Popovers

Gruyere Popovers

4 cups milk, warmed
8 eggs
4 cups flour
1 1/2 heaping tbsp salt
2 1/3 cups grated gruyere cheese
*popover pan

Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat the oven and pan to 350 degrees. Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside. Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside.

Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this dry mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.

Once combined, remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with non-stick cooking spray. While the batter is still slightly warm or room temperature (definitely not cool), fill each popover cup 3/4 full. Top each popover with 2 1/4 tbsp of the grated gruyere.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after 15 minutes of baking.

Remove from the oven, remove popovers from pan and serve immediately.

This makes 24 popovers. They are so good!

Carol's Linens. Aka Anna's Snooty Sister

My friends and I finally made it into Carol's Linens.




Very cute store, kind of expensive though.





This chandelier hangs over the cashiers. Pretty!



I think this bed is tacky, but the die hard fan would love it I suppose.









Loved this fabric! I walked away with a lot of ideas!

Hot Hand Lucy

How I spent my Saturday.....






Now if I can just get my hands to stop burning I'll be doing good!

Chicken Scampi With Roasted Garlic Herb Bread And Marinated Tomatoes

I tried a couple of new recipes tonight. They were a really big hit. I even took a plate to my neighbors and got rave reviews from her family too. My entire house stills smells of garlic, but I'm not complaining.


This is roasted French bread with a garlic herb butter and tomato marinade. Yum

Marinade for tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 T light brown sugar
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

2 large tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick


Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. One hour before serving, pour the marinade over the sliced tomatoes in a bowl and set aside.

For the garlic and herb butter
4 T softened butter
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon basil
1 tsp minced garlic
Mix well together with a fork.

Cut a loaf of French bread in half lengthwise and spread the garlic-herb butter on each piece. Pop in the oven until lightly toasted. Arrange the marinated tomatoes down the length of the bread. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

Now for the star of the show. Chicken Scampi.

WHITE SAUCE:
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk; hot

SCAMPI SAUCE:
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons garlic, crushed
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
black pepper to taste
3/4 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white sauce

REMAINING INGREDIENTS:
1/2 package angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
bell peppers; thinly sliced
red onions; thinly sliced
10 cloves of garlic; roasted
2 chicken breasts; sliced
olive oil

For white sauce:
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a sauce pan, add 2 tablespoons flour and cook for 2 minutes on medium heat stirring constantly. Slowly add 3/4 cup hot milk (hot so it won’t get lumpy). Set aside. (Keep the white sauce hot until you add to the scampi sauce)

For scampi sauce:
Heat butter over low heat; add the garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper and black pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes on low heat. Add the wine and chicken broth. Stir until combined and simmer about 30 minutes. Add the white sauce and cook till slightly thickened. In a large skillet, saute chicken in a little olive oil until almost done. Add the peppers and onions, then saute until chicken is cooked through. Add the sauce. Saute until everything is warmed. Add roasted garlic cloves. Serve over pasta.

Screaming Stuffed Jalapenos

These are so good. If Jalapenos are too hot for you, you can use Poblanos.

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 packages cream cheese, depending on the size of your pepper, room temperature
• 2 to 4 cloves chopped garlic or granulated, depending on your preference
  
• 1/4 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes - a nice handful from the jar
• Chopped fresh basil leaves
• Pinch salt
• 10 to 25 jalapeno peppers (larger then average size will make them easier to stuff)
• 1/2 to 1 pound thinly sliced bacon
  
• Toothpicks

Directions

Preheat the grill.

Mix each package of cream cheese with chopped garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and a dash of chopped basil. Add a pinch of salt. Mix until mixture is soft and manageable.

Slice each jalapeno lengthwise on 1 side, being careful not to cut the jalapeno in 1/2. Remove the seeds if you don't think your friends can handle the heat,... Depending on your pepper, you may have to slice around the stem of the pepper to create a manageable opening to squeeze the filling in.

Fill either a pastry bag, or your choice of tools with the filling. Use something that will allow you to sqeeze the filling into the opening of the pepper with ease. I've used a plastic frosting tool, cookie press, and even just a small spoon to squeeze the filling in. However you choose, insert a liberal amount of filling into each jalapeno. Be careful not to overfill as the filling may spurt out during cooking.

Wrap each pepper with 1 to 2 strips of bacon, securing the opening in the pepper. Secure the bacon with a toothpick (best to soak the toothpicks first, to prevent burning on the BBQ). This also helps the jalapenos from falling into the BBQ (you're bound to loose at least 1, oh well). Long metal or wood skewers also work well for large amounts.

BBQ the peppers until they lightly roasted, or until the bacon is fully cooked. Use some foil to cook on if your peppers are cooking or burning too fast on a HOT BBQ.

I haven't tried it yet, but I think this filling would be really good in a thin chicken breast!

Let Freedom Ring

Happy 4th of July! We have been doing yard work all day! It's almost too hot to be out there working. Thank goodness for a cool pool to jump into! We grilled some delicious chicken K-bobs, one of my favorites.

I also tried a new cake recipe. It was really light and not too sweet. Perfect.

Strawberry Cake

Prepare one box of white cake mix per package instructions. Cool completely.
Mix 2/3 cup of powdered sugar and 2/3 cup sour cream together, then fold in one container of Cool Whip. Once cake has cooled spread some of the Cool Whip icing in between layers along with 1 cup of sliced strawberries. Add top layer and the rest of the icing. Decorate as you please. As you can see I'm not the best cake decorator but it was so good. I think we are off to watch fireworks, hope everyone is enjoying their day!