Starters | Avocado Fries with Roasted Garlic Jalapeno Aioli

Yup, you read that correctly. Avocado fries.

 I'm a huge avocado fan. I eat it whenever possible, on just about anything. My dog even loves it (the ASPCA warns that while avocado is toxic for horses, birds, and rodents, dogs just can't have the pits - very unsafe! But avocado itself is great for doggy skin and fur).

Besides, could you turn this face down? Those brown eyes are enough to make Van Morrison melt.

Crispy on the outside, delicious on the inside!

So with our shared love for avocado, when I came across these super delicious morsels on Circle B Kitchen, I couldn't resist. I mean, who needs potato fries when you can have avocado fries? And they're super simple. Without the roasted veggies for the aioli, the whole thing *might* have taken 5 minutes. Not even kidding. Just because the roasted jalapenos and garlic take longer doesn't mean you should skip them. The dipping sauce is oh-so-worth-it. I promise. So a sincere thank you is owed to Circle B Kitchen for spreading your love of all things avocado. Per usual, I made this recipe my own - as you should, too! These will definitely be repeats. Just look at the green goodness. Tapas party, anyone?

Avocado Fries 
with Roasted Garlic Jalapeno Aioli
Yield | 10-12 fries

Prep Time | 5 minutes
Cook Time | 1 1/2 hours for roasting, 3 min for frying
______________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:

Avocado Fries
Oil for frying
1 ripe, but still firm, medium avocado
1/4 cup flour, plus 3 tablespoons**
1 large egg, beaten (I also add 2-3 tablespoons of milk for coating, totally optional)
1 cup panko
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon adobo pepper (cayenne, chili, etc. can be substituted and adjusted to taste)

Roasted Garlic Jalapeno Aioli
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 fresh jalapeno
2-3 cloves garlic (from a head so that peel is intact)
EVOO, to drizzle
Sea salt

Preheat your oven to 225 degrees F. Remove the stem and de-seed your avocado. Remove your garlic cloves from the head, but leave the skin on. Place vegetables in a pan for roasting. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

In case you were wondering, the tomatoes are for my next update - Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Pizza! And yes, it was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.

Heat oil to 375 degrees F. You really only need enough oil to mostly cover the fries, so don't go crazy. Mine was about 1 1/2 inches deep. Circle B does a great job describing how these need to be cooked - the oil needs to be pretty darn hot. For me, not having a (working) thermometer at the moment, this was just a tad over medium heat (low medium-high heat? Haha).

Prepare your dipping station: put your 1/4 cup of flour in a dish for dredging, your egg in a bowl for dipping, and combine your panko and remaining flour, salt, and pepper (I used adobo (aged jalapenos) to compliment the the sauce, but cayenne or chili peppers would do just fine. Or none at all!). I add a little milk to the egg to thin it out a little whenever I batter, well, anything.

Slice your avocado in half. Remove the pit and peel. Cut your avocado into quarters, and then into 1/2 inch slices - should give you 10-12 fries, depending on the size of your fruit.

**So, this part may or may not be necessary. Circle K has you dredge your avocado slices in flour, which is generally what I do before coating any fried veggies. However, I found that a lot of the flour comes off in the egg. If you end up trying this without first covering them in flour, let me know how it works! It may work better without coating first, and adding more flour to the panko mix, maybe 1/3 cup.

Anyways, coat your avocado slices with flour. Dip in egg. Coat thoroughly with panko mixture.

Fry for 15-20 seconds on each side. These really do not take long to fry. Wait for your panko to get golden brown and remove. The hot oil cooks them quickly, keeping the avocado from getting too mushy and the panko from absorbing too much oil.

Let the fries rest on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Keep cooked fries in/on the warmed oven while waiting for subsequent batches - keeps them nice and crispy!

LOVE garlic. And roasted garlic is just tops.

Once your roasted jalapeno slices and garlic cloves are cool, remove garlic from skin (just squeeze those carmelly suckers right out!) and put in small dish with jalapeno slices. Now, if you have a food processor, I imagine you could just stick the veggies and mayo in and go. For me, though, I like to mush the crud out of them, releases the oils and gives the aioli a neat look, I think, with yummy bits of roasted garlic and peppers throughout.

The garlic should be nice and soft and gooey, so it smooshes up quite nicely with the jalapeno. Smooshes really should be the technical term, I think. Just so fun to say. Mixed smooshed jalapeno and garlic with your mayo. Makes one fantastic dipping sauce, if I do say so! It was also great in a tuna wrap the next day!

Drum roll please...

Dip those delicious bites of avocado awesomeness in your aioli and savor. They're rich, but oh-so-tasty. There really is no turning back from these.

Coming soon... Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Pizza, Strawberry Daquiri Poppers, and Chicken Florentine Rolls! And whatever else I decide I feel like making, of course!

Easy Snack | Philly Cheesesteak Croissant Bites

It's Friday. Friday means scary movies and video game night with the boyfriend. Friday means beer and snacks.

Digging through the fridge yields limited results - but I did manage to scavenge up some pepperjack cheese, banana peppers, some veggies, and some shredded beef. So, the Philly Cheesesteak Croissant Bites were born.

This is a super flexible recipe. Use as much or as little of the stuffing as you want. Change it up. Use jalapenos instead of banana peppers, provolone instead of pepperjack - it's all up to you. Technically, these don't even have to be cheesesteaks. They could be quesadillas.


Philly Cheesesteak Croissant Bites
Yield | 8 croissant bites

Prep Time | 5 minutes
Cook Time | 8-10 minutes
______________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:

1 tube croissant rolls (I used Pillsbury)

1/2 cup cooked steak or chicken

1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used a chunk of pepper jack and sliced off small pieces)

3-4 tablespoons onions, diced

3-4 tablespoons mushrooms, diced

3-4 tablespoons banana peppers, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread out croissant dough and put meat, cheese, and veggies on the wide end. 

Roll dough up and seal ends. Place on lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy! These were fantastic with bleu cheese dressing. So good. And, you can freeze and reheat. Who needs Hot Pockets?

Starters | Cajun Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Back when I first moved to Raleigh, I met a friend at a bar for a drink, where they had the absolute most amazing spinach and artichoke dip. A little spicy, with nice cool tomatoes on top and toasty pita bread.

While I've completely forgotten the name of the restaurant 400 times over, I will never forget that spinach and artichoke dip.

So that began my search. I tried recipe after recipe for homemade spinach and artichoke dip - I love this one from Food Network's Alton Brown - but a few months ago, a party popped up and smacked me in the face. I completely forgot. Five minutes at the store and a few dollars later, this quick and easy spinach and artichoke dip was born.

Cajun Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Yield | 1 batch

Prep Time | 5 minutes
Cook Time | 10 minutes
______________________________________________________________________

Cheese and tomatoes not pictured... I totally spaced!

1 jar spinach and artichoke dip (I'm in love with Harris Teeter store brand just about anything)

1 package cream cheese, softened (I like reduced fat, less greasy)

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, plus some to top

1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning, plus some to top

Diced tomatoes for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour jar of dip into a mixing bowl. Add cream cheese, mayo, parmesan, and seasoning. Mix well.

Top with parmesan cheese and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning. Bake for 10 minutes. Top with diced tomatoes and serve (not pictured on mine, spaced on even buying tomato! But it's just fine without it!). I LOVE this tip with hot pita bread, but tortilla chips, pretzels, and toasted bread are all fantastic.

So creamy, cheesy, delicious, and quick. Just wait until you try it!

Coming soon... Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies, Pasta Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, and Bacon Buffalo Bleu Pizza!

Gameday Grub | Deviled Egg Challenge

The Bruins are fighting to stay in the playoffs today - if they win today, they go to game 7. If they don't, well, I'll have a very sad boyfriend until football season distracts him. Or the Red Sox go to the World Series.

My Blackhawks aren't in any better of a position. They squeaked out a victory in OT, but have to win the next game to stay in until game 7... it's an anxious hockey season, that's for sure.

We need something tasty. Something different. All right, Allrecipes. Let's see what you've got to offer me.

I've mentioned eggs are a staple in our household. Well, deviled eggs are among our egg faves. The same ol' mayo, mustard, sweet relish combo gets old after awhile, though. So, the Deviled Egg Challenge flag was thrown.

Three recipes. Three contenders. C'mon, Allrecipes, give us something good. The recipes below are three of the highest rated on the site. Let's see what we've got here...

Deviled Egg Challenger #1: Spicy Horseradish Deviled Eggs. Horseradish, mustard, and sweet relish gives these a sweet and spicy flavor. Thanks, Sara on Allrecipes, for this one!
Deviled Egg Challenger #2: Balsamic & Bacon Deviled Eggs, Stephanie V's Bacon-Balsamic Deviled Eggs. Sweet and tangy Balsamic vinegar with savory bacon - great combination!
Deviled Egg, Challenger #3: Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs inspired by UserEmily3260. Bacon and cheddar is always a fantastic duo. Can't go wrong there!

Let the battle begin!

*Each of these start with hard boiled eggs. If you need tips, try this guide by Simply Recipes. Great resource!

Spicy Horseradish Deviled Eggs
Adapted from Sara's Special Deviled Eggs recipe, posted on Allrecipes.com.
Yield | 12 servings
Prep Time | 5 minutes, plus 15 to chill

______________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons onion, finely chopped (I used a sweet Vidalia, my favorite!)
3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
Salt and pepper, to taste
Paprika, for garnish

Slice eggs in half, length-wise. Scoop out yolks. Mix yolks and all ingredients, except paprika, until creamy. Scoop into egg halves. Garnish with paprika and refrigerate for 15 minutes until chilled through.


Balsamic & Bacon Deviled Eggs
Courtesy of Stephanie V's Bacon-Balsamic Deviled Eggs recipe on Allrecipes.com.
Yield | 12 servings
Prep Time | 5 minutes, plus 15 to chill

______________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled eggs
3 slices bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Fresh parsley, for garnish

Slice eggs in half, length-wise. Scoop out yolks. Mix yolks and all ingredients, except parsley, until creamy.  Scoop into egg halves. Garnish with parsley and refrigerate for 15 minutes until chilled.

We didn't have any fresh parsley on hand, and it's raining, so I didn't feel like going out, so mine aren't very pretty. That's okay, though, still tasty!

Bacon-Cheddar Deviled Eggs
Inspired by UserEmily3260's Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs, from Allrecipes.com.
Yield | 12 servings
Prep Time | 5 minutes, plus 15 to chill

______________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3 slices bacon

2 tablespoons cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon mustard

1 1/2 teaspoon sweet relish

Cayenne pepper, to garnish

Slice eggs in half, length-wise. Scoop out yolks and mix with remaining ingredients, except cayenne pepper, until creamy.  Scoop into egg halves. Garnish with cayenne pepper and refrigerate for 15 minutes until chilled through.

I clearly need a piping tool.

And the winner is...

Bacon-Cheddar Deviled Eggs. Once again, not real surprised. You just can't beat the bacon and cheddar combination! "It's killer," to quote the boyfriend. Just killer.

He did, however, enjoy all of them. The Bacon-Cheddar just took the cake.

Either way, they're all delicious and inexpensive. Great appetizers for any occasion. And 100s more varieties, I'm sure!

Gameday Grub | Buffalo Chicken Bites

Oh my.

These... well, these were fantastic. They are, already, a gameday snack requirement. I mentioned yesterday how important gamedays are in our house. If only you could see the boyfriend, completely decked out in Bruins gear, screaming at the top of his lungs - the Bruins just tied the game.

I don't know if our dogs will ever recover. The big one is under the coffee table.

Great. Now I'm not allowed to move from my seat. He thinks I'm good luck. I swear, I just sat down for a minute! Thankfully, I have nothing in the oven.

Oh well, I love hockey. And, let's be honest, I don't really want to clean the house, anyways.

Back to the point. The best part about gamedays is the food. We always have something special on gamedays: jalapeno poppers, chicken wings, fried just-about-anything. They're a big deal.

These delicious, creamy, cheesy, spicy Buffalo Chicken Bites pretty much top the list of the hundreds and hundreds of gameday snack recipes we've played with this year.

They are just wonderful and the dough can be used for so many things. It's even good with nothing stuffed inside it. I can't wait to try different fillings, like potato, cheese, and bacon (and a little ranch, of course!). So versatile.

Plus, these little bites are great to freeze. Just cook them halfway, baste, cool, and freeze. Costs a third of the frozen snacks. In our house, this is ridiculously important. Snacks are a way of life.

The best part about these: I was able to fix 'em up so they weren't too time-consuming. Did I mention you can freeze them?

A very special thanks to What's Cookin' Chicago? for introducing me to this snacktastic recipe. Find the original here. My adaptation, below, is a little creamier and cheesier, and a little quicker. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Bites
Yield | Roughly 48 bites

Prep Time | 15 minutes, plus 2 hours to rise
Cook Time | 6-8 minutes
______________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:

1 packet rapid rise yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup warm milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup cooked chicken
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup hot sauce*
4 tablespoons bleu cheese dressing (or ranch, if you prefer!)

Stir brown sugar into warm milk until completely dissolved. Pour into large mixing bowl. Now, as a note, I don't have a mixer, like the original poster, so these are the directions by hand. If you have a mixer, fantastic! Use it, as I live vicariously though you. I'm jealous :) Luckily, these aren't too difficult at all to make by hand.

Add flour and yeast to bowl and stir until mixed well and dough. Pour onto lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 5 -7 minutes.

Spread a light coating of oil over a large bowl. Place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place and let rise for roughly two hours.

While the dough rises, make your filling. Combine the remaining ingredients. I used canned chicken to cut down on time and it turned out great because it shreds up so easily. And we *always use Franks! So good.

"We put that sh*t on everything" is practically our household motto.

Preheat over to 400 degrees F.

After dough has doubled in size and bubbles have formed on the surface, set dough on floured surface and cut into four pieces. Take the first piece and roll until it is roughly 12 inches long, like a long rope. Use your rolling pin to stretch it out until it is 4 inches wide, 12 inches long.

Scoop 1/4 of the filling onto the 1/3 of the dough.

Fold in half and pinch to close on all sides. Roll into a 12 inch-long "rope."

Cut the "rope" into 12 pieces and place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes, until golden brown. Melt two tablespoons butter or margarine and brush over bites, salting lightly. Let cool for a couple minutes and devour.

So very, very tasty.

If you want to freeze them, bake them for 4-5 minutes, or until the dough is hard but not yet browning.

EDIT 4/24/2012: Reheated my frozen ones - SO GOOD. Very pleased with this recipe!


Next time: Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken & Grilled Pineapple... one of my all-time favorite chicken marinades. I love anything with soy sauce, though, and pineapple only makes it better!

Easy Snack | Bacon Mac n' Cheesy Bites

Sorry, kiddies. Thanks to an allergy-fueled lazy night, the fettuccine has been postponed to tomorrow's update. Instead, I will be watching the Darkest Hour and vegging out with a delectable frozen pizza.

Still have to have movie snacks, though!

In fact, snack foods are probably the biggest necessity in our house. My boyfriend, who is in his late 20s, has the snacktabolism of a 16 year old. Recently, I've been buying these Hot Pocket Snacker things for him. They're good and they're easy, but at $3 a pack for only 12 little bite-sized bits, they just aren't cutting it.

So, I've been on the quest to find easy and inexpensive homemade alternatives. Preferably something that can be frozen and reheated later, or at least keep for a little bit in the fridge.

Playing around online led me to an interesting snack idea on Allrecipes.com: Easy Mac and Cheese Muffins. The original recipe is simple homemade goodness, but as always, I made it my own.

Plus, you can make it super easy and super quick by using packaged mac instead of making your own, though if you take that route, use 1/2 cup of shredded cheese in the mix (your choice), as well as a tablespoon of butter, otherwise they'll end up dry. I'm sure whether you make the match from scratch or from the package, it will taste absolutely wonderful!


Bacon Mac n' Cheesy Bites
Yield | 212 servings

Prep Time | 15 minutes
Cook Time | 40 minutes
______________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked elbow pasta
1 1/2 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
2 cups cheddar cheese (or similar), shredded
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup bread or cracker crumbs (Cheez-its make the BEST topping!)
5-6 slices of bacon, crumbled
2 tablespoons ranch dressing
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tins.

The cheesier, the better.

Bring a pot of water to boil; add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain. Return pasta to pan and stir in butter, egg, milk, all cheese except 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (reserve for topping), crumbled bacon, and ranch. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Everything is better with bacon!

Spoon mixture into muffin tins. Top with remaining cheddar and breadcrumbs - we were out of Cheez-its, so I opted for Panko.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from tin.

The photo doesn't nearly capture their yummy-ness.

You can try so many variations of these. Buffalo mac, chili mac, anything you'd like in full-size mac n' cheese. And don't forget, to make these faster and cheaper, you can always substitute the pasta, cheese, butter and milk for pre-packaged mac n' cheese.

Boyfriend-approved. Then again, anything with bacon typically is! Cheesy, chewy, bacony goodness with just a hint of ranch.

Ohhh yeahhh...

Next time: Blackened Tilapia with Fettuccine and Grilled Summer Veggies... inspired by How Sweet It Is's Grilled Corn and Tomato Fettuccine... I promise! NO more allergy nights!

Follow my boards on Pinterest!    

Easy Snack | Soy Sauce Eggs

Original photo and recipe courtesy of RasaMalaysia.
If only mine had the coloring!

While the cookies for the Monday cookie post are baking, I decided to sift through my Pinterest boards for interesting ideas, and came across a recipe for soy sauce eggs or Shoyu Tamago (thanks to RasaMalaysia for the original recipe!).

I'm very lucky. I don't have that picky, child-like eater-type boyfriend. Mine will eat anything. I've seen him drink entire cups of nacho cheese. Not kidding. Multiple cups of nacho cheese.

He makes up to it, though, by loving roasted red peppers, munching on hummus with me, and letting me use the grill. I consider that a win.

So, I'm sure you can imagine, our fridge is uhmm... well... diverse. Capers, vidalia onions, bricks of feta - all delicious and wonderful.

Then there are the boyfriend necessities: mayonnaise, corn dogs and hot pockets, Caesar dressing (or other approved substitute), sandwich meat and toppings, honey mustard, hot sauce, and eggs.

Two cartons a week in eggs, sometimes three.

Seriously simple. Seriously delicious.

I hard boil. I scramble. I devil, I fry, I poach. I make toad-in-the-holes, breakfast scrambles, egg salad, you name it. And that's in the course of one typical week. Not to mention the cupcakes, cookies, and other craziness. Needless to say, they're essential.

New egg recipes are always appreciated. And encouraged.

Shoyu Tamago is quite possibly the easiest egg recipe ever. Seriously. Two ingredients. Two steps. Hard boil eggs. Roll in hot soy sauce. The eggs are beyond tasty. Noms.


Shoyu Tamago (Soy Sauce Eggs)
Yield | 5 eggs

Time | 20 minutes
_________________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:


5 eggs
6 tablespoons soy sauce

Hard boil eggs. Let cool in ice water to keep yolks nice and yellow.

Heat soy sauce in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Peel eggs. Roll in hot soy sauce. I think it's worth grabbing the tamari soy sauce mentioned in the original recipe to get the wonderful deep color (plus the dark coloring makes the chunks my eggs always seem to be missing less noticeable!). I used regular ol' Kikkoman. Brown, yes, but still absolutely delicious!

Keep rotating to evenly coat. Using tamari soy sauce gives a richer purple color, vs. the brown above.

The eggs darken as they cook and roll in the soy sauce.

Not as pretty as the purple ones but worth every bite!

Did I mention they're delicious even warm? One of my eggs didn't make it to the finish line, and there is a reason for that...

SO good.

At first, the boyfriend was reluctant. I don't really blame him - I was handing him a half-eaten brown egg. A tentative nibble led to almost biting my thumb off, and the extras I hid in the fridge yesterday are, yup, not there today.

I'll take that as a sign of approval.