March Breakfast Meet-up

Fresh few inches of snow from last night

As today is the first Sunday of the month - that means breakfast at Mark's Mid-Town Coney Island.  We met friends at the top of the street and trudged through fresh snow and ice.

We enjoyed the usual odd assortment of foods off the menu plus copies amounts of coffee, juice, and Mountain Dew.

split grilled cinnamon roll

chili cheese fries - the cheese is underneath the chili

hash browns, eggs, sausage and cinnamon raisin toast

omelet with rye

And then the little people got restless!

See you next month for another great time - Sunday April 3, 2011 at 8:00 am.  Mark's Coney Island at Plymouth and Green, Ann Arbor.

Astrid

Mexican Night - Feeding My Peeps

Black beans and lamb over lettuce with some tortilla chips

I recently learned from Urban Dictionary that "peep's" is short-hand for "people".  Too cute!  So now I think of my kids as peeps - a cute name for my cute kids.

As it's Wednesday night, we had something vaguely Mexican made with dried black beans.  We also had a pound of lamb hiding in our chest freezer.  I thought I had used it all up, but no.

2 cups dried beans - I used black but any other dried bean or canned will work

1 pound meat - beef, pork, or lamb, or no meat at all!

1 cup salsa

Soak beans for a few hours or overnight.

Cook beans until tender, if not using canned.

I use a pressure cooker with enough fresh water to cover the beans and then a bit more water.

Pressure cook for 40 minutes.

While the beans are cooking, fry the meat in a medium to large sized pan

Add 1 cup of salsa, salt and pepper to taste.

If you are inclined - season with cumin and chili powder

Add canned beans or cooked beans to meat and salsa mixture

Heat and taste.

Cooking ground lamb

black beans just finished in the pressure cooker

Lamb with salsa and black beans

Tomorrow's lunch for the peeps - they prefer the ingredients rolled in a tortilla instead of as a salad

extras - salad dressing, cheese, romaine, sour cream, chips, more salsa

My plate

Condiments of the gods - I put sriracha on pretty much everything!

This is an easy dinner to throw together, especially if the beans are already cooked.  I've been pressure cooking beans for years and don't give it much thought.  I just need to build in 50 minutes to have the cooker come up to pressure, cook, and then release. 

Astrid

More Black Bean Soup

Black Bean Soup

I haven't cooked regular meals all week as the Boyz have been out of town over Winter Break.  Now the cold slap of reality has set in and I'm contemplating lunch.  I'm thinking a quick soup with some packaged frozen Taquitos (corn tortillas rolled around chicken and cheese).  I title this post "more black bean soup" as I make soup most weekends - see another version with dried beans here

Black beans, salsa, celery, carrots, and 1/2 of an onion

3 cups of chopped vegies - I had about equal amounts of onion, celery, and carrots. 
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 cup water
1 cup of prepared or fresh tomato salsa
1 can of drained and rinsed black beans

Chop vegies.  The exact amount isn't that important and neither is the combination.  The point is to add a bit of bulk.  The veggies don't need to be evenly chopped either as I plan to purree the mixture in a blender for a smooth soup.  I hate the complaining about chunks in soup.....you could leave it a little courser, texture can be  nice at time.

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan
Add veggies and saute until starting to brown the onions a bit
Add the water and salsa
Continue to gently boil until veggies are tender - about 20 minutes
Add the beans
Heat through
Pour into a blender or use a stick blender to puree to desired consistency
Reseason with a bit of salt, pepper, cumin, paprika etc.. to give the soup some zest.

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar, chips....it's all good.

A quick and satistying lunch. 

I watched the movie Red last week with Bruce Willis.  He's not getting any younger but was great in his role as a retired secret agent.  He was called "grandpa" as a taunt by a younger agent.  As the fist fight starts between them, the old Aerosmith song, Back in the Saddle starts up.  A great scene - old guy still kicking butt.

As for me....I'm back in the saddle, preparing regular meals with all the four food groups.

 I love these - 2 Weight Watchers Points Plus each

Astrid

My plate is upper right - the minimalist

Weight Watchers Points for soup - 3 points for oil, 7 points for beans, no points for veg..10 points for the pan or 2 points for a nice sized serving.  Extra points for cheese, chips, sour cream, Taquitos etc.  The taquito and soup make for a 4 point meal. for me.

Spicy Thai Meatballs

Spicy pork and peanut butter meatballs


I was looking through the Peanut Butter & Company Cookbook for inspiration the other day and I ran across a recipe for a Spicy Peanut Butter Burger.  I changed it up a bit, added cilantro and substituted salsa for sauteed onions.  I thought it would be fun to have the dish as small meatballs instead of burger patties. 

I made 36 smallish meatballs out of 1 pound of pork but they are very rich, with all that peanut butter, so I would think this is more than enough for 8 servings as part of a main course or served with cocktails as an appetizer.

1 pound ground pork
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1/4 cup salsa
3 tablespoons bread crumbs
srirachi sauce and additional cilantro for serving

1.  In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except oil for cooking. 
2.  Shape into smallish meatballs.
3.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  No additional oil is needed as the pork will render some fat.
4.  Gently saute meatballs in batches, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes per batch.

With additional srirachi and cilantro

Enjoy!

Astrid

Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

Paula Deen's Krispy Kreme bread pudding

The Paula Deen recipe for outrageous Kripy Kreme bread pudding has been around for a few years - and I've wanted to try it every day since then but couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to not only eat Krispy Kreme's but add eggs and sweetened condensed milk and rum glaze! 

I finally decided that agonizing over this recipe for years is not healthy so I decided to make it this week.  It's been a jinx ever since then.  First I couldn't find Krispy Kreme donuts, let alone glazed donuts!  After going to 2 stores, I found the donuts and get excited.  I woke up this morning and knew today would be fabulous - bread pudding made out of donuts.  Then I looked in the fridge - NO eggs!  What kind of slacker runs out of eggs? A quick call to a neighbor and I was set. 

This recipe has lived up to the hype and expection - way over the top and super simple.  I will make this again and again for special ocasisions.

I didn't actually use the original recipe from Paula.  Instead, I used this simplefied recipe on the blog From My Tiny Kitchen , who generally followed Paula Deens ingenious idea.  I agree with From My Tiny Kitchen that fruit cocktail is undesirable and has no place in this recipe.

Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

• 1 dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs

Butter Rum Icing

• Rum or rum flavoring, to taste
• 1/4 butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cube doughnuts and place in large bowl
3. In a smaller bowl, combine condensed milk and eggs
4. Pour milk and egg mixture over doughnut pieces, stir and let sit for 15 minutes to absorb the liquid
5. Plce the mixture in a shallow pan, squish down a bit and bake for 30-40 minutes.  I used a 7X11 pan but a large pie plate or 8X8 or 9X9 or even a 9X13 would work.
6. While the bread pudding is baking, prepare the sauce by melting the butter.  Stir in powdered sugar and rum.  I didn't have any rum and the mixture looked a bit curdled so I smoothed out the sauce with a bit of milk.
7. When bread pudding is cooked through and a bit crispy on top, remove from oven and pour sauce on top.

just out of the oven



With frosting - waiting for a few minutes to set before serving

I can't believe how good this was.  I won't be going anywhere near the proximity of the pan until it's all gone - I have no will power!


Astrid

Weight Watchers: it's almost ludicris to even bother caculating the Points Plus for this recipe.  Each Krispy Kreme donut is 5 points.  The entire dish is 140 Points Plus.  You could probably get 10 servings out of this pan.  I cut out a square to photograph, wrapped it up for the neighbor, took 3 little bites from the pan for me to sample, and left the rest to the teenagers!

my serving

Heath Bar Fudge

Heath Bar fudge

The festivities are gearing up for Kathrin's 17th birthday party.  Today we made fudge and wow is it over the top.  Heath Bar, sort of like bacon, makes everything special, just like Kat.

This is another oldie but goodie sort of recipe that I've posted before but this time with the Heath Bar addition.

three little ingredients - chocolate chips, heath bars, and condensed milk

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
18 ounces dark chocolate
5 1.4 ounce Heath candy bars, crushed or about 2 cups of butter brickle chips

Line an 8X8 pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.  This helps to pull the slab out when chilled.

5 chocolate bars, crushed in a plastic bag using a rolling pin

Combine chocolate chips and condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl. 
Heat on high for 1 minute, stir, and nuke for another minute. 
Quickly stir until smooth, add half the Heath Bar chips. 
Pour into aluminum lined pan. 
Spread a bit smooth.
Pour the remaining crushed Heath Bar on top, gently pressing so that they will stick. 
Refrigerate until chilled. 
Remove from pan, cut into square.




On to the next project!

Astrid

Peanut Butter Dip

Quick and easy peanut butter dip



We're in the middle of a nasty snow-storm in Michigan - time to break out the peanut butter.  I want something warm and comforting.  While this dish is not overly photogenic - it's a deliciously smooth and sweet dip for cookies and pretzels.  And whips up in minutes - great for when the local high school film club comes over.

Cookies, cream cheese, peanut butter, and sweetened condensed milk

8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup smooth  peanut butter
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

In a small mixer bowl, beat cheese until fluffy.  Gradually bean in sweetened condensed milk then the peanut butter until smooth. 

This dip can also be used to frost one two-layer cake, one sheet cake or 48 cupcakes.  Refrigerate leftovers.  I like to serve this as a dip with sweet and salty dipper.

Amaryllis and Christmas cactus happy to be inside while the storm rages outside

Astrid

Baked Coconut Shrimp

Shrimp Boat - coconut shrimp, tortilla chips and pineapple salsa

I found the recipe here and it's wonderful...I love sweet stuff!

• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 cup pineapple preserves
• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp peeled and deveined
• 2 egg whites
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

For the dipping sauce: either open a jar of pineapple salsa or combine lime juice, jalapeno pepper, and pineapple preserves in a small bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  I happened to have a jar of chipotle grilled pineapple salsa in the back of a cabinet so I used that instead of making my own.  Sometimes dinner just goes your way.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl beat egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.

Place cornstarch and coconut on two separate plates. Hold shrimp by the tail and dip and coat the shrimp with cornstarch. Next, dip the shrimp in the egg whites and finally in the coconut coating well.

Place shrimp on the cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until coconut is a golden brown. Make sure to turn it once halfway through (around 8 minutes into cooking time) to make sure both sides brown.

Serve with pineapple dipping sauce.

Amuse bouche - perfect with an adult beverage

Another great recipe for the "keep" pile.

Astrid