TWD- Sweet Cream Biscuits

This week's TWD recipe was chosen by Melissa of Love At First Bite. She chose Sweet Cream Biscuits. You can find the recipe on her blog.

The recipes for April just happened to be posted the day before St. Patrick's Day and I was already planning on making some version of green eggs & ham for my kids with biscuits.
I decided to use Dorie's biscuits as the base for our Green Egg and Ham Biscuits that we had for dinner.
Sorry if the green eggs disgust you, but my kids love it. I just use a little bit of food gel coloring to get our eggs nice and green. Usually I add chopped ham to our eggs and scramble them, but this time I decided to bake the eggs in muffin tins, then add slices of ham and cheese to the sandwiches.

I didn't have a lot of luck with these biscuits. They turned out fine, but I would've liked it if they would have had more height. I didn't add enough cream at the beginning and it was too late to make the dough the right consistency by the time I realized it. They were still soft and yummy, just short.

I have had more success with Cooking Light biscuits than any full fat biscuits I have tried baking for some reason.

That being said, my son LOVED these biscuits. He ate almost all of them by himself. He loved them completely plain and also made into a green sandwich. So that makes them a success, I guess!

Check out the TWD Bakers to see what everyone else thought about these biscuits!

Quinoa Cakes with Ham, Onion, and Chard

I saw this recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine and knew I had to make it as soon as possible.
It combines two of my favorite ingredients- quinoa and swiss chard.
I didn't really follow the recipe.
The recipe wanted caramelized onions, but I don't really care for those, so I kinda just did my own thing with the swiss chard and ham.
I followed the recipe for the quinoa cakes though.

I used Ellie Krieger's technique for making the ham crispy that I first discovered when I made her Cobb Salad. Basically, you slice the ham and cook it in a hot skillet, coated with cooking spray until it gets nice and crispy- it only takes a couple of minutes.

I cooked my swiss chard like this- making sure to keep all the beautiful stems in there, since they get nice and tender and yummy.

The final outcome was a really delicious dish.
You can leave off the ham pieces and make sure you cook the quinoa in vegetable broth and it makes a really great vegetarian dish.
Either way- this was a great success.
Really pretty with the chard and really tasty too.
You can find the original recipe by following the link below
Recipe for Quinoa Cakes with Ham, Onion, and Chard

Cubano Sandwiches

So what did I do with all the leftover Spice-rubbed Pork Loin? I know everyone out there has been dying to know. We could have just eaten it plain because it was so delicious, but in the November 2009 issue of Everyday Food, there was a recipe that called for the pork leftovers- Cubano Sandwiches.
I have never eaten a cubano sandwich or made one, but it looked like the type of meal my husband would love. Meat, more meat and cheese. Not to mention pickles and white bread.
I decided to give them a try, with a few healthy tweaks, of course.
I completely omitted the butter from the recipe. Unless, I am baking or the butter actually plays an essential part in a recipe, I try to leave it out whenever possible.
I also reduced the amounts of meat, more meat and cheese that were on each sandwich. Usually when you see a picture of a cubano sandwich, the meat and cheese are piled high. I reduced it to just a slice or two of ham, one slice of cheese-cut in half, and two thin slices of pork.
Also, I was unable to find Portuguese rolls. I thought about making some, but decided to just use small hoagie rolls instead. I cut them in half, but not all the way through and then layered the sandwich fillings inside.
I also made these in my griddle/grill/panini press thing. Not sure what I mean? It is like this one, but a different brand. I basically just treated this sandwich like a panini and it was ready in minutes.

This was a hit with the entire family. Hubs loved it. Kids loved it. I even loved it. I would make the spice-rubbed pork again, just to make these sandwiches.

Cubano Sandwiches from Everyday Food November 2009
3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature (I omitted this)
4 Portuguese rolls, split (I used small hoagie rolls)
yellow mustard
1/2 pound thinly sliced deli ham (I used black forest ham)
1 pound Spice-rubbed Pork Loin, thinly sliced
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
sliced dill pickles, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter inside of each roll (I skipped this step); spread with mustard. Divide ham, pork, and cheese among bottom halves of rolls. Top with pickles, more mustard to taste, and top halves of rolls.

2. Heat a grill pan and another heavy pan over medium. With a paper towel, lightly coat grill pan with butter. (I didn't do this) In batches, place sandwiches on grill pan and weight with second pan. Cook until bread is crisp on the outside, about 3 minutes per side; transfer grill pan to oven and bake sandwiches until cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. To serve, cut the sandwiches in half.
(I just used my 3-in-1: grill/griddle/panini press to make these. It is kind of like THIS Cusinart Griddler, but not that brand. I only had to put my sandwiches in my indoor grill/panini press and cook them until the cheese was melted. This eliminated some of the other steps)

TWD-French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze and Green Egg and Ham Cups for St. Patricks Day!

Today's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze, was chosen by Liliana over at My Cookbook Addiction. Mine don't look like a yogurt cake with glaze because I chose Dorie's Riviera version which uses greek yogurt or strained plain yogurt, olive oil and then either rosemary or mint. I had fresh rosemary and wanted to try these with the minced rosemary mixed in with the sugar and zest. I decided to make these in a muffin tin so they would bake faster (20 minutes) and for portion control. The overall taste was wonderful. My 2 year old really liked them-she ate more than her fair share, but I guess that is my fault for leaving them right within her reach on the countertop. The combination of the lemon and rosemary in a sweet muffin/cake was very good. Go check out what the rest of the TWD bakers did by checking out the TWD Blogroll!

I also made Green Egg and Ham cups because my kids love green eggs and ham. I only do this on St. Patricks Day because I think it looks sort of digusting, but the kids love it. Usually I just do scrambled eggs and add green food coloring and ham, but this time I decided to bake them in the oven and I added spinach and thyme. The ham sunk to the bottom but that didn't matter, the kids loved them. Happy St. Patricks Day- I hope you are wearing green!

Green Egg and Ham Cups by Mary Ann

10 eggs

6-8 drops of green food coloring

1/2 cup shredded cheese

salt and pepper

1 cup cubed ham

baby spinach leaves

fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Drop in food coloring and whisk until combined. Add cheese; season with salt and pepper and add ham. Stir well.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray or brush with melted butter. Scoop 1/4-1/3 cup egg mixture into each cavity of the muffin tin. Place a couple of spinach leaves in each cavity and submerge with your finger or a spoon. Sprinkle fresh thyme leaves on top.

Bake for 11-13 minutes. Cups will be puffed and cooked through.

Coming Tomorrow- Fried Egg and Polenta Stacks with Sauteed Spinach and Pesto

Asparagus, Ham, and Fontina Bread Puddings, and Hot Chocolate with Ginger

This is what we had for our Christmas breakfast. I figured we would be eating a little bit later in the morning, so I knew I would have enough time to throw it together. I made it in 8 little ramekins and cooked 6 in the water bath and 2 without the water bath, just to see what the difference was. The water bath definitely makes this more like a bread pudding and without it, it is more like a strata. Either way, it tasted really good. My husband absolutely loved these and that pretty much is a guarantee that anyone will like them.
The hot chocolate was a great way to start off the morning. It was very spicy and I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but after a few more sips, I was sold. My family was a little divided, half of us really liked it, the other half, not so much. It was a fun breakfast anyway! Happy New Year's Eve- Have fun tonight!

Asparagus, Ham, and Fontina Bread Puddings from Cooking Light

1 pound asparagus

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

Cooking spray

5 (1.4-ounce) slices firm white sandwich bread (such as Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse), cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup chopped reduced-fat ham

3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded fontina cheese

1 2/3 cups fat-free milk

3/4 cup egg substitute

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cut a 3-inch tip from each asparagus spear, reserving the stalks for another use. Cut asparagus tips into 1/2-inch pieces.
Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute for 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add asparagus; cover and cook 4 minutes, stirring once. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Coat 6 (10-ounce) custard cups or ramekins with cooking spray; place in a large baking pan. Place bread cubes evenly into custard cups. Top evenly with asparagus mixture, ham, and cheese. Combine milk and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour evenly into custard cups; let stand 20 minutes. Add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch. Cover and bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Hot Chocolate with Ginger from Cooking Light

1/3 cup chopped peeled fresh ginger

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

4 cups 1% reduced-fat milk

1/2 cup fat-free chocolate syrup

Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan; cook over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and is golden (about 5 minutes), stirring frequently.

Remove from heat; cool slightly. Stir in milk and syrup; cook over medium-low heat, stirring with a whisk. Heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge of pan, stirring frequently (do not boil). Strain mixture through a sieve; discard solids.

Coming Tomorrow- Pork Chops and Swiss Chard with Balsamic Syrup

Weekly Lunchbox-Blueberry Bites, Butterballs, Breadstick Mummy Dogs, Ham and Cheese Roll-ups, and Tuna-Garbanzo Salad

Welcome to another edition of our Weekly Lunchbox. We took last week off because the kids had a couple of 4 day weekends, but now we are back in business. First up are Blueberry Bites. The recipe for these cookies came in a little insert to a magazine and they looked perfect for the lunchbox. I filled some with strawberry jam, but I had leftover Raspberry Cream in the fridge from some cookies a little while ago so I used some of that as filling too. Since I was making cookies anyway, I got out the Butterballs that I didn't bake from a couple weeks ago and baked them up too. I used some of the ganache filling for both cookies and filled some of the butterballs with raspberry cream as well. Lots of choices for the lunchbox!
Next up were the Breadstick Mummy Dogs that I saw over at Picky Palate. I personally don't eat hot dogs, but my kids (and hubby) love them on occasion. I thought these were super cute and the leftovers made it to the lunchbox.
Then a simple tuna and garbanzo salad and some little roll-ups.
Enjoy!

Blueberry Bites by Gale Gand
1/2 cup unsalted butter, (1 stick) cut into pieces
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup strawberry jam
1 pint blueberries
1. Combine butter and brown sugar with hand-mixer or paddle attachment of stand mixer. Add salt, flours, and cornstarch, and mix just until dough comes together.
2. Using your hands, roll dough into a 1-inch thick log on a lightly floured surface. Cut off about 24 equal pieces and roll each into a ball.
3. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Place dough balls in nonstick mini-muffin tins. Bake until golden but not brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven.
4. While cookies are still hot, make a depression in the center of each by pressing a 1/2 teaspoon measure or the tip of a wooden spoon handle into the top. Lett cool in muffin tins, then carefully remove.
5. Fill depression with a small portion of the strawberry jam and fresh blueberries. Serve cookies the same day they are filled.

Breadstick Mummy Dogs adapted from Picky Palate
1 roll/pkg Pillsbury Breadstick dough (12 count)
12 hot dogs
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll all 12 breadsticks from package. Stretch breadstick out as long as you can get it to go and wrap around 1 hot dog starting from the top of the hot dog. Leave a small space towards the top of the hotdog to make mustard eyes. Continue wrapping all dogs then place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
2. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes. Use mustard or ketchup for the eyes.

Tuna-Garbanzo Salad by Mary Ann

1 6-oz can albacore tuna

1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

2 ribs celery, chopped

3-4 small tomatoes, chopped

a little less than 1/3 cup light balsamic vinagrette

dehydrated onion flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Serve with crackers.

Ham and Cheese Roll-ups by Mary Ann

1 pkg. Pillsbury reduced fat cresent rolls

8 pieces of ham or other lunchmeat

8 thin slices of cheese

baby spinach leaves (optional)

mustard (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll cresent dough and separate into 8 sections. Squeeze a a small amount of mustard on the wide end of the dough. If using spinach, place a leaf or 2 over the mustard. Roll 1 piece of cheese up in the ham and place on top of the spinach. Roll the cresent up as you normally would and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until golden.

Coming Tomorrow- Enchiladas in Pumpkin Sauce and my mom's Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Mini Frittatas with Ham and Cheese

We had a yummy Sunday brunch today and these little frittatas were gone as quickly as they came out of the oven. They were bite size and a perfect finger food!

Mini Frittatas with Ham and Cheese
(From Cooking Light)

Cooking spray

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2/3 cup chopped reduced-fat ham (about 2 ounces)

1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra-sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

4 large egg whites ( I used 1/2 cup egg substitute and 3 whole eggs)

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350°.
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add ham; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add ham mixture, stirring with a whisk. Spoon mixture into 24 miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until set.

Easter Breakfast

Ham, Cheese, and Spinach Strata (Family Fun Magazine)
3 or 4 large day-old croissants
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
8 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves, chopped
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
3/4 cup diced ham
6 eggs
2 1/4 cups half-and-half
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil


Step 1 Butter a 9- by 13-inch casserole. Using a serrated knife, cut the croissants into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes (you will need 6 cups) and scatter half of them in the casserole. Set the remaining cubes aside for now.



Step 2 Melt the butter in a large sauté pan. Add the onion and sauté it over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the spinach (you may have to do this in batches) and cover the pan. Let the spinach cook until tender, 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.



Step 3 Spoon the spinach over the croissant cubes in the casserole. Then sprinkle on half of the cheese and all of the ham. Next, add the remaining croissant pieces and the rest of the cheese.



Step 4 In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, half-and-half, mustard, salt, pepper, and basil just until blended. Ladle the liquid evenly over the layers in the casserole. Press the croissants down gently with a fork to dampen all of it. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or overnight.



Step 5 Heat the oven to 350°. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the strata in the center of the oven until it is puffed and golden brown, about 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer the casserole to a wire rack and allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 servings

Bubbly Berries and Grapefruit (Family Fun Magazine)
2 red grapefruits, halved, seeded, and sectioned
1 pint fresh strawberries, rinsed and halved or quartered
1 (25-ounce) bottle sparkling cider
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
Step 1 Alternately spoon the grapefruit sections and the sliced strawberries into 6 goblet glasses until you have enough fruit in each to make a nice serving.

Step 2 Slowly pour enough sparkling cider over the fruit to almost cover it. Add a sprig of mint to each goblet, and your treat is ready to eat.

Makes 6 servings.

Easter Breakfast Rolls (from A Christ-Centered Easter)

1 pkg frozen bread or roll dough, thawed or your favorite homemade dough recipe for rolls

6 Tbls sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon

1 bag large marshmallows

1/4 cup butter, melted

Divide dough into individual roll-sized portions. Press each portion into a flat circle. Place 1 large marshmallow in the center of each roll. Pinch roll dough very firmly around the marshmallow. Roll each into a seamless, or nearly seamless, ball with your hands. Brush rolls with melted butter. Sprinkle sugar mixture over rolls.

Cover with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator overnight. On Easter morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take rolls out of the fridge and bake for 15 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. These rolls will be hollow in the middle- a fun take on the empty tomb.

This was a really great Easter breakfast because I put the strata and the breakfast rolls together the night before and just refrigerated them overnight, so all I had to do was pop them in the oven on Easter morning and assemble the fruit.

This was a great way to make Easter morning special for us. I think it is going to be a new tradition!