Eggplant Rollantini

Eggplant Rollantini..
I will NOT be giving away all my secrets for this one! But here are the basics of what I do! ENJOY!
*If you do not like prosciutto, you can also use a meatball for the filling or leave the meat out completely.
What you will need:
1 Eggplant- sliced thin (I prefer the skin on, most people will peel it)
Makes about 10 slices
3 Eggs beaten with 2 Tbs of water seasoned with Salt and Pepper
5 cups seasoned bread crumbs

2 Cups vegetable oil for frying.

Filling:
3 Cups Ricotta Cheese
2 Eggs
1 Cup grated parmesan cheese
1 Cup grated mozzarella cheese
3 TBS chopped parsley
Salt & Pepper
10 slices of Prosciutto
10 slices of mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, heat the oil to 350 degrees.
Preheat oven to 350
Dip a slice of the eggplant into the egg and water mixture, then directly into the breadcrumbs. Repeat with each slice to have a double coating of breadcrumbs.
Place each slice into the hot oil and allow to fry for about 3 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown. Be careful to watch the temperature of your oil, the breadcrumbs will burn quickly if it is too hot.


Once all the pieces are fried, let them rest and cool before you begin to fill.

In a bowl combine, ricotta, eggs, grated cheeses, parsley and salt and pepper.
Lay each piece of eggplant out on a cutting board, on one side of the eggplant place 1 slice of prosciutto and top it with 2 tbs of ricotta mixture.
Add 1 slice of Mozzarella cheese and roll the eggplant slice.


Place the slice into a baking dish that has a small amount of pasta sauce on the bottom. Be sure NOT to soak the eggplant in pasta sauce, this will cause the breading to become gummy.


Once all the pieces are in the baking dish, bake eggplant roll ups at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Allow the eggplant to rest for about 15 minutes to let the ricotta and egg mixture to set back up.

About 20 minutes before serving, top the eggplant with pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese. Place back into the oven at 325 for about 15 minutes to warm through.
Serve!

Cheesy Croissant Roll Ups

Cheesy Croissant Roll ups!

Easy and delish quick appetizers for those unexpected guests!!

What you will need:
1 package of Pillsbury Croissants... (I love the new creations croissants comes in a whole sheet)
4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
½ cheddar cheese
2 tbs garlic herb spice blend by McCormick’s



Directions: Preheat oven to 350
Roll out croissants onto your board. (If you are not using the whole sheet, use your fingers to pinch together the separated croissants and use a rolling pin to make 1 whole sheet)



Spread cream cheese mixture on to the entire piece of dough. Sprinkle garlic herb seasoning evenly across the dough. Add the cheese the same way.
Roll the dough to form a thin log.
Allow the log to set up in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
Take out and slice into ½ inch pieces.



Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes or until the tops turn golden brown.



Enjoy!

Ham, Turkey & Cheese Poppers

Ham, Turkey & Cheese Poppers.



What you will need:
8 slices of white bread with the crusts cut off
4 slices of turkey
4 slices of ham
4 slices of cheese

2 cups vegetable oil for frying

Combine:
4 tbs mustard
2 tbs honey
2 tbs mayo
(Separated into 2 dishes) One will be used for a dipping sauce.

Combine:
2 cups of bisquick or instant pancake mix
1 can evaporated milk
2 tbs cinnamon
Salt & pepper.

Directions:
Flatten each piece of bread with a rolling pin. Lay out 2 pieces for each sandwich. Spread mayo/mustard mixture on each slice of bread. Top 1 slice of the sandwich with 1 slice of turkey, 1 slice of ham, 1 slice of cheese. Place top piece of bread onto sandwich. Carefully roll the sandwich into a log. Put rolled sandwiches into the fridge to let them set up. About 20 minutes. Once sandwiches are cold, take them out and cut into 1 inch slices. (About 4 slice per roll).


Heat oil –
Stick each sandwich roll with a toothpick, dip into bisquick batter and immediately drop into the oil. They will puff up very quickly and be cooked within 30-45 seconds. Once it is golden brown, put onto a paper towel to drain excess oil.


Dip into the sauce and enjoy!

Peppercorn encrusted Pork Tenderloin with Orange & Thyme Carrots and Asparagus

I have never cooked a full pork tenderloin before but I have always wanted to try. When it was on sale last week I bought one and then had nothing to do with it. So I whipped up something in my brain and here is what I got.

What you will need:
Pork Tenderloin
2 Tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
2 sprigs of Thyme
1 TSP olive oil
1 Cup chicken or beef broth

Mix Pepper, salt and garlic powder and thyme in a bowl. Coat tenderloin with mixture. In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat and seer the tenderloin on all sides. About 3 minutes each side. Lower the heat and add 1 cup of broth. Place lid overtop of the pan and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until center temperature is 165.


Let tenderloin rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Orange Honey Carrots
You will need:
3 large carrots, sliced
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 sprig of Thyme

In small sauce pot, add carrots, orange juice, honey, brownsugar and thyme. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to simmer for about 10 minutes or until carrots are tender.
Salt and pepper to taste

I blanced the asparagus in some chicken stock dilouted with water for about 10 min, until the asparagus were bright and tender. Drain water and serve.

Chicken Soup with Dumplings

So I have been feeling sick the last few days, no better time than now to make my Chicken soup. I added dumplings to change things up a bit, and was very happy with my old time favorite. Feel free to add whatever leftover veggies floating in your fridge.


What you will need:
2 tbs olive oil
1 cup sliced Carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced potatoes
1 cup green beans
1 cup cooked diced chicken
1 garlic clove- finely chopped
2 sprigs of Tyme
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper
2 quarts chicken stock ( I like to make mine homemade but canned is fine)
1 cup plum tomatoes (optional)


In large stock pot, heat olive oil and add veggies to sautee until tender. Approx 5 minutes on medium heat. Add seasonings, salt, pepper, tyme, and bay leaf.
Add chicken stock ,chicken cubes and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 30 minutes or until veggies are soft.
Reduce heat


Prepare dumplings in seperate bowl. ( I use bisquick mix following the recepie on the side of the box and add salt, pepper,and parsley to the mixture)



Using 2 spoons, form small balls (no bigger than a large gumball, they get BIG in the soup) of dumpling batter and drop them into the soup, they will rise to the top and cook with the steam of the soup. This process takes approximatly 5 to 10 minutes. Make extra dumplings, beleive me they will go. The best way to make more dumplings is to scoup out the dumplings as they cook, and add more, then at the end add all the dumplings to the pot! Be careful, they are delicate.

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Bechamel

This is one of my brainstorm ideas. It defiantly needs some tweaking so maybe one of you can play around with it and find some solutions, but I think it has potential.

I attended a wedding last weekend that had these amazing butternut squash ravioli's and I tried to pick apart the filling to find the ingredients but I wasn't too far off.

You will need:
1/2 lb of Shells - approximately 20-15 shells.
Butternut Squash
Butter
Sage
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar
Flour
Milk or Heavy Cream
Nutmeg


Prepare Shells as indicated on the box

For the Filling you will need:
1 cup butternut squash- cubed
2 TBS butter
1 TSP sage
1 TSP cinnamon
1 TSP brown sugar
Salt & Pepper

Boil water and add squash. Boil for approximately 10-15 minutes until the squash is soft enough to mash. (note: its better to over boil these then under boil. my mixture came out a little grainy when mashing, i should have cooked them a little longer for a creamier texture)

Once they are tender, mash or process in food processor to blend smooth.
Should be the consistency of mashed potatoes.
Add butter, sage, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Adjust any seasoning to your liking, i preferred a sweeter filling, others may like savory.

Fill the shells with approximately 1 tablespoon of filling. Line shells in a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.

For Bechamel Sauce:

In medium sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of butter until melted. Add 2 tablespoons of flour to make a roue. Let the mixture cook while whisking it for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of warmed milk and whisk on low heat until the mixture becomes thick.
Add a pinch of nutmeg and 1 teaspoon of dried or chopped sage.
Continue to cook on low heat until the sauce is thick.
Top over stuffed shells and bake in the oven on 350 for 10 minutes.
Enjoy!

The BEST French Onion Soup

This is seriously the BEST French Onion Soup recipie I have found. Its amazingly flavorful in all the right ways. Classic use of red wine as opposed to brandy, and the sweet flavors of vidalia onions pair perfectly with the cheese.
Take the time to find Grueyer cheese, Its expensive at most food markets, but I found mine at a local Fruit market for 1/2 the price. Its just not the same without it.

Taken from Food Network.com Tyler Florence




Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound grated Gruyere
Directions
Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes.






Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.



When you're ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.

Alternative method: Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.