Cheese Cake with Cresent Crust

Confession:  My husband and I both love cream cheese, really love it.  So, when I needed a dessert for small group at our house last night, I did a Google search for "easy desserts with cream cheese" and found this.  Now, I know I haven't posted in a while, but I have record for not being able to make something just as the recipe says.  So here is my version:

Ingredients:

• 1 can crescent rolls (I used reduced fat.)
• 2 8oz packages of cream cheese (I used neufchatel cheese.)
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg yolk (I'll probably just use the whole egg next time.)

Directions:
      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out crescent rolls into the bottom of a 9"x13" pan.  Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg.  Pour over crescent rolls.  Bake for 15 minutes.  I think it would be awesome to add some chocolate chips or apples and cinnamon next time.  I served it warm, so it was a little runny, but it firms up after it cools.  It tasted delicious though!

E: 9
A: 10
T:  10

HH: 9

Chili's Salsa

Back in high school, Chili's was the hangout spot for a few of my friends. I'm sure the waiter or waitress hated us. We would order chips and salsa, Shirley Temples, and stay for hours. When I ran across this recipe, I was so excited. I found it over at Six Sisters' Stuff.

Cumin is my favorite spice at the moment.

Ingredients:
2 cans (14.5 ounce each) whole tomatoes, drained (I bought crushed)
1 small (4 ounce) can diced jalapenos
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic salt (I minced garlic)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon lime juice

This is my conversion chart I use EVERY time I'm in the kitchen. 

Directions:
Place all of the ingredients together in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. I bought crushed tomatoes, so I didn't blend anything. I diced the onions and jalapenos very finely too. Serve with tortilla chips. This stuff is dangerous if left out on the counter before dinner.

I made Round 2 of Chili's Salsa at Jordan & Jessica Wood's Rockin' New Year's Eve Party. This time, I used the whole tomatoes and garlic salt, and it tasted the exact same. Jordan said, "This tastes JUST like Chili's!" Mission accomplished.

E: 10
A: 9 - most of these items are staples in our house
T: 10
HH: 10 - extremely happy

Chicken Gyros

When I think of Greece, I can't help but think about the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Keifer's in Jackson. I don't like to cook the same things over and over, so I decided Greek food would be the next cooking adventure. These Chicken Gyros are delicious.
Ingredients:
sauce
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
salt & pepper
extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

chicken

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon dried oregano

salt & pepper

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

gyro

pita bread

fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced

red onion, sliced thinly

Directions:

To make the sauce, peel and seed the cucumber. Wrap in a towel and squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Shred the cucumber. Mix the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and fresh lemon juice. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To prepare the chicken, combine garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl of mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Then, cook the chicken until done. Transfer the chicken to a plate after it's finished to let it cool down. Cut into strips.

To assemble the gyros, heat the pita bread. Top with chicken strips, sauce, diced tomatoes, and sliced red onions. Opa!

E: 9 - opa!

A: 9 - opa!

T: 8 - allow time for the sauce and chicken to marinade

HH: 10 - opa!

The website which provided inspiration can be found here.

Potato & Smoked Salmon Stacks

Eliott and I were able to fly back to America for Christmas. We did two things during the holiday: spent quality time with friends and family and ATE too much food. We ate at some of our favorite restaurants and enjoyed the cooking from our mother's kitchens. Australia is struggling in the Mexican food department, so I was happy to indulge while in Texas. In fact, I apologized to Eliott for eating Mexican food so much. We're happy to be back in sunny Sydney. To start 2012 off, this is a new favorite dish of ours. Maybe I'll start eating salmon like I ate Mexican food in Texas.

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen hash browns
1/2 cup extra light sour cream
2 tsp horseradish cream
150 g smoked salmon
1 bunch chives, snipped
50 g rocket
olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to temperature indicated on hash brown package. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Arrange hash browns on trays and cook according to packet directions. 2. Mix the sour cream and horseradish cream together. Chill in refrigerator. 3. Spread mixture on cooked hash browns. Divide the smoked salmon between hash browns and top with chives, rocket, and drizzle with olive oil.

This recipe is from our grocery store, Coles, and can be found here: Potato & Smoked Salmon Stacks

These pictures are from November 2011 and we ate it again last night. I adjusted the recipe:

• we prefer just 1 hash brown per stack instead of the 2 shown
• we didn't buy chives the second go-around
• we forgot to drizzle the olive oil, but it wasn't missed

E: 10 - so easy

A: 8 - weekly trip to the grocery store

T: 9 - so fast

HH: 9 - like I said, one of our favorite meals

Kitchen Tricks

Any kind of advice pertaining to cutting down preparation time in the kitchen is welcomed. When I first started cooking, it took a few attempts to grasp multi-tasking in the kitchen. What are some of your tricks in the kitchen? Here's one of my favorite shortcuts.

I was making a Chicken Stroganoff dish for dinner and I needed the mushrooms sliced. If you're like me and slow with cutting, then you'll appreciate this trick. Take the mushroom and slice it with an egg slicer. You've got perfectly sliced mushrooms in no time.

I know you're dying to know what our kitchen looks like too. I've included a picture for your curiosity. The stove is a gas stove and I love it. Check out the Nespresso machine to the right of the refrigerator. That's right ladies and gentleman, I'm a coffee drinker. We love our little city apartment.

Go ahead and share some of your kitchen tips and favorite kitchen appliances. I know I have a lot to learn. I'm always overwhelmed browsing stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond because the kitchen utensil selection is the size of my whole apartment. Outrageous.

Broccoli & Shrimp Pasta

It's summer in Sydney! Aussies love their seafood in the summer. It's super strange to see seafood advertised as the Christmas Dinner when I'm used to ham and turkey during the holidays. I made this dish recently and it renewed my love for pine nuts. They are so simple, but packed with flavor flav.

Ingredients: I realize some of these are in grams. Convert them. It's good for your brain.

400 g pasta bows

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cups broccoli florets

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup basil, finely chopped

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

30 g parmesan cheese, grated

shrimp (you decide how much you want)

extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the packet directions until al dente. While the pasta is getting it's boil on, place a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add the butter. Once the butter has browned, add the lemon juice, broccoli and shrimp. Cook until tender and done, tossing frequently, for about 4-7 minutes. Drain the pasta from the pot and pour directly into the frying pan. Add the pine nuts and basil. Toss all the ingredients to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with grated parmesan cheese and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Dinner is done!

E: 9

A: 8

T: 9 - I love a quick and easy meal!

HH: 8 - He laughs at me when I say things like "flavor flav" while cooking.

My inspiration came from this Cole's recipe for Brown Butter Broccoli Pine Nut & Basil Pasta, but I took away a few words to simplify the title and added shrimp.

Thanksgiving in Australia

Our day of thanks was appropriately named as we gathered at a friend's house to devour a Thanksgiving Feast. Praise God for the warm weather. It was a scene to be grateful for as Kiwis, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans all enjoyed one another's company and the menu:

• turkey & dressing
• mashed potatoes with gravy
• sweet potato casserole
• green bean casserole
• glazed carrots
• cranberry sauce
• salads
• deviled eggs
• rolls
• stuffed mushrooms

And just when we thought we were full, the desserts came:

• banana puddin' (yes, the Southerners said it like this)
• apple pie with vanilla ice cream
• pumpkin cheesecake
• cheesecake
• pumpkin pie

We were in a food coma the rest of the day. Happy Thanksgiving!