Caprese Pizza

Pin It

Almost every time my family gets together, we have mozzarella and tomatoes as a side dish. Or what others may know as a Caprese Salad. Yum. But it has to be made with fresh mozzarella! There's just no other way.

My dad and I recently traveled up to New York for the day to visit my aunt for her birthday. In the span of 14 hours, we drove a total of 7 hours, visited family for 5 hours, and shopped for 2 hours. Yes, we spent valuable family time shopping. But not for clothes or knick-knacks...but for food. 

Yea I said it. Food.

We got round sausage, sausage links, sweet sausage and broccoli rabe sausage. We bought Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, rice balls, kanishes, and cookies. But the best thing we bought was the Mozzarella cheese. Ohh the Mozzarella cheese. My dad spent $40 on three balls of this stuff. Forty bucks!! So I guess I should have felt special when he gave me one of these prized possessions.

I had a hankering for pizza shortly after we came back, so I decided to use this fresh New York Mozzarella to top my pizza. Pair this with Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, some spices and fresh basil and you've got yourself a Caprese pizza! And isn't it purrrty? Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• Quick and Easy Pizza Dough
• Fresh Mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
• Olive oil
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. marjoram
• Parmesan cheese, grated
• Fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a pizza pan or lightly flour a pizza stone.


Combine seasonings in bowl and set aside.


Spread pizza dough out on pizza pan. Lightly drizzle a coat of olive oil directly on top of dough. Cover with 6-8 slices of fresh Mozzarella cheese. Lay tomatoes, cut side up, over cheese and dough. Sprinkle top with seasoning mixture and the basil leaves. Finally, sprinkle a generous amount of Parmesan cheese evenly on top.


Cook in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cut and enjoy!!


Source: SK Original

Black and White Cookies

Pin It

Fresh, honest-to-goodness delicious New York Italian cookies and pastries are hard to come by if you're anywhere other than New York. When we used to take family vacations to New York to visit my relatives, we would always get bombarded with trays and trays of them. And I'd never complain. Pignoli, canoli, biscotti, pizzelle, rainbow cookies. The list goes on and on. Luckily my aunt usually sends some to us over the holidays and we still get a few boxes whenever we visit, but it just isn't the same. Someone needs to make an authentic New York Italian bakery in DC. And a pizza parlor. My family alone would probably buy you out.

More recently, Chris' father told me that New York also makes the best Black and White cookies. Last time I took a trip up there, I made sure that I got him a few and one for myself as well. The soft cookie was to die for and you even get a choice of frosting. Helloooo. Options! I love options! I made these recently and just had to share. The cookie is moist and cake-like and the homemade frostings are delicious. Hope you enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg

Vanilla Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Teaspoon light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

To make the cookies:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then add the eggs, beating until well combined. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches at low speed (scraping down side of bowl occasionally), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Spoon 1/4 cups of batter about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack and chill (to cool quickly), about 5 minutes.

To make the glazes:

In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon of corn syrup and 2 tablespoons hot water, until smooth. That’s your vanilla glaze.

In a separate bowl, melt the butter and the chocolate in a microwave for about 1 minute. Add the corn syrup and stir until smooth. That’s your chocolate glaze.

Once the cookies are cooled, face them all bottom side up of a clean surface. Spread half of the cookie with vanilla glaze and the other half with chocolate glaze. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set.

Source: Joy the Baker

Shrimp Cakes

Pin It

Do you ever have those nights where you want to cook dinner, but don't feel like going to the grocery store? Or you want to cook, but you left the bag of groceries you bought during your lunch break in your office refrigerator? Or you want to cook, but you're getting ready to move to a new house and want to try to clean out your pantry and refrigerator instead of adding to the mess?

Ever had all three in one day?

So since I forgot my groceries, didn't want to go back to the store and decided I shouldn't add to the chaos since I'm moving soon, I decided it was time to clean out my freezer. In there was a bag of pre-cooked frozen shrimp. I hardly ever cook with pre-cooked shrimp and I think I only bought this bag for shrimp cocktail. Regardless of the reason, I'm sure I spent over $15 on it and figured I should probably use them instead of letting them go to waste.

I realized I had on hand the basic ingredients I use to make crab cakes, so I decided to use the same technique for the shrimp. I threw them in a food processor to grind them up nice and fine, and then mixed them with some ingredients for taste and an egg to bind everything together. I threw them in some oil and presto. Shrimp cakes! Or for me, a shrimp cake sandwich. Hope you all enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb. frozen pre-cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed
• 1 piece of white bread, crust removed
• 1 tbsp. light mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 egg, whisked
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil

Remove the tails from the shrimp. Add to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. If you don't have a food processor, you can chop them by hand.

Break the bread into small pieces. Add to a medium sized bowl. Add shrimp, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic powder, egg, salt, pepper, and lime juice. Stir until well combined.

Shape the shrimp mixture into patties (whatever size you desire). Put in the refrigerator for one hour.

After an hour, remove the patties from the refrigerator. Put the Panko breadcrumbs onto a small plate and dip each patty into the breadcrumbs until well coated. Tap off excess.

Heat the oil in a medium sized pan. Add the patties and cook until browned, 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook the other size. Once cooked through, remove from pan. Cook remaining patties. Enjoy!


Source: SK Original

Baked Onion Rings

Pin It

When I go out to eat, I would be perfectly content just ordering appetizers and skipping the whole fancy schmancy entree part. They are all always so good, but I think they're that way because they are so darn bad for you. Pretty much everything is deep fried, covered in cheese or wrapped bacon. Not saying anything's wrong with that, but if you want to look good this summer I'd advise you to step away from the deep fryer.

Onion rings always seem like a healthy option to me, and since I love onions I usually order a plate of some. Thing is, they're fried too. So I guess that cancels out the healthiness factor, eh? 

I had a craving for some onion rings the other night, and since I'm trying to eat semi-healthy I decided I'd try baking some. They turned out delicious even after nixing the deep frying. They were perfectly coated and slightly crispy. Give these a try if you're trying to maintain your figure but still want the satisfactory of being able to eat those "bad-for-you" appetizers.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 cups fat free buttermilk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Slice onion into thick rings. Discard the smaller center rings.

Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl. Add the onions to the buttermilk and let them soak, at room temperature, for at least 30 minutes.

Mix the flour, pepper, cayenne pepper and salt in a shallow dish. One by one, remove the onion rings from the buttermilk and dredge in the flour. Tap off the excess and place on a dish. Continue with remaining onions.

Pour the breadcrumbs into another shallow dish. Moving quickly, take the onion rings that are now dredged in flour and, one at a time, dip them into the buttermilk again and then into the breadcrumbs. Make sure they are fully coated and then place on the baking sheet. Continue with remaining onions.

Bake onions for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking time. If you like crispier rings, lightly spray the rings with canola oil so they crisp up while baking. Enjoy!

Source: SK Original

Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars

Pin It

I made these devilish little guys for an engagement party I went to the other weekend and they were a huge hit! I took the ones that didn't fit on the tray to my parents' house the next day and they were gobbled up. There were a few leftover that I was going to take home, but before I left my dad even asked me if he could keep a couple at the house so he could have them for breakfast. My dad doesn't even like sweets, but he wanted these. That tells me something.

They are a mix of apple pie, cheesecake and a crumb topping. And I'm obsessed. They're pretty easy to make and they please most crowds. Even people that don't love sweets, like my dad. Plus at the party we went to I saw the host's small son walking around with one licking off the apple topping. Now you definitely can't tell me they're not good. Hope you enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) oatmeal cookie mix
• 1/2 cup firm butter or margarine
• 2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 can (21 oz.) apple pie filling
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.

Place cookie mix in large bowl. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly and coarse. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture; press remaining crumbs in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked crust. In medium bowl, mix pie filling and cinnamon. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over top. Sprinkle with walnuts.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Cool about 30 minutes. Refrigerate to chill, about 2 hours. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator. 

Source: Betty Crocker