Preparing For The Big Game

Helloooooo football fans and welcome to the Little Kitchen. I am so glad you dropped by today! I had the amazing opportunity this morning to be on CTV Morning Winnipeg this morning to talk about snacks for the Grey Cup.  For my readers South of the border, the Grey Cup is our Superbowl and this year the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are in the final game.  They will be playing the BC Lions this Sunday in the season finale game!

Here is the link to the segment from CTV Morning Live: Click here to get to the CTV Morning live website, then click on "Grey cup snack attack" to see the clip.

I promised the links to the recipes I used on the show this morning and here they are:

Pulled pork:  This you can assemble the day ahead and plug the slow cooker in the morning of the big game.  When it falls apart, it is done! If you don't want pork, use chicken thighs or a chuck roast in the slow cooker with your favourite BBQ sauce instead. For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Pulled pork sammie with coleslaw!

Chicken Wings: Make these beauties the day before and heat them up before game time. provide hot sauce and bbq sauce on the side for dipping! For a printable version click here.

Hummus: The recipe ont his page is for the Hot Wing flavoured hummus. It is truly divine! Again, make it ahead of time and relax during the game! Serve with veggies and pita wedges. You can find a printable version of a hummus recipe here.  For a spicier version, called Buffalo Wing Hummus, click here.

Crispy wings baked in the oven

Jalapeno bundles: These are a favourite, easy to make ahead of time and bake just before the game. They are also wrapped in bacon....need I say more? You can find a prinatble version of this recipe by clicking here.

Jalapenos wrapped in bacon....

Brownies: This link has the basic brownie recipe on it. For the footballs shapes, I quadrupled the recipe, coole and iced the brownies (use store bought) then cut them out with a football shaped cookie cutter. The white lines were made with the store bought white icing that is already in the tube...just squeeze and draw! For a printable version of the full recipe, with icing, click here.

Some game day tips:

Plan ahead. Think about what you can make, when you can make it, and when to heat it up. You want to enjoy the game with family and friends, not spend the entire game in the kitchen!

Throw fancy out the window.  Keep it simple for the big game. Finger foods are essential. People want to eat, chat, and watch the game not fuss with cutlery.

Make use of the help...precut veggies, premade icing, shredded cheese. Who says you have to do it all yourself?

Make use of things such as tin foil and parchment paper to line your baking sheets. It makes clean up so much easier!

Two words: Paper plates.

Happy game day everyone!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Dips: It Takes One to Know One

So while walking with the class the other week, I turned my ankle and fell to the ground in grand fashion! We were only half way to our destination so I pried myself up off the concrete, looked around to see how many students saw and kept walking with the one student who happened to be walking with me.  It was slow going that last 1.5km.  We were heading to the movies.  There is a second run cheapie movie theatre a mere 3km from school so it is a popular spot for June field trips as we can easily walk there.  Once we made it to the mall, the student and I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up some first aid supplies to clean up my knee then met the rest of the class to watch "Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2" That movie was great. I truly enjoyed it!  One of the teachers was kind and drove me back to the school after.  Lots of ice, x-rays, and a couple of physiotherapy visits later, it is merely a really bad sprain....we're talking lower ankle, upper ankle, hurts from ankle to knee at times!!! ACK!! The best part (see the sarcasm) is the bruising.  I am fair skinned and bruises show up oh so nicely....it really does look way worse than it feels....I hope!

I figure no one wants to see ugly ankle pictures so let's get on with the grub!
In our venture to eat healthier we have become dippy with dip!  To be more specific, hummus and tzatziki!  Both hummus and tzatziki are such simple dips and a great way to add some flavour to your veggies, sandwiches, wraps, or whatever it is you want to use them on.  Keep a bin or a zippy top bag filled with cut and ready to go veggies in the fridge and you are set for lunches, snacks, even dinners!
I even made some fresh pita.  After reading this post here at A Little bit of everything, I just had to make it! I haven't made the roasted veggie dip yet, but I plan to!

A few simple ingredients is all it takes!!

Tzatziki (reminds me of my trip to Greece!)  Printable dip recipes

1/2 long English cucumber
1 cup Greek style plain yogurt
1 clove garlic (chopped fine or grated with a micro plane)
salt & pepper
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

Grate the cucumber.  If your yogurt isn't very thick, squeeze out the excess liquid.  The PC Greek style yogurt at Superstore is so incredibly thick, I didn't drain the cucumber.

Grate in the garlic, lemon zest (if using), and add the salt and pepper.
Stir in the yogurt.  (Use your judgement here.  If the amount of yogurt doesn't cover all of the cucumber, then add more yogurt.  Consistency is really up to you!)

Let the tzatziki rest in the fridge for a while before eating...if you can wait.

Serve up with pitas, veggies, on sammies, in wraps, by the spoonful....

Hummus (unfortunately I can not find the pics I took of the hummus. I will post them when I find them, or make more and take new photos!)

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 to 2 tbsp tahini or peanut butter (optional)
cayenne (pinch or to taste)
1 jalapeno
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
water to thin out if you don't want to use too much oil

Toss everything but the olive oil and water into a blender or food processor.  With the machine running, drizzle in olive oil.  If you are skeptical about using too much olive oil, switch to drizzling in water.  Keep the machine and the liquid drizzling until you reach the consistency you want.  Some people prefer a thick dip and others prefer a thinner dip.
Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.  (Remember, it is easier to add flavour and heat than it is to take it away!!)

Until next time, stay warm and eat well. (And stay on your feet!)

Three Cheese Jalapeno Biscutis and a Horror Story

Yesterday I made some oh so tasty baked sweet potato fries with a sriracha mayo dip....they were so yummy.  I took photos like you would not believe.  One of the things I have been working on is trying to get baked sweet potato fries nice and crispy on the outside. This was the batch that was going to work, I could feel it.  After writing a lovely post to go with the photos, I opened the little window that houses the memory card......a scream and some expletives escaped my mouth......there was no card in the camera.  The card was still sitting in the card reader of my laptop.  AHHHHHH!

My apologies, I will remake the fries and actually put the memory card in the camera.

The Little Kitchen is in cleaning out the fridge mode as we gear up for a trip South to St. Louis Mo.  Why St. Louis? The Boy and his team are heading there to play ball, that's why.  For baseball players to get a chance to play this early outside on real diamonds, we need to South; there is still so much snow on the ground here! We are so excited! So much to do, cleaning, packing, lists to make so I can pack.... we didn't go grocery shopping this weekend, save a few fresh items.

What do you make when you are trying to use what you have and not go grocery shopping?  Well, sometime you get inventive and sometimes ideas just happen. This weekend I picked up a rotisserie chicken from the store, knowing I had the veggies needed to make a chicken pot pie!!  I didn't however feel like making a pie crust so I went with biscuits instead...go figure, they probably take the same amount of time and work.  I guess I just felt like biscuits.

Hubby was washing some dishes while I was measuring out the dry ingredients for the biscuits and a discussion regarding what was left in the fridge ensued....to make a long story short, we banded together to make 3 cheese jalapeno biscuits to go with the pieless chicken pot pie (which is essentially a stew).

Fabulous things can only happen when you add cheeses and jalapenos to something...it is just magical!

The biscuit recipe I use on a regular basis now is from Stumptown Savoury....it is the perfect recipe.  I have altered it somewhat to make these biscuits, but you should check out his post for the original recipe here.

I must admit to attempting to double the recipe by memory but failed to double the baking power, soda, or the buttermilk....strangely enough, the biscuits still turned out wonderful!

3 cheese jalapeno biscuit with crustless chicken pot pie

3 cheese jalapeno biscuits

• 2cups all purpose flour
• 2 cup pastry flour (trust me, this makes it so much better)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• handful grated cheddar
• handful grated smoked gouda
• handful grated parmesean
• 2 jalapenos, diced small
• 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tsp lemon juice with enough milk to make 1 cup)
• 1 cup butter, frozen then grated

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Now Gareth likes to freeze the butter then grate it...I agree. This works wonderfully.  However if you are strapped for time or don't have butter stocked in the freezer (which by the way works wonders if butter is on sale). You can cut the butter into cubes and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour.  Just make sure to chill the dough for about 1/2 hour so chase away the warmth from your hands.

Once the butter is all small bits rubbed into flour, pile in the cheeses and the jalapenos and stir those in.

Add the buttermilk and stir.  It won't come together as a dough so don't worry about that here.

Dump the mixture out onto the counter and start folding and patting....just like this:

Keep on with the patting and folding until it comes together nicely.

You can either cut it into squares or use a biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits.

Bake in a hot, pre heated 400F oven for about 12 minutes, until lightly golden on top.

Don't burn your tongue, let them cool a bit!

I will do my best to send out a few messages and posts during our baseball filled trip. 

Until next time, stay warm and well!

Bundles of Happiness: Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

It is so difficult to not get caught up in the Superbowl madness that goes on these days.  Even the Boy's baseball coaches booked today's practice for 6am so they could be free this evening for the big game.  Hubby tells me the smack talk among the parents waiting for the boys started early as well.  I am more of a baseball fan, but honestly, anything that allows me to eat some great treats can't be all that bad, can it?  I first saw these bacon wrapped jalapenos over at Brown Eyed Baker and I knew I was going to have to make these!  You can also find this recipe at the Pioneer Woman Cooks...either way, they are a must have!!

I could have eaten the whole pan!!!!!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Pioneer Woman Cooks

• 10 to 12 jalapenos, pick some nice large peppers
• 1 8 oz brick cream cheese, softened (you can use light cream cheese if you wish)
• 3/4 cup old cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound bacon, choose your favourite.  I went with a glorious apple wood smoked bacon.

 Pre heat the oven to 350F

Mix together the cream cheese, cheddar, cilantro , and some salt and pepper until well mixed.

Wash the peppers

Remove the innards!!

Slice the peppers in half and remove the seeds and the veins.

Cram a good tablespoon full of creamy cheesy goodness into each pepper half...mmmmm...

If your peppers are on the small size, you can get away with half a strip of bacon to wrap around but lets face it, we all know I love bacon....I used a whole slice per pepper half....glorious apple wood smoked bacon.
Wrap a slice of bacon around each pepper half.

The other two recipes recommend baking these little beauties on a rack to lift them out of the bacon drippings.  I didn't do that but I think I will give it a try next time just to get the bottoms nice a crisp.

Bake at 350F for 20 to 30 minutes or until the bacon is nice and crisp!

Let these fantabulous little bundles of jalapeno bacon goodness cool a bit so you don't burn your tongue.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!