Susi's Kochen Und Backen Adventures

Semmelknödel, or bread dumplings are served throughout Bavaria in most restaurants. It is a great way to use up stale Semmeln or Brötchen which are similar to Kaiser Rolls here in America and they make for a pretty economic meal this way. My favorite part about these dumplings growing up was the second day, when my mom would use the leftovers, cut them up and fried them in a pan until both sides were nice and crispy. We were always looking forward to that.
Cooking dumplings is actually quite an art and I'll be the first to admit that because of cooking them so infrequently, I'm not as good at making them as my mom or grandpa are. Forming them properly so they keep their shape and being able to cook them is a little harder then you might think. The salt water to cook the formed dumplings in has to be just perfect. It has to be hot enough to cook them through, but it also can't boil or they will disintegrate, the water needs to be right around the simmer point and stay there with a consistent heat.

Since I can't get my hands on great rolls here, I started using a french baguette when I make these dumplings at home. The texture comes pretty close to a traditional German Brötchen and after sitting on the counter for about a day prior, the bread is perfect. The baguette is sliced thinly and soaked in lukewarm milk and some salt for about 30 minutes which will help soften the bread. Meanwhile, onion and fresh parsley are sauteed in a bit of butter. After the bread is nice and soft the sauteed veggies are added to the bread bowl along with seasonings, eggs and flour. Everything is mixed well together (clean hands are your best tool for this) and the "dough" is set aside to rest for another 20 minutes. With wet hands round dumplings the size of a baseball are formed and carefully placed in hot salted water which is where they will cook for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. The easiest way to test for doneness is to take one out and cut it in half to make sure the inside is cooked thoroughly. Once cooked, they are removed with a slotted spoon and served immediately. 

 

 

Yesterday's post kicked off my Halloween week with two fun drinks to get the party started, but no party would be complete without the food. Appetizers are a must and let your guests mingle easily while eating. There is no better way of saying "Welcome to our lovely home" then by offering Witch
Finger Poppers and Eye of Newt to your favorite ghouls when stopping by for a visit.

Witch Finger Poppers are, according to my husband, one of the best jalapeno poppers around and I've been fixing them for many years. What sets them apart from a regular deep fried version is that they are baked and with that, at least a little bit better for you. Seeded and halved jalapenos are stuffed with a filling of cream cheese, cheddar and Monterey jack cheese, bacon and seasonings before being dipped in breadcrumbs. Ketchup and a sliced almond complete the grizzly witch fingernail effect. The poppers are then baked for about 30 minutes before serving. Just make sure to cool them a bit before biting into them, unless you are going for the "skin burned off the roof of your mouth feel" (been there, done that, got the t-shirt). 

Eye of Newt is a fun take on my Snappy Deviled Eggs which are a staple at our house as well. This time around the filling gets its "moldy" color from blue, green and yellow food coloring before being piped into the egg halves. A sliced olive along with a sliver of pimiento make up the pupil and finally gel food coloring applied with a toothpick to the white part of the egg add the finishing touch to the "Eye of Newt".

Both of these appetizers add hilarious touches that make your Halloween buffet just a little more ghoulish.  Depending on how many goblins you have coming by this year you might want to go ahead and double the recipes as they never last long!

Party Tips:

- You can make the Witch Finger Poppers the day before your party. Just seed and fill the peppers. Place in baking pan and cover with plastic wrap. Set in refrigerator until ready to bake.
- Make the Eye of Newt the morning of your party but wait until a couple of hours before your guests arrive to apply the red food color, otherwise it will "bleed" into the white of the egg.


Witch Finger Poppers
(adapted from Taste of Home Magazine)
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup (4 ounces) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup (4 ounces) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
12 medium jalapeno peppers, stems removed, halved lengthwise and seeded*
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preparation:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cheeses, bacon and seasonings. Spoon about 1 tablespoon into each pepper half. Dip tops of stuffed peppers into bread crumbs.

Place a small amount of ketchup at the end of each popper; top with a sliced almond to resemble a fingernail. Place in a greased 15 x 10 inch baking dish (make sure to pack them in tightly or the filling will run out). Bake, uncovered, at 300 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

* When cutting or deeding hot peppers, use rubber or plastic gloves to protect your hands. Avoid touching your face (trust me on this!).


Eye of Newt Deviled Eggs
(makes 20 eyeballs)
(Printable Recipe)

10 large eggs, hard boiled
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon vinegar
1-2 teaspoons hot sauce (your favorite kind)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Blue, yellow and green food coloring

Sliced olives

Diced pimiento

Red food coloring

Preparation:

Peel and halve hard boiled eggs lengthwise and remove yolks. Place yolks in a bowl along with mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, vinegar and hot sauce. With the immersion blender mix everything to desired consistency (you can use a fork and mash if you don't have a blender). Season with salt and pepper. Color egg yolk mixture with blue, yellow and green food color until desired color is reached. Pipe egg mixture back into egg halves. Garnish each egg halve with 1 sliced olive, 1 diced pimiento placed inside the olive. Add red food coloring with a toothpick for the blood-shot eye effect.


Stay tuned for more ghoulish treats on Thursday!

We are having a blast with our out of town visitors and I apologize for my lack of commenting on other blogs but I will be back full force once my visitors leave in early October. For all of my Foodbuzz friends, rest assured I'm still keeping up as much as possible on the challenges and will be voting for all of you! 

My post today was inspired by my little sister who is here visiting from Germany. My sister was diagnosed with Celiac disease almost 10 years ago. In case you haven't heard of it, it is a autoimmune disorder which causes her to not be able to eat anything containing gluten (this includes wheat, barley, oats etc.) Considering that I don't usually have to cook gluten free, it is quite a challenge to cook for someone like this. Luckily, a lot of my day to day meals are already gluten free or can be made gluten free by a few substitutions. So far we have had my Ragu alla Bolognese (she used special noodles), my Tandoori Chicken, Taco Salad,  and a few other things she thoroughly enjoyed. I'm convinced that cooking meals from scratch helps a lot since you can control what is put into a dish. 

Unfortunately, things get a little bit harder when it comes to dessert. If I lived closer to my sister I would most definitely use and experiment with different gluten free flours, but since she is only visiting for a short time I needed to find a fuss-free recipe that would work for her and be equally tasty for everyone else eating it. Looking through a few of my books I remembered seeing a recipe for flourless chocolate cupcakes in Martha Stewart's cupcakes book. The recipe is truly super easy, requires only a handful of ingredients and turns out an amazing flavor experience. The original makes 22 cupcakes but I went with half the amount since the recipe states they are best eaten the same day and by doing so I was rewarded with exactly 12 cupcakes. Butter and bittersweet chocolate are melted in a double boiler and slightly cooled down before adding the egg yolks. Meanwhile egg whites and sugar are whisked stiff and then folded into the melted chocolate mixture. That's it! The batter is divided into paper lined muffin tins and baked at a very low temperature for about 25 minutes or until the middle is set.

The cupcakes once baked are not show pieces. In fact, they are quite ugly. At first, taken out of the oven they look like pretty little souffles but once they cool down their tops start to sink and they crack everywhere and forget about getting them out of the tin perfect looking. That's why even in the book their tops are disguised with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, which is how I served them as well. Crunchy tops, tasting like meringue with a wonderful fluffy and rich interior. This was a fantastic dessert that all of us enjoyed. It especially made me feel good that I was able to produce such a great tasting cupcake my sister could eat. She was in love with this recipe and already copied it down so she can fix it for everyone back in Germany when she gets home.

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips)

6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

Ice Cream, for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Melt butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Stir to combine, then remove bowl from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in egg yolks.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until peaks are stiff and glossy but not dry (do not overbeat). Whisk one quarter of the beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten; gently fold mixture into remaining whites.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes are just set in centers, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.( their centers will sink). Cupcakes are best eaten the same day they are baked; keep at room temperature until ready to serve, topped with scoops of ice cream, if desired.

 
Our weekday mornings are hectic to say the least. Everyone is leaving at different times, there is madness galore with people looking for backpacks, water bottles, or homework, and we don't have any time to sit down as a family to enjoy a breakfast together. I usually make sure to have an assortment of cereals in the pantry and also muffins or breakfast burritos in the freezer for quick on-the-go eating. So when the weekend finally arrives, we like to slow things down a bit and enjoy breakfast or brunch as a family.  Weekend breakfasts are a great opportunity to "splurge" a little and eat something we wouldn't normally have for breakfast during the week. It also means, that we can usually skip lunch that day which frees up some time for me in the kitchen as well.

For these special breakfasts, I like to make things like pancakes, waffles, quiches or french toast. Last Sunday felt like a french toast kind of morning, so I looked on the fabulous internet for a recipe. I didn't have to look further than allrecipes.com, which is a great source for so many dishes. I wanted a french toast that was a bit different than our old standby, but something that still could be made quickly and that I knew the kids would enjoy. That is when this Peanut Butter French Toast caught my eye. After reading some of the reviews and the trouble people had in incorporating the peanut butter into the milk and egg mixture, I knew what would solve this problem. I decided to add all the ingredients into my blender just like I did with my peanut butter ice cream a while back, and again this worked like a charm. Fantastic smooth batter ready for dipping. I also decided to go with a typical french bread cut on an angle rather than a plain white bread. After frying the battered bread in a bit of butter, I added sliced bananas along with maple syrup to each portion to complete the presentation.


This recipe would have made Elvis proud, in fact, I think he would have been "All shook up" about it! It was simply wonderful. The bread was cooked perfectly with just a hint of peanut butter, without  it being overpowering. The bananas and the maple syrup were definitely the icing on the cake french toast. All plates were practically licked clean, everyone was very happy and tummy's were full . So, if peanut butter and french toast are your kind of breakfast as well, I would definitely give this recipe a try, it certainly is a new favorite in our home, and has already been requested again.





Peanut Butter French Toast
(adapted from allrecipes.com)
(Printable Recipe)


Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 slices French bread
Butter or oil for frying
Sliced banana
Maple syrup


Preparation:


In a blender add milk, eggs, peanut butter, sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.


Heat the butter or oil in a griddle or frying pan over medium heat.


Dunk each slice of bread in egg mixture, soaking both sides. Place in pan, and cook on each side until golden. Serve hot with sliced bananas and maple syrup.

Welcome to another edition of Ice Cream Fridays. Every Friday you can look forward to a new ice cream recipe which will hopefully inspire you to break out your old dust covered ice cream maker that is hiding somewhere in a closet (yes, I'm talking about you). Since I'm always looking for inspiration and ideas, feel free to leave me a comment here on my blog or on my facebook page, and let me know what ice cream flavor you would like to see. Who knows, you might just get lucky and it will be featured the following week. 

With only a couple more Fridays left after today's featured post I will be retiring the Ice Cream series for the year. I'm still left with a list a mile long of different ice creams yet to try. So, picking and choosing which one to make should have been hard, but I was getting a little help in the form of a gentle nudge from my friend Sharon and facebook follower Christy. Both of them named Peach Ice Cream as their favorite flavor when I had asked a while back. I love a good peach ice cream as well, but there was only one problem with the execution, the peaches. For the life of it, I could not get my hands on decent tasting peaches. I was looking for bright red peaches, the same ones that as you bit into them the juices are running everywhere and you'd better have a napkin handy. Nope, all I could find for weeks and weeks were great looking peaches on the outside but they were hard as rocks and flavorless on the inside. My husband (the official taste tester and critic for this blog), took it upon himself to try peach after peach in search of the perfect one. Did he ever find it? Unfortunately not, so I ended up having to use some mediocre ones that "worked" since I really wanted to make this ice cream. 

While I was looking for the perfect peach ice cream, I had a couple of criteria in mind. One, it had to be full of peach flavor (this would have been achieved with better peaches) and two, it couldn't just be a vanilla base with peach chunks mixed in. So, after looking at different recipes I had narrowed it down to one from David Lebovitz and one from Dorie Greenspan. I really liked David's concept (he adds sour cream to the mix) but ended up choosing Dorie's version since I had already made a Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream earlier in the year. Dorie's version was different by including honey and I thought it sounded heavenly in combination with the peaches.
Peeled peaches are chopped and cooked with honey until soft, then the mixture is pureed. Meanwhile a basic egg custard is cooked and the peach puree is added to the finished base along with vanilla extract. I went a step further and added ground up vanilla bean to my custard for additional flavor. After a good chilling in the refrigerator, the custard is churned in the ice cream maker, and right before finishing, more diced peaches are added.

This ice cream turned out very well, despite the sub-par peaches, so I can only imagine how incredibly tasty it would be with ripe, juicy ones. I loved the subtle honey flavor that infused the ice cream throughout. My kids were not sure about this flavor when I set out to make it, but every single one of them happily emptied their bowls. I will stay on the hunt for decent peaches, and will definitely make this flavor again. Maybe next year I'll have to have a peach ice cream throw-down between Dorie and David!



Honey-Peach Ice Cream
(adapted from "Baking: From my home to yours")
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

4 large ripe peaches (about 2 pounds), peeled and pitted
1/4 cup honey
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground vanilla beans

Preparation:

Coarsely chop half the peaches into 1/2-inch chunks and toss them into a small saucepan. Add the honey and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peaches are soft abut not mushy, about 10 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a  blender or food processor and whir to puree. Set the peach puree aside while you make the custard.

Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid - this will temper or warm, the eggs so they don't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon; if you run your finger down the back of the spoon, the custard should not run into the track. The custard should reach at least 170 degrees F, but no more than 180 degrees F, on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and our the custard into a 2-quart glass measuring cup or clean heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla and the peach puree.

Refrigerate the custard until chilled before churning it into ice cream.

Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. While the ice cream is churning, finely dice the remaining 2 peaches, then, just before the ice cream is thickened and ready, add the peaches and churn to blend. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze it for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Welcome to another edition of Ice Cream Fridays. Every Friday you can look forward to a new ice cream recipe which will hopefully inspire you to break out your old dust covered ice cream maker that is hiding somewhere in a closet (yes, I'm talking about you). Since I'm always looking for inspiration and ideas, feel free to leave me a comment here on my blog or on my facebook page, and let me know what ice cream flavor you would like to see. Who knows, you might just get lucky and it will be featured the following week.

Sometimes my friends get a kick out of supplying me with an ingredient and letting me "loose" in the kitchen to come up with a dish. This is how today's ice cream flavor came about. My friend Laura supplied me graciously with some Cajeta. Cajeta is sweetened goat's milk that is cooked until thick and dark in color, like Dulce de Leche, it is also very popular in Mexico. It is quite delicious by itself drizzled over the top of plain vanilla ice cream, but I knew I wanted to find something that really integrated the flavor.

This is where one of my ice cream books came to play. While my daughter was flipping through the pages one day she got very excited when she came across this Banana Cajeta Cashew Gelato. She showed it to me, thinking it would certainly fit the bill for working the ingredient into a great dessert. Boy, was she right. What made this even better was the cashews which I had received from Oh!Nuts. All I needed to do was make the ice cream base. I still had some ripe bananas left over from my banana cake so I was covered.  The ice cream starts by making a plain vanilla base. After chilling it thoroughly, ripe bananas are blended with half of the mixture until smooth before mixing it with the rest of the base. The mix is then frozen in your ice cream maker, and finally towards the end, chopped cashews are added to the Gelato. Upon layering the finished mix in your freezer bowl, cajeta is drizzled over the top and then quickly swirled in before freezing.

This was a very different but wonderful flavor combination. The kids didn't care for the cajeta by itself, but once integrated into the ice cream they went crazy for it. I'm really glad my friend introduced me to an unknown product which I ended up liking a lot. In case you can't find cajeta readily available, I'm including a recipe on how to make it yourself. However, if the thought of goat milk caramel is just a bit too exotic for you, the cajeta can be simply replaced with Dulce de Leche and you will still be left with a delicious ice cream.



Banana Cajeta Cashew Gelato
(adapted from Ciao Bella)
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

Plain Base (recipe to follow)
2 ripe bananas, chilled
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted salted cashews
1/2 cup Cajeta, slightly warmed (recipe to follow)

Preparation:

Make the Plain Base and chill as directed.

Place the bananas, sugar, and lemon juice in a blender and add half of the base. Blend until smooth, then whisk into the remaining base.  Pour the mixture into the container of an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add the cashews 5 minutes before the churning is completed.

Just after churning, drizzle the cajeta over the top and quickly and lightly swirl in a zigzag pattern with a spoon or butter knife.



Plain Base
 


2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar


In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over medium low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn't form, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170 degrees F.

Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185 degrees F. Do not bring to a boil.

Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl and let cool to room temperature, stirring every 5 minutes or so. to cool the custard quickly, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water and placing the bowl with the custard in it; stir the custard until cooled. Once completely cooled, cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.


Cajeta
(makes about 3 cups)

2 cups goat's milk
2 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, preferably Mexican
1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

In a large, heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, and vanilla and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the dissolved baking soda. When the bubbling stops, return the pan to the heat, bring back to a simmer, and cook, stirring often, for 1 hour, or until the mixture starts to thicken and turn golden. At this point the cajeta will start to thicken fast, so don't leave the pan unattended. Continue to cook stirring constantly so it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan, for another 20 minutes, or until the cajeta is a  rich brown color and thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. It should cool to a medium- thick caramel consistency. If it's too thick, add a samll amount of water; if ti's too think continue to cook until thickened.

Transfer to a container, let cool, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Warm slightly before serving. It will keep for about 1 month in the refrigerator.

Welcome to another edition of Ice Cream Fridays. Every Friday during the next few months (or until I get tired of it) you can look forward to a new ice cream recipe which will hopefully inspire you to break out your old dust covered ice cream maker that is hiding somewhere in a closet (yes, I'm talking about you). Since I'm always looking for inspiration and ideas, feel free to leave me a comment here on my blog or on my facebook page, and let me know what ice cream flavor you would like to see. Who knows, you might just get lucky and it will be featured the following week.

This week's featured flavor was solely inspired by my love of rum. Now, please let me clarify, since I don't want you to think I'm knocking back rum and cokes every night, and that is what prompted this post. No, in fact, I don't even like drinking it, but for some reason, something magically happens when you add dark rum to desserts. It transforms anything from cakes, pies and ice creams into something I can't resist. The flavor and scent of rum get me every time. It makes me extremely happy that two of my favorite cookbooks "Baking, from my home to yours" by Dorie Greenspan, along with David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop", seem to be having a love affair with the dark "gold" as much as I do.

At first glance, many people might skip over today's flavor in the book, but I'm telling you, it would be a big mistake. Dates in an ice cream might not be your ideal dessert, but with the addition of rum and pecans, the ice cream is transformed into something dreams are made of. This ice cream is custard based with dried dates that are macerated in rum prior to adding them to the mixture, then to take it one step further, pecans are thrown into the mix. David gives you a few options of what kind of pecans. You can either toast them, add spiced pecans, or you can add "Wet Pecans" which is what I chose. They are toasted pecans which are added to boiling maple syrup for a few seconds before cooling the mixture again. All of these different components make this ice cream irresistible.

My husband and I loved this flavor. It is reminiscent of rum raisin, but to me it had more depth, perhaps because of the maple nuts. This is most definitely an ice cream that is "adult only". My children did not care for this one at all, which prompted me to mix up a different kid friendly ice cream which will be featured soon. So, if rum floats your boat, or makes your skirt fly up, this flavor is for you!

Date, Rum, and Pecan Ice Cream
(adapted from The Perfect Scoop)
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

12 dates (4 ounces, 115 g) pitted
1/4 cup (60 ml) dark rum

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
2/3 cup (130 g) sugar
Big pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups (310 ml) heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dark rum
3/4 cup Wet Pecans (recipe to follow)

Preparation:

To prepare the dates, chop them into 1/2 -inch pieces. Combine the date pieces with the rum in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir. Cover and let macerate at room temperature for at least 4 hours (this can be done up to 1 day ahead).

To make the ice cream, warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warm egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Mix in the vanilla and rum, then stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. During the last few minutes of churning, add the nuts and date pieces.


Wet Pecans

Ingredients:

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (70 ml) dark amber maple syrup
3/4 cup (75 g) pecans, toasted and very coarsely chopped
Big pinch of salt

Preparation:

Heat the maple syrup in a small skillet or saucepan until it just begins to come to a full boil. Stir in the pecans and the pinch of salt, then cook until the liquid comes to a full boil once again. Stir the nuts for 10 seconds, then remove them from the heat and let cool completely. The nuts will still be wet and sticky when cooled.

About a week ago I ended up with a plethora of eggs. They had been on sale, and long story short, I bought way more of them than I needed and was able to use, so I had to come up with some recipes that would require quite a few eggs.

What better way to use up copious amounts of eggs than to turn them into deviled eggs, and what better time of year to make these considering all the potlucks and picnics to get "rid" of them.

This recipe is a bit of a departure from my standard  Snappy Deviled Egg recipe but it is just as good. Hard boiled egg yolks get mixed together with cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard and barbecue sauce (aha!). Minced pickles (I used dill pickle relish), sweet onions, and parsley will add the final touch. The filled egg is then garnished with a drizzle of barbecue sauce and a pickle slice. Voilà!

These eggs were a giant hit! I loved the little bit of smokiness the barbecue sauce added and the crunch of the pickles. These eggs were gone in no time and are most definitely a keeper for our family! I know I will be making this recipe over and over again. I hope you'll give it a try as well, I'm sure there are plenty of occasions left during the summer months.

BBQ Deviled Eggs

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

12 hard-cooked eggs, peeled, cut in half, and yolks removed

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 tablespoon barbecue sauce 

3 tablespoons minced dill pickles (I used dill pickle relish)

2 tablespoons sweet onions, minced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Salt and black pepper to taste

Barbecue sauce for drizzling

Sliced pickles for garnish

Directions:

Mash egg yolks in a bowl; stir in cream cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, barbecue sauce, minced pickles, onion, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Season mixture with salt and pepper; stir until ingredients are well combined. Divide filling amount egg whites*.

Drizzle barbecue sauce lightly over each egg. Garnish each egg with a small pickle slice. Refrigerate until ready to serve!

* For easy piping, spoon filling into a heavy-duty plastic Ziploc bag. Cut a small hole in the corner; squeeze gently.

Adapted from: Cuisine at Home