BYU "Blue" Dinner

Tonight BYU played UTAH (actually they are playing UTAH; the game is currently in the 4th quarter)!  To be honest, I am not much of a football fan.  The only football I really enjoy watching is the football scenes from movies like Remember the Titans and The Blind side (I know, I'm lame).  This year, at least for this game, I made an effort to embrace the spirit of game day.  I may not love football, but I do love food and so I made a BYU "blue" dinner.  It wasn't fancy, but it was great football food!

Blueberry Lemonade

3 cups blueberries

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 cups cold water

Puree blueberries and sugar in a blender.  Mix lemon juice and water in pitcher.  Place mesh strainer over pitcher and strain pureed blueberries.  Stir well and pour into ice filled glasses.  Garnish with Lemon slices and frozen blueberries.

*Next time I would use 1 cup of sugar, it was a bit tart.

Recipe from Bobby Flay

"Blue" Super Nachos

Ingredients:

Blue Corn Tortilla Chips

Beef and Bean Topping:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound ground beef

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon Cholula hot sauce

1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 large tomato, chopped

Cheese Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 cups pepper jack cheese

Diced roasted jalapenos (optional)

Salt and pepper

Additional toppings:

Pico de Gallo

Sour cream

Guacamole

Cilantro

Chopped green onions

Sliced Roasted jalapenos

Cholula

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add oil, garlic, onion and peppers to the pan and sauté 2 minutes, then add meat and crumble with wooden spoon.  Season meat with salt, chili powder, cumin and Cholula.  Cook meat until browned, stir in beans and chopped tomato and reduce heat to low. 

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and add flour to it.  Cook flour and butter 1 to 2 minutes over moderate heat, then whisk in milk.  When milk comes to a bubble, stir in cheese with a wooden spoon.  Remove cheese sauce from the heat and salt and pepper to taste.

Top chips with beef and bean mixture, cheese sauce and your choice of toppings.  Eat immediately and enjoy!

Adapted from Rachael Ray's Super Nachos recipe

M & M Peanut Butter Bars

2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup peanuts, chopped

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, melted

Mix above ingredients with a fork.  Press half of mixture into a jelly roll pan.

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

2 cups creamy peanut butter

Mix and pour over oat layer.

Top with remaining oat mixture and sprinkle with a large bag of M&M's.  Press down with hands.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Drink with milk!

This recipe came from my Aunt Traci (I use a little more salt than her recipe calls for).  The original name for this sweet treat is Christy's Totally Gnarly Peanut Butter Bars.

Flour Tortillas

I make these tortillas a lot and for how often I have made them, you would think I would be a pro at rolling them into nice round circles.  Well, I am no where near a pro (that would be my sister Stephanie) and in fact I'm really quite bad.  I rarely get a nice round tortilla, but no matter the shape, they are still delicious and definitely worth the little bit of extra time it takes to make them!

Flour tortillas

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup very hot water

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer combine flour and salt.  Add shortening and mix until well combined.  Add hot water and mix until dough comes together.

Remove dough from mixing bowl and divide into portions.  The portion of dough depends on the size you want your tortillas.  Shape portions into round balls.

Preheat a non-stick or cast iron skillet to medium low heat.  If necessary, spray your work surface with non-stick cooking spray; you may not need to because the dough isn't particularly sticky, but it may be and you also don't want to add any more flour to your dough.  Press your palm against the surface of the dough ball, trying to maintain as much of a round shape as possible (this is where I begin to struggle a bit).  Place rolling pin in middle of flattened dough ball and roll to desired thickness, shaping in a circle as you go.

Place raw tortillas on preheated skillet.  Now...be forewarned, the first one may not work out great.  You are going to be watching for bubbles.  If you get little blistery bubbles, your skillet is too hot and you need to reduce the heat.  You're looking for big, fat, slow-bubbling bubbles.

When you start to see them, flip the tortilla and cook for another 30-45 second (I like mine to stay very soft and so I will only cook the tortillas long enough to have very light colored marks and sometimes no marks at all).

If you are cooking these quickly, you can just stack them on top of each other cover with a clean dish cloth and they will stay warm.  You can also wrap them in a damp paper towel and then wrap them in foil and keep them in a warm oven (170) until ready to use.

*I always use a little flour when I am rolling the tortillas out and have never noticed that they seem more tough because I do.

* To cook the tortillas, I use my electric skillet that I use for french toast because I can cook a few tortillas at the same time.

*Any extra cooked tortillas I have, I freeze and just pop them out of the freezer whenever I need them.

This recipe comes from ourbestbites.com

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

My neighbor gave me a bunch of tomatillos from her garden and they made their appearance at our dinner table in the form of salsa.  It was fresh and delicious! 

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

1 pound tomatillos (4-5 tomatillos), husks removed and washed

1 jalapeno pepper

1 Serrano pepper

4 unpeeled garlic cloves

1/4 cup diced white onion

1/3 cup cilantro

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place tomatillos, peppers and unpeeled garlic cloves on a rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle olive oil over tomatillos, peppers and garlic, lightly toss to coat.  Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes until peppers are slightly charred on all sides.  Remove pan from oven and place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, let the peppers steam for 15 minutes.  Peel and stem the peppers.  If you want the salsa hot, leave the seeds.  If you want it milder, seed the pepper.

Add the tomatillos, peppers, garlic and remaining ingredients to the bowl of food processor.  Pulse the food processor until the salsa comes together. 

*Play around with this recipe (I did).  If you want more lime flavor, add more lime juice.  Not a big onion fan, add less onion.  This is definitely a recipe you can play with!

Taco Pizza

Taco Pizza

1 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup olive oil

1 can (14 ounce) black beans

1 teaspoon taco seasoning (prepared, or make your own)

salt to taste

4 whole corn tortillas, sliced into thin strips

1/2 cup canola oil, for frying

1 cup grated sharp cheddar

1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese

1 head romaine lettuce, sliced/shredded thin

2 whole ripe tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

1/4 cup sour cream

3 tablespoon hot sauce

Make the pizza dough: Mix yeast with warm water and set aside for 8 to 10 minutes.  Mix flour, salt, and olive oil in a mixing bowl.  With speed on low, drizzle in yeast/water mixture.  Allow to mix until combined.  Cover bowl with a towel and set bowl in a warm, draft-free place.  Allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours.

Pour black beans into a saucepan.  Add taco seasoning and salt to taste and heat up beans over medium-low heat.  Use a potato masher to mash the beans to desired texture.  Continue cooking/heating beans, stirring occasionally, until no longer runny (should be the texture of refried beans.  Set aside.

In a small skillet, heat canola oil over medium heat.  When hot enough to fry, drop in the tortilla strips in batches, frying quickly and removing from oil with a fork when crisp-about 30-45 seconds per batch.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and lightly salt.  Set aside.

Mix together sour cream and hot sauce, adding enough hot sauce to make the mixture pourable.  Set aside.

Place oven rack in the bottom position in the oven.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Remove half the pizza dough from the bowl.  Place remaining half in a large plastic bag and refrigerate, saving for another use.  With hands, spread pizza dough on an oiled baking sheet, making sure it's relatively thin.  Spread a layer of beans all over the pizza crust.  Sprinkle grated cheeses over the top.  Place pan in the oven (in the bottom half of the oven) and bake for 9-12 minutes or until crust is golden.

Remove pizza from oven.  Sprinkle with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and cilantro leaves.  With a spoon (or you can use a pastry bag) drizzle sour cream/hot sauce mixture over finished pizza.  Sprinkle with tortilla strips.  Cut into squares and serve immediately with good quality salsa. 

*I think this pizza would be delicious with sliced avocados or guacamole, but my avocado could have been used in place of a baseball (it was that hard).

Adapted slightly from Pioneer Women Cooks

Peach Shortbread

It's glorious peach season and although I don't think there is a better way to eat a perfectly ripe peach than straight off the tree, thin slices of peaches sandwiched between a buttery shortbread and a crumble is definitely not a bad thing.

Peach Shortbread

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter

1 large egg

2 peaches, pitted and thinly sliced (between 1/8 and 1/4-inch thick)

Brown your butter: Melt butter in a small/medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty.  Stir frequently, scraping up any bits form the bottom as you do.  Keep your eyes on it; it burns very quickly after it browns.  Set it in the freezer until solid (about 30 minutes). 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Butter a 9x13 pan, or spray it with a nonstick spray.  In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and spices with a whisk.  Use a pastry blender, fork or your fingertips, blend the solidified brown butter and egg into the flour mixture.  It will be crumbly.  Pat 3/4 of the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing firmly.  Tile peach slices over crumb base in a single layer.  Scatter remaining crumbs evenly over peaches and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until top is slightly brown and you can see a little color around the edges.  Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares. 

*The recipe says to cut the peaches 1/8-1/4-inch thick.  Next time, I would cut the peaches thicker so that I could taste the peach a bit more.

Adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

I love butter, I really do!  In the past few weeks, I have used an alarming amount of butter and this crazy butter consumption has been brought on by my new obsession, browned butter.  This obsession has caused me to consume browned butter rice krispie treats, browned butter brownies, browned butter sauce with sage, and browned butter ice cream.  To be honest, it is getting a little out of control, but wait until you smell butter that has been melted and starts to brown, it smells nutty and delicious.  It is mouthwatering.  These muffins have taken their place in this browned butter craze of mine and although I have already posted a blueberry muffin recipe, I think this is my new favorite.  My only suggestion is to eat them while warm with you guessed it, butter!

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

7 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1 /2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Topping

3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan.  The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that.  Keep a close eye.  Remove from heat.

Whisk milk, egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.  Add the brown butter and stir to combine.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Add milk and butter mixture all at once and stir gently to combine.  Gently but thoroughly fold in blueberries.

Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

To make the topping combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then remove from the pan.  Serve warm.

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Ratatouille

When I was pregnant with Stella, I started a bad habit.  Because I was so sick, when lunch time rolled around, I would spread a blanket out on the floor in front of the TV and Preston would eat lunch on the blanket while watching part of a movie.  It was our pretend "picnic".  Well, this tradition is still going strong even though I am not pregnant.  The only change is that now it is with Stella (Noah and Preston still join in on Saturdays).  Every day for lunch we set out a blanket and eat our lunch on the floor while watching part of a movie.  The movie that is now showing is Disney's Ratatouille and is also the current inspiration for wanting to try the recipe, Ratatouille's Ratatouille from Smitten Kitchen.

Ratatouille's Ratatouille

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced

1 cup tomato puree

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 small eggplant

1 smallish zucchini

1 smallish yellow squash

1 longish red bell pepper

Few sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way.  Drop the slice garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash.  As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables.  You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper.  Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem.  Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside.

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp.  They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve soft goat cheese on top.

*I served the ratatouille on pan-fried polenta and goat cheese on top (for Todd, not for me, I don't love goat cheese, so sad) with crusty French bread to soak up the tomato sauce in the bottom of the pan.

*The picture was taken before it was cooked.

This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen