bakerchef

January 5, 2019–How do you start off the New Year? Besides by almost immediately breaking most of your resolutions you have a party! Everyone has been harassing me to host another class similar to the Pasta Making class I hosted earlier. While trying to decide what to make tamales continued to come to mind. They are usually made during the Christmas season but with everyone’s already busy schedule I knew this would be difficult to accomplish so I decided to host it at the beginning of the year. There are way too many websites to show you how to make tamale’s and host a tamale making party. There are also numerous recipes on just as many, if not more, websites or you may have your own family recipe. You can make your sauces by hand, which VBOPP and I did during the test phase; or you can buy them from your local grocery. You can make the masa from scratch or if you have a latin market you may be able to purchase some from them. You can also buy you meat precooked or cook it yourself. Making tamales is A LOT of work but if you can gather a group of family and/or friends together you can knock out a couple of dozen in a few hours. Since they freeze well, you now have snacks for those times when you do not want to cook.

Make the Masa and soak the corn husks

Make your sauces and fillings

Assemble your Crew

…and fill them with beverages

Espresso Martini Cocktails (1 oz espresso, 1/2 oz coffee liqueur, and 2 oz Vodka or to taste).

December 31, 2018–I couldn’t just serve the ‘health-ish’ Vegetable Beer Bread and Asiago Dip to my friends so when I saw this recipe on the Half Baked Harvest website I knew I had to have it as an addition. I mean it has BACON and Cheese…the perfect addition to any dish!

Although there were specific measurements for each I think this is one of those recipes where everything is ‘to taste’. You want more bacon, and who doesn’t, add more bacon. Want it a little spicer add more cayenne, etc, etc.

• bacon
• Kettle Brand Black Pepper or Sea Salt Potato Chips
• shredded cheddar cheese
• brown sugar
• maple syrup
• cayenne pepper

The entire dish comes together pretty fast. While the oven is preheating at 350 you line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook your bacon until it is just beginning to crisp. SAVE YOUR BACON GREASE for tamales! Place the potato chips on the prepared baking sheet and then sprinkle them evenly with brown sugar followed by drizzles of maple syrup and then the cheese, bacon, and the cayenne pepper.

Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and the cheese is melted. Once done, break the chips into pieces and serve. These are great right out of the oven but can also be enjoyed at room temperature. Keep any leftovers stored in the fridge.

December 31, 2018–So back in the 2006 time frame I went to the restaurant where they serve a Vegetable Beer Bread and Asiago Dip. For the life of me I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but I will never forget the bread. Although I was in the infancy stage of my baking and cooking, I immediately went home to research this recipe.

I made it a few months later when some friends were visiting and they loved it. I knew that I would have some hungry people at my house on New Years Eve 2019 before our festivities so I decided to make something hearty, healthyish, and filling to serve as a base for the copious amounts of liquids that were to be consumed. The ingredients were pretty standard but the flavor is not.

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups golden (NOT dark) beer
• 1/2 cup diced green onion
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 2 oz sun-dried tomatoes, still dehydrated; found some in an Italian market
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 4 large mushrooms, sliced very thin
• 3 oz shredded asiago cheese
• 2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
• 3/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 oz reduced-fat cream cheese

For the bread you basically combine the first 8 ingredients, stir until combined, pour in a loaf pan, then cook at 350 degrees until done.

For some reason, I didn’t take pictures of the dip but after reconstituting the tomatoes and cutting them into strips, I combined them with the onions, mushrooms, and asiago cheese.  In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 3 ingredients. Mix two mixtures together and place on double boiler until cheese melts and mixture is fully blended – mushrooms should begin to cook a bit. Serve warm with Vegetable Beer Bread.

It was even better this time and since it had vegetables, it was also good for you :-).

December 13, 2018–The magazine and cooking show Cook’s Country continues to impress me. The December/January 2019 issue had a lot of amazing food choices and as always they provide you the ‘WHY’ behind their recipes. I read thru this particular issue while on an Amtrak to NYC. A few friends and I were going there for what would be an amazing weekend…but I digress.

They wanted to recreate Shrimp Mozambique, a saucy, spicy Portuguese American dish which is “shrimp bathed in a buttery, garlicky, peppery sauce”, without a key ingredient–piri-piri peppers. I’ve never had the original dish but I will definitely make this again!

According to Elle and Matthew from Cook’s Country, the piri-piri pepper is known for its complex fresh, fruity, and hot but not screaming hot flavor. To get the flavor without they actual pepper their research led them to Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce (2TBS).

The remaining ingredients were common so you should have them in your pantry. I’ve been harassed for not putting the actual ingredient list so I will start including with this post. For the sauce:

• 2 tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 slice hearty sandwich bread; I purchased a small roll from my local market
• 1 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 chopped garlic cloves; I used waaay more because you can never really have too much garlic
• 2 teaspoons paprika; I had some imported from Spain
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

For the shrimp:

• 2 pounds Extra large shrimp (21-25 per pound), peeled, deveined, and tails removed
• 1 tablespoon Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin; see above
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper

The dish comes together pretty fast. Process all of the sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth. Meanwhile, season the shrimp with salt and pepper and set aside. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet until shimmering. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook the onions until softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the wine, bring to a boil, and cook until reduced by half.

Add the shrimp and cook until just cooked. Stir in the butter and sauce until the butter melts and sauce is hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with parsley, and serve with crusty bread or over rice.

November 24, 2018–I had made my share of meatballs. The most recent ones were during my Day in the Kitchen when I made some Sun-dried Tomato and Feta Turkey meatballs for the Keto diet I was trying out. That being said, these are a bit over the top because they contain BACON, mmmm bacon, which I picked up from the Dutch Country Farmer’s Market; and BOURBON! I first saw this recipe on the House of Yumm website. I pretty much stayed with the same ingredients from the website (bacon, ground beef, breadcrumbs, fresh parsley, egg, onions, chili powder, salt, store bought or homemade BBQ sauce, and of course your favorite Bourbon).

Unlike the recipe I cooked the bacon first because I was having some for breakfast. I then chopped it into pieces then mixed it, by hand, with the ground beef, diced onions, breadcrumbs, parsley, egg, chili powder and salt.

After everything was well combined I used an ice cream scooper to form the balls.

In a non-stick skillet, I heated some oil then cooked the meatballs. I have made these in the oven before since I would be making the sauce in the same skillet I wanted to incorporate the flavor and fond from the meatballs into the sauce.

Turning them to ensure they are brown on all sides and cooked evenly.

When all of the meatballs are done, remove them from the skillet and pour off some of the rendered fat. Almost ready to eat…yes, those are pieces of bacon sticking out!

Add your BBQ sauce, some water, your bourbon, and stir to incorporated the liquids with the fond from the pan. Return the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, turning to coat evenly.

These are great for appetizers, meatball sub, or as a side with your favorite vegetables.

I know what you’re saying. The meatballs look good, and I can vouch that they were amazing; but the personalized serving dish is what really caught your eye. One of my friends (BEG) got me these as a birthday gift. I think they make the food taste a little bit better!