Happy Friday lovebugs,
Here are my favorite recipes this week.
Bloody Maria
c/o Fogged in Lounge
Ingredients
- 32 oz tomato juice
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 Tbs cacao
- 1 tsp ground cayenne
- 1 tsp ground chipotle
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground true cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
Directions
Gradually incorporate dry ingredients with a little of the tomato juice at a time until smooth enough to stir with the remaining liquid. Add lime and garlic. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
My preferred tomato juice, Knudsen, has some lemon in it to begin with, so you may want to add more lime for snap. For the cacao, it’s worth finding the dark, smoky, complex Valrhona. And I’m thinking a half teaspoon of cloves wouldn’t hurt a thing.
Reposado tequila is nice with this. But it’s a grownup drink on its own without the spirits, so if you have a Virgin Maria in your party, she won’t feel left out.
Avocado BLT Pasta Salad
c/o Emily Bites
Ingredients
- 8 oz uncooked pasta (I used cavatappi)
- 8 slices center cut bacon
- 6 oz of avocado, mashed (for me 6 ounces was the weight of one avocado after removing the skin and pit)
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup low fat mayonnaise (I used Hellmann’s)
- 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes (I sliced mine into quarters)
- 2 cups shredded or thinly sliced romaine or green leaf lettuce
Directions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain. Rinse the pasta in a colander under cold water until the pasta is cooled and drain. Transfer the pasta to a large mixing bowl.
- Cook the bacon according to package directions and drain and cool on paper towels. Slice or crumble the bacon into small pieces.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the mashed avocado and the lemon juice and stir until thoroughly combined. Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and garlic powder and stir until well combined and creamy. Add this avocado dressing to the pasta in your large mixing bowl and then stir until the pasta is coated.
- Add the crumbled bacon, chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce to the coated pasta and toss to combine. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Sugared Pretzel Cookies
Ingredients
1 large egg, hard-boiled and cooled
10 tablespoons (140 grams or 1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (this is halved from the original)
1 cup (125 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (45 grams) rye flour (medium or white will work)
1 large egg white, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water
4 teaspoons turbinado or clear sanding sugar
Directions
Place butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Crack egg and peel shell. Separate yolk from white; add white to your next sandwich or egg salad. Press yolk through fine-mesh strainer and into mixer bowl with other ingredients. Beat mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl and beater with spatula as needed. Add vanilla, mix until combined. Add flours and mix at low speed until just combined. Using rubber spatula or your hands, reach into bowl and knead dough a few times into a cohesive mass.
Divide dough in half; place each half on a square of parchment paper. Form each into a log about 6 inches long (it will be about 1 3/4 inches in diameter) and wrap tightly with parchment, twisting ends to seal. Chill logs for 30 minutes, until semi-firm. (If you chill them longer, you’ll want to warm them up a bit or it’s difficult to work them into pretzel shapes.)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Slice 1/4-inch off first chilled log and roll slice into a ball in the palm of your hands; this softens the dough. On a counter, roll ball into a 6-inch rope. Pick up each end of rope and fold turn it into the center, pressing it into a pretzel shape. Transfer to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, placing cookies one inch apart on prepared sheets.
Brush each pretzel cookie with egg white wash, then sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake cookies until they have golden brown edges, about 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven but let firm up on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to cooling racks.
