Sweet & Savory Saturdays #13

Hooray for the weekend!  It's practically summer here in Utah & I am loving the hot weather.  I love being outside in the sun with my kids, except today has been a little overcast.  Plus, all this great weather means we BBQ at least every weekend if not occasionally during the week as well.  Love it!  This time of year is perfect for fun memories.  I just love being outdoors!

Great party last weekend!  Lots of fabulous recipes to choose from.  The features from last week are:

Grandma's Shrimp Salad from Heavenly Savings

Lime Dream Cake from Cooking for the Seven Dwarfs

Cinnamon Streusel Dessert Pizza from Mommy On Demand

Lime & Coconut Icebox Cake from Call Me PMc

Lime was a popular interest last week...I don't blame anyone, I love lime!

Have a great weekend everyone!  Get outside & make great memories, after you link up of course! :)

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Party Guidelines:

1. PLEASE Follow Dessert Now, Dinner Later! on Facebook or any social media.
2. PLEASE Grab a Sweet & Savory Saturdays Button from my "Grab a Button" page at the top & post it to your Link Parties page or link back to my blog within the recipe post.
3. PLEASE Only link up to specific recipes.  Also, NO giveaways, sales/promotions, etsy, or link parties.
4. PLEASE Visit the 2 links before yours & leave some comment LOVE.  Have fun!  

Better Than...Beef Stroganoff

*Disclaimer:  I received free jars of Better Than Bouillon from Superior Touch as inspiration for this post.  This post is written by me.  All opinions are 100% mine.  You can read my advertising & disclosure policy HERE.

I love quick dinners that take less than 30 minutes from start to finish.  This is one of those meals.  It might even be closer to 20 minutes or less.  We have been having this meal a lot lately, because life has been a bit crazy, so it's great to know I can count on this easy meal.  And with the exception of my super picky son, my husband, daughter & I all inhale this dish.

I typically use beef broth for this recipe, but when I received a jar of Mushroom Base from Superior Touch, I knew I had to use it on this recipe.  I actually don't like mushrooms.  It's a texture thing, but I do love the flavor that they provide.  When I opened the jar of mushroom base, the aroma was amazing!  It was condensed yumminess that I could not wait to try!

My husband recognized the amazing flavor that it gave to this meal right away! He said that it was the best stroganoff I have made yet!  I felt the same way!

I have always been fond of Better Than Bouillon.  We used it frequently in a restaurant I worked in.  We even used it when I was in Culinary school, so I am very familiar with how rich & flavorful it makes broth.  I use the chicken base in a lot of meals like: Quick Sausage Jambalaya, Sausage Tomato Tortellini Soup, Honey Glazed Carrots, Zuppa Toscana, Chicken Pot Pie Crumble & Hawaiian Haystacks, to name a few.  It's extremely versatile!  Now I can experiment more with this mushroom base, because if it made this stroganoff absolutely amazing, I know it can make other recipes incredible as well.

If you haven't tried Superior Touch's Better Than Bouillon premium food bases, then there is something wrong with you!  Really!  Nothing compares to the flavor profile you get using these bases.  They are only $3.44 a jar at my Wal-Mart so they're incredibly inexpensive for a really flavorful & easy to use product (just add HOT [boiling] water.)  I urge you to pick up a jar & try it for yourself.  Start with this recipe or one of the recipes I mentioned above; or any favorite family recipe you have that uses broth.  Do it!  You know you want to!

Better Than...Beef Stroganoff

Recipe by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)

• 8-10oz whole wheat egg noodles (not a full 16oz package, just a little over half)
• 1 lb ground beef (I use 85/15)
• 1 tsp Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Mushroom Base (can sub Beef Base)
• 1 cup HOT water
• 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 scant Tbsp Montreal steak seasoning
• 1 cup light sour cream

1. Start to cook egg noodles according to the directions on the package.
2. Meanwhile, brown beef in a non-stick skillet.  Drain fat.
3. Dissolve Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Mushroom Base into 1 cup of HOT water.  Add cornstarch & whisk until combined.
4. Return cooked ground beef to skillet.  Add Montreal steak seasoning, broth mixture, & sour cream.  Heat until it bubbles, & simmer until it thickens; a few minutes.
5. Drain noodles when they are done & top with the meat gravy.  Enjoy!

Curry Ginger Chicken Salad

 

*Disclaimer:  I received free product from Gourmet Garden in order to make this post. This post is written by me.  All opinions are 100% mine.  You can read my advertising & disclosure policy HERE.

I can't believe this is the first time I have actually tried Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices, but I can say that it won't be the last time!  I have seen these little green tubes at the store all the time.  I guess I will shamefully admit that I use a lot of dried herbs/spices.  The only fresh things I use are garlic, which I buy in already peeled cloves & keep in the freezer to shred on my microplane when I need it.  Ginger, I peel & keep chunks in the freezer to also shred on my microplane when I need it.  Cilantro, I buy only if I am going to use it in a recipe & then the leftovers usually go in the garbage, unless I have another recipe I am using it for.  So the whole concept of fresh herbs & spices at my fingertips, mess free, ready-to-use, with no waste really got me excited to try these.

Gourmet Garden offers a variety of 16 fresh herbs, spices, & blends.  They are all made with organic herbs.  The coolest thing, is that they last up to 3 months in the fridge, or 6 months in the freezer.  I totally put mine straight in the freezer & when I took them out for this recipe, they easily squeezed out of the tubes, as if they were coming from the fridge.  I love it!

Today's recipe is from a cookbook I received along with the tubes of fresh herbs/spices from Gourmet Garden.  I thought I would test out my samples on a tried & true recipe they have, but these tubes can be used for any recipe, really.  Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices are easy to use, NO PREP, & smell & taste just like fresh.  I am really mad I haven't tried them before now, oh well, live & learn right?

This recipe stood out to me because my husband & I love curry, we love ginger, & anything with fruit in it has my name calling it.  The toasted pine nuts were really good in this salad as well & the chili pepper gave it a nice heat at the end of each bite.  This is a great salad to make this summer!

Curry Ginger Chicken Salad

Recipe lightly altered from Gourmet Garden by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)

• 1/2 cup non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup reduced sugar apricot preserves
• 2 Tbsp Gourmet Garden Chili Pepper
• 2 Tbsp Gourmet Garden Ginger
• 1 tsp Gourmet Garden Cilantro
• 2 tsp sweet curry powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 ripe mango, peeled, seeded & diced
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 cups cubed, cooked chicken breast
• 1 head romaine or bibb lettuce, cleaned & separated into leaves

1. In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, preserves, Gourmet Garden Chili Pepper, Gourmet Garden Ginger, Gourmet Garden Cilantro, curry powder & salt.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients & mix well.
3. Serve chicken salad on top of lettuce leaves.

How to... Cut a Mango

I love mangoes in fruit salsas, salads & to snack on.  They are the perfect summer fruit!  Today I am sharing some knife skills education on how to cut a mango.

SELECT A RIPE MANGO: Look for mangoes that are football shaped rather than thin or flat. The flatter mangoes may be stringy. Avoid stringy looking, shriveled mangoes. The mangoes that are fuller & rounder usually have the deep color of a ripe peach instead of the yellowish green that the other varieties have.

Check the area around the stem; if it looks plump & round, the mango is ripe.  With the stem end up, smell the mango.  A ripe mango will have a sweet, fruity aroma & be slightly soft to the touch, like an avocado or peach.  A few brown speckles is also a normal indication of ripeness. 

PREPARE to cut the fruit with a sturdy cutting board & desired knives.  (I used a chef's & paring knife.)

SLICE the mango lengthwise on either side of the center core.

TRIM the sides around the center core.

SCORE the fruit inside the peel, but not through the skin of the peel.

PUSH the fruit outwards.

Carefully REMOVE the cubes of fruit by cutting down towards the cutting board as close to the skin that you can.

REPEAT until all fruit is removed from the peel.

*1 medium to large Mango yields about 3/4 to 1 cup of cubed fruit.

Soft & Gooey Marshmallow Popcorn

 

My friend Liz raved about this marshmallow popcorn that one of our other friends, Melanie, had the recipe for.  She said it was different than any other recipe you can find on the internet or Pinterest.  I was very interested so I asked Melanie for the recipe & we had it at a girls night party I had.  

This popcorn is seriously amazing!  I don't usually like marshmallows (I guess that might make me weird) but this is absolutely "eat the whole bowl" delicious!  Really!  It is so hard to stop eating!!!  

This recipe makes a RIDICULOUS amount of popcorn, so I would cut it in half if you are not having lots of friends helping you eat it.  Or you could make it & bring a large plate to your friends & neighbors.  Either way, it is definitely worth making & soon!  I can see this as the perfect snack to a late night summer movie outside with the projector.  Make this!

Soft & Gooey Marshmallow Popcorn

Recipe from Melanie Jeppsen & adored by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)

• 8 quarts popcorn (air popped or about 8 bags of butter flavored microwave popcorn)
• 1 (16oz) package mini marshmallows
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks--use salted if using air popped popcorn, or use unsalted if using butter flavored microwave popcorn)
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Pop corn & place in an EXTRA LARGE bowl; remove any un-popped kernels.  Add marshmallows to popcorn.  Toss lightly.
2. Bring the butter, sugar & corn syrup to a boil.  Turn down the heat & let simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Do NOT overcook or it will be hard instead of gooey & soft.  Add vanilla (careful, it bubbles up.)  Pour over popcorn/marshmallow mixture & stir well to coat.  *Best served warm, but will stay soft even when cooled down.  Keep leftovers covered.

Makes 32 servings.
*For extra gooey popcorn, you can leave the marshmallows on top of the popcorn before mixing, so when you pour the hot buttery mixture on top & then mix it in, more of the marshmallows will have melted.  I like the chunks of mallows in the popcorn though.  Just have fun with it!

Homemade English Muffins

 

 

*Disclaimer:  I received a free bag of flour from King Arthur Flour as inspiration for this post.  This post is written by me.  All opinions are 100% mine.  You can read my advertising & disclosure policy HERE.

I had heard of King Arthur Flour before.  Mostly just in passing the bags of flour in the baking aisle at the store or seeing a recipe or two pinned on Pinterest.  I have actually been inspired by a few King Arthur Flour recipes & had great success: Apple Slab Pie, Chocolate Roulade with Whipped Peanut Butter Filling, & Cinnamon Chip Bread.

When I participated in the "April Showers Bring May...Flour?" giveaway earlier this month, I was fortunate to receive a bag of flour for my own use in connection with the flour donated for the giveaway.  

I was excited to give it a try.  I always wondered if there was anything different about it because it is a little pricier than other brands of the same weight.

I started reading the bag & was pleasantly surprised to find that King Arthur Flour is "always unbleached" & "never contains any unnecessary chemicals or additives."  It's good to know that some companies care about the quality of the products they make for consumers.

This flour is high quality!  It's versatile for cookies, bread, cakes/cupcakes, & pastries.  AND, King Arthur Flour backs their superior flour with resources from more than two centuries of baking experience:

• KINGARTHURFLOUR.COM for trusted recipes, baking tips, online shopping, tutorials, videos etc.  (Did you know King Arthur Flour sells way more than flour?  I didn't!  They have ingredients, pans, mixes, kitchen tools, gluten free & more!)
• THE BAKING HOTLINE when you need advice you can call their staff of experienced bakers or chat live online.  (That sounds like superior customer service to me!)
• BAKING EDUCATION CENTER offers hands-on baking instruction in Norwich, VT.  (How fun would that be?)

I might read my product labels more often now!  Seems like it would be nice to support the companies that genuinely care so much about the buyers & want them to have success with their product.  Just a thought...

Anyway, let's get to today's post!  These English muffins are so easy to make AND my husband was surprised that they looked like they came right out of a bag from the store!  The flour worked great & I don't know for sure or not, but I feel like I didn't need as much flour when rolling my dough out & mixing it together.  It might be the elevation where I live, or it might be the quality of flour.  If anything, King Arthur Flour is passionate about providing a product that gets great results & that is what I had with my english muffins.  Soft, chewy, perfection!

Check out some King Arthur Flour recipes, or shop online because they have lots of cool kitchen gadgets!

Homemade English Muffins

Recipe lightly altered from USMasala by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)

• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 1/4 tsp rapid rise yeast
• 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 3/4 to 3 cups King Arthur Flour All-Purpose Flour
• 1-2 Tbsp cornmeal

1. Heat milk & butter just long enough to melt butter (stovetop or microwave is fine.)  Let rest in fridge until warm (no longer hot.)
2. Meanwhile, dissolve yeast & sugar into 1/2 cup warm water.  Let sit 5 minutes until bubbling & frothy.
3. Combine milk & yeast mixtures.  Add salt & just enough flour that when it's stirred, it balls up.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  With oil greased hands, knead dough for 5 minutes until gluten has developed & is smooth & elastic.  Cover with a towel & let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Place a piece of parchment on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.  Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/2" thick.  Cut circles (with a cookie/biscuit cutter) & place on the cornmeal sprinkled parchment paper.  Roll & cut until all dough is used.  Sprinkle the tops with extra cornmeal, cover with a towel & let rise for 45 minutes (double in size.)
5. Using a heavy, non-stick skillet or griddle (NO grease/cooking spray), cook muffins on low to medium-low for 6-8 minutes until browned on each side.  Allow to cool, split & serve with desired spread.  (I like to toast mine after it is split open.)

*Makes about 9 English Muffins.  

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

Oh. My. Heck.  You are going to love these cookies!  You use blueberry muffin mix, cream cheese, & white chocolate chips (plus a few other ingredients.)  For real!  Delicious!!!  You could even use raspberry muffin mix to make them raspberry cheesecake cookies!  These cookies are just lovely to share with friends!  Bring them to your next picnic, potluck, or family reunion.  They will be an instant hit!

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

Recipe altered from The Inspiration Café by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)

• 4oz cream cheese (I used Neufchatel- 1/3 less fat)
• 1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco (shortening)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 (7oz) boxes Jiffy blueberry muffin mix
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1. Cream the cream cheese, Crisco, & brown sugar.  Add eggs & vanilla.  Blend.  Scrape the bowl.
2. Add muffin mix & flour.  Mix until just incorporated.  Fold in white chocolate chips.
3. Scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 325*F for 14 minutes.  Allow to cool before removing from sheet.

*Makes about 4 dozen small cookies.