Recipe | Easy Strawberry Napoleons

Y'all?  You know when you have company coming over and you really want to serve something "impressive" that's actually easy?  Something that you can assemble ahead of time and throw together within 5 minutes?

You're going to love this.

These things are delicious.  And they're so easy.  I was able to put everything together between other tasks throughout the day, and throw the complete parts in the fridge until they were ready to be assembled.

Easy Strawberry Napoleons

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pint strawberries, sliced
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 12 wonton wrappers (3 oz.)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (or 3 tablespoons sugar mixed with 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon)
• 3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• In small bowl, toss strawberries with sugar and 1 Tablespoon water; set aside (I skipped the water because my strawberries had been sitting in a bag cut up already and had enough "sauce")
• Place wonton wrappers on large cookie sheet; brush with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Bake ~7 minutes, or until crisp and lightly browned; transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat cream and vanilla with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form (I also added a few teaspoons of sugar to the mixture).
• To assemble, place 1 wonton wrapper on 4 plates.  Spoon some whipped cream and strawberries on top of each wonton.  Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 wonton/whipped cream/strawberry layers.

Personal Notes:

• If you want to make this ahead of time, you can easily make the strawberry portion and refrigerate.  You can also make the whipped cream ahead of time and place in the back of the fridge so it stays nice and cold.  The wontons can also be made ahead of time, but I would keep those at room temperature.  Then all you would have to do is assemble once you're ready to serve.
• You could use cool whip or pre made whipped cream, but that obviously means it won't be as good.  If you've never made whipped cream before, give it a try!  It's so easy and you'll never want to go back to spray cream.

Anyone else have easy dessert recipes to share?  

Recipe | Long Boy Burgers

Have you ever had a conversation with your husband about meatloaf? I vividly remember early on in our dating relationship telling hubs that I would be making meatloaf for dinner, and the resulting look of pure disdain that flashed across his face at the word "meatloaf."

Now - call me crazy - but the last time I checked, guys were supposed to love the whole meat and potatoes deal. But apparently my guy takes offense to the mere mention of it. 

So I asked him, "What's wrong with meatloaf?" 

The explanation that followed was lousy at best - "I mean, it's just so...blah. Meatloafff...it even sounds gross." His face scrunching up as he pronounced the last part of the food-that-shall-not-be-named.  (This coming from the guy who eats white rice with a slice of American cheese and ketchup.)

After years of dating and then being married, he now loves meatloaf...

BUT!

...it must be in muffin form. I literally use the exact same ingredients, but put it in a  muffin tin. As long as it's served that way, he will eat - I kid you not - at least 6 meatloaf muffins. 

Men. 

So last night, I made something called Long Boy Burgers from Cook's Country. In essence, it's meatloaf on top of a toasted bun. My pictures don't do it justice, but it's pretty darn good. 

Long Boy Burgers

(Apologies for the crappy iPhone pic. I was lazy.)

Ingredients:

- 2 6-inch sub rolls, cut in half

- 1 1/4 cup cornflakes, crushed
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 1/2 cup whole or lowfat milk
- 6 tablespoons ketchup, separated
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme (let's be real here - Target doesn't carry fresh thyme and therefore, I omitted it. Turned out just fine. Save yourself $3.)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds 90% lean ground beef (I only used 1 pound)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Adjust the oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.

1. Bake rolls, cut side up, on wire rack inside rimmed baking sheet until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes.

2. Combine cornflakes, onion, milk, 4 tablespoons ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, thyme (again, I omitted it), garlic powder, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper (oops - I forgot both the salt and pepper, too. Doesn't really need it in my opinion.) in large bowl. Add meat and knead gently until well combined.

3. Top toasted rolls evenly with meat mixture, spreading meat to edges of rolls. Brush top of meat mixture evenly with remaining ketchup and bake until meat registers 160 degrees, 20-25 minutes. Top burgers with cheese and continue to bake until cheese melts, 3-4 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Serve. 

My thoughts:

If you don't feel like using their recipe, I would think that your normal meatloaf recipe would work out just fine. I would, however, recommend subbing out your bread crumbs for the corn flakes in the recipe - it really did add a nice sweetness of sorts. Also, you could easily get away with using less meat on each of the buns to get more out of the recipe (probably 6 halves instead of 4). I only used 1 pound of meat, and I could still have easily had 6 halves. A quarter pound of meat on each bun is pretty thick. Don't skip adding the ketchup to the top of the meat before baking - it makes a wonderful glaze. 

So - is my husband the only one who has an unusual hatred for meatloaf in loaf form? 

Recipe | Quick Asparagus

Again - this is another one of those things that can't really be considered a recipe because it's so simple and probably common sense to 99.9% of the population. But up until a few years ago, I had no idea how to cook asparagus. (In my defense, I may have been scared off by an old roommate who cooked asparagus to the point where they were limp tubes of mush.)

All of that to say that asparagus shouldn't be over cooked. If you do, it's a recipe for a gagging disaster. Here's how I make mine. 

Ingredients:

Asparagus

Olive oil

Kosher salt or seasoning of choice

Directions:

- Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus (it should naturally snap at the point where it needs to be cut)

- Drizzle olive oil over the asparagus and lightly season the spears

- Place the spears in a hot grill pan and sear, rolling occasionally, until the asparagus is cooked to your liking. For me, I still like it slightly crunchy. 

Bonus points for being able to cook it on an actual grill. But since this is the neverending winter, that's not quite possible yet considering it snowed AGAIN today. 

It's also good with shaved Parmesan on top.

Any other quick veggie tips?

Obsessed

Hi, my name is Amanda, and I am obsessed.

With Cook's Illustrated.

When we first got to Musky Hunt, Theresa whipped out a magazine that I had never seen before called Cook's Illustrated. Not just any Cook's Illustrated...the "All-Time Best Recipes" edition. As I initially paged through it, I will fully admit that I was unimpressed. I was so used to the flashy, sensory-overloaded cooking magazines that this seemed about as interesting as stale bread to me. It was mostly text. What little pictures they did have were in black and white. It certainly wasn't the light vacation reading I was looking forward to.

But then I started reading...and really? Wow. This magazine is like the Consumer Reports for anyone who loves cooking. They test all sorts of things, from the best vanilla extract (plain old McCormick) to the best saran wrap. Not only that, all their recipes are tested and re-tested until they are just right.

Take, for example, pie crusts. Cook's Illustrated wasn't content with the status quo pie crust of shortening, butter, flower, salt, and water. You know the one...it breaks easily, is barely flaky, and so finicky that you're ready to throw it out the window by the time you've spent an hour and a half mixing, chilling, rolling, chilling... You get the point.

CI decided to put pie crusts to the test. They tried tons of combinations and explained why each one didn't work. And then they published the mother of all pie crust recipes...using vodka. (Yes, now you can justify your purchase of a jug of vodka! Rejoyce!)

Armed with a new subscription to CI and their recipe for pumpkin pie, I decided to put them to the test.

As promised, the crust came together like a charm. In fact, it came together better than any other pie crust I had ever made. Since there is so much more liquid in the crust and the alcohol cooks off while baking, the dough is quite a bit stickier than a traditional recipe would be...but you're allowed to use up to 1/4 cup of flour while rolling it out, thereby solving that problem.

The pie filling itself was pretty interesting. CI said they were out to solve the problem of pumpkin pies not actually tasting like pumpkins, so they added things like fresh ginger, candied yams, and maple syrup to bring out the pumpkin flavor. I was definitely skeptical, but these people obviously know what they are doing.

In the end, I think it was the best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted. The hubby thinks it needs more "pumpkin pie spice"...eh. That's easily fixed.


The point is, I am obsessed with Cook's Illustrated and that's not going to end any time soon.

Say it isn't so...

My Dearest DG Farmer's Market,

Say it isn't so. Please, please, please tell me that you're not gone until next year. I don't know where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday that I spotted you from around the corner while sipping my Caribou iced latte on the first days of my DG residence.

I know I have been busy, and I know that's no excuse. You and I both know that given the chance, I often chose sleeping in on Saturday mornings instead of seeing you. But please understand that I never meant to take you for granted. I appreciate every little aspect of you.

I appreciate that I am able to get beautiful, delicious, and organic produce from you. This simple gift has yielded countless delectable dishes carefully prepared in my new home. I savored the fresh peach pie, devoured the delicious guacamole that only you made possible. Trust me, Jewel means nothing to me compared to you.


I appreciate that I am able to get my fill of fellow Dutchmen from you. You see, since I moved to this area, the Dutch are few and far between. But you? You provide the gift of wooden shoe fellowship, fresh flowers, and even flowering kale. We've had conversations about growing up around Lansing, relatives that attended Illiana, and how there is an insurance agent with my old last name that everyone seems to know.



The leaves are beginning to change colors and the air is crisp. I can feel that change is here...but yet, I find it so hard to say goodbye to you. I should have spent more time with you smelling the roses and learning about your friends. I can only promise to be better next year, when we meet again. Next year, I will make it up to you.

Until then, let's have one last meal together. There is a stand that makes the most amazing crepes right in front of your eyes. The butter and cinnamon one is to die for. So let's sit together with a hot cup of apple cider sprinkled with cinnamon, and dream about the day when we meet again and this bittersweet separation is a thing of the past.

Until next year...

My husband, the chef

Growing up, I always assumed that when I got married, I would be the one cooking amazing meals every night and my husband would be in awe of my cooking abilities. He would ponder how on earth I cooked such meals, and swear that he could never manage to cook something without me.

source

That's not exactly what happened.

Don't get me wrong, I know my way around a kitchen and can pretty much cook anything I put my mind to, but there's a major flaw I have: I need recipes. If you were to ask me to cook a meal with ground beef, mushrooms, and onions as the main ingredients, my first stop would be my trusty Good Housekeeping cookbook.

Stephen, on the other hand, doesn't need or like recipes. Using totally random ingredients, he can whip up a culinary masterpiece. One time he made a phenomenal casserole using mashed potatoes, spaghetti sauce, noodles, and American cheese (yes, really). Every time I say that we don't have food in the house, he proves my wrong by presenting some gourmet-worthy dish. Case in point:
One night, I had a rough day and was feeling particularly worn out. I took a pretty thorough look in our sans-shelf fridge and determined that we didn't have any food for dinner. Stephen innocently asked if I would like him to make dinner so I could relax.

1. MAJOR bonus points - how sweet is that?!
   
2. Who am I to come between my man and dinner?
3. Since he mentioned it, relaxing did sound nice...
   

A few minutes pass and all of the sudden he emerges with those. How he comes up with ideas like this, I have no idea. But one thing is for sure - I would have never been able to pull that off.

The result of his culinary prowess is a severe lack of culinary confidence on my part. When we go into stores and he asks what we should have for dinner, my mind goes blank. It doesn't help any that Stephen can be a picky eater (despite what he says), and he always seems to have a vision of what he ideally wants for dinner...and my vision usually doesn't align with that.

I'm sure we'll get into the groove of things as time goes on. Until then, he'll been busy cooking like a chef...and I'll be busy cooking with one hand on a cookbook.

Food I Heart: Mexican Deep Dish "Pizza"

Mad props to Rachel Ray for this recipe. It has a corn bread base and delicious Mexican toppings (and cheese, of course ::drool::). Super easy and super fast, and you can use whatever toppings you want if you don't like all the ones here.


Mexican Deep Dish Pizza

Base:
2 boxes corn muffin mix, 8½ ounces each (recommended: Jiffy)
2 eggs
4 tbsp melted butter
1½ cups milk
Extra-virgin olive oil or, vegetable oil, for drizzling

Topping:
2 tbsp extra-virgin or vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp cayenne sauce
Salt
2½ cups shredded Cheddar or jack cheese
½ red bell pepper, chopped
1 small can, 2¼ oz. sliced chillies or jalapeños, drained
2 scallions, chopped
2 small vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 to 2 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves, optional garnish
Mild to medium taco sauce to pass at table, 1 cup

Preheat oven to 400°.

Mix together 2 packages muffin mix with 2 eggs, 4 tablespoons melted butter (melt in microwave 30 seconds), and 1½ cups milk. Wipe a nonstick skillet with a little extra or vegetable oil and pour in the muffin mix. Use a large skillet, 10 to 12 inch. Choose a pan with oven safe handle or, double-wrap handle with foil to protect it in the oven. Place pan in oven and bake 12 to 15 minutes in center of the oven until light golden in color.

Brown the meat over medium high heat in a second skillet in extra or vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add onions and spices and cook meat 5 minutes more.

Remove cornbread from oven and top with meat, cheese, and veggies. Add pan back to oven and cook 5 minutes more to melt cheese.

Garnish with cilantro, optional. Cut into 8 wedges and serve the deep dish pan pizza from the skillet. Pass taco sauce at the table to sprinkle on top.

Yields: 4 servings, 2 slices each