Peeps Puffs

LOL this is kinda nasty and good at the same time. I mean, PEEPS. They have a half live of like 8 billion years....and yet--this recipe is not half bad. Happy Easter!

Peeps Puffs

Marshmallow Peeps....the chicks fit the best
Vanilla pudding (if you are in a jam--snack pak vanilla pudding)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
One cup semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 teaspoons light corn syrup
3 teaspoons milk

Directions:
Turn oven on to 400 degrees
In medium saucepan, melt butter. When melted, add water and bring to a boil.
Add flour and salt at once and stir vigorously.
Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball that doesn't separate.
Remove from heat and cool for about five minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, beating with a wooden spoon after each addition, until smooth.
Drop batter by heaping tablespoons 3" apart onto a greased baking sheet. Shape into ovals with greased fingers.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.
Remove from oven, split and remove soft dough inside. Cool on wire
rack.
Put teaspoon of pudding and a Peeps into the center of the base and cover.
Prepare chocolate glaze by heating the semisweet chocolate chips,
butter or margarine, light corn syrup a milk over low heat in a saucepan.
Stir frequently until melted and smooth.

Spoon glaze over cream puffs and refrigerate until set.

Cool as a cucumber

Here is a recipe for Sunomono...a tasty cucumber salad!

Ingredients:

-2 medium sized english cucumbers--they should be nice and crisp
(or you can get 1 small daikon radish and 1 english cucumber)

-2 1/2 TBSP of rice vinegar
-2 1/2 TBSP of marin
-2 TBSP of sugar
-1 tsp of salt

Prep:
Peel the cucumber or radish and slice into thin slices. This is where a mandolin is helpful! Salt the cucumber/radish and wait for 5-10 minutes. Wash off the cucumber/radish slics and drain the water through a strainer. Mix the vinegar and marin in a cup. Pour the liquid mixture over the cucumber and daikon slices. Set aside at least 15 minutes before serving.

Domo arigatou gozaimasu! (thank you very much!)

More from the archives and IT HAS MEAT!!!!

This was from back in the day when I justified eating PORK (faints) for one day. I really wanted to try using prosciutto in a dish for a party I was hosting. I'll admit--it was awesome.

The sinful recipe:

8 Black mission figs
1/2 blue cheese, cut into cubes
8 prosciutto slices (get 1/4 lbs of this stuff, have it thinly sliced, cut 4 of them in half lengthwise)
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

Prep:
Preheat grill. You will need medium to high heat. The key is to crisp the prosciutto quickly and leave the blue cheese just melted with the inner part of the fig cool in temperature.

Cut the figs in half and place a piece of blue cheese on each fig half. Wrap the prosciutto around each fig half, covering the cheese. The ends of the prosciutto should overlap.

Grill each piece until the prosciutto begins to color and crisp, about 2 minutes on each side. Remove from grill, lightly dizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper. Serve warm.

From the archives....

Melon Salad--12 servings

Yes....I know MELONS....they are grossly out of season right now but I managed to dig up this recipe from long ago. Enjoy!

1/3 c honey
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 c orange juice
3 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP chopped fresh mint leaves
4 c. cantaloupe balls
2 c. honeydew melon balls
2 c. watermelon balls

Prep:

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine honey with sugar. Microwave on high power for 30 seconds; remove and stir. Microwave 30 seconds long until sugar dissolves.

Stir and let it stand for 10 minutes (why I don't know)

To sugar mixture add OJ, lemon juice, and mint leaves and mix well.

Place melon balls in large serving bowl and pour honey mixture over. Toss gently to coat and serve immediately or cover and refrig. until serving time.

MMM so refreshing on a hot day! :)

Recipe after hiatus

Holy cow it's been nearly a year since I contributed to this blog--what have I been doing?!

Anyhow the other night I decided to cook something inspired by a recent Portland trip. So without further ado here is the recipe.

Cornmeal Crusted Tempeh Meal: cornmeal crusted tempeh, served with pinto beans, corn, black lentils on a bed of sauteed greens and dressed with Tofu-Cilantro "sour cream". Phew what a mouthful but it will be worth it! The dish in Portland also had quinoa but I didn't feel like making that this time. Additionally the dish had a "pumpkin seed relish"--I didn't think that would be a hit with James (I was already pushing my luck) so I omitted that--point being, do whatever you like!






The "sour cream" can be made any time because it's delicious and can be put on everything. I recommend making this a day in advance--one less thing to worry about, right?

Vegan Sour Cream Recipe with Cilantro

Makes about three cups

* 1 pound silken tofu (Isa says – not the vacuum packed kind!)
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from one lime)
* 1 tablespoon of agave nectar or 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 2 cups loosely packed FRESH cilantro, with leaves and stems (you can half the amount if you’re not a cilantro fiend like I am)

1. Remove tofu from packaging and squeeze gently to remove any excess water. Place in a blender or food processor along with the lime juice, agave, and salt. Blend until smooth.
2. Heat a small pan over medium-low heat, and add garlic and olive oil. Cook gently for three minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not burn the garlic… you want a nice, blonde-brown color. Add to tofu mixture and blend again. Add cilantro and blend until “smooth and light green with some flecks of dark green.” Don’t forget to scrape down the sides.
3. Add more salt and lime to taste, then transfer to a bowl, cover, and chill for at least thirty minutes.




Now the Cornmeal Crusted Tempeh. This will take 1 hour and 10 minutes of your time. Plan accordingly.

Serves 4

2 8-ounce packages tempeh, each cut into four triangles
1/3 cup wheat-free tamari
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1 clove garlic, minced
3 slices of fresh ginger
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried cumin
pinch of sea salt
coconut oil (or olive oil)

Preheat oven to 350 F

Place tempeh triangles in baking dish. In small bowl, whisk together the tamari, 1/2 cup water, agave nectar, garlic, and ginger and pour over the tempeh (you can also do this the day before). Cover and bake for 1 hour, turning tempeh halfway through. While this is going on, you can make the sour cream recipe or you can get prepped for the kale, beans, rice, quinoa, whatever. After an hour remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

In a large shallow bowl, mix together the cornmeal, red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, cumin, and sea salt. Dip the tempeh pieces into the cornmeal mixture to coat. At this point I would put on the beans, rice and lentils onto the stove because you're almost done.

In large skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until hot. Cook the cooked tempeh until golden brown, about a minute on each side. Add additionally oil if necessary.

Remove from heat.

Now the beans, corn and black lentils
-All supplied from Trader Joe's (blushes) so just reheat per directions on can or bag. Who said I had time to make everything from scratch?

The kale (or chard or spinach...go nuts!):

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup diced, onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 cups kale, washed
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1 lemon

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a 10" skillet over medium-low heat.

2. Add the onions and cook until tender but not brown, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

3. Add the kale, salt and pepper and toss with the olive oil and garlic until the kale begins to wilt, about 2 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mixture. Remove from the skillet.

Kale is your bottom layer, beans, rice and black lentils and whatever you decide to throw in is your middle layer, and finally the tempeh is popped on the top (I put 4 triangles) and dressed with the sour cream. MMMM....yummy!

And yes, this is vegan! Now go cook you hippy!

Black Bean and Cheese Tortilla Pie

Black Bean and Cheese Tortilla Pie
Recipe handed down from James' wonderful Mom, Judy who originally got the recipe from Donna Blancero

What you need:

1 (15 oz) pkg Pillsbury All-Ready pie crust

FILLING:

3 T. oil

1 C. chopped onions

½ C. chopped green or red bell pepper

1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

½ C. salsa

2 T. minced fresh jalapeno peppers (optional)

½ t. chili powder (optional)

½ t. cayenne pepper (optional)

8 oz (2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese

3 (8-inch) flower tortillas

TOPPING:

½ C. dairy sour cream (optional)

Prepare pie crust according to package directions for a two-crust, 9 inch pie. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add onions and bell pepper, cook and stir until tender; about 5 minutes. Add beans, salsa, jalapeno peppers, chili powder and cayenne pepper; simmer 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spoon about ½ C. of bean mixture into crust-lined pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 C. of the cheese then top with a tortilla. Repeat laying twice; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Top with the second crust, seal edges and flute. Cut slits in top crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream. 6 to 8 servings.

The UGLY details:

Serving size: 1/8 of recipe

Calories 540

Protein 14 g

Carbs 45 g

Fat 34 g

Cholesterol 52 mg

Sodium 560 mg

Potassium 300 mg

Ways to lighten up the recipe is use light cheese and not use as many tortilla or if you do, use multi-grain. Also, if such a product exists, get a lighter calorie pie crust. That's the only way I can think of reducing the calories here. However, I have tried the real pie without any omissions and let me tell you--it's FREAKIN' DELICIOUS! So maybe this will be good for a pot-luck where people usually don't care how much they gorge themselves.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

This is a really old recipe from my Grandma, Baca. Not dieter friendly but what GOOD cookie is? At the end you may have to add more egg and milk but it's a judgment call.

Makes about 36

Materials:
*8 oz. package of milk chocolate kisses (I have found that dark chocolate just overpowers the taste of the peanut butter so for once I'll advocate the usage of milk chocolate which is rare folks)

*1/2 c. vegetable shortening
*3/4 c. smooth peanut butter
*1/3 c. granulated sugar
*1/3 c. light brown sugar (MAKE SURE IT'S MOIST!!! IF YOU HAVE DRY BROWN SUGAR IT'S TOTALLY USELESS FOR PRACTICALLY ANY RECIPE--JUST THROW IT OUT)

*1-2 egg(s)
*2 TBSP milk
*1 tsp. vanilla extract
*1 1/4 c. flour
*1 tsp. baking soda
*1/4 tsp. salt

more granulated sugar in a small bowl (a cup or so)


Directions:
1.) Combine the peanut butter and shortening in a large bowl. Beat until well blended.
2.) Add 1/3 c granulated sugar and brown sugar, beat until "light and fluffy"
3.) Add 1 egg, milk, vanilla; beat well.
4.) In a separate bowl/cup, add flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

5.) Cover and chill for 1 hour in the refrig.

6.) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees farenheit

7a.) Examine your dough....run your fingers through it. Does dough stick to your hands? Or does it crumble apart? Now take a small bit of dough and make a ball--if it sticks together you should be okay, proceed to step 7b.

If the ball falls apart at any bit of pressure--you have dry dough. It's okay--happens to me too. :) If your dough is too dry/doesn't stick, add 1 more egg and a splash of milk, mix well--no need to refrig. for another hour unless you really want to. Now proceed to step 7b

7b) Shape dough into 1" balls, roll in granulated sugar, place onto UNGREASED cookie sheet.

8.) Cook 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. While you are waiting, unwrap the kisses.

9.) Stop eating the kisses!

10.) As soon as the cookies are out press one kiss into the center of the cookie--cookie will crack a little and that's okay.

11.) Remove from sheet and allow to cool.

Repeat steps as necessary and enjoy. :)