Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Dates

OK, these are AWESOME.  You MUST try the next time you have guests or have to bring an appetizer to a dinner party.  Your friends will thank you.

I know what you're thinking: who eats dates?  They're like prunes, which are for old people.  Well, dates stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in bacon taste like pure deliciousness, and are amazingly addictive.  As they cook, the dates get super sweet and brown sugar-y, which pair perfectly with crispy, smokey bacon.  Those flavors are balanced out with the bright, tangy goat cheese.  I've even put a whole almond in the middle for an extra crunch.  Either way, you can't go wrong.

Messy, but worth it.

I brought these to a party and everyone scarfed them right up.  They're really like candy.  And they are SO EASY.

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Dates

25-30 pitted dates

4 ounces goat cheese 

1 package bacon

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Using a small paring knife or your fingers, cut open the dates.  Stuff with goat cheese.

2.  Take bacon out of the package and cut the bacon strips in half.  Wrap each stuffed date with half a piece of bacon.  Place wrapped dates on a slotted roasting pan or baking sheet lined with aluminum foil* and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until bacon is crisp, turning after 20 minutes.


* the slotted roasting pan is better because it allows the bacon to get crispier.

Caramelized Onion, Fig, and Goat Cheese "Pizza"

This is a pretty good start to what would likely be an excellent cocktail pizza.  However, as Becky said, "the onions could be a little more caramelized." 

We started by rehydrating the dried figs.  I think this was mistake #1.  In my opinion, at least, dried figs = delicious; fresh/rehydrated figs = texture-challenged.  

Mistake #2: under-caramelizing the onions.  Actually, here we used shallots.  I thought that maybe shallots had a lower sugar content than yellow onions (which are often used for caramelizing), but after doing research, I found that this isn't true.  In fact, people caramelize shallots all the time.  I think the problem was that we cooked them on too high heat.  Low-to-medium is the way to go.

Butter AND olive oil.  A marriage made in heaven (like peanut butter and chocolate).

Halfway there!

The pizza turned out well, anyway, and given that we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, we consumed the whole thing.  It won't go in my list of recipes to make again, though.

Into the oven and Becky's excited.

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese "Pizza"

adapted from allrecipes.com

Large flatbread

8 dried figs

4 large shallots, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme

4 ounces goat cheese

Directions:

1.  Place figs in a small bowl and pour boiling water over them.  Let stand for about 10 minutes, then drain and chop.  Set aside.

2.  Heat olive oil and butter in heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat.  Add the shallots; cook and stir until they are wilted and soft.  Reduce heat to low, and season with salt.  Continue to cook and stir until the shallots are a dark brown, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Stir in thyme and remove from the heat.

3.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spread onions and figs onto flatbread.  Dot with goat cheese.

4.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown at the edges.

Peanut Butter-Scented Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just ate two of these cookies and they were delicious.  Moist, chewy, and dense.  Everything a chocolate chip cookie should be.  But not everything a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips should be.  I renamed them "peanut butter-scented chocolate chip cookies" because the peanut butter taste is so light that you wouldn't know you were eating a peanut butter cookie unless someone told you.

That doesn't make these cookies bad, but it makes them weak peanut butter cookies.  Next time I try the recipe, I'm going to triple the peanut butter and see how that works.  I'll let you know how it goes, but I can't imagine that more peanut butter would be a bad thing.

Peanut Butter-Scented Chocolate Chip Cookies

From allrecipes.com

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the corn syrup, water, and vanilla.  Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet.

3.  Bake for 11 minutes in preheated oven, or until edges are golden.  Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet before transferring them to cooling rack to cool completely. 

Filet Mignon with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Glaze

With endless numbers of recipes I have yet to try, and all the great dishes I've already made, I sometimes find it hard to choose what to make my friends for dinner on a Friday night.  Do I go with something new or stick with something I know is amazing?  Do I fix something healthy or splurge on a decadent dish?  To help me decide, I go to the Harris Teeter website to see what's on sale that week, and I usually go with one of the Teet's specials.  It doesn't matter that I can get chicken breast for $5.99/lb any day of the week--if Chilean sea bass is on sale for $17.99, down from $26.99, it's going in my cart.  Makes sense, I know.

This week, filet mignon was on sale, and I know that my friends like a good steak, so I decided to pick some up.  Always wanting to class things up a bit (I'm not a simple woman), I opted to top each filet with crumbled goat cheese and finish it with a drizzle of balsamic glaze.  Mmmmm.

I started out by patting the steaks dry and setting them on the counter for 20 minutes to warm them up.  The former allows a nice crust to form and the latter allows for more even cooking.  Then, went the butter and oil into my cast iron skillet (which I love, by the way).  

I seared the steaks on medium-high heat for 4 minutes per side, which I think was a little much.  First of all, the crust was almost-slash-definitely crispy, which I like, but others may not.   Second, my entire little apartment filled with smoke from the pan.  At that point, I topped each steak with goat cheese and put the whole thing in a 400 degree oven for about 3 minutes to allow the steaks to cook a bit more and the goat cheese to melt.

Since I like my steaks on the medium side of medium-rare, I could have gone for a couple more minutes in the oven, but Becky and Trevor thought they were perfect.  The light and tangy goat cheese is a great counterbalance to the richness of the steak, while the balsamic glaze (which you can get in most grocery stores in the vinegar section) offers a lovely hit of sweetness and tang.  I served with rosemary roasted potatoes and green beans.  Delicious!

Blurry picture, but you get the idea.

Becky came for the weekend!

Filet Mignon with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Glaze
(for 2)

2 filet mignon steaks
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 ounce crumbled goat cheese, divided
balsamic glaze

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Take the steaks out of the fridge and let rest on the counter for 20-30 minutes before cooking.  Pat dry.
2. Heat oil and butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet, like a cast-iron skillet, over medium high heat.
3. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper and sear in the pan for 4 minutes per side.
4. Sprinkle goat cheese over each steak and place in the oven for 3 minutes to warm the cheese.  Cook longer if you like a more well-done steak.
5.  Remove from the oven, plate, and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Meatballs

I told you that I've been on an Italian food kick and that, coupled with the cold and snowy weather, required that I make meatballs immediately.  I was having friends over to watch the State of the Union address, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to try a meatball recipe I'd been eyeing.  Plus, my friend Trevor love Italian food, and always brings a good bottle of wine to go along with it.

I found the recipe by searching the internet for "authentic Italian meatballs."  I realize now that what I made probably doesn't even come close.  No fresh garlic, some dried herbs, and just one kind of meat rather than three.  Plus, I used the extra lean ground beef, which probably makes Italian cooks everywhere roll their eyes and groan.

Anyway, I did start out by making my own breadcrumbs from a whole wheat baguette.  I ate the other half, obviously.  It was super-easy, though.  I used my brand new food processor to make the crumbs, and then I tossed them with a couple tablespoons of butter and toasted them.  Bread and butter. . . you can't go wrong.

The day before the dinner, I made the meatballs.  I let them sit in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to meld.

Before my friends arrived, I made the sauce.  I find Bobby Flay to be generally brilliant when it comes to food and being a badass, so I went with his recipe.  He had a recipe for meatballs as well, one that included three kinds of meat and fresh garlic, but I decided to stick with my own.

My girlfriend, Amanda, got me this immersion blender for Christmas several years ago and it is A-MAZING.

Maybe a little too much fresh parsley.

Although the recipe calls for simmering the meatballs in the sauce for three hours, I earn an honest wage and don't have that kind of time.  So, I baked the balls in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, and simmered them in the sauce for 45 minutes.

They were good.

The best part is, leftovers can also be used to make some delicious meatball subs.  (Not pictured because we devoured them too quickly.)

Meatballs--serves 4

2 lbs ground beef (I used 90% lean)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley (I like flat leaf)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (a heavy pour never hurts anyone when it comes to cheese and wine)

Directions:

1.  Mix all ingredients together and mold into golf ball-sized balls.  Refrigerate overnight.
2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes, then simmer in sauce (below) for 45 minutes.

Tomato sauce
By Bobby Flay--Which I'll let you read yourself.  :)  I followed the recipe exactly, except I forgot to add the basil.  :(  I'm sure it would have been even better with it!

I served with whole wheat spaghetti one night and a whole wheat sub roll another night.  Both were excellent!  The meatballs freeze well, too!

Evil Chocolate Cake

I feel like I need to go to confession after encountering this chocolate cake, and I'm not even catholic.  I call this cake "Evil" (not the original name, of course) because it calls to you with all its chocolatey deliciousness and forces you to eat piece after piece without even thinking.  On top of all that, it's EASY, giving you no excuse not to make it whenever you want something truly decadent.  I found that triple-wrapping the last slice in saran wrap and then wrapping it in tin foil prevented me from consuming the entire thing in less than 36 hours.  The jury's still out on whether the remainder of the thing is making it into the office tomorrow.

Seriously, though, this is the best chocolate cake I've ever had in my entire life, and I've had some good ones.  I had been meaning to make it for a while now because almost everyone who reviewed this recipe on allrecipes.com gave it 5 stars--always a good sign.  It's thick, rich, and chocolatey, and somehow manages to be on the light and airy side.  And best of all, it begins its life as a cake mix!!

I followed the recipe and chose a devil's food mix, but reviewers said they used all kinds of different combinations of cake mix, pudding, and chips.  When I try this next time, I'll use a fudge cake mix with peanut butter chips, because I LOVE peanut butter and chocolate together.

The light texture of the finished product surprised me because the batter is SUPER thick.  I didn't "pour" the batter into the bundt pan as much as "spooned" it in, so I was afraid that it would turn out more like a big brownie than a cake.  Not so.  Not that there's anything wrong with a "big brownie."

Can you see how thick the batter is?

Out of the oven.  I shaved off the bottom (top here) so that the cake would lie flat on the platter, which meant I got to taste test!

All this cake needs is some powdered sugar or maybe some light vanilla ice cream, but I think it would be too rich with any kind of icing.  It really is ooey-gooey all by itself, but the powdered sugar makes it look pretty.

Definitely try this for yourself.  I promise you won't be disappointed. 

Chocolate cake

Adapted from allrecipes.com

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix, or another chocolate cake mix

1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix (though I accidentally got the smaller box and it turned out fine)

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup milk

4 eggs, beaten lightly

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a bundt pan generously.

2. In large bowl, mix together with a hand mixer the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and water. Stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into bundt pan.

3. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean/few crumbs.  Cool cake thoroughly in pan for at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

4.  Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.  Other garnish ideas: fresh whipped cream, light vanilla ice cream, or mixed berries.

Fig and blue cheese-stuffed pork tenderloin

This is one of those recipes that I've had in my pile for years (literally--three!) and I've never had the opportunity to make.  It's one of those recipes that you would never see on a menu at a restaurant, never pick out for yourself, and never think anyone else will really like.  For me, I love the component parts of this recipe.  Well, mostly the figs; I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese or pork.  This recipe is kind of like Barack Obama--it sounded like a good idea at the time.

[Did she just SAY that?]

[Yes, I did.]

Anyway, I wasn't a HUGE fan of this dish, but as promised, I will write about it so that everyone can learn from my mistake.  Not that it was a big mistake--it's just that I would have been happier with something else.  I was having some girlfriends over for dinner last Friday night and ran the idea by them to make sure no one objected to figs and blue cheese.  When I got the green light, I decided to go for it.

I started by preparing the pork tenderloin.  Now, my own personal opinion is that raw pork--like most raw white meat--is nasty.  Trimming the fat off of a long piece of pig is not the most appetizing way to start an evening.  Then, I had to pound the pork to 1/2 inch.  I've always read instructions about putting a piece of plastic wrap over the meat when pounding, but I've never done it, mostly because I didn't want to waste the plastic wrap.  But, when the pork shards went flying, I finally understood the concept.  Anyway, after about 10 minutes, I finally got the pork down to 1/2 inch or so.

Next came the rolling.  The figs and blue cheese weren't being overly cooperative in remaining in the pork, but I finally got everyone all rolled up and onto the roasting pan.  Yay.

Notice the unevenness of the pork.  Big boo.

The cooking part was the next problem.  See, there was a pork layer on the inside of the roll, which meant that the outside layer of pork was cooked through while the inside was raw.  In order to fully cook the inside layer, the outside was overcooked.  Overcooked pork, my friends, is not tasty.  Plus, all the cheese melted during the extra cooking time, which was quite sad.  I'm not sure how to remedy this problem, which means that I probably won't make stuffed pork again.  Unless someone has some advice. . .

I served it with an almond rice pilaf mixed with dried currants, fresh parsley and plenty of butter, as well as some steamed green beans.  We washed it all down with a couple of bottles of red wine, and the dinner was a success.  But anything with good wine is a success in my book.

Moral of the story: don't try this at home.  But in case you want to, here is the recipe:

Snatched from Cooking Light

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/2 cup dried figs, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (other reviewers recommended gorgonzola or goat cheese)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon apple jelly, melted (though I used apricot preserves and didn't melt)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Slice pork in half lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, the other side.  Open the halves, laying pork flat.  Place pork between two sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet.  Sprinkle figs and blue cheese over pork, leaving a 1/2 inch margin around the outside edges.  Roll up the pork, jelly-roll fashion, starting with the long side.  Secure at 2-inch intervals with twine, or just place the seam side down.  Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper, and place on a foil-lined jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. (I placed on roasting rack.)

Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.  Brush jelly over the pork.  Bake an additional 5 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees (slightly pink).  Let stand for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.