I'm breaking my self-imposed no-Christmas-talk-before-Thanksgiving rule to bring you some Christmas treats. Over the coming weeks, I'll be sharing some goodies that I made for last year's Christmas trays. I go kind of insane with my Christmas cookie trays every year; I just can't help myself, so I have lots of delicious things to share.
I thought I'd start off the Christmas cookie talk with my number one, very favorite Christmas cookie of all time: rugelach. Rugelach is a flaky pastry filled with walnuts and cinnamon sugar, and if you've never had it, you are really missing out. The nuttiness of the walnuts, the sweet spiciness of the cinnamon sugar, and the buttery pastry are such a delicious combination. These cookies keep for a long time stored in an airtight container at room temperature, and both the raw dough and the baked cookies freeze very well, making them ideal for preparing ahead of the Christmas baking rush.
Some versions of rugelach call for raisins, chocolate, or raspberry or apricot preserves. I prefer a simple version with just nuts and cinnamon sugar. If you're not a fan of walnuts or you just want something different, try using almonds, pecans, or cashews instead; I think those would be delicious substitutions.
Rugelach
slightly adapted from Allrecipes
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1. Cut cold butter and cream cheese into bits. In a food processor, pulse flour, salt, butter and cream cheese, and sour cream until crumbly.
2. Shape crumbly mixture into 4 equal-sized discs. Wrap each disc and chill for 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
3. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts in a bowl.
4. Roll each disc into a 9-inch round, keeping the other discs chilled until ready to use. Sprinkle the rolled disc with the walnut mixture, pressing lightly into the dough.
5. Using a chef's knife or pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 wedges. Roll wedges from wide to narrow, ending with a point. Place on ungreased baking sheets and chill for 20 minutes before baking.
6. After chilling, bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on wire racks.
Makes 4 dozen rugelach
Fact: I can turn any leftover shredded meat into a taquito. It's a life skill, really. I need to update my resume to include this little factoid; I bet it would make me very hire-able.
But seriously, though. I do enjoy using leftover shredded meat for taquitos for a couple of reasons: 1. Taquitos are delicious, duh! And 2. I love, love, love listening to my boys trying to say "taquito."
"What are we having for dinner, boys?"
"Charitos!"
"Raditos!"
"Tweetos!"
Tweetos, you guys. That's almost as good as sauce cake, am I right?
Anyway, I made this particular version of "tweetos" with the chicken I had left over from Monday's sandwiches. They were so delicious -- creamy from the cream cheese, with a spicy kick from the Mexican spices and green chilies, and a burst of sweetness and texture from the corn. And since this recipe still made a ton, I actually got three uses out of the chicken: I froze half of the taquitos for a later meal.
(By the way, I know that these are technically flautas since I use flour tortillas -- I prefer them because they're easier to work with. But "flauta" isn't nearly as fun for my boys to say...so taquitos it is.)
Baked Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos
2 cups shredded baon ranch chicken meat
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
3 tablespoons ranch dressing
1 can corn kernels, drained
1 4-ounce can green chilies
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
15-20 6-inch flour tortillas
Ranch dressing for dipping
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a bowl, combine all ingredients through garlic powder and mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Working in batches, heat the flour tortillas in the microwave for 10-20 seconds per batch until pliable. Add about 3 tablespoons of filling to each tortilla and roll tightly. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with all tortillas and filling.
4. Spray the taquitos with cooking spray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until browned and crisp. Serve with ranch dressing for dipping.
It happens every year around this time, when the weather starts gradually changing from fall to winter: I get really, really lazy when it comes to cooking. It gets dark earlier, my kids are more likely to be under my feet while I'm preparing dinner since they can't play outside, and basically I just want to curl up on the couch in my pajamas with a good book. Alas, my family needs to eat, so I still have to make something.
So around this time of year, dinners start getting much simpler in our house. I start making more skillet dinners, more slow-cooker dinners, and other dishes that require very little hands-on work.
These sandwiches are a perfect example of my late-fall-and-winter cooking philosophy. They require basically no hands-on work, and the results are absolutely delicious. You guys know what a sucker I am for the chicken-bacon-ranch combo, and when you cook them together and top them with a creamy slaw, you have one delicious dinner on your hands. And yet another thing to love about these sandwiches is that the leftovers can be turned into a completely different and delicious dinner the next night...which I'll share with you on Wednesday.
(P.S. If you guys are getting sick of this whole make-it-once-use-it-multiple-times style of cooking I've adopted lately, I should warn you that it won't be stopping anytime soon. I just love the convenience and cost-effectiveness of it!)
Slow Cooker Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches with Ranch Slaw
adapted from Eat at Home
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 3-ounce package real bacon bits
1 bag cole slaw mix
Ranch dressing
Sliced cheddar cheese
Sandwich buns for serving
1. Add the chicken to the slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken stock and ranch dressing mix. Pour over the chicken. Top with bacon bits. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Shred the chicken.
2. Before serving, toss the cole slaw mix with ranch dressing to taste in a large bowl.
3. Serve the shredded chicken on sandwich buns, topped with a slice of cheddar cheese and a pile of the ranch slaw.
When I shared my delicious bolognese sauce with you on Monday, I promised that I'd post a fantastic recipe on Friday that calls for it -- and here it is. I'm calling this "revolutionary" baked ravioli for one simple reason: When you're layering the casserole ingredients, you add the ravioli while it's still frozen. You don't even have to cook it first! That may seem like a small thing to you, but to me, it's huge. I know ravioli doesn't take very long to cook, but it still saved me from having to boil it in a separate pot, thereby dirtying more dishes that I would later have had to clean.
Another thing I love about this dish: It only contains three ingredients. The ravioli, the sauce, and the cheese -- that's it. Layer them all in a dish, stick the dish in the oven, and in 45 minutes dinner is served. You can use whatever kind of ravioli you like, and of course you can use jarred sauce to make this even easier. The version picture above, using my bolognese sauce and cheese ravioli, tastes exactly like lasagna -- and it was about 100 times easier to prepare.
I can't say enough good things about this recipe. I'll be keeping sauce and ravioli in the freezer at all times so I can make this whenever I crave it -- which I'm sure will be often.
Revolutionary Baked Ravioli
adapted from Tasty Kitchen
1 25-ounce bag frozen ravioli
4 cups bolognese sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of a 9×13 rectangular baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce in the baking dish. Arrange half of the
frozen ravioli in a single layer over the sauce; top with half of the
remaining pasta sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers
once, starting with ravioli. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake
uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot in the
center. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Happy Halloween! Our costumes are purchased, our jack o'lanterns are carved, our candy bags are waiting, and our trick-or-treating etiquette has been reviewed time and again. I think we're ready for tonight! Now the rain just needs to hold off until trick-or-treating is over...
I have now officially been doing these re-make recap posts for a whole year, and this has become one of my favorite posts to write every month. As a food blogger, I think there is always a certain pressure to post something new and different, and while that is all well and good, it's also fun to re-make some old favorites. These recap posts have given me the opportunity to do that. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. (And eating all the yummy food, too, of course...)
Remember that phenomenal homemade chicken noodle soup I made earlier this month? I used the remaining poached chicken for a batch of my mom's creamed chicken over biscuits. This is by far my favorite comfort food, and it's perfect for chilly fall nights.
It was definitely a comfort food kind of month around here, and these pork chops with creamy mushroom gravy are a great comfort food. For only containing a handful of ingredients, these pork chops are incredibly flavorful, and the gravy is phenomenal on mashed potatoes. I couldn't find the cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic, so I sauteed a few garlic cloves in some butter and added that to the soup/sour cream mixture. It was a fine substitution.
It had been too long since I'd made rigatoni with chicken, bacon, and mushrooms, so I decided to remedy that. I love this combination of flavors, and, although the addition of the apple juice sounds a little strange, it adds a mild sweetness that really is fantastic. If you make this pasta (and you really, really should), definitely don't skimp on the basil. It makes the whole dish.
This roast beef with creamy mushroom gravy is my favorite pot roast recipe. (Are you sensing a gravy-ish, mushroom-y theme for October?) I bought a huge roast this time, so I had enough leftovers to use the pot roast in two other dishes. In case you hadn't noticed, I've been trying to cook more like that lately. :) I can't wait to share the other recipes I made using this pot roast; they both became instant family favorites.
We love, love, love this recipe for cheesy broccoli and rice. It's so creamy, cheesy, and flavorful. It's also a very quick side dish. If you're like me and you struggle to find interesting side dish recipes, I think you're going to love having this one in your back pocket.
I hadn't made this creamy baked spaghetti since the first time I made it nearly two years ago, and as soon as I took my first bite, I regretted waiting so long to make it again. I also regretted not doubling the recipe. I could have happily eaten the leftovers of this for at least a week. I think it would be just as good, if not better, with Italian sausage (either spicy or sweet).
This is a not-great cell phone picture, but I just had to show you the decorating job the boys did on their neena's (grandma's) birthday cake. They were so proud of themselves, and I think they did a fantastic job. The cake, of course, is perfectly chocolate chocolate cake -- the only chocolate cake recipe I (or you!) will ever need. If you haven't tried that, find an excuse to make it soon. I mean, do you really even need an excuse to make chocolate cake? I don't think so!
Every time I make these chipotle chicken cheesesteaks, I am surprised all over again how one little change (adding chipotle in adobo) can take a sandwich from good to great. And not only do they taste delicious, they're ready in just about 20 minutes. You can't ask for a better weeknight dinner than that!
Here's another meal my family just loves; these bacon and cheddar cornbread cakes with fried eggs grace our dinner table frequently. And with good reason: They're easy to prepare and come out perfectly every single time I make them. Not to mention how delicious they are! Bacon, cheddar, corn, savory stuffing, and velvety over-easy eggs...The flavors just work.
This creamy tomato tortellini with chicken and broccoli was a last-minute addition to our meal plan this week. I made dinner for my mother- and sister-in-law as a thank you for watching the boys while Joe and I went to our first ever parent-teacher conference. It's hard to think of anything that has made me feel more like a parent than that! The conference went great (my A-man is doing awesome in kindergarten), and dinner was great too. I doubled the tortellini but kept the rest of the amounts the same, and I still had plenty of sauce -- and plenty of leftovers, too. But that's okay. They'll definitely get eaten.
And last but not least: It just wouldn't be October in our house without a batch of pumpkin pie-spiced pumpkin seeds. The boys and I are whipping up a batch of these this morning. I'll probably use brown sugar instead of white this time, and we got a ton of seeds from our pumpkins this year, so I'm sure I'll have more than a cup of them. That's great news, because everyone gobbles these up. They're really addictive, and they're a great pre-trick-or-treating snack!
