Zippy Praline Pecan Bacon

As I posted earlier, I served some Zippy Praline Pecan Bacon along side my Cap'n Crunch Crusted Strawberry-Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast. The thick cut bacon is coated with brown sugar, spices, and pecans. It is like pecan pie candied bacon. This alone is breakfast, lunch, dinner, & dessert. But then again, I have a soft spot in my heart for sweet & savory bacon. This is obvious from all of my other sweet bacon recipes :) Enjoy!

Zippy Praline Pecan Bacon

For the Praline Bacon:

10 Slices of Thick Cut Bacon

¼C Dark Brown Sugar

¼C Light Brown Sugar

½C Pecans, Finely Chopped

¼t Cayenne, Paprika, Ground Mustard

Pinch of Salt & Cinnamon

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with tin foil & spray with Pam.
2. Lay out the bacon slices in row with some space in between, so they cook evenly.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the sugars, pecans, and spices until well combined. Spoon about 1T of mixture over each slice of bacon and spread it out evenly.
4. Bake the bacon for about 15-20 minutes and then flip over the bacon (being careful not to remove the pecans) and spread over about 1t of the brown sugar mixture on the other side of the partially cooked bacon. Return to the oven and cook until brown and caramelized on top, about another 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and cool partially... the caramel will be sticky & hot!

Cap'n Crunch Crusted Strawberry-Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast with Strawberry Sauce

I know the title is wayyyy too long. But honestly there are so many adjectives to describe this french toast. I guess because that's how ridiculous it is. I bought a loaf of buttery brioche at a french bakery here in Savannah and decided that the best thing to make with this is some french toast. And we are huge fans of breakfast over here in the household, so this adventure was definitely a go. I made a strawberry and cream cheese filling and stuffed into thick slices of brioche, soaked it in a cinnamon batter, then coated it in crushed up Cap'n Crunch and fried it in a skillet. Once they were fried to golden perfection, I spread on some more strawberry & cream cheese and poured over hot strawberry sauce. I also served it with some Zippy Praline Bacon... umm yum, it's like pecan pie on thick cut bacon (what's more southern than that?!?) Anyway, the french toast was buttery, gooey, creamy, and fruity. Just all around great things for breakfast. Well more like dessert for breakfast, but who's counting? Enjoy :)

Cap'n Crunch Crusted Strawberry-Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast 

Yummmmm :)

Look at that melty strawberry-cream cheese filling :)

For the Strawberry & Cream Cheese Filling:

1 8oz Package of Cream Cheese, Softened

¼C Strawberry Preserves

½C Fresh Strawberries, Cut into Small Cubes

1T Sugar

For the Strawberry Syrup:

½C Maple Syrup

½C Strawberry Preserves

½C Fresh Strawberries, Cubed

 

For the French Toast:

1 Stale Golden Brioche Loaf, Cut into Thick Slices (about 2 inches)

Prepared Strawberry & Cream Cheese Filling

1C Heavy Cream

3 Eggs

2T Honey, Warmed

1t Vanilla

½t Cinnamon

½t Ground Nutmeg 

Pinch of Salt

2C Cap’n Crunch Cereal, Crushed into a Coarse Meal

1 Stick of Butter, Cut into Tabs

Confectioners’ Sugar, For Dusting

Prepared Strawberry Syrup

Fresh Strawberries, For Garnishing

Directions:

1. The Day Before: Slice the golden brioche loaf into thick slices, about 2 inches thick. Put these slices on a pan and let them become stale throughout the day and overnight (a day before you want to make the French toast).
2. To Make the Strawberry & Cream Cheese Filling: In a small bowl, mix together the strawberries & sugar, and allow them to macerate while you make the filling. In another small bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, strawberry preserves, and the macerated strawberries. The mixture should be creamy and well incorporated. Set this aside until ready to stuff in the bread.
3. For the Strawberry Syrup: In a small pot over medium heat, cook the maple syrup and strawberry preserves together, whisking so that it becomes a combined mixture. Add in the fresh strawberries and quickly bring this mixture to a boil to break down the fruit. Reduce the heat, so the syrup is warm for serving.
4. Stuffing the French Toast: Now that the brioche slices have become stale, it is time to make the filling pockets. Using a paring knife cut a deep slit across the top, into the middle, of each slice (approximately 4 inches long). Make sure it is deep enough to hold the filling. Grab a slice of the bread and spoon or pipe (or using a pastry icing bag) about 2T of the filling into each pocket. Make sure to close the opening by gently pressing the bread together. This will make frying them a lot easier & less messy. Set the stuffed French toast slices aside until ready to bread.
5. For the Cap’n Crunch Crust: Set up battering & breading stations. In the first dish for battering, whisk together the heavy cream, eggs, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until smooth & custard-like. In the second dish for breading, pour in the crushed Cap’n Crunch Cereal. Soak the stuffed French toast slices in the batter for about 30 seconds on each side (making sure the edges are moist too). Then, dredge the slices in the Cap’n Crunch. Lightly press the cereal onto each side and around the crust until they are thoroughly coated. Place the crusted slices on a parchment lined baking sheet until all the slices are coated and ready to be cooked (allow them to sit for 1-2 minutes).
6. Cooking the French Toast: Heat a pan over medium heat and melt 2T of butter (for frying 2 slices). Gently place the stuffed slices into the heated pan (only cooking two at a time so that the pan isn’t overcrowded). Cook each slice for 2-3 minutes per side or until the outside is golden brown and crunchy, but the filling is warmed & softened on the inside. Place the cooked slices back on the parchment lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven until all the slices have been cooked and you’re ready to serve.
7. Serving the French Toast: Serve the Cap’n Crunch Crusted-Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuff French Toast warm on a plate. Dust it with confectioners’ sugar and pour over the warmed strawberry syrup (and be crazy like me and spread some more cream cheese filling as well). Top it with fresh strawberries for garnish. Serve warm & enjoy. 

source: stuffed french toast.

Check out Sweets for a Saturday for this recipe, as well as many others :)

Salty Chihuahuas

Have y'all ever heard of a salty chihuahua? I hadn't. But I do love salty dogs. Apparently a Salty Chihuahua is the mexican cousin of a Salty Dog. It's just pink lemonade or grapefruit juice with tequila. So, I decided I had to make these delicious drinks, but of course, with my own special little twist. We made a pink lemonade with raspberry puree and grapefruit juice (instead of lemon juice) for a play on the whole salty dog idea. Lemme tell you, this raspberry-grapfruit-lemonade is amazing. We were just drinking it by itself. I loved it. So if you don't want to make an alcoholic drink, just serve this juice to the kiddos. Anyway, we combined our unique "pink lemonade" with tequila, grapefruit zest-salt (for the rims), and garnished them candied grapefruit slices. These drinks were awesome and a new summer staple for us :) Enjoy!

Salty Chihuahuas

For the Grapefruit-Raspberry Pink Lemonade:

2C Sugar

2C Water

2C Fresh Raspberries, Pureed & Pushed Through a Fine Mesh Sieve (no seeds)

2C Fresh Grapefruit Juice

4-6C Cold Water

For the Grapefruit Salt:

Sea Salt

Grapefruit Zest

For the Salty Chihuahuas:

1C Grapefruit-Raspberry Pink Lemonade

½C Tequila

Frozen Raspberries (acting as ice cubes)

2 Slices of Grapefruit (to moisten the rim)

Prepared Grapefruit Salt

Directions:

1. Make the Simple Syrup: combine the sugar and water together in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and heat until sugar is completely dissolved (swirling the pan occasionally). Let this mixture cool.
2. Puree the fresh raspberries in a blender or food processor. Push the raspberry puree through a fine mesh sieve to separate the seeds from the pulp.
3. Once the simple syrup has cooled, combine the raspberry puree, simple syrup, and grapefruit juice in large pitcher. Add 4-6 cups of cold water (to your liking).
4. To Make the Grapefruit Salt: In a small bowl, combine together the sea salt and grapefruit zest and set it aside until ready to rim the glasses.
5. To Make the Salty Chihuahuas: Pour the grapefruit salt onto a small plate. Moisten the rims of two highball glasses with the 2 slices of grapefruit. Gently dip the rims into the salt to coat lightly. Fill the glasses with raspberry ice cubes. Pour ¼C of tequila over the ice in each prepared glass, and then pour over ½C of the grapefruit-raspberry pink lemonade over the tequila. Lightly stir the two together.
6. Serve and drink your problems away :)

Homemade Phish Food Ice Cream

I think that Ben & Jerry's has the best ice cream ever. I love pretty much all of their flavors, but there is one that is just a go-to for me, and that is Phish Food. I can literally sit down and eat the entire container (no lie), which is not good news for me, so every time I'm at the grocery store, I have to restrain myself from buying one of those cartons. Well, I came across a dark chocolate ganache ice cream base the other day and an automatic light bulb went off in my head... what if I made homemade Phish Food ice cream with the dark chocolate ganache ice cream, dark chocolate chunks, salted caramel sauce, and homemade marshmallow fluff. Um, wow... I had to do it. The dark chocolate base is good enough on its own. I mean it will really be my favorite chocolate ice cream ever. But by adding in homemade & slighty "gourmet" elements, this ice cream was just over the top. Even Clayton, who is a vanilla-ice cream-kinda-guy, was eating the un-frozen custard. You have this rich, dark chocolate creamy ice cream with swirls of salted caramel that balances amazingly against the sweet & fluffy marshmallow fluff. I mean y'all gotta try this. Even if it's not your go-to flavor, just try it. And if not, just make the dark chocolate ice cream. MMMmmm I love it :)

Homemade Phish Food Ice Cream 

Dark Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Chunks, Salted Caramel & Marshmallow Fluff Swirls 

For the Dark Chocolate Custard:

2 ½C Whipping Cream

3T Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

10oz Dark Chocolate

1C Milk

1C Sugar

Pinch of Salt

6 Large Egg Yolks

1t Vanilla

For the Salted Caramel Sauce:

1C Sugar

6T Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

1t Sea Salt

2/3C Heavy Cream, Room Temperature

For the Homemade Marshmallow Fluff:

3 Egg Whites, Room Temperature

2C Light Corn Syrup

½t Salt

2C Confectioners’ Sugar, Sifted

1T Vanilla

For the Phish Food Ice Cream:

Prepared Dark Chocolate Custard

Prepared Salted Caramel Sauce

Prepared Marshmallow Fluff

4oz of Dark Chocolate, Chopped into Bite-Size Pieces

Sea Salt

Directions: 

1. For the Salted Caramel Sauce: In a large saucepan, bring it up to medium-high heat. Pour in sugar and keep continuously whisking until the sugar begins to melt and the lumps dissolve. This sugar will begin to turn a light caramel color, at this point add in the salt and all of the butter. The mixture will begin to bubble, but keep stirring. Finally, take the pan off the heat, and pour in the heavy cream (once again, it will bubble, but just keep stirring) and stir until it is a smooth, consistent sauce. Pour this caramel into a bowl and let it cool before folding it into the ice cream .

2. For the Homemade Marshmallow Fluff: In a large bowl of an electric mixer, add in the egg whites, corn syrup, and salt. On a high speed, mix for approximately for 5 minutes or until mixture is thick and volume has almost doubled. On a low speed, add in the powdered sugar and mix until well blended. Add in the vanilla just until mixed. Put this fluff into a bowl until you are ready to fold it into the ice cream.

3. For the Custard: Place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Warm 1C of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and gently simmer for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and pour the mixture over the chopped chocolate, scraping the saucepan clean as much as possible. Let stand for 1 minute. Stir the Ganache until smooth. Add the remaining 1 ½C of cream and mix well. Place a mesh strainer atop the bowl and set aside. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking lightly, but constantly, and then scrap the warmed yolks back into the saucepan. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the mixture constantly over medium heat, making sure to scrape the bottom and corners of the pan. Stir until the mixture thickens and the custard can coat the back of a spoon. Pour the custard through the strainer into the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth, and then add in the vanilla. Continue to stir over an ice bath until cool. Refrigerate the mixture to cool thoroughly (at least 4 hours). Freeze the Custard in your ice cream machine following the manufacturer’s instructions. Once the custard is mostly frozen, fold in swirls of salted caramel sauce, dollops of homemade marshmallow fluff, and the chopped dark chocolate. I also like to fold in a little extra sea salt to bring out the natural flavoring.

4. Pour the finished custard into a container and freeze the ice cream overnight before you enjoy!

source: dark chocolate ice cream.

Check out Sweet for a Saturday for my recipe, as well as many others!!


Check out the Ice Cream Social for this recipe, as well as many other ice cream recipes!!

Crispy Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Spicy Mayo

Sweet potatoes are possibly one of my favorite foods. But I only like them in savory dishes. There is nothing that I hate more than sweet potatoes with brown sugar, cinnamon, or marshmallows... that just disgusts me. I really have no idea why. Almost a year ago, I went to the hospital for about 4 months. I'll tell you more about that later on, but all I wanted while in the hospital was a friggin' sweet potato. I mean honestly, who craves sweet potatoes? Apparently this girl does. So literally for 2 months all I ate was pureed sweet potato. Well, luckily enough for you, I'm not posting a recipe for pureed sweet potato, instead I found this recipe for oven baked sweet potato fries that are actually crispy! Getting sweet potatoes to crisp up can be quite the task and these delivered. And the spicy mayo is perfect with it as well. These would go great with a burger! Enjoy :)

Crispy Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Spicy Mayo

For the Sriracha Mayo:

½C Mayo

1T Sriracha

1t Sweet Chili Sauce

¼t Cayenne

For the Fries:

3 Sweet Potatoes, Cut into Thick Fries

2T Corn Starch

2T Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Directions:

1. For the Sriracha Mayo: Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined and smooth. Set it aside until ready to eat with the fries.
2. To Make the Fries: Put the cornstarch in a large bag and then toss in the sweet potatoes. Shake to coat the fries. Then add in the olive oil, making sure that all are equally covered. Place the coated fries onto a baking sheet lined with tin foil and sprayed with Pam.
3. Bake the fries at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, and then flip them over and cook another 5-10 minutes, or until crispy and golden.
4. Serve immediately. 

source: sweet potato fries.

Grilled Bruschetta Chicken with Roasted Parmesan-Sun Dried Tomato Broccoli

We weren't really in the mood for unhealthy, so we decided to change it up a bit and cook a light meal for a change. I ended up making Grilled Bruschetta Chicken with Roasted Parmesan-Sun Dried Tomato Broccoli. I marinated the chicken cutlets in pesto for a day or so, and then I grilled them & topped them with a fresh bruschetta topping & a balsamic glaze. I served them along with some roasted broccoli that was tossed with sun dried tomatoes, parmesan, fresh basil, and lemon juice. The meal turned out great. It is just tastes to light & fresh, and you don't feel so "blah" after eating a lot of it! Enjoy :)

Grilled Bruschetta Chicken with a Balsamic Glaze Drizzle & Roasted Parmesan-Sun Dried Tomato Broccoli

For the Pesto Chicken:

6 Chicken Cutlets

1C Pesto

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Bruschetta Topping:

2 Roma Tomatoes, Cut into Small Pieces

3T Fresh Basil, Minced

¼C Red Onion, Finely Chopped

2 Garlic Cloves, Minced

1T Olive Oil

1T Pesto

Salt & Pepper To Taste

For the Balsamic Reduction:

¾C Balsamic Vinegar

¼C Brown Sugar

For the Broccoli:

4C Broccoli Florets

2 Garlic Cloves, Thinly Sliced

1t Grated Lemon Zest

1T Lemon Juice

¼C Parmesan Cheese

¼C Sun Dried Tomatoes

2T Olive Oil

1T Fresh Basil, Julienned

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

Directions:

1. For the Grilled Pesto Chicken: Put the chicken cutlets in a Ziploc bag and pour in the pesto and toss the bag around to evenly coat the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. The day of, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. This will help the chicken grill and not steam. Heat a grill pan (I use my George Foreman) to medium-high heat and spray with Pam. Grill each chicken cutlet for 2-3 minutes on each side, just so that they are starting to caramelize. Remove the grilled thighs and place on a baking dish lined with tin foil and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove them from the oven.

2. For the Bruschetta Topping: In a small mixing bowl, mix together all of the topping ingredients until completely distributed together. Let this mixture sit together for about 30 minutes before topping the chicken.

3. For the Balsamic Reduction: Bring the vinegar to a boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer. When it reduces halfway, add in the brown sugar. Simmer some more until the vinegar become thick & syrupy and sticks to the back of a wooden spoon, about 20 minutes. As it cools it will also thicken up. Set this aside until ready to drizzle on top of the chicken.

4. To Make the Roasted Broccoli: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and spray a baking sheet with Pam and set it aside. Put the broccoli florets into a large mixing bowl and toss in the garlic and 2T olive oil until the florets are completely coated. Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. Pour the broccoli onto the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 10-15 minutes, until they are crisp, but tender and some of the tips are browned. After cooking, remove from the oven and immediately toss with 2t olive oil, zest, lemon juice, Parmesan, sun dried tomatoes, and basil. 

5. After the chicken has baked, top the pesto chicken cutlets with the Bruschetta topping and drizzle with some of the balsamic reduction. Serve with roasted broccoli and whole-wheat pasta.

Redneck Reuben

I still had some leftover BBQ pulled rib meat, and I had already made the Frizzled Mac n' Rib Melt, but I wanted to try and use some more of the leftovers. I decided to do a Redneck Reuben, which is just a southern twist on a classic northern sandwich. Instead of corned beef, I substituted pulled pork coated in BBQ sauce. I changed the sauerkraut to creamy coleslaw. Instead of Russian Dressing, I decided to use one of our favorite sauces, savannah remoulade. I also used havarti cheese instead of swiss. This sandwich is essentially a classic pulled pork sandwich just kicked up a bit. Anyway... enjoy :)

Redneck Reuben with Savannah Remoulade

For the Redneck Sauce:

¼C Ranch

¼C BBQ Sauce

-OR-

Savannah Remoulade Sauce

For the Sandwich:

4 Slices of French bread

2C Leftover Pulled Pork

½C BBQ Sauce

½C Coleslaw

Prepared Redneck Sauce

6 Slices of Havarti Cheese

Directions:

1. To Make the Redneck Reuben Sauce: Combine the ranch and BBQ sauce together and whisk to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Combine the BBQ sauce and pulled pork in a saucepan over low heat and cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes.
3. Preheat the Panini grill to medium-high heat. Melt 2T of Butter and brush 1T of melted butter on one side of each bread slice. Flip over half of the bread slices; slather on some of the redneck sauce, and layer 1 slice of smoked gouda cheese on each side. Top each one-quarter of the pulled pork, creamy coleslaw, and another slice of cheese. Top with the remaining bread slices, buttered-side up.
4. Working in batches, cook the sandwiches until the cheese melts and the bread is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
5. Serve immediately!