Tried and true......

I get asked often, "why don't you post more"? Well, folks, here's the truth, I make dinner every night. Of those meals I make, 4-5 of them are new recipes, 2 are salads and I allow Craig to choose a great dinner he enjoys. So you think, wow he should be posting 4-5 recipes a week? Fact of the matter is I take pictures of everything I make, during the recipe an after its finished. But the sad part is, most of those recipes are duds. For some reason or another they just don't work out. Example tonight we had feta stuffed chicken breasts with Greek potatoes. I was really looking forward to this dinner and a great post. When we sat down and took our first bites, and were both like "eewe". So that's that. I'm constantly working on posts, and life seems like all research for my blog, everything can't be perfect.

I'll keep testing recipes, but rest assured that the recipes I make and post are tried and true. And they will be meals (or treats) that you will enjoy!!

Weekend Biscuit Casserole

The last couple of weeks have been exciting around our home.  Last week my Sister and her family were visiting during the kid’s spring break.  We were fortunate enough to have very nice weather (for Seattle!).  Being a tourist in your own city is quite a fun thing, when you have nothing pressing. 



Pike Place Market,

Pike Place Market,

The Seattle Waterfront,

The Seattle Waterfront,

The Great Wheel,

Leavenworth,

 

 

Snoqualmie Falls,

 

Chateau St. Michelle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a quick stop at Chateau St. Michelle for a little wine tasking, all in 3 days! 

 

It was a quick trip, but it’s always great spending time with family! 

Each morning I had planned something great for breakfast.  First day, I made these Weekend Biscuit Egg Casserole, and I must say, I was impressed.  (So much so that when my cousin called asking if her family could come up and stay while they toured colleges with their son during his spring break, I decided to make them again.) The second morning I made Black Friday BreakfastSandwiches. 

Black Friday Biscuits

 

Both dishes were AMAZING, but since I’ve posted the Black Friday Sandwiches before, I decided to post this one.

 

Weekend Biscuit Egg Casserole

Ingredients

1 can of buttermilk biscuits (8 count)
1 pound of Turkey breakfast sausage roll (browned, drained, and cooled)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
7 eggs, beaten
¾ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 °F. Crumble and cook sausage in s skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain.

Pull each biscuit in half, then line bottom of greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish with 4 of the biscuits, firmly pressing the edges of the dough to seal.

Sprinkle with ½ sausage and ½ cheese.

Repeat with the last 4 biscuits, ½ sausage and ½ cheese.

 

Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a medium bowl until blended; pour over sausage and cheese.

 

Bake 30 minutes or until set (A knife should come out clean when inserted in the center). Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares; serve warm.  Makes 9 biscuits, The pictures show a doubled recipe.

 

 

Footnote, Next time I will try making them in muffin tins, and maybe add onion and green peppers….

Enjoy!

 

Other Pictures that I didn't include in the above post:

Seattle Gum Wall

Beecher's Cheese

Peacocks at Chateau St. Michelle



My Family in Leavenworth

Creamy Chicken & Goat Cheese Pasta

A few years back, I told one of our single neighbors, "I cook like I'm feeding an army, so come on over for dinner". And this wonderful caring neighbor has been over for dinner several night a week. I really don't mind, cause he's a great sounding board and ginnea pig for some of my creations. Its great to have another opinion, where as from my partner all I get is a "it's good", or a shake of the head, or in a rare occasion a request to "make that thing again".

With our neighbor, the only thing I have found he doesn't like is any product made with goat milk. With my new career as a cheesemonger, I've tried sneaking it in where I can, but he always detects it. So when he asked what was for dinner tonight, I thought, "do I tell him, or just serve it and see what happens." So as usual, I didn't tell him. Well, turns out that the pasta dish was so wonderful that he didn't even notice. Besides the fact that this is truly a great and easy dish, you'll want to make again and again.

Creamy Chicken & Goat Cheese Pasta (adapted from cheekykitchen.com)

Ingredients:
16 ounces Pasta (cavatappi works wonderful, but any kind will work!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup milk or cream
1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large pot, boil pasta according to package directions. Drain cooked pasta in a strainer, and return pot to stove. Over medium, drizzle olive oil into pot, then add garlic. Cook for 30-60 seconds then add goat cheese and milk. Remove from heat, add pasta, sundried tomatoes, chicken, and basil. Toss to mix. Salt and pepper to taste.

(The picture isn't mine, but next time I make this I'll be snapping a shot!)

Empanadas!!

I love these little treats so much, I decided to make them again, and repost this post below.  Enjoy!
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This past weekend we went to a wine tasting party where the hosts open about 20 bottles of Malbec.  When I received the invite, it stated, we’ll provide the wine, you bring your favorite appetizer.  What better to go with Malbec, than Empanadas.  Below are a few types I have made.  In addition to these recipes I have included some information about how to wrap them and some of the more traditional closures. 

There is no wrong way to make an Empanada.  In many South American countries these are street food, and vary from vendor to vendor.  You can add ANYTHING you want to the filling.  In the past we have had a corn mixture, cheese, as well as Apple and Bananas.

As for the closures, once they are folded you have no idea what’s inside, so the closure/fold is the key to knowing what is inside.

Bob’s take on Traditional Empanada

3lbs of Ground Beef, browned (I use Ground Turkey, and no one can tell the difference!!)
3 T. Olive oil
1 med Sweet Onion, diced
3 T. Cumin Seed, toasted and ground (you can buy store ground, but it’s ground too finely for me)
¼ C Oregano
Salt & Pepper
Cornstarch & Chicken Broth, to thicken
15 large stuffed green olives, diced
6 Hard Boiled Eggs, diced
1 Can (14oz) dices tomatoes

Brown ground meat in olive oil. Mix in cumin, salt and pepper. While this is cooking, dice up the hard boiled eggs and olives. When meat mixture is browned (DO NOT LET DRY OUT!!), mix in eggs, olives and tomatoes(with juice). While this is warming up, mix about ½ cup chicken broth with about 2 T cornstarch (I don’t measure), mix cornstarch mixture into meat mixture, allow to thicken. Cool and refrigerate overnight.

Shredded Chicken and Poblano Empanadas

3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 (8-ounce) package (or so) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 roasted, peeled, seeded and diced Poblano Peppers
2 Potatoes, cooked and diced
Mexican style salad dressing
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Boil Chicken breasts in seasoned water. When finished, drain and shred cooked chicken. Place in mixing bowl.
Roast Poblano pepper on grill (or oven broiler). When skins are blackened, remove from heat and let cool to the touch. Peel, and de-seed peppers. Dice and place in mixing bowl
Mix together with diced potatoes, seasonings, cheese and dressing. Make sure it’s not too wet, or dry. As too wet will leak out of Empanada, and too dry will crumble when you eat. Refrigerate overnight.

Chorizo, Red Potato Empanadas

1 lb raw Chorizo (bulk, not link)
3 Red Potatoes, cooked and diced
1 ea Green Bell Pepper, diced

1 can Corn, drained
1 med Sweet Onion, diced

Brown Chorizo. When completely cooked, add in corn, red potato, green bell pepper, and onion. Mix thoroughly. Allow to cool and refrigerate overnight.

Now for the Wrappers…..you can always make your own, but why, when these are so incredible.  I prefer the wapper on the right, as it is for a crispy baked.  The one on the left is for flaky (like puff pastry).  Both are for the oven, but there is a third that is for frying.

This is the back, that’s how I tell what is what.  (see the English translation) 

So as for the filling and folding….

Step one, use a scoop to measure out the amount in the center of the wrapper. 

Step two, fold the wrapper in half and press to seal.

Step three, start fold/rolling from the left edge, creating a unique seam.  Keep the seams the same throughout the same filling process.  If this intimidates you, use this hint, fold them the same way, place them on their side or standing straight up.

Step three and a half, When I’m done folding I usually end up with a little tail.  That’s an easy fix, fold the tail under and place the empanada on it.

In this option I use a Tortellini type closure.

 

Here are some examples of the different folds/closures I use.

Picture from the most recent creation!

Lemon Rosemary Scones

I usually get up early in the morning…what do you do at 3am, you ask?  Well, I make a pot of coffee, and turn on the cooking channel (or Food Network), turn down the volume and get on my computer to search the cooking websites I love. This time I found this Lemon Rosemary Scone (The Pioneer Woman Cooks ), and have been thinking about it non-stop since.  So this past weekend off, I decided to make them.  Woke up early, ran down to my rosemary bush, picked a branch of fresh rosemary and was set…..

Lemon Rosemary Scones

Ingredients

SCONES
3 cups All-purpose Flour
⅔ cups Sugar
5 teaspoons Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
2 sticks (1/2 Pound) Unsalted Butter, Chilled And Cut Into Pieces
1 whole Large Egg
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon Finely Minced Fresh Rosemary
Zest Of 1 Lemon

GLAZE
5 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
½ cups Whole Milk, More If Needed For Thinning
Zest And Juice From 1 Lemon
1 teaspoon Finely Minced Fresh Rosemary
Dash Of Salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Mix cream with egg, lemon zest and rosemary and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes to steep.

Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter pieces into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs. Mix wet mixture with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork until combined. Mix should be crumbly, but if it’s too crumbly to work with, splash in a small amount of heavy cream.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary. Final rectangle should be about 18 inches by about 10 inches.

Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form smaller triangles.

 
Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

GLAZE

To make the icing, add lemon zest, lemon juice and rosemary into milk; allow to sit for awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.

One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.