This & That

In the Kitchen

Not a lot new this past week. I tried a new salmon recipe, but I have mixed feelings about it. I'll have to try it again before I decide whether to put it up here. The weekend consisted of favorites. My daughter and her family were here and I made every attempt to make all the things they like best. 

I tried baking potatoes in the instant pot, and it worked great. 

They went into Baked Potato Soup.

There was a breakfast burrito making session, of course. Some of them went to live at Marc's house for new baby freezer stocking. There was a meal of sloppy joes, which my son-in-law really likes. Since both my husband and daughter had birthdays last week, THE CAKE was required. Sunday morning's breakfast was Kneader's French toast. Since I published this recipe originally, a Kneader's bakery made an appearance in our town, so it's easy to get the fancy bread for this.

Monday morning before the trip home for my daughter's family, we had these strawberry muffins. Since they freeze really well, I doubled the batch and sent some home with her and some to Marc's house. A lot of favorites, and a lot of cooking.

 

Maple Mustard Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches

Acclimating to routine cooking continues. 

I shopped my freezer the other day and came up with some elk burger, homemade refried beans, and some tortillas, and managed some really good burrito things with the addition of some leftover rice, green chilies and cheese. 

We have a ton of eggs which I used for quiche. I made an extra filling for the freezer, knowing my daughter is coming to visit next week and she'll willingly snag that, and there will also be a breakfast burrito-making session to get those eggs used up. Eric's hens are back to laying in full force, and I love having fresh eggs again. Since my husband went out of town later in the week, there was some foraging that happened for solo dinners, which brings us to the recipe for this week. This happened before the whole LEG incident and I'll be totally honest, the only reason I stumbled on this recipe, was that I was googling for something that would use up 4 croissants I had sitting on the counter. 

Since I had all the other ingredients for them, and I knew my daughter was coming up for President's Day Weekend, I figured this was something she could take back with her...which she did. I cannot attest to how they taste, however. Maybe she'll chime in here, but come on......look at them! What's not to like? Just looking at my pictures, I think I might double the sauce ingredients next time.

Maple Mustard Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches

• 6 croissants sliced open
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 pound breakfast sausage, maple flavored if you have it, which I did...score!
• 8 large eggs
• 1/4 Cup Milk
• 1 cup Colby/Jack cheese, shredded
• Salt and Pepper
• Minced chives for garnish (optional, which reminds me, I need to check the pot on my patio to see if mine are sprouting yet)
• 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons regular mustard or Dijon mustard
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Heat an oven to 425° and line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Lay the bacon on the cookie sheet and bake until crisp, about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.

Prepare the breakfast sausage by forming into 6 even rectangles to better fit onto the croissants. Heat a skillet over medium heat.

Cook the sausages for about 7-8 minutes per side or until cooked through. Meanwhile, prepare the eggs by whisking them together with the milk, salt and pepper and cheese. Scramble them up and keep warm. 

Heat the oven to broil. Place the croissants on a cookie sheet opened up and place under the broiler to toast. Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and spoon onto each half of the sandwich. Now you've got all your components ready to go, assemble the sandwiches by layering the eggs, bacon and sausage and eat right away or freeze for future breakfasts.

Makes 6 very hefty breakfast sandwiches.

Back In the Kitchen

There comes a time when it's just time to get back to a more normal life. OK, so spending significant time in a chair with my leg up isn't what I would consider normal, but this week I just needed a little more control over my life, and for me that meant making a meal or two. 

We had some small servings of vegetables left in the fridge, so I went with a shepherd's pie idea for both Pi Day and St. Patrick's.

It used up those dribs and drabs of vegetables, potatoes we've had in the cooler, and the white cheddar in the cheese drawer for the mashed potatoes. This is a recipe that has several moving parts, so it happened in fits and starts over the course of the day....in between time in the chair with the leg up.

This soup also happened. It literally comes together in 30 minutes, start to finish, with 20 of that being simmering/blending time. We had this on the coldest day of the week and it really hit the spot.

When we had Marc's boys this past weekend we put together a sort-of St. Patrick's day-themed treat which the boys loved.

So it wasn't the most amazing cooking week, but it happened and it happened enough that we could have lunch leftovers and kid-friendly treats.

 

Stromboli

In the kitchen this week, my husband was at that all-important Sportsman's Expo in Salt Lake, which meant I foraged for dinners while he was gone. Earlier in the week, though, there was some cooking that happened. and this was a new recipe I tried.

Now, I've been wanting to try this recipe for a couple of weeks, but things kept coming up and the ingredients sat in the fridge for a bit. I found the recipe in this recipe book. I'm really trying to be better about using the cookbooks and not just collecting them. A couple of things about this recipe. The original timing for it was during the week I turned up with Covid and I did something I've never in my life done before....grocery pick up. I can see how this would be appealing, but the stores in my town that offer it are much more expensive than my usual grocery store, so it's not something I'm going to do long-term. When I ordered the supplies for this, the only way I could get prosciutto was wrapped around some mozzarella.  I just laid the little rolls down the middle like the recipe calls for and it worked just fine. I left out the provolone, which isn't my favorite cheese anyway. In the interest of full disclosure, the basil leaves had wilted by the time I made this sandwich so they didn't make it in. I also forgot the peppers...totally spaced them, but I didn't miss either thing. Another change I made was....well, you all know I make bread. I wasn't going to pay for someone else to make bread dough, so I made up a 1 loaf recipe, then divided the dough in half and split my ingredients between the two chunks of dough. I ended up with 2 sandwich loaves, one of which I froze. This is a really flavorful recipe that both my husband and I liked a lot. 

Stromboli

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• One 1-pound loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
• 1/3 cup prepared pesto
• 8 oz. thinly sliced salami
• 6 ounces thinly sliced capitol or prosciutto
• 6 ounces large pepperoni slices
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 8 fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup drained pepperoncini, chopped
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Ranch dressing

Preheat oven to 400°. Oil a sheet pan with 1 Tablespoon olive oil (I used a sheet of parchment paper instead) and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the bread dough into a large rectangle. As you can see, I'm not really great at creating an exact rectangle, but it all comes together.Spread the pesto over the dough, leaving a 1" margin all the way around. Lay the meat and cheese down the center, then the peppers and basil leaves.

Fold in the short ends first, then one of the long sides, and then roll it up to enclose all the stuff you've just put on there.

Using a sharp knife, cut some vents along the top, and brush the whole things with the remaining olive oil, then sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake until deep golden, 23-25 minutes. Slice and serve with Ranch dressing for dipping. This reheats well, but tastes really good cold for lunch, too. Serves 6

 

 

Spreads

From the kitchen this past week....

I tried my recipe for refried beans in the Instant Pot with a bit of a change.

I used this recipe's liquid measurement and timing instructions. It took 45 minutes of pressure cooking, and about 30 minutes of release time, and I had refried beans. If you forget to put beans in the crock pot early, then this is a great solution. I just wanted to try it to see if it worked.

Marc's family invited me for dinner one night last week while my husband was out of town. My assignment was dessert, and not wanting to have to go out an purchase ingredients, and at the same time not wanting to spend a huge amount of time, I settled on a want-to-try recipe from one of my Pioneer Woman recipe books. It worked very well for what I needed. It tasted good, and while the chocolate chip "frosting" is warm, you can layer on whatever holiday-themed sprinkles you happen to have in the cupboard. That said, it was very obvious to me that I spread the batter too thin. The measurement in the recipe in my book said "1/3" thick," and I didn't pull out a ruler to check it. Next time I'll make it a little thicker. It tasted fine, but got a little crispy around the edges. Notes on this recipe---> Erring on the slightly thicker side is probably a good thing. The batter doesn't fill the whole cookie sheet. If you try to reach all the corners with it, these are going to be cracker cookies. You could top this with any kind of chocolate chip you want. These work up very quickly and are great for a last-minute treat.

Spreads

• 1 c. Brown Sugar
• 1 c. Softened Butter
• 1 whole Egg
• 2 c. Flour
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/4-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together brown sugar and butter. Add egg and mix together. Add flour, salt, and vanilla, and mix together well.

Spread dough onto cookie sheet to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/2-inch.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until slightly brown. At this point, pull out of the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to oven for 1 minute. Remove and spread melted chips over the top. Cut into squares. 

 

Italian Sliders

You know how it is with kids. Some are pickier than others when it comes to trying and liking different kinds of food. After 2 1/2 weeks tending 2 groups of grandchildren this month, this has really been brought home to me. I always try to go kid-friendly when I watch the kids. Fighting the food fight is just not something I'm willing to take on in addition to drop-offs, pick-ups, homework, and extracurricular activities. I have very simple goals when it comes to tending grandchildren. Number one is to keep all children alive, and I think that's a pretty good goal to have at the top of the list. Everything else is just extra. Fun Guy Grandpa usually has pretty good entertaining ideas, and I try to keep everyone on track time-wise, get their required chores done, and feed everyone, which goes right back to keeping people alive.

These little sliders are universally accepted by little people. In fact, they are one of Levi's favorites, and he has a fairly small list of those. His dad gave me several suggestions about how I might avoid the food fight this week and I incorporated almost all of them. I found the recipe for these here, and if you need to feed little ones (or big ones) this is a good bet.

Italian Sliders

• 12 slider rolls
• 12 slices pepperoni
• 12 slices salami
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
• 6 slices of ham, cut in quarters or halves depending on the size
• 1/3 cup butter, melted (I use a little less)
• 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• pizza sauce

Cut the sheet of rolls in half horizontally, then place the bottom of the sliders in the bottom of a 12x8" pan. Distribute the meat and cheese over the bottom half of the rolls, then place the top of the slider buns on top.

In a bowl mix together the melted butter, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and grated parmesan cheese. Evenly pour the mixture over each slider. (I will say that I don't use all of this on the top. It gets too soggy for my taste.) Then place the pan in an oven preheated to 350°  for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it, as the top browns fairly quickly. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping, if desired. None of my little people wanted to do that, but Grandpa is a fan. Makes 12 sliders

Ritz Cracker Toffee

This was the other treat we made while Eric's kids were here. It's been a while since I've had to hide a treat from my husband so he wouldn't eat it all before the kids had a chance at it, but I had to do exactly that with this stuff.

Recipes for this can be found all over the internet. I used this recipe. I've also seen it done with saltine crackers, but Ritz was what we had on hand, so Ritz was what we used. Caroline was feeling under the weather later on in the week so she was home from school, and she & Ephraim worked on this by laying out the crackers on a parchment-covered cookie sheet (after washing their hands!). The blue sprinkles were a nod to a winter/January/snow feeling, and they went with the tablecloth. This is a really easy treat that's somewhat addicting. I doubled the recipe to fit on a 12x17 rimmed cookie sheet.

Ritz Cracker Toffee

• Ritz crackers
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425°. Lay the crackers out in an 8 or 9-inch square, parchment-lined baking dish. I imagine if you don't use the parchment, you might be chiseling this stuff out of the pan. 

Melt butter and brown sugar together and bring it to a boil. Boil for a couple of minutes, then pour it over the crackers, spreading it out so it pretty much covers them all. An offset spatula works really well for this. Put it in the oven and bake for 5 minutes.

Pull the pan out and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. In a couple of minutes, when you can see the chocolate chips are soft, use that same offset spatula to spread the chocolate all over the top of the crackers. Add whatever sprinkles you want....or don't. Let cool and then break the toffee apart into pieces. Store in a cool place. I just put mine in a Ziploc in the fridge.

 

Andes Mint Cookies

I mentioned last week that we had Eric's kids with us, and school cancellations in addition. I happened to have ingredients for a couple of really easy, kid-friendly treats. These cookies were a really big hit with everyone except Ephraim, who isn't a huge chocolate fan and also doesn't care for mint. Good thing I also had a supply of goldfish crackers.

Caroline was my lovely assistant for putting these together. As you'll see, she was a pro. These are very tasty, and my only regret is that I didn't get them made when my chocolate-mint-loving daughter-in-law, Alison, was here. That was the intent, but viruses intervened. I found the recipe here. They work up quickly and have 3/4 of Eric's kids seal of approval.

Andes Mint Cookies

• 1 (15.25 oz.) Devil's Food Cake Mix
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• About 30 Andes Mints

Preheat oven to 350°

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs.

Roll dough into a 1 inch ball and place on baking sheet.

Bake for 6-9 minutes.

 

Take baking sheet out of oven and while cookies are still very hot, place an Andes Mint on top of each cookie. 

 

In about 5 minutes, the mint will be melted. Take a spoon and smooth out each mint like frosting. Let cookies cool and the frosting harden a little before eating. My husband will tell you this isn't necessary, but in the interest of trying not to burn tender mouths, wait just a bit.

 

 

Italian Cheese Bread

Soup weather is back with a vengeance. We got at least 6" of snow over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and there's a day this week that they high temperature....the high, mind you, will be 18°. You can bet that soup sounds really good. I'm a fan of soup. I'm also a fan of bread with said soup, even when the soup is sub-par.

We had this bread with a recipe for butternut squash soup that won't be making a return appearance. I had high hopes for the soup, but the bread was the real star of the show. Notes on this recipe-----> Since it's just the two of us at home, I made a half a recipe and instead of baking it in a pizza pan, I put it into a small cast iron pan to bake. I also didn't bake it at the screaming hot oven temperature that was requested. I rarely bake any bread above 375°. Pizza is the exception.

Italian Cheese Bread

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon quick-rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water (120° to 130°)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

Topping:

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup prepared Italian salad dressing
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Dash pepper
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella chees

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Beat in water and oil until blended. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 1-2 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 450°.

Punch dough down; place on a greased 12-in. pizza pan and pat into a 12-in. circle. Brush with salad dressing. Combine the seasonings; sprinkle over top. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden brown, 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Chicken Corn Fritters

In the kitchen, the Christmas baking has begun.

Evan will be happy the Peanut Blossoms are in the freezer.

I'll share with you a real time saving idea I got from my daughter-in-law, Elisa. She keeps all her holiday recipes in a binder. Not just Christmas, but all the holidays. Since my family holiday meals are pretty much set in stone, I don't have to go searching in various recipe books and binders to find all the things. I copied her idea, and now all my Christmas baking recipes are in one place.

This was the new recipe for the week. I very rarely fry stuff, let alone deep fry stuff, but these are worth the effort and mess. They're quite tasty, but with the cheese sauce? Total yum. Then again, I'm thinking you could put cheese sauce on a shoe and it would probably be good. I found the recipe here, and made a few adjustments. You'll notice the original recipe calls for a green chili sauce. I just wasn't feeling that the night I made these. I left out the seasonings listed in the recipe and added about a cup of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese instead, along with a little Knorr chicken bouillon and a dash of Tabasco. The sauce was also quite thick....like really thick, so I added at least 1/4 cup more milk to make it pourable. We had ours with some roasted asparagus, and despite my husband's red meat loving tendencies, he had at least 4 of these. I roasted some bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts to get the meat for this recipe. The package had 4 breast meat pieces and you certainly don't need all those to get 1 cup of meat, but I was looking to prep a big batch of chicken and put the rest in freezer bags. The bonus is that I put all the skin and bones into the freezer bag for the next time I make stock.

Chicken Corn Fritters

• 1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Oil for deep-fat frying

Cheese Sauce:

• 1/3 cup butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1-1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
• Dash Tabasco
• 1 cup whole milk (Mine needed a little bit more)

Place corn in a large bowl; lightly crush with a potato masher. Stir in the chicken, egg, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Combine flour and baking powder; stir into the corn mixture just until combined.

In a deep-fat fryer or skillet, heat 2 in. of oil to 375°. Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls into oil. Fry for 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels; keep warm.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour and seasonings until smooth.  Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in cheese. Serve with corn fritters. Recipe makes about 12 fritters.