New York Cheesecake Minis ~ Sous Vide

We just adore rich, creamy, dense, luxurious cheesecake.  The problem though, when there's a large cake in the house, everyone keeps trying to "even out" the slices or the cake, eating more and more with no stopping.  Come on, you know you do it too!!  So when we want a treat, the best solution for our waistlines is portion control and making these mini cheesecakes works beautifully.  Also, it allows us to customize the cheesecakes.  For example, in Maisie's cheesecake we use gluten-free Graham cracker crumbs. Eammon gets a regular Graham cracker crumb crust and personally, I prefer no crust at all, so mine is crumb-free.  Easy-peasy to customize when you're making minis!! The sous vide method produces cheesecake perfection... dense, smooth, rich, & creamy deliciousness.

New York Cheesecake Minis ~ Sous Vide

makes 10

10 - 4oz. canning cars with lids and rings

1 1/2 TBS. Ghee or butter

1/2 cup Graham cracker crumbs or gluten free Graham cracker crumbs

1 lb. cream cheese - the block, not whipped or light - room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup sugar or sweetener of your choice

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 TBS. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste

Pre-heat the sous vide to 176F. 

In a pan on medium heat, melt the ghee and add the Graham cracker crumbs.  Stirring regularly, toast the crumbs.  Remove from heat and divide equally between the jars.  Press down on the crumbs to even them out and create the crust.  

Add the cream cheese to the bowl of a mixer.  Using a paddle blade, blend until smooth. Scrape down the bowl as necessary. Add the sour cream, sugar, eggs, egg yolk, and all the vanilla.  Blend until perfectly smooth.  Divide the cream cheese mixture evenly between the jars.  Add the lid and tighten the ring finger-tip tight.  

Once the sous vide has come to temperature, add the jars, making sure that they stay upright.  A few air bubbles may come from the jars, but if the ring are fingertip tight, no worries.  Set the timer for 1.5 hours.  At the end of the time, remove the jars to a cooling rack.  Once you can handle the jars, place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.  The flavor improves after a 24 hour chill so if you can wait that long, we would advise you do.  

Serve cheesecakes right in the glass jars.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Cassava Flour French Crepes

Maisie's crepes filled with Nutella...Yumminess!

Maisie adores crepes, but as she's gluten free, they haven't in the past come always out as delicious or as close to regular crepes as we would have liked.  That was until we started using cassava flour in place of other flours.  Cassava crepes cook up beautifully and taste gorgeous! The only difference when making cassava crepes compared to those made with all-purpose flour is, they need to be cooked a bit longer, because cassava flour can tend to produce a gummier texture.  But, if the crepes are cooked just that little bit longer, they come out perfect with the right amount of elasticity, chew and with no gumminess.  The crepes hold together well and reheat beautifully.  We store them in the refrigerator, folded in quarters, stacked one upon another and wrapped tightly with plastic wrap to keep in the moisture. Reheat time in the microwave is 10-15 seconds.   

Gluten Free Cassava Flour French Crepes

• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 4TBS. melted ghee or butter
• 1 tsp. sugar, (optional to use, or can use any sweetener of your choice)
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• ¾ cup cassava flour
• 2 c. milk (I use whole milk)
• ½ tsp. vanilla bean paste  or vanilla extract (for sweet crepes only)
• ghee or butter for frying

Add the eggs to the jar of a blender and process on medium-high for about one minute.  Add the melted ghee, sugar & salt.  Blend until fully combined,  Add the milk and process on medium-high for one minute.  Stop and add the cassava flour.  Process on high for two minutes then reduce to low for an additional 2 minutes, so that most of the air bubbles are removed.  (This whole process can be done in a bowl with beaters but it doesn't blend quite as well so the batter would need to be strained through a fine sieve to remove any remaining lumps before frying.)

Heat a crepe or fry pan on medium and add enough ghee or butter to lightly coat the pan.  For a 7-inch pan I use 1/8 cup of the batter.  Once pan is heated add the batter and swirl pan to evenly spread the batter.  Allow the crepe to cook until the edges start to brown.  Use an offset spatula to release the edge of the crepe from the pan.  Once the edges start to curl, gently place offset spatual under the crepe and flip the crepe over.  Cook the second side for 15-20 seconds, until lightly browned.  To remove crepe from pan, Turn pan over and bang onto a foil lined baking sheet.  

Immediately add new batter to the pan and repeat the process.  If the batter does not spread well and sputters, your pan is too hot.  Also, because there is so much ghee/butter in the batter, I never find it necessary to re-grease my pan after the inital time.  Because the pan in the beginning will be "over greased," the first one or two crepes don't spread and come out well, but enjoy them as they are for the cook and though not perfect, definitely delicious.   

Enjoy!

Chocolate Rum Balls

Oh my gosh, we cannot believe that it’s October already, September seemed to pass in an instant!  Guess that getting back into the groove of school and of course coming down with the crud from all those new germs, and being sick for over half the month had something to do with it.  Here we are though, on the mend and Autumn is in the air so back on our game and hopefully back to some delicious cooking…because honestly all that was made last month were pots and pots of Cheaters Chicken Soup!  We did add some variety when we then morphed the Cheaters Chicken Soup into Jalapeno Popper Soup and Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup.  Honestly, soup and scrambled eggs were our diet for the month.  Getting us back into the swing of cooking was two part, a friend asked us to bake some special treats for a party she’s having and it’s Secret Recipe Club time!  Thankfully this month we could accomplish both tasks at the same time as our assigned blog, Danielle’s Mostly Food and Crafts had some wonderful sweet treat recipes to choose from.  Seriously, key lime pie bars, truffle fudge, zeppolle, and brownie biscotti all sounded and looked amazing but in the end we decided on Danielle’s rum balls, because honestly, who can resist a good rum ball?

We stayed pretty true to Danielle’s recipe, really only changing the sugar we rolled the balls in to finish as she used sanding sugar and we used confectioner’s.  How did they turn out?  Well just amazing, we wouldn’t change the recipe a bit!  Check out Danielle’s blog for all her wonderful recipes and crafty fun. 

Chocolate Rum Balls (adapted from here)

• butter for greasing pan
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt 
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of dark rum
• Confectioners sugar, for rolling

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12x17-inch rimmed baking sheet with foil and grease with butter and set aside.  Place the butter & chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and heat at 50%, stopping and stirring each minute, until the butter and chocolate are melted.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the 3 eggs then whisk in the brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir in your chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour.  Pour batter into prepared baking sheet. Spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until top is shiny and a cake tester inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Break up the brownie into small pieces and transfer to the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or the bowl of a food processor. With machine on low speed, pour in the dark rum, and mix until crumbs start to come together to form a ball.  Shape into 1-inch balls, and roll in confectioners sugar to coat. This recipe makes 4 dozen rum balls.  Refrigerate the rum balls uncovered, until cold, about 2 hours. Can be served chilled or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Egg-in-the-Hole 
Baked Teriyaki Chicken Wings 
Baked Jalapeno Popper Dip 
Chipotle Stuffed Mushrooms 
Sriracha Deviled Eggs
Grilled Pizza Sandwich
Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Mascarpone Soup 
Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata
Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce
Asian Pork Chops
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries
Zesty Zucchini Skillet
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Egg-in-the-Hole

Have you ever had a dish which you always enjoyed growing up but over the years it was forgotten?  Well that’s the deal with this easy, past loved recipe from our Secret Recipe Club assigned blog this month. We were perusing Laura’s blog, Mother Would Know, and saw her recipe for Egg-in-the-Hole and all the delicious memories returned.  It was a done deal as to what was going to be made this month, especially as Maisie had never tried Egg-in-the-Hole and no child should be deprived of it’s deliciousness!  Like Laura, we grew up having this made with cheap white bread but Laura suggests using the best bread you can find.  In our case, because of Maisie’s gluten allergy, we went with gluten free bread which worked perfectly and was a huge hit with little Miss. M. 

Laura is an attorney that loves to cook and though she’s never worked in a restaurant and doesn’t have a certificate or degree in cooking she has the best credentials of all.  As she says, “My credentials are the meals that I make, the fun I have in the kitchen, and the fact that even people who aren’t my kids call me when they have cooking quandaries,” sounds perfect to me!  Laura’s site is filled with plenty of great recipes for the home cook or any cook so check it out.

Egg-in-the-Hole (from here)

• 1 egg
• 1 slice of bread, we used A-Maisie-ingly Wonderful Gluten Free Bread but use whichever bread you prefer
• butter
• salt 
• ground pepper

Heat a skillet and add a generous pat of butter.  Using a juice glass or biscuit cutter, cut out a round hole in the center of the slice of bread.  Place the slice of bread and the cut-out hole side by side in the pan and allow to slightly brown.  Turn the hole as necessary until golden and remove to a plate.  Once the first side of the bread slice is slightly golden, flip it over and add your egg to the hole.  It is fine if the egg white is completely contained or spills out over onto the bread, it’s all good!  Cook the egg in the bread until the white is almost completely set and then flip it over to continue cooking to desired consistency.  Remove to plate, add salt & pepper to taste and enjoy along with the toasty cut out bread circle.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Baked Teriyaki Chicken Wings 
Baked Jalapeno Popper Dip 
Chipotle Stuffed Mushrooms 
Sriracha Deviled Eggs
Grilled Pizza Sandwich
Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Mascarpone Soup 
Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata
Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce
Asian Pork Chops
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries
Zesty Zucchini Skillet
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Doro Wat ~ Spicy Ethiopian Chicken Stew

We adore spicy food here in the Cook Lisa Cook house so when we spied this recipe for Doro Wat on Nom Nom Paleo’s site, we just knew it had to be made. 

The original recipe called for a tablespoon of the spice berbere but Michelle said that they used 1½ tablespoons because they’re masochists, so we figured what the heck, if they can do it, we’ll be masochists too, so we went for the larger amount.

The berbere gave the dish a wonderful flavor and it was hot…but not spitting fire hot so it was perfect for us…well not Maisie.

The chicken was absolutely delicious, the flavors were just amazing.  The eggs in the dish were…well…interesting but we felt they just weren’t quite needed.  Maybe if the eggs had been simmered in the sauce, I don’t know.  I know that we’ll make and enjoy this dish again but probably sans eggs. 

Doro Wat ~ Spicy Ethiopian Chicken Stew (adapted from here) 

• 3 pounds chicken drumsticks (about 10 drumsticks), skin on or off
• Kosher salt
• ¼ cup ghee
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated (about 1 TBS.)
• 1 1/2 TBS. berbere seasoning (more or less to taste)
• 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom 
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper   
• 2 cups chicken stock  
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered into wedges
• Juice from 1 lime (optional)

Thoroughly season the drumsticks with salt, and set aside. Heat the ghee in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sliced onions, and let them cook undisturbed for 1 to 2 minutes. Season liberally with salt, and gently turn over the pile of onions every 3 to 4 minutes to ensure even cooking. Once the onions have softened and significantly reduced in volume, about 15 minutes, turn the heat to medium-low.  Continue cooking, turning over the onion pile every 10 minutes or so, for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and nicely caramelized, tender and sweet.

Stir the garlic and ginger into the caramelized onions, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the berbere, cardamom, and black pepper. Next, pour in the chicken stock and stir to mix well. Nestle the drumsticks into the liquid, and bring the contents of the pot to a low simmer. Cover and cook, turning the drumsticks occasionally, about 45 minutes or until the meat is tender and cooked through.

Once the chicken’s done, remove the lid of the Dutch oven and turn the heat up to medium-high.  Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced by approximately one-third.  Add lime juice, do it now. The citrusy zing adds a nice, zesty brightness to this long-simmered dish. Transfer the chicken drumsticks to a serving platter, garnish with the egg wedges, and ladle the spicy sauce on top.

Enjoy!

Curried Deviled Eggs

We’ve been on a bit of a deviled eggs kick here in the Cook Lisa Cook house as the eggs are a super simple delicious, ready to grab bite, for a meal or a snack.  They’re also a nice treat along with our Chipotle Stuffed Mushrooms to enjoy with a drink on these hot summer afternoons when we’re kicking back and relaxing on our dock doing nothing but looking out at the water and listening to nature.  We’ve continued to enjoy the Sriracha Deviled Eggs but this week decided to change things up a bit and made some awesome Curried Deviled Eggs.  Again, super simple to make and ready to eat at a moment’s notice. 

Curried Deviled Eggs

• 12 eggs
• 4 TBS. mayonnaise
• 2 tsp. hot Jamaican curry powder, plus extra for dusting at finish
• 2 TBS. mango chutney, minced finely if chunky
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• Himalayan salt to taste

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Carefully add the eggs to the pot and bring the water back to a full boil.  Allow the eggs to boil for 30 seconds. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low so that it’s just at a simmer.  Cook for 11 minutes. Using a large slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the hot water and place in a bowl of ice water.  Allow the eggs to cool for at least 15 minutes before peeling under cool running water.

Once the eggs are peeled, slice in half and remove the yolks to a bowl and place the hollowed out whites on a platter.  Using the tines of a fork, mash the yolks.  Add in the mayonnaise, curry powder, mango chutney and pepper.  Combine until smooth and add salt to taste.  Place the yolk mixture in a piping bag or Ziploc bag fitted with a star or round piping tip.  Fill each egg white with the yolk mixture.  Dust with curry powder.  Serve cold.

Enjoy!

Sriracha Deviled Eggs

We can hardly believe that it’s May already and Maisie’s summer break begins in just 2 weeks!!  One of our favorite appetizer items which always seems to show up at summer parties, are deviled eggs.  We have made them on a few occasions but honestly, they were never any good.  For some reason other people’s eggs always taste wonderful and ours have been just bland and nothing special.  Well all that has now changed since we found Sid’s recipe for Sriracha deviled eggs aka Tates Hell on her blog, Sid's Sea Palm Cooking.  This month for Secret Recipe Club we were assigned Sid’s blog and let me tell you, she is one lady that loves to cook and entertain.  She host’s monthly Tapas nights, cooks for her boat club and prepares numerous senior lunches, all in addition to just general cooking. 

When we first perused her blog we really were drawn to a number of her Danish dishes, including her Frikadeller with ground turkey, Kro pork with grapes and Rødgrød med Fløde.  Then there were a few recipes, also Danish, which we’ve set aside to make for the holidays when we allow some special treats into our diet.  Check out these tasty treats which we’ve tucked away, kringle weinerbrod, mazarin tarts and adorable marzipan fruits.  In the end though it was the deviled eggs which called our name and we’re delighted that they did as this recipe is kick-a$$ fabu!  We really love not only the wonderful flavor of the eggs but the nice hot spiciness too.  No more will we be limited to enjoying deviled eggs only when others chose to make and share them, now we can enjoy delicious Sriracha Deviled Eggs anytime we desire.

We buy local free-range eggs, which are often just gathered minutes before we purchase them, aren’t the colors just gorgeous!  Unfortunately super fresh eggs aren’t good to hard boil as they’re near impossible to peel, no matter what trick or techniques you employ.  So, since we make hard boiled eggs every-single-week, we always try to have an extra dozen or two on hand as working with week-old eggs makes for wonderful and easy peeling. 

 Sriracha Deviled Eggs (adapted from here)

• 18 eggs
• 3 TBS. Sriracha Sauce
• 5 TBS. mayonnaise  
• 1 tsp. Sambal Oelek, or more to taste
• fresh ground pepper
• Himalayan salt 

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Carefully add the eggs to the pot and bring the water back to a full boil.  Allow the eggs to boil for 30 seconds. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low so that it’s just at a simmer.  Cook for 11 minutes. Using a large slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the hot water and place in a bowl of ice water.  Allow the eggs to cool for at least 15 minutes before peeling under cool running water.

Once the eggs are peeled, slice in half and remove the yolks to a bowl and place the hollowed out whites on a platter.  Using the tines of a fork, mash the yolks.  Add in the Sriracha, mayonnaise and Sambal Oelek.  Combine until smooth, adding more Sriracha and Sambal Oelek to taste.  Place the yolk mixture in a piping bag or ziplock bag fitted with a star or round piping tip.  Fill each egg white with the yolk mixture.  Place a dot of Sriracha on the top of each egg and dust with freshly ground pepper and salt.  Serve cold.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Grilled Pizza Sandwich 
Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Mascarpone Soup 
Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata 
Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce 
Asian Pork Chops 
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata

It’s difficult to believe that our previous time participating in The Secret Recipe Club was way back in November!!  In some ways it feels like a long time ago, but with the holidays and all that they entail, the time passed quickly.  It’s really good to be back and participating again.  This month we were assigned Mellissa’s blog, A Fit & Spicy Life.  Mellissa is a healthy, wine-loving, dog-loving, recipe-loving gal and reading her blog allows a glimpse into her fun-loving life.

It was a cold, gray, rainy night the evening we perused Mellissa’s blog and the idea of something warm, comforting & easy was what made us stop and drool when we spotted her Bacon & Vegetable Frittata.  Seriously, there’s nothing easier, more comforting or delicious than a hearty breakfast for dinner so that’s exactly when and what we enjoyed, using Mellissa’s Bacon & Vegetable Frittata as the inspiration and guide for our meal.  Mellissa mentioned in her post, that a frittata “can be the best dish to use up all those veggies that are about to go bad” so we raided our veggie drawer and used what we had.  Also, to make it a bit heartier and because we had it already defrosted and it needed to be used, we added ground turkey to the mix.  In the end, with the inspiration of Mellissa’s recipe as our guide, we enjoyed a perfectly hearty breakfast for dinner frittata…and it reheated beautifully for meals later in the week.  Check out Mellissa’s Bacon & Vegetable Frittata and all her other recipes on A Fit & Spicy Life.

Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata (adapted from here)

• 8 Eggs
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper 
• 6 slices bacon, divided
• 2 cups fresh chopped (chunky) broccoli
• 1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup oven roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese

Heat oven to 325F.  In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy whipping cream, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. salt & 1/2 tsp. pepper, and set aside.  In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crispy.  Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside.  Pour off all but 2 TBS. of the bacon fat and return the pan to the heat.  Add the broccoli and cook until tender and golden in spots.  Remove the broccoli from the pan and set aside.  Add the ground turkey & minced garlic to the pan and season with salt & pepper.  Cook the turkey until no longer pink, breaking it up as it cooks.  Add the roasted tomatoes just as the turkey finishes cooking.  Remove the pan from the heat and add back in the cooked broccoli.  Dice three of the bacon strips and add those to the pan along with the grated cheese, stir to combine.  Pour the contents of the pan into a 10-inch silicon cake pan which has been placed on a baking sheet, or if your pan is oven-proof, just keep the ingredients in the pan and continue.  Pour the egg mixture over the turkey/broccoli mix and top with the remaining three strips of bacon (each cut in half.)  Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbly delicious.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce 
Asian Pork Chops 
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Egg Drop Soup

Okay a little whinge here, we live in Georgia and waking to temperatures in the single digits and feeling like negative numbers should not happen!!  Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened this morning and we’ll be lucky to get up to 30F.  Not our favorite kind of weather!  So, with it being crazy cold outside we needed to warm our insides and for that, nothing is better than a steaming bowl of soup.  Today we decided it would be Egg Drop Soup, not only because it’s simple & quick to make and we had all the ingredients in the house, but also because Maisie has been cleared to have eggs as we test her tolerance and vasomotor rhinitis response.  This soup took minutes to make and got big thumbs up and smiles from Maisie and all of us.

Egg Drop Soup

• 4 cups Cheaters Chicken Soup or broth
• 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 TBS. sesame oil
• 1 TBS. fish sauce
• 2 TBS. coconut aminos 
• 1 TBS. arrowroot powder (can use corn starch, tapioca/cassava/yucca starch)
• 2 eggs
• 2 TBS. water
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions
• salt to taste

In a heavy pot, bring the soup, ginger, pepper, garlic, sesame oil & fish sauce to a boil.  While that is coming to a boil, in a small bowl, mix the coconut aminos and arrowroot powder to form a smooth slurry.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and 2 TBS. water together.  Once the soup begins to boil, stir briskly while slowly adding the arrowroot slurry.  Allow to boil for 30-60 seconds and then lower the temperature.  Still stirring the soup continuously, drizzle in the eggs allowing the strands of egg to cook.  Add the green onions and then season to taste with salt.

Enjoy!

Chile Relleno Casserole

We adore Chile Rellenos but they are an absolute pain in the bottom to stuff and fry,  so we enjoy them as a once in a while treat when we happen to go to a Mexican restaurant…which trust me, isn’t all that often. 

This though is an easy casserole and it has all the wonderful flavor of the real thing, without all the work and also without any of the gluten that is used for the typical fry coating.  There are many recipes for similar casseroles on the internet, but this version, of no recipe in particular, is our favorite.  It’s not overly spicy hot, just tingly so.  The balance of flavors is spot on and the casserole reheats perfectly, who could ask for more?  Make and enjoy!

Chile Relleno Casserole

• 4 large fresh poblanos
• 1 TBS. olive oil 
• 1/4 medium onion, diced
• 1 lb.  ground beef (or ground turkey or chicken)
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Himalayan salt
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375F.  Char the skin of the peppers, either on an outdoor grill, over the burner of a gas stove or under the broiler.  Once the skin is charred on all sides, put the peppers in a bag to allow them to sweat.  While the peppers are sweating, heat the olive oil in a skillet and sauté the onions until golden.  Add the beef to the onions and brown until fully cooked. Once the peppers have cooled enough to be handled, remove the stem and seeds and the skin.  Grease an 8x10-inch pan with olive oil and arrange three of the peppers to cover the bottom of the pan.  Cover the peppers with the beef & onion mix.  Spread the cheese on top of the beef.  Lice the remaining poblano into strips and arrange over the cheese.  In a bowl, whisk together the heavy whipping cream, eggs, cumin, salt & pepper.  Pour the cream mixture over the cheese.  Bake for 35-40 minutes uncovered, until golden and bubbly.  Serve hot, room temperature or cold, all ways are delicious.  Top with sour cream if desired.  To reheat, place desired portion on a plate and heat in microwave.

Enjoy!!