Cajun Spice Pecan Cheese Bites

Since my blog promoters (aka Parents) have been touting these goodies about town, I wanted to get them posted for you all sooner rather than later.  I have some guests posts coming up this week that I think you are really going to like.

Last weekend I helped celebrate my friend Dana's birthday with a mini feast of Cajun goodness.  My contribution to the eatin's were these little treats.  I really wanted to make cheese straws but much to my chagrin, I found I didn't have a cookie press readily on hand so went the biscuit cutter route.

The cheese bites have just that, a nice bite that sneaks up on you.  The pecans make a sweet complement to the red pepper and bring it all together.

Cajun Spice Pecan Cheese Bites

8 tbsp. butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup chopped pecans, small bits

Cream together the soft butter and cheeses.

Add flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper and bring it all together as a dough.

Mine was very crumbly in the mixing bowl, so I transferred it to a rolling mat and kneaded it together until it formed a solid ball of dough.

Fold the pecan bits into the dough until evenly distributed.

With a rolling pin, roll dough out to about a 1/2" thickness and use a small biscuit cutter to cut small discs.  I split my dough in half and rolled out one half at a time, made it easier to manage.  You can re-roll the dough until all is used up.

Place discs on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until crispy and golden brown around the edges.

Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a cooling rack.

Dad's Favorite Congo Bars

For the pater's birthday this year, I had a request for the Congo Bars like his grandmother used to make.  Wasn't sure what to expect, but the best way to describe them is chocolate chip nut bar on steroids. Chewy and crunchy-crusted and big and delicious.  You'll find out why Dad is such a fan.

CONGO BARS

2-3/4 cups sifted flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening
2-1/4 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a deep saucepan, melt shortening.

Once liquid, mix in brown sugar and mix to a paste.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg.

Add in dry ingredients, a bit at a time until all is well blended.

Stir in vanilla then fold in nuts and chocolate chips.

"Pour" mixture into a greased 8"x 12" pan (can use 9" x 13") and spread out evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until center is cooked through (use a toothpick to test).

Remove from oven, slice, scarf down, enter Congo Bar coma.

NOTES

Do NOT melt shortening and brown sugar together. Someone may have learned the hard way that if you do them together they form a crumbly mixture (versus a smooth paste) and thus can't be mixed well with other ingredients. 

Congo Bars ARE supposed to be "cakey and moist" in the center, not "raw and doughy."  

Ooey Gooey Crunchy Chewy Monster Eyeballs

I know using "eyeballs" in a food title is problematic but it's almost Halloween!!!  I will warn you that while these are adorably disturbing, they are a little messy to make...but delicious.

Ooey Gooey Crunchy Chewy Monster Eyeballs

1-1/4 cup dried apricots, small chopped
1 cup dates, small chopped
1 cup pecans, small chopped
1 cup flaked, sweetened coconut
1 can (14 oz.) condensed milk
4-5 graham crackers, crushed
1 (16 oz.) package milk chocolate CandiQuik
Wilton candy eye

In a large bowl, mix together dried apricots, dates, pecans and coconut.  Add the condensed milk and mix until well blended.

Put the mixture in the fridge for about 30 minutes, letting it firm up.

Add enough crushed graham crackers to keep the mixture from being too moist and enough that you can easily roll it into 1-1/2" balls.  Place balls on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.

Melt the chocolate bark over low heat.  Once ready to go, dip the balls in the chocolate, shake off any excess, and replace on wax paper.  Pop a candy eye on the top before the chocolate hardens.

Spooktacular!  Nice little rush sugar for all the little ghoulies to enjoy.

Asian Cabbage Salad

 

I met some friends for lunch the other day at The Nasher Museum Cafe in Durham and enjoyed a delicious salad that was so crispy and light and filling I decided that I wanted to try it at home.

I'm very happy with my final product and as an added bonus I now have a recipe for the same miso-ginger dressing that you get on your salad at a Japanese steak house. Num! All around good stuff.

Asian Cabbage Salad

2 cups shredded white cabbage
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup cooked edamame
1/3 cup toasted cashew halves
1 orange, peeled, de-pithed and segmented
3-4 tbsp. miso-ginger dressing

Toss everything together in a large bowl. Serves 4.

miso-ginger dressing
1/4 cup white miso
3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. minced ginger
1-1/2 tsp. sugar
3 tbsp. sesame oil

Blend together all but the sesame oil in a food processor.  Slowly add the oil in as you pulse the mixture on low.  Leftovers will keep up to a week in the fridge.

NOTES

You can find pre-made ginger dressings in the grocery store.  To make the dressing, I went to a local Asian market to get the miso.  Heads up, found it in the refrigerated section of the store and it was not inexpensive, but worth it.  I'll be seeing what other recipes I can come up with to use it.

Orange Cinnamon Pecan Waffles

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the maternal gals out there!  Since my momma loves her some pecan waffles, I treated her to a flavor upgrade for Mother's Day brunch.  So yummy!  With a little turkey bacon on the side, it was all good and then some.

Orange Cinnamon Pecan Waffles
will need to use a waffle iron with this recipe, just FYI

2 cups flour
1 tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup saffron oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. orange zest
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, beat eggs until they're "fluffy."  Whisk in milk, oil and vanilla.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry mix and beat together until smooth.

Mix in the orange zest until well incorporated.

Heat your waffle iron according to instructions.  For a single waffle, pour 1/2 cup of waffle batter on the iron and as it spreads out, sprinkle some of the chopped pecans on top before closing the waffle iron lid.

Cook for 3-4 minutes or until iron lid lifts easily and the waffle is to your consistency taste.

Remove, drizzle with your favorite syrup and try not to hurt anyone as you shovel your waffle into your face.

Vinegar Pie

 

So on Mom and Dad's last venture to the NC mountains, they came across a dessert that Dad wanted to see repeated so they tracked down a recipe and here you go...Vinegar Pie!  Yeah, I made that face too, BUT always being up for new food adventures, I thought I'd try it out.

Now the funny thing is that in all the variations of this recipe (which by the way has been around forever from what I can tell) vinegar is actually a minor ingredient.  My theory?  Someone made this pie and it was so good that they told everyone it was "vinegar" pie so that they could have it all to themselves.  Don't blame them.  It's actually a form of custard pie and very tasty.

Vinegar Pie

5 eggs
4-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1-3/4 cups sugar
4-1/2 tsp. flour
1/2 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1/2 cup chopped pecans
9" unbaked deep dish pie crust

Beat eggs, vanilla, and vinegar together in a mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes.  Set aside.  By beating the ingredients for a longer time, it helps aerate the mixture which will add some volume to the final product.

Stir sugar and flour together.  Add in the egg mixture and beat for 5 minutes, or until the mixture is no longer grainy.

Slowly add in the whipping cream.  Then stir in the melted butter until all is well blended.

Pour mixture into the unbaked pie crust.  Sprinkle chopped pecans across the top.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.  When time is up, loosely cover the pie with a piece of foil and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on a rack.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  When I pulled the pie from the oven, it was a bit on the puffy side but finally settled after it had some time to rest.

Congo Bars

 

Was scratching my head to come up with a post for tonight, and Dad suggested (again) trying out the old family recipe for Congo Bars.  I've never tried the originals, and I think it turned out the way it's supposed to, but in any case, the best way to describe what resulted is a deep dish chocolate-chip-nut cookie bar.  Big smile.  Pass the milk.

Congo Bars

2-3/4 cups flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening
2-1/4 cups brown sugar (not packed)
4 eggs
1cup nuts, chopped
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

Melt shortening in a deep, heavy bottom pan.

Add in brown sugar.  Stir until well mixed.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Add in the eggs, one at a time.

this is egg #2 being added

Add in dry ingredients until well blended.

Fold in nuts, chocolate chips, and vanilla.

 

Pour mixture into a well-greased 8x10 baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown along the edges cooked through in the center.

NOTES

I used a mix of pecans and walnuts for my nut mix because it was what I had in the freezer.

I used a mix of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and semi-sweet chips because it was what I had in the cupboard.

If you don't want to use shortening, you can substitute margarine instead.

Yes, I was too lazy to go the store so made due with what was on hand, but it did not adversely affect the results, so 'speriment away, my friends.

Avocado Mousse Tartlets with Honeyed Walnuts

 

Avocado and mousse are probably two words you would never think to put together, but here we are.  As I was slurping down my avocado-strawberry smoothie the other day, I was finding myself still a little taken with the notion of avocados as a sweet treat and wanting to explore that further.  That's when the idea for the tartlets popped into my head.  So here you go, a K2 original, parental tested, parental approved.

Avocado Mousse Tartlets with Honeyed Walnuts 
makes 4 (4-1/2") tarts

1 Pillsbury pre-made pie crust rolled sheet
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
4 tsp. honey
1 avocado, peeled, pitted
4 tsp. fresh orange juice
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup whipped cream
orange zest, for garnish

Roll out sheet of pie crust.  Place tartlet pans on sheet and cut out a circle 1/2" wider than the pan.  Should be able to get two from original roll, then two more by re-rolling the dough.

 

Press the crust into each tartlet pan and press off the excess around the edges.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the finely chopped walnuts and honey.  Will have a thick paste-like consistency.

Divide the mixture equally between the four tartlet pans and spread out along bottom.

Place the tartlet pans on a cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until lightly golden brown along the edges. 

Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.  If the centers are poofy, poke with a fork to de-poof.  The crusts made from the re-roll will be a bit puffier since they are technically made of layers of crust.  Just poke them too.

In a food processor, cream together the avocado, orange juice, and sugar until smooth.  Or at least very, very smoothish.

Put avocado cream in a medium bowl and fold in the whipped cream (I used cool whip) until fully incorporated.

 

Spoon the mousse onto the crusts, dividing equally.  Garnish with orange zest and/or an additional dollop of plain whipped cream.

You can either serve up immediately or put in the fridge to cool until ready to serve, can't go wrong either way.

NOTES

A special shout out to Dad for some fabulous mousse brainstorming.  He helped toss around some ideas while Mom was whipping up a new taste sensation (to be featured in a future post) for dinner.  It good to have foodies for folks. :)

Post-Note about smoothies from the last post -- discovered that, unlike banana-based smoothies, if you have to store leftover avocado smoothie in the fridge, it does not separate overnight.  The avocado acts like an emulsifier and keeps the mix together even when refrigerated. So FYI on that.