Steakhouse Twice Baked Potatoes

Recently, I took a cooking class with The Chopping Block in Chicago, IL featuring a classic steak dinner with all the trimmings as well as great advice on grilling meats!

What's great about these courses is that no matter where you are at with your cooking skills, there is always something new to learn--a tip, better technique, or mastering proper form!! 

Best of all, these recipes are meant to be simple to encourage more home cooked meals all while maintaining incredible flavors--and, you realize just how good can be without the restaurant bill and tip!

I added these Twice-Baked beauties to the Spicy Grilled Chicken Thighs and Back-up Summer Salad for a great night with friends on the patio! You can, too!

Steakhouse Twice-Baked Potatoes

Equipment:

Baking sheet 
Parchment paper

Mixing bowl

Functioning Oven

Ingredients:

2 Russet Baking Potatoes

Grapeseed or Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

3 strips bacon, cooked & chopped

1/2 cup Gruyere or Sharp cheddar cheese, grated

2-3 scallions, chopped

1/3 cup 2% milk

1/3 cup Sour cream
2 Tbls butter

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands and the potatoes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375F degrees.
3. Bake the potatoes after rubbing with olive oil and sprinkling with salt & pepper on parchment lined baking sheet x 40 minutes.

4. Allow the potatoes to cool before cutting in half and scooping the flesh into a bowl.

5. Mash the potato filling with butter, sour cream and milk, and season with salt and pepper.

6. Add the bacon, cheddar, and scallions. Stir well.

7. Season the potato halves with salt and pepper.
8. Add the potato filling to each potato half and sprinkle with a little extra cheddar cheese.

9. Bake the potatoes on the baking sheet until golden brown and bubbly x 10 minutes.

Great addition to Spiced Up Turkey Burgers, Bandilicious Chicken, or Souvlaki Summer Chicken Skewers, or try the Dragon Bites!

Strawberry Rhubarb Summer Cup Crisps

Hope you are taking full advantage of summerbreak and summer produce! I know that I certainly have! The produce and seasonal items make for an abundance of flavors as well as provide reason to try new things. It's a great time of the year to roam at the farmer's market and be awed by the variety of tomatoes, carrots, beets, berries, greens, apples, and fruits.

One of my favorite summer desserts is fresh Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie--the way my Mom made it. That being said, she made everything from scratch with one of those real, light and flaky, buttery pie crusts that dissolves in your mouth. I simply do not have that kind of time!

Taking a recent class at The Chopping Block in Lincoln Square in Chicago, IL, we made an incredibly, simple alternative--Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, and instead of using pie crust, we topped pure filling with a delicious crumble! Super simple and a great way to stretch your college grocery budget!  

Makes 6 single serving (1 cup) ramekins!
Or, put the filling in to a pre-made pie-crust and top with crumble!
Or, place it all in a lightly buttered (8"x 8" or small "rectangular") Pyrex dish

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cup Crisps

Equipment:
Mixing Bowl
Ramekins or Pyrex Dish
Baking sheet
Parchment Paper

Ingredients:

For The Filling:
1 pint (1 lb) strawberries, quartered
1 pound rhubarb, largely chopped
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbls cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbls lemon juice

For The Crumble:
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup rolled "old-fashioned" oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Pince of salt
1 stick cold butter, cubed

Topping:
Vanilla Ice Cream 
Whipped Cream

Instructions:
1. Wash your hands.
2. Preheat 375F degrees.
3. Stir together the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and lemon.

4. Make your crumble, mixing the brown sugar, oats, flour and salt together.

5. Use your hands or a pastry cutter or 2 knives to incorporate cold butter to dry mixture.

6. Put it all together and fill your ramekins or baking dish.

7. Top your filling with an ice cream scoop size of crumble.

8. Place the ramekins or pyrex dish on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
9. Bake for 45 minutes until the filling is bubbling thru the golden brown crisp.

No Waste Left Behind: making Great Croutons

Doesn't it always seem that you buy a beautiful, fresh baguette or Italian Loaf, but are never capable of finishing it? You know that by the next morning you will have a "brick" of bread waiting for you--not chewy or crusty from a day ago--just inedible!  

Have a back up plan for maximizing that loaf of bread, and the $3 bucks it cost you! French Toast is an awesome option for breakfast; or, use it for Homemade Croutons instead of buying nasty, stale, powdered Ranch dressing bread cubes! Bonus: your salads will taste all the better!

Stretch your college grocery dollars with this ultra easy recipe I picked up from a cooking class with The Chopping Block in Chicago! Great classes with fantastic instructors in a fun, relaxing environment to learn basic cooking skills! Check them out this weekend. (Disclosure: I have no financial incentive to promote them)

DIY Croutons For Caesar (Any) Salad

Equipment:

Mixing bowl

Baking sheet

Parchment Paper (optional)

Ingredients:

3 cups Baguette or other white bread, torn or cut into bite-size pieces

Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil (use Regular Olive Oil and Fresh Garlic otherwise)

Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

1. Wash your hands!

2. Preheat oven to 375F degrees

3. Tear or cube your bread.

4. Combine bread in mixing bowl with drizzle of grapeseed oil. 

5. Bread should appear to be glistening once tossed with enough oil. 

6. Add salt & pepper.

7. Add herbs if you like. 

8. Spread onto baking sheet in single layer.

9. Bake 10 minutes until golden brown. 

10. While you are waiting, prep your Romaine Lettuce, Parmesan, and any protein you may be adding to it!

Fantastic condiment for the Caesar Salad  coming to the blog this week! Or any other salad!