Monday, September 20, 2010

Mmm, Stuffed Crust Pizza!

Just wanted to post a picture of last night's Stuffed Crust Pizza:


Breakfast Mini-Quiche



These are really good! Recipe courtesy of The Incredible Egg:

Breakfast Biscuit Quiches

Ingredients:

2/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped ham
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
3 EGGS
2 Tbsp. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 pkg. (12 oz.; 10 biscuits) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Directions:
1. HEAT oven to 350°F. COMBINE cheese, ham and green onions in small bowl; mix well. BEAT eggs, milk, salt and pepper in medium bowl until blended.
2. SEPARATE biscuits; press or roll each into a 5-inch round on lightly floured surface. PLACE 1 biscuit in each of 10 greased muffin cups, leaving the 2 cups in center of pan empty. PRESS biscuits firmly against bottom and sides of cups and form rim at top.
3. SPOON 2 Tbsp. cheese mixture into each cup. POUR IN egg mixture, dividing evenly.
4. BAKE in center of 350°F oven until filling is set and biscuits are deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. REMOVE from pan; serve warm.

Notes:
-Looking at this now, I forgot the milk! Oops!
-I used store brand biscuits, Jumbo Flaky, and there were only 8
-Place a baking sheet under the muffin pans, they cook over!
-I did not have block swiss or any shredded, so I sliced up deli swiss and it was good

Here are some more pics:


Monday, September 13, 2010

Taco Dip



Growing up we'd have this when we went to family parties on my mom's side. My cousin Michelle would bring this and it was always a huge hit. This is one of those dishes that is just out of this world good. I adapted a Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipe, but didn't exactly make it "skinny."

Amazing Taco Dip

8 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
16 oz jar mild salsa
1 packet taco seasoning
2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream, salsa and taco seasoning and mix well with an electric mixer. Spread on the bottom of a large shallow glass dish. Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheese.

Notes:
-I used regular sour cream as DH did the shopping and doesn't like Reduced Fat anything...
-I don't like olives, but you can definitely sprinkle olives on as well.
-Serve with Tortilla chips.

Breakfast in a Cupcake Pan?


I found this in everyday FOOD, and it was GOOD. I woke up on Saturday and decided I wanted to make something different than the staple bacon, eggs and hashbrowns that I usually make. So, I remembered seeing this in Martha's magazine and decided to give it a try!

Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons (unsalted) butter, melted
8 slices white or whole-wheat sandwich bread
6 slices bacon
6 large eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter 6 standard muffin cups. (SEE MY NOTE) With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices slightly and, with a 4 1/4" cookie cutter, cut into 8 rounds. Cut each round in half, then press 2 halves into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly and making sure bread comes up to edge of cup. Use extra bread to patch any gaps. Brush bread with remaining butter.

2.) In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium, until almost crisp, 4 minutes, flipping once. (It will continue to cook in the oven.) Lay one bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until egg whites are just set, 20-25 minutes. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts. Serve immediately.

Notes:
-Next time I make this I will use my jumbo muffin pans. I admit I did forget the rolling pin part, but as soon as I cracked the egg into the cup, it ran over all over the counter. MESS.
-I used turkey bacon and they were fabulous
-Magazine suggests substituting sausage scrambles for the bacon or making vegetarian with sauted spinach.

South Jersey Cakes



This is a really simple recipe and is found on the back of a Bisquik box. I don't remember having these growing up, but my mom and sister assure me we did, they call them South Jersey Cakes. They're a sweet biscuit with strawberries with sugar on top. Amazing. Out of this world.

My sister Lyn makes them AMAZINGLY, mine didn't taste as good as hers. There's nothing better than Lyn's Shore Cakes and her coffee. Don't get me started on how I can't duplicate her amazing coffee... Maybe the taste is a figment of my imagination and I just like having someone else make breakfast and coffee??

South Jersey Cakes (AKA Strawberry Shortcakes)

Ingredients:
1 quart (4 cups) strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:
1.Heat oven to 425°F. In large bowl, mix strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar; set aside.
2.In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, 3 tablespoons sugar and the butter until soft dough forms. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by 6 spoonfuls.
3.Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in small bowl, beat whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.
4.Split warm shortcakes; fill and top with strawberries and whipped cream.

I don't use the whipped cream but put butter on the biscuit first. Mmmmmm, so evil and SO good!

Bon Appetite!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Chicken Ranch Pizza

I still don't know how I feel about this pizza. On one hand it was kind of bland. I'm thinking that's because I didn't use enough ranch dressing on the pizza... But my second and third piece I dipped into Ranch dressing and it was pretty good.

I've had SO many requests, so here's the recipe. I found this recipe from Annie's Eats, one of my new favorite blogs to watch. This is someone whom I aspire to be, her blog is amazing. As is her pizza dough. What I like about it is that the recipe makes enough dough for 2 medium pizzas or 4 calzones. Depending on how hungry we are, I either make the two pizzas or freeze the other dough that's not used.

Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients:
½ cup warm water
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1½ tsp. salt
1¼ cup water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the bread flour and salt, mixing briefly to blend. Measure the room temperature water into the measuring cup with the yeast-water mixture. With the mixer on low speed, pour in the yeast-water mixture as well as the olive oil. Mix until a cohesive dough is formed. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.

Press down the dough to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball. (If freezing the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze at this point.) Cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no longer than 30 minutes.

To bake, preheat the oven and pizza stone to 500˚ F for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to your shaping surface, lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Shape the dough with lightly floured hands. Brush the outer edge lightly with olive oil. Top as desired. Bake until the crust is golden brown, and cheese is bubbling, 8-12 minutes.

I also stole her Chicken Ranch Pizza recipe:

Chicken Ranch Pizza



Ingredients:
½ batch of perfect pizza crust
¼ cup Ranch dressing
¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½-1 grilled chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 tomato, seeded and diced
2-3 green onions, chopped
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 500° F. Allow the stone to heat for at least 30 minutes. In the mean time, cut a round of parchment paper the size of your pizza stone. (Alternatively, use a pizza peel.) Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal or semolina flour.

Gently roll out the pizza dough into a large circle, leaving a thicker ring around the edge for the crust. Spread the Ranch dressing in a thin layer evenly over the unbaked crust. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella. Top with grilled chicken, tomato and green onions. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar.

Once assembled, carefully transfer the parchment round and pizza to the preheated baking stone and return to the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned. Slice, serve, and enjoy!


Best. Pancakes. Ever.

We recently got back from our vacation to North Carolina, where we spent the weekend with my younger brother Wes, his girlfriend Meg, and her daughter Jayne. It was a BLAST. I love Meg and cannot wait til she's a part of our family! And not just because she loves to cook and it really really good at it.

We finally got there late Saturday night and Sunday morning breakfast she made the BEST pancakes I have ever had. I then came home and made them Monday morning because they are that amazing.

This recipe is courtesy or allrecipes.com

Fluffy Pancakes



Ingredients
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
cooking spray

Directions
1.Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2.Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3.Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.




I heated up already cooked Turkey Sausage links from the freezer and WOWZERS. What a perfect start to my first week of classes!

It's been TOO long!

Ok, so it's been almost a freakin MONTH since I last blogged! YIKES!

Ok, time to play catch up!

First off, I remade/doctor'ed up the Buffalo Chicken Lasagna.



Buffalo Chicken Pasta

I'm not posting a recipe for it because frankly I only made the following changes from the recipe that's posted previously.

Changes:
-Penne pasta instead of lasagna noodles
-Cooked them before adding to the ziti-like mixture
-Ricotta cheese, real egg, and Parmesan cheese to the ricotta mixture
-added mozzarella cheese to the mixture and on top.

That's about it. It was MUCH better than the lasagna, but I still didn't like it and passed it on to my hubs.

Here's another pic:


One of the disadvantages of taking time off is forgetting what I've made over the past month. I did make these Double-Tree hotel copy-cat cookies, but they were an epic FAIL. Maybe it was something I did?? All I know is that the cookies at Double Tree are AMAZING and these were not! And I just realized that I threw out the pictures I took of them by accident. I'll post the recipe though.

I don't know if you guys have heard of the copy cat cookbook out there? It's copy cat recipes of famous restaurants' foods, such as the Double Tree's cookies, Red Lobster's biscuits (which are out of this world amazing!, etc. Let me know if you want a copy and I'll email it to you.

Double Tree Chocolate Chip Cookies
Double Tree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup oats (uncooked)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup Dark Brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
12 oz. chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets.

Place the butter in a large bowl and cream lightly with an
electric mixer. Add the sugars and beat on medium speed for
about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well
after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and mix
well.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, oatmeal,
baking soda, and salt. Add to the creamed butter mixture and
stir well to blend.

Add chocolate chips and walnuts and stir
to combine. Using a 1/4 cup measure or a 2−oz ice cream scoop,
drop the batter on the cookie sheets, leaving 2 −3 inches
between each cookie. Bake for 13 − 15 minutes or until lightly
browned around the edges. Remove from the cookie sheets and
cool on wire racks.

Here's what they're SUPPOSED to look like: