Journey Undefined: cheese

Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts

Summer is here! Okay, maybe not, technically. But, with the alternating humid, 90 degree days with bright sunny, breezy days, it sure feels like it is here, and hopefully to stay. While I am in love with this weather, Brenden is quite the opposite of me. Remember the misery I was feeling just a few short months ago, with my frozen fingers and toes, well that is the misery Brenden is feeling now, just replace frozen with melting, and fingers and toes with entire body...at least I am finally comfortable.

There is no use denying it anymore. I have a problem. I am obsessed with making and eating fresh, homemade pasta. Phew I said it. After all, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, isn't it? But is this really a problem I want to, or even need to, get over? I guess that is for Brenden to decide. When he gets tired of eating pasta for every meal we will call it quits...maybe. It's just so easy, and delicious!

It's official. I'm in a rut, and have been for the last several days. This lingering, nonsensical cold weather we have been experiencing has given me a giant case of the winter blues. I typically have mild symptoms each winter, a lack of desire to do anything but, well, bundle up on my couch with marshmallow filled hot chocolates, eating mounds of comfort food between sips. Okay, maybe nor so mild. But lately, it has gone to the extreme: day dreaming about a vacation to Florida or the Bahamas or the Maldives even; sleeping till noon on weekends, fantasying, and even doing a little snow dance, for snow days so I can do the same during the week; and eating all the chocolate I can get my hands on.

Valentine's Day came a little late for Brenden and I this year. Besides the fact that we are both a little anti-Vday (him more then me), we were too busy celebrating, and then nannying and dog sitting to fully prepare the for the holiday that was upon us. We decided to "celebrate" a few days later, in our own special way...the date night dinner way.

Creamy. Rich. Quick. Easy. Yes, all four of those words make up this one recipe; fear not, it is'nt a mistake. Don't worry, I was just as shocked as you were. But, just a happily surprised as you will be. Mark my word.

This week's dinner was so great. And when I say so great, I mean Brenden said, and I quote, "I love these." He said that about a no meat, 100% vegetarian dish. Yep this meal was great. It was fantastic and we are already planning to make it again ASAP.

Brenden and I are opposites in a lot of ways, but one thing we have in common is our love for chicken caesar salad. So our dish for the week was a no brainer after we stumbled upon this chicken caesar recipe. I mean what is better then chicken caesar salad? Chicken caesar tortellini! Now, if you love chicken caesar salad as much as we do, you may be a little skeptical. But, one bite of this dish and you will be a believer.

This week Brenden and I were looking for something light but filling and tasty but healthy. As we searched the world wide web, we stumbled upon two great sounding recipes that seemed like they would pair perfectly together. A Mexican inspired chopped salad and turkey burgers. The salad called for a combination of delicious, ripe, and colorful veggies paired with a simple dressing and homemade tortilla strips to accent the flavors. The burgers were simple but sounded like they would be bursting with flavor from the cheese, peppers, and toppings the recipe recommended. So we set out to the store to grab the ingredients and then to the kitchen to put them to use.

Unlike our usual process where Brenden and I make separate parts of the meal simultaneously, we decided to conquer these recipes in steps. We started with the salad, as it looked fairly simple, just time consuming with all of the small dicing. You don't have to chop everything so small, it is really a personal preference, but I began with small cubes and I was trying to keep my knife cuts even...Anne Burrell would be proud.

First we cooked the corn in boiling water and as that cooked we preheated the oven and prepared our tortilla strips. We cut the tortillas and seasoned them to taste. And, since the only tortilla's we could find came in a much larger amount then the recipe called for, we decided to toast up some extra cinnamon sugar dessert chips. If you couldn't guess they are made the same ways as the tortilla strips except we cut them into trianglish shapes and seasoned them with cinnamon sugar instead of salt (thanks Kristina for the inspiration, although yours are ten times better; you will have to teach me your secrets).

Then came the chopping. We chopped jicama (for the first time ever), onion, pepper, and so much more. We added each ingredient to the bowl as it was chopped and watched them pile up, hoping we chose a big enough bowl. Then came the mixing. The colors we so vibrant; the salad looked delicious and we couldn't wait to dig in. The salad was prepped so we moved on to the burgers. Again, the recipe was pretty simple. This one had less chopping and more mixing. We mixed the turkey, cheese, peppers, and seasonings, formed patties, and set them on the skillet to cook. And, in less then 15 minutes they were perfectly done.

As the burgers cooked we took the final step of mixing up the salad dressing, burger sauce, and chopping the burger toppings. By this time our mouths were watering. The colors that were facing us from the bowls and plates and the aroma that was filling the air made it almost too hard to take the time to set the table and sit down to eat. But we did, and then we dove in and enjoyed every bite.

Mexican Salad
Recipe adapted from thecafesucrefarine.com, Mexican Chopped Salad

Ingredients

Dressing:

1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
ground pepper to taste

Chips:

8 6-inch tortillas (we used 4 corn and 4 whole wheat)
1.5 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

Salad:

1 cup spinach leaves, shredded
1 medium bell pepper, diced small
1 medium jicama, peeled and diced small
1/2 medium red onion, diced small
1 small zucchini, diced small
4 medium tomatos, seeded and diced small
4 ears corn
1-15.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions

Dressing:

Combine the lime juice, honey, cumin, and garlic salt.
Stir to combine.
Slowly add the oils, stirring continuously with a fork or small whisk.
Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Tortilla Chips:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Stack the tortillas on a cutting board.
Cut in half.
Cut each stack of halves into thin strips, about 1/4 inch thick.
Transfer tortilla strips to a baking sheet.
Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and toss to coat.
Bake for about 15 minutes, shaking every 5 minutes, or until tortillas are golden brown and crisp.
When crisp, remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Salad:

Shuck corn and place corn in a large pot of water over medium high heat.
Bring water to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
When corn is cooked remove from water to cool.
When corn is cooled, cut the kernels from the husks and place into a large bowl.
Add all the other salad ingredients with the corn kernels in the large bowl .
Stir to combine thoroughly.
Serve in salad bowls and add salad dressing and tortilla strips as desired.

Turkey Burgers
Recipe adapted from recipes.runnersworld.com, Red Pepper And Feta Turkey Burger

Ingredients

Burgers:

1 lb ground turkey
4 oz feta cheese
4 oz roasted red peppers, chopped small
1 egg
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Toppings:

1/4 cup fat-free plain greek yogurt
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cucumber, sliced thin

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the burger ingredients.
Separate mixture into quarters and shape into 4 patties.
Warm a skillet over medium heat, coated in cooking spray.
Place the four pat tie in the pan, cover and cook for 7 minutes.
Uncover, flip and continue to cook for 5 minutes or until cooked through.
While cooking, combine lemon juice with yogurt in a small bowl.
When burgers are done serve with yogurt sauce, cucumbers and any other toppings you desire (suggestions: buns, spinach, barbecue sauce or ketchup).

This week we have gone from celebration to celebration, and we still have more to come with Independence Day celebrations throughout the day and even the weekend (omg I may pop). On Sunday I had my graduation party and my family and friends came out to celebrate with me. Besides being super thrilled to see and talk with everyone who showed up, we were able to enjoy a feast.

My parents decided to get the party catered by Beefalo Bob's so we had a barbecue of hotdogs, hamburgers, and chicken and veggie kabobs accompanied with sides of corn on the cob, potato salad, pasta salad, baked beans and corn bread. And don't forget about the appetizer and desserts. Lauren and I set up an awesome salsa bar including six different types of salsa and guac along with three types of chips (and yes I did make the description cards...remember to hit me up on tringeldesign.com if you like my work). And for dessert we had a plethora of cupcakes from Touche Touchet, a miniature dessert tray from SugarBakers for those who didn't like cupcakes, and best of all a fabulous cookie cake homemade and decorated just for me by the infamous Lauren. Her cookie cakes are seriously the bomb, they taste delicious and always look amazing; she is truly talented.

We have been living on leftovers since my party, and have almost finished what we didn't give to grassroots...just in time to celebrate some more. Brenden turned 25 yesterday and I had a fun birthday night/present planned. Although his birthday fell on our Thursday night date night dinner, I decided to push ahead with my plan and take him out for a surprise dinner at Medieval Times. Since I hadn't upgraded us to the birthday pack I decided to take him out for an early birthday cupcake of his choice (again at Touche Touchet…because we didn't get enough sugar on Sunday). He chose a chocolate raspberry cupcake, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and I tried a pretty tasty chocolate peanut butter cookie.

Now when you go to Medieval Times, they tell you to get there an hour early so you can mingle and pretty much spend more money buying drinks and souvenirs and tchotchke's (yes I taught Brenden this word last night). And while we enjoyed ourselves in our hour of roaming and drinking, I know us and I decided we should get or make a little snack to hold us over while we waited for our dinner and show.

This week we made date night into an appetizer affair. We had a few options, but of course in honor of Brenden's big day, went with the most carb filled one we could find. We made cheese stuffed garlic bread. Yum! Cheese, garlic, and bread, do I really need to say anything else to convince you to make this. Negative. But in case, for some crazy reason you are still not convinced, I will tell you a little bit more about this amazing concoction.

This bread was pretty simple to make, the hardest part was getting all of the ingredients stuffed into the cuts we made in the loaf of bread. But the whole thing is baked, which means everything melts, so even if you can't stuff the cheese and garlic onion filling into the bread as much as you want, it will inevitably drip down to fill ever crevice with gooey goodness. Thus, every bite has garlic and cheese and goodness. There is no bad piece of this bread, honestly. I could have eaten the whole loaf as my dinner. But, be warned, this bread is very gluttonous, and while I want to make it again, it should probably only be prepared on special occasions…I need to limit myself somehow.

Fortunately I knew there was a feast coming so I was able to control my intake of bread and butter (did I mention the recipe called for caramelized onions, that makes it healthy right?!). So, with our belly's happily filled with a not so fancy but totally indulgent appetizer we headed off to watch the jousting and eat chicken with our hands.

Extra Cheesy Stuffed Garlic Bread
Recipe adapted from householdartsandscience.wordpress.com, Bloomin' Onion Bread

Ingredients

1 unsliced loaf of sour dough bread
6 Tbsp butter
1 onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
6 oz monterey jack cheese, thinly sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut the bread lengthwise and then widthwise about 3/4 of the way down. Make sure not to cut through the bottom of the crust.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the butter and add the onion and garlic.
Stir occasionally until onions are caramelized, about 20 minutes.
Place the bread on a very large sheet of foil on a baking tray.
Insert cheese slices between each cut.
Drizzle butter and onion mixture over the bread and into each cut. It may help to pour this mixture into the slices with a small spoon.
Wrap excess foil completely around stuffed bread.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Unwrap the brad and back for 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.
Remove from oven, pull off a piece of bread and enjoy.

This week Brenden was feeling a little adventurous, and nostalgic, and exploratory, and homesick, and...okay maybe I am not quite sure what he was feeling, but that is not important. The point is, for some reason Brenden decided to choose meals that were native to our heritage/culture. I thought this was an interesting idea, so we flew with it. The hardest part of the plan was choosing what we would make. Most of the traditional Jewish foods I make, I had already made for Brenden during the holidays and most of the Dutch food Brenden enjoys has pork products in it. It took a little bit of thinking and research but we eventually found some foods we were excited to experiment with. So get excited for a series of Jewish and Dutch food, and by series I mean two posts, this one and next weeks.

We decided to go with my culture this week since Brenden is still finalizing his perfect pork-less Dutch meal. That meant the menu for the night would be knishes. For those that don't know, a knish is a Yiddush word that was derived from the Ukrainian or Russian "kynish," meaning dumpling or cake. A knish consists of a filling covered with dough that is either baked, grilled, or deep fried.

As I am sure you know by our past recipes, we tend to steer toward the safe and simple side of cooking. Not this week. Neither of us have ever made a knish or anything like it, but we were excited to begin the endeavor. With school over and summer making the days longer, taking the time to try new things is much less stressful. We decided to make the most common knish, a potato knish, with a little added flair, for dinner. We added ground beef to the potato to get a little protein in there, and then of course we mixed in some cheddar cheese for flavor (so much for heritage...if you are kosher you are not supposed to mix meat and cheese...oh well, everything needs cheese).

As we began making the dough for the knishes, we realized the recipe was going to make A LOT of knishes so we decided to spice up the dish even more and make some of them into dessert knishes. While I grew up with the fond memory of trying different potato knishes from different delis, my dads favorite were the cherry cheese ones. I have never had a desert knish and Brenden doesn't like cherries, so we decided to do a spin off my dad's specialty and make strawberry mascarpone knishes. Plus, it ensured us that may dad would not sneak a knish or six, and help him stick to his diet.

Both Brenden and I feel we had great success at a first attempt of knishes. There are definitely slightly adjustments we would make next time, but only with seasonings and such, nothing major. Believe me, the 2 dozen knishes were gone in just a few short days so they were good enough. As I said, we would add a bit more seasoning to the potato knishes, just to spice it up another notch and give the flavor a bit more depth. The desert knishes were amazing but unfortunately the strawberry jelly and cheese got a bit liquidly as it warmed up and began to leak out of the knishes, so we need to find a way to fix that...maybe just stuff them with more filling, lots more filling?! But the flavor was there.

Although the recipe may seem taxing and intimidating at first glance, it really is worth it. Give it a shot, you will love them, I mean it is a big ball of carbs after all. As I said, it makes a lot so you will have left overs to last a few days, or you could freeze them and reheat them as desired to stretch the dish out longer and add variety to weekly meals. Don't forget to stayed tuned next week to see what Brenden brings us from the Netherlands. If it is anything like what his parents make when we visit, I already know it will be tastey.

Knishes
Recipe adapted from madeinourkitchen.com, Potato Knish
Ingredients

Dough

2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)

Filling - dinner

1 lb ground beef
1.5 large onions, diced
2.5 lbs russet potatoes
1 large egg
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Filling - dessert

1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup strawberry jam

Egg wash

1 egg
1 tsp water

Directions

A. Egg wash:

Beat egg and water in a small bowl until combined.
Set aside until ready to use.

B. Dough:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat the eggs and mix the with the oil, water, vinegar, and salt until combined.
Add the flour gradually, beating first with a spoon and eventually your hands as the dough thickens and you begin to knead. Add enough flour to make the dough smooth (you may need a bit more then 4 cups of flour as called for).
When the dough you preferred consistency, shape into 4 even balls.
Let the dough rest, covered with a damp cloth, for about half an hour.

C. Filling - dinner:

While the dough is resting, prepare the filling.
Peel the potatoes and cut them in half.
Place them in a large pot, filled with cold water and salt to taste.
Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer and cook until soft, about 20 minutes.
Drain and cool for five minutes.
As the potatoes cool, take a large skillet, cook the ground beef and onion, until the beef is browned and the onions are translucent, caramelized, and soft, about 20 minutes.
Mash the potatoes, and the egg, salt, pepper.
Stir in the beef and onion mixture and the cheddar cheese until all the ingredients are evenly mixed in.

D. Assemble:

On parchment paper sprinkled with flour, roll each ball of dough out as thin as possible into a flat rectangle.
Spread 1/3 of the filling into a line on 1/3 of the dough, leaving a one inch border.
Roll up the dough like a jelly rolling, beginning at the side with the filling.
Using the side of your hand like a knife, divide the roll into 2-inch knishes.
Pinch the open ends shut with your fingers.
Repeat this process with 2 more balls of dough.
Use the fourth ball of dough for dessert.
Begin again by rolling out the ball of dough as you did the previous three.
Spread the mascarpone cheese across 1/3 of the dough. Pour and spread the jam on top of the cheese.
Again, roll the dough like a jelly roll, and divide as you did the first three.
Place the knishes flat side down on a baking trays lined with parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches between each.
Brush each knish with the egg wash.
In batches, bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove, serve and enjoy.

This week was another one of our "easy" go to meals - breakfast for dinner. But, with inspiration from pinterest we tried to fancy it up. It did not turn out to look as pretty as the photos on the site the recipe originated from (especially taken with my "not smartphone" camera as my real camera is on the fritz at the moment). But never fear; it tasted amazing!

The key to this dish is building a good barrier. When the recipe says to fold the sides up, make sure you really fold up the sides. A flat surface is also key. Unfortunately Brenden and I did not realize the importance of these elements until we had cracked and poured our eggs onto the dough, and the raw egg started sliding out. Brenden's became especially messy because he decided to ad-lib the recipe and "scramble" his eggs since he does not like eating the liquid-y yolk. Ironic because, the yolks ended up cooking through through on mine and it looked a lot prettier and more appetizing. (Next time I would cut down the cooking time a few minutes to mimic more the yolk of an over easy egg). But no matter, it all cooked evenly and the flavors blended to make the perfect breakfast...for dinner.

This meal combines all of the classic breakfast elements into one dish and one bite. And it all gets cooked together. You don't have to toast with one hand and scramble with another and fry with the last. That is way to much effort, especially being we only have two hands.

The dish is easily customizable and there is hardly any clean up, just the backing tray. As you already witness, Brenden customized his egg preperation. We also substituted turkey pepperoni for bacon to make it more pizza-like (are you surprised pizza IS Brenden's favorite food, I think we had it for three nights in a row prior, you'd think we would be tired of the pizza concept...nope). Spices and cheese types are also easily interchanged. I used garlic powder and basil with cheddar cheese while Brenden sprinkled on some hotter spices. Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with this. Imagination is the limit.

Breakfast Tart

Recipe adapted from tablespoon.com, Bacon and Egg Crescent Squares

Ingredients

1 tube refrigerated crescents
4 eggs
10 turkey pepperoni slices
2 Tbsp cheddar cheese, shredded
seasonings as desired (ie. salt, pepper, garlic, basil)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Open and unroll the crescents onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Split the dough down the middle, forming two large squares, pinching the perforations together in each square.
Fold up the edges of each square of dough (about 1/2 inch of the edge around each square).
Crack two eggs into the center of each dough square.
Place five pepperoni slices atop the eggs on each dough square.
Sprinkle each square with a tablespoon of cheese.
Sprinkle chosen seasoning as desired.
Place baking try with crescent squares in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the crescent dough are golden and the eggs are cooked to your preference.

Wisconsin cheese, Hunger Games, homework and Brenden.

So good; happy tummy :)

Journey Undefined

Date Night Dinners - Brenden's Burgers

Date Night Dinners - Homemade Pasta Dough

Date Night Dinners - Parmesan and Garlic

Date Night Dinners - Valentine's Day Pasta

Date Night Dinners - One Pot Alfredo

Date Night Dinners - Taquitos, No Wait, Enchiladas!

Date Night Dinners: Caesar's Victory

Date Night Dinners - Choppin' and Mixin'

Date Night Dinners - Appetizer Night

Date Night Dinners - Traditions

Date Night Dinners - Egg Tarts

The Pursuit Of Happiness - Entry #255

Nice To Meet You!

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