Cooking and Baking Archives - Page 25 of 52

Veggie Quesadillas

November 4, 2010 jennifer Snacks and Appetizers

Every once in a while I pause and make these quesadillas as a snack, side dish, or for lunch. Each time I do, I wonder why I don’t think to make them more often.

Ingredients:

1 tsp. olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced red pepper
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
4 flour tortillas, 8 or 10 inches in diameter
1 cup monterey jack cheese

Instructions:

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add pepper, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly until onions begin to brown and veggies are crisp-tender. (You can also add fresh mushrooms to the pan if you like them.) Add spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes or until spinach is just beginning to wilt.

Spray a frying pan with non-stick spray. Place one tortilla in pan. Spread half of the veggie mixture onto the tortilla, then sprinkle with half of the cheese. Place a second tortilla on top. Cook on each side until tortilla is golden brown. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Cut into wedges, and serve with salsa. Makes 4 appetizer servings.

I should note that these are thick, filling quesadillas. They’re also very tasty! Enjoy.

Hopeful Homemaker

Spiderweb Brownies

October 30, 2010 jennifer Desserts, Halloween

Need an easy Halloween themed dessert? These brownies fit the bill.

Baked in round cake pans with spiderwebs drawn in a cream cheese mixture, they look fun and taste great.

You have two options: use a mix, or make them from scratch.

For this experiment I tried a new homemade brownie recipe which I’ll share in another post. This post is just to show you how to make them with a mix.

First, mix up a batch of your favorite brownie mix from a box, following instructions on the mix. If you have a mix that will make a 9×13 inch pan, then you’ll get two eight inch brownie circles. I also made these using 6 inch round pans and each batch made 3.

To be sure that I could easily remove my brownies from the pan, I traced the bottom of the cake pan on a sheet of parchment paper, then cut out the circle and placed it in the bottom of the pan. I then lightly sprayed the sides of the pan with baking spray. Repeat with the second pan.

Pour the brownie mix into two cake pans.

Now for the filling.
Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese 2 Tb. sugar 1 egg yolk 1 Tb.flour Mix together and put into a frosting bag or ziploc bag. Cut corner off bag and carefully pipe a circle in the center of your pan with more circles moving out to the edge of the pan, about 1 inch apart.

In the picture above I was using my 6 inch cake pans. On the 8 inch pans I made a third ring around the pan with cream cheese.

Wet the tip of a knife, and beginning in the center, gently cut through the brownie to the edge of the pan. This will pull the line toward the edge, making it look more like a spider web.

Repeat, going around the entire pan.

Now trace your cut lines with more cream cheese, and you’re ready to bake!

Baking time will depend on the recipe you used. I made a homemade brownie recipe (it’s a new one and it’s fabulous and I’ll post it soon) which was a little more dense than many of the box mixes. Consult your mix and adjust baking time accordingly. For mine, I set the timer for 20 minutes and then watched it every couple of minutes after that. I found that both my 8 inch and 6 inch pans needed 20+ minutes. If I was using a box mix I would probably set my timer for 15 minutes and go from there. You can also test for doneness using a toothpick near the center.

Remove from oven and let cool in the pan. When the brownies are cool, carefully run a knife around the edges to release. If you’ve used parchment paper, the brownies should easily slip out of your pan. Remove parchment paper from the bottom and place on whatever dish you’re using.

I’ve been baking a lot of these little treats this week to use as gifts. I found some cute green dishes at the dollar store that, alas, aren’t oven safe, but if I gently push on them I can fit a six inch brownie cake into them.

Wrapped in cellophane and tied with a black ribbon, they’re ready to go!

It’s a good thing they’re all headed to other houses. I saved one for my family to eat on Halloween.

YUM!
Happy Halloween!

Hopeful Homemaker

Patti’s Egg Dish Omelette

October 15, 2010 jennifer Breakfast

This breakfast casserole recipe comes from my mother-in-law, who often prepares it for her family.

I prepared it recently for Sunday brunch (during General Conference) and it was a hit. It’s a dish you prepare the night before and it only takes minutes to assemble.

Ingredients for casserole:

12 slices bread 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese 2 cups finely chopped ham 12 eggs 3 cups milk salt and pepper to taste Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with non stick spray. Lightly butter one side of six bread slices. Lay in bottom of pan, buttered side up. Sprinkle ham and cheese over bread. Butter remaining bread slices and cover ham and cheese, laying bread with buttered side down. With a knife, cut each slice of bread on both diagonal lines, making 24 small triangles (see picture below).

In a bowl, beat eggs, and milk, salt and pepper. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake for 1 hour at 300 degrees.

Now for the sauce. Just before taking the casseroles out of the oven, make the sauce.

Sauce ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 cup grated cheddar cheese 1/2 cup milk Combine all three ingredients in saucepan and warm over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until cheese melts.

Serve over hot casserole.

As you can see, this went fast. I only managed to take a picture of the last half of the second pan!