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Recent Recipes

Bacon, Fig and Balsamic Pizza

Comments (2) | Thursday, November 4, 2010

As we've posted before, pizza is probably our favorite thing to cook.  When we have dinner guests, especially for the first time, we usually bust out the old reliable pizza, because almost everyone likes it, you can feed quite a few people for very little money, and a well planned and executed pizza is just impressive.  Not everyone is as crazy as we are about pizza, and a lot of people would consider what we put on them to be unacceptable, not because it's not good, but because it sounds sort of bizarre.  We usually save our pizza experiments for when we're not expecting anyone over, so as not to offend anyone with our sometimes crazy notions.  A few weekends back we experimented with bacon, fig and balsamic vinegar.  It was absolutely fantastic, so we thought we'd share.





Toppings (for 2 pies):
10 fresh figs
1 onion
7 or 8 large mushrooms
4 strips of bacon, cooked
Fresh basil
Balsamic vinegar

Begin by following our basic pizza recipe for the crust and sauce.  Thinly slice the figs, onion, and mushrooms.  Leave the basil leaves whole and crumble up or slice the bacon.  Place half the cheese on the pizzas, then the toppings, and then the rest of the cheese.  Drizzle a little vinegar over each of the pizzas and put them in the oven.  Cook for 12 minutes at 450 degrees or until the cheese is brown and bubbly.


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Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Comments (0) | Wednesday, November 3, 2010

We are big fans of savory and sweet mixed together.  We are always combining things like fruit and cheese, salt and chocolate, etc.  When we saw this recipe for chocolate bacon cupcakes we knew that this was a recipe we just had to try.  Chocolate and bacon are two of our favorite foods so mixing them together sounded like genius.  The we decided to add peanut butter frosting into the mix and it sent these cupcakes to a whole different level of amazing.  Both of us agree that these are by far our favorite cupcakes that we have ever had.  We will be making these again and again and again.  We served these at our Halloween Party and they were a huge crowd pleaser.  Everyone was a little hesitant at first, but once they tried them every single one of our guests raved about them.  

 
Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes
Adapted from The Novice Chef Blog

3/4 c. unsweetened organic cocoa powder
3/4 c. hot water
3 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 c. butter
2 1/4 c. evaporated cane juice or sucanat
4 large eggs
1 T. plus 1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream
3/4 c bacon, cooked and chopped

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line standard muffin tins with paper liners. 

2) Shisk together hot water and cocoa powder until smooth.  In a seperate bowl whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  

3) Melt the butter and beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 3-5 minutes until cool.  Add sugar and mix until well combined.  Add the eggs one at a time beating until each is incorporated.  Add the vanilla and the cocoa mixture.  Add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream.  Stop the mixer and gently fold the bacon into the batter.

4) Pour about 1/3 c. of batter into the muffin tins filling them about 3/4 of the way.  Bake until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes.  Let cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting
Adapted from the  FoodNetwork.com

3 c. organic powdered sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 t. vanilla extract
1-2 T. whipping cream
1/3 c. peanut butter +more if desired.

1) Whip together butter and powdered sugar at a low speed until well combined.  Increase speed to medium and add the vanilla extract and the whipping cream until it is the desired consistency.  Add in the peanut butter and beat until well combined.  Taste the frosting to make sure you have the desired peanut butter potency  if not add a little more.   



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Whole Wheat Caramelized Onion & Rosemary Bread

Comments (0) | Monday, November 1, 2010

We made these for our Halloween Party this week and they were so good.  We will definitely be making these again.  The sweet onion with the rosemary were a great combination and these are probably going to show up on our Thanksgiving menu this year.

 

Whole Wheat Caramelized Onion & Rosemary Bread
Adapted from Simply Scratch
1 large sweet onion
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 c. warm water
3 t. active dry yeast
3 T. olive oil +more for oiling
3 c. fine ground whole wheat flour
1 c. stone ground whole wheat flour
2 t. salt
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
1-2 T. butter, melted 

1) Warm oil and butter over medium heat in a medium skillet.  Saute the onions and garlic about 15-20 minutes until they are browned and carmelized.

2) Pour warm water into a bowl.  Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water.  Then mix in the honey and olive oil.  Let stand for about 5-10 minutes until the yeast begins to bubble.

3) In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook  combine the flour and the salt.  Add the onions and garlic and toss to coat.  Add the yeast mixture and mix in the mixture in the stand mixer until well combined.  The dough will be very wet.  Add more flour as necessary till you have a sticky, but easier to handle dough.  Let the dough hook knead the bread for about 5-8 minutes and then turn the dough out into a bowl greased with olive oil.  Cover and allow the dough to rise for 1.5 to 2 hours until it has doubled in size.

4) Divide the dough into 12 even portions and roll them roughly into balls.  Cover again and let them rise for another 15-20 minutes.  Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees.

5) Bake the dough for 9-10 minutes.  Brush with melted butter and then return them to the oven for another 9-10 minutes until they are golden brown. 


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Hellraising Halloween Party

Comments (1) | Sunday, October 31, 2010

Last night we hosted a Halloween party for a few of our closest friends.  It was a great time and we had a lot of fun planning and preparing for the party.  We had a bit of a Hellraiser theme to the party, especially in the decorations.  We had planned to watch Hellraiser, but we ended not ever putting in the movie.  It was fun regardless and we wanted to share both some photos of the party and our menu.  To check out some of the crafts in more detail visit Cassie's craft blog.

 
This is a bit of our set up before we got all the food out on the table.
 
You can see the cupcake flags and dish I.D. tags in this photo with the food.
Menu
Appetizers:
Chips and salsa
Blue Cheese and Bacon Dip 
Honey Mustard Glazed Sweet Potato fries
assorted cheeses and crackers

Main dish:
Skyline Chili w/ a toppings bar
Whole Wheat Caramelized Onion and Rosemary Bread

Desserts:
Chocolate and Bacon Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cinnabites (Snickerdoodles)

There will be additional recipes posted later in the week to fill out the rest of the menu so please check back.

Other than that we will leave you with just a few photos from the party.


Jason was Hunter S. Thompson and our friend was his attorney.
Our dog, Bruno, was dressed as Zeus.  He was the cutest little Zeus ever.
 
This is Cassie with her brother.  He was Thor and she was Athena.


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Picadillo Tacos

Comments (2) | Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Picadillo is a traditional Latin American dish using ground meat.  It has some wonderful spices and excellent flavor combinations in the dish.  We discovered it several months ago and since it has become a staple meal in our house.  We tend to make picadillo tacos rather than "normal" ground beef tacos with spice packets.  This way we have a lot more control about what spices we use and how much sodium goes into the dish.  Also the flavors just beat any taco seasoning packet hands down.  The sweetness of the raisins and the cinnamon mixed with the spice of the chili powder and cayenne are perfect.  As always we opted to up the amount of cayenne that we use in the picadillo.  What can we say?  We like spicy food. 

 

Picadillo
Adapted from  EatingWell.com
Serves 4 

2 eggs, hard boiled and sliced (optional, but highly recommended)
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 t. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c. scallions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 t. chili powder
1 1/2 t. dried oregano
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. cayennne pepper
1/2 c. golden raisins
1/2 c. pitted green olives, chopped
2 T. tomato paste
1 c. water
1/2 t. ground black pepper
8 corn tortillas, warmed
Toppings:
pico de gallo
light sour cream
lettuce
cilantro
salsa

1) Cook meat in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, until it is no longer pink.  Drain the fat from the meat and set it aside.  

2) Heat the oil in the skillet and add the onion, scallions and garlic.  Cook, stirring often, until softened about 2-3 minutes.  Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne.  Cook until it is fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the raisins, olives, tomato paste, water and return the meat to the pan, stirring.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.  Season with pepper.
3) To serve place a layer of picadillo on each tortilla, garnish with a few egg slices and then top with your favorite taco toppings. 



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Honey Mustard Glazed Oven Fries

Comments (0) | Sunday, October 24, 2010

When we were on vacation in Texas this summer we were staying at a friend's house.  One night while we were sitting around talking he had an episode of Grill It with Bobby Flay playing in the background.  Cassie always has an issue of paying full attention to either a conversation or the show playing when the T.V. is on, so her focus was swinging randomly between the two.  When Bobby Flay started talking about some sweet potato fries her attention was caught for the time being and she watched the recipe.  That night we ran to the grocery store and got the ingredients to make these fries for dinner.

Now months and months later armed with only a faint memory of the recipe we decided to go ahead and try to recreate them at home using our oven rather than the grill.  The grill would have been great, but we only have a cast iron grill pan and no large outdoor grill.  We were not up to trying to grill these.  We would have had to work in small batches and it would have taken WAY too long.  So we adapted this recipe for the oven and I think we did a pretty good job recreating it.  The flavors that caught us the first time around were all there again and it was much easier to do. 


Honey Mustard Glazed Oven Fries
Adapted from Grill It with Bobby Flay

2 medium sweet potatoes scrubbed and cut into thin wedges
1 T. canola oil
1-2 T. McCormick Grill Mates Cinnamon Chipotle Rub (or any other chipotle cinnamon mixture you can find/make)
4 T. dijon mustard
2 T. honey

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly brush the sweet potatoes with canola oil and line them up on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle the cinnamon chipotle rub over the fries, making sure they have a nice thin coat.

2) Bake the fries in the oven for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile in a small bowl mix the dijon mustard and the honey.  Remove from the fries from the oven and brush both sides of the fries with the mustard mixture.  Return to the oven to bake approximately another 15 minutes until slightly crispy and the glaze is nicely browned.


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Snickerdoodles

Comments (1) |

Snickerdoodles are one of those cookies that are easily forgotten about.  They aren't super fancy or chocolatey, but they are just down right good.  Nothing is more satisfying and nostalgic than eating a warm and buttery snickerdoodle.  Plus who doesn't like cookies that are coated in cinnamon and sugar.


Snickerdoodles
Adapted From The Novice Chef
2 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
1 c.. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
2 large eggs
1 T. vanilla extract

For the topping:
1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
3 T. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Cream the evaporated cane juice and butter until they are smooth.  Add the eggs and the vanilla paste.  Add the baking powder, salt and whole wheat pastry flour.

3) Roll the dough into 1.5-2 inch balls.  Mix all topping ingredients in a small bowl and roll each dough ball into the topping mixture.  Place the balls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Use the bottom of a glass to press each ball flat.  Press the cookies thinner if you like them crispier or leave them about 1/4 inch thick for thicker softer cookies.  Bake for 8-9 minutes.


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