Homemade BBQ sauce & meatballs

My lovely KitchenAid mixer came with a little cookbook so I decided to try out a few of the recipes this morning.  Tomorrow my husband and I are heading over to a friends' place for a New Years Eve celebration and I signed up to bring meatballs to contribute to the evening of appetizers (Yum! My Fav!).  Both the sauce and the balls turned out great (I made a few minor modifications to the recipes).  I will definitely keep this recipe on hand!

BBQ Sauce

1 1/4 c brown sugar
1 c ketchup
1 tbsp dry mustard
2 tbsp Worcestershire
2 tbsp vinegar
1 c strong coffee (I used instant and it worked perfectly!)
1 med onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine everything in a saucepan over medium heat for 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally. Remove and either pour over meatballs (or any meat dish), or store in a container in the fridge until you want to use it. SO GOOD!

Balls of Meat

1 - 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I used lean)

2 egg yolks

1/3 c dry bread crumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (fresh or the Kraft stuff)

2 tsp dried parsley (or 1 tbsp fresh parsley)

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 pepper

1/4 c olive oil

*BBQ sauce

Mix everything except the olive oil (either by hand or with mixer on speed two with flat beater) until everything is mixed up.  Form into 1 inch balls and fry in olive oil until well browned (I did this in a covered skillet for about 5 minutes on each side).  Transfer balls to paper towel and blot off excess oil.  Pour on BBQ sauce and serve.  I made them a day ahead of time and will warm them up on the stove top tomorrow before serving.

Our new addition...

For Christmas my wonderful husband bought me a KitchenAid Stand Mixer.  This is an appliance that will get a lot of play in my home but I've never built up the guts to purchase one myself.  What a perfect Christmas gift!  After much thought, I decided to return the black one the hubby purchased and opted for the white.  I'm very happy with how it looks in the kitchen.  It's such a huge and beautiful piece (that's what she said), that I wanted to make sure I liked it enough to display on the counter top.  I cannot wait to start using it.  Tomorrow I will be making my Mother-in-laws famous chocolate icing for a gluten free cake and the next day I will be trying out another homemade BBQ sauce recipe with homemade meatballs.  YIPPPEEE!!!!
Happy cooking :)

Jenny's Dipped Pretzels

The other night Jenny, a wonderful friend of mine hosted an incredibly festive Night-before-Christmas-Eve Party.  The atmosphere, the drinks, the food and the company were absolute perfection.  The menu:  Cranberry/pineapple punch, eggnog with rum and nutmeg, Jenny's husband's famous cheese ball, pecan puffs, spinach dip and the list goes on and on.  A relatively easy treat that she put together that looked and tasted incredible were the chocolate dipped pretzels.  I will for sure try these out in the near future. 

Ingredients

large knot pretzels (Jenny used about 20)
pure chocolate - white, milk or dark, it's your call! (Jenny used a large Swiss dark chocolate bar)

Method
Break chocolate up and put in a small saucepan over low heat (if you have a double boiler you could use that).  Stir chocolate frequently until melted.  Remove from heat.  Dip half of each pretzel in the chocolate to coat.  Lay on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and put in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.  Display on a serving tray. Enjoy!

*Jenny is one crafty biatch!  Check out her blog - it's pretty amazing!

Christmas Morning Cheese Bread

When Nana came to visit our family while I was growing up this meant that the famous cheese bread would be making a brief appearance in our breadbox.  I say brief because it would literally last one morning.  My brother and I would eat slice after slice until we overdosed on it.  Now that my beautiful, ninety-four and a half year old Nana is living in a retirement home she doesn't have the luxury of baking her famous cheese bread any longer.  Christmas morning just wouldn't be the same without it, so I decided to bake two loaves this morning to take to my Mother's place for Christmas.  For those of you who don't bake, please don't be intimidated.  Making homemade bread is actually much easier then baking cookies.  Thank you Nana for this recipe!

Ingredients  
1 1/3 c warm water + 1 tbsp
1 1/4 c shredded cheese (I used medium cheddar)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 shredded Parmesan cheese (I used monetary jack cheese since I had some leftover)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast (or one of those little packets)

Method

In a large bowl, add warm water, sugar and yeast.  Let work for 10 minutes.  Add 2 cups of flour, salt, both cheeses and baking powder. Mix well.  Gradually add remaining flour and knead until dough is soft.  Place dough on lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.  Place dough in greased bowl, turn over once and cover with towel in a warm place and let rise for one hour.  punch dough down, knead lightly and divide into two.  Flatten dough to about one inch thick and roll up so that its' length is about the same length as your bread pan.  Pinch seam together and place seam side down in greased bread pans. Cover with a towel and let rise for one more hour.  Preheat over to 375 degrees F.  Paint one raw egg on the top of dough.  Bake for 30 minutes.  After about 15 minutes you can cover with foil so the tops don't burn.  Hope you like it!

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

I'm new to the coconut scene.  Actually, let me correct myself.  I'm familiar with the alcoholic beverage coconut scene along with the coconut scent scene but I've never been a huge fan of the texture of coconut.  My husband on the other hand, is a huge fan.  I've attempted macaroons once before I wasn't overly thrilled with the final product.  Today, I'm going to give it another try with a completely different recipe, and if all goes well I'll be delivering them to my husband at work to share with his colleagues.  I could really get use to this whole not working thing...

2 hour time laps: The verdict - meh, they are ok.  I'm totally that girl who judges a book by its' cover and in turn judges food by its' appearance.  Macaroons aren't the prettiest looking cookie. The visual fix: add more coconut to hold them together better. 

Ingredients

4 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped (each square of bakers chocolate is 1 ounce)
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups sweetened coconut, shredded or flaked (I'd up the coconut to 3 cups!)

Method

In a double-boiler, over simmering water, melt the chocolate. Set aside. (I don't own a double boiler so I use a large pot with boil water and submerse a small pot with chocolate in it.  Stir frequently). Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Stir in the coconut and melted chocolate, making sure the coconut is well coated. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour, or until firm. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or grease). Place heaping tablespoons of the batter on baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the macaroons are shiny. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

Makes about 16 large or 24 small macaroons

F'n groceries...

Groceries...ugh.  No matter how hard I try to make grocery shopping a calm, relaxing and orderly experience I just can't seem to get there.  I've tried bringing my husband, I've tried stopping off to grab a latte at Starbucks beforehand, I've tried making organized lists, I've tried going before 'rush hour'.  Nothing works.  There's no denying it - I HATE GROCERY SHOPPING.  Perhaps it's the long process of getting to the grocery store from my house that gets me agitated, or that fact that items like marshmallows are NEVER where you think they should be,  but every time I grab a cart I have this almost uncontrollable desire to ram my cart into the back of innocent peoples' ankles.  True story.  More than a few times I've had family and friends run into me at the grocery store and comment later on how unpleasant I was.  To all of you who I have run into and who I will run into in the future, my sincerest apologies....and....watch your ankles.

Low Fat Roasted Garlic Fettuccine Alfredo

I'm convinced that I'm a blonde hair, blue eyed Italian.  I adore pizza, pasta and more importantly, red vino.  I enjoy cooking a lot more when I have someone providing me an general idea as inspiration.  My husband is usually that person (lucky guy!).  As per his request, I created a 'creamy pasta' recipe tonight.  Around here, the holiday season is filled with many yummy indulgences, so I decided to create a low fat version of a cream sauce.  To be honest, I didn't think this was going to be blog worthy since low-fat often translates to 'low-in-flavour-crap'.  I've been proven wrong. Cheers to pasta!

Ingredients

1/2 box Smart Fettuccine pasta (pasta with added fibre)

1 large chicken breast, cubed
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 bulb garlic, roasted (see below for recipe)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 c chicken stock
1/2 c 1% milk (or whatever you have in the fridge)
1/2 c low fat sour cream

1/2 c light Parmesan cheese

dash of dried sage
1 tbsp flour

2 tbsp cold water

1-2 cups of broccoli or asparagus 

Roasted Garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Cut top off bulb of garlic.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place top back on and wrap in foil.  Cook in oven for 25 minutes. Once done, open foil to let garlic cool. Once cooled, squeeze garlic cloves out from the bulb.  With a fork, smush cloves into a paste.  Set aside.

Pasta & Sauce

Boil pasta. In a skillet, over medium heat add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/4 cup water.  Add chicken cubes and cover.  Cook until chicken is cooked thoroughly, about 10 minutes.  Discard any remaining liquid.  Set chicken aside.  Rinse skillet.  Add onion and chicken stock.  Simmer until onions are tender (ew, I hate that word).  Add milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, broccoli, salt, pepper and sage. Heat through.  Add chicken, roasted garlic paste and the 1 tbsp of flour mixed with 2 tbsp of cold water (this will thicken the sauce up).  Add cooked pasta.  Toss and serve.  A very good cream sauce without the use of butter or cream! YIPPEE!  I will definitely use this again.

 

My happy place...

I'm currently in my happy place.  Not that I don't absolutely love being a high school teacher, however this time off is beyond blissful.  I'm sitting here beside a roaring fire in the wood stove, sipping on a hazelnut coffee, cooking up a storm in my kitchen and I couldn't be happier (well, maybe if I were on the beach down south with a margarita in my hand....).  I always make time to put together homemade meals but it's nice to have the time to fully enjoy the process.  Today I'm working on a huge batch of chili to freeze for future lunches and dinners on those days I don't have time for homemade cooking.  I'm looking forward to the day when we have space for a nice big deep freeze!  This recipe has been adapted from my Mother's classic chili.  I hope you like it - it's a great 'comfort' meal for these cold, winter nights.  

2 lbs of ground chicken (no need to use beef as this has a tonne of flavour!)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped

1 tbsp Worcestershire

2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp Tabasco
2 bay leaves
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato pasta sauce (or crushed tomatoes)
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (beans have a tonne of added salt so be sure to rinse well!)
1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed
*to add more nutritional value, add a half package frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained.
*My husband and I love spice - if you don't, limit or eliminated tabasco and red pepper flakes.

In a fry pan over medium heat, cook ground chicken all the way through.  Transfer to a large crock pot and add all remaining ingredients.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours, stirring every so often. Remove bay leaves.  Serve in a bread bowl on on its' own.  Enjoy!
   

Garlic Shrimp Crustini's with Roasted Pine Nuts

My brother's wonderful wife was recently on a weekend retreat in Michigan.  According to her, the B&B where she stayed served amazing food.  She passed along one of the dish ideas to me and I tried it out tonight.  I had to make modifications since I didn't have some of the ingredients.  All in all, I'm happy with the outcome.  This is a great appetizer idea when entertaining this holiday season.

Ingredients
1 french bread baguette, sliced into 1/2 thick pieces
2 c monterey jack cheese, grated

2/3 c mayo

1/2 c toasted pine nuts (the original recipe called for sliced almonds)

1 green onion, chopped

 20(ish) garlic shrimp (see below for recipe) **Original recipe called for 6 strips bacon, cooked & crumbled instead of shrimp

Method

Place bread slices on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400˚ for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cheese, mayonnaise, almonds, bacon and onion. Spread mixture over bread. Bake for an additional 4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with additional almonds or pine nuts if desired. Top each crustini with one garlic shrimp. Serve warm.

To toast the pine nuts I threw them in a fry pan with a little butter until they browned, about 5 minutes over medium heat.

Easy Garlic Shrimp

20(ish) Shrimp - precooked, devained, thawed

2 green onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

Warm olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat.  Add shrimp, green onion and garlic.  Cook about 7 minutes, until oil, garlic and onion begin to stick to the bottom of the pan. Add one shrimp to the top of each crustini.  ENJOY!

NACHOS

A colleague of mine admitted to having a pretty intense obsession with nachos.  When he found out I had a cooking blog he immediately asked me to post a nacho recipe.  Two months later I have finally gotten around to throwing together what turned out to be a fantastic recipe.  Sorry for the wait. Hope you like it!

Here are a few basic nacho rules:
1) Chip to topping ratio must be equal.  (Most restaurants are terrible at mastering this)

2) Do not make topping too runny (sogginess is a nacho no-no!)

3) Jalapenos are a MUST!

4) Nacho height should be kept to a minimum

Nacho Ingredients

1 package ground chicken (or beef - your call)
1 bag multi grain tostitos
1 large jar medium salsa
1 can re fried beans
1/2 c grated monterey jack cheese
1 c grated medium cheddar cheese
3 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp minced jalapenos (more or less, depending on your spice tolerance)
olives, sliced
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
Sour cream (for dipping)
Guacamole (for dipping) recipe included below

Method
Over medium heat, brown ground chicken in a fry pan with chili powder, cumin and minced jalapenos. Then  add 3/4 jar of salsa and 1 can of re fried beans. Mix together until warmed through.  Set aside. Preheat oven at 375 degrees.

Line baking sheet (or pizza pan) with foil and spray with nonstick spray.  Spread a layer of tostitos over entire pan.  Add a layer of chicken/salsa mixture on top.  Depending on how many chips you want you might need to add another thin layer of tostitos.  Top with remaining chicken/salsa mixture.  Add green onion, olives and cheese. Put in oven for 10 minutes, until cheese is melted.  Serve with a side of sour cream, salsa and guacamole. ENJOY!

If using the entire bag of tostitos this will serve 4-6 people as a meal and about 8 -10 people for an appetizer.

   

Guacamole Recipe (previously posted)
1 ripe avocado

1/2 tomato, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp lime juice from concentrate

1 tbsp diced red onion

salt & pepper to taste

Throw all ingredients together in a bowl, smush with a folk. Eat.

Saucy Pulled Pork

As it turns out the pulled pork that I made this past weekend wasn't so bad after all.  I was happy that I had stashed it in the fridge because last night I didn't feel like cooking. 

You will need 1 pork shoulder roast.

Pork Rub:

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp thyme

Combine all ingredients and rub over pork.  Put pork in a crock pot on high. Add homemade BBQ sauce (see the following recipe).  Cook on high for three hours then on low for 2 additional hours. Baste every hour with BBQ sauce.  Pull pork apart with two forks.  Serve on warm buns.

Homemade BBQ sauce

2 tbsp butter
1 c finely chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 can tomato paste
1/2 c apple juice

1/2 c cider vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

In a saucepan over medium heat add the butter and, when melted, add the onions and cook until they are very soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, ground mustard, salt, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and cayenne pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes, or until the tomato paste begins to brown. Add the juice, cider vinegar, and brown sugar, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the sauce has thickened and the flavors have come together, about 15 to 20 minutes.

* if sauce is too runny, add 1 tbsp of corn starch dissolved in 2 tbs water to BBQ sauce.

Snow Day Soup

Today was my very first snow day of my teaching career and I have to say, I LOVED IT! I woke up, jumped in the shower and continued with my regular morning routine until 15 minutes before I left.  I decided to log on the computer and BAM! I saw it - School Closures! BOOYA!  Today was spent relaxing, cooking, marking, cleaning and playing in the snow. A perfect day. 

A few days ago I picked up at cooked chicken from Costco for dinner ($6.99!).  We had it that night for dinner and the following day for lunch.  I grew up on delicious homemade chicken stock based soups so I decided to try it out for myself.  My husband who usually claims that "soup is a drink", said it was very good for dinner! 

Chicken Stock

bones from one whole chicken

8-12 cups of water (depending on how big the pot is)

2 celery stocks, chopped

1 carrot, cut into large sections

2 onions, chopped

2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp peppercorns

Simmer all ingredients for 3 hours. Remove and pour through a colander.  The enables some of the onion chunks and spices to fall through.  I had a lot of meat still left on the bones when they when in the pot (that's what she said), so I picked hunks out and put it into the stock.  Discard remains. Put stock in fridge for 6 hours until fat hardens on the top.  Discard fat.

Soup

Chicken stock

1 carrot, sliced

1 c corn

1/2 c frozen peas

1 celery stock, chopped

1/2 tsp oregano

2 cups raw pasta (use beans as a substitute)

salt & pepper to taste

Put everything together in the same pot you made the stock in and simmer for 20 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Serve!  

Wood Chopping Buns

*UPDATE: A friend brought over cinnamon buns and they were better than this recipe - once I get my hands on the recipe I will post it.  None the less, these are still a delicious, easy and quick recipe!

The boys started to arrive by 8:30am this morning to help my husband and I chop wood to heat our house this winter.  The girls will be arriving shortly so in the meantime I decided to try out cinnamon buns for the first time.  I needed a quick recipe that required no fridge time.  This recipe turned out GREAT and seriously didn't take long at all.  Prep time was about 15 minutes, then 20 minutes in the oven.  Perfect treat for a snow cold day!  The boys seemed to like them!  Be sure to serve warm :)

3 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar

1tbsp baking powder
3/4tsp salt
1/2tsp baking soda
2/3cup cold butter, cubed
1 1/4 c buttermilk (I used regular milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice, let sit for 5 minutes)
1 egg

Cinnamon Filling:
3tbsp butter, softened
1/3 c packed brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp half & half cream (or milk)
splash of vanilla extract
(mix all ingredients together - if too dry add more cream)

Spray 2 round cake pans with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour. Set aside. In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. With pastry blender (I used forks), cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In separate bowl, whisk buttermilk with egg; pour over dry ingredients and stir with fork to make soft dough. With floured hands, press dough into ball. On lightly floured surface, knead gently 10 times. Roll out to 16- x 11-inch (40 x 28 cm) rectangle .

Cinnamon Filling: Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) border along 1 long edge. Sprinkle butter with pecans, sugar and cinnamon. Starting at side opposite border, roll up evenly into log; pinch seam to seal.  Using serrated knife, cut into 1-inch thick slices; arrange in cake pans. Bake in centre of 400°F oven until golden, about 20 minutes.  Let cool slightly and ice. Serve!

Bah, Humbug!

Bah, humbug! Today I put together what I thought was going to be a great pulled pork recipe however by the time dinner rolled around and after smelling the pork cook for hours, I had zero appetite for it. I'm currently fighting a cold so my appetite is a little off so....default dinner = frozen pizza. For now, the pork is in the fridge. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know if it's blog worthy.

Want to know what to do to get rid of a case of the Bah, humbugs? A latte.  Simple as that. 

Yields: 2 huge mugs

2 c triple concentrated coffee (I used decaf)
1 1/3 c eggnog
2/3 c milk
nutmeg for garnish

Combine milk and eggnog. Warm up in the microwave for 3 minutes. Pour prepared coffee into a mug and add steamed eggnog/milk mixture. Sprinkle a little nutmeg on the top and enjoy! (You could add a shot of rum if you want to get a little w.i.l.d....)

*Have you ever searched 'Bah, humbug!' on urban dictionary? ha!