Pao de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread)

One of my favorite places to eat is at a Churrascaria, which is an all-you-care-to-eat Brazilian BBQ. They serve the bbq with a buffet of different kinds of sides. My kids are not real big meat eaters, so they end up only eating whatever rice, potato, or bread dishes found on the buffet line. But their absolute favorite thing to eat at a churrascaria is their Pao de Queijo, Brazilian Cheese bread. 

I've been seeing quite a few recipes for Pao de Queijo all over Pinterest, like this one from Rasa Malaysia. The recipe is pretty easy and doesn't require much cleanup. However, the tricky part of the recipe is finding tapioca flour. You can find them in most Asian markets. Usually, when I find them, I buy quite a few bags of them because I like to make big batches for my kids to snack on. It also saves me a trip from constantly going to specialty Asian markets just to purchase tapioca flour. These are best eaten hot, but you can easily store them at room temperature in a large freezer bag or an air-tight container for 3-5 days. Then warm them up for  few seconds in the microwave. 

1 egg at room tempature

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup milk

1 1/2 cups tapioca flour

1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice, packed

1 heaping tsp. salt

1) Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Grease mini-muffin tins generously.

2) Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the blender and continue pulsing. Batter will make about 2 cups.

3) Pour batter into muffin pans, about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, until puffy and lightly golden. Cool in the pan for about 2-3 minutes, and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Serve warm. Store remaining in a freezer bag or an air tight container for up to 5 days, and reheat when ready.

Zucchini & Corn Fritters with Cilantro Sour Cream

I just love fresh corn on the cob, but I've always wanted to make something else out of them. Enter Pinterest. I've been seeing quite a few recipes on corn and zucchini fritters like this one from Girl versus Dough and I thought it would be a great way to sneak in some veggies for the kiddos. I made a go at it and also made some dipping sauce to go with it. Score! The little one loved it. The older one, not so much. But mommy thought it was so yummy. This recipe makes quite a few patties, so I decided freeze a few to eat later whenever I need a corn fix. Such a yummy way to use up corn and zucchini.

Fritters
1/4 cup oil
4 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup corn kernels
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1) In a large bowl, combine eggs, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Add zucchini and corn and combine thoroughly. Add the flour and stir thoroughly until there are no pockets of flour in the dough.

2) Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a pan over medium-high heat. Using an ice cream scoop filled about 1/4 full, pour batter into oil and cook on both sides until golden brown. Place cooked fritters on a paper towel to drain the oil. Serve warm with cilantro sour cream.

Cilantro Sour Cream
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tsp. fresh lime juice
salt & pepper to taste

1) Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend thoroughly. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Bacon Ranch Pinwheels

We're getting a new employee at the office tomorrow, and to welcome him, the boss wanted to have some refreshments set up for his welcome. I was more than happy to bring something in. But what? For the 10 months I've been in this new office of mine, I've come to learn that my co-workers are not huge fans of sweets. Bummer. Its my favorite thing to make. So I guess I just have to be more creative with the goodies I bring in.

One of the supervisors is bringing donuts. I think there will probably be enough sweets there as it is, so I decided to bring something savory. I remember eating this yummy appetizer my sister-in-law made one New Year's day celebration and thought it would be a perfect thing to bring at the office. A quick text to her lead me to a search on Pinterest and found this recipe for  Chicken Bacon Ranch Pinwheels from In the Kitchen where I Belong. I wanted to keep it simple, so I omitted the chicken, but will definitely add it in the future. I think they'll like these at the office. Thanks for the idea, Deby!

2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
ranch dressing
1/4 cup diced onions
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
shredded cheese

1) Preheat oven to 375 deg F. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets and set aside.

2) Unroll each tube of crescent rolls. Pinch the creases together to seal and make a rectangular dough. Spread a few tablespoons of ranch dressing on each dough. Top with with equal amounts of diced onions, then bacon, and shredded cheese.

3) Roll the dough (from the long side) tightly and cut equal amounts of slices (I was able to get about 12 slices per dough). Place pinwheels on prepared cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about a minute. Serve warm.

Baked Sweet & Spicy Buffalo Wings

I've finally found some more time to start updating this blog. Because, frankly, I have no choice nowadays but to work on the computer. You see, I've been put on a 2-week bed rest, which started yesterday. Doctor's orders. If I want me and this baby to be healthy, I have to follow those orders. So in preparation for these next 2 weeks, I was working my butt off in the kitchen, despite it being difficult, to prepare some more make-ahead meals to feed us while I'm incapacitated. I've already made a few dishes from old recipes on this blog, and found a couple of new recipes that I will feature here in the next couple of weeks. I figured blogging would help with the boredom of being on bed rest.

Anyway, before I blog about the make-ahead meals, I had a strange craving from some sweet and spicy buffalo wings in honor of Super Bowl Sunday the other day. Now, everyone knows I'm not much of a sports person. I'll occasionally follow basketball, sometimes baseball (if one of my nephews are playing). Not so much football. But I love the celebration of food that comes with the Super Bowl.

I was watching a show called Homemade in America with Sunny Anderson on the Food Network about a month ago. They were featuring buffalo wings by "Dirty Steve." He made his original wing sauce and also his Carolina Gold Wing sauce, which I gathered was a little more sweet. I like my buffalo wings to be more on the sweet side, rather than the spicy side. So this recipe caught my attention and figured now would be a perfect time to make some wings. The original recipe makes a huge batch of wing sauce, so I've somewhat cut the recipe to a quarter and modified it to what I had on hand and the result were these yummy, sweet and slightly spicy wings that were so finger-lickin' good. The best part of these wings is that they're baked rather than fried. So its a little lighter than your average buffalo wings. I will definitely be making these again.

24 pieces of chicken wings and drummettes 

salt & pepper to taste

garlic powder

onion powder

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Carolina-style BBQ sauce, or any favorite sweet BBQ sauce

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 400 deg F.

2) Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Dredge in the flour. Place chicken pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes.

3) While chicken is baking, combine BBQ sauce, butter, hot sauce, brown sugar and black pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.

4) Once chicken is done baking, place in the bowl of sauce and toss to coat. Serve immediately with blue cheese dressing.

Empanadas

Empanada is a pastry stuffed with a meat filling. Sometimes its stuffed with strictly vegetarian items. Sometimes, people tend to be creative and stuff sweet fillings in them. Empanadas are another one of those treats that have different versions from different cultures. And in each culture, are even more versions depending on the region. There are a variety of versions of Empanadas in the Philippines. I learned 3 different versions of Empanadas from 3 different aunts who happen to be sisters. Unfortunately, there are certain techniques that I hadn't mastered from those versions. Therefore, I haven't attempted to make them on my own. I like to make them with my aunts. Mostly because its quality time spent with them. But I do miss those homemade Empanadas. Store bought empanadas just doesn't have that flavor that I look for.

Sometime last week, this recipe for Empanadas came up from my reader from What's Cookin' Chicago? So I gave this one a try and its seems to be fail-proof. It was pretty easy and quite tasty. I might, however, try to bake these next time. The recipe calls for frying them, which is the traditional Filipino way of making them. But I don't eat as much fried foods as I used to. The dough in this recipe was really flaky and yummy. I'm hoping it'll be the same when I bake them next time.

Filling
2 Tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lb. ground meat (turkey, pork, chicken, or beef)
1 medium russet potato, diced
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup frozen peas
salt
pepper
3 hard boiled eggs

1) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until softened.

2) Add ground meat. Cook until browned and no longer pink, making sure to break up large pieces.

3) Add potato and water. Continue to cook until potato has softened. Add peas and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and drain excess liquid. Cool while making the crust.

Crust
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
4 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. ice water
egg wash (1 egg yolk, whisked with 1 tsp. water)
oil for deep frying

1) In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt and sugar. Cut butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives. Make a well in the center and add ice water into the center. Mix with a fork until stiff.

2) Turn dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead dough until flour is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

3) Divide dough into 20 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a small ball on the palm of your hand. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough into a flat circle. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of the dough. Top with a wedge of hard boiled egg. Brush edge of dough with egg wash. Fold dough over filling and crimp edges to seal. Deep fry until golden brown. Serve hot.

Crab Cakes

A couple of months ago, I bought a huge container of Chicken of the Sea Crab Meat from Costco, with the plan of making stuffed mushrooms for New Year's Eve. But things got kind of hectic and I didn't have time to make it. So the crab meat sat in the refrigerator. The expiration date is nearing, so I had to use it up fast. And since it is Lenten Friday, I figured it was the perfect time to use up this seafood.

I got this recipe for the container of crab meat and it came out so good. I served it with Creole sauce and hubby really liked it. If crab meat wasn't so expensive, I'd be making this dish often.

1 (16 oz) cup Crab Meat
1 beaten egg
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
1 tsp. creole seasoning
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup bread crumbs
Creole Sauce

1) In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except crab meat and bread crumbs. Stir until well incorporated. Add crab to the mixture and continue stirring until thoroughly incorporated. Gently fold in bread crumbs. Form into desired size patties. Pan fry on both sides until golden brown. Serve with creole sauce or aioli.

Toasted Ravioli

I was home with my daughter today because she's sick with a fever. Again. It seems like every month we send her off to school, she catches something just as she's recovering from a previous illness. But the doctor says its part of growing up. But she's off of school more than she's on. Anyway, since I was home today, I was looking in our refrigerator for something to make. Then I remembered that I had a huge bag of frozen ravioli from Costco, which I had planned on making some toasted ravioli with. So I figured since I had some time, might as well make them today.

I used this recipe from What's Cookin, Chicago? that I had been eyeing for awhile. The process was pretty quick and simple. And I served this with my own Marinara Sauce for dipping and it came out so well. They taste just as good as the ones we order as appetizers at some of the restaurants we visit. Hubby loved these.

2 Tbsp. milk
1 egg
3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 package frozen ravioli (about 20-24 pieces), thawed
2 cups oil for frying
grated Parmesan for garnish
Marinara Sauce for dipping

1) Combine milk and egg in a small bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs and seasonings. Dip ravioli in egg mixture and coat with breadcrumbs.

2) In a large, heavy pan, pour oil to the depth of 2 inches. Heat oil over medium heat until a small amount of breading sizzles and turns brown. Fry ravioli, a few at a time, for about a minute or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately with Marinara Sauce.

Ukoy (Squash and Sweet Potato Fritters)

Ukoy is a Filipino crunchy appetizer, often eaten as a mid-afternoon snack. There are many variations to this dish, where shrimp and mung bean sprouts are sometimes used. But the main ingredient is always either sweet potato or squash or both. Growing up, I was not too fond of ukoy whenever my Lola (Grandmother) or dad made them. They made theirs with squash, mung bean sprouts, and tiny shrimps. As a kid, you never really like veggies or tiny little shrimps poking at you while you're eating it. But I've grown to love eating ukoy when I had them at a friend's party about a year ago, and then recently at my daughter's welcome party during our recent trip to the Philippines. My aunt's maid had made them for the party and I learned that my aunt taught her how to make them. And so I asked my aunt how it was made, which was quite simple. Her ukoy was made of just sweet potato and squash, a little salt and pepper to taste, and a mixture of cornstarch and flour to bind them together. There really isn't any exact measurements. So its more based on texture. You can also add whatever type of other vegetable you want. I added some corn kernels for an extra touch of sweetness. Once deep fried, the best part of this dish is the crunchiness that I love. Dip them in a mixture of vinegar with minced garlic, salt and pepper, this can be eaten as a main dish as well. My daughter loves this dish so she's able to have her dose of veggies for the day.

2 cup shredded kubocha squash (Japanese Squash)
2 cup shredded sweet potato
1/2 cup corn kernels
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
splash of water
oil for deep frying

1) Fill  a deep frying pan or saute pan with oil about 1/4 of the way up the pan. Heat oil over medium heat.

2) In a large bowl, combine shredded squash, sweet potato, salt and pepper. Stir until incorporated. Add cornstarch, flour, and splash of water. Stir well. Mixture should stick together when mashed together. If mixture is too wet, add an equal amount of cornstarch and flour. If its too dry, add a splash of water.

3) Spoon mixture into oil to make a small patty and fry on both sides until golden brown. Serve hot with a mixture of vinegar with minced garlic, salt and pepper.

BBQ Chicken Quesadilla with Smoked Onion Dip

I hope you all had a great Christmas surrounded by loved ones.

I must apologize that its been a while since I last posted a recipe. I've been so busy with Christmas preparations that I haven't tried any new recipes. As some of you may know, holidays are celebrated twice in our family. Once with my side of the family, the other time is spent with hubby's side. And we always host Christmas for hubby's side. So our household was pretty hectic. And since we host Christmas day at our house, we always end up with more leftovers than the two of us can handle. I say "two" because our daughter hardly eats any of the leftovers. So to avoid the tons of leftovers that takes up space in both of our refrigerators, I told all our guests to take home the leftovers. When we were left alone after the party, hubby decided to look for leftovers. He was a little disappointed to find out there was hardly anything left. I felt bad, so I planned to make it up to him.

When I saw a dish of BBQ Quesadilla with Smoked Onion Dip on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network, I knew I had to find a similar recipe to make. My mouth was watering just watching the TV. So I knew this was the dish to make it up to him. After doing a quick search online, I came across this recipe from My Stained Apron and decided to make it for dinner tonight. This recipe certainly did the trick. It was so delicious and the Smoked Onion dip really enhances the overall flavor of this dish. This dish was so easy, it'll be a definite do-again recipe. The longest part of the process is cooking the onions, but don't let that deter you from making this. This is a must to be made. Hubby asked for more, and I know he will be thinking about this dish for a long time.

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

6-8 flour tortillas (soft taco size)

3/4 cup BBQ sauce

2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, boiled and shredded

1/2 red onion, sliced

fresh chopped cilantro

1) Place 3-4 tortillas on a flat surface. Spread each tortilla with desired amount of BBQ sauce, all the way to the edge of the tortilla. Evenly distribute shredded cheese, shredded chicken and desired amount of sliced onions on top of BBQ sauce. Sprinkle desired amount of chopped fresh cilantro.

2) Spread a thin layer of BBQ sauce on the remaining 3-4 tortillas and place on top of prepared quesadilla, sauce-side down. Cook on a skillet over medium-low heat until tortilla has turned golden brown and the cheese has melted. Cut into wedges and serve hot with Smoked Onion Dip.

Smoked Onion Dip

1 medium onion, sliced

1/4 tsp. liquid smoke

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

1) In a medium sized skillet, saute onions over medium-low heat until it begins to soften. Add liquid smoke and continue to cook until the onions have caramelized, about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place cooked onions in a food processor to chop finely.

2) In a medium bowl, combine prepared onion with the remaining ingredients. Adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper according to taste.

Mashed Potato Soup

Its been about a week since Thanksgiving, and I still have some leftover side dishes in the fridge that I have to decide whether to throw away or not. Specifically mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy and cranberry sauce. My co-worker, Stacy, had mentioned that a friend of hers had made tons of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and then used it to make some delicious potato soup for her because she was sick this past weekend. I asked her to try to get the recipe and she lead me to this from The Rachael Ray Show.

This recipe couldn't be any easier. It asks for leftover mashed potatoes and chicken stock, but I happen to have turkey stock from our Thanksgiving turkey carcass. It was so delicious and so comforting for a chilly evening like it was last night. Its a potato soup kind of night.

oil

6 slices of bacon, chopped

4 Tbsp. butter

1 medium onion, chopped

4 Tbsp. flour

4 cups chicken or turkey stock

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

chopped chives or green onions for garnish

1) In a medium pot, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy. Remove bacon and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside.

2) Drain off excess bacon fat from the pot and add butter. When it is melted, add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour into pot and cook with a wooden spoon for 1 minute. Whisk in stock and bring to a bubble. Cook until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

3) Whisk in mashed potatoes. Stir in cheddar cheese with a wooden spoon and cook until potatoes are hot and the cheese is melted. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with bacon and chopped chives/green onions.

Easy Fruit Dip

My sister-in-law had served this dip at one of our nephew's birthdays. She had mentioned that it was simply a mixture of cream cheese and marshmallow fluff. Then I was searching for recipe ideas from the Brown Eyed Baker and found this recipe. I had some strawberries that were starting to wilt, so I thought I'd eat them up before they all go bad and this dip would go well with them.

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 jar marshmallow fluff

1) In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese and marshmallow fluff until well combined. Serve with your favorite fruit.

Paula's Chicken Croquettes with Creole Sauce

So I was watching the Food Network this afternoon while my daughter was taking her nap. Its the only time I get to watch what I want because once she's awake, its always her shows that are on the TV in our house. She usually naps about the same time of the day, so the shows that I always catch are Claire Robinson's 5 Ingredient Fix, Giada de Laurentiis' Giada at Home, and then Paula Deen's Best Dishes. Yeah, she naps for about an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Today on Paula's Best Dishes, she made Chicken Croquettes with Creole Sauce with one of her sons, Jamie. I already have a go-to Chicken Croquettes recipe, but Paula's recipe looked delicious. What did it for me was the creole sauce she put on top of her croquettes. I love anything with a creamy sauce. I had some leftover rotisserie chicken that would go perfect with this recipe, so I gave it a shot. It came out delicious. Its got the flavors of a good crab cake, except made with chicken. And boy was I right about the creole sauce. It took this dish to the top. Hubby really enjoyed this and I'm definitely making this again.

4 Tbsp. butter

1/3 cup minced red bell pepper

1/3 cup minced celery

1/3 cup minced onion

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. seasoned salt (or regular table salt)

1) In a small skillet, melt 2 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add bell pepper, celery and onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

2) In a large bowl, combine chicken, bell pepper mixture and breadcrumbs. Set aside.

3) In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, eggs, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Add to the chicken mixture, tossing gently to combine. Form mixture into about 10 patties.

4) In a large skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Cook chicken cakes until browned, about 3-5 minutes per side. Serve with creole sauce.

Creole sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. creole seasoning

1) Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill before serving.

Mac 'n Cheese Croquettes

The weekend was spent celebrating hubby's graduation from PTA school. Therefore, not much was going on in my kitchen aside from warming up leftovers and repeat recipes. Lunch for today is a twist on a repeat recipe. I had some leftover cheese sauce from the last time I made my Macaroni and Cheese. I've been wanting to make some fried Mac n Cheese for a while, ever since I saw Paula Deen on the Food Network make it. I've also seen it on the menu at the Cheesecake Factory. But I've never had any mac n cheese leftovers because my daughter always eats it all up or I freeze them for a quick meal for her later on. And everyone knows how much my daughter loves her Mac n Cheese. I figured she would love these too. So when I remembered that I had cheese sauce left over, I boiled some pasta and mixed it with the sauce and decided to finally try to make some fried mac n cheese.

These were so yummy and I especially loved dipping them in an aioli sauce. Anything is great with aioli sauce. This is an awesome grown-up version of Mac n Cheese. My daughter didn't care much for them because she wanted "clean Mac n Cheese" as she called them. But this is a great way to spruce up leftover Mac n Cheese.

2 cups pre-made macaroni and cheese

1 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp. lemon juice

oil for deep frying

1) Heat oil in a pan until it reaches 350 deg F.

2) In a small bowl, season flour with salt and pepper to taste. Roll macaroni and cheese into bite-sized balls. Dredge balls in flour mixture, shaking off the excess flour. Dip in egg, and then dredge in the bread crumbs. Let balls sit for a few minutes to set the crust.

3) Carefully drop the balls into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve with aioli sauce.

4) To make aioli sauce: combine mayonnaise, garlic and lemon juice. Stir until well incorporated.

Bruschetta

A few months ago, I had watched the movie Julie & Julia, because almost everyone I knew suggested I should. Its about a girl who blogs about recipes she makes from Julia Childs' cookbook. Hmmmmm, sounds familiar. I was intrigued. Unfortunately, the movie left a lot to be desired. The story sort of dragged. So I was rather disappointed. However, there were some recipes that Julie made that caught my eye. Like her bruschetta (although they didn't really identify the dish in the movie. I just guessed it to be bruschetta). It looked delicious and I've always loved eating bruschetta as an appetizer in restaurants. So I vowed to someday try to make some. Julie's bruschetta had, what looked like, both yellow and red tomatoes. For this recipe, I only used red Roma tomatoes.

Hubby absolutely loved these. He couldn't stop eating them. He said they were quite tasty. And I have to agree with him.

1 loaf french baguette (about a foot long), cut into 1/4" thick slices

olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic, cut in half

5 Roma tomatoes (or any medium tomatoes you like), seeded then chopped

3 stems fresh basil, chopped or chiffonade

salt & pepper

1) Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Place sliced baguette on baking sheets. Drizzle the top of the baguette slices with olive oil. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until they start to turn golden brown. Cool for about 2 minutes. Rub garlic (cut-side down) on toasted baguette. Set aside.

2) In a medium bowl, combine chopped tomatoes and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly. Top prepared baguette slices with tomato mixture and serve.

Crab Hush Puppies with Aioli sauce

We used to frequent Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and order their Hush Pups, which I absolutely love. So I was excited to find this recipe again from my Costco cookbook. I had bought some canned lump crab meat from Costco about 2 weeks ago with the intentions of making this recipe one day. And so before the crab meat goes bad, I decided to finally make it for lunch today. And boy were they good. I served this with a quick Aioli that I made. This recipe makes a huge batch, so I called my brother up to see if he wanted me to set him aside some. He loves Bubba Gump's Hush Pups as well. So he'll be coming by later today.

4 cups canola oil for frying

2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. salt

1/2 - 2 Tbsp. hot sauce (depending on how spicy you like it)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 lb. lump crab meat

1 cup corn kernels

5 large green onions, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp. butter

Aioli sauce

1) Heat oil in a heavy pot over high heat until it reaches 275 deg F. Preheat oven to 250 deg F.

2) While the oil is heating, stir together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and hot sauce. Add liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir until combined. Fold in crab and corn kernels.

3) Over medium heat, saute green onions in butter until soft. Stir into batter.

4) Using 2 teaspoons, carefully add 1 rounded teaspoon full of batter to the hot oil and fry, turning until golden for 3-4 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain briefly. Transfer hush puppies to a shallow baking pan and keep hot in the oven while frying the remaining batter. Serve immediately with aioli sauce.

Aioli sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. mustard

1 tsp. pepper onion relish (or regular pickled relish)

salt & pepper to taste

1) Stir all ingredients together until well combined. Season with salt & pepper to your liking

Chicken Enchilada Dip Roll-ups

Its the eve of our 7th anniversary. Unfortunately, hubby has to be in class all evening tomorrow. Which means I'll be without him for our anniversary. I plan on waiting up and having a nice dinner set out for him when he gets home. But being at work and school all day, I'm sure he'll be very hungry before coming home. I normally pack him a sandwich on these nights when he's out all day and evening. But it being our anniversary, I wanted to send him off to school with something different.

I've bookmarked this recipe for a while from Sing for your Supper... which I thought hubby would really appreciate. Hubby and I love enchiladas and I think this is an awesome twist to one of our favorite Mexican dishes. This was originally a dip recipe, but it can be used to spread on a tortilla and then rolled-up to make a nice appetizer.

2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 1/3 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

1 tsp. minced garlic or garlic powder

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

cayenne pepper to taste

salt taste

3 boneless, skinless chicken, chopped or shredded

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

10 oz can diced tomato with green chilies

1) Mix cheeses together until well blended. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2) Spread dip on a flour tortilla and roll. Cut into 1-2 inch thickness. Serve.

Larb

Larb is a Thai version of a Chicken Lettuce wrap. I was just recently introduced to this dish a few months ago when my cousin's wife made it for a dinner party they had at their place. She quickly told me how to make it, but I wasn't able to write down the recipe. I did remember that she added a toasted rice-type of powder. So I searched for a recipe that was somewhat similar to hers and found this recipe.

Larb (or Laab as the Thais say it) can be served as an appetizer or side dish or a whole meal in itself. You can use any type of ground meat you have, such as chicken, pork, turkey or beef. I always have ground turkey in the freezer, therefore its what I used today. Its a really light dish with a salty and sour taste. I modified the original recipe a bit by cutting the fish sauce in half because I found it to be too salty. But the dish was quite refreshing for this warm summer evening.

2 Tbsp. toasted rice (1/4 cup uncooked rice, toasted until golden brown, then ground in a food processor or coffee grinder)

1 tsp. oil

2 Tbsp. water

1/2 lb. ground meat (turkey, chicken, pork, or beef)

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

1-2 limes

1/4 tsp. ground chili pepper (more if you like it very spicy)

1-2 Tbsp. fish sauce (depending on how you salty you like it)

5 sprigs cilantro, chopped

3 sprigs mint (optional for garnish)

1 green onion, sliced (optional for garnish)

1) Marinate meat with juice of 1/2 a lime for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2) Heat pan or wok on high and add water and oil. Immediately add marinated meat and stir until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink.

3) Remove meat from heat and place in a large mixing bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well until incorporated. You can add more or less of the fish sauce and lime juice to your taste. Garnish with fresh sprigs of mint and sliced green onions and serve with lettuce or cabbage leaves.

Potato Paratha (Potato-stuffed Indian Flatbread)

I think Paratha is the first Indian dish that my friend Kiran had me try. She brought some to work that her mom had made and I was hooked. I always secretly hope that she brings some to work for me everytime her mom makes some :) Its a flat bread stuffed with various things. Most of the time, its stuffed with potatoes. I saw this recipe on the new Cooking Channel with Bal Arneson of Spice Goddess. Kiran and another Indian co-worker of mine would tell me how to make Paratha, but I think I had to have a visual on how to make this dish. So when I saw this on TV last night, I was dying to try to make it today.

It wasn't as hard as I thought, though there just seems to be something missing in the filling. Maybe because I omitted the fenugreek leaves (because I didn't have any). The Garam Masala was a little overpowering, so I may lessen the amount the next time. Overall though, the taste was there. I'll try to make this again next time, with different ingredients.

Filling

1 cup mashed potatoes

2 Tbsp. minced onion

1 Tbsp. fenugreek leaves

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp. Garam Masala

salt & pepper to taste

Dough

2 cups flour

1/2 - 3/4 cup water

1) Combine the ingredients for the filling in a medium bowl. Set aside

2) In another bowl, combine dough ingredients and knead until it forms into a smooth ball, similar to a stiff pizza dough.

3) Take a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll it into a disc. Lightly dust surface with flour, and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the disc into a thin patty (like a pancake).

4) Place about 1/4 cup of filling in the center of the disc then fold the edge of the dough over the mixture and form into a ball. Gently roll the paratha into a flat patty (like a tortilla), being careful not to squeeze the filling out.

5) Heat a skillet to medium-high. Place paratha on hot skillet. Cook until dough begins to bubble and brown, then flip on the other side to cook, about 3 minutes on each side.

Cilantro Pepita dressing (Mexican Caesar Salad dressing)

After making my Tequila Lime Chicken and adding it to a salad, we used a store-bought Thousand Island dressing, which was all we had in the fridge. It tasted okay. But I thought to myself that a creamy cilantro dressing would go great with this salad. So after searching online for a cilantro dressing, I found this awesome recipe on CDKitchen. It turns out, this was also the recipe for El Torito's Mexican Caesar Salad dressing, which I had when we last visited there with my office. SCORE! That visit to El Torito left me with a very lasting impression. From there, I was inspired to learn how to make my Chile Verde. Now I learned to make their salad dressing.

I had to go to 2 different stores to buy all the ingredients for this dressing. They don't normally sell Pepita (or shelled Pumpkin seeds) at the grocery store, so I went to a local Mediterranean market to buy some. Going to the Mediterranean market is always an adventure for me because I find a lot of unique ingredients not normally found at the regular grocery store.

Anyway, this dressing was delicious! Very flavorful. My next conquest from the El Torito menu will probably be their sweet corn cake. We'll see how that goes. Hubby loved this one and said it was restaurant quality. So this will definitely make it on my regular rotation.

2 medium Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded

1/3 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cup oil (olive or vegetable)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

5 Tbsp. Cotija cheese

2 small bunches of cilantro, stemmed

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup water

1) In a blender or food processor, place all the ingredients except cilantro, mayonnaise and water. Blend for 10-15 seconds. Add cilantro a little at a time until blended smooth. Set aside.

2) In a stainless steel bowl, whisk together mayonnaise and water until smooth. Add the cilantro mixture into mayonnaise mixture and mix until well incorporated. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Dressing will keep for about 3 days. Serve with chopped romaine lettuce, tomatoes, corn, avocado, crushed tortilla chips and crumbled cotija cheese.

Cheeseburger bread

I found this recipe from another blog I visited, Telly's Tasty Tidbits, that I wanted to try out. I made my stuffed burger for lunch yesterday, but I guess I used the wrong hamburger patties so it didn't taste quite as good as I had first made it. To redeem myself to hubby, I wanted to make up for it by trying this recipe.

This came out really good. It reminds me of an empanada with a softer dough. The original recipe called for bacon, but I didn't have it on hand, so it was omitted from this recipe. Hubby and daughter liked it. I'll definitely be making this again as a quick meal.

1 lb pizza dough (which equals to about 2 tubes of refrigerated pizza dough)

3/4 cup ground beef (or ground turkey)

a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

2 Tbsp. pickled relish

salt & pepper to taste

1) Preheat oven to 400 deg. F.

2) In a large skillet, cook ground meat with a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce over medium heat until meat is cooked through. Add the tomatoes and continue cooking for about 1 minute. Drain and remove to a large bowl.

3) In the same skillet, add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add to bowl with meat mixture. Add pickled relish, cheese, and salt & pepper to taste. Mix until well incorporated.

4) Roll dough into a large rectangle and cover with meat mixture. Roll dough (starting with the long side) to make a loaf, pinching seams together. Bake, seam-side down, on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before slicing.