Bacon Cream Cheese Bites

I had some phyllo dough left over from my post about Spanakopita so I thought I would put it to good use. Phyllo is a traditional Greek pastry dough that is super thin, even thinner than paper. It folds really nicely into triangles and makes a great party appetizer. You can stuff pretty much anything in there as long as it doesn't have too much moisture. I think bacon and cream cheese fit the bill, don't you? ;-)

Bacon Cream Cheese Bites
Makes: 24 triangles

1/2 lb bacon, chopped
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 scallions, chopped
4 oz (1/2 brick) cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Pinch of salt
8 sheets of phyllo dough, thawed
1 tbsp butter, melted

• In a skilled over medium-medium-high heat, brown the bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Reserve one tablespoon of the drippings.
• In the same pan, cook the onions and garlic in the bacon drippings over medium-low heat until the onions are soft but not brown, about five to six minutes.
• In a stand mixer, or with an electric hand mixer, on medium whip the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy, about two minutes.
• Add the bacon, onion mixture, scallions, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, and salt. Continue to beat on medium until well mixed, about 30 seconds. Set the mixture aside.
• Brush a large baking sheet with the melted butter.
• Now you'll need to assemble the triangles. If you read the next few steps and you have no idea what I'm talking about, see my post about Spanakopita which includes photos.
• Take one sheet of phyllo dough, use a barely damp paper towel to cover the rest so they don't dry out.
• Cut the phyllo dough into thirds length-wise with a pizza cutter.
• Place a small spoonful of the filling at the top and off to the right of one of the strips.
• Now you'll need to start folding. You fold these like you would a flag. Grab the upper left corner and fold it down to the right so that you form a triangle at the top.
• Now take the top right corner and fold it straight down.
• Take the top right corner again and fold it down and over to the left.
• Take the top left corner and fold it straight down.
• Repeat until you get to the end and have a perfect triangle. Place it on the buttered baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough and filling.
• If you're making these a day ahead, you can stop at this step, cover it up with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it. Then place it in the oven the next day about an hour before you're ready to serve.
• Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes.

A few tips:

If you haven't invested in a spatter screen yet, I highly suggest it. They're relatively cheap and will save you from getting popped when you fry stuff such as bacon.

If you're not sure what to do with the rest of the bacon drippings, here's what I do. I line a bowl with aluminum foil then pour the drippings in. Once the drippings are cool, fold it up and chuck it in the trash!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

We go through bananas like gangbusters in this house. Lola loves them and so do Matt and I. However, every now and then I'll buy a few too many and we can't eat them all before they get too ripe. Not that I mind because it just gives me a great excuse to make banana bread!

I had some overripe bananas the other day but instead of making banana bread, I decided to make some cupcakes with an homage to banana bread. Keeping that in mind, of course I used cream cheese frosting on the cupcakes!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes: 18 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 overripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting:
16 oz (2 bricks) cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Make the cupcakes:

• In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer on medium, cream together the butter and sugar. Whip until light and fluffy.
• Mash the bananas with a fork. Add them to the butter mixture along with the vanilla, egg, and milk. Mix until combined. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Gently fold the flour mixture and the chocolate chips into the butter mixture.
• In a cupcake pan prepared with cupcake liners, fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full with batter.
• Bake at 350° F for 20 - 25 minutes.
• Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting:

• In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer on medium, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar.
• Add the vanilla and continue to whip on high for about 2 - 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

This made a little bit too much frosting for the amount of cupcakes that I had. But I, uh, took care of that problem... haha

Also note, this recipe, along with all banana bread recipes, really come out better if you use overripe bananas. That way they're nice and soft and their sugars are well developed. Here are the bananas I used for this recipe:

Pimento Cheese

I had never heard of pimento cheese until I moved to Charlotte. This is definitely a Southern classic and everyone has their own recipe. The first time I tried it, I was hooked. You can spread it on some toast or crackers or you can dip some veggies in there. You can even use it as a filling in a grilled cheese sandwich!

First a little background. What exactly is a pimento? It's small red pepper and it's the mildest of all chili peppers. I wouldn't classify it as spicy whatsoever. You usually find them in a jar but you can also find them fresh in the produce section. Pimentos are also sometimes called pimientos or cherry peppers. Now, with that out of the way...

Pimento Cheese
Makes: 8 servings

4 oz (1/2 brick) cream cheese, softened
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz jar pimento peppers, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder

• In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, whip the cream cheese until it is light and fluffy.
• Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
• Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

This is traditionally served cold, but you can bake it in the oven at 350° F for about 10 minutes to make a hot dip!

Blueberry Cheese Blintzes

In case you missed it, here's my first post about cheese blintzes which gives a little bit of background. Matt was begging me to make cheese blintzes again so I finally decided to oblige him. This time, I happened to have some dried blueberries hanging around so I decided to make blueberry cheese blintzes. The results were delicious!

Blueberry Cheese Blintzes
Makes: 8 cheese blintzes

Crepes:
2 cups milk
6 tbsp butter, plus more for cooking
3 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup flour

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese (1 brick), softened
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp dried blueberries

Topping:
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1/4 cup brown sugar

  

• To make the crepes, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt until the eggs are pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Set aside.
• Combine the milk and butter in a small sauce pan. Place over medium heat and stir constantly until the butter in melted.
• In a slow steady stream, gently pour the hot milk mixture into the eggs while whisking constantly.
• Add the cup of flour to the egg and milk mixture. Gently whisk until just combined.
• Preheat a skillet over medium-medium high heat.
• Once the pan is very hot, add a small amount of butter to the pan, then ladle in about 1/2 cup of batter. Swirl the batter around in the pan so that it spreads to all edges.
• Cook for about one minute per side until dark brown.

• Once all of the crepes are cooked, make the filling. Whip together the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixture or in a bowl with a hand mixer on medium until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg yolk and vanilla (save the egg white for later). Mix until well combined.
• With a spatula, fold in the dried blueberries.

• Place two tablespoons of filling in each crepe, about the size of a golf ball. Spread the filling along the middle of the crepe, then fold it in half. Then fold the ends in and continue rolling up the crepe; just like you would with a burrito.
• Now whip together the egg white and another egg.
• Once all of the crepes are assembled, hold the crepe with the seam side toward you. Dip the crepe in the egg, then the brown sugar.
• Lay the crepes, seam side down (sugared side up) in a lightly greased 13" x 9" glass baking dish.
• Bake at 375° F for 25 minutes.
• Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. These are actually best served room temperature... If you can wait that long!

Cheesecake Factory Copy-Cat: Buffalo Chicken Blasts

Matt and I love the Cheesecake Factory. The last time we went there, I had the best filet mignon I've ever had in my life! Anyhow, they have an appetizer there called Buffalo Chicken Blasts. It's basically wontons filled with buffalo chicken and then chicken fried. Does it get any better than that?! This is my second attempt at a copy-cat recipe for these and I think I've gotten pretty close. Let me know what you think!

Buffalo Chicken Blasts
Makes: 16 pieces

2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
4 oz cream cheese (1/2 brick), softened
1/4 cup hot sauce (such as Frank's)
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
16 egg roll wrappers
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

• Preheat a deep fryer or heavy bottomed dutch oven filled with oil to 375° F.
• Combine the chicken, cream cheese, hot sauce, and cheddar cheese. Note: I used a rotisserie chicken for this. If you don't want to use a rotisserie chicken, you could bake two chicken breasts at 400° F for 20 - 25 minutes, then chop up. The chicken mixture will kind of look like a sticky mess at this point. That's ok, don't worry.

•  Make the egg wash by beating together the eggs and milk. Set aside.
• Mix the flour, garlic, onion, parsley, dill, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
• With a pastry brush, brush two sides of the egg roll wrapper with water (these are usually found in the produce section next to the tofu). Then fill the wrapper with two tablespoons of chicken mixture, about the size of a golf ball.
• Fold over the egg roll wrapper to form a triangle and seal the edges, making sure to press out any air from inside the wrapper.
• Dip the triangle in the egg wash, then the flour. Shake off any excess flour.

First batch is ready to go!

• Deep fry the triangles for two minutes on each side. My deep fryer can only fit two at a time.

• Once cooked, drain off any excess oil by placing the triangle on a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet. Like so:

• Allow to cool for a few minutes. The filling will be hotter than the blazes of hell and damnation. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Note: You can make a smaller version by using wonton wrappers instead of egg roll wrappers. This would make a great party appetizer.

Classic Cheesecake

Who doesn't love cheesecake?! I think this is one of those desserts that you can pretty much count on everyone liking. And the best part about cheesecake is that it's basically a blank canvas - albeit a delicious canvas! You can swirl in any number of flavors -  fruit, chocolate, caramel; add little goodies to the crust - nuts, chocolate chunks, oreo crumbs; and/or top it with delicious toppings - chocolate ganache, macerated berries, berry sauces, caramel sauce... mmmmm......

There's honestly nothing special about my cheesecake recipe. It's pretty much as basic as you can get. The only thing you might find different about it is the amount of sugar. My cheesecake has about half the amount of sugar you would typically find in a cheesecake recipe. The reason is because I like the delicate balance between sweet and savory. I don't want to just be overwhelmed by sweet. Plus it will help add balance if you add a bunch of sweet additions like chocolate or caramel.

Classic Cheesecake
Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve of graham crackers)
2 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
4 bricks of cream cheese (1 brick is 8 oz), softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

• Preheat oven to 325° F.
• Combine the graham crackers and the sugar.
• Brush a 9" spring-form pan with some of the melted butter.
• Mix the remaining butter into the graham cracker mixture.
• Dump the graham cracker mixture into the spring-from pan and press it down with your fingers making sure that the crust reaches all of the edges but does not go up the sides.
• Bake for 15 - 18 minutes until golden brown.
• Allow crust to cool completely.


• In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar.
• Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix until fully combined.
• Pour the filling into the cooled crust.
• Place the spring form pan into a deep roasting pan. Transfer the roasting pan to the oven, then fill with boiling water so that the spring form pan is surrounded by water. Just be sure not to get any on the cheesecake!
• This technique is called a water bath. It allows the cheesecake to cook more evenly and minimizes the risk of the dreaded crack in the middle of the cheesecake.
• Bake at 325° F for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Do not open the oven door! Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in for another hour (for a total cooking time of 2 hours and 15 minutes). This will allow the cheesecake to finish cooking gently in the residual heat. This also protects from getting a crack in your cheesecake.
• Remove the cheesecake and allow to cool for 1 hour at room temperature. Then refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

Remember how I said you can customize this recipe? Well, I made mini cheesecakes! Instead of a graham cracker crust, I placed a whole oreo at the bottom of each cupcake liner and then filled them with the batter.

Some of my favorite variations of cheesecake:

• Turtle - Add chopped pecans to the graham cracker crust; top the cooled cheesecake with drizzles of chocolate and caramel.
• White Chocolate Macadamia - Add chopped macadamia nuts to the graham cracker crust; pour white chocolate ganache over top of the cooled cheesecake, allow to chill for at least 1 more hour.
• White Chocolate Raspberry - Add 4 oz of melted white chocolate to the cheesecake batter; pour over graham cracker crust, then swirl in raspberry jam before baking.
• Coconut Lime - Add flaked coconut to the graham cracker crust; replace vanilla with 2 tbsp lime juice and add the zest of 1 lime to the cheesecake batter.
• Brownie Batter - Make fudge brownie mix, reserve 2/3 cup, pour the rest of the brownie batter into bottom of spring-form pan, bake for the normal recommended time, remove from oven then allow to cool; pour half of the cheesecake filling over the cooled brownie crust, mix the reserved brownie batter with the remaining half of the cheesecake filling, swirl together with the plain cheesecake filling, bake as normal.

Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

On a whim, I decided to get a jar of roasted red peppers. I didn't really plan on what I was going to do with it. It just sounded really good at the time. So today I'm going to grace you with two red pepper recipes!

This first one I made for dinner and it was delicious!

Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

1/2 lb penne or other tube pasta

1 chicken breast, cubed

1 roasted red pepper, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream

2 oz cream cheese (1/4 package)

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• Cook the pasta until al dente, making sure to salt the water well.
• While the pasta is cooking, brown the chicken in a skillet over medium high heat until thoroughly cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
• Strain the pasta and reserve some of the cooking liquid.
• Saute the peppers and garlic over medium heat in the same pan you used for the chicken.
• Add the milk and cream cheese to the peppers. Stir until the cream cheese has completely melted.
• Remove the pan from the heat. Add the parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
• Toss in the pasta and chicken. If the sauce is too thick, stir in some of the reserved cooking liquid.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Ok, roasted red peppers part deux. This is actually a dip I've been making for a while now. It pairs well with veggies, pretzels, chips, etc. All you have to do is puree the ingredients! How easy is that?!

Roasted Red Pepper Dip
1 roasted red pepper
1 clove garlic
8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp parmesan

• In a food processor, puree the red pepper and garlic.
• Add the cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Continue to puree until completely smooth.
• Refrigerate for at least one hour. This dip is best if refrigerated over night.

Cheese Blintzes

Cheese blintzes are something I learned how to make when I was working as a Chef at the country club. It was a Jewish country club so we made a lot of classic Jewish and Middle Eastern recipes. I'll never forget the beef tongue sandwiches *shudder*

Anyhow, one of the (many) delicious things I learned how to make was cheese blintzes. This is one of those recipes where everyone has their own version and they vary widely. This is my version.

A cheese blintz, in case you were curious, is basically a crepe stuffed with cheesecake. Let that sink in for a minute. It is literally the most delicious thing you will ever wrap your mouth around. Ok, maybe not quite, but I'm sure you will love it. Somehow, I had never made these for Matt until a couple weeks ago. Now he wants me to make them every Saturday! haha

Cheese Blintzes

For the crepe:
1 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 Tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups milk
3 Tbsp melted butter, unsalted
Extra butter for cooking

For the filling:
8 oz cream cheese (1 brick), softened
1 Egg yolk
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the topping:
1 egg plus 1 egg white, beaten
1/4 cup brown sugar

• Combine all of the ingredients for the crepes. Whisk out any lumps.
• Set the batter aside in the refrigerator so that it loosens up and makes a more tender crepe.
• After 1 hour, take the batter out of the refrigerator. Then preheat a pan over medium heat.
• Once the pan is hot, melt a small pat of butter in the pan, then ladle in some of the crepe batter into the center of the pan. Pick up the pan and swirl it around so that the batter spreads into a thin crepe.
• Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on one side then remove from the heat. There's no need to cook it on the other side. The crepe will be so thin that the batter will be completely cooked through.
• Set the crepe aside then repeat with the remaining batter until you have 12 - 16 crepes (depending on how big you make them).


• Cream together the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the egg and vanilla.
• Spoon a small amount of the filling into each of the crepes. Roll up half way, pull in the sides, then roll up the rest of the way. Just like you would with a burrito.


• Roll each cheese blintz in the eggs, then the sugar mixture.
• Assemble in a single layer in a greased 13" x 9" glass baking dish.
• Bake at 325° F for 25 - 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 20 - 30 minutes. The sugar coating will be extremely hot. I can't stress this enough.
• Top with fresh berries.