Menu of the Week

Go figure the week that Jim thinks I hit it out of the ballpark I miss the pic of my chalkboard menu wall. At least I snapped a few pics of the dishes before we devoured them.

Crawfish Pie

Have you ever heard of Crawfish Pie? Me neither until I saw one put together on Farmhouse Rules, a cooking show filmed on a farm in the Hudson Valley.

I was intrigued, enough to jot down the bones of the recipe and then go out and create my own version. We loved this take on a seafood dinner. Harper wouldn't touch it - mostly because it wasn't a PB&J sandwich.

Chicken Hash over Creamy Polenta

This was a totally random and made up dinner that ROCKED! I wanted something comforting, filling and wholesome - and I also wanted to use up produce that was on it's last leg in my house. I pulled every vegetable I had out of the fridge and then roasted two chicken breasts. All the ingredients are slow cooked in my dutch oven with wine and chicken stock and then served over the creamiest and most delish polenta. I didn't know what to call it, "everything but the kitchen sink chicken and veggies dinner?" Doesn't sound appetizing. A "hash" is a great way to maximize leftovers or use up produce before it spoils. Although a traditional "hash" usually contains potatoes of some sort, I replaced the starch with polenta and then named my recipe Chicken Hash over Polenta.

By the way, Jim is absolutely terrible at coming up with recipe names. I should start a list of his suggestions. My sweetie pie means well, but I'm pretty sure he would have named this "the really good chicken and vegetables."

Both Jim and I enjoyed this meal so much that I made it twice...and photographed it twice. I usually don't take pictures of a dish I've already posted, BUT I've made some improvements to my "kitchen studio."

I have invested in an EGO light and a small tabletop tripod. Can you tell the difference? Above is the new photo I took this week, below is my first run with this recipe that I took about a month ago. 

Here is the step by step photos from my first run at Chicken Hash over Polenta:

Candied Bacon Wrapped Dates

Bacon wrapped goodness! I bet on this salty and sweet combo and hit a home run with these Bacon Wrapped and Stuffed Dates. My friend was hosting a wine pairing party and each guests was asked to bring an Hors d'oeuvre and a bottle of wine to pair with it. I was looking for something easy enough to put together so I would not have to spend all day Saturday prepping and cooking and I also wanted something that could be served warm or at room temperature since I was taking these with me to a party.

I was inspired by a recent happy hour to Mulberry, a wine bar in downtown Austin, where I ordered the Devil on Horseback which is a mission fig stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and wrapped in candied bacon. They were heavenly, and I wanted to create something similar but Jim doesn't like blue cheese so I started an internet search to gain more ideas.

I read all sorts of recipes about stuffing figs and dates with blue cheese, almonds, ricotta, parmesan. I went in my own direction and purchased the meaty Medjool dates from the bulk food section of Whole Foods and stuffed them with cream cheese and a smoked and salted almond.

Let's talk about the date itself. Dates are a type of fruit grown on date palm trees. Today, many types of dates are essential parts of Middle Eastern cuisine, but perhaps none are as prized as medjool dates. 

Medjool dates have been called the “king of dates” and the “crown jewel of dates.” Like most dates, the fruit is dried prior to being eaten. What really makes these dried wonders so special is that they are exceptionally large, contain a large amount of “fruit meat,” and are extremely sweet. Each center of the date has an elongated pit, which is easy to remove.

My first step was to slice the date down one side (not all the way through) and remove the pit.

Next I spooned a small amount of softened cream cheese in each date. Stuffing options are endless. I thought gorgonzola was excellent paired with figs, and I can imagine that ricotta would be a wonderful creamy stuffing also.

For an element of surprise, I pushed one smoked and salted almond into the middle of the cream cheese to add crunch.

If you follow this blog regularly, then you probably know how much Jim loves my Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos. He loooooooves them. One thing that bothered me about the the bacon wrapped jalapenos was that they had to stay in the oven a LONG time for the bacon to crisp, and sometimes the food it's wrapped around gets overcooked. I have a "thing" with fatty soft bacon - yuck, I want it crispy all over.

I read a suggestion online to par-cook the bacon prior to wrapping it around food and putting them in the oven. Bingo, that solves my delima! I also decided to make these bacon extra special by spooning brown sugar over the bacon as it fries up in my skillet. As you can see in the picture above, the brown sugar dissolves with the heat and into the bacon grease in the pan and coats each piece with a delicious sticky syrup - candied bacon, resembling the ones I ate at Mulberry.

I removed these from the pan to a plate nearby so the bacon could cool off a little before handling.

The last step was to wrap each of my stuffed Medjool dates with a sticky par-cooked piece of bacon, secure with a toothpick and place them in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

I arranged all the dates on a wire rack set above a jelly roll pan in the oven, that way the dates wouldn't be sitting in bacon grease, anything that dripped off these dates fell below to the jelly roll pan so these babies could cook up nice and crispy.

These turned out to be delicious. I particularly liked the sweetness of the date with the salty bacon and then the creaminess of the cream cheese - it was sensory overload, the trifecta! I was disappointed in the way the almond in the middle didn't retain it's crunch after being stuck in the cream cheese. I thought the almond would have a much bigger impact on the Hors d'oeuvre but it was truly the combination of sticky and smokey candied bacon with the sweet date that was so great.

{Candied Bacon Wrapped Dates}

Looking for other easy appetizer recipes? Check out these Foie Gras Stuffed Dates I made last December from a recipe I found on epicurious.com. These are so fancy and special! Another super easy but really tasty recipe I would recommend for a party appetizer are these Prosciutto and Fontina Pinwheels which Jim requests over and over again.

If you have more time on your hands and want to impress with a more difficult appetizer, then read about these full flavored Pork Dumplings with Ginger Dipping Sauce. There is actually nothing difficult in the recipe, it's just a time consuming preparation that is well worth it in the end.

Crustless Cheesy Quiche

I am thrilled to share this recipe with you today because it is my new go-to dish when I need to provide food for a brunch or special event like a baby shower. Calling this a "Quiche" is very misleading because the addition of cottage cheese and baking powder and magic make this a light and airy but full of flavor dish. Inspiration for this recipe was found at SimplyRecipes and I changed it up a bit for our personal tastes.

Slice one onion and saute over medium heat (low and slow) until caramelizing happens. I absolutely love caramelized onions. Start this first and then let it cook down, stirring every so often as you prepare the rest of the quiche, adding olive oil as needed to keep it fro burning. During the last minute of cooking, I added one minced garlic clove, cook for one minute then take the pan off the stove to cool.

Next I took the last three pieces of bacon from my fridge and baked them in the oven on a wire rack set on a jelly roll pan at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. I like cooking bacon in the oven because everything crisps up and you aren't left with chewy fat. I let this crisp really well and then crumbled it for the quiche later.

Now we need to make a roux. "Roux" is the French word for "brown," and brown describes a roux in color. A roux is a base for gravies, soups, etouffee, gumbo and many other Cajun and French dishes. It serves as a thickener, binder and flavoring. Any cook who has made gravy from pan drippings, flour and milk has made a sort of roux. The principles are very similar. With a roux, however, only flour and fat are used.

1st rule of roux is patience. It takes time to reach the desired stage of brown and not burned and you should be diligent to stir the roux constantly. Cooking slowly and evenly is a must to prevent burning.

2nd rule of roux is to use a heavy pot, a whisk and a wooden spoon. The pot should be heavy and not have any hot spots. A dutch oven or iron skillet works best. A wooden spoon is great to use because it does not impart a metallic flavor to the roux.

3rd rule of roux is we don’t talk about how difficult roux can be – we just put our big girl panties on and make roux.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Using a whisk, stir in flour; cook, stirring until bubbly. Gradually add milk and whisk to make sure there are no lumps. You can switch to a wooden spoon now and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens. Remove from heat; set aside to cool, about 15-20 minutes.

This couldn't be easier to whip up - and customize. You know how I love to have recipes on hand that use up whatever you have in the fridge and pantry. Make this your own!

Next, combine cottage cheese, baking powder, salt and Dijon mustard and 1/2 t dry mustard in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

You could mix this by hand, but why? If you have a kitchen aid mixer, you are a lucky one - use it! In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat eggs and add softened cream cheese.

Add the roux once it has cooled and mix well, but don't over beat. Fold in the shredded cheese. You can use 6 ounces shredded Swiss cheese and 3 T grated Parmesan cheese - or add what you have on hand. I used shredded cheddar and Parmesan.

Oh how I love this porcelain quiche dish with fluted sides, a wedding gift from my friend Nesi. It's perfect for serving this cheesy crustless quiche.  You can use a 10" pie plate too, just butter the sides and bottom of your baking dish well.

You can add the ingredients however you like, I added half of the batter, then sprinkled on all of the caramelized onions.

Then pour in the remaining batter and smooth the surface.

I had these beautiful tomatoes from the farmers market, and sliced them pretty thick, and pressed down onto the top of my quiche.

Meat! Where is the meat? After crisping up some bacon in the oven I let it cool and then crumbled it on top of the quiche. This can absolutely be left out, but not in my house.

Finally I topped everything off with a sprinkle of shredded cheddar. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until puffy and lightly browned.

I pulled the foil back and put the quiche back in the oven for 5 more minutes so everything was nice and brown on top.

Let this rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. Jim and I actually had this for dinner, and then ate leftovers for breakfast the next two days. It was great warm out of the oven, we both had two slices each. And I should note it kept very well in the fridge also, tasted great reheated. I think you should make this for a Saturday morning Breakfast for the family - I bet everyone will love it. Enjoy!

{Crustless Cheesy Quiche}

Brioche Croissants

Brioche Croissants. Man these were good but a completely frustrating recipe. It is THIS attempt at homemade croissants that set me on a NO BAKING binge last year. I don't know what it is about kneading dough that makes me so mad, it's never the right consistency and I have no patience for such things.

I actually started making these croissants Sept. 15, 2008 and put the dough in the fridge after a long battle with the mixture. I then let it sit there for five days before I had the energy to pick it up again and finish out the recipe. Every time I logged on to post a recipe I saw this sad folder of pictures labeled Croissants. It was this nagging folder that reminded me weekly that I haven't really completed the recipe until I post the finished product. For five months I tried to forget, like a chore that I constantly overlook. Well, I am finally getting around to posting these dang brioche croissants.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs at room temperature
3 1/2 - 3 3/4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups soft butter
1 1/4 cup lemon curd or pie filling
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Begin by adding milk to a saucepan and heat until lukewarm.

In a large bowl add sugar and warm milk. Add one cup of flour, mix until smooth.

Add lightly beaten eggs and mix completely.

Add in instant yeast and another cup of flour.

Continue to mix. Add in salt and a half a cup of flour.

Mix until the dough comes together.

Add a little flour on a flat surface and pour out the dough. I'm cringing as I look at this picture. Just look at how thin this "dough" is. I wish I would have added more flour and let it come together a little more. Back when I made this I didn't have a mixer, which would have made this recipe a lot easier.

Knead dough for three minutes adding a little bit of flour at a time.

Recipe says dough will be on the sticky side. Ummm... I'm pretty sure this is TOO sticky.

The recipe says the dough will become easier to handle as you knead. I didn't think so. This is the point I nearly gave up, I knew it was off but I didn't know how to fix it.

The next step is to add 1/4 of the soft butter to the bowl and mix together by hand. This was a big mess for sure.

Once the butter is completely incorporated add another 1/4 of softened butter, continue until all the butter is mixed in.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

My mixture of mess sat in the fridge for five days. I couldn't gather enough energy to deal with this for a while.

When I agreed to finish this recipe, I took the dough out of the fridge and put dough on top of some flour on the counter.

I cut the dough in half and began working with one ball of dough.

Roll out dough into a 15 inch diameter circle.

Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into eight slices. These steps are going much smoother than actually making the dough went.

Here is where I got CRAZY! I took some semi sweet chocolate chips and melted them in the microwave. Have you ever had a chocolate croissant - they are hands down the best variety I've ever had. Double yum!

Another CRAZY idea I had was to use the pineapple cream cheese that I got free at HEB. Simply spoon a tablespoon of whatever mixture you want onto the larger part of the triangle.

Okay, I obviously went overboard when I sprinkled some sweetened coconut flakes on top of the pineapple cream cheese. Aloha Croissants!!

Start from the base of the triangle and roll each one up and curve into crescent shape, pinch the ends closed. Place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap for 45 minutes.

After they rest, they will get puffy again. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-17 minutes.

Allow to cool on a wire rack, then sift a little powdered sugar on top.

The Hawaiian croissants were good, but oh-my-goodness...the chocolate croissants were out of this world! I melted a little more chocolate and drizzled on top.

If I had added a scoop of blue bell this could have been DESSERT! Now for the second half of the brioche dough.

I rolled it out into a 15 inch diameter circle and put a dollop of homemade lemon curd at the end of each croissant. If you like lemon, be sure to check out my lemon curd recipe.

Roll each on up and curve into a crescent shape.

Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes. When I made this second batch I brushed each with egg wash before putting in the oven, it made a great difference.

I must not have pinched the sides closed enough because some lemon oozed out. No big deal, they still tasted GREAT.

Even though this recipe gave me trouble in the beginning I thought it was a great learning oportunity and in the end the croissants were great. I would only make these again for guests - maybe for a brunch with friends or family. If you feel like you have a knack for homemade pastries then by all means, give this recipe a try. I'd love to hear what creative fillings you come up with too.