Bruschetta Recipe

About seven years ago I had a slight obsession with Bruschetta. Every time I went out to dinner I ordered Bruschetta as an appetizer. Call it research....as I took everything I learned in sampling Bruschetta and then created a Bruschetta recipe I love. Enjoy!


 Bruschetta

Ingredients
12 fresh roma (plum) tomatoes, diced and drained In a
1 1/2 tablespoons smashed and chopped garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 cup fresh basil leaves roughly chopped
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 head of Roasted Garlic Recipe is located on this blog in Side Dishes, Posted on October 3, 2013 link: http://yipsonfoods.blogspot.com/2013/10/roasted-garlic-recipe.html

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 thinly sliced french or Italian baguette

Preparation

1.  In a large bowl combine tomatoes, garlic, shallots, basil, lemon juice, sea salt, pepper and olive oil. Refrigerate.
2. Combine the roasted  garlic and 1/4 cup olive oil.
3. Brush the garlic and olive oil mixture on bread and lightly grill the bread.

Notes:

• For best results make the tomato mixture minus the basil the night before serving to let flavors marinate. Drain out most of the extra liquid and add the basil about an hour before service.
• I use a char grill on medium heat to grill the bread it takes about 3-5 minutes, George Foreman Grill could be used to grill the bread or the bread could be placed under a broiler.

Peanut Butter Cheerios Bars

I had seen a picture in a magazine for a peanut butter Cheerios cereal bar and it looked like a good idea. I started looking at the ingredients and I decided maybe it wasn't such a great recipe. The bars contained quite a bit of corn syrup. After a little more research I decided to try the recipe with honey instead. I am very pleased with the results. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cheerios Bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups Cheerios
2 tablespoons flax seed (optional)
Mini M&M's (optional)

Preparation

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine honey and sugar. Stir constantly until mixture boils and sugar dissolves, approximately three to four minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Blend the peanut butter into the honey mixture, stir in the flax seed.
3. In a large bowl combine the peanut butter mixture with the cheerios.
4. Press mixture into a well greased 9x9 pan. Top with M&M's.
5. Cool completely. Remove from pan and cut into bars.

Special thanks to the Homesteading Housewife Blog and the Crepes of Wrath Blog for information on using honey instead of corn syrup!

Cinnamon Apple Chips

With thirty apples left from apple picking I would love to just bake a bunch of apple pies, apple crisps, apple cobbler and other apple desserts. The unfortunate thing about baking all of that would be wanting to eat everything I made! I decided to try something new. I baked apple chips. I think I just found my go to snack. It is a nice mix of crunchy and sweet. Not only do they taste great they are healthy and so easy to make.
Enjoy!

Cinnamon Apple Chips

Ingredients
3 fresh apples, sliced 1/8 inch thin, seeds removed (I used red delicious)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
2. Place thinly sliced apples on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Mix the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle lightly on the sliced apples
4. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, flip apples over, bake an additional 1 hour and 15 minutes
5. Turn heat off oven and keep apples in oven until oven cools down

Notes:

• I just sliced these thinly with a knife but a Mandolin works much better. I used these in many commercial kitchens and loved them and now they have become reasonably priced so I may just need to add one to my kitchen. I put a link to Amazon below for a Mandolin.
•  I used an apple corer on some but think the sliced ones just looked better.