PW's Calzones - Kinda

Friday night is Steak Night at my dad's

but it was cold and rainy
so..........

 the son and I decide to stay in

so........

what to eat for dinner?

Can you believe, a guy who has never really looked in a cookbook, has been trained to go to The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook to pick out  recipes.

It started back when he selected with the Beef Enchiladas from her cookbook.

I mentioned it on the phone yesterday, and expected a little push back, but got the response, "Ok, where is it?"

He knows anything from this cookbook is complete comfort food GOODNESS.

Enough of the PW cookbook plug.

(If you do not own this cookbook YET, stop now, go to www.amazon.com and order it now.

Obviously by the title of this blog, he chose Calzones -

Her recipe calls for homemade pizza dough.

 I'm not really a "dough" girl..

and 

I just happened to have 2 tubes of Pillsbury Pizza dough 

Her recipe also calls for breakfast sausage and ground beef.  We use spicy italian sausage in all our italian food so we did so here as well. 

Ryan loves pepperoni, so I bought the big slices and used this instead of ground beef.

One more substitution I made is cream cheese instead of ricotta.  We're not big ricotta cheese fans, and I have about 10 boxes of cream cheese after the latest 10 for 10 sale at Kroger.

So, really all I did is use PW's recipe as a guideline with our own ingredients.

The calzones turned out very good for a first try.

The filling was great.

I just need to work on my "dough" skills.

p.s. stay tuned..
making PW's Chicken Fried Steak and Mashed Potatoes on Sunday night!

PW's Creamy Mashed Potatoes

This recipe is from "The Pioneer Woman Cooks"  - page 146

(if you do not own this cookbook yet, you must go get it immediately)

My pictures do not do it justice

(yes, I am still using my iPhone camera)

These babies are made with cream cheese, and let me tell you,

OMG

they are delicious.

I made them to go with these Chicken Tenders.

Click here to get the recipe from "half hour meals"

Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

This is a combination of PW's recipe from her cookbook and a friend of mine who made up her own.

Ingredients

13 jalapenos

One pkg of bacon ( I used Wright's Pepper Bacon)

1 block of cream cheese - softened

3/4 cup of sharp cheddar cheese - grated

1 green onion (chopped)

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

bbq sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil. 

Using gloves, cut each jalapeno in half and remove the membrane and seeds.  Cut the bacon in half.

Combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese, onion, and seasonings.

Spoon mixture into the jalapeno, then wrap with bacon.  Brush with BBQ sauce. (I used Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce)

Bake for a hour or until bacon is brown.

Note: You can use any type of sauce you like - even jelly - if you want to mix the savory with sweet.  I almost used one of my Fischer & Weiser products, but my son is a BBQ lover.  I will be trying that soon.

Other variations - PW uses cream cheese, cheddar cheese and green onions - no seasonings - I bet those are just as delicious. I just have to use cumin and cayenne pepper anytime I can get away with it.   My friend puts shredded chicken in hers - just using a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. 

Fischer & Wieser

Back in December, I posted about the Pomegranate Mango Chipotle sauce..

Well, I am so excited.

 I received an email from Fischer and Wieser.

They read my blog (wow) and offered to send me samples

All I had to do is go to their website -www.jelly.com and choose at least 3 of their sauces or jellies

(isn't that the cutest name for a website.. how lucky that they were able to get that domain name!)

Of course, it was so hard to just choose 3!

So...

I chose 4!

They arrived just in time for Christmas. 

So far,

 I've served the Four Star Black Raspberry Chipotle Sauce over cream cheese.

It's delicious, of course

I have used the Mango Ginger Habanero before to marinate chicken breast for fajitas.

It's awesome!

I have several ideas for the Jalapeno Peach Preserves that do not include cream cheese.

Like PW's biscuits from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook.

OR

 jalapeno cornbread - cooked in a loaf pan, sliced and warmed up on a griddle of butter..

(I saw a variation of  this on Diners, Drive-In and Dives!)

They also included recipe cards that I can't wait to try.

My aunt was asking where she could find them.  She lives in Fredericksburg so I sent her to the Fredericksburg winery. 

Feeling a little stupid because this company is

IN FREDERICKSBURG....

DUH!

You do not have to go to Fredericksburg to purchase these products.
Just go to the cute website I mentioned above, and there is a Store Locator. 
I've seen them here locally in Dallas at various grocery stores that I shop at.
Please try them.. you will not be disappointed. 
You do not have to be a gourmet chef. Most of the sauces are awesome poured over a block of cream cheese.

Cowboys, Chili and 'skins

The Cowboys beat the Eagles during the Wildcard game on Saturday.

They beat them 3 times this year.

It's so exciting!

Anyway, I opened the test kitchen trying out PW (Pioneer Woman's) Chili and Potato Skins.

My friend, Yvette and her husband came over to try the new grub, drink a few beers and watch the 'boys beat the Eagles.

First, I made "chili" bowls.  I used Pillsbury Grand Biscuits.

Sprayed the back of a muffin pan with PAM, and molded them around the cups.

Wa- LA!

Chili in a bowl!

This recipe is from PW's cookbook - "Simple. Perfect Chili" page 82.

Now I followed PW's recipe to a "T"

except

instead of using 2 lbs of ground beef

I used 1 lb of ground turkey and 1 lb of lean ground beef

(trying to save calories for the Potato Skins)

Again, this is from PW's cookbook - "PW's Potato Skins" page 22.

Since there were only 3 of us, I cooked 5 potatoes instead of 8.

I then cut them in half.

Takes me back to Bennigans - 1984.

If you do not have PW's cookbook, then you need to get a copy right away.
It's at all the local book stores, Walmart, and http://www.amazon.com/

   I grew up eating fast food and microwave dinners after my stepmom passed away in 1980.  I had a good friend, who's mom had died when she was young. Our way to get a home cooked meal was to go to Luby's Cafeteria. 
This cookbook brings the basics to 2010.  I love trying all the classic recipes. I haven't been disappointed yet.

The Pioneer Woman Book Signing

Tuesday, Dec 1, 2009 - 6pm.

My very first book signing!

Ree Drummond, who has a blog called "The Pioneer Woman" -

is signing her new book

"The Pioneer Woman Cooks"

@ Borders Bookstore

off Preston and Royal.

This is me waiting. She is to appear at 7pm.

There wasn't even a line or anything when I purchased the book and received my bracelet.

So, how naive of me to think that this might take a hour or maybe 2 tops!

See Ree? Can't you see her? She's standing there with her hand's together - in black..

I know.. I need a new phone.. iPhone does NOT have zoom.

This is a lovely cookbook. She has a great sense of humor, and takes fabulous pictures.

... this is the reward.. which I am glad.

I didn't take a picture with her because I was looking like a soggy dog by midnight.

Boy, did I learn lessons...

Lesson #1: Call the bookstore and find out the specifics.  In this case, they were giving out bracelets early in the day - which was the way to go, because by the time I got there at 6pm and got my bracelet, I was #400. No wonder there wasn't a line.   There were 800 people in line to get their book signed.  I got my signed at midnight, and there were people there until 1:30 in the morning.

Lesson #2 :  Be prepared to wait and wait and wait.  Dress comfortably, bring snacks.. and make sure you bring someone with you that is equally as interested.  (I brought my co-worker since we commute together.  She had never heard of the Pioneer Woman - but figured it's a book store and she'd find stuff to do - again with the mindset that it'd be 2 hours MAX.. not 6 !!! )

Test Kitchen - PW's Enchiladas Experience

PW's Beef Enchiladas

This is the first recipe I made out of The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook.

It was actually at the request of my son!
Test Kitchen consensus - Pretty Good!

I just let the corn tortillas get too soggy when I cooked them in oil and dunked them in the sauce, so they basically disintegrated into the dish - making this an enchilada casserole.

The following week, I have made PW's White Chicken Enchiladas!

I have been on a quest to discover the best Chicken Enchilada recipe.
This one is a keeper.

The last recipe I tried called for flour tortillas... and the "test kitchen" feedback confirmed that flour tortillas are just too thick and gooey for chicken enchiladas.


 I was so excited about this cream sauce, I had to take a picture.

Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the finished product.

If you click the link above the picture, you'll see PW's beautiful picture.

Ree Drummond - The Pioneer Woman

Ree Drummond is going to be in Dallas on Tuesday, 12/1 @ Borders off Preston/Royal promoting her new cookbook.

If you haven't checked out her blog before, click here.  If you have plenty of time on your hands, and you are looking for something to read, check out her Love Story on how she met her Marlboro Man.  I promise you, make sure you have the time, because once you start reading it, YOU WILL NOT WANT TO STOP!
 
For the book tour information, click here!