blueberry cream cheese ebelskivers...

I know I have been showing a lot of ebelskivers lately but we just love them. Yesterday, we drove to St. Cloud for work and as we drove by Ihop I said to Jeff that I should try to make stuffed french toast my favorite dish there. I realized when I got home I didn't have raisin or cinnamon bread in the house so I went for the next best thing ebelskivers.

Ebelskivers "filled pancakes" (recipe from the back of my William Sonoma pan packaging)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
4 eggs, seperated
2 cups milk
4 Tablespoons butter, melted (plus more for cooking)

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk and the 4 TB of melted butter. Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the batter will be lumpy.

In another bowl, using and electric mixture fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/4 tsp butter in each well of the ebelskiver pan. Set over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour in 1 TBs of batter into each well, put in 1-2 tsp of your choice of filling and top with 1 TBs of batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Using 2 wooden skewers, flip the pancakes over and cook until golden and crispy about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining batter and filing. Makes about 40.

My notes: I always halve this recipe with no problems. Up until this batch I always used the 2 wooden skewers to flip them but yesterday I discovered we were out of them. While I was panicking on what to use Jeff took out 2 plastic forks and broke off all the prongs except one on each fork - they worked so much better and now are washed and will be stored with the pan :)

The blueberry filling was "winged" - I used one half of a block of cream cheese so about 4 oz and whipped it with several tablespoons of powdered sugar and a tsp of vanilla. Then I added blueberries and used the remaining blueberries to cook down with some sugar for the syrup topping.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Two Thumbs UP - yes, he thought they were that good :)

Fiesta Ravioli and Wonton Kisses...

I have never been disappointed with any recipe I have gotten off the blog, The Sisters' Cafe, and this Fiesta Ravioli was no exception!
While mine doesn't look quite as festive since I forgot to buy the sliced ripe olives...I used a valentine's plate to make it fun.
Fiesta Ravioli from Melanie of the Sisters' Cafe

1 package (25oz) frozen beef ravioli
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 jar (8oz) salsa
2 cups shredded Cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese
1 can (2oz) sliced black olives drained (optional)
sour cream and lettuce for garnish

Cook ravioli according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet combine enchilada sauce and salsa. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Drain ravioli, add to sauce and gently stir to coat. Top with cheese (and olives, if desired). Cover and cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Bring to the table and enjoy with lettuce and sour cream. Approx. 6 servings You can see their full post HERE.

This one got a big thumbs up from both of us!

For dessert we had Wonton Kisses which was listed on the Taste of Home website as a Valentine dessert. Good thing because while very tastey I think I could only eat them once a year - unless I tried the baked version as some reviewers suggested.


Wonton Kisses from the Taste of Home website

* 24 milk chocolate kisses
* 24 wonton wrappers
* Oil for frying
* Confectioners' sugar

Directions
* Place a chocolate kiss in the center of a wonton wrapper. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.) Moisten edges with water; fold opposite corners together over candy kiss and press to seal. Repeat.
* In an electric skillet, heat 1 in. of oil to 375°. Fry wontons for 2-1/2 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Yield: 2 dozen.

The recipe and photo from their website can be found HERE.

They list one as a serving size - now really who only eats one! This recipe also got a Thumbs UP from both of us.

chocolate sugar cookies...

It snowed all weekend so to pass the time I made cookies. Normal sugar cookies made in the cookie mold pan I mentioned in the last post and chocolate sugar cookie cut outs. I was never the type of mom that made cute cut out cookies for every holiday - frankly no one in our family really cared for sugar cookies, they would rather have chocolate chip cookies so it wasn't worth the effort. In my browsing of recipes this weekend I came across a recipe for chocolate sugar cookies on the Joy of Baking.com site that looked worth trying. They were definitely the favorite of the two types of cookies made. I look forward to tweaking the chocolate recipe for even more fudgy goodness. You can find the full recipe for the chocolate sugar cookies on the Joy of baking site HERE. I did not use the royal icing as they recommend but our favorite glace icing which does not get as hard from the Our Best Bites site. You can find that recipe HERE.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs UP

herbed crackers...

I received a Wilton Valentine cookie pan as a gift last weekend and the recipe for herbed crackers on the back of the label intrigued me.


Herbed Crackers - (recipe from Wilton)
Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup butter softened
* 8 ounces Monterey Jack or white cheddar cheese, shredded
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon oregano or basil
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/8 teaspon pepper

Makes about 1 dozen crackers.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray pan cavities with vegetable pan spray.

In medium mixing bowl cream butter with cheese. Stir in flour, salt, oregano, garlic powder and pepper.

Bake 11-13 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

My Notes: I didn't have white cheddar on hand so I used regular cheddar thus giving the crackers an orange tinge.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs Down

Though I probably won't be making these again given Jeff's rating - the cookie molds are fun and you'll be seeing those again!

comfort food...pot pie

In the cold days of winter I crave "comfort food" and one of them is pot pie.
Jeff has me on a "make use of the meat in our freezer instead of buying more" plan so I made a pheasant pie with puff pastry one day last week.
No recipe but lots of good ingredients on hand so I "winged it", with sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, fresh mushrooms, parsnips, fresh rosemary, thyme and sage along with the pheasant. Yum!

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs UP