Tea Biscuits

I love biscuits! I especially love biscuits with butter, buttermilk, cheese and garlic. My mouth is watering as I type. I'm not kidding. You could make these with margarine but really you should skip the one molecule from plastic and go with the real stuff. I like these with or without cheese and garlic. If you want them plain, also skip the final step of pouring the butter over before they're done baking. What you could do instead, is brush the tops with milk before putting them in the oven. The last time I made these, I skipped the cheddar and in the last five minutes, mixed up some melted butter, garlic and Parmesan and poured over the top. I found it a little salty, so you could probably cut back on the salt in the recipe if you wish. One more thing: when I make the cheese biscuit version, I skip the sugar. You won't miss it.

2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder, optional
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup grated cheddar, optional
1 cup cold milk or buttermilk

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp parsley flakes

• Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and garlic powder.
• Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly, or mix in a food processor for a few seconds.
• Add cheese.
• Add milk to make a soft, sticky dough. Sometimes I find the dough is too wet, even though I measure the same way each time, so I have added more flour and no disaster ensued. Try not to over-mix the dough, which could result in tough biscuits.
• Shape into biscuits and arrange in a greased baking dish. You will find the dough too sticky to roll and cut out the biscuits. Never mind, because I find that method a complete waste of time and energy.
• Bake at 375° anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of your biscuits.
• Just before they are finished baking, mix together the butter, garlic powder and parsley and pour over the biscuits. Return biscuits to the oven for about 5 minutes.
• Serve warm!

Southwestern Burritos

Several years ago I spent some time in Texas, where people love to eat! It's true, everything is big in Texas - big oil pumps, big cowboy hats, big belt buckles, big dinner plates and big toilet paper rolls (you think I'm kidding). I never ate so much food in my life. I was introduced to jalapeños, enchiladas, breakfast burritos - and Chili's Southwestern Egg Rolls. I have waited nine years to sink my teeth into one of those gems. Of course, now that I've discovered that Fargo has a Chili's and a real Mexican restaurant, I shall return. Just for the food. I also discovered, compliments of Google, that many people have tried copying Chili's Soutwestern Egg Rolls, so here is my version. I don't know why Chili's called them egg rolls because they use tortillas. This one looks more like a burrito and I don't deep fry them, which is sad because it's really good that way! But when you eat as many as I have in the last month or so, it's a good thing they're not coated in grease. I have a confession to make, I hid the last one yesterday so I could have it for lunch. Sorry honey! I'll make you some more, I promise.

2 large chicken breast fillets, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic

Olive oil 

1 cup red pepper, diced

1 jalapeño, diced

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 bag fresh spinach or 1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained 

1 1/3 cups frozen corn 

1 cup black beans, cooked

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp chilli powder 

Salt  

Cayenne pepper 

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese 

12 flour tortillas

Avocado Ranch Sauce

1 avocado, mashed

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1/2 cup sour cream 

2 tbsp buttermilk 

3 tsp white vinegar 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp dried parsley 

1/2 tsp onion powder 

1/4 tsp dried dill weed 

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Cracked Pepper

1. Grill the chicken on a barbecue or indoor grill. I used the George Foreman grill since it is currently minus a billion outside and I draw the line at barbecuing past -20 C. 

2. Saute the red pepper, jalapeño, green onion and garlic. If you don't like the heat, remove the seeds from the jalapeño. Really, what's the point of using a jalapeño if you're going to throw away the best part? Just use a green pepper and save your hands from being on fire for a few hours.

3. Add spinach, corn, beans and seasonings. Omit the cayenne pepper if you can't take the heat. Continue cooking until the spinach is wilted and the mixture is hot. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. (No one will know if you cut off a chunk of that Monterey Jack and eat it.) The last time I made these, they were for a bridal shower. I doubled the recipe and got stingy with the Monterey so I used half Monterey and half mozzarella (minus the one little chunk of Monterey).

4. Assemble burritos. You may end up with more or less, depending on how much filling you put in each one. At this point you can throw them on the grill if you plan on eating them right away or wrap them individually in foil to refrigerate or freeze for later. If you don't have a grill, you can just bake them in the oven, wrapped or unwrapped, depending on how crunchy you want them.

5. Serve with Avocado Ranch Dipping Sauce. You don't have to, but you should. You can cut these in half and use them as an appetizer or leave them whole and make it a meal.

6. To make the sauce, throw everything in a blender or food processor. If you're using something like Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise (I personally thinking mayo is disgusting unless you disguise it in a recipe), just omit the vinegar.

Apple Pecan Salad

This is my new favourite salad. I will most likely keep eating it until I'm sick of it and then discover a new favourite salad. It's really yummy with avocado slices too. If you want to take it to work, I discovered that if you mix the apple slices with the dressing, they don't turn brown. Take the time to toast the nuts because it really enhances the flavour. I do it in a dry frying pan - and usually forget that I'm toasting them until I see the smoke rising...

Mixed salad greens
Sliced apples
Dried cranberries
Toasted pecans or walnuts
Crumbled feta

Poppyseed dressing

Hot Spinach Dip

Yummy yummy yummy...

3 packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp garlic powder
Cayenne pepper, a little or a lot!
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper (optional)
2 to 4 green onions, finely chopped
1 package frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

• Beat cream cheese with a mixer (before adding sour cream to prevent lumps).
• Add sour cream, garlic powder and cayenne pepper and continue beating until smooth.
• Add Parmesan cheese, red pepper, green onions, spinach and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese.
• Spread into a greased oven-proof dish and sprinkle 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese over top.
• Bake at 350 F (180°C) for 20 to 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly, turning a little brown around the edges.

Notes: 
You can use fresh spinach if you throw the bag in the freezer. Squeeze the frozen spinach before opening the bag and you've just created frozen chopped spinach!

You can freeze this before baking. Just remember if you use plastic wrap underneath aluminum foil, remove it before baking. True story...

Stuffed Mushrooms

8 oz (250g) cream cheese
4 thin slices prosciutto (sub shrimp or bacon or omit for meatless)
1/2 cup green onion or chives, chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1-2 tsp Creole seasoning (no added salt)
48 button mushroom caps
Garlic butter (margarine)

1. Whip cream cheese.
2. Stir in prosciutto, green onion, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Creole seasoning.
3. Stuff mushroom caps.
4. Drizzle garlic butter over the top.
5. Broil until golden brown.