Oldie but a Goodie

For lunch this week I opted for something seriously old school - Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. I needed a break from everything else, and I wanted something easy and on the cheap.

I completely forgot how good a PB&J 'wich is. For my PB&J's I chose Jif creamy peanut butter (I actually use to be a crunchy girl, but now lean I towards creamy) and Smucker's Red Raspberry Jam which is so good - kinda sweet and very tasty. Bread was Nature's own Butter bread. I would have preferred wheat, but BD hates wheat and it just doesn't make sense to buy two loaves of bread.

No wonder I loved these things as a kid.

What pasta is best?

I stumbled across this article today. It was one of those days when one article caught my attention, which lead to another article, which referred to another article, and before I knew it - an hour had gone by.

This article however was by far the most interesting. It's about pasta and what each shape is best for what kind of purpose or sauce. I'm definitely going to refer to it in the future when brainstorming new recipes.

Click here to read the article from Chow


Kitten ^..^

Football Season is Here: Queso con Carne

I attempted a new appetizer last night. I was trying to think about some great party appetizers in preparation for Labor Day, BD’s 30th birthday, and football season. I knew I wanted something that wouldn’t be overly complicated, time-consuming, and it needed to be a crowd pleaser for sure.

I’d never made a queso dip before (though I have eaten more than my fair share of them), so I decided to give it a go. I figured it would be especially great when I have about 30 grown men drinking and swearing at my TV in the upcoming months while watching a game.

Queso con Carne

*This recipe made a LOT – much more than I anticipated. If you are serving this with a couple of other appetizers you could easily serve 20-25 people. If it’s the only appetizer -maybe 10-15.

(print the recipe)

Ingredients:

- 2 – 32oz processed cheese blocks, cubed

- 2 10oz cans of Rotel, drained

- 1.5 lbs of ground beef

- ¼ cup of minced onion

- ¼ cup of chopped scallions

- 1 tablespoon onion power

- 1 tablespoon garlic powder

- 2 tablespoons cumin

- 2 tablespoons chili powder

- 1 teaspoon paprika

- 1+ tablespoon of crushed red pepper

- S&P

Procedure:

1 - Over medium high heat brown ground beef with the onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, paprika and 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper. Once fully cooked drain off fat and set aside.

2 -In a large dutch oven, add onion and Rotel. Sauté for a couple of minutes and then drain off excess liquid.

3 -Add back to pot and add in the cheese. Stir until smooth and all the lumps are gone.

4 -Add ground beef and stir to incorporate. Add S&P to taste.

*** At this point I tested the mixture to see what the heat/spice level was. I wanted a lot more kick than it was giving so I added a couple more tablespoons of crushed red pepper little by little until I got the amount of heat I wanted.

5- Right before serving, add the chopped scallions and stir. For serving, I would recommend using a slow cooker or fondue set to keep the dip warm.

I was feeling rather ambitious the day I was making this and decided to make my own chips as well. They turned out pretty good and were easy to make, but a little time consuming. Honestly I decided to do them because I had nearly a whole package of uncooked corn tortillas in my freezer that I was probably never going to use otherwise.

Homemade Chips

1 - The tortillas were on the smaller side for I cut them into fours.

2 – Next I fried in vegetable oil over medium-high heat.

3- I only did a few at a time and made sure to flip them once during the frying. I used a small sauce pan because I didn’t have a ton of veggie oil on hand.

4- Once they had a light brown color, I removed them from the oil and place on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels to cool and then sprinkled with a little salt.

I liked how they turned out. Light, crispy, and worked well for my queso. However, after frying them I suspect that my corn tortillas weren’t entirely corn and had a little flour in them as well. Still, they were pretty tasty and I will definitely try to make them again.

My thoughts: I really, really, loved the queso. It was really cheesy and had just the right amount of other ingredients. Not only was this good for flavor reasons but it also was important for dipping. As BD said, it had the right consistency and you were able to get a little bit of everything in each bite. I was glad that I added more crushed red pepper near the end because I like things with a bit of a kick. I ate quite a lot more of this than I would like to admit too… so let’s just say that I didn’t have any room left for dinner that night.

Kitten ^..^

Yo quiero Quesadillas!

I have a deep love for Mexican food. A better word might even be addiction; I have an addiction to Mexican food. The other night I rifled through my fridge and pantry and discovered that I had all the necessary ingredients for Veggie Quesadillas. I’m a fan of the homemade quesadilla, much more so than ordering them in a restaurant because when you make them at home you get to choose what you want in them and the possibilities are endless.

A while back I use to be afraid of making them, but once I learned how easy it can be I make them at least once a month.

Veggie Quesadillas

(print the recipe)

Ingredients:

- Any veggies you want! I chose: red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms, onions, and spinach

- Cheese

- Large flour tortillas

- Vegetable oil

Method:

* I can’t really give you exact measurements because that is all up to you. Below is the method of how to go about making them.

1 -Sauté your veggies until al dente. FOOD 411: Al dente means “to the bite”, it refers to that tender yet crisp phase of vegetables but is more commonly used referring to paste.

2 -Heat a large sauté to medium heat and pour just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Place the tortilla on the pan.

3 -Add a layer of cheese all over the tortilla but leave about a half inch perimeter from the edge. Next scatter some of your veggies all over the tortilla. You can add as much as you like but don’t worry about covering every inch with vegetables.

You’ll be folding it in half. (See picture) Even though I didn’t overload mine with veggies, I still ended up with a ½ inch thick quesadilla.

4 -Once the cheese start to melt slightly, take a pair of tongs and fold the tortilla in half and press down slightly with a spatula.

5 -After the tortilla has browned slightly on the bottom side, flip over carefully to finishing browning the second side.

6 -Remove from pan and allow cooling for a couple of minutes before slicing.

My thoughts on this dish: I love quesadillas and these hit the spot. They are crispy, melty, and full of tasty veggies. Not to mention quick and not a lot of dishes to clean afterward!

The dipping sauce in the picture is one of my favorite things. It’s Spicy Black Bean Dip from Dessert Pepper Trading Company.

It’s a staple in my fridge at all times; I especially love it on southwestern style scrambled eggs.

Parmesan Pastry Twists

Out of all of the Food Network stars, Paula Deen is probably one of my favorites. She just seems like she would be a joy to be around. I would love to just spend a day sitting on a front porch with her, drinking ice tea, and talking about life. You just know that THAT would be a great day.

While I love Paula Deen and have seen her show hundreds of times, I have never made anything from them. No particular reason why - I just never have. I happened to catch it the other day on a lazy Saturday when I was flipping through channels. I think the show I caught was centered on soup and she happened to make some breadstick to accompany one of them. A week or two later I recreated them to go with a pasta dish I was making. You can find Paula’s recipe here and mine is below.

Parmesan Pastry Twists

(print the recipe)

Ingredients:

- 1 sheet puff pastry

- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

- 1 tablespoon garlic powder

- 2 tablespoon oregano

- lots of fresh ground black pepper

- melted butter for brushing – a couple tablespoons

Procedure:

1- After your sheet of puff pastry is thawed, brush with melted butter. Flip and repeat.

2- In a shallow dish mix parmesan, garlic powder, oregano and black pepper.

3- Slice puff pastry in 1 inch slices. I think I got about 8 or 10 from mine.

4- Take one slice of puff pastry and dredge in mixture until well coated. Twist pastry lengthwise and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until done.

5- Place into a 350 degree oven and bake until golden brown. Mine took about 15 – 18 minutes. Remove and serve.

There are little variations between mine and Paula’s, but not many. This should show you how easy they are because when I did these I did them from memory but wanted to reference her recipe for you here.

My thoughts on this dish: These came out really light, fluffy and with tons of flavor. I was able to taste each of the ingredients separately and they blended really well together. These also looked really impressive and kinda fancy. The boys (BD and HD) were also pretty impressed and loved them. I think you could also cut each strip in half before twisting and baking and they would probably be great for a party served with a side of alfredo or marinara!