Pulled Chicken and Cheddar Stuffed Rolls

My mouth is watering just looking at the photos. There is just something about meat and cheese that is so satisfying. 

I have a mock trial competition this Friday, and I am so nervous and excited! It's the regional competition. I never thought my freshman year in mock trial that we could ever make it this far, and here I am as a senior going to regionals. So cool!

"All At Once" The Fray

Also, you can saute peppers and onions and add it to the pulled chicken. So good!!

Adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Ingredients

• For the pretzel roll dough:
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 tsp (1 package) yeast
• 1 cup warmed milk (I used 2%)
• 2 Tbsp softened butter (I used Smart Balance)
• 4 1/2-4 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• For the filling:
• ~1lb shredded chicken (about 3 generous cups)
• 4 oz cheddar, sliced and cut into 18 chunks
• 1/2 cup HEB Texas-style Barbecue Sauce
• 2 Tbsp honey
• For boiling and finishing:
• 2 quarts water
• 4 Tbsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 2 Tbsp honey whisked with 1 Tbsp water

Directions

1. In your mixer bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the water and let proof for 10 minutes.
2. Add the milk, softened butter, 4.5 cups of flour, and salt; knead for ~5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky and might not completely come off the bottom of the bowl. If overly sticky, add 1-2 Tbsp of extra flour at a time.
3. Cover and let rise for an hour, or until doubled.
4. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly oil.
5. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and divide into 18 balls (a scale makes this easy to do in 2-oz portions). Cover with a light towel and prep the filling and boil.
6. Place the pulled pork and red onion in a large bowl.
7. Whisk together the honey and bbq sauce and pour over top of the pulled chicken, tossing to mix thoroughly.
8. Keeping your surface lightly floured to prevent sticking, flatten your dough ball, top with a chunk of cheddar and a heaping small spoonful of pulled chicken (it might take you 1-2 rolls to figure out the perfect sized scoop of filling).
9. Pull the edges of the dough to the top, pinching and crimping the roll to prevent any leaks. Transfer the roll to the prepared baking sheets (9 each).
10. In a large pan, bring the water, baking soda, and salt to a boil.
11. Working with 4-5 rolls at a time, boil the rolls 30 seconds on each side, transfer to the baking sheet with a slotted spoon, and slash the top of the rolls 2-3 times with a very sharp knife (but don't cut too thick or your cheese will ooze out the top).
12. Bake the rolls for 18 minutes, glaze with the honey-water mixture, and then bake for an additional 5 minutes until golden brown.
13. Sprinkle with coarse salt and serve. Leftovers should be refrigerated.

Panera Mac and Cheese

 

I'm so-so with the baked mac and cheese. The type that is really just pasta and cheese sauce? Now that is love.

With that kind of mac and cheese I'm just like:

 

(On a side note, Ratatoullie is one of my favorite Pixar films. Right up there with the Incredibles and Up. There's just something about Remy that is so... cute. Or maybe I just love the food)

So after a long President's Day hiking around Miami University's campus through freezing rain, facing a daunting maze of identically designed buildings on a tour, what do I make?

Mac and cheese of course!

Not just any mac and cheese, but Panera mac and cheese (recipe from Food, Folks, and Fun)!

Be prepared for total creamy-cheesy heaven.

 

Regina Spektor "One More Time with Feeling"

Ingredients

• 1 16-ounce Package package of rigati pasta ((or other small pasta shells))
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk (2% or whole)
• 6 Slices white American cheese (chopped)
• 8oz extra-sharp white Vermont cheddar (shredded)
• 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

Directions

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

Melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly.

Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.

Add cheeses, mustard, salt, and hot sauce, stirring until cheese melts and sauce is smooth.

Stir in pasta and cook over medium heat for 1 minute (or until thoroughly heated). Serve immediately.

Broccoli-Cheddar Mini-Quiches

I have a confession: I hate eggs. They smell gross. The textures weird. They're just yucky okay!

Mini-quiches. Now those I can eat. Something about the cheese-to-egg ratio just works for me. 

or the pie crust. I do have a serious infatuation with broccoli and cheese, so it could be that. 

Either way these are just too good!

The Script - "Millionaires"

 From Joanne-Eats-Well-With-Others

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp to 1/4 cup ice water
For the mini quiches
• 1 small head broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3-4 oz shredded cheddar (or really any cheese)

Directions

To make the pie crust, in the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt, and sugar. Add in the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the processor running, add in the cold water tablespoon by tablespoon until the mixture starts to come together.
Take the dough and pat it into a thin disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

In the meantime, heat a splash of water in a medium pan. Add in the broccoli florets and steam until tender, about a minute. Drain and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, eggs, and egg yolk. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

When the dough is done chilling, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out circles of dough that are about 2 1/2-inch round. Fit the rounds into a 24-cup nonstick mini muffin pan. Repeat with remaining dough until it is all used up.

Sprinkle half of the cheese into the bottoms of the pie-lined muffin cups. Top with the egg filling, distributing it evenly among the cups. Top with broccoli florets and remaining cheese.

Bake at 375 until puffed and golden, about 30 minutes. There will probably be a lot of cheese spillover depending on just how much you fill the muffin cups, but that is normal. Remove mini quiches from tin almost immediately when they come out of the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.

Spinach-Artichoke Pasta

I love pasta. But not as much as I love the Spinach-Artichoke-cheese combination.

 I could honestly just skip the pasta and just slurp up the sauce.

Bright Eyed Youth- Olive Skin

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bags spinach
• 2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and halved
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella or monterey jack cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 12 oz penne, cooked
• 1/2 bread crumbs
• crushed red pepper

Directions

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot or skillet. Add garlic and throw in the spinach. Stir it around until it's wilted, about 1 minute. Remove spinach from heat and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons butter to the same pot and raise the heat to high. Throw in the halved artichokes and stir it around until they get a little color, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the artichokes from the pot and set them aside.

Reduce the heat to low. Add 2 tablespoons butter to the pot. When melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk until it's combined. Pour in milk and whisk to combine. Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until starting to thicken. Add Parmesan, Mozzarella/Monterey Jack, salt and pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir to melt, and if it's overly thick, splash in chicken broth.

Add artichokes and pasta, tossing gently to combine. Gently fold in spinach, then pour the pasta into a serving bowl. Sprinkle the top with crushed red pepper flakes and plenty of Panko breadcrumbs for crunch.

Serve immediately!

Cheddar-Cider Fondue

 Alright, my birthday was last weekend, so we had fondue. But not just any fondue, we tried Cheddar-Cider Fondue. It was ridiculously sweet but also really good.

Look at the cake my mom and sister got:

Delicious and beautiful!

 "Let Her Go" Passenger

 From the Best Fondue

Ingredients

1 garlic clove, cut in half
1 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons flour
1 lb old cheddar
1 teaspoon apple-cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Rub the garlic halves in your fondue pot, then discard. Pour the apple cider in your fondue pot and light the burner (medium). Bring to a boil, then mix in the flour and reduce heat.  Melt cheese into it, one handful at a time.  Add spices and vinegar.

Cheese Ball

 I made this cheese ball awhile ago to try out these mini toasts I got at Whole Foods.


The toasts were gross. (I was expecting melbatoast and I got yukatoast)

And to top it off I cut my hand on the food processor.


You know where you're not supposed to put you're hand? Yeah.

 So, I actually do know why I never posted these.

But I'd rather not talk about it.

It's something else to add about what these cheese balls are to me.

 I used to not eat them because of "the funny black spots".

  I remember a 2nd grade Thanksgiving party when I brought it and ate none of it.

Yes, me. Olive lover extraordinaire.

Of course when I was probably 10, I realized they were olives and fell in love.

Classic love story. Girl meets dip. Girl hate dip. Girl makes dip. Girl loves dip.

So here it is: the family cheese ball

(from my mom's side)

I heard "Akinla" by Flea Sowade while driving home from cross country practice.

This orchestra totally doesn't do it justice, but I couldn't find another version.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 4 oz. bleu cheese
• 1/4 t. grated onion
• 1 can pitted ripe black olives (drained and chopped) 
• 1 package sliced almonds 

Directions:

Blend softened butter, cheeses, onion and olives. Shape in a ball and roll in almonds. Refrigerate. (This also freezes well) Serve with crackers (definitely not these toasts though!)

Vegetable Balls

 These were so good. Kind of unexpected as they were supposed to be vegetable meatballs.

Actually, they ended up tasting like zucchini pancakes, if you've ever had those, which are kind of like potato pancakes.

 

Music:

"Hot Air Balloon" by Owl City

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds spinach (I replaced some with zucchini)
• 1 cup panko
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 clove garlic mashed
• pinch of kosher salt
• canola oil

Directions

• Bring a dutch oven full of water to a boil.
• Blanch the spinach for 1 - 2 minutes.
• Drain into a colander.
• Immediately rinse with very cold water to stop the cooking process.
• Using your hands wring the water out of the spinach. Do this by taking about 1/4 cup of spinach into your hands and wring until no water runs from the spinach.
• Chop all of the spinach with a knife. Do not use a food processor or you will have mush.
• Place the spinach, panko, cheese, nutmeg, garlic and salt into a large mixing bowl.
• Beat the eggs in a separate mixing bowl, then add to the spinach mixture.
• Using your hands mix well.
• Form into small spinach balls.
• Add about 1" of canola oil to a large frying pan.
• Heat over medium heat.
• In batches, brown the spinach balls until golden brown; about 2 minutes per side.
• Remove with a slotted spoon or tongs, set aside on a paper towel.
• Continue browning the spinach balls

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

I've loved this song, "Us" by Regina Spektor, for a while. Its just so bouncy! I'd also recommend "Fidelity" by her, though that one is a little repetitive for me.

 (I had it stuck in my head all week).

 

"Us"

 

"Fidelity"

 

I don't like mushrooms or zucchini, but I did like this sandwich. These were not actually grilled. They were broiled. (Sorry, I don't grill when it's 30 degrees outside)

 

Inspired by California Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a zucchini
• 2 portabella mushrooms
• 1/4 medium red onion
• 1/4 cup of sliced cheddar cheese
• 2 lettuce leaves
• Italian salad dressing
• 2 slices of bread

Directions:

1. Soak chopped veggies in oil and set on aluminum foil under the broiler (or directly on the grill)
2. Spread Italian dressing on bread and layer lettuce on top.
3. Place cooked veggies on sandwich
4. Put cheese on top of that.