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Caprese Appetizer on Bread

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Caprese Appetizer on Bread

If you live in my house, the chances are you like bread. We all love bread. However, when I eat bread, I want to make it count. I want something absolutely delicious and I would love for my family to enjoy it as well. If you are looking for a caprese on baguette, caprese toast recipe, garlic caprese burrata toast, tomato mozzarella crostini, caprese ciabatta, toasted caprese ciabatta, toasted caprese sandwich ciabatta or even a ciabatta caprese sandwich, you’ll definitely be inspired by our caprese bread appetizer. This Caprese Appetizer on Bread recipe is really, really good. Everyone loves it. You can even change it up by adding some pesto using this as a base for a grilled chicken sandwich. There are many ways to enjoy this recipe.

Pan Seared Crunchy Rice Cakes over Italian Salad  |  Chicken Salad Cucumber Cups  |  Goat Cheese Potato Cakes over Spring Salad |  Watermelon, Mango and Feta Cheese Salad | Caprese Appetizer on Bread

Caprese Garlic Bread Recipe

Caprese Appetizer on Bread

Ingredients for the caprese bread appetizer

  • 1 loaf Italian bread
  • 4 tbsp softened butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 12 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 medium tomatoes, sliced
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

 

ingredientsingredients all readybread with butterbuilding your appetizerCaprese Garlic Bread Recipe

Directions for the caprese on baguette

  1. Preheat oven to 400 to start your caprese toast recipe.
  2. Add vinegar to small saucepan bring to a boil.
  3. Reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by half. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  4. Add minced garlic to butter and mix well.
  5. Cut the loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Butter the cut sides with the garlic butter.
  6. Place on a baking sheet with the cut side up. Place the mozzarella cheese slices on top of the bread.
  7. Bake for about 12 minutes, until cheese is melted and edges are starting to brown.
  8. Top with the sliced tomatoes. Top tomatoes with chopped basil and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with balsamic reduction.
  9. Cut into slices and serve.

Whether you were looking for a caprese on baguette, caprese toast recipe, garlic caprese burrata toast, tomato mozzarella crostini, caprese ciabatta, toasted caprese ciabatta, toasted caprese sandwich ciabatta or even a ciabatta caprese sandwich, you’ll love our caprese bread appetizer. You can even add chicken for a heartier meal! We hope that this delicious appetizer inspires you. Happy cooking!

Caprese Garlic Bread Recipe Caprese Garlic Bread Recipe

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Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe

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Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe

Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe

Bacon and beer are probably two of the best things you can have, seriously they should be considered pantry staples in every home. Actually, I’m pretty sure those are the only two things I need to cook anything that’s delicious. So when I was thinking about a perfect breakfast that combined my two passions the option was pretty clear: Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe.

Seriously , if you are not a fan of cooking and are only going to make one thing in your life, pick this one. Bacon and beer waffles are not only great for breakfast, but they are also a great dinner option (breakfast for dinner could pretty much be considered the best thing) and also if you are feeling like it, even for lunch. So you can basically have this recipe in your back pocket and make it for every meal.

Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe

Another great thing besides the fact they taste awesome? They are really easy to make. I’m going to be honest with you, when it comes to making breakfast I want the easiest thing. After all I’m half asleep, half away and probably hungry, the last thing in my mind is cooking up a five dishes breakfast with complicated ingredients. The bacon and beer waffles? They are quick and easy, and use things that you probably already have in your pantry. And since we are using a waffle maker you don’t even need to flip them like if you were making pancakes, seriously friend, when I say easy I really mean it.

And once they are done you can serve them by themselves, with some whipped cream topping maybe or even with a drizzle of maple syrup (maple + bacon is a great flavor combo as well) or you know, if you are feeling extra hungry with more bacon and a huge side of bacon huevos rancheros.

Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe

Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup high quality beer
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 Cup butter
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup cooked bacon chopped
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • whipped cream, to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat waffle maker.
  2. Mix the flour, milk, half the beer, butter, sugar, egg, salt, half the bacon, and baking powder. Stir until the mixture becomes thick.
  3. Pour into the waffle maker.
  4. Bake for 5 minutes.
  5. Stir together the remaining beer and whipped cream, and drizzle it over the waffles.
  6. Top with the remaining bacon
  7. Serve and enjoy.

 

Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe

Beer Bacon Waffles Recipe

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Apple Cider Vinegar Ribs

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Apple Cider Vinegar RibsApple Cider Vinegar Ribs

Ribs…mmm…just about the most perfect food ever. Well besides bacon…and chocolate…and pizza. They do rank pretty high up there on my family’s favorite foods though and I never seem to run out of fun ways to make them. This Apple cider brown sugar ribs recipe combines some of our favorite flavors; crisp apple flavors combine with brown sugar to create some of the most tasty ribs you will ever put in your mouth. This is also a great chicken marinade and works well with pork too. We hope that you love these Apple Cider Vinegar Ribs.

Apple Cider Vinegar Ribs

Ingredients

1 large rack of ribs
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ cup apple cider
½ cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons pure dark maple syrup
2 fresh cloves of garlic

Apple Cider Vinegar RibsApple Cider Vinegar RibsApple Cider Vinegar RibsApple Cider Vinegar RibsApple Cider Vinegar RibsDirections

  1. Combine the marinade ingredients together, smashing the garlic, and then let rest for about 10 minutes.
  2. Pull one extra-long pieces of heavy duty tinfoil, aim for it to be about 3 times as long as the rack of ribs is. Place the rips on top and cover both sides completely with the marinade. Carefully wrap the ribs completely in the foil making sure all of the edges are triple folded so it will not leak. (To be sure, you can then place the entire foil wrapped rack in a plastic shopping bag). Place this in the refrigerator for up to 36 hours. You are at this point essentially making an apple cider brine for the ribs.
  3. When ready to cook, heat the grill to roughly medium or 400 degrees. Once it is hot, discard the foil and place the ribs on the grill. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 hour without opening or lifting the lid.
    1. After the full hour, lift the lid, add any remaining marinade there might be, basting the ribs with apple cider vinegar bbq. Flip and close lid for another 5 to 10 minutes, then pull everything out of the heat.
  4. Allow the ribs to cool for about 10 minutes, and then serve. We enjoyed these with oven roasted vegetables.

We hope that you enjoy this Apple Cider Vinegar Ribs recipe. Happy cooking!

Apple Cider Vinegar Ribs

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The Secret to Restaurant Style Ranch Dressing

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Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch 1

This post is sponsored by Hidden Valley Ranch but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

The Secret to Restaurant Style Ranch Dressing

After working in the restaurant industry for over 25 years, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks that help me both save time in the kitchen and deliver a high quality, consistent product. For example, if you a part of a prep crew preparing for service in a restaurant, it is critical that you plan your day prior to prepping anything. You want to structure your prep list in a way that keeps your equipment going; an idle oven is wasted time. Another thing you learn is to never recreate work that has already been done for you, and this tip right here is the secret to restaurant style Ranch dressing.

The secret is restaurants use pre-packaged spice blends. I mean, they could buy all of the dry herbs and spices individually and blend them as needed, but that takes time and introduces a step where mistakes can be made. So to both save time and insure tasty consistency, we use spice blends like Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch. That literally is the secret to restaurant style Ranch dressing; more restaurants use Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch seasoning to make dressing than any other mix on the market, and they use it because it tastes great and is consistent. It really is that simple.

Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch 2

How to Make Restaurant Style Ranch at Home

Making restaurant style Ranch dressing at home is both quick and easy, and it doesn’t take a lot of ingredients. Here is how I make mine; first I mix 1 cup of mayo with 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of buttermilk. Then I add about a teaspoon each of freshly minced garlic and chive. Finally, I add the contents of one Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Dressing and mix. Pretty simple. If you would like the written recipe, check it out here.

Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch 3

Once everything is all mixed together, I transfer my dressing to an appropriate container and pop it in the fridge.  Let the dressing rest for at least 30 minutes before using; you want to allow time for all of those flavors to marry and for the dressing to thicken.

Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch 4

Going Beyond Dressing

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your ranch mix! Yes Hidden Valley makes a killer dressing, but it can be used for a whole lot more than salads. Use the dressing as a dipping sauce. It’s a great paring for beer battered onion rings and smoked chicken wings. I use it all the time on sandwiches; yesterday we made a chipotle chicken sandwich with Sorghum cured bacon, fried sweet onion, and….you guessed it….Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch Dressing. It was ridiculously good. You don’t have to make dressing either; I’ve used the mix to season meats and make batters for deep frying.

Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch 5Learn More

The bottom line is this; don’t be afraid of using “shortcuts” like Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Ranch mix. There is a reason restaurants use this mix; flavor, consistency, and time. And don’t be afraid to experiment a bit, you just may surprise yourself. Finally, if you need more inspiration, check out the Hidden Valley recipe page; it is chock full of recipe ideas that are sure to get your creative juices flowing. How would you use Hidden Valley Restaurant Style Dressing Mix? Let us know in the comments, and happy cooking! Cheers!

The Secret to Restaurant Style Ranch Dressing 10

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Instant Pot Spanish Rice

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Instant Pot Spanish Rice

Instant Pot Spanish Rice

This recipe for Spanish Rice is an original, that came from my Grandmother years ago, and is a family favorite. It’s a little spicy, and a little sweet, and its full of healthy delicious ingredients that are sure to make dinner something to look forward to. It’s easy to make, and the Instant Pot makes it come together quickly so you can have a wonderful meal ready in no time. Make sure to put this one in your favorites! We hope that you love this Instant Pot Spanish Rice recipe.

Instant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish Rice

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds of ground chuck
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 large sweet onion – chopped
  • 1 green pepper – diced
  • 2 cans stewed tomatoes
  • 1 cup Heinz Ketchup
  • 1 small can tomato paste – 6 ounce
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 small can tomato sauce (6 – 8 ounce)
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp basil
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • coarse ground garlic salt
  • seasoned salt
  • seasoned pepper
  • 2 packages of Success Rice

TIP: Don’t substitute diced tomatoes for the stewed tomatoes; stewed tomatoes are prepared with onion/pepper/celery and seasonings, and give them a wonderful flavor; slicing them in the can is easy, and there’s no mess to clean up.

TIP: Cooking the Spanish Rice in the Instant Pot saves about 2 hours of simmering time, and really infuses the flavors.

Instant Pot Spanish RiceDirections

  1. Chop the onion and green pepper.
  2. Turn on the SAUTE setting on your INSTANT POT, and melt the butter. When butter is melted, add the onion and green pepper, and Saute until golden brown, or caramelized. Remove the Sauteed onion and pepper from the instant pot, and set aside.
  3. Place the ground chuck in the INSTANT POT and cook the meat until it’s browned well, and no pink is visible. Turn off the SAUTE setting.
  4. Place several paper towels on a cookie sheet, and turn the browned ground chuck out onto the paper towels to remove any fat. Clean the fat from the Instant Pot with additional paper towels.
  5. Place the ground chuck back in the Instant Pot, along with the sauteed onion and peppers, and sprinkle with the garlic salt, seasoned salt, and seasoned pepper, and stir. Open the cans of stewed tomatoes, and pour the liquid in the Instant Pot, leaving the tomatoes in the cans. Take a large sharp knife, and slice the tomatoes right in the can into bite size pieces, and pour them in the Instant Pot. (Pour a little water in the cans to get the seasonings in the bottom, and add it to the Instant Pot)
  6. Add the Ketchup, tomato paste, water, tomato sauce, chili powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, basil, and brown sugar, and stir well to combine. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, until it beeps and locks. Press the manual setting, and set the time for 10 minutes.
  7. While the Meat mixture is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil (on the stove), and cook the Success Rice for 10 minutes. When the Rice is done, drain well, and set aside. When the Instant Pot is done cooking, it will beep; watch the time, and after 5 minutes, do a quick release, and when all the pressure has been released, and the float valve is down, open the lid to the Instant Pot.
  8. Stir the Meat and tomatoes, and then add the Rice. Stir the Rice into the meat, just until it’s mixed – do not continue to stir, or it will thicken the Spanish Rice.
  9. Taste the Spanish Rice to make sure it has enough salt, or pepper according to your own personal preference.
  10. Serve the Spanish Rice with toasted garlic bread, Tortilla chips, side salad or green beans – or your favorite side dish. Enjoy!

We hope that you are inspired by this Instant Pot Spanish Rice. Happy cooking!

Get your own Instant Pot here. 

More Instant Pot recipes: 

Best Instant Pot Goulash   |   Instant Pot Beef Stew   |   Instant Pot Kalua Pork   |   Instant Pot Spaghetti Meat Sauce  |   Instant Pot Chicken Turnovers  |  Instant Pot Corned Beef  |  Instant Pot Whole Chicken |  Instant Pot Honey & Thyme Chicken  |  Instant Pot Coconut Rice Recipe   |  Instant Pot Spanish Rice   |   Instant Pot Yogurt

Instant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish RiceInstant Pot Spanish Rice

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17 Cherry Recipes

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17 Recipes Using Cherries

17 Cherry Recipes

Cherries are one of life’s greatest gifts to fruit. They are the perfect ratio of sweet to tart with a great mouth feel and they just taste amazing. I could pretty much use cherries in everything and love it. The family on the other hand might protest but…I am the chef. Seriously though check out some of these fun recipes from this carefully curated list with these delicious little fruits. We hope that you love these 17 Cherry Recipes.

Did you know that cherries are bursting with antioxidants, packed with fiber and vitamins and are just really good for you? In fact, 29 studies on the health benefits of cherries proved that the cherry has a very helpful anti-inflammatory property, can help provide improved sleep by fighting insomnia, have been linked to lowering blood pressure and helping with hypertension. We even drink cherry juice in this house and always have it in the fridge. With all of these benefits of cherries, what are you waiting for?

17 Recipes Using Cherries17 Recipes Using Cherries

1. Cherry Lemonade Muffins
2. Cherry Cheesecake Dessert Jars
3. Cherry Ice Cream
4. Chocolate Cherry Muffins
5. Pear and Cherry Salad
6. Cherry Chocolate Almond Energy Balls
7. Cherry Coke Cupcakes
8. Cherry Streusel Bars
9. Cherry Mint Water17 Recipes Using Cherries
10. Cherry and Almond Muffins
11. Cherry-Pineapple Dump Cake in a Jar
12. Chocolate Covered Cherry Rice Krispie Treats
13. Cherry Chocolate Chip Cake
14. Maraschino Cherry Cupcakes
15. Marbled Cherry Pie Cake
16. Glazed Chocolate Cherry Cookies
17. Easy Cherry Cheesecake
18. Cherry Chocolate Energy Balls  <<< bonus recipe from my wife’s site: DivineLifestyle.com

Cherry Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

Whether you wanted to make cherry cobbler, cherry crisp, cherry dessert bars, a quick cherry dessert or even a cherry pie recipe, you’ve come to the right place. We have canned cherry recipes, frozen cherry recipes, healthy cherry recipes, rainier cherry recipes, savory cherry recipes, sour cherry recipes, frozen cherry pie recipes, fresh cherry crisp recipes and so much more.  If you have a favorite cherry recipe, leave it in the comments. We hope that you loved these 17 Cherry Recipes. Happy cooking!

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Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings

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Beer Braised Chicken WingsYuengling Braised Chicken Wings 1

This Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or older. #YuenglingFlyAway #CollectiveBias

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings

Beer and wings. To my way of thinking, the pairing of beer and wings is about as perfect as apple pie and ice cream. They just go together. This got me thinking; what if you could put the beer into the wings? I wanted a wing that captured the flavor of beer; a wing that would be perfect to bring tailgating. It was with this thought that Yuengling braised chicken wings were born.

Yuengling Brine

Why Yuengling

I chose Yuengling for the recipe because I like it, simple as that. It is a staple in my refrigerator, and I enjoy the flavor. I also happen to hold the company in high regard.

Yuengling is America’s Oldest Brewery. Brewed in Pottsville PA, Yuengling is a family owned business that has been going strong for 190 years. Today Yuengling is run by the 6th generation…four sisters…and the commitment to quality is just as strong as it was well over 100 years ago. This is a company that takes pride in their heritage, product, and community. You can learn more about the company, the family, and all of their community work over at the And Daughters Blog.

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings 3

Yuengling Spread Your Wings Music Festival Sweepstakes

In celebration of their 190th birthday, Yuengling has put together the Riptide Fly Away Sweepstakes offering a chance to win a trip to the Riptide Music Festival in Ft. Lauderdale on November 23 and 24th. Entering is super easy, and you have several options. The easiest method is by texting the word RIPTIDE to 65047. Alternatively, you can enter online by following this link. The event should be a ton of fun, so check it out (and bring wings). See rules for full details Open to legal residents 21+.

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings 4

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings or Beer Braised Chicken Wings

So let’s just assume you won the sweepstakes, and now you need some tailgating sustenance. Let get cooking! The first step to making the Yuengling Braised Wings is to collect your ingredients. Go find the stuff in the list below….I’ll wait. We hope you love these beer marinated chicken wings recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle Yuengling Traditional Lager
  • 3-4 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 30 wings, dried with a paper towel
  • 3 small sweet peppers, sliced thin
  • 1/2 onion, sliced thin
  • 3/4 tsp smoked chipotle chili pepper flake
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp whole grain mustard
  • 1 Tbsp go-chu-jang (spicy Korean pepper paste, it’s in the Asian section of your grocery store)
  • 1/2 cup ketchup

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings 5

Alright, first thing to do is preheat your oven to around 475 degrees. Meanwhile, grab the largest skillet you have and heat the oil over a medium high flame. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken wings. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes per side. You are not trying to completely cook the wings in this step; you just want to crispen and brown the skin a bit. Once done, remove the wings from the pan, and pour off most of the oil.

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings 6

Next, we are going to add the peppers and onions to the skillet over a medium flame. Saute for 2-3 minutes, and then add the smoked chipotle chili flake. Saute for 30 seconds or so, and then add the Yuengling and rest of ingredients.

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings 7

Now I did say these were Yuengling Braised Wings, so here is where the braise comes into play. Once your sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and add the wings back to the skillet. Coat the wings with the sauce and then cover, cooking at a low simmer for 20 minutes. Stir the wings 2-3 times during the cooking process.

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings 8

After 20 minutes, remove the wings and place them on a sheet tray (I also used a rack in the tray, but everything should still work without one). Reduce the sauce in the pan until thick, and then baste the wings. Be sure to coat them really well with the sauce. Now pop them in the oven for about 5 minutes. This final short high temp bake will set our sauce.

Yuengling Braised Chicken Wings 9

After 5 minutes are up, pull the wings out of the oven. Now eat your Yuengling Braised Wings! That’s it! You can learn where to find Yuengling here: https://www.yuengling.com/find-our-beer/, so no excuses….it’s time to get cooking. Cheers!

Beer Braised Chicken Wings

Beer Braised Chicken Wings

Beer Braised Chicken Wings

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Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini

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Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 1

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SmithfieldFast #RealFlavorRealFast #CollectiveBias

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini

As a father of 3 teens, the start of the school year is always a time when it feels like there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything that needs doing. It’s a time of year where I really appreciate simple recipes that are big on flavor and small on prep time, and that is precisely the inspiration behind the Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini. It’s a recipe that’s quick thanks to the use of Smithfied® Marinated Fresh Pork and the convenience of Walmart (I pass one on the way home from school pickup). This is a recipe that doesn’t use a ton of ingredients… instead, each ingredient is put on center stage.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 2

A Quick Stop at Walmart

So after picking up the kids today I made a quick stop at Walmart…and it really was quick. With an idea for dinner in mind, I headed in and picked up my supplies. Arugula, roma tomatoes, basil, and lemons were of course found in the produce isle. Right next door to produce in my store is the bakery, so a bag of fresh cooked sub rolls were tossed into the cart.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 3

The last two stops of my quick dinner shopping trip were the meat and dairy sections of the store. In the meat case, I found the Smithfield® Roasted Garlic & Herb Fresh Pork Loin, and on the dairy isle I found a bit of fresh mozzarella. We had the beginnings of a tasty dinner, and the whole shopping trip all in took 10 minutes. Not to shabby!

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 4

The Dinner Time Crunch (and how to make the Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini)

So we arrived home at 4:15. Now this is important, because my youngest has to be a Cheer practice at 6, and that is 30 minutes away. People are hungry, and she needs time to both eat and digest before practice. That means it’s cooking time! Here are the ingredients I used for the Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini:

Ingredients

That’s it; not a very long ingredient list, and some of it you likely have in your pantry already. One key thing here…because there are so few ingredients, it’s important that each one is of good quality. It’s one of the reasons I like the Smithfield® Roasted Garlic & Herb Fresh Pork Loin for this dish; it is full of flavor. Make sure your tomatoes are ripe, and use a good olive oil and vinegar. These little things are what make the dish.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 4

The Method

Alright, lets get cooking. First thing you want to do is preheat your oven to 375. Once it’s ready get that pork loin in the oven and cooking.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 5

I put mine on a sheet tray with a rack, and I placed it in the upper third of the oven. I let it cook for about 35 minutes total. Once it came out, I let it rest for 10 minutes and sliced it up into 1/4″ pieces.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 6

While the pork loin was cooking, I did all of my slicing of the tomatoes and cheese. I dressed the tomatoes with salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar, and from there I plugged in my sandwich press to preheat to 350 degrees.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 7

Now all we have to do is build our panini. First up on to the sub roll was the sliced roasted pork.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 8

Next up was a layer of those awesome looking dressed roma tomatoes.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 9

Then came the basil. Feel free to be liberal with your herb here….

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 10

On top of all that goodness we added our fresh mozzarella, and then we drizzled some of the juice from our marinated tomatoes over the cheese. Now add the top of the sub roll and into the press we go.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 12

If you don’t own a press, no big deal. Just use a big skillet. Heat it up, add a little olive oil, and then toast your panini one side at a time; just be sure to press down on it a bit. I cooked the panini in the press for about 5 minutes.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini 13

And there you have it! Eat dinner and enjoy. I served ours with a little baby arugula on the side. The greens were dressed with a squeeze of fresh lemon, a splash of extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch or two of salt and pepper.

Win a Trip to Wine Country

If you are feeling inspired and want to create your own quick dish using Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork, you could win a trip! Smithfield® and Gallo® have a sweepstakes going right now where you can win a 3-night / 4-day trip for 2 to Wine Country in Napa Valley, CA. How do you enter you ask? Simple! Head over to the Smithfield® Real Flavor Real Fast page and submit your tips for making dinner in 30 minutes or less using Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork. That’s it!

Get Social with Smithfield®

Facebook  |  Pinterest  |  Twitter |  Instagram

I hope you’ve enjoyed our Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Loin Caprese Panini recipe. How you deal with the dinner time crunch?

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Easy Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe

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Easy Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe

Vanilla cupcakes are one of the easiest recipes you can make. Maybe you are looking for an easy cupcake recipe for kids or the best moist vanilla cupcake recipe. These cupcakes are perfect for those new to baking and even better for those experienced bakers because you can add your own unique twist. For the twist on these cupcakes, I used some fresh rosemary since we had an abundance of it from our garden. We hope that you love these Easy Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe.

We also used a box of vanilla cake mix for this recipe for ease but you can always use a favorite vanilla cake mix. Also note that with unique cupcake recipes like this one, that cupcake baking time can vary depending on what you put into your cupcakes. Some items may take a little longer to bake so use your best judgement.

Easy Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 box vanilla cake mix (plus required ingredients to prepare)
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1-2 tbsp milk
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • fresh rosemary

Directions

  1. Prepare cupcakes according to your cake mix instructions. Bake and cool completely.
  2. Prepare the buttercream frosting by mixing butter and 4 cups powdered sugar. Using an electric or stand mixer will work best.
  3. Add vanilla extract and milk to the butter and sugar mix. Mix until you achieve a stiff consistency. Add milk or sugar if you need to loosen or stiffen up the buttercream.
  4. Using an offset spatula, frost each cupcake with buttercream.
  5. Add blueberries on top of cupcakes. Add a fresh sprig of rosemary as a finishing touch of your garnish.

So here you have it, the best cupcake recipes and a moist yellow cupcake recipe. Whether you are searching for unicorn cupcakes, the best gourmet cupcake recipe or the best mini cupcake recipes, you can find all of that here and more. Thanks for visiting Foodie Father. We hope that you are inspired by our Vanilla Cupcakes with Blueberry and Rosemary Topping. Happy baking!

 

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Shortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie Pie

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Shortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie Pie

Shortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie Pie

Desserts are something that we take seriously around this house. We have the longest discussions ever on what we plan to have for dessert because everyone has an opinion. We all like chocolate and that is the first place we tend to go when it comes to desserts but sometimes we like to venture out and try something different. This is our first cookie pie and we truly hope that you love it. We have made it several times now and every single crumb was gone. We hope that you love this Shortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie Pie recipe.

Shortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie Pie

makes 4

Ingredients

  • 10 tablespoons soft butter
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • 1 and ¼ flour
  • dash of course sea salt
  • 8 ounces of quality dark chocolate
  • ½ cup ground raw coconut,(we used toasted)
  • ¼ cup whole raw coconut

Shortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie PieShortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie PieShortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie PieShortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie PieShortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie PieDirections:

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Cream the sugar and butter together in an electric mixer then slowly add in flour and salt.
  2. When the dough forms a ball it is ready to press into your mini tart pans (ungreased). Bake for 22-26 minutes or until puffy and slightly golden around the edges. Let cool in the pans, you will remove them after the chocolate layers have set.
  3. Melt your chocolate according to package instructions, the microwave method is okay. Add a thin layer, about 1/8” thick across the entire top, being sure that the chocolate makes its way into each groove in the pan. Sprinkle on a full layer of the toasted coconut so it also its all of the edges. Top with a final layer of melted chocolate, again being sure to completely fill to the edges. Smooth out the top or add a marbled look with a toothpick.
  4. Let chill in the refrigerator to set for about an hour. Store and serve at room temperature to avoid the chocolate being too hard to cut/bite through.

Shortbread and Coconut Chocolate Cookie Pie

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