Brushetta Appetizer

I've been sick all week with strep throat, and I'm bored out of my mind. So, I started looking through the many, many pictures of food I have not yet put up on this blog, and these are the ones that happened to catch my eye. 

I actually made these on Sunday for my husband, but these pictures are probably from the summertime, when we had fresh tomatoes in our garden. 

I don't even know where this recipe comes from. (I mean, orignially, Italy probably? but I don't know exactly how it got to me). My mom made them for us a few times when I lived at home, and I think she told me how. No matter how these tasty little bites came to be in my recipe repertoire, my husband and I LOVE them, and I wanted to share.

First thing you need to do is get some kind of little bread slices to put your toppings on. We have always been able to find day old bread that is already sliced up at our neighborhood Smiths store. You could also buy a baguette or other similar-shaped bread, or make your own if you're feeling tricky! The most important things are to use appetizer-sized pieces and bread that isn't too soft; you want it a little crunchy.

Next, dice up some tomatoes, shred some mozzarella cheese, and find your Italian Seasoning or dried Basil in the spice cupboard (either or both will do).

Brush your bread with a little olive oil and lay them on a metal baking sheet, layer the tomato dices and then cheese on top, and sprinkle with Italian Seasoning or Basil. Broil in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.

Voila! Now you're ready to impress all your friends with your Italian appetizers.

Husband's Reaction: He tasted something like this at a wedding reception we went to once, and I thought, "Hey, I can make that!" So I did. And now he will love me forever! He seriously could probably eat these every day, but I like to keep them special and only make them once in a while.

Chicken & Cream Cheese Roll Ups

I totally LOVE these! Best dinner ever.

adapted from the recipe here: http://jennasjourneyblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/chicken-roll-ups.html

• 1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)
• 1 pkg crescent rolls (6 ct)
• 2 shredded cooked chicken breasts
• 1 C grated chedder cheese or whatever cheese you have around
• Spices: salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, basil. 
• Olive oil to brush on top

Combine chicken, cheeses, and spices to taste. Spoon onto crescents. Put lots of filling in, but make sure you can still roll them up. Try not to let the filling spill out the sides, but if it does it's ok. Brush tops with olive oil and sprinkle garlic salt and paprika. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly brown on outside. They are better when they are not as brown as the ones pictured above.

My husband isn't home yet, so I can't give you his reaction. But this is what I texted him:

"Dude, I just made the best dinner ever! It's so so good!"

If that doesn't make you want to try this recipe, I don't know what will. Do it.

Pizza Fondue with Breadstick Bites

Yes, of course we got a fondue pot for our wedding. No, of course we had not used it yet. . . until tonight! We broke out the fondue pot and whipped up some pizza fondue! It was fun, fairly easy, and (best of all) I already had all the ingredients in the apartment! We didn't have much on hand to dip in the cheese sauce, so we used zucchini bits (one zucchini plant in our garden and it seems like we eat it every day!) and I made some little breadsticks too. So fun!

Pizza Fondue- from http://fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.blogspot.com/2010/04/pizza-fondue.html


Enough for 4 people as their meal
1 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce (use our favorite kind)
3 cups mozzarella
1 cup cheddar
1 cup parmesan
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup white wine (I used plain old water)
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

In a medium sized pot, saute the garlic and olive oil over medium/high heat for about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and marinara sauce. Once the mixture starts to boil (about 3 minutes), reduce the heat to medium.

In a large bowl mix the cheese and cornstarch. Add the cheese to the marinara mix. Stir over medium heat until all the cheese is melted and smooth (about 5 minutes). Add the fresh basil. 

Pour into your fondue pot and start dipping.

AND WHAT WILL YOU DIP IN THAT DELICIOUS CHEESY GOODNESS????


I made little breadstick bites that were really awesome, using a recipe from http://www.grouprecipes.com/71559/pizza-dough-or-bread-sticks.html.

This was before they were cooked. I didn't get an "after" picture of just the breadsticks.

Pizza or Breadstick Dough

Ingredients

---

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon (1 package) active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (or vegetable oil)shopping list
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder, optional

• How to make it

  ---

  • Put the warm water and sugar in a mixing bowl, stir to dissolve sugar. Sprinkle yeast onto the water. Let sit for a 5-10 minutes.
  • In a separate bowl, combine together the flour, salt and garlic powder.
  • Stir the oil into the yeast and water. Stir in about 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the other 1/2 of the flour and then turn out onto a floured counter and knead for 6-8 minutes until you have a smooth and elastic dough; add flour a little at a time, if necessary.
  • Cover and let rest on the counter for 10-15 minutes.
  • For Pizza Crust: Oil two pizza pans and sprinkle with cornmeal. Divide the dough in half . Pat and stretch the dough out until will fir your pan. Place on the pan and finish stretching with your fingertips until it fills the pan. Pinch a bit of a thicker edge. If dough is resistant to stretching, let rest for a few minutes and then continue stretching.
  • Par-Bake for about 10 minutes at 425*F. Top with sauce and toppings of your choice. If desired, brush the edge with garlic butter. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until cheese melts and just starts to get golden brown.
  • For Bread Sticks: Roll dough into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Cut into desired number of strips. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter (you can add more garlic to the butter) and sprinkle lightly with salt. Allow rise for about 20 minutes,
  • Bake in a 425*F oven for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
  • For leftovers, re-heat in the oven (350*F) wrapped in foil for about 5 minutes or place in the toaster oven for a quick reheat.
  Husband's Reaction: "Mmmmmm! You can write that on your blog: 'Husband's reaction: Mmmmmm!!!'"

Healthy Homemade Cornbread

Healthy Cornbread from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/excellent-and-healthy-cornbread/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1 cup cornmeal (If you are going to make homemade cornbread, you have to buy this. I had been planning on making some of this stuff for a while, so I bought it. BONUS: You can put it on the bottom of pizza to make it like the real kind. HA! ---sorry, it's late)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt (Yeah, who has this in their fridge? I sure didn't. I substituted sour cream. Worked out perfectly!)
• 2 eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, soda and salt. Stir in yogurt and eggs. Do not over mix, stir only until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until center of the bread springs back when gently pressed.

This was a really good recipe. I could tell it was a little healthier than normal cornbread (less sugar), but it tasted good anyway. . . of course, I drenched mine in butter and honey because I have no will power, but that's just me. 


My husband really liked it. I could tell because he kept eating it every time I brought it out as a side dish for chili, soups, and pasta. We made so much I was afraid we would never finish it, but he kept on eating it every time. Usually when I bring out leftovers he ignores them if he has the chance. 


So, ladies and gentlemen, this one's a keeper.

Husband Approved!

Easy White Rolls (From High School Foods Class)

Roll Recipe (From High School Foods Class)

1 Tb yeast

4 Tb sugar (use 1 Tb in one bowl and 3 in another)

¼ cup warm water

½ cup butter

4 cups flour (+ extra to roll out dough) I usually end up adding another cup or so...add enough so it's doesn't stick to your fingers and is easy to roll out. If making with a mixer, add flour until the mixer cleans the side of the bowl.

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 cup warm milk

Use four different bowls to prepare ingredients.

In Bowl #1-Add 1 Tb yeast + 1 Tb sugar + ¼ cup warm water (proofing).

Bowl #2-Cut ½ cup butter into 4 cups flour (do in biggest bowl).
      *TIP: "Cutting in" is a technique used to put tiny chunks of butter or other fat       into dry ingredients. This works best when the butter is at room temperature. A       pastry cutter is my favorite way to do this, but two butter knives can be used if         you don't have one. Simply cut across the butter, running the knives against each     other like you are sharpening them. You are trying to cut the butter into tiny             pieces to create pockets of air and make your rolls fluffy. The end result should        be a corn-mealy texture with no big pieces of butter left in the bowl.

Bowl #3-Add 1 tsp salt to 3 well-beaten eggs.

Bowl #4-Add 3 Tb sugar to 1 cup warm milk

Combine wet w/ dry ingredients. Here is where you add the extra flour (usually about a cup or more...don't worry if it seems like you're adding a lot!), to make the dough not stick to your fingers and easy to roll out.

Cover.

Let rise 1-6 hours (I ALWAYS get impatient and let it rise like 15 minutes...but DON'T WORRY! It works out with this recipe.) The more you let it rise, the lighter and less dense your rolls will be. I don't let mine rise much, and they are denser than some other rolls, but still good. 

Shape. My favorite way to shape these rolls is into crescents, like so:

1-Roll HALF of your dough into a large circle. You can use the other half to make another batch of rolls, some breadsticks, cinnamon rolls, or you may save the dough for a few days in the fridge, wrapped in plastic, and make scones or some other good thing later.

2-Use a pizza cutter to make 12 wedges. Try to keep the wedges as even as possible...I'm really bad at that. The best way to do this is to cut the circle in four sections. Then divide each of those sections into three wedges. 

It should look like this when you've got all the wedges cut out.

3- Now brush each piece with melted butter, vegetable oil, or olive oil. This step is not completely necessary, but I always do it. I love using the little brush to paint my rolls. It makes me feel creative. :) Brushing with butter also makes the rolls just a little bit flakier.

4-Roll up each of the wedges, starting with the wide side and rolling toward the narrow point. Place on a baking sheet with the point tucked underneath. When all the rolls are on the baking sheet, brush with butter or oil again.

Let rise 1-6 hours (again). HAHAHAHAHAHA or just pop them in the oven like I do.

Bake at 350 degrees.

Dinner rolls=13-15 minutes or until as brown as you like.

Cinnamon rolls=probably about 20 minutes. I haven't made these since high school.

 Here's the finished product! I let these rolls rise for 30-45 min at the first rising stage...and this is how they turned out! Perfectly wonderful! My husband has liked these rolls since I made them for him when we were first dating...although probably still not as much as his mom's. I try. :)