Spotlight- Guinness Spiced Muffins

I’ve been looking around for some good St. Patrick’s inspired creations, now that we’re in March, so we’ll start off with these delicious sounding Guinness Stout muffins, from Mega*Crafty. Cooking with beer, particularly stouts, yields tasty results, so pop a cold one and try it! (Stayed tuned later this week for my Guinness Ice Cream)

I was really, really pleased with how these came out. I used Guinness to make these fit the St. Pat’s Day theme and I had no idea using it would make such delicious muffins! (I may have to bake with beer more often)

Hubby said it smelled “homey” while they were baking and he couldn’t wait to try them. He’s normally not a spice flavored dessert type of guy (he goes for anything chocolate instead) but he loved these.

Read the whole thing and get the recipe at Mega*Crafty!

So, go get your Irish on, and make some muffins!

Have you got something to share with Foodwhirl? Suggest a Site to us!

Have you been featured on Foodwhirl? Show your pride with a link button!

We’re having a Fiesta! Foodwhirl’s Gone Mexican…

Maybe it’s the weather, but this week at Foodwhirl has been all about Mexican inspired dishes, that make you want to prop your feet up on the deck with a Margarita…

In case you missed any of it (we know, it’s hard to keep up with everything!) here’s a roundup of some of our mexican fiesta inspirations this week.

Need a little spice in your life? Just click on the image to go to the recipe.

Mexican Fiesta:

Make Salsa & Guacamole! It's Easy!

A great dip or spread: Spicy Cilantro Pesto

A fabulous roasted turkey Enchilada Dinner..

Easy Entertaining: Sangria with Fresh Fruit

A light lunch or an exotic appetizer - Simple Ceviche!

A Fast Meal - Chicken, Spinach and Rice Burritos

Enchiladas with leftover pulled pork

Date Night: Shrimp & Fish Fajita Tacos

Lasagna

Everyone has their favorite lasagna recipe.  This is mine.  And while others are probably more authentic to Italy, this is pretty durn authentic to my Sicilian grandmother, my mother, and my New Jersey Italian relatives although I have made some changes over the years.

I’ve tried many recipes, and many variations.  I’ve added spinach, I’ve swapped cottage cheese for the ricotta.  Ground beef.  White cream sauce. No-cook noodles.  But  I always return to the basics.  Layered noodles with meat sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan.

Your sauce can be your own favorite, or try the one listed below.  I’m not even against using jarred sauces on occasion, but a decent homemade sauce using canned tomatoes is very easy (or even fresh tomatoes!)

By the way – if you are lucky enough to live in the part of the world where Red Pack canned tomatoes are available, BUY THEM NOW.  Believe me when I say that the type of canned tomatoes used matters.  It really matters a lot.

And after you buy some, send me a few cans?  And email Red Pack that you want their tomatoes sold nationwide.  Worldwide.  Planetwide.

Lasagna should have a meaty robust flavor.  Ground beef alone I find boring.  Italian sausage is good – but a mixture of the two is superb, generally in a 1.5:1 ratio of sausage to beef.  I always buy sweet italian sausage, but spicy italian sausage is excellent if you like some heat.

In dutch oven or large skillet, heat 1T of olive oil.  Dice one onion, and mince two cloves of garlic.
Begin to saute in pan.  Remove sausage from casings (or buy bulk) and add ground sausage and ground beef to pan with onion and garlic.  Cook until onion is translucent and meats are fully cooked.

Drain grease – if you want to remove a lot of fat, dump the whole meat, onion and garlic mixture into a colander and rinse with water.  How much grease is actually removed by this method is unknown to me.  All I can say is that there is no discernible affect to the taste and my thighs hit critical mass back in the 90s.

Add sauce – your own, jarred, or my recipe below.  It’s up to you.  But you want the meat sauce consistency to look like this:

Not too thick – definitely not too thin/watery.  Click the image for a closeup, and see recipe (below) for more exact measurements.  This pot of sauce made two 9×13 pans of lasagna.  One was to go into the freezer, one for dinner.

Both pans lasted about 13 hours.

Oh let’s make a deal:  I won’t judge your choice of sauce if you won’t judge my messy counters.  Capice?

I’ve wanted to work the word “Capice” into this post since the beginning.

Onward -

Fill a very large pot with water, salt the water and when boiling, add 12 lasagna noodles to cook.  Add each noodle one by one so they do not stick.  Boil according to box directions – knowing that for casseroles such as this, it’s best to undercook the noodles.  You didn’t know that?  Now you do.  If the box says 9-11 minutes, consider removing it from the water at 8 minutes.  Drain, rinse with cold water, and lay on plastic wrap to cool.

Beat one egg to small bowl.  Add one 16 ounce Ricotta Cheese container and  1T of Italian Seasoning, and 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese to beaten egg.  Combine well – breaking up any clumps of cheese.

The picture shows that I have parmesano-reggiano.  I also had a block of parmesan, and a green jar of Kraft grated parmesan.  We did a very unscientific taste test comparing the three cheeses, and woah-mama, the parmesano reggiano was the best.  BUT – when eating the final product – I couldn’t taste any change worth $15/lb.  Therefore, my report from this experiment will state to save your money and save the parmesano-reggiano for the dishes where you can actually taste it.

On to assembly -

Ladle sauce to the bottom of a 9×13″ pan.

Lay four noodles in the pan, overlapping the edges.

Place 1/2 the Ricotta cheese mixture on top of the noodles.  My mom always dabbed.  I like to spread.

Top with mozzarella cheese.  Slices or shredded.  Whatever floats your boat.

Ladle sauce over the cheeses and top with shredded parmesan.

Repeat the layer of noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce, parmesan.

Final layer should be noodles, sauce, mozzarella and parmesan.

Grease or spray with cooking spray a sheet of aluminum foil.  Cover lasagna.

Bake in 375 oven for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and continue cooking for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.

Slice into squares – serve with salad and garlic bread.

And wine.  Salute!

Recipe:

Spotlight: Bailey’s Chocolate Pudding

We’re loving this fun idea for an adult pudding… a delish looking Bailey’s Chocolate Pudding at Duh-licious!

At first glance, this looks like a cup of dark chocolate hot cocoa, but take a closer look and you’ll find the ultimate after-dinner-dessert. Finally, a treat for the adults only– a simple, yet sinful take on a classic.

I added Baileys Irish Cream, and used semi-sweet chocolate instead of milk-chocolate, and feel free to splurge on the more expensive chocolate. The garnish is up to you.

Get the recipe at Duhlicious!

Have you got something to share with Foodwhirl? Suggest a Site to us!

Have you been featured on Foodwhirl? Show your pride with a link button!

Arriba! Arriba! It’s a Mexican Fiesta!

I started making this recipe right after Thanksgiving last year when some friends gave us a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving.  We had lots of leftovers and while I love turkey, a little smoked turkey goes a long way with me.   My sister-in-law told me she had made enchiladas out of hers and I started looking for a good enchilada recipe so I could use up my turkey.   I found this recipe by Tyler Florence that uses a store bought roasted chicken, and it turned out so great, that I’ve been making it regularly ever since, of course with a few modifications of my own.    Well, I got what we in the south call a “hankerin” for some of these enchiladas and I proclaimed yesterday a Mexican Fiesta!  No Fiesta is complete without Salsa & Guacamole with Chips, Sangria and Margaritas, so I put my man to work on the Enchiladas while I made a run to the store and then went to work on the salsa, guacamole & sangria!   I’ve also posted those recipes too!    We were only missing the pinata, but didn’t have time to get out the paper mache’!

This dinner does take a little while to pull together, but it’s well worth it.  You can make much of it ahead of time and then assemble the enchiladas when you are ready.    If you have a partner, you can make fast work of it.    The recipe also calls for white long grain rice, but I substituted a brown rice medly that included barley this time and it was really excellent!  This easily makes enough for 8 people or you can make the whole batch and freeze half for later.

Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa

Ingredients:

Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa:

• 2 pounds tomatillos, husked
• 2 white onions, peeled, sliced, quartered or whole
• 8 garlic cloves
• 4 jalapenos
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 lime, juiced

Enchiladas:

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• Chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 deli roasted chicken (about 3 pounds), boned, meat, shredded
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• About 20-25 corn tortillas
• 1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 2 cups sour cream
• Chopped tomatoes and cilantro leaves, for garnish
• Spicy Black Beans, recipe follows
• Yellow Rice, recipe follows
• Guacamole, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

For the salsa:

On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor. Add the cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.

Enchiladas:

Meanwhile heat a 2 count of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat (roughly 2 tablespoons). Add the onion and cook until soft and caramelized – this should take 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin then cook for a further minute. Sprinkle on the flour and stir to ensure the flour doesn’t burn then gradually add the chicken stock to make a veloute. Continue stirring over a low simmer until the flour cooks and the liquid thickens. Turn off the heat, add 3-4 cups of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa, some additional fresh chopped cilantro and fold in the shredded chicken meat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Change the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and begin assembling the dish. Take a large baking dish and smear the bottom with some of the reserved tomatillo salsa.  Now take the  tortillas and warm them so they are flexible.  You can do this by wrapping them in foil and putting them in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Put a scoop of the shredded chicken-enchilada mix on top of the tortilla followed by a sprinkle of the shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll like a cigar to enclose it.  Place the tortillas in the baking dish and continue to do the same with all the tortillas. Finally pour over some more of the salsa and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until bubbly and cracked on top. Garnish, cilantro and tomato.

Serve hot with Spicy Black Beans and Yellow Rice, the remaining tomatillo salsa, sour cream and fresh guacamole, if desired.

Spicy Black Beans:

• 2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• Kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, jalapeno pepper, garlic, and bay leaf and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water by about 1-inch. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the beans are hot. Let sit for 15 minutes to soak up the flavors.  Remove the bay leaf and discard. Taste the beans and season with salt and pepper.

Yellow Rice:

• 2 cups long-grain rice (or your favorite rice)
• 4 cups water
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 bay leaf

Put all the ingredients into a heavy-bottomed pot, stir well, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the rice has absorbed the water, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Discard the garlic and bay leaf, fluff with a fork, and serve.

See the Salsa & Guacamole recipe here.

See the Sangria recipe here.

Sangria with Fresh Fruit

Sometimes it’s best to have something other to drink at a Mexican Fiesta than Margaritas and Cervezas, especially when you have a bunch of wine drinkers on the guest list.   This sangria is super easy to make and goes fast, so make plenty!

Sangria

• 2 bottles red wine (I use an inexpensive blend of Malbec & Cabernet)
• 3 oranges halved and sliced
• 1 apple, halved and sliced
• 1 lime, halved and sliced
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice (or other juice)
• 3 cups seltzer water

Save out a handful of orange slices for garnish and then mix all of the remaining ingredients, except the seltzer, together in a pitcher or punch bowl.  You may want to make this in two batches if you are making this in a pitcher.   Add the seltzer just before serving for a little fizz.   Chill ahead of time or serve over ice.   Garnish the side of the glass with an orange slice.

Salsa & Guacamole for the Fiesta

No Mexican Fiesta is complete without Salsa, Guacamole and chips.    I really don’t care much for the salsa that comes in a bottle or jar, and prefer pico de gallo, so I make my own.   It tastes so much fresher and doesn’t contain all those preservatives and other junk they throw into the bottled kinds.

Tomato Salsa

• 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and add salt to taste. 

Guacamole

• 2 avocados peeled and seeds removed
• 1/4 cup tomato salsa (above)
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt to taste

Remove the avocado from it’s skin by cutting it in half lengthwise and then scooping out the insides.  Discard the seed.   Place the scooped out insides into a bowl and smash it with the tines of a fork.  Add the salsa, lime juice and salt and stir.  I like it chunky, but if you prefer it smooth, then you can put it into a food processor. 

Serve with tortilla chips.

Spicy Cilantro Pesto

I’m a huge fan of pesto, so it seemed like the perfect thing to do with my last bit of cilantro.   I had a little less than a bunch left after several rounds of ceviche, the shrimp & fish tacos, and various other uses…  so what better to do with it!  This version is has a bit of a kick from the red pepper… I’ve already used it on fancied up quesadillas, and I think it’s going to be fabulous on sandwiches.  Plus it’s perfect and striking as a healthy appetizer spread, served with slices of red bell pepper for dipping!

Never having made cilantro pesto, I started with this recipe from Simply Recipes, then modified it.

The following is SO typical of my cooking process when following a recipe…

I followed the recipe somewhat to start with, based on what I had on hand, then after taste testing, and forcing taste testing on picky (and sick) husband, decided on a few more changes.  First off, I’d been snipping off bits of the cilantro bunch for other applications, so I was short of the full 2 cups.  Then the recipe called for blanched almonds, and I had neither raw nor blanched on hand.  I had roasted almonds though, and I like the substitution here.  I was concerned my onion was too strong, so I went light on that.  I had a dried hot pepper from last summer’s garden that was looking for a home, so I seeded it and added it in.

After preparing this, I taste, and give a taste to picky husband.  His comment: “It doesn’t taste like pesto, it tastes like ground up cilantro… but then, I’m sick and can’t taste”.  From this I gathered he was missing Parmesan cheese and possibly garlic.  So back to the food processor I went with approx 1/4 c parmesan cheese, and 1/2 teas garlic… a dash of black pepper and a sprinkle of lemon juice to brighten it up.  And another 1/4 cup olive oil slowly added to incorporate the new ingredients.

Here’s my final recipe… the result was a fresh and spicy spreadable pesto!  Remember, dishes like this are never an exact science, so taste along the way.

• ~1.5 cups cilantro, large stems removed
• 1/2 cup roasted almonds
• <1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 dried red pepper (or 1/4-1/2 teas red pepper flakes) – Another option that would be lovely would be jalapeno.
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/4+ c parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teas garlic
• dash black pepper
• dash lemon juice
• 1/4-1/2  cup olive oil

In your food processor, combine all ingredients up to the garlic.  Process, until finely chopped.  Drizzle in 1/4 cup of olive oil, slowly while processing.  Add the next set of ingredients, one at a time, tasting as you go.  Drizzle in additional olive oil until you reach a smooth consistency.

Enjoy!

Guestwhirl! Zesty Twice Baked Potatoes

A big thanks to reader Melissa (@ladyvella) for submitting this easy, tasty, and money saving idea!  These would be great as a side dish, or if cut smaller, party appetizers.

About Melissa: “When I am not organizing cyber-clutter as a database administrator, I am changing diapers and taking care of my adorable daughter at our home in the Atlanta metro area. My food journey started as so many do, with my mother and trying to imitate her art in the kitchen. Now that my cooking skills have grown legs, I am branching out and trying some of my own edible experiments.”

Zesty Twice Baked Potatoes

I had some extra potatoes left over from making a pot roast a few nights ago and I wanted to do something more creative with them then just baked potatoes. I recently had been eyeing some twice baked potatoes at the local grocery, but I have not wanted to pay what they were asking for frozen and bland potatoes. I finally just decided it was time to face this craving and make my own.

Ingredients:

• 2 Baking Potatoes
• 2 tsp Olive Oil
• ½ tsp Sea or Kosher Salt
• 1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 tsp Minced Garlic
• 2 tbsp Prepared Horseradish
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• Fresh Ground Pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°
2. Scrub potatoes to remove any dirt and rub skins with olive oil. (I like to do this bare-handed as the oil is a great moisturizer)
3. Sprinkle potatoes with salt and insert into oven.
4. Bake potatoes 50-60 minutes or until soft all the way through.
5. Remove cooked potatoes from oven and slice horizontally. Scoop inner flesh into bowl, setting skins aside. Caution: Hot potato! Hold with oven mitt or kitchen towel while cutting and scooping.
6. Into bowl with potato flesh, add cheese (reserving a few pinches), garlic, horseradish, sour cream, and some fresh ground pepper. Mash and mix all together thoroughly. (I like to do this with a hand masher, but for creamier insides you can use an electric mixer.)
7. Fill potato skins with mixture and sprinkle reserved cheese over top. (for a fancier effect, you can pipe mixture back into skins with cake decorating tip)
8. Return potatoes to oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is gently browned.

Makes 4 servings

Thanks Melissa!  Hey, Melissa follows foodwhirl on Twitter and Facebook… do you?

Chicken, Spinach & Rice Burritos

By using leftover chicken I was able to whip up these chicken and rice burritos in about 20 minutes (it would be even faster if I’d had leftover rice too).  They are very tasty and filling.

Here’s What You Need:

3/4 cup shredded chicken

1 large handful of fresh baby spinach

3 tablespoons salsa (use your favorite brand- I used La Costena, you can buy it in small cans and it’s very cheap).

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 onion, diced

1/2 rice

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 jalapeno, diced.

1 clove of garlic, minced.

tortillas

cheese- optional

To Make:

I like to make my rice in a rice cooker- I added the 1/2 cup of rice, tablespoon of tomato paste, jalapeno and garlic to the my rice cooker and added a cup and a tablespoon of water (follow the instructions for your cooker) and set it to cook.

As the rice is cooking, in a medium skillet heat the chicken, salsa, spinach and cumin.

Once the chicken and rice are both done, I like to heat my tortillas so they are warm and flexible.  I place them on a plate, cover them with a paper towel and sprinkle the paper towel with some water.  Microwave for 30 seconds and you’ll have soft and flexible tortillas, great for burrito wrapping.

Place a couple of tablespoons of rice in the center of the tortilla, add some of the chicken mixture and top with onions and cheese.