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Birthday Brunch!

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

I really love brunch!  So what better reason to have a brunch than to celebrate my birthday with my family 2 weekends ago!

I think to have a great brunch you need something breakfasty, something savory, something light and fresh and something sweet.  The best way to do this is to have small serving sizes of each, so you get a nice variety of flavors but aren’t guaranteed to feel disgusting at the end of the meal!

On the menu for this brunch was mini scrambled egg muffins, strawberry stuffed french toast “sliders”, watermelon and feta bites, bacon, almond pound cake  and chocolate cups with raspberry chocolate mousse with orange juice and tea.    Everything turned out very well, and were all pretty simple to get ready for a group.

 

My sister set a lovely table with her beautiful china and good silverware.  It doesn’t always have to be an over the top special occasion to use the good stuff!

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Stuffed Banana Peppers

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

Apparently this summer is all about stuffing peppers for me!  I saw locally grown, beautiful, and fresh banana peppers at the farmers market recently and I had to have them.  And stuff them haha.  They varied in color which directly resulted in slightly different heat in each of them (I read somewhere that the deeper or oranger/ redder they are the more mild they taste).  They were all delicious!  I had been talking to my co worker about stuffed banana peppers, and knew the basic jist of what went in them, but didn’t do my usual research to find things I liked about 5 recipes and then come up with my own spin.  So, I just went for it.  While I was stuffing the browned sausage into them I realized people probably make a meat ball (or tube would be more relevant, I guess) and cook the meat in the oven.  I didn’t do that and it crumbled like crazy all over the peppers.  But, I must tell you, I think I enjoyed the extra texture that the crumbly browned sausage gave over the regular baked only filling.  And it really wasn’t difficult to stuff them even if it was a little crumblier.

6-8 Fresh whole banana peppers, cut n half length wise and seeded

1 package ground hot sausage

1/4 cup or so of Panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 medium white onion, chopped

A few shakes of Worcestershire Sauce

a pinch of salt (I used Tastefully Simple’s seasoning salt)

I also used a sprinkle of Garlic! Garlic! from Tastefully Simple

 

Pre heat the oven to 350.

Saute the onion in some butter over medium heat.  While they are getting beautifully transparent and making your kitchen smell amazing, slice the peppers in half long ways and get all of the seeds out.

Place the peppers on a baking sheet and drizzle with just a tad of extra virgin olive oil.  If you are browning the meat first, like I did, bake the peppers for just the amount of time it takes you to brown the sausage.  If you are doing a meat tube (that phrase is cracking me up!) and baking it all together, you could skip this step.  You don’t want the peppers to be an overcooked mushy mess.

Once the onions are nice and sauteed, add the hot sausage to the pan.  You may need to add a slight amount of butter or oil here.  Break up the meat with your spoon as it cooks.  Once the sausage is browned, add a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, the spices (seasoning salt and Garlic! Garlic! in my case), the bread crumbs and the cheese.  Once you have that combined, take the peppers out of the oven and spoon into the pepper boats.  Spoon it in as best you can and just know that it will be delicious!  Sprinkle a little more cheese over the top and place the pan in the oven for 15-20 minutes (until the cheese is nice and melted and everything feels nice and warm).

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Veggie Sushi with Shrimp

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

I saw a great picture and recipe for a vegan veggie sushi roll with cashew paste.  It was so pretty and I wanted to put a spin on it.  The cashew paste did not appeal to me at all, so instead of that to seal the wrap I used cream cheese with shrimp and wasabi.  They turned out pretty tasty!

1 zucchini, sliced very thin

2 carrots, chopped in about 2 inch match stick width

1 bell pepper, chopped in about 2 inch thin strips

1/2 block of cream cheese

4-5 squeezed of wasabi (do this according to your taste, taste after each squeeze)

1/4 cup chopped cooked shrimp

Place the cream cheese in a bowl and let it come to room temperature.  While that is happening, slice and chop the vegetables.  Squeeze the wasabi into the cream cheese and continue to mix until you get it to your taste.  Add the shrimp and mix until it’s incorporated.  Add about 1/2 – 1 tsp of the cream cheese mixture to each slice of cucumber and place the carrots and peppers on top.  Roll the zucchini as tightly as possible.  The cream cheese mixture will help it stay sealed.  Serve with soy sauce.

1 cucumber will make about 15 rolls.  Oh and I ended up not using the radish that was in the pic, I didn’t like how it tasted with everything else.

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Tilapia with Pineapple and Mango “Salsa”

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

Over the summer, I have heard from a few different sources about making a fruit salsa and how delicious it is over fish.  I thought it sounded fresh and light and perfect.  So, here is my version adapted based on what I like and what I had.  I used tilapia this time, but think it would be better with a more substantial fish, maybe mahi mahi?!  I think it would also be great with grilled chicken!

Tilapia (again, base this on how many people you are serving)

Lemon Ginger Sesame Dressing and Marinade

1/2 fresh pineapple, chopped pretty finely

1 mango, chopped

1/2 yellow pepper (in the future I would use red to give it more color, but I was using the other half for something else)

1/4 red onion, minced very small

1/4 jalapeno, minced very small

1 lime

Splash of orange juice (I’d say about 1/4 cup)

I marinated the fish for a bit with a ginger and lemon dressing that I found and then baked it in foil packets at 350 for about 20 minutes.  The fish is done when it’s slightly opaque and is flaky.

While the fish is cooking, chop the pineapple, mango and pepper in small pieces.  You want to make them small enough so you can get a mouthful of all of the great flavors at once.  For the onion and jalapeno, I minced them very small.  I wanted the heat that they offer, but someone getting a huge chunk of jalapeno would not be enjoyable!  Mix all the items in a pour and juice 1 lime over the top and add the orange juice.  You want enough moisture to help the fruits become nice and juicy, but you don’t want it super wet.  Add the fresh chopped cilantro and give it all a toss.  The measurements that I used gave me about 2 cups.

Very easy.  Very fresh and summery.  Very tasty!!

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Brownies with Peanut Butter

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

This attempt at brownies with a peanut butter swirl didn’t turn out quite as planned, but they were pretty tasty.  The peanut butter swirl was much thicker than intended, so it was almost like brownies with peanut butter cookie globs mixed in.  If I try these in the future, I may try an egg into the peanut butter to give it a more cookie like consistency.

Brownie batter

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Peanut Butter “Swirl”

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 TBSP butter

1 tsp vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 and spray an 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray.

Bring water to a gentle simmer in a double boiler.  Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a double boiler with the butter.  Melt the chocolate slowly over a simmer.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar, egg, vanilla and salt until well combined.  Whisk in the flour until just combined.  Add in the chocolate chips and give another gentle stir.  Pout the batter into the baking dish.

With an electric mixer, mix together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla.  It will be pretty thick.  Drop dollops of this mixture onto the top of the brownies.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes until a knife comes out clean.

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Stuffed Jalapenos

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

If you love jalapeno poppers, you will love this recipe!  This was the other selection for our recent apps for dinner, and turned out very well!  It gives you all of the great flavors of a jalapeno, but I think it would have to be a little healthier for you, because it’s not completely in-cased in breading like they are.  Oh and they are baked and I’m sure the ones you get at restaurants are probably fried.

If you love the flavor, but want a pretty mild pepper, prep the peppers and roast them in the oven while you make the filling.  The longer you roast them, the milder they will become.

If you love the heat, leave the seeds in them or mix them into the filling for lots of forehead sweat inducing extra heat!

1-2 jalapeno pepper per person

1/2 block cream cheese

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 sour cream

1/4 – 1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1 1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke

Panko breadcrumbs

(This ratio will stuff about 6 or 7 peppers, adjust accordingly to serve more!)

Heat the oven to 350.

Split each jalapeno in half length wise and remove the seeds and veins.  (Again if you want them very spicy, leave some seeds)  To reduce the heat, roast the peppers in the over for anywhere 10-30 minutes to make the pepper more mild.

While those are roasting, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, and Liquid Smoke with an electric mixer.  Stir in the shredded cheddar and mix by hand.

If you roasted the peppers, remove them (you may have to wait til they are cool enough to handle) and fill with the stuffing mixture.  Return to the pan or dish and sprinkle with the Panko breadcrumbs.  Place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.

To get the breadcrumbs nice and golden brown, place the pan under the broiler for just a minute or 2.  This will give the perfect golden crunch to the “popper”!

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Crispy Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onions

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

Did you ever see the episode of Will & Grace when Will made a dinner of just appetizers for his dad, because he always said he could make a whole meal out of apps?!  I feel like that on a regular basis!  I love being able to have small bites of a variety of deliciousness.  So, that is just what my friend and I decided to do the other night!  (one of the best parts about being a “grown up”!)  We did these crispy roasted potato slices with blue cheese and caramelized onions and stuffed jalapenos (that recipe will be posted soon, too!) and also had some Tastefully Simple taco cheese ball.  Yummmm!

This could easily served as an appetizer or as a rich delicious side dish.

 

Figure on about 2 potatoes per person, sliced in about 1/4″ slices (oh and I used pretty small potatoes, if you are using big guys, figure on 1/2 or 1 per person)

Blue Cheese (this will again vary depending on how many you are serving, but you’ll want enough to give a nice layer over the potatoes)

1 medium to large onion

 

Set the over to 400 degrees and place baking sheet in the oven.  I made these twice and used this trick the second time and it helped to get them even crispier!  Slice the potatoes.  Get the baking sheet out of the oven WITH AN OVEN MIT!!  Layer the potatoes and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  Using tongs or a spatula, make sure they all get coated.  Flip them to coat on both sides.  Salt and pepper lightly.  Place back in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Mean while slice your onions and put in the skillet over a low to medium heat.  Melt a pad of butter in the skillet and add the onions.  You don’t want to rush this.  Let them hang out and stir occasionally while letting them get nice and golden.  I’ve heard to add some sugar to give them a nice sweet, caramelized flavor.  But, I like them fine without.  You want them to really wilt down and turn golden to dark brown.

After 20 minutes, flip the potatoes.  Place them back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

When they are beautifully golden and roasted, take them out and arrange them very closely together leaving as little room in between slice as possible.  Sprinkle with the blue cheese and return to the oven to melt the cheese slightly.  It will only take a couple of minutes to do this.  When the cheese is oozy and melty, take out of the oven and add the onions.  Serve while they are still nice and warm and melty!  This combo is pretty rich, but I’m sure you will really enjoy them!

 

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Orzo with Chicken, Blue Cheese, and Red Onion

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

I love pasta.  It is like the party bus of foods.  Not only is it made it all kinds of awesome shapes and sizes, but it’s also an amazing vehicle to carry all kinds of different ingredients.  The party bus doesn’t discriminate; it welcomes all kinds to the culinary celebration of dinner time.  It tells marina sauce and meatballs to hop on for the classic tour around town.  It pre games for vodka sauce with chicken to be tossed in for a crazy night.  Throw some shrimp, garlic and butter into the mix for a decadent affair.  Your options for a delicious pasta meal or only limited by your imagination.

I recently decided to be the driver of the party bus and used orzo and added chicken, blue cheese and red onion so that we could use the car pool lane right to Yummytown (aka my stomach via the tongue entrance ramp!).

Another great thing about pasta is that it’s cheap and really stretches.  You can feed a lot of people with only 1 or 2 pounds of pasta.  This recipe can easily be adapted for however many people you are planning on.  I am terrible with portions of pasta, so I honestly can offer no guidance as far as how much uncooked pasta would serve 1 person.  I do know I made spaghetti with lemon chicken and asparagus (using 1 pound of pasta) and it feed 7 and still had left overs.  I originally anticipated making just 2 servings of this (1 for dinner that night and 1 for lunch the next day), but it did in fact feed me for 3 meals.  Orzo is especially tricky to determine a serving size of!

So this again was 3 full meals.

1/2 bag of orzo

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size cubes)

about 1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese

1/2 red onion

1/2 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

a couple of shakes of Tastefully Simple Bacon Bacon!

Cook the orzo according to package directions in salted water.  Meanwhile cut the chicken in small bite size pieces.  Combine the flour, salt, pepper and Bacon Bacon (if you are using it) in a bowl.  Dredge the pieces of chicken in the flour.  Warm extra virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the chicken.  Cook, stirring often, to brown and cook through.  Chop the onion in small pieces.

Once the pasta is done, drain almost all of the liquid.  Reserve a little bit still in the pan to help the other ingredients stick and thicken the dish slightly.  Add a drizzle of EVOO to the pasta.  Add the blue cheese and stir, letting the cheese melt.  Add the uncooked red onion and the chicken.  Give a stir to combine well.  Pour into the serving bowl and top with a little bit more blue cheese crumbles.  I opted not to cook the red onion, because I wanted the crunch and the bite.  But, the onion did soften slightly from the pasta.  I’m sure it would also be really good if you sauteed the onion a little bit.

This is a super easy meal to prepare for 1 or 10!

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Lemon and Raspberry Bars

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

My friend, Mandy, recently sent me a website called www.foodgawker.com and let me tell you, I took gawking to a new level.  It is completely drool inducing, and really gets me excited to get cooking and baking!  It is a compilation of some of the best food pics out there.  The best part is that it links the picture to the blog, so you can easily get the recipe!  The recipe I kept going back to was for lemon and raspberry bars.  It was posted by a great blog called Live Love Pasta, and I will definitely be checking back often for new recipes and inspiration!

We had a little family picnic on Sunday, and I thought these would be the perfect end to the meal!  Luckily, I had the cutest little helper to make these!  My 2 1/2 year old niece, Claire, helped me crush the crackers and pour them into the bowl.  That did get a little messy more than once, but she did a great job.

The only adaptation I made was doing a bit more graham crackers, because we didn’t have an 8×8 pan so we used an 8×13.  I increased the crust to about 1 3/4 cups or maybe even 2 cups of the itty bitty gritty sweet crumbs.

Make these.  Tonight.  They are simple and amazing!

(I’m posting this with the original recipe measurements)

Crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 1/2 packs)

6 tablespoons salted butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

zest of 1 lemon

Filling

2 large egg yolks

1, 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (which will probably take 4 or 5 lemons)

1 tsp lemon zest

6 oz fresh raspberries

Preheat your oven to 350.  Spray your pan.  (Don’t forget this step.  I did, but luckily remembered before it went in the oven, so the crumbs went back in the bowl, sprayed and then back to the pan.  If you like to make a simple recipe take longer like I do, follow this step 😉 )Crush the graham crackers and put in a bowl.  Mix in the butter and lemon juice until all of the crumbs are slightly wet.  Press the crumbs into the greased pan and slightly up the side.  Bake the crust for about 10 minutes.  Remove and let cool.

Crack the eggs and place the yolk only in another medium size mixing bowl.  Add the sweetened condensed milk and stir until well combined.  Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest until slightly thickened.  Gently stir in the raspberries.  Be careful not to break the raspberries, so you have the pretty pops of pink in the yellow and that the pink does not bleed into the bars.

Pour the filling over the graham cracker crust and smooth so it’s evenly covered.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until it’s just set (with no wiggle in the middle).

Cool to room temperature and then chill in the fridge for several hours.  I ended up freezing them for a bit to make sure that they really set.  I didn’t make them far enough in advance to get the right texture just in the fridge.

They were delicious!  A perfect sweet and tart summer dessert!

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Pesto Chicken

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Hang Onto Your Fork

I recently tried to make a kind of deconstructed chicken parm with pesto or a backward chicken parm.  It didn’t go exactly as I had planned, and when I make it in the future I will definitely adapt it.  I like the flavors enough to definitely keep perfecting a good way to blend the flavors for a better outcome.

1 chicken breast per person

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1 cup prepared pesto

1/2 flour

salt and pepper to taste

3 plum tomatoes

6 slices mozzarella cheese

note: the 1 cup portions were for 2 servings, adjust accordingly.

Set out 3 bowls; place flour and a pinch of salt and pepper in one, pesto in the second and panko breadcrumbs in the third.  Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour and then coat with pesto.  You really need to get in there with your hands and rub the pesto all over.  Then dip into the bread crumbs.  You also need to really press the breadcrumbs in.

Warm oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Place the chicken in the skillet and brown.  Flip the chicken after 5-7 minutes and cook on the other side.  Cover the pan to make sure the chicken cooks through.

Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds.  Salt and pepper the tomatoes and place in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes.  This gets them just soft.  Remove them from the oven and place the slices of cheese.  Place under the broiler for just a couple of minutes to brown and bubble the cheese.

Once the chicken is done, place the tomatoes on top or on the side.  We added more pesto on the top of the chicken to give more flavor.  The pesto flavor did really cook out.  Which is why I’ve concluded that that step isn’t really worth it.  In the future I will probably just season the chicken with salt and pepper and bake it and then top it with the pesto.  I will let you know how that turns out when I try that!  I served this with pasta with pesto sauce.

 

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