Apple Pizza

Here is a simple brunch idea that is simple.  A group was talking about apple pie for breakfast the other day and I guess this is pretty close to it.  You can also use the caramel sauce recipe from yesterday.

Apple Pizza

9 inch rolled out pie crust

2/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

4 medium apples (I'm  using my canned apples or you can use apple pie filling and skip the sugar, flour and cinnamon)

Topping

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup salted butter

Drizzle 

1/2 cup caramel topping (use the recipe I posted yesterday)

  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll your pastry to fit a 12 inch pizza pan.  Fold under edges to give the pizza a bit of a raised crust. Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add peeled, diced apples and toss. Arrange the apples in a single layer over the pie crust to completely cover it or use the canned pie filling.

For your  topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and butter in a bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle topping evenly over the apples.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until apples are tender. Remove from oven and immediately drizzle with caramel topping. Cut into pizza slices. Makes 12 servings.

I love this because I can use up some of my canned apples and I'm using the store bought pie crust to save time and work. 

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday.  Be happy and may God bless you and yours.  

Hot Fudge and Caramel Sauces

With weather getting nicer each day, thought I would share a hot fudge and caramel recipe with you to use to  top your ice cream or other desserts.  These are simple and easy.  Your family is going to love you.  

Hot Fudge

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk

1/3 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar and cocoa in sauce pan over medium heat. Add evaporated milk and corn syrup. Cook until boil over medium heat. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla.  Store in a mason jar in the refrigerator and heat in microwave when you need it.

Variation - I have also used a little brown sugar and it gives a completely different taste to the sauce.  Use 1/2 sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar and see which one you like the best.  I like them both.

Caramel Sauce

2 cups light brown sugar

6 tablespoons butter

2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons vanilla

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat whisking occasionally.  Cook for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and add vanilla.  Whisk to combine and return to heat for another minute until thickened.  Store in a mason jar in the refrigerator and heat in microwave when you need it.  

Tomorrow I'll share an apple pizza with you for your Sunday buffet that you can pour the hot caramel sauce over.  

Have a great Saturday.  Be happy and may God bless you and yours.  

Tators

I was raised on meat and potatoes.  I have said this before but it still stands.   I have never met a potato I did not like.  I thought I would share a couple of easy potato recipes with you that take potatoes over the top.  

Potato Rounds

½ inch slices of baking potatoes

Butter

Salt & pepper

8 slices of cooked bacon

8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Green onions or chives

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush both sides of the potato slices with melted butter; place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown on both sides, turning halfway through cooking time. When the potatoes are done, top with the bacon, cheese, and green onions. Put the cookie sheet back in the oven until the cheese is melted. 

Seafood Potato Appetizers

Small new potatoes

Mild salsa to taste

½ cup sour cream

Chopped chives 

5 pre-cooked slices of bacon 

1/4 cup cream cheese 

1 Tsp. lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

¾  Pound shredded thawed frozen shrimp (drain well)

Tiny shrimp 

Cut the potatoes in half. Put them in a bowl with some olive oil and toss with some salt and pepper.  Bake at 400 degree until the potatoes are golden and crispy.  Let them cool. With a melon baller, scoop out the middle without going all the way through, so you have a small  bowl.  Mix salsa, shrimp,  bacon and cream cheese and sour cream mixture.  Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste  Fill the potatoes with shrimp mixture. Top with one tiny shrimp and sprinkle with chives.  

Potato Bites 

This is similar to the stuffed shrimp potatoes but they have a bite to them.

12 baby red potatoes

3 tbs. butter

1/2 cup chopped red onion

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 medium sized fresh jalapenos, seeded and chopped

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

4 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped (you can leave this out if you are vegetarian)

1/2 tsp Kosher or sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Bake your potatoes like above until they are crispy.  Cut them in half and scoop out the potato. Save the scooped out potato to add to your mixture.  Mash it up.

In a pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook until they are beginning to caramelize.  Add the jalapenos cooking until jalapenos are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add the cream cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat and add the mashed potato middles until combined. Return to heat and add the bacon, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and stir until cheese is melted. Allow the mixture to cool a bit and fill the potatoes. Serve warm.

These have always been a hit when I served them. 

Hope you day is a hit.  Be happy and may God bless you and yours.  

Thai Soup

I love Thai food.  There is a restaurant in the QC called Exotic Thai on 53rd that is wonderful.  They have take out too.  I like that most of Thai food has heat, but not too much heat.

I wanted to make some Thai soup but can't find many of the ingredients in little Maquoketa so decided to improvise.  I bought these products with the idea of combining the two and adding chicken broth and left over shrimp for a shrimp Thai soup.  As I was reading the instructions to make it, I see the product is made in China.  I have to read my labels better in the future.  I've had it before but never noticed.  The soup turned out well and I liked it, but I just can't justify buying the product again with the history of safety of food from China.

Here is a good Thai soup recipe should you be in the big city and you can pick up the ingredients.  You can substitute some of the ingredients and usually have to with the lemon grass.

1 pound frozen small shrimp (no shells and tails to make it easy to eat)

8 cups water

1 inch ginger

Lemon zest 

1 cup shiitake mushrooms (or mushroom of your choice)

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 pound Thai noodles

1 lime juiced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

1/2 cup green onions

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Thai birdseye chilies (sliced thinly crosswise)

2 tablespoons fish sauce (I don't use because I can't justify buying for the few times I'd use it)

3 tablespoons roasted red chili paste (optional for extra heat)

2 stalks lemongrass (peeled and chopped, or lemon zest)

Bring the broth, lemon grass, ginger root and lemon to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.   If you are using large shrimp with shells, add just the shells and tails here.  I don't like to clean shrimp, so purchase it cleaned.  Strain for just the broth. 

Simmer the broth, shiitake mushrooms, chili flakes, chilies, fish sauce and roasted chili paste for 20 minutes.

Add noodles as directed on package.  Add the shrimp to the soup and simmer until cooked, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove the soup from the heat and add lime juice and cilantro.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with the chopped green onions.

The moral of the story is to read your labels.  I'll try to do better in the future.

Have a great day, be happy and may God bless you and yours.

Avocado Shrimp Salad

I bought some avocados this week and I need to use them up because they are ready to eat.  I also have some frozen small shrimp in the freezer so I am thinking an avocado and shrimp salad.  Nice thing about a salad is that you get to use up what you have.  This would be nice with tomatoes or cucumbers, but I only have radishes so they are going in to add a little heat and color.  I like to make my own dressings so I'm sharing one with you.  If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use a regular milk and the vinegar in the recipe will make it a faux buttermilk.  That is what I had to do today. 

1 bag small cooked shrimp

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Lettuce or lettuce mix

2 ripe avocados

And what ever other veggie you have in the veggie drawer

Dressing

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons buttermilk (or 3 tablespoons of milk)

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 finely chopped garlic clove

Place the thawed shrimp in a bowl and add the lemon juice and olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper and toss to coat. I try to keep a bag of small shrimp in the freezer for a soups or salads.  

Make the dressing by combining the olive oil, buttermilk, vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, and garlic in the blender.  You may use garlic powder to taste if you like, but I keep a jar of finely chopped garlic in the refrigerator for just such occasions. Process the dressing until smooth and creamy.

Divide your lettuce and veggies on serving plates. Top with shrimp and drizzle with the dressing.  It looks good enough to eat. 

Tomorrow I will use the left over shrimp in a Thai soup I think.

It is raining here again today.  We need the ground water though so I'm not complaining here.  That rain is greening up my grass and will bring me my May flowers.  Have a great day, be happy and may God bless you and yours.  

3 Desserts in One

You can make one large Macaroon brown recipe below and or you can make 3 different recipes.  Sal and I made 3 different desserts Sunday, keeping his brother Saylor and my mom in mind in doing so.  Saylor has to have gluten free so we made the brownie mix with my chocolate crinkle cookie recipe (with soy flour) and made cookies for Saylor.  My mom loves coconut so we made her macaroons.  With ½ the cookie dough we made the brownie bottoms.  Since we only made 12 brownies, we had left over coconut filling so we made faux Almond Joy candy for mom.  I’ll begin with my cookie recipe which is real close to a brownie recipe.  I have shared this before, but I’ll save you looking it up or you may use a box brownie mix and skip this entirely.

Chocolate Crinkle Recipe

This is Saylor's favorite cookie and we make them quite often.  You would never know that they are gluten and dairy free.  

½ cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

2 cups flour (for Saylor we use soy flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup powdered sugar

Mix oil, chocolate, granulated sugar and vanilla. Stir in eggs. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hours.

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet with cooking spray or use a silt pad.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar; roll around to coat and shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.  I use the palm of my hand and press them down a little.

Bake 12 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched lightly in center. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.  Do not over cook.  They will be like moist brownies inside. 

We used half this dough and made the coconut brownies first and still had enough left over to make 16 large cookies for Saylor.

Chocolate Almond Macaroon Brownies

This is so extremely easy and makes an outstanding dessert for coconut lovers. 

1 box of family size chocolate fudge brownie mix or my dough above

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (14 oz.) bag coconut

2 Tbs. heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate but you may use milk chocolate)

1/4 cup almonds (or nuts of your choice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line regular sized cupcake pan with paper liners.

Make brownies according to package directions or as directed above in the cookie recipe.  Put the batter only half way up the liners. Because it is quite thick, we used a little water on our hands to pat it down to the bottoms of the liners.

Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes. While they are baking, mix the coconut, sweetened condensed milk, cream and vanilla together.

Remove brownies from oven.  Take a spoon and push down the centers of the brownie.  Spoon in a large teaspoon of some of the sweetened coconut mix.

Place back in oven and continue to bake an additional 14 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow them to cool completely. 

Top with the almonds.

Melt your chocolate chips in a double boiler and put in a small baggie.  Cut the tip off of the baggie and drizzle on the chocolate. 

If you choose to make these into bite sized, make sure you cut the baking time in half and watch them closely.

Faux Almond Joy Macaroons

½ of your coconut filling

Or if you just want to make the macaroons:

1 packages sweetened coconut (7 ounces each)

½ can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon heavy cream

½ teaspoons vanilla

½  package of chocolate chips

½  bag of almonds (whole or slivered)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Mix all ingredients together. Spoon out dough with a small ice cream scoop or spoon. Put on parchment lined cookie sheet or silt pad. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Melt a package chocolate chips in a double boiler (I used semi-sweet but you can use milk chocolate).  I used an entire bag and used half for these bars and ½ for the brownies.  I put it in baggies and drizzled it on both after I had topped with slivered almonds and they had cooled.

Making a mess in the kitchen and 3 desserts was a lot of fun with Sal.  I hope you enjoy as much as we did.  Be happy and may God bless you and yours.  

Chicken and Grape Skewers

I had one of those wonderful grilled rib-eye steaks at the bakery Friday and it has got me in the mood for grilling.  It was getting nice enough to grill outside but it is raining the next couple of days so guess I’ll have to grill inside.  That will work too.  These beautiful huge grapes were on sale at Fareway’s this week so here is a simple great recipe for the inside grill or outside. 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into ¾ inch cubes

8 (10-inch) skewers

1 1/2 cups seedless green grapes

Cooking spray

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Fresh chopped mint or parsley for garnish

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, cumin,  and salt. Add the chicken to the marinade and toss to coat. Marinate the chicken for 20 minutes. While the chicken is marinating, soak the skewers in water if wooden.

Thread 4 pieces of the chicken and 4 grapes onto the skewers, alternating them. Spray a  prepared grill. Grill the chicken until cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Sprinkle with fresh mint, chives or parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

Tomorrow I'll share a basic recipe that Sal and I made 3 different desserts out of this weekend.  If you like coconut, and I do, you'll like this one. 

Happy grilling.  Be happy and may God bless you and yours.