Simply Impressive Cooking School

02/24/2023

It’s so cold outside and I’m in a mood for soup. Albondigas soup sounds like the perfect dish for this weather. Try our recipe for a simple and delicious version.

Albondigas Soup We went to a favorite Mexican restaurant the other day and my husband ordered albondigas soup. It was really good and I...

12/17/2022

12/17/2022

We recently had people spend the night and of course we had to serve breakfast the next morning. I like to prepare something thr night before and this time, I kept seeing dishes using tater tot’s. I decided to make a tater tot’s breakfast casserole. While I used sausage, peppers and onions, you can let your imagination run wild with this.

I might add some sautéed poblanos and mushrooms next time. We happened to have some salsa verde which was delicious on top of this too. This would also be delicious with ham, bacon, or even vegetarian.

Tater tot breakfast casserole

Servings: 6

•
All measurements are approximate
•2 tbsp evoo, divided
•1/2 onion, diced
•3/4 cup diced bell peppers, diced
•1 lb breakfast sausage
•5 eggs
•1/2 cup half and half or milk
•Salt and pepper
•8 oz pepper jack cheese
•1 lb frozen tater tots

Steps
1 Sauté onion and bell peppers in 1 tbsp evoo until soft. Set aside
2 In same pan, sauté breakfast sausage. Drain if there’s a lot of fat.
3 In a medium sized bowl mix together eggs, half and half or milk, salt and pepper.
4 Preheat oven to 350.
5 In a 10” cast iron pan or oven safe nonstick skillet, spread remaining 1 tbsp evoo in the bottom of the pan or you can also put bacon fat if you have it.
6 Place the sausage and onion mixture evenly on the bottom. It should cover the entire bottom. Pour the eggs over the sausage, then crumble the Monterey Jack cheese on top of the eggs. Place the frozen tater tots over the cheese. Place in the oven and bake about 30-40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to rest about 5 minutes before serving.
7 We also had some salsa verde and decided to drizzle some on top of egg casserole after slicing.

06/08/2022

If you’re looking for a very simple and delicious dessert for the summer that doesn’t need any baking, I have the perfect option. I made my take on a mud pie….Oreo pie crust topped with coffee ice cream topped with whipped cream. When served, we drizzled hot fudge over it and added some chopped nuts. There were some crumbs on the bottom of the pan so I sprinkled it on top of the mud pie, too.

I made this In a springform pan, but if you don’t have one, it’s perfectly fine to make in a pie plate.

To make an Oreo pie crust, I crushed up 36 Oreos and combined them with 3 tablespoons of melted butter. I then pressed it in the bottom of a 9” springform pan. Soften ice cream and press tightly into pan over crust. Then top with whipped topping. Freeze until ready to serve.

I made my own hot fudge topping, but it’s perfectly fine to buy some.

This dessert took just a few minutes to put together and it was so delicious and perfect for a hot summer night.

03/24/2022

My friend always gives me an abundance of lemons from her tree and I try to make the best use of them. I had some extra ricotta and with google as my friend, I found a recipe that was similar to,what I was trying to mak. I don’t remember where I found this so I can’t credit the person….sorry

My notes, including high altitude notes, are in the recipe. Enjoy,

Meyer lemon ricotta pound cake

Ingredients
•
1 ½ cups all purpose flour used a little more
2 tsp baking powder used 1 1/2 at high altitude
1 tsp salt
¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
1 ½ cups ricotta cheese
1 ½ cups granulated sugar used about 1 tbsp less
3 pcs large eggs room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract used 2
1 tsp Meyer lemon zest ( can use regular lemons used 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp Meyer (or regular) lemon juice used a little more

Steps

Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9x5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and generously grease with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 3/4 cup butter, 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium-high speed until incorporated, 2-3 minutes. The mixture will look like scrambled eggs at this point and that's OK!

Switch to low speed and add the eggs one at a time until combined. Then add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon lemon zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

Once your wet ingredients are incorporated, add your flour mixture a little a time until just combined. Do not over beat.

Transfer your batter into your pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with minimal crumbs (see note 2).

Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

03/19/2022

We’ve been enjoying Dave’s killer bread copycat recipe. It’s filled with seeds, grains, and a whole lot of flavor. I found this recipe on the internet from the blog "A Pretty Happy Home" Dave’s Killer Bread UPDATED Copycat Recipe.

I happened to have just about every ingredient this recipe called for the first time I made it but if you do not, you may be able to substitute like ingredients. I also found that I really like sunflower seeds in the bread so I added more although the recipe shows the original amount.

Here’s the recipe. Let me know if you make it. My neighbors have already had the pleasure of enjoying this bread a few times and are anxiously awaiting more.

Dave’s killer bread copycat
Servings: 2 loaves

Ingredients:

2 cups of warm water
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
3 Tablespoons molasses
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon kosher salt (use whatever salt you have)
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup long cooking oats (quick cooking oatmeal would be fine if that’s all you have)
1/4 cup steel cut oats
2 cups all purpose white flour
2 – 3 cups wheat flour*
olive oil for drizzling
extra honey for drizzling, optional

Fill large bowl with warm water. Ideally, it will be 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and let set for 5 – 10 minutes so the yeast can start working.

Add coconut oil, honey, molasses and salt to the water/yeast mixture. Give it a quick, gentle stir with a fork to break up the coconut oil (it usually comes as a solid).

Add in the oats, sunflower seeds, flax seed, quinoa and wheat gluten. Give it another gentle stir to combine.

Add in 2 cups of the white flour and 2 cups of the wheat flour. *SET ASIDE THE REMAINING CUP OF WHEAT FLOUR. (You may or may not need the remaining flour).

Stir in the flour with a fork and then begin working the dough with your hands. If the dough remains sticky after you’ve kneaded it several times, start sprinkling a little bit of your reserved cup of flour in the bowl. Work the additional flour in with your hands. It should not be too sticky. Knead for about 5-10 minutes. I DID THIS IN MY KITCHENAID STAND MIXER.

When the texture of the dough is ready, form the dough into a ball. Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of the bowl for the dough to rest on and drizzle a little on top of the dough. Smear around with your fingers so the entire dough ball is lightly coated. Cover the dough and let it rise until it has approximately doubled in size. I KEPT THE DOUGH IN THE KITCHENAID MIXER BOWL AND LET IT RISE IN THE SAME BOWL.

Punch down dough and knead it out for 3 to 5 minutes. (I let the dough rise in my mixer bowl and just put the dough hook back on for this kneading. Recover the dough and let it rise again until the dough is approximately doubled in size.

Punch the dough out and again knead the dough for 3 to 5 minutes.

Select half of the dough and form it into a loaf-like shape. Place it into a greased bread pan (cooking spray works too). Do the same with the other half of the dough. Drizzle a little olive oil and honey on top of the loaf. (I rub it around gently with my fingers to lightly coat the entire top of the loaf.) Cover both bread pans and let the dough rise until it peeks over the top of the pan. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

When the dough is done rising, place it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Check at the 15 minute mark I HAD TO COVER AT 10 MINUTES SINCE TOP ALREADY GETS TOO DARK and cover lightly with foil if need be so the bread doesn’t get too dark on top. When finished baking, remove bread from pan promptly and let cool on a baking rack.

The photo with the bread in the pans is what the dough should look like while it’s still raw and has had its final rise. The other photo is what the bread looks like when cut open.

This bread freezes well. I sliced it and put it in the freezer sliced so I could remove only what I needed.

12/11/2021

These are the items I used for my 5 minute caramelized onion and Boursin shells appetizer. Easy peasy

12/11/2021

Today I made a great 5 minute appetizer. I used phyllo shells, Boursin cheese and caramelized onions. While caramelized onions are not a 5-minute thing, I always keep some in the freezer for when I need to use them.

Basically I took phyllo shells which are usually in your grocers freezer section and spooned in some flavored Boursin cheese. I then topped them off with some caramelized onions. They’ll go into a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes until heated. Before I serve them, I like to sprinkle some chopped thyme on top. They are delicious hot or room temperature.

You can also use cream cheese or flavored cream cheese in place of the Boursin cheese.

Happy entertaining!

10/26/2021

It’s hard to believe that thanksgiving is just a few short weeks away. Today I got an email that had a thanksgiving planner. I thought there was some useful information in it and wanted to share.

A few things….I find that turkeys DO NOT defrost in the times they show. It always seems to take longer. Also this list was created by Williams-Sonoma and when they show the pages with tools you will need….they went way overboard. I have a lot of kitchen equipment… a lot… and even I don’t have all the items they show.

One thing they missed, IMHO, is I start some things a day or two before thanksgiving. Their schedule begins on thanksgiving morning.

So start planning your event as soon as you can and see if there is anything helpful in this planner.

10/24/2021

The other day I saw a sale in squash and saw one I never heard of mit was called a red kuri squash. After doing a little research, it’s similar to butternut squash. I looked for ways to use it and found a soup that looked interesting so I bought it

Today I’m making a soup but using ingredients I have in my pantry and fridge. While I won’t necessarily have a recipe for you, I’ll post what I did when it’s done so you can try something new this fall too,

10/19/2021

I have a great kitchen tip for you. I was making sandwiches that used Brie on it. It was very difficult to slice and sometimes I got chunks rather than thin slices. It was a mess.

Today I needed to slice it again so I thought I’d try freezing it before I sliced it and then using a cheese slicer to get thin slices. I froze it for an hour and when I tried to slice it….all I got was a mess.

So I wrapped it up again and put it back in the freezer for another hour. After that hour, the cheese was nice and firm and I was able to cut off the rind easily without too much waste. Rather than a cheese slider, I used a serrated knife, I was able to cut nice thin slices. It definitely was a game changer.

So if you ever need nice slices of Brie, remember to freeze it until firm turn slice it.