Flavor Filled Cream Cheese & Bagels

Bagels and delicious, flavor-filled cream cheese give me a 

bad case of nostalgia.  Maybe it's because they were all

the rage in the 90s, with shops popping up everywhere in the

midwest? Maybe it's because I worked a stint at a bagel

shop in college? Whatever it is, I love kicking it old school

(ugh, the 90s officially feel old school as plaid has officially

come back around) and toasting up chewy bagels and

slathering them with cream cheese.  Here are two 

quick and simple recipes for flavor-filled cream

cheeses to whip up.  

One sweet and One savory, so I gotcha covered.

8 oz container of whipped cream cheese

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup honey

pinch of salt

Blend with a spoon to fully incorporate all the flavors

Starting with whipped cream cheese prevents you from 

having to get out the food processor.  Score!

the addition of chopped, lightly toasted

pecans would be delicous, FYI

8 oz container of whipped cream cheese

1/4 cup chopped scallions (chop up into the greens)

1/4 cup chopped sweet peppers (I love the mixed

bag of sweet yellows and red baby peppers)

salt & cracked black pepper, to taste

Blend with a spoon to fully incorporate all the flavors.

 Enjoy.  

I pop the flavored cream cheeses back in the container

the whipped cream cheese arrived in, and the spreads are 

good and ready to go!

Slather on, my bagel loving friends. 

xo

Fig & Arugula Flat Bread

Last weekend as my friend and I wandered up Main Street in Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival we were invited to "lunch" by a sponsor of the events.  Dear Lord, their idea of lunch and our idea of lunch...different planets.  Though, I am so thankful we popped in as they were serving up  an amuse bouche of the most amazing flat bread I have ever had the pleasure of trying, and thanks to a few ingredients I had on hand I decided to attempt a copy cat version.  I think I won, as it tastes pretty spot on.

 

What you need:

  Flat Bread

Fig Spread

Honey

Arugula

Gruyere Cheese

White Truffle Oil

Sea Salt Flakes

On a baking sheet I placed store bought naan (which is a freezer

staple, in this house.  These were smaller in size, found at Costco). 

I topped each naan with a heaping tablespoon of Fig Butter (Trader Joe's)

 

 Lightly drizzle with honey

My little Benny is obsessed with the honey bear. He carries

it around and pats it on the back, like a baby doll.  It is the cutest/

messiest little thing ever, as I am constantly checking 'baby' to

make sure it isn't leaking all over the house.  

 Top with slices of Gruyere cheese.  

My sous chef Logi used the slicer to slice all of the cheese.  She was so proud.

Place baking sheet in a 350 degree oven and bake for 6-8 minutes,

 until the cheese is melted.

Immediately top warm flat breads with arugula,

then drizzle on white truffle oil and generously 

sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

This can be served as an entree, or sliced small

as a starter (or lunch, if you are a vendor during Sundance)

I am patting myself on the back as this is so spot on to the deliciousness

we wanted more of last week!  The blend of sweet from the fig and honey is 

perfectly balanced with the tender bite of gruyere cheese, the pepper of the

arugula and the buttery love of the white truffle oil.  

Oh and it was on the plate to be gobbled up within 20 minutes.

The BEST Sticky Rolls EVER...Disappearing Rolls

This is a slight variation of the Christmas morning rolls we enjoyed as kids.  My mom called them 'disappearing rolls', because they are so good, they disappear!

Many call something like this monkey bread, but I just call it crazy good!

What you need:

• 2 loaves of frozen bread dough
• 10 T. butter, melted
• 3/4 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 pkg cook and serve butterscotch pudding (don't make the rookie mistake of trying to substitute instant pudding)
• 2 T. milk

 Pull 2 loaves of bread dough out of the freezer.  Allow to sit

at room temperature for one hour before cutting into chunks.

In a microwave safe bowl, place butter, honey, sea salt and brown

sugar.  Pop in microwave for 45 seconds.  Stir and continue to 

heat in 30 second intervals until all ingredients are melted and smooth.

This step can also be done in a saucepan...I just find that I am doing this

late at night, for the next morning, and need to speed the process up.

Bread dough cut into chunks and placed in a buttered 9x13 pan.

Allow butter/sugar mixture to cool out of microwave, then add

1 package of cook & serve butterscotch pudding and 2

 tablespoons milk.  Stir until smooth.

This is what the sauce should look like.  Dare you not to take a dip

with your finger.  Seriously, dare you!  

Pour the sauce over the bread dough, cover and place in the 

refrigerator over night. 

Obviously the dough is not going to proof in the refrigerator, over 

night...so unless you set your alarm for 3am to pull them out to 

proof on the counter follow my simple cheater trick for quick 

proofing these ridiculous rolls: pull them out of the refrigerator and

pop in a preheated oven at 170 degrees.  They will proof in no time

(30-45 minutes...depending on your altitude)

This is what they look like at 6000 feet (i.e. my home) after 45 minutes

at 170 degrees.  All ready for the real heat.  I just switch it up to 350 degrees, 

not worrying that the rolls sit in the oven while the temperature rises.

After 20 minutes of baking at 350 degrees, I noticed the tops 

were browning, quicker than I wanted, so I reused the piece

of aluminum foil that I covered them with in the refrigerator overnight

and popped on top, so they could keep baking, but not keep browning.

They cooked for 10 more minutes and were perfection!  

After 30 minutes bake time.  Run and knife or spatula around the

edges of the plan, and flip onto a serving platter (or a half sheet).

Ummm, what!!!  Are you trying to take a nibble of your 

computer screen, or what?  These will please any crowd!

If there are any left over (doubtful), cover and store at room

temperature. 

Baklava!

OMGeezy, I am about to toot my own horn!  Just be prepared!

A dear friend that Zac and I grew up with was heading out for dinner, and I didn't have a thing to make so I decided I would order in from this amazeballs Greek restaurant across the road.  It is legit...but, I have a hard time having someone over for dinner, that I simply ordered in.  I had to get my dessert baking on!  In my pantry/fridge/freezer search I found fillo dough and instantly felt the need to make baklava!!!  I had never made it, but knew the taste, as I used to open boxes and boxes of frozen baklava when I worked at BoDiddley's back in the day and one time watched a roommate make it in college.  Photographic memory...not going to lie! 

This recipe will make an 8x8 inch pan.  If you do a 9x13 pan, just double the recipe...since this was my first time making it, and I didn't have a recipe, I decided not to commit to the big boy pan!

1 roll of fillo dough.  I pulled it out of the freezer, but kept the roll in 

the plastic and let it come to room temperature.

 Toss 2 cups of raw pecans with 1 tsp cinnamon and place on

a baking sheet and pop in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Place toasted pecans, 1 T. granulated sugar and

1/4 tsp sea salt in a food professor (if you don't

have a food professor, put in a plastic back and 

run a rolling pin over it to break up into bits)

Pulse until it looks something like this.  

Generously butter the baking dish.

Fillo dough is a major B WORD to work with...work fast.  Typically, 

I use a pastry brush, to brush butter between each thin layer of dough.  

Alas, I couldn't find my pastry brush, so I just threw a couple layers

of dough down (I was in a hurry...we had a play date to get to) and

proceeded to the next step.

I melted 4 T. butter and since I couldn't find a brush, I just drizzled

a little over the third piece of dough, and spread the melted

 butter around with clean fingers.

Top the buttered fillo layers with roughly 1/3

of the pecan mixture.  Then, proceed to layer the fillo

dough, melted butter and pecan mixture 2 more times,

finishing with a top layer of fillo dough, topped with butter.

If you are spreading the melted butter around with your hands, press

the layers down tightly, as you are doing it.  If you are using a pastry

brush to spread the melted butter, press the top layer of fillo down firmly, 

before you brush the final layer of melted butter.

With a sharp knife, cut all the way through each layer.  Decide how big you 

want the pieces, before you start cutting. Double check that you cut all the 

way to the bottom of the pan!!!

Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 30-35 minutes

 (keep in mind that this time is for a small pan).

While the pastry baked, I combined 4 T. butter, 3/4 cup honey,

1/4 cup water, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a sauce

pan and brought to a boil, then reduced to simmer for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, I removed from heat and stirred in 1 tsp vanilla.

This is what it should look like when you remove from the oven...

The top will be golden brown and crisp.

Immediately pour the sauce over the hot pastry.  The sauce is the sticky

goodness that is loooved about baklava.

Ready to be devoured!  

I might be a little heavy on the pecans in this recipe, and I have learned

that the sea salt is not typical, but it definitely balances the crazy sweet syrup.  

Trust.