Pie Iron Jalapeno Poppers

A little late on the Memorial Day camping posts but hopefully as many of you know, pulling the photos off the camera onto the computer is a whole ritual in and of itself.  

Pie irons are just about the most fun thing ever.  I say that about all cooking tools I know, but the possibilities of pie irons are endless.  Of course you can do basic pizza ingredients or PBJ or PB and Fluff, but coming up with different ideas for filling the pie iron is just plain fun.

This time around I gave a twist on the jalapeno popper a shot.  Yes, it's really a grilled cheese with jalapeños in it but coming out of a campfire after a long day in the sun....well it's just magical food then.

In our house there was always a debate between the cheddar vs the cream cheese filled jalapeño poppers.  Truthfully as I write that, I don't know which side of the fence I was on but I recall being adamant.  Yes, so adamant that I have no idea which ones I like better.   This pie iron creation doesn't make you choose. 

A little cream cheese spread on bread, some slices of white cheddar and some jalapeño and all is well.  I'd roasted and peeled the jalapeños at home. You can do this over the campfire as well, but as anyone who's ever touched their eye after peeling peppers knows, you should wash those hands really, really well. And then wash them two more times.  Doing this at home ensured that I could wash and wash and wash my hands until my heart's content.  

You can butter the outside of the bread for extra golden deliciousness.  I opted for no butter but I don't necessarily stand by that decision.  Butter is obviously better.

And of course, along with the cream cheese vs cheddar debate at our house was another one around whether poppers should be dipped in jam.  I definitely know that I stand on the jam side of the fence.   A bit of fruity sweetness is a perfect balance to the extra spiciness of this sandwich.  Easy peasy camping eats that takes under 2 minutes to prepare.  

No worries.  Puppies don't really get jalapeños.  

Baked General Tsaos Chicken

One of my favorite breakfasts ever is leftover chinese, and one of my favorite dinners is cereal.  Backwards, but it is what it is.  Sadly for me, there is rarely leftover chinese in this house.  I order so rarely and when I do...leftovers?  Please.  

Enter, this recipe for baked General Tsaos.  This recipe makes a pretty big batch, it's baked and not fried and it's still delicious the next day for brekkie.  I'm not going to lie to you though--it's not leftover fried chinese chicken good but with what you save in health factor, this can be overlooked.  It looks like a bit of effort but really comes together rather quickly.  The cornflakes give the chicken a nice crunch when it's freshly made and the sauce has a nice sweet and tangy flavor to it.  I bit of grated orange zest might be kind of nice in the sauce as well. 

Definitely a make again recipe. 

Baked General Tsaos Chicken

adapted from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients
1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
5 cups corn flakes cereal, finely crushed
1 1⁄2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of all visible fat, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 3/4 cups water
1⁄3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1⁄4 cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 teaspoons canola oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups chopped broccoli

Directions:
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. 

Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray 

Whisk eggs well and in a  shallow dish. Spread Corn Flakes crumbs into second shallow dish. 

Pat chicken dry with paper towels.  Sprinkle flour over and toss well to coat. 

Working in batches, dip chicken in egg whites, then coat with Corn Flakes, pressing gently to adhere; lay in pan.
Bake until chicken coating is brown and crisp, and chicken is cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes depending upon size of pieces.(Chicken should be 160 degrees)

Set a medium pan of water on stove and turn to high.
Whisk water, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, jam, vinegar and cornstarch together in bowl or Pyrex measuring cup.  

Heat canola oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

Whisk in sauce mixture, bring to simmer, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and keep warm.

Add broccoli to boiling water pot and cook for 2-3 minutes, until slightly cooked but still crisp and bright green.  Drain.
When chicken is cooked, return sauce to simmer over medium-low heat. Add cooked chicken and broccoli and toss to coat. Serve.

Strawberry Cooked Flour Frosting

Yes, I know cooked flour frosting sounds a little weird but this recipe solves two of baking's biggest conundrums: 

1.  How do you make a super creamy buttercream frosting that isn't sickeningly sweet?

2.  How do you get fantastic strawberry flavor into cupcakes without super smushy strawberry blobs through out your divine deliciousness?

I like when recipes solve enormous problems like these. 

So first the strawberries.  I'm not going to lie to you...the idea to throw dried strawberries into the food processor to make a powder came straight from Pinterest.  Yep, yep.  It's genius really.  Since I have a great love for my dear Laura Ingalls Wilder and life on the hard and unforgiving prairie, you can only imagine what comes out of my dehydrator.  My dehydrating is a little bit obsessive really. 

But the sickness does manifest in lots of yummy dried fruit.  I ground up dried strawberries in a coffee grinder until I had 2/3 of a cup.  Unfortunately these were previously dried berries so I couldn't tell you how many fresh berries were needed.  Just keep drying fruit until you have tons--it's pretty awesome to eat as a snack as well. 

Then onto the cooked flour frosting.  The basic premise of cooked flour frosting is that you make a cooked flour roux that you add to a mixture of butter and....wait for it.....a single cup of granulated sugar.  The reduced sugar results in a less sweet frosting and the cooked flour helps the frosting hold shape.  You'd think you should be worried about using granulated sugar but if you beat it for the full time, all of those sugar granules melt right into the frosting. 

I too, was skeptical the first time I made this and as it turns out, it's the only frosting recipe I've ever made that has people always asking for the recipe.  Once, I man who I happened to know never baked in his entire life asked for the recipe.  True enough. 

Strawberry powder is pretty cool stuff.  You can bet I'll be grinding up all different types of fruit next.  

And the taste?  It's definitely reminiscent of strawberry ice cream.  I think strawberry frosting paired well with lemon cupcakes-- I'm guessing it will pair well with many of your favorite cupcake recipes.  

Strawberry Cooked Flour Frosting

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup dried strawberry powder

Directions:

1. Blend flour and about 1/4 cup of the cold milk in a saucepan and whisk well and place on stove over med-low heat. 
2. Add the remaining milk, whisking constantly. 
3. Cook flour and milk until very thick. 
4. Remove from heat, and cool. 
5. Cream sugar, butter and vanilla until very light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. 
6. Add cooked flour, vanilla and strawberry powder to butter mixture.  Turn mixer to medium-high and beat ingredients together until sugar crystals are completely dissolved and frosting is light and creamy (about 5-6 mins)
7. Frost cupcakes while frosting is soft.  Refrigerate remaining. 
8. Cupcakes with this frosting should be refrigerated. 

Happy Memorial Day!

There's nothing like a long four day weekend to relax and take in the smell and sights of the high country.  

And of course...

For the brave men and women that protected our freedom and to the families who lost loved ones...thank you for your ultimate sacrifice. 

Banana Bars with Browned Butter Icing

It's Sunday night and like always, I'm amazed and how quickly the weekend just flew by.   Weekend pedis, restaurant patios open, long puppy walks on the trails....oh welcome spring.  

Banana bars have nothing to do with spring really, but they are so good, I hope you'll easily forgive the lack of  logical transition from one paragraph to the next.  Seriously, these are awesome--think banana cake but with super awesome brown butter flavor.  The bars a little sweet but that hasn't stopped me from making these many, many times since finding the recipe.  It's a little bit addicting actually.  Some addictions are just so right. 

Banana Bars with Browned Butter Icing

adapted from Bake or Break

Ingredients

2 cups flour (plus 1 tbsp if at high altitude)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup  light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup greek yogurt
1 3/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 bananas)

For the icing:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons milk (more or less to reach desired consistency)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 9x13 pan and dust with flour.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Mix in sour cream and bananas.
4. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing just until combined.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.
6. Bake 225-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Place pan on wire rack to cool slightly while you prepare the icing.

To make the icing:

1. Place butter in a medium pan. Melt butter over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter foams and brown specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
3. In a large bowl combine confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and about 1 tablespoon of milk. Add butter and stir well. Add remaining milk little by little to spreadable consistency.  Spread on warm bars and allow to cool

Guinness Cheddar No Knead Bread

So continuing on with the Guinness no knead bread theme from a couple of weeks ago, I made a Guinness cheddar variation for St. Paddy's weekend.  What can I say...sometimes I have a laser-like focus complete obsession and St. Paddy's offered an obvious opportunity to make some more loaves of no knead bread.  I seriously think I could make and eat a loaf of bread every night and never get tired of it.  The French are really on to something here. 

The base recipe is similar to the Guinness cherry pecan bread--minus the sugar.  Throw into that dough a good 1 1/2 cups of chopped and shredded cheddar...only good things happening here. 

Try very, very, very hard to remember that this recipe calls for preheating the pan which makes the pan pretty darned hot.  It's pretty easy to forget when you are just dropping some raw dough into the pan. 

I topped with some parmesan because I love how crispy parmesan gets when baked on a hot and relatively dry surface...like this bread. 

Just 5-10 minutes of effort for a loaf of awesome.  

While this bread is pretty better than okay by itself, I upped the ante by using it to make grilled cheese. That's what blogs are for really...to push you that extra step right?

Guinness cheddar bread with melted gooey cheddar insides.  I am not a grilled cheese purist by any means since I happen to love, love, love onions in mine.  I can't explain it, don't ask.  

Just a few minutes of effort and you have a pretty schmance grilled cheese sandwich with a little St. Patrick's day twist.  This recipe is my heart's true love. 

No Knead Guinness Cheddar Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 3/4 cup Guinness (a can will have enough, if you use an 11 oz bottle, just pour it into a measuring cup and add water to make up the difference--about 1/4 of a cup)
3/4 cup cubed cheddar
3/4 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup shredded parmesan for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, garlic powder and salt. 
2. Add Guinness and mix to combine. 
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours or overnight.  
4. Heat oven to 450 degrees. When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 25 minutes. 
5. While the oven and pan is preheating, add shredded and cubed cheddar to dough and stir well.   
6. Dump dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Let rest until pan is ready.
7. Remove hot pan from the oven and carefully drop dough into ungreased pan. Top with shredded parmesan
8. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. 
9. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 
10. Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool before slicing

Snow Day

I think I like snow so much because in Colorado, weather is ever changing and I know that a really good snowstorm doesn't necessarily equate to days of freezing cold or snow on the ground.  Yesterday we woke up to a winter storm and 8-14 inches.  I shoveled 3 times and the snow was piled against my door high enough to come crashing in when I opened the door.  Today by noon there were visible patches of grass all over and snow that hasn't melted is down to a mere few inches.  

Not ones to pass on some good snowball chasing fun, Brooklyn and I headed out to one of the still standing snow patches for a little puppy exercise. 

This pup loves her balls and snowballs. Or anything that can be launched from the Chuckit.  

Snowballs....yeah. 

Sometimes puppies fly so high and so fast they can't be captured by a mere human with a regular camera.

Snowballs are the happiest way to spend a Sunday afternoon.