Zucchini Bites

Zucchini Bites

1 cups zucchini, grated
1 egg
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cheese (cheddar or Parmesan work the best)
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Grate the zucchini and then place in a dish towel to squeeze out the excess water- like when using frozen spinach; if you skip this part, the middle of the zucchini tots will be really soggy while the outside gets crispy and no one wants that.
3. In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper.
4. Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, fill the muffin cups to the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top is browned and set.


Notes: 1 medium zucchini made 2 batches of these and I used my micro-plane grater to grate them. 

Pita Bread

Notes: I use a jar of yeast that i keep in my fridge that is Instant Yeast (or rapid rise or bread machine yeast) that you can add directly into the flour. Just make sure you get it room temp first. I also use kosher salt and sugar, since the recipe gives you options. Below is the link to the original recipe, but I've made personal adjustments below that I've learned work better for me. There are also links to
other bread recipies and more info on pita bread making as well.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread
 
Pita Bread - make sure you set aside a good amount of time in the day for these.


Prep time: 20 minutes
Resting time total: ~2 hrs
Cook time: 3 min each


Makes 8 pitas
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet yeast (or, if from bulk, 2 teaspoons yeast)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water, roughly at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

Oven: 400*F

1. In a medium bowl mix flour, salt, yeast and sugar together.
2. In a separate mix 1 cup of water and olive oil.  Make sure this is room temp, it makes a difference.
3. Pour the 1 cup water and olive oil into the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. This will bring the mixture to be kind of a flaky dough. At this point i start kneading it together and add a little water here and there to get it to mix together to just have a slight sticky dough ball. If too sticky i just dust a little flour. it shouldn't stick to your hands like crazy just kind of grab at it. once i get it all formed into a ball i knead it on the counter top.
4. Knead for 10 minutes
5. Transfer into a bowl that you have rubbed with a little oil. Cover with damp towel and let rise for 90 minutes - should at least double in size.
6. once its done rising divide into 8 balls, and let rise for another 20 minutes
 ***PRE HEAT OVEN to 400*F - Use a flat baking stone or an upside down cookie sheet and heat it up in the oven when you go to preheat it***
7. Roll out to be about 1/4"-1/8" thick (i think the thicker the better, but the pitas are not as big but puff up better) in round or whatever shapes.
8. Cook on the a stone or on the back of a cookie sheet in the oven for about 3 minutes each. I usually go about 3:30. They should puff up, but my luck have been 65% puffing up, which means i've over worked the dough rolling them out, or didn't knead it enough, just my learning process.


Final notes: no matter if they puff up or not, it still makes awesome bread! 

Peabut Butter Pie - better than Perkin's

So I got this recipe from the Food Network, well they sent it in one of their daily emails. I was very greatful for it, because I have a friend that it's his favorite pie from Perkin's and well this saved me a lot of money and I made 2 of them! 

Changes I made: Topped with just can whip cream, and used a gram cracker pre-made crust from the store. Also I just used a jar of hot fudge and did not make this one below.

Peanut Butter Pie

Recipe courtesy FoodNetwork

Prep Time:10 min

Inactive Prep Time: 4 hr 10 min

Cook Time:8 min

Level:Easy

Serves:8 servings

 

Ingredients

Hot Fudge Sauce:

• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Peanut Butter Pie:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream, plus whipped cream, for garnish, optional
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces shaved milk chocolate
• Chopped peanuts, optional

Directions

1 (9-inch) baked chocolate cookie pie crust

Sauce: Add the cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla extract to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the chopped chocolate. Stir continuously until the chocolate is melted and the sauce has thickened, roughly 3 to 4 minutes. Let the sauce cool for 10 minutes before serving.


Pie: In a large bowl combine the cream cheese, 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar and the peanut butter until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until thick and light. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

Carefully fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Pour the batter into the pie shell, sprinkle with the shaved milk chocolate and freeze for 4 hours.


If desired, serve with the hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, and chopped peanuts.