Bacon Wrapped Salmon Cakes

I came across this recipe about a week ago and I knew I had to make it as an appetizer for Thanksgiving. It was a huge hit! I was worried I made too many and I wasn't sure how they'd taste as leftovers. I didn't have to worry about that, since there was none to bring home! I found the recipe at Food Renegade's website. I stuck to the recipe for the most part with a few minor changes, the biggest being that I used canned wild caught salmon instead of fresh. Please check out Food Renegade's version, but here is what I did (I also doubled her recipe):

2 14 oz cans of wild-caught Alaskan salmon
pat of real butter
2 tbsp finely diced onion
2 garlic clove, finely diced
1 1/3 c. pine nuts
2 tbsp homemade mayo
2 tsp Parmesan cheese
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp old creole seasoning
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1 egg white
bunch fresh asparagus
nitrate free bacon - I used about 1.5 packages

Pulse pine nuts in a food processor just until right before they almost turn into a nut butter. In a large bowl mix the can salmon and pine nuts. In a small skillet, melt butter and saute onions and garlic until they are soft and translucent. Add them to the salmon. Add mayo, parmesan, mustard, seasoning, parsley and one egg white. Mix well and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. Do not add salt, as the bacon and parmesan will add PLENTY of salt to the dish (this is coming from someone who loves salt.)

Cut the tips of your asparagus off at about 2 inches. Then cut about two more inches of the tender part of the apsaragus off. Save the rest of the asparagus for a soup or other dish later in the week. Cut each bacon strip in half. Place 2-3 asparagus pieces in the middle of the bacon. Using a 2 tbsp scoop, scoop out salmon mixture and place on asparagus. Wrap the bacon tightly. You could pin with a toothpick but I didn't have any so I just laid them seam side down on a rack. Place the rack over a cookie sheet. I found that baking them at 325 for 40 minutes was about right. The original recipe said 375 for 20, but my bacon was burning on the edges and raw in the middle. I found slower for longer did the trick with my bacon/oven combo.

I made some homemade tartar sauce to go along with them. I mixed homemade mayo with homemade pickle relish, anchovy paste, tarragon, salt, pepper and lemon juice. I have no idea if this is "authentic" tartar sauce but it was tasty!

Houston's Spinach Artichoke Dip

There is a restaurant called Houston's that has the best ever Spinach Artichoke Dip. This is supposedly their recipe. My mom and I have been making for years as a dip to bring to a party. Sometimes we've even doubled the recipe (that makes ALOT) but it freezes well. Tonight I actually halved the recipe and made it for dinner two ways. One way, I diced some chicken and sauted it in a small skillet. I put the chicken in the bottom of a ramican and topped it with some of the dip. The second way was to split a chicken breast lengthwise and stuff it with the dip. I wrapped it in foil and baked at 375 for about 40 minutes. Here is the recipe for the dip. If you are bringing it to a party it traditionally served with corn tortilla chips.
-Amanda

Houston's Spinach Artichoke Dip

(original recipe)

1 stick of butter
1/2 chopped onion
2 boxes of frozen spinach (cooked and drained very well)
1 can of artichoke hearts, chopped
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
8 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

Saute the onion and butter in a large skillet on low until translucent. Add next four ingredients until mixed well. mix in the parmesan cheese and the monterey jack cheese next. Stir well until everything is nice and melty. Serve with tortilla chips.

Cabbage Egg Rolls

This is an old Weight Watchers recipe that is so good that you don't have to be on Weight Watchers to enjoy them. I took them to a pot luck dinner last night because they are fine at room temperature. I only made about 30 of them, but they all disappeared, I should have made more!
-Amanda

Baked Cabbage Eggrolls

1 small head of cabbage, shredded
3-4 carrots, shredded
4 scallions, sliced thin
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp (or more if you like it hot) Asian Chili Garlic Sauce
3 tsp grated fresh ginger
3 tbsp corn starch
25-30 wonton wrappers 
cooking spray

Put shredded cabbage in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave 8-10 minutes until cabbage is wilted. Drain any excess water and return to bowl. Add shredded carrots and scallions. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame seed oil, chili sauce and ginger. Add cornstarch and mix until the cornstarch has dissolved. Drizzle over cabbage mixture and stir until well mixed. Taste your cabbage at this point to make sure it has enough flavor. You may need to mix up a bit more of the sauce an add it, depending on how much cabbage you have and how strong you want your eggrolls to be.


Take one wonton wrapper, and place about 2 tbsp of cabbage mixture in the lower bottom corner. Roll the bottom corner up towards the middle of the wrapper. Fold the left side in and then the right side. Continue rolling, wetting the top corner with a bit of water to make wonton stick. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Continue with all of your wrappers. Keep about 2 inches space between each eggrolll so they will get crispy. Spray each eggroll with cooking spray and bake at 350degrees for about 25 minutes or until golden and crispy on the edges. For an easy dipping sauce I make another batch of the soy sauce mixture leaving out the cornstarch. Float a few sesame seeds & cut scallions on top for a nice finish. Makes about 25-30 rolls depending on the size of your cabbage. 

If I'm making these for myself at home, once they are completely cool, I store them in the refridgerator in a large ziplock back with a papertowel to catch moisture. I either eat them cold or toast them in my toaster oven for a minute or two.

Roasted Garlic Bread

This is an easy and impressive bread to bring to your next dinner party.
-Amanda

Roasted Garlic Bread

Roasted Garlic:
1 head of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 piece of foil about 6 in square

Dough:
1 package or 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/4 cup of warm water
3 cups bread flour (or all purpose)
2 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
cornmeal for dusting

To roast the garlic, peel all the garlic cloves and cut them in half. Place them in the middle of foil. Cup the foil up and drizzle salt and olive oil over the garlic. Close the garlic in the foil and put in the oven at 250 for an hour. I use my toaster oven and I also place the garlic in a small oven proof bowl because somehow the oil always leaks out.

Dough: Combine yeast, water and honey. Let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast gets really bubbly. In your stand mixer, using a dough hook, put the flour, oil and salt in the bowl. Add yeast mixture. Knead in the machine for about 8 minutes. Dough should be smooth and satiny. Add more flour a tiny bit at a time if needed. Sometimes I like to finish the kneading off by hand, slightly dusting my hands and counter top. Form the dough into a ball. In a clean oiled bowl, place the dough ball in and spray or rub oil ontop of it. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. After one hour, punch down the dough. Sprinkle cornmeal on a cookie sheet (I used a stone baking pan) and then form dough into a rectangle that is about 4 inches across and 8 inches long. The dough will double in size, so keep that in mind. (Alternately you could make two smaller loaves.) With a sharp knife make small slits throughout the top of the dough and insert one garlic clove in each slit. Drizzle the olive oil that was baking with the garlic over the dough. Cover dough with lent free towel and let rise for another hour. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve warm!

Banana Yogurt Dip

My twins helped me make this dip that the had for snack. They helped me mush the banana and stir all the ingredients together. After eating it with toast sticks they practically licked the bowl! For the full story visit Ditt and Dott.
-Amanda

Banana Yogurt Dip

1 ripe banana
2 tbsp peanut butter
3 tbsp yogurt
1/4 tsp vanilla
honey or cinnamon

Mush up ripe banana and stir all the ingredients together and serve with graham cracker, pretzels or toast sticks to dip

Meatballs

I was going for a meatball with pene pasta and melted mozzerlla cheese bake. But I didn't have any pene and I didn't have any mozzerlla. But I did end up with some very delicious meatballs despite the fact that they were turkey. I used rigatoni, Parmesan and some jarred marinara, but the meatballs, they were the star of the show!
-Amanda

Italian Meatballs

1.5 lbs of ground turkey
1/3 of an onion
2 cloves of garlic
4 slices of bread
1 egg
2 tbsp italian seasoning
salt & pepper

If your ground turkey is frozen, defrost over night in the refridgerator. Or go very very slowly in the microwave. You do not want the edges to start to cook in the microwave or your meatballs will not turn out right. Place ground turkey in a large bowl. Grate 1/4 of an onion over the meat. Grate the garlic also. I use a microplane. Using a food processor pulse the bread into breadcrumbs. You can substitute Panko Breadcrumbs if you wish to buy premade ones. Add breadcrumbs to the bowl. Add egg and seasonings. Mix gently with your hands just until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Use a 1 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop out balls onto a greased cookie sheet. Spray meat balls with cooking spray. Set broiler to HIGH. Place cookie sheet under broiler about 4 inches away. Cook meatballs for about 7 minutes or until brown. Flip them all over and broil the other side. If you just want the meatballs and not in the pasta dish, but them in the middle of the oven farther away from the broiler and cook for longer until cooked through.

Put the meatballs in a baking dish with cooked pasta, cheese and marinara. Return to the oven and cook through for 25 minutes or until meatballs are cooked all the way and cheese is melted. I made enough meatballs and pasta to make two casseroles. I froze the second casserole, so it just needs to be reheated through.

Simple Chicken Orzo Salad

I forgot to take a picture of this before it was devoured by myself, my husband, a friend and four toddlers! I apparently should have doubled the recipe. I just made this with ingredients on hand, but it came out really tasty.
-Amanda

Simple Chicken Orzo Salad

1/2 lb orzo noodles, cooked according to package directions
1/2 cucumber, peeled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup pecans, toasted in a dry skillet
1 cup diced cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup of spinach (if frozen, heat it and drain off all liquid)
Balsamic Vinaigrette (as much as you like)

In a big bowl mix the orzo, chicken, spinach and dressing. This part can be made ahead. Right before serving add the diced cucumber and pecans. Taste and add more dressing if needed. Serve cold. Serves about 4.

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

I'm headed out to my first Christmas party of the season. I was asked to bring an appetizer or a dessert. Since I don't bake unless I get a wild hair (with usually disastrous results,) I picked the appetizer category. After asking some of my Mommy friends for suggestions this was recommended to me from AllRecipes.com. I have to say, they are a perfect balance of smokey, sweet and salty.
-Amanda

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

2 packages of little smokies
2 packages of bacon
1 cup or so of brown sugar.

Cut bacon into thirds. Wrap each smokie with the bacon really tightly. Put brown sugar in a bowl and roll the bacon wrapped smokie in the sugar. Cover a cookie sheet with foil. Place a wire rack on the cookie sheet and line your smokies up on the rack with space between each one. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and cook for 40 minutes. Serve warm OR After cooling, place all smokies in a crock pot, add 1/2 cup of maple syrup and serve with fancy toothpicks on the side.

Pesto

I love pesto. I try and make it every summer from the basil growing in my garden. This year, I've had an abundance of basil. I even started giving some away to friends to make pestos of their own this year! I know the basic concept, I've been making it for years, but I always forget the ratios of ingredients. So I got this recipe from Simply Recipes. I made mine a bit thicker (less oil) so that way I can use it as a spread on ciabata bread or thin it out with a bit more oil and use it on pasta. I've heard putting it in ice cube trays and freezing it works great, so that's what I'm doing with my leftovers. I have plans of pesto pizza, pesto chicken, pesto pasta... I think I'll be sick of it soon!

Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Special equipment needed: A food processor

Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.

Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

-Amanda

Coconut Shrimp Fritters

For anyone who does not like shrimp or they are trying to get their kids to eat shrimp, this is a great way to introduce the flavor, if not the texture. I wanted to make Coconut Shrimp for John and I for dinner, but in the past the only way the girls have eaten shrimp is if I mince it tiny and even then, not so much. These came out so great that I wish I had made them for John and I instead of the traditional coconut shrimp that I made for us. (My breading didn't stick. I'll have to work on it...) The only problem is that I was making these fritters up as I went along and I didn't pay attention to quantities. So I'll do my best to replicate, but please use some judgment on how much to use of any ingredient. I only made four of these for my twins (two each.)

Coconut Shrimp Fritters

6-8 small shrimp
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs + extra for rolling balls in
1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes + extra for rolling balls in
dash of chili powder (I didn't use very much and it wasn't spicy)
salt & pepper
1 egg (or egg beaters)

In a small bowl beat egg. In a food processor or magic bullet process shrimp, panko crumbs, coconut crumbs, chili powder, plus egg (you may not need the whole egg.) The mixture should be gooey and sticky. You should be able to pinch off a bit. Perhaps a bit more than an inch wide. Too thick and they won't cook all the way through. In a second bowl mix some more of the bread crumbs with coconut flakes. Roll your sticky ball in the crumb & flake mixture. Place on a cookie sheet. Coat with cooking spray. Turn broiler on HI. Place cookie sheet in the middle of your oven. Cook 5 minutes one side, turn and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Homemade Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

1 small can of pineapples with juice
1 tsp soy sauce
1 small clove garlic
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger (I store it in the freezer so I can grate as I need)
3-4 drops of sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch

Place all ingredients in a food processor or magic bullet and process until smooth. Bring to a boil in a small pan. Serve as a side to Coconut Shrimp Fritters.
-Amanda