Potato skins are something I generally associate with the fall or winter. I’m not really sure why that is, but when they are grilled, instead of baked and broiled, they just seem more “summery”. These were a huge hit on the last day of summer kids classes! Speaking of which, ever wonder what the kitchen looks like before and during classes? A few photos are at the end of the recipe… I wasn’t brave enough to put up any “after” pics!  Tomorrow I’ll share a few photos of what my fridge looks like after a shopping “spree” before a week of classes – it’s scary – I’ll tell you that!

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There really is nothing more refreshing in the heat of the summer than tropical fruit. A couple days ago it was mango, today pineapple. The directions for cutting, peeling, and coring a fresh pineapple are at the bottom. But first you shall find a recipe for a wonderful and seasonally bright salad. To make it more of a main course salad, just add grilled chicken or pork.

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Apps are all the rage these days, so I’ve decided to create one of my own! OK, so not the sort of app that you’re thinking of, although that would be terribly cool of me too. No, “apps” – as in appetizers.

On the Friday of each summer “teen week”  class, the students help to create the menu they will cook and serve to their guests. Three of the ten students requested mashed potatoes this past week.  Mashed potatoes in June? Hey, I love mashed potatoes, after all, I’m 100% Irish!  But in the 100+ degree heat of the summer – not so much. The potatoes would generally be the side dish to something t0o heavy and hot for such sweltering temps. On the other hand, how can I ignore the request of 30% of the class? How could I get the mashed potatoes stand on their own?Turn them into an appetizer, of course … brilliant!

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This recipe was requested by the mother of one of my former (all grown-up now) students to be placed on the blog. We made this fresh and full-flavored bruschetta during a summer session several years ago. It thrills me when people put in requests for specific posts. Moms, you know what I mean, every night you have to think of something to feed your family, sometimes it comes to you easily and other times, you struggle. Same here! The people who request items most often, are my own two darling kids. Marissa usually asks for something specific and Connor… well Connor usually wants chocolate or bacon! So to appease him, you have the option of garnishing these tasty toasts with crumbled bacon… there you go Connor, your request was not denied! Oh, and that gorgeous yellow tomato in the picture below… from my garden…I’m just a little proud of it!

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For whatever reason, it seems that most kids really like pineapple on their pizza, so let’s give them what they want! An easy thin-crust pizza with fresh pineapple, barbeque sauce, mozzarella, and bits of bacon.

If you make pizza (or bake frozen pizza) often at home, it would be wise to invest in a pizza stone.  The stones are available at all kitchen stores and produce the best “restaurant quality” crisp, thin or thick crust pizza. Without a stone, just bake on a pizza pan or cookie sheet, sprinkled with a little cornmeal to prevent the pizza from sticking.

When using a stone be sure to preheat your oven, with the stone inside, at the highest temperature your oven can be set at for at 30 minutes. I made one with and another without the bacon, delicious both ways, so go vegetarian, if you choose. Buon appetito or (E ‘ai ka-kou, in Hawaiian)!

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I barely have a second to get this post up today.  So this is all I have to say, “If you know of a more delicious deviled egg in the entire world, please send me the recipe.”  In my humble opinion, these cannot be beat!

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As stated in yesterday’s post, this bacon is a Christmas and Easter breakfast tradition in our house. It’s basically “Bacon Candy”.  So sweet, crispy, and decadent! And it couldn’t be easier to make. It is pictured above with our other Christmas breakfast tradition – Cinnamon-Pecan Rolls. That recipe is on yesterday’s post. Also pictured here today, is Connor and the five mini-oil paintings he made as gifts for the family. Nothing better than beautiful and heart-felt homemade gifts from a talented person. Thanks, Con!
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Quiche is such a versatile dish. It is perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. It’s wonderful on it’s own or alongside a salad, drizzled with a vinaigrette. Delicious served hot from the oven or at room temperature… No wonder real men not only eat, but love quiche! Bake this the day ahead, reheat and enjoy on Christmas morning as gifts are being opened.

Believe it or not, I’ve never used a frozen piecrust before. I really enjoy making crust from scratch, but a friend told me that the new pie crusts at Trader Joe’s were as good as homemade, so thought I’d give them a try with a quiche recipe.  Here’s what I’ve discovered; the frozen crusts look great, you can see the little bits of real butter in the dough, just as with a homemade dough, a good start! After reading the ingredients, found there is palm oil… not good… but it is the third to the last ingredient listed with only water and salt after it, so I’m hopeful there isn’t too much in there. The crust shrunk quite a bit more than a homemade one would during the blind bake, but the real test – the taste? Pretty darn good, I’d give it about an 8 out 0f 10, with homemade crust being a perfect 10.

So what exactly is blind baking? It is when you bake and brown a crust without the filling. Blind baking a crust is necessary when it will be filled with an unbaked filling or when the filling has a shorter baking time than the crust needs to become cooked through.  Blind baking also helps prevent the crust from becoming soggy from its filling. To accomplish this you can either poke the uncooked pastry with a fork, or line the pastry shell with foil or parchment paper and weight it down with ceramic or metal pie weights. This allows the steam created by the butter to escape in the case of poking, or prevents the crust from puffing up, when weighted. If you do not want to invest in pie weights, no problem, just weigh down the shell with dry beans or raw rice.  You can use the beans or rice a couple times for this purpose, but after that, toss them in the trash. As they bake over and over, they will loose their natural moisture and no longer be heavy enough to be effective.

The technique for caramelizing the onions for this quiche is different than the methods I’ve posted here before. Adding water and bringing the onions to a boil, allows the onions to completely soften without a chance of burning. Once the water has dissipated, the onions caramelize evenly and easily.
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Ramen and Broccoli Salad – there are so many versions of this salad around, that I was wondering if I should even post my take on it. But after looking at some of the others, I decided mine did have something unique – the dressing.  Most of the others call for between 3/4 to one full cup of oil and between 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar.  That’s a whole lot of fat and calories ruining a big bowl of healthy vegetables!  This still isn’t a diet worthy recipe; what with the bacon, mayo, and the sodium in the ramen flavor packet, but an improvement just the same. Add cooked shrimp, grilled flank steak, or shredded chicken to easily make it into a main course salad.
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Panini are the perfect weekend late lunch or dinner while watching my Arizona Cardinals in Sunday Night Football.  The word “panino” is Italian for small bread roll; its plural form is panini. Many Americans use the word paninis, which is incorrect.  I’m using panettone as the bread for my panini. Panettone is a sweet bread of Milan, it is usually prepared for Christmas and New Year all around Italy and is one of the symbols of Milan.  It is readily available in markets now and throughout the holidays.  I found two flavors at Cost Plus World Market, the traditional which is studded with candied orange, citron, lemon zest and raisins. The other is a Cranberry Panettone and has dried cranberries in place of the raisins.

To make panini, you can use an electric panini press, a cast-iron stove-top press, a waffle iron, or even a George Forman grill.  Just be sure to preheat whatever you use. I have a well seasoned stove top cast-iron press, so I do not butter my bread first, but you certainly can if you so chose.

I was drinking a chai tea latte while I was making these and just before I was going to caramelize the apple slices, I decided to use the chai tea concentrate instead of water to caramelize the sugar… turned out great!  I love the TAZO brand, but you can easily use 1/4 cup water in it’s place.

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