Cheddar & Black Pepper Biscuits and a Giveaway

Happy Monday! We had some perfect weather over the weekend and was able to go out and enjoy it by finally washing the cars, hanging out at the dog park and eating dinner out on the patio. Dinner club was Saturday night and the host chose to do pizzas so we all brought our favorite toppings and I was in charge of the salad and brought one of my favorites Field Greens, Crumbled Blue Cheese and Spicy Pecans (click HERE for the recipe). On the post I originally made it as a wedge, but I have an updated picture now using the field greens that I’ll update this week.

Anyway, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo kicks off tomorrow night until March 20th. We will be out there 13 of the 20 nights and since we are out there so many nights I’ll be doing 2 recipe post a week then on Friday’s I share some rodeo pictures with you all. As promised when I attended the suite tasting (click HERE for details) I met Grady Spears and I have an autographed copy for one lucky reader!

Due to me having to move out of my house for 3 weeks I didn’t get to make a lot of the recipes I planned on, but I did make these biscuits for our steak night last night and I really liked the flavor. They where the cover photo of the book and as you know I love having bread at every meal. Grady Spears has a show on tv called The Cowboy’s Kitchen, he has a restaurant in Fort Worth called Grady’s Restaurant. and author of 6 books. He’s a very busy man, but he’s so down to earth I really enjoyed talking to him and listening to all of his stories. Be sure to check out his other cookbooks if you enjoy Southern cooking and try some of the recipes listed on his site.

Overall this is a very well done book and as they say, Cowboys Kitchen is a modern twist on classic cowboy cuisine. The pictures are fabulous and timeless, the recipes are delicious looking and there’s a lot of Texas history built in. This is one of those books that you’ll use in the kitchen as well as a coffee table conversational piece. Soooo…….you wanna win it??

Mandatory Entry:

-Leave a comment and tell us if you’ve ever attended a rodeo and if you have what your favorite part is. (The mandatory entry must be completed in order for any bonus entries to count.)

Bonus Entries:

• For 2 additional entries follow me on Twitter and leave a comment that you do. Be sure to leave 2 separate comments telling me your a follower!!
• For 2 additional entries become a Finding Inspiration In Food follower and leave a comment that you do. Be sure to leave 2 separate comments telling me your a follower!!
• For 2 additional entries “like” Finding Inspiration In Food on Facebook and leave a comment that you did. Be sure to leave 2 separate comments telling me you liked the page!!
• Leave a comment any non-giveaway post and let me know in a comment which one you left it on.
• Share my giveaway on twitter or Facebook and leave me a link in a comment. (Click on the time stamp and copy the link in the address bar).
• Grab my button and place it on your blog or website and tell me where it is by leaving a link in your comment so that I can check

Contest ends Thursday, March 17, 2011 at midnight central time and I'll post a winner Friday morning. I will chose the winner via Random.org, and the winner will be notified by e-mail. Make sure to leave your email, or have your contact available on your blogger site.

Good Luck!!

I was not paid for this promotion and all information given are my personal opinion.

Cheddar and Black Pepper Biscuits
(Adapted from The Texas Cowboy Kitchen by Grady Spears with June Naylor)

Printer Friendly Version

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup shortening or unsalted butter
¾ cup buttermilk
4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut ¼ inch cubes
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet or a cake pan with parchment paper or lightly butter the surface with about 1 teaspoon of melted butter.

The choice of the pan will determine the outcome of the biscuit: For a crispy exterior, set the biscuits about ½ inch apart on a baking sheet. If you want moister, fluffier biscuits, place them close together in a cake pan. Select the pan of your choice and have it ready for the biscuits.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Add the shortening and cut it into the dry ingredients using 2 knives, a pastry blender, or your hands.

Work the shortening in well, until it is reduced to pea-sized pieces.

Add the buttermilk and mix briefly, just to incorporate it. It’s very important not to overwork the dough, or the biscuits will not be delicate and light.

Gently mix in the cheddar and and black pepper. The dough will be fairly sticky.

Place the dough on a smooth, well-floured surface and pat with your hands to about ¾ inch thick. Cut out the biscuits, using a 2 inch round glass or cookie cutter. Dip the cutter into flour between cuts to keep from sticking. Place the biscuits on or in the prepared pan. The remaining dough may be gently gathered together an rolled out again for more biscuits. Brush the tops with the remaining melted butter. (I just pinched off a ball and hand rolled it before adding it to the pan.)

Place the biscuits in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve warm.

Turkey Enchiladas

I kind of made this dish up along the way as I was using up some left over turkey as a casserole dish hubby can take to work. It came out really good with a kick to it. You may have to adjust the seasoning to your liking. Also, it may seem like a lot of sauce and you can easily use one can rather then 2 but it soaks up as it cooks. Feel free to sub chicken or beef in there as well, it works with any kind of left over meat you have on hand.

Turkey Enchiladas

Printer Friendly Version

1 (15 ounce) corn, drained
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon Tony’s
¼ - ½ cup diced red onion
2 cups shredded roasted turkey
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
4 ounces diced green chilies
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
dash cayenne
½ teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, divided
10 tortillas

Heat butter until melted in a small skillet.

Add corn and red onion and pan fry until onion is cooked and corn has some color on it.

Combine cooked corn mixture with the next 7 items and ½ of the pepper jack cheese. (I mixed the sauce and spices separate and just combined the corn mixture, cheese and turkey.)

Fill each tortilla with some of the turkey filling and place in a prepared baking dish.

Continue with remaining filling and tortillas.

Top the filled tortillas with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the remaining ½ of pepper jack cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees F until heated through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Easy Chocolate Pudding Tarts

I’m trying to clear some items out of the freezer and pantry and whipped up a dessert on a whim. This recipe is easy for kids to make (with help of an adult and the oven of course) and for those last minute pop in guest.

Easy Chocolate Pudding Tarts
(Finding Inspiration in Food)

Printer Friendly Version

1 (1.4 ounce, 4 ½ cup servings) instant chocolate pudding
1 package (9.5 ounces) Puff Pastry Mini Shells
peanut butter, if desired
crushed peanuts, if desired
mini marshmallows, if desired

Mix and refrigerate instant chocolate pudding mix.

Bake, cool and remove the “top” of the shells according to the package directions.

For plain chocolate tarts fill the baked shells with pudding and top with a marshmallow.

For the peanut butter chocolate tarts, add  a dab of peanut butter in the bottom of each shell then top with chocolate pudding and a sprinkle of crushed peanuts.

Turkey Pot Pie

I don’t know what the deal with this crazy arctic weather we are having this year, but being a southern girl I’m done with it. I’m ready for some heat so I can swim and enjoy the sun. Well, while I’m dreaming of warmer days I’m stuck sitting by the fireplace eating some comfort food. That’s not such a bad deal either, as long as I don’t have to stray away from the fireplace haha.

Pot Pie is one of those things you can’t go wrong with, it’s creamy, yummy and uses up all those leftovers you have laying around. I used turkey in this recipe, but you can use chicken or whatever you like. You can buy those pre-cooked roasted chickens as an easy time saver and just pick the meat off the bones. If you want you could also do a crust in the bottom of the baking dish and bake until done before adding the filling and baking a second time. I don’t like how the crust gets soggy so I just did a top crust.

Turkey Pot Pie

Printer Friendly Verison

1 sheet of puff pastry sheets, thawed
⅓ cup butter
1 cup baby carrots, sliced in coins
1 small to medium onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
8 ounce package of mushrooms, sliced
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups cubed turkey
1 cup frozen baby peas
couple of tablespoons parsley

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Unfold the pastry sheet and cut into 1 inch thick strips.

Melt the butter in skillet over medium heat.

Add the carrots, onion, garlic and mushrooms; cooking until the vegetables are tender, but still crisp.

 

Add the flour, stirring for 4 minutes then slowly add the broth and heat to a boil.

Once mixture thickens, stir in mustard, salt and pepper, turkey, peas.

 

Remove skillet from heat and pour in baking dish.

Weave a lattice pattern over the filling with the pre cut strips, trimming any excess pastry.

Sprinkle parsley on top and bake 450 degrees F until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is golden brown.