March of the penguins.....

If I were to put one of these adorable little penguins on my 2nd shift officer's salad plate at my next AHOP dinner, you might think they would say "AHOP, you have lost your mind!"  But to the contrary, they would all find them rather amusing and would appreciate all the fun I had putting them together, only with them in mind.  It's like the time I put fanned strawberries on the breakfast plates for 1st shift. I can just hear them now...."Do we eat it?  Is it just for decoration? It's too cute to eat!  Uhhhhh.........."

My friend, Sarah, shared this recipe with me on Facebook over the holiday, then another long-time friend of mine, Dara, made them for her family holiday dinner.  Her picture turned out better than the picture in the original recipe so, with her permission, these pictures are from her dinner. Nice job, Dara!  Your entire meal looks divine!

I haven't made these yet, but you can be assured that I will.  I just couldn't wait to share them with you.  Don't be surprised if you find one of these little guys staring back at you at the next dinner.  :)

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Egg Penguins

Adapted from this recipe

9 large ripe olives
6 hard-cooked eggs
12 small baby carrots

Directions 

• For the penguin heads, attach one olive to the top of each egg with a toothpick. 
• For beaks, cut six carrots 1/2 inch from the pointed end; attach the flat side of a pointed piece to the center of each head with half a toothpick.
• For the feet, make a lengthwise cut through the remaining carrots; place flat side down in pairs (trim carrots if necessary). 
• Place a toothpick in each carrot; press an egg on top of each pair.
• For flippers, cut the remaining olives lengthwise into quarters; attach one olive quarter to each side of eggs with half a toothpick. 
• Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  
  Prep/Total Time: 20 minutesYield: 6 Servings

Note:  I haven't made these yet myself, so when I do (and I will), I will update this post if there are any tweaks.
 

Too cute to eat, I say, too cute to eat!  

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks -- I get an 'E' for Effort

Some girls walk away from relationships empty-handed -- they might be mad; their feelings could be hurt; and they might even have a broken heart. I seem to maintain distant friendships with my ex-boyfriends. I walked away from my last heartthrob with recipes and all the free cooking advice a girl could ask for. Thanks to my ex-boyfriend and culinary chef, Jeff, for not only giving me this recipe (which I revised slightly), but for being my 'phone-a-friend' and safety net when my insurmountable amateur cooking questions start to take up too much space in my brain. Another ex-heartthrob hung my AHOP neon sign that proudly hangs in my dining room window. He did an awesome job (thank you Mike)! I'd say I'm one lucky ex-girlfriend...lucky me!

These cheese sticks didn't turn out as pretty as I had hoped, but for my first attempt, I think I did OK. They were good, I'll have to say that! I hope to have an appetizer lunch and dinner for 1st and 2nd shift soon. If I can master these cheese sticks, I'll serve them with the potato skins posted on June 26, and I just saw this awesome patty melt that would go perfectly with it. Click here.  I still need to test it out, but doesn't it look good? ♥  Update: Tested the Patty Melts on 8/27/12 - click here.

  

Here's what you need

Cut cheese 4” x ½” x ½” sticks (I think I goofed
some of these up -- it was my first try)

The production line

Ready for the freezer (2 hours)

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
Recipe given to me by Culinary Chef Jeff 

• Mozzarella cheese cut into approx. 4” x ½” x ½” sticks. 
• 2 eggs
• Italian bread crumbs
• Flour
• Salt (I used coarse salt)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic power
• Set up a breading station with flour / eggs / Italian bread crumbs – left to right. Jeff didn't say how much flour and bread crumbs to use -- I guess it depends on how many cheese sticks you're making. I didn't measure,  but I started with about a cup of each, I guess.  
• Season the Italian bread crumbs with some coarse salt and 1/2 tsp. garlic powder.  
• Use your left hand to drop the cheese stick into the flour, roll and coat, then drop into the egg.
• Use your right hand to pick the cheese stick out of the egg and toss into the bread crumbs, roll and coat. With this method, you don’t bread your fingers.
• Line a plate with wax paper (I didn't have any and used parchment paper). As each cheese stick is coated, place it on the wax or parchment paper.  
• Freeze for 2 hours.
• Deep fry – 1” of vegetable oil in a pan, heat on med-high until a drop of water crackles and spits (be careful).  This kind of scared me (all the crackling)...if you have a cooking thermometer, I would recommend you use it.  I'm going to buy myself one.    

Fry a few at a time until golden on the outside, but not too long or the inside will come out. Scoop out and put on a paper towel or a rack (like a cookie cooling rack) when done. I highlighted this part because I forgot to do that. I put however many the pan would hold which is why they probably didn't turn out as pretty as they could have (the oil cooled down too much with too many in the pan.) Also....I put the cheese sticks on a paper towel -- if  you have any cheese coming out, the cheese (sticks) to the paper towel. As you can see, my first time was a lot of trial and error.  

Serve with your favorite tomato/marinara sauce (fresh basil chopped into the sauce at the end will add a lot).  

One potato, two potato, three potato, four....

I might have an appetizer dinner some night for the 2nd shift -- some chicken wings from The Selwyn Pub, homemade Mozzarella Cheese Sticks (still need to learn how to make them and Chef Jeff said he'd help me), and these beautiful potato skins. So many times whatever I set out to make does not come without effort, but these potato skins were super easy.  And they will taste better than those you'll get at a restaurant. Seriously! Thanks to The Pioneer Woman for another great recipe.

Potato Skins
Adapted from this recipe 

Ingredients

• 8 whole Russet Potatoes
• 4 Tablespoons Canola Oil (I didn't have Canola Oil on-hand, so I used Lite Olive Oil)
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• Salt to taste
• 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cup grated Cheddar Cheese (I used the Kraft finely shredded cheddar in the bag)  And whatever you do...pleeease DON'T use low-fat or fat-free cheese....it just won't melt right. :(
• 8-10 slices thick cut Peppered Bacon, fried until almost crisp and chopped (I used leftover bacon from the 1st shift breakfast the day before, and peppered it when it was reheating in the skillet)
• 2-4 whole Green Onions, Sliced
• 1 cup Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Scrub potatoes clean and allow to dry. With a paper towel or use your hands, rub the skin of the potatoes with 2 tablespoons canola oil (or lite olive oil) so that they're moist.  You can't hardly help but get the oil on your hands, so I just used my hands. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper if you have it. I use parchment paper for almost anything that goes on a baking sheet now - I love it! Place potatoes on baking sheet and bake until skin is crisp and potatoes are tender, about 60 minutes. Remove pan from oven and allow potatoes to cool just enough so you can handle them.  

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the insides (while potato is still hot), leaving a little bit of potato in the skins. Put the skins back onto the baking sheet (skin side down). Melt the butter with 2 tablespoons canola oil (or lite olive oil) and brush the inside of each skin. Flip over (bottoms now up) and brush the outside of skin with butter/oil mix. Sprinkle the skin side w/ course salt while it's still on the baking sheet. Place potato halves face-down and return to the oven for 5 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, turn the potatoes over and continue to bake until the edges of the potatoes start to turn golden brown.

Remove from oven. Sprinkle the insides of the potato skins with cheddar, and then the chopped bacon. Return to the oven long enough for the cheese to melt, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Serve immediately with sour cream and green onions.

Enjoy!