy foods so we were okay, but if you don’t like spicy food, you’ll want to cut down on the amount of ginger and Sriracha.

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Korean Barbecue Tacos with Cucumber Pomegranate Kimchi

 
Kimchi:
¼ cup pomegranate arils, or seeds
½ cucumber, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
½ teaspoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon honey
2 small garlic cloves (or 1 large), pressed
½ tablespoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chili powder
 
Steak Marinade:
¼ cup pomegranate juice
¼ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons sesame oil
½ cup brown sugar
1 pound top round steak
 
Other Ingrediants:
Corn tortillas
Cilantro, for garnish
Limes, sliced, for garnish
 
**Tip for getting the seeds out of the pomegranate***
 
Fill a big bowl with water. Score the outside of the pomegranate with a knife. Then break apart the pomegranate under the water in the big bowl.  The seeds will sink to the bottom, and the other stuff will float. 
 
Kimchi: Slice the cucumber very thinly and set aside. In a medium to small size bowl add all the ingredients for the kimchi except the pomegranate seeds and the cucumber.  Use a whisk to mix well.  Then add the cucumber and pomegranate seeds, stir so that all of the cucumber slices get coated.  Set aside and refrigerate.
 
Steak Marinade: Trim any excess fat off the steak and set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients for the marinade.  Pour the marinade over the steak.  I used a zip lock baggie for marinating. Let sit 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.
 
When ready to grill the steak, remove it from the fridge a few minutes before so that it can come to room temperature.   Lightly oil the grill grates and then grill the steak to your ‘cooked’ preference.  After removing from the grill, let rest for 5 minutes.  Then thinly slice.
 
To serve, heat up the tortillas, add the sliced steak, Kimchi, a bit of cilantro and a squeeze of lime. 
 
Enjoy!

Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa and Turkey

11 Thursday Oct 2012

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This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe Mr. E found in the Milwaukee Sunday paper.  I’d like to say ‘Thank You’ to Mr. E for always being on the hunt for new recipes for us to try!  I’d also like to extend a special ‘Thank You’ to Papa F (Mr. E’s dad) for only putting up a minor fight when Mr. E cut the recipe out of a section of the paper Papa F had yet to read.  I believe it went something like this, Papa F “Aaaggghhhhhh – WHAT are you doing???” Mr. E “Cutting out a recipe.”  Papa F “Aaggggaahhhhh – I haven’t seen that section yet….what’s on the back???”   Mr. E “It’s the food section, you weren’t going to read it any way.” Papa F “Humph.” LOL LOL. 🙂

This recipe was so good. I could totally see this becoming part of the regular rotation.  While this does call for ground turkey, and we did use it, we both agreed that it would have been equally as good without.  The ground turkey added texture which I think could easily be replicated with maybe chopped mushrooms or more chopped veggies.

For convenience I made the quinoa the night before.  I followed the directions on the back of the box using chicken broth instead of water.  I also halved the recipe since there is only Mr. E and I.  Quinoa is super easy; just remember it’s a 2:1 ratio. For every 1 part dry quinoa add 2 parts liquid.

This recipe didn’t originally have a sauce, but when I sautéed the onion, reserved bell pepper pieces from the cut off tops, turkey, garlic and seasoning I noticed there was a ton of filling! And, that was before adding the quinoa and tomatoes! I decided there was plenty to divide and turn half into a sauce! So, I added half of the tomatoes and approximately half of the paste to the skillet and mixed all together.  I then removed half of that mixture and set aside.  To the remaining mixture I added the quinoa.  Look how yummy!

I then stuffed all of the quinoa mixture into the peppers and set in the oven.  In the same skillet (it was my turn to do the dishes, so there was no way I was dirtying another one!) I added back the turkey mixture, the rest of the tomatoes, paste, some water and seasonings and just let it simmer while the peppers cooked.

Though it would have been good without, we were both really glad to have the sauce!

Quinoa and ground turkey stuffed peppers

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup chicken stock
3 bell peppers- we did 2 green and 1 red
2 garlic cloves or 1large clove
1/4 sweet onion, chopped
¾ pound ground turkey
1 can diced tomatoes drained, reserve liquid
3 oz. tomato paste
1 teaspoon basil (½ for the stuffing and ½ for the sauce)
1 teaspoon thyme (½ for the stuffing and ½ for the sauce)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil
 
Preheat oven to 375°.  Grease a baking dish with oil.  I used an 8×8 since I was making a small batch. Also, you’ll want to be able to stand the peppers up in the dish, if you lay them on their side the filling starts to fall out.
 
Cook quinoa according to package directions, but using chicken stock instead of water.  Cut the tops off the bell peppers and remove the stem and seeds. Chop any extra pepper from the tops and set aside.
 
Over medium high heat, use a skillet with some olive oil in it to sauté the onions and chopped peppers.  About 5 minutes or so, just until the onions start to brown.  Add garlic, basil and thyme, just cooking until fragrant about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add turkey, salt and pepper and cook until meat is browned.  Add half of the tomatoes and half of the tomato paste and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, mixing well. 
 
Remove half of this mixture and set aside to use in the sauce. 
 
Add cooked quinoa to the remaining turkey mixture in the skillet and stir thoroughly.  I found this mixture to be a bit dry so I added a little of the reserved liquid from the canned tomatoes. Fill each pepper with the mixture, place in baking dish, cover with foil and bake about 30 minutes until the peppers are tender and can be pierced with a fork.
 
While the peppers are baking, add the reserved turkey mixture to a skillet over medium low heat and mix in the remaining tomatoes, paste, remaining basil and thyme, salt and pepper to taste, a few teaspoons of the reserved liquid from the canned tomatoes and about ¼ cup of water or so.  Let the sauce simmer, adjusting spices to suit taste.

 Enjoy!

Banana Bread & Dirty Monkey Drinks

04 Thursday Oct 2012

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Mmmm Banana Bread.  Who doesn’t love Banana Bread? I posed this question to Mr. E the other day and he answered “crazy people – that’s who!!” I agree 🙂

Mr. E and I have a habit of buying bananas (more than we would ever eat in a week) and, of course, never eating them all.  Mr. E, in his effort to not waste food, throws them in the freezer. We currently have about 10 bananas (with the peels on), all black and not pretty looking in our freezer and… I need the freezer space.  So when I suggested Banana Bread Mr. E did a happy dance and when I said Dirty Monkeys he straight up squealed!!  Okay, so maybe he didn’t squeal but I sure did. Yes I squealed at my own suggestion! LOL They are that GOOD!

What was that? Did I hear you ask “what’s a Dirty Monkey?”  Only my favorite drink from St. Lucia!!   Imagine a glass of blended deliciousness.  For 2 drinks the recipe is (approximately): 1 large banana, 2 shots of Kahlua, 1½ shots of white rum, ice and a bit of milk or if you are feeling indulgent 1 scoop of ice cream. (I’m usually feeling indulgent). 🙂  Then blend!

The Banana Bread recipe is an easy – no yeast, one bowl recipe. You can make it more complex if you want and get all fancy with a bunch of different bowls, but it’s really not necessary.

I pulled the bananas out of the freezer, let them sit on the counter for about 10 minutes, peeled them and dropped them whole into my Kitchen Aid mixer.  I mixed for a few minutes until they were slightly mashed looking.

To the bowl I added the sugar, egg and melted butter.  Mixed until blended and then added the flour and baking powder (I used a colander to sift the baking soda to catch lumps). Mix well.

I decided to make small loaves so they would bake quicker.  My favorite is to eat a slice warm with a bit of butter spread on top.  Hope you enjoy!

Banana Bread Recipe

3 large ripe bananas mashed – about 1cup
1 cup sugar (I use a little less if using really ripe bananas)
1 egg
4 tablespoon melted butter – cooled
1½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
 
Grease loaf pan.  Preheat oven to 325°.
 
To a mixing bowl add bananas (either mashed or if using a stand mixer, like a Kitchen Aid, whole and use the paddle attachment on low to mash them up) and sugar and mix well.  Add egg and melted butter, mixing well after each addition.  Then add flour, salt and baking soda (make sure there aren’t any lumps in your baking soda) and mix until combined. 
 
Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 55 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when testing for doneness.
 
**The bake time for the mini loaves in the picture above was about 25 – 30 minutes.**  

Zucchini Bread

23 Sunday Sep 2012

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Zucchini bread is one of those things that I grew up having and is total “memory food”. You know, that food that you love because it takes you right back to a good memory or reminds you of a good time in your life.  I remember as a child mosey-ing to the kitchen in the morning, after deciding I was ready to face the world (even as a child I loathed mornings), and there it would be!  A thick slice, lightly toasted with just a thin layer of butter melted into the top…mmmmm.  I think the secret is adding pineapple!  I’ve tried other zucchini bread recipes and they’re nice but not, yes I’d like another slice and in fact just give me the whole damn loaf good. 🙂 

This is a really easy recipe! There are a few tricks my mom and I have learned over the years; 1. sifting the baking soda into the flour mixture is a must (nothing is grosser then getting a bite with overwhelming baking soda flavor); and 2. using pineapple rings and then cutting them up instead of just buying crushed.  The reason the extra work is worth it, is that I have found that the rings are better quality pineapple whereas the crushed sometimes you get bits of core. It’s not my favorite to bite into a bread or any dessert that has pineapple in it and you hit that hard, stringy core that you just can’t chew through and end up spitting out.  (I suppose if you’re a lady, you swallow it, but when it comes to “yucky” I’m a spitter. lol 

Zucchini Bread

Yields 2 loaves
3 eggs
2 cups sugar*
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup diced pineapple, well drained
2 cups grated zucchini, I use the large hole side of my grater
1 cup raisins
 
*If I’m feeling really healthy I reduce the sugar to 1⅔ cups, but most of the time I leave it at the 2 cups and just enjoy it as sweet bread.
 
Preheat oven to 350°.  Mix the dry ingredients together, sifting in the baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy.  Add oil and vanilla and continue beating until thick and foamy.
 
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix well.  Gently fold in the pineapple and zucchini.  Lastly fold in the raisins.
 
Pour mixture into 2 well-greased loaf pans and bake for 50 – 60 minutes.  I rotate halfway through the baking because I don’t have a convection oven and my oven does not heat evenly.  Test for doneness using a toothpick; you’ll want the toothpick to come out pretty clean, a few crumbs is okay too. 🙂

Zucchini – Mushroom – Sausage Lasagna

22 Wednesday Aug 2012

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We have two versions of homemade spaghetti sauce – mine, which was lovingly passed down from my mom and includes veggies and sausage and Mr. E’s, which was lovingly passed down from his mom and is a marinara style sauce with ginormous meatballs.  Both are delicious and when we make either we make a TON and freeze the leftovers. 

While scrounging through our freezer looking for something to make for dinner, I found not 1 but 2 bags of my mom’s veggie spaghetti sauce.  As I shouted to Mr. E, “we have SAUCE – 2 BAGS”, he shouted back “SWEET” and we both looked at each other and started fist pumping to our lasagna song!  Okay, we didn’t really fist pump and there is no lasagna song, but we did smile when we said “lasagna” and there should be a lasagna song – it’s good enough to have its own song. LOL 🙂

While in the freezer I also found 2 chicken Italian sausages – 1 hot and 1 mild.  A search of the fridge yielded a pint of mushrooms and squash in danger of going bad. 

Using my mandolin slicer (which is so much fun), I thinly sliced the yellow squash and zucchini.  I used an egg slicer to slice the mushrooms.

I crumbled the sausage in a skillet and sautéed until cooked through and removed from pan.  In the same pan I cooked the squash in a little bit of olive oil, removed and then sautéed the mushrooms in the same pan with a bit of butter added, until lightly browned.

I began layering sauce, cooked lasagna noodles, sausage, mushrooms, squash, ricotta and a bit of mozzarella cheese in a baking dish. 

The last layer consisted of noodles, sauce and cheese.  Cover and bake and then….. YUMMY!  I’m sorry this picture didn’t come out very well – I was trying to show the layers :(.  We were having it for dinner the next night and then I forgot to take a picture of it on the plate.

Zucchini, Mushroom, Sausage Lasagna

12 lasagna noodles, cooked
2 squashes – sliced, I used a yellow and a zucchini
2 links of Italian sausage
1 pint of mushrooms, sliced
4-5 cups spaghetti sauce, we like it saucy
1 cup of ricotta
2 – 2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
Salt & pepper
 
Preheat oven to 375° In a big pan, over medium heat, crumble the sausage and sauté until cooked through; remove from pan.  In the same pan add the sliced squash and add a pinch of salt and pepper (depending on how big your pan is you may need to do this part in batches so that the slices can get browned).  Since I used chicken sausages, there was not a lot of grease and I needed to add a bit of olive oil to the pan.  Remove from pan.  Then sauté the mushrooms in the same pan with a bit of butter until lightly browned.
 
In a 9×13 pan, ladle a bit of sauce in the bottom just to coat and then begin layering everything, starting with noodles, sausage, mushrooms, squash, dollops of ricotta, a sprinkle of cheese, a little sauce and then another layer of noodles.  The last layer will be noodles, a good amount of sauce (as mentioned earlier, we like it saucy :)) and mozzarella cheese. 
 
Cover and bake for 35 – 45 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling around the edges of the dish.  Remove foil and turn on the broiler and cook for about 5 minutes or so until the cheese on top gets bubbly and a little browned.  It’ll go fast so keep your eye on it so it doesn’t burn.  Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy with garlic bread and a nice salad.

Browned Butter Nutella Chip Cookies

17 Friday Aug 2012

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The other night I made the cookie recipe that I mentioned on my last post –Nutella Chip Cookies with Homemade Nutella Chips via The Ivory Hut because my cookie jar was empty and sad. 

First and foremost the cookie dough is absolutely delicious and the short and sweet version of this post – cookies were made and eagerly devoured.

The author made it seem so easy to make homemade Nutella chips that I thought I could do it and that everything would be easy peasy.  The author ‘updated’ her post sharing how if you want even more hazelnut flavor, just add the butter to the Nutella and leave out the chocolate chips.  Cool I thought – I want extra Nutella–y flavor goodness in my cookie! Well, somewhere along the directions I must have misunderstood because making the Nutella ‘chips’ was a nightmare. That’s not quite accurate; the ‘making’ of the chips was not that big of a deal, the mixing of the chips into the cookie dough was a nightmare.

I don’t have an official double broiler, so I go the ghetto, or as Mr. E. would say cost conscientious, way and use a glass dish over a pot of water to melt the Nutella and butter together. 

I choose to spread the mixture onto a foil lined baking sheet, instead of piping into chips, since both ways were demonstrated in the recipe.  This was mistake number one.  At the time I thought it was a great idea.  I have used this foil lined technique for fudge, cakes, brownies, granola bars, pretty much everything, so I figured it would work well.  Well, when I went to break the slab of frozen Nutella into pieces, it started to melt before I could really get anything accomplished – so back in the freezer it went.  After about 10 minutes I pulled it out and cut it into pieces.  Then I started to lift the pieces from the foil – but it started to melt and so back in the freezer.  Once it was again hard, I pulled it out and realized that the foil stuck to quite a few pieces and was time consuming to pick off…. Let me fast forward a bit… just keep saying in the freezer – out of the freezer and you’ll get the picture. 🙂  Once cut and separated from the foil I left the chips in the freezer until I was ready to add to the dough. 

I think browned butter is my new favorite flavor enhancer!  Rather than following the directions and pouring the butter into the sugar, I removed from heat – added the remaining butter, sugar and vanilla to the skillet with the browned butter and whisked well.  I then let the mixture cool and added the egg and the egg yolk, whisking well after each addition.  Then I poured the mixture into the flour and stirred. 

This is where I think I made mistake number two.  I put the dough in the fridge to chill because it was somewhat runny.  When I pulled it out and let it soften a bit I attempted to mix in the frozen Nutella pieces – NIGHMARE!  HA HA HA  It’s only funny now because the cookies were delicious.  At the time I’m pretty sure Erik removed the dogs from the room to protect their ears from my shouts of frustration.  The pieces very quickly started to soften so much so that it was difficult to mix them in.  I ended up forming clumps of dough in my hand and, by hand, adding a few Nutella pieces. 

Fortunately once they baked it didn’t matter and they were scrumptious!  It was just an exhausting process LOL.  I’ll definitely be making these again, but with modifications – probably less butter, they are quite greasy. I’ll also need to learn a bit more about how to make the Nutella chips a little sturdier.

I haven’t re-typed the recipe since I didn’t make any ingredient modifications.  Please do visit the site using the links above and give this recipe a try.  It made a ton of Nutella chips, which is really nice, so the next time I make this recipe I’ll have at least half of it already done!

Mashed Potato Stuffing Soup

30 Monday Jul 2012

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I have a confession to make… I made this soup a few weeks ago and got sucked into a book that I just finished last night, and that is why I haven’t posted this sooner. For those of you that know me, I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you in the least.  I am notorious for picking up a new book and forgetting about everything else around me! I am that person that takes my book, or in this case my Nook, everywhere I go to sneak in a page or two whenever I can.

I had the best intentions to post right away-really I did! I was online when all of a sudden I found myself on the Barnes and Noble page.  Really all I did was click on a link from my email saying something about “daily deal”… 🙂 lol.  AANnnnnddd that was the end of my good intentions. Lol  fellow book loves I can almost feel you nodding your head thinking “yep, I’ve done that”. 🙂

So here I am about two weeks later, my nerdy book side completely satisfied with my recent read, and back on track.  This was supposed to be a roasted acorn squash bisque type soup. 

I’ve never tasted acorn or butternut squash soup but I love soups and love both acorn and butternut squash.  Now in my mind, and to my taste buds, these squashes are somewhat similar in taste.  So I scoured through my cookbooks and recipes online to get some ideas about how to make this soup.  I knew I didn’t want something sweet and many recipes called for curry, which could be good but I didn’t feel like it. There wasn’t really any one recipe that sounded like what I was looking for, however I noticed many similarities across pages and pages of recipe research.  So while no one recipe inspired this creation, simply type butternut squash soup in the search bar and a plethora of inspiration will appear.

By the way this soup got its name because when Mr. E got home and tasted it he said “Mmmm that’s delicious what’s it called?” I replied, hesitantly “Roasted Acorn Squash Soup…” (Hesitant because while it was good, it tasted nothing like what I thought acorn squash soup should taste like. Mr. E replied with “Hunh, tastes like Thanksgiving… You know more like a Mashed Potato Stuffing Soup.” Ha Ha Ha so I made a quick tweak and took it over the top by adding sausage. 

Back to the kitchen I go to try again for an acorn squash soup, but in the meantime this really is thanksgiving in a bowl (minus the turkey) and does make you feel all warm and cozy…though that could just be the 100° weather were having!

Both Stewie and I kept snacking on the roasted squash – it was so good right out of the oven…here is the little guy waiting for his next piece – yes he is sticking his tongue out at me!!

Mashed Potato Stuffing Soup

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
¼ cup onion, chopped
3 oz. breakfast sausage
1 tablespoon flour
4 ½ cups chicken broth
¾ cup apple cider
½ cup light cream
2 ½ cups roasted acorn squash, peeled and chopped
2 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon rosemary and turmeric
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
 
Roasted Acorn Squash:  cut and peel the squash.  These don’t need to be cut into small pieces because they will be puréed in the soup.  Preheat oven to 450, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Toss the acorn in some olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper and line the pieces on the baking sheet.  Roast for about 7 minutes and then turn over and roast for another 7 minutes.  You’ll know the acorn is done, when it is tender. 
 
In a big pot over medium heat, add the breakfast sausage and while it’s cooking use the back of a spoon to break into small pieces.  Once cooked all the way, remove the sausage from the pot.  Add butter, the chopped onion and celery and sauté for about 5 minutes.  Then add the apple and sauté for another 10 minutes.  Add the flour and stir continually for a few minutes while the flour lightly browns, add the broth and scrape up any yummy flavor stuck to the bottom of the pot.  Add squash, potatoes, thyme, sage, rosemary, turmeric, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Simmer 20 minutes until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.  Blend ingredients until puréed.  I used a hand blender so that I wouldn’t need to remove everything from the pot, but a food processor or blender would also work.  Add cider, cream and cooked sausage to the puréed soup.  Simmer until heated through. 
 

I served with warm sourdough bread and it was really good.  Mr. E. pointed to his belly and said he was in a happy place. Ha ha.  Enjoy!

Egg Rolls & Pak Choy Salad with Asian Vinaigrette

14 Saturday Jul 2012

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Egg rolls are one of the things that aren’t hard to make but do require a bit of time, even with some of the time saving tricks I’ve learned.  If you can find a willing participant to help with some of the chopping and egg roll rolling (wrapping? folding?…uhhh LOL) it speeds things up and makes it more fun.  Add to that some good wine, if you so choose, (I typically cook with some kind of libation in my hand) and it can actually be a fun night in!  And now you know what Mr. E and I do on Friday nights LOL.  Also, I think once you have the basic recipe you can modify this so many different ways.  One ingredient that I don’t include in my egg rolls, but is commonly found in other recipes and at restaurants is Chinese Five Spice.  I find it to have a very distinct flavor, and do not care for in most dishes but especially egg rolls.  However, I did want to mention it because many people do like it.

To go along with our egg rolls we had a Pak Choy salad with Asian Vinaigrette and Barely Asian, Asian Soup.  Remember all of that Pak Choy that I needed to find a use for?  Well, making a salad was one of the quickest and easiest ways I could think of.  I am still amazed at the taste difference of certain fresh vegetables when compared to store bought.  Pak Choy is one of them!  I really think anyone could grow this, even if it’s just in a pot or window box.  I am by no means a gardener and I was able to grow these fairly easily – my only really battle was with the caterpillars.   Sorry, I got carried away with my “you can garden too” talk. 🙂 lol 

For the salad I added thinly sliced red pepper and bean sprouts to the Pak Choy, but I think any salad ingredients would go really well with the Asian Vinaigrette.  It has just a hint of sweetness, but really good sesame and ginger flavor.

My first suggestion if you’re good at planning meals in advance is too make the egg roll filling one night and then roll and fry the egg rolls the second night.  I’ve done it all in one evening and it’s not a big deal, but when I break it up into 2 nights I usually enjoy myself a bit more.

Suggestion number 2: buy the packed cole slaw mix (the already shredded cabbage and carrots).  It’s just so much easier than finely chopping the cabbage and carrots.

So, I’m a bit neurotic and pinched all the “yucky” ends of the bean sprouts off…

And cut some of the longer ones. 

A personal pet peeve is when I bite into an egg roll and a lot of the good stuff comes out in that one bite.  Does anyone know what I mean?  Maybe I just don’t really commit to each bit I take and fully crunch down on stuff…LOL. But I just hate that, so you’ll find that I often cut food into “shorter” sizes.  Ha ha.

After I cooked the onions, mushrooms, ginger, garlic and bean sprouts in the sesame oil, l added the Cole Slaw mix and remaining seasonings/sauces. I don’t use a lot of flavoring for my egg rolls because I know I want to serve them with a dipping sauce (usually that bright red sweet and sour for Mr. E and then soy sauce for me).  However, definitely make the recipe yours by increasing the flavoring amounts.  Some chili sauce or Sriracha would give it a nice kick.

I’ve never tried to make my own egg roll wrappers, the store bought ones are perfect for me, though finding the location of them in your local Frys or Safeway can be challenging.  Sometimes they are in the produce department and sometimes they are in one of those randomly placed refrigerator units with the tofu. The nice thing is that on the back of the packaging there are great pictures and instructions on how to roll the egg rolls.

Egg Roll Recipe

1 tsp. minced ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
3 mushrooms, chopped
½ cup of bean sprouts
¼ cup sliced onion
¼ cup water chestnuts, chopped
1 ½ tsp.  sesame oil
1 16 oz. bag of Cole Slaw mix with carrots
2 tablespoons water
2 to 3 tsp. soy sauce 
1 tablespoon bottled teriyaki sauce
Egg Roll wrappers (store bought)
Dash of seasoned rice vinegar
 
Add sesame oil to a big sauté pan or a wok if you have one; on medium heat.  Add ginger and let cook about 1 minute, just so the oil sort of becomes infused with the ginger.  Add onion, bean sprouts, water chestnuts and mushrooms. Cook approximately 5 minutes, enough for the onions to become translucent, but not long enough to brown.  Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add the bag of Cole Slaw mix, water, soy sauce,  seasoned rice vinegar and teriyaki sauce.  Cook until cabbage softens, but not cooked all the way. Maybe 5-7 minutes. 
 
Let mixture cool.  Place a heaping spoonful onto the center of an egg roll wrapper and fold according to package directions.  In a deep skillet, add a couple of inches of oil, enough to cover the bottom half of an egg roll.  Fry until golden brown on one side and then flip the egg roll and fry until golden brown on the other side.
 

Asian Vinaigrette

½ tablespoon of minced ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
½ tablespoon sesame oil
2 ½ teaspoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Dash of soy sauce
Salt and pepper
 
Add all ingredients to a bowl; wisk well.  Let sit about 10 minutes so all of the flavors can really blend together.  This dressing was even better the next day!  (Aren’t most things though). 🙂