Showing posts with label 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3. Show all posts
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Texas Brew Salsa 3 Pack Giveaway Featuring Sweet Heat Buried Treasure Meatballs
One of my favorite things about blogging is sharing new food finds …and I LOVE it when I get to feature Texas-based companies! Today, I’d like to tell you about a product that’s based right here in San Antonio: Texas Brew Salsa. Owner Brenda Craig produces a wide variety of fire-roasted salsas in varying degrees of heat…including a line of delicious fruit-infused salsas that combine heat and sweet! Her all-natural salsas contain ingredients like fire-roasted tomatoes, roasted chipotle peppers, roasted poblano peppers, roasted onions, cooked black beans, sweet corn, real peaches, real roasted pineapple, real mangos, and real apples. Brenda recently sent me a few jars of salsa to sample and share my thoughts with you.
First up was what I like to call The Chip Test. We opened a big bag of tortilla chips and cracked open six jars of salsa in the following flavors: Fire-Roasted Poblano, Medium Honey-Roasted Chipotle, Hot-Iron Habanero, Honey-Roasted Mango, Honey-Roasted Pineapple, and Honey-Roasted Apple Cinnamon. We enjoyed all of the flavors – you can definitely tell this salsa is made from fresh, quality ingredients. I have to confess that I am a bit of a wuss! The hot habanero was almost too spicy for me. That said, Michael actually proclaimed the habanero his favorite…so its perfect if you like your salsa muy caliente! My personal favorite was the unique Honey-Roasted Chipotle. The smoky flavor of the chipotle was met with just a touch of sweetness in the background. Add in a salty chip, and you’ve got a winning flavor combination. The fruit salsas had a nice balance of sweet and heat, and I’d love to play around with those in a dessert recipe sometime!
I decided to create an original recipe using two flavors of Texas Brew salsa, so I went to my kitchen and got to work. I came up with Sweet Heat ‘Buried Treasure’ Meatballs. These juicy meatballs are seasoned with all sorts of goodies, including a healthy dose of Texas Brew’s Medium Fire-Roasted Poblano salsa. After baking in the oven, the meatballs are glazed in a flavorful sauce containing BBQ sauce and a jar of Texas Brew’s Honey-Roasted Pineapple salsa. These meatballs are seriously good…and really easy to make!
Sweet Heat ‘Buried Treasure’ Meatballs
a Weekend Gourmet Original
Step 1: Add the following ingredients to a large mixing bowl: ½ lb. 93% lean ground beef, ½ lb. ground pork, ½ cup Texas Brew Fire-Roasted Poblano Salsa, 2 sliced green onions, 2 grated garlic cloves, 1 tbs. cilantro paste (or chopped fresh cilantro), 1 cup crushed tortilla chips, 1 egg, 1 tsp. cumin, a few grinds of black pepper, and 1 tsp. garlic salt. Using pristinely clean hands, combine ingredients just until combined – be gentle.
Step 2: Preheat oven to 375. Divide the mixture into 12 portions – approximately 2 tbs. Insert one cube of co-jack cheese in the middle, then roll the meatball around the cheese cube. Place the meatballs on a rimmed baking sheet that’s been lined with parchment. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked. Don’t panic if a few of the meatballs start to ooze melted cheese…those are good for taste testing!
Step 3: While the meatballs are baking, make the sauce. Add 2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce and 1 jar of Texas Brew Honey-Roasted Pineapple salsa to a high-rimmed non-stick pan. Combine with a whisk and cook over medium heat. When the meatballs are cooked, add to the sauce and use tongs to coat them in the glaze. Let them simmer in the sauce for a few minutes while you pour drinks and get the plates ready. I served three meatballs and a spoonful of the sauce over Mexican rice. It’s fun to cut into the meatballs and see the cheese inside…like buried treasure!
These meatballs were really good…so good that Michael cleaned his plate and asked for seconds. Husband-approved is one of the best recipe endorsements I can give! The meatballs are moist, with just enough spice…and the cheesy middles are yummy and fun! The sauce is a little spicy, a little sweet, and a little smoky….an addictive combo that pairs really nicely with the meatballs. This meat mixture is versatile too! Michael thought it would make great meatloaf. For appetizers, simply make the meatballs slightly smaller and add a sturdy toothpick. Heck, I’m thinking that they’d make a great crockpot-friendly Super Bowl food!
Now for the best part: Texas Brew Salsa is going to give one of you a 3-pack of their salsa! Two of the jars will be the ones featured in these meatballs so you can recreate this recipe in your kitchen, and the third jar is Medium Honey-Roasted Chipotle. You can enter up to three times to win. For the first entry, visit the Texas Brew Salsa website, then come back and leave a comment letting me know which flavor caught your eye.. For a second entry, Like Texas Brew Salsa on Facebook and come back and leave a second comment. For a third entry, follow Texas Brew Salsa on Twitter and come back to leave me a third comment. Entries will be accepted through this Sunday 1/27 at 1159 p.m. The winner will be selected at random and notified on Monday 4/28. Good luck!!
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
A Food Lovers Weekend in New Orleans Part 3 Plus an Aunt Sallys Pralines Giveaway!!
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| From the moment you walk up the steps to Commanders Palace, you know youre in for a fabulous experience! |
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| Looking over the brunch menu while we enjoy our eye-openers, signature house-made garlic bread, and peach gazpacho. |
The food was excellent, starting with the appetizers. The guys had Commanders excellent Creole gumbo, Crystal (social media guru extraordinaire) had a tuile cookie filled with sweetened Creole cream cheese and topped with sweet diced cantaloupe. I adore shrimp remoulade, so I gave theirs a try: the shrimp were plump and sweet, and the remoulade had a perfect punch!
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| A sweet appetizer: tuile cookie filled with sweetened Creole cream cheese and locally grown cantaloupe. Add in some vanilla bean-infused syrup and candied pecans, and youve got a winner! |
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| A savory appetizer: Louisiana shrimp served with spicy remoulade sauce. |
Next came the entrees. First up was the Pecan Crusted Gulf Fish with Prosecco Poached Crabmeat, Spiced Pecans, and Crushed Corn Sauce. We also tried the Barbeque Shrimp with Andouille Cracked Corn Grits and Abita Beer Barbeque Sauce. The fish was moist, spicy, and nutty...and the crabmeat provided a nice sweet counterbalance. The shrimp were plump in a spicy sauce...and the grits were earthy and spicy from the chunks of sausage.
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| Pecan-crusted Gulf fish topped with lump crabmeat...served in a pool of crushed corn sauce. |
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| A spicy entree: Seared shrimp in Abita beer barbeque sauce, served over andouille-spiked grits. |
Between the entrees and the dessert course, the strolling jazz combo stopped by our table to play a New Orleans standard. It was great fun...and everyone in the dining room was clapping and enjoying it as much as we were! Before we knew it, dessert arrived. My two favorites were their signature Creole Bread Pudding Souffle with Whiskey Sauce and the Praline Parfait. The souffle takes a down-home favorite and elevates it to gourmet status...fluffy, rich, and sinful (in the best way possible)!! The parfait was almost too pretty to eat: vanilla bean ice cream layered with house-made pralines, whipped cream, and candied pecans...wrapped in a honey tuile and topped with sticky praline sauce.
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| Commanders signature dessert: Creole bread pudding souffle...with whiskey sauce added tableside, just before eating. Ethereal... |
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| Praline parfait...sweet, but not overly rich! Pralines, vanilla bean ice cream, and whipped cream. Encased in a crunchy honey tuile cookie and topped with candied almonds and caramel sauce. |
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| The Weekend Gourmet crew is all smiles as we enjoy Sunday Jazz Brunch. |
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| A duo of sorbet at Sucre: coconut basil and fresh strawberry. The perfect way to cool off on a warm, humid afternoon in New Orleans! |
Everything they sent with us was fabulous! We especially enjoyed the White Chocolate Bread Pudding and the Turtle: chocolate bread pudding topped chocolate mousse, salted caramel mousse, and a hidden gem! Both were decadent, and the small portion size made them not overly rich. The chocolate collection included flavors that were reminiscent of New Orleans.
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| White Chocolate Bread Pudding from Sucre...good warm or at room temperature! |
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| The Turtle: layers of chocolate and caramel mousse topped with ganache and a candied pecan. |
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| The New Orleans Chocolate Collection: handmade and flavored with local flavors, including chicory, bananas foster, and a fleur-de-lis-shaped chocolate ganache. |
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| Locals...and The Weekend Gourmet...line up to purchase authentic Italian ice cream and baked goods at Angelo Brocato. |
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| A sampling of cannoli and Italian cookies from Angelo Brocato. |
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| Pralines bubbling away in a well-used copper pot...in the kitchen at Aunt Sallys Pralines. |
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| A batch of pralines cooling in the kitchen, while another batch is cooking away in the background. Each pot makes approximately 300 pralines. |
In business since the 1930s, Aunt Sallys offers a wide variety of pralines, including traditional Creole, creamy, and chewy. They also come in several flavors, including original pecan, triple chocolate, bananas foster, and even a spicy one flavored with a bit of Louisiana Tabasco sauce! Even better, Aunt Sallys is going to give one of my readers a 12-pack of their Creole pralines: six each of Original and Triple Chocolate! To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below telling me how you might use Aunt Sallys pralines in your kitchen...or if you plain to enjoy them straight from the box "as is." Make sure to leave your e-mail so I can contact you if you win. I will accept entries until this Friday, September 21st, and the winner will be notified this weekend.
Friday, January 30, 2015
H E B ConAgra Meal Maker Challenge Week 3 Bacon Ranch Chicken Pizzas Featuring H E B Natural Chicken Breasts HEBMeals
Happy Sunday, everyone! Its Week #3 of the H-E-B/ConAgra Meal Maker Challenge. Im having a blast sharing my quick-cook family-friendly meals via this event! All of the featured recipes have only 7 ingredients...and they take only 30 minutes to whip up. During these busy August days, thats exactly the kind of meals that I like. Between a busy day job and morphing into The Weekend Gourmet nights and weekends, most nights I want to whip up something fast for dinner...but I dont want it to be flavorless and boring. With the right big-flavor ingredients in your kitchen, you can have a quick meal that makes your tastebuds sing in a matter of minutes!
This week, our featured ingredient is H-E-B Natural Chicken Breasts. Chicken is one of my go-to ingredientsfor quick weeknight dinners: thin-sliced chicken breasts cook up in minutes, and they are so versatile! I never get bored with chicken, because its such a great canvas to work with. For this challenge, I decided to go with pizza. Its the most family-friendly meal that I know of...everyone loves it! I wanted to do a fun spin on pizza, and two of my favorite flavors are bacon and ranch. Thats all I needed to create my super-flavorful Bacon-Ranch Chicken Pizzas. Yeah...I went there! By using pre-cooked chopped bacon and jarred alfredo sauce, these pizzas were ready in right at 30 minutes. Making them individual sized also means each person can adjust the amount of each ingredient to their preference.
This pizza combines seared chicken breast, ranch-infused alfredo sauce, pizza cheese blend, bacon and green onion...all on top of store-bought mini pizza crusts. There are only a few ingredients here, but theyre all so full of flavor that youd never know it. Youre going to make this one folks...its a keeper!!
Bacon-Ranch Chicken Pizzas
a Weekend Gourmet Original
Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb. HEB Thin Sliced Natural Chicken Breast
- 2 tbs. + 1 tbs. dry ranch dressing mix
- 4 HEB Thin Mini Pizza Crusts
- 1 cup HEB Four Cheese Alfredo Sauce
- 2 cups Pizza Blend Cheese
- 1/2 cup pre-cooked real bacon pieces
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with 2 tbs. of the dry ranch dressing and salt & pepper to taste. Spray a large skillet with non-stick spray and heat over med-high heat. Sear the chicken on both sides until they are golden-brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Set the chicken aside to cool
- Thoroughly combine the alfredo sauce and 1 tbs. dry ranch dressing mix in a small bowl. Place the pizza crusts on a large rimmed cookie sheet thats topped with parchment or foil. Spread 1/4 cup of the sauce on each of the crusts.
- Top each of the pizzas with 1/2 cup of cheese. Sprinkle each pizza with the bacon and green onion.
- Chop the cooled chicken and add a quarter of the chicken to each pizza. Top with salt & pepper to taste. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the crusts are golden-brown. For even cooking, turn the pan around halfway through the baking time.
This pizza is off-the-hook good...its one of my favorite recipe creations this year! If you love bacon and ranch, youll go nuts for this pizza. The creamy ranch-infused alfredo is a nice change of pace from the usual tomato sauce, and it pairs nicely with the ranch-seasoned chicken, bacon and green onions. The portion size is perfect when paired with a simple green salad on the side. This recipe is kid-pleasing...even if youre only a kid at heart like we are here at Casa Garcia!!
If you like this recipe, I sure would appreciate it if you voted for me! Its very easy to do. You can go to the H-E-B microsite OR you can go to the Meal Maker Challenge Pinterest Page and repin my recipe...each repin counts as a vote. It only takes a second to link over and vote, and I really appreciate the support. While youre there, you can also see all of the other great family-friendly meals that my fellow food bloggers are sharing!
Disclosure: I received compensation and free H-E-B and ConAgra products to participate in this promotion. The opinions expressed are all my own, however.
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