Mardi Gras!

Once again this post is a little late, with all the Fat Tuesday festivities I was too pooped to get my blogging done day of!  But to make up for it I've got FOUR recipes for you!

Since high school I've always loved the concept of Fat Tuesday (who doesn't?).  My friends and I used to load up on junk to hide in our lockers and we'd munch between classes.  Now I usually make some treats to send to work for Chris and I then make a cajun dinner with a fun cocktail.  This year of course was no exception.  And what a treat my Daddy and brother joined us!

Unfortunately I haven't been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras but I did visit the city in college.  Talk about a fun and vibrant place!  If you haven't been I'd highly suggest going.  Obviously they know how to throw a party but the food, culture, sights of the city are fabulous!

For Chris and I's work treat I made mini king cake knots.  I did this last year and didn't love the texture of the end result, it was too crunchy.  While perusing through Pinterest I couldn't pick what treat to make so I ended up siding with same as last year but tweaking the recipe.  Last year I used french bread dough (thus making it too crunchy) this year I switched it up and used crescent roll dough and didn't bake them for as long.  They turned out just right!

Mini King Cake Knots
(This made about 16 knots, I doubled the recipe to make 32)

Ingredients:
- 1 tube of crescent rolll dough (the seamless sheet works nicely)
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp. butter, softened
- 1 c. powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 3 to 4 Tbsp. milk
- green, purple and yellow sprinkles for decorating

Instructions:
- Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, set aside.
- Roll out dough on a flat work surface.
- Brush with butter, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture over top.
- With a sharp pairing knife, cut in half lengthwise then cut strips horizontally.

- Take two pieces, twist them together then tie into a knot, stretching if necessary.

- Place on a baking sheet (I line mine with foil for easy cleanup) and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Be carefully not to let them get too brown or they will end up crunchy!

- Remove from baking sheet and let cool (make sure to remove them pretty soon after taking out of the oven, the longer they cool the harder it is to get them off the sheet, that cinnamon and sugar bakes on!
- While they cool, mix together powdered sugar, vanilla and milk.
- You can use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cakes or what I do is take the cake, flip it upsidedown and dunk it in the glaze.
- Sprinkle with colored sugars or sprinkles while glaze is still wet.

- Enjoy!

For dinner we had cajun chicken pasta (side of salad), hurricanes for cocktails and bananas foster for dessert!  The bananas foster idea came about when I was packing my breakfast and realized the bunch of bananas I recently bought was getting ripe very fast!  Plus any excuse to try new cooking tricks and I'm in!  My brother brought his camera and snapped some (much better quality) pictures.

Hurricanes (recipe from The Chew)

Photo credit: Mitch Andrews Photography

Ingredients:
- 2 oz. light rum
- 2 oz. dark rum
- 1 oz. orange juice
- 1 oz. grenadine
- splash flat Sprite/7up (the original recipe calls for simple syrup, I didn't have any already made so this was my substitute)
- juice from 1/2 lime

Instructions:
- Mix all ingredients in a shaker or pitcher over ice.
- Pour into hurricane glass or tall glass filled halfway with ice, garnish with an orange slice if you'd like.
- Enjoy!

These were pretty potent but still pretty delicious.  Originally I was going to go get a mix from the store but I'm glad I didn't as those always turn out too sweet.

Cajun Chicken Pasta
(this was dinner for four, if making for two just reduce the recipe by half)

Photo credit: Mitch Andrews Photography

Ingredients:
- 8 oz. fettucine
- 3 to 4 chicken breasts, cut in strips
- 2 tsp. cajun seasoning (or just to taste depending on how spicy you like it or the strength of your seasoning)
- 2 medium bell peppers (I did one red and one orange)
- 1 shallot sliced (or 1/2 red onion if you have it)
- 1 c. chicken broth
- 1/3 c. milk
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- 3 Tbsp. cream cheese
- garlic powder

- salt and pepper

- olive oil

Instructions:

- Cook fettucine in boiling water until done.

- While pasta is cooking, prep chicken and veggies.  Slice peppers and onion, set aside.  (The original recipe calls for 2 tomatoes and 8 oz. of mushrooms but tomatoes aren't in season and Chris doesn't like mushrooms.)  Slice chicken in strips and season generously with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder and salt.  

- Make a "slurry" (cooking term that just means a thickening agent for your sauce), combine milk, cream cheese and flour.  You can whisk it by hand, I used my immerison blender.  Set aside.

- In a pan over medium high heat, drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil, saute chicken until no pink remains, remove from pan and set aside.

- Add a little more olive oil to the pan then saute veggies until tender, season with salt and pepper.

- Reduce heat to medium, add chicken broth and slurry and stir.

- Add chicken and cooked pasta to pan and stir.

- Adjust seasoning to taste and cook till pasta is warmed through and well coated.

- Enjoy!

Note: this also called for three cloves of garlic to be sauted with the other veggies, I left this out.

This is a yummy, lighter pasta.  The cajun seasoning makes it different, with a little kick!

Enjoying our Fat Tuesday Feast!  Photo credit: Mitch Andrews Photography

Bananas Foster

(This made four servings)

 Ingredients:

- 1 stick butter

- 1/2 c. light brown sugar

- 1/4 c. dark rum

- 3 to 4 bananas, peeled, cut in half then sliced in half lengthwise.

Instructions:

- Melt butter in a pan over medium high heat.

- Add brown sugar, mix well until sugar is bubbling but be careful not to burn it.

- Add bananas and cook until carmelized.

- Add rum and catch a flame off the stove if you have a gas stove or catch flame using a BBQ lighter.  Be careful!  Stand back when igniting.

- Let flame die down.

- Serve over vanilla ice cream.

- Enjoy!

For all the hype restaurants/people put around bananas foster, it's really a cinch!  Four ingredients and some kitchen caution and you're all set!  And talk about a delicious dessert, yummmm yummm!

How did you like the pictures my brother did?  Way better than mine right?!  I told him I might have to hire him on full time as my personal blog photog.  Somehow my Dad was not as convinced that I should provide such distractions from his schoolwork.

Well I hope you get to enjoy one or all of these Mardi Gras treats!  Next up, Valentine's Day then Chris and I plus our families are hitting the road!  We're off to Chicago for the Miami vs. Notre Dame outdoor hockey game.  I've got one more Sunday Soup recipe up my sleeve from last week so hopefully I'll get that posted over the weekend.

Cheers!

Steph  

Sunday Soup!

So I recently posted about making soup on Sundays, its been a great way to switch up Chris and I's lunch options as well as gives me an easy weeknight dinner.  Last Sunday while prepping Superbowl party food I made Chicken Parmesan Soup.  Chris has given this rave reviews and it made a "this is delicious, you should make it again" rating (see Chris recipe rating scale here).  The best part was this soup was easy peasy!

Chicken Parmesan Soup

Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts pounded thin and cubed into bite size pieces
- 1can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
- 1 qt. chicken broth
- salt and pepper
- 1 c. fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 
- sprinkling of parmesan cheese

Instructions:
- In a large pot, heat a couple tbsp. of olive oil over medium high heat.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, cook until cooked through, remove from pot and set aside.

- Add a couple more tbsp. of olive oil, saute onion, garlic and red pepper flakes, until onions have softened.

- Add tomatoes and chicken broth, bring to a simmer and cook around 5 minutes.

- Put chicken back in and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add chopped basil and some shakes of grated parmesan cheese and stir.

- Enjoy!
Note: the original recipe called for toasting crusty artisan bread with parmesan and garlic then placing a piece in the bottom of the bowl of soup then one on top.  I eliminated this for easy of serving purposes for lunches as well I wanted to eliminate the unnecessary carbs.

This made about three lunch portions and one dinner for two portion.  The chicken gives it a little more protein making it more satisfying.  When we had it for dinner we paired it with salad and split a gouda/pepperjack grilled cheese.  This has a bit of a kick to it so if you aren't a fan of the spicy I'd leave out the red pepper flakes.

Next up, Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day all in one week!  Plus another Sunday Soup!

Cheers!
Steph

Superbowl Sunday!

Well friends what did you think of the big game?!  Chris and I had a few friends over to watch and of course to eat!  Unfortunately this post is a little delayed, I ended up with the flu the first part of the week and have been catching up since, yuck!

For this get together I decided to do a chili bar!  It featured my Momma's homemade chili and Coney Sauce (my grandpa's recipe).  Thankfully my Momma is pretty much the most awesome mom a girl could have and she made a batch of her chili for the party so I wouldn't have to do it.  I did make the Coney though.  This was always one of my favorite recipes of my Grandpa's, now that he is no longer with us every time I make it I feel his spirit watching over me, "Be careful with that knife!  Now don't put the salt in yet, you don't want it to end up briney. " Insert the sounds of him jingling his change in his pocket as he oversaw the kitchen happenings.  I made this a couple nights ahead because the flavors get better after its in the fridge for a bit (Grandpa's cooking rules!).

The great thing about food bars is you can really go any way you want with it!  My chili bar included:
- hot dogs (chili or coney dogs)
- oyster crackers
- cheese
- sour cream
- pasta (for Skyline style)
- tortilla chips (for build your own nachos)

Chili bar, not the fanciest layout but it worked!

I always like to have some tags (themed, of course) telling people what's what, it makes it easier than explaining it a bunch of times.  I made a couple extra blank ones for people who brought dishes to fill theirs out too.

In addition to the chili and coney we had some yummy appetizers and for a sweet treat I made Nutella Rice Krispie Treats!  To go with the football theme I used a cookie cutter to shape them into footballs then used melted white chocolate for the laces.

Our yummy spread!  Threw in some football napkins, plates and  a Superbowl tablecloth

Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:
- 6 c. Rice Krispie cereal
- 3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
- 5 1/2 c. mini marshmallows
- 1 c. Nutella

Instructions:
-Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
-Add marshmallows and melt down.
-Add Nutella and stir until well combined, turn off heat.
-Add Rice Krispies (if your pot is large enough add them into the heated mixture, if not use a separate mixing bowl).
- Stir until cereal is well coated, spread out evenly on a greased sheet of wax paper or foil.
- Use a greased cookie cutter to cut into shapes if you'd like, or wait until cool and cut with a large knife.  With the scraps I just formed them into small balls and drizzled some of the white chocolate on them to make them look like truffles.

Hope you had a great Superbowl experience!  Up next, a Sunday soup and Mardi Gras!!

Cheers!
Steph

Soup's On!

Happy weekend friends!  Geez it seems like its been forever since I've posted, things have been busy!  Last weekend Chris and I went to look at wedding venues with our families, I think we left more confused than when we got there but we'll make a decision one of these days!  Anyways, who else is ready to say adios to this cold and snowy weather?!  Most definitely THIS GIRL!  Bring on sunshine and summertime!  Although I can wish winter away everyday it seems sucking it up and dealing is going to be the way it goes but at least I can make it better by sharing some yummy soup recipes with you!

Lately our Sundays have been pretty free, giving me plenty of time in the kitchen.  In an effort to keep on track with our eating I've been prepping some soups for us to take for lunches.  I also split it up so there's a dinner portions worth for us for an evening during the week I don't feel like doing much cooking.  So the past couple Sundays along with Sunday dinner I make a soup for the week.  So far I've made Beef and Stout Stew and Tomato Tortellini.

Beef and Stout Stew

Ingredients:
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 lb. diced stewing beef
- 2 c. Guinness or stout beer
- 2 sticks celery, chopped
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. flour
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 c. frozen peas (optional)
- 1 Tbsp. beef demi glace (optional)
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste (optional)
- salt
- pepper

Instructions:
- Chop celery, onion and carrots (I just used two small baby carrots that Chris uses for lunches because I'm not a fan of the vegetable).  Fun fact for ya: this mix of veggies that's used as a cooking base is called mirepoix (pronouced: meer- PWAH), stick that in your fancy cooking terminology! :)
- In a large pot over medium heat olive oil (bottom of the pot's worth should be fine), put in vegetables and bay leaves and cook about 10 minutes.

- Add meat and flour.

- Add beer and tomatoes.

- Stir then season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for three hours.
- For the final half hour, uncover, add peas, demi glace, tomato paste and let it continue to simmer.

- Before serving remove bay leaves.
- Taste to see if you'd like any more seasoning to it.
- Serve and enjoy!

Tomato Tortellini

Ingredients:
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced 
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil 
- 1 pkg. (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini 
- 1 can tomato soup (I used Campbell's Harvest Tomoato with Basil, the original recipe calls for 2 cans of condensed tomato, I don't love condensed soups so I altered it) 
- 2 c. chicken broth
- 1 1/2 c. milk
- 2 c. half-and-half (I used fat free)  
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste (the original recipe I found says to use sundried tomato paste, I didn't want to fuss with finding that so I used regular)  
- 2 tsp. Italian seasoning 
- 1/2 tsp. salt 
- 1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
- In a large saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil until golden brown.

- Add tomato soup, half and half, milk, chicken broth, tomato paste and spices.

- Bring to a simmer for 8 to 10 minutes making sure to stir occasionally.  
- In another saucepan cook tortellini according to package directions.  You can cook the tortellini in the soup if you'd like when it comes to a simmer but since I wasn't serving it right away I didn't want the tortellini to get mushy. 
- Combine tortellini and soup then serve with Parmesan sprinkled on top.

- If you aren't serving this right after cooking, let cool, package accordingly and store in the refrigerator.  When serving simply add tortellini when you heat up the soup so it won't get too mushy sitting in the soup.  I broke this down into one dinner portion and three lunch portions.  I put the tortellini in the lunch size because I didn't want either of us to have to fuss with putting tortellini in the soup before we left for work or whatever.
- I decided to thicken the soup when I warmed up the dinner portion because I didn't like it so runny, I used a "slurry" (a couple tablespoons cream cheese, flour and milk whisked together) and added that to thicken it up as well as simmered it for awhile.  Chris didn't mind it either way but I thought it was much more pleasing after it was thickened.


Chris and I both liked these soups.  I preferred the beef stew and thought the tomato tortellini could be simplified rather than adding all that milk and half and half.  Both recipes are incredibly simple so I highly recommend them for that aspect.  Hope you can warm up and enjoy these soon!  I've been really bad about blogging lately, too much STUFF going on!  But to my loyal readers I do promise to get better!  

Next up we've got Superbowl party!  Chris and I are BIG football fans so even though neither of our teams made it to the big game we still love to have a party and watch!  I'm also going to be trying Chicken Parmesan Soup for the week!  Stay tuned!

Cheers!
Steph