Oven "fried" pickles

Oven "fried" pickles.  They took a while to make, but came out tasty and grease free!

turn on oven broiler

Mix 1/3 cup
Flour with two eggs. Whisk.

Add in 1 T Worcestershire sauce
 1 tsp Hot sauce and garlic powder and Cajun seasoning each
And 1 tsp black pepper.  Whisk.

Drain large jar of pickles slices and pat dry. Dip pickles in the egg mixture and then coat with Panko breadcrumbs.  Place pickles on a rack on top of the baking sheet and place in the middle rack of the oven. Broil for three minutes, flip over the pickles and broil three minutes more. Remove to a serving dish and sprinkle with kosher salt.

 Serve with ranch dressing.

Pecan Pie Popcorn

Great idea for Super Bowl - pecan pie popcorn!

1/2 cup maple syrup
1 T brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 tsp salt
7 cups popped popcorn
3/4 cup chopped pecans

in a pan, cook syrup and sugar over medium heat, whisking, 5 minutes.  whisk in butter and salt until thickened, 5 minutes.  mix popcorn, nuts and maple butter on parchment-lined baking sheet.  spread evenly, bake at 250 degrees for 20  minutes. (From Rachael Ray Magazine)

Tortilla Chips - Homemade

A simple thing I thought was too much work and took too much time, but now I've found out it's not bad at all...and they taste SO good!

Heat canola oil in a cast iron skillet about 1/4 - 1/2 inch deep.  Or you can put more oil in a saucepan and make it a deeper fry.

Cut several corn tortillas into six triangles using your pizza cutter.

Carefully place about 8 triangles into the hot oil so that they are separated.  They will fry very fast, so as soon as they start to bubble and brown, flip each one, then remove and drain on paper towels.

Sprinkle with kosher salt while still hot.  Keep frying until you have a pile!

Enjoy with salsa or any dip!  These will last for several days stored in a ziplock bag.

Metal, Glass and Greens

My niece made these terrariums for her house. Aren't they beautiful?

She found the metalwork glass containers at Anthropologie, the little cacti from Home Depot, and the rocks from the Dollar Store!

Poblano Quesadilla

makes 2

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
3 poblano peppers, halved, and seeds taken out, then sliced
1/4 cup white onion sliced
2 T canola oil
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Heat canola oil in a large skillet, toss in the peppers and onions and salt and pepper, stir and fry about 20 minutes until tender.

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1/2 can black beans rinsed and drained
2 large flour tortillas

In cast iron skillet, heat the tortillas until brown spots on both sides (30 seconds each side).  Stir in the beans and cheese with the pepper and onions, place half on each tortilla and fold over.

Place both quesadillas on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes until the cheese melts.  Slice each one in half and serve.

For the pico: Chop two large tomatoes, dice 1/4 white onion, chopped cilantro, salt and lime juice and one diced jalapeno.  Mix together.

Edamame Chip Dip

This dip is full of good stuff and tastes so great with chips!

1 lb frozen shelled edamame, cooked in microwave according to directions
1 T kosher salt
4 scallions minced
1/4 diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno or poblano pepper, diced
zest and juice of 2 limes
1 T of olive oil

coarse sea salt, freshly ground pepper

Mash the cooked edamame until they are coarsely broken up.  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and serve with chips. (Lime dusted tortilla chips taste great with this!)

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Tomato Tart

I tried a recipe from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook  - a tomato tart.  You can click to read it and follow her instructions (and photos which help so much, by the way!)

I halved the recipe and made it in a normal pie plate.  I saved the other half of the pie crust for a later recipe.

The pie crust recipe from Pioneer Woman that she also includes is so easy to make!

The tart is super tasty and looks so pretty!  We ate it with a roasted veggie medley for a complete no-meat dinner!