Blue Cheese, Raspberry Appetizers

Its a crusty white baguette with melted blue cheese, topped with a raspberry and balsamic glaze.
Must I say more?

These appetizers are easy to make and as they sit, the blue cheese taste intensifies.


Ingredients
1 Crusty white baguette sliced into rounds
12 oz of Raspberries
8 oz blue cheese crumbles
Balsamic Glaze
Softened butter

Set oven to Broil.

Lightly butter sliced rounds and lay out on a jelly roll pan.  Place about 1 teaspoon of blue cheese on each round.   Broil until the cheese begins to melt and the bread starts toasting.  Remove immediately out of the oven or they will burn.  Place a single Raspberry on each round and drizzle balsamic glaze.

Serve warm or cold.

Stuffed Mushrooms

One of the teachers at my daughter's school makes stuffed mushrooms about once a week and they look delicious.  She has a different recipe but it inspired me to work on one as well.


Ingredients
24 ounces of baby Bella mushrooms, wiped clean
2 tablespoon butter (unsalted)
5 ounces prosciutto, chopped into small pieces
4 oz cream cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon lemon peel (or lemon zest)
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Topping (optional)
1/4 cup panko
1 tablespoon butter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Remove stems from mushrooms and chop enough mushroom stems to equal 1/3 cup.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add Prosciutto and chopped mushroom stems.  Cook until Prosciutto is crisp.  Reduce heat to low and add mustard, cream cheese, lemon peel, tarragon, and pepper.  Stir until the mixture is combined.  Remove from the heat and begin to spoon about a teaspoon of the mixture into each mushroom.

In a small skillet over medium heat combine the panko and the butter until lightly toasted.  Once toasted, top each mushroom cap with a little bit of panko.  Bake for 20 minutes and serve immediately.

Doughnut Puffs

My neighbor surprised me with a fryer for Christmas (yes I know some pretty terrific people).  I think she was just sick of me borrowing hers all the time.   As soon as we opened the fryer my husband says, "Oooo you have to make doughnut puffs".  I had no idea what those were.  I called my mother in law for the recipe.  They remind me of apple fritters with out the apple.  I should also mention I do not know how to make this without a bread machine.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup flour
1 pkg dry yeast or  2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup softened butter or margarine
2 eggs

For coating combine:
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Place ingredients into the bread machine and run the dough setting.  My bread machine takes about an hour and a half to finish.

Once machine is done, heat oil to 350 degrees (enough to deep fat fry).  Once the temperature of the oil is reached dip a tablespoon into the oil and then use that tablespoon to drop dough into hot oil.  Make sure to dip the spoon each time.   Fry for about 1 to 2 minutes turn and fry until golden.
Drain puffs and roll in cinnamon sugar coating.

Coming Soon!

I am currently working on a Pho recipe that can be made at home.  What is Pho?   It is a fabulous Vietnamese noodle soup made with bone broth, rice noodles and meat.

The first recipe I did, while it was good, lacked some flavor.  I am working on amping up the flavor of ginger, anise, and clove without having them over power the dish.
 

Tetrazzini

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this is a good recipe for leftover turkey.  I made this version with boneless skinless chicken breasts.  Most recipes have mushrooms as part of the ingredients, but  my daughter is not a big fan of them so I omitted them and added carrots and peas instead.


Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
2 tbs soy sauce (low sodium or regular)
5 ounces of spaghetti, broken in half
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 onion chopped fine
1 tbs all purpose flour
2 tbs dry sherry
1 cup unsalted chicken stock or broth
3 ounces cream cheese (regular or 1/3 less fat) softened
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 cup panko bread crumbs (toasted)
salt and pepper


Combine chicken and soy sauce in a Ziploc bag or covered bowl to marinate for 30 min to an 1 hour in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a large pot.  Add pasta and 1.5 tsp of salt.  Cook, stirring often until pasta is al dente (for Barilla it's 11 min).  Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the remaining pasta.

In a 12 inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat and add onions and 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook until browned.  Stir in flour and cook until golden.
Whisk in broth, sherry, and reserved pasta water.  Gently scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the browned bits.  Whisk in cream cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Simmer until lightly thickened.

Stir in marinated chicken, peas and carrots.  Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes( chicken will not be fully cooked).

In a casserole dish or 8 x 8 baking dish, combine mixture and pasta.  Toss toasted panko and remaining Parmesan and sprinkle over top.  Bake until hot about 12-14 minutes.  Let cool slightly before serving.

Shipwreck Stew

This is a meal my husband requested. His mother gave him the recipe when he went away to college so that he would eat.  When I first looked at this recipe I was not too sure about it.  The ingredients list did not look like the most appetizing combination.  With that being said, it tasted pretty good (I should know not to doubt my mother in law).  There are not many spices in this recipe so if you want to add some chili flakes to kick it up feel free.

Ingredients:
2 lb Bison or Beef (ground)
1 lb red potatoes washed and sliced
2 onions sliced
1 can mushroom soup
1 can tomato soup
black pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 350
In a 12 in skillet brown meat.  Combine all ingredients and place in a 9 X 9 casserole dish.

Bake 45 min to an hour until potatoes are tender.

Serve with Sour cream and medium cheddar.

Chicken burgers with Goat Cheese and Sun dried Tomato

I am trying to find alternatives to using beef all the time.  This recipe can either use chicken or turkey but I used ground chicken.  I bought the store brand goat cheese and it was not as strong as other goat cheeses.  When I make it again I will probably add more goat cheese unless I buy a different brand.

Ingredients
4 Hamburger buns
1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (drained and julienned)
1 tbs oil from sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbs fresh basil chopped
1 shallot finely chopped
1 lb ground chicken
2 oz crumbled goat cheese
1/2 cup panko
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp of pepper

In a large bowl mix panko, salt, pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and shallot.  Incorporate ground chicken and goat cheese into the bowl.  Knead mixture until it becomes uniform.  Divide to make 4 patties, about 1 inch thick.

Heat the oil reserved from the tomatoes in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat.  Place patties into skillet and cover.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes until slightly brown.  Flip patties and continue to cook until second side is browned.  Reduce heat and cook until burgers register 160 degrees, about 8-10 minutes (flip them half way).

Serve on your favorite bun.