Bacon and Peach? Sandwiches on Pretzel Buns

Sigh...

I need to apologize for my unannounced leave of absence.  I realize my posts have been few and far between lately, and I hate to think I have left anyone hanging.  I have no excuse other than lately my recipes have been a flop.

No...more like, an inedible mess.  

Do you ever get like that?  Find yourself in a cooking slump...unable to think of anything new and exciting to make?

That's been me lately. I wish I could show you all of the failures I've had lately, but trust me, I did not want photographic evidence of these recipe disasters.

I was slowly strolling the aisles of Costco, pouting no doubt...when I found these little petite pretzel buns.  I have bought them before, and made delicious cheddar burgers on them.  I threw them in my basket and continued shopping.  By the end of my Costco trip my basket was overflowing with goodies.  A big box of white peaches, a block of my favorite Tillamook vintage white cheddar cheese, bacon, some Pirate's Bootie (white cheddar popcorn) and some staples.

As soon as I got home from the store  I immediately ripped open the pretzel rolls and had a taste.  They were salty and tasted like pretzels (duh).  Next I sliced a piece of that vintage white cheddar off and had another taste.  Yum this would be good on the pretzel rolls.

I looked over at the peaches.  What am I going to do with a 5 pound box of peaches before they go bad?  I know lets slice them and put them with the cheese and pretzel rolls.  And hello, what doesn't taste better with bacon?

Bacon and Peach Pretzel Bun Sandwiches

2 pretzel rolls, sliced in half
4 thin slices of white cheddar cheese
1 white peach, sliced thin
handful of spinach
4 slices of bacon

Assemble the rolls in front of you and start piling on the ingredients.  Layer spinach, bacon and peach slices evenly across the bottom of the rolls.  Top with cheese then put the top of the sandwich on.  Put into a panini press for a couple of minutes just to melt the cheese and warm up the roll.

Serve and eat immediately.

Salty pretzel bun, crispy bacon, sharp white cheddar and sweet juicy peaches? Yeah that's not weird at all.

Chocolate Mocha Granola

I recently just got back from vacation in Oregon and it was really great to see my family and Charlie my dog.  When I moved to Chicago I decided to leave him in Oregon, which was a really hard decision for me to make.  He is a farm dog though, and I knew he would be miserable going from a big house and big yard, to a tiny apartment and being indoors all day. So he stays with my parents in Oregon and I know it's the right decision because he is so happy.  And has become a bit of a grandma's boy.  Look at that blanket baby.

While I was home I took him for a few country drives and you can just look at the picture below and see that he is one happy dog.  Who wouldn't be happy with a daily view like that?

 Serenity my friends.

While I was home I also went wedding dress shopping...with my dad! My poor mother was recovering from knee replacement surgery and regrettably couldn't go with us.  I was so surprised that my dad was as good of a sport as he was.  He helped me in and out of wedding gowns, and made very thoughtful and insightful comments as to what looked good (and what didn't).  I found not only one gown, but 2!  My parents got me my dream dresses and I couldn't be happier, or more thankful.  I got to see friends, my lovely nieces, eat at my favorite hometown restaurant, Kwong's cafe, and my grandmother gave me a very special keepsake.  She gave me a pearl ring that my grandfather had given her.  It will be my "something old" on my wedding day.  My dad also made me his french toast, which I love.  It was a yummy brunch. 

  I also love granola for breakfast.  It's one of those things that is super easy (and much cheaper) to make than buy in the store.  Not to mention it just tastes a whole lot better.  The store bought granola is often too hard.  Like teeth-shatteringly-crunchy.  We all know I love crunch, but I'd also love to not be in pain after eating breakfast or a snack.

I've made lots of variations to my general granola recipe.  Sometimes adding dried fruit, different types of nuts and seeds, or peanut butter and white chocolate.  All combos are good in my opinion.  Granola is delicious on top of fruit, ice cream or yogurt, mixed in a parfait, cut into bars for an easy snack on the go, or just by the handful. 

Chocolate Mocha Granola

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbs instant espresso/coffee powder
2 Tbs cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Mix oats, coconut, almonds and brown sugar in a bowl and set aside.  In a smaller bowl combine oil, honey, coffee powder, cocoa, vanilla and salt.  Mix well then pour over oat mixture.  Stir everything to combine and coat all of the oats and nuts with the chocolate mixture.

Spread evenly onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Stir every 5 minutes.  Your house should smell amazing at this point.  After 15 or so minutes, take the granola out of the oven and allow to cool before storing in an air tight container. 

I think I'll have breakfast for dinner tonight.

Iced Coconut Chai Tea

This really shouldn't even be considered a "recipe".  It's that stupidly easy.  So why am I posting it? Well...because it's good. Enough said.

I honestly love coffee shops like Starbucks and Caribou, but I hate the coffee shop price tag.  It's honestly ridiculous how much they charge to mix pre-made chai tea concentrate with milk and then charge me $4.50 for it.  Lame.  And I have to admit it was a convenience thing in the past.  Yes I could easily walk the 10 steps into the kitchen and make a drink myself but why not just let someone do it for me.  Yes I have felt that lazy on occasion, especially when it's so hot outside I literally can't breathe.

I like to buy Tazo or Oregon Chai in a pack of 3 from Costco.  It's so much more cost efficient and you will get way more drinks this way then if you were to go to a coffee shop.  It's worth it.  I typically make my chai cold, over ice with some 2% milk, but I decided to change it up a bit today and make it with coconut milk.  2 ingredients and a few seconds later, you can be sipping your own Starbucks quality chai tea but with the satisfaction of knowing it's costing you a fraction of the price.

Ice Coconut Chai Tea

2 cups Tazo or Oregon Chai Tea Concentrate
1 can coconut milk
Ice

Divide the Chai concentrate among 2 glasses.  Shake the can of coconut milk vigourously, to mix it well.  Divide the coconut milk between the two glasses.  Stir and top with lots of ice to make it nice and chilly.  Sip and enjoy.

*To make a hot chai, simply combine chai tea and coconut milk in a small saucepan and gently heat over medium heat until it steams but does NOT boil.  Pour into mugs and serve immediately.

I'm thirsty.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

I don't know what it is about Sunday mornings and pancakes for brunch.  For me it's like peanut butter and jelly, or basil and tomatoes. It just goes together, man.

 This was a really easy breakfast that I wanted to show you guys. Apple cinnamon pancakes.  I used pre-made pancake mix, like Bisquick.  So buy your favorite kind.  Here's a quick way to take ordinary pancakes and turn it into something more special.

What you'll need for Apple Cinnamon Pancakes:
(Feeds 2, double recipe to feed more)

Pancake Mix
Milk
Eggs
1 green apple, peeled
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla

If you're using Bisquick: Mix 1 cup pancake mix, 1/2 cup milk and 1 egg.  Whisk together in a bowl then add the cinnamon and vanilla.

To get the apple rings, peel 1 green apple and then using a spoon, scoop out the core.  Then slice the apple into thin rings.

In a heated skillet melt some butter.  Add pancake mix by 1/4 cup amounts at a time.  Place an apple ring in the center of the pancake batter (shown above).  Cook for a few minutes on each side until the pancakes are golden brown.  Top with whatever you like. I like butter and syrup.

 I really really really liked these pancakes.  They were sweet and tart and delicious.  The fiance wasn't a fan but I think I scarred him with the last breakfast I made.  I made blueberry waffles and he got a little TOO many blueberries in his. Lately when I say I'm going to make us breakfast he asks "there's no blueberries in it is there?" He's not a huge fruit-in-the-breakfast-batter fan.

No matter.  More for me.

Spaghetti with a Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Is there any person out there who doesn't love a super easy dinner idea that can be thrown together 20 minutes before you're wanting to eat?

 I didn't think so.

I'm not that big of a fan of spaghetti.  Probably because growing up spaghetti was pretty underwhelming. My mom would over-cook the pasta and it would be mushy, which was not hidden from the blob of store bought pasta sauce dumped on top of it. (Sorry mama.)  Also I was told growing up that salting the pasta water made it boil faster.  Obviously this isn't why professional cooks (or the more informed cooks) salt their water.  You salt the water to flavor the pasta.  Who knew?!

Spaghetti for me was only good because I used to love The Lady and the Tramp. My dad taught me how to do the spaghetti smooch!  It took me a couple practice tries because I kept biting the strand of spaghetti, but we eventually got it. That is a memory from childhood that is a funny father-daughter moment.

Spaghetti with a Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
3 jarred roasted red peppers, diced (seeds removed)
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves
1 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs basil pesto
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (do 1/8 tsp if you want less spice)
olive oil
salt and pepper
Pasta (such as spaghetti, fettuccine, rigatoni, ziti, etc)

Cook pasta per box directions.

To make the sauce: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and cook for a couple minutes until the onions are tender.  Add in the garlic, tomato paste, red peppers and white wine.  Cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Next place the mixture into a blender and puree until smooth.  Return the mixture to the skillet and add the cream and pesto.  Stir and taste. Adjust seasonings if necessary.

Toss the cooked pasta into the sauce and serve immediately.

That's Amore.

Triple Berry Ice Cream

Nothing in life is free.
I promise you.

 I had a woman call me a couple weeks ago, telling me that I won a "free" Bridal Pampering Package from Mary Kay. Of course the offer sounded great but I was really skeptical about it. But I decided to go for it anyways. I agreed to it, and invited two of my girlfriends over to experience the pampering with me. We had an awesome spread with 4 different types of wines, and lots of nibbles to enjoy while the woman gave us a hand treatment, and did our make up.  It was a lot of fun.

But...remember what I said about nothing in life ever being free?  Yeah...by the time she left this so-called "free bridal pampering" event, we had each spent over $80 in make up and lotions. And not only that, the woman was really pushy and trying to tell me that if I just spend $100 on a start-up kit, I too can host my very own Mary Kay parties and start to sell the products. Oh and don't forget that she has a brand new car outside, that I could surely have too! Yeah lady, I'm sure. 

 Needless to say I'm not THAT mad at myself. I really did need some of the stuff I bought, and not to mention it was a really fun night with good friends and good food. My fiance was a very good sport also. With a house-full of women talking about beauty. I could imagine that would be the equivalent of a house-full of fist pumping dudes talking about beer and babes. (I'm sure my time to endure that type of evening will come eventually.)

One of my friends brought over this huge bowl of a mixed berry salad. It had strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.  By the end of the night however it was just a triple berry salad, because being that raspberries are my favorite, I picked them all out.  She left all the fruit here and I had no idea how to use it all before it went bad.  

Oh I know...lets take this healthy bowl of fruit and make it into a not-so-healthy-but-incredibly-creamy-and-delicious-ice cream.  Yep.

 Triple Berry Ice Cream
4 cups of berries (I used blackberries, strawberries and blueberries)
Juice of 1 lemon
1-1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups half and half
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
5 egg yolks, room temperature


Add the berries, lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar to a medium saucepan. Cook for 20-25 minutes on low, until the mixture has thickened and the berries have broken down.  Strain the berry mixture through a fine mesh sieve and set aside.


In a separate saucepan, heat the half and half with the remaining 1 cup of sugar.  Do not let this mixture boil. You are just heating it up.


In a medium sized bowl beat the egg yolks until they are pale yellow in color and a little thick.  While whisking, slowly pour in the warm half and half mixture.  Once you've added all of the half and half to the eggs, pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick.  You can test this by dipping a spoon into the mixture, and running your finger across it.  If your finger mark remains, it's ready.


In a large bowl add the cream, and berry puree together.  Strain the egg mixture with a fine mesh sieve and add it to the rest of the cream and fruit.  Place the bowl with the ice cream base into a larger bowl.  Put ice cold water into the larger bowl, but be careful not to get any water into the ice cream base.  This just helps the ice cream base cool down faster.  Place in the fridge and allow to chill until it is very cold.  Mix ice cream according to your machine's instructions.  Place in an air tight container and store in the freezer.

You're welcome.

Crispy BBQ Chicken Balls with Cheddar and Caramelized Onions

I have been using my crockpot religiously this summer. It's been unbearably hot in Chicago and the last thing I want to do is use the oven.

The crockpot is sooo easy.  This is how I make chicken.  I put the chicken (I like chicken thighs, bone in, skin on) into a crockpot, season with salt and pepper, put the lid on, set the crockpot to high, and let it cook for about 3-1/2 to 4 hours. The chicken cooks in its own juice, and will be falling off the bone tender.  When it's done cooking, you can remove the bone very easily, and the skin.  Drain the liquid, then use tongs to shred the meat, which will be very easy to do at this point.  Then add your favorite BBQ sauce (about 1 cup), or tomato sauce, or whatever. Chicken is done! So simple right?  **If you want to use boneless meat, cook time will be about 2 to 2-1/2 hours.

I made this recipe with left over BBQ chicken that I had made in the crockpot.  It is similar to these chicken balls I made before, with just a few tweaks.  My fiance gobbled these up fast.

Crispy BBQ Chicken Balls with Cheddar and Caramelized Onions
2 cups left over BBQ chicken, shredded
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 onion, sliced and caramelized
salt and pepper
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup cream, or milk, or half and half
1-1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 tsp smoked paprika

Combine BBQ chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and caramelized onions.  Allow mixture to chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.  While its chilling, get 3 medium sized bowls.  In one bowl add the flour, in a second bowl add the eggs and cream (or milk or half and half), and in a third bowl add the bread crumbs and paprika.  Mix the bread crumbs and paprika, and mix the eggs and cream.  Season the flour mixture with salt and pepper.

Once the chicken mixture is chilled slightly, using an ice cream scoop for 2 inch balls and set on a plate. Next dredge the chicken balls through the flour, then egg mixture, then ending with bread crumbs.  Set on a cookie tray, and drizzle with olive oil.  Once you've dredged all of the balls, place them in the oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until the balls are hot, the cheese is melted and the bread crumbs are golden brown.

Serve along side ranch or blue cheese dressing for dunking.

Look at that gooey bite!