Recipe Round-up: Almond Puff

Well, I've spent the past few weeks packing, moving and unpacking. I'm about 90% done unpacking and I'm enjoying getting organized once again. I will be back to blogging more regularly soon.

The other day, we went to a friend's house for brunch. I made one of my mom's favorite recipes since she is visiting right now. The recipe is fairly quick and easy to prepare. It is sure to impress and it tastes absolutely delicious. It takes just a few minutes to make and put in the oven. However, it needs to bake for an hour so make sure you have the time before making it.

Almond Puff

From the kitchen of: Carm Allen.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crust:

½ cup soft butter

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons water

Cut butter into flour. Sprinkle with water. Mix with fork. Round into a ball. Divide and put each half onto un-greased baking sheet. Shape into 12x3 inch strips (3 inches apart).

Puff Pastry:

½ cup butter

1 cup water

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup flour

3 eggs

In medium saucepan heat butter and water and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat. Add extract and flour. Stir over low heat 1 minute until it forms a ball. Remove. Beat in 3 eggs 1 at a time until smooth. The eggs should be fully incorporated. Spread over 2 strips. Bake 60 minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and drizzle on glaze. Allow to cool briefly and then cut into 1 inch strips.

Glaze:

½ cup confectionery sugar

2 tablespoons softened butter

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon warm water

Mix until smooth.

Tip: The hardest part of this recipe is probably spreading the crust flat enough. When I make it, I try to make the crust as thin and long as possible. You want it to cover as much surface area as you can. I sometimes sprinkle a little flour on the top to help it not be so sticky as I press on it.

Recipe Round-Up: Twice Baked Potatoes

This recipe is a huge time saver. If you make these potatoes you will not only love the taste but you will love the convenience of a side dish that can be heated up in as little as 1-2 minutes in the microwave or baked in the oven while the rest of dinner bakes. It doesn't take that much work to make twice baked potatoes but it does take some time to bake them once, scoop them out and then re-bake them for dinner. In order to have an easy side dish that I can pull out for dinner whenever I want and to save time and money, I bake a large batch of these potatoes when I purchase a 10 lb bag of potatoes for about $2-3. For my small family, I generally bake about 10-12 potatoes. This yields 20-24 potato halves which will feed us for 6-8 meals. If we have guests, it's easy to pull out a few extra for them as well.

I used to make the twice baked potatoes on The Pioneer Woman's blog. They were really good but then I stumbled across this recipe on a great food blog called "Our Best Bites." Their recipe for Stuffed Bleu Cheese Potatoes was amazing! The following recipe is an adaption of the one on Our Best Bites but I made a few changes that I'll share. The original recipe can be found here. I was going to use the blue cheese in this recipe but when I went to the store, the Gorgonzola was a better deal so I used it instead and they turned out delicious!! I will definitely be switching my twice baked potatoes recipe to the following one! They are worth every calorie! I resized the recipe for a larger batch of 10-12 potatoes. 

Twice Baked Potatoes

10-12 medium baking potatoes
1 ½ cups sour cream
3-4 oz (Approx. 1 cup) crumbled Gorgonzola or Bleu Cheese

1/2-3/4 cup milk or buttermilk (I found the 3/4 cup to be just a little too much)
1 stick real butter, cut into chunks
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt or regular salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
1 bag of crumbled bacon bits from the salad section (super easy!) or 1 lb bacon pieces, cooked crisp and crumbled

Grated cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry potatoes. Poke with holes with a knife or fork so they don't explode in your oven. Rub them lightly with a bit of shortening or vegetable oil (helps crisp the skin) and place directly on oven rack, or a cookie sheet. Bake for one hour or until potatoes are done.
2. Remove potatoes and let cool. I often let them sit out until they're fully cool just because I get busy doing other things. You can also cut them while they're still warm but be careful because it's hard working with them if they're too hot. Cut each potato in half to make 20-24 servings. Hold them with a potholder if they're too hot.

3. Scoop out the insides and place in a mixing bowl. I like to do this part in my Kitchenaid mixer to save me time and whip the potatoes smoother for me. However, you can also mash them by hand. Add butter, sour cream, gargonzola OR bleu cheese, bacon, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic. Adjust ingredients to taste. Carefully spoon mixture back into potato shells and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

4. At this point, you can either continue to rebake some of them for dinner* or you can freeze all of them on a cookie sheet. 

5. Once they're frozen, place into Ziplock bags and label. Freeze until ready to eat.

6. To cook, either microwave for 1-2 minutes per potato half or place in a baking dish and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until heated through. *If you start with the potatoes that aren't frozen, they'll only take about 10-12 minutes to bake.

Original recipe found here:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/03/stuffed-bleu-cheese-potatoes.html

Do you have any make-ahead side dishes that freeze well? 

Recipe Round-up: Parmesan Corn Chowder

Here in Colorado, winter has most definitely arrived. With temperatures hovering both above and below zero, a tasty hearty soup is a must on some of these cold winter nights. This soup is very quick and easy to make. Best of all, it uses ingredients I almost always have on hand. You’ll find this recipe to be both healthy and very inexpensive to make as carrots and potatoes don’t cost a whole lot. If you are having guests and want the recipe to stretch a little further, just cut up a few more carrots and potatoes. It won’t negatively affect the recipe at all. Also, if you want this to be even healthier, why not try using sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes.

Parmesan Corn Chowder

Ready in 45 min or less

2 cups water
2 cups diced peeled potatoes (Healthy variation: try sweet potatoes)
½ cup sliced carrots
¼ cup chopped onion

¼ cup butter, margarine or healthy substitute like Smart Balance
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
1 can (14 ¾ ounce) cream style corn
1 ½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, combine the first four ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. A fork should easy be able to stab both the carrots and potatoes (do not drain). In order for the carrots and potatoes to cook evenly, try cutting both into similar sized pieces.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir into the vegetable mixture. Add corn and Parmesan cheese. Cook 10 minutes longer or until heated through.

Yield: 7 servings

A great side dish is cornbread. Look for a tasty crusty cornbread recipe on my recipe blog.