Baked Potato Bar

Candy recently mentioned how fun a baked potato party would be. What a great idea! This works very well especially for a large crowd. It can accomodate a variety of needs, for example meat eaters and vegans, dairy free, gluten free, etc.
Scrub clean and dry as many Russet potatoes as needed. On individual squares of foil, rub potato with olive oil and season with kosher salt and fresh pepper or Alfies seasoning and wrap.
In preheated 375F. oven bake potatoes until cooked, about 1 1/2 hours, turning potatoes over half way through.
For the "bar" there can either be a theme, for example, Italian, Mexican, roasted vegetables, etc. or just a variety of everyones favorite toppings.
Butter, garlic butter, herb butter, different kinds of cheese, including herb cheese, etc
Meats, chicken, chili, smoked salmon, bacon, ground beef with taco seasoning, etc
Roasted vegetables, roasted garlic, green onions, peppers, jalapenos, corn, mushrooms, etc
Creams and sauces, BBQ sauce, cheese sauce, ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, sour cream, guacamole, etc
I wish I had taken a photo of the bar, but you get the idea. We round out the meal with a salad and dessert and had very unique, one of a kind creations!

Spiced Apple Cider with Whipped Cream

1 gallon spiced apple cider (I used one from Trader Joes)
1 pint whipped cream (whipped)
jarred caramel sauce and cinnamon sticks, to garnish

Heat cider in large pot on stove or in crock pot, it will hold temp well if using for several hours. If using regular apple cider and want to spice it up, add cloves and cinnamon sticks.
In a mug, ladle in hot apple cider, top with whipped cream, and drizzle caramel sauce over top. Garnish with cinnamon sticks and if desired, a pinch of sea salt.

Enjoy this on cold, blustery fall days!

Italian Plums

The Bake picked the Italian plums from the tree this week and I was thinking of making a plum tart or crumble. But they are so great fresh and out of hand.

Curried Chicken in Phyllo Cups

This is my go to appetizer recipe. It can be used as a salad or sandwich filling. Put in phyllo cups or in phyllo pastry or puff pastry.
Since I usually roast a chicken once a week, I have left over chicken for this recipe. Buying a ready cooked chicken or roasting or poaching 2 chicken breasts will also provide enough chicken.
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 Tablespoon mayo
2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken
2 Tablespoons chutney
1-3 teaspoons curry powder
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Beat the cream cheese and mayo until smooth. Stir in chicken, chutney, curry and season to taste.
The phyllo cups pictured, were store bought in the freezer section and thawed for 10 minutes before filling.
If using phyllo pastry, thaw and cut into thirds. Fold each third in half and using melted butter, butter between each sheet. Spoon a teaspoon of chicken mixture in the corner and fold over forming a triangle. Continue to fold flag style, fold end over and brush with butter. May be frozen at this point. Bake on parchment lined baking sheet at 375F. until golden, about 20 minutes or 30 minutes if frozen.

Brownies with Chocolate Frosting

These are still my all time favorite brownies.
Brownies:
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa (Sharffenberger)
3 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.
Melt butter. Add the sugars and cocoa and blend well. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and stir. Add the vanilla and nuts. Pour into 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Center will be firm but not hard. Cool.

Frosting:
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup confectioners sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoon milk
2 Tablespoon hot coffee
Place butter, sugar, and cocoa in a food processor and blend for 4 seconds. Add vanilla, milk, and hot coffee and blend until smooth. Additional milk will make a thinner frosting.

Caesar Salad with Fried Capers

1/4 cup capers, drained
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 small garlic cloves
3-4 anchovy fillets (or anchovy paste)
1 Tablespoon mayo
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 drops Tabasco
fresh pepper, to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, divided
2 heads of Romaine lettuce

Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix the capers and teaspoon olive oil in a pan and roast in oven about 18-20 minutes.
Combine the rest of ingredients, including 1/4 cup Parmesan in a food processor. Toss with lettuce and top with the rest of Parmesan cheese and fried capers.
The fried capers give the crunch that croutons would, the salad with be even better with both!

Quinoa Porridge

1 cup water
1 cup rice milk (almond milk, milk)
1 cup Quinoa, rinsed
1 small apple, cored and peeled, diced
1/4 cup dried cranberries (raisins or dates)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup pecans
maple syrup or brown sugar, to taste
1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds, if desired


In a saucepan, heat water and rice milk until boiling. Add Quinoa and simmer for 5 minutes. Add apple, cranberries,
cinnamon and vanilla and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed.
Serve and top with pecans, sugar, and flax seeds and more milk.