Adventures in Thyme

Our adventures in food

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

by Leave a Comment

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

Have you ever experienced a cheesecake craving?  The kind where you just want to sit with it in your lap and eat the whole thing while you watch some perfectly wretched B movie?  Okay, maybe that’s just me then, but today’s recipe is a cheesecake cookie that not only satisfies in its petite serving but is also fun to share.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh Blueberries
3/4 cup Water
1 1/2 cups all purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 cup mild, soft, white Goat Cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup Butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 large Egg
1 to 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

In a small sauce pan, combine 1 cup fresh blueberries, 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat, stirring periodically, until the berries split and then the mixture reduces by half. Strain. This should yield between 1/2 and 2/3 cup of blueberry syrup. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl combine 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sift together to combine and remove any lumps.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the butter and goat cheese. Beat until combined and smooth. Add the sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until well combined. Add the dry ingredients, a bit at a time on low speed, beat until combined.

Take one cup of your batter and put in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the blueberry syrup (be sure to retain 2 to 3 tablespoons of the syrup for your frosting) and 1/2 cup flour. Beat by hand until combined. Pour the batter back into your mixing bowl and gently fold together with the remaining batter to give swirls.  Don’t overmix – you want it to be “swirly”.

Using a small ice cream scoop , drop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the bottom edges are golden grown. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes then place on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.

Make your frosting by combining your reserved blueberry juice and powdered sugar. Start by adding 1 cup of powdered sugar to the syrup, whisk together. If the frosting is too runny, add more powdered sugar a little at a time until you get a consistency that you can drizzle over the cookies.

Drizzle the frosting over the cookies and serve. These would be good with coffee, milk or tea.  Watching a B movie is optional.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Crockpot Chicken with Figs

by Leave a Comment

Crockpot Chicken with Figs by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Crockpot Chicken with Figs

 

After a long day at work, I love entering my house and smelling dinner.  A poll in 2011 found that 83% of the American population owned a crockpot so I’m not alone in wanting to walk thru the door and have dinner waiting!  Today’s recipe takes advantage of dried figs, a recent addition to our local Costco’s offerings.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
1/2 Cup Vegetable Broth
1/2 Teaspoon dried Tarragon
1 Bay Leaf
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
4 Chicken Thighs (rinsed to remove any bone chips and feathers)
12 Figs, halved
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar + 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar mixed together
1 Sweet Potato, diced
1 Turnip, diced

Into your crockpot add the ingredients in the order listed, then set the crockpot to 6 Hours (or at least that’s what I do when I leave for work, it auto sets to “Warm” after that).

Although you can eat this meal as is when it’s ready, I served with quinoa and a gravy made from removing about 2 cups of liquid from the crockpot and thickening with cornstarch.

A side of cornbread can also add to the yummy factor.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

by Leave a Comment

Cheeseburger Casserole by DFenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Cheeseburger Casserole

 

I’m always game for a juicy burger n’fries, but the bread is sometimes a turn off.  So if you find yourself wanting a yummy burger but firing up the bbq isn’t a good solution, you’ll enjoy tonight’s recipe. A cheesy, bacony “burger” with fries all cooked in one dish.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground Beef
1 lb ground Pork
8 slices of Bacon fried bacon, slivered
1 Egg, beaten
1.5 cups of Ketchup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp dried Garlic
Roux (4 Tablespoons butter & 4 Tablespoons flour)
80z shredded Cheddar Cheese (we used goat cheddar)
Bag of frozen Tater Tots

Set your oven to 400 degrees and let’s get cookin!

Fry the bacon in a skillet until done.  Remove bacon and set aside on a paper towel to drain.  Pour off most of the bacon grease and then add the beef and pork back into the skillet and fry until done. While the meat is cooking mix together the ketchup, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, salt, thyme, oregano and garlic, and set this aside. Carefully spoon the meat into a large bowl and set aside to cool.

In a frying pan melt the butter over medium low heat and then slowly add the flour, stirring constantly.  Cook, stirring constantly until golden brown.  This will help bind the burger together.  When the roux is ready remove from the heat, pour in the liquid ingredients from the step above and mix well.  To the cooled meat mixture add the beaten egg and also mix well.  Now add the ketchup-roux mixture from the pan into the meat and combine.  Time to assemble!

Into a baking dish pour in the meat mixture and level with a spoon.  Now add your layer of shredded chedder, then layer on the slivered pieces of crunchy bacon.  Finally add rows of tater tots until the casserole is covered.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 mins or until the tater tots have cooked.  Serve immediately with burger fixin’s: tomatoes, lettuce, onions, avocado and a splash of tabasco – if you dare!

 

 

Peach Buckle

by Leave a Comment

Peach Buckle by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Peach Buckle

The weather pulled a fast one on us this week.  We started out at a balmy 80 degrees on Monday, and now we’re down in a the 50s with a dusting of snow on the Sierras.  So we’ve decided to dig our heels in and bake a delicious warm weather dessert.  One you could happily eat at a picnic, family bbq, or perhaps, curled up by the fireplace.  Enjoy!

Batter

3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Milk
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 large Egg
2 cups all purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
2 cups Peaches (We used canned peaches, drained)

Topping

1/2 cup all purpose Flour
1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
6 tablespoons cold Butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the batter, cream together the brown sugar, and butter. Then add the milk and egg and beat until blended. Add the vanilla and stir. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir together. With your mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients a little at a time until all the ingredients are combined. Cut your fruit into bite sized pieces and gently stir into the batter.

Flour an 8×8 inch baking dish (ie: rub butter around in the dish covering all the areas batter will touch, then roll a tablespoon or two of flour around inside the dish covering up all the butter, then dump out the remaining flour.) Pour the batter into the baking dish and spread out in an even layer with a spatula.

To make the topping, combine all of the ingredients for the topping in a food processor and pulse until you have pea sized pieces. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top of the batter.

Place your baking dish on the center rack of your oven and bake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean.

Serve with ice cream.

Greek Lamb Shells

by Leave a Comment

Greek Lamb Shells by D Fenwick, http://dfenwickphotography.com

Greek Lamb Shells

Have you heard the song by Meghan Trainor “It’s All About That Bass”?  I love the beat and the chorus “I’m all ’bout that bass, ’bout that bass, no treble” but I don’t sing it like that, no for me it goes something like this, “It’s all ’bout the sauce, ’bout the sauce, nothing else”.  That’s why I love this recipe for Greek Lamb Shells so much, they’re delicious, but the Tzatziki sauce knocks it out of the park.

Here’s what you’ll need for the Lamb shells:

Container of Vegetable Stock
16 oz ground lamb
7 oz Feta (we use a sheep/goat combination brand by Mt. Vikos)
10 oz chopped spinach (we use the frozen option, just thaw and squeeze out the water)
1 small shallot finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
dash of granulated garlic
Box of large pasta shells

Tzatziki:
1 small container Goat Yogurt
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
3 or 4 large fresh Basil leaves, chopped fine
1/2 tablespoon Shallot, chopped fine
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 or 2 cloves of Garlic, chopped fine, if you want

For the Tzatziki, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour to a day or two to let the flavors combine.

In a skillet cook the lamb until done.  Drain off most of the oil, and put the lamb into a bowl.  Into the skillet cook your shallot until translucent, then add the spinach.  Stir for a few minutes to separate the spinach then add the meat back into the skillet.  Add all the herbs/spices/salt and stir the mixture well.  Turn off the heat and set the skillet aside to cool.

While it’s cooling, heat a pot of water to boiling and add the pasta.  You’ll cook the pasta to almost al dente, the shells will finish cooking in the oven.  It’s also time to get your oven pre-heating to 400 degrees F.

Just before the shells are ready add your feta to the meat mixture stirring well.

Pour the shells into a strainer and run cold water over the shells.  This will stop the cooking process AND you won’t burn your fingers when you stuff them with the meat.

Now for the fun part.. into a baking dish pour enough of the vegetable stock to cover the bottom, maybe 1/4 inch or so, then stuff the shells and place them (opening side up) into the dish.  Cover with tin foil and bake about 30 mins.

Serve with Tzatziki Sauce and pecorino cheese.