This semester, I am taking an online pastry and baking class for an elective. It is a lot of fun and I have already learned so much. My assignment this week was to make "boboli"
Monday, February 24, 2014
I'm back!
This semester, I am taking an online pastry and baking class for an elective. It is a lot of fun and I have already learned so much. My assignment this week was to make "boboli"
Saturday, July 20, 2013
fig stuff.
This is Kristin. Hello, world. It's been forever. Apologies.
This last week, Ty and I picked about 15 dozen fresh figs from a friend's massive backyard fig tree. The last few days have been full of non-stop fig preparation, fig brainstorming, and fig consumption. It's been crazy. But good. We made two different types of jam [one more spice-y, and one more fruity]. Figs roasted with honey and thyme and churned into ice cream. Muddled figs with bourbon, OJ and balsamic. We stuffed them with goat cheese, wrapped 'em in prosciutto, drizzled 'em with honey and put a pecan on top. We even borrowed a friend's dehydrator and dried a few. They didn't turn out fantastic. I'm hoping to make tarts filled with rich, sweet cream and topped with fresh figs today.
The actual reason for this post is to share a recipe for Savory Fig Chutney that I pretty much made up. I knew what I wanted and couldn't find a recipe anywhere online, so I just winged it. Served it up on a cheese plate and decided what I wanted to be different. So here is what I ended up with, after a bit of tweaking.
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh figs [roughly 15-20 figs]
1 medium-large onion
1 garlic clove [or more depending on your taste]
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
a dash of kosher salt
1 TBSP olive oil
1. Cut the onion into half rings, very thin. Heat a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Once it's hot, drizzle in olive oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, throw the onion slices in, spread into a thin layer and sprinkle the salt over the top of them. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until they smell amazing and look very dark, but not quite burnt. [Carmelised.] Be patient. It pays off.
2. While the onions are cooking, mince the garlic and cut the figs. Saute the garlic in with the cooked onions, then add the figs and stir everything together. Cook the mixture until the figs are pretty soft, then pour in the chicken stock. [Add more or less according to what looks right to you, consistency wise.] Sprinkle the fresh herbs over the top and keep the chutney moving around in the pan, cooking for another 5 minutes until it looks like you want it to.
3. Spoon into a 15 oz mason jar while still hot. Once it's completely cool, close the lid and refrigerate.
Thanks for readin'.
Until next time,
Kristin
This last week, Ty and I picked about 15 dozen fresh figs from a friend's massive backyard fig tree. The last few days have been full of non-stop fig preparation, fig brainstorming, and fig consumption. It's been crazy. But good. We made two different types of jam [one more spice-y, and one more fruity]. Figs roasted with honey and thyme and churned into ice cream. Muddled figs with bourbon, OJ and balsamic. We stuffed them with goat cheese, wrapped 'em in prosciutto, drizzled 'em with honey and put a pecan on top. We even borrowed a friend's dehydrator and dried a few. They didn't turn out fantastic. I'm hoping to make tarts filled with rich, sweet cream and topped with fresh figs today.
The actual reason for this post is to share a recipe for Savory Fig Chutney that I pretty much made up. I knew what I wanted and couldn't find a recipe anywhere online, so I just winged it. Served it up on a cheese plate and decided what I wanted to be different. So here is what I ended up with, after a bit of tweaking.
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh figs [roughly 15-20 figs]
1 medium-large onion
1 garlic clove [or more depending on your taste]
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
a dash of kosher salt
1 TBSP olive oil
1. Cut the onion into half rings, very thin. Heat a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Once it's hot, drizzle in olive oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, throw the onion slices in, spread into a thin layer and sprinkle the salt over the top of them. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until they smell amazing and look very dark, but not quite burnt. [Carmelised.] Be patient. It pays off.
2. While the onions are cooking, mince the garlic and cut the figs. Saute the garlic in with the cooked onions, then add the figs and stir everything together. Cook the mixture until the figs are pretty soft, then pour in the chicken stock. [Add more or less according to what looks right to you, consistency wise.] Sprinkle the fresh herbs over the top and keep the chutney moving around in the pan, cooking for another 5 minutes until it looks like you want it to.
3. Spoon into a 15 oz mason jar while still hot. Once it's completely cool, close the lid and refrigerate.
Thanks for readin'.
Until next time,
Kristin
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
coconut avocado ice cream.
Here is the recipe, from http://www.lafujimama.com/ :
2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
1 can (13.5 ounces) light coconut milk
1/2 cup liquid honey
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Pour the mixture into a storage container and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
{I also added some toasted coconut to the top for the texture and flavor. Highly recommended. Just spread some sweetened coconut flakes on a baking sheet and put it under your oven's broiler. Monitor verrry closely, it literally takes about 1 1/2 minutes.}
Monday, January 7, 2013
just roll with it.
Ham and Cheese Rolls & Orange Rolls
I'm perfectly aware how corny the title of this post is, but lacking creativity, I'm keeping it. After our brief family trip to Michigan, my brother and I returned home a few days before our parents. For me, this almost always means cooking experiments using what ingredients we have on hand. This particular day, I found that the only not-frozen meat in the entire house was 5 slices of smoked ham, though we had lots of cheese.
I decided to whip up a batch of basic white dough in our bread maker, the same recipe we usually use for cinnamon rolls, and split the dough into one half ham and cheese rolls, and the other half orange rolls made with the citrus right from our backyard.
Since not everyone has a bread maker, obviously the basic dough recipe can change. I suggest substituting any white bread dough you have tried before and liked.
Ham and Cheese Rolls
One half batch of basic white bread dough
Spread:
6 TB butter, melted
3 TB dijon mustard
1 TB honey
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped and sauteed until translucent
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Filling:
2 oz thinly sliced Gruyere
2 oz strong white cheese, I used white cheddar for half and parmesan for half and I liked both
2 oz Monterey Jack
6-8 thin slices smoked ham, enough to create a single layer
First, flour the surface and roll the dough to 1/4-1/2 inch thick. I made a rectangle of about 12x18 inches, but it depends on your dough.
Stir together the spread ingredients and spread evenly over the dough, going up to 1/2 inch from the edges. Cover with the cheeses, distributing the three kinds evenly over the dough. Top with the sliced ham.
Roll up the dough either way you like, depending on if you want lots of rolls or larger rolls. Again, this is personal preference.
Cut with a sharp knife into rolls about 1-1 1/2 inches long. Place in a buttered baking dish (mine fit well in a large pie plate or cake pan). Set aside to rise in a warm place about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the risen rolls about 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Orange Rolls
One half batch white bread dough
Spread:
6 TB butter, room temperature
3 TB orange zest
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp orange or lemon extract
dash of cloves
salt, to taste
Flour the surface and roll the dough to 1/4-1/2 inch think. I made a rectangle of about 12x18 inches, but it depends on your dough.
Stir together the spread ingredients. Use about a tablespoon to butter a baking dish. For this many rolls, I normally use a 10 inch pie plate or cake pan.
Spread the mixture evenly over the dough, covering up to about a half inch from the edge. Roll up the dough, and cut with a sharp knife into rolls about 1-1 1/2 inches long. Place in the baking dish, and set aside to rise in a warm place about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the risen rolls about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.
I didn't think these rolls needed any frosting, but if you want to make one, I suggest the following.
Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese
2 TB whipping cream
2 TB orange zest
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, until it's the thickness and sweetness that you like
Beat together all the ingredients, adding the powdered sugar and beating until it's fluffy and delicious. Serve with warm rolls.
Let me know what you think of these variations on the cinnamon roll! My brother was skeptical that something in the shape of a cinnamon roll could taste good made with ham and cheese, or with orange for that matter, but half of each pan later, he was convinced.
 |
| Orange Rolls on the left, Ham and Cheese Rolls on the right |
I'm perfectly aware how corny the title of this post is, but lacking creativity, I'm keeping it. After our brief family trip to Michigan, my brother and I returned home a few days before our parents. For me, this almost always means cooking experiments using what ingredients we have on hand. This particular day, I found that the only not-frozen meat in the entire house was 5 slices of smoked ham, though we had lots of cheese.
I decided to whip up a batch of basic white dough in our bread maker, the same recipe we usually use for cinnamon rolls, and split the dough into one half ham and cheese rolls, and the other half orange rolls made with the citrus right from our backyard.
Since not everyone has a bread maker, obviously the basic dough recipe can change. I suggest substituting any white bread dough you have tried before and liked.
Ham and Cheese Rolls
One half batch of basic white bread dough
Spread:
6 TB butter, melted
3 TB dijon mustard
1 TB honey
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped and sauteed until translucent
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Filling:
2 oz thinly sliced Gruyere
2 oz strong white cheese, I used white cheddar for half and parmesan for half and I liked both
2 oz Monterey Jack
6-8 thin slices smoked ham, enough to create a single layer
First, flour the surface and roll the dough to 1/4-1/2 inch thick. I made a rectangle of about 12x18 inches, but it depends on your dough.
Stir together the spread ingredients and spread evenly over the dough, going up to 1/2 inch from the edges. Cover with the cheeses, distributing the three kinds evenly over the dough. Top with the sliced ham.
Roll up the dough either way you like, depending on if you want lots of rolls or larger rolls. Again, this is personal preference.
Cut with a sharp knife into rolls about 1-1 1/2 inches long. Place in a buttered baking dish (mine fit well in a large pie plate or cake pan). Set aside to rise in a warm place about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the risen rolls about 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Orange Rolls
One half batch white bread dough
Spread:
6 TB butter, room temperature
3 TB orange zest
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp orange or lemon extract
dash of cloves
salt, to taste
Flour the surface and roll the dough to 1/4-1/2 inch think. I made a rectangle of about 12x18 inches, but it depends on your dough.
Stir together the spread ingredients. Use about a tablespoon to butter a baking dish. For this many rolls, I normally use a 10 inch pie plate or cake pan.
Spread the mixture evenly over the dough, covering up to about a half inch from the edge. Roll up the dough, and cut with a sharp knife into rolls about 1-1 1/2 inches long. Place in the baking dish, and set aside to rise in a warm place about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the risen rolls about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.
I didn't think these rolls needed any frosting, but if you want to make one, I suggest the following.
Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese
2 TB whipping cream
2 TB orange zest
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, until it's the thickness and sweetness that you like
Beat together all the ingredients, adding the powdered sugar and beating until it's fluffy and delicious. Serve with warm rolls.
Let me know what you think of these variations on the cinnamon roll! My brother was skeptical that something in the shape of a cinnamon roll could taste good made with ham and cheese, or with orange for that matter, but half of each pan later, he was convinced.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Christmas Eve.
Kristin here!
So. At 11 o'clock yesterday morning I decided to make dessert for our immediate family's Christmas Eve dinner. And that dessert was: Smitten Kitchen's chocolate hazelnut crepe cake. A stack of deliciously paper-thin crepes with a light hazelnut pastry cream between each one, all draped in chocolate ganache and showered with candied hazelnuts.
Perhaps a bit over-zealous... but alas. that's what I proceeded to do. It was an insane amount of steps, separate recipes, and refrigerating. Buut I like to think everything turned out as it should have. Except for the candied hazelnuts. Something about candying sugar... that also involves nuts... just does not agree with me. Pretty much ever. I should take a class or something. It's getting sad.
Also, I didn't have Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) on hand and since I couldn't just run to the store to pick some up, I just used the Amaretto (almond liqueur) we had. So there were some different/lacking flavors.
The recipe is from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman. I couldn't find a digital copy online anywhere, so you'll have to go pick up a copy of her cookbook. Believe me, it is well worth it. Full of some truly fantastic recipes.
So. At 11 o'clock yesterday morning I decided to make dessert for our immediate family's Christmas Eve dinner. And that dessert was: Smitten Kitchen's chocolate hazelnut crepe cake. A stack of deliciously paper-thin crepes with a light hazelnut pastry cream between each one, all draped in chocolate ganache and showered with candied hazelnuts.
Perhaps a bit over-zealous... but alas. that's what I proceeded to do. It was an insane amount of steps, separate recipes, and refrigerating. Buut I like to think everything turned out as it should have. Except for the candied hazelnuts. Something about candying sugar... that also involves nuts... just does not agree with me. Pretty much ever. I should take a class or something. It's getting sad.
Also, I didn't have Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) on hand and since I couldn't just run to the store to pick some up, I just used the Amaretto (almond liqueur) we had. So there were some different/lacking flavors.
The recipe is from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman. I couldn't find a digital copy online anywhere, so you'll have to go pick up a copy of her cookbook. Believe me, it is well worth it. Full of some truly fantastic recipes.
Christmas "Dinner"
Hello Everyone! This is Amanda. Hope you are having a blessed holiday season. With our family, the holidays are always a time of giving fun presents, playing board games together, and consuming inordinate amounts of ridiculous and delicious food.
This year, for our Christmas dinner, we decided to go with a theme of appetizers, so our entire dinner was made up of little bites of yumminess.
The first course was a fancy salsa, served with tortilla chips. I got this recipe from a friend of mine, whose mom focuses on making healthy meals for her family, and my family loved it. It's easy and versatile, so feel free to mix in any other things you think sound good.
Basic Bruschetta
1/2 baguette or another crusty french bread, sliced
6 TB butter
3 medium tomatoes
1 TB basalmic vinegar
10 basil leaves
1 TB olive oil
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
First, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and add the garlic, frying until lightly goldened. Set aside to cool.
Dice the tomatoes and stir in the basalmic. Chiffonade the basil leaves (just chop them up to manageable pieces) and add to the tomatoes. Stir in the garlic and the oil from the skillet, and add salt and pepper till it tastes right to you. Cover and let sit at least an hour for all the flavors to come through.
Heat a griddle over medium high heat and melt the butter on it. Toast the bread on both sides until golden. Top with a little of the tomato mixture and eat up!
The next course I served was a basic shrimp cocktail. I'll admit I didn't have to do any of the cooking on this one, as I just picked it up from the grocery store on a whim, but it was pretty good and fun to eat.
Following that, the sweet and sour meatballs were ready. I've never made meatballs before, but when we started planning our dinner my parents thought these would be a wonderful addition to the meal. My mom found the recipe on Allrecipes.com and I was glad she did!
Sweet and Sour Cocktail Meatballs
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup minced onion
2 slices bread, crusts removed and soaked in water
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz. canned jelled cranberry sauce
3/4 cup chili sauce
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 TB brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 350. Stir together the ground beef, onion, bread, and egg, mixing well till no chunks of bread remain. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, stir together the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, lemon juice, and brown sugar in a crockpot over low heat. When the meatballs are done, add them to the sauce and stir to coat well. Heat, covered, for about an hour. Yum.
After the meatballs, what came out of our oven was stuffed mushrooms. I found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman site as well, though after years of my mom's stuffed mushrooms, I didn't like this recipe quite as much as hers. Of course, it might have been because we were all getting pretty full at this point.
Stuffed Mushrooms (I halved the original recipe, so that's why the amounts of everything are strange)
12 oz. button mushrooms, rinsed
3 oz. sweet Italian sausage
1/4 medium yellow onion, chopped finely
2 cloves minced garlic
3 TB dry white wine
2/3 package cream cheese
1/2 egg yolk (good luck with that.)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
Pop the stems out of the clean mushrooms, reserving both parts. Finely chop the stems and set aside.
Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the sausage. Brown and crumble it, then spoon it onto a plate to cool. Don't clean the skillet.
Add the onion and garlic, and cook for a couple minutes over medium low heat. Add the wine and allow to cook until evaporated, another couple minutes. Add the mushrooms stems and cook until soft. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with the egg yolk and the parmesan until creamy. Add the sausage and mushroom-onion mixture, stirring until combined. Place in the fridge to cool for a few minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350. Spoon a little of the cream cheese mixture into the open cavity of the mushroom, overfilling it so you get as much cheesy goodness as possible in each bite!
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top turns golden. Allow to cool a few minutes, otherwise your guests will burn their mouths on the deliciousness.
The next recipe isn't much of a recipe, just a fun appetizer that spices up any party, combining some of the most amazing ingredients into one fun bite.
Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalepeños Wrapped in Bacon (literally and linguistically, a mouthful)
makes 16 bites, enough for about 5 people
8 jalepeños
8 strips bacon
1 package cream cheese
First, because you'll be working with hot peppers, it's a good idea to wear gloves and make sure you don't rub your eyes during or after this procedure. Pretty painful experience.
Cut the stems off the jalepeños and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove and discard the seeds and membrane carefully. Cut the strips of bacon in half.
Spoon cream cheese into the open cavity of each jalepeño, getting them nice and full. You might not use all the cream cheese. Wrap a half-slice of bacon around each filled jalepeno, covering the cream cheese so it doesn't melt out in the oven.
Place in a baking dish, and preheat the oven to 350. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the bacon is crispy. If you did a good job removing the seeds, these will provide a punch of flavor to your party without killing your guests!
Finally, for the dessert course, we kept it simple and classic with chocolate dipped strawberries. These were fun to make with my mom, and so good fresh!
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
1 carton strawberries, rinsed well
1/2 package semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp shortening
Rinse and dry the strawberries well, pushing back the stems so they don't get in the chocolate later. Melt the chocolate chips and the shortening in the microwave, stirring every 30-45 seconds until smooth.
Dip the strawberries in the chocolate and set on a plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until hardened. When you eat them, savor the moment. Nothing says living in the lap of luxury like chocolate covered strawberries!
Well, you have probably stopped reading this post by now. If you haven't, I'd like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, and good eating! To a wonderful and blessed 2013.
This year, for our Christmas dinner, we decided to go with a theme of appetizers, so our entire dinner was made up of little bites of yumminess.
The first course was a fancy salsa, served with tortilla chips. I got this recipe from a friend of mine, whose mom focuses on making healthy meals for her family, and my family loved it. It's easy and versatile, so feel free to mix in any other things you think sound good.
Fancy Salsa
2 jars salsa, whatever spiciness you like
1 can sweet corn, not creamed
1 can black beans, rinsed
2 chopped avocados
2 tsp lime juice
salt and pepper, to taste
Optional: chopped cilantro, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, anything else your heart desires
Tortilla chips, to serve
Mix together the salsa, sweet corn, and black beans. Add the chopped avocados, lime juice, and salt and pepper just before serving. Dish into a big bowl with plenty of chips and enjoy!
Next up, we had some basic bruschetta. I used a recipe on the Pioneer Woman's blog, and it was very good.
Basic Bruschetta
1/2 baguette or another crusty french bread, sliced
6 TB butter
3 medium tomatoes
1 TB basalmic vinegar
10 basil leaves
1 TB olive oil
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper, to taste
First, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat, and add the garlic, frying until lightly goldened. Set aside to cool.
Dice the tomatoes and stir in the basalmic. Chiffonade the basil leaves (just chop them up to manageable pieces) and add to the tomatoes. Stir in the garlic and the oil from the skillet, and add salt and pepper till it tastes right to you. Cover and let sit at least an hour for all the flavors to come through.
Heat a griddle over medium high heat and melt the butter on it. Toast the bread on both sides until golden. Top with a little of the tomato mixture and eat up!
The next course I served was a basic shrimp cocktail. I'll admit I didn't have to do any of the cooking on this one, as I just picked it up from the grocery store on a whim, but it was pretty good and fun to eat.
Following that, the sweet and sour meatballs were ready. I've never made meatballs before, but when we started planning our dinner my parents thought these would be a wonderful addition to the meal. My mom found the recipe on Allrecipes.com and I was glad she did!
Sweet and Sour Cocktail Meatballs
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup minced onion
2 slices bread, crusts removed and soaked in water
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz. canned jelled cranberry sauce
3/4 cup chili sauce
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 TB brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 350. Stir together the ground beef, onion, bread, and egg, mixing well till no chunks of bread remain. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, stir together the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, lemon juice, and brown sugar in a crockpot over low heat. When the meatballs are done, add them to the sauce and stir to coat well. Heat, covered, for about an hour. Yum.
After the meatballs, what came out of our oven was stuffed mushrooms. I found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman site as well, though after years of my mom's stuffed mushrooms, I didn't like this recipe quite as much as hers. Of course, it might have been because we were all getting pretty full at this point.
Stuffed Mushrooms (I halved the original recipe, so that's why the amounts of everything are strange)
12 oz. button mushrooms, rinsed
3 oz. sweet Italian sausage
1/4 medium yellow onion, chopped finely
2 cloves minced garlic
3 TB dry white wine
2/3 package cream cheese
1/2 egg yolk (good luck with that.)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
Pop the stems out of the clean mushrooms, reserving both parts. Finely chop the stems and set aside.
Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the sausage. Brown and crumble it, then spoon it onto a plate to cool. Don't clean the skillet.
Add the onion and garlic, and cook for a couple minutes over medium low heat. Add the wine and allow to cook until evaporated, another couple minutes. Add the mushrooms stems and cook until soft. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with the egg yolk and the parmesan until creamy. Add the sausage and mushroom-onion mixture, stirring until combined. Place in the fridge to cool for a few minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350. Spoon a little of the cream cheese mixture into the open cavity of the mushroom, overfilling it so you get as much cheesy goodness as possible in each bite!
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top turns golden. Allow to cool a few minutes, otherwise your guests will burn their mouths on the deliciousness.
The next recipe isn't much of a recipe, just a fun appetizer that spices up any party, combining some of the most amazing ingredients into one fun bite.
Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalepeños Wrapped in Bacon (literally and linguistically, a mouthful)
makes 16 bites, enough for about 5 people
8 jalepeños
8 strips bacon
1 package cream cheese
First, because you'll be working with hot peppers, it's a good idea to wear gloves and make sure you don't rub your eyes during or after this procedure. Pretty painful experience.
Cut the stems off the jalepeños and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove and discard the seeds and membrane carefully. Cut the strips of bacon in half.
Spoon cream cheese into the open cavity of each jalepeño, getting them nice and full. You might not use all the cream cheese. Wrap a half-slice of bacon around each filled jalepeno, covering the cream cheese so it doesn't melt out in the oven.
Place in a baking dish, and preheat the oven to 350. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the bacon is crispy. If you did a good job removing the seeds, these will provide a punch of flavor to your party without killing your guests!
Finally, for the dessert course, we kept it simple and classic with chocolate dipped strawberries. These were fun to make with my mom, and so good fresh!
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
1 carton strawberries, rinsed well
1/2 package semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp shortening
Rinse and dry the strawberries well, pushing back the stems so they don't get in the chocolate later. Melt the chocolate chips and the shortening in the microwave, stirring every 30-45 seconds until smooth.
Dip the strawberries in the chocolate and set on a plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until hardened. When you eat them, savor the moment. Nothing says living in the lap of luxury like chocolate covered strawberries!
Well, you have probably stopped reading this post by now. If you haven't, I'd like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, and good eating! To a wonderful and blessed 2013.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
the waffle experiment.
Kristin here!
This entire post is dedicated to putting any food [besides waffles] in a waffle maker and seeing what happens. I'll give you a short story of how this came about:
A good friend of mine has to live for a few weeks at a time in a hotel room. He only has access to a mini fridge and a microwave and gets understandably sick of cold cuts and the like. Someone suggested he get a waffle maker and experiment with what can be cooked inside aside from waffles. Then a few of us chipped in and got him an early Christmas gift offfff: a waffle maker!
So. This is one big experiment to see what he could cook [mostly breakfast foods, but who's complaining about that? not me]. Nothing really turned out terribly... just sort of "meh." The thing that was undoubtedly the best was the Crescent cinnamon rolls. [by the way, I'm not claiming originality on any of these ideas. if they weren't already on the interweb, then another one of my friends dreamt them up. just for the record].
First on the docket: eggs. Whisked with a little milk/cream to make them fluffier. This would be best made like an omelette with a bunch of yummy vegetables and some bacon/ham in it, but for time's sake I went very simple. Don't forget salt + pepper.
#2: hashbrowns. This one I like to think of as at least somewhat original. You could do this with the frozen hashbrowns, but of course it would be better with fresh grated potatoes. Again. Tons of salt + pepper needed here. And perhaps butter. They have a greenish-tint because Idaho potatoes were all I had on hand. Red or Yukon gold work best.
#3: Crescent cinnamon rolls. So delicious. So. So. So. Awful for you.
Just bunch four rolls in the center and close the lid and wait for the built in timer. Turned out peeerfect. Better than waffle batter in my opinion.
#4: Grilled cheese! Basically the idea of this is to use the waffle maker in lieu of a panini press. Put the bread in first, one at a time, until it gets only slightly brown. Then put your cheese and any other yumminess in the middle of your bread and squeeze it as tightly closed as you can until the cheese melts and everything is evenly heated. If you cook it too long, the bread will get really weird, dense and generally unpleasant in certain places. Watch out.
#5: Bacon. We just decided to weave the bacon for no apparent reason. It really did help hold it together and keep it from shriveling up into nothing... but it isn't totally necessary. But weaving is always fun............. Until it gets stuck.
But it turned out fine. Just be sure to leave your waffle maker on for long enough to cook any raw bacon bacteria off. And be aware that the grease will make a massive mess. Definitely a good choice to do this one last.
Just have fun with it and don't be afraid to look [and feel] absurd.
Thanks for readin', folks. Happy waffling.
This entire post is dedicated to putting any food [besides waffles] in a waffle maker and seeing what happens. I'll give you a short story of how this came about:
A good friend of mine has to live for a few weeks at a time in a hotel room. He only has access to a mini fridge and a microwave and gets understandably sick of cold cuts and the like. Someone suggested he get a waffle maker and experiment with what can be cooked inside aside from waffles. Then a few of us chipped in and got him an early Christmas gift offfff: a waffle maker!
So. This is one big experiment to see what he could cook [mostly breakfast foods, but who's complaining about that? not me]. Nothing really turned out terribly... just sort of "meh." The thing that was undoubtedly the best was the Crescent cinnamon rolls. [by the way, I'm not claiming originality on any of these ideas. if they weren't already on the interweb, then another one of my friends dreamt them up. just for the record].
First on the docket: eggs. Whisked with a little milk/cream to make them fluffier. This would be best made like an omelette with a bunch of yummy vegetables and some bacon/ham in it, but for time's sake I went very simple. Don't forget salt + pepper.
#2: hashbrowns. This one I like to think of as at least somewhat original. You could do this with the frozen hashbrowns, but of course it would be better with fresh grated potatoes. Again. Tons of salt + pepper needed here. And perhaps butter. They have a greenish-tint because Idaho potatoes were all I had on hand. Red or Yukon gold work best.
#3: Crescent cinnamon rolls. So delicious. So. So. So. Awful for you.
Just bunch four rolls in the center and close the lid and wait for the built in timer. Turned out peeerfect. Better than waffle batter in my opinion.
#4: Grilled cheese! Basically the idea of this is to use the waffle maker in lieu of a panini press. Put the bread in first, one at a time, until it gets only slightly brown. Then put your cheese and any other yumminess in the middle of your bread and squeeze it as tightly closed as you can until the cheese melts and everything is evenly heated. If you cook it too long, the bread will get really weird, dense and generally unpleasant in certain places. Watch out.
#5: Bacon. We just decided to weave the bacon for no apparent reason. It really did help hold it together and keep it from shriveling up into nothing... but it isn't totally necessary. But weaving is always fun............. Until it gets stuck.
But it turned out fine. Just be sure to leave your waffle maker on for long enough to cook any raw bacon bacteria off. And be aware that the grease will make a massive mess. Definitely a good choice to do this one last.
Just have fun with it and don't be afraid to look [and feel] absurd.
Thanks for readin', folks. Happy waffling.
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