What do you think of when someone says, "calzone"? Italian... pepperoni, mozzarella cheese stretching out from the piece in your hand to the piece now in your mouth? Seinfeld perhaps?
I highly doubt you think of Tex-Mex when it comes to calzones. Truth be told, neither did I. Until I found this recipe that is. I actually adapted this recipe from a recipe I found in Cooking Light. I'm not the biggest fan salsa verde or ground chicken so I wanted to change it up a bit. I made this recipe a few times until I finally found the recipe I make today! And now I share it with you so you can make it tonight.
Tex-Mex Calzones
original recipe by Cooking Light, adapted by me!
1 Pillsbury Ready-Made Pie Crust (use the kind in the box in the biscuit section of your grocery store)
Bottle of your favorite Salsa (I use Pace Restaurant Style)
1/4 - 1/3 c. Shredded Mexican Cheese
1/2 pound Ground Chicken
Tortilla Chips
Cook your ground chicken until no longer pink.
While your chicken is cooking, preheat your oven and allow your pie crust to come to room temp as per the directions on the pie crust box.
Add in half a cup of salsa.
Roll out your pie crust.
Pour your salsa-chicken mixture onto one half of the pie crust, leaving a one inch space between the edge of the pie crust and the chicken.
Top with cheese (add as much or as little as you'd like).
Fold the other half of the pie crust over the chicken mixture.
Seal closed with a fork or your fingers.
Cut three vent holes into the top of the pie crust with a knife.
Bake in your preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
Serve with the remainder of the salsa and chips and enjoy!
Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted on here. My sincerest apologies but I CAN EXPLAIN! First off, Ryan and I moved into our new house! Yay! *claps* *jumps up and down excitedly* Moving involves all sorts of things like packing and more packing. Did I mention packing? Oh and we also had a wedding to go to down in Texas in the midst of all the packing and moving and unpacking. So, of course, I blame everyone else =D That's just what I do. Anyhoo, just because I've been surrounded by so many cardboard boxes that I thought I lived in one, didn't mean that I wasn't baking. Oh I was baking - I just wasn't posting. Bad Jamie, I know. You'll be bombarded with posts and then you'll be sick of me (well, maybe not "bombarded" but you get the idea).
I've made a decision... *drumroll please*... to begin posting a few of my budget friendly dinners that I tend to make all the time. And I mean, ALL THE TIME. Usually my budget friendly dinners are quite good if I do say so myself and Ryan loves them. So to start off our new series, we're going to begin with one Ryan's favorites, Jamie's Jambalaya (I can call it "Jamie's" because I came up with the recipe. All by myself. Do I get a gold star?). The recipe below makes a lot of jambalaya. There is usually enough for Ryan and I have to eat for dinner and have two or three servings for lunches during the week! This is also very HUSBAND FRIENDLY. That's right ladies, it's so simple your husband can make it (I should know, I made Ryan make it once and he completed it with no problem). And because I love this recipe and I love Seinfeld, I must include the following clip:
(yes, we actually do pronounce "jambalaya" the same way Newman does when we eat it.)
To go along with my jambalaya, I've included this recipe for corn muffins which has become one of my absolute favorites! Corn muffins go so well with almost anything. They go great with barbecue (I'm actually going to have some with my barbecue spaghetti this week!)... grilled anything... pork chops. The list goes on. I hope you enjoy not only the corn muffins but the new series as well!! Budget Friendly Dinner Series - Jamie's Jambalaya
recipe developed by yours truly.
1 Link Butterball Turkey Smoked Sausage (feel free to substitute some Hillshire Farms regular Smoked Sausage instead of the turkey but only use HALF of the Hillshire Farms link)
1/2 lb. Uncooked Shrimp, tails removed
1 - 14 oz. can Chicken Broth
1 can Rotel Tomatoes and Diced Chiles (any heat you like)
1 small can Tomato Sauce
2 c. MINUTE White Rice (please, for the love of all that's holy, don't get regular long grain rice - I made that mistake once *shudders*)
Cajun Seasoning, to taste
Cut smoked sausage into bite size pieces and slice the shrimp in half.
In a nonstick pan, over medium heat, gentle cook the smoked sausage until heated through.
Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, and Rotel. Stir to combine.
Add shrimp and Cajun Seasoning and increase heat to high.
Bring to a boil and stir in the Minute Rice.
Once your rice mixture comes to a boil, cover and remove from heat. Let stand for at least five minutes (longer is okay).
Stir and serve!
1 c. Self Rising Yellow Cornmeal*
3/4 c. Self Rising Flour*
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 c. Canola Oil (or Vegetable Oil)
2 Eggs
1 c. Sour Cream
1 - 8 oz. can Cream-Style Corn
Preheat oven to 375.
In a bowl, stir together the flour and cornmeal and salt.
In a different bowl, combine the oil, eggs, and sour cream until well blended.
Stir in your corn to the wet mixture.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well mixed.
Pour the batter into a muffin pan that's been sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until golden brown.
TIP: When the muffins are done, tilt the muffins on their side in the muffin pan to prevent them from steaming in the pan and getting a wet bottom.
* - If you can't find self-rising cornmeal, use 3/4 cup + 3 Tbsp. yellow cornmeal plus 1 Tbsp. baking powder. Increase the salt to 1 tsp. For self-rising flour, use 3/4 cup all purpose flour plus 1 1/8 tsp. baking powder.
Every fall, Ryan requests pumpkin items. Without fail. I've been with him for five years now (wow.) and like clockwork, I know that once September rolls around, he'll start asking for pumpkin. What does this have to do with key lime pie, you may find yourself asking. Allow me to explain... Every fall, Ryan wants pumpkin. The rest of the year? He wants key lime. Key lime pie. Key lime cookies. Key lime bars. It's only February (almost March but I digress) and he's already asking for key lime pie. So I decided last Sunday, I'd make him one.
Now, take a trip down memory lane with me for just a moment. Picture it... Savannah, GA, June 2009. It was a second anniversary trip for me and Ryan (we had been dating for two years). I've always wanted to visit Savannah simply because I love Paula Deen. So off we went. We ate at The Lady and Sons Restaurant and then we visited a little place on Whitemarsh Island called Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. You may know Uncle Bubba - he's Paula's brother. I hated to admit it at the time but we preferred Uncle Bubba's to Paula's restaurant. The issue was not the food (quite the contrary - the food was delicious at both places) but it was more the atmosphere. At Paula's, it was rather crowded, full of people. At Uncle Bubba's, everything was relaxed and laid back. The view was beautiful. We ate outside, under fans, with a view of the marshes. Ryan had crab cakes. I had fried shrimp. (Yeah, it was so good, I still remember what we ate.) For dessert, we ordered the key lime pie. The piece they brought us was huge! It was a good thing we were going to split it anyway. The pie was unreal, it was so good. I normally don't like key lime pie. But this pie was certainly one that I could have eaten every single day if you asked me too. It was so rich and delicious.... yummy.
The point of this little story is that the recipe I used for this particular key lime pie is from Uncle Bubba's Savannah Seafood Cookbook. The recipes in that cookbook are the same recipes he uses in his restaurant. And I can say with complete certainty that the recipes I've made from that cookbook taste *exactly the same* as what we had at the restaurant and this pie is no exception.
Want a taste of Savannah? Make this pie - it's super simple and extra rich!
Uncle Bubba's Key Lime Pie
recipe from Uncle Bubba's Savannah Seafood
1/4 c. Key Lime Juice (I use Nelly and Joe's)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 Egg Yolks
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Graham Cracker Crust
Preheat the oven to 325.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Pour into your graham cracker crust (did I mention this recipe was simple?).
Bake for 20 minutes.
Let stand at room temp for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Top with whipped cream (if you like - Ryan and I do.).
Enjoy :)
(Note: This pie tastes much better after its been chilled in the refrigerator.)
I have made this cake for Thanksgiving the last two years. I always try to bring something sweet to Thanksgiving anyway because, well duh, I like to bake (is it that obvious?). This is one of those cakes that really is a once-a-year type thing. It's so rich but man is it good!!!
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
courtesy of Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen
Filling:
8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla, melted
8 Tbsp/1 stick Butter
16 oz. Powdered Sugar (1 box)
15 oz can Pumpkin
1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all ingredients for the base.
Using your hands, pat the mixture into a lightly greased (with cooking spray) 9x13 pan.
Next make the filling, starting off by beating the cream cheese until smooth.
Add your eggs and vanilla next.
Add the butter, beating well.
Mix in your pumpkin and spices.
Carefully mix the powdered sugar into your cream cheese-pumpkin mixture.
Spread over the base mixture.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. (I find that 40 minutes is perfect.)
The center of this cake is NOT supposed to look firm or finished! It's called "gooey" for a reason! So don't overbake!!!
(I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the inside of the cake to show you the layers or the gooey-ness of it all but the cake got eaten before I could take a picture!)
I have something terrible to admit to everyone. I had my first s'more when I was 25 years old. I'm 26 now. My best friend, Erin, was making them in her oven and gave me one. I've been hooked ever since! I wanted to find a s'more in bar form. The marshmallow and chocolate were just a little too messy for me (Erin calls me the world's cleanest cook - I cannot stand a mess while I cook or eat!). Off I went on a google search for a s'mores bar. I found quite a few of them, some better than others. This particular recipe intrigued me simply because I love peanut butter. Anything with peanut butter is worth trying in my book. Ryan wasn't too crazy about this recipe but I sure was!
Peanut Butter S'mores Bars
courtesy of myrecipes.com
1 c. Brown Sugar
1/2 c. Peanut Butter (I used creamy but you can use crunchy if that's your cup of tea)
2 T. Butter
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Egg Whites
1 1/2 c. Self-Rising Flour
1 Jar of Marshmallow Creme
2/3 c. Chocolate Chips (I used mini choc chips!)
Cooking Spray
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine the first five ingredients (through egg whites) in a bowl and beat until combined.
Stir in your flour.
Press into a 9x13 pan that's been coated with cooking spray.
Top with marshmallow creme and sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until the base of the s'more is done!
(Note: I had a bit of trouble with the center of these. You may want to par-bake the peanut butter crust for a few minutes before adding the marshmallow creme. The marshmallow creme prevented the center from cooking completely. If you do that, remember to reduce your remaining cooking time!)
Sometimes you just yearn for that nostalgic feel. And what else but Rice Krispie Treats brings out that feeling? Memories of bake sales galore! My dad's RKT were specially requested at all my elementary and middle school bake sales. His RKT always sold out, every. single. time. The parents of the kids I went to school with only tried once to compete with Dad's RKT and they failed miserably.
Even the professional baker whom I adore, Zoe Francios {blog found here}, admits that Rice Krispies are one of her favorite things - of course, she fancies hers up quite a bit with brown butter and vanilla beans. Me, I'm a traditionalist. Give me the old, 3 ingredient recipe any day. To me, this is one of those recipes that has been made for so long in the same way that it's perfect just the way it is. It's almost sacrilege to toy around with the recipe. Because I'm adamant about this, ladies and gents, I give you....
The Original Rice Krispie Treat
recipe courtesy of the Rice Krispie Treat box
3 Tbsp. Butter
1 jar Marshmallow Creme (I used Marshmallow Fluff) -OR- 10 oz. package Large Marshmallows
6 c. Rice Krispie Treats Cereal
Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
In a large pan, melt butter over low heat.
Add marshmallows (creme or otherwise) and stir until melted. (This takes a long time... a loooooooong time.)
Remove from heat.
Add cereal and stir until well combined.
Using a butter spatula/parchment paper/your hands that have been coated in cooking spray, press the mixture into your 9x13 pan.
Allow the mixture to sit at room temp until cool.
Cut into squares and enjoy!
Allow me to explain something folks. My husband loves pumpkin. I believe I've mentioned that before on this blog... oh yeah, on the Pumpkin Dessert Squares post. So yeah, he loves pumpkin. I know that as soon as September rolls around, I'm going to start hearing Ryan ask, "So when are you making something pumpkin?" He usually asks for pie but he's figured out that I enjoy baking lots of other things (no clue where he'd get that idea from!) so now it's just "something pumpkin." I enjoy scones. I love me a good cinnamon scone (that was my very first post, remember?). So I figured, why not make a pumpkin scone? Not to mention the fact that my best friend Erin had asked me, "When are you going to make pumpkin scones?" (Geez, these people seem to think I like to bake!)
A side note about your butter. To make your life easier, cut your butter into small pieces so it'll be easier for you to incorporate into your flour. I usually cut my butter into Tbsp size pieces and then cut them into two or four smaller pieces. When you cut in your butter with knives, you'll need to cut the butter crosswise (like you're cutting up spaghetti). You want your butter to be about the size of peas and smaller. But you certainly don't want the butter to be completely gone - that's what makes scones so good.
1/2 c. COLD Butter (I used salted, if using unsalted, please add 3/4 tsp salt)
1 cup Cinnamon Chips (or chocolate chips, they'd work too) - add more to taste, if you prefer
2/3 c. Pumpkin*
2 Eggs
(Where's the preheat temp? Down below - you don't want to preheat your oven just yet.)
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices (and salt, if you're using it).
Using a pastry blender or two knives, work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly (it's OK for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated).
Stir in the cinnamon chips.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and eggs till smooth.
Add the pumpkin/egg to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together.
Line a baking sheet with parchment; if you don't have parchment, just spray your baking sheet with cooking spray (but parchment makes life easier).
Scrape the dough onto the parchment or pan, and .... here's where life can get interesting. You can do one of two things - divide the dough in half, rounding each half into a 5"-6" circle. (The circles should be about 3/4" thick.) ... OR ... You can leave the dough as one large round piece, giving you bigger scones. Your circle should still be around 3/4" thick.
(If you want to make your scones look pretty, you can brush your scones with milk and sprinkle course sparkling sugar {aka Sugar in the Raw} over the top.)
Using a knife that you've run under cold water, slice each circle into 6 wedges. (Why cold? Makes it easier for the dough not to grip your knife so you come away with clean edges.)
Carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them just a bit; there should be about 1/2" space between them, at their outer edges.
Place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered. (This will help them rise!)
While the scones are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 425°F.
Bake the scones for 22 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean, with no wet crumbs.
(See the lovely cinnamon chips which are full of cinnamon-y goodness?)
* - Your 2/3 c. of canned pumpkin... that's an odd measurement. Most recipes call for the whole can! Well, the lovely people are King Arthur Flour have a little note on their recipes that if you use a SCANT 2/3 c. of pumpkin, you'll be able to make THREE batches of theses scones! Don't want to make another batch of scones? Here are some ideas from the wonderful folks at KAF: Pumpkin Muffins Pumpkin Cake Bars
And remember, you can always make half a recipe of your favorite pumpkin item to use up that can. This recipe will leave you more than half. How do you save your opened pumpkin? I froze 1 Tbsp of pumpkin in ice cube trays. They'll defrost in my fridge overnight and be ready to use the following day :)
