Recipes Cooking: cheese

Showing posts with label cheese. Show all posts

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Cream Cheese Alfredo Sauce

A creamy Alfredo sauce is probably the quickest and easiest pasta sauce to make. Made simply and incredible over so many dishes. Just a very simple sauce with few ingredients. My family loves this sauce.

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter (50 grams)
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3-4 oz grated Parmesan
5 cloves garlic
1 tbsp parsley flakes
Black pepper
Salt to taste

Melt butter with cream cheese.

Whisk it until well combined.

Slowly add milk with whipping cream while mixing.

Add all the rest of the ingredients. Bring it to a boil cook for 2 min until Parmesan melts. Serve hot with pasta.

Enjoy!!!

Saturday, April 5, 2014

MUSHROOM CHEESE STUFFED HAMBURGERS with HOMEMADE BUNS

Spring is here (even here in Alaska) and thoughts turn to outdoor barbeques and camping. I’m always on the lookout for easy recipes that will “hold up” well in the cooler and Mushroom Stuffed Hamburgers is a good one. You can make the patties ahead of time and freeze them solid (which will help insure food safety while you travel.) Just throw these frozen patties on the grill and pair them with homemade hamburger buns (recipe follows) and you have a delicious cookout!

Can you tell that someone in my house loves mayo? LOL

(makes 4 hamburgers)
1 pound of lean ground beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
¼ cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces of fresh mushrooms (sautéed)
favorite cheese

Each of these hamburgers is made out of two thin patties with mushrooms and cheese sandwiched in between. So mix everything (except the mushrooms & cheese) and make 8 thin patties. Top four of the patties with sautéed mushrooms and your favorite cheese and then a 2nd thin patty, pressing to seal the edges well. Repeat for the other three hamburgers.

If you are going to freeze these, wrap each one individually in plastic wrap and lay them flat on a cookie sheet to freeze. When they are frozen, you can stack them in a freezer Ziploc bag. Whether you are taking these on a camping trip or just leaving them in the freezer for a quick weeknight meal, they taste great.

HAMBURGER BUNS

This recipe will make at least 2 dozen hamburger buns. Once baked, they freeze extremely well. I find myself using them for everything from breakfast sandwiches to peanut butter sandwiches.
5 cups of all purpose flour
2 packets of dry active yeast (I use 2 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 ½ cups very warm water

In an electric stand mixer, place 2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, oil and salt (stir to combine dry ingredients) Add 2 ½ cups of very warm water (see note). Stir quickly while you add the water. Let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the flour, about ½ cup at a time, scraping the sides of your bowl and dough hook each time. Every time you stop your mixer, turn all of the dough mass over. Let your machine knead this dough until it CLEANLY comes away from the side of your mixer. If you have added all 5 cups of flour and it has not come cleanly away from your bowl, you need to add just a little more flour.

Once the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of your bowl, let the machine knead it for about five more minutes. Remove the dough and grease the bowl. Return the bread to the greased bowl and grease the top of the dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour (it will more than double in volume).

Punch the air out of your dough and let it rest (covered) for 15-20 minutes. This step is important because your dough will “behave” much better while you form it, if you follow this step. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a tangerine. Make each ball as round as you can. Roll each ball into a 5” circle. Resist the temptation to add more dough to make a thicker bun. At this stage, your buns need to be a lot thinner than you think. (about ½” thick). If you add more dough, you are going to end up with a burger bun the size of your face!

Place the formed buns on a greased baking sheet and spritz the top of the dough with just a little cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 45 minutes. Bake at 400° for 15-16 minutes.

If you are going to freeze these buns, let them cool completely first and freeze as soon as possible. About 4 to 5 minutes in a 350° oven will heat a frozen burger bun and make it taste like it was just baked.

This recipe also makes excellent sandwich bread

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Sweet Pirojki Filled with Cream Cheese and Poppy Seeds

Baked pirojki are everybodys favorite "sweet pirogi". This delightful combination of cream cheese and poppy seeds is going to make you taste buds dance. It gives such pleasing taste. First time I tried these pirogi I loved it so much. I never made poppy seeds filling before because it was too dry for me. But when you add cream cheese to it, that becomes scrumptious.

Ingredients:
12 oz warm milk
1 stick of melted butter
3 eggs
2 tbs sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dry yeast 1 tsp vanilla
5 1/2 cups flour (I use Canadian flour)

Mix all ingredients in the bread maker. Set it on dough.

For sweet fillings we use one of these choices:

Shredded apples steamed with butter and cinnamon
Blueberries
Any fruit preserve

Mix all liquid ingredients first.

Add dry ingredients. Mix with a spoon. Set on dough.

Poppy Seeds Filling: (recipe from Olgas factory)

1 3/4 cups poppy seeds
1 cup milk
1/2 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten

Grind poppy seeds with a coffee grinder or magic bullet. I did 1/2 cup at the time for 30 seconds.

Heat the milk, butter, salt and sugar on medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

Fluff the eggs.

Slowly pour in a small amount of the hot milk into the eggs, mixing it fast. This will prevent the eggs from scrambling. When you add about half of the milk to the eggs, pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium-low heat until the mixture thickens, just like making pudding.

Add poppy seeds. Mix well and let it cool.

Cream Cheese:

16 oz cream cheese (softened)

1/2 cup powder sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

Cream cheese need to be softened for few hrs at room temperature. Mix cream cheese until fluffy. Add powder sugar, mix.

Add vanilla.

Add egg yolks. Mix until smooth.

Fluff 2 egg whites in the separate bowl.

Now everything is ready to start making pirogi.

This is a traditional way of making pirogi. For the pirog you need to roll the dough like rectangle. Spread cream cheese then spread poppy seeds and roll it in. My next step picture was blurry so i did not put it on.

Put pirog in oiled baking sheet. Spread egg whites on top. Put it in the oven on 170F for 20 min.

I like pirojki better so i made em. Make little circles Put 1 tsp of cream cheese and 1 tsp of poppy seeds.

Then pinch the edges together to seal the dough. Turn over and put sealed side first into baking dish.

Dip one side in oil so it wont stick together.

Put in the oiled baking dish. Spread egg whites on top. Put it in the oven on 170F for 20 min.

You can add any type of fillings.

After 20 min turn on 325F bake until golden brown.

Now enjoy pirojki with your favorite tea or coffee.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Deer and Cheese Taquitos

Usually made with shredded meat, we had a few reservations about this recipe. But to our pleasant surprise, ground venison works quite well with taquitos. If youre looking for a quick weeknight dinner, or any dinner really, our Deer and Cheese Taquitos are simple to make. You dont have to wait long hours to roast any meat.

And instead of filling our taquitos with just meat, we added our very own twist. Rolling shredded Mexican cheese inside will make your taquitos taste extra delicious, while seasoning freshly fried shells with smoky Paprika, garlic powder and salt gives an extra kick. Our Waka-Guacamole, Mexican Rice and Mexican Refried Beans are musts with this recipe. Like Rick said, "Guacomole and taquitos were made for each other!" And of course, dont forget the ice cold cerveza (beer). This week, we tried an inexpensive Salvadoran beer called Cerveza Caguama. For only 2 bucks, the 32 oz. bottle made us both happy beyond happy. I know Rick certainly was! ;-)

Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4, about 12 taquitos

Ingredients:

- vegetable oil

- 1/2 lb. ground venison

- 1/4 cup of onion, chopped

- 1/2 tsp. cumin

- 1/2 tsp. chili powder

- 1/2 tsp. coriander

- sea/Kosher salt, to taste

- about 12 corn tortillas, give or take

- toothpicks

Shell Seasoning:

- Hungarian Paprika, or regular sweet paprika

- garlic powder

- table salt

Waka-Guacamole: click here for recipe.

Mexican Rice: click here for recipe.

Mexican Refried Beans: click here for recipe.

Venison... so pretty...

1. Heat 1 tbs. of oil over medium heat. Cook onion until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir often.

Then add 1/2 tsp. of cumin, 1/2 tsp. coriander and 1/2 tsp. of chili powder. Stir and cook for 30 seconds.

2. Stir in ground venison, and cook over medium-high heat until brown, stirring occasionally.

With a spoon, try to break up the ground venison as much as you can.

Like so. Cook until most of the juices evaporate. Add sea/Kosher salt to taste.

3. Over low heat, heat 1 corn tortilla in a dry, clean pan. This will soften the tortilla to make it easier to work with.

Working quickly, so the tortilla doesnt cool and harden again, fill the tortilla with cooked venison mixture and shredded Mexican style cheese. Do not overfill.

Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can around the filling. With a toothpick, needle through overlapping layers of tortilla. This will help the taquitos hold together when frying.

Repeat with the rest of the filling.

Ignore the burrito. Rick decided to experiment. :-)

4. Heat about 1/2 - 3/4 inches of vegetable oil in a large pan. When the oil reaches about 350-375 degrees, gently place taquitos into the oil. You dont want any filling to fall out.

Fry for about 30 seconds on each side, or until golden and crispy.

Do this in batches. Cook in one layer and do not overcrowd pan.

When done, remove taquitos from oil. Tilt taquitos to drain any excess oil inside and then drain on paper towels.

Sprinkle table salt, paprika and garlic powder to taste all over hot taquitos.

Heres a non sequitur, but Rick brought home some interesting Mexican sweets...

Back to business! Serve Deer and Cheese Taquitos with Mexican pickles, cold beer and Waka-Guacamole.

Please enjoy, everyone! As always, thank you for being so awesome. Happy hunting, cooking and eating!

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