Pineapple Parrot

I just realized, gasp, it's been a week since I've posted anything.
We had Tapas last week, and I've been busy this week preparing for my new ventures.
I'll be making and hopefully selling as well, my home made crackers and Danish Pastries starting next weekend.
I'll also be teaching some cooking classes starting next week, and I've been preparing my lesson plans, and hoping someone actually signs up for the classes.

Also, because it's been awhile since I've gotten together with the ladies on Friday night, I made another Pineapple Bird. 

I saw a video on Facebook, and had to try my hand at it.
I made one for Tapas last week as well.

 I think I like this week's one better, although that beak needs work.
At any rate, I remembered to take pictures of the whole process, so take my hand and I'll attempt to walk you through it.

First off, you need a good pineapple.   If you don't trust yourself to pick one out, ask a trusted friend to do so.  That's what I did last weekend, and it was a good one.  Then I attempted to pick one out for myself, and, well, it was not as good.

Next up, are your tools.  A sharp knife, a pair of kitchen shears or a sharp pair of scissors,  a carrot and a paring knife.  Wait a minute, you'll need the carrot but not for a few minutes, so you can put that aside.
And a cutting board.

Place the  Pineapple on a cutting board, determine it's not quite even on the bottom, so shave off a little on one side so it sits neatly.

Next:  Cut off the top third of the pineapple and set the bottom aside for a few minutes.

 Decide, you really cut it unevenly, so even it out, by cutting a thin slice from one side.

We'll get to it, soon.
Next up, you want to make the 'tail', so get your kitchen shears out and start trimming the leaves from the pineapple.
Like this:

Got your knife handy? 
Cause we need to get to cutting some more of the pineapple.

 Cut a piece off of each side of the 'tail', you just trimmed, and put those pieces aside.
Hopefully, you'll end up with a piece of pineapple that looks like this.

Now, that you have that done, it's time to make the bowl.
Cut down the sides with a sharp knife, but not through the bottom or the sides. 

 Continue until you've gone all the way around.    (By the way, this knife is a Miracle Blade and I love, love, love it.  I've used this Filet Knife for a lot of things, and it's been fantastic. Shameless plug here.)

You now have the beginnings of a pineapple bowl (and not the foodball kind either).   That round shape is still attached at the bottom so the trick now is to get it out, without cutting the bowl apart or nicking yourself.
Cut three or four slits just above the bottom of the bowl, and insert a sharp paring knife in and cut it free. 
(I would add that if you place a toothpick in each cut so you find it easier, it helps.  Believe me when I tell you that finding that slit after you cut it, is not easy).

 If you did it right, the whole center will lift right on out.

See, easy peasy.
Put that aside, while you get your creative juices going.
You're going to shape the parrot head next. 
Using a sharp knife, round off the squared off part of the tail.
Then get that carrot out, cut off a piece, and start playing with it.

Basically, you want to be able to stick it onto the pineapple in such a manner that it is even.  After you've pared the peel off, you can use the peeler to shape the carrot into more of a beak.  Use a toothpick inserted in the end of the carrot and stick it into the pineapple, or use a bamboo skewer, cause the toothpick you used didn't hold.

 Now that you've got it shaped, and mated, that bird needs eyes.  I used some cloves to make the eye.

Here's looking at you, kid.

  Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

 I didn't put the whole thing together until I got to the gathering on Friday, but this is how the one I made last weekend looked.  

 You stick one end of a skewer into the pineapple bowl and the other end into the parrot to 'perch' it on the side of the bowl.

That piece you cut out of the bowl?  Well, just cut the core out of it, then cut the rest it into little cubes, pile them back into the pineapple bowl and serve.  

Any questions?

No, OK, class dismissed.

Getting some practice in there.

Have a great week.

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using any links to Amazon.  If you are uneasy purchasing an item through the links, you can go directly to Amazon to purchase the item. **

Oniony Dip

I played with my food again yesterday.

I think that is one of the fun parts of growing up, I can make my own version of 'mud pies' and hopefully make them edible in the process.

I love a french onion dip, something about it makes my mouth smile.
But I didn't have any french onion soup mix, well, I never have french onion soup mix in the house.  I don't think I've bought any in probably twenty years.  Just something I don't buy.

The mix I came up with was really tasty and easy to do.

Recipe:
4 oz. Cream Cheese, room temp
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 tablespoons dried Minced Onions
1/2 teaspoon dried Tarragon
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons McCormicks Au Jus gravy mix  (one of the few mixes I keep on hand)
4 green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon Ranch Dressing mix (just happened to have some that I used on a Mississippi Pot Roast)

Mix all the ingredients together and place in the fridge for an hour or two or three.

  This allows all the flavours to get acquainted and mellow out and generally just mingle.

Serve with Chips or Crackers or even as a spread with a slice of rare roast beef on a sandwich.   I took some with me to NPA last night and got the thumbs on on this. 

I've also got some ginger root going.   I'm so excited.  And yes I know it's past time to get these roots into a pot so they can finish making magic.

I plan on enjoying the plants all winter long and harvesting the corms in the spring. 

Mushroom Hummus with Pine Nuts

I guess it's no secret I like Hummus.    In fact I rarely meet a hummus I don't like.   And since most Hummus has good for you stuff in it, it's an all round good food.
Last week I attended the weekly gathering of the NPA, and I decided to make some hummus to bring along.
I also had a half pound package of Baby Bella Mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be cooked so I used them in the Hummus.

I've added mushrooms before, but never in this quantity and I'm sorry about that now.
 Cause it was so good.

I sliced up the mushrooms and sauteed them in a little olive oil and butter til they were just done.   Set them aside while I processed a can of drained and rinsed Chickpeas in the food processor.  I also added a finely minced clove of garlic, 1/4 cup of tahini, 1/4 cup of olive oil and the juice from one lemon.   This time round I didn't peel the chickpeas, and I wish I had cause they didn't come out as silky as I would have liked.  Once they were processed I added the cooked mushrooms to the bowl of the food processor and whirled them around a little more.   At this point they were a touch dry so I added a couple of tablespoons of water, and then continued to process them.

I then tasted it and it was good.

But I wanted to amp up the flavour a little more so I toasted a few pine nuts, and put them on top and drizzled it with some really good EVOO and that took it over the top.
I loved the resiny taste of the pine nuts with the woodsy taste of the mushrooms.   This was so good.

Recipe:
1 15 oz. can Chickpeas, drained, rinsed and peeled
1/2 pound Baby Bella Mushrooms, cooked in
1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/4 cup Tahini
1/4 cup Olive Oil
juice from one lemon
1-3 tablespoons of water, optional.
1 clove garlic, minced

 Topping:
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts for topping.
1-2 tablespoons really good Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mix the first seven ingredients together and then top with the toasted Pine Nuts and EVOO.
Serve with some pita chips or fresh naan bread.

Or just eat it by the spoonful. 

Look at that lovely full flavoured Olive Oil sitting in the corner, not realizing its' about to be scooped up by a chip.
I did eat the leftovers for lunch this week. 

Caprese Bites Appetizers

I have a problem.
Well, not so much of a problem but still...

When I go shopping in a grocery store and have time to look around a little, I'll pick up different foods, and then try to figure out what to make from them.

That was the case a couple of weeks ago.   I was just perusing the cheeses, and saw this package of Mozzarella Pearls by Belgioso.   I picked it up, put it in my cart with absolutely no idea as to what I was going to make with them.

I figured it out.

I made these little Caprese Bites and put them in little shot glasses.   Just before I served them, I drizzled them with some Quince Pomegranate White Balsamic Vinegar.

Just layer a Mozzarella Pearl on a toothpick with a cut or whole grape tomato and finish off with a fresh Basil Leaf.  Nestle them in a disposable shot glass, and VOILA!!!!

Simple, elegant and fun.

And they taste good too. 

No Bake Cheesecake Cups

I have to admit it. 
I didn't want to go to town to the grocery store.
I know, shocking much?
Especially since I love going to the store, even when the nearest store is 7 miles away. sigh

Actually I wanted to go to the next big city, which actually has two grocery stores, but it's 30 miles away and while I do need to shop, I'm feeling lazy.

But enough about me.

It was NPA last night and it was also a birthday night as well.  And I knew that one of the birthday people was a major chocoholic.

But since my A/C is still not functioning, I'm not baking what I wanted to make.  
However...
I had these Chocolate Cups in the pantry and I seem to remember from my distant past, well not that distant, but still...
When I used to live elsewhere we would make a 'mock' cheesecake up and it was good.   Maybe it didn't have the same mouth-feel as a baked cheesecake, but it was still a pretty darn good dessert.

So I decided to recreate it.   Or at least make some.
How badly can you screw up cream cheese?

This turned out to be a three spatula, two spoon recipe as well, sigh.
I guess you're wondering why this was a three spatula, two spoon recipe?

Let me tell you a story.  It's short, but sweet.
I had to scrape down the sides of the bowl as the cheese and milk were mixing.  Well, I licked that spatula, I had to make sure it tasted good.  So the next time I scraped the bowl, I had to get a fresh spatula.   And I could not help myself, I licked that one too.   By this time I was running out of clean spatulas.  So, I restrained myself from licking the third spatula when I scraped the bowl sides.  I just took a spoon out of the drawer and tasted.  Then I did it again, with a fresh spoon.   By the time it was finished I still had the third spatula,  un-licked, until I scraped all the filling into a piping bag, then I licked it, after spreading a little of the filling on to a graham cracker.

I called it all lunch.
And that's why this was a three spatula, two spoon recipe.

Recipe:

2  8 oz. packages of Cream Cheese, softened  ( I use the full fat cream cheese)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon Lemon Extract (I used my own Home Made Lemon Extract)
1 teaspoon True Lemon crystallized lemon

Whip all together, scrape down the sides a couple of times to make sure the cream cheese is all incorporated.

 (That's spatula number one there, I scraped the bowl and then had to taste the filling.
And it was good, but the spatula ended up in the sink to be washed.)







and then either pour into a Graham Cracker Crust or do as I did,

fill up some Chocolate Dessert Cups and place into the fridge for a few hours to set up.







I was going to serve these with some Chocolate Caramel sauce, but the sauce became an offering to the Kitchen Goddess.   In other words, my great idea didn't work.

But I did have a can of Cherry Pie filling in the cupboard so I just brought some cherries to the party and let everyone place a cherry or two on top.

 Just a few of the offerings, we do have fun here.

Santa even made an appearance.  No pineapple this time though. 








**** I also wanted to pass on a tip or two here as well.   I use Wilton piping bags, and since I'm not as coordinated as I could be, I place the bag in a tall glass, or in this case the bottom of martini shaker,
and proceed to fill the bag.    If I'm having a day where I'm especially coordinated, I can do the pastry chef deal and hold it in one hand while I fill it up with the other, but that does not happen often. 
And I also found a really great 'cheat' for the lemon juice in my recipe.   It's called True Lemon and is basically crystallized lemon juice.   I use it in my ice tea and am playing with it for seasoning in dishes in place of salt.

Roasted Broccoli

I made something healthy for NPA this past week.

Really, I did.  And it was also very tasty and I'm going to make this again and again and again.

Or at least cook it this way.

I had seen a recipe for Roasted Broccoli on Facebook, and it looked good, and easy to make as well.

I mean anything that has garlic added to it has to be good, right?

So I got a nice bunch of Broccoli, and roasted it, took it to NPA and it got devoured, and was pretty much guilt free as well.  

Let's face it, we all need something guilt free from time to time.   Well, food wise that is.

Here's the how to's...

Preheat the oven to 375 deg.  
Take a head of broccoli and either chop it up or cut the little florets apart. 

Rinse and dry them off, then take a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and add a couple of minced cloves of garlic to it, I used my microplane for this,  a little salt and pepper and then put the broccoli into a ziploc bag, and pour the garlic olive oil mixture over it.  Kinda toss it around in the bag so that the oil gets all over the broccoli and then dump it onto either a greased pan or the reusable parchment paper you have or a silpat baking sheet.

Take a moment and inhale the wonderful garlicky scent (Umm, that would be me, I love the smell of garlic)

Place in the oven for 15 minutes, then give it a stir, and roast an additional 15 minutes.
Take an 'artistic' picture cause something brushed past your foot as you took a picture.  And you went EEEEE and jerked the camera a little.

Take a deep breath and then take another picture. 

And after tasting the broccoli, decide it needs a little something so grab a hunk of Romano cheese out of the fridge and add just a sprinkling of cheese on top.   

As I said, this was very good, the roasting brought out a wonderful sweetness in the broccoli and I will definitely do it this way again.  

I'm heading to the store in a little bit, I think I'll check out the fresh broccoli...



 

Chocolate Hummus

I found this recipe on the Salt Lake Tribune a few weeks ago, and I knew I had to make it.  

I figured that the ladies I get together with on Friday's would appreciate it, someone usually brings hummus and chocolate is always popular, but both of them together, well, can anyone say total perfection?  Well, almost total perfection. 

It really does taste a lot better than this picture makes it look. 

And I had all the ingredients to hand, with the exception of the instant coffee.  So I bought some, and I have another recipe I can use it with, so...

I served this with some graham crackers, but I bet it would be fantastic with some sugar cookies to dunk in there. 

 

If you don't have a food processor, then do as I did.  Peel the chickpeas, then use your immersion blender to moosh the chickpeas, heat the coconut oil and honey in the microwave, add them to the bowl along with the coffee, vanilla extract and water.

Mix until smooth, using every available dish or method of getting it smooth,

taste and decide that you need a touch more sweetness and add another tablespoon of honey. Portion into two nice red Christmassy type bowls, then cover them with plastic wrap, place in fridge and then remember you should have taken pictures.

Take out of fridge, unwrap bowls, and take pictures.

I did taste test a little of this on some french toast, and it was very good.    The french toast was made from the last couple of slices of a sweet bread a friend had brought me, which had a touch of cardamom in it.  So good. 

This was very popular last night, and the ladies had some great ideas on how to use this in other dishes.  
Everything from frosting a cake, making sandwich cookies, rolling a dollop in some nuts and eating them as candy to just eating it with a spoon.   

Personally, I think this is a great addition to my Christmas baking.

Don't tell anyone, but it's probably also good for you. 

Yield: 10 servingsAuthor: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Chocolate Hummus

prep time: 10 minscook time: total time: 10 mins

This is a fun take on traditional Hummus and is probably even good for you as well.

ingredients:

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed  (and I took the skins off too.)

6 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used my Extra Dark Cocoa Powder)

¼ cup honey or agave syrup (I used some local honey)

3 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch salt

instructions:

In a food processor, combine all ingredients. Process until smooth, stopping the processor to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Use immediately or refrigerate. Tightly wrapped and refrigerated, the hummus will keep for up to a week.  (if it lasts that long).

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