Have you ever gone to a restaurnant and ordered a hot cookie and it came served in a mini skillet? I knew we would have fun with the mini skillets I gave to my son for Christmas! We were at Costco and my son wanted to buy a tub of Nestles Cookie dough. First, it was larger than we would eat in a month. Second, I told him I didn't think it had real butter and in reading the label, I was right. Third, it was $7, not a bad price, but I already had all of the needed ingredients at home.
I offered to make the cookie dough which I store in a plastic container so he could bake the mini skillet cookies when he wanted. We've made 3 skillets twice so far and I think we have enough to make 3 more, if not 3, then 2. The only thing that would make it better is to place a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream on top when serving! But this is an awesome dessert!
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease each skillet with a thin coating of Crisco. Make the Nestle's cookie dough using the recipe found on the package. Scoop about 1/2 Cup of dough into each skillet and press with the back of a spoon to even it out. They will rise when baking. Bake for about 12 minutes and reduce the heat to 350 to let them finish cooking. Mine seemed brown on the edges and still light in the middle, so I decided to reduce the heat for an even bake. Let rest for no more than 5 minutes and enjoy with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream or a cold glass of milk!
Whodat Nation pulled through! Next week, the Rams face them in New Orleans and the Patriots face off in KC.
Yesterday for the playoff games I took a page from Rachel Ray's Tailgate episode.
To make Spiral Hot Dogs, thread All-Beef Hot Dogs, my personal favorite Hebrew National, on a skewer. Place a sharp knife at a diagonol with the blade facing the skewer about 1/2" from the top. As you spin the skewer, you are able to slice a spiral into the hot dog. Be sure to stop 1/2" from the bottom. Grill or cook on a flat top griddle to desired doneness.
In the meantime, in separate pans, heat up Queso, Baked Beans, Chili, and Sauted Thinnly Sliced Onions until they are browned. Serve with Baked Potatoes, Cole Slaw, Salad, Mustard and Ketchup. I love the Split Top Hot Dogs Buns for this and they can be steamed, grilled on the outside, or served straight from the bag.
Just a note, plan on 3- 4 hot dogs per person if serving throughout the game.
For us, there were only 3 of us eating but for a crowd, add more ingredients such as Jalepenos, Diced Red Onion, Relish, Crumbled Bacon, Grated Cheese, etc.
For Christmas, I gave my son these awesome 3 1/2" mini Lodge Skillets along with a skillet meals magazine. We had to adjust the recipe for 4 mini skillets rather than a 10" skillet but it worked out well. We will have lots of fun using them!
First up, he had his friend K for dinner and I prepped and they built these cool side dishes. Once done, we each had our own side dish served hot from the oven. Put these ingredients into separate dishes. Thinnly Slice 1 Medium Zucchini. Add Salt and Pepper to Zucchini and sweat the water from the Zucchini which will take about 15 minutes. Slice 1 Small Onion, Thinnly slice the bulb of 1 Leek. Cut in Half about 10-12 Grape or Cherry Tomatoes. I make my own Bread Crumbs from the heals of bread but you can toast bread and make your own or even substitute Panko Crumbs.
Preheat Oven to 375. Lightly coat each pan with Olive Oil. Add a layer of Onion. Layer the Zucchini. Add Leeks. Top with Parmesan Cheese and Tomatoes. Drizzle with Olive Oil and add a sprinkle of Oregano, Salt, and Pepper. As we learned, these shrink slightly so you can fill them to the very top. Bake in a hot oven for 25-30 minutes. Let rest and serve on a small plate straight from the oven to the table Enjoy!
My Mom used to make a breakfast stratta for certain family events. I realized at Thanksgiving, during a conversation about Christmas morning breakfast traditions, that I have never made her stratta or any stratta for that matter.
This December, while watching Rachel Ray, Emeril was a guest and what do you think he made? A stratta! But it was tall because it was made with large cubes of bread rather than sliced bread. It was the traditional "make the night before and bake in the morning" affair so I dedcided to give it a try. Wow, it was delicious - and of course it doesn't hurt that it is made with Gruyere Cheese!
He calls his a Morning Breakfast Bake and he uses Canadian Bacon. My family prefers Sausage so I crumbled sauage patties instead. I did omit the garlic because I don't like garlic for breakfast but for brunch or "we're having breakfast for dinner" I would probably add it. Feel free to swap out Shallots for the Onion.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 TBL Butter and to it add: 6 Crumbled Breatfast Sauage Patties and cook for about 5 minutes while stirring often. Add 1 Small Onion Diced and 1/4 tsp Salt and cook until the onion has sweated, about 2-3 minutes. Have ready 1 pound of prewashed Baby Spinach. Add half of the spinach to the skillet and once it is reduced in volume, add the other half. Once it is wilted, remove the skillet from the heat.
Butter a 9" x 9" x 2 3/4" - in other words tall baking dish. Cut a Loaf of Bakery Bread (some suggestions are Italian, Sour Dough, Boulle or my favorite is Pane di Casa if you have a Harris Teeter) to 1 1/2 " cubes. Grate 8 oz. Gruyere Cheese.
Add the bread to the dish and top with sausage topping and grated cheese - preserving about 1/2 Cup of Gruyere for the top. It works well to get the topping between the cubes of bread. Just keep building until all the topping is gone and 3/4 of the cheese is used.
In a bowl beat 10 Eggs, 2 Cups 1/2 & 1/2, 1 Cup Milk, 1/2 tsp Pepper, 1/2 tsp Nutmeg. Gently pour egg mixture over the bread and toppings. You may have to re-distribute any topping that got disrupted. Press gently so the bread comes into contact with the egg mixture. Top with about 1/2 Cup of preserve Gruyere. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.
In the morning, remove dish from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 400. Bake incovered for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden brown and "set". Let rest for 5 minuted before cutting into generous squares. Serve with fresh fruit. If you want to go crazy, serve Vermont Maple Syrup along side of it for a light drizzle.
Hopefully this dish will be part of your holiday tradition or your favorite "we're having breakfast for dinner" meal on that cold January night! Enjoy!!
