Taco Casserole

I have to admit - sometimes you all surprise me. I'll post something that I don't think will be very popular, but it ends up getting tons of hits. Usually the sweet treats are the most popular, but the Beefy Tex-Mex Stir-Fry I posted earlier this week was quite popular. It just goes to prove that I really think most of us like simple, easy and fast food!

Here is another taco twist - a taco casserole. I found this recipe in my recipe box, written on a card, so I have no idea where it came from. I'm guessing it probably came from my mom - I should call her and ask! I know it's not much to look at, but it sure did taste good. In fact, I wasn't even going to post about it, but my husband liked it so much that I decided I needed to share!

Taco Casserole
source unknown

16 oz. taco sauce
12 ounce can buttermilk biscuits
4-6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
4-6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can sliced olives, drained
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish. Spread taco sauce evenly over bottom of dish.

Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Place biscuit pieces in hot sauce, turn to coat. Sprinkle biscuits with half of the cheese and the olives. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

In a large skillet, combine ground beef, peppers, mushrooms, cumin and chili powder. Cook until ground beef is cooked through.

Sprinkle the ground beef mixture over the baked biscuit mixture. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake an additional 5-7 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Blueberry Cobbler

Did you know July is National Blueberry Month? Check out my post over at the Cafe Zupas blog to learn more about this delicious fruit, and for a Blueberry Cobbler recipe!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Meringue Kisses

I keep all of my nuts in the freezer. I like to have lots of varieties on hand, and since I don't want them to go bad, I keep them in the freezer to give them a longer shelf life. And because they are basically "out of sight, out of mind," I often forget what I have in there. So, not surprisingly, sometimes I will go into the freezer to discover I have a TON of one kind of nut. And since they don't last forever, even though they are in the freezer, I sometimes have to use some up, just so that I won't lose them.

That is what happened when I decided to make these hazelnut cookies. Hazelnut usually screams out Christmas to me - and yes, I did find this recipe in a December issue of a magazine, but really, these cookies could be enjoyed year-round. In fact, I think they are a great chocolate cookie to eat in the summer, since the chocolate won't be melting all over your hands in the heat!

The recipe doesn't specify whether the hazelnuts should be skinned or not, so I decided to be lazy and leave the skins on mine. And I think that is why they have more of a gray tint to them instead of brown. And they didn't hold their shape as well as the picture in the magazine, but they sure were tasty! If you are a fan of meringue cookies, this you'll love this one!


Chocolate-Hazelnut Meringue Kisses
from Cooking Light December 2008

Makes 4 dozen

1/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
dash of salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325F.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a food processor; process until finely ground. Combine hazelnut mixture, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and cornstarch in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Place egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold hazelnut mixture and vanilla into egg mixture.

Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon egg white mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip. Pipe 48 (1 1/2-inch-round) mounds onto prepared baking sheets. Bake at 325° for 25 minutes or until meringues are done and dry to the touch. (Meringues are done when surface is dry and meringues can be removed from paper without sticking to fingers.) Turn oven off; partially open oven door. Cool meringues in oven 30 minutes. Remove from oven; carefully remove meringues from paper.

Beefy Tex-Mex Stir-Fry

There are times when you want to challenge yourself in the kitchen - cooking with techniques and ingredients that you've never used before. But then there are times when you just want something familiar and comforting. This recipe is for those kind of nights. Growing up, we would have called this a version of taco salad, but I'll just call it good. Familiar flavors that combine together to make something easy, fast and delicious for dinner!

Beefy Tex-Mex Stir-Fry
slightly adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray August 2008

Serves 4

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 poblano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 pound ground beef
1 tomato, finely chopped
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
salt and pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the poblano, onion and chili powder and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat, until the meat is just cooked through. Stir in the tomato and tortilla chips and season with salt and pepper.

Divide the mixture among 4 plates and top with the cheese.

Cookbook of the Month Recipe - Buffalo Popcorn Chicken Bites

Oftentimes, a certain ingredient is what pulls me into a recipe. Especially if that ingredient is one I have sitting in my pantry, and I need a way to use it up. That is what happened here - why I chose this recipe for these Buffalo Chicken Bites. Pancake Mix. Yep, you read that correctly - I made these just because of the pancake mix.

Let me just start off by saying I don't necessarily have a problem with pancake mix. But growing up, my mom always made pancakes from scratch, and that is what I'm used to. And seriously, pancakes take so few ingredients, and ingredients that I pretty much always have on hand, so why not make them from scratch? Well, if you remember a little while back to those sausage bites I made. The original recipe called for "baking mix" but all I could find was pancake mix. So after I made the sausages, I still had half a box of pancake mix in my cupboard, staring at me every time I opened it up. I saw this recipe, and couldn't pass it up!

I'm one of those people that think that you really can't mess something up if it is fried. That is the case here. Delicious little fried bites of chicken. But honestly - I couldn't taste the "buffalo" part that was supposed to be there. Neither could my husband. And I even added extra hot sauce. And even though that element was missing, we still managed to eat way too many of these babies!!

Recipe rating: 3.75 out of 5

Buffalo Popcorn Chicken Bites
adapted from Food Network Favorites

Makes 4 servings

Vegetable oil, for frying
2 1/2 cups complete pancake mix
1 1/4 cups water
10 teaspoons hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
1 1/4 pounds chicken tenders or chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
Good quality Blue Cheese Dressing

In a deep sided skillet, heat 1 1/2 inches of oil over medium heat to about 350F. Alternately, heat oil in a deep fryer.

While the oil is heating, make the batter. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of the pancake mix, the water, and 8 teaspoons of the hot sauce.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup pancake mix in another bowl.

Once the oil is heated, toss the chicken pieces in the remaining 2 teaspoons hot sauce, then toss them in the dry pancake mix, coating evenly and shaking off any excess. Working in batches, add some of the chicken to the wet batter, shake off any excess and carefully add them to the hot oil. Fry for about 2 minutes on the first side, flip, and continue to cook for about 2 minutes on the second side, or until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Repeat until all the chicken is fried.

Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks, if desired.

June Cookbook of the Month Review

What a fun book this has been!! Martha Stewart's Cupcakes was a last minute choice for the Cookbook of the Month for June, but I'm so glad my plans changed and I picked up a copy of this. I had the hardest time just choosing these 4 recipes, so I know that there will be many more recipes to come from this book!

This cookbook is divided into 8 sections, as well as sections for things such as "the basics" and "displaying and giving." If you are a cupcake fanatic, this is a must have for your collection. And even if you aren't a cupcake fanatic, you will find many, many cupcakes in this book to be inspired by.

I had a few mishaps - including sinking cupcakes and a frosting that didn't quite work, but overall, I was quite pleased with the outcome of each recipe. My biggest complaint - and I'm sure I'm silly for complaining about this - is that all the recipes aren't true "cupcake" recipes in my opinion. There are mini cheesecakes and brownies - which I'm sure I'll make some of them, but when a cookbook is sold as a cupcake book, I think it should only contain true cupcakes. (I actually have the same complaint about her cookie book, too - because it contains brownies and bars, which aren't cookies in my opinion...) But the pluses definitely come out on top. A beautiful picture of each creation - which is a huge bonus for me - as well as a large variety of cupcakes. Plus there is something there for every skill level. There are plenty of simple recipes, but I know I will learn a lot from this book as well.

Strawberry Cupcakes 4.25 out of 5







Brown Sugar Pound Cakes with Brown Butter Icing 4 out of 5







Ladybug Cupcakes 4 out of 5







Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes 3.9 out of 5








Overall Rating: 4.0375 out of 5. Not too shabby!


And onto July's choice...

I actually bought actually bought a different cookbook for this month, but once I got it home, I decided that I didn't love it enough to even choose it for the Cookbook of the Month. So I went to my collection that I received and chose one of those - Food Network Favorites. This book is a little bit older, and a few of the chefs aren't even on Food Network anymore, but the book has plenty of recipes that I want to try. I actually bought this as a wedding shower gift for my sister in law several years ago, and had been wanting my own copy, and was very excited when I ended up getting one for free! Come back tomorrow for the first featured recipe from this book!

Homemade Ice Pops

Looking for something fun to celebrate with this Independence Day? Try out some homemade Ice Pops - recipe at Cafe Zupas blog!