Forever Nigella: Packed Lunch Stars

 

Well, it’s official, we’re homeschoolers.  Yesterday we went to a Not Back To School Party with our newly joined Homeschooling Support Group.

I brought two dishes; one I will showcase here and one I will save for later.

 

These started out as cheese crackers, but turned into little cheese puffs.  More on that later.

Aren’t they cute?  You know what else is cute?  My kids, that’s what.

We made lots of new friends yesterday.  Sophie was all over the playground with her friends.  Here she is sliding down the pole all by herself.  I wonder if it is the same pole that I slid down when I was little.  Anybody know?

Liam was a little easier to photograph during this excursion, since I didn’t let him leave my side.  He’s getting so big!

 

Liam loves riding this elephant.  While he was riding it, he kept saying, “I happy.”  He’s so sweet!

 

Now that school (of all kinds) are starting back this fall, perhaps we could use a little lunch time inspiration.  Forever Nigella #19 is being hosted by Nazima of Working London Mummy. This month’s challenge is to prepare and blog any Nigella Lawson recipe suitable for a packed lunch. (Forever Nigella is organized by Sarah at Maison Cupcake.)

I started out planning on making these cheese crackers, (or cheese biscuits as Nigella calls them, but that is a different thing here in the U.S.)  I planned on using a lovely star cutter to go with the theme even better.  Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get the dough to roll out nicely.  In true Nigella fashion, I lost patience and did my own thing, rolling the dough into 1/2 teaspoon balls and dropping them on a pan. As I was out of parchment, I just hoped they wouldn't stick to the pan, (they didn’t!)  Some of them I left as balls, some I slightly smashed, and others I flattened quite a bit.  I like the ones that were left round.  They reminded me of gougères a little, in that they were round and slightly puffy.  Hmm, let me add gougères to my To Bake list.

Since I made these with both kids and adults in mind, I used half mild cheddar and half sharp cheddar.  But next time, I will use 100% sharp and add a dash of cayenne pepper for a little heat.  This size only took 10 minutes to bake.  I stored this is a baggie with a paper towel to soak up any moisture.  I wanted to keep them as crisp as possible.

So whether your kiddies are eating lunch at school or at home, at the park, or wherever, these little beauties are a perfect addition to your lunchtime go-to goodies.

Forever Nigella Rules

1. Blog your entry by 28^th of the month showing:
a) the current Forever Nigella badge
b) a link to this announcement post
c) a link to the Forever Nigella page at Maison Cupcake: http://blog.maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella

n.b. posts must have been published since the announcement post. Archived posts need to be re-published afresh if you wish to submit.

2. Remember copyright.
You must NOT reproduce Nigella’s recipes verbatim. Tell us which book it is from and/or link to it online. If you’ve adapted the recipe in some way i.e. changed at least two ingredients or amended the method then it’s ok to publish the a recipe in your post but you MUST write directions in your own words.

3. Submit your post
Use the linky tool or email the host cc’ed to sarah AT maisoncupcake DOT com.

An Egg With Many Names

Ah, the Deviled Egg! What church potluck would be complete without them? I love Deviled Eggs, but did you know that they have lots of different names? For example, say you want to take them to a church potluck, but don't want to call them "deviled". Then call them "Dressed Eggs". Or if you want to sound highfalutin, then call them by their French name, "Oeufs Mimosas" (Eggs Mimosa in English). In Hungary they are called "Casino Eggs". When they are stuffed with Caviar they are called "Russian Eggs". In the Middle Ages they were called "Stuffed Eggs" and only relatively recently (the 1800s) began to be called "Deviled" due to the spices that are often used.

I grew up eating my Nana's deviled eggs. They are simple and delicious, with few ingredients, so it's economical too! Below I will give the basic instructions for making these eggs. It's not a "recipe", but more like the techniques you need to make them. You know, that's how Grandmothers cook, a dash of this, a splash of that...

Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:
Eggs (as many as you want/need)
Mayonnaise (Hellman's is recommended)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

Directions:
Place your eggs in a pot and cover with cold water, allowing for a couple inches of water above the eggs. Place the pot on the stove burner and set to high. Once the water has started to boil, set a timer for nine minutes. After nine minutes, the eggs should be hard set. Remove the eggs from the pot by using a ladle and place eggs in a bowl of cold water.

Remove shells immediately. Carefully crack the egg, (I find that cracking the egg under water allows some water to get between the egg white and the membrane to allow for easier shell removal). Gently peel away the shell and set the hard boiled egg aside.

Once all eggs have been peeled, slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Pop out the egg yolks and place in a bowl. Place the egg whites in an egg dish hollow side up.

Mash the egg yolks with a fork or potato masher. Sprinkle with salt: the amount of salt will depend on the number of eggs used. It usually takes about 1 dash of salt per egg, but only add about half of that at this time. Add pepper at this time, no more than one grind/dash per two eggs. You can always adjust later to taste. Mix well. Add mayonnaise, one spoonful at a time mixing well after each addition until egg yolks are creamy. Taste the yolks and make necessary adjustments to seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.

Nana scoops the egg yolk mixture into the egg white using a fork. I have found that using a pastry bad makes the job quick and easy, not to mention kind of pretty. Either way, just fill up the hollow part of the egg white. Finish with a sprinkle of paprika over the top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*Troubleshooting:
For the last few years, I have been the deviled egg maker for the our family reunion. So using about 4 dozen eggs, I'm turning out around 100 deviled eggs!! Needless to say, not only do I have a lot of egg plates, but I also know some tricks when it comes to fixing mistakes! One time I added too much salt. Adding a little milk will help tone down the saltiness. Another time, I used a new mayonnaise brand, which I didn't realize tasted too much like vinegar until after adding to the egg yolks. A little milk and sugar did the trick, no one would have ever known. I've also used my food processor to mash and mix up the egg yolk mixture when I'm making such a large number of eggs...anything to make life easier! Finally, for the family reunion, I don't fill the eggs until I get to the location. I make everything the night before, then cover my plate with the egg whites with plastic cling. The egg yolk mixture goes into my pastry bag and sealed into a Ziploc bag and I park all of it in the fridge overnight. When I get to the reunion, I just pull out the pastry bag and quickly fill the eggs then sprinkle with the paprika.

Though many people put other ingredients in their deviled eggs, our family loves these eggs "plain", as Nana says. It's a great way to please the picky eater. That being said, there are so many ways to make deviled eggs, so how do you dress your eggs?

Christmas Brunch

It's Christmas morning. The tiny tots wake up before dawn excited and you all meet around the tree to see what Santa brought. Then it's time to open the gifts to each other. You've spent time carefully considering what to buy your loved ones. You've wrapped packages, decorated them with gift tags and bows, and now it's time to tear in. Wait, no, not so fast! Let's savor this time. Let's see the joy and excitement on each face. Yeah, that's better.

OK, so not every family is like mine. We patiently take turns opening presents, one at a time please, we can't be greedy. We see what each person receives and we know from whom it was given. There's eight of us, so uh, yeah, it's gonna take a while. After all the presents are opened and the excitement has died down, our stomachs start rumbling. It's time for brunch.


Christmas morning is not the time to be in the kitchen when you can be enjoying your family and maybe some new gadgets. Here's a recipe given to me by my friend Wanda. It's the most requested item this Holiday season, and it's so easy to make. What's better is that you could make these the night before Christmas and serve them without doing anything more than warming them in the oven for a few minutes.

Bacon and Cheese Puffs
Makes 24 puffs


Ingredients:
1 block of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup Parmesan cheese (shredded),
2-3 ounces bacon bits (You can use more if you must)
1 can of flaky biscuits (8 count)


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, milk, Parmesan cheese, and bacon bits until well blended. Divide each biscuit into thirds by separating the layers evenly. Place each biscuit third into mini muffin cups and press into the cup to make a shell. Fill each shell with about a teaspoon of the mixture. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or room temperature.

Click here for the printable recipe at Tasty Kitchen.