Friday, November 27, 2015

Prosciutto, Apple, Goat Cheese & Cider Sauce Flat Bread

The name may be a mouthful, but since it will be a rather delicious one, it shouldn't be a problem. I just love the combo of prosciutto, apples, and goat cheese. I made a grilled cheese with these ingredients last year and I knew I wanted to make a similar flat bread version this year. I was not disappointed. 

This flat bread is super simple to put together and every bite is packed full of flavor. These ingredients just pair so well with one another. This could be a simple week night dinner or you could whip one up as an appetizer when you have company. 

I made this with puff pastry, but you could easily swap it out for pizza dough. 



Puff pastry (thawed)
1 granny smith apple (sliced)
4 -6 oz goat cheese 
4-6 pieces of prosciutto (sliced thin)

Whiskey Cider Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider
1 oz bourbon
1 tbsp spicy brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder

On a pizza pan, lay the puff pastry. Use your fingers to smooth it out. Liberally top the puff pastry with the prosciutto, apples and, goat cheese crumbles. Pre heat the oven and start the sauce.   In a small sauce pan, place all remaining ingredients. Turn heat on high and whisk continuously, until sauce begins to bubble. Lower heat to medium and continue to whisk until it begins to thicken. Once it has thickened, using a spoon, ladle the sauce over the top of the pizza. 


This is a dish that you need to pay attention to. I have made in three separate stoves and each stove had a completely different baking time. I would say about 15-20 minutes. Just make sure to put your eyes on it at about the 15 minute mark to make sure it hasn't begun to burn. Once the pastry is a nice golden brown, the flat bread is ready. 

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Pumpkin Spice & Butterscotch Monkey Bread

I am sure most of you have seen the videos going around on facebook for monkey bread. Every time I see one my mouth begins to water. Doesn't matter how many years I have been making these. Doesn't matter if I had just eaten one the night before, every. single. time. I see the videos I must have monkey bread. It is so easy to make. It is so delicious. It always looks incredible. Heck, it always tastes incredible. Plus, you can make so many versions. One version I have for you today is pumpkin spice monkey bread with butterscotch sauce and heath bar bits. It is so delicious and was a complete hit at the birthday party when I served it. 


Ingredients

3 to 4 tubes refrigerated biscuits

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tbsp pumpkin spice

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1/3 cup butterscotch sauce

1/2 cup heath bar bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan. Cut each biscuit into quarters.  Dump the sugar, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon in a large ziplock. Add in the biscuit pieces and shake to coat. Drop the pieces in the coated bundt pan and fill about a third the way full.  Cover with half the heath bar pieces and butterscotch sauce. Fill the pan with the rest of the biscuit pieces, aiming sure to not fill more than 3/4 of the way full. Then use remaining heath bar pieces and pour the remaining butterscotch sauce over the biscuits, doing your best to cover as many pieces as possible.  You can always use more butterscotch sauce if you feel it needs it. This is a recipe that you really can't mess up. Do your thang now. 

bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until edges are a nice and crusty and don't forget gooey!

After it cools for about half an hour, place a plate over the bundt pan and slowly turn over to release the monkey bread. This is when you sneak a few bites in when no one is looking. Go ahead, I won't tell. 

Also, am I the only one who thinks of My Big Fat Greek Wedding every single time I type bundt pan? There is a new one coming out in the spring, I can't wait to watch it. Preferably while I am eating this;)

If you can't get enough of the butterscotch, pumpkin, and heath bar combo, check out my other blog for this yummy donut hole recipe. 


Thursday, November 12, 2015

Dark & Stormier

One of the few cocktails that my husband and I both enjoy are Dark & Stormys. They are very simple to make and while you can enjoy them all year round, I particularity like them in the fall. The spice just seems to warm you right up. 


I began trying to think of ways to put a twist on this classic and there really wasn't too much I wanted to do differently as it's quite delicious on its own. This cocktail only consists of two ingredients: ginger beer and spiced rum. What exactly can you do to mix it up? Enter Ginger cider and it keeps what makes it so delicious with just the slightest differential. 

If you can't find ginger cider, you could just use equal parts ginger beer and apple cider. I really like how the ginger cider tastes though. It isn't too overwhelming and you get the perfect balance of apples and ginger, two of my absolute favorite flavors. 

I made these for a get together and my pictures really didn't turn out and my friends really didn't want to wait for me to get that perfect shot. Blogger fail or a sign of a good time;) But I wanted to include a photo of a proper Dark and Stormy just so you could get an idea of what the layering effect looks like. I took this photo at my birthday dinner at one of my favorite local places, Driftwood Southern Kitchen. 

The ingredients may be a little different but the premise is really the same. I hope you try this cocktail and love it as much as I do.

Dark & Stormier

4.5 oz ginger beer
1.5 oz Dark Rum
lime wedge

You can totally just dump these in a glass and enjoy or to get the layering effect, pour the ginger beer in first and then add in the rum.