Meatball Glaze

adapted from: atasteofhome.com/recipes/suprise-meatball-skewers

We had meatballs the other night and looked up a glaze. This was delicious and super easy. We grilled the meatballs on skewers on the grill and just brushed this glaze on top. Served over rice. Pretty Tasty!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons apple juice
• Dash cayenne pepper  

Directions

• In a saucepan, combine the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-7 minutes or until onion is tender and sauce is slightly thickened. Remove from the heat.

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Green Enchilada Sauce

Seth made this tonight, gourmet,  I know! It was delicious. It makes a ton so we froze the left overs for future use. 

Green Enchilada Sauce (Kate’s Knockoff Cafe Rio Recipe)
Recipe by Our Best Bites

2-3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, minced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 green peppers, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and membranes removed if desired (and I desire. Always.)
1 1/2 lb. tomatillos, husked and quartered or halved
1/2 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
4 c. chicken broth
2-3 Tbsp. sugar (optional and to taste; the sauce Cafe Rio uses seems to be slightly sweet, so if I’m using this sauce for enchilada-style burritos, I generally add a little sugar, but for everything else, I leave it out.)

In a large saucepan or stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until tender and fragrant.

While onions are sauteeing, combine tomatillos, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro in your blender. Process until smooth; you may have to do it in batches and/or add some chicken broth to make things blendable.

Pour the tomatillo mixture over the onions and garlic and add chicken broth, salt, pepper, and cumin. Simmer 15 minutes-1 hour, depending on the consistency you want. I usually turn the heat to high and boil it uncovered until I reach the consistency I want; it makes things go a lotfaster. The sauce can also be simmered in a slow cooker all day.

Serve over tacos, as an enchilada sauce, inside burritos, or as a dip for chips.

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Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Pic courtesy of Mels Kitchen Cafe

The first time I made these, I pulled them out of the oven and dropped the pan on the floor. After an hour + in prep time, I cried. I just cried. Disclaimer: I'm pregnant. I knew it was good and I was dying to really try it, so I made it again about a week later. And, this time it made it safely from the oven to the cooling rack. And, it was delicious. Truly delicious. Also, you should know that I halved the recipe both times I made it and it was still a ton of dessert.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

INGREDIENTS:
Base:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cream Cheese Layer:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apples:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Caramel Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cups half-and-half or cream
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, two tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9X13-inch baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Then add eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Mix well. Pour over the warm crust.

Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set.

Cool the bars to room temperature. Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

For the caramel sauce, mix butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.

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Eggnog Bundt Cake with Caramel Sauce

Pic courtesy of Sister's Cafe

This has to be one of the richest desserts I've ever eaten. And, all you have to do is look at the ingredient list to see why. I browsed all my favorite recipe sites for days looking for the perfect Christmas Eve dessert and decided to go with this one and I'm so glad I did. Everyone loved it. Even I loved it which is saying a lot because 1) I detest the taste of eggnog and 2) I detest the taste of nutmeg. But, not only did it turn out beautifully, but the caramel sauce did the perfect job of subduing the strong nutmeg flavor of the cake. I know it's a little late for a Christmas cake, but this would also be fabulous for New Year's!

Eggnog Bundt Cake with Caramel Sauce
from Sister's Cafe

1 yellow cake mix (preferably with pudding in the mix)
3 T. flour
2 c. eggnog
¼ c. butter, softened
2 eggs, slightly beaten
¼ tsp. rum extract
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Beat until smooth and creamy. Pour into greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. Dust lightly with powdered sugar for presentation (optional, I didn't do this).

Caramel sauce:
½ lb brown sugar (~1 1/8 c.)
½ lb butter (2 sticks)
½ lb powdered sugar (~2 cups)
½ T. cinnamon
½ qt. rich vanilla ice cream

Add all ingredients to a medium sauce pan and melt together over medium heat. Pour warm over individual servings immediately before serving.

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Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

Pic courtesy of Our Best Bites

I didn't actually make this dessert, but we were invited to dinner this week at a friend's house and she made it and I have been dreaming about it ever since. It was SO incredibly delicious. She said it was pretty easy, so I'm taking her word for it, though she is an amazing cook. I helped her make the buttermilk syrup (Ok, I only stirred it while it turned in to caramel-y goodness:)) and I would say that you don't want to eat this without the syrup. It also didn't hurt that she served it with the smooth and creamy Haagen-dazs 5 ingredient vanilla ice cream. My tummy hurt afterwards (a good hurt, though).


Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from C&H Sugar

5-6 c. stale French bread cubes (about 1/2 of a standard loaf cut into 1" cubes)

3 c. apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces

4 eggs

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

2 tsp. pumpkin or apple pie seasoning

1 Tbsp. butter, chopped

1 recipe Buttermilk Syrup

*If possible, cut the bread into cubes and leave it out for several hours or overnight. If not, place the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the bread cubes are dried out but not toasted.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease or spray a 9x13" baking dish with shortening or non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, toss together the bread cubes and the apple pieces. Transfer to the baking dish. In the same large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients except for the butter. When combined, continue to whisk while pouring over the bread/apple mixture (just to make sure the spices are evently distributed). Gently combine the bread and egg mixture, making sure each piece of bread is soaking in part of the egg and milk mixture. Allow to stand for at least 15 minutes (longer, if you can; you could even do this the night before, cover it tightly, and then bake it in the morning).

When the egg/milk mixture has mostly soaked into the bread, dab the butter over the bread and place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until the center is set but not dry or burned.

Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve with warm Buttermilk Syrup (and vanilla ice cream if you really want to walk on the wild side.)

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