Tuesday Recipe: Roasted Jalapeno Poppers

(Before Roasting)

The church where we attend teamed up with Second Harvest Foods to host a Mobile Food Pantry for those who are needing just a little help during a financially difficult time. It was a great day where almost 70 families received the equivalent of about $200 worth of groceries...for FREE! God is so good! Not only did I get a good body workout lifting boxes, my soul got a workout, too.

Because our site had more jalapeños than we could distribute, I was blessed to take home a sack! I'm not into deep fried food and found this quick and easy recipe online to mess around with!

Roasted Jalapeño Poppers

6-8 large Jalapeño Peppers
8 oz block Fat Free Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Sharp Cheddar or the Monterey Jack & Colby Fiesta Blend, grated
Fresh Cilantro, rough chopped with stems
S&P

(A portion of the heat is in the membrane and seeds)

• Slice jalapeños in half. Stem is optional. Careful not to rub your eyes during this process! EEK! 
• Remove seeds and membrane of peppers. Set prepared peppers aside.
• In bowl, mix up the softened cream cheese, grated cheese, cilantro and salt & pepper and fill the cavities of the jalapeños.
• Place on a lined cookie sheet. (I lined mine with my Silpat, but parchment or foil will work to keep you from scraping any burned cheese, later.)
• Bake at 450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes OR until the cheese is bubbly and the peppers are slightly softened.
• Let cool enough to handle and pop into your mouth!

This recipe serves as a great base to begin playing with the ingredients. You may want to add chopped bacon or onions and garlic to the cheese mixture or wrap the popper with bacon before roasting. Have fun and go Play with Your Food!

2-on-Tuesday: Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese

-photo courtesy of Eating Rules-

From the fall and through the holidays, I enjoyed enough Creamy Candied Jalapeño Spread to clog my arteries really tight. 

Wouldn't you know it! I received a post from a foodie blog I follow, Eating Rules, for a creamy, no animal protein, version of cream cheese. I was skeptical, but my attention was nabbed. I gave it a try and liked it!

Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese
by Sabrina Modelle of The Tomato Tart

2 cups (16 oz) Raw Cashews (This is different from the typical roasted & salted ones you snack on)
4 cups filtered Water + 1/2 cup more for blending
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Nooch (Nutritional Yeast)
1 teaspoon fine grain Sea Salt

• Soak raw cashews from four hours to overnight in filtered water
• Drain all water and blend with 1/2 cup filtered water, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, nooch and half of the salt until smooth. This will take at least 10 minutes in a food processor. Process until you have the consistency you prefer.
• You may need to add more water if your "cream cheese" is a bit too thick - for example, if it looks more like cashew butter than cream cheese. Be careful not to add too much.
• Taste-test for more salt, if needed, and blend to finish. You can add more, but you cannot take away.

Notes:

1. Remember the wangy flavor of dairy cream cheese? That's what you're going for. I was out of regular vinegar, but used Apple Cider Vinegar, instead. It took more to get the wang.
2. Filtered water? I used the water filtered through my Brita, because I live in a 100+ year old house with old pipes. But, filtered water isn't a must.
3. Once processed, I let it set-up overnight.

This is good! I enjoyed the nuttyness which still came through, probably due to me using a different vinegar. Those allergic to tree nuts would def need a warning label! I plan to use it in various cooking recipes in the future to see if it plays well with other foods. 

2-on-Tuesday: White Chocolate - Candy Cane Truffles

Why, YES, I do want to dazzle guests with my culinary skills! Even if you do notknow how to turn the oven on, you'll look amazing presenting these on the dessert table or as gifts!

I picked up the recipe on Pinterest from YourCupofCake.com and assembled the ingredients. Used my stand mixer for the truffle fudge and just left it in the same bowl. Sealed the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and left overnight in the fridge until I was ready.

I used my indispensable Christmas Kitchen Tool #25 (aka my hammer) to crush the candy canes inside a freezer zippered baggie!

When I was ready, I scooped the truffle fudge out, rolled into cute little one to two inch-ish balls and quickly rolled in the crushed candy canes. To top it all off, the dazzling little truffle went into mini holiday paper cupcake liners.

Really, there's nothing to it! Here's the recipe...

White Chocolate - Candy Cane Truffles

4 oz.         Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup        Powdered Sugar

1  1/4 cup White Chocolate Chips, melted (Hershey's Premiere White)

1/2 tsp      Peppermint Extract

1/3 cup     Candy Canes, crushed

• Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.
• Melt white chocolate chips in the microwave, just until the chips begin to melt and give them a good stir to complete the melting. You do not want to scorch the chips!
• Add melted chips and peppermint extract to cream cheese mixture beating until smooth and creamy!
• Cover and refrigerate. (As soon as it is cooled and set, you could start a'rollin, but I waited until I had the time the next day!)
• Use a mini ice cream scoop for ease and consistency for your truffles. Then, roll it in between your hands into a smooth ball. 
• Roll around in a bowl of crushed candy canes!

Tips:

**After I made a batch, I stuck 'em back in the fridge until serving time. 

**The website suggests: Roll in candy canes the day you plan to serve them. Or else the candy layer will get sticky from absorbing the moisture in the chocolate.

OK! Go be dazzling!

2-on-Tuesday: Candied Jalapeno Spread

WARNING: This is a slightly addictive and delicious detour from my mostly-plant-based nutrition. But, hey, it's football season!

This time last year, I was all about celebrating Saturdays with football fare which included meat! Ten months down the field of greens and veggies and seitan (sounds like "say-tan" not satan) AND down almost 100 points on my cholesterol, I find myself missing some of my old standards during this season. I'm determined to stay the course of my lifestyle change pursuing fitness and adhering to a mostly-plant-based nutrition with a spread from my favorite foodie gift store in Tennessee: Simonton's Cheese & Gourmet House!

Candied Jalapeno Spread

1 jar Candied Jalapenos (I used about 2/3 cup)
1 block Cream Cheese, softened

• Into my food processor, I spooned Simonton's Candied Jalapenos and the softened block of cream cheese and pulsed to chop and blend the two ingredients.
• Quick taste-check to see if more jalapenos were needed.
• Used a rubber spatula to get every creamy schmear of sweet-heat into another container and pop into the fridge to chill until ready to serve on crackers!
• Could not wait.
• Spread some on a couple of those crackers and smiled!

Jim & Sheila will be glad to send you some a jar and their award winning cheddar, too! Whenever my hubby and I can scoot down the interstate to Crossville, we drive southward on Highway 127 into the Historic Homesteads for several blocks of red rind and black rind cheeses, help ourselves to the samples and Sheila knows to include a square of Country Fresh Chocolate Cheesecake Fudge for the road!

2-on-Tuesday: Arkansas Blackberry Cake

Dane, my only child, and Emily were married September 14, 2013! Beautiful bride, handsome groom and the outdoor setting could not have been more picturesque as the sun set behind a wooded area at Camp Jackson north of Nashville! The soft light slowly settled on the wedding arbor designed by Emily and constructed by her daddy (Tyler) and brother (Bobby). It was simply the sweetest wedding... YES--my biased opinion! Jan assisted her daughter transforming the "Gymernacle-Tabernasium" into a delightfully unrecognizable venue for the reception whisking my thoughts away to what celebrations surely resembled in a mountain cove of yesteryear. <sigh and smile>

BUT, as the MOG (Mother of the Groom) it was the responsibility of my hubby and I to

host the wedding rehearsal dinner the night before! Family from out-of-state helped to decorate and prep food! Some former member of the Camp Crunk Crew finished the decor, assisted in cooking and serving the wedding party! It was a wonderfully relaxing evening with family and friends to some great classic music...and a s'mores pit I found on Pinterest! 

My sweet and vivacious momma, Mary Alice, prepared one of the yummiest, moistest, purplest 3-layers of deliciousness EVER to be sliced and savored --Arkansas Blackberry Cake! 

ARKANSAS BLACKBERRY CAKE

1 (18.5 oz box) White Cake Mix w/ Pudding

1 small pkg   Raspberry Flavored Gelatin

1 C      Oil

½ C     Milk

4 Eggs

1 C      Blackberries, fresh

1 C      Flaked Coconut

1 C      Pecans, chopped

• In large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, gelatin, oil and milk. Mix until well blended.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg.
• Fold or mix-in berries depending upon size, coconut and pecans. Mix well.
• Pour into 3 well greased round cake pans or 1 bundt pan.
• Bake 50 minutes @ 350 degrees or until done. (Check oven. This cake will burn easily if baked at too hot a temp.)



-The purple cake is center of the pic-

• Cool 10 minutes on wire racks.

Frosting:

1 pkg  Cream Cheese, softened

1 lb.    Powdered Sugar

4-5 T   Milk, as needed

½ C     Blackberries, fresh

½ C     Flaked Coconut

½ C     Pecans, chopped

• Cream the softened cream cheese in mixing bowl. Add sugar. Add milk, as needed. Beat until desired consistency.
• Carefully stir in berries, coconut and pecans.
• Frost tops of 2 layers. Stack on cake plate, leaving one plain layer on top. Then, frost top and sides.
• This cake freezes well.

When my son was a baby, I prayed for the purity and protection of the little girl who would one day be his wife. I'm so happy Dane & Emily are married. Terry and I, now, have a daughter...to spoil!

2-on-Tuesday: Tomato Crostini (inspired by Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa)

Oh. My. Goodness! Amazingly good & simple!

My son gave me Ina Garten's newest cookbook for Christmas! He knows me pretty well. It was my utmost pleasure when he wanted to cook one of the recipes for his fiance while I --not permitted to touch a thing-- coached him through it! Chicken with Wild Mushrooms never smelled so good prepared with love and you're not allowed to eat any!

Now, later in the year, as the bounty of summer's harvest piles in, I'm poring over Barefoot Contessa Foolproof Recipes You Can Trust to find a perfect vehicle for the varied colors, types and tastes of tomatoes. I used little yellow toms, red Romas and Kumato Brown Toms with fresh Basil! Of course, I just gotta play with my food, so I edited ever so slightly.

Tomato Crostini ... slightly modified

8 oz  Fat Free Cream Cheese (softened)
6 oz  Goat Cheese (softened)
2/3 cup  Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tablespoons  Balsamic Vinegar
Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons+  Simply Greek Greek Salad Spice (but one could use minced garlic and onions)
2 tablespoons  Red Wine Vinegar
2-3 lbs ripe heirloom, cherry or Roma tomatoes 1/2" chunks
3 tablespoons julienned  fresh Basil Leaves (reserve some for garnish)
Baguette sliced diagonally into 1/2"-3/4" slices, slightly toasted
opt: toasted pine nuts

• A food processor makes it easier to pulse the softened cheeses, 1/3 cup of olive oil, Balsamic Vinegar, S&P into a smooth cream; however, the same may be accomplished a little slower with a fork or whisk.
• Up to an hour before serving, whisk together the Greek spice (or minced garlic and onions) with remaining olive oil, vinegar and some S&P. Add tomatoes and basil, stirring gently and set aside for 10+ minutes. Sample a bite to see if you need to add a little more S&P.
• To assemble the crostini, spread each toast with a generous amount of cheese mixture. With a slotted spoon, place colorful tomatoes on top, gently pressing them into the cheese so they don't fall off. Sprinkle with extra basil and serve.

I served the crostini alongside a version of Ina's French Flageolet Beans (page 192) in which I added a fistful of kale to bump up nutrient content when I converted it to fit my plant-based nutrition.

So, why do I play with my food and edit a great recipe? One reason is due to my choice to eat mostly-plant-based because of high LDL cholesterol and have seen a significant decrease.  The other reason is that I use what I have in my pantry. If it's fairly comparable, the flavor will be similar. And, it's a frugal way to manage your cupboard budget as a good kitchen steward! I'd like to think Ina would approve. ;)