So I have this new cookbook which has I think five or six recipes for tapenade, which is like a topping/sauce of chopped veggies or fruit and olive oil, similar to pesto but more chunky and less oily.
I found this recipe called "Tapenade Turkey Meatballs" and it sounded amazingly delicious! And I had all the ingredients! Or so I thought... The recipe called for 1 cup tapenade. I then consulted the tapenade recipes to find that I had only about half the ingredients for any given recipe of tapenade. As you can imagine this disrupted my culinary plans for the evening. Never one to let a little kitchen adversity bring me down I figured I would just wing it and put in something else.
The original recipe called for 1 slice of bread, processed into crumbs. I didn't feel like dirtying my BRAND NEW Manual Food Processor (I FINALLY got that thing! I've been waiting since March! Oh how I love Pampered Chef <3). So I used 1/3 cup Italian style breadcrumbs. At this point I already had 3/4 lb of ground turkey in my mixing bowl with one egg, so it was time to find the flavor that would have been provided by the elusive tapenade. To my fridge I did go to look for that special secret ingredient.
What I found was a variety of dressings, condiments and other unsuitable things that had no place in meatballs. I was perusing our large variety of hot sauces when I saw Spicy Pineapple Rum Sauce (from the Pampered Pantry). It looked to have a similar consistency as the tapenades in the picture so I decided that 1/3 cup of Spicy Pineapple Rum Sauce would be just the thing for these wayward meatballs.
Everything became mixed and then I used my Small Scoop (good for cookies too :D I made those earlier in the day) to make 30 little meatballs and put them into my new Small Ridged Baker (which is the newest piece of stoneware offered by my favorite company, so I have to test it out, right?) The recipe called for me to microwave them for 6-7 minutes and I thought that was a bad idea. I do not like cooking in a microwave, though I am learning how, especially after the never-ending heatwave this summer.
So I instead baked them for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. They came out moist, not crumbly and best of all not greasy/fatty because all the drippings collected in the ridges of my stoneware. (Which was surprisingly easy to clean, a huge relief after seeing all those ridges for the first time!) And not to forget the most important part of any dish - the flavor! They tasted phenomenal, I had amazed my own taste-buds this time. And my husband has (another) new favorite meal! :D
I paired them with a side dish of sauteed zucchini and squash from our garden, with some chopped vidalia onion, sea salt, coarsely ground black pepper and butter for flavor.
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Friday, August 12, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Turkey Apple Meatloaf
I can't believe I didn't blog at all in June! It's been so hot that I haven't been cooking much, we've been grilling and sandwiching.
So yesterday I put my central air to the test by baking a meatloaf. When we were at the store I was amazed by this new touch screen recipe printing kiosk - I LOVE it! (Family Fare in Midland if you want to play with it) And came across this interesting recipe for Turkey Apple Meatloaf.
When I told Shane I was making it he said, "I don't know about that, don't put in very much apple, if you have to use it." I sent him to play Fall Out New Vegas while I played with the food.
The recipe called for stuffing which I left out and did not call for banana pepper, which I added. The recipe was intended to feed a family but since I'm cooking for a couple I made it smaller. I used 1/2 pound ground turkey, 1 egg, 1/2 an apple diced (the other half became an appetizer), 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1/4 of an onion chopped, 1 banana pepper finely chopped, 1 1/2 T cherry mustard, and sea salt and coarse black pepper.
As I was chopping this variety of produce I said to Shane, maybe I'm not clumsy after all, maybe I've just always had terrible dull knives - which are the leading cause of kitchen cuts. Now that I have a set of quality knives, I never cut my fingers. I'm so happy that my finger tips no longer garnish our meals :D
I stirred and then rolled it into a giant ball, since I never seem to make meatloaf in a loaf pan, and put it into a round casserole to bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees F.
When it was done we topped it with Raspberry Habanero sauce (so sweet and so spicy) from the Pampered Pantry. We ate it with my homemade "baked" beans (which I did not bake, I'll have to blog them as well).
Short but sweet, I've been on a long break after all, can't go right into novel blogging. :D
So yesterday I put my central air to the test by baking a meatloaf. When we were at the store I was amazed by this new touch screen recipe printing kiosk - I LOVE it! (Family Fare in Midland if you want to play with it) And came across this interesting recipe for Turkey Apple Meatloaf.
When I told Shane I was making it he said, "I don't know about that, don't put in very much apple, if you have to use it." I sent him to play Fall Out New Vegas while I played with the food.
The recipe called for stuffing which I left out and did not call for banana pepper, which I added. The recipe was intended to feed a family but since I'm cooking for a couple I made it smaller. I used 1/2 pound ground turkey, 1 egg, 1/2 an apple diced (the other half became an appetizer), 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1/4 of an onion chopped, 1 banana pepper finely chopped, 1 1/2 T cherry mustard, and sea salt and coarse black pepper.
As I was chopping this variety of produce I said to Shane, maybe I'm not clumsy after all, maybe I've just always had terrible dull knives - which are the leading cause of kitchen cuts. Now that I have a set of quality knives, I never cut my fingers. I'm so happy that my finger tips no longer garnish our meals :D
I stirred and then rolled it into a giant ball, since I never seem to make meatloaf in a loaf pan, and put it into a round casserole to bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees F.
When it was done we topped it with Raspberry Habanero sauce (so sweet and so spicy) from the Pampered Pantry. We ate it with my homemade "baked" beans (which I did not bake, I'll have to blog them as well).
Short but sweet, I've been on a long break after all, can't go right into novel blogging. :D
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Champagne Cake (A Birthday Story)
This was another calendar recipe, and it looked so good I had to make it for Shane's birthday. It was May's picture, so it was like fate. So we procured a white cake mix, pink champagne, and heavy whipping cream. All the other ingredients we had on hand. (Milk, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, powdered sugar)
In the picture there are four pink layers with fluffy white frosting in between. My cake was a little different. I didn't use any food coloring to make it pink (even though Shane said he'd totally rock a pink cake) because I only have green food coloring left over from St. Patrick's Day's Green Eats. And my cake was only two layers. Not because it would be too hard to do four or I didn't have time or didn't feel like it, but because I dropped one of the cakes on the counter when I was taking them out of the oven. My cake pan manufacturers thought it would be just brilliant to make the outside with a non-stick coating as well. Not such a good idea after all. I put the cake back into the pan and later I was able to frost the cracked cake back together, but there was no way I'd be able to make layers with it like that.
But back to the beginning of this story! I separated my eggs into my batter bowl (I hate making cake without it now, since it has the measuring cup pouring shape) and so not to be wasteful I made a tiny egg yolk omelet, which I accidentally crisped a little while trying to figure out if you need to coat non-stick baking pans. I never did find the answer but coated them anyway.
To the egg whites I added milk, vegetable oil and double vanilla (vanilla is the best, and I say you can never use too much! You can, however, use way too much almond extract) Then, just like my recipe said, I took the whisk to it and added the cake mix. It was a horrible un-whiskable mess. Then I remembered I had forgotten to add the champagne. I poured in the champagne, and a little for me on the side, to test it. (I tested it again a little later, too.) And it was still a horrible un-whiskable mess. So I scraped out the cake "batter" from my whisk and used a spatula to gently stir in the champagne, it took a few minutes to fully incorporate and I thought I had ruined it! But finally it began to homogenize and I stopped freaking out. Batter into the coated pans, bake for 20 minutes.
I got out everything for the frosting except for the heavy whipping cream, which I waited to be the last thing I got out. The colder your whipping cream, the faster you'll get to soft peaks (my goal). So into my bowl went 1/2 cup powdered sugar and again double vanilla, with 1 pint of heavy whipping cream. I stirred slowly at first to avoid flinging powdered sugar and cream all over the kitchen. Then I turned the beater on medium until it just began to thicken. Earlier, I had quartered 3 marshmallows and put them in the microwave, when the cream began to thicken I turned them on for 15 seconds and immediately added them to the cream, beating on high. There was some splashing, but not too much. I beat the cream for the next 20 minutes, and was not quite to soft peaks when the cakes finished baking.
The cream (future frosting) went into the refrigerator for a much needed chill, so I could take the cakes out to cool. I let the cakes cool and the cream chill for about 20 minutes before turning out the cakes and beating the cream to soft peaks, which didn't take long since I had done most of the work earlier and it had had a chance to chill.
I put the broken cake on my cake pedestal, because I say, if you're going to bake you may as well be fancy about it. I don't bake often, so it's like a special occasion. The broken cake was the bottom layer, so I scooped a big pile of frosting (formerly cream) onto the cake and spread. It was so easy! I had never used a cream frosting like this before, and it was so smooth and not sticky at all (like jar frosting which is basically sugar paste). The other cake went on top and the rest of the frosting I scooped onto the top of that and spread and smoothed down the sides. This cake took about 45 seconds to frost, it was amazing! This is the only way I'm making frosting from now on. The cream may be more expensive than buying jar frosting, but it tastes so much better and is so easy to use that the added cost and effort are worth it. Especially considering I make cake like twice a year. And unlike other homemade frosting which call for more powdered sugar than anything else, this frosting doesn't harden. (Even refrigerated overnight, it was still soft and fluffy)
I refrigerated the cake until time to sing happy birthday, cut the cake and serve it! I used my new high heel cake server because it is fabulous and perfect for the job. We also finished the champagne with the cake, and it was a perfect pairing.
In the picture there are four pink layers with fluffy white frosting in between. My cake was a little different. I didn't use any food coloring to make it pink (even though Shane said he'd totally rock a pink cake) because I only have green food coloring left over from St. Patrick's Day's Green Eats. And my cake was only two layers. Not because it would be too hard to do four or I didn't have time or didn't feel like it, but because I dropped one of the cakes on the counter when I was taking them out of the oven. My cake pan manufacturers thought it would be just brilliant to make the outside with a non-stick coating as well. Not such a good idea after all. I put the cake back into the pan and later I was able to frost the cracked cake back together, but there was no way I'd be able to make layers with it like that.
But back to the beginning of this story! I separated my eggs into my batter bowl (I hate making cake without it now, since it has the measuring cup pouring shape) and so not to be wasteful I made a tiny egg yolk omelet, which I accidentally crisped a little while trying to figure out if you need to coat non-stick baking pans. I never did find the answer but coated them anyway.
To the egg whites I added milk, vegetable oil and double vanilla (vanilla is the best, and I say you can never use too much! You can, however, use way too much almond extract) Then, just like my recipe said, I took the whisk to it and added the cake mix. It was a horrible un-whiskable mess. Then I remembered I had forgotten to add the champagne. I poured in the champagne, and a little for me on the side, to test it. (I tested it again a little later, too.) And it was still a horrible un-whiskable mess. So I scraped out the cake "batter" from my whisk and used a spatula to gently stir in the champagne, it took a few minutes to fully incorporate and I thought I had ruined it! But finally it began to homogenize and I stopped freaking out. Batter into the coated pans, bake for 20 minutes.
I got out everything for the frosting except for the heavy whipping cream, which I waited to be the last thing I got out. The colder your whipping cream, the faster you'll get to soft peaks (my goal). So into my bowl went 1/2 cup powdered sugar and again double vanilla, with 1 pint of heavy whipping cream. I stirred slowly at first to avoid flinging powdered sugar and cream all over the kitchen. Then I turned the beater on medium until it just began to thicken. Earlier, I had quartered 3 marshmallows and put them in the microwave, when the cream began to thicken I turned them on for 15 seconds and immediately added them to the cream, beating on high. There was some splashing, but not too much. I beat the cream for the next 20 minutes, and was not quite to soft peaks when the cakes finished baking.
The cream (future frosting) went into the refrigerator for a much needed chill, so I could take the cakes out to cool. I let the cakes cool and the cream chill for about 20 minutes before turning out the cakes and beating the cream to soft peaks, which didn't take long since I had done most of the work earlier and it had had a chance to chill.
I put the broken cake on my cake pedestal, because I say, if you're going to bake you may as well be fancy about it. I don't bake often, so it's like a special occasion. The broken cake was the bottom layer, so I scooped a big pile of frosting (formerly cream) onto the cake and spread. It was so easy! I had never used a cream frosting like this before, and it was so smooth and not sticky at all (like jar frosting which is basically sugar paste). The other cake went on top and the rest of the frosting I scooped onto the top of that and spread and smoothed down the sides. This cake took about 45 seconds to frost, it was amazing! This is the only way I'm making frosting from now on. The cream may be more expensive than buying jar frosting, but it tastes so much better and is so easy to use that the added cost and effort are worth it. Especially considering I make cake like twice a year. And unlike other homemade frosting which call for more powdered sugar than anything else, this frosting doesn't harden. (Even refrigerated overnight, it was still soft and fluffy)
I refrigerated the cake until time to sing happy birthday, cut the cake and serve it! I used my new high heel cake server because it is fabulous and perfect for the job. We also finished the champagne with the cake, and it was a perfect pairing.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Green Pizza and Breadsticks
Part 2 of St. Patrick's Day's green eats was a green pizza and green breadsticks. I know I could have gone more green, and were I cooking for myself and my husband only, I would have, but you can't prepare a ton of food that your guests won't eat, that's just silly. These are extremely easy recipes, and if you love pizza and breadsticks, I'd say you need to give them a try!
For the pizza I started with a Pillsbury seamless dough sheet (like crescent rolls in a tube but without perforations) on a rectangular baking stone (Pampered Chef's Large Bar Pan, though I've never made "bars" on it) and baked it for 10 before adding fresh pressed garlic and tomato sauce, an easy and tasty (and fast) way to make some home made pizza sauce. On the sauce we add 4 cheese Italian blend, pepperonis, green olives and green peppers chopped with the Food Chopper and sliced green onions. Had this pizza not been meant for guests I would have also added spinach and artichokes, both chopped. However, this pizza was meant for guests so I stopped at the green onions. Then I topped those toppings with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10-15 and it is yum!
For the breadsticks I used a Jiffy pizza crust mix that I added pesto and green onion tops to, and once flattened on a round baking stone I topped it with 1/2 ounce of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 and top with another 1/2 ounce of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. They were a little crispy, and to avoid that I'd either double the Jiffy mix or reduce baking time. I enjoyed the crispiness, but not everyone loves a crunch.
As we all know, when you have an alcoholic celebration pizza is your go-to crowd food, and nothing else will do. I love cooking, but more than that, I love it when people enjoy the food I've cooked. For that purpose these two dishes were a major hit, as everyone was pleased.
For the pizza I started with a Pillsbury seamless dough sheet (like crescent rolls in a tube but without perforations) on a rectangular baking stone (Pampered Chef's Large Bar Pan, though I've never made "bars" on it) and baked it for 10 before adding fresh pressed garlic and tomato sauce, an easy and tasty (and fast) way to make some home made pizza sauce. On the sauce we add 4 cheese Italian blend, pepperonis, green olives and green peppers chopped with the Food Chopper and sliced green onions. Had this pizza not been meant for guests I would have also added spinach and artichokes, both chopped. However, this pizza was meant for guests so I stopped at the green onions. Then I topped those toppings with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10-15 and it is yum!
For the breadsticks I used a Jiffy pizza crust mix that I added pesto and green onion tops to, and once flattened on a round baking stone I topped it with 1/2 ounce of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 and top with another 1/2 ounce of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. They were a little crispy, and to avoid that I'd either double the Jiffy mix or reduce baking time. I enjoyed the crispiness, but not everyone loves a crunch.
As we all know, when you have an alcoholic celebration pizza is your go-to crowd food, and nothing else will do. I love cooking, but more than that, I love it when people enjoy the food I've cooked. For that purpose these two dishes were a major hit, as everyone was pleased.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Green Cookies
In preparation for a day filled with everything green, I spent yesterday evening making green cookies! I dug out my mom's recipe for chocolate chip cookies (the best and only recipe I will use) and decided to try a new recipe I found for spritz cookies.
Since I'm not really a huge fan of chocolate (other than dark) I always leave the chocolate chips out of my chocolate chip cookies, I think it makes them too sweet and I prefer to focus on the sweet brown sugar and vanilla flavor of the dough. When I cream the sugars and butter I added a healthy amount of green food coloring to make them festive. When time to bake came I used my new Small Scoop, that holds about 1 T, to make perfectly even and adorable little dough balls that baked into wonderfully round and evenly sized chocolate chip cookies sans chips. They are amazing, and very pleasing to the perfectionist in me.
For my spritz cookies I had to beat them a little extra since my butter wasn't quite softened enough, which turned out to be a good thing as it made the dough nice and fluffy/creamy. I deviated from the recipe just a bit by adding 1/4 tsp of almond extract and 1/2 T of orange zest. I used my cookie press, which I've only used once before with not the best results. It turns out that the first time I used it my dough was too soft, which is why all my cookies were only vaguely pumpkin shaped (although definitely pumpkin flavored!). I used the dragonfly/butterfly plate (not 100% which one it's supposed to be) and since these cookies are green they sort of ended up looking like clovers, which is cool because I made them for St. Patrick's Day.
At the end of my baking adventure I now know I have 2 tools I would never want to be without again (at least when it comes to cookies)! Next time, I'm going to try baking cookies on stoneware, and I'll be sure to share.
Since I'm not really a huge fan of chocolate (other than dark) I always leave the chocolate chips out of my chocolate chip cookies, I think it makes them too sweet and I prefer to focus on the sweet brown sugar and vanilla flavor of the dough. When I cream the sugars and butter I added a healthy amount of green food coloring to make them festive. When time to bake came I used my new Small Scoop, that holds about 1 T, to make perfectly even and adorable little dough balls that baked into wonderfully round and evenly sized chocolate chip cookies sans chips. They are amazing, and very pleasing to the perfectionist in me.
For my spritz cookies I had to beat them a little extra since my butter wasn't quite softened enough, which turned out to be a good thing as it made the dough nice and fluffy/creamy. I deviated from the recipe just a bit by adding 1/4 tsp of almond extract and 1/2 T of orange zest. I used my cookie press, which I've only used once before with not the best results. It turns out that the first time I used it my dough was too soft, which is why all my cookies were only vaguely pumpkin shaped (although definitely pumpkin flavored!). I used the dragonfly/butterfly plate (not 100% which one it's supposed to be) and since these cookies are green they sort of ended up looking like clovers, which is cool because I made them for St. Patrick's Day.
At the end of my baking adventure I now know I have 2 tools I would never want to be without again (at least when it comes to cookies)! Next time, I'm going to try baking cookies on stoneware, and I'll be sure to share.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
I was feeling down today and after doing the dishes I realized it was high time there were some dirty dishes on my counter! Yesterday when my sister was trying to talk me into making her macaroni and cheese AND pizza I found a recipe on the Food Network website by Alton Brown (my most favorite chef ever! Good Eats :D) My sister got pizza only, but now I was equipped with a new and exciting recipe, that was burning a whole in the pocket of my mind, like a child with a quarter. (She said the pizza was amazing, mayhap I will blog about a repeat performance of the pizza recipe another time.)
So, obviously, you start with some al dente mac' when making a mac'n'cheese. So al dente I did, and then gave my pasta elbows a nice bath so they didn't stick together horribly. Now I had to multitask as I roux-ed and chicken-ed at the same time. (Chicken [cubed] + bruschetta flavored olive oil = yummy chicken!) To my roux I added green onions, ground mustard, paprika, one bay leaf and milk, simmer for 10 before removing the bay leaf and adding cheese (in that order, you don't want to try fishing a broken bay out of cheese). Alton wanted me to use cheddar, but I don't like cheddar and more importantly we didn't have any. I used Colby jack, mozzarella, Parmesan and provolone.
While that simmered (before the cheese was invited) I chopped broccoli and tended the chicken and procured an egg (different chicken). Again before the cheese, I tempered in one egg. I wasn't so sure about this at first, but Alton has never done me wrong before, so I trusted him on this. Finally the cheese! Now I combined all my ingredients: macaroni, chicken, broccoli and cheese sauce. Top with buttered breadcrumbs (I substituted half my breadcrumbs with chicken flavored stuffing, for funsies) and bake for 30 then rest for 5.
Taste test time! Beautiful, brilliant, amazing! Best macaroni and cheese I've ever made (<3 Alton). And right now, there are dirty dishes on my counter, mission complete.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html
So, obviously, you start with some al dente mac' when making a mac'n'cheese. So al dente I did, and then gave my pasta elbows a nice bath so they didn't stick together horribly. Now I had to multitask as I roux-ed and chicken-ed at the same time. (Chicken [cubed] + bruschetta flavored olive oil = yummy chicken!) To my roux I added green onions, ground mustard, paprika, one bay leaf and milk, simmer for 10 before removing the bay leaf and adding cheese (in that order, you don't want to try fishing a broken bay out of cheese). Alton wanted me to use cheddar, but I don't like cheddar and more importantly we didn't have any. I used Colby jack, mozzarella, Parmesan and provolone.
While that simmered (before the cheese was invited) I chopped broccoli and tended the chicken and procured an egg (different chicken). Again before the cheese, I tempered in one egg. I wasn't so sure about this at first, but Alton has never done me wrong before, so I trusted him on this. Finally the cheese! Now I combined all my ingredients: macaroni, chicken, broccoli and cheese sauce. Top with buttered breadcrumbs (I substituted half my breadcrumbs with chicken flavored stuffing, for funsies) and bake for 30 then rest for 5.
Taste test time! Beautiful, brilliant, amazing! Best macaroni and cheese I've ever made (<3 Alton). And right now, there are dirty dishes on my counter, mission complete.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Taco Munchies - A Win/Lose Recipe
A couple of weeks ago I was sent a recipe called "Taco Munchies". It looked easy and yum and something I could do quickly, I thought, "This will be a great recipe for a cooking demonstration!" So I put it in with the recipes for my sister to pick for me to demonstrate at her Pampered Chef party (later this week). I admit I didn't read it closely, just a quick skim of the ingredients, and as many long-time chefs do, I can pretty much figure out the rest after reading the ingredients. There are only so many places you can go with it after that.
I purchased the ingredients, there weren't many, and got ready to practice this recipe. It may be a case of worrying too much, but I like to practice a new recipe before making it for a crowd, to make sure there won't be unforeseen side effects. In this case, I was very lucky to have wanted to make it early. All the measurements were wrong, the baking time was wrong and even the baking temperature was wrong. If anyone were to follow these directions, they'd have many small over-flowing taco soups that would be way beyond Cajun (a colloquial for "burned"). And what else is odd is the ingredients list has garlic on it, but the instructions never called for garlic. Poor garlic. :C
So I start out unaware of these foul wrongs this recipe has, but luckily for me, when I cook for my husband and myself I always use about 1/2 or less than half the amount of meat a recipe calls for (healthier that way). So instead of 1 pound of ground beef I decide to fry 8 ounces. As it's cooking I roll out my seamless dough sheet (tubed crescent rolls with no perforations, amazing!) and cut them into squares. Not having worked with this dough a lot, I pick up a square right away and try to put it in a mini muffin cup - doesn't work out so well. It was too little and didn't cover the sides. I did a couple more and became a little frustrated, so I set it aside and measured 1 cup of salsa, because I thought an entire jar (with no specific amount listed, just "1 jar" of salsa) would be too much.
Then I realize that I have garlic out and no part of this recipe calls for me to do anything to the garlic. *facepalm* So I press the garlic into the cooking beef (which has been flipped and chopped into bits) and give it a little stir. During all this the dough has had a chance to set out and come to room temperature. I tried putting another one into a muffin cup and - success! It fit nicely, covering the sides and making little leaves on the edges. The dough definitely needed a rest before any attempts of stretching and squishing it into muffin cups should have been attempted. Next I mixed the salsa and ground beef + garlic, and my "wrong" measurements turn out to be the right ones! I had a little leftover filling but I can't imagine what I would do with another 1/2 pound of ground beef with these things!
Next comes baking. Recipe says 350, dough sheet instructions say 375, and I learned a long time ago that the people who write on those packages give you a temperature for a reason, it tends to take a lot longer if you cook them at the wrong temperature. I picked 375, I didn't want to wait an extra 5-10 minutes because of faulty temperature settings. I set my timer for 15 minutes, and after 10 I could hear them sizzling and I peeked at them to see what they were up to. They were already done, had I let them go a few minutes longer they'd have been burned and terrible - the recipe wanted me to bake them for 20 minutes, maybe because it had a lower temperature, but since this is a recipe I plan to use for demonstration, the less baking time the better. There's only so much chatter and fill you can give to people before they get bored and stop listening to you. I know, because I tend to stop listening if people are talking too much or for too long. Maybe I have ADD, but whatever.
I topped them all with cheese, which melted without additional assistance from the oven, lying recipe. Time to serve! After figuring out that I have no idea how to get the little devils out from their cups, and my traditional method of dumping cupcakes upside down wouldn't work because all the filling would fall out, I decided a couple burned finger tips would have to get the job done.
After one bite though... it was all worth it, Taco Munchies win the flavor festival this week! Perhaps it was the peach pineapple salsa, or maybe it was just a perfect combination of these comfort food flavors, but these were very yum!
Now I know how to make the recipe for later this week, and I have devised a plan involving a citrus peeler to free the munchies from their cups.
In the words of Alton Brown, "Remember, play with your food!" :D
I purchased the ingredients, there weren't many, and got ready to practice this recipe. It may be a case of worrying too much, but I like to practice a new recipe before making it for a crowd, to make sure there won't be unforeseen side effects. In this case, I was very lucky to have wanted to make it early. All the measurements were wrong, the baking time was wrong and even the baking temperature was wrong. If anyone were to follow these directions, they'd have many small over-flowing taco soups that would be way beyond Cajun (a colloquial for "burned"). And what else is odd is the ingredients list has garlic on it, but the instructions never called for garlic. Poor garlic. :C
So I start out unaware of these foul wrongs this recipe has, but luckily for me, when I cook for my husband and myself I always use about 1/2 or less than half the amount of meat a recipe calls for (healthier that way). So instead of 1 pound of ground beef I decide to fry 8 ounces. As it's cooking I roll out my seamless dough sheet (tubed crescent rolls with no perforations, amazing!) and cut them into squares. Not having worked with this dough a lot, I pick up a square right away and try to put it in a mini muffin cup - doesn't work out so well. It was too little and didn't cover the sides. I did a couple more and became a little frustrated, so I set it aside and measured 1 cup of salsa, because I thought an entire jar (with no specific amount listed, just "1 jar" of salsa) would be too much.
Then I realize that I have garlic out and no part of this recipe calls for me to do anything to the garlic. *facepalm* So I press the garlic into the cooking beef (which has been flipped and chopped into bits) and give it a little stir. During all this the dough has had a chance to set out and come to room temperature. I tried putting another one into a muffin cup and - success! It fit nicely, covering the sides and making little leaves on the edges. The dough definitely needed a rest before any attempts of stretching and squishing it into muffin cups should have been attempted. Next I mixed the salsa and ground beef + garlic, and my "wrong" measurements turn out to be the right ones! I had a little leftover filling but I can't imagine what I would do with another 1/2 pound of ground beef with these things!
Next comes baking. Recipe says 350, dough sheet instructions say 375, and I learned a long time ago that the people who write on those packages give you a temperature for a reason, it tends to take a lot longer if you cook them at the wrong temperature. I picked 375, I didn't want to wait an extra 5-10 minutes because of faulty temperature settings. I set my timer for 15 minutes, and after 10 I could hear them sizzling and I peeked at them to see what they were up to. They were already done, had I let them go a few minutes longer they'd have been burned and terrible - the recipe wanted me to bake them for 20 minutes, maybe because it had a lower temperature, but since this is a recipe I plan to use for demonstration, the less baking time the better. There's only so much chatter and fill you can give to people before they get bored and stop listening to you. I know, because I tend to stop listening if people are talking too much or for too long. Maybe I have ADD, but whatever.
I topped them all with cheese, which melted without additional assistance from the oven, lying recipe. Time to serve! After figuring out that I have no idea how to get the little devils out from their cups, and my traditional method of dumping cupcakes upside down wouldn't work because all the filling would fall out, I decided a couple burned finger tips would have to get the job done.
After one bite though... it was all worth it, Taco Munchies win the flavor festival this week! Perhaps it was the peach pineapple salsa, or maybe it was just a perfect combination of these comfort food flavors, but these were very yum!
Now I know how to make the recipe for later this week, and I have devised a plan involving a citrus peeler to free the munchies from their cups.
In the words of Alton Brown, "Remember, play with your food!" :D
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)