"Thin Mint" Mini Cheesecakes

"Thin Mint" Mini Cheesecakes

One of my co-workers brought thin mints into the office this week and they reminded me of this yummy treat. Then when I gave Andrew a choice between tiramisu and mini cheesecakes.... Cheesecakes it is. 

Ingredients

1 box Thin Mints (or Keebler Grasshoppers)

2 tbl butter (melted)

2 8oz packages of cream cheese (softened)

1/2c powdered suger

2 eggs (room temp)

1tsp peppermint extract

1tsp vanilla

Whipped cream for garnish

The Steps

Preheat oven to 325

Line muffin tin with cupcake papers.

Pulse cookies in food processor until ground.

Mix half of the ground cookies with melted butter.

Press about a tablespoon of cookie mixture into the bottom of each liner. 

Cool for at least 15min.

Beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.

With mixer on medium at eggs one at a time until combined.

Mix in the mint and the vanilla extracts then combine thoroughly.

Mix in the rest of the cookie crumbs (leave a little for garnish if you want).

Spoon batter into the muffin cups. 

Bake for 25-28 min or until set.

Remove and cool completely.  Then refrigerate for several hours or until thoroughly chilled.

Serve topped with whipped cream and cookies crumbs.

Makes 12 mini cheesecakes.

Recipe inspired by "Sticky*Gooey*Creamy*Chewy."

Notes

*When you don't have a box of thin mints stored in the freezer, a box of Grasshoppers from Keebler do the trick.  I think they taste the same.

*No food processor? No problem! Use a plastic bag and a hard kitchen tool (meat malet, rolling pin of bottom of a pot.

*Original recipe calls for mini chocolate chips.  I felt the cookies were enough for me but I could be missing out.

*If you want to eat them sooner stick them in the freezer!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza

We love this pizza!  Andrew suggested it a few weeks ago and not we are hooked.  I'm not even a huge BBQ sauce kinda person but this my friends is tasty.

Ingredients

Pizza dough (enough for one pizza)

2/3 cup BBQ sauce

1-2c chicken (shredded)

2c mozzarella cheese (shredded)

1/4c red onion (thinly chopped)

1/3c green onion (chopped)

The Steps

Preheat to 350°

Stretch the dough to fit your pan. 

Use about 1/2c BBQ sauce to lather the dough.  (This is instead of marinara sauce.)

Spread most of cheese evenly over the dough.

Shred chicken and mix remaining BBQ sauce. Then add evenly to pizza top.

Sprinkle red onions evenly over the pizza.

Sprinkle remaining cheese over the pizza.

Place pizza in the oven for about 15 min.

Sprinkle the green onions over the top for the last 2 min of cooking.

Notes:

*I usually use the Trader Joe's dough.  Its easy and delicious but any dough works.

*Use whatever cheese you want.  We did not have enough mozzarella this time so we used a little parmesan and mexican blend. 

*I do not use a ton BBQ sauce because I am not a saucy person. You can always add more to your own pizza pie!

Jambalaya

Jambalaya

There is nothing more stick to your bones good than Jambalaya.  This dish has spice, rice, peppers, onions, chicken and sausage.  It is meaty and hearty.  I love that you can change up the spice levels and substitute different sausages to mix up the flavor. 

Ingredients

1-2 tbs. olive oil
1.5 lb chicken

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 large onion (chopped)
1-2 red peppers (chopped)
1 1/12 tbs. dried parsley

1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/8 clove

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cup rice

3 cup vegetable broth
16oz of sausage (sliced)

salt and pepper to taste

The Steps
Use a heavy giant pot for this one.
Heat olive oil on med/high heat and brown the chicken.  Does not need to be cooked through!
Place chicken  asaide but use the juices in the pot
Reduce heat to med heat and add garlic, onions, peppers and parsley.
Cook down for a few minutes.
Add all the spices and incorporate.
Add rice. Make sure rice is fully coated. Cook for 3-5 min.
Add broth, sausage and chicken.  Bring to a boil for 2-3 min.
Reduce heat to low (very low or it will burn the bottom), cover and cook for 25-20 min.

Notes:
*I have use whatever broth I have on hand chicken or veggie.
*Sometimes I turn the heat all the way off toward then end of the 25-30min to let the juices absorb into the rice without burning the bottom.  It really depends on your cook top.
*I usually use half italian sausage and half turkey kielbasa but its up to you.
*If you do not have time to cook the chicken or you already have chicken on hand, use it!
Just shred it and add it with the sausage.
*If you like shrimp go for it!  I do not, so I do not use it.

Polenta Bake

 

Polenta Bake

This dish is a veggie favorite of mine.  My dear friend Meg and I did a lot of cooking together in college. This was one of the dishes that came out of all the recipe collaborations.  It is a little bit Meg, a little bit me and a whole lot of delicious!

 

Ingredients

1-2 roll(s) plain polenta (sliced)

1 tbs. olive oil

1 large onion (chopped)

1/2 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. basil

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. pepper

16 oz. mushrooms (sliced)

8 oz. broccoli (sm. pieces)

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1/2 c dry red wine

24 oz. crushed tomatoes

3 c shredded Mozzarella

1/2 c shredded Parmesan

 

The Steps

*Pre-heat oven to 400°

 

Sauce:

Heat olive oil. Begin sautéing onions with thyme, oregano, basil, bay leaves and pepper.

Once soft add mushrooms and broccoli, sauté for 3-5min. Add garlic and salt, sauté 3-5 min.

Add red wine sauté until reduced.

Add tomatoes to sauté pan and reduce heat, simmer for 5-10 min.

 Layering:

Place about half of the thinly sliced polenta along the bottom of a 13” * 9”

Add half the sauce on top of the polenta.

Sprinkle 1 1/2 c Mozzarella and ¼ c Parmesan evenly on sauce.

Repeat steps 1-3.

Place in oven for 25 min.

Allow 10 min. to cool.

Enjoy!

 

Caprese Salad

Wow, its been a while.  I can explain really I can!  I have not had a kitchen since early January. Thus cooking and blogging about it could not happen. However, I am moved now and in my own place again with a fully stocked kitchen!  To start of this new chapter of cooking I kept it simple with a Caprese Salad. I love Caprese Salads because there are so many ways to make them, as long as tomatoes, cheese and basil make it into the mix you cannot go wrong.

The Recipe

9 Vive ripe tomatoes (apricot size)

8oz Mozzarella cheese

6 Fresh Basil leaves

To Taste: 

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar salt and pepper

The Steps

Slice tomatoes and cheese about the same width. 

Plating, I like to alternate tomate and cheese slice.

Roughly chop the basil then sprinkle on top.

Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. 

Then sprinkle with salt and pepper as you like.
Enjoy!

More Adventures with Sweet Potatoes

In making the cupcakes I discovered that I just didn't need to buy 5 sweet potatoes.  Nonetheless, I had 4 more sweet potatoes and no idea what to do with them.  So I went on a search for sweet potato recipes and was torn between sweet potato fries and soup.  With the mass quantity of sweet potatoes I had, it was a better idea to make soup.

None of the recipes I found really had what I wanted so used two recipes for inspiration (Simply Recipes and Cook.com ) and winged it. The following is the tasty results.

Sweet Potato Bacon Leek Soup

 

Ingredients

4 medium Sweet Potatoes

4 cloves of Garlic

2 Tbsp Olive

4 slices of Bacon

2 Tbsp unsalted Butter

1 Onion chopped

1 medium Leek (white and pale green)

4 chopped Celery Stalks

1 Bay Leaf

1 ½ cups of dry White Wine

3-4 cups of Chicken Broth (Vegetable Broth also works)

1 ½ cup half and half

Salt and pepper to taste

Sour Cream

3-4 chopped Green Onions

The Step-By-Step

1. Pre Heat the oven to 400. Cut sweet potatoes in to ½ in cubes (or like French fries). Rough chop 3 garlic cloves. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil to coat. Salt and pepper to taste. Put in oven for 10-15mins.  Roughly half way through baking mix the potatoes and garlic around on the baking sheet. Pull out potatoes when they are soft to touch but not cooked through yet.

2. While the Potatoes are baking, in a large heavy saucepan cook bacon on medium high.  Remove bacon to a side plate.  Add butter to the bacon grease. 

3. Add 1 minced Garlic clove, Onion, Leek, Celery and bay leaf.  Cook For 5-10 mins, until onions are opaque. Stir occasionally.

4. Add the White wine, Chicken broth, and roasted Potatoes and Garlic. Simmer for 10-20min until potatoes are VERY tender.

5. For the next step I used a standing blender and added the mixture in 1/3s to make sure that everything was blended.

6. Pour back into large pot (I used the same saucepan that I cooked in) and mix in the half and half.  Salt and Pepper to taste.

7. Pour in serving dish and garnish with chopped up bacon, green onions and a small dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Sweet Potato Extravaganza

 With Thanksgiving on the horizon I thought it would be a good idea to over come my dislike for sweet potatoes.  For years I have passed up sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner and even those lovable sweet potato fries!  What better way to start this process then by adding it to one of may favorites... a cupcake! One of my students sent me this link for some awesome looking cupcakes and I went for it.  I went to the store and for the first time ever purchase sweet potatoes! I bought 5 of them.....

I followed "How Sweet It Is" recipe for Sweet Potato Pie Cupcakes with Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting.  I doubled the recipe to make 24 cupcakes but I always find myself with excess frosting so I stayed true to the original recipe.  These cupcakes are delicious and all of my staff appreciate them greatly!

Sweet Potato Pie Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes


graham crust
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 teaspoon sugar
cupcakes
1 1/3 cups loosely packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
6 ounces cooked, mashed sweet potato
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake tin with liners. In a small bowl, mix melted butter, sugar and graham cracker crumbs until moist, then press about 1/2-1 tablespoon of crumbs into the bottom of each liner.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg and sugar together until combined and no lumps remain. Add in vanilla extract and butter, then whisk in sweet potato. Add in flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, then add in milk and stir until combined and smooth. Drop about 1/4 cup of batter on top of each graham cracker crust. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until cupcakes are set and spring back at the touch. 3. Let cool completely before frosting.

Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
3 cups of powdered sugar
1-2 teaspoons milk, if needed

Beat butter in the bowl of electric mixer until creamy. Add in fluff and beat for 2-3 minutes, then add in vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until fully incorporated. Once all the sugar has been added, beat on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes. If mixture if too runny, add a bit more sugar. If it’s too thick, add a bit of milk one teaspoon at a time. Frost cupcakes and drizzle with caramel sauce and crushed cinnamon pecans.