Chicken Bacon Pockets

     Every now and then I find a recipe that you can't possibly dislike. Well, I suppose you could, but it probably means you're deficient in some way. This particular recipe combines all sorts of good stuff. It's got chicken, bacon and canned dough. What's not to love? For me, it was the possibility of being bland. The judicious application of barbecue sauce and some green onion fixed that. I'm calling this recipe a winner. This is a super weeknight quick meal. If you make it using crescent rolls, you'll get four. If you use biscuit dough, you should get five, but they'll be a bit smaller. As always, notes and changes are in blue.

Chicken Bacon Pockets
via 101 Things To Do With Bacon

Ingredients

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (as always, we used neufchatel, to keep the fat down)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
• 8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled (and don't you dare throw the grease away. Save it in a jar in the fridge for later. It's a key ingredients in Bootleg Cheddar Bay Biscuits)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce (not in original recipe, we decided this would be a bit bland without some form of extra kick)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions (also not in the original recipe)
• 2 cans (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls (we used 1 can of 10 buttermilk biscuits)
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (we used them, but omitting them will not notably change anything)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F (177C, Gasmark 4)
2. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and milk until smooth; add the chicken, bacon and pepper (and barbecue sauce, if using) and stir until combined.
3. Unroll crescent rolls and separate dough into 8 rectangles, pressing along the diagonal to seal, creating 4 "pockets" (we took 2 biscuits at a time and rolled them together into a large disc. You'll get 5 of these discs)
4. Equally divide filling and spoon onto the bottom half of each dough rectangle. Fold dough over the filling, pinch the edges to seal, and crimp the edges with a fork. (we loaded the center of each disc, then pulled the dough up around the filling. We then flipped the entire thing over, so the seam side was down. It looked kind of like a big dumpling)
5. Brush each pocket with melted butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
6. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 4 servings (5 if you use biscuits)

Good times!

Bacon Swiss Mini Tarts

     I keep expecting the whole bacon craze to play out, but it is still going strong. People will eat just about anything these days if it incorporates bacon. I'm fairly sure I could serve up cat turds wrapped in bacon and somebody would eat them. What I'm getting at is that there's no shortage of bacon recipes. The wife bought me a book of 101 bacon related recipes for my birthday. I only just got around to trying one out. This particular snacketizer was pretty good. However, I think there was far too much mayo going on here. It managed to overpower most of the other flavors, which is a bit gross. I think a swap out with a bit of cream cheese would be the fix. As always, notes and comments are in blue.

Bacon Swiss Mini Tart
via: 101 Things To Do With Bacon

Ingredients

• 8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cup finely minced onion
• 3/4 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I'm going to tell you again that this is WAY too much mayo. I'd cut it back to 1/4 cup mayo and add 1/4 cup cream cheese)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (I used a teaspoon of dried)
• 1 can (16 ounces) refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits (I don't think mine were "flaky." They may have just been regular old biscuits)
• 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees and grease a mini muffin pan (this marks the very first time I have used the mini muffin pan. To this point it has sat sullenly in the back of the cabinet)
2. In a bowl, combine bacon, tomato, onion cheese, mayo and basil (Wouldn't it have been easier to say "combine everything except the biscuits?" Why do people needlessly complicate things? This is why I can't leave the house without sedating myself first)
3. Separate biscuits horizontally (I'm not laying on the ground to separate biscuits. I just stood right at the counter and did it) and press halves into mini muffin pan. Fill each biscuit half with some of the bacon mixture. 
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown (we went about 15-18 minutes)

Good Times!

Too Damned Easy Baked Brie and Chutney

     I subscribe to several cooking magazines. Occasionally I will find recipes and make them exactly as described. More often than not, I will modify the recipe to fit what I have in the house and what I am willing to spend money on. Naturally, certain recipes never make it into the rotation because of these restrictions. One recipe in particular involved brie, fruit preserves and puff pastry. I generally don't stock these items. However, as luck would have it, I found very reasonably priced (nine bucks for almost two pounds!) brie at the Sam's Club in town. I didn't feel like looking for the actual recipe, so I decided to wing it with what I had. I grabbed some of my chutney and a tube of ALDI biscuit dough and went to work. The end result was much greater than the sum of its parts. This looked super fancy and tasted amazing. The melted brie mixed with the chutney for a sweet and mild taste. The biscuit dough held it all together perfectly. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did! As always, notes are in blue.

Too Damned Easy
Baked Brie and Chutney

Ingredients

• 6-8 ounce piece of brie, rind removed
• 2 tablespoons roasted pepper and tomato chutney (feel free to use some other chutney or preserve. You're not going to hurt my feelings)
• 1 7.5 ounce tube of buttermilk biscuits

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Take half the biscuit dough, wad it up and roll it out big enough that you can lay the brie on and have enough dough to fold up the sides of the brie. 
3. Put the brie on the dough (duh). 
4. Spread the chutney over the top of the brie.
5. Wad up the other half of the dough and roll it out to the same size as the first piece. Lay it over the top. Tuck the bottom dough under the top. Use a sharp knife to make three slashes on the top of the dough (this will vent any steam and makes this look way fancier than it actually is.)
6. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. (If you're feeling ultra-fancy, give the dough an egg wash before putting it in the oven)

BONUS: Watch in horror as we make this recipe on YouTube!

Good times!

Nutritionally Irresponsible Cooking: Breakfast Pizza

     I mentioned on Facebook the other day that I am a huge fan of the breakfast pizza from Casey's General Store. It's basically a pizza crust with egg, cheese and meat. It is heavy and greasy and undeniably awesome. Those who try it for the first time are almost always blown away and wonder how they lived life this far without one.

     The main issue I have with Casey's breakfast pizzas is that they are only available in the morning. If I sleep in too late, I miss the window to get one. I took it upon myself to replicate the recipe. The wife claims it is just as good, if not better.

Nutritionally Irresponsible Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 7.5 oz. tube buttermilk biscuit dough
• 4 medium eggs
• 2T water
• 2T butter/margarine
• 1/2lb breakfast sausage (I used maple)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Lightly grease pizza stone/pan
3. Knead biscuit dough into a ball. Roll out to about 10-12" diameter and place on stone/pan
4. Whisk eggs and water in a small bowl. Melt butter in a skillet on medium heat. Cook eggs on medium heat, pushing them around with a spatula to break them into a loose scramble. When eggs are still just a touch runny, remove from heat.
5. Spread eggs over pizza crust.
6. Cook sausage according to directions on package. Drain excess grease. Sprinkle over the eggs.
7. Sprinkle cheeses evenly across pizza.
8. Cook pizza for about 20-25 minutes or until crust starts to get golden and cheese melts.

The entire pizza is about 1800 calories. We cut ours into quarters, so 450 calories per serving. It's probably for the best that we not talk about fat and sodium content here.

Good times!