Tag Archives: cheese

Ham and Cheese Scones, a Sunday brunch idea.

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I had these on my mind all morning, thinking that they’d be the perfect thing for my sister, mom, and I to take to the hospital on our sleeping nights, so we could have a savoury treat for breakfast. I’ve never made savoury scones before… well I’ve made biscuits, and these turned out pretty great. They are pitch-perfect for cheesiness and haminess (that is totally a thing); they are crunchy and tender; they are flaky and portable. Hospital breakfast achievement unlocked!
In non-food related news, we are coasting along. It is strange to think that I’ve been up north for a month now. I am happy to be here, any time spent with Dad is good time. I miss Vancouver quite a bit and I certainly miss my husband who has been great about this whole situation. Getting to see him last week, for my brief stint in Vancouver, was wonderful. We brought the nurses some Cookie Dough Dip  and Cheese Straws to show our appreciation for how great they’ve been. As weird as it is, we really feel at home at the hospital, we’ve gotten to know everyone and are feeling comfortable. On a crazy note, the RCMP were called to the hospital to deal with a patient across the hall last night.
Early in the evening I heard him grumbling at a nurse who was bringing around night snacks. She told him to stop swearing at her and went on her way. Well, not long after, Dad’s nurse went into this guy’s room and caught him smoking… in his hospital room. Well she rightfully flipped her lid and was yelling at him, “What is wrong with you?! This is a hospital!” The guy tried to argue with the nurse and she left down the hall. They forcibly discharged him and when he refused to leave, they called the RCMP to get him out of there. Apparently he damaged the room, had been abusive to nurses, and smoking was the last straw. Madness!
Whitehorse General Hospital is no Seattle Grace but there are a couple of exciting moments (Mom and Kellie were coming up to relieve me from night stay and found a long blood trail in the elevator that went through the surgical ward).

Ham and Cheese Scones

Adapted from Emeril’s similar recipe.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup of diced ham (I cut two 1/4-1/3-inch thick slices off of a ham we had in the fridge and diced those. Cut the slices into 1/4-inch strips and then cut the strips into 1/4-inch dice)
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
  • 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat the oven to 400°F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
  3. Using a pastry cutter, or your fingers, cut in the butter until you have pea-sized pieces that are well combined with the flour mixture.
  4. Add the cheese, green onions, ham, and pepper and combine well.
  5. Add 1 cup of milk and work just until it becomes a sticky dough, adding more milk as needed, up to 1 1/2 cups. Stop once the dough has come together, do not overwork.
  6. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a flattened circle, about 3/4-inch thick. Cut into wedges and transfer to a greased or parchmented baking sheet., leaving some space between each wedge.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking for doneness by busting one open. They are done when they are golden and the inside is flaky.
  8. Move to a wire rack to cool briefly then eat away!

A text-free shot. Lovely.

Bonus photo of my parent’s yard in the vibrant fall colours!

Cheese Straws- an old family recipe

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Picture will be updated when I make them again this week.

Cheese Straws, as mentioned in my previous post are a family favourite and a type of currency our family is encouraged to use outside of the home. Many of our friends and other family love these snacks, and requests are often made for us to bake up a batch. I’ve actually faced a lot of pressure to get these up on the blog but I just haven’t gotten around to baking any, fortunately that’s where my mom comes in. She baked up the pictured batch about a month ago and I’ve just gotten to posting about them. I am going to make some myself in the next few days and I will be sure to take some more pictures to share. They aren’t the prettiest treat, but they sure are tasty. In my opinion, the darker ones are the best, as they have that crispy cheese flavour. These are great for dipping and sharing, but they are also great to horde all to yourself.

This recipe was passed down to my mom from my Grandma Audrey and from her mother and possibly from her mother, etc. We are not sure how far these go back, but the love for them runs deep. My Grandma Aud is thrilled that the tradition of making these is being passed along, and I’ve included her note about rolling them in with my mom’s recipe. Mom took a ton of pictures, so there is a photo tutorial following the directions. You can tell it is an old family recipe because the measurements are not quite exact. Try it out with what I wrote and see how they turn out, adjust as necessary and bake these again and again!

What to eat with these? Anything! My mom especially likes equal parts salsa and sour cream mixed together as a dip. A good rule of thumbs is that your dip has to be on the lighter side, as these can be delicate. My Grandma eats them with dill pickles. I eat them plain mostly. My brother-in-law, husband, and father all like them sprinkled with some cayenne for a kick. They freeze really well too, so making a big batch is not usually a problem, if they even make it to the freezer.

Cheese Straws

INGREDIENTS

  • 3/4 cup less one tbsp margarine (or butter. **Mom’s recipe reads 1 1/3 squares of marg. — 1 square is 1/2 cup)
  • 2 cups old/sharp cheddar, grated (more if you want, more is always good)
  • 6 tbsp milk (you might need more to make a soft dough)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 rounded/heaping tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/3 cups flour

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, or lightly grease.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Using a pastry cutter (or your fingers), cut in the margarine until you have small, pea-sized pieces throughout.
  4. Add grated cheese and mix well.
  5. Using a fork, combine egg with milk in the measuring cup.
  6. Add the milk and egg to the flour mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms, DON’T OVER MIX.
  7. Place on a lightly floured counter and roll out until quite thin, though not transparent (Grandma’s note: if you don’t have a giant counter, separate dough into three chunks and do it in batches).
  8. Cut into strips and carefully move them onto baking sheet.
  9. Bake for about 10 minutes, until browned… or a minute or two long until really browned, if you are like me!

STEP-BY-STEP: Brought to you by Not Crocker’s Mom.

  1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, or lightly grease.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

    Cutting the margarine into the flour mixture.

  3. Using a pastry cutter (or your fingers), cut in the margarine until you have small, pea-sized pieces throughout.

    Cheesed.

  4. Add grated cheese and mix well.
  5. Using a fork, combine egg with milk in the measuring cup.

    Stir in your milk.

  6. Add the milk and egg to the flour mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms, DON’T OVER MIX

    Lump of dough on my mom’s very long counter.

  7. Place on a lightly floured counter and roll out until quite thin, though not transparent (Grandma’s note: if you don’t have a giant counter, separate dough into three chunks and do it in batches).

    Cut long strips and cut across for perfectly sized

  8. Cut into strips and carefully move them onto baking sheet.

    Ready for browning. The dough is worth eating too…

  9. Bake for about 10 minutes, until browned… or a minute or two long until really browned, if you are like me!

Stuffed Shells & Apple Dijion Kale Salad

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This meal rocks. I know that is tooting my own horn, but seriously, this is good eats. Gen, when he came home at 11pm and took a bite of the cold leftovers, said, “This is better than most restaurant food.” Not loving the “most,” but I’ll take it! The stuffed shells are cozy, warm, downhome eats. The salad is bright, tangy, and texture-rich. Awesome combo that I will surely make again. Once again, I found the salad on the wonderful Budget Bytes and made very slight adjustments. While most recipes for stuffed shells call for spinach, I LOVE Swiss chard, and it was on sale, so I used it instead. It adds a little sweetness and a nice variety of colour to the dish. Also, the step-by-step is PACKED with pictures… just a warning.

Stuffed Shells

Adapted from a Canadian Living recipe.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 3 small (or 1.5 large) red onions, finely chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) tomato sauce
  • 1 box jumbo pasta shells (these were hard to find, I had to hit up 4 grocery stores… I was worried I’d have to stuff tiny little shells)
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 bunches (about 10 leaves) of Swiss chard (I used both the white and red versions)
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 tub (475g) ricotta cheese

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. In large pan, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; cook beef, breaking up with spoon, for 8 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain fat, and remove meat from pan. Set aside.
  3. Trim your Swiss chard, removing the tips of the stems and any brown spots. Rinse the chard and cut/tear into quarters. Steam the chard until tender, about 10 minutes. Place steamed chard onto a tea towel to dry a bit.
  4. Add remaining oil to pan; sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, hot pepper flakes, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Return beef to pan; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, for 20 to 25 minutes or until thickened.
  5. Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions until tender but firm. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain well and place on damp tea towel.
  6. Filling: Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine steamed Swiss chard, ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, parsley, onions, eggs, basil, nutmeg, and pepper.
  7. Pour half of the tomato-meat sauce into 13 x 9-inch casserole dish. Spoon heaping tablespoons of filling into each pasta shell. Arrange snugly, stuffed side up, in dish. Spoon remaining sauce over top; sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Cover with foil.
  8. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.
  9. While baking, make salad!

Apple Dijion Kale Salad

From Budget Bytes.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 medium granny smith apple
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup walnut halves

DIRECTIONS

  1. Tear or cut the kale leaves from the stems. Cut the leaves into 2-inch squares and then rinse well under cool water (in a colander). Allow the kale to drain as you prepare the rest of the salad.
  2. In a bowl combine the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, clove of garlic, salt, and pepper. Using a hand blender, blend until the garlic is minced and the dressing is smooth.
  3. Wash the apple and chop it into chunks. Roughly chop the walnut halves. Make sure the kale is as dry as possible and then combine it in a large bowl with the apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Pour the dressing on top and toss to coat.

Step-by-steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. In large pan, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; cook beef, breaking up with spoon, for 8 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain fat, and remove meat from pan. Set aside.
  3. Trim your Swiss chard, removing the tips of the stems and any brown spots. Rinse the chard and cut/tear into quarters. Steam the chard until tender, about 10 minutes. Place steamed chard onto a tea towel to dry a bit.

    Swiss chard is one of my favourites. Also wonderful steamed and sautéed with butter and garlic.

  4. Add remaining oil to pan; sauté the onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, hot pepper flakes, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Return beef to pan; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, for 20 to 25 minutes or until thickened.

    Sautéed onions and garlic, with spices added!

  5. Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions until tender but firm. Drain and rinse under cold water; drain well and place on damp tea towel.

    Jumbo shell is like the mama of the regular shells. Awww so cute.

  6. Filling: Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine steamed Swiss chard, ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, parsley, onions, eggs, basil, nutmeg, and pepper.

    Stuffing for shells!

  7. Pour half of the tomato-meat sauce into 13 x 9-inch casserole dish. Spoon heaping tablespoons of filling into each pasta shell. Arrange snugly, stuffed side up, in dish. Spoon remaining sauce over top; sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Cover with foil.

    Stuffing the shells. They looked nice and neat until I had to start shoving them into places to finishing the filling batch.

  8. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through.

    Pre-oven layer confirmation. Niiiiice.

  9. While baking, make salad!

Salad! I have no idea why this picture is sideways… oh well.

Jalapeño Cheese Squares

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Sorry for the ridiculous delay between posts, going away has meant a full schedule upon my return. I’ve been running around, working like a mad woman, trying to catchup, keep up, and not die trying. Anyway, this is one of the delightful appetizers from the wedding. I am waiting on some pictures and recipes from my mom whose camera I kept using because I couldn’t locate mine. These are ridiculously simple and really delicious. Crowd pleasers for sure!

Jalapeño Cheese Squares

Ingredients

  • 6 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 6 eggs beaten
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream
  • 2 tsps green onion, minced
  • 1 small can of jalapeño peppers (fresh would be great too, 2 or three, well chopped)

Directions

  1. Whisk together cheese, eggs, cream and onions. Stir in jalapeños.
  2. Spread mixture in a greased 9 x 13 pan.
  3. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
  4. Cut into 1-inch squares and serve. These are great hot or cold.

 

Spicy Pepperoni Cheesesticks

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By request from my brother-in-law, my sister and I set about making spicy pepperoni cheesesticks to rival the ones he loved as a kid (or teen, or recently, I can’t remember). I knew we had a lot to live up to, so we made sure we were doing this right. I had been eyeing this recipe for a couple days, knowing that these jalapeño sticks would be the perfect prototype for what were trying to create. Reading the recipe I determined that pizza dough was the answer. So we used my regular pizza dough recipe, got some Tex Mex shredded cheese, some very spicy pepperoni sticks, and set about making these delicious treats. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. These came together like gangbusters, they were tasty and satisfied my brother-in-laws cravings. Success!

Spicy Pepperoni Cheesesticks

Ingredients

Pizza Dough
  • 1  package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsps white sugar
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 2/3 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or Tex Mex)
The Rest
  • 1 package of spicy pepperoni sticks
  • shredded cheddar or Tex Mex cheese (jalapeño, cheddar, mozza, etc.)
  • chili powder for dusting

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oregano, chili powder, cheese, salt, and white sugar. Stir well.
  3. Add in the olive oil and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine.

    Kel stirs as I pour.

  4. Mix well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out in a rectangle (if possible) to about 1/4 inch thickness.
  6. Slice strips of dough 2 1/4 inches wide.
  7. Place a pepperoni stick in the middle of the strips, place some cheese along side the pepperoni, and pull the dough around and pinch to seal all the way along the stick. Fold the ends over (cut off excess dough and reserve for more sticks) and pinch to seal.
  8. Place sealed sticks on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with more cheese and some chili powder.
  9. Bake for about 20 minutes, the sticks will be golden brown and the cheese will have melted. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before eating.

Heading into the oven.

Tasty.