Not in the mood for gay porn biscotti

I had the privledge of cooking a couple SATC themed appetizers for a lovely group of ladies this past Saturday. A couple of them asked for this recipe.

Not in the mood for gay porn biscotti aka Almond Biscotti:

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease large cookie sheet. In a large bowl, add first 5 ingredients. Blend, using an electric mixer, on low speed. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. With mixer running, slowly pour egg mixture into bowl. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix.
2. Shape dough into a long log. Place logs onto cookie sheet. Bake 30 minutes or until slightly risen and firm to touch.
3. Remove cookie sheet from oven. Cool log on wire rack 15 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut log diagonally into 1/4-inch slices. Place slices in single layer on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. If wanting biscotti a little more crisp, (I skipped this step) bake at 350 degrees F for 10-13 minutes or until crisp and golden. Cool on cookie sheet. Store in a covered container.

More drink recipes

In the past couple months for some reason Nathan and I have been pulling out old drink recipes that we used to make in college and giving them a much needed revile. Hence the recent post about the best drink ever, the Donkey Punch on the Beach. Here are two more oldies but goodies:

Teresa's Berry Martini:
2 shots Bacardi Razz rum
1 shot Wildberry Pucker
1 shot Berry or Fruit Punch Juicy Juicy

Shake with ice, serve in favorite glass. Not really a martini, but very yummy, and the first two ingredients make a great shot too!

Cherry Vodka Sour:
1 part sour mix
1 part Vodka (regular or cherry)
Splash of grenadine

Shake with ice, serve in favorite glass. Not super creative, but still yummy and a great drink to order at any bar that has a special on well drinks.

MMM... balsamic chicken stuffed with goodies

So from the dinner party I had leftover ingredients, which I cannot stand. Mostly because I hate throwing any food away since I am so freaking cheap. So usually when this happens I figure out what is going to go bad first and quickly come up with something to put it in.

This time it was fresh basil. I love, love, love fresh basil, but one of the major downsides of fresh basil is it doesn't have any kind of shelf life. Most of the chefs I have worked under usually wait and buy fresh basil the day they need it or the day before because it really doesn't hold up.

So obviously, basil was priority #1. Upon further inspection I found some ricotta, Romano cheese, a Roma tomato, garlic, and half of a yellow bell pepper that was not looking so great either. My mind immediately thought that I could do some kind of pasta; however, I didn't have any kind of marinara and wanted to avoid doing a cream sauce. So instead I decided to do a stuffed chicken breast.

I cut a slit into two chicken breasts and put them in one of my all time favorite marinades of balsamic, olive oil, s/p and a couple split garlic cloves. They sat in the fridge overnight.

Then I roasted the garlic in a 350 oven. If you haven't ever roasted garlic before it is easy- just cut off the very top, remove some of the excess skin, wrap it in foil with olive oil and salt and throw in the oven for 45 minutes. I also roasted the half yellow bell pepper and peeled off the skin.

Then I combine all the ingredients for the stuffing:
about 1/4 c. ricotta
2 tbsp Romano cheese
half chopped Roma tomato without the seeds
4 roasted garlic cloves chopped/smashed
1/2 diced roasted yellow pepper
a dab of water
s/p
a few chopped basil leaves

The breasts were stuffed, then went into the oven until it reached the proper temp and voila! It was yummy! The marinade really brought out the roasted garlic, and the sweet bell pepper and sweet basil complimented each other nicely.

Definitely a keeper.

The dinner party

Well, the dinner party seemed to be a hit. Unfortunately, I was busy doing last minute details and socializing and didn't take any pics (surprise, surprise). A couple of the favorites of the group were the chicken satay, jambalaya cups, and the cinnamon roll ice cream. I thought I would share the recipes for anyone that is looking for something new to try.

Chicken Satay

Marinade
1 generous tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup lime or lemon juice
1/4 cup soy
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp curry
1 tbsp granulated garlic
splash hot pepper sauce

Whisk together all ingredients, pour over chicken breasts and marinade at least two hours or overnight. Then grill or bake.

It's just that easy! I made another batch of the marinade and used it as a dipping sauce. Just warm it up in a sauce pan and it becomes thick and delicious. It is a little salty, but still yummy!

Jambalaya cups:

Use the jambalaya recipe found earlier in this blog. Only difference is keep the sausage separate.

Corn Bread:
1 box Corn muffin mix
1/2 box yellow or white cake mix

Follow directions on corn muffin mix, just double all ingredients and add in the 1/2 the cake mix. Makes 12 muffins. After cooled, scoop out some of the middle and fill with jambalaya (make sure it is pretty dry) top with a couple pieces of the sausage and voila!

Last, the ice cream. To be honest, Nathan kind of took this over and I think the recipe is specific to our ice cream maker. If you wanted the general idea though, take vanilla ice cream, mix in a couple tbsp cinnamon and put in little pieces of store bought snicker doodle cookie dough.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the other items too, but to be honest I was a little disappointed with myself. A couple things dried out and the shrimp (even though I had done it before) didn't have the spicy pop I expected it to have. Oh, and the lovely caramelized bacon never even made it to the table. Not only did it never get crisp enough, blotting the grease with a paper towel was the worst idea ever because it freaking stuck to the bacon. I expected at least one dish to fail, though.

We all did have a great time, consumed lots of beer and wine, and got a kick out of watch the dogs play. Oh and Jenn's new dog Thacher has to be the cutest 3 lb thing I have ever seen! His pics seriously don't give him justice.

I hope someone enjoys the recipes! Please leave a comment if you wanted any of the other ones!

How to grill a pizza

Since I promised a few more cooking related things, I thought I would share one techinque that I do quite often: grilling pizza.

First off, the dough. You can make it or you can buy it, either works fine. Normally, when I go on a Trader Joe's run, I usually stock up and buy 5 of them because they freeze nicely. I do make the dough on occasion, and if anyone is interested in the recipe let me know and I will post it, but it is pretty basic and could be found on any recipe forum/search engine.

Lately I have been making mini pizzas instead of large full sized ones. Mostly because even though I have one of the big pizza peels, the mini's are just easier in my opinion.

Ok, now that you have some dough-mation, the actual process:

Flour hands, pull out dough and put on floured surface. Divide into three or four balls if doing mini's. Use rolling pin and smooth out dough until thin and even. Put on floured cookie sheet or tray.

Have grill already ready to go on low setting. I usually spray my grill with cooking spray to help the dough not stick but be careful for flame ups. Olive oil one side of the dough generously. Put this side down on the grill, again being careful about flame ups. Add olive oil to other side.

Let cook on open grill for 2 minutes or so. Whenever you see faint grill marks on the down side it is ready to be flipped. Also, if it doesn't flip easily, that means it may need another minute. After you flip it, quickly add sauce and toppings and then close the lid so everything can cook/melt. Check after 3-4 minutes. And voila! Pizza from the grill!

Not only is this way fast, but it is super yummy. Last night we took all our ingredients over to a friend's house and made the pizza there. It was a huge hit! We did ham and fresh pineapple on an olive herb dough.

Any questions please ask!

The experience of pumpkin cobbler

I was sitting in my living room with crabby dog Roxie catching up on DVR'ed Sex and the City reruns that I have seen a thousand times but still love. The particular episode that I was watching was the one where Charlotte is dating a pastry chef. I was being all comfortable and lazy when pastry chef starts talking about his experimental date tart with pumpkin custard. The it hit me like a ton of bricks...my pumpkin craving was back!





You see all fall and winter I eat, baked, drank, and dreamed just about everything pumpkin. I seriously love pumpkin anything. But I was "pumkinizing" everything so much that I got seriously burnt out on it a few days before Christmas. But now it was back!





I immediately got up, totally forgetting how much I was enjoying Sex and the City and started looking for my pumpkin cobbler recipe. It was my old stand by all Fall, but I was still trying to jazz it up a bit and add my own Teresa "spin" to it.





Of course, I couldn't find the recipe. Why? Well even though I have a decent collection of cookbooks, even after my recent finding of good new homes to about 12 to save book shelf space and decutter, I still have a problem with keeping my favorite recipes organized. Normally how it works is I will find a recipe online or come up with an idea for one. I will put some notes in one of my five smaller notebooks lying around. I find it ok the first few times I make it, but then I either tear it out and stick the paper in a random notebook or lose track of it in the notebook with all of my grocery lists, menu ideas, and bill paying schedules.





But I don't dispair, I call my mother. No, she doesn't have the pumpkin cobbler recipe. She has a pumpkin cheesecake bar recipe that I wanted to steal the topping from to experiment with on the cobbler. After she finds that recipe and we make some small talk, I continue to hunt for the cobbler recipe. I check all my books, random recipe computer files, and all my notebooks. I finally find it in one of the notebooks between an old shopping list and bill paying notes from September.





I start pulling out bowls and my canisters and I think, "Geez it will really suck if after all this I work I don't have all the ingredients." And that was the kiss of death. I open up the carton of eggs and see 2. I check the recipe...I need 3. WHAT!?! My supply of eggs is usually a dozen plus because I hate moments like this. Then I remember Nathan has been up early this week so he was probably making himself eggs for breakfast. Grrrr....





I stand there for a second pondering.....do I REALLY need 3 eggs? I mean it is baking, so things need to more exact, but this isn't a real precise recipe. I say to myself, "Oh screw it! I am not running out to the store now!" And I begin to break and beat my two eggs. As I am getting everything together I am thinking about my experiment. I decide that with the new topping the little cobblers will look great in my little red hardly ever used ramekins.





After I get the perfected filling in the ramekins, I begin on the topping. I realize the recipe my mom gave me was wayyy too much so I try to half it. Since butter/margine is such a pain to measure out from the tub (because of course I was out of the sticks too!) I eyeball it. I use wayyy too much butter but I try to balance it out with a little more flour and brown sugar. Methinks that will work.





I throw them into the oven and half a glass of wine later they are done.

Voila! And upon first taste inspection I would say the new topping is pretty good! Not the best I have ever made but I still love it!

If you are still reading this long ass post, here is the recipe:

Teresa's oh so fabulous pumpkin cobbler

Yields: 4 ramekins with extra (can be used up a few days later) or a 9x13 baking dish

Start by preheating the oven to 350. Lightly grease ramekins or dish with butter.

Filling:

3 (or 2 lol) eggs beaten

15 oz canned pumpkin

12 oz evap milk

1 c. sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp plus a little extra vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together and pour in dish or ramekin (about 2/3 full)

Topping:

1 c. Flour

1/3 c. Brown Sugar

5 tbsp butter, soft but not melted

A little more cinnamon

Mix b. sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Cut in but with a fork until crumbly. If using ramekins you will have a little extra you can use later with extra batter.

Put topping on filling, bake 30-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle that comes out clean will indicate cobble is done. Let cool. I think the cobbler is best served only slightly warm.

I hope you enjoy! Even if you don't, your kitchen will smell amazing afterwards so it will all be worth it!

It is a Super Tuesday!

Well, it's Super Tuesday. For me it is in more way than one. Fat Tuesday has been a big deal for me ever since I discovered how much I love Cajun cooking. Usually I would have a big Fat Tuesday dinner at my place that would involve lots of friends an TONS of food and yummy Hurricanes. However, this year due to crazy work schedules for Nathan and I the Fat Tuesday dinner has to be delayed. I am thinking about doing it sometime in March over a weekend. I know, I know, it won't be the same, but at least I will get to cook some fabulous food with close friends.

Even though the party isn't happening tonight, the idea of Fat Tuesday still brings a smile to my face. So in honor of that here is the Jambalya recipe that has never done me wrong. It is a collection of a couple different recipes I have found over the past couple of years altered to meet my personal tastes. I.e. no yucky celery. Although I make this a whole heck of a lot spicier. Just taste it as you cook it and decide for yourself if you need more heat. I purposely left it a little milder so as not to kill anyone.

Jambayla for Four:

2-3 Andouille sausages links

8 oz of salad shrimp or any cooked shrimp without (If we are hard for money anytime I make this I swap out cooked chicken cubes for shrimp, but it is not near as good)

1 tsp Cajun Seasoning

Olive oil (a couple tablespoons)

1 medium onion

2 bell peppers (I normally use one red and one green)

Garlic (4 cloves or 2 tsp granulated)

2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne

1/2 tsp. season salt

A couple dashes of Worchestire sauce

12 oz Beer (any pale beer or lager)

1 tbsp. better than boulion chicken mixed with water (or can use chicken broth, but you get a much higher and stronger flavor with this awesome product!)

1 1/2 c. Instant White rice

1. Cut Andouille into small discs. Drizzle olive oil in pan, brown Andouille with Cajun Seasonings, just a couple minutes.

2. While Andouille is working, cut peppers and onions to quarter size pieces. Remove Andouille from pan and set aside. Saute onions and peppers 3 minutes.Add chopped garlic unless you are using granulated.

3. Stir in drained tomatoes, rest of seasonings, and andouille.

4. Add liquid ingredients and bring to a boil.

5. Cut off heat, add rice and shrimp. Let rice cook through. Very little liquid should remain as this is a more traditional Jambayla. Top with hot sauce if desired.

And there you go! It is an easy recipe! If you can saute veggies and cook rice you can easily make this.

Feel free to post questions.