Posh Super Bowl Poppers

Though Michael and I will never turn down a good old fashion dog in a bun with some ketchup, we want to elevate one of our fave finger food snacks. There are a few things in life that scream Super Bowl, nachos, chili, beer, hot dogs….and jalapeno poppers. To make the popper posh, we have stuffed the jalapeno with goat cheese and portabello mushrooms, and wrapped it in serrano ham. Maybe we can toss the beer aside and have some bubbly instead!!!

Happy Super Bowl!!!

Ingredients: makes 5

5 large jalapenos

1 oz goat cheese

1 large portabello mushroom

5 slices serrano ham

1 teaspoon olive oil

Toothpicks



Start by preheating oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the jalapenos by cutting the stem off, and slicing one side pen all the way to the tip. Using a spoon scrape out all the seeds and everything inside. Set aside.

Pull stem off of mushroom, and using a spoon scrape the gills off the bottom, and then clean with water, then dice into small pieces. Heat the oil in a small sauté pan, and sweat the mushroom until they are cooked.

In a small mixing bowl, mix together goat cheese and mushroom. Stuff the jalapenos so that they are completely filled with the cheese/ mushroom mix. Don’t overstuff though, because it will seep out in the oven.

Next to wrap the jalapenos take one serrano slice, and pull in half. Take one piece of serrano and wrap it from end to end, then the other piece around the body. Secure with a tooth pick.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Tada!!! We hope your team wins!

 

Euro Burger

The thing that is most associated with summer would have to be grilling. I love grilling….when it is done well. There is so much stuff that gets grilled that just tastes like charcoal, is extremely burned to make sure it cooks all the way through, and is too dry (for the same reason)! How terrible!! To prevent all of this, start everything off with a deep cleaned grill, watch your temperatures, and make sure you use the proper meats or whatever it is that you are using! And don’t be afraid to grill something, to get that char, and then cook the rest in foil so it reaches that great internal temperature without losing all its moisture and doesn’t taste like icky. That being said…you can always use a grill pan!! 

To combat all of these issues we present you with a delicious burger, bound to stay moist and super awesome. What this burger also does is a new fancier twist on a simple burger. We have all had a burger with ketchup and mustard, and while they are amazing classics that must be devoured throughout the summer, offer these burgers up and you will give your guests a nice juicy surprise.

Michael and I have created what we call the Euro burger. It has goat cheese in the middle, allowing the burger to stay moist, beautiful caramelized onions, and an herbed mayo! Yum!

Ingredients:  serves 5 Takes  about 1 hour 15 minutes.

2 lbs ground sirloin
¼ cup goat cheese
2 large sweet onions
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ½ cups olive oil Tablespoons olive oil
2 Pinches salt
1 large egg
3 Roma tomatoes
4 teaspoons white wine vinegar
3 sprigs oregano
5 onion buns

The thing that will take the longest is to caramelize onions. Slice both of the onions completely. Using a large sauté pan, heat some butter on medium heat, and toss s all of the onion in the melted butter. Stir occasionally for the first 10 minutes, then add a pinch of salt. Keep cooking and stirring every few minutes for about a total of 45 minutes or until the onions are completely browned and soft. Don’t allow the onions to dry out at all, so 1/4 cup of olive oil will be used to add throughout while cooking them.

While making the onions we are going to make the herbed mayo. Add the egg and the fresh oregano to a blender and blend. While blending add the olive oil in a steady stream, next add a pinch of salt and the vinegar, blend completely. Set in the refrigerator to set.

Now take your ground sirloin and season with a little salt and pepper, forming 5 patties. Make a little pocket in the middle of the burger and fill with goat cheese, then cover the burger up so there is no cheese showing.

To put everything together heat your grill pan and add a little cooking spray so nothing sticks. Heat on medium high, and place three burgers at a time, and cook on each side about 4-5 minutes, until there is a nice deep brown sear. Once you cook all the burgers, let sit for a few minutes so they don’t soak the bun. Dab up some of the fat from the grill pan with a paper towel but be CAREFUL you don’t burn yourself.

Place buns on the grill pan just a couple minutes to toast it. Lay burger down, herbed mayonnaise, then caramelized onions, then top with two slices or Roma tomatoes…and voila! A euro burger!

Oscar Party Pizzette, Stuffed Mushroom, and Blood Orange Mimosa!

Oscar season is upon us. We have received all of the screeners in the mail, and have our personal favorites. It is a fun time of year, when you can cuddle up with your loved one and watch a good movie. This year to celebrate the Oscars we are going over to our very good friends’ Jackson and Yasmine to eat some wonderful food, drink some dranks, and watch some glorious fashion and award giving. Mikey and I were thinking what do we enjoy the most with movie watching, and we thought pizza! So we have made you a really simply pizza crostini, or a pizzette you could say. Though the first thing to our mind isn’t stuffed mushrooms, to Hell with that, it should be! So we have also made a fabulous tarragon goat cheesed stuffed mushrooms.

Predict those awards, critique the fashion, and stuff your face with pizza on the couch!! Not to mention the wonderful blood orange champagne cocktail.

*Chiffonade= cutting herbs or greens in to long thin strips by either layering or rolling up the greens.

Ingredients: serves 12-15

Pizzette:
1 Baguette
½ cup tomato puree
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 pinch garlic salt
2 balls buffalo mozzarella
5 basil leaves

Stuffed Mushrooms:
15 cremini mushrooms
¼ cup goat cheese
2 sprigs tarragon
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Blood Orange Mimosa:
Champagne
Blood orange

Maybe you should make this cocktail while you prepare the food, because it is very refreshing and a simple twist on a mimosa. Simply squeeze the juice of a blood orange into a glass and top off with champagne, and then garnish with a blood orange slice. So sleek!

The first thing you should do is prep all of your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the baguette on a diagonal slice so the bread is about a ¼” thick, set aside. Next slice all the mozzarella about the same thickness, set aside. Next roll up your basil leaves tightly, and using a sharp knife chiffonade all the basil, set aside.

To make the sauce simply mix the past, puree, and garlic salt together.

Now we assemble the pizzettes. Cover the bread in the tomato sauce, then lay down some mozzarella, and top it off with basil. Lay the pizzettes out on a baking sheet leaving room for the mushrooms.

In order to make the mushrooms, pull the stems out, and if need be use a paring knife to cut the rest of the stem out. Put the mushrooms in a bowl, and coat them with the olive oil. Chop up the tarragon and in a separate small bowl mix together the tarragon and goat cheese. Fill the mushrooms with the cheese mix until overflowing a bit. Place on the baking sheet.

Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, pull out and remove the pizzettes, and then put the baking sheet back in the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.

Now enjoy your delicious Oscar food! Hurray!

Fall Pomegranate Candied Walnut Goat Cheese Salad!

Pomegranates have been mentioned in many ancient texts and have been prominent in symbology throughout the ages. In Green mythology it was known as the fruit of the dead, while in other culture it symbolizes fertility and good luck. None the less, the pomegranate is a gorgeous fruit inside and out. Michael and I love to use the seeds for their beautiful pop of color and tart flavors that are gorgeous this time of year. Here we use it in an earthy and simple salad, using goat cheese and candied walnuts, which is sure to please the taste and eyes of whomever you make it for.

*You can buy candied walnuts, but why would you when we give you our delish recipe here.

Ingredients: serves 4

Candied Walnuts:
½ cup water
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup halved walnuts

Vinaigrette:
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
2 Tlb. olive oil
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

Salad:
2 Heads bib or butter head lettuce (preferably living)
½ cup crumbled goat cheese

 

First we want you to make the candied walnuts,  so get ready your ingredients, including a sheet tray with some wax paper over in order to cool the walnuts….we made a bunch so we had a snack for later! Pour water and sugar in to a sauce pan and heat on a medium/ medium-high heat until the sugar completely melts and starts to cook. We want you to cook it for about 20 minutes until the sugar starts to turn to a deep amber brown, this is when you put your walnuts in the sugar, stir with a wooden spoon until they are coated, then remove and place on the wax paper and use two forks, make sure the walnuts do not stick to each other. We use water, because the water evaporates and helps prevent the sugar to rapidly cook and burn.

Now to extract the pomegranate seeds from the pomegranate, by filling a bowl with water, and submerging them while opening them and removing the seeds. This way all of the seeds fall in to the water, and you are able to wash off the hard interior of the fruit and remove the seed easily.

Next take the leaves off of your lettuce, we prefer living lettuce because it lasts longer and seems to taste better, and clean and lay out on a plate. Sprinkle with about ½ a cup of crumbled goat cheese, and ½ a cup of pomegranate seeds, and a handful of walnuts. Finally, mix all of your vinaigrette ingredients together well, and using a large spoon, drizzle the dressing.

Voila!! The colors are beautiful, the taste is superb, and you have left over candied walnuts as a treat!