Homemade Garam Masala Spice

So tonight we made Butter Chicken for dinner.  It's one of our family's favorite Indian dishes, and if you've never made a foray into Indian cuisine, it's a great recipe to start with.  One of the ingredients it calls for is Garam Masala, which is Hindi for "Hot Spices."  It's a blend of ground spices commonly used in Northern Indian and some Asian cuisine.  The "hot" part actually refers to the intensity of the spices rather than a heat content, making this the perfect seasoning for all sorts of palates.  As Mr. Devilish Dish and I were gathering the ingredients from the pantry he said, "Where's the Garam Masala?" and I said, "I don't know.  It's in there.  I thought you bought it at the international pantry."  To which he replied, "I thought you bought it at Central Market."  The moral of the story is NO ONE bought Garam Masala and we were out.  Not to worry.  It's just a spice blend, easily mixed up from spices you may already have on hand.  Give the Butter Chicken a try.  It will only take you a minute to whip up this fragrant spice mixture!

Garam Masala:  Make this aromatic spice blend yourself!

Indoor S'Mores

As if we didn't get enough treats over Christmas, it seems like everyone around my house has had a sweet tooth.  I don't know if it's the week of really cold weather we had or what.  Maybe it was the fire roaring in the fireplace that put us in the mood for S'Mores.  I wasn't about to attempt that sticky mess in the fireplace, nor was I in the mood to build a campfire on our deck and have the fire department over for a visit either.  I've made S'Mores in the oven before, by placing the graham crackers carefully on a cookie sheet.  That process is a little messy too.  And face it, S'Mores are kind of hard to eat.  This version is like a dip and the presentation is much more fun.  Not only is it easier, but the cast-iron skillet just made it all the more rustic and homey. It satisfied everyone's craving for dessert and Mr. Devilish Dish even commented how much fun it was to eat and share the dessert from the skillet.  We just grabbed our graham crackers and dove right in.

All the fun, without the fire.

Ooey-Gooey Goodness!

Chicken Enchilada Roll-Ups

So I think I told you that Mr. Devilish Dish is IN LOVE with Ro*Tel Tomatoes.  He has been as long as I've known him.  I know that saying goes, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."  I just had no idea it would be as easy as adding Ro*Tel to whatever I was making would guarantee his love would be true.  The CHEESY MEXICAN SMOKED SAUSAGE PENNE PASTA was a huge hit.  Why?  The Ro*Tel of course!  So I knew the Chicken Enchilada Roll-Ups would win him over.  Shredded chicken, cream cheese, and Ro*Tel?  What's not to love?  These make a great party recipe (think Super Bowl coming up!) because they can be made ahead, rolled-up and refrigerated.  Just slice before serving.  Now I've got a great new appetizer recipe and a hubby that thinks I'm the bomb.  And the secret?  Ro*Tel! 

Spread, Roll, Slice and Enjoy!

Lasagna Dip

It's almost time for Super Bowl Sunday.  As much of a fan as I am of college football, I really am not much of a fan of professional football.  I am however, a fan of snack food and appetizers.  And beer.  And commercials.  And the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet.  Do you think Mr. Devilish Dish would go for a Super Bowl Party that involved food, beer and watching the Puppy Bowl???  Yeah, me neither.  What we decide to watch really isn't as important and what we'll be eating and I am positive we'll be snacking on some Lasagna Dip!  It has all the wonderful Italian flavor of lasagna, but it's a lot easier to make and a lot more fun to eat.  I served it with some Wheat Thin Crackers, but I think it would make an outstanding presentation served in a bread bowl with some crostini on the side.  Whether you decide to watch football or puppies, definitely make this dip for your party.  It's sure to score!

All the flavor of Lasagna, in a DIP!

Spread cream cheese mixture into prepared dish.

Brown ground beef and onion.
Add garlic, mushrooms and seasonings.

Add spaghetti sauce.

Before baking top with lots of cheese!

Serve during the Super Bowl.
(Or Puppy Bowl if you're hubby will let you!)

Cheesy Mexican Smoked Sausage Penne Pasta

I've been in the biggest cooking rut since Christmas.  During the holidays, I was really busy sewing handmade t-shirt scarves in my little SCARF FACTORY.  We had a lot of crock pot meals and spaghetti.  Basically things I could either whip up in 30 minutes or fix and forget.  So Christmas is over.  The hectic sewing rush is over.  And my family has really been ready for some new things at meal time.  We loved smoked sausage around here.  And we love pasta.  And Mr. Devilish Dish LOVES RoTel Tomatoes.  Like seriously loves them.  Wants to marry RoTel and Velveeta and live happily ever after with them instead of me.  So you can only imagine how much of a hit this pasta dish was.  Not only was it one dish and easy, but it was warm, satisfying and had just a little kick from the RoTel.  It's our new favorite and will definitely be added to the dinner line-up.  Give it a try and add it to your line-up too!

Cheesy Mexican Smoked Sausage
Penne Pasta.
It's a mouthful in more ways than one!

Sauté onion in olive oil.

Add smoked sausage, cooking until lightly browned.
Add garlic.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer until pasta
is cooked.  Stir in cheese until melted.

Add green onions and enjoy!

Boozy Berries

I just got back from a weekend with my girlfriends from college.  It was our belated Christmas celebration, and a much needed weekend of gossip, laughs and a cocktail or two.  Amy, who doesn't cook much but still has a thing for handsome celebrity chef's had ripped a cocktail recipe from Curtis Stone out of a magazine.  It was elderflower liqueur, Prosecco, lemon sorbet and lemon for garnish.  Unfortunately for Curtis, you cannot find lemon sorbet in North West Arkansas.  So we improvised with lemon popsicles.  (Please don't tell that hot Aussie.) I thought it would be a good time to try these Boozy Berries out on the girls.  That's strawberries, that have marinated in whipped cream-flavored vodka, then dipped in white chocolate.  What's not to love???  With baseball season and lots of tailgating coming up, it's always fun to have a new party recipe in the repertoire.  These were super easy to make, super easy to transport and super dangerously delicious.  Thanks to Curtis Stone, Just Dance and Boozy Berries we had a great girl's weekend!

Boozy Berries:  Strawberries marinated
in whipped cream-flavored vodka and
dipped in white chocolate!

So easy to make.  Just cover the berries
in vodka, and refrigerate 24 hours.

Pat dry and dip in melted
white almond bark.

Here's Cutie Curtis' "Bubbles & Sorbetto."
I tried to find the recipe online with no success.
It was Prosecco, elderflower liqueur, lemon and
lemon sorbetto.  Please do not tell Curtis we used
lemon popsicles.

Here's our crazy kiddoes celebrating a
belated Christmas together.  I would post a picture
of us girls, but they were a little silly and the others
might kill me if I did.   (I promised not to post the
video of Jenny doing Just Dance to "Livin' La Vida Loca," and a promise is a promise!)

Browned Butter Pumpkin Pie Spiced Rice Krispie Treats with Sea Salt

Browned Butter Pumpkin Pie Spiced Rice Krispie Treats with Sea Salt.  Say that five times fast!  Good thing you can whip up this awesome dessert in less time than it will take you to say it!  A while back, Mr. Devilish Dish and I taught a cooking class.  The theme was, "Gridiron Gourmet."  You know, because we love football.  Neither of us are professional chefs, we are just two people that like good food and like to eat.  I think the appeal of his classes are he's just a regular guy that cooks regular food, but shows you how to elevate it a little bit.  A menu that's simple enough for the home cook and working mom or dad to create, but impressive enough for company.  Each table had several football-shaped bowls of CRACK CORN for the students to snack on as the class was getting started.  We shared our recipes for Greg's FAMOUS FROM SCRATCH ONION DIP, SLOPPY JOE SLIDERS, and Greg's AWARD WINNING CHILI.  I wanted the perfect dessert that would be both casual and appropriate for tailgate, but something a little unexpected.  I came up with Browned Butter Pumpkin Pie Spiced Rice Krispie Treats with Sea Salt, and they scored a TOUCH DOWN.  And an EXTRA POINT.  And a FIELD GOAL. 

Browned Butter Pumpkin Pie Spiced
Rice Krispie Treats
with Sea Salt

Begin by melting butter...

Continue cooking butter until it turns
a golden brown color and develops
a nutty aroma.  Now you have
"Browned Butter."

Score a Touchdown at your tailgate party
with these treats!

Here's the set-up from our GRIDIRON GOURMET
cooking class.  If you're in the Norman, Oklahoma
area, we'd love for you to attend.  Please visit the international pantry for more information on
their cooking classes.

Slow Cooker Stewed Tomatoes

When our "Little Devil" WAS Little, we used to pawn her off on the grandparents on Saturday nights.  Well I wouldn't call it pawning off.  You know because they liked her.  They were dying to see her and feed her crap like ice cream for breakfast and get her all hyped up on sugar before they brought her back to us.  Mr. Devilish Dish and I considered Saturday nights our "Date Night" which usually constisted of us making a meal together.  When we were first married, and poor, we would eat bagel bites for dinner, then get all dressed up and go to the nicest restaurant in town and split a dessert.  And pretend that we had been out on the town for a fabulous evening and we merely stopped by to have a dessert on our way home.  Fortunately our bagel bite days are over.  Now we're old and tired and we don't have to pawn Little Devil off on anyone.  She's usually working, or out on a date or whatever it is that teenage Little Devils do.  So it's still like a date for us but we usually just grill steaks and bake potatoes.  And eat our other favorite side dish:  Stewed Tomatoes.  As in open a can and heat them up.  It's our all time favorite side.  But opening a can isn't very gourmet, and since I have a reputation to uphold for you guys, I thought playing around with a homemade version would be fun.  Bonus: it goes in the slow cooker which means more time for me!

One of my favorite side dishes!

The slow cooker stewed tomato line-up...
So colorful!

Dip tomatoes in boiling water.

Then drop into ice bath.
This will help remove the skins and
make them easy to peel off.

Halve the peeled tomatoes.
Remove seeds and cores. 
Coarsely chop tomatoes and place in
slow cooker.

Combine with remaining ingredients,
except croutons.

Season well with salt and pepper.
Cook on low 6-7 hours.

Serve topped with croutons.  Enjoy!