Potato Skins with Sriracha Dipping Sauce

Tonight the hubby and I had a couple friends over for pizza and games. I didn't make the pizza (we ordered it) but I did want to make something tasty for our little get-together. And what's better than potato skins? 

I remember the first time I had a potato skin. I was at Applebee's in Ohio and thought I had never had anything better. I was probably about twelve years old at the time and I was overly dramatic (as per usual), but it was seriously delicious and I wanted nothing more than to continue eating them! Now that I'm married and on a budget, I can't have restaurant potato skins very often anymore (insert sad face here). But I found out that I can totally make these at home! I've made them before and they are super-duper easy to make and are so delicious! You'll think you're eating skins from Max & Erma's or Applebee's! 

Now, usually, potato skins are served with straight-up sour cream or ranch dressing. But for today, I thought about using the same sriracha sauce recipe I made for my black bean veggie burgers. Hubby and I loved this sauce on the burgers and onion straws so I thought, "Why not try this delicious, kicker sauce on potato skins?" I'm glad I did because it is so incredibly delicious! The sauce gives that creamy texture that you get with sour cream or ranch dressing over the crunch of the bacon and crispy skins. It turned out absolutely delicious!

What You Need:

• 6-8 large spuds
• shredded cheddar cheese
• crispy bacon or bacon bits (I used bits because they're easy)
• olive oil
• salt

How to Do It:

First, you'll cook the potatoes. I found that the easiest way to achieve this is to microwave the potatoes until they are soft and a fork can be inserted and removed easily. When the potatoes are cooked, cut them in half and let them cool a little or you could burn yourself.

When the spuds are cooled a little, scoop the innards out and reserve them for mashed potatoes for dinner tomorrow! Don't scoop all the innards out, you want to keep a little of the potato to keep the skins from falling apart.

Now that the spuds are scooped, lay them out on an aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet. Brush the inside of the potatoes with olive oil, sprinkle a little salt.

Flip the spuds over, skin-side up, and brush the skins with olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt again. Now they're ready to pop into the oven on 400°F for roughly 15 minutes. 

When you check them out, you'll see a little golden-brown around the outside of the potato. Now, leave them skin-side down and add a little cheese to the spud boat and sprinkle in some bacon bits too. Sprinkle a little more salt (not too much) and pop back in the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Now they're looking absolutely delicious and it's time to eat! Serve with a little bit of that delicious sriracha sauce and bon apétit!

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Good morning, readers! Last night I made black bean burgers again. This time I added a couple fun toppings to make the burgers a little more fancy and similar to burgers I've had in restaurants in the past. You can click on the link above to go to my post if you've never made a black bean burger before. So, on our burgers, I put a sriracha dressing of my own recipe, a corn salsa of my own recipe and some onion straws that I got from the Pioneer Woman. 

Now, as I mentioned before, the corn salsa and sriracha dressing I made were made up in my own mind so if you're not a fan, don't worry! I'm new to making up my own recipes so I certainly won't be shocked if they aren't for everyone. But if you do end up trying them and you have some suggestions on how to make them better, feel free to comment! The corn salsa and the onion straws have their own posts, but I'm going to leave instructions here for the sriracha dressing because it doesn't really have measurements yet. It was really made to taste so I'm not sure how much of each component I put in but I'll guesstimate it.

What You Need:

• buttermilk ranch dressing
• sriracha hot chili sauce
• sour cream
• salt
• garlic powder

How to Do It:

Really simple. Start with a base of ranch dressing, I used about three tablespoons. Next, squeeze in a small amount of sriracha, I used about 1/4 teaspoon. Scoop out about two tablespoons sour cream and add it next. Mix it all up then add in about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of garlic powder. I added in about another 1/4 teaspoon of sriracha at the end and mixed it all up again. Depending on how spicy you like things, you can always add more sriracha if need be! I liked this as a sauce on the black bean burgers and it was also good to just dip the onion straws in!

Onion Strings

As I was thinking of what to make for dinner last night, I thought about a big, juicy hamburger from Red Robin (yummm). But, because my husband is vegetarian, I decided to be anti-meat and make black bean burgers instead. I love these burgers but sometimes I wish I had a restaurant-style one instead of just the plain burger with American cheese on the bun and a couple condiments. So I thought, why not try something new and throw on some onion strings? I love burgers that have these fried boogers on them and I wanted one so badly that I decided to start looking up how to make them. Even now, not even 10 AM and I want one of those leftover burgers with a few onion strings on them.

So I looked around and found a recipe for them from the Pioneer Woman who really has a lot of great looking recipes. I made them up, popped them onto my burgers and what a hit! My hubby loved them and so did I!

What You Need:

• 1 large onion
• 2 cups milk or buttermilk
• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder
• 1 qt. canola oil
• black pepper to taste

How to Do It:

First, slice the onion very thin. I cannot stress this enough. That onion has to be thinly sliced. Separate the onion into rings and submerge them in two cups of milk or buttermilk. I used regular milk because I didn't have buttermilk on hand and I didn't feel like taking the time to make it either. Let the onion sit in the milk for an hour at least. While that's happening, mix up the breading mixture. Add two cups flour to a bowl.

Next, throw in the one tablespoon of salt.

Add in the black pepper (I didn't use much, maybe 1/2 teaspoon) and chili powder (the Pioneer Woman used cayenne pepper but I found chili powder works just as well).

Mix it all up and let cover it until you're ready to bread the onion. Once the onion has sit for an hour, remove a few at a time from the milk and plop into the flour mixture.

I used a tupperware container so I could just pop the lid on and shake up the mixture to make sure I covered the onions well with it.

Shake off the excess flour and make a healthy batch of strings to put into the hot oil.

Make sure your oil is good and hot, not burning, before adding the onions. Be careful when you add them too because they could pop up on you and burn you. You can see that my husband is wearing an oven mitt while he puts them into the hot oil.

Let them simmer in the hot oil until golden brown, this shouldn't take more than a few minutes. Just mix them up a little so they don't all stick together into a bunch.

When the onions look pretty and golden brown, remove them from the oil onto a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve over burgers, as a side to a nice steak, or just by themselves with some ranch dip!

Original recipe

Corn Salsa

This recipe is partly inspired by the corn salsa that you get at Chipotle but I made it up myself so here's hoping it's as good as Chipotle's! I served this over my black bean veggie burgers to add a little moisture to them. Black bean burgers have a tendency to come out dry so something like this salsa can really make them more enjoyable.

What You Need:

• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• minced garlic
• oregano
• Goya adobo
• chili powder
• lemon juice

How to Do It:

Dice up the red onion and place it in a large tupperware bowl.

Next, drain the can of corn and dump the kernels over the onion.

Add in three shakes of minced garlic.

Three shakes of oregano.

 Mix it all up.

Add in some Adobo seasoning (I did four shakes of this).

Depending on how spicy you like it, shake in some chili powder. I did about two shakes.

Two tablespoons of lemon juice (please use fresh if you have it).

Mix it all up and you've got yourself a delicious corn salsa to serve over burgers or tacos!

Cooking School

Today I signed up for an online cooking school offered by America's Test Kitchen. If you have never heard of America's Test Kitchen, it's a television show that runs for thirty minutes on public service stations and has run for fourteen seasons. So I've been looking for an online cooking school to study during the day and I've looked into several different ones but America's Test Kitchen offers a free trial for fourteen days.

So I'll be starting the classes tonight as I learn to properly wield a knife to chop vegetables for my stir fry that I'll eat for dinner. Wish me luck as I start my next journey into cooking school! I'll start blogging about my classes as well after I've completed them. Here's hoping that starting a new phase will bring more ideas on what and how to cook. I look forward to learning new things and actually learning how to cook, instead of trying to teach myself.

Julia Child's Kitchen

This past weekend, because it was a glorious three-dayer, my husband and I made a pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. to see Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian. I first fell in love with Julia Child when I watched the movie Julie & Julia then read the novel, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, by Julie Powell. I've been to the Smithsonian before and I saw Julia Child's kitchen then also. This time though, I am a cook. I know how to cook, I enjoy cooking, and I consider myself a cook. So I hold a soft spot for Mrs. Child because she started to learn how to cook when she first got married also. 

The newest Smithsonian exhibit featuring Julia's kitchen.

I've learned a lot about Julia Child since my obsession has started. She learned to cook at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France when she and her husband moved there in 1948. After several more moves, the couple moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and Paul Child designed a kitchen to suit his wife's height. The kitchen eventually became the backdrop of her television series. 

Cookbooks, Travel books, and Videos of her show

Her pots and pans were reunited with the kitchen in 2009

Now that I've renewed my love of Julia Child (again) I plan on trying out a few of her more famous recipes in the next few months. I can only hope that one day, I will be as good a chef as Mrs. Child. But, until that time comes, "Bon Appétit!"

Top 15 Recipes to try in 2015

Because it's a new year, isn't it time to try new recipes? Of course it is! There are so many recipes on my Pinterest page that I've been meaning to try. So finally, I am going to try the following fifteen recipes over the course of this year. The following recipes are going to be a mixture of recipes for various appetizers, entrées, and desserts. When I make these recipes, I will redirect back to this post so you can follow along.

15. Taco Bake

This recipe I have been meaning to try because it looks like an interesting dish you could take to a potluck dinner or have as an easy dish when you have friends over. And come on, who wouldn't want something like this during a football game? This really seems like something you could just plop on a paper plate and scoop up with Doritos or Fritos. Just don't eat it all by yourself.

14. General Tso's Chicken

This recipe is something that I love to eat when I order Chinese food. It's something sweet and spicy, the perfect amount of both. I was first introduced to General Tso's Chicken when I lived in Ohio. It was one of my Aunt Carlene's favorite dishes. So this year, I really want to try making it. Maybe even for my aunt if she comes to visit me!

13. White Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

These just look absolutely delicious! My mouth actually waters just looking at the picture! I've made plenty of cheesecakes before but this is one thing I've never tried and I would really love to make them for my family this year sometime! They seem fairly easy to make and, come on, look at them! I can only hope my version turns out looking this great!

12. Bloomin' Onion Copycat

I love going to Outback Steakhouse and ordering this as an appetizer! I absolutely love the sauce that goes with it too! I want to try both but because they go together, they only count as one recipe I want to make this year. I'm excited to try making this on my own for a party appetizer. I can never eat the whole thing, even when I'm sharing with others, but it's something I love and want to try making so badly!

11. Chocolate Raspberry Cake

I really want to make this cake for a special person's birthday or maybe for a wonderful dinner party. I'm so in love with the marriage of chocolate and raspberry in everything. It's absolutely one of my favorite flavor combinations. This cake looks absolutely impressive and I think it will come out beautifully when I finally try it out.

10. Blackened Chicken

This recipe looks and sounds delicious. I love trying new flavors like the cajun style rub that is present in this recipe. And I've never tried quinoa before so I'm excited for that too. I think the chicken looks beautiful when it's blackened and with that lovely green color of the avocado yogurt sauce that will help cool down the cajun spicy-ness, it just looks gorgeous.

9. Corn Dogs

Every time fair-time comes around, in my hometown's case, that means October, I get a huge hankering for one of these slathered in mustard and ketchup with greasy fries on the side! The only downsides to fair corn dogs, are the price (sometimes they're $4!) and the fact they really only come around once a year. I absolutely love corn dogs! So when I saw that I had the capability of making them myself at home, I was so excited! I can't wait to try out making my first homemade corn dog!

8. Queso Blanco

I love queso blanco! The spicy cheese dip is one of my favorite appetizers to get with my chips and salsa at any Mexican restaurant. My husband actually likes to dip tortilla chips in both salsa and queso dip for a spicy/cheesy perfection. Queso is delicious and I can't wait to make my own!

7. Apple Cupcakes

I'm ready for fall to come back around because I love caramel apples! This is like a caramel apple cupcake! So not only do you get the delight of a caramel apple, you get it in the form of a cupcake! What better way to eat a caramel apple than as a baby cake?! These sound delicious and I can't wait to try them out! 

6. Bang-Bang Shrimp

I have never tried this before but it looks really good! I am a huge fan of shrimp of all kinds and it's so great when the shrimp is fried! I think this sauce sounds like it would be a huge hit for anyone who tries it. I can't wait to try out this recipe because I think it looks and sounds delicious! I would love to serve it over rice.

5. Beignets

It may just be a fancy way to say doughnuts, but I'm thinking they will be delicious no matter how to say it! I love doughnuts and I have made them before but never like a beignet! Hopefully they will turn out as beautifully as this lady's picture! I'm thinking I will have to make them for Fat Tuesday but we'll see!

4. Banana Bread

I always end up with overly ripe bananas because I don't like them that much so the hubby is the only one that eats them. That, and he really only likes them to a point. Once they're past that point, he won't eat them so we always end up throwing them out. This time, I'm going to save them so I can make this recipe for my dad. He really likes banana nut bread so I will probably find a way to add in some pecans or walnuts but it will probably be the same basic idea. 

3. Ding Dong Cake

I remember having a cake very similar to this when I was a kid. Although that cake had vanilla ice cream in the middle as opposed to just vanilla cream and was called hot fudge cake. I loved that cake so much and I have so many good memories of going with my grandparents to get it for dessert. So basically, I want to make this cake to bring me warm memories of my childhood and to have something delicious at the end of the day.

2. Lemon Bars

I. Love. Lemon. There, I've said it. I absolutely love lemony flavored desserts! I have always liked lemon bars but I think that making my own will be a feat because I always have trouble making lemon meringue pie set up properly. So here's to trying something that has frustrated me various times and hopefully making it work!

1. Applesauce

I have always liked the idea of making my own applesauce, probably because it brings me another round of warm childhood memories of my grandpa's applesauce. I really want to finally do it the fall! And with this recipe, I can make it in my Crockpot! I'm excited to try it out when fall comes back around!