Month: September 2021

Air Fryer Beef Empanadas!

Trying out a new recipe from The Recipe Critic. This blog appears to be run by Alyssa Rivers, recipe by Kelley Simmons. As this is the first recipe I’m trying from this blog, I will have to read up on it and get back to you.There seems to have been some kerfuffle on the site because folks were saying that empanadas are actually Argentinian and not Mexican. Either way, they were really delicious. I made only one change to this recipe, and that was to cook them in the air fryer. Let’s jump right in!
What you’ll need for the dough:

  • Three cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup cold butter cubed
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup cold water

For the filling:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 6 oz boiled diced potato
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 12 oz ground beef
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 cup frozen peas
  • 1 tbsp chopped green onions
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • Oil to spray on air fryer trays

To make the dough, add the flour butter and salt to your food processor fit it with a blade attachment. Pampered Chef just came out with something called the Flex Plus which is amazing, it is a food processor, a mixer and an immersion blender that is cordless. It runs for 2 hours on one battery, and if you’re still cooking, just switch out the battery and you can go for another 2 hours!

 
You’ll want to pulse your food processor several times, until when you look at the dough, it is crumbly and the butter instead of being cubed resembles the shape of small peas.


Next, add the egg and cold water to the food processor. Only pulse until the dough comes together and forms a bowl. You don’t want to over mix!


Remove the dough from the food processor, place on plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Wrap it up, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.


Now for the filling: Dice your green onions


Dice your red onion


Dice your jalapeno


Dice and boil your potatoes


Chop your parsley


Heat the oil and a large skillet, and add in your onion and jalapeno. Cook for a couple of minutes until slightly softened.


Add your ground beef, and cook about 5 minutes until no longer pink.


And all of your seasonings, salt, chili powder, paprika, cumin and of course, some veggie protein! No one will ever know you cannot taste it!


Stir in the tomato paste, and in your frozen peas cooked potatoes parsley and green onions.


Let’s bring it all together!
Roll out your dough to about 1/4 in thickness.

Use the hand pie and pocket maker to cut circles out of your dough. Place circle on the hand pie and pocket maker. Use the scoop that came with it to scoop the filling, then fold in half.


Since I wanted to have a nice look on the outside, I am using an egg wash. All that is is simply one egg beaten with one tablespoon of water. You brush that on top and it will give a nice golden color.


Set the air fryer to bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until golden brown on the outside.


That’s it! I thought Kelley’s recipe was very delicious, and I would make it again.


It looks like she has quite a few recipes, so I hope you’ll go and visit her blog. My recipe video for this is posted at the bottom of this post, along with the link to Kelley’s recipe/Alyssa’s blog.

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! I am now scheduling parties for October! For the month of October, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Family Pizza Set! Let’s make great food together!

Original recipe link: https://therecipecritic.com/empanadas/

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Banana Bread!

If you’re looking for an easy and delicious quick recipe for banana bread, look no further. Here it is! Absolutely delicious, super quick to make basically dump everything in and bake, it really doesn’t get much easier. 


Banana bread was the first recipe I shared with my daughter, she was only 3 months old and I was still trying to learn how to bake. It was so nervous as I thought I would mess it up, so I just sat her and her little bouncy seat and I talked to her about the recipe, what I was going to add, and I swear she really was paying attention! She couldn’t have banana bread until several months later, but to this day it is one of her favorite breakfast recipes.


This particular recipe is one I’ve been using for several years. I found this on Allrecipes, from Jeannie Meyer, and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as we do. Let’s get started!


What you’ll need:

  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3 bananas, mashed
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/3 cup sour milk*
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract


*SOUR MILK – it sounds gross, but for baking it’s wonderful. It helps to give your breads A nice texture, along with a bit of tangy taste. Without it, some recipes might be a bit too sweet. The sour milk in this recipe creates a lovely balance.
To create sour milk, you add one tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice per cup of milk. For this recipe, since we’re using 1/3 cup milk, I added 1/3 tablespoon white vinegar.


Mash your bananas, and be sure that they are ripe the sweeter the better!


The rest of the recipe is very easy. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well.


Pour your batter into a prepared pan. Since I am using my Pampered Chef stone loaf pan, I actually didn’t have to butter my pan at all. If you’re using a different type of pan, prepare it as you normally would with butter and flour. You can also sprinkle the batter with sugar, if you like.


Bake at 350° for 60 minutes, or until your cake tester when inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.


Remove from oven, and let cool in loaf pan on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes.


Remove loaf from pan, place on rack and let cool at least another 10 minutes. This was a hard feat the last time I made this, as I had five hungry little ones who were desperate for a delicious piece of banana bread!


Slice and serve, you could add a dab of butter or jam if you like, but honestly it’s just great as is.

My recipe video is at the bottom of this post. 

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! I am now scheduling parties for October! For the month of October, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Family Pizza Set! Let’s make great food together!

Original recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16999/grandmas-homemade-banana-bread/

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Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi: Recipe from Cafe Delites – Much More than a Food Blog


I just found out that today is National Linguine Day! Which makes it a perfect day to share with you the recipe I found from Karina at Cafe Delites, Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi.


First though, a little about Cafe Delites. Karina has been around for several years, and I only just realized how much her recipes are a go-to for me and my family for quick, easy, healthy and delicious dinners. Two of my favorites are the ham and bean soup and honey garlic chicken, which I will share in later posts with you.


Karina has also written a book, in which she shares about her cancer diagnosis, link here: Liberation: Breaking the Chains to Survival and Freedom – a True Story https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0792SB1ND/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_FHNEKXCRYN9DYSAK5Z4VShe is a beautiful writer, and I encourage you to read her book and definitely check out her blog: https://cafedelites.com/


Karina is a cancer survivor, and as I have been diagnosed with Smoldering Multiple Myeloma, I find her strength and honesty encouraging to me personally. I love her courage and opening up about her struggles, and how she has not let that stop her from pursuing her passion for cooking.
What I understand about her philosophy is that she does not use diets, rather healthy and balanced foods and meals, even including desserts that are delicious so that you can still maintain your weight and enjoy life with the food that you actually like to eat. That is exactly how I want to live! 


Okay, let’s jump into the recipe.
What you’ll need:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 4-5 large cloves garlic
  • 1 1/4 lb (600 grams) large shrimp
  • Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine or broth
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or to taste (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

TIP: For this recipe especially, you’ll want to have everything on hand or, as they say in France, mise en place. This recipe comes together very quickly, and prepping a little bit ahead makes it much easier for you.


First, you’ll want to peel and de-vein your shrimp. To remove bottom portion of shell,Squeeze with thumb and forefinger, pull firmly. 

Use a sharp knife to de-vein shrimp.
So let’s talk about that for a minute, de-veining shrimp. The dark line that you see in my video shows the digestive tract of the shrimp. While there is no harm in leaving it in, I definitely prefer to remove it. To use a very sharp knife and slice down and remove it, easy peasy!


Next, we’ll use the garlic press to mince 4-5 cloves of garlic.


Now to chop enough flat leaf or Italian parsley to make 1/4 cup. 


Heat your olive oil and two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.


Add garlic and saute just until fragrant, this shouldn’t take more than a minute.


Add in wine, salt, black pepper and red pepper, if using.

Add in your shrimp and saute for a couple of minutes on each side. Simmer for a couple of minutes more, just until your shrimp is cooked through. Please do not overcook your shrimp! If you do, it will become very chewy, and we do


Stir in the remaining butter, press half a lemon into the sauce which should give you about two tablespoons lemon juice.


Stir in your parsley!


Since today is National Linguine Day, I’m serving this over linguine, of course.


This is such a wonderful recipe, and I again encourage you to go over and visit Karina’s blog, Cafe Delites. 
My recipe video is at the bottom of this post. 

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! For the month of September, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Enameled Cast Iron Skillet! Let’s make great food together!

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Air Fryer Beignets!

So, I never realized that a biscuit could taste even better when it becomes an Air Fryer Beignet! This is another wonderful Pampered Chef recipe, it was so easy to make, and such a delicious treat, even the next day.


Let’s jump right in!


What you’ll need:

  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) sugar
  • 2 tsp (10ml) cinnamon
  • 1 pkg (16.3 oz./462 g) flaky biscuit dough (8 biscuits)
  • Flour for dusting
  • 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate morsels, divided
  • Oil for spraying
  • 1 tbsp butter, melted
  • Optional: chocolate sauce


First, you’ll want to grab a package of refrigerated flaky biscuit dough which contains eight biscuits. Open the package, then peel and divide each piece of biscuit and half to create 16 biscuits total.


Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll out each biscuit to a 4-in (10-cm) round.

Next, dip the hand pie and pocket maker in flower and place the dough on top fill one side of the dough with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of chocolate morsels (I used dark chocolate), pressed to seal, then remove from the pocket maker. Repeat for each piece of dough.


Spray the trays of the deluxe air fryer with oil. Divide the beignets evenly onto both trays.

Place the trays on the bottom to racks Cook on BAKE for 12 minutes, until golden brown, rotating the trays halfway through.


While they are cooking, combine 1/4 cup (60ml) sugar with 2 teaspoons (10 ml) cinnamon and a shallow bowl.


When they are cooked fully, brush the top of each beignet with melted butter and dip the buttered side into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.


Serve the beignets warm and drizzle chocolate sauce, if you’d like. I actually took about a quarter cup of dark chocolate morsels and melted them on HIGH in the microwave for 30 seconds, then whisked. I put it in for another 10 seconds, whisked again and that is what I used to drizzle over the beignets.

We found them to be delicious the next morning as well. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! My recipe video is at the bottom of this post.

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! For the month of September, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Enameled Cast Iron Skillet! Let’s make great food together!

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Coffee Ice Cream

Today is National Coffee Ice Cream Day!! Let’s celebrate by making some deliciously easy coffee ice cream, from Max Falkowitz over at Serious Eats! 
I love to eat coffee ice cream, but could never find a recipe that I liked enough to make again. Either they were too creamy with not enough coffee, or vice versa. This recipe is different, it was so easy and I love that it’s using actual coffee grounds and not brewed coffee.
After reading the reviews, I noticed that many people had an issue with the coffee grounds not being streamed out of the ice cream, creating a bitter aftertaste. Besides, who really wants to chew on coffee grounds? Not me. So I decided to use the mesh strainer bag that came with my Pampered Chef deluxe cooking blender. I put the coffee grounds in there, and it worked like a charm. We have all of that beautiful coffee taste, without any chewy or bitter grounds. It was a perfect balance of creamy and smooth coffee, and If you are a coffee lover, I know that you will love this recipe! 
Let’s get started with what you’ll need:

  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 5 tablespoons medium grind coffee
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

First, you’ll want to whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a pan that has a heavy bottom. This helps to ensure that everything cooks evenly, which is why I used my Enameled Cast Iron Skillet, which I now use at least once a day, because everything cooks so evenly in it.


When the eggs and sugar are fully mixed together, stir in the cream and milk making sure that everything is fully incorporated.

That’s when I added my mesh strainer bag filled with five tablespoons of coffee. I just placed it in and moved it around to ensure that it was so through, without any coffee grounds in the mixture.

Next, cook the mixture over medium low heat making sure that you whisk often. You’ll want the mixture to come to 170°F, but if you’re standing there and whisking it you’ll notice it starts to turn into custard. To test this, I like to take a wooden spoon and stir it and swipe my finger across the back of the spoon. If it leaves a clean line in the middle you’ll know it’s ready. 


Turn off the heat, and if you’re adding the salt this is the time to do it.

Strain the custard through a fine strainer, and you can chill it either in an ice bath or place your container in the refrigerator.

Check the temperature, and when it reaches 40° F then you’re ready to use your ice cream maker.
With my ice cream maker I made sure that the base was frozen at least 24 hours before using, and then I just put the top on press power and set the timer to 35 minutes. It was actually done a few minutes early but I let it keep turning anyway because who doesn’t like creamy ice cream? As soon as I set the timer, the paddle starts to churn and that’s when I added the coffee mixture.


I like to have harder ice cream, so I stored mine in some freezer containers. 

All done!

Let me tell you, it is absolutely delicious! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. Thank you Max for a wonderful recipe, and I hope that my tip about this bag helps someone. I will definitely be making this again, please let me know if you decide to make this and how it turns out. I will post the link to Max’s delicious recipe at the bottom of this post. Please check out my video at the end. I look forward to hearing from you!

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! For the month of September, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Enameled Cast Iron Skillet used for this recipe! Let’s make great food together!

Here is the link to Max Falkowitz’s DELICIOUS recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/bold-bracing-coffee-ice-cream-recipe

Link to his bio: https://www.seriouseats.com/max-falkowitz-5118901

Here’s my video:

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One-Pot Chicken & Gnocchi

Oh my goodness. This easy-to-make dish comes together, ready-to-eat in 30 minutes. It tastes decadent, with a silky, creamy sauce that comes from the gnocchi and NOT heavy cream. The chicken is cooked to perfection, and the tastes come together beautifully. It will make people think this recipe took you hours to put together. I love that!


This is another great Pampered Chef recipe. I love this company, they not only give us great tools to make our time in the kitchen easier, but they create TONS of amazing recipes in their own test kitchen, to make sure that we can use these tools properly, and to help us get in and out of the kitchen quickly, so that we can enjoy not only our food, but our family and friends. I will share the tools and seasonings that I’ve used here, please note that I may make commission on any products purchased. 


Let me show you how easy this is to pull this together!!

Note: I like to prep as many ingredients as I can before beginning my recipe. You can certainly do everything as you go along, the important thing I feel is to find whatever way works best for you when you are cooking. For me, I like to read my recipe a couple of times, because I know that I will forget something. Then, I will prep as much as I can before beginning to cook. This way, I ensure that I have everything I need, and if I don’t, then I can substitute (if I’m able to) and everything will be ready at my fingertips when I am actually cooking. Okay, let’s begin.


First, you’ll need two slices of bacon. I’m a firm believer that bacon belongs in almost everything! In this dish, it is as a bit of smoky flavor compliment to the chicken and gnocchi.


Next, you’ll want six boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Season them with salt and pepper, and Italian seasoning. Of course, I use my Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning Mix, what else?!


Of course, you have to have garlic. The recipe calls for three garlic cloves, but you could use more or less depending on your personal taste. For this recipe, we are pressing the garlic. That releases a lot of the garlicky flavor, giving it a nice “bite”.


The last thing we will prep is Parmesan cheese. I love to use freshly grated cheese for a couple of reasons. I believe that we get more (that is, more cheese and more money in our pockets) if we buy a wedge of cheese then if we purchase a container at the store. You’re paying for the container, and there are some fillers in store bought cheese that are not necessarily bad for you, but they need to use filler so that the cheese does not stick to itself and it keeps fresh for longer. So I like to use a wedge of cheese and freshly grate it as I need it, that way, I know exactly what is going into my recipes. You’ll want to finely grate 2 oz of Parmesan cheese, which is equal to about 1 cup.


Before we begin to cook, you’ll need 1/2 cup frozen peas, 2 cups of 2% or whole milk and 1 lb potato gnocchi. Okay, here we go!


Heat your skillet over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add your bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside.


Next add your seasoned chicken to the skillet and cook about 5-7 minutes per side, or until chicken reaches 165°F (74°C). Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.


Now add the garlic, keeping in mind that because it’s pressed it can burn easily. You only want to let it heat up for about 10 seconds, just to get the flavors melding. Immediately add the milk, gnocchi, cheese, bacon, and one more teaspoon of Italian seasoning mix. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until the milk has reduced slightly and started to thicken. This should take about 3 minutes.


Last step, stir in the peas and add the chicken back to the skillet. Cook on medium low for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly.


All done! I hope that you’ll try this recipe, and please let me know if you like it, or if you did anything different. I love to hear how people change recipes around to make it their own. Check out my video at the end. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here: https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen

PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! For the month of September, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN the Enameled Cast Iron Skillet used for this recipe! Let’s make great food together!

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