Pear and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

These little sandwiches were such a surprise the first time I tasted them, and they've become one of my all time favorite tea sandwiches.  This recipe was one of my first choices when asked to cater a garden party.  My friend, Joann Roach, who is a member of the Royal Ladies Tea Society to which I belong, said she combined a couple of other recipes to come up with this one.  I'm so pleased she was willing to share it with me.

I've always loved raisin bread, but had never heard of or thought to make a sandwich using fruit, much less pears.  Some people are turned off by the thought of the combination, but once they've tried these tiny sandwiches, they're hooked!

I've altered Joann's recipe a little bit as it called for toasted walnuts and I just don't care for walnuts, so I omit them.  Also, I use the spreadable cream cheese in the tub, so I don't have to wait for it to soften.

There are few ingredients and putting them together is quite simple.   The first step is to cut the crusts off the bread.  I make sure I do this two slices stacked together at a time to make sure they match perfectly so the sandwiches look their best. Then I lay them out on a bread board as if I've "opened" the sandwich.  Then I mix a little bit of cinnamon sugar in with some cream cheese and spread it on each slice of bread.  Next, I peel the pears, cut them in quarters and laying each piece on a long side, remove the core.  Then I thinly slice each quartered pear and place the slices on one of the slices of bread from each sandwich, overlapping them as I go.  I put the other slice on top, cream cheese side down.  Then I cut each sandwich twice, once vertically and once horizontally, to make four small square sandwiches.

I'm pretty sure you've never tasted anything like these bite-size sandwiches, but once you do, you'll want more!  Enjoy!

Pear and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

1 pkg. Sun-Maid Raisin Bread (discard ends or save for another use)

1 (8 oz.) tub spreadable cream cheese

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 very ripe yellow Bartlett pears

Remove bread from package, discard ends, and place on a cutting board with 2 slices stacked together. Cut off crusts and separate slices as if you were opening a sandwich.  In a tiny bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon together.  Spread cream cheese mixture on each slice of bread.  Save any extra for another use.  Wash and peel pears; cut into quarters.  Laying each piece on a long side, cut out core.  Cut into thin slices.  Layer one side of each sandwich with pear slices overlapping as you apply them.  Place the other slice of bread from each sandwich on top of the pears, cream cheese side down.  Cut vertically and horizontally to create four tiny sandwich out of each full-size sandwich.

Open-Faced White Cheddar Cheese Sandwiches

I have served this sandwich a few times at teas I have hosted, but most recently served it at a garden party where I catered all of the food.  I offered four savory options and three deserts, so I apologize for not having preparation pictures.  A big thank you to Connie Shelton who took pictures of my food that day and without whom I would not have a picture to share with you here!

I found this recipe in the January/February issue of Tea Time Magazine.  This open-faced sandwich is a bit of a surprise to the taste buds because it has a bit of heat from a little cayenne pepper, but it's also bursting with flavor.  Most people are surprised that it's made with white cheddar because of the color, however, the cayenne gives the cheese the orange hue.

A food processor is a necessary tool when making this recipe to get the texture just right. There are only a few steps to making this sandwich, so it doesn't take much time.  

After shredding the cheeses, I place them, the mayonnaise and cayenne pepper into my food processor fitted with the blade attachment.  Using the pulse button, I combine the ingredients until they are fully incorporated and mostly smooth.  The roasted red peppers come in strips, so after I drain them, I dice them.  After dicing the fresh chives, I remove the cheese mixture to a medium bowl and fold in the peppers and chives.  

If I'm serving these right away, I cut my bread into shapes and dress them with the cheese mixture and a couple of fresh chives for garnish.  The bread can be cut into any shape you desire, making sure they aren't any bigger than about 2 inches in diameter.  

When serving sandwiches at a tea, I've found that the bread can dry out pretty quickly.  The way to avoid this is to place your sandwiches on your serving plate, then cover with wax paper.  Completely cover the wax paper with slightly wet paper towel.  The wet paper towel will keep in the moisture and the wax paper acts as a barrier to keep the sandwiches from getting wet.  Remove both layers just before serving.  This works every time!

In this case, I wanted to make as many things ahead of time as possible, so I toasted my bread the day before and stored the pieces in a zip lock bag.  Sandwiches are usually cut in squares, triangles, and rectangles, so I decided to have a different look and cut the bread into hexagons. Open-faced sandwiches give you more of an option that way.

I had made the cheese mixture ahead of time also and brought it in a Tupperware bowl, so all I had to do was assemble the sandwiches.  I thought spreading the cheese would take too much time, so I used the smallest of my Pampered Chef scoops to top the toast with the cheese, then applied two small pieces of chives for garnish.  They tasted as good as they looked!  Enjoy!

Addendum:

I made these delicious open-faced sandwiches today again for a Fall Tea.  To make it a little more theme related, I used bread shaped like oak leaves and I put a clove in the top of the cheese ball to make it resemble a pumpkin!  This side view isn't the best, but I'll show you how I did it.

 Using an oak leaf cookie cutter, I cut out two leaves from each slice of multi grain bread.  Using a butter knife, I made an indentation up the middle to resemble the main vein in the leaf.

Then, I toasted them in the toaster oven.  I made the leaf toasts a day ahead, and once they were cooled, I stored them in a zip-lock bag until they were ready to top with the cheese ball.

Following the recipe below, I made the cheese mixture.  Using the smallest (about 1-inch) Pampered Chef scoop, I placed cheese on the end of each leaf and placed a clove in the top.  I just love playing with food!  Enjoy!

Open-Faced White Cheddar Cheese Sandwiches

8 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded

8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

5 tablespoons mayonnaise

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cup diced marinated roasted red peppers

¼ cup minced chives

12 slices multigrain bread, cut into rounds with a 2-inch cookie cutter

Garnish:  fresh chives

In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together the cheddar, Monterey Jack, mayonnaise, and cayenne until mixture is mostly smooth.  Fold in the diced red peppers and chives until well combined.  Spread a small amount on each bread round and garnish with fresh chives, if desired.

Liza's BBQ Chicken Baked Potato

Being and Irish girl, I haven't met a potato I didn't like, but this is one of my favorites.  The bonus is that this is another fairly simple recipe that I came up with.  The only thing that takes time is baking the potatoes, but there are different options for how to do that!  My preference is to bake them in the oven, the old-fashioned way, but that takes about 1 1/2 hours.  The longest method is in the slow cooker, but it can be the biggest time saver, especially if you are gone all day and just have a little bit of time to put dinner together when you get home.  Prepare them as if you are baking them in the oven, scrubbing them clean and wrapping them in foil, then throw them in the slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 8 hrs. Of course, the quickest way is in the microwave, but I don't like the flavor nor the texture when the potato is cooked this way.  You do have to remember to pierce the skin several times with a fork and not to use foil of any type when using this method.  The other option is to use a pressure cooker, following manufacturers directions.  I've done this before and it cuts the cooking time down to about half an hour.  It's your choice as to how to cook your potatoes; here I'm sharing how I baked mine in the oven.

I guess you could say these are similar to a fully loaded baked potato.  It is certainly a filling dish that tastes good also.  The simplicity comes from using bottled BBQ sauce and already cooked chicken; whether left over from a different meal or prepackaged chicken strips that I cut into cubes.

Potatoes are dirty, so the first step is to give them good cleaning.  I use a scrubber to get into the "eyes" of the spud.  I think there would be nothing worse than getting the flavor of dirt when eating a spud!  It doesn't need to be dried, just put it on a piece of foil large enough to entirely wrap it up.

I twist the ends and put it directly on the oven rack, usually on the top shelf, which is a bit higher than the middle of the oven.  I've preheated the oven to 350 degrees, so once I close the door, I can do something else because it's going to take about 1 1/2 hours to bake.  I usually return to the kitchen about 20 minutes before the potatoes are done to begin preparing the BBQ chicken topping.

The first step is to start cooking the bacon, as this is the longest step in preparing the topping.  The picture above may look strange, but this is the way I cook my bacon when a recipe calls for crumbled bacon.  The pieces cook evenly and they are more uniform in size when done.  Also, they don't splatter grease all over the stove and they don't have to be watched closely and turned every so often.  So, I cut my raw bacon across into thin strips and put them in a medium saucepan to cook over high heat.  While preparing the rest of the dish, I stir the bacon occasionally, to ensure the pieces don't stick to the pan.  Using a slotted spoon, I remove the cooked pieces to paper towels to drain.  

I begin by cutting my chicken pieces into small cubes.  Remember they are going on the top of a potato, so they shouldn't be too big.  I place the cubes into a microwave-safe bowl.  I just learned that the way to check to see if a dish is safe to use to cook in the microwave, put it plus 1 cup of water in a microwave save measuring cup (like Pyrex) in your microwave and turn it on for 45 seconds at high.  If the dish remains cool while the water is heated, it's a safe dish to use in your microwave!

I add the BBQ sauce and stir until all of the chicken is coated in the sauce.  I then put the bowl in the microwave and heat the chicken for 3 minutes at 50% power.  I stir it, and then cook again for 2 minutes at 70% power.  My experience is that anything cooked in the microwave at a lower power setting than high (100% power) stays hot longer, besides, everything here is already cooked, it just needs to be heated.

Next I toss in the cooked bacon pieces and the green onions, which I had chopped while the chicken was in the microwave.  This is a dish that is easy to serve my son earlier than the rest of us before he heads off to class.  I just start baking his potato earlier.  I do prefer to have the flavor of the green onions be fresh, so I don't add them until after the chicken is heated in the microwave.  But, when feeding Jimmy early, I reheat the BBQ chicken mixture in the microwave, which just makes the green onions a bit softer.

How you cut and dress your potato is entirely up to you.  I like to cut mine in half and then cut a grid in the flesh, so when I add a pat of butter it melts into the spud. 

I then top it with the warm BBQ chicken mixture.  On average, I would say each of us takes about a cup of this mixture.

Of course, the finishing touch is some shredded cheddar cheese.  My preference is sharp cheddar, but my guys prefer medium.  Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Baked Potato

4 medium Russet baking potatoes

4 cups cubed, cooked chicken

1/3 cup BBQ sauce

1/2 cup bacon pieces, about 8 strips

1/3 cup diced green onions

1 1/3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

butter, salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Wash potatoes by scrubbing them under running water.  Roll in individual pieces of foil, twisting the ends tightly.  Place directly on oven rack placed higher than the middle of the oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Cut bacon into pieces and cook in a medium saucepan over high heat until browned, stirring occasionally.  Drain on paper towels.  In the meantime, cube chicken and place it in a microwave-safe bowl.  Add BBQ sauce and toss to coat.  Warm in the microwave at 50% power for 3 minutes; stir.  Return to microwave and heat at 70% power for an additional 2 minutes.  Meanwhile, chop green onions and shred cheese.  Remove chicken from oven and add bacon and onions; mix thoroughly.  Place baked potato on plate; cut open and add butter, salt and pepper to taste (optional).  Top with BBQ chicken mixture and shredded cheese.

Tex-Mex Pasta

This dish is fairly easy to prepare, tastes great and can be on the table in under 45 minutes!  I found this recipe in one of those small pamphlets you see at the checkout stand while waiting to pay for your groceries.  Yes, the pamphlet was an impulse buy, but I got a couple of good recipes out of it and this was one of them.  Credit for the recipe was given to Karen Wetch of Santa Rosa, CA.  I thank you Karen for submitting this recipe for publication!

This colorful pasta dish is as appealing to the eye as it is to the taste buds!

After getting a pot of water on to boil, making sure I use a pot big enough to cook 1 pound of pasta, I begin preparing the rest of the dish.  This is another recipe where I like to use the Jenni-O Hot Italian Sausage.  The original recipe just called for Italian turkey sausage.  The Jenni-O sweet sausage is also good, I just prefer the hot sausage because it kicks up the flavor of any dish I use it in.  It comes in links, so I take the sausage out of the casings and put them in my large wok.  If you don't have a large wok or frying pan, a Dutch oven would be the best thing to use, because once you add the pasta, there is a lot of food in the pan!

I cook the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking it apart frequently while I prepare the rest of the ingredients.  I also keep watch on the water so I can add the pasta as soon as the water is at a full boil.

In the meantime, I chop the onion and red bell pepper.  The original recipe called for 1 zucchini, chopped, but my guys decided some time ago that they don't like zucchini, so now I use my cheese grater and grate it so it isn't recognizable as zucchini.  None of them have asked yet what that "green stuff" is in this dish.  I think I have them fooled!

I stir in the fresh veggies that I just prepared, then add the frozen corn, salsa, canned tomatoes, and oregano.  You can use the salsa your family likes best and the heat level you prefer.  We like the Cha Chi's Pico de Gallo Salsa medium heat.  

It's already looking as good as it smells!  All of this gets cooked another 5 minutes, stirring often.

By this time, the pasta is completely cooked (according to package directions) and drained.  The pasta is then added to the mixture in the pan.

I sprinkle on the cheese and let it sit a couple of minutes to melt.

Fresh cilantro gets added to the top just before serving.  My youngest son's friend joined us for dinner, so there were five of us and there still was plenty left over.  I'd say this serves 8 people, but it's also great reheated the next day.  Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Pasta

16 oz. uncooked penne pasta

1 pkg. Jenni-O Hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

1 small zucchini, grated

2 cups frozen corn

1 cup salsa

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Cook penne pasta to desired doneness as directed on package.  Drain; cover to keep warm.  Meanwhile, spray nonstick wok or large skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Heat over medium-high heat until hot.  Add sausage; cook 5 minutes or until no longer pink and thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently and breaking up meat as it cooks. Drain.  Add onion, bell pepper, zucchini, corn, salsa, tomatoes and oregano; mix well.  Bring to a boil; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add cooked penne pasta; toss to mix.  Top with cheese; let sit until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Chicken Taco Burgers and Mission Baked Beans

We had a couple of hot days, so I decided to heat up the grill for dinner and make Chicken Taco Burgers.  For side dishes I made Mission Baked Beans and a Mexican Salad, which I will share with you in a separate post.  The recipe for the Chicken Taco Burgers came from the Taste of Home August/September 2009 issue and I cut out the Mission Baked Beans recipe from a magazine.  The author was Mrs. Charles Lewis of Yucaipa, CA.

These recipes compliment each other nicely.

I began with the baked beans because it takes a while for them to cook.  I know, baked beans should be baked, but when it's hot outside I resist turning on the oven and converted this recipe to cook on top of the stove.

This recipe calls for cooked and crumbled bacon, so I begin with that.  I've decided that by cutting the bacon into small strips before cooking them, I get uniform sized pieces that are a bit bigger than when the bacon is cooked first and then crumbled.  This means that you get more bacon flavor in each bite of the dish, and we all love the taste of bacon!

While I prepare the rest of the ingredients, I stir the bacon occasionally as it renders, so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan.

Once the bacon is fully cooked. I put it on several paper towels to absorb the excess fat.  I used to put the bacon fat in a bowl and throw it in the trash can once it cooled.  On Pinterest, I discovered that I can line my little bowl with foil, so when the fat has cooled and is solid, I can wrap it up in the foil to throw it away and then I don't have a bowl to wash!

All of the ingredients, other than the cheese, go into the saucepan.  I mix them gently and bring them to a boil over high heat.  Once it reaches a full boil, I turn the heat down to low to let the beans simmer for 45 minutes.  I know this seems like a long time, but the onions need to cook so they aren't crunchy and it needs to reduce to a thick baked bean consistency.  While the beans simmer, I stir them every once-in-a-while so they don't stick to the pan and begin working on the main course, the Chicken Taco Burgers.

These burgers are simple to make and are healthy because they're made from ground chicken.  I place all of the ingredients in a bowl large enough to give me room for mixing.  I've tried using a spoon and a spatula for this, but find that clean hands (minus rings) are the best tools for getting this completely mixed.

You'll know it's fully mixed when you no longer see any areas with the light pink chicken meat.  The taco seasoning and chili powder will give it a darker hue.  The mixture at this point is very soft, much softer than hamburger meat which is easily pressed into patties.

The first time I made these burgers, I tried patting them out on a cutting board, but they stuck to the board and when I tried to lift them off with a spatula, it altered the round shape.  Then I discovered a product called Dispens-a-wax that I found at Smart & Final.  They are 5-inch square pieces of paper that are somewhere between wax paper and parchment paper, and are oh, so handy.  There are 1,000 sheets in the box, so it will last me a very long time.  I even use them when making regular burgers, to put between patties so they don't stick to one another.  They are a real time saver.  With these soft burgers, I put the paper on my cutting board and gently press out the shape of the burger.

Not only do they not stick to my cutting board, but these little sheets of paper make it easier to get them on the grill!  I flip them over onto the grill and then gently peel back the paper and discard it.  I know there is a little bit of waste of meat sticking to the paper, but I feel it far outweighs the hassles I described above!

Because these patties are so soft, they can't be flipped too soon!  I keep them on the grill over medium heat for 5 minutes before even attempting to turn them.  From the picture above, you can tell that after that amount of time, they look more "solid" than the previous picture.

You can see that those aren't just grill marks on the first side, but deep groves due to the softness of the patties.  I grill them for an additional 5 minutes and then flip them again before adding the cheese.  I just think that the melted cheese looks better on the smoother side as opposed to this side with the deep ridges.

Because it's a taco burger, the normal condiments just won't do.   We always add salsa and if I make fresh guacamole, we add that too!  I forgot to take a picture of the beans once I added the cheese, but the picture at the top shows how wonderful and thick these beans are when they are ready to serve. The spices and enchilada sauce give them a Mexican flavor that makes them a perfect addition to the Taco Burgers.   Enjoy!

Again, I also made my Mexican Salad to complete the meal, but will share that recipe at another time.  On extremely hot days, it's a cool main dish that I serve with fresh quesadillas.  As we near summer and the heat rises, I'm sure I'll be adding it to my blog, so stay tuned!

Chicken Taco Burgers

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 pkg. taco seasoning

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp pepper

2 lbs. ground chicken

1 egg, beaten

8 slices pepper-jack cheese

1 pkg. (8) hamburger buns

Salsa and/or guacamole for toppings

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients, mixing thoroughly.  This mixture will be soft.  Shape into 6 patties.  Grill patties, covered, over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Flip and grill, covered, an additional 5 minutes; top with cheese, cover and grill for 1 minute to melt cheese.  Place on buns and top with salsa and/or guacamole.

Mission Baked Beans

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 can (28 oz.) pork and beans

1 can (15 ½ oz.) chili beans, undrained

¾ cup finely chopped onion

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 can (10 oz.) enchilada sauce

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Combine all ingredients, except cheese, in a large saucepan or Dutch oven; mix gently.  Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring frequently so the beans don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.

Pizza Dogs

Make anything that resembles a pizza or has the flavors of a pizza and you're almost guaranteed that kids will like it.  I first tasted a Pizza Dog when I had my first job at a Hallmark store in a mall and went to Orange Julius on my break for lunch.  I was sold after eating my first one and decided I needed to recreate this dressed up hot dog at home.  This is a fairly quick thing to put together and it's another great recipe for feeding my family at two separate seating times.

The key to making the perfect Pizza Dog is in how the cheese gets melted.  I have tried several ways and found the best way is to steam the whole thing once assembled.  Orange Julius had a steaming machine they used, so I assumed that would be the best method.  It can be microwaved, which is the fastest way to do it, but I find this method makes the bun rubbery or chewy.  I've tried the oven, but this tends to dry out the bun.  When steamed, the bun gets warm as the cheese melts, but it doesn't change the texture.  I don't have a steamer, so I usually use a roaster heated to 350 degrees with about 1/2 inch of water on the bottom and a rack on which to place the container holding the dogs.

I get the hot dogs on the stove first, as it takes a few minutes for the water to boil.  I prefer using the bun-size dogs.

Then, I put the pizza sauce in a small saucepan to heat over low heat.  The best sauce I found was Ragu Pizza Quick Sauce in Traditional flavor.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find that one in a while.  I haven't yet found one that matches it in flavor.

When the sauce is heated, I add about 1 tablespoon of sauce to the bottom of the buns.  Choosing what to put the buns on/in is important as you don't want the bun to totally split in half or for it to fall over spilling the cheese everywhere.  I picked something with sides to help keep the buns in place and chose one that would also fit in my roaster and not be affected by the steam heat.  When making these for lots of teenagers, I've used the cardboard holders from Smart & Final that usually are used to hold French fries at fast food restaurants.

Next, I add the hot dogs to the buns.

Then, I spread another 2 tablespoons of sauce on each hot dog.

Approximately 1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese goes on next.

Then, I shake on a little dried oregano for a little extra flavor.

Finally, I add approximately 2 tablespoons of cheddar cheese.

 

The dish then goes into the roaster for about 2 minutes to steam.  Once I forgot to put the lid on as I went back to building the next few dogs and discovered that the cheese doesn't melt without the lid on!

I don't really time them while they are steaming.  When I check them and they look like this, they are done and are ready to be served!

Doesn't that look like something you want to sink your teeth into?  When I need to make a lot at a time, I put them in a 9x13-inch dish and steam them in my 18-quart roaster.  Enjoy!

Pizza Dogs

1 pkg. hot dogs (8 dogs)

1 pkg. hot dog buns (8 buns)

1 1/2 cups pizza sauce

2 2/3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

dried oregano to taste

Place the hot dogs in a medium saucepan over high heat to boil.  Once the water comes to a full boil, cook for 2 minutes.  In the meantime, place the pizza sauce in a small saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring occasionally.  Prepare a roaster by putting a rack in it and heating 1/2 inch of water at 350 degrees.  Place the buns in a non-heat sensitive dish/pan with sides so that the buns will sit properly to add fillings, making sure the pan will fit in the roaster.  When sauce is heated, spoon 1 tablespoon into each bun.  Place a cooked hot dog in each bun and top with 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce.  Top each one with approximately 1/3 cup of mozzarella cheese.  Shake a small amount of dried oregano, to taste, on top and add approximately 2 tablespoons of cheddar cheese next.  Place the pan with the hot dogs in the roaster and replace the lid.  Steam for approximately 2 minutes.  Using a hot mit, remove the pan from the roaster (be careful as steam can burn!).  Remove Pizza Dogs to a serving platter or individual plates.  Best served piping hot!