Ham, Havarti, and Chive Breakfast Casserole

We had ham for Christmas Eve dinner.  I think it is probably impossible to finish a ham in one meal, no matter how many people you have over.  I used some of the leftovers for breakfast on Christmas morning.   Did I buy too much ham to ensure I would have leftovers.  Maybe.

This recipe came from the Scandinavian Gatherings book.  It really puffs up nicely and has a pretty color to it, don't you think?

Ham, Havarti, and Chive Breakfast Casserole

16 eggs

1/8 t. salt

1 small clove garlic, finely minced (or 1/8 t. garlic powder if you don't have it)

pinch of fresh ground pepper

2 c. whole milk

12 oz. ham, diced small

2 c. shredded Havarti

2 c. shredded cheddar

1/3 c. snipped fresh chives

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until uniform.  Beat in the salt, garlic, pepper and milk.  

Stir in the ham, cheeses, and chives with a rubber spatula.

Pour the mix in a greased 9 x 13 baking pan and evenly distribute the ham and cheeses if necessary.

Baked at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out wet but clear, and the top of the casserole is a deep golden color.

Allow the casserole to cool for 5 or 10 minutes before serving.

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t = teaspoon

oz = ounce

c = cup

Danish Marinated Cucumber Salad

This Christmas, I wanted to try a few more Scandinavian inspired dishes.  I found this Cucumber Salad recipe in a Scandinavian Gatherings book that tasted just like my childhood at Grandma's.  It seemed like these were on the table for every meal back in the day.  No, I'm not complaining.  I like their vinegary crispness.

Danish Marinated Cucumber Salad

2 large English cucumbers, thinly sliced (I used a mandolin with the thin blade)

1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced (again, I used a mandolin)

pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper

1/3 c. water

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. white vinegar

Put the cucumbers and onions in a bowl and season with the salt and pepper.

Combine the water, sugar, and vinegar in a bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved.   Pour it over the cucumbers and onions and toss lightly.

Cover and refrigerate for a few hours.  

I drained it a bit before serving.

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c = cup

Ranch Pretzels

My mother-in-law used to make these and I never got the recipe from her before she passed.  A little google search lead me to the one I think she probably used as I know hers used the Orville Redenbacher oil.  

They remind me of being at their cabin at Christmas time with the wood stove keeping the place warm.  Once mixed, they were always stored in the big clear plastic barrel that the Utz pretzels came from.  They must have made a Sam's Club run to get the pretzels because that was one big a$$ barrel.  Even still, they didn't last long.

Ranch Pretzels

32 oz. pretzels (I used sticks)

1 16 oz. Orville Redenbacher popcorn oil (this was alot.  You can probably get by with 12-13 oz if you wanted to save some for popcorn)

1 oz. Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressing dry mix

2 t. dill weed

1 t. garlic powder

Mix the oil, ranch dressing, dill and garlic powder.   Pour of the pretzels in a really big bowl and stir to coat really well.  Transfer them to a big container that you can seal.  

Toss the pretzels every couple of hours to coat them well and oil is mostly absorbed.

The original recipe says no baking was required but by the next morning, they were still really oily. So, I put them on a couple of sheet pans and baked them at 250 for 1 hour and tossed every 15 minutes.  That dried them out and they were good to go!  That is why I am saying that you could probably use less oil than called for.

Chex Mix

Okay, is there anyone out there that can resist a handful of chex mix?  I challenge you to produce that person as evidence.  If it is sitting on the counter, it will be snacked upon.  You'll find yourself altering your walk through the kitchen to walk by and have a taste.  You will be compelled to stop and snack again.  and again.  and again.

This is a combo creation from a couple of different recipes--one from the Chex box and one I found online for 'grandma's best chex mix'.  The original one from the box just doesn't have as much coating as I think it should.

You will want a total of 12-14 cups cereal and snacks.  I used the following but you can substitute others for your taste, like bagel chips, goldfish crackers, different kind of nuts, etc.

Crunch...Crunch...Crunch

Chex Mix

3 c. corn chex cereal

3 c. rice chex cereal

2 c .wheat chex cereal

2 c. Cheez-it Crackers

2 c. pretzels

1 c. cheerios

1 c. peanuts

1 1/2 sticks butter

3-4 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. seasoned salt

1 T. garlic powder

1 t. onion powder

In a big bowl, combine all of the cereal and snacks.

Melt the butter and stir in the Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Add the sauce to the dry ingredients and toss for 1-2 minutes to make sure everything is well coated.

Divide the mixture to 2 sheet pans and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, tossing every 15 minutes.

Pour the mixture on parchment paper to cool.  Store in a sealed container up to 2 weeks.

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c = cup

T = tablespoon

t = teaspoon

Asian Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Tonight was Improv Night in the kitchen.  No, this is not a recipe, really, but I didn't want to forget what I did with this tonight.  I want to make it again!  It made me feel like I had Noodles and Co. carryout.  It is super fast to assemble, too.  Bonus for those nights where you don't have 'oodles' of time.  See what I did there? :) 

The featured stars of the show

Thinly slice some red pepper and slice a couple of green onions.  

Shred or chop up some already cooked rotisserie chicken.

Chop up some peanuts.

Cook some Asian noodles.  These in the photo only take 3 minutes -- fast!

Sauté the red pepper.  Add the chicken to heat through and then a generous amount of sauce and the Asian noodles.  Heat everything through.

Top with the green onion and chopped peanuts.

Bloody Mary Flank Steak

What is it about flank steak?  I'm attracted to a flank steak.  A thinly sliced flank just looks so tasty.  

I found this recipe in Food Network magazine.  It was a Guy Fieri recipe.  I like a good bloody Mary.  I like flank steak.  flank steak + bloody mary = yum.  Did anyone order the beer chaser?

Bloody Mary Flank Steak

1 lb. flank steak

1 c. vegetable juice (I used spicy V-8)

1/2 c. vodka

1 t. sea salt

1 t. pepper

1 t. hot sauce

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. Worcestershire

1 or 2 gloves garlic, crushed

1 t. onion powder

1 t. celery seeds (I didn't have any so just used a bit of celery salt)

1 T. horseradish

1/4 c. olive oil

Thoroughly mix all ingredient except the steak in a zip lock bag. 

Add the steak and let it marinate in the fridge at least 8 hours, up to 24 hours.

Remove the steak to drip dry and pass it to your grill master to grill to medium rare.  Let it rest 5 or 10 minutes and slice against the grain.

Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a Martha Stewart recipe I found and I made a couple of small modifications.  According to my taste testers, I should sell them!  Yeah, they are that good.  This makes 12 monster sized cookies, about 5-6 inches in diameter.   A real treat.  

As usual, I can't help myself and I have changed a few things on the original recipe.  So basically, it is MY recipe now.  Take that Martha.

I weigh these to be sure they are all the same size -- 4 ounces per cookie works out perfectly.  Which is really kind of a bummer, because I am that person who lives life on the edge and eats raw cookie dough.  And with this I can't.  One cookie half the size it should be?  Bad presentation, man.  So I resist.  But as soon as the cookies cool enough so the caramel doesn't give me a second degree lip burn, I'm having one.

So back to Martha vs. Me....I changed her light brown sugar to dark, changed her 12 oz. bag of chips to 10 oz. mini chips (better distribution!), specified the kind of caramel I found that works best, and she said to cut each caramel in half.  I like them in quarters so, again...better distribution.

I have tried adding 1/2 cup of pecan halves, then chopped, and it was a really good addition if you are feeling nutty.

The original no-nuts version with light brown sugar

3 c. flour (I prefer to weigh my flour.  This is 384 grams)

1 1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. baking soda

3/4 t. baking powder

1 t. kosher salt

2 sticks (1 c.) cold butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces (The recipe called for unsalted but I used salted because, duh...salted caramel is always better.)

10 oz. semisweet mini sized chocolate chips (I like the way they distribute among more of the cookie)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 t. vanilla extract

18 caramels, quartered (I have tried this with Kraft and Werther's versions and definitely prefer Werther's Original Soft Caramels.  Kraft caramels were way too hard after baking.)

optional add: 1/2 c. pecan pieces, chopped, if you like nuts

In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and beat together the flour, sugars, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  

Add the butter pieces and beat on medium until it is combined but there are still some pea-sized pieces of butter.   

Add the chocolate chips and mix at to combine them, then mix in the eggs, one at a time, and add the vanilla.

Must. Not. Eat. Raw. Cookie Dough...

Scoop dough into 4 ounce balls. (I did say these are huge cookies!)  Make a deep well in each and put 6 pieces of caramel in each.  Roll back into balls and place them in a dish or on a plate.  Freeze for 15 minutes.

While they are chilling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the oven racks on the middle and top racks.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

After chilling, transfer the cookie balls to the trays--6 on each.  These cookies will spread!

Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.  Then reduce temperature to 350 degrees, swap the sheets positions and bake until the centers are almost but not completely set, about 7-10 minutes--you can press the tops gently with your fingers to check.  (Mine come out perfectly at 8 minutes.)

Remove the sheets from the oven and bang them on the counter a few times to create cracks in the top of the cookies.   Place the sheets on wire racks and let them cool completely (if you can wait that long).

Version with Chopped Pecans

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c = cup

t = teaspoon

Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes

This isn't much of a recipe, but I want to remember what I did with some leftovers to make these really tasty potatoes!   I *heart* reinventing the leftovers.

The Boursin cheese and heavy cream were sitting around in the fridge looking sad and lonely.  After meeting the potatoes and butter, that frown turned upside down.

Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes

2 - 3 lbs. red potatoes, cut in 1 inch or so pieces. ( I don't bother peeling them)

1/2 package of Boursin garlic herb cheese

1/4 c. or so heavy cream

3 T. butter

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Boil the potatoes until they are really tender.  Drain.

Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer to make them nice and creamy.

So good!