How to Reheat Leftovers, from Pizza to Pasta to Eggs – Bon Appétit.
We all end up with lots of leftovers in our refrigerator day after day and never seem to know how to re-heat them so people will want to eat them again. I am actually making leftovers tonight, so some of these tips from Bon Appetit about the best way to re-heat leftovers will really come in handy. Check it out!
Admittedly, this seems like an out of the ordinary pizza, and I guess it is, but once you try it you will see just how delicious it can be. Making your own pizza at home is a pretty easy thing to do and costs a lot less than going to your local pizza place or getting delivery pizza, and you get to control the ingredients that go into it. You can make your own pizza dough, as I do often, or you can buy pre-made dough at most grocery stores and it is pretty inexpensive. This recipe is from Bon Appetit and is perfect for those who want a vegetarian pizza or those who like a pizza without any tomato sauce.
Brussels Sprouts Pizza
2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for brushing and drizzling
1 large onion, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed, leaves removed
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 store-bought pizza dough or Food Processor Pizza Dough
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened and turned golden, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts, chopped garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes and cook until the Brussels sprouts are wilted, about 5 minutes. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, remove the skillet from the heat and set it aside.
Lightly flour a rimmed baking sheet and stretch the pizza dough to the edges of the baking sheet. Lightly brush the dough with some olive oil and season the dough with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Top the dough with 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, then the Brussels sprouts mixture followed by the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.
Bake the pizza until the dough is crisp and the cheese is melted, about 8 to 12 minutes. Allow the pizza to cool for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve the pizza drizzled with some more olive oil.
I think this pizza had great flavor to it. The Brussels sprouts and onions went together perfectly and the red pepper flakes just gave the whole pizza a hint of heat. You could always leave the crushed red pepper flakes out of the dish completely if you did not want any heat to it. I personally enjoyed it, but Michelle and Sean both said they would just as soon leave it out. I also made a plain cheese pizza to go along with this one and I am glad I did since there was none left of this particular pie. I was surprised Sean liked it so much since Brussels sprouts aren’t always high on everyone’s list, let alone a 13-year old, but he really liked it. I’ll definitely have to keep this one on hand because it is great to make if you need a vegetarian meal or just a pizza with no sauce.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
This may be my absolute favorite soup. Beef and barley soup offers up everything I like about a soup. Rich, hearty stock, flavor meat and vegetables and the barley just seems to pull it all together to make a fantastic meal overall. We made a batch of this soup a week or so ago and froze leftovers just so we could have it again another time. I actually made my own beef stock to make this one using the prime rib bones I had from the holidays so the stock had even better flavor and I didn’t need to follow the stock recipe that is included in this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. If you don’t have your own beef stock, try making this one because it will help add a good depth of flavor to the stock beyond what you get from any store-bought stock.
Beef and Barley Soup
For the Stock:
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound 85 percent lean ground beef
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
8 cups water
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 large celery rib, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons salt
2 bay leaves
For the Soup:
1 pound sirloin steak tips, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup pearl barley
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
To prepare the stock, heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the mushrooms and the chopped onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is browned and a golden brown fond has formed on the bottom of the pot, about 8 to 12 minutes. Stir in the ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until the meat is no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the red wine, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until it is nearly evaporated, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the 8 cups of water, the chopped carrot, celery, soy sauce, salt and bay leaves and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, skimming as needed, until the stock tastes rich and flavorful, about 1 1/2 hours. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer and discard the solids. Allow the stock to settle for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the fat from the stock by skimming with a wide, shallow spoon or using a fat separator. Set the stock aside.
To prepare the soup, pat the sirloin steak tips dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is well browned, about 5 to 7 minutes, reducing the heat if the pot is beginning to scorch. transfer the browned meat to a medium bowl and repeat the process with 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and the remaining beef. transfer the second batch of browned meat to the bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil to the now-empty Dutch oven and heat over medium heat until it is shimmering. Add the cremini mushrooms and the chopped onion and cook until they are softened, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic clove and the thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the all-purpose flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the red wine, scraping up any browned bits and cook until the wine is nearly evaporated, about 1 minute.
Stir in the reserved beef stock, the drained diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, pearl barley, bay leaves and the meat along with any accumulated meat juices in the bowl. Bring the mixture to a boil then cover, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the meat, barley and vegetables are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.
Off the heat, remove the bay leaves. Stir in the fresh minced parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.
A couple of quick notes about the recipe. If you don’t want to cook with the red wine, leave it out or substitute water or extra beef stock. You might lose a bit of flavor but not that much. I used plain white mushrooms instead of cremini because I can’t always get cremini around here. even if you don’t really like mushrooms, they really do add some great flavor to this soup so you should try to keep them in. Michelle doesn’t like to eat mushrooms, but we still use them for the flavor and she eats around them. You also want to make sure you cut everything to uniform sizes so it all cooks evenly. One thing to know about any leftovers or if you are cooking this ahead of time – barley will keep absorbing liquid as it sits, so be prepared for that. It’s best to eat this the same day you make it or know you will have to add stock when you re-heat and the barley will be a bit bloated. Other than that, this is a great filling soup that everyone seems to enjoy and it is one of my favorites every time.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then,enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
This particular recipe actually dates back to just before Christmas when we had a big snowstorm and we decided to make cookies all day. This was one the Michelle and Sean had picked out that Michelle had picked up online from Martha Stewart. It is for chocolate crackle cookies and while they were a great holiday cookie, I think they would be awesome for just about anytime of year and they were not hard to make at all. All you need is a handful of ingredients and the time to put them together and you can be dipping these in your milk or hot chocolate in just a few minutes.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for rolling
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Chop the bittersweet chocolate into small bits and melt it over medium heat in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Set it aside to cool. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until they are well combined. Add the melted chocolate. With the mixer on low-speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk until they are just combined. Divide the dough into quarters, wrap it with plastic wrap, and chill it in the refrigerator until it is firm, about 2 hours.
On a clean countertop, roll each portion of the dough into a log approximately 16 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, using confectioners’ sugar to prevent it from sticking. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap, and transfer them to a baking sheet. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Cut each log into 1-inch pieces, and toss each piece in confectioners’ sugar, a few at a time. Using your hands, roll the pieces into a ball shape. If any of the cocoa-colored dough is visible, roll the dough in confectioners’ sugar again to coat it completely. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake until the cookies have flattened and the sugar splits, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Transfer the cookies from the oven to a wire rack to let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
These cookies were delicious with a great chocolate flavor to them. I can tell you that these did not last long around the house and went over pretty well for the holidays. I can see making these again for a party or just as a nice chocolate cookie to have for dessert one night.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another great recipe. There’s still lots of good stuff coming down the road. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
After taking the weekend off to do some other work I am back with a great weeknight meal that I got from Cook’s Country. Weeknight meals can be the worst for busy families. You just feel like you never have enough time to be a home cooked meal on the table with work, school, homework, afterschool activities, chores and more, which can lead us to settling for takeout meals that aren’t good for us and are expensive. I always try to come up with meal ideas that can be made during the typical weeknight fast so it is something you can put together after you get home and have a meal on the table in under an hour. This one fits the bill for speed, taste and it is inexpensive to make. While the recipe calls for boneless pork cutlets, I had 3 bone-in chops on hand and decided to use those instead. It took a few minutes longer to cook because of that, but the taste results were the same to me.
Pork Cutlets with Sweet Potatoes and Maple Pan Sauce
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground cumin
8 (3-ounce) boneless pork cutlets, 1/4-inch thick, trimmed
4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Combine the sweet potatoes, 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper in a large bowl. Cover the potatoes and microwave them until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 7 minutes. Set the bowl of potatoes aside.
Meanwhile, combine the garam masala, cumin, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper in a bowl. Pat the pork cutlets dry with paper towels and season them with the spice mixture. Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it is shimmering. Add 4 of the cutlets to the skillet and cook until they are well browned and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the cutlets to a plate and tent the plate with aluminum foil. Repeat the process with the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and the remaining 4 pork cutlets.
Add the potatoes and garlic to the now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are browned and tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a platter. Add the maple syrup, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar and any accumulated pork juices to the now-empty skillet and simmer over medium heat until the mixture has thickened, about 2 minutes. Transfer the pork cutlets to the platter with the sweet potatoes and pour the sauce from the skillet over the top. Serve.
I really liked the flavor of the sauce and what it added to both the potatoes and the pork. Maple syrup and sweet potatoes just seem to go really well together and it was even better with the spice mixture on the pork. If you do not have garam masala on hand or can’t find it in your local grocery store, you can use a mix of ground coriander, cumin, ground cardamom, pepper and ground cinnamon and get the same flavor. It is a fast recipe that gives you great taste and all you need to do is add a vegetable or a salad and you are good to go with your meal in about 30 minutes.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I have a big work project I am working on right now, so I am going to try to get on here every day if I can to share some more ideas, recipes and more. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
I think chicken thighs have so much more flavor than your standard boneless chicken breast. Of course there is more fat in the thigh, but that does help to get some flavor and you can always take the skin off or buy skinless. Chicken thighs are generally a lot cheaper to buy also and I very often buy a large pack of bone-in chicken thighs so we always have some in the freezer to use for a quick meal. Such was the case last night when I wanted something simple to make for dinner and had taken some thighs out the day before. I decided I wanted to try this simple recipe from Bon Appetit for a citrus marinated chicken thighs. it has just a few ingredients and the prep work and cooking can all be done in under and hour so you can have dinner on the table quickly.
Citrus-Marinated Chicken Thighs
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems only
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 pounds skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
Set aside 1/4 cup of the sliced scallions for later in the recipe. Pulse the cilantro, garlic, lime zest, orange zest, lime juice, orange juice, soy sauce, vegetable oil, kosher salt and the remaining sliced scallions in a food processor or blender until a coarse puree has formed. Set aside 1/4 cup of the marinade for later use. Place the remaining marinade in a large resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken thighs, seal the bag, and turn the bag to coat the chicken well. Chill the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
Preheat the broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place the chicken, skin side down, on a foil lined broiler-safe baking sheet. Discard the marinade. Broil the chicken pieces until they are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken over and continue to broil it skin side up until it is cooked completely through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh registers 165 degrees, about 12 to 15 minutes longer. Serve the chicken with the reserved marinade and the reserved sliced scallions.
You can start to marinade the chicken about 2 hours before if you want to get a bigger head start, but try not to marinade it any longer than that or the chicken will start to break down from the acids. With this recipe you get the really nice crispy skin that is perfect on a piece of chicken. You also get great flavor from the marinade with the scallions, citrus zest, citrus juices and cilantro. The marinade has a pesto look to it and has great flavor. I used some the leftover marinade on my plate to mix with the white rice I had also made to go along with the meal. I also made some corn to round out the meal. I think you could easily use this marinade on other chicken pieces if you preferred drumsticks, wings or even breasts instead of the thighs. You may have to adjust your cooking time accordingly if you use a different piece of chicken, but I think you get great flavor no matter what.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Since it is winter and plenty cold enough around here, we have been making a lot of soups and stews lately for dinner. Not only are they warm and hearty but you can get many lunches and dinners out of one batch of soup, which can really help you stretch your budget. If you are going to have soup or stew, it is always nice to have some warm bread or biscuits to go along side of them. I have been making a lot of my own bread, rolls and biscuits lately and this might be the easiest recipe of all of them save using Bisquick to make some drop biscuits. This recipe comes from Bon Appetit and is for cream biscuits. You only need a few ingredients and a little bit of cooking time and you can have some great, easy biscuits with your meal.
Cream Biscuits
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cubed
1 1/2 cups (or more) heavy cream plus more for brushing
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk 4 cups of the all-purpose flour with the sugar, baking powder and kosher salt in a large bowl until blended. Add the chilled butter and blend the mixture with your fingers until pea-size pieces begin to form. Add 1 1/2 cups of the heavy cream; stir the mixture until the dough begins to form, adding more cream by tablespoons if the dough seems too dry. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough to a 3/4-inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter, cut the dough into rounds. Repeat the process until you have used all the dough to make the biscuits.
Transfer the biscuits to a parchment pare-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the biscuits with heavy cream and transfer the baking sheet to the oven. Bake the biscuits until they are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve the biscuits while warm.
These biscuits go great with a lot of different things. They have a wonderful taste thanks to the heavy cream and are incredibly easy to make. As long you have the 6 ingredients on hand you can have these any night of the week without any trouble. These would be perfect for breakfasts as well if you wanted them to go with sausage and gravy or just to use for an egg sandwich or even just with a little bit of jam, jelly or preserves in the morning for a quick breakfast. I plan to make these more often because they are so easy to do.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes as there are always lots of new things going on around here. I also have some things to share that I got for Christmas this year for the kitchen and a new feature I am hoping to start adding to the blog as well. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Just before Christmas I was walking through Home Goods through the aisle where they have spices, sauces and jellies of all kinds and I saw a jar of lingonberry preserves. It’s not something you see at all around this area at any time and I did pick it up and put it in my cart but then upon second thought I put it back .I kept thinking I was never going to use this very often and didn’t really want to spend the extra money on it. Upon hindsight I should have made the purchase when we decided we wanted to make Swedish meatballs on Christmas Eve as an appetizer and I wanted to make them as authentic as possible. I found this recipe from Marcus Samuelsson of Food Network and Red Rooster fame and since he was from Sweden I figured he knew what he was talking about. I ended up having to make a substitution for the lingonberry preserves (more on that later), but the recipe still turned out really well.
Marcus Samuelsson’s Swedish Meatballs
For the meatballs:
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1/3 pound ground chuck or sirloin
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter
For the sauce:
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup lingonberry preserves
2 tablespoons pickle juice
To garnish:
Lingonberry preserves
Quick pickled cucumbers
Combine the bread crumbs and the heavy cream in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened. Set the bowl aside.
Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the red onion and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onion is softened. Remove the skillet from the heat.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, ground veal, ground pork, the sautéed red onion, the honey and the egg and mix everything well with your hands. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the bread crumb and cream mixture to the beef mixture and mix together well. Using wet hands to keep the mixture from sticking to your fingers and hands, shape the mixture into meatballs the size of a golf ball, placing them on a plate lightly moistened with water. When you are done rolling you should have about 24 meatballs in total.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, in batches if necessary, and cook, turning frequently, for about 7 minutes until they are browned on all sides and cooked through. transfer the meatballs to a plate and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet.
Return the skillet to the heat, whisk in the chicken stock, heavy cream, lingonberry preserves and the pickle juice and bring it to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the meatballs to the sauce, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about five minutes until the sauce thickens slightly and the meatballs are heated through.
Okay, a few things about this recipe. I was kicking myself over the lingonberry preserves and did some research online as to what I could use for a substitute. The best recommendation I saw was to try using cranberry preserves, which I was able to get, and I think they added a really nice flavor to the dish. I purchased a package of meatloaf mix that had the ground beef, pork and veal in it already to make the meatballs and everything else I had on hand so we were good to go. Marcus Samuelsson explains in his description of the recipe that comes from his grandmother that the meatballs that she always made were not the perfectly round and shaped meatballs you find in most places but were kind of lumpy and misshapen. This made me feel better because that is just how mine looked. I think because the mixture is moist and sticky it is hard to shape them perfectly but the taste is sure there. I will definitely be making these again. Unfortunately, I was so busy trying to put it together on Christmas Eve that I never got a picture of them, but I will try to get them next time. Trust me, they are good. I think these would be great as a meal with mashed potatoes or rice.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. It has been so cold here lately we have been making a lot of soups, so I have some other soup recipes to share with everyone. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Okay, Sean has been asking me to make these for almost a year now and I was finally able to get around to making them not that long ago. I had gotten the recipe from America’s Test Kitchen a long time ago and have wanted to give it a try but it does take a little bit of work. Lots of people love to snack on pizza rolls at a party or while watching a football game. They make a great easy snack that you can pop in the oven quickly, but why not try to make some at home without all the added preservatives and ingredients that are in the ones you buy at the store? This recipe covers all of that. I did change one thing along the way. I opted not to fry these and simply baked them in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes and I think they turned out just fine. I have included the frying instructions with the recipe, so the choice is yours as to how you want to make them.
Homemade Crispy Pizza Rolls
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained well, chopped fine, juice reserved
2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil
Salt and pepper
2 (12-ounce) packages wonton wraps
3 quarts vegetable oil for frying
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a fine sieve to dust evenly with about half of the cornstarch. Set a wire rack inside a second baking sheet. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until it is shimmering. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste is a deep rust color, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano, fennel and red pepper flakes and cook until the mixture is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in the tomatoes and the reserved juice, bring to a simmer and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to 1 cup, about 9 to 11 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and refrigerate until it is cold, about 30 minutes. The mixture can be made, refrigerated until cold and covered for up to 2 days at this point.
Stir the cheese and basil into the tomato mixture to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Working with 4 to 6 wonton wrappers at a time, place 1 level teaspoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and press down to flatten. Lightly brush all sides of one wonton wrapper with water to moisten the edges. Fold the bottom half of the wrapper over the filling, then fold the wrapper again and roll it so the seam is down. Press the wonton around the filling to squeeze out the air, then press the edges firmly to seal the wonton.
Transfer the wonton seam side down to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process with more wonton wrappers and filling until all of the filling is used. Continue to fill the baking sheet and place another piece of parchment paper dusted with cornstarch over those already done to create a second layer. Freeze the pizza rolls until they are firm, about 30 to 60 minutes. The pizza rolls can be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 month at this point.
Add the vegetable oil to a large Dutch oven until it measures 2 inches and heat the oil over medium-high heat until it registers 375 degrees on a candy thermometer. Transfer 14 to 16 pizza rolls to the oil and cook, stirring and flipping occasionally, until they are golden brown, adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain the oil temperature between 350 and 375 degrees, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the pizza rolls to a wire rack. Return the oil to 375 degrees and repeat with the remaining pizza rolls. Alternatively, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the pizza rolls on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake until they are golden brown, about 20 to 30 minutes. Let the pizza rolls cool for 5 minutes and serve with warm marinara sauce, if desired.
If you have had pizza rolls before, you know they are lava hot right out of the oven so make sure you resist the temptation and let them cool for a few minutes before eating. These did have a little bit of a bite to them because of the red pepper flakes, so you may want to cut back or eliminate them if you don’t want the heat. You could also mix things up and add things like some sautéed diced onions, peppers, bits of cooked Italian sausage, pepperoni or just about anything else. They were pretty tasty and I think they came out fine with baking instead of frying. You can avoid using all that oil and get good results this way.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day, stay warm and enjoy your meal!
I am a fan of Irish cream and an even bigger fan of coffee,so something that can bring the two together is bound to be pretty tasty right? When we were on the lookout for Christmas cookies this year this is one of the recipes that we came across during our hunt and I knew we had to give them a try if for no other reason than I liked the way they sounded. A coffee flavored sugar cookie with and Irish cream butter cream meringue on top? Yes please! The recipe originally comes from the Cooking Channel and Nealey Dozier.
Irish Cream and Coffee Cookies
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coffee extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned in and leveled)
3 tablespoons finely ground coffee (not instant)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Irish Cream Italian Meringue Buttercream:
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 egg whites
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur, such as Bailey’s Irish Cream
1/2 teaspoon or more coffee extract
Chocolate-covered espresso beans, for garnish
Place a rectangular sheet of parchment or wax paper on a clean surface. Pat the dough out into a rectangular shape on top of it. Cover with another sheet of parchment and roll the dough to 1/4- to 1/2-inch thickness. Remove the top sheet of parchment and transfer the dough to a baking sheet. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Cut the dough into rounds (or desired shape) using cookie or biscuit cutters. Transfer the cutouts to the baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Gather the scraps, roll again and cut out more rounds (refrigerate to chill the dough if it gets too soft).
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on thickness and shape. Do not let the cookies brown; start checking for doneness early. The finished cookies will have slightly golden brown bottoms, but they will feel very soft and under-baked until they cool. Hold the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the Irish cream Italian meringue buttercream: In a small, heavy saucepan, stir together 1 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup cold water to combine. Heat the mixture on medium-high heat. Dip a pastry brush in water and brush down the sides of the pan to remove any excess sugar, and then partially cover with a lid to prevent crystallization. Cook the sugar mixture until the temperature registers 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
While the sugar mixture is heating, make the meringue. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on high-speed until medium peaks form. Slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes total.
With the mixer running, slowly pour the hot syrup into the meringue. Continue beating at high-speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and beat until the meringue has cooled to room temperature and the bowl is cool to the touch, about 15 minutes.
Begin adding the butter two to three cubes at a time. Increase the mixer speed to high; add the Irish cream liqueur and coffee extract and beat until the butter and liquids are fully incorporated. (The buttercream can be held in the refrigerator for up to one week or frozen for one month.)
Transfer the buttercream frosting to a disposable piping bag fitted with a star or round tip. Pipe a layer of frosting onto each cookie and top with a chocolate-covered espresso bean.
The recipe says it makes about 30 cookies, which we got. I have to tell you, this was a little tricky to do and we had some mishaps and restarts along the way, but the end results are pretty good. Coffee extract may not be easy to find in your area ( I know it isn’t easy in mine) and it took some hunting but we got it. The cookie itself can seem deceiving when you are making it because they are very soft even when they are done. They do harden up once they have cooled but you will keep checking yourself because you swear they aren’t finished. Trust me, when the time is done, they really are done! The meringue needs some careful watching too between making sugar syrup carefully to make sure it doesn’t get too hot and crystallize (which happened and I had to start again) to being convinced the meringue would never hold up because you are adding hot syrup to it (somehow it holds; I am no scientist, but I am glad it worked). The end results though is worth it. I think it is a great tasting cookie. You get great flavor from the cookie itself and the meringue is spectacular.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. There is still lots to come, and I do have some recipes I forgot to take pictures of (sorry about that) but I will still share them anyway, Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Fun, unusual and forgotten designations on our calendar.
Happily Ever After Lives Here
a little bit naughty a little bit nice
Letting Life Lead
Simple and delicious dinner inspiration
onedadskitchen 