Cake batter truffles

These cake batter truffles from The Girl who Ate Everything are perfect for game-day (or any day)- bite-sized and perfect for snacking!

CAKE BATTER TRUFFLES

Yield: 24-30 truffles

Ingredients

For the truffles:

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup yellow cake mix

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

3-4 Tablespoons milk

2 Tablespoons sprinkles

Truffle Coating:

16 ounces white chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate (I used both)

4 Tablespoons yellow cake mix

sprinkles

Instructions

For the truffles:
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Beat butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla, and mix thoroughly. Add 3 tablespoons of milk (more if needed) to make a dough consistency. Mix in sprinkles by hand. Place on cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.

For the truffle coating:

While dough balls are chilling, melt chocolate coating in microwave in 30 second intervals until smooth. Stir between intervals. Once melted, quickly stir in cake mix until incorporated completely. Using a fork, dip truffles into almond bark and shake off excess bark by tapping the bottom of the fork on the side of your bowl. Place truffle back on the cookie sheet and top with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining balls until finished.  Chill cake batter truffles in the refrigerator until serving. 

Restaurant style salsa

I made the Pioneer Woman's restaurant style salsa for a party a few weeks ago, and I loved, loved, loved it!  It is so simple to throw all the ingredients into a (large) food processor, and it tastes much better than anything I've had out of a jar.  It's so delicious, and with football season around the corner, it's a great one to feed a crowd!!

RESTAURANT STYLE SALSA

Yield: a lot

Ingredients

1 can (28 Ounce) whole tomatoes with juice

2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced tomatoes And green chilies)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup cilantro (more to taste)

1/2 lime, juiced

Instructions

Note: this is a very large batch. Recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like---(about 10 to 15 pulses). Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour before serving.

Mongolian beef

This recipe from Six Sister's Stuff is billed as a copycat of the mongolian beef from P.F. Chang's.  I'm not sure I've ever ordered that dish so I can't vouch for the copycat part, but either way, it's delicious.

MONGOLIAN BEEF

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 teaspoons vegetable oil 
½ teaspoon ginger, minced 
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped 
½ cup soy sauce 
½ cup water 
¾ cup dark brown sugar 
vegetable oil , for frying (about 1 cup) 
1 lb flank steak 
¼ cup cornstarch 
2 large green onions, chopped

rice, for serving

Instructions

Sauce:
Heat 2 tsp. of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.  Don't get the oil too hot.  Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.  Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then increase the heat to medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens (may require a sprinkle of corn starch to thicken). Remove it from the heat.

Beef:
Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.  Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.  Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.  As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and sauté until brown. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.  After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels.  Dab excess oil off meat with a paper towel and add to saucepan with the sauce in it.  Put the pan back on the oven over medium/low heat.  Add chopped green onions and let sauce simmer until warm. Serve over rice.

Fruit turnovers

I made these fruit turnovers from Everyday Food for a party a few weeks ago- you just can't go wrong with a flaky, fruity mini-pie!  This was actually my second time to make these- the first time I did a mix of berries (can't remember the exact combination), and this time I used Arkansas peaches, which might be my most favorite food in the world.  I LOVE peach season, and I'm sad its coming to an end.  These are a great way to send them out on a high note, and look forward to their return next summer!

FRUIT TURNOVERS

Yield: 12 pies

Ingredients

For The Dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4 to 8 tablespoons ice water

For The Filling:

2 cups fruit (fresh or frozen), such as blackberries (halved if large), blueberries, raspberries, strawberries (quartered), or peaches (chopped)

1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

2 tablespoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 large eggs, beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Instructions

1.       Prepare dough: In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers (if necessary, add up to 4 tablespoons more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Do not overprocess.

2.       Divide dough into two equal portions; form each into a square 3/4 inch thick. Wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

3.       Prepare filling: In a medium bowl, toss together fruit, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice; set aside.

4.       Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each square of dough to an 8-by-12-inch rectangle; cut each into six 4-inch squares (you should have 12 squares total). Dividing evenly, spoon filling onto center of each square. Brush two adjoining edges of each square with some egg wash. Fold these edges over filling to form a triangle; press firmly to seal (dough should be tightly pressed around filling). Crimp edges.

5.       Transfer turnovers to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining egg wash; sprinkle with sugar. With scissors, snip centers to create a steam vent. Bake until golden brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Jalapeno popper pizza

We made Closet Cooking's jalapeno popper pizza last week, and it was delicious.  The jalapeno ranch is the VIP here- not only does it serve as the sauce, but we preferred our pizza slices dipped in it as well.  Yum!

JALAPENO POPPER PIZZA

Yield: 1 large pizza

Ingredients

1 pizza dough (homemade or store-bought)

3 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature

5 tablespoons jalapeno ranch dressing (we mixed 1/3 cup ranch dressing and 1 chopped jalapeno in a food processor, to taste)

2 jalapeno peppers, sliced, and seeded if you prefer less heat

4 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces and cooked

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

1 cup cheddar, shredded

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the cream cheese into the jalapeno ranch dressing.

Roll the dough out into a circle roughly 12 inches across and spread the creamy jalapeno ranch dressing over it.

Sprinkle the jalapeno peppers, bacon, and cheeses onto the pizza.  Bake until golden brown on top, about 5-10 minutes.