Showing posts with label october. Show all posts
Showing posts with label october. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2015
October Secret Recipe Club Featuring Bacon Maple Breakfast Crescents
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| Bacon-Maple Crescents...salty-sweet and SO simple to make!!! |
Shelbys original recipe calls for a sheet of crescent dough, but I wasnt able to find that despite checking several grocery stores. I just bought a can of regular crescent dough and improvised by making crescents instead of rolls. The only other changes I made to the recipe were to add a touch of cinnamon and vanilla extract to the filling and the glaze. The combo of sweet maple and smoky/salty bacon will BLOW your mind!
Step 2: Preheat oven to 375, and place parchment on a large baking sheet. Unroll a package of crescent dough and separate into 8 individual triangles. Spread 1 tsp. of the filling onto each triangle and sprinkle with a generous amount of the crumbled bacon. Roll up and place point side down on the cookie sheet, making sure to leave room for them to puff up as they bake. Bake the crescents for 10-12 minutes, until they are golden brown.
Bacon-Maple Breakfast Crescents
adapted from The Lives and Loves of
Grumpys Honeybunch
Step 1: Cook 8 slices of bacon until crisp; drain well and crumble. Set aside while you make the filling. To make the filling add the following ingredients to a bowl: 2 tbs. softened butter, 3 tbs. pure maple syrup, 1 tsp. high-oil cinnamon, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Whisk well to thoroughly combine.
Step 3: While the crescents bake, make the glaze by adding the following ingredients to a small bowl: 2 tbs. melted butter, 2 tbs. maple syrup, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp. high-oil cinnamon, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Stir well to combine and set aside. Let the baked crescents cool 5 minutes before glazing. For some reason, my glaze was more like an icing...so I spread it on the warm crescents with a knife, and sprinkled a bit of leftover bacon pieces on top. The warmth of the rolls made the icing turn into a nice glaze.
Wow...I LOVED these crescents! Flaky pastry filled with bacon and a sweet maple-cinnamon filling...and then topped with a sweet glaze and MORE bacon. Sign me up! I may have eaten two of them warm from the oven for breakfast...just saying. These are addictive, and using refrigerated crescent dough makes them easy enough to whip up on a busy weekend morning. Theyre easy to make, but fancy enough to serve company.
I hope you visit Shelbys blog to check out all of her fabulous recipes! While youre at it, check out all of the fabulous recipes that Group A Secret Recipe Club members are sharing today...they look fabulous.
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Sunday, April 19, 2015
The Weekend Gourmet Dines Out for October Featuring Bohanans Prime Steaks and Seafood
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| The addition of orange juice and Grand Marnier made this margarita special! |
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| My Crimson Pearl was pretty and tasty... and plenty potent! |
Right about then, our appetizer arrived. We decided to share a Jumbo Lump Crabcake, which we agreed was hands-down the best crabcake wed ever tasted. Imagine huge lumps of sweet crab with just enough binding to hold them together. Then imagine that its perfectly seared and served with slightly spicy remoulade sauce. Simply put, it was perfection.
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| The name doesnt lie: Jumbo Lump Crabcake...jumbo being the operative word! |
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| Rich and delicious Tortilla Soup: Chef Marks famous recipe. |
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| Heirloom Caprese Salad...some of the creamiest fresh mozzarella Ive ever tasted. |
Before we knew it, it was time for the main event: our entrees and side dishes. We decided to try one steak and one seafood entree, and our waiter encouraged us to try the very special bone-in New York Strip that had been dry aged for 45 days. Yes, please! Our mouths were watering before it ever made it to the table. We also ordered the Mesquite-Grilled Snapper Royale topped with lump crab, scallops, and chanterelle mushrooms in a creamy sauce. The fish was cooked very nicely, moist on the inside with just enough spice. The creamy sauce was rich, but not overly so. As much as I enjoyed the fish, I have to admit that the steak was the true star of the show!
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| Seared red snapper topped with more lump crab, scallops, and mushrooms. A little smoky, a little creamy... and all good! |
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| THE best steak Ive ever eaten: a bone-in New York Strip dry-aged for 45 days. Perfection. |
Im a Texas gal...Ive eaten a lot of steaks in my life. I can say without a doubt that is the very best steak Ive ever tasted. Ever. It was juicy, tender, and full of beef flavor. We were both grinning like giddy kids playing hooky from school while we ate this steak. To accompany our steak and fish, we sampled two side dishes from their large selection: Lobster Creamed Corn and White Truffle Oil Steak Fries. Both were rich and totally splurge-worthy. If youve never tried truffle oil fries, do yourself a favor: TRY IT!
By then, we were getting very full. Luckily, Chef Mark stopped by our table to chat with us for a bit...which gave us enough time to digest just enough to share one dessert. After looking over the menu, I asked Michael if we could get a flaming dessert. I absolutely love the theatrical element of leaping flames as its flambeed tableside...so dramatic! We settled on Strawberries Imperial served over vanilla ice cream. We had enjoyed something similar for dessert while on vacation in Cancun years ago, and we loved it!
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| The perfect ending: flambe strawberries served over vanilla ice cream... a show stopper way to end a meal! |
This dessert was delicious: not too sweet and full of fruit flavor. One of the best parts of a flaming dessert is that you get a show with your dinner! We were remarking what a fabulous meal it was, when we received one final surprise: two flutes of champagne were sent to our table to cap off this fabulous meal. There are few things I love more than a glass of good champagne, so it was the perfect ending to a remarkable meal!
Bohanans is a wonderful restaurant thats ideal for any special occasions you may be planning. Ive already requested that we celebrate our anniversary here in December! Attendant service, beautiful and romantic atmosphere, and amazing food. What more could you want?
Disclaimer: Bohanans provided us with a complimentary meal to facilitate this post. The menu items were of our choosing, and the opinions stated mine.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
October Secret Recipe Club Lemony Chicken Noodle Soup from A Fit and Spicy Life
I loved her addition of lemon and orzo, making this soup reminiscent of tangy Greek agvolemono soup. I had to make a few adjustments to her recipe based on ingredients that I had on hand in my kitchen. Due to some car issues, I wasnt able to get to the grocery store to buy orzo...so I had to improvise a bit to use what I already had on hand. That means I had to use egg noodles instead of orzo. I also subbed a combination of yellow onion and garlic for leeks, used chicken breast instead of thighs, and added a bit of corn that was in my freezer. Luckily, I already had dill and lemons in the kitchen -- which are the essential ingredients that give this soup its unique flavor.
Lemony Chicken Noodle Soup
adapted from A Fit and Spicy Life
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite-size cubes
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 8 ounces no boil egg noodles
- 1 tbsp dill
- 2 bay leaves
- A few dashes hot sauce
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Juice of 1 lemon
Directions:
Step 1: Add the olive oil to a Dutch oven over med-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies have softened a bit -- about 10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Step 2: Add the diced chicken breast to the Dutch oven. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned on all sides. Add the chicken broth, corn, and bay leaves. Bring the soup to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to med-low, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Step 3: Add the egg noodles and cook until tender -- about 10 minutes. Just before serving, add the dill, hot sauce, and lemon juice. Stir well to combine and ladle the soup into serving bowls.
This soup is so good...a comforting and filling complete meal in a bowl. The lemon juice and dill brought a unique flavor profile that elevated this soup above the usual chicken and noodle. I especially enjoyed the tart flavor that the lemon provided, and the addition of corn worked nicely with the carrots and celery. I cant wait to make this flavorful soup again during the upcoming cold-weather season!
Be sure to check out all of the great recipes that todays Secret Recipe Club participants are sharing -- youre sure to find something great to add to your upcoming menus!
Step 1: Add the olive oil to a Dutch oven over med-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies have softened a bit -- about 10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Be sure to check out all of the great recipes that todays Secret Recipe Club participants are sharing -- youre sure to find something great to add to your upcoming menus!
An InLinkz Link-up
Monday, February 2, 2015
October Foodie Contributor Post Featuring Big Flavor Soups for Chilly Evenings
Check out Big-Flavor Soups for Chilly Evenings
by Wendy Wofford-Garcia at Foodie.com
Once the weather finally starts to cool off here in Texas, my thoughts immediately turn to soup. Theres something so comforting about a warm hearty soup to warm you from the inside out when cold North winds are blowing. Were just starting to feel the first whispers of Fall here in Texas, but that means the "soup weather" is just around the corner! For this months Foodie Contributor Program, Im sharing a collection of Big-Flavor Soups that are perfect for chilly evenings.
Ive got everything from spicy seafood gumbo...to Mexican caldo de res (beef and vegetable soup)...to hearty chowders. Theres also a creamy spin on traditional chicken noodle soup and a creative Buffalo chicken soup inspired by one of our favorite game day foods. All of the soups in my collection are hearty enough to be a complete meal in a bowl, and theyre bursting with the big flavors that we like. I hope youll check out my collection of flavorful soups -- and that youll find one that youre as excited to try as I am!
Disclosure: This is a compensated post as part of the Foodie Contributor Program. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
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