Oven sliders, Agua fresca, Horchata, and Banana spring rolls

Oven Sliders

Makes 12 sliders

Ingredients:

• Bread
• quartered sliced bread, slider buns, King's Hawaiian rolls, slices of baguette, etc.
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 4 Tablespoons dried minced onion
• Salt + Pepper
• Optional Toppings:
• small slices of cheese 
• sliced pickles 
• burger fixings

Procedure:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spread 2 Tbs. of dried onion (or more if you like onions) and a liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper on the bottom of an empty baking pan/cookie sheet
3. Place the ground beef over the seasoning and press it out evenly until it is 1/4 inch thick.
4. Season the top of the beef as in step 2.
5. Bake the beef for 20 minutes or until it is done.  Flip the huge patty once during cooking.
6. Cut the patty into 12 squares and assemble your sliders.
7. Enjoy

Agua Fresca

fruit flavored water

from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/appetite-for-adventure/agua-fresca-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of soft-pulp fruit
• mangos
• melons 
• strawberries, etc.
• 1.5 cups H2O
• 2 to 4 Tablespoons sugar
• Lime juice, to taste

Procedure:

1. Puree the fruit and strain the clear fluid into a pitcher or bowl with a fine sieve/sifter.  
2. Mix the clear fruit juice with the water and season with sugar and lime juice (optional).
3. Enjoy

Horchata

a cinnamon and rice drink

from: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/06/horchata-recipe-mexican-rice-drink/

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup white rice
• 3 cups warm H2O
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3/4 to 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups rice milk 
• Ground cinnamon, to taste

Procedure:

1. In a blender or coffee grinder, grind the rice until the grains are the size of coarse corn meal.
2. Place the rice in a bowl with the cinnamon stick and pour the warm water over it.  Cover and refrigerate for about 8 hours.
3. Take out the cinnamon stick, puree the rice and water in a blender, then strain the mixture into a pitcher using a sieve lined with cheesecloth or layers of paper towels.
4. Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the cloth.
5. Add the rice milk to the pitcher and season the drink with sugar to taste.
6. Serve over ice.  Enjoy.

Banana Spring Rolls

This is a delicious and popular snack, or merienda, from the Philippines.  Outside of the Philippines, families usually serve banana spring rolls at parties or during special occasions.  They're super easy to make whenever you have a craving for something sweet :)

Ingredients:

Spring roll wrappers, preferably thin ones.

Ripe bananas

Brown Sugar

optional: additional fillings (peanut butter, nutella, strawberries, sliced mango, etc.)

Cooking oil 

Water or beaten egg for sealing the spring roll wrappers

Procedure:

1. Heat your oil over medium heat until a cube of bread browns in ~15 seconds.

2. Peel your bananas, then cut them in half lengthwise.  If needed, trim the banana halves to fit within a spring roll wrapper.  Roll the bananas in brown sugar until they are evenly coated.

3. With a spring roll wrapper on a flat surface, brush a small amount of water or beaten egg over opposite ends of the wrapper.  A brush or your finger can be used.  

4. Place one coated piece of banana (and any additional fillings) at one end of the wrapper.  As though rolling a burrito, roll the wrapper over the banana, making sure to fold in the sides to seal in the filling.  

Here is a great step-by-step diagram: http://www.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Spring-Roll

5. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of brown sugar into the oil.  Adding sugar to the oil will caramelize the outside of the spring rolls while they cook.  Once the brown sugar floats to the top of the oil, start frying the rolls.

6. Fry your banana spring rolls until they are golden brown.  Once they're done, drain and cool them on cooling racks or paper towel-lined plates.

7. Enjoy.

-

Videos:

*must watch* making turon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjnaBq6KVsI

how to make your own spring roll wrappers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOn6jhi7z8o

how to roll lumpia/spring rolls: http://on.aol.com/video/how-to-roll-lumpia-516952634

Smothered Green Chile Pepper Chicken + Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

 Both of these recipes are from Cooking Light’s Fresh Food Fast cookbook.  I highly recommend this cookbook if you are trying to get into cooking- it keeps the ingredients and preparation short and simple.

For dinner serve this chicken with a simple salad: just top greens with the Cilantro-Lime vinaigrette (below) and leftover mozzarella or MJ cheese.

Leftovers tip:  Chop up the leftover chicken to serve on a salad for lunch the next day.

Smothered Green Chile Pepper Chicken

3-4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (about ½ lime)

1-2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning

1 small can whole green chiles, drained

¼ cup mozzarella cheese (or Monterrey Jack)

1.     Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.     Arrange chicken in a 8-inch baking dish; squeeze lime juice evenly over chicken.  Sprinkle evenly with taco seasoning.

3.     Slice chiles lengthwise to open up flat.  Place 1 chile over each chicken thigh.  Cover dish with foil; bake for 30 minutes. 

4.     Sprinkle cheese evenly over chiles and chicken.  Bake, uncovered, additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Note: I adapted this slightly as the original recipe is for 8 chicken breasts.  I find that each can of green chiles usually has 3 chiles, so you can buy 3 chicken thighs or split up a chile between 2 breasts.  I’ve also sprinkled a mix of chile powder, paprika, cumin, a tiny bit of cayenne and fresh ground black pepper over the chicken when I didn’t have taco seasoning around.

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon grated lime rind

1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic

Combine all ingredients, stirring well with a whisk.

two easy & addictive recipes

These two recipes are totally unrelated, but both are so easy and so good that they are "must-shares."  The lettuce wraps may look hard because of the long ingredient list, but trust me when I say that you will find a reason to make them over and over again.  The biscuits are super easy and are agreat side for dinner or a good breakfast/brunch accompaniment.

Copycat PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

Adapted from Iowa Girls Eats

Makes about 2 servings as a meal.

Ingredients
1lb ground chicken
1/2 onion, minced
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced (or from a jar)
1″ knob fresh ginger, peeled & minced (produce section of Schnucks)
2-1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (find in the international section of Schnucks... This is not the Thai version)
dash of pepper
3 green onions, chopped
1 {8oz} can sliced water chestnuts, drained & chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, finely chopped in the food processor
10-12 large outer lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry (1 head of lettuce)

Instructions

1. Heat a large, non-stick skillet on high. Add a little vegetable oil, then the chicken, onion, salt & pepper.  Cook until chicken is nearly done, stirring often to break up the meat. Add garlic and ginger then continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink.

2. Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, oil, peanut butter, water, honey, chili garlic sauce and pepper. Microwave for 20 seconds, then stir until smooth. Add into the skillet and stir to combine.

3 Add green onions and water chestnuts into the skillet then cook for 1-2 minutes until the onions are soft and the water chestnuts are heated through.

4. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, and serve with cold lettuce leaves.

James Beard Cream Biscuits

from words&whisks

Makes 6 biscuits.

Ingredients

1 cup flour 

½ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoons granulated sugar

½ to ¾ cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons butter, melted

butter, jelly/jam, honey, etc. for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a mixing bowl.
3. Slowly pour ½ cup of the cream into the mixture, stirring constantly.  Gather the dough together; when it holds together and feels tender, it is ready to knead.  If the dough is shaggy and pieces are dry and falling apart, slowly add enough additional cream to make the dough hold together.
4. Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough on it; knead for 1 minute.  Pat or use a small rolling pin to roll the dough into a square that is about ½-inch thick.
5. Cut into 6 equal rectangles.
6. Dip each rectangle into melted butter, coating all sides.
7. Place the biscuits 2 inches apart on an ungreased, nonstick baking sheet.  I wanted mine on my rimmed baking sheet, which is not nonstick, so I lined mine with my silpat.  Bake until they are lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
8. Serve hot with butter and jam.

5-Ingredients: Beer Bread & Gnocchi Soup

These recipes are both super easy to make, require very few ingredients, and will warm you up in this dreary weather!

This beer bread is simply foolproof and comes together FAST- no need for rising, punching or kneading.

The gnocchi soup uses ingredients very similar to Gina’s Italian recipes from October, so you can put your leftover items to good use.

(OK- so they have 6 ingredients if you count salt or water.)

Beer Bread

Food.com- I used whole wheat flour and 1554 beer.  Delicious!

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (sifted***)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

 ¼ cup sugar

1 (12 ounce) can/bottle of beer

¼ cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients and beer.  Pour into a greased loaf pan.  Pour melted butter over the top.  Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour.

***If you are not a sifter (I am not!) do the following: lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup, and then gently level it off using the flat part of a knife.   DO NOT SCOOP the flour up with the measuring cup- it will pack the flour in, and result in a brick-like loaf.

Turkey Sausage-Gnocchi Soup

From Cooking Light- Fresh Food Fast

1 (4.5 ounce) link hot turkey Italian sausage

2 cups water

1 (16 ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi

1 (14 ounce) can fat-free, low sodium beef broth

1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped

Grated Parmesan cheese

Remove casing from sausage.  Cook in large Dutch oven or pot over medium high heat until browned, stirring to crumble.

Add 2 cups water and next 3 ingredients to pan; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes, or until gnocchi float to the top of pan.   Serve sprinkled with cheese.

Brunch Edition

best banana bread

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

2 to 3 overly ripe bananas

¼ cups buttermilk, sour cream, or plain yogurt  (Any of the three will work)

2 eggs

½ cups oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Use a whisk to mash the bananas in a mixing bowl until they form a semi-liquid without any large chunks.  Whisk for a minute, then add in the buttermilk/sour cream/yogurt, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
3. Beat in the sugar.  Add in the salt and baking soda.  Stir in the flour.
4. Pour mixture into a greased 9-by-5-inch or 8-by-4-inch (just a regular-sized loaf pan.  Bake for about an 60 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
5. (Optional, but highly recommended) Spread with a little soft butter before eating.

Note: This banana bread freezes particularly well.  Just double-wrap it in aluminium foil and stick in in the freezer.  Also, if you are making a lot of banana bread, make each batch individually and do not try to "double" the recipe. sweet potato, goat cheese, and & egg bake

Ingredients
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ sweet yellow onion, chopped
4 ounces goat cheese
4 eggs

Instructions

1. Peel sweet potatoes (I use my Y-peeler) and then dice them into ½-inch cubes.  Remember:  the smaller you dice them, the less time that you will have to wait for them to roast.
2. In a large bowl, combine the chopped onion with the sweet potatoes, olive oil, and salt.  Spread the mixture onto a large, rimmed baking dish.  For mine, I used a 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan.
3. Roast the sweet potatoes mixture at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft in the middle.  You should be able to easily stick a fork in them.  Remove them from the oven briefly, but leave the oven on.
4. If you're using a large dish (as did I with my jelly roll pan), it will be easier to crack to do this next step if you use a heat-resistant spatula to push the sweet potatoes closer together (don't pile them up, though).
5. Use a spoon or your fingers to crumble the goat cheese evenly over the sweet potatoes.
6. Crack each egg over the sweet potatoes & cheese.
7. Return the tray to the oven and bake about 15 minutes more or until the whites are set.  If you want your yolks to be more solid, bake for another 5 minutes or so.
8. Remove and use a shallow spoon or large spatula to serve hot.  Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper before serving.

BBQ Pulled Pork + Pork & Pineapple Tacos

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I’ve followed this recipe, however Simply Recipes recently posted a very similar slow-cooker pulled pork/taco recipe I plan to try next.

Ingredients:

1 onion, roughly chopped

a few cloves garlic, roughly chopped or sliced

5 or so lbs whole pork shoulder (aka Pork Butt, Boston Butt)

BBQ rub

1 Tbs Liquid smoke (optional, about $2 at Schnucks)

BBQ sauce

Buns

Add onion and garlic to crockpot.  Season with salt and pepper.

Season the pork liberally with BBQ rub.  Place on top of the onions and garlic.  Add liquid smoke, if desired.

Add 2 cups water.  Cook about 8 hours on low, or 4 on high.

Remove pork and shred (it will just fall apart).  Discard juices. 

Stir in BBQ sauce to taste.  (I keep it minimal, and pile it on my sandwich later.) 

Eat now, or let cook another hour or so on low.    

Easy ways to use leftovers all week long:

1)   Pork and Pineapple tacos (see below)

2)   Top your Mac N’ Cheese (a brilliant combo by Noodles & Co)- I recommend using cheddar and American cheese in Gina's recipe for this purpose

3)   On a salad with Easy Black Bean and Corn Salsa

4)   Freeze for a rainy day

Pork and Pineapple Tacos

Adapted from Whole Foods

BBQ pulled pork (leftovers!)

½ bag frozen pineapple (use leftovers from Crockpot Chicken Curry)

½ red or white onion, roughly chopped

corn tortillas

cilantro , roughly chopped

lime wedges

Preheat broiler.  Arrange pineapple and onion on a foil lined baking sheet.  Broil, stirring once or twice, until softened and browned in parts, about 8-10 minutes.

Toss in large bowl with BBQ pulled pork. 

Spoon onto tortillas; top with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Get Up and Go Green Smoothie

This delicious smoothie wakes me up better than coffee.  Of course, this recipe can be customized to your heart’s content.  It yields a lot of smoothie, so feel free to scale it down.

Click HERE for a bunch of other smoothie ideas.

Ingredients:

2.5 cups of spinach, kale, or other dark, leafy greens

2 cups of your favorite fruits, cut into 1 inch pieces* 

1 tablespoon of sugar, more or less

1 tablespoon of lemon or orange juice

2 cups of milk or water

2 cups of ice cubes

*Bananas tend to make the smoothie creamier 
*Apples have great soluble fiber
*Other suggestions: frozen berries, peaches, mangos, etc. Eat the rainbow!

Procedure:

1. Place all of the ingredients into a blender
2. Blend until the chunks are gone.  If your smoothie is too thick, add more liquid.
3. Enjoy :)

Tip: If you’d like to avoid the dirty dozen, try finding organic spinach, kale, frozen fruit, and apples in bulk at stores like Costco or Sam’s Club.  These stores tend to offer much larger amounts of produce for lower prices than other grocery stores like Schnucks and Dierbergs. Trader Joe's also has great deals on clean produce to feed one or two people.

Rise and Shine Quesadilla

This quesadilla reminds me of the mediterranean egg white sandwich at the St. Louis Bread, Co.  It makes a great meal any time of the day.  

Click HERE for some other great ways to use the rest of your tortillas.

Ingredients:

2 uncooked tortillas*

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried

2 egg whites or 1/4 cup of egg whites from a carton

1 teaspoon of oil

Salt + Pepper

*Cooked tortillas can be substituted for uncooked ones (available in bulk at Costco), but the texture of the quesadilla will be different.

Procedure:

1. Heat the oil in a small pan until it sizzles.  Pour the egg whites into the pan and allow them to set before seasoning them with salt and pepper.  Turn the semi-cooked disk of egg whites and continue cooking until it is lightly browned and crisp.
2. Layer one tortilla in the following order:
1. mozzarella
2. spinach
3. mozzarella
4. egg whites
5. mozzarella
6. the remaining tortilla

If you’re using a panini press/electric grill:

Place the filled tortillas on your grill, close the lid, and cook until the tortillas are browned and the cheese has melted.

If you’re using a pan on a stovetop:

Heat a small amount (<1 tsp) of oil or butter in the pan, place your filled tortillas on it and cook until the bottom tortilla is crisp.  Flip it over and cook until the last tortilla is crisp and the cheese is melted.

Enjoy :)

two classics

This week brings mac-and-cheese and homemade oreos, two childhood classics that I hope will get you out of the winter doldrums if, like me, you happen to be stuck in them.  The mac-and-cheese makes quite a bit, but it reheats beautifully and makes a good lunch; alternatively, just halve the recipe.  Happy Friday!

p.s.  Definitely make the oreos because they are the BEST.  :  )

homemade oreo cookies

recipe from here

makes about 12 large oreos

Ingredients

chocolate cookies

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark)

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) butter, softened

1 large egg

filling

¼ cup (½ stick) butter, softened

¼ cup + 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (Crisco from a can or from a stick)

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl or a food processor, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar.
2. Add in the butter and egg and process or beat on low speed until combined.
3. Using a small cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop out small balls of cookie dough onto a non-stick cookie sheet.  After each cookie is scooped out, flatten the cookie dough into a flat round cookie.  The cookies should be about an inch apart from one another, and you should be able to fit all the cookie dough on two cookie sheets.
4. Bake cookies at 375 degrees F for 8 to 9 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool before filling.
5. To make the frosting, beat together the butter and Crisco until smooth.  Slowly beat in the powdered sugar.  When smooth, beat in the vanilla.
6. To assemble, use the same sized cookie scoop or spoon to scoop a small ball of filling onto one cookie.  Spread with a knife and top with another cookie OR, if you originally used a small enough cookie scoop to make the chocolate wafers, you can simply smush the cookies together to evenly spread the filling between the cookies.
7. Serve with milk.  And, if you happen to have some extras, store them in an airtight container. 

goat cheese & cheddar mac-and-cheese

recipe from here

makes about 5 servings

Ingredients

(about) 1 pound small pasta (I used a mix of the Barilla whole wheat fusilli, Schnucks brand whole wheat fusilli, and Schnucks brand shells, so this amount is quite flexible as long as they have similar cooking times)

4 tablespoons butter

⅓ cup flour

2 ½ cups milk (I used whole milk)

4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (you can also substitute more cheddar for this if you don't like goat cheese)

8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (I used Kraft's yellow "mild cheddar," but you can use any other form of cheddar you would like)

1 teaspoon salt or salt to taste

⅛ teaspoon (or more to taste) chili powder

Dash of black pepper

Paprika, for serving

Instructions

1. Add a little salt and a small amount of olive oil to a large pot of water and set over a burner to boil.  When the water is ready, cook the pasta according to the package directions
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in another large pot.  Melt the butter and then let it brown.  Sprinkle in the flour.  Let the flour-butter mixture cook for a minute or two, whisking it constantly.  In the meanwhile, heat the milk in the microwave for one minute.
3. When the flour-butter mixture has cooked for a minute or two and the milk has been heated, slowly whisk the milk into the flour-butter mixture.  Let cook, stirring consistently, for about 8 minutes, or until the milk mixture has thickened.
4. When the milk mixture has thickened, add in the salt, chili powder, pepper, and goat cheese.  Stir until the goat cheese has melted.
5. Slowly add in the cheddar cheese, stirring until it has melted completely.
6. When the sauce is smooth, taste it and add more salt or chili powder (Note:  because there is so much dairy, it would take a lot of chili powder to make it spicy.  Adding the chili powder just gives it a little flavor.).
7. Serve in bowls, sprinkled with paprika.

Weekend Brunch

I had guests in town recently and was searching to find an easy brunch recipe that did not require an extra grocery store run.  This is it!  A recipe from my sister, it is not exactly healthy, but who cares?  It’s coffee CAKE after all. 

For a kick of freshness, I threw together an apple salad with ingredients that always happen to have a place in my home.  Feel free to “mix it up” with whatever you have lying around- you really can’t go wrong.

Serve with a very large pot of coffee, and RELAX.  It’s a three-day weekend.

Unbelievably Delicious Coffeecake

2 ½ cups flour (I subbed half of this for whole wheat flour)

¾ cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 egg

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup buttermilk (OR: add 1 Tb lemon juice + milk to make 1 cup, let stand 5 min)

2/3 cup crushed pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In large bowl, combine 1^st 6 ingredients (through oil) until crumbs are formed.

Remove 1/3 cup crumbs into small bowl, and mix them with pecans.  Set aside for topping.  

Add remaining ingredients to large bowl and mix well.  Pour into greased 9x13 glass baking dish.  Sprinkle topping over batter.  Bake 30 minutes or until firm.

Fuji Apple Salad

3 apples, coarsely chopped

Panera’s Fuji Apple salad dressing (or any light, fruit dressing will work)

Toppings:

-       dried cranberries

-       pecans, crumbled

-       sunflower seeds

-       (whatever you want!)

Drizzle apples lightly with dressing and toss to coat. 

Add toppings.  Don’t bother tossing again, your toppings will look beautiful on top of the apples, and they’ll naturally fall to the bottom of the bowl as the salad is being served.

BONUS:  If you don’t finish it all, you can add a bit of green or red onion, celery, and some shredded crockpot chicken for a nice chicken salad- serve on lettuce or as a sandwich.