Honey Glazed Bacon wrapped Lil' Smokies

Honey Glazed Bacon wrapped Lil' Smokies

This is another great appetizer that is great for dinner parties or get-togethers. It only takes 30-45 minutes in the oven and toss them in the crock pot to keep them warm, yummmm, and it makes your house smell bacony good!

Photo by: Foodie Friday: Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Honey Glazed Bacon wrapped Lil' Smokies

2 packages Lil' Smokies - what ever flavor you like
2 packages of bacon
Toothpicks
Honey

Cut the package of bacon into 3rds, wrap 1 piece around a Lil' Smokie and secure with a toothpick. Place on a cookie sheet  (one with a lip to catch the drippings) and bake at 350 degrees till bacon is cooked to your liking - I like mine crispy tender. about 30 to 45 minutes.

To glaze them about 10 minutes before you are ready to pull them out of the oven, drizzle some honey over them and continue to bake till done.

Options: drizzle them with Maple syrup, or brown sugar -or both.....

Have fun cookin'
Cyndi

PS: Just a note - I make these for Christmas Eve and was rushed so I will not take credit for the pictures but they looked just like these from Foodie Friday

Smoked Salmon and Shrimp tarts

Smoked Salmon and Shrimp tarts

This year I wanted to make Christmas Eve a little bit special. Tradition has it that we have ham with rolls for sandwiches, and shrimp, I wanted to make some canapés / Hors d’oeuvres... Something bite sized that the family could just grab as the socialized and played games.  I found these really neat, mini phyllo shells in the freezer section at the grocery store and thought "savory not sweet".

With the shells being precooked these are super simple to make and give the image of many hours of work....

Smoked Salmon Tarts

1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon of dill
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 15ct packages of mini phyllo shells
1 package of smoked salmon
2 sprigs of fresh baby dill

Whip all the ingredients with a mixer until light and fluffy. Place the mixture in to a piping bag (or a plastic bag) and pipe into the shells. Cut small strips of smoked salmon roll and place on top of the cream cheese, garnish with small pieces of fresh dill.

Shrimp Tarts

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 package small shrimp ( I used salad shrimp)

2 15ct packages of mini phyllo shells
Cocktail sauce

Whip the cream cheese, butter and cream. Place the mixture in to a piping bag (or a plastic bag) and pipe into the shells. Top with 1/4 teaspoon cocktail sauce and 2 or 3 shrimp.

With these shells there are so many things you can make -

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 cup powdered sugar

Toppings are endless - Fresh fruit, Pie filling, Caramel, Chocolate

Whip the cream cheese, butter and cream. Place the mixture in to a piping bag (or a plastic bag) and pipe into the shells. Top with toppings of your choice.

What a versatile product to make the holidays, or any event, elegant and special, and super simple. 

Have fun cookin'

Cyndi

Nothing Bundt Cake

Chocolate Heaven!!!

A couple of weeks back I attended a cooking show at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, and watched 4 really great cooking demonstrations. One that struck me was this chocolate cake. Now being from Davis County (in Northern Utah) I had never heard of this store they kept referring to, called Nothing Bundt Cake – (http://www.nothingbundtcakes.com/), I was intrigued.

Nothing Bundt Cake 

- click this title for their recipe -

 

Credit - this is their photo not mine.

 

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. devils food cake, German chocolate cake, or chocolate cake mix
• 1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding
• 1 c. sour cream
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. oil
• 1 1/2 c. mini chocolate chips
• 2 (8 ounce) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 3-4 c. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

• Mix first six ingredients together with a beater. Add chocolate chips. Pour into a greased bunt cake pan (cooking spray works best). Cook in oven at 350 degrees for 45-50 mins. Remove from oven. Let cool for 20 mins. Remove from pan. (I think it tastes best if you put it on a serving plate, wrap it well in Saran Wrap, and let it sit overnight in the fridge before frosting and serving..)
• In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar (start with 2 cups then keep adding more until it is nice and thick). That's it!

The only thing I would change is cut the frosting portion in half - this makes ALOT of frosting. But it's ooooo soooooo yummy.

The gals who demonstrated this cake are from www.favfamilyrecipes.com and I give them all the credit for this fantastic cake. I was so excited to try this recipe I bought their new book “Favorite Family Recipes”. So very glad that I did. They have tons a great family recipes and some "knock off recipes" too.

I would, however, like to try this in a Dutch oven to see how well it would turn out. I made this last night in a Bundt cake pan and it turned out fabulous. With a house full, they would not let me just put it in the fridge and wait, I am sitting hear eating a piece as I type this – and believe me it is better to wait till the 2^nd day.  I am sold!

Ladies – thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Source: Favfamilyrecipes.com

 

What a great gift for a neighbor!

Have fun cookin’

Cyndi

 

 

Meatball Monkey Bread

Sorry for the hiccup – My laptop took a dive and had to spend some time at the PC Doctors – but we are back up and running now and as promised – here is part 2 of the Meatball story - So after I made the meatball sliders for dinner the other night – I had to hide a bowl of meatballs from my family so I could make this dish.

Note: On the Meatballs recipe. When making them to freeze, I prefer, not to add the glaze (the ketchup, brown sugar and cider vinegar) – so just in their naked state.  I only use the glaze when I make it into the Meatloaf.

So onto the Meatball Monkey bread – As stated I had seen it somewhere and it intrigued me, I have a friend who wrote a blog about cooking for 365 in a Dutch Oven and she posted this one when her oven recently went out and she pulled out her Dutch Oven to fix a meal for her family. Dutch Oven Madness - she is quite the inspiration! Up on seeing her post I thought – I want to put a spin on mine, to see what I could come up with.

This was a weeknight – one that was snowy, and after working all day plus a treacherous commute home, I was in a hurry to get dinner on the table so I could sit and unwind. So I did not make my roll dough from scratch – I just used Rhodes Rolls – I called home about 3:30 and had my daughter pull them out of the freezer and let them start to thaw.  – But if you have the time and want to try your hand at making rolls from scratch – try this recipe Rolls

I went to my fridge to see what I had to put in with my meatballs – I had some left over shredded cheese (pizza blend) from my Sourdough Pizza the other night , My friend used pepperoni, I didn’t have any left – But I had some mushrooms, I sautéed them up with some garlic and onions, then I started to assemble. I did not get too creative just because I was too tired. - but as you read on I'll give you a few creative spins on this, with the hope you will come up with some of your own too.

Meatball Monkey Bread

20 Rhodes Dinner Rolls (9" X 13" X 2" pan = 12 - 16 Texas Rolls or 16-20 Dinner Rolls.)
20 Meatballs – either homemade or frozen
2-3 tablespoons of melted butter
Mrs. Dash – Garlic and Herb
Parmesan Cheese

Filling – whatever sounds good…Here are a few wild thoughts I had – if you made your own meatballs and used ground chicken you could add some parmesan cheese and some garlic and dip in Alfredo sauce. You could sauté some peppers, onions and mushrooms, with regular meatballs and dip in au jus for a French dip variety. A Mexican variety, sprinkle a little taco seasoning or salsa in with your meatball and use a pepper jack cheese and dip in sour cream or guacamole. Ok – one more – Plain ol’ meatballs and dip in BBQ sauce.  – Let your imagination run wild – there are many combinations that you can make.

My filling was just the Meatball and the cheese – and because not every member of my family likes mushrooms I just put them on the top of mine after they were baked. But if you are fans you could put them right in with your meatball and cheese.

To assemble – Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, into a circle. Place a small (‘bout a teaspoon) amount of cheese on the dough; place the meatball in the center, bring the dough up and around the meatball and cheese and seal in all the goodness. Place all inside a greased pan and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash and Parmesan cheese.

Bake @ 375° for 20-25 minutes until the y are golden brown and a slight tap produces a hollow sound.

We dipped ours in leftover Pizza sauce but you can dip them in what ever you like - I think my son was using Ranch dressing....

Now those of you that have read my blog know that I always state, that if you can cook it in a 9x13x2, pan you can cook it in a 12” Dutch Oven- So I am giving you directions to make this in a 9x13x2 pan – but I did mine in my 12” flat bottom Dutch Oven – in my oven @ home – but can easily be done over briquettes. - for a 9x13x2 just place in rows instead of a ring.

If you want to make this in your Dutch Oven with Briquettes - 9 briquettes on the bottom and 18 on top.

Have Fun Cookin’
Cyndi

The Ever Versatile ...... Meatloaf / Meatballs

The Ever Versatile ......

Meatloaf / Meatballs 

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped fine

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tsp dried thyme

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350°. Heat the oil in an 8-inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

4 tsp cider vinegar

Meanwhile, mix together the ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar and set aside.

3 large eggs

1/2 cup milk, plus extra as needed

2 tsp mustard

2 tsp Worcestershire

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce®

3 lbs meatloaf mix (1 lb hamburger + 1 lb ground pork + 1 lb ground turkey)

11/2 sleeve crushed saltine crackers

1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk, mustard, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and Tabasco together.

Mix the meatloaf mix, crackers, parsley, sautéed onion mixture, and egg mixture until evenly blended and the mixture doesn't stick to the bowl (if the mixture sticks, add additional milk, a tablespoon at a time, until it no longer sticks).

Turn the meat mixture onto the foil-lined baking sheet and shape into a 9 by 5-inch loaf. Brush with half of the ketchup mixture. Bake the loaf for 45 minutes.

Brush the loaf with the remaining ketchup mixture and continue to bake until the center of the loaf measures 160° on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

This is my go to recipe for Meatloaf / Meatballs. I grew up learning to clean out the fridge to make meatloaf, Mom used to use everything from rice to potato chips as the binder in her meatloaf and over the years I have tried her method as well as bread crumbs- and I have found that my family and I prefer saltines.

Meatloaf is great the first night you make it and it makes great sandwiches the next day. I like to also use this recipe and make meatballs. There are 101 different ways to use meatballs, add them to soup, make sandwiches, on pasta, Swedish meatballs, meatballs and marinara, meatballs in bbq sauce (or Ketchup and Grape jelly), meatball sliders, meatball subs….I could keep going, this is a very versatile recipe.

This is part of a 2 part post – Tonight I made this recipe and made it into 108 mini meatballs – for 2 reasons – one for dinner tonight we are having mini meatball sliders, and probably Friday night I will use the leftovers and make "Meatball Monkey Bread". I heard or saw someone talk about it and I thought hmmmm … I wanna try that…. So that post will come later. So for tonight here is my "go to" meatloaf recipe – adapted from America’s Test Kitchens.

Have fun cookin’  

Cyndi

Mountain Man Breakfasts

Mountain Man Breakfasts

Mountain man breakfast is a standard Dutch oven breakfast, and there are many different takes on it.  I will share a couple of my favorites and hope you will enjoy. These are easy enough to throw together on a weekend for breakfast for a group, and my forever reminder that if you can cook it in a 9x13 you can cook it in a 12” Dutch oven  - so these can be done at home or camping – enjoy….

Mountain Man Breakfast

 

Version #1

This was baked in a 16" Cast Iron Skillet

 2 C Croutons
1/2 Package frozen hash browns
1/2 lb. crisp cooked bacon
1/2 lb. browned sausage
1-2 C Shredded Cheese – your choice – we like Colby Jack
12-18 Eggs

Beat the eggs (optional you can add ½ Milk) and set aside. – this part is scientific – dump croutons, hash browns, sausage, and crumble the bacon into a lightly greased 12” Dutch Oven (or 9x13) pan. Mix up just a little to spread the love around. Sprinkle with cheese, and pour the eggs over the mixture and bake for 30-40 minutes @ 350° or 8 briquettes on the bottom 16 on top. Best test for doneness it to stick a toothpick in the center and if the eggs are set – it’s done.

Version #2

1 package frozen hash browns – I like the cubed or “Southern Style”

2 C cubed ham
½  C diced onion
8-12 eggs
2 C shredded cheese
 

Beat the eggs and set aside. Mix hash browns, ham and onion together and pour into a 12” Dutch Oven  top with eggs and bake 30-40 minutes @ 350° or 8 briquettes on the bottom 16 on top. About 10-minutes before it’s done top with the cheese and melt.  Best test for doneness it to stick a toothpick in the center and if the eggs are set – it’s done.

Version #3

8 slices of day old bread – I like the hearty farm breads or homemade bread – but you can use any…

24 link sausages browned and sliced into pieces (Kitchen scissors work best)
8 eggs
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp mustard powder
2 ½ C Milk divided
4 C shredded cheese
1 Can cream of mushroom soup

Spread the bread cubes into the 12” Dutch Oven (or 9x13 pan) sprinkle the browned sausage and cheese over the top. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl until smooth; add the salt, mustard powder, and 2 cups of milk and whisk until evenly blended. Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat an oven to 350°. Whisk together the cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup milk; pour over the casserole. Bake until firm and golden brown, about 1 1/2 hours.

Just a few examples, these are all very good hearty breakfasts for large groups of people, and fairly inexpensive too.  I like to serve mine with salsa and tortillas you can eat as a casserole or roll them up for a breakfast burrito.

Have fun cookin’

Cyndi

Mediterranean Chicken

So I really need to get a grip on my day to day aspects, so I can blog more than once a month... Sorry all.

So the other day while shopping, saw this new product and it sounded intriguing, Swanson’s ® Flavor boost – 100% natural concentrated broth - and I had a coupon so I thought I’d give it a try. I took the recipe on the back of the box and tweaked it Cyndi style – I hope you’ll like it. I sure did…

Mediterranean Chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 tablespoon butter
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces 
1 package (8 ounces) sliced fresh mushrooms (about 2 1/4 cups) 
1 clove garlic, minced – I used the bottled pre minced – It’s easier
1 pint grape tomatoes (about 2 1/2 cups) 
3 green onions, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup) 

1 small green peppers

2 tablespoons fresh basil – thinly sliced
3 packets Swanson® Flavor Boost™ Concentrated Chicken Broth 
2 tablespoons water 

Salt and Pepper to taste

Feta cheese

Rigatoni pasta

Prepare pasta to package directions – drain and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet (I like my cast iron) over medium-high heat, add the chicken and cook until well browned, stirring often.  Remove the chicken from the skillet.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Add the garlic, tomatoes, peppers and onions to the skillet; cook and stir for 1 minute.  Return the chicken to the skillet, season with salt and pepper to taste , stir in 1 tablespoon of basil.  Stir in the Flavor Boost and water; toss with pasta. Serve; topped with feta and remaining basil.

I served this to my family with bread sticks, a very healthy dish; I can picture this with chopped zucchini and maybe some olives also.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Have fun cookin’

Cyndi

Fruit Leather

Fruit Leather - healthy, with no preservatives

Fresh fruit (apricots, peaches, berries, apples, pears,)

Water

Lemon juice or pineapple juice

(3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice or 1/4 C Pineapple Juice)

Wash the fruit. If you working with stone fruit take out the pits, chop the fruit. If working with apples or pears, peel and core them, then chop. Place the fruit in a blender or a food processor with the lemon juice or pineapple juice and puree. (Feel free to mix fruit – like peach/pear, raspberry/pear….etc) Note: when working with berries like strawberries and raspberries – strain the puree through a couple of layers of cheesecloth to remove some of the seeds.

Taste the fruit before proceeding. Note how sweet the fruit is. If very sweet you will not need to add any sugar. If still a little tart, you may need to add some sugar, honey or agave (another option is to use jam to sweeten).

The purée should be very smooth.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with sturdy plastic wrap (the kind that is microwave safe). Pour out the purée into the lined baking sheet to about an 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.

Place the baking sheet in the oven; try to keep any plastic wrap from touch the sides of the oven or the oven racks. Also try to make sure that the plastic wrap hasn't folded back over on top of the purée. If this happens, the purée won't dry out. Heat the oven to a low 140°F. If you have a convection setting, use it, it will speed up the process and help dry out the purée. Let dry in the oven like this for as long as it takes for the purée to dry out and form fruit leather. We usually keep it in the oven overnight, so about 8-12 hours. The fruit leather is ready when it is no longer sticky, but has a smooth surface.

­ If you have a food dehydrator, follow the manufacturer’s directions. Some suggestions are to put the tray in a Barbeque grill, and leaving covered, in the sun all day. My Mom used to make it the traditional way of tenting the tray with a screen and leave it outside in the sun on a hot day.

When the fruit leather is ready, you can peel it up from the plastic wrap. To store it, roll it in its plastic wrap, put it in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator or freezer. My Mom used to cut them into 1” strips – the precursor to Fruit by the foot®

Yield: 3-4 cups of fruit yield about one baking sheet of fruit leather.

Have fun cookin'

Cyndi

Zucchini Orange (or Lemon) Bread

Zucchini Orange (or Lemon) Bread

As everyone knows zucchini's are easy to grow and one plant produces oodles of zucchinis and 1 zucchini can make lots of zucchini bread. Well Zucchini bread is yummy on it's own but I found this recipe via (you guessed it) Pinterest nancycreative.com - thought I'd give it a try - OH WOW, delish... 
Now the creative side of me thought Hmmmm Lemons - Oranges - why not spin it and try it with oranges - orange zest, orange juice - OH MY GOODNESS......

Here is my version - Check out the link for hers 

ORANGE-ZUCCHINI LOAF WITH ORANGE GLAZE

Makes one 9×5″ loaf

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

Juice of 1 Small Orange (or 2 Tablespoons Orange juice)

Zest of 1 Small Orange

1 cup grated zucchini (you don’t need to peel the zucchini before grating it unless you are trying to hide it.)

Preheat oven to 35o°. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan; set aside.

In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In your stand mixer bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add canola oil and sugar, and blend well. Then add the buttermilk, orange juice, and orange zest and zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture. Add the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl slowly and on low (or you’ll have a mess to clean up) and blend everything together, but don’t over mix.

Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. While loaf is cooling, you can make the glaze…

ORANGE GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar

Juice of 1 Small Orange (or 2 Tablespoons Orange juice)

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon the glaze over cooled loaf. Let glaze set, serve.

 Adapted from NancyCreative.com

Have fun Cookin'

Cyndi

Peach and White Chocolate Chip Scones

Peach and White Chocolate Chip Scones

Ok, so being from Utah these are not your normal "Utah" Scones.

While shopping a while back I stopped at our local bread store and they had "lemon scones" they were sampling, they were amazing. So last week when we peeled what was left of the peaches my in-laws had given us, I stuck them in the fridge, and all week all I have thought about what to make with them and this has been in the back of my mind, scones with peaches, and white chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

3 cups Flour

½ cup Sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

Zest from one Lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

4 tbsp Butter

¾ cup Milk

½ cup pureed Peaches

1/2 cup Dried Cranberries

½ cup chopped Dried Peaches

1/2 cup White Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest together it a mixer. Cut up the butter in small pieces and then add to the flour mix and mix it till it is in small pieces. In a blender  puree about ½ C canned peaches then add the milk, pour ½ of into the flour mix and mix together. Then add the rest and the cranberries, chopped peaches and chocolate chips and mix gently and only until it is all mixed, do not over mix it will make them tough.

Lightly flour a clean surface, split the mix in two and put the dough balls onto the floured surface. Flatten and mold them into two round discs, cut them into 8 slices.

Arrange on the baking sheet, you can get them close together, but make sure they are not touching. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until they are slightly golden. Take out of the oven, let cool on the baking sheet (this helps to keep them cooking) for 10 minutes then you can glaze them.

Glaze:

¾ cup Powdered Sugar

1-2 tbsp Lemon Juice- see below

Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl, add 1 tbsp lemon juice, add a little if it does not run well,  mix with a fork, drizzle the glaze on the scones.  Wait a few minutes and drizzle some more, and repeat. If you put it all on at once you will end up with a puddle of glaze below.

I'm pretty excited to snack on these this week for breakfast. 

Hope you have fun Cookin'

Cyndi

Salmon Dinner

My 1st attempt at cooking Salmon.

Wow sorry about the gap between posts.  Guess you can tell I've been busy, this new job really picks up in the summer. That plus all the work getting the Davis County Fair's Dutch Oven Cook-off pulled off. Well that's another post.....

Any way at the fair we had a gentleman doing Dutch-oven Demos, he recently took a trip to Alaska and brought back some salmon, which he cooked at the demo then let everyone sample it.  I was hooked (pun intended).

So grocery shopping the other day they had a managers special on salmon. (Reel me in) Now remember from previous posts, my husband does not like seafood, (his loss). I picked up some chicken for him. So here is how I prepared my melt in your mouth salmon....

1st I flexed each fillet to make sure they were free of bones, there was only one I had to pull, so not too bad. I placed the fillets in a bowl, sprinkled them with salt, pepper, lemon pepper, dill, a little minced garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Then I let them sit while I prepare the rest of dinner.

Dilly potatoes, I took my mandolin slicer and sliced up about 6 potatoes, rinsed them, and placed them around an 8" cast iron skillet, seasoned them with a little salt and pepper, then some minced garlic and chopped onion. I melted 1/2 Cup of butter and drizzled over the top of the potatoes and put them into a 450 degree oven for about 45 minute to 1 hour. Pulled them out and topped them with a little Colby Jack cheese. If you have bacon, yep, you can add some crumbled on the top.

Then I prepared the hubby's portion of dinner, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, dill, sprinkled on top of 2 Chicken breasts that I pounded to 1/4" (even size means even cooking). In the bottom of a Cast Iron I heated up about 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon chopped onion, once that started to sizzle I added the chicken breasts and cooked till the were golden brown over a medium high heat.

In another Cast Iron Skillet (yes I have 3 does that surprise you?) you could also use a Dutch Oven, heat about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium high heat and place the salmon in the oil, moving it around, to making sure it doesn't stick, cook for a minute or two in then flip and cook for another minute, turn at least twice.

 I stuck a thermometer in mine, cause I'm kinda picky like that, and it temped at 130 degrees, I pulled them from the pan and put them on a plate with a little pat of butter.

I served them with lemon wedges. They melted in your mouth. I will be making this again, maybe when the hubby is at the cabin. (wink).

Try something new, taste something new, expand your food views, you may be pleasingly surprised.
Have Fun Cookin'
Cyndi

Dutch Oven Cream Puffs

Cream Puffs

I have been toying with the idea of cream puff for a dessert for a while, I wanted to master them in the oven 1st, then try them in a Dutch Oven, so last week Andrew and Becka tried a couple different recipes - Becka had bragging rights on her recipe so she was coaching Andrew yesterday, "do this, now this" until he told her to "just go away." Well we learned that humidity does not play well with cream puffs. This picture does them no justice - when they were baking they looked perfect, so perfect in fact that we pulled them from the coals and set them on the table turned our backs to put the lid lifter and gloves down and a spectator, reached right in the pot and helped herself to one, before they were cooled or filled. It was very interesting to say the least. 


But while we were waiting for them to cool a nice little summer shower decided to move in and the humidity caused them to collapse, so in filling them we added additional filling to "puff" them up. This is a recipe in progress but it just shows that you really can make just about anything in a Dutch - Oven.

Cream Puffs

Puffs:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup water

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

Cream Filling:

16 oz heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 small vanilla pudding mix

Puffs:

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add water and bring to a boil. Add flour and salt. Over medium-high heat, stir vigorously until a dough ball is formed. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Begin beating vigorously again while adding eggs one at a time. Beat until completely combined and smooth. Drop puff dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2-inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden puffs are formed. Cool on sheets on wire rack.

Cream Filling:

Beat whipping cream, vanilla and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Stir in dry pudding mix. Chill

Make Cream Puffs:

Insert Piping tip into puff and fill with 1 tablespoon cream filling. Serve immediately or freeze. ~~~OR~~~ Cut 1/4 off of top of each puff. Remove inner soft dough. Fill each bottom with 1 tablespoon cream filling. Cover with top. Serve immediately or freeze.

Garnish  ~  Dust with powdered sugar

Have fun Cookin'

Cyndi 

Hapa Haole’s Barbecued Ribs

Bear River Co-op National Dutch Oven Cook-off

This is a new cook-off this year and was sponsored by the Bear River Valley Country Store in Corrine, UT. I have to say my weakness is cook-off's in Northern Utah - one I don't have to travel as far and waking my family up, on cook-off mornings is, to say the least, a nightmare. When I first heard about this it was from a friend who had stopped into the Store and saw their flyer. So again the mind starts wondering what should we cook, a friend of my told me once that Rib's always win in Utah so we thought bag the surf 'n turf and stick with something we do well and that was ribs - this is a recipe that we keep tweaking and I have to say they turned out quite nice yesterday, and smelled amazing as they were cooking. 

Hapa Haole’s Barbecued Ribs

2-4 Rack of pork ribs

Salt and Pepper ribs according to taste

Sear the ribs in oil making sure to brown on all sides. Braise in a hot Dutch Oven for 40 to 45 minutes at approximately 450 °.  Separate ribs and cover with barbecue sauce/glaze. (or leave as a whole rack)  Bake for approx. 2 hours until desired doneness.

Hapa Haole  BBQ sauce

2 Cup Soy Sauce

¼ Cup Vinegar

1 Cup Ketchup

1-2 cloves of garlic

¾ to 1 Cup honey

½ Tablespoon salt

Pepper to taste

½ Cup finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon Cholula

1¼ Cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

Place in a Dutch oven and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Stirring occasionally. Set aside to cook and thicken.  10-12 briquettes.

You can make these in your oven as well as your BBQ just mop them as the cook and let the sauce glaze them making them sweet and tangy.

Have fun Cookin'

Cyndi

Garlic, Cream Cheese stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

A couple of weeks ago I was beginning to think my creativity was gone so I posted a question on Facebook asking what every one's favorite main dish was, I had a friend mentioned this so I Google'd this and there were quite variations so I took what I learned from them as this is what I came up with and DANG.......  these are good.
A great garnish or an appetizer.

Cheese-Stuffed, Bacon-Crusted Shrimp - Garnish

10 large shrimp, peeled (leaving the final shell segment and tail intact)
2 garlic cloves minced
1/8 cup loosely packed chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Salt
1  ounces Colby Jack shredded
3 ounces cream cheese
10 thin slices of bacon, cut in half

Cut a 1/2-inch deep incision (without cutting through the shrimp) down the inside of each of the peeled shrimp.  Scrape out the (usually dark) vein.

Place the garlic, parsley, black pepper, and cheese in a bowl.  Mix, mash everything together, until thoroughly blended and creamy.  Taste and work in a little salt if you think necessary.

Scoop out a generous teaspoon of the filling and press it evenly over the butterflied part of a shrimp.  Wrap the shrimp in a piece of bacon—to ensure that the bacon crisps make sure it overlaps no more than an inch. Continue until all the shrimp are stuffed and wrapped.

Place a 12” Dutch Oven over medium-high heat 12-15 briquettes.  When thoroughly heated, lay the shrimp in the pan, overlap-side down.  Cook until crisp underneath, about 1 minute, then turn each piece a quarter of a turn cook another minute.  Continue until all 4 sides are browned in the same manner.   The bacon needs to be thin enough that it can crisp in the same time it takes for the shrimp to cook: you’ll know the shrimp are perfect when only a hint of pink translucency remains deep in the butterfly. 

Have fun Cookin'
Cyndi

Poor Man's Surf n Turf

Andrew has been on a seafood kick lately and with the economy being what it is, the expensive cuts of meat were out of the question. Flank steaks and Flatiron steaks are fairly inexpensive yet very flavorful. The most expensive ingredient is the Crab - and I lucked out and found it on sale. 

Poor Man’s Surf n Turf    aka: Rolling Tide Flank Steak

4 cloves Garlic - minced

8-10 Scallions - thinly sliced

¼ C Fresh parsley - minced

1-2 lb. Flank Steak or Flatiron Steak

1 C Parmesan Cheese

8 oz. Havarti Cheese

½ C Bread crumbs

1 Egg

1-6 oz. Can Crab meat or Fresh if you’d like

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, scallions, parsley, parmesan, crab meat and bread crumbs and mix well. Add 1 egg and mix well with your hands or a spoon. Set aside.

Cut ten 15” long pieces of kitchen twine. Put steak on 2 overlapping sheets of plastic wrap (each about 2 feet long) with the grain of the meat is parallel to you. Holding a sharp knife parallel to work surface and beginning on a long side, butterfly steak by cutting it almost in half horizontally (not all the way through), then open it like a book, arranged so the grain of the meat is parallel to you, and season exposed side with salt and pepper. Layer the Havarti over the meat leaving a 1/2 – inch border along the side furthest from you; Spread the mixture evenly over the cheese, press and gently pack the stuffing mixture onto the beef to keep it in place. Starting from the side nearest to you, roll up the meat like a jelly roll, pressing any stuffing that falls out of the ends back into the roll. Tie the beef tightly with twine, spacing the ties evenly about every 1 1/2 inches. Season the outside with salt and pepper all over, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

Carefully unwrap the beef roll and cut between the ties to make the pinwheels. Brush both cut sides gently with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Clean and oil the grilling cast iron skillet or Dutch Oven. Place the pinwheels in the skillet and cook until well browned on both sides Place in a Dutch Oven and cooked until an instant-read thermometer inserted diagonally 2 inches into thickest part of steak registers 145°F,

Transfer to a platter, let rest for five minutes, and serve.

We served this with Garlic, Cream Cheese stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp. As a garnish. The Recipe will follow. 

Have fun cookin'

Cyndi