Heavenly Ghettalain Garlic Bread

This recipe was from the book "Cookin With Coolio" and would be great for Halloween as it would be sure to ward off any vampires as it uses 1/2 cup of minced Garlic.

If I make it again though, I will cut the amount in mayo used by at least a 1/2 a cup any maybe even a cup as I thought it was overpowering, but otherwise it had an interesting creamy tangy flavor in addition to being cheesy and garlic.

Recipe:
1 loaf french bread
2 cups mayonnaise (I recommend reducing to 1-1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup minced garlic
5-6 dashes of hot sauce
Few dashes Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, mix the mayo and cheddar, then add the softened butter, minced garlic and hot sauce.

Slather on the bread and cook 10-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the bread toasted.   Add a few dashes the salt and pepper over the top.

Perfect Box Macaroni and Cheese and Hot Dogs

This post is part of Mom's Crazy Cooking Challenge where each month there will be a different challenge theme (this month is Macaroni & Cheese) and you go out to the "Blog World" and use a recipe by a fellow blogger (not a celebrity chef or other commercialized site) and make your version and post it on the 7th of the month.

Next month's challenge is going to be Chocolate Chip Cookies.  For further details and if you would like to join, click the link at the bottom of the post for more details.

I joined after the 7th but thought I would join the party any way.

I found the recipe at Betty Jo's Blog and my version is basically the same except for a few tweaks, but it was a big hit with my son and I will be making it again.

Recipe:

• 1 box of Macaroni and Cheese
• 4 hot dogs
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 4 tbsp of butter 
• 1/4 tsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese (optional) 
• 1 heaping tsp of prepared mustard
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic salt or powder
  
  
  Add a few dashes of salt and bring the water to a boil under medium high.  Add the olive oil and the macaroni.  Cook according the package (approx 7-8 mins)
  

  

While macaroni is cooking, chop up the hotdogs into approx 1/2 inch pieces and cook in the microwave for 3 minutes.

When the macaroni is cooked drain in strainer of colander.

Put the pan  back on the stove and turn down to low heat over low heat and add the butter. Let it melt stirring constantly then add the powder packet from the box.  .

You could smash the cheese powder with a spoon or fork to blend it, but I decided to use my immersion blender to avoid any clumps (you could also use a mixer)

Add the milk a little at a time, blending constantly and then add the shredded cheese.

Add the mustard and blend.

Add the macaroni to the pan and toss with a spoon.

Add hotdogs, season with salt, pepper and garlic salt or powder to taste,toss with a spoon then serve.

Crazy Cooking Challenge

PARMESAN TORTILLA CRIPS

This is for Day 21 of 30 Days of Creativity www.30dayofcreativity.com and today's theme is "Cheese".  I chose to try a recipe from One Perfect Bite to make Parmesan Tortilla Chips and they came out tasty more like crackers than chips, but would be a fun soup topper.

I stuck pretty much to the recipe except that I used 8 inch flour instead of 6 inch corn tortilla and used sea salt.  I also recommend checking at 6-8 minutes instead of 12 minutes as the first batch was too toasted and I ended up throwing it out.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 12 6 or 8 inch tortillas
• 1 cup fresh shredded Parmesan
• 1/4 to 1/2 sea salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

"Line two large heavy large baking sheets with aluminum foil. Whisk oil, oregano, and pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat just until warm. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Brush oil mixture over both sides of tortillas.

Stack tortillas and cut them into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide strips. Arrange strips in a single layer over the baking sheets. Sprinkle cheese and salt over strips. Bake until strips are golden brown and crisp" about 6-8 minutes.

Yield: 5 to 6 servings.

For original recipe visit:

http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2011/01/parmesan-tortilla-crisps.html

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Pizza

What could be more fun than pizza for breakfast!

This is based on a recipe by Brandi at From My Kitchen To Yours
and I made mine using a pre-made pizza crust, prepared salsa from a jar and pre-cooked bacon so it was super quick to put together.  It was one that we both loved and I will be adding this to the menu on a regular basis.


Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon Dill (optional) 
• 1 tsp butter or margarine or non-stick spray coating
• 1 cup salsa
•  3 Tablespoons crumbled bacon (approximately 6 slices)
• Pizza Crust (pre-make or use your own recipe or box mix)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Break the eggs open in a bowl, add the dill and beat until well mixed.   

In a frying pan, either melt the butter or margarine or spray on the non-stick coating spray on medium heat.   Add the scrambled egg mixture and cook until mostly but not completely done.

Put the pizza crust on a baking tray and spread the salsa evenly over the top.

Add the scrambled eggs on top, distributing them evenly.

Then sprinkle the bacon crumbled over the top.

Sprinkle the cheese on top of that then bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted (mine took about 12 minutes).   Cut into slices then serve.

PIGS IN A BLANKET

My Mom used to make these all the time when I was a kid and it was one of my favorites for lunch. It is quick and easy to make. Items used:

• 1 pkg. of 8 Hot Dogs
• 1 tube of 8 pre-packaged Large biscuits
• 4 slices of cheese
• Mustard

Cut the hot dogs horizontally almost all the way through, but not quite.

Slice or tear each piece of cheese into 4 strips for each slice and put them in the center of the hotdogs.

Add mustard to the center of the hotdogs. Flatten out a biscuits and wrap it around the hotdog.

Pinch the edges of the biscuit "blanket" shut and bake according to the directions on the biscuit package.

Baked Spinich Dip

I wanted to use up a box of spinich that had been in freezer for awhile and went in search of a recipe and found this one at

http://www.recipezaar.com/Baked-Cream-Cheese-Spinach-Dip-118103

It turned out pretty good and served mine with tortilla chips, although it could be served with bread or pita wedges. It was mild and creamy, but really didn't have an overtly spinich taste to it. I did end up adding a little more tabasco sauce and parmesan cheese.

1 (300 g) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained 1 (250 g) package cream cheese 1/4 cup onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/8 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (I ended up using a little over 1/4 tsp) 2 tablespoons milk 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

4 TBSP Paremsan Cheese (optional)

Blend all ingredients in food processor, except cheddar cheese, adding as much milk as necessary for a smooth and creamy consistency.

Amount of garlic and/or Tabasco sauce can be increased for more intense flavour (I ended up adding another 1/8th tsp of Tabasco sauce after it was baked as it was a little to bland for my taste).

Spread in pie plate

T

Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake at 375F for 35 minutes or until heated through and cheddar cheese is melted. Mine was a wee bit overbaked, but I mixed the cheese topping in and it turned out ok.

In the reviews I had read on the recipe, many recommended adding Parmesan Cheese, so I added about 4 TBSP.

You could put in decorative bowl for self-service, or put on a plate with a side of chips, pita or other bread.

CHEESY EGG CASSEROLE

I got this recipe from Baking Bites

http://bakingbites.com/2009/05/cheesy-egg-casserole/#more-3223

This is a good recipe for a breakfast carry-in or if you are feeding a lot of people and want to serve something a little bit different, but still please the mainstream crowd.

I ended up cutting the ingredients down from the original recipe by 1/4 and it still made 12 large pieces. It is not as cheesy as I thought it would be for containing 3 types of cheese, it was more eggy with a surprize creamy salty taste in some bites due to the cubes of cream cheese in the recipe.

• 9 large eggs
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 8 dashes salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk (any kind)
• 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• 6-oz cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4-1/3 lb shredded Monterey jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking/casserole dish.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and milk.

Stir in cottage cheese, cream cheese and shredded Monterey jack cheese.

Pour into prepared baking dish.Bake for about 45 minutes, until eggs are set and casserole is not “wet” in the middle.Dish will deflate slightly as it cools. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving to make slicing easier.Dish can be served hot or cold.

Mild Cheesy Quesadillas

This is for when you have a craving more for mild cheesy goodness over a typical quesadilla.

Items you will need:

• Toritilas (I used fajita sided ones)
• Cream Cheese, softened
• Cheese slices or shredded cheese (I used slices)
• Non-stick cooking spray (I used PAM)
• Frying pan
• Pancake turner
• Jar of salsa (optional)
• Jar of green olives (optional)
• Sour cream (optional)

Spread cream cheese over each tortilla on one side

Spray the frying pan with non-stick cooking spray, then put the tortilla in the frying pan cheese side up, heat on low to medium and add the sliced or shredded cheese on top. When the cheese starts to melt, add another tortilla on top of the cheese for leave for less than a minute.

Flip the tortilla over and cook for a few minutes until the bottom is as crispy as the top. Remove from pan and place on serving plate, cut the tortilla in quarters and top with salsa, sour cream and green olives or other condiments, depending on your personal preferences.

QUICK & EASY QUESO

I made this a late night movie snack between movies we were watching - it took less than 10 minutes. It is great if you want a quick warm snack on a cold night.

• 1 2lb pkg of Pasteurized Processesed Cheese Product (like Velveeta) - cut in half (use 1 lb)
• 1 can of Dices Tomatoes with Green Chile Peppers (like Rotel)

Optional

• 1 tsp Mustard or Worstecher Sauce or Ranch Dressing (depending on what your like)

Cut the cheese product in half - put one half away as you will only need 1 lb, unless you want it to be extra cheesy.

Cut up the half of the cheese you are going to use and melt it on low heat, stirring constantly for a few minutes.

Once the cheese is melted, open the can a tomatoes add them to the cheese and stir. If you choose to add any optional items, stir them in at this point also.

Remove from heat, pour into serving bowl and serve with tortilla chips.

Hearts of Romaine Salad

• 2 heads romaine lettuce hearts
• 1/4 cup raw sunflower seed
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated romano cheese
• 1/4 cup lite ranch dressing (optional)

Rinse the lettuce in cold water and tear into bite sized pieces into large salad bowl.

In another bowl, mix the Sunflower Seeds, Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Grated Romano together. Pour this mixture on top of the lettuce and toss until mixed, then toss in in dressing.

GARLIC BREAD

I made this yesterday to go with the Dieci Formaggi pasta dish yesterday and my son said it was the best garlic bread he has ever had.

I used leftover wheat rolls and buns as the base. I used 1 tsp of minced garlic from a jar, combined that with 3 TBSP of margarine and 1 tsp. of dill and melted it in the microwave for 30 seconds then spread the mixture on the pieces of bread then sprinkled Romano cheese on top of the bread.

FRUGAL QUATTRO FORMAGGI PLUS

One our favorite dishes at a local restaurant is Quattro Formaggi but as the last time we went their it ran around $13 a plate. I searched the internet and found dozens of recipes and this was my attempt to try to copy it.

Quattro Formaggi means "four cheese" in Italian, but I used the Italian Blend Fancy Shredded Blend from Walmart and it contains six cheeses (Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Romano, Fontina and Asiago so that would be where the "plus" in the title comes in. I chose this as this as:

It contains all of the cheeses that were recommended in many of the recipes I researched: Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano and Fontina (although several recipes contained Gorgonzola, Gouda, Ricotta, Gruyere or Marscarpone).

Walmart has a limited selection of cheeses and gourmet cheeses at other stores start at $7 lb. The in this bag  were already shredded/grated and it saved time as I did not need to shred/grate it.

The bag of cheese was affordable at $1.67 for an 8 oz bag.  The total cost to make this was under $5.00 for approximately 6 servings.

This is recipe I came up with which turned out to be closest without breaking the bank to make it:



Pasta
1 box Barilla Medium Shell Pasta
2 TBSP margarine

Cook according to directions on the box. When done, drain and place in an oven safe bow and mix in the margarine. Place in oven on low heat to keep it warm.

Sauce
1 16 oz box of Half and Half
1 8 oz bag of Walmart Fancy Shredded Italian Blend Cheese
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper


Slowly warm the Half-and-Half on medium heat and the cheese. Once all of the cheese is added, add the nutmeg. Continue to cook until the all of the cheese is melted. It will be a sticky consistency and look like this:

Pour the sauce over the pasta and serve.


This is part of Presto Pasta Nights being hosted over at Sweet and Savory.  Go over and check out all of the other amazing pasta dishes!