Pizza Braid and Caribbean Cole Slaw

Prep time: 15 minutes

Total time: 35 minutes

Origin: Italy (sort of) and the Caribbean

This week we wanted a pretty simple yet delicious thing to make for our "girls night in". Sarah had a great idea for a fun spin on homemade pizza that's super easy to make. You can use a variety of fillings for this braid. Some recipes suggest broccoli and cheese, ham/turkey and cheese, or veggies and cheese. (By this point, you should probably realize that we include cheese in everything we make. You can't blame us, we live in Wisconsin!) We decided to fill the braid with our favorite pizza toppings!

Typical ingredient shot: banana peppers, pineapple, pizza sauce, mozarella, crescent rolls, and wine for drinking.

 Sarah rolled out two cans of crescent rolls onto a greased baking sheet (on on top of the other) for the dough base.

 She then cut 2-3 inch slits on either side of the dough

 We brushed a mixture of olive oil and herbs on the bottom, then topped it just like a pizza.

 Sarah then twisted the opposite sides of dough together, making it look like a braid. After she braided it, she baked it at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until the crust was golden brown.

 Here's the final product!

For a side we chose a fresh and crispy Caribbean theme cole slaw. Unfortunately, Lisa made it earlier that day so we don't have any prep pictures. The ingredients include: red and green cabbage, clementines, raisins, onion, some spices and Rudolph's Famous cole slaw dressing. You can find the link for the recipe here!

Meanwhile, we were listening to music from our high school days (queue Taking Back Sunday, The Used, Blink 182, Yellowcard, Brand New, Senses Fail etc.) and then ended our evening with a viewing of Pretty Woman, just in time for Valentine's day! All in all, it was a great "girls night in"!

SuperBowl Treats Part 4: Wisconsin Beer Battered Cheese Curds

Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 10-15 minutes
Origin: Title Town! (Wisconsin, USA)

No Superbowl party in Wisconsin could be complete without this classic (calorie loaded) appetizer! For those of you who don't know, cheese curds are basically chunks of white cheddar cheese that are a by-product of dairy farmers that produce large blocks of cheese. They're fresh, squeaky, bite sized pieces of white cheddar that can be eaten plain or battered and deep fried, sort of like mozzarella sticks (but better).

We used a beer batter recipe that we found online. The cheese curds are "Ellsworth" brand, which is a town located just 20 miles west of where we live...We also added Lowry's seasoned salt to the batter for extra flavor! Yum!

 

Our roommate thankfully has a nice little deep fryer (maybe a bit TOO convenient....) but pan frying in oil is also an acceptable cooking method.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the final product, these little guys were gone in about a minute! They are the ultimate crowd pleaser.

This is the recipe we used for the batter:

Deep-Fried Cheese Curds Recipe -

Vegetable oil (for frying)*
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup milk or beer
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (9-ounce) package fresh cheese curds, room temperature

* Use enough vegetable oil to completely cover cheese curds while frying.

In a deep fryer or large pot, heat vegetable oil (375 degrees to 385 degrees F).

In a medium bowl, combine egg, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and milk or beer until well blended. Add flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder; mix until smooth. Drop cheese curds in batter. Using a spoon, turn cheese curds to coat thoroughly.

A few at a time, drop the coated curds into the hot oil; fry approximately 1 minute or until brown and puffed, turning to coat all sides (do not overcook, or the cheese curds will begin to melt and ooze through the coating. Remove from hot oil and drain on paper towels. Allow fried cheese curds to cool a couple of minutes before eating.

Serves many.

SuperBowl Treats Part 3: Meatballs

Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Origin: USA?

I could think of no better way to christen my new Crock-Pot than with cocktail meatballs on Superbowl Sunday. I got the Crock-Pot as a Christmas gift from my sister and have been itching to use it ever since. The recipe I used also came with the Crock-Pot along with many of the ingredients. Thanks again Sarah!

The meatballs are where most of the flavor comes from in this recipe instead of the accompanying sauce. The original recipe called for 3 pounds of ground beef but I cut everything down to 2 and it was the perfect amount. Here is the recipe cut down.

2 pounds ground beef
1 1oz package of dry onion soup mix
2 slices of white bread
1 1/2 T. half-and-half

I removed the crusts from the bread and tore it into small bread crumbs. The I just mixed everything together, rolled them into 1-inch balls and popped the little guys in the oven on various baking dishes for 10 to 15 minutes at a 350degrees. The 2 pounds of meat made all of the meatballs pictured above, about 50.  

Meanwhile in the Crock-Pot, with the temperature set on high I mixed about one cup of ketchup, one cup dark brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. I adjusted and tasted until I got a good mix of ketchup and brown sugar. (very scientific) I heated the mixture to a boil, reduced the temperature to low and added the meatballs and TA-DA.. cocktail meatballs.  Serve with frilly toothpicks (we're partial to yellow and green colored) and enjoy!  -Megan

SuperBowl Treats Part 2: Sweet Chili Popcorn

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 12 minutes
Origin: USA

For a quick snack we decided on popcorn with a twist. While this wasnt the original recipe that we were going to use it turned out great. So here is our rough version of the recipe:

Stove top Popcorn kernels

Chili Powder

Brown Sugar
Salt
Parika/Cayenne Pepper

*no measurements we used, just sprinkled to taste. Equaled out sugar and spice!

SuperBowl Treats Part 1: Raw Veggie Pizza

Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Origin: USA

We knew that the Superbowl would be a great way to share some food with a large group of friends. When we found out that the Packers made it into the SuperBowl there was all the more reason to celebrate with new fun finger foods. We had quite the array of appetizers so we separted it by each snack. To top off a great day of cooking with the girls and sharing our food with our football hungry friends the PACKERS WON!!!!! Go.Pack.GO!

First up is Sarah's Raw Veggie Pizza

This became a quick favortite among the hungery football fans.. and its so simple.
Although theres many recipes for a Cold/Raw Veggie Pizza, Sarah decided to personlize it and make it her own by combining some ideas from the various recipes. So heres our recipe:

The Crust
2 can of Cresent Rolls

The "Sauce"
1 block 1/3 less fat Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/4 cup Hidden Vally Ranch
2 tbs. Dill Weed
2 tbs Garlic Powder
1 tbs Onion Powder
Pinch of Salt and Pepper

The Veggies
Shredded Carrots
Chopped Celery
Diced Onion
Diced Red Pepper
Chopped Broccoli

Bake cresent rolls according to package directions and let cool for a good 15mins. To prepare the "Sauce" combine all incredients until fully blended. Use a small spatula to spread sauce graciously on the cresents. Apply all veggies and sprinkle with Dill Weed to top it off.

Käsespätzle

Origin: Germany
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes


Käsespätzle is a German comfort food that is very similar to macaroni and cheese cassarole, but with a much different texture. It is relatively simple to prepare (as all comfort foods should be). The only problem I ran into while gathering ingredients for this dish was the fact that European cheeses can be rare and expensive here in the States, so we used a variety of Wisconsin cheeses that had somewhat similar characteristics as those I had when I was in Sweden. This is a dish that was very special for me (Lisa) to make, because it was one of the favorite dishes cooked by my amazing European friends two years ago when I traveled abroad. Jan, Stefan, Kerstin, and Denise were all very familiar with this dish and happily prepared it on several occasions. Roberto, Francesco and I were just happy to be able to eat it :)

Not all of these cheeses made it into the spaetzle, but they were good to munch on while we were waiting for it to cook in the oven!

The dough for the spätzle is just simply eggs, flour, salt, and water. I used a hand mixer to mix it to a consistency that was slightly thinner than pancake batter. Traditionally, the Germans use a spätzle schwob to drop the dough into the water... It looks much like a cheese grater. A strainer with large holes works just as well though. To make the noodles (which are more like dumplings) you just spoon the dough through the strainer and into boiling water. Let it cook for a few minutes, and then use a slotted spoon to take it out of the water and transfer to to your baking dish. It seemed VERY strange to me at first, but trust me it's good!

 käsespätzle is usually topped with caramelized onions.... I diced about 2 and a half and let them simmer in a pan with oil for 40 minutes on medium/low heat.

 A layer of noodles covered the bottom of the baking dish, followed by a layer of cheese, then another layer of noodles, topped with another layer of cheese. The left is onion flavored cheese, the middle is colby, and the right is pepper jack.

Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melty. Top it all off with onions, and you have käsespätzle! (I accidently started dishing up plates before I realized I hadn't taken a picture! whoops....)

And as my dear friend Denise and I would have it, no dinner is complete without ketchup :)

Again, we served this with a side of some sauteed veggies with garlic...

I didn't use a recipe for this because it is so simple to make once you have seen it prepared, but I found a link that is pretty similar... http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/german-spaetzle-dumplings/Detail.aspx

Stay tuned for our Superbowl Sunday appetizer extravaganza! GO PACKERS!

Travel Tips from an Expert

Check out this great article written by the indescribably awesome chef, author, TV host, and travel extraordinaire, Anthony Bourdain. To say he's a travel expert is an understatement.... All three of us dream of a life half as cool as his!

Link: How I Travel by Anthony Bourdain