Southwest Egg Rolls & Cool Avocado dip

Southwest Egg Rolls & Cool Avocado dip
adapted from Taste of Home Dec/Jan 2009 edition with my personal adaptations.

Prep: 35 minutes
Cook 5 minutes
Yield 20 Egg rolls

2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I already had grilled mesquite chicken left over, so I used that, yummy)
1 1/2 cups Mexican cheese blend ( I had to use some cheddar I had, but I also used some local Trappista cheese found here, because cheddar is imported and expensive!!)
2/3 cup corn
2/3 cup black beans rinsed and drained
5 green onions (I only used one and it was plenty... I thought, depends on how much onion you like)
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp grated lime peel
I also added half a squeezed lime, next time I will add a whole lime
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 package of egg roll wrappers
Oil for frying
Dip
1 cup Ranch dressing
1 medium ripe avocado peeled and mashed
1 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro
1 tsp grated lime peel
I added the other half of my lime... yum

I a large bowl, I mixed together all the ingredients

Then I scooped about 1/4 of the mixture into the egg wrappers and folded/rolled them up. I used egg white to close the wrapper and make sure it is shut. I then fried them in a pan with oil.

This is what they looked like inside. So yummy.

Enjoy!!!

Pork Loin Marinade

3/4 c. soy sauce
2/3 c. veg. oil
1/2 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. worchestershire sauce
1/4 c. mustard
2 cloves
Gotten from Melissa White who got it from Jennifer Welsh I think...

(Becky we are always loosing this, so thought it would be safe if put on the blog!!!)

Brownie Truffles

Brownie Truffles

Bake the brownies I listed above and over cook them a bit, so they are more crunchy.
Allow to cool
Roll into balls and leave in fridge until it is cold and hard

Melt dark chocolate and some butter.
Dip the balls into the chocolate to cover them
Then set aside to cool in fridge until hardened.
Enjoy!
( I stick a toothpick in them to help pick up and use a wire rack to cook them on.)

Cream Cheese Truffles

Cream Cheese Truffles

Crush pilota’s in a food processor and then mix with cream cheese until it forms a ball.
Make tiny bite size balls and place on cookie sheet
Put into the fridge to cool and harden.

Melt dark chocolate and some butter.
Dip the balls into the chocolate to cover them
Then set aside to cool in fridge until hardened.
Enjoy!
( I stick a toothpick in them to help pick up and use a wire rack to cook them on.)

Fudgy Chocolate Cake with Ganache Icing

Fudgy Chocolate Layer Cake

1 ¾ cups flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 packets vanilla sugar
1 ½ cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 175C and grease then flour two round cake pans.
Mix flour cocoa, baking soda, salt.
In another bowl beat butter and sugars (both) until fluffy then add eggs one at time, mixing well in-between. Finally add vanilla packets.
At low speed, alternately beat flour mix and buttermilk into butter mixture just until blended.
Divide and pour into pans.
Bake and use a toothpick or fork to test to see if cake is done after 25-30 minutes in oven.
Cool cakes completely.

Icing… Chocolate Ganache
250 grams dark chocolate (or milk)
1 cup heavy cream

Place broken pieces of chocolate into medium bowl.
Heat cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to boil.
When cream has come to a boil, pour over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.
(stir in rum, or other flavorings if you want.. about a tablespoon, I like it plain)

Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over cake.
Start at the center of the cake and work outward.
For fluffy frosting or chocolate filling, allow it to cool until thick, then whip with a whisk until light and fluffy.

Assemble cake with frosting and then put in fridge to allow the ganache to set. And keep in fridge until you eat it. Enjoy!!!

Strawberry Cake

Strawberry Cake

Cake mix:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter or margarine
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 packet vanillin cukor
4 egg whites
1 1/3 buttermilk

Grease and lightly flour 2 round baking pans.
Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside
In large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium high/high for 30 seconds.
Add sugar and vanilla, beat until well combined
Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each.
Add dry mixture and buttermilk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just till combined.
Pour batter into the pans
Bake at 175 for 30-35 minutes or till a fork comes out clean when inserted.
Cool cakes.

Strawberry glaze (goes in the middle of the two layers of cake)
Mash enough strawberries to measure 1 cup. Mix 1 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons corn starch in 2 qt saucepan. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup water and mashed strawberries. Cover over medium heat, stirring, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute, cool completely.

Whipped topping:
Make whipped cream, any way you like. I used a box of whipping cream, add a bit of sugar and vanilla to taste, and whip. I add the “Hab fixalo” packets to make it thicker.

To assemble the cake…

Take the cooled cakes and put one on a plate.
Add the strawberry glaze mixture to the top, if you want a thick layer in-between, you scoop out some of the bottom layer of the cake, making a whole to put the mixture in.
Put the other cake on top.
Spread whip cream mixture over the whole cake or just on top
Arrange fresh strawberries on top of the cake.

Chicken Piccata (taken from the FOOD network)

2 chicken breasts butterflied and cut in half.
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
All purpose flour
6 T of butter
5 T of EVOO
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup capers
1/3 cup fresh parsley

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 4T of butter with 5T EVOO. When butter and oil start to sizzle add chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is brown, flip and cook the other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to a plate.

Into the pan add lemon juice, stock, and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up the brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add 2 T butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

YUM YUM YUM

Chicken Breasts Royale

I got this recipe from Kathy Anderson.

4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp butter
1/4 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups cream
grated cheese

Heat butter and sautee chicken until nicely browned on both sides. Salt and pepper. Remove from pan and cool pan slightly... beat the egg yolks and whisk into cream. Heat slowly until slightly thick and return chicken to pan. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over the top.

Pumpkin Squares

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375. Mix above with a pastry blender. Pat into bottom of 13x9x2 greased and floured pan. Bake 12 minutes.

Filling:
1 can pumpkin (if you don't have one you can cook squash and use it or around Oct. you can find pumpkin and cook it and mash it and freeze it for later!)
1 can evaporated milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
(or you could just add pumpkin pie spice if you have it, that works too)

Beat filling ingredients with mixer for 3 mins on medium speed. Pour into above crust. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts
1/4 cup soft butter
2 T flour

Mix well. Crumble on top of partially baked pumpkin mixture. Bake 10-15 mins or more until center is set. Refrigerate.

Homemade Whipped Cream

1 small carton heavy whipped cream
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
as many packets as you need of "Habfixalo" to get the right thickness desired
Add all ingredients in a bowl and whip until thick and at the right consistency. Keep in fridge.

Brownie Cobbler

2 cups butter
10 oz chocolate chunks
4 cups sugar
8 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350/180 Coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
Melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until melted and smooth.

Whisk sugar and chocolate mixture. Whisk in eggs one at a time. Whisk in vanilla, flour and then salt. Transfer batter to prepared baking dish. Bake until top is crisp and tester inserted comes out with wet crumbs attached, about 50 minutes.

Homemade Whipped Cream
1 small carton heavy whipped cream
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
as many packets as you need of "Habfixalo" to get the right thickness desired
Add all ingredients in a bowl and whip until thick and at the right consistency. Keep in fridge.

Ranch Potatoes Recipe #75873 on Recipezaar

8-10 medium potatos peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 packets of cream of mushroom soup and just follow directions by half to make it thicker
1 1/4 cups milk
1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 cup shredded Trappista cheese
6 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled

Add potatoes to saucepan
Add water to cover
Bring to boil and cook about 10-12 minutes or until almost tender, drain
Place drained potatoes into a greased 13x9 inch baking pan
In a bowl mix together soup, milk, ranch dressing, 1 cup cheese, salt and pepper to taste, pour over potatoes
Sprinkle crumbled bacon and the remaining cheese over the top
Bake uncovered at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender

I cannot tell you how good this is!

Becky's Strawberry Glaze

Mash enough strawberries to measure 1 cup. Mix 1 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons corn starch in 2 qt saucepan. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup water and mashed strawberries. Cover over medium heat, stirring, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute, cool completely.

Twice Baked Potatoes

4 large potatoes
Bake until soft
Gut most of potato and put in a bowl
Mix in
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 t instant minced onion
1/2 t salt
2 T butter
1 T parsley flakes
1 cup grated cheese
Mix well, and stuff skins of potato and cook at 400 for 30 minutes.

I have also made this into a casserole dish and just baked the potatoes and cut them up in a bowl and mashed/mixed together with all the ingredients. I mixed well and put in baking dish and sprinkled with more cheese and then baked for 30 minutes... yum

Dutch Apple Pie

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup shortening (Rama)
(put above in bowl and cut with pastry blender)
add 1/4 cup ice water and fix with fork
Roll out on floured board and put in pie dish

Filling:
5 large Idared apples
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 t cinnamen
1/2 t nutmeg
Peel and slice apples and mix other ingredients together. Put in pie shell.

Topping
1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
Mix above with a pastry blender
Put over top of apples.

Bake at 425 for 1 to 1 1/4 hours
Cover with foil if too brown after first half hour.

I got this recipe from Kathy Anderson

Chicken Pockets

Thaw & roll out Leveles Teszta
cut into 8 rectangles

Mix together:
3 oz cream cheese
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon chopped onion or 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 Tablespoon milk
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups chopped cooked chicken

Divide mixture evenly onto dough and fold over to make "pockets" Seal and place on cookie sheet. Bake until light brown. Bake at 350/180

I make a lot of these, and then freeze them, so I have them to take out in a jiffy when hungry.

Toffee Bars (AMAZING)

Preheat oven to 400
Line a 9x13 pan with 1 layer of vitamilks cookies

In saucepan add:
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
dash of salt
Boil rapidly 3 minutes, stirring consistently.

Pour over layer of cookies in the pan.
Bake 4-5 minutes
Remove from oven & sprinkle with 2 szerencsen chocolate bars broken up
Let chocolate melt and spread evenly over toffee

CUT WHILE WARM

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/3 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup walnuts
1 cup chocolate chunks
1 1/3 cup flour mixed with 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix above and add 1/2 cup melted butter or marg., 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix together with hands until well blended. Roll into balls and bake on greased cookie sheet at 350/180 10-12 minutes

Makes 3 dozen

Deep Dish Brownies

ooey, gooey, rich & chewy

3/4 cup butter or margarine melted
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (or 1 packet vanilla cukor)
3 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all. Beat well with spoon. Spread into greased 8" square pan (sprinkle with chocolate chunks if desired)
Bake at 350/180 40-45 minutes until pulls away from edge of pan.

Easy Fudge

400 grams chocolate
3 tubes sweetened condensed milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

put it all in a microwave bowl and heat until chocolate is almost melted. Mix well and the rest of the chocolate chunks will start to melt.

Pour into a pan that already has a sheet of wax paper at the bottom
place in fridge until set, better if left overnight

cut into pieces and enjoy