Why are all the Tasty Foods Carbs?

I LOVE carbs…all kinds of carbs. I subscribe to a blog called “Plain Chicken“. Funny story goes with the blog, go  check it out…anyhoo, she has a recipe for one of MY favorite ultimate junk fast food, she calls them “biscuit beignets” I call them FABULOUS…what are they ? Full-fledged, high-octane, balls to walls, FRIED CARBS. (seriously does it get any better than fried anything? Can ya say with me…fried candy bars! uh yeahya). All I know is if I were to actually make and eat them…it would be bal-oe-tt (bloat) city. Would it be ooo-that’s good? yes for about a grand total of 15 seconds…then all hell would break loose…so I am going to develop a gluten-free (still) carby way to imbibe those lovelies…(hey nobody’s perfect) when I have it all ready to go, I will post it here first…

For now…remember chebe bread…(go there order the mix, its easier then foraging for the ingredients unless of course you live in Brazil :0) they are lovely little cheesy puffs that are already gluten-free and delisioso…they have a cinnamon chebe that is to die for…chebe bread is made with manioc-

Manioc is a sub-tropical plant with a tuber-type root. The root is what is processed for the many food products that are derived from this plant. Manioc is also known as cassava, yucca, and tapioca. Yes, tapioca pudding comes from the manioc root!

Chebe bread is a Brazilian comfort food, a former client’s that was a Dr. originally from Brazil and he loved the things, when  she found out I made them, she begged me to make them for her, which I happily did. They are also very amenable to freezing (unbaked), then you just pop em into the oven frozen and voila bada boom bada bing…chebe…

The Chef

Salt Kissed Potatoes the Spanish way

Anyone familiar with me understands why I consider myself “The Political Chef”. This is one of the reasons why I fit that moniker so well, how that will play when I get my JD is anyone’s guess….enjoy the article. I’m a potato LOVER (Celtic ancestry) and will go out of my way for the salty little gems made with fingerling potatoes and coarse salt that I roast, this is even a neater idea!

A new wrinkle on potatoes
In the Spanish Canary Islands, potatoes are cooked in heavily salted water to yield spuds crusted in salt, with wrinkled skin and intense potato flavor. More than 45 types of potatoes are grown there, and they are typically served with fish, and red or green salsa.

Los Angeles Times

excerpted from “ProChef SmartBrief ”

Deviled Ham Apetitizers

I  took a trip back in time recently and bought some deviled ham. We have all seen canned hams in the stores or gotten them as Christmas gifts. If you’re like me they are akin to a fruit cake. I see them in the store and wonder, “why bother?” They taste nasty and are just not appetizing to look at all gelled up, they are just gross. BUT deviled ham…well, that takes me back to my childhood and with comfort food being all the rage now ($26 for a plate of “gourmet” mac & cheese, are ya kiddin me?) I bought some, the deviled ham, not the over-priced smack and cheese.

You’ll find deviled ham in the canned meats aisle of your local mega mart. It sits along side such luminaries as Spam, Vienna sausages (they honestly remind me of little hotdogs, I have never seen sausages), and  canned/vacuum packed bag tuna.

Spam transports me back to my old school cafeteria days. It was BBQ Spam on a bun (I’m not kidding). I wish it had transported me to Hawaii where spam is sought after and held in VERY high regard…who knew? But that’s another blog for another day.

Sidebar: Spam is actually quite expensive when you do a pound for pound analysis.

Anyhoo, back to my deviled ham trip down memory lane. I bought the stuff and took it home then  wondered what the heck to do with it, hubby wouldn’t eat it. It’s not like you can spread it on a cracker for company… but wait a minute, I can spread it on a cracker for me, which I did in short order and LOVED it.

However, I wondered what else I could do with it that would be appetizing. So I experimented.

Here are some ideas along with a great recipe I came up with:

It does make a good retro-appetizer, here are some ideas for updating it.

Pinwheel Appetizer-Make a pinwheel out of it and add a grated cheese like manchego or chevre, add some slivered almonds or chopped smoked almonds for crunch, add a sprinkle of chives or parsley. For extra color use a spinach wrap or a sun-dried tomato wrap. Add some julienned sun-dried tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes. Roll them up and slice. To slice easier chill slightly for about 30 minutes, Slice and place.

Quesadilla- same idea as above, use it as a spread or meat filling add some chipotle pepper cream (made by taking crema or sour cream or cream cheese and chipotle in adobo sauce,  add to a blender or Cuisinart  take er for a spin until smooth.) Add your fav cheese and other fillings and fry as usual.  NOTE: Just be wary of using too much chipotle. Take out the seeds and connective stuff inside to cut down on the heat. Change up its appearance by using flavored wraps.

Baked Pinwheel Appetizers: This one was neat. My kids were coming for dinner last minute and I needed a quick App. so I went to my trusty pantry and pulled out the deviled ham, some grated cheese (I ALWAYS have Jarlsberg  or Manchego, but use what you have on hand, parm or romano would work great!),and a pre-made pie crust. Spread the deviled ham on the pie crust, sprinkle with cheese and some parsley, cooked chopped spinach or chives. Roll and seal it well. Cut into 1/2 ” slices and put on a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat. Bake in a 425° oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown & delish (GBD). Let sit on the sheet for a few secs to settle and set, then plate and serve. Kids LOVED them.

ADD-Ins to Soup - I added a can into my Bean soup for added flavor.

Some other ideas-Baked Potato Soup, Split pea, it adds a smokey flavor. Use your imagination here, if ham would taste good in it use it!

Use it in pasta for a smokey flavor or as a spread with cream cheese on a BLT. The uses of this little wonder are endless.

Next time your in the mega mart don’t turn your nose up at deviled ham, of course you can still (and I Do) trun your nose up at Spam canned hams & vienna sausages!

Chef Kadie

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Chicken Paprikash-Crock Pot style

1 quart roasted red pepper and tomato soup, Pacific brand, organic
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
4 large mini red and orange bell pepper s, cut into thin strips
8 chicken thigh, can use boneless
cornstarch to make a slurry
1 teaspoon thyme

DIRECTIONS:
1. Salt & Pepper to taste the chicken thighs. Brown chicken thighs in a skillet until nicely browned on allsides. Sprinkle with a good quality Hungarian paprika.

2. Place onions and colored peppers in the skillet and caramelize the onions

3. Place the browned thighs and caramelized onions & peppers into a crock pot insert

4. Pour the roasted red pepper soup into the crock pot insert

5. Add thyme and cover

6. Cook covered in the crock pot on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours.

7. Serve over spaetzle

8. Sprinkle with good hungarian sweet paprika

Bouvier Baby Treats

Cheerios are a great treat for training pups! My breeder says, “they don’t know big or small but they can count!”

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Almond Joy!

Nothing like almonds, coconut and chocolate together in one place. I find that the traditonal candy bars are too sweet for me though, so I thought “how can I put them all together in one place that is just as good, but not so sweet?”

Well, it turns out that there are many ways to do that!

Brownies, cake, cheesecake, bar cookies and re-making the candy itself. I started by using my favorite dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. That cut the sweetness down signigicanly, and because I like my chocolate the darker the better it worked out great. I also tried some recipes using Splenda. Some people don’t like it, I happen to find that it makes whatever taste just fine. You have to be careful about using it in cakes and cookies though where the sugar adds moisture to the finished product. Splenda in this application is better be used as part of the sugar content of a dish and something like applesauce or prunes being added to increase the moisture.

RECIPES TIME:

ALMOND JOY CHEESECAKE

SERVES 12
Crust

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (about 2 ounces)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 2- 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 16 oz marscapone cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• OR 1 cup splenda
• 4 large eggs
  Glaze
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup toasted sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup sweetened toasted coconut

For crust: Preheat oven to 290°F.

1.Wrap outside of 9-inch-diameter springform pan tightly with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with heavy duty foil, make sure that you go all the way up the sides of the pan with the foil and do not make holes in it.

2. In a food processor bowl fitted with a steel blade, finely grind cracker crumbs, coconut, almonds and sugar.

3.Add butter; process until moist crumbs form.

4. Press the mixture firmly onto bottom and up the sides of the pan approximately 1 inch.

Bake the crust until it begins to brown, about 12 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and cool.

Reduce oven temperature to 290°F.

For filling:

Using an electric standing mixer, beat cream cheese, marscapone cheese and sugar in large bowl just until smooth. 

Continuing beating while adding eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Add in coconut extract .

Pour the filling into the crust.

You are going to bake this cheesecake in a waterbath. To do this:

Place the cheesecake (still wrapped in aluminum foil), in a larger baking pan.

Place the both pans  into the oven.  Add boiling water to the outside pan, making sure you don’t get water inside the cheesecake pan. Fill the pan until water comes about 1/3 to 1/2 up the sides of the cheesecake pan.

Bake until cake jiggles slightly in the center, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove from the oven carefully. Remove from the water bath and cool completely on rack. Then refrigerate over night.

For glaze: Combine 1 cup chocolate chips, cream and vanilla in small saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until smooth. Cool until glaze begins to thicken but can still be poured, about 30 minutes. Pour glaze over cooled cake; spread evenly. Chill cake overnight.

Run small knife around sides of cake to loosen. Release pan sides.

Supper Sammies & a great dessert!

Here are two recipes that I wanted to share with everyone.

You can easily “make your own” fish sticks with fresh fish cut and breaded with bread crumbs, cracker crumbs or 

potato flakes….

RIVERSTONE FISH PO BOY’S

Category: FISH AND SEAFOOD

This is a recipe that I developed for a restaurant I worked at. They are one of the big sellers and so easy to make at home! 

Serves 6 

24 frozen fish sticks(not the minced ones,I use grouper) or breaded frozen shrimp or clam strips 
6 sub buns-we like the soft ones but use your favorite 
butter to grill buns -optional 
Remoulade Sauce 
3/4 cups mayonnaise 
1/2 cup chili sauce or cocktail sauce 
1/2 tsp onion powder 
1/2 tsp garlic powder-not salt 
1 red bell pepper-diced finely 
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley 
for spicier add cayenne pepper to taste 
1 medium tomato chopped 
1 1/2 cups lettuce shredded 

Directions: 
Bake fish or shrimp or clam strips according to package directions. 
Meanwhile in a small bowl mix the mayonnaise, chili sauce, 1/2 tsp onion & garlic powder,bell pepper and parsley. set aside 
Spread butter on both sides of the sub buns and grill or toast under the broiler until golden brown. 
To assemble: 
Take the sub buns and divide fish between the 6 buns. 
Put lettuce and tomatoes on top of fish and drizzle with sauce. 
We have also used Ranch dressing to season the sauce. 
Kids love these! 

 

FRUIT PIE IN A CLOUD

Category: DESSERTS

I had this for the first time and it was wonderful. The recipe was given to me from an old friend. 
Serves 12 
Ingredients: 
6 egg whites 
2 cups of granulated sugar 
2 teaspoons vanilla 
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar 
2 cups finely crushed Ritz Crackers 
2 can of Cherry, Apple or Blueberry pie filling. 
OR 4 cups your favorite pudding filling cooked or instant 
1(16oz.)tub of non-dairy whipped topping or 
4 cups of sweetened whipped cream 
1/2 cup chopped pecans are optional 

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
Crust: 
Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until they are frothy, begin to add the sugar continue to whip the egg whites until they are glossy and hold firm peaks. Fold in the finely crushed Ritz crackers. 
Spread into a 9×13″ cake pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until lightly browned. It will be very puffy and will fall as it cools. 

CREAM PUDDING PIE IN A CLOUD: 
Spread the 4 cups of pudding into the “crust” 
Spread the whipped topping over the pudding. 
Sprinkle with nuts or candy sprinkles-optional 

FRUIT PIE IN A CLOUD: 
Spread the whipped topping in the crust. 
Carefully spread your choice of fruit pie filling over whipped topping. 
Sprinkle with nuts. 

CHEESECAKE PIE IN A CLOUD: 
Spread a tub of cheesecake filling into the crust. 
Spread the whipped topping over the cheesecake filling. 
Sprinkle with nuts or candies.