Pizza Style Monkey Bread

Origin: Italy...kind of
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes

It seems that we have about 1,000 for some sort of pizza-related food item. We are college kids, so usually they look pretty appealing to us. This is a recipe for a fun twist on this Italian classic!

We started by making the dough with the following ingredients:
1 packet of active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 and 1/2 cup water
2 cups baking flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp salt

We let the dough rise for about an hour, I think that next time we will give it a little bit more time because it was still a bit tough, but we were hungry so we didn't wait!

 We then rolled the ball into monkey bread size pieces, dipped it in flour first and then butter, followed by a mixture of mozzarella cheese, shallots, garlic, parsley, and Wee Willy's seasoning.

Bake in a muffin pan or a mini-bundt pan.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes

Yum!

We also made our own marinara sauce using whole canned tomatoes, red wine, olive oil, basil, and garlic-

Vegetable Lo Mein with Peanut Sauce

Lisa had some Trader Joe's peanut sauce to use up, so we decided to add to our Asian theme night with a simple veggie and peanut lo mein. Flavorful, healthy, and filling.... What more could we want?

We simply sauteed the veggies with a wok and added the peanut sauce and some red chili sauce to spice things up. The veggies we used are as follows:

Pea Pods
Green Beans
Water Chesnuts
Mushrooms
Green Onions
Red Pepper
Carrots
Broccoli

We boiled the lo mein noodles, added the sauteed veggies and voila!

Chicken and Cashew Cakes

 Origin: Asian
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes

This is another recipe that caught our eye from the Philadelphia cookbook. Here are the ingredients:

1 red onion, finely chopped
1 lb. ground chicken breast
1/3 cup cilantro
4 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup cashews, finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped (the grocery store was sold out of basil, so we skipped it)
zest of 1 lemon
flour for coating

Combine the ingredients listed above in large mixing bowl until well incorporated. Roll into balls and flatten slightly. Dip in flour to coat the entire outside.

Cook cakes in batches. Use a large skillet coated with oil over medium high heat. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown on both sides and internal temperature is at least 165 degrees. Drain on paper towels.

We also made a sweet/spicy vinaigrette to go along with them. We used:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. sweet chili sauce
2 tsp. fish sauce (we used oyster sauce because we had it in the fridge)
1 serrano chili, diced finely
2 tbsp cashews, finely chopped

Mix ingredients in sauce pan. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and sauce is slightly thickened, stirring frequently.

This is how they turned out!

If I were to make these again, I would cut back on the onion a little bit, because the flavor was really overwhelming. Also, the cilantro added a very strong taste, so if you don't care for cilantro you should probably cut it out of the recipe altogether. The sweet and spicy sauce turned out really well, and could be used to top a variety of different Asian dishes.

Deep Fried Pickles

Origin: Southern USA
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5-7 minutes

This is a little snack that Sarah has been wanting to make for a while. Yes you heard right, deep fried pickles. Many of us Minnesotans had never heard of this treat until we ran across the deep fried pickle stand at the "great Minnesota get together" but this has been a southern favorite for many generations.

We decided to try this Food Network recipe last week. The main ingredients in the breading are corn meal, flour, and spices. Basically you just dip the pickles in an egg wash before you batter and deep fry them. We liked the recipe, but if we were to make them again we would probably try more of a batter than a breading like they make at the fair.

This is how they turned out:

They can be served with seasoned sour cream, ranch, or cream cheese....Or just eat them plain! Don't knock it 'til you try it!




Oh, and stay tuned for some Asian cuisine we're planning to make this week! We're excited!

Tapas Night Part Three: Ham and Egg Empanadas

The last but not least item of the night was called "Valencian Empanadas" which included ham, cheese, hard boiled egg, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. We used crescent roll dough for the outside. As much as I wish we could have made homemade dough, we faced a few time and resource constraints which forced us to go with the store bought kind. Maybe someday?

Before they were folded and put in the oven

After!

As much as we were trying to stay authentic, we ended up dipping these little babies in sour cream and salsa. Sometimes you just have to stick to your American roots when you know it's going to taste good, right?

You may be wondering, "How can you make tapas without using any SEAFOOD?!" Trust me, as much as I wanted to use seafood we have to keep in mind that we live in western Wisconsin, the dead center of the continental USA. Quality of seafood isn't exactly the greatest, especially during the winter. We also weren't allowed to do seafood dishes for the simple fact that I am also allergic to shellfish. No food is worth a trip to the hospital....actually maybe it is, but I wasn't going to chance it.

Among these three dishes, we also enjoyed some homemade sangria and stuffed peppers, prepared in traditional Spanish style. Unfortunately we didn't snap any pictures of these items :( It was pretty chaotic in the kitchen this day!

Thank you to our good friend Alisha for letting us use her kitchen for the night as ours was occupied!

Oh I almost forgot the link for the recipe! Here it is!

Tapas Night Part Two: Spanish Omlette (Tortilla)

Origin: Spain
Prep Time: 15 minutes per omlette
Cook Time: 10 minutes

When I was studying in Sweden, I had the opportunity to share a kitchen with a few Spanish amigos, and this is an item I watched them prepare many times. A Spanish omlette is very similar to our familiar American ones, except they add sliced potatoes to the mix. You just simply cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes or until tender, then add your egg mixture. They also call this dish a "tortilla" which as you can see, is extremely different from the Mexican version of a tortilla...

The link for the recipe can be found here!

Casey helped me flip the omlette like a pro

Just to add an American twist, many of us ate this with ketchup....very non-traditional

Some of our friends being VERY helpful in the kitchen. (AKA drinking sangria and laughing...)

Tapas Night Part One: Stuffed Mushrooms

Origin: España
Prep Time: 20 minutes (depending on how good you are at chopping veggies)
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Our good friend Izzy came to town from California last month so we decided to invite a few girlfriends (and two guy friends) over to make tapas. "Tapas" is a term used for a wide variety of appetizers commonly served in Spain. We had never tried Spanish inspired cooking before, so we thought we would give it a shot. (Might I remind you ladies and gentlemen, Spanish cooking is NOTHING like Mexican cooking).

The first recipe we got started on was wholeliving.com's recipe for stuffed mushrooms, these were my personal favorite of the evening! The link to the recipe can be found here!

The best part about these is that the mushroom filling can be made a day ahead of time. If you're planning a party and want as little prep work as possible, this is something that can quickly just be popped into the oven a few minutes in advance.

The main ingredients include: scallions, bread crumbs, goat cheese, red bell pepper, cilantro, parmesean, and salt & pepper to taste.