Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry

I saw Ina Garten's show recently on the Food Network channel and she was making appetizers. They all look so good! Anyway, I am going to a friend's house next friday and I am bringing several appetizers and snacks to have while playing cards. Last night I decided to try the Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry, it is really simple to make and very tasty. I am definately bringing this one. I sliced the cheese in the food processor with the slicing blade, and then layered it over the ham. BTW, I use a little more ham than what the recipe called for.

Ingredients:
1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted (I used Pepperidge Farm)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 pound good ham, sliced
1/2 pound Swiss Gruyere cheese, sliced
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.
Lay 1 sheet of puff pastry on a floured board and carefully roll it out to approximately 10 by 12 inches. Place it on a sheet pan and spread the center with the mustard, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Place a layer first of ham and then cheese, also leaving a 1-inch border. Brush the border with the egg wash.
Place the second sheet of puff pastry on the floured board and roll it out to 10 by 12inches. Place the second sheet on top of the filled pastry, lining up the edges. Cut the edges straight with a small, sharp knife and press together lightly. Brush the top with egg wash and cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake for 30 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve hot or warm.

Pizza Rice Casserole

We made it our mission to use stuff in the house this weekend for our meals.  So I pulled out my copy of the More-with-Less Cookbook and went hunting.  I came across this delightfully simple little casserole.  I admit it sounds a little odd—cottage cheese and rice???—and yet the taste is very nice.  We served it alongside a fresh fruit salad.

2⁄3 c raw rice, brown or white, or 2 cups plain cooked rice
1 1⁄3 c water or vegetable broth
3⁄4 lb ground beef  (we had leftover ground turkey)
1 onion, chopped
1 cn 15oz., tomato sauce 
1⁄4 t garlic powder or 1 clove minced fresh garlic
1 t sugar
t salt and pepper to taste
1⁄4 t dried oregano
1 t parlsey flakes or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 1⁄2 c cottage cheese
1⁄2 c shredded cheese

Cook raw rice in water or broth until tender, 15 minutes for white rice or about 40 minutes for brown rice; cool slightly. 

While rice is cooking, brown ground beef and onion in a large skillet. Add tomato sauce and seasonings; cover and simmer 15 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 325°F; butter a 2-qt. casserole. 

Combine cooked rice with cottage cheese. Spread one-third of the rice mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with one-third of the meat sauce. Continue to alternate layers, ending with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese. 

Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Apple and Pear Crisp

My daughter was in the area for work this week and stopped by to spend the night with us. She came in loaded down with gifts from Trader Joe's. We do not have a Trader Joe's close by, so it is a real treat to have some their items in our house. She brought in some beautiful pears, but unfortunately they were ripening quicker than we could eat. Because it was pretty cool out yesterday, I decided to make an Apple and Pear Crisp to use up these delicious pears. This recipe is from Ina Garten and is so good and comforting and flavorful.

Ingredients

2 pounds ripe pears (about 4)

2 pounds firm apples (I used a few Granny Smiths that I had on hand, but the recipe calls for Macoun apples)

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

For the topping

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1/2 pound (2 sticks) could unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel, core and cut the pears and apples into large chunks. (I sliced them thinly). Place the fruit in a large bowl and add the zests, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into a 9 by 13 baking dish.

For the topping

Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is in large crumbles. (I used the food processor). Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

I added a handful of dried cranberries to the apples and pears, it was delicious.

Fun with kabobs

It's warm outside so that means grilling.  I'll be honest with you, I didn't actually create a recipe for the kabobs, I used Lowry's carribbean jerk marinade.  I marinaded chicken fillets for about 3 hours then cut them up in cubes and skewered them with green peppers, red onion, baby portabello mushrooms, pineapple, cherry tomatoes, and carrots.  The carrots did not skewer well but tasted fabulously grilled.  I served it with white rice.  Yummy!

Herbed Baked Eggs

While visiting my sister Lisa in Charlotte last summer, she made this delicious egg breakfast. Since then I have served them at brunches for friends. (I have been after her to post this recipe, so I decided to post it instead) These eggs are so good and elegant and I have to admit pretty impressive for an easy recipe. It is also easy to modify the recipe to make it lighter.



Ingredients:
4 thin round slices Honey Baked Ham
6 large eggs
2 teas. Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 teas. fresh chopped chives
4 teas. fresh chopped parsley
2 teas. fresh thyme

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease 4 ramekins with olive oil spray. Line sprayed ramekins with ham slices. In med. bowl, beat eggs, mustard and yogurt. Stir 1/2 the cheese into mixture. In small bowl, mix chopped herbs and add half of mixture to eggs. Stir well, then spoon into ramekins over ham. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and herbs.

Bake 25 -30 minutes until golden brown, Turn out onto serving plates.

Summery Beef Soup

My sister and brother-in-law, Angela and David, joined the local CSA.  I have no idea what that actually stands for, but it is a produce club.  Every week we get a box filled with just-picked veggies and herb, a bouquet of flowers, and anything else the woman feels like throwing in there.  It is kind of funny when you open up our refrigerator and are literally attacked by the mountain of greenery that won't fit in the crisper.  (If you looked a little closer you would also notice that there is nothing else in their besides a mostly gone gallon of organic skim milk.)  I also must tell you that we have no idea how to cook these veggies (it's not quite cucumber, zucchini, and tomato season yet).  So I made this fun soup to cook some of the veggies.  It cooks super fast with these small, new veggies (store bought veggies are much bigger so you'll have to eyeball the amounts) and I left it without any thickener to keep it light.  We had it with some garlic bread and a tiny bit of grated parmesan cheese.

Summery Beef Soup

10 cups of beef broth

1 pound beef stew chunks

1 onion (I left these as rings for fun)

3 cloves garlic

5 bay leaves (okay, I love bay leaves)

a bunch of baby turnips (peeled and chunked)

a bunch of smallish carrots (peeled and sliced into rounds)

the greens of 2 leeks plus the bulb of 1 leek (sliced into rounds)

a couple of splashes of worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp hoisin sauce (this is a yummy asian sauce used in Pho, a Thai soup)

salt and pepper

Heat the broth, add onion, garlic, and bay leaves, add beef, while they are cooking, cut up the other veggies, then add worchestershire, hoisin and seasoning, let cook until everything is soft and beef is cooked throughout.  Serve over egg noodles.  

Savory Breakfast Strata

Every Easter morning, we go to my brother and sister-in-law's home for brunch. It is a fun time of getting together and celebrating Easter. There can be anywhere between 25-35 people milling around talking and eating. If there ever was such a thing as a groaning table, this one is it. The food is amazing. We have the usual, sausage, bacon, eggs with cheese and herbs. There are biscuits and cinnamon rolls and cupcakes. Deviled eggs, coffee cakes, ham, fruit salads, cheese and crackers, candy and cookies. I was asked to bring the breakfast strata once again because it was such a hit last year. I think we all have had similar stratas, but this one is adapted from Pam Anderson's Perfect Recipes for Having People Over cookbook. It is so go and so rich with flavors. It is great for breakfast or brunch anytime of the year.

Ingredients:

1 quart half-and-half

12 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

12-14 slices fluffy white bread

1 pound of meat or seafood and 1 pound of vegetables (I use bulk sausage and red, orange and yellow bell peppers)

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 3)

12 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about three cups)

Brown or cook any meat. Saute` vegetables in a small amount of olive oil until soft, set aside.

Whisk half-and-half, eggs, salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl until smooth.

Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with vegetable cooking spray. Line bottom of baking dish with 6 slices of bread. If necessary, cut strips and fit them into any gaps. If using meat and/and or vegetables, scatter half of each over bread, then sprinkle with half the scallions and half the cheese. Pour 1 cup of egg mixture over bread. Make another layer with remaining bread, cutting strips of bread to fill any spaces as necessary. Top with remaining meat and vegetables, scallions and cheese. Slowly pour remaining egg mixture over bread.

Cover strata with plastic wrap. Lightly weight strata and let stand for a least 15 minutes.

Adjust over rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Bake strata until custard is just set, about 50 minutes. Leaving baking dish on oven rack, turn on broiler and broil until strata is spotty brown and puffy, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 8 to 10 minutes before cutting.

I make the strata the night before and refrigerate. You do not need to weigh it down if you do this. Also, if you make it the night before, be sure to bring it up to room temperature before baking.