Bruschetta Pinwheels

The very first time I got in a fight with a mandolin was making a pinwheel appetizer. I lost. Luckily, that was a while ago and my relationship with the mandolin has improved. Double lucky, this recipe doesn't need a mandolin! These cute pinwheels are really tasty and super easy to make. The hardest part about these is letting the puff pastry come to room temp - that takes at least an hour. Waiting is the worst. Bruschetta Pinwheels are worth it.

I default to a cheese platter with some good crackers for appetizers, or grilled artichokes if we are outside, but sometimes, a warm from the oven, bite-sized treat is so nice to have! Puff Pastry makes this kind of thing so very easy.

Preheat oven to 400
Makes ~20 bite-sized appetizers

1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 sheet puff (1/2 a package)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
olive oil
Salt and pepper

The trick to these is seeding the tomatoes. Too much pulp would risk the puff pastry being soggy and gross. I was using these cute multicolored cherry tomatoes, so I just cut them in half and squeezed the pulp into a little discard dish. Then I chopped through the remaining tomato meat until they were diced pretty small, about 1/4. 

After the tomatoes are seeded and chopped, mix with garlic, basil and a bit of salt and pepper. Place a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and stretch it out to make a rectangle. 

Spread the tomato bruschetta all over the puff pastry leaving about an inch on the closure side. Roll up and press the seam to seal - I ran a wet finger across the seam before sealing the edge to really lock in all the tomato goodness.

Once everything is rolled up, slice into about 1/2 inch slices and place on a silpat or parchment lined baking dish. Brush or drizzle (I drizzled) on a bit of olive oil and bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Slices may need to be rearranged to bake evenly - the middle should puff and it should not look like damp dough.

A few things about this recipe...
 
I made these to take to a friends house. I baked them up at our house, left them on the pan and re-toasted them at their house. Double baked, double delicious!
These would be great with a spread of pesto, or some proscuitto.

Puff Pastry also works great with sweet things - I made a super quick cookie with the extra sheet of pastry.

Makes about 20 cookies
Preheat oven to 400 

1 sheet of Puff Pastry
1 tablespoon melted butter
3 tablespoons vanilla sugar (or cinnamon and sugar mixture)

Flatten out a sheet of Puff Pastry, and brush with melted butter. Dust on vanilla sugar, or cinnamon and sugar. Roll up each side to meet in the middle and press down the middle to make a more distinct heart shape. Slice and bake at 400 on a lined baking pan for 15 minutes or until nicely toasted. YUM!

Things made this time last year...
Miso Ginger Quinoa Salad

 
Apple Almond Muffins

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and Blue Cheese Dressing

This is football food. Well, this is football-watching food. This is tailgate-in-your dining room food. And it's really good! I am a superfan of Buffalo Chicken wings. I love them. I love the sauce; I love the blue cheese dressing. I love how they just mean party! But, in an attempt to lighten things up and sneak in some veggies, I did some googling and found some recipes for meatballs. I changed things up a bit and loved the results! I mixed up a chunky blue cheese dressing and we had apps for dinner. Awesome.

 

Buffalo Chicken Wings - inspired by Shrinking Kitchen

Makes about 20, 2" meatballs 

Preheat the oven to 350 

For the Meatballs

1 pound ground chicken

1 egg

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 carrot stick

1 celery stick

2 tablespoons parsley 

1 small onion - about 1/2 cup sized onion

1 medium bell pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Buffalo Sauce

1/2 cup Frank's Hot Sauce

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

 

In a food processor finely chop the onion, carrot, celery, parsley and the bell pepper. Add or remove veggies to get to about 2 cups of minced veggies. Add in egg, breadcrumbs and garlic.

 

Fold ground chicken into veggie mixture and start forming into 2 inch meatballs. Place formed meatballs on parchment lined baking sheets. Space them about an inch apart. 

Meanwhile, simmer hot sauce, butter and garlic over low heat to melt butter and reduce sauce slightly. Divide sauce into two containers.

Bake meatballs for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the meatballs with half the Buffalo sauce. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees.

 

Top with additional Buffalo Sauce from the reserved container and serve with veggies and blue cheese dressing.

Chunky, Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing - adapted from All Recipes

Makes about a 1/2 cup of dressing

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon mayonaise

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper)

 

Mix all ingredients together and let the dressing rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and hopefully longer. It gets better as the flavors blend together. 

 

A few things about this recipe... 

I left a few meatballs without Buffalo sauce and my toddler grubbed them down. Nice way to add veggies to a meal!

We tend to like dark meat chicken in our house and would like to try these with ground dark meat.

Buffalo sauce is delicious.

The blue cheese dressing is thick. Thin it down with extra buttermilk.

Things made this time last year:

 

Black Cauldron Cocktail - YUM!!! I can't wait to make these again!!

 

Pork Chops with Roasted Apples and Onions

 

Asian Meatballs

When people think “meatball”, they often think Italian.  However, meatballs can be transformed many different ways.  This recipe was one of my pins on Pinterest.  I modified it but overall, it was great as is.  I almost always use turkey whenever ground meat is required: tacos, spaghetti, etc.  Turkey works well for this recipe because there are so many amazing Asian flavors that you don’t need the extra flavor you would get from the fat in beef. 

These meatballs use the typical egg and breadcrumbs for binding agents.  But the Asian-style is brought out with the use of ginger, toasted sesame oil, and green onions.  The original recipe calls for regular sesame oil but the toasted sesame oil, I feel, give the meatballs a stronger nutty flavor which I love.  Each of the meatballs is then dunked in an Asian sauce, which is pungent and salty due to the hoisin and soy.  I muted the saltiness with a bit of honey.  To balance the sauce, I served the saucy meatballs over coconut rice.  Coconut rice has a milky texture and is slightly sweet so it is really the perfect accompaniment.  You can also serve the meatballs individually as an appetizer.

Asian Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

½ c breadcrumbs

¼ tsp ground ginger

1 egg

1 ½ tsp minced garlic

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

¼ c thinly sliced green onions, plus more for garnish

sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Sauce:

2/3 c hoisin sauce

¼ c rice vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 400F.  In a large bowl combine ground turkey, sesame oil, breadcrumbs, ground ginger, egg, garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Use your hands to combine ingredients.  Refrigerate until ready to cook.

Kitchen tool: Dig in!  Use your hands.  It’s the best kitchen tool you’ll ever have :)

Shape into balls and place on a greased 13x9 baking dish or a baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a digital read thermometer reads at least 165F.

Tip: Spray your hands with cooking spray before shaping the meatballs.  It prevents the meat from sticking.

While meatballs are baking, combine all sauce ingredients and whisk together. 

Remove meatballs from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.  Using a toothpick, dip each meatball into the sauce and place on a serving dish.  Top with green onions and sesame seeds.

Makes ~15 meatballs (approximately 1 - 1 1/2" diameter)

Charred Artichokes aka Charred-i-chokes

Back home, before a husband, a house, a baby and a real job, I was a happy hour junkie. I still love eating and drinking at happy hour, it's cheap, the food is often fun and the right size, it's early, and if there is outside seating, I'm in seventh heaven! 

A few years ago in Santa Barbara, there was this restaurant called Chad's that fit all of my requirements for fantastic happy hour. AND it was conveniently within walking distance of my house and my dearest friend's house. AND within walking distance of our work. AND since we both worked in the same mall AND usually the same shift... well you get the idea, we were there a lot. Chad's made a charred artichoke appetizer that was delicious. Toasty and dusted in salt and pepper, charred on the edges and something crazy like $4. Ahhh. Love. 

Charred Artichokes aka Charred-i-chokes - inspired by Chad's of Santa Barbara

2 large globe artichokes
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Boil whole artichokes covered in a large pot of salted water until a fork inserted in the base of the leaves - not the stem - sinks in easily. (The stem will cook pretty fast, so it's not a good test point. The artichokes I used were really large, and took about 40 minutes.)

When the artichokes are done cooking, remove them from the water and let them rest for a few minutes, until you can touch them enough to slice them in half. With a small paring knife, cut out the hairy center and sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper. 

Get your grill nice and hot, and place the artichokes cut side down. With the olive oil, you may get some flare ups, but that's OK. It just adds to the smoky char and it's awesome. Let the artichokes get nice and toasty for about 7 minutes. They are sturdy, so you can check them a bit. Flip them over and grill about 3 more minutes.

Chad's restaurant served these with a variety of dipping sauces, I like this light, aioli-ish dipping sauce to go with ours.

Lemony Dipping Sauce
Enough for 2 large artichokes

1/4 cup mayonaise
2 tablespoon olive oil
grated lemon rind from 1 lemon
Lemon Pepper to taste

While the artichokes boil, mix together all ingredients and store in the fridge. The dipping sauce is best if it has a while to rest and chill before you eat it.

A few things about this recipe...

Baby artichokes work just as well, just adjust your boiling time.
You can grill these on a griddle pan over the stove if you don't have, or don't want to fire up the outside grill. 
You can eat the stem of the artichoke and it's delicious. 

Enjoy!!

Made this time last year: Pappardelle with White Truffle Butter

Homemade Rainforest Crackers

I am crazy happy when Whole Foods has set out cheese tasters. Half because I am in love with cheese, and half because they usually have Rainforest Crackers out. These are amazing crackers in every way: they are crispy, fruity, tangy, herby, and more expensive than I can fit into the old food budget. So, I made my own! I'd been wanting to make these for at least 2 years, but only just gave it a whirl. I am so pleased with the results, and totally stoked to have found a way to have these crackers in my house more often. We ate these with a little goat cheese and a drizzle of honey. Scrumptious!

 

Rainforest-like Crackers

Preheat oven to 350

Makes about 4 dozen crackers

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar mixed with milk)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon molasses

2 tablespoons chopped pecans

2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons chopped dried dates

2 tablespoons chopped apricots

2 tablespoons chopped rosemary

Chop up pecans, apricots, dates and rosemary. Leave sunflower seeds whole. Set aside the fruit and nuts. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl mix together the sugar, molasses, and honey. Then add the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the nuts and fruits.

The batter will be very thin. Pour into 2 2x5 inch bread pans sprayed with cooking spray (I used coconut oil.) The batter will only fill these about half way. Bake for about 30 minutes.  

Let the loafs cool completely on wire racks and then freeze for about an hour (or a lot longer) and then slice very thinly. 

Arrange crackers on a parchment lined baking pan and cook for 10 minutes and then flip. Cook for 7 more minutes and let the crackers cool completely on wire racks. Eat!!

A few things about this recipe...

The add-ins could be SO many things!! Raisins, dried cranberries, almonds, walnuts. You could leave out the rosemary, or use thyme. Like biscotti, these could be a zillion flavors.

The batter was REALLY thin, but these cooked up very well. 

We sliced into the warm bread and it was DELICIOUS. The bread with a little butter would be a good treat in itself.

I only cooked up one of the loafs and it made 2 dozen crackers. The second loaf is wrapped in plastic and kicking it in my freezer until I need more crackers.

These stored well in a glass tuperware for 3 days. 

Made this time last year...

Roasted Strawberry Shortcakes

Banana Nut Muffins

Chocolate Cheesecake Marbled Brownies

Stuffed Peppers and Mushrooms…with Buttercream Icing for Touchdown Cupcakes

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL????  We are!  My husband and I started a couples fantasy football league and to culminate the season, we decided to throw a football party for NFL playoffs.  All of the couples in the fantasy league came over to watch football, eat great food, and drink…a lot :)  Here is the list of things we served: buffalo wings with homemade blue cheese dressing, nacho bar, stuffed peppers and mushrooms, potato skins, cupcakes and cookies.  Whew!  Yes, I’m exhausted…to say the least!

In preparation for all of your Super Bowl parties, I wanted to share the recipes for the stuffed peppers and mushrooms, and the homemade buttercream icing I made for the cupcakes.  Both were a huge hit!  The idea for stuffed peppers and mushrooms came from my mother.  She has been making these stuffed mushrooms for years!  However, I am not a huge fan of mushrooms so I decided to try the stuffing on peppers and…OH MY.  Needless to say, I think you could put this stuffing on pretty much anything and it would make your day.

Stuffed Peppers and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

16oz cream cheese, softened

16oz shredded Swiss cheese

2 pork breakfast sausage rolls (2 lb)

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1.5 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Jalepenos

Bell peppers

Baby portabella mushrooms

Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat.  Brown sausage in skillet.  In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese and Swiss cheese.  Add sausage and stir until combined.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until well-mixed.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Remove stems and dig out insides of portabella mushrooms.  Fill mushrooms with sausage mixture and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Cut jalepenos in half, removing seeds and stems.  Fill each half with sausage mixture and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Cut bell peppers in quarters or the desired size for filling.  Fill each with sausage mixture and place on the same cookie sheet.

Cook at 375F for about 20mins or until peppers and mushrooms have softened, cheese is melted, and stuffing is warmed through.

Note: Heating times may vary for peppers and mushrooms. 

Unfortunately, during all of the party craziness, I forgot to get a good picture of the final cooked peppers and mushrooms.  I know...that is a food blog NO-NO!!!  Hopefully by now you trust me, but if not, this is the best I have :)

As for the cupcakes, I call these my semi-homemade Touchdown Cupcakes.  They were perfect for the football party and people couldn’t get enough of them.  For the cake, I used the box Duncan Hines confetti cake mix.  Here is the recipe for the deliciously buttery and creamy icing:

Ingredients:

1c butter, softened

3c confectioner’s sugar, sifted

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Place butter in a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add sifted sugar.  Start mixing on the lowest speed until sugar and butter start to combine.  Increase speed to medium.  Sugar and butter will clump together.  Once the clumping occurs, increase speed until butter mixture is creamed.  Reduce speed and add remaining ingredients until combined. 

Note: You can store icing on the counter overnight in a sealed container.  If storing in refrigerator for a couple of days, bring to room temp and whisk before using.