Pastelitos

So, I am finally sharing my recipe for cream cheese pastelitos. It's not much of a recipe, but here it is:

1 pkg of Peppridge Farm pastry dough
2 pkgs of cream cheese
1/4-1/2 cups powder sugar, to taste
1-2 tsp lemon juice, to taste
2 Tblsps milk
2 eggs (for egg wash - which is 2 eggs with 1 oz of water beaten together)
1/4 cup syrup (for simple syrup - which is 1/4 cup syrup dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water)

Mix the cream cheese, lemon juice and milk in a bowl until smooth. Add the sugar gradually until fluffy and desired taste. Set aside (preferably in the fridge).

Cut the defrosted pastry dough into equal size triangles (or any shape, really). Brush half of the triangles with the egg/water wash. Spoon 1-2 Tblsps (depending on how full you want them) of the cream cheese filling into the center of the brushed triangles. Then cover them with the other half of the triangles (unbrushed) and seal them by smoothing the edges together (you can use a fork to serrate the edges, if desired). Then brush the tops of the pastries completely with the egg/water wash. Cook in the oven at 350* for about 30-40 minutes, until they are crispy and browning. Then brush the tops of the pastries completely with the simple syrup and bake in the oven for an additional 4-5 minutes more (that gives them their shine).

You can top them with an icing made of milk and powder sugar. Mmmmm good! TOO good!

Homemade Sticky Cinna-Buns

I used a recipe I found on one of my favorite recipe websites for sweet rolls and used this recipe to make our newly traditional Easter cinnamon rolls with one half of of the dough, and regular dinner rolls for our Easter dinner with the other half. The dough turned out really really good. It was sweet and soft. I didn't have a bread machine, though, so I just mixed and kneaded the dough myself by hand, covered it with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge overnight. The next morning, I finished the cinnamon rolls by rolling out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick, spread a mixture of butter (softened), brown sugar and cinnamon, rolled it all up into one large log, cut it up and cooked them in the oven at 400* for 13-14 minutes.

I realized after they were done that I had used a little too much brown sugar, which made the cinnamon rolls really gooey. But they were still really really delicious. I didn't really measure out the butter or brown sugar, I just eyeballed it and taste-tested it.

It was the first time I had ever attempted to make cinnamon rolls from scratch and I was somewhat impressed with myself, even though they did turn out to be more like sticky buns than cinnamon rolls. I will try a little less brown sugar next time and see if they turn out even better. Can't imagine, though. :)

Here's the recipe for the sweet bread I found:

1/2 cup of warm water

1/2 cup of warm milk

1 egg

1/3 cup butter softened

1/3 cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 (1/4 ounce) package of active dry yeast

I combined the wet ingredients with the yeast separately from the dry ingredients. Then I combined them all together and stirred until my hands became the better utensil. Then I kneaded the dough until it became smooth.

BBQ Roast

Since I still don't have a grill, I have been really missing out of the BBQ yumminess that a grill has to offer... till now. I bought a chuck roast, cut it up into strips, put it in my crockpot, added about a cup of water and about a cup of BBQ sauce (I prefer Jack Daniels), some salt and pepper, and set it to cook at 7:30 am. It was ready at about 5 or 6 that night. It was good as strips - it just peeled away from itself. But the best part was the sandwich I made the next day for lunch with the leftovers. I just shredded the strips with a fork and sandwiched it with sourdough bread.

It was pretty dang good. I definitely got a thumbs up from the husband, but I think anything BBQ would have gotten a thumbs up. :)

Swiss Cheese Stuffed Chicken

I don't really have a recipe for this one. I kinda made it up based on watching something on Food Network. And, unfortunately, I don't remember what show it was, either. Basically, I pounded the chicken strips to tenderize them and to make them wider (and I've used chicken breasts before and found they work much better, but take longer to cook). Then I layed pieces of swiss cheese in the center of each chicken strip. Then I rolled them all up and will usually either stick a toothpick in them or tie them up with cooking string - but I had neither this last time, so it was pretty hard to keep them rolled up. Then I dipped the chicken rolls in milk and immediately covered them in a mixture of flour and some spices (I used salt, pepper and garlic, but any other spices will due). Then I panfried the chicken rolls in a Tblsp or so of hot oil until they were just cooked on all sides. Finally I added a can of cream of chicken soup to the pan and cooked it together till the chicken rolls were all fully cooked through (using a meat thermometer).

If Matt did not have an aversion to mushrooms, I would probably add some fresh cut up mushrooms to this recipe as well. I think it would go well.

I got a great review from my husband this last time, but it seems to be different every time I cook this.

Spinach Rice

I know this isn't the most intriguing of recipes... or even a recipe at that, but I thought it was a pretty impulsive idea that turned out pretty well. I had left-over brown rice from the night before and some remaining spinach in a can from the pizzas we'd made. So, I combined the rest of the spinach (drained) and the rice and microwaved it. It is not something Matt would like, as he really doesn't like spinach all that much, but I LOVED it, and it made a very healthy and yummy lunch. And I was not the only one who ate it and loved it... Brooklyn LOVED it, too!

Homemade Pizza with Homemade Pizza Dough

So, I made some pizza not too long ago, I know, but this time I had a recipe for pizza dough and felt confident enough to try it (Thanks Amber!!). I am so glad that I did because it was literally the best pizza I have ever had! I am not kidding! And even Matt thought the same thing! We are definitely making this again and again!

Here's the recipe for the pizza dough that my sister-in-law Amber gave me:

4 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
combine
1.5 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast (or 1 pkg of regular -not fast rising- yeast)
3 tablespoons olive oil
combine

then combine wet and dry ingredients (I mixed them by hand as I do not have a food processor or a mixer anymore) until it forms a ball. I literally mixed it up with my hands and then I kneaded it a few times on my counter. Put the dough in a warm place (I used a bathroom with a space heater on) for an hour or until it doubles in size. Punch it down, knead it a few more times, roll it out and viola - pizza dough!

We topped our pizza with the same things we always do... half just cheese, the way Matt likes it, and the other half with spinach, mushrooms and cheese, the way I like it and cooked it in the oven at 425 degress for about 20-25 minutes (we really just watched it until it looked done).

Dangerous Chocolate Cake

My Dad emailed this recipe to me and I have no idea where he got it from. It is a 5 minute recipe for a double (or single depending on how much you are willing to share) serving of chocolate cake. It is called Dangerous Chocolate Cake because you are now only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake... day or night!

So, here is the recipe for this quick and tasty treat:

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to your mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake might rise over the top of the mug, depending on how big your mug is, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

It goes really well with icing on top and/or a scoop of ice cream on the side.

I found my cake to be a little spongy, but I think it may be because I did not measure exactly when it came to the wet ingredients. Or it could just be the fact that it is cooked so rapidly in the microwave. I also thought it was a little too cocoa-y and not as sweet as I like it. But, either way, it was chocolate cake in 5 minutes!! This is definitely something I will make again, and again, and again, and again.... you get the picture. ;)