NuM NuM

Parmesan puffs, parmesan puffs, parmesan puffs! Warning: these are highly addicting and you will not be able to stop at just one! All will power goes out the window when it comes to these bad boys! Lobster made dinner the other night and served these miniature marvels as our appetizer. They were so delicious, I asked him where he bought them from? To my surprise, he made them from SCRATCH! Yes ladies, the Lobster can bake too. What a wonderful hubby! Okay, I'll stop being disgusting now.

These parmesan puffs are quite similar to the gougeres I've made in the past, but I think they're even better! With the gougeres the cheese flavor is a bit milder since the inside is hollow, but with these babies, they're denser so there's delicious cheesy-ness (is that a word?) all over. Both would serve as a great appetizer, it just depends on the theme of your party. Parmesan puffs: barbecue. Gougeres: cocktail party. Heck.....mix and match and serve them both, 'cuz who wouldn't want to eat a delicious ball of cheese! Enjoy!

Parmesan Puffs

Serves 4

Adapted from All Recipes

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
  
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup marinara sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking sheet.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring milk and butter to boil over medium high heat. Stir in flour and reduce heat to low. Vigorously stir until thick enough to form into a ball. Remove from heat.
3. Beat eggs into the mixture until smooth. Stir in Parmesan cheese.
4. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

If you are like moi and always on the lookout for a tried-and-true cornbread recipe, well look no further because this one's got it all. It's perfectly sweet with a crumbly texture and stays nice and moist during baking. I have one more cornbread recipe in my files, so I'll have to do a taste comparison,- but I'll definitely be returning to this one again and again.

Since it was just Lobster and I eating the cornbread, I made a smaller amount then the recipe called for. I discovered an amazing website that converts any recipe to fit whatever baking dish you have in your kitchen - which will help reduce having to buy a bajillion different pan sizes. You simply figure out the volume of the pan you are using and divide it by the volume of the pan in the original recipe. Multiply that number with the measurement for each ingredient in the original recipe and voila: your recipe is scaled down for you. It may sound a bit daunting, but seriously, math and I have never gotten along, but this is the type of math even I can do.

Here's an example with the pan I used for this recipe. The original recipe called for an 8-inch square pan which is equal to 8 cups in volume. The pan I used was a 1.2 qt baking dish which is equal to 5.76 volume. So you take 5.76 and divide it by 8 which equals .72. Now all you have to do is multiply each ingredient by .72 and you have your new converted amount. In hindsight, I could've just cut the recipe in half and made cornbread muffins, but then how would you have learned this cool new trick :D Apply this method to any recipe you'd like to convert and you'll be excited to do math again. Good luck!

Cornbread

Recipe from Mel's Kitchen

To convert a recipe click here and here

½ cup cornmeal

1 ½ cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 ¼ cup milk

Add dry ingredients, make a well and add oil, butter, eggs, and milk into the center. Stir until just mixed (batter will be runny – don’t be alarmed!). Bake in an 8” square pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. This doubles perfectly for a 9X13-inch pan.

Honey Butter:
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff

Whip all together with an electric mixer and serve at room temperature (can be refrigerated and softened).

Recipe Source: Nate and Kylie

Note: I did not try the honey butter but read great reviews about it.

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 egg
1 1/2 cup raspberries or cranberries
3/4 cups pecans, chopped and toasted
1/4 cup demerera sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 (or 10) x 5 loaf pan (or 2 smaller loaf pans).

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in the bowl of your stand mixer. Turn on medium and add shortening until combined. Add orange juice, orange zest, and egg. Mix until well-blended. Stir in berries and nuts. Pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Spread demerera sugar evenly over the top.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Mini loaves should take 35-40 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and let cool completely. Wrap the cooled loaf tightly with plastic wrap or foil to keep it moist.

Pea Crostinis - not to be mistaken for green booties :)

• 1 baguette (sliced thin on a diagonal)
• 1 (10 oz.) package frozen peas, thawed and drained
  
• 1/2 cup extra firm/firm tofu - squeezed dry
  
• 1 ounce Parmesan, grated
• one squeeze of fresh lemon juice, to taste
  
• salt and pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
  

Method:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Toast until golden, about 10-12 minutes. (Watch carefully so they don’t burn!)

Place tofu between paper towels and squeeze as much liquid out as possible

Meanwhile, in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, puree the peas, and tofu. Place mixture in bowl and add parmesan and lemon juice, salt (about 1/2 tsp.), and pepper (about 1/4 tsp.) to taste. I ended up adding more lemon juice, and S&P. If you feel the dip is too chunky or taste a little gritty add olive oil until it reaches the consistency you like.

Spread the pea mixture on the crostini and top with grated Parmesan, if desired.

Did you know when you roast cauliflower it becomes a little sweet? Roasting the cauliflower imparts a sweet nutty taste to this underused vegetable turning it from "eww cauliflower," into a welcoming weeknight side dish. If you've never had roasted cauliflower or broccoli before, you are surely missing out my friend. The gremolata is a unique addition and the lemon, garlic and panko add another dimension of flavor and texture making these little white trees anything but boring. This is best served at room temperature, but I found it equally delicious straight from the fridge - with fork in hand.


Roasted Cauliflower with Gremolata Bread Crumbs
Recipe from The Thin Chef via Food 52 Blog
Serves 3

• 1 large head cauliflower
• 2 tbs plus 1 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Trim tough stem and core from cauliflower and discard. Using a paring knife, cut cauliflower into smaller spears. Place in a large bowl. Add 2 tbs oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper; toss to combine.
3. Spread cauliflower out on a large, rimmed baking sheets. Roast until edges start to brown, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
4. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoons oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add panko and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and stir to coat in oil. Cook, stirring constantly, until bread crumbs are golden. Add lemon zest and garlic and toss until mixture is very fragrant and bread crumbs are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Place in a medium bowl and add parsley, stirring to combine. Set aside. (I also added a fresh squeeze of lemon juice as well)
5. Remove cauliflower from oven and place on serving platter. Top with bread crumbs and serve immediately.

*if you wait until the cauliflower is cool to sprinkle the bread crumbs on top, they'll stay good and crisp

S'mores brownies anyone? Don't you hate it when you find a brownie recipe and the person neglects to describe what the brownie tastes like?! Well fear not friends, these brownies have a lovely chocolatey flavor, are not super dense or fudgey and fall a little more on the cakey side rather than chewy. My favorite parts were the crisp, chewy edges - they were the jam - so I found myself eating around the perimeter of the pan. I'm more of a chewy brownie girl myself, so I popped them in the fridge to rest overnight in hopes of changing the texture. What arose were perfectly dense, fudgey chewy brownies - problem solved :D These were fun to make and a welcomed change to the traditional brownie. I brought these to a potluck and they were well received but one friend suggested adding chocolate chips to make them oooey and gooey (note to self for next time) which I think would make a fabulous addition. Enjoy!



Similar recipes you might enjoy:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies
S'mores Bars
Fatwitch Bakery's Chocolate Coconut Pecan Congo Bars
Chewy Brownies


S’mores Brownies

Adapted from Bon Appetit, October 1991 via Joy the Baker

• 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 2.5 large eggs
• 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands
• 9 big marshmallows (I also diced 3 additional marshmallows and stirred them into the batter. These marshmallows dissolve when baked, so you can leave them out, or throw them in. Up to you!)

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers. Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 9 large marshmallows. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 35 minutes minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool. Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, plastic knife will give you cleaner edges. Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.

The Superbowl is the perfect time to sit around with friends, relax, and munch on some delicious grub! Here are a few of my favorite treats to get you ready for the BIG game! Go Packers!!

Blue Cheese Gougeres

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Healthy Spinach Parmesan Dip

Pumpkin Seed Dip

Creamy Beet Spread with Blue Cheese and Bacon

Nummy Pesto Sammie

Ultimate Meatloaf Sammie

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Chocolate Coconut Pecan Congo Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

PB&J Bars