Christmas Mini Pizzas

This was another idea I got from a Christmas cookbook for our party last week.  I think they sort of look like little cookies, and it was fun to put them on a tray like this on the same table as all the sweets that my wife had baked.  It was a fun play of sweet & savory.  Tomorrow I'll write about the little fried polentas that I had on the table as well.

You start with a basic pizza dough recipe, but then add hot sauce.  I could give you some made-up measurement; but I honestly just starting splashing it in there.  I actually mixed it in with the water so it would be equally incorporated throughout the dough.  And let me tell you, that can take your breath away and make you cough.  I like things kind of spicy.  And I knew that I had some guests that share that sentiment.  So I was told these had a "little bite" to them.

Once your dough has rested & risen, divide it in half.  Then divide each half in half, and again, and again, etc. until you have small little balls.  That will help you to ensure they are equally sized.  Use flour on your counter surface as well as your hands, and flatten the little balls into small discs.  You could use a cookie cutter. But I was fine with them being a little free form.

Then top each little dough round with some shredded Parmesan cheese, green onions, black olives, and finely diced cherry tomatoes.  There actually isn't any tomato sauce on these.  But all the flavors are there!  I think these were really fun little snacks.  And it's always nice to have finger food when people are over enjoying drinks together.  There were two trays of these -- and they all got eaten.  That's usually a good sign, right? ;-)

Christmas Tortellini

 

This was an idea I got out of a Christmas themed cookbook.  I found multi-colored Parmesan tortellini's and thought they would be perfect.  Unfortunately the colors faded a little when the pasta boiled.  But hopefully you can see that I was trying to create a wreath of green, red, and (white) pasta.  Then I gave them a light dusting of oregano & parsley to add a little more to the flavor ... and the wreath motif. (Try saying that three times quickly.)

The dipping sauce is great.  And you don't have to take my word for it.  Two days after the party my wife had some for leftovers, and she specifically told me how delicious it was.  And it's incredibly simple.  Take a block of cream cheese and blend it in a mixing bowl.  Add a 7 oz jar of pesto, or make your own, and a tsp of lemon juice.  You then blend everything together with a hand mixture until it has a creamy texture.  Salt & pepper to taste as needed.  This dish can be served warm or cold.  The lemon juice adds a nice acidity to balance the richness of the cream cheese and the garlic flavor of the pesto.  I think this is a fantastic Christmas treat.

I also julienned red & green bell peppers to continue my Christmas theme.  Then I made a dipping sauce for that with light ranch dressing, goat cheese, sour cream, and minced green onion.  Again, blend everything together in a mixing bowl.  Most of the guests just thought it was ranch dressing.  But I know there was more to it.  And I think once I informed them, they did too. ;-)

Christmas Party Treats

For years my wife has been saying that whenever we got a house, she wanted to host a Christmas/holiday party.  She thought it would be fun to have a fire, something warm & festive to drink, and various goodies to pad our waist lines for the impending cold weather.  Since this is our first winter in our new home, I said "Let's do it!"

The Mrs is quite the little baker.  I have no idea how she makes these things, so I'll just have to tell you what they are ... and that they are delicious.  She made a chocolate fudge and topped it with crushed candy canes.  That was great because the peppermint gives you this crisp cool break from the chocolate.  In a way, it's sort of the reverse proportions of a York Peppermint Patty.  The peppermint also gives them a nice textural crunch.

She also made a peanut butter fudge that was then rolled into a long tube, then frozen, and topped with crushed peanuts.  Then they were sliced into little rolls, kind of like sushi.  Combining sweet & salty is possibly one of my favorite things in a dessert.  And these were a bit like a salted nut roll, but with peanut butter.  And again you have the nice textural contrast with the smooth fudge and the crunchy peanuts.

Next she made macaroons -- the coconut variety, not to be confused with the French Macaron.  Then she dipped the bottoms of these in semi-sweet chocolate and milk chocolate.  These are so good, that I have eaten probably 5 or 6 of them ... and I don't like coconut!  That's how good they are. They're sticky, sugary, and delicious. The semi-sweet chocolate tempers the sweetness a little.  

Last, and probably least, she made some store-bought gingerbread cookies because she felt obligated to.  They were fine. But it's not something I will spend any more time on.

For beverages we had spiced apple cider warming on the stove, red wine, gin & tonic, and what is quite possibly the very best holiday beverage ever: Eggnog and Bourbon.  You could have either by themselves too.  I left that option available.  But one of our guests is from Lebanon and had never had eggnog before.  He must have liked it, because he made himself a second drink (using bourbon both times).

Stay tuned this week as I give you new posts on the savory treats that I made for the party.  Spoiler alert:  they were a hit!

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

I once mentioned how one of the best things I've ever made was a steak sandwich made from leftovers.  And I wasn't kidding.  It was amazing.  So that memory lead me to make this little gem.  My wife and I have really grown quite fond of the Pillsbury ready-bake French bread.  I have made my own bread several times; but this is just so much easier.  So we recently had a dinner where we baked one.  I usually save the last 40% or so of the loaf to use for a sandwich later.  The bread really elevates the level of a normal sandwich.

And speaking of the sandwich: the last "Next Food Network Star" season had a contestant that made everything into a sandwich. He said every great meal can be made into a sandwich.  And now he has his own show.

This one was created with buffalo chicken breast tenders.  I like to use the toaster oven to give the bread a light little crunch, and it also melts cheeses nicely if you're using them.  I didn't in this instance.  This time I just spread some mayo on the bread and filled one side with the buffalo chicken and some bacon crumbles that I made from breakfast leftovers.  The mayo on the other side of the bread will get nice and crispy.  It's like spreading butter on the outside of a grilled cheese sandwich, only this time the fat is on the inside.  My chef friend told me he likes to keep the greasy part of a sandwich contained on the inside so your hands stay clean.  It's not a bad point.  Once this was done toasting, I added fresh spinach leaves and closed it up.

It came in a close second to my ribeye steak sandwich with melted Swiss cheese.  But it was still delicious ... and probably as good, if not better, than any sandwich you could get at a BWW.

Glazed Ham Dinner

I decided to do some cooking for tonight's dinner.  That may sound like an obvious statement since this is a food blog -- but my wife told me she would be home late from dinner, and then we could go straight to the grocery store.  That meant we didn't have much food in the house.  So we were going to "fend for ourselves".  But I had something else in mind.

A quick search of some meal ideas online gave me inspiration for what I could make with what we still had in the refrigerator.  First up I grabbed a small sliced ham.  I decided to make a nice sauce to glaze the meat with.  I mixed Dijon mustard, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, and a little cloves to make a sweet & tangy sauce.  I covered the meat in the sauce inside a pouch I made from aluminum foil.  Since the ham was already cooked, I didn't want to dry it out.  But I did want to impart the flavor from my sauce.  I also served the sauce over top of the meat just to make sure the flavors were all there.

Next up I sliced a fresh apple and tossed it in balsamic vinegar.  I placed the slices in a single layer in a casserole dish and baked them for over an hour, flipping half-way through.  The roasted apples really heighten their flavor while they cook off.  And the balsamic vinegar gave them a little acidity so they weren't overly sweet, and could read a bit like desert.

I also shredded a sweet potato and folded that in with chopped spinach, dried onions, and a little bit of shredded Parmesan cheese.  Season with a little salt & pepper.  I cooked this in a non-stick skillet in a little butter to get the outside nice and golden-crispy.  I think this was the highlight of the meal.  I now The Mrs. liked them.

Last, but not least, I tried my luck at creamed spinach.  I still had some fresh spinach from the smoothies that I have been making, and I knew I was about to buy another bag at the grocery store.

You will start by making a roux of butter and flour.  Melt the butter over medium heat, then whisk in the flour and stir until it is smooth.  Bring that to a boil and cook off the flour for about a minute.

Remove it from the heat and whisk in some milk.  You want to remove this from the heat so the milk doesn't curdle on you.  It will also help if you have brought the milk up to room temperature.  Next add some salt and nutmeg.  Return this to the heat, bring to a boil, and cook for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat, and whisk in one egg.  This time you remove it from the heat so you don't scramble your egg.

During this time you should cook your fresh spinach in another pan, covered, for three minutes.  Then remove the lid and finish wilting the spinach for another 2 minutes.  Drain the spinach and chop it before adding it to your sauce.

In this meal I tried to have some salty, some sweet, some tangy, and creamy.  I think I covered the vegetables requirement of all meals with my wife as well.  Be sure not to add too much salt to either of your sides.  It could be an overly salty meal if you're not careful. 

Sweet Potato Country Fries

My wife & I really like sweet potatoes.  I'm sure I have mentioned it before, but they have much more nutritious value than ordinary potatoes.  Today she asked me if I would make her breakfast.  This was a surprise because normally she doesn't want a large meal in the morning.  I love cooking breakfast, though.  It is probably my favorite time to cook actually.

So she asked me if I would make her some country potatoes / hash browns with sweet potatoes.  This is a great way to practice your knife skills.  After you scrub the potato, cut it into even slices.  It's important that they are the same thickness so all the pieces cook evenly.  Then line up your cross-sections, slice them again into strips, and then dice.

You can use a little olive oil here, but I decided to go with butter so they would get nice and golden in the skillet. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat and start sauteing them.  Make sure to add salt & pepper so they take on a savory flavor profile.  With butter & sweet potatoes you could easily end up with something very sweet.  I also added a small amount of minced dried onion to round out the country potato flavor.  Keep flipping them until the potatoes are cooked through and the outsides get brown and crispy.  I blotted them with a paper towel afterward so they wouldn't be overly oily.

I served this along with fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon strips, and an English muffin.  It was a great start to my Sunday morning, and I must say I was glad The Mrs suggested it.

Souped-up Soup

Ahhh, it's good to be home with a real-life computer and keyboard.  Traveling was great, and we ate at some really fantastic restaurants.  During the trip I didn't do as much cooking as I had envisioned.  But that's OK.  Sometimes it's nice to take a break.

On my first night back home, I eased myself back into cooking.  This is a very easy way to take a pre-fab dinner and add your own special touch to it.  When I was in college, my roommate left school to take up a different curriculum:  culinary school.  He graduated and is now a trained chef.  I still lean on him for his expertise when I want to solicit some free advice.  But even back then he had a passion for food.  He used to "soup-up" pre-made food all the time.  It actually had nothing to do with soup at all.  It was just what he called taking an out-of-the-package food and enhancing it with other ingredients and seasonings.

That's what I did here with this soup.  I started by sauteing chopped celery with dried onions and minced garlic in a little olive oil.  Then I added chopped mushrooms and salt & pepper.  I let all those ingredients get to know each other in a sauce pan for a while.  

Then I deglazed the pan with 8 cups of hot water.  That will allow you to scrape off all those delicious bits of flavor that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. For the love of God, don't let those go to waste! Bring that to a rapid boil. 

Then I added a dried soup & wild rice mixture to the pot.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for another 10-12 minutes.  This is a very easy way to take make soup without starting the whole thing from scratch.  But with the addition of fresh vegetables and your own seasonings, you have "souped-up" something that would otherwise come straight out of the package.  We also baked a loaf of French bread to serve with the souped-up soup.

This dinner was little more than heating up a frozen pizza, but at least it was prepared fresh, and had the feel of a home-cooked meal.  I try to remind people of this all the time, not every meal has to be hours of labor building something from scratch.  At least you enjoyed a meal together at home ... and it wasn't drive through.