Jason's Everlasting Recipes

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Roasted Tomato Salsa Cost per serving: 87¢

To get the best taste, squeeze the tomatoes after roasting to rid them of some of the bitter seeds.

8 to 10 medium plum tomatoes, about 2 lb., halved lengthwise

1 red bell pepper, quartered and seeded $

Click to see savings

2 medium jalapeños, halved lengthwise and seeded

1/2 small onion, chopped $

Click to see savings

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler to high; set a rack 4 inches from heat source. Arrange tomato halves cut side down on a broiling pan. Broil, watching carefully and turning pan as needed, until tomatoes are blackened and charred, about 10minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
2. Place bell pepper and jalapeños on broiling pan; broil until blackened and charred, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove to a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes. Peel pepper and jalapeños, but leave blackened skins on tomatoes. Coarsely chop tomatoes, pepper and jalapeños.
3. Working in batches if necessary, combine cooked tomatoes, bell pepper and jalapeños with onion, garlic, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a food processor. Pulse briefly until coarsely chopped. (Do not overprocess. The salsa should be chunky.) Pulse in cumin and cilantro. Season with additional salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Which glasses go with what drinks

Wine connoisseurs agree that each type of wine needs a particular type of glass to bring out the distinctive bouquet. Using a narrow glass for a rich Burgundy, for example, won’t allow enough room to swirl it around in, and it’s the swirl that brings out its bouquet. The glass also needs to taper properly toward the top so that it captures the bouquet yet allows for sipping. In general, the stem of a glass should be long enough to keep hands from touching the bowl, which can affect the wine’s temperature, and therefor its bouquet.

The proper wine glasses - courtesy of wineview

a. Water: full body glass with short stem. Hold the glass by the stem to preserve its chill.
b. Brandy: brandy snifter. Roll the snifter between both hands and then cup it in one hand – warming the glass brings out the bouquet in brandy.
c. White wine: slightly smaller glass with wider bowl to capture the bouquet. Hold the glass by the stem to preserve its chill.
d. Burgundy Reds and Pinot Noirs: a wide bowl to bring out their complexity. The glass is slightly taller than the white wine glass.
e. Champagne: a narrow fluted glass, which reduces the wine’s surface area and keep the bubbles from dissipating.
f. Red wine: the bigger of the wine glasses. Hold the glass at the bottom of the bowl where it meets the stem.
Bon appetit!
Now that you have the correct table setting and the proper wine glasses, see which wines go best with what food, and then make sure you have the right person to share it with!
Did you know?
Wine is sold in tinted bottles because wine spoils when exposed to light. And the indentation at the bottom of the bottle strengthens the structure of the bottle but also is there to trap the sediments.

How many of you know how to set a proper table?

Real easy to remember, the etiquette experts tell us. The general rule with utensils is to start from the outside of your place setting, and work your way toward the service plate (the main meal plate): soup spoon first, then fish knife and fork, then service knife and fork. Proper arranging dining room sets with chairs at the end of the table for the host and hostess is another aspect.
When to start eating:
Despite what mother told you, culinary experts say you do not always have to wait for everyone to begin – start eating hot food when it is served. For cold foods or buffets, wait for the host to announce dinner and wait until the head guest starts dishing.

The correct table settings

A	B	C	D	E
Serviette (napkin)	Service plate	Soup bowl on plate	Bread & butter plate with butter knife	Water glass
F	G	H	I	J
White wine	Red wine	Fish fork	Dinner Fork	Salad fork
K	L	M	N
Service knife	Fish knife	Soup spoon	Dessert spoon and cake fork
Note that it often is recommended that the salad fork (J) is placed to the left of the dinner fork (I). However, in this formal setting the dinner fork is placed to be used before the salad fork because it is suggested that the guest awaits the main meal before helping him/herself to the salad.

Foods you can get by hand:
1. Bread: break slices of bread, rolls and muffins in half or into small pieces by hand before buttering.
2. Bacon: if there’s fat on it, eat it with a knife and fork. If it is crisp, crumble it with a fork and eat with your fingers.
3. Finger meals: follow the cue of your host. If finger meals are offered on a platter, place them on your plate before putting them into your mouth.
4. Foods meant to be eaten by hand: corn on the cob, spareribs, lobster, clams and oysters on the half shell, chicken wings and bones (in informal situations), sandwiches, certain fruits, olives, celery, dry cakes and cookies.
Removing inedible items from your mouth:
1. Olive pits: drop delicately into your palm before putting them onto your plate.
2. Chicken bone: use your fork to return it to the plate.
3. Fish bones: remove with your fingers.
4. Bigger pieces: bigger bones or food you don’t appreciate you should surreptitiously spit into your serviette (napkin), so that you can keep it out of sight.

Key Lime Bars Cost per serving: 22¢

Because Key limes aren’t commonly available, look for the bottled juice in supermarkets. Or swap in regular lime or even lemon juice—the flavor will be different but still delicious.

CRUST:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

FILLING:

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup Key lime juice

1 teaspoon grated lime zest

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting, optional

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang. Mist foil with cooking spray.
2. Make crust: Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour and salt. Press evenly over bottom of pan. Bake until firm and light golden around edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly.
3. Make filling: Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat eggs, yolk and sugar until smooth. Stir in lime juice and zest. Fold in flour. Pour filling over crust and bake until set, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. Use foil overhang to remove bars from pan to cut. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving, if desired.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Nutty Chocolate Pretzel Bars

1 can (10 oz) deluxe salted mixed nuts (coarsely chop Brazil nuts)
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
1 cup Hershey's® Bits O' Brickle® toffee bits
1 1/2 cups Hershey's® milk chocolate baking chips
1/3 cup Hershey's® butterscotch chips
1/3 cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter
1 cup coarsely chopped salted pretzels
1 oz vanilla candy coating, chopped, or 2 tablespoons Hershey's® premier white baking chips

1 Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Spread nuts in bottom of pan. Cut cookie dough into 1/2-inch slices; place over nuts in pan. With floured fingers, press to form crust. Sprinkle toffee bits over crust; press in lightly.
2 Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 30 minutes.
3 In large microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and butterscotch chips uncovered on High 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Add peanut butter; stir until well blended. Fold in pretzels. Spread mixture evenly over baked crust.
4 In small microwavable bowl, microwave candy coating uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds or until melted. Drizzle over bars. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. Cut into bars.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Pops

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup dulce de leche (caramelized sweetened condensed milk), from 13.4-oz can
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch® cereal, coarsely crushed

1 In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in sour cream and half-and-half. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture into each of 8 (5-oz) paper cups. Cover cups with foil; insert craft stick into center of each pop. Freeze about 2 hours or until frozen. Cover and refrigerate remaining cream cheese mixture.
2 In small bowl, mix dulce de leche and milk. Place 1/3 cup dulce de leche mixture in small resealable food-storage plastic bag; cover and refrigerate remaining mixture. Cut off one small corner of bag; squeeze small amounts over frozen cream cheese layer in each cup. Pour remaining cream cheese mixture over dulce de leche layer in cups. Return foil to pops to support sticks. Freeze about 4 hours or until frozen.
3 About 30 minutes before serving, remove reserved dulce de leche mixture from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature to soften. Remove pops from freezer and paper cups. Dip top of each pop in reserved dulce de leche mixture; dip in cereal.

Savory Pancakes

Recipe from GoodenessGracious.com

Truth be told, sweets lover that I am, I am still an absolute sucker for a savory breakfast (remember those uber-yummy savory muffins… yum!).

That is why I was so tickled that you guys choose Savory Pancakes from the Easy-Breezy Breakfasts section for me to share here.

This lovely recipe is just one of many yummy super-easy treats you will find in the brand new Gooseberry Patch 101 Easy Everyday Recipes.

And… despite the recent Blogger outage, we are still giving away a copy of this lovely book BEFORE it hits store shelves! Have ya entered yet???

This recipe is a fantastic recipe for the kiddos… Miss Add and I dubbed them “Pizza Pancakes”.

We started out with 2 Cups Bisquick…

Then 1 Cup Milk… and 2 Eggs- beaten… I just use whites…

Mix ‘er up

Now add 1/2 Cup Shredded Mozzarella

1/2 Cup Pepperoni… We used these cute little Turkey Pepperonis to cut down on the fat.

1/2 Cup of Tomato- chopped

1/4 Cup of Green Pepper- Chopped

2 t Italian Seasoning

And mix ‘er up!

Now take 1/4 cupfuls and pour them on a hot griddle… I used my large cookie scoop and it worked beautifully

Speaking of griddles… I have told ya how thoughtful my mom is… well she knew I wanted to build up my cast iron collection and she found this awesome griddle and a large skillet for $5 each at a garage sale and bought them right up for me!

They both need a little seasoning, but with all the cooking I do, they should be GOODe and seasoned in no-time.

Anyhoo–