Raspberry Cream Cheese Croissants

Every Wednesday from late spring to early fall, my company hosts a farmers market for our employees. It's one of my favorite "perks" - I love being able to run down during the work day to buy farm-fresh produce, eggs, cheese, and meat (the farmers will keep things cold until you are ready to go home), freshly-cut flowers, and homemade kettle corn, salsas, and hot sauces.

The best part, though, is the artisan bakers who come each week. Cupcakes, donuts, and the bread - sour dough, sesame, baguettes, pumpernickel - you name it.

And then there are the chocolate croissants. Oh, my! They are enormous - buttery, flaky, and filled with just the right amount of semi-sweet chocolate. Admittedly, I've only had one of these beauties...in large part because I am too confident it could become a weekly indulgence. And as delightful as that would be, that is certainly not a habit I need to get into.

I don't usually make something sweet for breakfast. Mostly because I'm hungry too quickly after eating....even though I eat the majority of whatever I make since Brian doesn't often eat breakfast and doesn't have much of a sweet tooth.

But, I've had a tube of Crescent rolls in the fridge for a bit, leftover from the last time I made Antipasto Squares. Reminiscing about the wonderful bakery goodies at the farmers market, I decided  bake these up this morning with a little cream cheese and raspberry jam. What a treat!

Ingredients:

• 1 tube Pillsbury crescent rolls
• 1/4 C softened cream cheese
• 2 tsp. powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
• Scant 1/8 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 C jam of your choice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
3. Combine cream cheese, 2 tsp. powdered sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl. Stir to combine well.
4. Unroll crescent rolls and separate into eight triangles.
5. At the widest part of each triangle, spread 1 tsp. each cream cheese mixture then jam. Leave a 1/4 inch border at top and sides of triangle.
6. Starting with long edge, roll loosely toward the pointed tip.
7. Place crescent rolls on parchment lined baking sheet, point side down.
8. Bake for 11 - 13 minutes, or until nicely browned.
9. Allow to cool on pan for a few minutes, then move to serving tray or plate. Dust with additional powdered sugar. (FYI - pay particular attention to the direction and speed of any nearby ceiling fans before dusting with powdered sugar. Just sayin'.)

Spread each roll with a teaspoon each cream cheese mixture and jam.

Roll up and place on baking sheet, pointed tip down.

Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Fat Tuesday

When I realized that yesterday was Fat Tuesday, my first thought was to suggest The Big Mamou for dinner. As much as I love their food, though, I don't love waiting in line for a table or - worse yet - trying to leisurely enjoy my meal while others are waiting for my table. And, I knew it would be crazy busy. 

The next best thing - maybe the best thing - was to cook at home. I owed Brian a meal, since I lost our pool "tournament" on Sunday, so decided to make jambalaya and corn bread to satisfy my New Orleans craving and payment on my bet. I made this batch pretty spicy, but it would be easy enough to alter the seasoning to your taste.

This is adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe. Whenever I watch her show, I wonder if she's on speed; then I make one of her recipes, I know she must be.  There's no way any normal cook can do this in 30 minutes, but it was on the table in less than an hour, with time to simmer away for a bit. 

It turned out even better than the jambalaya at The Big Mamou (sorry Chef Wayne)!

1 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 T butter

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken - cubed

1 lb. spicy sausage - casing removed and diced / crumbled

1 large onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 T hot sauce (I used Cholula) 

1 heaping tsp cayenne pepper

2 to 3 T all-purpose flour

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice

1 3/4 C chicken stock

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp Old Bay seasoning

1 tsp Worcestershire

1 pound medium shrimp, raw, deveined and peeled

In a large, deep skillet over medium high heat, heat oil and butter. Brown chicken 5 minutes, add sausage and cook 3 - 5 minutes more. Add onion, celery, pepper, bay, and cayenne.

Saute vegetables 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the pan and cook a few minutes more, cooking out raw flour taste and letting flavor develop but stirring to keep from sticking to bottom of pan. Stir in tomatoes, broth, spices, and Worcestershire. Bring liquids to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. (I let it go about 20 minutes.)

Add shrimp and simmer 5 minutes until pink and firm, then serve with rice.

This recipe made a huge pot of stew, and it was almost better the next day.  That's good, considering we'll be eating it all week!

For the corn bread, I made a pouch mix according to package directions and added a can of diced green chilies and about a 1/2 C of shredded cheese. The thing that put it over the top was baking it in a cast iron skillet. (If you don't have a cast iron skillet, get one now. I got a 10" skillet at Rocky's Hardware for $17 - and it is awesome.)  For more spice, I will saute some fresh diced jalapenos next time, rather than using the can.

Enjoy!

Game on!

Brian and I have been talking about making ribs for ages. I love the flavor of barbecue and my favorite is pulled pork; Brian has developed a taste for ribs. So, for our Super Bowl Sunday Funday, we invited his mom and dad over and decided to give barbecue ribs a try.

(I say "we" pretty euphemistically - I was definitely the sous chef for this meal.)

We went to Arnold's for the ribs and Brian spoke at length with one of the butchers about the best cut of meat and the best way to prepare them. We left with six pounds of spare ribs, freshly cut.

After speaking with the butcher and investigating different recipes online, this is how he prepared them...

First, a dry rub:

• 3/4c. brown sugar
• 4 1/2 Tbsp. paprika
• 3 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 4 1/2 Tbsp. black pepper
• 4 tsp. garlic powder,
• 4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. cayenne red pepper.

After rubbing spices in, place rack of ribs fat side up in a large disposable aluminum roasting pan.  Cover tightly with foil and marinate for 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 300. Cook ribs covered in pan for 1.5 - 2 hours. Remove from oven, pour one bottle of the barbecue sause of your choice over the ribs, recover with foil, and roast for another 1.5 - 2 hours. Remove from oven, turn oven to broil, remove ribs from roasting pan and place on an aluminum-foil lined cookie sheet, and broil 10 - 15 minutes, or until caramelized. Watch closely so they do not burn!

The ribs were literally falling off the bone! In fact, as we moved them to a cutting board, some of the bones actually fell out...so delicious!  We each had 2 ribs and there were 4 large ribs leftover.

Brian's mom brough the most delicious cole slaw - soooo much better than the Boston Market variety I had considered buying!  Maybe if we ask nicely, she'll share the recipe with us...hint, hint...

My contribution to the feast were these Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits from another fun blog I've found. I've never eaten at Red Lobster, but if these gems are any indication of their food, I just might seek one out! I used the heart-healthy (aka low fat) Bisquick, fat free cheese, and fat free half and half. Anything made with Bisquick I've found to be heavy and dense - not so with these biscuits. They were fluffy and delicious. Blend just until all ingredients are combined - be careful not to over mix. I had one with soup tonight for dinner and it was almost as good as it was frest out of the oven.

We had a fun, finger-licking good time - great food, great company, and "my team" won the game!  Not a bad way to start the week!