Game Day Snacks

First of all, WAY TO GO GIANTS!!!

So even though it was just me and my husband watching the Superbowl yesterday, I still wanted to try making some small snacks for us.  I made the following two recipes.  The first I thought looked like fun and the second one I knew would be killer since I'd had it on several occasions before. 

Oh, and I would have had pictures of my culinary creations as usual except that I napped until the game started.  So as the food was ready I didn't want to distract my attention from it to photograph the food.  D'oh!  You'll have to take my word for it - these two dishes looked (and of course tasted) yummy.

TORTILLA PINWHEELS

Based on the original recipe found here. 

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz sour cream
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
4 oz can diced green chilies, drained
4 oz can chopped black olives, drained
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. chopped green onions
Garlic powder, to taste
Seasoned Salt, to taste
5-10" flour tortillas

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix all filling ingredients together, except tortillas. Divide filling and spread evenly over tortillas; roll up tortillas.

2. Roll each tortilla up in plastic wrap, twisting the ends. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

3. Unwrap; cut into slices. Lay pinwheels flat on glass serving plate.

Makes 50 Pinwheels


GAME DAY DIP

This recipe comes to me courtesy of my cousin Donna.  This is something she always used to make when I would visit her in Boston (too bad about those Patriots).  We would scrape the whole dish completely clean, practically licking it - although we didn't because that's just poor manners. 

It's great to serve when you have guests, but you have to be careful not to eat it all the time or your waistline will complain.  It's not forgiving on the calories!  But for a Superbowl event like yesterday, it's well worth cracking it out.

INGREDIENTS:

1 8oz package of shredded cheddar cheese (or cheddar-Jack blend)
1 15.5oz jar of salsa (I like Tostitos HOT)
1 8oz package of cream cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using either a 9" glass pie plate or 8x8" glass dish, spread the cream cheese evenly on the bottom. 

Pour the salsa on top of the cream cheese.

Empty the package of shredded cheese to cover the salsa.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese bubbles. Be careful - it will be LAVA hot!


PERSONAL NOTES:

I used reduced fat items wherever I could. It still tasted ridiculously rich and decadent.  Perfect for watching the game - or anything for that matter. (And it goes pretty nice with a good glass of red wine :')

Blueberry Muffins (with Streusel)

Another Saturday morning I had the luxury of spending with my husband, rather than running off to teach a yoga class.  Since neither of us had the drive to trudge up the street for freshly made bagels, I volunteered to make blueberry muffins.  I made them 3 different ways; sans blueberries, with blueberries and blueberries with a cinnamon-sugar streusel topping.

The recipe is based on this one from food.com

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS (with some STREUSEL thrown in)

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup butter or ½ cup margarine , at room temp

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup milk

2 ½ cups fresh blueberries or 2 ½ cups frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS:
 

Heat oven to 375°.

Grease 18 regular-size muffin cups (or 12 large size muffins) 

In bowl, mix butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.

Beat in vanilla, baking powder and salt

With spoon, fold in half of flour then half of milk into batter; repeat.

Fold in blueberries.

Spoon into muffin cups.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and springy to touch.

Makes 18 muffins.

PERSONAL NOTES:

The original recipe called for granulated sugar and nutmeg as a topping.  I decided to go for a streusel-type topping.  While it tastes good, it looks far from perfect.  I think I put too much butter in it so it made the cinnamon-sugar mix melt quite a bit. 

My topping mix: 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbl butter

That ought to do it in terms of the amount of butter.

(as you can see in this picture, LOTS of butter! Probably too much...)

Game Day Pretzels

I used to have a pretzel recipe that my mom gave me but of course I can't locate it.  She used to make these killer pretzels with her food processor.  Since I thought pretzels would be a good thing to snack on for Sunday's Superbowl, I once again trolled online to find a suitable recipe.  And I found it.  Unfortunately, they didn't come out so pretty, but I'm just really out of practice.  It's gotta be about 12 years since I made them last.  Regardless of how they look, they are super tasty!

Recipe is once again courtesy of allrecipes.com and can be found here. 

GAME DAY PRETZELS

(I made a couple of them as pretzel twists.  YUMMY!)

INGREDIENTS:

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

 (These guys were shaped properly, but I didn't anticipate they'd rise so much while baking.  D'oh! But they still taste wonderful!!!)

PERSONAL NOTES:

One BIG note I have to mention is to add LESS flour!  Yes, the directions say to make a well with the dry ingredients and add the yeast/oil to it.  However... you will probably want to withhold about ONE CUP of flour and then slowly add it in as you're mixing.  When I did it, I ended up having to add several tablespoons of water which I think is just more complicated.  Withhold some flour and move forward from there.

Right as they came out of the oven I brushed melted butter on them.  Then I very lightly sprinkled the kosher salt to taste.  These are ridiculoulsy easy to make!

Just one more thing to remember: when rolling out each piece into the pretzel shape, be sure to allow for it to rise!  You may want to roll out at least 18" pieces.

Zucchini Souffle with Monterey Jack Cheese

As some of you may already know, I've been on a quiche-souffle-frittata kick lately.  So that's where this next recipe comes from; my desire to continue with some really tasty dishes.  Obviously, I like working with what I know is good, but changing it up here and there to experiment with different flavors and textures.  I have a spinach/mushroom/mascarpone frittata-quiche I'm looking to make later this week too.  YUM.

Anyway, this recipe, the Zucchini Souffle with Monterey Jack Cheese isn't exactly a true souffle.  I have a small issue with that.  Why do people call a dish a souffle when it's so obviously a quiche?  I don't get it, but regardless, this is tasty.

The original recipe can be found here on allrecipes.com


ZUCCHINI SOUFFLE WITH MONTEREY JACK CHEESE

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups shredded zucchini

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon melted butter

4 eggs

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese 

1/4 cup all-purpose biscuit baking mix 

DIRECTIONS:
Toss the zucchini and salt together and place into a colander set in the sink. Allow to drain for 1 hour, then squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with the melted butter.

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl with the pepper, garlic powder, and parsley. Stir in the zucchini, Monterey Jack cheese, and baking mix until combined. Pour into the prepared casserole dish.

Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven until set and golden brown on top, 45 minutes to 1 hour. The souffle is done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 6 servings and is approximately 130 calories :)

PERSONAL NOTES:

I made this almost exactly as the recipe stated.  The changes I made to it were adding: 1 sliced shallot and 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on top).  Also, I didn't have any Bisquick or "all-purpose biscuit baking mix" the recipe called for, so I used 1/3 cup flour and added 2 teaspoons of baking powder.  As you can see from the photos, the quiche (or souffle, if you must) came out splendidly. 

Oh, and by the way, it's really yummy.  This is a keeper.

Chocolate Swirls

These Chocolate Swirls are not as tasty as the Marble Cookies were that I made for the holidays.  They're not bad, they taste fine, but I'm not crazy about the consistency of them.  They seem a little chewier than they ought to be. 

CHOCOLATE SWIRLS

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


In large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in cream cheese, egg, and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; mix into creamed mixture to form a soft dough. Fold in the melted chocolate until the dough is just marbled. Do not over mix. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are light golden brown. Cool completely before storing.

PERSONAL NOTES:

I used a mini ice cream scooper (the size about 1 tbls) to scoop the batter onto the cookies sheet.  It's just easier.  I highly recommend investing in one of these; they come in mighty handy.

Cheese Souffle

I'd always been curious about souffles and why they were challenging to make.  So I decided to try out this recipe for a cheese souffle.  As I was making it, I had an "A-ha!" moment.  I totally got how they work.  I might say it's having common sense.  *However*, if you're cooking-challenged (or just don't have enough experience yet), there are some things you might not realize.  And that's OK.  I'll let you in on the secrets I learned. 

Before I go further, I have to say that I tried this souffle with very high hopes.  Unfortunately I wasn't "wow'd" by the results.  For starters, the flavor was bland - even despite using a sharp cheddar.  It did have some kick with the added cayenne, but overall I felt "meh" about it.  On top of that, the consistency, while light, almost reminded me of scrambled eggs.  Which I don't like.  Ick.

What I ended up doing rather unintentionally, was making another souffle - this time with zucchini.  Initially I thought I'd try a different one and the zucchini caught my eye but as I was going through the recipe I was confused by mixing in the eggs and adding baking powder.  I mean... isn't that opposite of what a true souffle is?  That sounds to me more like a quiche.  Or a frittata.

Anyhow, I made the second souffle by adding shredded zucchini and it was SO MUCH better than the plain cheese souffle.  It added just enough flavor and a really nice contrast with the texture.  The zucchini made this recipe a keeper. 

CHEESE SOUFFLE

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons butter or margarine 

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

dash cayenne pepper

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded Cheddar or Swiss cheese 

4 eggs, separated

DIRECTIONS:

In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, mustard and cayenne until smooth; gradually add the milk. bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cheese until melted. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Pour into four greased 10-oz. souffle dishes or custard cups. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve immediately.

CHEESE & ZUCCHINI SOUFFLE*

*For the Cheese & Zucchini Souffle, just add a pound of shredded zucchini (about one medium zucchini).

PERSONAL NOTES:

As I mentioned above, the cheese souffle was boring.  Meh.  But once I added zucchini to the mix it was MUCH better.  I'd make this one again, for sure.

The secret to successful souffles is timing, when it all boils down to it.  I set everything up in advance - all ingredients measured out and ready to go.  It makes things much easier.

When mixing the ingredients on the stove, keep stirring!  Don't stop.  Take the pot off the heat, add the cheese and zucchini and allow it to cool down just a little bit. 

At the same time, start whipping the egg white.  As the mixer is going, start spooning bit by bit the souffle mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks.  Transfer back to the pot.  Gradually fold in the egg whites.  This is where it can get dicey.  Mix it ONLY UNTIL BLENDED. You don't want to mix the egg whites too much or they'll lose their "air".  The end result to that is, after putting the souffle into the oven; baked bricks.

So to ensure fluffy souffles that rise, do NOT over-mix the egg whites into the pot.  Moving quickly, scoop the mixture into ramekins (oiled or sprayed) and place into the oven.  Watch the clock to make sure you don't over cook them either. 

It might sound like a bit of work, but once you get these basics down, the rest will really be easy.

Peanut Chocolate Chip Muffins

So... I'm not a huge fan of most things peanut butter.  I don't know why.  Peanut butter itself is quite nice and I've been known to put down a lot of it in the past.  But when it comes to cookies, candies or pastries, it's just not something I "do".  However, in an effort to try out different recipes with things I don't have all the time, I decided to give these a go.  Don't get me wrong; they're tasty and they came out just fine.  Peanut butter just isn't my thing.

Anyhow, the original recipe is here.  It's specified for mini muffins which I adapted to regular sized muffins.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

2/3 cup chunky peanut butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. In another bowl, combine the egg, milk, peanut butter, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined miniature muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Makes as dozen muffins.