Thirsty Thursday: Sherbet Punch

I think at one point, everyone has had a sherbet punch.

Or at least anyone from the Midwest.

Or anyone who went to bridal or baby showers in the 80's/90's that were located in a church hall or basement.

Or maybe it's just me...

Keeping this in mind, I did an old fashioned Google search.  Somewhere online, I found a recipe that included the following ingredients:

4 liters of ginger ale
1 qt. lime sherbet
1 lemonade concentrate
1 lime concentrate

There was more to it, but these were the ingredients I had on my shopping list.  I honestly don't remember the rest, and I forgot to pin it to my boards, but it's sherbet punch.  How hard could it be?

 So, I started by serving up the sherbet into the pitchers I was planning on using.  Then I threw them back into the freezer to stay fairly firm.

Then I just threw the two concentrates (thawed) and all of the ginger ale in a large bowl (pot).  When it came time to serve it, I just poured the liquid over the sherbet.

Simple as punch, and for those wanting an alcoholic based punch, I served the old standby, my Sarasota Lemonade with Moscato.

This punch would also be great with a rum.  Parrot Bay, perhaps?

Fruit Fluff

I was making small fruit salad kabobs the other day at work, and discovered a hole in my platter.  I didn't have any garnish on hand, and I didn't want to find another platter that was more size appropriate for the amount of fruit I had.

So I turned to my go to girl, the Brown Eyed Baker, for an easy fruit dip recipe.  Turns out that was the right choice.

This is all you need:

1 Jar of Marshmallow Fluff (7oz)
1 Brick of Cream Cheese (8oz)

Blend and serve.  It's not too sweet or savory, but it's the perfect complement to your fruit.

You're welcome.  ;)

Monterrey Chicken

 Thomas has been in San Jose for over a month.  That kind of means that I don't cook too much.  It's not that I eat out more, necessarily, but my meals are more like grilled cheese sandwiches and simple pastas that aren't too worth blogging about.

However, I was in the mood to make something the other day.  Anything.

Luckily, there's always chicken in the house.  However, I never label it when I freeze it, so sometimes it's a surprise.

 Maybe not a big surprise, since I always get boneless and skinless, but it's more of a surprise about if it's thighs or breasts, since my freezer and zip lock bags never really let me know what I'm grabbing in the bleary eyed morning to defrost.  I always say I'll remember and don't need to grab that Sharpie.

Right.

 Regardless, I found a recipe for "Monterrey" Chicken, and it sounded great.  I found it at All Things Simple, which sounded right up my alley.

I quickly cooked the chicken on the stove top, although I was tempted to create it in the oven with the Rotel, much like my Salsa Verde Chicken.

My measurements weren't as precise as the original recipe, but it was straight forward.

 I cut my two large chicken breasts in half, then smeared BBQ sauce on top of each.  Then, I drained the Rotel (original recipe) and topped the BBQ chicken with the tomatoes and chiles.

From there, it was bacon pieces (from a bag, unfortunately), and then I sprinkled Mexican blend Colby Jack cheese shreds on top.

I also hate cleaning, so you'll note I lined my Pyrex with foil.

I popped the chicken in the oven at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese was nice and melted, but not so long that it dried out my chicken.

This dish also made me remember why I love Rotel...  It not only adds flavor, but the heat keeps my portion sizes smaller.  

For my sides, I made quickly sauteed some peppers in a light touch of olive oil, with salt and pepper to taste.

I placed it all on a bed of quinoa.  Usually, I would make the quinoa in tomato bouillon base with the water, but I couldn't find that, or any chicken broth in the house to flavor it up.  Luckily the peppers and Monterrey chicken did their parts to add lots of flavor to the dish.

I made four portions out of my meal, and this was one of my leftovers the next day.  Still yummy!

Flourless Chocolate Cherry Cupcake

More gluten free?  Don't mind if I do!

This time, there are no substitutions required.

The recipe is here, please enjoy.

I know I don't have much to say, but if you read the recipe, it's really spot on!

I also loved using maraschino cherries in this recipe.  Many people thought that I had used brandy, but it was just a simple cherry half baked inside.

I think I need to make more flourless chocolate cakes.  They're always so good.

The frosting also evened out the flavor.  If you're not a semi-sweet chocolate person, this is the part that will help round out the cupcake for you.  It goes from being decadent, to purely melt in your mouth joy.

Top with some cocoa powder, just make sure you realize how quickly it comes out before you douse your cakes!

Mini Crab Cakes with Cilantro Lime Aioli

Some people might be amazed by this, but those who know me might not be too surprised.  However, today, I'll let you in on a little secret (or two)...

I often make food that I would never eat.  I also don't take a lot of samples of my food as I'm cooking it.  Sometimes I'll serve something without even having tried it, with the hopes that it will all turn out all right.  Usually it does.  Sometimes I'm not so lucky.  98% of the time, however, most people have no idea that I really have no idea.

Why the secret sharing?  Maybe it's because yesterday was my birthday and I'm feeling older and wiser.

Maybe it's because I'm not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination and I just like to follow recipes.  Maybe it's just because I made crab cakes and I hate ALL SEAFOOD.  Sure, I'll eat it, but there is nothing that I have discovered that comes from the ocean that I want to have to eat on a regular basis.  Or at all.

However, when I found this recipe for crab cakes, I was immediately drawn to it.  I could prepare it the day before and cook it day of.  It came with a great aioli.  It was gluten free. And, I had never attempted any sort of seafood dish.  This recipe had all the great wonders of a world I wanted to dip my toes into.

We mixed up the "crab" dip and put it in the muffin tins the day before.  Then I cling wrapped them and placed them in the fridge.

The next day, we baked them until golden brown.  (350, for 30 minutes)

Then I tried to pop them out of the pan.  MAY DAY!  We're going down fast!  The bottom 1/4 to 1/3 of each stayed in the pan.  And it was soft, barely baked.

I did the only thing I could think of (other than panic): I placed them bottoms up on a baking sheet, smooshed the bottoms back on, and finished baking them until firm, but not dried out.  About another 5 minutes under close supervision.  They turned out soft, but amazing, and everyone loved them.

I even tried one.  They really were good, and no one could tell that I had messed them up.  I'll try them again in the future, but I'll have to come up with a better game plan for making sure they're all baked (like the ones on the back of the plate), and more likely to come out in one piece!

Blackberry Goat Cheese Tart

 Here's another quick, yet tasty appetizer that doesn't take long, but looks and tastes amazing when you serve it.

Blackberry Goat Cheese Tarts.

I found the original recipe here, however I didn't want to work so hard as to make my own tart and everything.

Also, I wanted only "mini" appetizers, so I bought the pre-made mini phyllo shells to use as the tart base.

Goat Cheese Filling 

5 ounces goat cheese, softened
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey

In a small bowl, stir together the goat cheese, sour cream, egg, and honey until absolutely smooth. Pour mixture into large tart shell or divide evenly between individual tart shells. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden. Allow tarts to cool completely.

Topping
12 ounces fresh blackberries
2-3 tablespoons honey, warmed
Fresh basil leaves, shredded

Once tarts are cooled, top with blackberries and drizzle with warm honey. Garnish with shredded basil leaves, if desired. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

So quick and simple, there's really no reason not to try them.  As an added bonus, the sour cream helps alleviate the "goat" flavor that some don't like. 

Cucumber Cups

 I can't believe I haven't tried these before.  So painfully simple, and yet they are elegant in their own way.

Cucumber cups start with some great cucumbers.  I worked with English "burpless" cucumbers since I could get them at Costco in bulk, for cheap.

Then, I chose not to peel the entire cucumber, since that would make them too slippery.  I left little grips around the edges.

I then cut each cucumber into 12 pieces.  Some could have been smaller, but I was more interested in the number 12. Ideally, you should aim for a size that could easily fit in your whole mouth at once, but I just wanted a number I could tabulate quickly.

Whatever, we already know how odd I am.

No apologies.

Next, use that handy dandy melon baller and scoop out the middle of the cucumber, creating the cup.  I used the smaller end of my baller, but you can use whatever size you think makes the best scoop.

For fillings, I found several different recipes.  Spinach dip, crab dip, cheese dip, etc., etc.  A quick Google search will give you a ton of ideas.  However, I was making enough other appetizers that I didn't want to overlap any of my other flavors presented.

So, as I was perusing the aisles of the Costco, I discovered some Mango Pico de Gallo, and some Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.  I picked up a tub of each.

The mango pico was great to just scoop in by the teaspoonful.  However, for the hummus, I piped it through a broad frosting tip to give it a little swirl.

 I think the hummus was my favorite.  Not because I eat it, but because it was fun to pipe on.

To top it off, I was going to sprinkle some paprika for color, but I didn't have any.  Instead, I used some Chipotle red pepper sprinkled over it instead. Same color, still spicy, but not so much to be over powering.

(And no, Mom, I didn't serve it on a red paper plate.  This was just my plate to refill from.)