Tag Archives: cheese

Green Olive Gruyere Rolls

18 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Baking, Bloggerific, Breads, Sandwiches

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Green Olive Rolls

These rolls…are a triumph. From someone who loves bread but has always been terrified of actually making it at home…I just kind of can’t believe it.

Yes, this recipe took time, but it wasn’t hard at all! And the result was the most amazing, flavorful, and fun rolls that made my husband swoon and me just kind of sit there in disbelief of the awesomeness.

Green Olive Gruyere Rolls

And the entire reason I made them…was baking bootcamp. A worthy installation of baking challenges from Joy the Baker that have officially made me never afraid of making yeasty bready things again! Continue reading →

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Ham and Leek “Empanadas”

18 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in Easy, Main Dish, Sandwiches, Weeknight Meals

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Ham and Leek Empanadas

Empanadas fall into one of the best categories in the universe : Carbs stuffed with deliciousness. Usually cheese, meat, and whatever else your hungry little heart desires.

A few years ago when I visited Annica in Argentina, we ate a lot of Empanadas. Some were filled with steak, peppers, and cheese…others with cheese and green olives, ham and pineapple, beef and raisins…there were a lot of great combos.  Continue reading →

Grilled Rib Eye with Orzo Salad

19 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by in Easy, Grilling, Main Dish, Pasta, Salad, Steak, Weeknight Meals

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Grilled Rib Eye with Orzo Salad
I’m in a zone right now where I’m trying to use up all of the food in the house. I saw this recipe in Sunset Magazine and thought it would be the perfect use for the large amount of orzo I have laying around.
The ingredients don’t seem like anything too fancy, but I was pleasantly surprised with the delicious results. Bonus: this is the best leftover bring-to-work lunch salad ever!
Recipe note: I could not find halloumi at my local store, the guy looked at me like I was making sh*t up. I ended up finding Kasseri, which is not the best grilling cheese, but it worked ok. Feta would me a much easier option, just crumbled over the finished salad.
Recipe
Grilled Rib Eye with Orzo Salad
adapted from Sunset Magazine
Ingredients
  • 1 cup orzo pasta
  • 1 boneless rib-eye steak (about 1 lb.), about 1 in. thick
  • 1 pkg. (12 oz.) halloumi (if you are grilling the cheese), if not try feta, Kasseri, or myzithra
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup pitted and sliced kalamata olives
  • 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, chopped (not necessary, but a good addition)
  • 1/2 – 1 whole roughly chopped red bell pepper (depends on how much you like peppers – I went for it and added the whole thing).
  • 1/3 cup mint leaves, chopped
  • 1/3 cup oregano leaves, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Preparation

  1. Heat a grill to medium-high (400° to 450°). Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain, then set aside.
  2. Brush steak and cheese with 2 tbsp. oil and sprinkle steak with salt. Grill both, turning once, until grill marks appear on cheese, and steak is done the way you like, 8 to 10 minutes for medium-rare. Let steak rest 10 minutes.
  3. Cut halloumi slices into quarters. Combine cheese, orzo, remaining 4 tbsp. oil, and remaining ingredients in a bowl; divide among 4 plates. Top with sliced steak.

Game Day: Pizza Puffs

01 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Appetizers, Easy, Entertaining, Events

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Pizza Puffs

I think the only thing I like about football games is the opportunity to make awesome finger foods and appetizers to drink with copious amounts of tasty beer. Unfortunately, we tend to do things like go skiing on football days, so I haven’t made as many delicious things as I would like…

When I saw this quickie recipe in Southern Living I had to make it right away since:
A.) Pizza is probably my favorite food
B.) This recipe is super easy to make
C.) They come out as cute tiny minis!

Pizza Puffs

Recipe
Pizza Puffs
Adapted from Southern Living
Makes 24 Puffs

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded mozzarella and/or cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup sauteed mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup sliced black olives
  • 1/2 cup mini pepperoni
  • Vegetable cooking spray
  • Jarred pizza sauce, warmed

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and garlic salt in a large bowl. Whisk in milk and egg. Stir in cheese, mushrooms, olives, and pepperoni. Let batter stand 10 minutes, and stir until blended. Coat cups of a 24-cup mini muffin pan well with cooking spray. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve with warm pizza sauce.

Tomato Basil Tart

30 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Bloggerific, Easy, Main Dish, Weeknight Meals

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The easiest tomato basil tart you’ll ever make. Ok, it’s more like a pizza.

It’s almost October. It’s fall. Summer is over.

YET

Only a small portion of the bounty. As it turns out, I like to store my “summer” tomatoes in a festive winter bucket.

My tomato plants finally decided to ripen and give me TONS of tomatoes! After spending 2 months thinking all of my tomato plants had failed, Mother Nature apparently decided to give me some encouragement.

It is so ridiculously late in the season and I am little unprepared and blown away. So this super easy cheese, tomato, basil tart was the first thing I made. It’s essentially a pizza without tomato sauce, a spinoff of the classic margherita pizza, if you will.

Recipe

Tomato Basil Tart

from Polwig.com

  • 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
  •  1 cup ricotta
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tbs chopped basil (more for garnish)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper
Directions
Grate the Parmesan Cheese and chop the basil. Place two eggs in a bowl and whisk.
Add 1 cup of ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 2 tbs basil to the eggs and mix well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slice the tomatoes to your liking. Place 1 sheet of puff pastry on a work surface and roll out to get rid of the fold marks. Once puff pastry rolled out to desired size, transfer to a baking sheet. Using your fingers, fold in a crust around the outer edges of the tart, about 1/4-1/2 inch. Use a fork to imprint onto the crust.

Spread the cheese mixture around and top with tomatoes.

Bake in a 400 deg oven for 20 minutes until risen and golden.  Sprinkle with Fresh basil. Then pair with a glass of wine!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Bloggerific, Healthy, Main Dish

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Delicious toppings on Cauliflower Crust Pizza.

If I were to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would probably be pizza. Not because pizza is so damn delicious, but because you can do so much with it. There are so many possibilities – thai pizza, mexican pizza, greek pizza, buffalo chicken pizza, veggie pizza, meaty pizza…I could go on and on and on. I even had gyro pizza once, and it was phenomenal.

Then there’s the crust. Thin crust, thick crust, flatbread, chicago style, deep dish, STUFFED CRUST! SO.MANY.CHOICES.

Cauliflower Crust – lots of flavor and added kick in there!

But wait…Cauliflower crust?!? Seems immoral. Not okay. But at the same time, you realize you are instantly intrigued. Pizza that is…somewhat healthy? Practically guilt-free? A vegetable crust? No way. You just have to try it for yourself.

Cauliflower Crust – Super flavorful and surprisingly delicious.

You wouldn’t even know this pizza had a healthy crust!

Recipe

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Recipe from Eat.Drink.Smile.

Serves 2-4 (depends on if you want leftovers!)

ingredient

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt
olive oil (optional)

pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings

directions:

To “Rice” the Cauliflower:
Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater). Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes (some microwaves are more powerful than others, so you may need to reduce this cooking time). There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.

One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

To Make the Pizza Crust:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9″ round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

Enjoy!

*Note that toppings need to be precooked since you are only broiling for a few minutes.

Baked Eggs Marinara

03 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in Easy, Eggs, Healthy, Main Dish, Weeknight Meals

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I am pretty proud of myself for not doing much at all.

Baked Eggs Marinara…The new 15 minute dinner go-to.

But let me tell you why.

Half the time when I decide to “just throw something together” it ends up totally bombing. ie: pasta sauces with stuff I just have “laying around,” homemade empanadas with store-bought pie crust (such a disappointment…) and a slew of other things.

Tonight that DID NOT happen!

This week I have been doing an experiment that involves consuming everything in my fridge before going to the store again. Why you ask? Because, I cannot tell you how many of my friends have said to me, “Oh, I never have anything in my fridge. I only buy what I need!” or “I just feel like I am wasting money if I don’t eat everything in my house before going to the store again.” or “I just am never hungry!”

What? How do I have so many friends who apparently do this? That is not me…I am the complete opposite. If the apocalypse happened today and I was safe inside my house, I would totally be fine for years! Maybe…That is a good thing, right?

Anyways, I decided to go along with this experiment since I am broke. And today, awesomeness ensued. I heavily adapted this easy recipe for Eggs Baked in Roasted Tomato Sauce. But instead, came up with this:

So good and SO EASY!

It turned out incredibly satisfying and awesome. I know, to most of you this isn’t going to be some insane invention, but I just started appreciating eggs in the last few years, and this was a revelation for me. Plus I made something only with things I had laying around, and it didn’t suck!

Baked Eggs Marinara for Broke-Ass Bitches
serves 1 broke-ass bitch
Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup jarred marinara sauce
  • handful of shredded cheddar cheese, or anything other cheese you have available
  • 8 slices Hormel Turkey Pepperoni
  • salt/pepper
  • fresh chopped parsley, if available
  • toasted bread for dipping

Preheat oven to 400F. Fill 1 ramekin or ovenproof bowl with marinara sauce. Add pepperoni slices over the top of marinara. crack 2 eggs into bowl and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cheese over the eggs and bake for about 15 minutes, or until eggs are set to your likeness. Once out of the oven, sprinkle with some chopped parsley or other herbs if you like. Serve hot with crusty bread for dipping.

NOTE: I went back to make this recipe in the oven in our new house and it took about 25 minutes for the eggs to fully cook. So please note that all oven times vary, sizes of ramekins vary, etc.

PS: Thanks for the sweet ramekins Mom.

Baked Eggs in Ham Cups.

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Breakfast, Easy, Eggs, Healthy

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Baked Cheesy eggs...in a ham cup.

Man, talk about the easiest, cutest, and tastiest breakfast ever. Well, as long as you have ramekins sittin’ around. (In the famous words of Jordan, “I don’t know what the hell a ramekin is.”) This might be something you could do in a muffin tin, but I’ll have to get back to you on that later.

Right before stickin' 'em in the oven.

Up close and personal...Just ham, chives, cheese and an egg.

Out of the oven at about the 15 minute mark - Poke holes where there are bubbles, then feel free to go crazy and add more toppings! Please excuse the fact that as these were baking the ramekin got kinda crusty around the edges...Also: depending on the size of the ramekin, 2 eggs in 1 ham cup is possible.

Recipe

Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

From So Delushious! 

  • Preheat the oven to 375
  • Spray a ramekin with non-stick spray
  • Line a ramekin with thinly sliced ham, make sure there are no gaps (you may have to use a few pieces of ham)
  • Put in fillings of your choice – we went basic for our first time, chives and cheddar.
  • Crack an egg on top, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper
  • Bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes. At about 15 minutes, pop/poke any bubbles with a fork…at this point you can also put some cheese on top (in Jordan’s case it was about 1 lb. of extra cheese)
  • Note: the eggs may look undercooked, but they definitely aren’t! We overcooked ours a little the first time, but they were still delish!

Baked Pesto Chicken

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in Bloggerific, Chicken, Easy, Main Dish, Weeknight Meals

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Whenever I feel like I need to eat healthier, I head on over to Kalyn’s Kitchen for inspiration on low carb, south beach style recipes. Her food has never disappointed, and I am happy to be finally sharing one on Daily Deliverables.

Baked Pesto Chicken. Only 3 ingredients. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

Super Easy and Cheesy!!!

Of course, I usually cancel out the healthy factor by adding bread, beer, wine, or all of the above to the mix. And probably extra cheese. No one was around to stop me…

Pesto chicken and some crusty bread

This recipe is SO easy. Start by spraying some non-stick spray in a pan and then adding a layer of pesto…

spray pan with nonstick spray. Coat bottom of pan with a layer of pesto.

Lay your chicken on top of the pesto. I always buy Costco’s convenient chicken tenders. I also buy Costco’s convenient jarred Pesto…This is because I once had an incident with homemade Sage pesto that I don’t like to discuss.

lay chicken tenders flat in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

The hilarious thing is I seem to lay out the step-by-step photos on the easiest recipes I post.

Cover chicken with remainder of pesto.

Don’t forget to cover the pan with foil before placing in the oven! These don’t take as long to bake as larger chicken breasts, they only took about 20 minutes before I took them out to flip them over.

ready for a generous sprinkling of cheese...

I have this weird thing where I have to flip things that go in the oven to “even them out.” OCD, yes. But I don’t flip everything. It would be pretty ridiculous if I had to flip items like pizza in the oven…

cheese added, ready to go back in the oven.

Recipe

Baked Pesto Chicken by Kalyn’s Kitchen
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients: 
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 – 12 boneless chicken tenders
salt and fresh ground black pepper for seasoning chicken
1/2 cup basil pesto
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 375F. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken pieces, then cut each chicken breast lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces. (If you are using chicken tenders, no cutting necessary!)

Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/4 cup basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips over the pesto, then spread 1/4 cup more basil pesto over the chicken.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the chicken for 20-25 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. (Don’t cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.)

When chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and sprinkle chicken with 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese. Turn on your broiler. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 minutes more, just until cheese is melted and until you get to desired browned crispiness.Serve hot. There will be some flavorful juice in the bottom of the dish when this is done, and if you are like me you will throw low carb out the window and serve over pasta or grab some crusty bread for dipping. Other options include brown rice, quinoa, or cous cous.