BBQ Shrimp Pizza

I mentioned last week that we made two different kinds of pizza in the same night.  I told you about the more traditional one last week (chicken and mushrooms).  The other one that we put together was a little more daring but it turned out really well.  Joe tried to get me to think it tasted horrible just so he could eat it all himself.  He was very excited when the leftovers were still there for him to each for lunch over the weekend.

Originally I had wanted to make a pizza with shrimp and pesto but I was lazy and I didn't want to make my own pesto and the grocery store was out of the pre-made kind that I like to use.  I already had the other ingredients for the pizza so we decided to us BBQ sauce in place of of the pesto and were pleasantly surprised.  I still want to try the pesto version but I will make this one again too!

BBQ Shrimp Pizza
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients
1/2 lb. small cooked shrimp
3/4 cup canned artichoke hearts (in water), drained and patted dry
1 tbsp. olive oil
5 oz. cremini mushrooms
1 ball (15 -16 oz.) whole wheat pizza dough
2 cups colby jack cheese
1/3 cup BBQ sauce

Directions
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat.  Add the mushroom to the pan and saute 3-4 minutes until cooked.  Drain mushrooms and set aside.


Put a small amount of flour on your hands and begin working the dough into a circular shape, about 12" in diameter, working from the middle out, pulling the dough evenly.  If the dough starts to get sticky, add a little more flour to your hands.  Place dough circle on a pizza stone.  Place BBQ sauce on pizza dough spreading it out with the back of a ladle, leaving a half inch sauce free around the edges.  Spread the cheese over the sauce.  Sprinkle shrimp, artichoke hearts and mushrooms on top of cheese.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crust is a nice golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling.  Let stand for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

My friend Danielle's birthday was on Friday so I had to bring something into the office to celebrate.  She let me choose so after lots of searching I decided on these black bottom cupcakes.  A mixture of rich chocolate cake and cheesecake with chocolate chips?  What could be better?  Of course, when I went home and told Joe what I was making, he gave me the look and asked if there would be any for him to take to work too.  Since the recipe only makes 12 cupcakes, of course I then had to double it.  They went over very well in both offices and were really easy to make.

Black Bottom Cupcakes
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 oz. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons naturally processed cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Make the filling:  Beat together the cream cheese, granulates sugar and egg until smooth.  Stir in the mini chocolate chips.  Set aside.

Make the Cupcakes:
Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring just until smooth.  Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less than tender cupcakes.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups.  Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling equally.  This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed.  Let cool completely before serving.  Store in refrigerator.

Chicken and Mushroom Pizza

Here I go, switching from healthy low fat and calorie mode to...pizza mode.  Even though we are in the middle of a heat wave here in New Jersey with temperatures in the triple digits I had to turn the oven on last night to make treats to bring to work for my friend Danielle's birthday (recipe to come next week) so I figured while it was on for that, I might has well use it to make dinner.  So we decided to make pizza.  We actually made two kinds last night and I will tell you about the other one we made next week, it was a little more adventurous than this one.  I had some homemade tomato sauce in the refrigerator so we decided to make a traditional mushroom pie but add chicken to it for some protein (and black olives on half of it for Joe, yuck!).  They both turned out really good and I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch this weekend.

I have a Pampered Chef pizza stone and if you are going to be making pizza at home I highly recommend it.  I may even have to order a second one because I really noticed the difference in the crusts on the two pizzas last night.  The texture of the one I cooked on the pizza stone was much better than the one I cooked in a metal pizza pan.  I bought it years ago and it only gets better with age!

Chicken and Mushroom Pizza
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
1 large boneless chicken breast, cut into strips
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground coriander
1/8 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. dried cilantro
1 tbsp. olive oil
5 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 ball (15 -16 oz.) whole wheat pizza dough
2 cups Cheese (I used 4 cheese pizza blend which has mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan and romano)
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic, coriander, oregano and cilantro.  Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook, 2-3 minutes on each side until brown and cooked through.  Transfer to a plate and let cool slightly.  Then shred with your fingers or a fork.  Add the mushroom to the pan and saute 3-4 minutes until cooked.  Drain mushrooms and set aside.

Put a small amount of flour on your hands and begin working the dough into a circular shape, about 12" in diameter, working from the middle out, pulling the dough evenly.  If the dough starts to get sticky, add a little more flour to your hands.  Place dough circle on a pizza stone.  Place tomato sauce on pizza dough spreading it out with the back of a ladle, leaving a half inch sauce free around the edges.  Spread the cheese over the sauce.  Sprinkle chicken, mushrooms and olives (if using) on top of cheese.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crust is a nice golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling.  Let stand for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I am trying to cook healthier at home and am always on the lookout for ways to reduce the fat and calories in dishes that I love to eat.  Stuffed chicken is one of those things that I love to make but I knew wasn't too good for us.  I came across this recipe from Gina at Skinnytaste and knew I had to try it.  And I had just about all of the ingredients that I would need at home.  They came out great and browned really well in the oven.  You still get the crispy texture you would get by pan frying them without the calories and fat in the oil.  Best of both worlds.

While this recipe uses broccoli and Swiss cheese you could really stuff them with anything.  Once you get the technique down, the sky is the limit as far as fillings go.  I served this with seasoned baked yukon gold potatoes which I roasted in the same pan that I cooked the chicken in with just non-stick cooking spray.  I put the potatoes in the oven first while I was making the stuffed chicken breasts to give them a head start in cooking and then added the chicken breasts and cooked for 25 minutes more.  Add a bag of steamed veggies and we were all set!

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Slightly adapted from Skinnytaste

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breast halves
1 large egg
1 tbsp. milk
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (Gina uses whole wheat and I would have definitely used them too but I ran out and had regular at home)
1 cup broccoli florets, cooked, chopped small (I steamed them in the microwave)
3 slices Swiss cheese
Non-stick spray
Toothpicks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a small bowl, combine egg and milk.  Beat with a fork to make an egg wash.  Set aside.  Spread breadcrumbs on a plate.

Slice chicken breast halves into thin cutlets.  I got 3 cutlets out of one chicken breast and 2 out of the other.  Pound slightly to make sure they are an even thinness.

Cut each slice of cheese in half.  Please a 1/2 slice of cheese in the center of each chicken breast and top with a few pieces of broccoli.  Wrap chicken around to completely cover cheese, using toothpicks to secure.

Dip chicken into egg wash, then breadcrumbs.  Spray baking dish with non-stick spray and place chicken in baking dish.  Lightly spray chicken with oil and bake about 25 minutes, until cooked.  Serve immediately.

S'Mores Bars

Both of my brothers were addicted to Teddy Grahams when they were younger.  Do you remember those little teddy bear shaped graham crackers?  They loved them, it was the go to snack.  David has been asking me for awhile now to make a dessert using Teddy Grahams.  When I saw this bar recipe over on my friend Elisha's blog Delish, I knew it would be the perfect recipe to use the Teddy Grahams and make David happy.  I made them for the family reunion on Saturday and they were great!  Oooey, gooey and delicious.  I am glad that I stole a little piece at home to try them because by the time I got to the dessert table at the party they were completely gone!  Not even a crumb left.  The only thing I changed from Elisha's recipe was using honey Teddy Grahams instead of regular graham crackers.

S'Mores Bars
Slightly Adapted from Delish

Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups finely crushed (food processor or rolling pin will work) honey Teddy Grahams
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease or spray a 13x9 inch baking pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix together the finely crushed Teddy Grahams, flour and salt.  Gradually add the Teddy Graham mixture into the butter and sugar and mix until it is the consistency of wet sand.

Press about half of the dough over the bottom of the 13x9 inch pan, using your fingers or a measuring cup to form an even layer in the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle 1 cup of the chocolate chips and 3 cups of the marshmallows on top of the layer.  Crumble the remaining dough onto the top of the chip and marshmallow layer.  Spread the last cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup marshmallows on top and bake for 25-30 minutes.  The crumble topping and marshmallows will be a nice golden brown.

Let cool 1-2 hours on a wire rack, cut into bars and serve.

Raspberry Streusel Bars

This past Saturday we have a family reunion barbecue with my Dad's extended family and had a great time.  We had the main food catered by one of our family's go to catering places but every person was asked to bring a dessert.  I decided to bring 2 and to continue with my bar cookie type desserts.  They are nice and portable and perfect, I thought, for a barbecue.  They were both a hit.  One kind was completely gone and I only brought home about a half dozen of the other kind which were quickly finished at my house.

When I saw this recipe awhile back, I knew that I was going to have to make these because I love raspberries.  Raw, in jam, in ice cream anyway you make them, I think raspberries might just be my favorite fruit.  Too bad they are so expensive!  This recipe was very easy to make and cut into bars for serving.  I got 24 decent sized bars out of the recipe.  I wound up adding a little more preserves at the end to get the raspberry layer to cover the whole base but other than that I stuck to the recipe.

Raspberry Streusel Bars
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and at cool room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup pecans, chopped fine
3/4 cup raspberry preserves
3/4 cup fresh raspberries
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil so it hangs over the edges.  Spray the foil lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix the flour, granulated sugar and salt at low speed to combine, about 5 seconds.  With the machine on low, add 1 cup of the butter, 1 piece at a time, then continue mixing on low until the mixture resembles damp sand, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Measure 1 1/4 cups flour mixture into a medium bowl and set aside; distribute the remaining flour mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared baking pan.  Using your fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup, firmly press the mixture into an even layer to form the bottom crust.  Bake until the edges begin to brown, 14 to 18 minutes.

While the crust is baking, add brown sugar, oats and nuts to the reserved flour mixture; toss to combine.  Work int he remaining 2 tbsp. of butter by rubbing the mixture between your fingers until the butter is fully incorporated.  Pinch the mixture with fingers to create hazelnut-sized clumps; set streusel aside.

Combine preserves, raspberries and lemon juice in a small bowl; mash with a fork until combined with some berry pieces remain.

Spread the filling evenly over the hot crust; sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the filling (do not press streusel into filling).  Return the pan to the oven and bake until the topping is a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 22 to 25 minutes.  Cool to room temperature on a wire rack, 1 to 2 hours; remove from the baking dish by lifting the foil extensions.  Cut into squares and serve.  The bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Strawberry Ice Cream

TGIF!  To kick off the weekend a little early I decided to whip up some strawberry ice cream last night.  This is my first time making a non custard based ice cream and I think it turned out really well.  It was much less time consuming than the custard based one and just as creamy.  I couldn't find one single recipe that correlated to the ingredient I had at home and the type of strawberry ice cream that I wanted so I took at shot in the dark and came up with my own.  The only thing I will do differently next time is blend the mixture a little less once the strawberries are added.  I was hoping for some small strawberry chunks but this wound up being pureed very smooth.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.  I have a big family reunion bbq to go to on Saturday so lots of baking and cooking going on for that.  Stay tuned next week for all the recipes!  By the way, aren't these little ice cream bowls so cute?  Thanks John and Elaine!

Strawberry Ice Cream
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
10-12 whole strawberries, frozen or fresh is fine, hulled and sliced in half
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup half and half
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Place strawberries, lemon juice and 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl.  Let sit for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Place half and half, 2/3 cup sugar and any juice from the strawberries in blender.  Blend until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the strawberries and pulse a few times until strawberries are broken up into small pieces.  Pour mixture into a large bowl.  Add heavy cream and vanilla extract.  Stir to combine.

Transfer mix to your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.  Serve immediately or place in a freezer safe container until ready to serve.

Chicken Marsala Pasta

 It was finally a little bit cooler last night and it looked like it was going to rain so cooking dinner was a solely indoor affair.  I knew I had chicken breasts taken out but what to do with them?  I was on my friend Melissa's blog I Was Born to Cook looking at her awesome lobster when I remembered that she had a recipe for chicken marsala and pasta that I had wanted to try.  And I agree with Melissa, if you want to try this recipe, go to the liquor store and get a bottle of Marsala wine, don't use what they sell in the grocery store.

The recipe was fast and easy to follow.  I made just a few very minor changes and I think it turned out wonderful.  So good that I had some and then when Joe got home from work he finished the rest of it.  Too bad, since I was really looking forward to taking the leftovers for lunch today!

Chicken Marsala Pasta
Slightly adapted from I Was Born to Cook

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" chunks
1/4 cup flour
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, large dice
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 cup Marsala wine

1 teaspoon oregano
1 lb pasta
1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
Grated Parmesan Cheese for topping

Directions:
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add butter and oil.  At the same time, place water in a pot to boil for pasta and cook according to package directions.

Season flour with salt and pepper.  Toss chicken into flour, shake off excess and add to skillet once butter has melted.  Saute until chicken is brown on one side.  At this point add onion and continue to saute until chicken is brown on all sides.  Add mushrooms, chicken broth, Marsala and oregano.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low.  Cook for approximately 10-12 minutes, or until sauce thickens slightly.  If needed, add another tbsp. of butter to sauce to thicken texture at the end.  Season with salt and pepper if necessary to taste.  Remove from heat and toss with pasta.  Stir in parsley, reserving some for garnish.  Top with reserved parsley and Parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Run, do not walk, run to the store, get the ingredients and make this salsa.  If you like pineapple at all, this is a must try.  It has been quite hot the last few days here in New Jersey and last night I did not want to have to turn on the stove or the oven to make dinner.  If I had to cook, it was going to be all outside on the grill.  I decided to make grilled chicken tacos with corn tortillas.  Perfect, I can even heat the tortillas up on the grill, no stove or oven necessary.  I was going to just make my traditional pico de gallo and serve the tacos avocado chunks, cheese and sour cream but then I decided to look for a different salsa to go with the tacos.  Using one of my new favorite tools on the internet, Foodily, I searched for salsa recipes and a recipe for grilled pineapple salsa came up on the first or second page.  I was sold before I even looked at the ingredient list.  See, I love grilled pineapple, it might just be my favorite way to eat pineapple ever.  Add to it grilled, red pepper and jalapeno and onions and a couple other things?  Sounds perfect to me.

I came home from work and immediately got to work on grilling the fruit and vegetables for the salsa.  I put the whole thing together including grilling time in less than 30 minutes.  Very easy to make.  I then let it sit for about an hour or so while Joe was still at work so the flavors could start to meld together.  It was so good.  We still have about half the batch left at home.  I think we will try it on some burgers later this week.

Grilled Pineapple Salsa
From Serious Eats

Ingredients:
1 large pineapple, skinned, cored and cut into 1 inch rounds
1 red bell pepper
1 medium jalapeno
1 small red onion, finely diced (I didn't have red and believe it or not neither did the grocery store last night so I used a spanish onion)
1/2 cup loosely packed, finely chopped cilantro
2 small limes, juiced (I wound up only using one)
Kosher Salt

Directions:
Place pineapple slices, bell pepper and jalapeno on a grill over medium-high heat.  Cook the pineapple until lightly browned on both sides, about 4 minutes per side.  Remove from the grill, cut into a medium dice and place in a medium sized bowl.

Cook the peppers until completely charred all over.  Remove from the grill to a paper or ziploc bag and seal.  When the peppers are cool enough to handle, about 5 minutes, remove their skins and chop the red pepper medium and the jalapeno finely.  Add to the bowl with the pineapple.

Add the onion, cilantro and lime juice to the the bowl and toss until well combined.  Season with salt to taste and serve.

Sugar Cookie Bars

We are trying to eat a little more healthy at home so I haven't really made anything sweet for the past couple of weeks.  I had the urge to make something sweet this weekend and I have been on a brownie/blondie/bar cookie kick lately so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it.  I love sugar cookies.  Love them.  I particularly love them when they are still a little soft and chewy so making sugar cookie dough into a bar cookie was perfect for me.  I really liked the taste and texture of the cookie.  The icing was a little too sweet for me.  Next time I might top them with my cream cheese icing which I think would go really well with the bright lemon taste of the cookie.

Since this recipe makes about 48 cookie bars both of our offices will have sweet treats to snack on today!

Sugar Cookie Bars
Slightly adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the cookie bars:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3 tsp. vanilla extract
Zest from 1 small lemon
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
5 tbsp. milk
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:
To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 13 x 18" rimmed baking sheet.  Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Blend in the vanilla and lemon zest.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda.  Stir together with a fork to blend.  Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed just until incorporated.

Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet and press into an even layer.  Bake 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Blend in the vanilla, salt and confectioners' sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Mix in the milk.  Tint as desired with the food coloring.  Spread over the cookie in the pan, cut into bars and serve.

Spinach & Tomato Risotto

Joe went to the grocery store earlier this week for a few things and came back with two big bags of spinach.  He said they were having a good sale and he couldn't resist.  No problem, we love spinach.  Now, I get to decide what to make with it.  I thought about pasta and orzo and just a spinach salad but then a light bulb went off in my head.  Risotto!  We haven't had risotto in a very long time and I love spinach and risotto together so it would be perfect.  I needed another vegetable for the risotto and grape tomatoes were also on sale at the store this week so viola, spinach and tomato risotto.  I marinated some thin slice chicken breasts in a fat free Parmesan Italian dressing from Wegmans and threw them on the grill to go with the risotto.  The risotto was so flavorful, I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch today.

Spinach & Tomato Risotto
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
3 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth or stock
1 (10 oz.) bag fresh spinach
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
3 oz. parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp. butter
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:
In a saucepan, bring chicken broth to a simmer.

Meanwhile, in a large high sided pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onions and cook 2-3 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes until onions and garlic are soft.  Add rice and cook for 1 minute until rice is coated with oil.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Add 1 cup of broth to the rice mixture and stir until most of the broth has been absorbed.  Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time,waiting for it to be absorbed before more, stirring until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).

Add the tomatoes, spinach, cheese, butter and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir until all ingredients are incorporated and the spinach has wilted down and cook.  Remove from heat and serve warm.

Black Bean Burgers

For Joe's birthday barbecue last month we tried our hand at making veggie burgers for the first time.  They were pretty good but nothing to really write home about.  It really got me interested in trying to make a different variations of veggie burgers since I love hamburgers so much but beef burgers are so high in calories that I shouldn't eat them as often as I would like to.  I saw a recipe for black bean burgers on Annie's Eats and I was immediately interested.  I love black beans and they sounded so good.  I made them last night with a few small changes and Joe and I both loved them.  I will definitely be keeping a stock of these in the freezer at all times.  We topped ours last night with swiss cheese and sauteed onions but you could put anything on top of them or nothing at all.  Next time I think maybe some slices of avocado would be great.  The best part?  Each patty is only 200 calories!!!

Black Bean Burgers
Slightly adapted from Annie's Eats

Yield:  6 Burgers
Ingredients:
3/4 cup panko
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained and rinsed, divided
2 large eggs
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely diced
1 shallot, minced

Directions:
Place 2 1/2 cups of the beans in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or a fork until mostly smooth.  In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, 1 tablespoon of the oil, cumin, garlic powder, salt and cayenne.  Whisk to blend.  Add the egg mixture, panko, the remaining 1/2 cup beans, bell pepper and shallot to the bowl with the mashed beans.  Stir together until evenly combined.

Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions, about 1/2 cup each.  Lightly pack into 1 inch thick patties.  Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour or until slightly frozen (Patties can also be frozen solid and grilled from frozen).  Spray top and bottom of patties with non-stick spray and place on grill over medium heat.  Cook 6-7 minutes on each side, being very careful when turning over.  Top with your favorite toppings and serve warm.

Garlic Knot Rolls

To top off our braciole dinner on Sunday I wanted to make some sort of fresh baked bread or roll.  So of course, I hit up the internet and all of my favorite blogs.  I found a recipe for soft garlic knots over at Annie's Eats that looked perfect.  What goes better with Italian foot than garlic knots?  These were very easy to make and did not have very long proofing times and came out fabulous.  Each of us had 2 of them at dinner.  One thing I will say is that these are definitely more the size of a large roll rather than what I consider a garlic knot.  To me, a garlic knot is a one or two bite little roll.  The rolls that are made in this recipe are quite a bit bigger.  Maybe next time I will experiment by making them into smaller knots like we get from our local pizzeria.  I will definitely be making these again!

Garlic Knot Rolls

From Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

For the dough:

3 cups bread flour

1 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. instant yeast

1 1/4 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/4 cup milk

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. lukewarm water

For the glaze:

2 cloves garlic

3 tbsp. melted butter

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Directions:

To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the dry ingredients.  Add the olive oil, milk and water.  Mix until ingredients have formed a dough.  Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.  Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat, and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a 10 inch long rope and tie into a knot.  Take the end lying underneath the know and bring it over the top, tucking it into the center.  Take the end lying over the knot and tuck it underneath and into the center.  Transfer shaped rolls to a baking stone, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes, until puffy.

To make the glaze, finely mince the garlic or press it though a garlic press.  Mix with the melted butter and Italian seasoning.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Brush the glaze onto the shaped rolls.  Bake until set and lightly browned, about 15-18 minutes.  Let cool slightly before serving.