Taco Stuffed Shells

Who doesn't love tacos? Or stuffed pasta shells?  How about the best of both worlds and the combination of both??


I recently found a recipe for Taco Stuffed Shells (shout out to Pinterest again, they have everything!) and couldn't resist trying it.  I absolutely loved it!  Such an easy way to spice up the usual pasta dish, this is a must-try if you like both of these dishes.


Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Serving Size: serves 4 (generously)


Ingredients:


~16-18 jumbo pasta shells
~1 package taco seasoning
(the original recipe made their own seasoning but I opted for the easy way out with the package:)
~1 pound lean ground beef (I had ground turkey and couldn't taste a difference)
~1 cup frozen corn, thawed (I used canned)
~1 cup prepared pasta sauce
~2 oz. goat cheese
~1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
~1 tbsp butter, melted
~1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
~hot sauce, to your taste


Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill a large bowl with cold water and ice- set aside.


Bring a large pot of water to boil and add pasta shells, cook as directed.  Drain well and add to the ice water to stop the cooking (I just ran them under cold water and skipped the ice and had no problems)

The shells just waiting to be stuffed!

Heat a large saute pan/skillet over medium high heat, add oil and the ground meat.  Season with S&P and the taco seasoning.  Break apart into small chunks and brown evenly.


Add corn and the prepared pasta sauce to the meat mixture, cook until heated through
(about 1-2 minutes)


Remove pan from the heat and stir in the goat cheese.  Goat cheese isn't necessary if you don't have it, but it adds a nice, rich creaminess to it.


Add hot sauce to your preference, I like things spicy so I added around 10 dashes throughout but this is all to your personal taste.


Fill pasta shells with the filling and arrange in a baking dish (I used a 9x12).   I also added some of the marinara I had from the jar at the bottom of the dish just to give it a little something to cook in and add some moisture.


In a small bowl, mix together the Panko bread crumbs and melted butter to sprinkle on top.  I originally almost skipped this step but I'm glad I didn't, it added a great crunchiness to the dish. 


Sprinkle the tops of the shells with cheddar cheese and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the cheese has melted and browned.  


It should look somewhat like this when ready to bake:

Shells ready for the oven!

You can also serve with sour cream, fresh tomatoes, olives... or any other garnish that you think would go with tacos, but I liked them as is best.

Let cool after baking, then dish up!

happy eating :)  xoxo b

All that was left!

Oreo Balls

Since no one put this recipe up (CCC...) I guess I will.                            

RECIPE

1 package Oreos
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
White or milk chocolate

Crush oreos in a gallon sized bag

 

 Process/Mix Oreos and cream cheese

  

Form into balls and put in freezer

Dip in chocolate

Beer Bread

RECIPE

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons honey (can omit for a more savory loaf)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces beer
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir the beer and honey (if using) in until just mixed.  Pour half the melted butter into a loaf pan, spoon the batter into the pan and top with remaining butter.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes - until top is golden and the center comes out clean with a toothpick.

*I didn't use the honey and added Tony Chachere's seasoning to mine....

PART TWO: Apple Aebleskivers

We went picking in the abandoned apartment above the garage and found a ton of old stuff - a LIFE magazine from 1965, MAD magazine from 1960, a lot of hand-painted opera/theatre posters and a lot of acids - we also found a cast iron aebleskiver pan. Which, it turns out, is a Danish doughnut pan. Coincidentally enough, when I talked to Becky, she was making doughnuts.  So I looked up a few recipes and found a pretty good one - I added apples to my batter which is part of the traditional recipe.

RECIPE

2 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter
Confectioner's sugar

Beat egg yolks until light and fluffy, then add the sugar and salt.

Sift the flour with baking powder and baking soda, then add it to the egg mixture, alternating small amounts with the addition of the buttermilk, as you continue mixing

Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them into the batter.  Chop up apples (if desired) and add them to the batter, I also added some sugar and cinnamon

Heat the Aebleskiver pan - I tried baking half of them in muffin pans (350 degrees) - I heated up the muffin pan with some butter in the oven, added the batter and flipped them over about 6 minutes into it, then cooked another  5-6 minutes.  


While they were baking, I melted some butter and mixed some cinnamon and sugar together so that when they came out I could coat them.


*I think it would have been better to spray the muffin pan with Pam instead of butter.

Part One: Pink Strawberry Glaze and Blueberry Cake Doughnuts

So Emily and I both decided to make doughnuts today... too bad there isn't a way we could taste each other's to decide the winner!


In ABQ we decided to make two kinds, each our favorite: cake doughnut with pink frosting for me and blueberry cake for Clinton.  We made the same batter for both (adding the blueberries to the mix after the plain cake had been baked).  

Finished doughnut- delicious!

We didn't have a doughnut pan, so we used an oversized muffin tin and then used a tall shot glass to cut out the middle!  Gotta make what you have work :)


This recipe makes about 12 doughnuts depending on the size.  But, the Pink Strawberry Glaze takes a bit more time than the doughnuts, so we got started on that first.

Ingredients:

1 bag (20-ounce) Frozen Strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups Confectioners' Sugar

2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened (we omitted this)

1/4 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

To make the glaze:   Yields ~3/4 cup glaze


Place strawberries and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until thick — about 30 minutes. 


At this point, you can run the contents through a food mill and strain into a small saucepan if you want.  We chose to skip this and keep the bits of strawberry goodness in the frosting. 


Add 1/2 cup sugar and cook until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens to a syrup — about 15 more minutes. 


Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and 4 tablespoons of the syrup in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Use immediately.

This glaze was fantastic!  Just the right consistency and very similar to an actual doughnut shop.  We ended up glazing all 12 of our doughnuts and had plenty of glaze left over.  

Creating the strawberry glaze 

Now on to the the doughnuts!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat the over to 400 degrees and lightly grease your baking pan. 

In a medium bowl (I put mine straight into my Kitchen Aid mixer), mix sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and flour. Mix buttermilk, eggs, honey and butter in a separate medium bowl, and stir into the dry ingredients. Spoon the mixture onto the prepared pan in doughnut shapes.

Bake 12 minutes in the preheated over until golden brown.

*We started with the plain doughnuts first, and then folded the blueberries into the batter for round two as you can see in the following picture.
  

    

Here are the doughnuts straight of of the oven!

Final products are pictured below!  Who knew making doughnuts was so easy?  As a caution, remember these are baked and not fried, so the taste reflects that.  A doughnut pan would be nice, but by no means is necessary to make these as any shape will do.  We also put glaze on the "doughnut holes" that were cut out from the center, perfect little bites!  

The best part- the combinations of doughnut types on this batter are limitless! 
A definite try again.

happy eating :) xoxo b

Battle of the....

Konnichiwa, America.

FIRST BATTLE - Iron Chef Becky vs. Iron Chef Emily

We give you...

DOUGHNUTS

Lemon Springtimes

COOKIES
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
3/4 plus 2 tablespoons sour cream

GLAZE
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

PREHEAT oven to 375

1. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl, set aside
2. Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest in a mixer for about 2 minutes - until light and fluffy, stop once to scrape the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the eggs and egg yolk and mix until the batter is light in color and has increased in volume about 1 1/2 times - takes about 2 minutes
4. Gradually add the flour mixture and sour cream in 3 additions - starting with the flour, ending with the cream.  Mix each addition for about 5 seconds, stop the mixer to scrape the bowl after each addition.  Finish the final mixing gently by hand with the spatula until the batter appears velvety.
5. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet (make sure to spray your sheet with pam - and make sure there is 2 inches, because they spread a lot).  Bake the cookies until they have puffed up and spring back to the touch - about 10 minutes.
6. Prepare the glaze while the cookies cool - place the confectioner's sugar in a bowl, add the lemon juice and butter and beat with a whisk until smooth.
7. Spread the glaze on fully cooled cookies with a small butter knife or spatula.

Zganci

Okay, here is what you have all been waiting for.  This is the recipe for world renowned Zganci.   The word žganci is derived from the Slovenian verb žgati 'to burn, to toast'.  This recipe is from my grandparents, Sophie Mohar Simperman and Jim Simperman.  Sophie was born in Ljubljana in 1906 and Jim was born in Novo Mesto in 1899.  They met and married in Kemmerer, Wyoming. 

Zganci - Large Version

4 eggs
1/3 cup sugar (maybe a little more)
2/3 cup flour
1 cup canned milk (you can just pour in the whole can - I use low-fat or non-fat)
1 pinch of salt
1/2 tablespoon baking powder

Lightly coat a frying pan with cooking oil (I use canola oil)
Just pour a little bit of oil into the pan and swirl it around until the pan is coated
Heat the pan until the oil is smoking

Mix all of the ingredients together with a whisk.  I use an electric one that makes the job much easier.  Make sure that everything is mixed together.  You should have a fluffy mixture.

Pour the mixture into the smoking pan of oil.  Be very careful because the oil can splash and burn you.

As the mixture cooks, turn it with a spatula and break it up into small pieces.  The size of the pieces is a personal choice.  Most people seem to like the pieces about the size of a quarter or a little bit larger.

Once it is done (lightly browned - it will look a little like scrambled eggs with the texture of pancakes), dish it onto a few plates and enjoy the real breakfast of champions!

The traditional method is to dip a bite into a cup of coffee with milk and sugar.  Other people sprinkle a little sugar on top or even add syrup or jam.

Pop for the veggie platter

Great job Emmy!  I love this idea :)

Just a quick post for my first on something I put together last night at a Pampered Chef party... I saw the idea on Pinterest and thought it was too cute and easy, and was just waiting for the right time to try it!

I hollowed out three different colors of bell peppers (for aesthetic reasons) and filled them with dips I whipped up- Ranch, Onion and Green Chile!  The green chile dip is amazing, but store bought and can be found anywhere in NM.  The Ranch and Onion are simply a Lipton Onion Soup mix packet and a Ranch dressing packet mixed with sour cream, and voila, instant delicious dips!  A great way to add a creative flair to a vegetable platter... happy eating :)  xoxo b