Caprese Sticks and Tomato Mozzerella Pesto Puff Pastry Spirals---For A Virtual Bridal Shower

Today I’m joining with some other bloggers for a Virtual Bridal Shower for Jessica from My Baking Heart!  She’s getting married—soon!  Nikki at Pennies on a Platter is hosting Jessica’s bridal shower.  She’ll have a round up with all the bloggers’ posts with links to their delicious contributions for the shower.  I can’t wait to see it!

I’ve known Jessica in the blogging world almost the whole time I’ve been blogging, since she has always been involved with Tuesdays With Dorie even all through Baking From My Home to Yours.  She is also faithful with the French Fridays With Dorie group who are cooking and baking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table cookbook.  I tried to keep up with that group, but was finding it too hard to keep that up weekly along with all the other things I’m doing.  Jessica almost never seems to miss a post.  Now we both continue Tuesdays With Dorie as this year we’ve started baking our way through Baking With Julia.

I decided to make an appetizer for the shower.  Actually, I ended up making two.  First of all, with my always blooming AeroGarden full of basil, I kept thinking about these little tomato-mozzarella-basil sticks—perfect bites sitting on a plate drizzled with balsamic syrup. 

Caprese Sticks, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

cherry/grape tomatoes

fresh mozzarella pearls

basil

balsamic vinegar

First, in a small saucepan over low heat, reduce some balsamic vinegar.  About 1/4 cup of vinegar will reduce to 1-2 tablespoons and will thicken into a syrup consistency.  Let it cool while preparing the caprese sticks.  First add a tomato to the stick, then a small basil leaf and end with a mozzarella pearl.  Make as many as you’d like.  Drizzle some of the syrup on a plate or serving platter (it looks the best on a white plate).  Set the prepared sticks on the syrup.

*If you find one whole basil leaf too strong on each stick, you can tear them smaller or use smaller leaves.  I think they are good, but some might think it a little strong.

Love that balsamic reduction!  Caprese is one of my favorite flavor combinations.  These were super simple to make.  I love that the mozzarella pearls aren’t round, but look more like gems. 

I also recently made some pesto puff pastry spirals for a baby shower I hosted.  I actually make them for all kinds of occasions.  Sometimes the spread on them is a little different, in the past I have spread them with some sauteed spinach with garlic, cooled and chopped finely, but they are almost always sprinkled with chopped roasted red pepper, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.  Roll up each side of the puff pastry and slice into spirals. 

Love the light, crisp, flakiness of these and the pesto and cheese flavor is delicious!

Tomato Mozzarella Pesto Puff Pastry Spirals, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed

about 4 tablespoons prepared pesto (or store bought)

1/4 cup finely chopped roasted red pepper

1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped small (optional)

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

*Other times, I have also added some finely chopped artichoke hearts and/or some finely chopped sauteed spinach with garlic (cooled before spreading over the pastry).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Lay one puff pastry out flat on a lightly floured counter.  If any of the seams are slightly torn, pinch them together with your fingers.  Roll with a rolling pin the puffy pastry (which will also help seal any tears) until it is a little thinner than it is originally. 

Spread evenly about 2 tablespoons of the prepared pesto (or sauteed/cooled spinach, may use or need more per sheet of pastry, it’s really to taste) onto the puff pastry.  Next sprinkle on the red pepper and if using, the tomato and artichoke.  Sprinkle on half the mozzarella cheese and parmesan.  Roll from the long ends of the pastry each side to half way.  Slice the rolled pastry into 15-17 slices and lay each spiral flat on the baking sheet.   Bake for about 20 minutes until golden and crispy and the cheese is melted.  While the first sheet is baking, prepare the second sheet the same way.  Serve slightly warm.

I always eat way too many of these.  ;)

So fun to be part of Jessica's virtual bridal shower!  Thanks again for inviting me, Jessica, and for hosting the party, Nikki.  Check out what everyone brought to the party at Nikki’s blog!  Congratulations on your upcoming marriage and wedding, Jessica!  Enjoy your day! 

 Love this picture/invitation!

Cookie Carnival—Double Chocolate Cookies with Vanilla Chips and Macadamia Nuts

It’s Cookie Carnival time!  The cookies I decided to make for July (we always have two to choose from) were the Double-Chocolate Espresso Cookies from Taste of Home by Cindi Paulson.  Since the cookies had espresso in them and I don’t use coffee in baking, I changed a few things, but the basics of the cookie dough were just as written and I added vanilla chips and macadamia nuts to half the dough and tried something fun with the other half and added a little balsamic syrup!

Double-Chocolate Cookies with Vanilla Chips and Macadamia Nuts, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Taste of Home

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 cups (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white chocolate or vanilla chips*
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, toasted and chopped*
• 1  1/2 tablespoons of balsamic syrup (or vinegar)*
• *With half the cookie dough I used the chips and nuts and only put the balsamic syrup in the other half with some added semi sweet chocolate chips (probably about 6 ounces-which is 1 cup)

In a small saucepan, melt unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup chocolate chips and butter,  stir until smooth. Remove from the heat; set aside to cool.  In a medium bowl, beat sugar and eggs for 3 minutes or until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in the chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to chocolate mixture. Stir in vanilla chips and nuts.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until puffed and tops are cracked. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Both were good and I liked the subtle fruity flavor with the added balsamic syrup.  The balsamic syrup was super easy to make.  I’d made some the day before for a caprese panini I saw Shelby at The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch (love her and her blog!) that was delicious.  I made mine with some whole wheat pita.  Layered in the pita was some fresh mozzerella cheese, tomatoes, fresh basil and drizzled with some balsamic syrup.  I could eat that sammie everyday!  Just for fun, I thought I’d see if I could make some balsamic syrup.  I put about 1/3 cup of vinegar in a small glass microwave safe dish and cooked it in 30 second intervals.  After only about 2 minutes in the microwave, it was a great syrupy consistency and reduced nicely!  Can’t wait to make more!

The other day I also made a “pizza” with the pita bread with mozzarella cheese, sliced fresh peach, basil and balsamic syrup and then grilled in the oven on broil for a few minutes.  That idea was inspired by Maria at Two Peas and Their Pod.  Also very good!

 

Back to the cookies!  I knew I’d heard of chocolate paired with balsamic vinegar, so I decided to just give it a try.  I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the syrup to half the cookie dough.  I almost wished there would have been a little bit more of the balsamic flavor, but I was too afraid to really overwhelm the cookies.  I’m sure I’ll try chocolate with balsamic again. 

Of the two ways I made the cookies, the ones with the vanilla chips (white chocolate would be even better, I just had some of those vanilla chips to use up) and macadamia nuts were better.  I loved the nuts in the chocolate cookie.  I added one cup of vanilla chips and half a cup of nuts to half the cookie dough.  They would have been fine with a little less chips, but tasted great!

Even though I left the espresso out of these Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies, turns out they are a great base for a nice brownie-like chocolate cookie with all kinds of acceptable mix-ins!

What a fun summer we’re having with so much company coming all the time that we love to have stay with us, we’ve named our house the Smith Hotel.  (Anyone is welcome anytime, we’ll leave the light on for ya!)  My parents just left this morning after spending the weekend with us as one of my niece’s got married on Saturday.  Such great times!

Wedding photo courtesy of my sister-in-law, Heidi.  (She took some fabulous pictures!)

Here’s my parents with me and the kids just this morning before they left to head back to Idaho.  And if I learned anything from this picture, it’s that my boys all really need haircuts!  (Actually, we already knew that and that’s on the list of things to do this week.)

And finally, just have to throw in these great action shots of my dad taking Parker on in a game of tetherball out on the driveway before they left.

Nice shot, Dad.  Wait……

Um, yeah, Dad, you’re not supposed to get all tied up in the rope.  Just sayin’.  Love my parents!  Great times!  (Sorry you have to see the neighbors property in the background.)

Wheatberry Salad with Dried Cherries, Roasted Butternut Squash and Toasted Pecans

I LOVE this Wheatberry Salad.  I could eat this and nothing else except maybe chocolate for the rest of my life.  I made a similar wheatberry salad a month or so ago, but it didn’t have squash in it and when I saw this one on Fallon’s blog, Fallon's Cucina, recently, I knew I wanted wheatberry salad again.

I mostly followed Fallon’s recipe, but I did make a few changes.  Her recipe called for green onions, and I just don’t “do” onions, so I added celery instead.  I also added some chopped fresh parsley.  Then the only other difference was that I cooked the wheatberries different from her recipe.  Fallon first soaked the wheat for an hour and then cooked it with a specified amount of water and simmered it covered on the stove.  I don’t taste a difference, but in the first recipe I made, it just said to cook the wheat, no soaking and to just have water covering the wheat by about an inch, then to  boil/simmer it with no lid on the pot.  So that is what I did.  The wheat was done in about 45 minutes.  The salad has a great balsamic Dijon dressing.  Here’s the recipe as I made it and you can check out Fallon’s on the link above, too.  She’s got more yummy pictures of her salad.

Wheatberry Salad with Dried Cherries, Roasted Butternut Squash and Toasted Pecans, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Fallon’s Cucina

3/4 cup cooked wheatberries* see instructions below

3/4 cup diced into about 1/2 inch cubes, roasted butternut squash* see instructions below

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup dried sour cherries, chopped

1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

*Cover the wheat in a medium-sized saucepan with a good inch of water over the top of the wheat.  Boil it uncovered until wheat is tender and chewy, about 45 minutes.  Keep the water level about an inch over the wheat, when it gets low, add more water.  Drain any access liquid and cool the wheatberries.

*Roast the diced squash on a baking sheet in a single layer for about 20-30 minutes (until tender) in a 400 degree oven.  Once the squash is cut, peeled and diced, toss it with some olive oil and salt and pepper.

Assemble the salad by combining the wheatberries, squash, celery, cherries, pecans and parsley and tossing it in a large bowl when the wheat and squash are cooled.

Make the dressing while the wheat cools and/or while the squash is roasting. 

Honey Balsamic Dijon Dressing

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons honey (ooh, I just realized I used tablespoons—still good!)

salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Combine the vinegar, mustard, honey and salt and pepper in a medium sized bowl and whisk together.  Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking.  Taste for seasoning adjustments.  Set aside.

Toss the salad with the dressing about a tablespoon at a time.  You won’t use all of it.  Refrigerate for a few hours (or don’t—I didn’t).  Enjoy.

I had some for dinner on a bed of baby spinach.  I would eat this in a box or with a fox or in a car or on a train or in the rain….. ;)  Thanks, Fallon!