Brie En Croute

 This is probably my favorite appetizer. I could probably eat the whole thing, if I would allow myself the luxury.  But I was a good girl and only had two little slices. It tastes like you worked all day, and it probably only takes about 10 minutes to prepare this dish once the puff-pastry has defrosted.  Recipe from Paula Deen of Foodnetwork


Printable Version:
https://sites.google.com/site/whatscookingattheedwards/appetizer--brie-e-croute
Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen Pepperidge Farm puff pastry
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup walnuts
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (8oz) wheel of Brie cheese
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
Crackers for serving
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Defrost puff pastry for approximately 15-20 minutes and unfold.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the walnuts in the butter until golden brown, approximately 5 minutes.  Add the cinnamon and stir until walnuts are coated well. Place the brie in the middle of the puff-pastry. Place the walnut mixture on top of the brie and sprinkle the brown sugar over the mixture. Gather up the edges of the brie, pressing around the brie and gather at the top. Gently squeeze together the excess dough and tie together with a piece of kitchen twine. Brush the beaten egg over top and side of puff-pastry. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes until pastry is golden brown. Serve with crackers.

Savory Palmiers

I made several appetizers and the lemon tea cakes for Jud's book celebration at the Flynn's.  These were a hit, and if you try them, you will know why.  I probably should have made more, but we really didn't have a clue how many would come. Hope you will try these.


Printable Version:
https://sites.google.com/site/whatscookingattheedwards/savory-palmiers

Ingredients:
1 package frozen PepperidgeFarm puff pastry sheets, defrosted
1/4 cup prepared pesto, store bought or homemade (recipe follows)
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes in oil, drained
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
kosher salt

Directions:
Lightly flour a board and carefully unfold one sheet of puff pastry. Roll the pastry lightly with a rolling pin until it's 9 1/2" X 11 1/2" Spread the sheet of puff-pastry with 1/2 the pesto, then sprinkle with 1/2 the goat cheese, 1/2 the sundried tomatoes, and 1/2 the pine nuts. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Working from the short end, fold each end 1/2way to the center. Then fold each side again towards the center until the folded edges almost touch. Fold one side over the other and press lightly. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat the entire instructions for the second sheet of puff pastry using the remaining ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 45 minutes.  I chilled it overnight so I could do as much ahead of the party as possible.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the prepared rolls of puff pastry in 1/4 " thick slices and place them face up 2 inches apart on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 14 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

Homemade Pesto:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Place the walnuts, pine nuts, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer. A fine film of olive oil will be on top.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

My daughter-in-law, Juanita made these for a family party and we all enjoyed it so much that I knew I wanted to make it for Jud's book celebration party.  It turned out good, but I think her's was better.






Ingredients:
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese
1 jar blue cheese dressing (in cold section of produce department)
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 jar Franks hot wing sauce (with barbeque sauce in grocery store)
4 cooked chicken breasts
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
In a 9" X 13" pan layer the following
1. Cream cheese cut in chunks
2. Cooked chicken mixed with the hot wing sauce.  I place my chicken breasts on a cookie sheet and baked it at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until done.
3. Chopped celery
4. Blue cheese dressing
5. grated cheddar on top
Bake at 350 degrees covered with alluminum foil for 20 minutes
Uncover and bake 20 additional minutes.
Let rest for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Wings

These chicken wings were awesome. I cooked them longer than Ina indicates in the recipe. The recipe is from Barefoot Contessa - Family Style cookbook.  Jud made some jalapena poppers from our mamoth jalapena's in the back yard.  That is about the only thing in our garden that is growing well.  The recipe will follow. It is Rachel Ray's recipe.


Printable Recipe:
https://sites.google.com/site/whatscookingattheedwards/buffalo-chicken-wings

Ingredients for the Wings:
16 chicken wings (about 3 pounds)
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 teaspoons Frank's Hot sauce, or 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
Ingredients for the Dip:
1 1/2 cups crumbled gorgonzola or other blue cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons milk (I used buttermilk)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Celery sticks, for serving
1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Cut the chicken wings in thirds, cutting between the bones.  I just bought drumettes. Discard the wing tips.
3. Melt the butter and add the cayenne, hot sauce, and salt. Put the wings on a sheet pan with alumminum foil or parchment, or silicone pad, for easy clean-up. Brush the wings with the melted butter. Broil them about 3 inches below the heat for 8 minutes. Turn the wings, brush them again with the butter, and broil for 4 more minutes, or until cooked.  Jud cooked the jalapena poppers for 15 minutes on 450 degrees so I cooked the wings while the poppers were cooking.
4. For the dip, place the blue cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, worcestershire, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until almost smooth.
5. Serve the chicken wings hot or at room temperature with the blue cheese dip and celery sticks.

Ingredients for Jalapena Poppers - Rachel Ray
12 jalapeno peppers
2 ounces feta cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces smoked pepper jack or extra sharp smoked cheddar
small handful of chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons grated onion
Bake 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  Let sit to cool for about 5 minutes.
We only cut two large jalapena peppers in half, scopped out the seeds and them filled them with the above mixture that had been mixed to a cream mixture.  Jud put exual amounts of cream cheese and cheddar and them 1/2 that amount of feta cheese. Then he added a little cilantro and a little grated onion.  It is not rocket science.  Just make as much as you think you will need to fill the peppers that you have.  We didn't have the smoked cheese so Jud added about 3 drops of liquid smoke.  It gave it a nice smoked flavor that we really liked.