A Paula Menu Brunch

Wow… This post is long over due. In honor of my sister in law, Becky, coming into town a while ago (she lives in Orem, Utah- about 6 hours north of Las Vegas) I decided to have a brunch. Not just any brunch, but a Paula party brunch. As in, cooking my way through Paula Celebrates! kind of a brunch. Becky has been so excited and supportive of everything cooking and Paula related, so I wanted to include her in a Paula menu since she has missed so many others. We had a ton of fun, even though no one else showed up!



The recipes were:
Collard Green Wontons- fried pockets of spicy greens and cream cheese
Crab and Spinach Casserole- a layer of garlicy spinach under a cheesy, creamy layer ot crab- yum!
Baked Tomatoes- -covered in crunchy breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese
Hash Brown Casserole- an old classic- bread, sausage, onions, cheese and hash browns soaked in eggs and baked until golden
Blueberry Gems (muffins)- light and delicious
Pecan Pie Muffins- actually tasted just like pecan pie
Hummingbird Cake- basically banana nut bread/cake with cream cheese frosting

My personal favorite would have to be the wontons- they were fabulous, and unique! Here is that recipe:

Fried Collard Green Wontons

Ingredients
• 1 pound ham hocks, smoked turkey wings, or smoked neck bones
• 1 teaspoon House Seasoning, plus more for seasoning
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• Olive oil, for drizzling
• 1/2 large bunch collard greens
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 70 wonton wrappers, approximately
• Peanut oil, for frying

Directions
In a large pot, bring 1 1/2 quarts water to a boil and add the meat, House Seasoning, seasoned salt, hot sauce, and a drizzle of olive oil. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, wash the collard greens thoroughly. Remove the thick stem that runs down the center of the greens by holding the stalk in 1 hand and stripping the leaves from the stalk with your other hand. Stack 6 to 8 leaves on top of each other, roll up, and slice into 1/2 to 1-inch ribbons. Place the greens in the pot with the meat. Add the butter. Cook the greens, stirring occasionally, until the greens are tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. When they are done, taste and adjust seasoning.
Remove the collard greens with a slotted spoon and transfer to a large bowl. Remove ham hock and chop into pieces. Place into bowl with collard greens. Mix in the softened cream cheese, working it into the mixture.
Have a bowl of water ready and dip your finger in it, running it along the seams of the wonton before pressing to seal. Place a scant teaspoonful of the collard green mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper and fold into a triangle. Repeat with the remaining wrappers. Place on a parchment or waxed paper lined baking sheet, covered with a damp paper towel, until ready to fry.
Heat 3-inches peanut oil in a heavy deep pot to 350 degrees F.
Fry the wontons in batches until they are golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Place on paper towels to drain and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

San Diego

This past weekend Andrew and I went to San Diego for the wedding of our dear friend Sam. He was one of Andrew’s best men in our wedding last October and Andrew was able to return the favor this year. It was a beautiful wedding and we are very happy for Sam and his bride, Jon.





We were also able to stay for an extra day and just play in such a beautiful city. We had asked a local, Jon’s niece- Sarah, for recommendations for good Mexican food. She said that Lolita’s has the best burritos and to get the California burrito, which has delicious carne asada and fries, yes fries, in it. It was yummy!





>We also went to the zoo and had some fun there. It is a huge zoo and we didn’t even get to see many of them in our time there. But out favorites were the hippos, monkeys and, of course, the pandas.




Now, for dinner, we had a special treat. It was amazing, delicious, fabulous… I could keep going… But more about that in another post, once I learn to master a recipe or two to share… You’ll just have to keep coming back!



After dinner, we were stuffed so we decided we would take a nice walk on the beach before we started the drive back to Vegas. It was a beautiful evening. However, we could just not pass up the sweets shop by the beach. We stopped and got some very interesting treats. Andrew got chocolate dipped bacon and I go the chile chocolate. I almost got the chocolate dipped whole jalapeno, but I wanted to have a reason to go back… They were both delicious and my spicy chocolate reminded me of some brownies I made a while ago- they are delicious, fudgey chocolate with a surprise kick of subtle heat at the end. I want to share that recipe. Enjoy!


Chile Brownies
Makes about 2 dozen

1 ½ tsp. Chile flakes
1 (19.5 oz.) package fudge brownie mix
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup water
2 cups dark chocolate morsels, divided
3 Tbsp. Unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. heavy cream

1. Grind pepper flakes with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Combine brownie mix, pepper flakes and cinnamon in a bowl, whisk to combine. Stir in eggs, oil and water until blended. Add ¾ cup chocolate morsels to batter; spoon into a lightly greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 28-31 minutes. Cool completely.

2. Place 1 cup chocolate morsels and butter in a large glass bowl. Microwave on high 1 minutes or until melted; stir in cream. Pour mixture over cooled brownies, spreading to form a thin layer.

3. Melt remaining ¼ cup chocolate morsels and drizzle over brownies. Sprinkle with Chile flakes.

Sopapillas

Let me start off by saying… Andrew LOVES Sopapillas! I felt quite a bit of pressure when I took this one on because I wanted to get them right! Sopapillas are a Southwestern dessert- they are native to the American Indian cuisine of the Southwest, not necessarily of Mexico (if I have my culinary history correct). They are these fried pillows of dough that puff up and are hollow in the center. Traditionally, they are served with meals as the bread and if there are any left, you eat them with honey for dessert. They seem to now be served just as a dessert, unless you are at an authentic restaurant (such as Sadie’s in Albuquerque- Andrew’s favorite); but as a dessert they are absolutely fine with me! They truly are heavenly.

The fear when making them was- will they puff??? Andrew has told me of being served dense, non-airy, non-pillow little bricks of dough. That is not what I wanted. So I Google searched and got out some cookbooks, and I did my research. I came up with what I thought was a winning recipe. And… SUCCESS! They were light and golden and airy and delicious. Drizzled with honey and cinnamon, I now understand the love of Sopapillas!


Ingredients
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup warm water, plus more as needed
• Peanut oil, for frying
• Honey or cinnamon sugar, for serving

Directions
Sift the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add the shortening and water, work them in with your hands to make soft, pliable dough. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if the dough feels too dry. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Put the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour so it will firm up a bit and be easier to roll and cut. (Dough can be prepared 1 day ahead, refrigerated.)

Unwrap the ball of dough and put on a lightly floured surface, cut in half. With a floured rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a circle, about 1/4-inch thickness. Using a paring knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into triangles as you would a pizza. You should end up with 6 or 8 triangles per circle.

Heat 2-inches of oil to 375 degrees F in a heavy skillet or deep pot over medium-high heat.

Fry a few of the sopapillas at a time, keeping an eye on maintaining the oil temperature. As the sopapillas puff up and rise to the surface, flip them over with a slotted spoon or skimmer; about 2 minutes on each side. Carefully remove the sopapillas from the oil and drain on several layers of paper towels. Cool slightly. Serve hot with honey or cinnamon sugar.