Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

376.  With Independence Day fast approaching, I have a perfect recipe for you.  It is clever in that you can color coordinate with red, white and blue.  It is a dessert with pretzels in the crust, cream cheese in the filling and strawberries and blueberries in the top jello layer.  As a child I recall this dessert at picnics and gatherings with family friends.

We have a local Strawberry patch down the road with the most sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted. I used all three pints for this recipe and placed it in a 9 X 13" baking dish.

My addition to the traditional recipe is to add pecans to the pretzel crust which gives a richer, nuttier depth of flavor.  The salt from the pretzels also adds additional nuance.

 
I chose to use sugar free jello and sugar free cool whip to slash calories and eliminate extra guilt *wink*.  You could go further and use fat free cream cheese as well...but the flavor profile changes drastically when all sources of fat and sugar are removed.  If you want to create a more pronounced color profile you could use an additional 3 oz. box of blueberry gelatin with 1 cup of water and mix separately with blueberries and pour this over the red layer after it has hardened.

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"I love berries.  Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, anything with an 'eerie' in it!"

~  Jordin Sparks

"We do not rejoice in victories.  We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown and when strawberries bloom in Israel."

~  Golda Meir

"Strawberries are what make life taste wonderful!"  ~ Anthony T. Hincks

Cherry Cheese Danish

343.  Sunday afternoon calls for fresh ground coffee and cheesy, fruity sweet danish.  

All you need is Puff Pastry sheets, cream cheese and some type of fruit jam, any fruit flavor.

Place one sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut into 9 equal squares.  Cut each square as pictured above.  Brush with egg white/water wash.  Mix 4 oz. cream cheese with 1/4 cup powder sugar and 2 tsp of agave.  Dollop cream cheese into the center of each square.  If using fruit jam, dollop on top of cream cheese.

To create the crossover effect watch this video:

The cross over happens by lifting the clean cut corner up and over the filling to the opposite side. Gently press to seal the dough.  Repeat with the other side.

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle sugar crystals over the dough.

Bake at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes.

 Cool the danish.  Make a drizzle of 1 cup powdered sugar and a drop of vanilla extract and a few tablespoons of milk, a bit at a time, till a thick drippy consistency results.  Drizzle over the danish.  Let drizzle set then move to a serving platter.  The danish will be crispy on the bottom and sides and soft and cheesy/fruity in the center with an additional crunch from the sugar crystals.

This is perfect for a Sunday afternoon treat.  You know you need this!!

"It often runs in families, " she remarked: "just as a love for pastry does."
~ Lewis Carroll

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

281.  Recently, we tried several "Pintrest"recipes with a Mexican flair. 

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps from Mels Kitchen Cafe and Avocado, Cream Cheese, and Salsa Puffs from Averie Cooks.  

Both recipes were easy to follow and were yummy.  My favorite were the Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps.  

So as we made the recipes, I decided to change them a bit.  Just reading the ingredients I was concerned the chicken would be too dry. 

 This is our version:

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

2 chicken breasts, bone on or boneless, boiled in salted water for an hour till falling off bone, shredded

    (or cooked shredded pork, shredded beef, ground beef)

2 green scallion onions, chopped

1/2 green pepper diced  

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 clove garlic, minced

ground pepper

1 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

10 medium size flour tortillas

Mix all together and taste for seasoning.  Lay a tortilla flat and place 1 cup chicken mixture down the center of the tortilla making it into a log shape.  Do not go all the way to the edges.  Fold over all four sizes starting on a short side tucking the edges inside. Fill all tortillas till chicken filling is used up.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon olive oil.  When oil has heated up place tortilla seam side down.  Toast each side and transfer to a serving dish.  

 Avocado, Cream Cheese and Salsa Puffs were good but they lacked flavor *note to self-add more flavorful seasoning next time*.  They looked beautiful but we followed the recipe too close.

 If I made them again, I would add green onion, lime, fresh tomato instead of salsa, cilantro or parsley and garlic salt.  We added a little lime to the avocado and chili powder to the cream cheese but they just needed help in the flavor department.

Next time I'd like to try the chicken filling in the puff pastry...now that would be perfect!!

 We had a delicious meal with all the extras.  Finished with a game of "Spoons", coffee and yummy crumb cake from Front Street Bakery.

 "Who loves a lot, forgives a lot."
~Amadeo Nervo

Polish Filled Cookies

247. A favorite cookie at Christmas is the Polish Filled Cookies. Light cream cheese and butter pastry with a sweet bite of jam. This recipe has been a very reliable one for me for many years. You can fill these pastries with any type of fruit preserve or jam.

The apricot preserves worked beautifully and tasted delicious. The fruit in preserves is thicker and has more fruit pieces.

Whereas the raspberry jam has more of a tendency to liquify and has less fruit bits.

This recipe calls for an egg wash to wipe on the tips of the joining edges. This is very smart to do. When I wouldn't use the egg wash the cookies would burst open during the baking process. The egg wash seals the edges together.

Makes 64 small cookies 2 1/2" size.

Polish Filled Cookies (recipe here)

2 stick(s) (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour

Filling: about 1 cup canned ready-to-use fruit and/or nut pastry, cake or dessert filling

Egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 2 tsp cold water

Decoration: confectioners’ sugar

1. Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.
2. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add flour, beating just until dough comes together.
3. Divide in quarters; shape each portion into a 1-in.-thick square with even edges.
4. Wrap each airtight; refrigerate at least 1-1/2 hours or until firm.
5. Heat oven to 350°F. Have baking sheet(s) ready.
6. Tear off a 12-in. sheet of wax paper.
7. Working quickly, generously sprinkle wax paper with flour and top with 1 square of dough (keep rest refrigerated); dust dough with flour. With a rolling pin, roll dough to a 10-in. square (see Tip). Cut in sixteen 2-1/2-in. squares, making 3 evenly spaced cuts horizontally and vertically. Place 1 slightly heaping teaspoon filling in middle of each square. Lightly dab egg wash onto 2 opposite corners, bring corners together over center of filling and pinch to adhere.
8. Bake 15 minutes or until edges are golden. Immediately remove to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Store airtight with wax paper between layers at cool room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.

This is a beautiful recipe. It may be tedious but the time and effort spent are worth it.

"On an exhausted field, only weeds grow."

Polish quote ~ Henryk Sienkiewicz

Banana Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

202. With a couple of over ripe bananas and a craving for something sweet and yummy, I decided to make Banana Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling.

My recipe is developed from several different recipes but the key is the Chobani Greek Yogurt. It adds such great texture and delicious flavor.

Banana Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

1 stick butter, 1/2 cup

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 over ripe bananas

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

6 oz Chobani Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup milk

Cream butter and brown sugar till pale, about 3 minutes. Add bananas, egg and vanilla. Blend together well. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Blend together yogurt and milk in a separate bowl. Alternate adding flour then liquids twice till all ingredients are incorporated. Do not over mix.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool.

Filling:

1 8oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

5 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla

milk, add as desired to achieve right consistency of filling

Mix all together till smooth. Fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Assemble cookies by matching cookies that are the same size. Pipe a generous amount of filling onto bottom of one cookie and top with another.

"C is for cookie, it's good enough for me;

oh cookie cookie cookie starts with C."

~ Cookie Monster, Sesame Street