I made this for a dear friend‘s birthday party the weekend before last, and then ended up down with the flu and just haven’t had much blogging mojo. (Seriously – I’ve been sick on and off since before Halloween. This SUCKS.) So, I’ll post it now. Grab a beverage – this one has LOTS of pictures.

What I’m showing you is a recipe I saw on an episode of Cooking Live 8 or 9 years ago.  Since then, it’s become a party staple for us, which was why friend’s hubby asked me to make it.

Presenting: The Buffalo Wing Ring.

Dice a medium sized onion, and let it saute in 1/4 cup melted butter until softened, but not caramelized.

While that sautees, combine 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese with 1/3 cup of mayonnaise, and stir until blended.  Stash this in the fridge.

This?  This is like my nightmare.  I am not a blue cheese fan.

Once the onion is softened, add in 3/4c milk, and 1/2c water.  Remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature-ish.

In the bowl of your mixer, combine 1-1/2 c flour, 3T sugar, 1-1/2t salt, and 2 packages of Fleischman’s Rapid Rise yeast.  You can also use their bread machine yeast that comes in the jar, if you have that on hand.

You will also need an additional 3 cups of flour in a separate bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients (not including the set-aside flour) to combine them.

With the mixer running on low, pour in the onion-milk-water-butter mixture and stir until it is incorporated.

Mix in one egg, and beat for two minutes.

Add the remaining flour, I do it about 1/2c at a time, and mix until you have  a soft dough.

Mmmm… sticky.  Knead the dough with the mixer for 4-6 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic.

While it is kneading (I love my stand mixer…), grab the cheese – about 8 oz. each of cheddar and pepper jack.

I buy blocks and shred them myself using my handy-dandy food processor.

Set the cheese aside once it is shredded.

Once your dough is elastic…

Turn it out onto a floured board (or, you know, your countertop), cover it with a towel, and let it rest for ten minutes.

Once it has rested, roll it out into a rectangle – about 18″ long by 12-14″ wide.  And seriously, this is the most perfect rectangle I’ve ever rolled out.  I was way proud of it.

And assemble the fillings – the mayo-blue cheese mixture, the shredded cheddar and pepper jack, wing sauce, and cooked chicken.  I cheat and use the pre-cooked stuff, but you can certainly cook and chop up your own if you prefer.  You need about 1-1/2 pounds.

Spread the mayo-blue cheese mixture over the dough, leaving the edges plain so you can seal them later.

Top the blue cheese with the chicken

And then drizzle on about 1/3 cup of the wing sauce.  I usually end up eyeballing this, and often end up with a little more than 1/3c.

Top it with the cheeses.  Looks like pizza at this point…

Starting from the far long edge, roll the dough toward you.

And pinch the seam to seal it.  This is not always successful for me. 

Roll the log so that it is seam-side down, and bend it into a ring on a pan (pizza pan, cookie sheet, whatever you’ve got handy) that has been lightly sprayed with Pam.  (Side note, I used to refuse to buy that actual brand, because the name bugged the hell out of me when I was a kid.)

Slash the dough about 1/3 of the way down, in 8 places, using a sharp knife.  Try not to giggle at the piece of chicken that pokes out like it is trying to escape.

Bake the ring at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes until the crust is nicely browned and the cheese is bubbling through the slashes.  If you manage to seal the seams, you’ll have less issue with the cheese leaking into the center.  Clearly, this one didn’t seal well.

Normally, I’d show you a picture of a slice of it, but since I was taking it to the party, I didn’t slice it until we got there, and I didn’t bring my camera. If anyone would have understood, they would have, but I decided that some things are too weird even for me.

I sometimes make a cheesesteak variation as well – I add chopped green pepper with the onions, use Cheez-Whiz instead of the mayo/blue cheese mixture, cook up some Steak-Ummz for the chicken, swap the pepper jack for provolone, and use A1 instead of the wing sauce.

First, brown 1 pound of Italian sausage.  I used hot sausage tonight, but if you are less of a fan of spicy, you could mix sweet and hot, or just go with all sweet.  Remove it from the casings, and just break it up with a wooden spoon as it browns.

Once it is browned, add in 2 cups of diced onions,

And one cup of diced carrots.

And then five cloves of garlic, minced.  Or be like me and use a garlic press instead of mincing it by hand (Teh Lazy, I has it.)

Once the onions and carrots have softened a bit, add in 1/4t crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2t dried oregano, and 1/2t dried basil.

Pour in 4 cups of chicken broth (conveniently, that’s exactly one box),

one large can of crushed tomatoes, and one regular (14 oz.) can of tomato sauce. (Organic not required. I just happen to like Giant’s organic store brand stuff)

Once that comes to a boil, add in 1 cup (or more like 2 in my case) of dried pasta. The original recipe called for campanelle, but I can never find it, so I use gemelli.

Simmer 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. Then add in 2 cups fresh spinach. Or be like me and throw in the whole bag. What? I like spinach.

Stir in the spinach and let it simmer for one or two minutes until the spinach is wilted. Nom.

Remove from the heat. To serve, put a little bit of the liquid in the bottom of a bowl. (This keeps the cheese from melting solidly onto the bowl)

Top with a small handful of shredded provolone-mozzarella mix.

Ladle on the soup, and top with shredded parmesan and fresh basil.

It will be ripping hot, so I recommend giving it a minute or two to cool. Of, you know, write a blog post about it.

Everyday Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

1/2 pound whole wheat elbow macaroni (about 2 cups)
1 12 oz. can 2% reduced-fat evaporated milk
3/4 cup fat-free milk
1/4 t dry mustard
1/8 t garlic powder or celery salt (optional)
1 pinch cayenne powder
2 t cornstarch
8 oz. 50% reduced-fat sharp cheddar, shredded

Makes 4 generous 1-cup servings

Cook pasta in salted boiling water in a saucepan according to the package directions. Drain, set aside.

Combine evaporated milk, 1/2 c of the milk, mustard powder, garlic powder or celery salt, cayenne, and 1/2 t salt to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Whisk the cornstarch with the remaining 1/4 c milk, then whisk it into the simmering mixture. Continue to simmer, whisking constantly, until it has thickened and smooth (about 2 minutes).

Remove from heat, and gradually whisk in the shredded cheddar until melted and smooth. Stir in the macaroni, and let sit off the heat until the sauce has thickened slightly (2-5 minutes) before serving.
Per the calculator on SparkPeople:

Fat: 10.5g
Carbohydrates: 54.6g
Calories:424.9
Protein: 29.5g

And I know it’s been pretty quiet around here of late – I’m just not in a bloggy mood, and I don’t want to bore everyone with  just blabber if I have nothing to say.  I am working on a couple of things, which I am hoping to get some pics of soon.  I finished that red beret, just need to get a picture.  The pink hat is still where it was.  I’m thinking I might need more length before I can do the decreases, and that basketweave cable is just so slooooooooow.  I’m glad you guys agreed that the wider cable works better, too.  I’m much happier with it.  I also started a Swallowtail Shawl last night in some Noro Silk Garden Sock – it’s coming out really pretty so far.  I got 4 repeats done last night while watching the last of the Futurama movies.  It’s a pretty easy pattern so far – I like the way it’s working in the Silk Garden Sock, too.

So I thought… what the hell.  Why not go for it and give it a shot, right?  Well, my dear friend Alice decided that she wanted to make the truffles too, and her daughter wanted in on the action, so we decided to get together today and make them.  I made the fondant the other day – it was WAY fun, and really not at all hard to do.  Just very, very messy.    This morning, I rolled out the fondant and made the box:

I was starting to get really psyched about it, because that came out well.  Alice and Cashin came over around 11am, and we got started mashing the other cake bits together with frosting and making the balls to cover in chocolate.

Red velvet cake and frosting looks… gory.

After a sushi/Chinese food break while the balls firmed up in the freezer, we started covering and decorating. After about three hours, we had a LOT of cake truffles.

Yeah.  A LOT.

Once we put them into the candy papers, Alice and Cashin took these home to their boys:

And I had this waiting for Kris (along with a plate of these cookies from the same site as the candy box cake):

He loved it.  And once he realized that I made the “candy” AND that the box was a cake, he was even more impressed.  I’m SO proud of myself.  They came out even prettier than I hoped.
Well, most of them did.  We dubbed these few the “Island of Misfit Toys”:

Still tasted just fine, though.

Oh, and if you are wondering, Kris’s Valentine’s Day gift for me?  A bottle of really good tawny port.  Which we’ll be cracking open tonight.  What can I say?  He knows me. 

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Tonight, we are featuring yet another of the recipes from my Aunt Cathy (she of the sandwiches from the other day).  These get raves pretty much anywhere I’ve brought them – Mixed Baked Beans.

The usual suspects:

A pound of bacon, a pound of ground beef (again, turkey works just as well), an onion, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, white sugar, vinegar, kidney beans (2 cans), butter beans (2 cans) and regular baked beans (2 cans – use whatever kind you like.  Good old generic pork and beans works perfectly.)

First, chop the bacon and toss it into a skillet over medium heat.  Let it cook until it gets nice and crispy.

You’ll be browning the ground beef and cooking the onions in with it, so make sure the skillet has enough room for all of them.  If you don’t mind soft bacon, you can put them all in at the same time, but flabby bacon makes me shudder and say nasty words, so I render the bacon out before putting anything else in.

Mmmm…. crispy bacony goodness.

Whether or not you drain any of the fat at this point is entirely up to you. I opt not to. Don’t judge me.

Now, toss in a chopped onion (as finely as you need it to be chopped, Cristi)

And the pound of ground beef/turkey.

Cook those until the meat is browned and the onion is softened. Scrape the bottom of your pan with a wooden spoon to make sure you get up any bits of bacony goodness that stuck to the bottom.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of ketchup, 4T vinegar (any kind you like – white wine works, apple cider works. I’d probably skip the balsamic, though.), 2T mustard (just the basic yellow stuff), 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup white sugar.

Stir to combine.

Now, open and rinse the two cans of kidney beans (I use one light and one dark just for the visual appeal, but it makes no difference in the flavor),

and the two cans of butter beans,

And add them to the bowl with the ketchup mixture, along with the baked beans (obviously, you don’t want to rinse those)

Stir to combine.

By now, your ground beef should be browned, and your onions nice and soft.

Add the meat mixture to the beans and ketchup mixture (when I said large mixing bowl, I wasn’t kidding) and stir until everything is mixed. Pour it into your handy casserole dish

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. The sauce with thicken up and all of the flavors will blend.

The beauty of it is that it works as a one-dish meal and will feed about 16 people as such, or it’s a great side dish for picnics and will feed even more. You can easily halve the recipe, but it freezes really well, so I never do, even if it’s just Kris and I eating.

These are one of my very favorite things to make.  It’s my aunt’s recipe for Hot Beef Sandwiches, although I have also been known to sub in ground turkey with equal success.  Also, I made a double recipe (There were five of us for dinner, I can NEVER eat only one, and they freeze well), so the quantities in the pictures are a bit more than what I will give in the instructions. 

Start with a pound of ground meat (either beef or turkey).  Brown it in a large skillet, and add in a finely chopped onion.  Saute the two together until the onions are softened.

Add about 1t of dried oregano:

Take a jar of olives – the good old basic green ones with pimentos.  No time for fancy-shmancy oil-cured imported ones.

Chop up half the jar of olives.  Doesn’t have to be super finely, just a nice rough chop.

Add the olives to the meat mixture,

along with 2/3 of a cup of tomato sauce:

Mix well, and let all of this simmer for a few minutes, while you prep the next step

Tear sheets of foil about square-ish, and get out the hamburger buns. (1 pound of meat will make about 8 sandwiches – you need a sheet of foil per):

Pull the skillet off the heat, and add in the good stuff – 8 oz. of shredded mozzarella.

Yum.  Cheesy goodness.

Mix the cheese in well, and start building the sandwiches – a good scoop of the filling on a bun,

Slap the top on and put the sandwich in the center of a sheet of foil

And wrap it up into a nice little bundle.

Once you have all of the sandwiches assembled and wrapped, pile them on a cookie sheet (or in my case, pizza pan) and pop them in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

And then, enjoy. Several of them, if you are me.

Oh, and if you freeze some extras, you can put them straight from the freezer into a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. No need to thaw first.

ETA:  I HATE green olives.  No, seriously – I will not eat them.  But they totally work in this, and you don’t get that green olive flavor.  Black olives don’t have the right flavor.  Trust me on this – just try it.

And if you are freezing them, you don’t need to bake them first.  Just wrap them and throw them into the freezer.  You can also freeze them after you bake, so no worries if you have leftovers.  Put those in the freezer (I usually put them in a baggie), and pop them in the oven when you want to eat them.

Lasagna with Mini Meatballs from the Cooking with Friends cookbook.  (Cheesy, I know, but it’s REALLY good lasagna, and I’ve got another great recipe from it that I’ll share with y’all another day.)

First, gather the goodies, and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Combine 1 pound of ground meat (Either beef or turkey will work fine – I used turkey this time), 2 large eggs, beaten, 1/2 cup of grated parmesan, 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (I, um, didn’t have regular ones, so I used panko this time), 1-1/2 t salt, and 1/2 t of ground pepper.

Finely chop 1/3 cup fresh basil, and add it to the bowl.

Mix until well-combined.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet, and pinch of small pieces of the meatball mixture. Fry them until browned on all sides.

While the oil is heating, heat a jar of your favorite pasta sauce (Newman’s Own Marinara is good stuff) in a saucepan. As the meatballs are brown (you’ll need to do them in batches), remove them with a slotted spoon and place them into the sauce.

When all of the meatballs are browned, let the sauce finish heating through for a few minutes.

Grab your lasagna pan (or 9×13 pan), and cover the bottom with a thin layer of the sauce, avoiding meatballs.

Place a layer of lasagna noodles on the sauce. I use the no-cook ones, but if you want to cook them first, be my guest.

Cover the noodles with a layer of sauce, with meatballs this time.

Scatter a handful of shredded mozzarella over the sauce. (You’ll need about a pound, total.)

And then a bit of grated parmesan. (Total of about a cup.)

Repeat the layers (noodles, sauce, cheeses) until you’ve used up the sauce, finishing with a heavy cheese layer.  I press down a little when I put on each new layer of noodles, just to get things to settle together.

If you are using cooked noodles, go ahead and bake the lasagna uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

Since I use the no-cook ones, I do a little extra just to make sure they cook through. I add about 1-2 cups of water, pouring it in at the side of the pan.

Then cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. I remove the foil and let it go for another five minutes uncovered.

Behold the cheesy goodness! Let it sit for about 5 minutes when you take it out of the oven.

And then enjoy. I recommend a chunk of garlic bread alongside.

Also, as I’ve been at home this week, I’ve been watching Mamma Mia! daily.  I know, I know… Pierce Brosnan can’t really sing, but the movie is fun, and I ADORE the music.  Plus, I think Amanda Seyfried is about the cutest thing ever.  She’s fabulous as Sophie.  Anyway, I’ve determined that the entire movie is worth watching for one single moment, and it doesn’t happen until the end credits.  When they sing “Waterloo”, and the three guys come out in their sparkly jumpsuits, I crack up at Colin Firth EVERY TIME.  He’s just so ENTHUSIASTIC.  He reminds me a little of the old Spartan Cheerleaders sketches on SNL – way more spirit than talent.  He’s awesome, but he’s not much of a dancer.  But it’s just so cute!

Anyway, I’m off to finish up a couple of things, and then tonight… the show!  With an actual audience!  WOOT!

Candy sushi, with chocolate “soy” sauce:

(Fruit roll-ups, Rice Krispie treats, and Twizzlers)

More candy sushi, Swedish Fish variation:

(Just Swedish Fish and Rice Krispie Treats)

And the artsy-fartsy shot, just for fun:

And the costumes…

Irene, as a geisha:

Check out her face paint!  It was so gorgeous.  She’s starting a business doing facepainting, and she’s got a good shot at doing well with it, I think.

Jaime as (let me see if I get this right) “Daniel Jackson if he was a girl and stole Cameron’s hat and Shepard’s jacket” AKA random Stargate crew member. 

Kris as Captain Hammer, in the “These? Are not the hammer.” pose.

(Doesn’t he look adorable? I mean, I know I’m biased, but come on!)

Me, as a Captain Hammer groupie:

The nametag says “Captain Hammer – *I* do the weird stuff!”  And I think I’ve got the “scary groupie facial expression down pretty well in that one…

Captain Hammer with his groupie:

Carrie as Columbina:

And yes, she made that costume.  Not the mask, but the blouse, corset, AND skirt.

Alex as Billy, with Kris as Captain Hammer:

The original plan was for Alex to be Dr. Horrible, but he and Carrie had trouble finding the right kind of lab coat, so he went for the secret identity version instead.

Marc, as a stereotypical Frenchman.

Funnier because Marc is, in fact French.  And way fun.

And finally, Matt as the Nile river turning to blood.

Very cool costume idea, I must say. (And there are non-cropped pictures in my Flickr set. I couldn’t get them centered better with the mosaic maker)

So, yes, Halloween was lots of fun.  And now, it’s November, which means one thing:

NaKniSweMo.

Heaven help me.

Anyway, I used to watch Food Network ALL the time.  Nowadays, the only never-miss for me is “Good Eats”.  Seriously – I have a season pass for it on the DVR.  Last night, there was a new episode, and it may be the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen.  They should re-run it this week, if you are a fan and missed it.  Summary – he did a Sweeney Todd spoof.  It’s too funny, but it really must be seen to be believed.

So, yes.  This has cemented my undying love for Alton Brown, my Food God and Geek Crush.

In other news, check out this link Kris sent me from the FAILblog.  There are no words.  And now, the world knows that this guy is a total moron who doesn’t even BEGIN to understand basic concepts.  Wow.

The recipe is here on the site, but I’m going to be a bad girl and save you the click.  I will say that I only got about 3 dozen, not the 5 that the recipe says, but I’m guessing that’s because my cookie scoop (Thank you, Pampered Chef) is bigger than the 1/2T they call for.  They still baked up perfectly, though.

Three-Way Gingersnaps

- makes about 60 cookies -

Adapted from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar, plus more for rolling the cookies before baking
1 large egg
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons honey

2 or 3 cookie sheets or jelly-roll pans lined with parchment or foil

Procedure

1. Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325ºF.

2. Mix the flour with the ground ginger, baking soda, and salt.

3. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed until lightened, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and continue beating until smooth.

4. Decrease the mixer speed to low and beat in half the flour mixture. Stop and scrape down the bowl and paddle.

5. Beat in the grated ginger, the crystallized ginger, and the honey. After they are incorporated, beat in the remaining flour mixture. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to give a final mixing to the dough.

6. Roll 1/2 tablespoon of the dough between the palms of your hands to make a little sphere, then roll it in a shallow bowl of sugar. Place it on one of the prepared pans. Continue with the remaining dough, keeping the subsequent cookies about 2 inches apart on all sides.

7. Bake the gingersnaps until they spread and become deep golden, 15 to 20 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, place the pan from the lower rack on the upper one and vice versa, turning the pans from back to front at the same time. If you know that your oven gives off strong bottom heat, stack the pan on the lower rack on top of a second one for insulation.

7. Slide the papers off the pans to cool the cookies. If you have only one more pan of gingersnaps to bake, readjust one of the racks to the middle level for baking.