Peanut Butter Oreo Balls

 A new obsession coming on, just in time for holiday baking!!! 

I found a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Oreo Balls and they were so delicious and easy, then I started thinking about all the new oreo flavors and how this could be endless treat ideas!! No process pics but I am sure I will be doing more so I will add next time!!! 

1 family package(19ish oz) chocolate peanut butter pie oreos( or just regular peanut butter filled ones)

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 -12 oz packages semi sweet chocolate chips

In a high powered blender crush all the cookies into fine crumbs.

In a large mixing bowl combine cream cheese and peanut butter and beat on high speed until fluffy.

Add in crumbs and mix until thoroughly combined.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Measure about 2 TB of the mixture and roll in into a ball(you can go smaller/larger if you want). Place on parchment lined sheet, repeat with remaining filling.

Place the prepared balls in the freezer for 30 minutes.

When they are almost done put one 12 oz bag of chocolate chips in a bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals stirring after each 30 seconds until it is smooth. (dont over heat or they get dry and not easy to dip)

Place each ball in the melted chocolate and coat well(I use 2 forks) Place back on the lined sheet.

Repeat with remaining balls melting chocolate from the second bag as needed.

Chill for 10 more minutes until the coating had re-hardened .......enjoy!

 Good frozen or chilled, or even at room temp, but refrigerate to store longer if you have leftovers!

Cream of Zucchini Soup

 I found a Cream of Zucchini Soup recipe and it looked fantastic.....but I forgot to bookmark it and could not find it again, but then I thought about my Cream of Greens soup and thought I could totally modify it with Zukes.......and it a was a TOTAL hit!  No process pics but it is pretty simple.

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TB avocado oil

2 small potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters

2 lbs zucchini, unpeeled and sliced

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk (I used 2%)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 cup sour cream

Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pot heat oil over medium heat, add onions and garlic and cook until tender and fragrant.

Add potatoes, zucchini and broth.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes until potatoes and zukes are very tender.

With an immersion blender (or in a regular blender in batches) process until completely smooth. 

Add milk cream, seasonings  and sour cream and process again until smooth.

Heat through and serve with a topper of parmesan cheese!

I did a side of Texas Toast too!

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf Sliders

 I saw a post about meatloaf sliders so I decided to give my own a shot. 

Meatloaf:

1.5 lbs ground beef

1/3 cup chopped sweet onions

1/3 cup chopped dill pickles

2 eggs

1 tsp garlic powder

seasoned salt and pepper to taste 

2/3 cup bread crumbs 

5-6 slices thick bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1 recipe SuperPickle's Secret Sauce(divided use)

1 package of 12 pull apart Sweet Hawaiian Rolls

8-10 onion rings cooked crisp(Homemade or Frozen, I actually really like the Great Value brand!)

1 roma tomato, chopped

shredded cheddar to taste

Topping:

1/4 cup butter

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp seasoned salt

Combine all meatloaf ingredients, adding about 1/4 cup of the SuperPickle's Secret Sauce and gently mix until combined, don't overmix.

On a large baking sheet pat the meatloaf  into a rectangle(a little bigger than the size of the un cut hawaiian rolls.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until it hits 165 degrees.

Remove from oven, drain grease and allow to cool.  Cut to shape if needed (mine was a bit too big, but my middle son certainly chomped down the excess LOL)

While it is cooling get your onion rings cooked up, I did them in my airfryer.

Slice the Hawaiian rolls lengthwise without separating them. Place in a 13x 9 baking dish.

Broil the bottom slices until just browned, then spread with 1/2 the remaining Secret sauce.

Place the sheet of meatloaf on top. Cover with cheese, chopped tomatoes and more bacon if you like!

Place the cooked onion rings on top  and drizzle with remaining Secret sauce.

Mix topping ingredients.

Place the top of the rolls on top and brush with the topping.

Bake at 350 until warmed through and the buns are toasty.

Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then slice and serve!  

Smoked Ice with an Orange Twist

 Smoked Ice....excellent for a Bourbon on the rocks, or other cocktails!  

8 cups water

1 orange, sliced

Put the water and orange in a pan ( I used a 9 x 13 foil roasting pan).

Preheat smoker to 175(or lower as long as you can maintain the smoke, less evap at lower temp), with a mild wood like cherry or apple (oak would be fantastic too!)

Smoke the water for 45 minutes. Turn off the smoker and close vents, allow to cool without opening for 1 more hour.

Strain out the orange slices (I ran it through a coffee filter to get out all stray orange particles) 

 Place pan in freezer and chill until frozen solid (alternately you could strain into ice trays)

Smash with a meat hammer and remove from pan and place in a large ziplock bag. 

Serve with your favorite bourbon or whiskey or cocktail 

Smoked Buffalo Ranch Ritz Bits

 Tasty little snack I threw in the smoker with some other projects today!  

1- 8.8 oz box Cheese filled Ritz Bits crackers

4 TB butter, melted

2 TB Frank's RedHot sauce

1 packet dry ranch seasoning

 

Mix melted butter and hot sauce, set aside

Place the ritz bits in a pan (I used a foil roasting pan) and toss with buffalo sauce, then sprinkle on the packet of ranch and toss again.

Preheat smoker to 225 with a mild wood like cherry or apple 

Smoke for 1 hour.

Remove from smoker and allow to cool completely so they crisp back up.

ENJOY!

Hawaiian Pork Eggrolls

 YEP.....more Eggrolls!!! A spin off of my delicious Hawaiian Pork Burgers.   

1 package of Eggroll Wrappers (approx 20 wrappers)

Filling:

24 oz ground pork, crumbled and cooked, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder, cooled well

4 oz Jarlsberg cheese, shredded ( or Swiss if unavailable)

3 green onions

1 TB soy sauce

1 tsp white sugar

1 tsp brown sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger paste (or fresh grated ginger root)

1/2 cup grated granny smith apple

3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained

1/4 cup chopped red onion

3 TB BBQ sauce

1 TB Mayo

salt and pepper to taste

red pepper flakes to taste

Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl. 

Stir well and allow to mingle in the fridge for at least an hour.  

Place approx 3 TB on an eggroll wrapper, slightly dampen the edges of the wrapper, fold up bottom corner, 

fold in 2 side corners, 

and gently but firmly roll to the top corner, you want it somewhat tight, but not so tight they explode.

Put them in a preheated 400 degree airfryer and brush with olive or avocado oil. Fry for 5 minutes, flip v and fry 4 minutes more, working in batches as needed.

You can also deep fry these in a traditional matter if you choose, or even brush with oil and bake at 400 for 20 or so minutes, turning as needed. 

Serve with your choice of dip!

Air Fried Green Cherry Tomatoes

 Here it is August....tomato season....If your garden is anything like mine you have lots of varying  ripeness on those tomato plants. I LOVE fried green tomatoes and while I was picking my ripe cherry toms I started thinking about my fried pickle recipe.....so here we go!!

12 oz green cherry tomatoes (about 30) sliced in half

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp paprika(smoked if you have it!)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

5 oz buttery crackers, (Club or Ritz work well), crushed into SUPERFINE crumbs(in a blender or food processor)

1 TB  dried parsley

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper taste(I found no extra salt necessary since the crackers were salted

Not as many process pics but you get the idea.

First whisk the milk and eggs together in a dish, add tomatoes and swish around

In a large ziplock bag combine flour and seasonings, seal and shake well.

Remove from the milk mixture, draining well (don't discard the milk yet!)

Add the tomatoes to the flour, seal and shake well to completely coat each half

In another dish combine cracker crumbs and seasonings, mix well. 

Shake excess flour from the tomatoes and a few at a time re-dunk in the milk mixture then press into the crumb mixture completely coating each side. Pressing gently but firmly to allow coating to adhere.

Place on a plate in single layer.

Freeze for 15 minutes. (VERY IMPORTANT STEP, DON'T SKIP!)---

Preheat airfryer to 400 for 5 minutes.  Arrange tomatoes in single layer, working in batches if necessary ( I did mine in 2 batches).  

Spray gently with preferred oil( I use avocado) and close lid. Fry for 7 minutes,  turn and spray again, cook 5 minutes more. 

I served mine with Wasabi Ranch dip 

Smoked Jalapeno Popper Zucchini Casserole with Chicken

 I had a bunch of zucchini from my garden and I have recently tried smoked cream cheese (which is  fantastic!!) so when I came across a zucchini popper casserole I decided to play with it as a smoker recipe. 

You could also do this in the oven at 350 for 30 mins or so if you don't have a smoker

2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast, seasoned to taste

3 medium zucchini,  sliced 1/4" thick

2 jalapeños, diced, divided use

1/2 bunch green onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced ,(fresh is BEST)

8 oz cream cheese, softened 

1/2 cup sour cream

2 -3 TB dry ranch seasoning ( to taste)

4 oz extra sharp cheddar, shredded

2 oz pepper jack, shredded

8 slices thick bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1 sleeve garlic butter flavored Ritz crackers, crushed

3 TB butter, melted 

Fresh Parmesan cheese to taste

Preheat smoker to 250 with apple or cherry wood..

Combine soft cream cheese with sour cream and ranch seasoning, add in green onions and 3/4  of the jalapeños. 

Spray the bottom of a 9x11 pan( I use a disposable foil pan for the smoker ) with nonstick spray. Layer  a little less than 1/2 the zucchini slices to cover the bottom of the pan.

Spread cream cheese mixture over the zucchini, then layer the chicken, about 2/3 of the cheeses and half the bacon. 

Top with an even layer of remaining zucchini, overlapping as needed to cover it all up. Press gently to  even everything out. Sprinkle on remaining cheese. 

*you can make to this point and pop in the fridge until ready to cook if you like

Mix cracker crumbs with butter and evenly layer over the top, add the last of the jalapeños and the other 1/2 of the bacon  and sprinkle the parm.

Smoke for 60-75 minutes until internal temp is 165.

Allow to set for 10 minutes before dishing it up

Lemon Cheesecake Puffs

 Yep another puff!!! Made these for a little weekend get together with friends and they were an instant hit! No process pics but nearly the same as my past 2 so feel free to go to either of those if you need some visual help.

I made enough for 12 so I am including the full recipe, totally easy to half it if you don't need that many!

Another idea I am going to make next time, adding 1 tsp lemon extract to the cream cheese mix in place of the vanilla, and adding fresh strawberry slices under the lemon curd!

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed

Cream Cheese filling:

2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

Lemon Curd:

2 egg yolks

1 whole egg

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (fresh is important, bottled just doesn't do it justice)

6 TB salted butter, cut into small cubes

* add 1/8 tsp salt if using unsalted

1 TB lemon zest

Make the curd first to allow for cooling time:

In a double boiler bring a few inches of water to a boil, reduce to a simmer. 

In the top pot add egg, yolks, egg, sugar and lemon juice. Whisk well. Continue to heat and whisk until very thick. (you can turn the heat up slightly if this seems to be VERY slow going)

Remove from heat and whisk in butter until it is all melted. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

Puff Pastry:

Preheat oven to 400, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Unfold each sheet, cut on the fold lines then across the entire sheet to make a total of 12 rectangles.

Place the dough, not touching, on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes and rotate pans in the oven, bake 5-7 minutes more until they are nice and golden brown.

Cool completely

Cheesecake Filling:

In a mixing bowl beat the softened cream cheese and sugar until no lumps remain. Add in sour cream and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

Assembly:

Gently pull each puff pastry apart like a hamburger bun, add a good scoop of the cheesecake filling and top with lemon curd. Replace tops and gently sprinkle with powdered sugar to finish!

Best enjoyed immediately but if you need to store them for a bit, cover loosely with plastic wrap and store in the fridge

Carne Asada Taco Casserole or Eggrolls added 12/01/21

 I adapted this from Mr TacosWay Carne Asada Tacos.  They were absolutely delicious but I wanted to  make it into a casserole for easier serving. I know their video got a lot of flak about the smooth/watery guac and the heavy salt content. I did majorly adjust the salt content but the smooth guac is super yummy with far less water!

I think this would be delicious with chicken too!

I made these into eggrolls now too....instructions at the bottom...

Or just regular street tacos too....these with mission flour street taco tortillas...a little meat, guac, red sauce, onion, cilantro and cheeses... heated on a griddle until browned and crisp! 

16 corn tortillas, sliced into quarters( I used Missoni, Extra Thin)

1 lb steak, sliced thin then chopped into bite sized pieces (authentic CA uses skirt of flank but in all reality you can use any cut of steak you prefer)

Marinade:

1 TB taco seasoning (roughly 1/2 this recipe)

2 TB lime juice

1/4 cup orange juice

2 cloves garlic

1 TB avocado oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup sweet onion

 1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro 

6 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded

1/2 cup cotija, shredded (Asiago is a great sub if cotija is not available)

Guac:

4 ripe avocados

2 serrano peppers, seeds removed

1 TB chopped cilantro

3 cloves garlic

1 TB lime juice

salt to taste

Red Sauce:

4 large tomatillos, husked and sliced in quarters

1 good size Roma tomato, sliced in quarters

15 dried red chiles (I used chile arbol), seeds removed 

2 cloves garlic

2 cups water

salt to taste

Toss your steak pieces with the taco seasoning, juices, garlic and oil. Allow to mingle for at least 15 minutes.

Heat a pan over medium high heat, add steak and cook until very little pink remains. 

Set aside

Red Sauce:

Place 2 cups water and the tomatillos and tomato over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes, until the fruits are soft.

Strain out the fruit and save the liquid. In a high powered blender place softened fruits, dried chiles and garlic. Pulse to start breaking it up. Add water to get a good sauce and blend until totally smooth. You may or may not need ALL the water, you want it somewhat thin but not watery. Add salt to taste. 

* as you can see in this pic, I added my liquid first, don't do that. It is better to help with thickness control.

You want a good 2 cups of sauce so you can adjust from there too. Also if it seems too thin, put it back on the heat, mix 2 TB cornstarch and 2 TB cold water, whisk into hot sauce and heat until thickened.

Set aside.

Guac:

Place the 4 avocados in a high power blender (remove skin and seed first 😁 ) along with serrano pepper, cilantro and lime juice. Blend on high speed until totally pureed. Add  water to thin a little further, you want it to drizzle/spread well but not TOO thin. Add salt to taste.

Assembly:

Place about 1/3 cup red sauce at the bottom of a 8 X 11 baking dish. 

Place quartered tortillas to cover the bottom, add 1/2 the steak, 1/2 the onions, 1/2 the Monterey jack cheese, and about 1/3 of the cilantro. Drizzle with about 1/3-1/2 cup red sauce and spread 1/2 of the guac. 

Another layer of tortillas, layer with remaining steak, onions and cheese, another 1/3 cilantro, another  1/3 to 1/2 cup red sauce and more guac to taste (I saved about 1/3 cup for topping). Last layer of tortillas, cover with remaining sauce, cilantro and shredded cotija.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, uncover and bake 15 minutes more.

Remove from oven, recover loosely with foil and allow to set for 15 minutes.

Slice and top with a dollop of sour cream and some more guac.

This is pretty spicy as is but you could even add a few slices of fresh jalapeno if you like!

For Egg Rolls:

Get the meat marinated and cooked and the guac and red sauce made as directed above

Drain the meat and allow to cool. Add about 1/2 the red sauce and 1/2 the guac and mix well. Add, onion, cilantro and cheeses and toss gently. Chill well. Put approx 3 TB filling on an eggroll wrapper, brush edges with a little water, fold bottom corner up, and tuck snuggly, fold in the 2 side corners then roll to the top and press to seal......repeat with remaining filling. I did mine in an airfryer brushed with avocado oil for 5 minute, flip and 5 minutes more.......serve with remaining red sauce, guac and some sour cream!!!

Disclaimer just because I have gotten "authentic" comments in the past.....I don't claim this as anywhere near authentic CA....I just found a recipe I liked and modified it. If something seems off to you please feel free to modify it and let me know what you liked!