Suck It Up

Keep the kids away from this jello!!!

The Ultimate Tailgate Party jello shots are semi-famous (or infamous?) Someone usually over indulges in these, as well as all the other libations, and we lose a couple of tailgaters before the game, but not this year. People must have learned better, or maybe I am losing my touch. Either way, I love to try new combinations of flavors every year for this occasion.

Ultimate Jello Shots

Note - I bought the Jello in Canada, not sure if the same flavors can be found in the US, and the pina colada was a limited flavor that I stocked up on

3 oz pina colada Jello
3 oz strawberry-banana Jello
3 oz orange-pineapple Jello
3 cups hot water, divided
1 cup Banana flavored Malibu
1 cup Coconut flavored Malibu
1 cup Mandarin Orange Absolut vodka

Boil 3 cups of water. In three large separate bowls, add the 3 packages of Jello by adding one cup of boiling water to each and stir to dissolve.

Let cook slightly before adding the alcohol. Add 1 cup of Banana Malibu to the strawberry-banana Jello bowl; add 1 cup of Coconut Malibu to the pina colada bowl; and add 1 cup Mandarin Orange vodka to the orange-pineapple bowl, and stir.

I filled 2oz plastic cups about halfway (or a little more) full. Unfortunately I can't remember how many each batch made, but it'll all depend on how big your cups are and how much you fill them.

Everything Is Better With Cheddar...& Beer

This past weekend, we held the Third Annual Ultimate Michigan tailgate party in Ann Arbor before the University of Michigan vs Illinois game. Unfortunately, the Wolverines lost, but there were plenty of food, drinks and wild times.

Amongst the great food, was this cheddar ale spread. It was packed with flavor, and was rich and creamy. I had some technical difficulties making it - I was out of town and forgot to pack my food processor (how could I have forgotten that??), so I tried to make it with a friend's smoothie maker, not a good idea, it kept draining the beer out - then a mini chopper which was far too small. In between switching the mixture back and forth between the appliances, I finally made it work. Although I had to use more beer than the recipe called for to make it blend, it was a hit, and besides, you would never hear from Canadians that there is too much beer! In honor of the guests, I used Labatt's Honey Brown lager, even though the recipe called for ale.

I served it with carrots (as depicted in the action shot below), pretzels, celery sticks and tortilla chips. It makes a lot, so if it's for a small gathering, I would cut the recipe in half.

Cheddar Ale Spread

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

8 oz. cream cheese
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard I used 1.5 tbsp Dijon
2½ cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese I used Canadian old cheddar
2 tablespoons heavy cream I used half & half cream
¼ teaspoon salt I used 1/2 tsp freshly ground red, white and black peppercorns
¼ cup beer (pretty much anything but a light beer) I used about 3/4 of a bottle of Labatt's Honey Brown Lager but that may be too much if you are blending it properly
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley I used 3 tbsp

I added 2 cloves garlic

Combine the cream cheese, mustard, cheddar cheese, cream, and salt in a food processor. Process for 30 seconds, add the beer, and continue processing until very smooth. Pulse in the parsley until just dispersed.

This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You will want to take it out an hour before serving if you do refrigerate.

And The Awards Go To......

I've been out of town quite often recently, and I'm waaaaay behind on my blogging. I'm trying to play catch up, and the first order of business is that I been given the E award 3 times.

I would like to give a great big thank you to the following ladies:


Rachel of Culinary Kicks - She makes a variety of different dishes and things that I enjoy & want to make myself.

Melissa of Delicious Meliscious - Besides having the most wonderful name in the world....her cakes are AMAZING, and I would never try and make one in a million years, so I'll just enjoy the pictures :)

& Maci of My Yummy Goodness - She's new to food blogging & is a fellow Tennessean like myself. She's a great baker that makes a variety of things, and hopefully I can learn many things from and become better myself.

With the "E" awards, the following is the "official" rule, but sometimes rules are made to be broken...yeah I'm a rebel, so I'm just picking five ;)

** Please find at least 10 more blogs, of any kind that you love to read. Write a post about the blogs you picked, linking back to me and to them. Once you’ve posted, return here to let me know your post done and be sure to let them know too!!! (If you don't come up with 10, that's fine too!)

I'm bestowing the E is For Excellent honors to:

Kelsey of Apple A Day - She has a lot of healthy recipes that I should be eating more of, and I need to start cooking more healhty things again.

Mollie of reading,riting and recipes - I recently made her version of the famous Yogurt Chicken, and loved it, and she has an adorable dog.

Stephanie of Fun Foods On A Budget - Unfortunately I don't have an unlimited budget for two of my favorite things - cooking and shoes. Stephanie's blog is about finding ways to cook great meals on a budget and she has fun info on important other food related things...namely that October is National Pizza Month!

Lisa of Lime In the Coconut - I just love the name of her blog, and it's not just about recipes, she also has restaurant reviews. And we have two things in common - we both love cats and drinking wine :)

Colleen of Cooking This And That - She has great pictures and some seasonal Fall recipes that I'm ready to try...just as soon as the weather starts catching up with what's on the calendar....87 degrees doesn't exactly scream Fall.

Pizza, Pizza!

Although I have found a couple of pizza dough recipes that I love, I like to keep trying new ones. It helps me grow as a chef! So, I tried a new crust, and although it was good, it definitely made more than what it said - one large pizza. So, I took what I thought was a third of the dough and reserved it. Basically, it made one large semi thick crust, and one large thin crust pizza.

The bottom picture was pizza in the oven on Friday night, and the top picture is the dough grilled on Saturday afternoon - either way, the dough worked out well. Pizza in 2 consecutive days? Sounds like a good weekend to me! But I'm sure the dough would freeze well for future use.



Jay's Signature Pizza Crust
from Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil I used 1 -1.5 tbsp
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

3. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.

4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.

5. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Garlicky Pizza Sauce
from Me

6 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup (or more if required) of water
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp oregano
1.5 tsp dried onion
1.5 tsp dried basil
dash of sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl & let flavors blend. It makes enough for 2 large pizzas.

* For the oven pizza, I preheated my pizza stone on 500 for 30-45 minutes. I reduced the heat to 425 and baked the pizza for 10-16 minutes.

* For the grilled pizza, I sprayed the grill with non-stick grill cooking spray, heated the grill for 5 minutes or so on high. I turned the heat to medium-high, lightly brushed the pizza dough with EVOO and flipped it with tongs onto the grill and brushed the top side with EVOO. After a couple of minutes rotate the dough to make sure it isn't sticking and cooks evenly.

Once the bottom is golden, carefully flip over and either slide back onto your cookie sheet (or surface you carried it out on) or reduce heat and leave it on the grill, and put on your toppings. Cook for another 6-8 minutes or so, until cheese is melted, and remove from grill. Enjoy!!

For my half - I had baby Bella mushrooms, red onions, pepperoni & Italian turkey sausage (in the oven version) and fresh basil.

For Jamie's half - no veggies! Just pepperoni, Italian turkey sausage (in the oven version) & fresh basil.

For the cheese I changed it up a bit, I used 1/2 part skim mozzarella, 1/4 part aged sharp white Cheddar & 1/4 part Parmesan cheese.

My Favorite Thing About Fall Is....

Not football that's for sure! (Sorry Jamie) But it's pumpkin!! In the past year or so, I have grown to love pumpkin, in desserts, coffee, snacks, etc. I hope to include it in dinner/savory dishes in the next month or so, and I have just added a pumpkin tag.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the Pumpkin-Spice Cheesecake Brownie in my blog, I found it at Cara's Cravings, a blog that I love and that has a lot of pumpkin recipes too. That recipe was sort of a triumph for me, until then I had never had any success with anything I baked, it was one of the most challenging things I have tried, and it turned out perfect the first time. I even reluctantly shared it at a football tailgate (where everyone loved it; a perfect Fall dessert)

So, onto the main point of this post - is two of my product raves, and things that pumpkin lovers should try - Kashi TLC Pumpkin Spice Bars (and they're good for you too!) and Hershey's Pumpkin Spice Kisses - I've had some trouble finding these, but Target definitely has them. And they're not your traditional Kiss, they are more creamy/candy-like and not a chocolate Kiss filled with pumpkin.

The Whole Enchilada

I have been craving Mexican recently, and I've had this recipe on my must-try list for a while now. I couldn't just post one pic, it was so good....and because there were a lot of leftovers, Jamie and I get to enjoy it for another meal. The recipe was wonderful, I didn't really change much at all, I'll definitely be making this dish again.



Just before heading into the oven.....


A casserole of melted, gooey, cheesy goodness.....

Topped with sour cream & green onions (I added tomatoes too after I took the picture)...right before I devoured them!

Hungry Man Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas
Amber's Delectable Delights

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chili gravy, recipe below

6, 8" flour tortillas I used 12 corn tortillas

Filling Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup 4 Cheese Mexican Blend I used 2% blend

1/4 cup sour cream I used about 1/2 cup fat free sour cream

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup chili gravy, recipe below

1/2 cup 4 Cheese Mexican Blend I used 2% blend

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line bottom of 9 x 13 pan with 1/2 cup chili gravy.

3. In a medium bowl mix shredded chicken, beans (I smashed mine a bit, I seem to have slight texture issues with whole beans), cheese, and sour cream.

4. Lay out one tortilla* and place 1/2 cup of filling mixture down the center. Fold up tortilla tucking in the ends and rolling into a cylinder. Place enchilada into pan, seam side down, and repeat process until all the filling mixture is gone.

5. Top enchiladas with chili gravy and cheese. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 additional minutes. Serve with a sour cream, green onions and tomatoes if desired....which I highly recommend!!!!!

*My secret for making flour tortillas pliable and easy to fold is to turn on a burner on the gas stove on and flop the tortilla over it. Let it set for about 15 seconds and then flip it over and let the other side warm for 15 seconds. Please remember that you are dealing with flames here so if your tortilla starts to smoke or catches on fire turn off the burner and remove the tortilla.

*I don't have a gas stove, I placed tortillas between dampened paper towels and heated for 40 seconds. This was my first time working with corn tortillas, the started to break slightly, but held up. If any one has any other method of preparing them, let me know!

Chili Gravy

Adapted from original source Homesick Texan, found on Sweet-Savory-Southern
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp powdered garlic2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano is preferred)
2 tbsp chile powder(either homemade or a dark brand such as Gebhardt’s or Whole Foods) I used Mexican Chili Powder
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
2 cups chicken broth (or water) I used fat free/low sodium chicken broth

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Stir in the flour and continue stirring for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it makes a light brown roux.

3. Add all the dry ingredients and continue to cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring and blending ingredients.

4. Add chicken broth or water, mixing and stirring until the sauce thickens.

5. Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 15 minutes. If desired, add water to adjust the thickness.

There's No Crying in the Kitchen!

It was only this summer that I have started enjoying turkey burgers - I love burgers and it's a great & tasty way to cut some of the fat. Here's another juicy & tasty turkey burger recipe I created, using caramelized onions both in the burger mixture and on top.

My eyes are sensitive, and onions often make me cry. I have found that chilling the onion in the fridge before slicing, using a very sharp knife and cutting them near an open window helps stop the tears. The onions in this dish are not too overpowering, since the onion flavor mellows, it isn't as strong and becomes sweeter, similar to garlic when it's roasted. I served this with grilled corn brushed with a little butter, garlic powder and Montreal spicy steak seasoning and a salad.

Caramelized Onion & Cheddar Turkey Burgers

1 lb ground turkey
1 cup shredded sharp cheese, divided
1/4 tsp Kosher salt (more if you want, but the steak seasoning has some in it)
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp Montreal spicy steak seasoning
1/4 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ)
2-3 tbsp unseasoned bread crumbs
2 cloves minced garlic
1 medium onion, sliced
about 1 tbsp each of extra virgin olive oil and butter, more if needed
a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper

1. Heat the EVOO and butter in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the sliced onions and saute for a couple of minutes and flip them over. Sprinkle with a dash of sugar, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and continue to saute the onions till golden and soft, about another 10-15 minutes, adding a little water or oil if necessary.

2. Heat grill to med-high. Mix all the ingredients from the turkey through the garlic (but only 1/2 cup of the cheese, reserve other half for toppings.

3. Remove onions, and when slightly cooled, chop approximately 3-4 tbsp of the onions and add to turkey mixture. Divide into 4 equal sized patties.

4. Grill for about 7 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Top with the reserved shredded cheese to melt. I topped the burgers with a bit more BBQ sauce, caramelized onions and tomato.