Monday, February 21, 2011

Oreo Cookie Mudslides

Its time for dessert.

The Recipe:

Vanilla Ice Cream
Oreo Doublestuf Cookies
Kahlua
Vodka
Chocolate Syrup
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
Caramel Coffee Syrup
Alcohol Infused Whipped Cream

In a blender add several generous scoops of vanilla ice cream, Two Shots of Kahlua, a Shot of Vodka, cream, chocolate syrup, and caramel coffee syrup (I prefer Torani).

Blend on High until mostly smooth. Add in a Handful of Oreo Cookies. Blend Again.

Pour into Sunday/ Float/ Malt/ Shake glasses. Top with Alcohol Infused Whipped Cream.
Garnish with a whole Oreo. Enjoy.

Miniature Deepdish Pizzas

The Recipe

1 Shot of Rum (Consume)
Your favorite pizza toppings, I used seasoned hamburger.
Pizza Sauce (Homemade or Store bought, I don't care)
Pizza Dough Sheet
Mozzarella Cheese

First things first, Rum time (Kraken if you have it).

There, isn't that nice. Now, Grease an over-sized muffin tin and preheat oven to 400. Roll out your pizza dough and cut it into six equal sections. After doing this poorly the first time I recommend leaving them squares with the edges that stick out over the rim of the tins.  As you may notice in the accompanying picture, two of these are made correctly, the other four were a huge pain.

Anyways Place the dough in the tins, leaving the edges to hold it in place, the dough does not want to stay in place on the greased surface and kept slipping down.

Place your dough cups in the oven for five minutes to firm up the dough. Remove from oven and add a generous amount of mozzarella cheese, then toppings, then sauce. Finally dust the tops with fresh Parmesan and Romano and bake for 20 minutes or so until the crust starts to brown or there is obvious bubbling.

Leaving the Tabs also makes it alot easier to get them from the tray to the plate without breaking.

Serve with a pasta side. In this case I chose angel hair in a light garlic butter and herb sauce.

Enjoy your Lunch!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

The Recipe:

A clever twist on the quintessential american meal


This recipe was inspired by something I found stumbling through the internet and goes a little something like this.

THE SOUP:
One Shot of Rum (Consume)
Two Fresh Tomatoes
A can of Diced Tomatoes
A cup or so of Chicken Stock
2 tbs Butter
1/4 cup Whole Cream
A Cup of Fresh Basil (Diced)
Five Cloves of Garlic (Diced)
A whole Onion (Diced)
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
Red Pepper Flakes (stolen from a pizza restaurant)
Olive Oil

THE SANDWICH:
Bread
Cheese

First things first, down that shot of Rum. I recommend the Kraken, but any rum will do. Excellent work.

Next, add the butter, garlic, pepper flakes, and onion to a large saucepan. Cook the onions until they start to brown. Add a dash of Thyme. While that is cooking, dice up your fresh tomatoes, put them in a bowl, cover with olive oil, and toss in salt and pepper. Spread these seasoned tomatoes on a cookie sheet and roast them in the oven for a half an hour or so.

Meanwhile up top, add the can of diced tomatoes, the chicken stock, the basil, and the cream. Stir occasionally on medium heat.

You've reached the point where you can start preparing your actual sandwiches. I recommend two sandwiches for each person. Butter one side of each slice of bread, put a thick deli slice of Colby Jack in the middle and cook on a buttered skillet. The sandwiches need to be slightly crisp on the outside to maintain their shape. When they have reached the preferred level of golden brown, remove from skillet and cut off the crusts (save). Then cut the crust-less sandwich into four equal squares. (Save) We'll be doing something interesting with the pieces shortly.

By now your tomatoes in the oven should be properly roasted. Taken them out and carefully shovel the pieces (including any lingering juices) into a food processor and blend together into a roasted tomato puree. Add to soup, cook for five minutes on medium heat.

In your favorite bowl, ladle out a generous helping of soup, set the bowl on a plate and around its circumference arrange the sandwich squares and crust sticks. Serve.


I forgot to photograph this one, but rest assured that it looked delicious. If I make it again I'll be sure to get a picture and put it up here.