Black Bean Salsa

Again, modified from a recipe on allrecipes.com. I've been looking for recipes with specific ingredients I've had around the house this summer, and the website has been a good go to for easy to modify recipes. This was originally a salad, but is way better as a salsa served with blue corn tortilla chips!

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can white hominy, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 diced white onion
• 1 diced green bell pepper
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• 1 diced green onions
• 2 seeded and chopped jalapeno peppers
• 1 (24 ounce) jar salsa
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

Directions

1. In a large bowl, gently stir together all ingredients. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

Fried Pickles

My roomies were shocked I'd never tried fried pickles, so we made some! Recipe modified from a recipe on allrecipes.com. We veganized it and used different spices. We had left over batter at the end, so we also fried peaches and potatoes, which were delicious. The pickles were the best though.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup buttermilk (soy milk with 1 tsp lemon juice, let sit 5 minutes)
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 (16 ounce) jar dill pickle slices
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups fine cornmeal
• cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 quart oil for frying

Directions

1. Cover a plate with parchment paper or wax paper. In a shallow dish, combine buttermilk, salt, and pepper. Place pickles in mixture and set aside.
2. Pour the flour, cornmeal, and cayenne into a large, resealable plastic bag; shake to mix well. Add pickles a few at a time and tumble gently to coat evenly with the flour mixture. Remove and place on prepared plate.
3. Fry pickles in several batches until golden brown and slightly crisp on the outside with a moist interior, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Jalapeno Poppers

These were my all time favorite growing up.  We got them on special occasions like Super Bowl Sunday and the random eat dinner in front of the TV nights.  I went broke in college because I bought these so stinkin' much!  Well my friends, no more! 

Unfortunatly we didn't grow jalapenos this year, BUT Bryan's mom did!  The last time I was there I snagged about 25 of them.  These were seriously so good it is killing me not to eat them all in one sitting. 

20-25 medium jalapenos
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 1/2 tsp worts sauce
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

4-6 bacon strips

Cut your peppers in half length wise, after cutting stems off.  Take the seeds and membrane out then blanch them in boiling water for 2-5 minutes.  The longer you boil them the less spicy they will be.

While peppers are cooling, combine your cheeses and sauce. 
Bake at 400 for 5-10 minutes depending on how melty you want the cheese.  ENJOY!!!

*Side Note*
Since these were so yummy I wanted Bryan to partake, but since he is gone hunting I couldn't very well save him any.  (ha ha)  So I tried to freeze them.  I assembled them and just left out the baking step.  I haven't tried them yet out of the freezer, but I will let you know if they worked or not.
Stuff jalapeno halves with cheese and then top with crumbled bacon!

**  Also - you can omit the worts sauce and instead put in some ranch dressing seasoning.  I would have done that but didn't have any on hand.

Biscotti with Thyme and Lemon Glaze

These are DELICIOUS! And seeing as my first attempt at biscotti nearly two years ago was an epic failure, I'm pretty proud of how they turned out. Don't even worry about what the rest of them looked like! Ha ha...take 2 should be even better. :)

½ c amaranth flour
½ c corn flour/cornmeal
¼ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 egg whites
¾ c raw sugar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
zest and juice of 2 small lemons
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 350. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together the amaranth flour, corn flour, baking soda, and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat in the egg whites at low speed until a crumbly dough forms.

In another bowl, beat ½ c of the sugar, the butter, vanilla, lemon zest (reserve the juice), and thyme, until combined. Scrape the mixture into the flour mixture, and beat at medium speed, until a soft, sticky dough forms.

Divide the dough into 2 mounds and transfer one to each baking sheet. Form each into an 8 inch long cylinder. Pat the cylinders into loaves about 2 inches wide and ¾ inch thick. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the loaves are puffed and springy to the touch. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. Carefully transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 200.

Using a sharp knife, cut the loaves crosswise into scant half inch thick slices. Each will yield about 8 slices. Return the slices to the baking sheets, each slice lying on its side, and bake for about 30 minutes longer, flipping after 15 minutes, until crisp. Transfer to racks to cool.

Place the remaining ¼ c sugar in a small saucepan with the lemon juice. Bring to a boil, and cook 1-2 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reduces by half. Cool slightly, then drizzle over the biscotti.

Pretzels

This recipe was so much fun for girls and I to make on Saturday. I LOVE nacho cheese and just happened to buy a big bulk can of it from Sam's Club so I was trying to find ways to use it. So we made pretzels!
2 pkgs yeast
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 tsp salt
2 T sugar
4 C flour
1 egg beaten
kosher salt

Mix yeast and water in large mixing bowl. Than add salt, sugar, and flour. I used freshly ground wheat flour but white is just as awesome. Knead in mixer until smooth and elastic.

On oiled surface roll dough into snakes, then shape as desired. Place on greased cookie sheet and let rise until doubled in size. I was REALLY impatient and didn't let them rise, I should have though.
Then brush beaten egg onto each pretzel and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes. I let mine bake for only 12 and it was PLENTY long enough the bottoms were burnt.

You could also leave some pretzels unsalted and after they are done baking brush with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.