YumSugar

Easy Elegant Appetizer: Prosciutto Pinwheels

partysugar — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:15:13 -0800

If you are looking for a super tasty appetizer -and prawns aren't your cup of tea - consider making these prosciutto pinwheels. Mastering these bite-sized snacks is a cinch for even the most culinary challenged, self-proclaimed noncooks. In fact, they are so effortless that I put them together in the Sugar HQ kitchen. Simply layer thawed puff pastry with prosciutto, grated parmesan cheese, and fresh basil, and roll up. The best thing about these savory treats is that you can assemble now and bake later, making them ideal for a party. To look at the recipe, read more.

Prosciutto Pinwheels
Modified from Bon Appetit magazine

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 17.3-ounce package), thawed
4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup (packed) finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)

Place pastry sheet on work surface. Arrange half of prosciutto on one rectangle, leaving 1/2-inch border along one side. Sprinkle prosciutto with half of basil, then top with half of cheese.
Starting at one side, roll up pastry jelly-roll style, pressing gently to seal long edges. Wrap in plastic.
Repeat with remaining pastry, prosciutto, basil, and cheese to form second log. Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cut logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Arrange rounds on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.
Bake 1 sheet at a time until pastries are golden brown, about 16 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer pastries to racks and cool slightly. Serve warm.

Makes about 30 appetizers.

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Reader's Recipe: Hearty "Cleaned Up" Chicken Pot Pie

YumSugar — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:58:13 -0800

For some reason, I have been craving chicken pot pie for the past few weeks. I'm not sure where the craving came from, or why, but I do know that I need to make one sooner than later. I've got a few recipes in my repertoire, but I decided to see if there were any great recipes online. Lucky for me, I didn't have to look too hard. My first stop was TeamSugar and reader suzanne has provided a great looking chicken pot pie that's she's altered from The Best Light Recipes cookbook. To check out what suzanne has come up with, read more

Recipe submitted by suzanne

This recipe (from "The Best Light Recipes Cookbook") started out at 380 calaories and 9g fat (instead of the usual 510 calories and 28 g of fat...) The changes I made did not alter the taste or texture at all... just brought the fat and calories even lower. Serves 8

It's delicious and satisfying. give it a try!

Light Chicken Pot Pie

- 6 medium carrots peeled and sliced
- 3 celery stalks sliced 1/4 in. thick
- I medium onion chopped fine
- 2 garlic cloved, minced
- 2 tsp. fresh Thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 medium skinless boneless chicken breasts trimmed of all fat
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen green beans
- 1 cup skim milk
- 2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley leaves
- pinch salt and ground black pepper
- 1 Kroger frozen pie crust (4gm per serving) taken out of the shell, moistened, a bit formed into a ball and rerolled into a thin round circle.

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and 1/2 tsp. salt in a cooking pot. Cook in 4 cups chicken stock until vegetables are soft and tender. Stir in white wine and bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
3. Place the whole chicken breasts into the vegatable/sauce mixture and cook until the chicken is not pink in the center - about 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and allow to cool.
4. While the chicken cools, whisk the cornstarch into the milk and add to the simmering pot. Simmer until thick, then turn off heat.
5. Take out the bay leaf, stir in the peas, green beans and parsley and season with salt and pepper
6. When the chicken is cool enought to handle, shred it and then cut into bits sized pieces. Stir the chicken into the sauce/veg mixture.
7. Use a turned over ramekin as a cookie cutter and make 8 pie crust circles for topping the pot pies.
8. Evenly divide the mixture into individual ramekins and top each with a pie crust round. Brush each pie crust round with egg white or milk.
9. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the sauce is bubbly... 20-25 minutes.

Serve on a dinner plate alongside a fresh salad. Mmmmmmmmm!!!

Reader Recipe: Warm Roasted Squash, Prosciutto and Pecorino Salad

YumSugar — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 08:18:11 -0800

Today's Reader Recipe comes from our very own TeamSugar. This past Christmas her family decided they would give warm salads a try. I suggested that she try a recipe that member AlliJean posted and from the look of things, it turned out spectacularly. If this warm salad recipe for Roasted Squash, Prosciutto and Pecorino tastes as beautiful as it looks, then sign me up! To get the recipe for yourself, read more.

Warm Salad of Roasted Squash, Prosciutto and Pecorino
From Jamie's Kitchen by Jamie Oliver
Submitted by TeamSugar with inspiration from TeamSugar member AlliJean

This past Christmas, everyone was to bring a warm salad to contribute. Thanks to both YumSugar's recommendation and AlliJean's recipe, I made one of the best salads ever. Everyone at dinner absolutely loved it, it was rich and delicious but not heavy.

• 1 butternut squash
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small dried red chili
• 1 heaped teaspoon coriander seeds (I used dried as I didn't have any seeds)
• 20 slices of prosciutto or Parma ham
• 4 handfuls of rocket (used a different type of greenery)
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin
• olive oil
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 small block of pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Carefully cut your butternut squash in half, keeping the seeds intact. Remove the two ends and discard them. Cut each half into quarters and lay in a roasting tray. Rub with a little olive oil. In a pestle and mortar pound up a flat teaspoon each of salt, pepper and your chili and coriander seeds. Scatter this over the squash. Roast the squash for half an hour or until soft and golden. Allow to cool a little.

Lay your prosciutto on 4 plates - let it hang over the rim of the plates and encourage it to twist and turn so it doesn’t look neat and flat. Tear up your warm squash and put it in and around the ham. Sprinkle over the seeds and the rocket. Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic, add a tiny pinch of salt and pepper, and use a vegetable peeler to shave over the Pecorino. Easily done.

Serves 4. From Jamie Olvier's cookbook, "Jamie’s Kitchen."

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Reader Recipe: Chili Con Queso

partysugar — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:00:34 -0700

I'm crazy about any combination of melted cheese and tortilla chips, so when I saw audreystar's recipe for chili con queso, I couldn't help but drool. Her recipe is part of a fabulous new group on TeamSugar, Dinner Challenge, which dares fellow readers to make a certain dish each week.A couple of recipes are posted on Mondays, and you have until the upcoming Sunday to make the meal and share your pictures of the process and final dish. It's a fun group and could lead to some inventive variations. For example, I want to make audreystar's chili con queso with Mexican chorizo instead of the sausage! To take a look at her delicious version, read more.

Submitted by TeamSugar member audreystar.

APPETIZER
Revved Up Chili Con Queso
RECIPE SOURCE

Ingredients
2 lb package Velveeta
1/2 large Onion
1 lb Hot Breakfast Sausage (like Jimmy Dean)
1 regular can of Rotel (either regular or extra hot)
1 7 oz can of diced Green Chiles
1 -3 finely diced Jalapeno peppers

Chop the onion and brown with the sausage. Drain excess fat. Cut velveeta into cubes and add to warm skillet. Add Rotel and green chiles and stir together over low heat until mixture is melted. Add finely diced jalapenos, stir together, and serve with warm tortilla chips. Keep queso warm during serving (in a fondue pot, chafing dish or crock pot).
Queso can also be frozen flat in ziploc bags and reheated at a later date.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I picked the Con Queso since many of you decided you would try the salad. Plus my boys love queso so I figured I couldn't go wrong. I didn't get an extra can of green chiles because the Rotel had chile's in them. I also didn't add the jalapeno even though I bought a can because I figured it would be too spicy for the boys. I might add them later after the boys have had a helping.

Oh and after I cooked it all I added the queso to my crockpot on low so it wouldn't thicken up.

Looks so gross, but it is so good

In conclusion, this was a really good queso. But I mean it is hard to screw it up. The sausage and onion cooking together smelled so divine.

Again I think I will add in the jalapenos later on after the boys are done.:spicy: I might have some with margaritas I plan to drink tonight.

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Reader Request: Savory Crepe Recipe

partysugar — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:55:59 -0800

Recently I got an email from a reader, Ginger, asking me if I knew of any great recipes for a savory crepe. Now I love crepes and thought who doesn't love crepes? So I decided to share a scrumptiously savory crepe recipe with all of you. Make this recipe when you are not feeling rushed or flustered because it can take a few attempts to get the crepes just right. The bacon, mushroom, and béchamel filling is perfect for a light dinner or decadent lunch. To check out the recipe, read more

Savory Crepes With Mushroom and Bacon Filling
From Gourmet magazine

For crêpes:
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
vegetable oil for brushing pan
For filling:
6 slices bacon
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced thin
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Make crêpes: In a bowl whisk together egg, milk, butter, and parsley until combined well. Add flour, salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.
Heat a 6- to 8-inch crepe pan over moderately high heat until hot. Brush pan with oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Remove pan from heat.
Stir batter and half fill a 1/4-cup measure with it. Pour batter into pan, tilting and rotating pan quickly to cover bottom with a thin layer of batter, and return any excess to bowl.
Return pan to heat and loosen edge of crêpe with a spatula. Cook crêpe until underside is lightly browned.
Turn crêpe and lightly brown other side. Transfer crêpe to a plate.
Make more crêpes with remaining batter, brushing pan lightly with oil as necessary. (Crêpes may be made 1 day in ahead and chilled, stacked and wrapped well in plastic wrap.)
Make filling: In a large heavy skillet cook bacon over moderately high heat until crisp and transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and chop bacon.
To fat remaining in skillet add mushrooms and 1 tablespoon butter and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
Preheat oven to 200°F.
In a heavy saucepan melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes.
Add milk gradually, whisking constantly, and cook. stirring, occasionally, 5 minutes or until thickened and smooth.
Add mushrooms, cream, parsley, bacon, salt and pepper to taste and simmer 10 minutes, or until very thick. Cool filling slightly.
Spread each crêpe with about 1/4 cup filling and fold in quarters, transferring crêpes as filled to an ovenproof platter. Heat crêpes in oven until heated through.

Makes 12 crêpes.

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Reader's Recipes: Golden Potato Soup with Cheddar Toasts

YumSugar — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:19:21 -0800

Yumsugar reader, mrs_smith, recently posted one of my favorite Cooking Light recipes in the Kitchen Goddess group. I've made this recipe a ton of times and was actually thinking about posting the recipe here, but mrs_smith beat me to it! We both highly recommend you make this yummy yet simple soup. For the recipe, read more

Golden Potato Soup with Cheddar Toasts
From Cooking Light

Soup:
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups thinly sliced leek (about 3 medium)
6 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 1/4 pounds)
2 cups water or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (14-ounce) cans organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson Certified Organic)
2 thyme sprigs
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cheddar Toasts:
8 (1/4-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut sourdough French bread baguette
Cooking spray
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare soup, melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek; cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally (do not brown).

Add potatoes, water, salt, broth, and 2 thyme sprigs.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes or until potatoes are very tender.

To prepare cheddar toasts, place baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 7 minutes or until toasted.

Turn slices over; coat with cooking spray, and sprinkle 1 tablespoon cheese over each slice.

Bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle evenly with red pepper.

Remove soup pan from heat; discard thyme sprigs.

Partially mash potatoes with a potato masher; stir in cream. Sprinkle with black pepper.

Serve with cheddar toasts. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Serves 8.

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Reader Recipe: Doritos Chicken Casserole

YumSugar — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:28:31 -0800

This week's reader recipe comes from TeamSugar member LaylaCams. The recipe was actually submitted by LisaK and is a twist on a regular chicken casserole. The twist? A layer of crushed Doritos. That's right, Doritos. I really don't think I need to say much more! To get the recipe, read more.

Doritos Chicken Casserole
Submitted by TeamSugar member LaylaCams

I made LisaK's Chicken Casserole for dinner tonight.

1 whole chicken (lv) or 1 package of boneless skinless breasts or chicken tenders (sv) I usually buy a 3 pack of breasts.
1 can of Rotel
1 or 2 cans of Cream of Chicken Mushroom soup (I used 2, hers called for 1)
1 small onion
1 bell pepper
1 32-oz. carton of Swanson Natural Goodness 33 percent lower sodium chicken broth (only needed for the sv) or 3-4 cups of chicken broth from where you boiled the whole chicken (lv)
1 bag of Doritos - the corn flavor in the yellow bag
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (or more depending on how cheesy you want it)

*I used the Nacho Cheese Doritos*

Boil your chicken until done. If your using a whole chicken, season water with celery, carrots, salt, etc to make a broth.
Set chicken aside and let cool. Chop up bell pepper and onion and saute in a pan for about 5 minutes.

Add chicken broth, soup and rotel and heat until soup is melted.

In a 9-x-13 baking dish, spray with nonstick coating. Pour half the bag of Doritos into the pan and crush. Depending on how thick you want the crust, you can add more or less.
I used my love Pampered Chef casserole dish, not a 19-x-13 in.

Tear up chicken and cover the Doritos. Pour sauce over mixture, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cover with grated cheese. Bake for 10 more minutes.

If you are using the can broth, always use the lower sodium otherwise it is too salty.

The soup and chicken broth mixture is going to be VERY thin. Don't fret, once you bake it, it will thicken up and the Doritos will absorb some of it

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Reader's Recipe: Dark Chocolate Puds

YumSugar — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:13:42 -0800

At first glance, reader mandiesoh's recipe for Dark Chocolate Puds looks like a big gooey cookie (which is definitely what caught my attention). However, when you read through it and view all of her awesome step-by-step pictures, you'll see that it's actually a type of muffin/cake with a gooey chocolate center. Talk about tasty! To check out mandiesoh's recipe, read more

Recipe from mandiesoh

Another recipe from GoodFood Magazine: 101 Tempting Desserts. Slightly modified, here's my version of Dark Chocolate Puds! (pssst. its really yummy!)

drool-worthy

INGREDIENTS

100g/4oz butter, chopped and extra for greasing
50g/2oz plain plour, plus extra for dusting
100g bar dark chocolate, broken
8 cubes of dark choc (for middle)
3 eggs
85g/3oz caster sugar

Serves 8

METHOD

1. Preheat oven at 200C/Gas 6. Butter and lightly flour muffin tray

2. Melt dark chocolate and butter in microwave, roughly 2 mins

3. Whisk eggs and sugar until mixture leaves a trial on top when whisk blades are lifted.

4. Stir in flour, then chocolate mixture.
Pud mix

5. Pour into muffin tray.
Nice and gooey!

6. Push in a cube of dark chocolate into centre of each.
Cabury Gold Dark Choc

Nice and deep people!

7. Place on baking tray and bake 16-20mins.
poofy!

8. Cool for 5 mins, and turn out onto plates.
cakey on the outside.....

moist and chocolatey on the inside!

Serve warm or at room temp.

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Reader Recipe: Vegetable and Red Lentil Soup

YumSugar — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 07:02:18 -0800

There's still a few days left in January, and that means there's still some time to celebrate National Soup Month! Today's soup comes from reader twinkle! Her Vegetable and Red Lentil Soup caught my eye and I have been dying to try it ever since I saw it.

To check out her recipe, read more

Recipe from twinkle

Ingredients:

2 Tbs mild curry paste
1 can crushed tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
1 large carrot, chopped finely
2 trimmed celery sticks, chopped finely
1 medium size potato, chopped finely
1 large zucchini, chopped finely
3/4 cup red lentils
1/2 frozen peas
1/3 cup coconut milk
2 Tbs coarsely chopped cilantro

Method:
Cook curry paste in large heated saucepan, stirring until fragrant. Add undrained crushed tomatoes, stock, carrot, celery, potato and zucchini, bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered for 5 minutes.

Add lentils to soup mixture; return to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for about 10 minutes or until lentils are just tender.

Add peas; return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until peas are just tender. Remove soup from heat; stir in coconut milk and cilantro.

Serves 6

Enjoy!

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Reader's Recipe: Sesame-seared Tuna with Coconut Rice

YumSugar — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:57:09 -0800

There are a few dishes out there that, no matter how full I am, I can always seem to find room for more. One of these dishes is tuna, just about any kind of tuna. Be it raw, seared, baked, or grilled, as long as it's tuna I love it. So when I saw that reader WhiplashGirlchild posted a recipe for Sesame-seared tuna with coconut rice I knew it was going to be a winner. To check out the recipe for this and a snow pea salad too, read more

Recipe submitted by reader WhiplashGirlchild

Last night, the boyfriend and I met friends at Jones, my favorite restaurant in Philly.

I ordered one of my favorite dishes there last night, the sesame-seared tuna with coconut rice, snow pea salad and wasabi-sweet soy sauce. They won't share the recipe with me, but I went online and found some very similar recipes. It sounds pretty easy, and I assure you, it's delicious!

TUNA

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
4 (6 ounce) tuna steaks
1/2 cup sesame seeds
wasabi paste
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, mirin, honey and sesame oil. Divide into two equal parts. Stir the rice vinegar into one part and set aside as a dipping sauce.

Spread the sesame seeds out on a plate. Coat the tuna steaks with the remaining soy sauce mixture, then press into the sesame seeds to coat.

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot. Place steaks in the pan, and sear for about 30 seconds on each side. Serve with the dipping sauce and wasabi paste.

Source

RICE

Home-style Caribbean fare is often accompanied by coconut rice, a wonderful side dish to temper the heat of spicy food. Pair it with the spicy okra for a simple and satisfying vegetarian meal.

2 cups long-grain rice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 (13- to 14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup water
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon salt

Rinse rice in a sieve under cold running water 2 to 3 minutes, then drain well.

Melt butter in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan over moderately high heat. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, until it becomes opaque, about 3 minutes.

Stir in coconut milk, water, cinnamon, and salt and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 20 minutes, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick and fluff rice with a fork.

Makes 8 side-dish servings.

Source

SNOW PEA SALAD

1 pound snow peas, trimmed
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin or dry sherry
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
a few gratings of fresh ginger

Steam the snow peas for NO MORE than 1 minute; then rinse them quickly under cold water and drain them well. Your goal here is to have them seem raw without being obnoxiously so. T

oss the drained snow peas with the toasted sesame seeds.

In a medium bowl, combine the other ingredients and toss the snow peas with them. Let the salad sit for at least 30 minutes before serving at room temperature.

Can also chill for a few hours and serve it cold.

Serves 4-6

Source