AwesomeBites

Category: Fan Favorites

  • Veggie Wellington – Mushrooms, Spinach, Roasted Butternut Squash

    This has great eye appeal and it tastes great.
    Basically, you cook each of the ingredients independently and cool, then assemble and bake.
    Serves 8-10

    1 sheet of Puff Pastry – Keep frozen until all your ingredients are cooked.
    1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water for egg wash.

    1 cup of chopped butternut squash.
    Rosemary Sprig
    Olive oil – 3 Tablespoons
    1 tsp of nutmeg sprinkled on squash
    Salt & Pepper

    Mushrooms – 4 Cups Cremini Mushrooms
    3 T butter
    1 tsp Italian Seasoning

    Spinach
    1 small diced onion
    4 cloves of minced garlic
    1/4 cup cream
    1 Tsp Nutmeg
    6 oz of mixed grated cheeses – parmesan and romano
    Salt & Pepper to taste.
    1/2 pound of frozen chopped spinach

    Chicken or Duck Pate 3 ounces – Bottom layer.

    Oven 400 degrees, on a baking sheet, season the butternut squash with sprigs of rosemary and drizzle olive oil. 40 minutes in the oven or until the edges start to turn brown.
    While that is cooking, prepare your mushrooms by slicing and saute in butter and italian seasoning. You want the juice to release from the mushrooms. Continue sauteing until and pour off the juices.
    Save for the spinach. Once they are cooked through, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
    Spinach. Thaw and squeeze as much water from the spinach as possible.
    Dice 1 small onion and saute. Add minced garlic cloves to onions and saute. Add 1/4 cup of cream. Once the cream is hot, add salt and pepper, and the cheese so it melts.
    Add chopped spinach and saute. You want this to be a dry creamed spinach. Moisture will make your puff pastry soggy.
    Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

    Take your puff pastry sheet out of the freezer and allow to come to room temperature.
    When it is thawed enough to rollout, take a rolling pin and roll out to remove any creases. It will be a couple of inches longer that when it was frozen.

    Pre-Heat oven to 375
    Assemble on parchment paper.
    Bottom layer – spread the pate on the middle of the puff pastry leaving 3 inches on each side and 2 inches on top and bottom.
    2nd Layer – sliced mushrooms on top of the pate.
    3rd Layer – place spinach on top of the mushrooms
    4th Layer – place the chopped squash on top of the mushrooms.

    Using egg wash, brush the area not filled with filling.
    Cut the sides 9 or 10 1/2 inch strips.
    Fold the top and bottom edges up over the filling. The middles section that is cut, take each strip and pull over to the other side. Fill in all the gaps.
    Brush the outside with egg wash and
    Place into oven on parchment paper. Bake for 45 minutes until very golden brown.

    I served this a two holiday parties and they loved it!

  • Fettuccini with Cilantro Lime Shrimp in Ginger Cream Sauce

    Fettuccini with Cilantro Lime Shrimp in Ginger Cream Sauce

    Fettuccini with Cilantro Lime Shrimp in Ginger Cream Sauce
    16 oz heavy cream serves 4
    2 T powdered ginger 30-45 minutes to prepare
    2 eggplant – 1 cut in batonetts using the outside aubergine edges.
    1 eggplant cut diagonally into ¼ inch diagonal slices (To be used as garnish).
    2 zucchini cut in batonettes using the outside peel edges.
    4 T Olive Oil
    Salt and Pepper
    1 pound of fettuccini noodles
    1 ½ pounds of shrimp Approximately 24 Shrimp shelled and de-veined, with tails on.
    2 T butter
    2 T Olive Oil
    2 cloves garlic finely chopped
    ¼ cup finely chopped sweet onion
    ¼ cup cilantro chopped and 10 whole leaves for garnish
    1 Can – 12 ounces of Canada Dry Ginger Ale
    4 limes – juice 3 and serve the last as garnish on each plate.

    Add 6 quarts of water and salt to stock pot and bring to boil. When water is boiling, add pasta and cook until just al dente.
    In heavy small sauce pan, add cream and ginger. To attain the delicious creamy texture, you can use cream chargers delivery Melbourne. They have the best collection of equipments. Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer and allow to reduce to 1/3.
    Lightly coat eggplant and zucchini with oil and salt and pepper, bake eggplant and zucchini batonetts for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Top eggplant slices with cilantro leaf using oil to stick the two together. Bake until just slightly browned. Set aside.
    Your pasta should be in the pot cooking before this next step of cooking the shrimp.
    Heat a sauté pan on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium high and add the olive oil and butter. Once the butter melts, add the garlic. Sauté for a minute and add onion and sauté for another couple of minutes. Add Shrimp. Then add ginger ale and stir to combine and coat the shrimp with the butter. Spread shrimp in even layer in the pan. As soon as the shrimp are almost all pink, add ginger cream sauce and lime juice and cilantro. Add fettuccini to pan, stir allowing to absorb the cream sauce.
    Add zucchini and eggplant batonetts: plate pasta, divide shrimp equally among 4 plates, garnish zucchini and eggplant batonetts, cilantro, lime, and zucchini and eggplant slices.
    Variations: Serve with linguini, rice or crusty bread. If you want to heat it up, you can add diced jalapenos while sautéing the onions for the shrimp.

    Cilantro Lime Shrimp, Ginger Cream Sauce - Aubergines and Zucchinis

  • Coq Au Vin

    Coq Au Vin

    My sister-in-law once said she loved Coq Au Vin. I had never made it, but the thought was stored until the other day. The time was now. So, I put this together. Husband Dennis loved, loved, loved it!

    Since all my kids have flown the coup, my office is the lucky group that get my leftovers. I think they are goin’ like it!

    4 pieces of bacon or ham slices, coarsely chopped
    2 chickens
    2 chopped onions
    3 tablespoons chopped fresh Thyme
    Salt and Pepper
    16 ounces large crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, halved
    8-12 carrots, chopped into 1 inch chunks
    1 fennel bulb chopped into quarters
    4 whole garlic cloves
    2 bottles red wine. Merlot, Cabernet, Syrah all work.)
    1 small can tomato paste
    1/4 cup beef gravy mix

    Instructions
    Preheat oven to 300°F. Sauté bacon or ham in large cast iron pan that will hold two chickens. Add all ingredients except the gravy mix.

    Bake for 4 hours at 300 degrees. Move the pot from the oven to the stovetop.
    Add Gravy mix to 1/2 cup water, stir to mix and then add to drippings.
    Let simmer 5 minutes and serve over mashed potatoes.

    If you do not have gravy mix, use flour. Place flour in small cup.
    Add 1/4 cup water, stirring until smooth. Add flour mixture to sauce. Cook until sauce thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken on platter; stir juices from dish into sauce and spoon over chicken. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon fresh thyme.

    I started this at lunch time, and finished it off by making mashed potatoes when I got home from work. This is a keeper.

  • Brown Sugar, Cinnamon Pull Aparts or Monkey Bread

    Brown Sugar, Cinnamon Pull Aparts or Monkey Bread

    Cinnamon, Brown Sugar Pullaparts! Sweet.

    Ingredients

    3 (12 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough (Like Grands) or make your own biscuits (see below)
    1 cup white sugar
    2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
    1/2 cup margarine and/or walnut oil
    1 cup packed brown sugar
    1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
    1/2 cup raisins (optional)

    Directions
    1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube/Bundt® pan.
    2.Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan. If using nuts and raisins, arrange them in and among the biscuit pieces as you go along.
    3.In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.
    4.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Do not cut! The bread just pulls apart.

    Homemade Biscuits
    Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

    1 1/4 C. cake flour
    3/4 C. all-purpose flour
    1 1/2 t. baking powder
    1/2 t. baking soda
    1/2 t. salt
    1/4 C. butter, cut into small chunks
    3/4 C. buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk and 1 tsp vinegar)

    1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

    2. Prepare ingredients: Cut butter into small chunks, place in a bowl and return to fridge. Measure out buttermilk and set aside. Sprinkle flour on a work surface and have extra flour nearby for your hands and biscuit cutter. Have biscuit cutter and an ungreased baking sheet handy

    3. Mix dough: In a medium-large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt until very well blended. Add butter and cut into flour using a pastry blender, two knives or your fingertips, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in buttermilk and stir lightly until dough comes together in a ball.

    4. Knead dough and cut biscuits: Dump dough mixture out onto floured work surface. With floured hands, lightly knead dough a few times until it is fairly well blended. Pat out into a circle, 3/4 – 1 inch thick. Dip cutter into flour and cut biscuits without twisting the cutter. Form the dough scraps into an extra biscuit-like shape instead of re-rolling the dough. Place cut biscuits together on the baking sheet so that the sides are touching. Brush tops with melted butter, if desired.

    5. Bake biscuits: place baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 40 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove biscuits to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes.

    Awesome Breakfast!
  • Artesian Cinnamon Biscuits

    Artesian Cinnamon Biscuits

    Make your favorite biscuits
    Cut into biscuits

    Coat with melted butter and dip into cinnamon sugar (1 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon)
    Place in a buttered baking dish
    1 cup brown sugar
    1/2 cup butter
    bring to a boil for 1 minute and then pour over the biscuits in the baking dish.
    Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

  • Poblano Chili Rellenos

    Poblano Chili Rellenos

    The poblano is a mild chile pepper originating in the State of Puebla, Mexico. Dried, it is called an Ancho. The ripened red poblano is significantly hotter and more flavorful than the less ripe, green poblano. While poblanos tend to have a mild flavor, occasionally and unpredictably, they can have significant heat. Different peppers from the same plant have been reported to vary substantially in heat intensity. I like to choose a mild flavor and add a touch of heat to the filling, usually satisfying everyone.

    Here’s How:
    1.Roast the chiles (see list below for types)
    Roast the chiles on your gas stovetop, hot grill, or in a broiler on high heat. Turn them occasionally until the skins are blackened and charred. When the skin of the chiles is sufficiently charred and blistered, remove from the heat and let them cool in a covered bowl to room temperature so you don’t burn yourself. Peel the skin from the cooled chile, rinsing your fingers if they become sticky. I find using a small knife and laying the chilis on paper bags helps. Be careful to not tear the chile while peeling it.
    *If fresh green chiles are unavailable, use canned whole green chiles Anaheim Chiles.
    For truer mexican, choose poblano chiles that are deep green and have no blemishes, soft spots or wrinkles.

    2.Remove the seeds if the poblanos smell hot otherwise, enjoy the heat.
    Here is the tricky part. Roasted chiles are very soft, and tear easily. You are going to make a small slice into the side of the chile just big enough to get a spoon into, about 2-3 inches. (Or use an existing tear if there is one.) Insert the spoon into the chile and scrape the seeds and the white membrane out, try to not tear the chiles flesh any more than possible.

    3.Stuff the chile
    Place a slice of cheese into the chile, or spoon the filling in, but don’t force it. If the cheese is too large, trim it down until it fits inside. Don’t over-stuff it. Make sure the open edges of the chile still come together. I like monterrey jack, and grated cheddar with chopped scallions and roasted corn. To add more heat, finely dice jalapeno chili and add to the filling. A little goes a long way. For smokey flavor add 1/2 teaspoon of chipolte in adobe sauce.

    4.Prepare the chiles
    Lightly flour the stuffed chili then dip into egg mixture of beaten egg whites until fluffy, then add the yolks. op. Use your finger to make sure the entire chile is coated. Dust off remaining flour and set chiles aside.
    5.Prepare batter
    For a simple batter, whip 3-6 cold egg whites in a chilled bowl until they are stiff. Stir up the remaining yolks and slowly fold them in with a pinch of salt. Use approximately 2 large eggs for each pound of chiles, or 1 egg per extra-large chile.
    Or another good choice is a cornmeal batter: 1 cup all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    ½ teaspoon salt
    ¾ cup cornmeal (try blue cornmeal)
    1 cup milk
    2 eggse
    Combine dry ingredients, then wet and then mix together.

    6.Cook chiles
    One at a time, hold the chiles by the stem and support the bottom with your fingers or a spoon, and dip the stuffed chiles into the batter. Carefully place them into a pan with 1 1/2 inches of hotu ar oil. Cook each side until batter is a crisp golden brown.

    7.Drain excess oil
    Remove chiles from the oil and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with your favorite salsa. Keep in a oven until ready to serve. Serve over rice with warm spicy mexican tomato sauce.

    Tips:
    1.Use cold eggs for the batter.
    2.Test the oil with a drop of batter before putting a whole chile in. If the drop of batter sizzles and floats to the top, it’s the right temp. If it sinks, the oil is not hot enough.
    3.The flour should be a very light coat. It helps the batter stick to the chile.
    4.Monterey Jack and Queso Blanco work well for Chile Rellenos

    What You Need:
    •2 pounds large, roasted and peeled chiles (Anaheim, or Poblano work well)
    •3-6 large eggs (approx. 1 egg for 2 small/medium chiles)
    •1/4 cup flour (optional)
    •Sliced cheese, shredded cheese, shredded seasoned chicken or other filling.
    •Deep fryer or a large pan with 2 inches of oil
    •Pinch of salt
    •Paper towels for draining

  • Cheddar Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Grilled Jalapeno Peppers

    Cheddar Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Grilled Jalapeno Peppers

    STUFFED JALAPENOS

    12 pickled jalapeno peppers
    1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
    1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (2 oz.)
    1/4 c. sliced green onion (optional)
    12 slices bacon

    Rinse and drain jalapeno peppers. Slit lengthwise on one side; remove seeds and veins, leaving stem attached. (If you want them hot, leave the hot stuff inside!) Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in grated cheddar cheese. Stuff each pepper with cheese mixture. Wrap with a piece of bacon. Use a tooth pick to hold the bacon on and keep them closed.

    Grill until bacon is crisp and cheese is melted. We love ’em!

    If you’re not in a grilling mood, pop them in the oven.
    Bake in 450 degree oven until bacon is crisp about 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Makes 12.

    Tip: Use disposable gloves when cutting and removing seeds from the jalapeno peppers.

  • Brioche Buns – Perfect for sliders!

    Brioche Buns – Perfect for sliders!

    I am starting a batch right now. Pictures to follow… Yes, most people do not make their own hamburger buns, but when you want a smaller, slider size, you may not have a choice. Give this recipe a shot! Excellent with special hamburgers or pulled pork sandwiches! Awesome bites!

    1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
    3 eggs
    2 egg yolks
    3/4 cup butter, softened
    3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
    1/2 cup white sugar
    1 teaspoon active dry yeast

    1 egg white
    black and white sesame seeds or coarse sea salt or onion seeds or sesame seeds
    2 tablespoons water

    Directions
    1.Place the first seven ingredients in bread machine in order suggested by your manufacturer. Select dough cycle.
    2.Turn finished dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead 5 to 10 times. Let rise in greased bowl until doubled. Punch down and separate into 15-24 balls/buns. Place onto a buttered parchment lined baking sheet. Set aside to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
    3.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Whisk together 1 egg white and the water. Brush onto the top of the loaf. Sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds.
    4.Bake in the preheated oven until deep golden brown, about 20-35 minutes.

    Cut into 16 pieces for perfect slider size rolls, or 24 for small dinner rolls.

  • Peanut Butter Cookies with Macadamian Nuts

    Peanut Butter Cookies with Macadamian Nuts

    1 cup butter
    1 cup creamy peanut butter
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 cup white sugar
    2 eggs
    1 tsp baking soda
    2 cups flour
    1/4 cup chopped macadamian nuts

    Scoop onto parchment paper sprayed with Pam. Using a fork, press down in crisscross pattern.

    Bake at 350 degrees for 16 minutes until golden brown. Let cool before removing from parchment. Store in air tight container, if there are any left!

  • Waldorf Chicken Salad or Sandwiches

    Waldorf Chicken Salad or Sandwiches

    Salad

    2 medium celery ribs, cut into small dice
    2 medium scallions, white and green parts, minced or 1 sweet onion
    1 large crisp apple, cored and cut into medium dice
    1/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
    1/2 cup mayonnaise
    1/4 cup sour cream
    2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
    2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
    Salt and ground black pepper
    White meat from a baked chicken, or 12 oz canned white meat chicken
    1/2 cup raisins or grapes (optional)
    Chop all ingredients, pour lemon juice over chopped apple to prevent from browning, mix mayonnaise and sour cream together. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix in mayonnaise. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve within 24 hours. Keep refrigerated.

    Serve over mixed greens or on your favorite bread.