Roasted Corn Bacon and Shrimp Chowder

Soup. How do I love thee....

I was hopping around visiting some of my favorite blogs the other day and I ran across a fantastic corn chowder over at Teresa's delicious blog and I knew I just had to give it a whirl. My daughter took one look and agreed wholeheartedly.

I decided to roast my corn and I tossed in a few potatoes as well. I also garnished my chowder with some roasted red peppers and scallions. I love the way this chowder came out and will most definitely be making it again soon. Thanks for the inspiration, Teresa! :)

Roasted Corn Bacon and Shrimp Chowder
by theUngourmet~ inspired by Teresa at A Blog About Food

serves about 6

Print recipe

3 cups fresh corn
2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp olive oil
4 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
32 oz box chicken stock
2 tbsp butter
4 cups peeled diced potatoes
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 lb deveined shrimp
2 cups half and half or cream
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Garnish
roasted red pepper, diced
scallions, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425. Toss corn in 2 tbsp olive oil and spread on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment. Roast for about 15 minutes or until it begins to brown.

In a Dutch oven or heavy pot, saute the bacon and onion until bacon is crisp. Add the chicken stock, butter, corn, potatoes and herbs. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender. Remove 1/2 of chowder and place in a blender. Blend with center of lid removed, placing a paper towel over hole to avoid hot liquid splatter. Return blended chowder to pot. Add the shrimp, half and half, salt and cracked pepper. Simmer another 5-7 minutes until shrimp is cooked through.

Garnish with roasted pepper and scallions.

Have a fantastic week!




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Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yesterday I experienced something I haven't experienced since I was a senior in high school. I was stung...bitten...whatever...by a yellow jacket. That little bugger flew up my pant leg somehow and got me right on the ankle bone. I remember they used to get me all the time when I swam in my best friend's pool in the summertime. OUCH! Thank goodness for baking soda...and cookies! Cookies make everything better. Right?!


This is one of my most favorite cookies. I make these at work and they are a huge hit with campers...and staff. These cookies are also fantastic in bar form!

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
by theUngourmet

makes about 5 dozen cookies

Print recipe

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups dried cranberries
2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the vanilla and eggs. Gradually add the flour mixture. Add the cranberry and chips.

Scoop tablespoon sized portions onto a baking sheet (spaced about 1" apart) and bake for 9-11 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Hope you all had a fabulous week. Remember to steer clear of those darn bees! ;)

Happy Weekend!




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Zucchini Granola Muffins

I never thought I'd say this but...I'm so over the summer heat. I'm so ready for crisp, clean, rainy, blustery, snuggle up with a piping hot bowl of soup or a cup of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows time of year. I'm ready to break out my Snuggie! Who's with me?

Autumn always puts me in a muffin mood as well. I hope you aren't zucchini-ed out quite yet because these muffins are fantastic! They are so moist, hearty and delicious...perfect for a quick breakfast or afternoon snack. The addition of the granola really makes these muffins sing!

Give these a try soon!

Zucchini Granola Muffins
by theUngourmet

makes 2 dozen muffins

Print recipe

1 cup granola
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 large egg
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini

In a small bowl, combine the milk and granola. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.

In another small bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. In a medium bowl whisk together the egg, oil and vanilla. Stir in the zucchini and granola/milk mixture. Stir in the dry ingredients just until combined.

Fill muffins cups 3/4 full.

Bake at 375 degrees for 16-18 minutes.


I also wanted to say a big Thank-You to all of my bloggy friends who wished me well during my time away. A lot of big changes have come my way and I'm still adjusting. It feels good to be back to blogging. I plan on hopping over your way for a visit soon.

Hugs,


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Taking a Break

Life has thrown me a few curve balls recently so I've decided it's time for a little break from blogland. I wish you all well and hope to still get by to visit your blogs now and then.

See you soon. :)


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Stawberry Mango Trifles

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful 4th of July with family and friends. Summer has finally arrived here and I'm just loving all of the blue skies and sunshine. Life is good!

Dessert is good too...of course. This is a quick and easy...and pretty dessert that is perfect for summer get-togethers. It's especially easy to throw together last minute if you bake a couple of cakes ahead of time and stick them into your freezer. Then you just pull out your cake, cut it up and make layers of fresh fruit of your choice and fresh sweetened whipping cream. I think it looks so nice when layered in a wine or champagne glass.



Strawberry Mango Trifles
by theUngourmet

serves 40+

Print recipe

1 13 x 9 inch vanilla cake, chilled and cut into bite sized pieces
6 fresh mangoes, diced
4 pints fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2-2/3 cup sugar
1/2 gallon heavy whipping cream
1/2-3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract

Place the fruit into a large bowl and toss with the sugar. With and electric mixer,whip the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. In each wine or champagne glass layer cake, whipped cream, fruit, and more whipped cream.

We actually ended up garnishing these with a strawberry fan and they turned out just beautifully.

Hope you are enjoying your summer. :)






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Chai Spice Cupcakes

I'm still alive...I promise! Life has been moving at breakneck speed for me lately. I have been busy at work. Busy baking, baking, baking. Baking cinnamon rolls, cinnamon swirl bread, buns, muffins, scones, berry crisps, cookies, bagels, pita bread, cake and cupcakes. Recently, I baked about 125 of these scrumptious Chai Spice Cupcakes. These were a huge hit. They are laced with mini chocolate chips as well as bold and fragrant chai spices and chai tea. They are topped off with a delicious swirl of cinnamon chocolate buttercream frosting. Yum!

I found this recipe over at The Sweetest Kitchen. They used a chocolate cinnamon ganache frosting on top but I was feeling lazy so I went with the butter cream for this time. I'll try the ganache next time.

Please click HERE for the recipe. Trust me, you won't want to pass these up! ;)

Hope you all are having a wonderful week.






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Gluten-Free Lemon Cake

As some of you know I recently attempted to go gluten-free to see if it would help with some digestive issues I was suffering from. I managed to avoid anything with gluten for about a month. I have added it back into my diet now and it seems to be going just fine. Maybe my body needed a break. Hmmm.

Last week at work we needed a recipe for a gluten-free dessert. I knew just where to find a good one. I cruised on over to visit Karina at Gluten Free Goddess and sure enough I found this lovely lemon yogurt cake. It uses rice flour and almond flour in place of wheat flour. It's moist and delicious and best of all it's a snap to make...always a good thing. My only change to the original recipe was the substitution of white rice flour for sweet rice flour.

Hop on over HERE for the recipe. Even if you aren't on a gluten-free diet I know you'll love this cake! ;0)

Hope you all are having a terrific week! Thanks for stopping by to visit.






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Cinnamon Rolls and Tupperware Finds

I made cinnamon rolls for my work meeting this morning. I also brought in a nice plate of Tuscan Cantaloupe and grapes. It was quite a challenge carrying it all inside and setting it down on the table. I ended up tipping my fruit platter and dumping half of that deliciously sweet cantaloupe on the floor. Darn! Well, at least it wasn't the cinnamon rolls.



This is my second time making cinnamon rolls from scratch. I found a gorgeous and oh so scrumptious recipe for Finnish Cinnamon Rolls over at Rosa's blog. I really wish mine would have turned out as beautifully as hers. They still tasted fantastic but I don't quite have the hang of the technique for these...yet. I'll be trying again very soon. Despite the shape not coming out quite right, I found these yummy rolls disappeared at record speed. ;0) Hop on over to Rosa's place to see how they should look.



I also wanted to show you part of my recent Tupperware order. When I spotted these cute salt and peppers shakers I just knew I couldn't live without them. I remember seeing these when I was a young girl, only back in the 70's they didn't come in pretty pink. Who can resist pink Tupperware salt and pepper shakers?? Not me!

Hope the sun is shining over your way this week!






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Pita Bread and Peanut Butter Hummus

Yesterday I made pita bread for the first time ever. I've been wanting to try it for some time now but I was worried it wouldn't come out right.



It's actually easier to make than I expected. The dough is simple to put together and the whole process only takes a couple of hours. I was worried my pocket bread wouldn't puff up in the oven...but it did...and let me tell you, I did a little happy dance right there by my oven. :0)



Check out those lovely pockets just begging to be stuffed with something yummy!



I was pleased with how well these pita breads held up to stuffing. Ordinarily, I buy the ones at my local grocer and they always seem to crack and fall apart. Not fun. My family and I packed them full of ground beef seasoned with oregano, parsley and garlic, feta cheese, kalamata olives, tomato, lettuce and tzatziki and they held up beautifully.



I also whipped up some hummus made with peanut butter instead of tahini. I've seen recipes for peanut butter hummus on a couple of blogs now and just had to give it a try. My daughter thought it was too peanut-y but my husband and I thought it was pretty darn tasty.

I'm so happy I finally braved pita bread. I will most definitely make it again soon. Have you ever made pita bread? How about hummus?

Pita Bread
recipe adapted from the Fresh Loaf

Makes 8 pitas

Print recipe

3 cups flour (14.25 ounces)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp honey
2/3-3/4 cup water, room temperature
2 tbsp olive oil

Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together the honey, water and olive oil. Hand mix until dough forms a ball, adding a little more water if needed. Place dough on a floured work surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Place bowl upside down over dough and allow to sit for about 90 minutes or until dough has doubled in size. Gently punch down dough to release some of the trapped gases and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Cover with a large bowl or damp towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

While dough is resting, place a baking stone or an upside down cookie sheet into the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

After dough has rested, spread a light coating of flour on work surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top of dough ball and roll out to 1/4 to 1/8 thick circle. If dough resists kneading, let it rest for a few minutes and go back to it. Repeat process with each dough ball. Place pitas into oven (I made mine and baked them a few at a time.) and bake for 4-5 minutes until they puff up like a pillow and are lightly browned.

Serve warm or at room temperature with your favorite dip or stuffed full of your favorite sandwich ingredients.

Note: The original post for this recipe gives some helpful and informative information but I found that I only needed 1/2 of the water called for in the orginal.

Peanut Butter Hummus
by theUngourmet

makes about 2 cups

Print recipe

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
2 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
water

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until golden. Allow to cool. Place the chickpeas, lemon juice, peanut butter, tbsp olive oil and the garlic and olive oil into a food processor and mix until smooth. Add a little water if needed to gain desired consistency. Season with kosher salt to taste.

Hope you all are having a fantastic week! ;0)






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Stromboli...and a winner!

I've been thinking of making stromboli for a week now. We learned to make it at the baker's conference I recently had the privilege to attend. Then we baked up a few for lunch at work this past week. Yesterday I finally got it together and made some in my own kitchen.



I used a bun dough recipe this time but in the kitchen at work we used a pizza dough. Either one works just dandy. When your dough is ready, roll it out into a square-ish shape and top like you would a pizza.



Then gently roll it up jelly roll style sealing it with an egg wash. Poke holes in the top of your roll to vent. Spray lightly with oil. Let it rest for a good half hour-forty-five minutes.



Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. If it starts too get too dark too fast, turn the oven down to 375. The internal temperature should reach around 200 degrees. Place on a wire rack and allow stromboli to cool for about 15 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife.



My daughter helped me with the stuffing of this fantastic yumminess. We used tomato paste, basil, garlic, salami, mini pepperoni, mushrooms, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, salt and cracked black pepper. We sprinkled shredded parmesan and kosher salt over the outside.

This is a nice change from ordinary pizza. You can easily mix and match stuffing ingredients. I wouldn't use anything too wet or it may end up falling apart.

Have you ever made stromboli? What do you like to stuff inside?

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I also wanted to announce my winner of the Strawberry Cookbook. Joanne from Eats Well with Others, you are lucky number 10...and you are a 10! tee hee. Be sure to check out Joanne's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes...They are downright dangerous!


Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! :)





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