cheese – Page 13 – The Pajama Chef

SRC: Herb, Tomato, and Cheese Crackers

April 8, 2013May 6, 2015 Sarah

Happy SRC Day! I love being part of the Secret Recipe Club and getting to explore a new blog every month. If you’ve missed my past SRC posts, the premise is this: you’re assigned a different member’s blog every month. You visit their blog, choose any recipe you want, then make it and share it on your blog… all while keeping your assignment a secret! Everyone else posts about their secret blog the same day. It’s fabulously fun to try out new blogs. If you have a blog, definitely check it out and consider joining! I highly recommend it.

This month I was assigned to Sawsan’s blog, Chef in Disguise. Sawsan writes this wonderful blog from Jordan–a country halfway around the world from my home in Indiana. It’s crazy how blogs and technology can make what is so geographically far so close. Chef in Disguise has tons of wonderful sounding recipes–like Peppermint Chocolate Almond Butter, Coconut Cake, and Fattoush (a Middle Eastern bread salad). Now that this recipe is posted and the secret is out, I can pin away yummy recipes without Sawsan’s suspicions aroused. 🙂

This month, I wanted to try to make a completely new type of recipe–something I’ve never made before: homemade crackers. For some reason I always thought they were complicated to make, but that’s ridiculously far from the truth. At least, that’s what Sawsan’s blog taught me. She has several homemade cracker recipes but I wanted to go with a classic cheese cracker. Now, these classic cheese crackers are fancied up with sundried tomatoes, herbs, and spices. Fannncy!

In a way, the flavor of these crackers reminded me of pizza–so if you’re not a cheesy tomato person, you might wanna check out the link and see some of Sawsan’s other cracker recipes. I can totally see dipping these in a creamy ranch dip or a spicy marinara sauce for a lovely appetizer. YUM!

And let me tell you–though these are fancy crackers with great flavor, they are incredibly simple to make. You just mix up the dough, roll it into a log, chill for an hour or so, take it out, and bake. Easy as that! Just like slice ‘n bake cookies. Except, slice ‘n bake crackers. 🙂 New business venture, anyone?!? Next time I make them, I’m going to roll it into a thinner, longer log to have smaller crackers. These crackers were thick and a bit chewy, and I’d like to try them thin and crispy. No matter how you slice them, these Herb, Tomato, and Cheese Crackers are amazing! Thanks for a great recipe, Sawsan!

Herb, Tomato, and Cheese Crackers [from Chef in Disguise]
click to print

Ingredients:

6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes [drained, if oil packed, soaked in water if dry]
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon dried sage
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

Combine cheese, butter, and tomatoes. Then, add flour, salt, and herbs/spices. Mixture will be somewhat crumbly. Roll the dough into a log and wrap with saran or foil.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. [Can also be frozen for several months.]

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

Thinly slice log and place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Time: 15 minutes, plus chill time.

Yield: 2-3 servings.

Note: can substitute 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence for all the 1/8 teaspoon herbs/spices above.

Be sure to check out the other SRC posts today here:

Have a wonderful Monday!!

Pasta, Recipes, Sides

Neely’s Lemon Pasta Salad

April 3, 2013April 5, 2013 Sarah

So this pasta salad. I’ve made it twice already–on Saturday with my mom for dinner, then again on Monday night so I could enjoy it for lunch all week long. Recipe repeats aren’t my style so this is how you know that it’s pretty darn incredible. It’s basically spring in a bowl. YUM! Those Neelys sure know what they’re doing–I hardly changed a thing! 🙂

It’s a lovely combination of light, fresh veggies–asparagus, tomatoes, and peas–mixed with a lemony mustard dressed pasta and a punch of feta cheese.

I seriously can’t get enough of this salad, and suspect I’ll be making it weekly for the rest of asparagus season. Even Ben, who isn’t such an asparagus lover, thinks this pasta salad is pretty fabulous thanks to the bright flavors in the dressing and the satisfying crunch of the veggies. I can definitely see adding some shrimp or grilled chicken to make for a more filling meal. However, that’s completely not necessary–this is a great vegetarian dish or side dish. Perfect for a BBQ or a family dinner, like with these sloppy joes. Just a warning though–it’s addicting, so be prepared for the deliciousness!

Neely’s Lemon Pasta Salad [from The Neelys]
click to print

Ingredients:

12 ounces whole wheat rotini
1 pound asparagus
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. When there are 3 minutes left of cook time, add the asparagus to let it blanche until slightly tender. Drain and rinse pasta and asparagus, then remove asparagus to a cutting board.

Cut off ends of asparagus, then slice into bite-sized pieces.

In a small jar, combine mustard, garlic, lemon juice, oil, and dill. Cover and shake well.

In a large bowl, combine pasta and asparagus, then add tomatoes, peas, and feta. Pour dressing over and toss to coat. Season with pepper as desired.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 8-10 servings.

Linked with: Weekend Potluck.

Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads, Sides, Vegetables

Roasted Chickpea, Carrot, & Radish Salad with Lemon-Dijon Dressing

March 18, 2013March 23, 2013 Sarah

Last week was my spring break, and Ben and I took a quick four-day/three-night trip down to Cumberland Gap, TN.

It’s just a short five hour drive from Bloomington, and if you’re not familiar with this area, three states come together in the park–Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. We had never been before but had a blast. Even though winter is still lingering, hiking up in the woods and trails was just beautiful. The toughest hike was a 7 mile round trip hike up to White Rocks, a site that was a landmark to pioneers making the westward trek demonstrating that the Cumberland Gap pass was just a day’s walk ahead. Up top in the White Rocks area it was frosty, snowy, and terribly cold. I was so glad I chose to wear my vest instead of leaving it in the car!!

Aside from hiking, we had fun just hanging out together… reading, relaxing, and exploring a few of the nearby towns. We stayed at the Olde Mille Inn Bed & Breakfast, which I highly recommend if you’re ever in the area. It is so cute, and even though it was built in the 1800s, everything was very modern and comfortable inside. I never wanted to leave our room! It was so nice, and the breakfast everyday was amazing. Upside down pancakes, sausage gravy & biscuits, french toast, and the best steel cut oats I have ever had! We were the youngest guests by a longshot [at least 30 years] but breakfasts were served together, and it was really fun to chat with the other guests. Can I just say that I love southern accents? 🙂

We ate lunch everyday at this adorable cottage turned coffeshop–Gap Creek Coffee. My favorite drink was their Peanut Butter Cup. PB in coffee sounds a lil weird, but you can bet I’ll be looking for that on coffeshop menus in the future. Our dinners were nothing compared to the other meals of the day, but we did enjoy some good Tennessee BBQ! This area of the country definitely wasn’t gourmet restaurant central, but the area’s natural beauty sure made up for it!! Be sure to visit Cumberland Gap if you can! We’d love to go back someday.

Before we left, I made this wonderful salad as an excuse to use up as much of my produce as I could before going out of town. But seriously, you shouldn’t wait til you need to use things up… adding hot roasted, crisp veggies and chickpeas on cold salad greens is my new favorite thing!

The contrasting temperatures are just perfect! I didn’t really measure the seasonings used to roast the chickpeas, carrots, and radishes but just used a little cumin, garlic powder, black pepper, ginger, and allspice to make a spicy-sweet spice mixture to rub on with EVOO.

The dressing is a very basic lemon-olive oil-dijon mustard mixture, which paired so well with the light greens and crispy toppings. I thought about adding some vinegar to make more of a vinaigrette, but decided against it. You certainly could if you wanted, though–I just liked the tartness of the lemony dressing with the vinegary tang.

This is just a great salad! I meant to add some cheese, nuts, or avocado as my inspiration recipe suggested… but I forgot about the cheese and nuts after the roasted veggies came out of the oven, and my avocado was nasty inside. Sad day. But the good news is that none of those things are needed for this awesome salad. It’s a crunchy, hearty, flavorful salad that I am sure you will just adore!! Enjoy! 🙂

Roasted Chickpea, Carrot, & Radish Salad with Lemon-Dijon Dressing [adapted from Baker by Nature]
click to print

Ingredients:

1 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and patted dry
3 large carrots, scrubbed and chopped into 2-inch pieces
8 radishes, scrubbed and sliced into thirds
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
cumin
garlic powder
freshly ground black pepper
ginger
allspice
baby spring mix

for Lemon-Dijon Dressing

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
crushed red pepper

for topping, optional

avocado
feta or parmesan cheese
nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a large baking sheet, combine chickpeas, carrots, and radishes. Pour olive oil over top, then season with cumin, garlic, black pepper, ginger, and allspice. I didn’t measure these, but was heavy on the cumin, garlic, and black pepper, and a little lighter on ginger and allspice. Use your hands to mix oil and seasoning on chickpeas, carrots, and radishes. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once or twice.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Whisk lemon juice, oil, mustard, and garlic powder together in a bowl or shake together in a jar. Season to taste with crushed red pepper.

After everything is roasted, combine baby spring mix with roasted chickpeas, carrots, and radishes as desired. Drizzle with Lemon-Dijon Dressing, and top with feta or parmesan cheese, nuts, and avocado if desired. Serve immediately.

Time: 40 minutes [10 minutes active].

Yield: 2 large salads or 4 side salads.

Linked up with: Weekend Potluck.

Appetizers, Recipes

SRC: Baked Jalapeno Popper-Ranch Dip

February 4, 2013May 6, 2015 Sarah

This month for the Secret Recipe Club I was assigned Wendy’s wonderful blog, The Weekend Gourmet. As I’ve said before, numerous times, I absolutely love being part of the SRC. It’s a fun way to try new blogs and recipes and be part of a fun community. If you’ve missed my past SRC posts, the premise is this: you’re assigned a different member’s blog every month. You visit their blog, choose any recipe you want, then make it and share it on your blog… all while keeping your assignment a secret! Everyone else posts about their secret blog the same day. It’s fabulously fun to try out new blogs. If you have a blog, definitely check it out and consider joining! I highly recommend it.

Anyway, when I first visited Wendy’s blog I was overwhelmed by the number of fabulous recipes there. Wendy is from Texas, and is as warm and welcoming as can be. I mean, how could she not be… she’s from Texas after all. Plus, she has a cat. Nice people always have cats. 🙂 I could hardly decide what to make. Peppermint White Hot Chocolate? Cranberry-Nut Caramel Popcorn? Citrus-Walnut Brown Rice Pilaf? Mmm, I wanted to make them all. In one day. What a delightful day that would have been! But I asked Ben, my chief culinary consultant what sounded good to him, and then we got to talkin’ about appetizers. Our church small group takes turns bringing snacks each week, and if left to my own devices, I would always bake something. But Ben wanted to do something different, so we settled on Jalapeno Popper Dip. But not just any Jalapeno Popper Dip… Baked Jalapeno Popper-Ranch Dip.

This dip is, in a word, awesome. Spicy and creamy and cheesy. Yum. In another word, addicting. It’s great hot right out of the oven [but beware… Wendy calls it hot lava right out of the oven, and I agree]… and it’s equally as good cold out of the refrigerator [ask me how I know… it’s a great 11 pm snack to finish off peppermint tea… ha!]. And in a last word, forgiving. The recipe I’ll give you will be Wendy’s, through and through… even though my version was laden with “mistakes.”

There were so many! I misread the recipe and put all the ranch seasoning in the cheesy mixture, instead of splitting it between the cheese and the topping. I forgot to buy the green onions so those were omitted. I accidentally used up the plain green yogurt in another recipe, so had to substitute some sour cream and mayo instead. I also rubbed jalapeno juice into some tiny cuts on my hand, which was fun. But you know what? Even with all that craziness, this dip was just SO good. It was just demolished by everyone who tried it, even an adventurous two year old. 🙂 You should totally make it for your next appetizer need… I wish I could have posted it before the Super Bowl, but alas… Ben loved it and says you can eat it anytime!

Enjoy, and be sure to check out Wendy’s blog for more recipe inspiration. Thanks for a great recipe, Wendy!!

Baked Jalapeno Popper-Ranch Dip [from The Weekend Gourmet]
click to print

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened [I used Neufchâtel]
6 ounces plain greek yogurt [I used 4 ounces sour cream + 2 ounces mayo]
1 – 1 ounce package dry ranch dressing mix
1 small can chopped jalapeno peppers, drained [I used 3 fresh jalapenos, about 1 heaping cup, and deseeded 2 of them]
2 sliced green onions
1 cup shredded co-jack cheese
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a shallow casserole dish [I used a 10 inch dish].

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese, yogurt, and half of the ranch seasoning. Mix on low until everything is combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the jalapenos, green onions, and cheese. Mix again, then spoon into prepared dish.

In a second bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, parmesan, and the rest of the ranch seasoning. Spread on top of the cheese mixture, then spray or drizzle on olive oil.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and dip is bubbly. Turn dish around halfway for even browning.

Cool for 5 minutes before serving with tortilla chips.

Time: 40 minutes.

Yield: serves 10-12.

Be sure to check out other great SRC recipes here, and have a great day!

Also linked with: Weekend Potluck.

Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes

Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie

January 9, 2013January 14, 2013 Sarah

So, when I shared my Chicken Tinga Tacos on Monday, I also mentioned that I made some pretty awesome leftovers with them. But here’s the catch: this doesn’t look like leftovers!! Score! Because, who really likes leftovers, anyways? I tolerate them, [though some are pretty tasty]… but seriously. It’s always more fun to make something new. This Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie does not resemble leftovers to me at all though. Not one bit. I mean, come on. Look at it! It’s a whole new meal, baby. Would this fool you? It’s just so beautiful! And it tastes good too. 🙂

Think spicy, juicy meat plus crisp vegetables, and flavorful black beans. That’s like, all my favorite things right there. But you know what really took this leftover makeover from tolerable to fabulous? That thick, cheesy layer of cornbread smack dab on top. Ohhh yes. I’m kind of on a cornbread kick lately. We made a batch for a party last Thursday, and it was all gone [except three sad little pieces, which I promptly ate immediately] by the time we got home, so when I was searching for dinner ideas on Friday, cornbread was my first thought. Problem was, I had used up all the honey for the cornbread the day before!! Oh man. What kind of cornbread doesn’t require honey?!? Oh, that’s right. CORNBREAD pot pie topping! Much better than regular ‘ole crust, and probably healthier for you. Or something like that.

I know this recipe isn’t original [though I proudly didn’t consult any recipe, except that off the side of the corn meal packaging]. I know my photos were taken in the waning daylight, and are not all the impressive. I know that the veggies are frozen and maybe not the most gourmet. But this is just good food, people. And I think you should try it soon! That’s all.

Enjoy! 🙂

Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie [cornbread adapted from the Kroger package of corn meal]
click to print

Ingredients:

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded cooked chicken [I used this recipe]
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup water
2 teaspoons taco seasoning
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons corn meal
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 egg white
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 10 inch round baking dish with cooking spray.

In baking dish, combine black beans, chicken, and vegetables. In a measuring cup, mix together water and taco seasoning. Pour water over the black bean mixture.

Next, stir together corn meal, flour, sugar, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk with the egg white, then add oil. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then spoon over black bean mixture.

Top with cheese, then bake for 25-30 minutes or until cornbread is golden. Serve immediately.

Time: 45 minutes.

Yield: 5-6 servings.

Note: If you don’t have leftover shredded chicken, you could just cook up a chicken breast and shred it for this recipe, then mix in some salsa or spices for some extra flavor.

This recipe is linked up with: Weekend Potluck.