Mint Oreo Chocolates - St. Patrick's Day

I celebrated the green theme and taught myself to dip & coat with chocolate
by making these cookie balls that I found on the Kraft website:
Cool Mint Oreo Cookie Balls
I changed the recipe slightly and removed most of the brand names, though.

Ingredients:
8 oz. Cream Cheese
30 crushed Mint Oreos
28 oz. (2 bags) of baking chocolate chips
 - 1 white and 1 chocolate for double-dipping
1 box of Andes mints
8 drops green food coloring

Directions:

1. Blend cream cheese and broken oreos.
2. Form into small balls.
3. Freeze for 1 hour.
4. Melt white chocolate and add food coloring.
5. Dip balls into melted chocolate, lowering with a fork.
6. Refrigerate until set
7. Melt andes mints and chocolate together
8. Re-dip for a double coat

I made some of each, but please, don't judge my dipping skills just yet...

Bennight Meatloaf Sandwich

This is my classic meatloaf sandwich.

Meatloaf w BBQ glaze, and a layer of mashed potatoes & peas
served on pan-fried garlic bread.
I've been mincing roasted garlic into a paste
and then literally spreading it on the bread before frying in butter.

A meatloaf sandwich "Bennight" style.

Italian Meatloaf Sandwich

The best leftovers ever are a meatloaf sandwich...
I will be building and shooting several varieties this week.

The first is Italian,
which thanks to the chicken sausage in the meatloaf,
was an easy transition.

I made my standard marinara
and managed to keep the spicy peppers at bay.
I also made garlic bread with whole milk mozzarella
for both sides of the sandwich.
Never enough cheese, never...

Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes with Peas

My favorite comfort meal of all time.
I used to request this on my birthday when I was a child
and we weren't going out to eat that night to celebrate.
The most basic meatloaf recipe is all ground beef with bread crumbs and uses ketchup,
though I've experimented with quite a few variations over the years.
Tonight, I subbed in 1 lb. of chicken sausage, celery and used oatmeal for the breading.
I also added some beer.
Feel free to add carrots, peppers, change the meat or breading, add liquids etc.
It's all about the ratios anyway...

Ingredients:
Meatloaf
1 Lb. Lean Ground Beef
1 Lb. Ground Chicken
1 C diced Onions
1/4 C minced Celery
1/4 C minced Garlic
2 Eggs
1/4 C Oakshire Brewing O'Dark:30 CDA
1/2 C Rolled Oats
2 T S & P (each)
2 T Yellow Mustard Powder
1 T Thyme
1 T African Bird powder
Glaze
1/2 C BBQ sauce
1/4 C Spicy Brown Mustard
4 T Honey
Potatoes
2 Lbs. Gold Potatoes
4 T Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
2 T Salt


Directions:

1. Beat eggs and soak oats with beer for 5 - 10 mins.
2. Add spices to egg mixture.
3. Combine meat, vegetables and egg mixture in a large bowl.
4. Press into a baking pan, filling the entire dish
5. Cover with foil & Bake @ 350 for 40 mins
6. Remove from oven and drain excess liquid from pan
7. Cover with glazing sauce and bake for 20 mins, uncovered
8. Remove and let cool before slicing ( I couldn't wait so my glaze isn't solid in the photo)

Mashed potatoes come in many different varieties, my family traditionally uses sour cream instead of heavy cream, though cream cheese, or even just whole milk will also do the trick.  Just boil, mash and mix to your desired consistency.  I love a pulverized potato, no lumps for me thank you, and I add peas on top for a healthy crunch.

Chili Verde Pork Tacos

 Chili Verde Pork Tacos were amazing this week.
Jeff came over with his tomatillo knowledge and we roasted the vegetables in the oven for a bolder flavor than boiling.

Sauce Ingredients:
2 Lbs. Tomatillos
1 Large Onion
8 Serrano peppers, de-stemmed
2 Poblano peppers
1/4 C Garlic
1 T Oil
1 t Salt
2 T Honey
1 Bunch chopped Cilantro

Directions:

1. Remove the husks from the tomatillos
2. Combine all prepared veggies (except poblanos and cilantro) in a baking dish, add 1 t salt
3. Roast the vegetables @ 350 for 30 - 45 mins
4. Coat the Poblanos with 1 T Oil and wrap in foil to roast separately
5. Once cooked, remove the poblano skins 
6. Blend everything together, adding honey and cilantro to taste

We then used some of the sauce (approx. 1 Cup) and mixed it with 1 Cup of chicken broth to serve as the marinade for braising our sliced pork shoulder for 1 hour.   I also threw a little sauce in with some boiling rice. Pull the pork, assemble and enjoy!

Baked Custard French Toast

 I stepped up my french toast game this week, by making a very simple custard instead of my standard recipe

Ingredients:
3 Eggs, well beaten
1 C Heavy Cream
1 C Whole Milk
3 T Sugar
1 t Salt
1 t Vanilla
1 t Cinnamon
4 - 6 thick slices of bread (preferably older or stale bread)

Cinnamon Toast Crunch French Toast

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients together except the cinnamon
2. Pour the mixture over slices of bread in a baking dish
3. Flip the bread so its soaks on both sides for aprox. 30 minutes
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
5. Coat with cereal or cinnamon and bake for 20 mins

Asparagus & Sausage Omelette - Bagel Sandwich

I love bagel sandwiches for breakfast, and made my classic veggie recipe yesterday.
Mixing it up, I wanted to add some meat and some heat this morning,
so I substituted jalapenos instead of red peppers and added some pork sausage patties


Yield 2 Omelettes
Ingredients:
1/2 Lb of fresh Asparagus
4 Eggs, well beaten
1/4 C Red Bell Peppers, chopped
4 T finely diced Shallots
4 T roasted garlic
2 T Butter
2 T Olive Oil
1 T crushed Red Pepper flakes
1 T Basil, chopped
S & P

Directions:

1. Place the asparagus in a baking dish and coat with olive oil, red pepper flakes, basil and S & P   
2. Add whole garlic cloves to roast them if you prefer (I do!)
3. Bake for 30 mins @ 350 degrees F
4. Chop and dice peppers and shallots
5. Once the asparagus is done, remove from oven and let rest for 5 mins
6. Heat a sautee pan @ medium heat, add 1 T of butter once hot
7. Sautee peppers and scallions until limp/clear
8. Remove from pan and set aside, add 1 T of butter
9. Pour eggs into butter coated pan
10. Dice 6 pieces of asparagus, I save several heads for a side and chop mostly stems
11. Add ingredients to omelette and fold, once hardened
12. Remove from heat at your desired egg consistency
13. Cutting the omelette in half, add to toasted bagel

I added 1 T of Maple syrup on top of the pumpernickel bagel, because I couldn't resist

Coconut & Galangal Soup with Chicken

This creamy soup is the final installment from my Thai experiments earlier this month.
I wanted to try something that incorporated the more tropically influenced southern half of Thailand and I also wanted to experiment with whole fresh roots, instead of powders.


I found a variation of this recipe in a book I borrowed from a good friend and food mentor, Jeff Extine, though I had to make some changes for what was available and in season.
I also used dried bird's eye pods in the soup, instead of the fresh thai chilis you see in the photo.


Ingredients:
1 Lb. of Chicken breast
1 Sweet Onion
8 pieces of fresh Galangal root (1 inch wafers)
4 Cups Chicken broth
1 (16oz) can of Coconut Milk
1 Cup of coconut cream
4 T Lime juice (add more to taste)
8 Dried Birds Eye Chili Pods
S & P

Directions:

1. Dice and sautee onions first (add a little cooking oil if necessary)
2. Add the chicken broth & chicken (substitute 1 extra Cup of water for broth)
3. Bring to a boil, then add the coconut milk, galangal root, chili pods and S &P 
4. Reduce heat to med-low
5. Once the chicken is fully cooked (30 mins) and breaking apart, add lime juice and coconut cream.
6. Simmer for 30 mins - 1 hour to incoporate flavors, and then serve with cilantro or fresh pepper garnish.

White Castle Sliders

My personal tribute to some of the best 24-hour food ever...White Castle Sliders.
I grew up mostly in St. Louis, MO and spent a lot of time @ my grandmother's house learning the basics of cooking and baking.  My grandfather, however, often took us around the corner to the Maplewood White Castle, and though I've been to many others in the mid-west and northeast, I always envision WC sliders as I first discovered them @ that exact location.

Recently, a meatloaf experiment turned out tasting just like white castle patties.  It wasn't what my mouth wanted, not in that form anyway.  So, I decided to recreate the meat recipe and surround tiny square patties with explosive, meat-flavored onions, bread and butter pickles and serve up sides of krinkle fries.
Here are the results.  The recipe will follow.  Anyone that has a recipe for their orange drink, I may need that next time...

Ingredients:
1/2 Lb. Ground beef
1/2 Lb. Ground turkey thighs
1/2 Medium yellow onion, diced into tiny squares
1/4 Cup of butter
1 Package of Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (12 buns each)
1 Jar of Bread & Butter pickles
1 Bottle of ketchup
1 T S & P

Directions:
1. Combine Beef & Turkey in a bowl together with S & P
2. Using your hands or a roller, flatten the burger meat into a thin sheet.
3. Cut into even squares and fry on a skillet @ Medium-High Heat
4. Add onions after flipping the burgers, top onions with 1 T butter
5. Pull burgers when done, cooking in shifts if necessary
6. Brown onions until they are almost crispy
7. Using the remaining butter, brown the buns in shifts
8. Build sliders with the ratio/condiments of your choice

Thai Pork with Bok Choy & Thai Eggplant

I marinated a pork butt for 24 hours in my Thai marinade
then braised it @ 220 degrees F for 3 hours

For the sides, I oven-roasted large bok choy in:
1 cup water
2 T lime juice
1 T salt
and placed 2 fresh bird's eye chilis in each
Baked @ 300 F for 20 mins

I also sauteed thai (green) eggplant with:
2 T canola oil
1 T soy sauce
2 T ginger, minced
2 T garlic

Wontons!

I recently made simple, but delicious wontons...
Feast your eyes

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of chicken breast
4 T minced ginger
4 T minced garlic
8 T soy sauce
20 wonton wraps
1 cup water
1 T Chinese mustard powder
S & P
2 cups oil

Directions:
1. Boil chicken in pot with 6 T soy sauce added to water
2. Shred the cooled chicken once finished
3. Combine chicken with ginger and garlic, mustard powder and 2 T soy sauce
4. Add 1 T of filling to the center of each wonton wrap
5. Dip your fingers in water and trace the edges of wonton wrap
6. Fold up and over the chicken filling, and press edges of the wrap, sealing the filling inside, with as little air as possible. The end result is a triangle.
7. (Optional) Dab water on the outer points of the triangle, and fold them together on top of the filling.
8. Fry the wontons and enjoy!

Thai Marinade

I experimented with this base this week on a pork butt and beef brisket

Everything seems to blend well here, except the sesame oil and lime juice balance,

which I've been playing with and have gotten different reviews...

6 T Rice vinegar

6 T fish sauce

2 T Sesame Oil

6 T fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, finely chopped

8 fresh or dried Thai (Birds Eye) chillies, chopped

3 T garlic, minced

3 T fresh ginger, diced

1/2 cup chicken stock

Juice of two limes

Salt to taste

Baguette French Toast

I've been working on thai recipes and cooking or preparing something everyday this week
I'll have posts up this weekend, once i get everything shot correctly

I broke from innovating this morning
and made myself a classic breakfast:

French Bread French Toast:

The ingredients are very simple:
Yield: 10 pieces
3 eggs
2 T Milk
1 t Vanilla
2 t Cinnamon
1 T butter
1/2 Loaf of French Baguette

1. Beat eggs, add milk and vanilla, pour mixture into dipping pan
2. Cut the baguette into 1 inch slices
3. Set slices in dipping pan, coating both sides, then sprinkle one side with cinnamon
4. Heat pan/skillet to Med-Hi, and coat the pan with 1/2 T of butter
5. Fry your slices cinnamon side up
6. Add 1/2 T butter slices to tops with...
syrup/fruit/cream/jelly/PB, whatever your favorite toppings are

My favorite things about using the french baguette instead of traditional sliced bread is their power to absorb a lot of egg without turning into a soggy pancake, because the crust is must stronger and the slices are thicker.
For that reason, I often soak my baguette slices for 10 mins, 5 on each side, before adding the cinnamon.

Broccoli Quesadillas

I've decided to work through my classics to open the Nom Nom Kitchen
Tonight's entree is my favorite vegetarian meal outside of straight-up cheese pizza...

Broccoli Quesadillas


Ingredients:
1 broccoli crown
1 T butter
2 scallions
1 small red pepper
2 jalapenos
2 cloves of garlic
S & P
1/2 t ground cumin
Shredded manchego
Small corn tortillas


Garnish: 
I use a bed of cilantro, and top that with a pico or salsa and a drizzle of lime juice
Tonight, I'm using a fresh mango salsa

Directions:
1. Dice and lightly boil broccoli crown for 5 - 10mins (i use the stem as well for crunch and go the full 10 mins)
2. Melt butter in a sautee pan and add cumin
3. Add diced scallions, red pepper and jalapenos, cook until onions are clear
4. Add minced garlic for 2 mins and remove from heat


5. Strain broccoli and let ingredients cool
6. Dice broccoli and add to onion/pepper mixture
7. Heat a saute pan, oil if necessary, i use a non-stick pan and skip the oil to keep it healthier
9. Drop one tortilla in heated pan and build the quesadillas with cheese on the bottom, pepper mixture in the middle and cheese again on top
10. Place 2nd tortilla on top and flip once golden brown
11. Plate and devour


This derivation of an old recipe comes from my mother's inventiveness...
(Thanks Mom, hope i get the story right)
She really enjoyed the spinach quesadillas at my parent's favorite Tex/Mex restaurant in Charlotte, NC
Salsa's
and decided to add broccoli @ home one evening.
I was intrigued and have played with the spice factor (adding jalepenos, serranos, or habeneros)
as well as the cheese (cheddar, queso blanco, even the "mexican style" mix bag from the grocery)
but settled on Manchego for its excellent melting quality and nutty flavor which goes really well with the broccoli
Also, props to Jeff Extine for helping me refine the recipe and for correcting my obvious mistakes
Enough chit-chat though, my ingredients are cooled
and I'm ready to get my nom on asap
Enjoy,
Brandon

Chicken Parmesan Recipe

Recipe for two...
Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken breast
1 egg - beaten
1 T flour
1 cup bread crumbs (grated toast, a sprinkle of your fav three italian herbs, and a dab of cayenne)
4 T Olive Oil


1. Toast bread until golden brown and hard throughout
2. Grate bread crumbs onto a plate
3. Beat egg in a bowl
4. Add T of flour and beat more
4. Butterfly chicken breast and place in a flat pan (i use a glass casserole dish)
5. Dump egg and flour mixture over chicken making sure to cover chicken
6. Heat Olive Oil in a sautee pan
7. Drop chicken on plate of bread crumbs and toss bread crumbs over the top with a spoon
8. Fry Chicken until golden
9. Place chicken on oven pan
10. Cover with sauce and grate cheese over top (parmesan is fine, i'm using smoked provolone
11. Bake 10 minutes @ 350 or until cheese is melted


The salad is wilted spinach with fresno chiles and diced romas...