Fig and Goatcheese Pinwheels

Found HERE 

Ingredients

• 1 thawed sheet puff pastry (13.2 oz) - I use Jus-Rol brand and love it!
• ½ cup fig preserves 
• 4 oz log goat cheese, crumbed 
• 4-5 sprigs Fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar 
• 1 large egg, for egg wash

Instructions

1. Unroll the thawed puff pastry and place on parchment paper. Spread the fig preserves on top - making sure it’s evenly spread with about 1 inch or less of puff pastry still left untouched on the sides. 

2. Crumble the goat cheese evenly on top of the fig preserves. Add the brown sugar and fresh thyme, making sure it’s evenly spread.

3. Gently roll it up into a log, making sure the roll stays tight and nothing is spilling out as you go. Once rolled, I rolled up my parchment paper around it. 

4. Pop the roll in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

5. Once they have chilled, remove and spread out the parchment paper. Use a SHARP knife to slice them in ½ inch pinwheels. I found that wiping my knife after each cut was beneficial. 

6. Once sliced, spread them evenly out on the parchment paper on a large sheet pan. 

7. In a small bowl, beat one large egg to make an egg wash. Lightly brush the tops of the pastries with the egg wash.

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastries are golden and flaky!

9. Garnish with sprinkles of additional brown sugar and thyme. Enjoy while warm!

Brussel Sprout Salad

 Bacon and Brussel Sprout Salad

salad

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

juice of one lemon

juice of one orange

2-3 tablespoons apple cider (not vinegar, just regular apple cider! for sweetness!)

1 shallot, minced

½ cup olive oil

½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste

For the salad:

4 dozen brussels sprouts

1 cup almonds

6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled or chopped

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (Asiago or Gruyere are also good)

Directions:

Combine the lemon juice, orange juice, apple cider, and shallots in a small bowl. Add the olive oil in a steady stream and whisk for a minute or two, until it becomes creamy-looking.

Slice the brussels sprouts with a mandoline, taking care of your fingers! and slicing them as thin as possible. This works best when you hold the stem, slice from the top, and stop with a little bit left at the bottom, discarding the remaining bottom stem part since it's not very leafy anyway. The thinner the shreds, the better the salad!

Toss the shreds and loosen them with your fingers to they separate and fluff a little bit.

Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped.

Toss the brussels sprouts, almonds, bacon, cheese, and dressing together. Serve immediately or within a few hours of tossing.

Source: jamie kelving

Creme Brulee

 I used Alton's recipe. Putting it here so I remember some tips for next year:

1 quart heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

6 egg yolks

(I reserve 4 of the egg whites and also make Mary Berry's Pavlova...Both of these desserts are EASY crowd pleasers for my solstice party)

1. Place the cream and vanilla into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. While you are waiting:
2. Fill water kettle all the way and get it boiling. Preheat oven to 325
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks (with a wisk and arm muscle) until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. (This fills 8 of my ramekins). 
4. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. 
5. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

HAM

I got a new laptop for Christmas, so I might be blogging again! That's my hope. I will start with a recipe.  Ive tried a few ham recipes, and actually liked them all, but this one beats them all. The crust was on point. Glaze, bake, glaze bake. I actually broiled it the last time to get the crust extra crisp.

I just use a spiral cut ham, so I obviously didn't do any trimming of the rind or diamond cut patterns...

https://cafedelites.com/brown-sugar-mustard-glazed-ham/

Ingredients

• 8-10 pound (4-5 kg) bone-in fully cooked ham,
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, reduce fat or full fat
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F | 150°C and arrange a rack in the lower third. Remove any plastic packaging or netting from the ham. Trim away the rind and discard. Set the ham aside to rest at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
2. Line a baking tray or dish with several sheets of aluminium foil or parchment paper if you prefer (it will make cleanup a lot easier). 
3. Remove the rind or skin of the ham (refer to steps in post), ensuring you leave the fat on. Using a sharp knife score a 1-inch-wide diamond pattern (don’t cut more than 1/4 inch deep) over the entire ham. Place the ham in the baking tray; pour 1/3 cup of water into the base of the pan and cover the ham with two pieces of foil or parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small pot or saucepan over medium heat until golden browned. Add in the brown sugar, honey, mustard, cinnamon and cloves, stirring to mix together well until the brown sugar has completely dissolved, (about 2 minutes). 
5. Reduce heat to low and add in the garlic. Allow it to become fragrant, cooking for a further minute or two until the glaze just begins to simmer, then set it aside and let cool to lukewarm (the glaze should be the consistency of room-temperature honey).
6. After 30 minutes baking time, carefully remove the ham from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 425°F | 220°C. Discard the foil or parchment paper and pour 1/3 of the glaze all over the ham, brushing in between the cuts to evenly cover. Return to the oven and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven, brush with another third of the glaze and some of the pan juices, and repeat again after 15 minutes more minutes of baking until a dark golden-brown crust has formed, (about 30 minutes total). For added depth of flavour, mix some of the ham pan juices together with the glaze in the pot which will help keep it runny enough for brushing. If your crust is still pink after there suggested baking time, turn on your broiler (or oven grill), and allow it to broil for 2-5 minutes, while keeping an eye on it so it doesn't burn from the sugar. 
8. Let the ham rest 10-20 minutes before slicing.

How Mom Tweaks A Pumpkin Pie

Jamie this is so you don't have to ask mom again next year. 

Old Fashioned Butter Mints

This is a fun easy candy to make with kids when you're not ready to make dipped chocolates like Kim or toffee like mom. 

1/4 cup butter

1/8 t salt

1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 t peppermint extract (I wanted more peppermint flavor, so I will add more in the future)

3 1/4 cup powdered sugar

food coloring if you want

Directions: Whip butter in mixer for a minute. Add sweetened condensed milk and peppermint. Mix til combined. 

Add powdered sugar

If dough seems wet, add a little more sugar until dough combines and balls up in your mixer. 

Roll out snakes and cut into little bites. Store in airtight container in fridge. 

Unless you are making these to give away to friends, don't double the recipe. I did and it is too much. :)

Dinner in a Pumpkin

Use a pie pumpkin.

Open it up and clean it out. 

Sprinkle salt and pepper on the inside.

Put the pumpkin on a baking sheet, then put it into a 350 degree oven while you prepare the insides. 

In a pot heat:

2-3 cooked and chopped chicken breasts

1 cube cream cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

3/4 cup water

A package of Italian seasoning 

You can add other veggies to this mix - corn, carrots, peas, - but make sure you cook any "hard" veggies (like carrots) first. They won't get cooked enough in the pumpkin. 

Or you could have fresh veggies or a salad on the side. 

Pour mixture into your pumpkin. Put the pumpkin lid on top and cook for 60-90 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and cooked. 

Serve over rice. Don't forget to scoop some of that yummy pumpkin out as you eat!

 

Easter Bread

I made a few tweaks to the recipe I followed for this Easter bread, so I want to write it down before I forget. It turned out really well. Which is strange because I don't make very good bread and rolls.

1 1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup butter 

1/2 cup sugar

Pinch salt

2 eggs beaten

2 1/4 tsp yeast 

3-5 cups flour 

Egg wash

Sprinkles

Heat the milk, sugar, salt, and butter on the stove. Cool it to warm. 

In your mixer, pour the warm mixture in and add the yeast. Let it sit until bubbly. 

Mix in the eggs until nice and smooth. Add two cups of flour until nice and smooth. 

Switch to your dough hook. 

Keep adding flour until the dough is no longer sticky and pulls away from the bowl. Knead with hook for a while. 

Let it rise for an hour. 

Knead for a while. 

Rise for half hour-ish. 

Take out and cut into 12 peices. 

Roll two peices into snakes. Twist them together. Form into a ring. 

Make six rings. 

Rise for about 45 mins. 

Egg wash and sprinkle with sprinkles. Put a dyed Easter egg in the middle. Pretty!

Cook at 350 for 20-25 mins. 

Breakfast Casserole

from Our Best Bites

4 c. Southern/country-style hash browns (cubes), completely thawed (if they’re not thawed, they won’t cook correctly)
1 12-oz. package bacon
1 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese
1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3 eggs
1 c. milk*
about 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
about 10 turns freshly ground black pepper
*For high altitudes, reduce milk to 2/3 cup and sauté the potatoes in rendered bacon grease until partially cooked before baking.
Begin cooking bacon.  While the bacon is cooking, place the potatoes in a 9×13″ baking dish. Mix the cheeses together and sprinkle it over the potatoes. When the bacon is done cooking, drain it on a paper towel and reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Cook the onions in the drippings for 2-3 minutes or until they’re tender and fragrant. Spread the onions over the cheese mixture and then sprinkle everything with the crumbled bacon.  Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper and, whisking constantly, pour the egg mixture evenly over the potato mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight or for 7-8 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350.  Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly but not brown. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with fresh fruit.

We had this Christmas morning with cinnamon rolls (from a can) and fruit. It is perfect and easy because all the prep is done the night before (and it's easy prep!). I also used left over ham instead of bacon on another night for dinner.

I love a meal that is prepped ahead of time, then whipped out to heat just in time for the hectic hours preceding dinner.

Easter Dinner

I made this yesterday for Easter. Oh Man! It was really, really good. And actually really easy too .. I thought it was going to be more difficult. We also had roasted asparagus and homemade rolls (my first time ever making rolls and they turned out!)


Chicken Cordon Bleu 
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

INGREDIENTS:
25 Ritz crackers (I used whole wheat crackers and loved the extra nuttiness)
4 slices hearty sandwich bread, white or wheat (again, used homemade wheat bread and it was hearty and delicious) ... I just used leftover hamburger buns from our bbq the previous night.
6 tablespoons butter, melted
8 thin slices deli ham (about 8 ounces)
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
4 thick boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds total), see note
Salt and pepper
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pulse the crackers and bread in a food processor until they are coarsely ground. Drizzle in the melted butter and pulse to incorporate together. Transfer the crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the crumbs are lightly browned. Transfer the crumbs to a shallow baking dish (a pie plate works great!). Leave the oven on.
Top each ham slice with about 1/4 cup shredded cheese. If your ham slices are too small, shingle two ham slices on top of each other to create a larger slice and roll the cheese up in that. Roll tightly and set aside. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Following the pictures below, cut a pocket in the thickest part of the chicken breast and stuff each pocket with 2 ham/cheese rolls. Pull the top flap of chicken over the rolls and press to seal (you can use a toothpick to gently secure the pocket edge, if you like). Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Refrigerate the stuffed chicken, covered, for at least 20 minutes.
In another shallow dish or pie plate, beat the eggs and mustard. Place the flour in a third shallow dish. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Working with one stuffed chicken breast at a time, coat the chicken lightly with flour and then dip in the egg mixture, covering both sides. Dredge the chicken in the toasted bread crumbs, pressing lightly to help the crumbs stick to the chicken. (The breaded chicken can be refrigerated covered for up to 1 day.)
Transfer the chicken to a lightly greased rimmed baking sheet. Bake on the lowest rack of the oven until the bottom of the chicken is browned, about 10 minutes. Move the chicken to a middle rack in the oven, reduce the temperature to 400 (you don’t have to leave the chicken out of the oven while the temperature adjusts, just put it back in the oven and then reduce the temperature), and bake until golden brown and the chicken is cooked through (160 degrees on an thermometer), about 25-30 minutes. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Eggnog

My sister called and asked me for the "Sorensen family eggnog recipe." Aka, the one out of Better Homes and Gardens. :) I thought I'd post it since I had it all typed up. 

1/3 cup sugar 

2 egg yolks

1/4 tsp. salt

4 cups milk

2 egg whites

3 tablespoons sugar 

1 tsp. vanilla

brandy/rum flavoring to taste (I leave this out)

1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

nutmeg

Beat 1/3 cup sugar into egg yolks. Add salt; stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, till mixture coats spoon. cool. Beat eggwhites till foamy. Gradually add 3 tablespoons sugar, beating into soft peaks. Add to custard and mix thoroughly. Add vanilla and flavoring. Chill for 3 or 4 hours. Pour into punch bowl or cups. Dot with "islands" of whipped cream; dash with nutmeg. Serves 6 to 8.

It says till mixture coats spoon, but I don't really know what that means. I just do it till it's good and hot and cooked through. You can cook the nutmeg in with it to add more flavor too.

Remember last year when a girl in Wal-Mart asked me if I wanted to sample her eggnog and in the most snobbish way I said, "No thanks, we make our own." Seriously, I'm still reeling over that one. So embarrassing. 

Christmas Dinner Ideas?

What are you all having for Christmas dinner?
I'm for sure going to make a ham...but what else?

Grandma Cook's Vanilla Cream Pie

3/4 c sugar

1/3 c flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 c milk

2 slightly beaten eggs

2 tbls butter

1 tsp vanilla

combine flour, sugar, and salt in saucepan.

gradually stir in milk with a whisk.

cook and stir over medium heat until bubbly. cook and stir for 2 min.

remove from heat. temper the eggs. (stir small amount of hot mixture into beaten eggs).

add eggs into hot mixture, cook 2 minutes longer.

remove from heat, add butter and vanilla.

cool slightly then pour into baked cool pie shell. to cool pudding, lay saran wrap on surface and refrigerate.

to make chocolate pie: add 3 tbls of cocoa and 1/4 c sugar to dry ingredients in saucepan.

to make banana cream pie: slice 3 bananas into pie shell, pour pudding over.

to make coconut cream pie: add 1 c coconut flakes to warm pudding

THANKSGIVING!

Here's something fun ... let's all say what we are making for Thanksgiving (and doing) ... since it really is "eat or die" on Thanksgiving day. I'm always interested. I'm sure nobody will participate, but I'm trying this anyway.

We are going to a friend's house and she is pretty much doing everything. But I'm making a turkey breast (bone in) brined in this; she's doing a whole turkey. Gonna cook it in a roasting bag. Also taking a veggie tray and sour cream lemon pie. Yep, that's all I'm responsible for. Kind of nice.

What are YOU making/doing this Thanksgiving?