Mushroom, Spinach + Cheddar Tarts

I love magazines. I love scouring them for all sorts of ideas, and food is no exception. This month's Real Simple magazine has been pretty jam-packed with good recipes. I've already made 2 of them and both have earned spots in my permanent recipe collection.

It's only fair that I share with you, don't you think?

And I really love this recipe. Not only does it utilize my friends puff pastry and white wine, but it combines vegetables with decadence. Perfection, wouldn't you say?

I love this recipe even more because it can easily be a weeknight meal yet it's completely appropriate for a dinner party, or even made into smaller pieces for a cocktail party. The earthiness of the mushrooms combine just beautifully with the sharp cheddar cheese while the white wine adds a depth of flavor that I just love so much. It's really a miracle ingredient.

Mushroom, Spinach + Cheddar Tarts
*Adapted from Real Simple
1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted
1-2 pkg mushrooms, sliced (I used a mix of white button and baby bella)
2 C fresh spinach
1 shallot, diced
1/4 C white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
1 C extra sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
kosher salt & pepper
olive oil

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet. Add the shallot and cook for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.

Cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes, but don't overcook them since they are going to cook in the oven too. Add the wine and spinach and cook until the spinach wilts and the wine starts to evaporate, just a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, unfold the puff pastry and cut into four equal squares. Prick them all over with a fork. Cover the pastry with half of the cheese, leaving a border around the edges.

This is also a good time to sample some of that cheese. You know, just to make sure it's tasty.

Add the mushroom-spinach mixture to the pastries and then cover each one with the remaining cheese.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and the pastry is golden brown.

We enjoyed this alongside a salad and it was the perfect, elegant, quick dinner for 2. Not to mention some sweet leftovers that Shaun took for lunch the next day.

Oh and the base of this recipe can be used about 100 different ways by simply changing up the vegetables and cheese. I'm envisioning goat cheese and tomato tarts, feta and artichoke tarts, these would even work as mini pizzas! The possibilities are endless.

Are you a magazine reader? What are some of your favorites?

Banana Cupcakes + Nutella Frosting

Thanks for all of the kind words of support & concern for Shaun's severely damaged finger. To give you an update, he had a good follow up appointment yesterday and is on the mend!

So yesterday's post was a pretty big hit and I'm so excited to add some of your book recommendations to my reading list! If you have any others, please send them on! Meanwhile I'm reading the sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and am already hooked!

Meanwhile this past weekend, we had quite a few parties to attend. And we all know that parties equal devising fun dishes to share. I love coming up with new ideas for parties!

After I spotted some pesky overripe bananas in my fruit bowl (yet again), I had a small stroke of genius. Why not use those guys in a cupcake? And while I was at it, I wanted to create a pretty fabulous frosting to bring it all together but would also add a bit of fun. Nutella frosting was born!

These cupcakes were very easy to make and turned out like mini banana breads topped with sweet frosting. Can you imagine anything better? These cupcake are very moist but not overly sweet while the frosting satisfies a serious sweet tooth with an unexpected flavor twist!

Banana Cupcakes + Nutella Frosting
*Adapted from Gina Neely
For the cupcakes:
2 C all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
4-5 large, very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed
For the frosting:
6 tbsp butter, at room temperature
2/3 C Nutella
3-4 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 C confectioners sugar (depending on the level of sweetness you want)

To make the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Gather up your ingredients.

Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. I used my new fancy red ones that my friend Lindsey gave me as a holiday gift!

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Meanwhile in another bowl, peel and mash the bananas. I find that a fork works best for getting ‘er done, followed by a good mix with a wooden spoon.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer) beat together the butter and sugar until combined. Beat in the sour cream and the vanilla extract. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.The mixture will look a bit curdly, but don't despair! It will turn out fabulously.

Add the dry mixture to the wet a little at a time until the mixtures are completely combined. Stir in the bananas until just mixed in.

Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 way full. I had particularly tall liners so I intentionally only did them about half way. I planned to nest the frosting in the liner atop the cake. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting:
While the cakes are a’coolin’ make the frosting. And feel free to break out some crackers or bread for Nutella sampling in the process.

Beat the butter until smooth. Add the Nutella and vanilla extract. Beat in the sugar, one cup at a time, adding milk 1 tbsp at a time to thin out and make spreadable. Now frost those babies! Decorate however you want. I loved these tall liners so much and how I was easily able to nest the frosting inside without sacrificing the amount of frosting I wanted to use. It turned out so pretty and sophisticated looking! Oh and by nesting the frosting, I didn't have to stick my fingers in the frosting to move them into my cupcake carrier. A win for all!

We brought these cupcakes to Shaun's uncle's 60th birthday celebration and also to our Superbowl party. They were a huge hit! The flavor combination was so unexpected and fun change up from standard chocolate and vanilla (not that there's anything wrong with those!)! So what do you think? What are your favorite flavor combinations? And bonus question, have you ever baked with Nutella?

Double Feature Party Eats: Scallion Pancakes + Crunchy Chicken Nuggets

Happy Friday! I'm psyched for a weekend of birthday parties, Superbowl parties and hopefully a good movie somewhere in there. After thoroughly enjoying The Fighter last weekend, I have True Grit and The King's Speech in my sights. What are your weekend plans?

So with yesterday’s Snickerdoodle Dip, I promised you some more football recipes. And since time is running out, I’m bringing you 2 recipes today. First up are my scallion pancakes which I made for Shaun last week.

With a bunch of scallions in my fridge, I knew this would be the perfect way to use ‘em. Albeit not the healthiest. This is a natural party food since it can easily be cut into wedges and served on a nice platter with your not-so-fancy-but-people-will-think-it-is dipping sauce. Oh and though I haven’t tried it, I’m fairly sure that you could easily make these in advance and simply reheat them at your gathering.

Scallion Pancakes + Ginger Sauce
*Adapted from Ming Tsai
For the scallion pancake:
2 C all purpose flour + more for dusting
1 C boiling water
1/2 C scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup canola oil
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
For the ginger sauce:
⅓ C soy sauce
1 tbsp candied ginger, minced (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
1 tsp scallions, finely chopped

Place flour in food processor.* With the motor running, slowly stream in the boiling water and process until a ball of dough comes together. Remove the dough ball and place in a mixing bowl, covered with a damp paper towel. Let rest for 30 minutes. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a thin rectangle. Brush with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle the scallions, salt and pepper on top.

Roll it up (just like in my spinach pinwheels).

Slice the roll into 4 sections.

This is where it gets tricky and isn’t quite and exact science. Take each piece and carefully roll/stretch in your hands until it’s long enough to fold the ends into itself. At this point, simply form into a patty.

It’s not an exact science, but you’d like to get about a 6 inch pancake out of this without spilling scallions everywhere. Once all the pieces are rolled, pan sear in a heated and oiled skillet until each side is golden brown. I did 2 at a time. To keep them from getting soggy, I let them rest on a wire rack when finished.

Cut each pancake into 4 wedges and place on a platter. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, ginger and scallions.

Serve in a small dip bowl or cup alongside the scallion pancakes.

*If you don't have a food processor, you can do this in a giant mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. But be careful while handling the hot water!

And since I love you guys, I’m giving you yet another finger food recipe that’s perfect for a party. It’s not all that different than when I shared the buffalo tenders with blue cheese sauce, but this time, we’re going nuggets and an easier dredging process.

Crunchy Chicken Nuggets, 2 Ways
*Adapted from Rocco DiSpirito's Now Eat This!
1 lb chicken breast
2 C panko breadcrumbs (I could only find regular, not whole wheat)
2/3 C Greek yogurt, 0%
1 lb chicken tenders
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 C Rocco's blue cheese dressing
1/3 C Franks' Red Hot
2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the chicken breasts into strips and then into nuggets. Dredge in Greek yogurt (trust me, you will never look back) and coat with panko. On a wire rack (placed over a foil-lined baking sheet), sprinkle with kosher salt & pepper and spray with cooking spray. Bake until cooked through, about 14 minutes.

 

Serve on a small platter and make the buffalo sauce. In a saucepan, heat the Frank's Red Hot with the butter until melted. Serve in a small bowl along with the blue cheese dressing.

To change these up again, simply make the nuggets and serve with honey mustard or any other dipping sauces!

So there you have it. 2 simple recipes that will have your Superbowl-cheering friends loving you and your cooking prowess. What are your favorite party foods? Will you be celebrating the American tradition on Sunday?

Psst...looking for more Superbowl recipe ideas? Try these on for size:

Pizza Dip

Queso Dip

Roasted Garlic & Goat Cheese Crostini

Sundried Tomato & Olive Tapenade

Carmelized Potato & Parsnip Tart

Three Bean Chili

Gorgonzola Fig Crostini

...and lots more that I'll share in a full roundup tomorrow!