Fire Crackers

I threw together these Fire Crackers with a bit of an inspiration, but also with a lot of "I think I'll do this instead...".

It's a great party or get together food, which is perfect because they are also very simple to throw together.  These little crackers can pack some heat, yet they are pretty darn addictive.  I would know.

First off, preheat your oven to 250 degrees.  I started off with one stick of butter plus about 2 or 3 tablespoons.  On a large baking pan, evenly spread out slices of  butter and slip the pan into the oven to melt.  Watch this closely, butter begins to burn very quickly!  Once the butter is melted, add to your baking pan about 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 2 to 3 tablespoons red pepper flakes, 1/2 packet of Ranch dressing mix, 1 teaspoon of parsley, 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder.  This was the point where I just added as I felt it was needed and kinda guesstimated on measurements.  This is definitely a "what you like" type of process.  Mix the butter and spices well.  Add 2.5 cups Cheez-its, 2.5 cups Mini Club crackers, and 2.5 cups Soup and Oyster crackers (or Mini Saltines).  Toss the crackers well, coating evenly with the butter mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes, pulling the pan  out once at 15 minutes to toss the crackers well once again.  Allow the crackers to cool and then store in an airtight glass jar.

Southwest Salad with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

This week for hometeam, our food theme was salad, soup, and sandwiches.  Well, I knew it was my opportunity to try the southwest salad that has been on my mind lately.  I had a couple starting points for my salad, but I ended up changing the ingredients in the dressing just slightly.  My original inspiration is from The Garden Grazer.  I left the dressing off of the salad, intially, so that my lettuce and veggies wouldn't get soggy while it all sat in my cooler during church.  The plan was to toss the salad at hometeam right before we ate.  Unfortunately, hometeam was cancelled at the last minute.  :(  I left the ingredients separate because this was a huge salad to toss for just us, and again I didn't want everything soggy.  We're just adding a bit of dressing as we make individual bowls for  now.  I must say... This is a delicious salad and loaded with good stuff.  Even the dressing, since the base is Greek yogurt and avocado!

Salad Ingredients:
1 head Romaine lettuce
1 orange bell pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes
5 green onions
15 ounces black beans, drained and rinsed
12 ounces Mexi-corn, drained
Santa Fe Style tortilla strips

Avocado Cilantro Dressing Ingredients:
1 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 avocado
juice from 1/2 lime
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
olive oil
sea salt to taste

Directions:
In a small food processor or blender, add all dressing ingredients, except olive oil, and blend well.  The original recipe called for 1/4 cup olive oil, but because I had changed the dynamics a bit with the added avocado, I wasn't sure how much oil would be needed.  I just began drizzling it in and blending.  I'd stop and check the consistency and add more olive oil as needed.

Coarsely chop the veggies and layer in a large bowl.  Toss in black beans and Mexi-corn.  Just before serving, toss in the tortilla strips and dressing.  You'll want to start with a large enough bowl that you can toss the salad well, making sure the lettuce and veggies are nicely coated.

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Baked Stuffed Avocados

I've seen a few variations of these avocados floating around, but when I set out to make them yesterday afternoon, I totally winged it.  I thought they turned out really well and were a perfect compliment to Taco Soup (recipe coming soon!).  There was little to no measuring as I tossed this together, but I'll give some ballpark measurements below.

First, I sliced two avocados and removed the pits.  I made little boats out of a large muffin tin and aluminum foil for the avocados to sit in.  I was afraid of the avocados tipping/rollling over as they were coming in and out of the oven -- it worked pretty well.  I chopped up a couple handfuls of grape tomatoes and tossed them in a bowl with a few drizzles of olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and dried basil.  Once those were nicely coated, I dropped in a couple handfuls of Panko bread crumbs, as well as about a handful and half of Parmesan cheese.  I mixed these well, to be sure the bread crumbs and cheese were coated also.  I baked these for 5 minutes at 450 degrees and then turned the broiler on for about 2 more minutes.  Watch these closely, as I'm pretty sure they could go from golden to toasted in seconds.

Sunday Supper -- Mini Monte Cristos and Farmhouse Salad

This past Christmas, I tried a new recipe for Mini Monte Cristos and well... they were a hit.  I adapted my recipe from the PET Evaporated Milk website, so I'll detail my adaption below.  Traditionally, Monte Cristos are made with Swiss cheese, but I substitute with Provolone.  They are also commonly sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with raspberry jam.  While they are insanely good this way, my family would prefer them with a Honey Mustard Dip (I've given this recipe before with my Pretzel Bites, but I'll reprint it below).  Tonight, I made up a batch of these little guys and paired them with what I have named a Farmhouse Salad with homemade Ranch Dressing.  Sit tight.  This is going to be a long post with a lot of goodness.  :)


Mini Monte Cristos

Ingredients:
8 slices soft white bread
8 very thin slices, fully cooked ham
8 very thin slices, fully cooked turkey
8 very thin slices, Provolone cheese
2 large eggs
1 (12 ounce) can PET Evaporated Milk
1 cup Hungry Jack Complete Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix (Just Add Water)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
oil for deep frying

Directions:
Trim the crusts off each slice of bread (this is totally optional -- I've done it both with and without crust and either way works just as well) and then flatten the slices with a rolling pin.  Layer each slice of bread with one slice of ham, one slice of turkey, and one slice of cheese.  Roll each "half sandwich" into a tight log and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.  Chill the sandwich logs for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat 1.5 inches oil in a deep skillet.  Whisk egg, evaporated milk, Hungry Jack mix, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl until smooth.  Unwrap each sandwich log and insert 4 toothpicks in even increments.  Slice the logs into 4 equal pieces with a sharp knife.

Working with a few pieces at a time, soak each piece in the batter for about 15 seconds.  Fry in hot oil for 1 to 1.5 minutes or until golden brown; turn frequently.  Drain on papertowls.

Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree oven.  Suggestions:  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with Raspberry Jam.  Or serve with Honey Mustard (recipe below).

Honey Mustard

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:
Whisk together ingredients until smooth.  Store covered in the refrigerator.


Farmhouse Salad

I call this a Farmhouse Salad because it's a bit of everything fresh that you have laying around, plus some other goodness added in for good measure.  Tonight's addition of Farmhouse Salad included:

Romaine lettuce
spinach
kale
avocado
hard bolied eggs
red bell peppers
red onion
grape tomatoes
cucumber
chick peas
sunflower seeds
croutons
topped with homemade Ranch Dressing (recipe below)


Ranch Dressing
yields one quart

Ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk
1 ounce ranch seasoning mix
2 cups mayonaisse
8 ounces sour cream

Directions:
Whisk together until smooth.  Store covered in refrigerator.

M&M Granola Trail Mix

Around this time of year, several Fall and Holiday type of recipes emerge from our recipe boxes.  They hang around for the rest of the year, and on into January of the new year.  Often, the two recipes I'm highlighting today, end up in small portions for gift baskets or in a Christmas tin for small gifts for friends.  They are perfect for fending off the vultures hovering in the kitchen disturbing the work snacking on while Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is being prepared.  ;)  They are also great Super Bowl snacks to have out during the big game!

A couple years ago, about this time, I introduced to you my family's twist on Chex Mix (photo on right).  Today we are going to look at an M&M Granola Trail Mix (photo on the left).  A sweet friend gave me a tin of this trail mix a couple years ago at Christmas and it quickly became a favorite.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons honey

3 cups granola*

2 cups M&Ms*

1 cup nuts (of your choice; mixed or peanuts or almonds, etc)

1 cup pretzel twists

Directions:

Melt honey and butter over low heat, gently stirring, until blended.  Remove from heat, and add granola, nuts, and pretzels.  Stir until coated with honey and butter mixture.  Spread on cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes.  Spread on wax paper and allow to cool.  Mix in M&Ms.  

*Notes:

The original mix I received as a gift is exactly as the above recipe.  However, when I make it, in place of traditional granola, I often use Kashi Honey Almond Flax Cereal.  Also, I find that 2 cups of M&Ms are just a little too much; I often cut back to only 1 cup.  Lastly, I increase the butter/honey mixture by a little bit -- it coats the dry ingredients much better, and I don't feel so badly about it as long as I'm using raw local honey and real butter.  I could definitely see adding sesame seeds as well as dried cranberries.  I personally do not care for raisins  though I know many would prefer them over the cranberries.  Any of these additions should be added with the granola, nuts, and pretzels.  

Homemade Salsa

I love this salsa recipe.  It's so simple to throw together and the flavor is very full and... well, you can't stop eating this salsa!  It makes up quite a bit, which is a very good thing.  I've recently started using Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, but I've also used just regular Diced Tomatoes.  I've considered using some of the tomatoes that have other flavors already thrown in, but since I use fresh green onions, cilantro, lime, and garlic, I usually end up getting plain tomatoes.  I'd love to try fresh tomatoes, but just haven't yet.  The bonus to that is it's usually easy to have the ingredients on hand.  Which is nice when you live 20 minutes from town!

Ingredients:
2 cans Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1 can Rotel
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 to 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Serrano pepper, seeded and diced
sea salt, to taste
juice of one lime

Directions:
In a blender, blend tomatoes, Rotel, tomato paste, garlic cloves, Serrano pepper, sea salt, and lime juice.

Transfer to a large bowl and mix in (by hand) cilantro and green onions.

Store in clean mason jars or a glass refrigerator dish.