The 2 Spoons

Delicious Whole Wheat Bagel with Smoked Salmon, Whipped Cream Cheese and Capers

January 11, 2020 by Becky Spoon

Whole Wheat Bagel with Smoked Salmon and Whipped Cream Cheese

My morning started with this Whole Wheat Bagel with Smoked Salmon, Whipped Cream Cheese and Capers and my most recent Food and Wine Magazine which also has a Salmon/Rice Bowl on it that I have to make this week because it just looks so healthy and fresh, just like this bagel this morning.

I whipped room temperature cream cheese with lemon zest, the juice of one lemon, fresh dill and salt and pepper. Not only did this help it spread much easier, the added ingredients added so much flavor to the cream cheese and the lemon and dill go perfectly with the smoke salmon.

Whole Wheat Bagel with Smoked Salmon, Whipped Cream Cheese and Capers

I used wild Alaska smoked salmon from my local HEB, but you can use your preferred choice. You may even want to smoke your own salmon. Here’s a link for what I used: https://www.heb.com/product-detail/h-e-b-select-ingredients-alaskan-wild-smoked-sockeye-salmon/2234573. I used Capote Capers and they are the really large capers. Here’s a link for those: https://amzn.to/2tMtTN0.

This Avocado Toast with Poached Salmon may be another recipe you’d like with Salmon for breakfast: https://the2spoons.com/avocado-toast-with-poached-salmon/.

Whole Wheat Bagel with Smoked Salmon, Whipped Cream Cheese and Capers

Print Recipe

CourseBreakfast, brunch, Main Course

CuisineAmerican

Keywordbagel, bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese, breakfast, brunch, capers, cream cheese, smoked salmon, whole wheat bagel

Servings servings

Ingredients

4 bagels, toasted (I used whole wheat)
1-2 4 oz package of smoked salmon
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1-2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
salt and pepper
capers
red onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

Combine the cream cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh dill and a pinch of salt and pepper to the bowl of your food processer and pulse until combined and smooth. Adjust salt and pepper if needed.
Toast your bagel. Top each bagel with a generous amount of the whipped cream cheese, slices of smoked salmon, thinly sliced red onion and finally lots of capers. Serve with more lemon slices if you like. Enjoy!

Simple Awesome Homemade Baking Powder Biscuits

January 10, 2020 by Becky Spoon

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We love biscuits for breakfast and these Baking Powder Biscuits are simple yet delicious. We love them with a good country pork sausage, soft scrambled eggs and some cottage fries! Perfect breakfast!

Allen loves his biscuit with Strawberry Jelly! I love mine sometimes with sausage gravy! Sausage gravy is simple. For two I brown about 1/4 pound of a good breakfast sausage with 1 tablespoon butter. Then add 2 tablespoons flour and combine, cooking for about a minute or so. Then I add two to three cups whole milk, starting with two and add more if too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with these yummy biscuits!!

Simple Awesome Homemade Baking Powder Biscuits

Here’s a couple of tips about biscuit making. First don’t overwork your dough. When it comes together turn it out onto a floured surface and gently gather all the pieces and bits and form into a round or square. Fold over like an envelope two or 3 times, then roll out for cutting. I like to use a sharp biscuit cutter so you don’t have to twist. Twisting prevents your biscuit from rising like they should. I like to use these cutters. https://amzn.to/2R3kBE5.

I have other recipes on the blog. Here’s a couple:https://the2spoons.com/my-easy-homemade-buttermilk-biscuits/ and https://the2spoons.com/decadent-black-pepper-buttermilk-biscuits/

Hope you enjoy these recipes!

Baking Powder Biscuits

Print Recipe

CourseBread, Breakfast, brunch, dinner, Lunch

CuisineAmerican

Keywordbaking powder, baking powder biscuits, biscuits, bread, homemade, homemade biscuits

Servings Biscuits

Ingredients

3 Cups All purpose flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Sugar
6 Tbsp Butter at room temperature
1 1/8 Cup Cold whole milk or buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425°F with a rack in the upper portion. Get out a baking sheet; there's no need to grease it. Line it with parchment if you like, for easiest cleanup.
Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.
Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.
Work the butter into the flour mixture using your fingers, a fork or pastry blender, a stand mixer, or a food processor; your goal is an evenly crumbly mixture (think breadcrumbs).
Drizzle the smaller amount of milk evenly over the flour mixture. Mix quickly and gently for about 15 seconds, until you've made a cohesive dough. If the mixture seems dry and won't come together, don't keep working it; drizzle in enough milk — up to an additional 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) to make it cohesive.
Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Pat it into a rough rectangle about 3/4" thick. Fold it into thirds like a letter and roll gently with a floured rolling pin until the dough is 3/4" thick again.
Cut the dough into circles with a biscuit cutter for traditional round biscuits; a 2 3/8" cutter makes nice-sized biscuits. Or to avoid leftover dough scraps, cut the dough into squares or diamonds with a bench knife or sharp knife.
Place the biscuits bottom side up on your prepared baking sheet; turning them over like this yields biscuits with nice, smooth tops. Brush the biscuits with milk, to enhance browning.
Bake the biscuits for 15 to 20 minutes, until they're lightly browned. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm.

Easy Self-Rising Flour Buttermilk Biscuits — Baking Powder Biscuits

Love This Chocolate Cheesecake

January 2, 2020 by Becky Spoon

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What is there not to love when he comes to a Chocolate Cheesecake? Chocolate cookie crust, chocolate in the cheesecake, then chocolate ganache, topped with shaved chocolate!!

Love This Chocolate Cheesecake

The cheesecake itself has two chocolates, bittersweet and cocoa powder. I believe the secret to any recipe is the best ingredients and I feel that is especially true with chocolate. I like to use Ghirardelli chocolate and here’s a link if you aren’t familiar: https://amzn.to/2QiL1mb. This is a great chocolate. It comes in unsweetened, semi sweet, bittersweet along with all the various flavors you can find. I love to buy it in the cocoa powder too: https://amzn.to/2rKZgXo.

I’m not a huge fan of sweets, but there’s some desserts I really love. I always love chocolate and I always love a good cobbler like Peach Cobbler. I have a great Peach Cobbler on the blog. Here’s the link: https://the2spoons.com/perfectly-peachy-peach-cobbler/. Want another cheesecake recipe? Try this:https://the2spoons.com/easy-pumpkin-cheesecake-bars/.

Perfectly Peachy - Peach Cobbler — Perfectly Peachy – Peach Cobbler

Hope you try this chocolatey, fudgy, delicious cheesecake. Love This Chocolate Cheesecake Hope you try this chocolatey, fudgy, delicious cheesecake.

Love This Chocolate Cheesecake

Print Recipe

CourseDessert

CuisineAmerican

Keywordchocolate, chocolate cheesecake, dessert, desserts, love this chocolate cheesecake

Ingredients

For the Crust

1 1/2 cups Chocolate Cookie crumbs (I used Oreo Cookies)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Chocolate Cheesecake

2 cups bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 lbs full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 tbsp unsweetened natural cocoa powder
4 large eggs plus 2 yolks at room temperature
3/4 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Ganache

1 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Instructions

For the Crust
Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan in layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. You’ll be placing this pan in a water bath, so be sure the pan has been wrapped from every angle.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the chocolate wafer crumbs and melted butter. Pat the mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack and cool the crust completely. Leave the oven on.

For the Chocolate Cheesecake

Fill a medium pot one-third full with water and bring it to a low simmer over medium heat.
Place a heatproof bowl that will fit on top of the pan snugly, but will not touch the simmering water, on top of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and add the chopped chocolate into the bowl over the pot. Heat until the chocolate is completely melted, stirring occasionally with a silicon spatula. Remove the pot from the heat, leaving the bowl of chocolate over the hot water. Set aside until needed.
In the bowl of a food processor (or high-powered blender), pulse the cream cheese until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 2 minutes. Add in both sugars and cocoa powder and beat smooth. Add in the eggs, egg yolks, and heavy cream and mix until just combined, about 20 seconds. Fold in the chocolate. Finally add in the vanilla and pulse for another 20 seconds.
Remove the bowl from the food processor and, using a rubber spatula, stir the filling several times to ensure it’s evenly blended.
Scrape the filling over the partially baked crust in the prepared pan.
Place the springform pan in a roasting pan or large baking pan. Place the roasting pan in the preheated oven and pour enough hot water into the pan to come 1-inch up the sides of the springform pan.
Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the center of the cake is set but still slightly jiggly. The cake will set completely as it cools.
Remove the cake from the water bath and place the pan on a wire rack. Carefully loosen the foil, then immediately run the tip of a knife around the sides of the pan, to prevent the top from cracking. Cool completely (in the pan), then transfer cheesecake to the refrigerator to chill for at least 6 hours before removing from the pan and slicing.

For the Chocolate Ganache

Add chopped chocolate to a medium bowl; set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium-heat, bring the cream to a low simmer. Pour half of the cream on top of the chocolate pieces and set aside for 1 minute. With a whisk, begin to incorporate the melted chocolate into the cream. Slowly add the remaining cream and continue carefully whisking until smooth and glossy.
Add in the butter and use a spatula to stir until the butter is completely melted. The mixture will be dark and glossy. Set aside, at room temperature, until needed.
Pour ganache over cooled cheesecake. Set aside until ganache is set, about 1 hour.
Store, loosely covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days.

The Best Green Chile Deviled Eggs & Corn Salsa

January 2, 2020 by Becky Spoon

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These Green Chile Deviled Eggs are topped with fresh Corn Salsa and they are delicious. I think they’re really pretty too!

I cooked the eggs in the Instant Pot. If you haven’t tried eggs in an Instant Pot you have to. One cup of water, the number of eggs you want to use on a single layer, set the pressure cook mode and set for 10 minutes. Then I quick release, remove, crack the eggs all over (I find cracking the ends and rolling them works well) then remove the shells. This is so easy.

I keep frozen Hatch Green Chile in my freezer but for this recipe just a can of green chile is all you need. You can get from most supermarkets, but here is a link that will help: https://amzn.to/2sx132Y.

I made a quick corn salsa for the top of the deviled eggs that just adds texture and more flavor to these delicious deviled eggs. https://the2spoons.com/spicy-corn-salsa/. Yum. These are so good.

The Best Green Chile Deviled Eggs & Corn Salsa

Here’s the easy recipe for these deviled eggs!

Green Chile Deviled Eggs with Spicy Corn Salsa

Print Recipe

CourseAppetizer, easy side dish, Side Dish

CuisineAmerican, Mexican

Keyworddeviled eggs, eggs, green chile, green chile deviled eggs, hatch green chile, hatch green chile deviled eggs, Spicy Corn Salsa

Equipment

Instant Pot

Ingredients

12 eggs
6 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
4 tsp chopped canned Hatch Green Chile
2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Corn Salsa (https://the2spoons.com/spicy-corn-salsa/)

Instructions

For the Eggs

Place the eggs in the steamer basket or in the metal insert of your Instant Pot. Add one cup water. Set the Pressure Cooker on high and set for 10 minutes. When finished, quick release, remove the eggs from the pot. With the cold water running so you can handle them, crack each end of the eggs and gently roll the eggs on a counter top which will easily release the shells. Remove the shells and discard. Cut each egg in half, removing the yellow and placing into a bowl for mixing the other ingredients. *If you don't have an Instant Pot, that's ok, just hard boil your eggs your preferred method.

To Finish the Eggs

Combine the egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard, chiles, lime juice, and cilantro in a medium, nonreactive bowl. Season well with salt and pepper, then mix well until the yolks are broken up and the ingredients are evenly incorporated.
Evenly pipe or spoon the yolk mixture into the reserved egg white halves. As desired, top with corn salsa.

Notes

http://spicy corn salsa

Easy Brisket Breakfast Burritos

January 2, 2020 by Becky Spoon

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These Brisket Breakfast Burritos are loaded with cheesy scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, leftover brisket, refried beans and pico de gallo. All rolled up in a large flour tortilla, these are delicious!

I used the leftover smoked brisket from the other day, which is absolutely perfect in these burritos! It adds a smokiness and really? How much more Texan can you get than burritos and brisket? Here’s a link for my smoked brisket: https://the2spoons.com/the-best-awesome-smoked-brisket/.

If you don’t want to smoke a whole brisket, pick up a pound from your favorite BBQ joint! We have them everywhere in Texas. There are good choices in local grocery stores; however, I prefer the freshly smoked from a local smoke shop than the grocery store selection, but still, the grocery store selection is good!

My refried beans were from scratch. So to make the most perfect beans, in my onion, make them in your Instant Pot. Soak the pintos the night before in enough water that they are completely covered and a little more because they will double in size.

Then set the Instant Pot on the bean mode. When the time has lapsed The next day I add lard (yes lard) because it makes the absolute best original style Mexican pinto beans especially for refried beans. I go ahead and add salt. I then do the quick release to test for doneness. If they need a little more I go an additional 10 to 15 minutes in the Instant Pot.

To make the refried beans I start a little oil in a saucepan. Then I scoop out ladles of the beans and mash them with a masher designed specifically for making refried beans. If you don’t have one, here’s a link: https://amzn.to/37tAxWP. I love this thing! Best $8.00 I’ve ever spent!!

Here’s a link for the refried beans: https://the2spoons.com/pinto-beans-for-refried-beans/. Pico de Gallo? Here you go: https://the2spoons.com/fresh-and-simple-pico-de-gallo/.

Easy Brisket Breakfast Burritos

I love to wrap these burritos in foil, then wrap them in this colorful sandwich wrap paper I buy online. I use this for wrapping sandwiches, burgers, lining serving baskets and of course, these burritos: https://amzn.to/2rS8ZLK.

Here’s the simple recipe, which is more of an instruction for these breakfast burritos! Enjoy!

Smoked Brisket Breakfast Burritos

Print Recipe

CourseBreakfast, brunch, Main Course

CuisineMexican, Texmex

Keywordbreakfast, breakfast burrito, brisket burrito, brunch, burritos, cheesy eggs, pico de gallo, refried beans, texas smoked brisket, texas smoked brisket breakfast burritos

Servings servings

Ingredients

4 slices Smoked Brisket (here's my link but you can use any smoked brisket https://the2spoons.com/the-best-awesome-smoked-brisket/)
1/2-3/4 cup Refried Beans (here's my link but you can use any refried beans, canned is fine (https://the2spoons.com/pinto-beans-for-refried-beans/)
2-3 eggs
greated cheddar cheese
1 cup hashbrowns (homemade, frozen or fresh like Simply Potato)
pico de gallo (https://the2spoons.com/fresh-and-simple-pico-de-gallo/)
2 burrito size flour tortillas
salt and pepper for the eggs
1 tbsp butter for eggs

Instructions

Slice the brisket, warm if it's cold and set aside. Grate your cheese for the scrambled eggs. Heat your refried beans. Prepare your Pico De gallo.
Heat a large skillet or griddle to heat your flour tortillas. Meanwhile, beat your eggs, add a little salt and pepper and scramble in skillet with the melted butter. Add the cheese to the eggs while scrambling. Remove from the heat and set aside.
To assemble: Heat your flour tortilla by flipping back and forth on a heated griddle or a large skillet. Lay on a flat surface. In the middle of the tortilla, leaving room to fold on each side, apply a layer of refried beans. Then in strips…add the brisket, then the cheesy eggs, then the hashbrowns, and lastly a strip of the pico de gallo.
Fold each side in, then start rolling, tucking to make a tight roll, making sure the sides are secure, until the burrito is complete. Wrap in foil. I like to half, but serve anyway you want. Serve with your favorite salsa, more pico if you want, some sour cream and guacamole. Enjoy!

Always a Favorite! Charcuterie and Cheese Board

December 30, 2019 by Becky Spoon

Charcuterie and Cheese Boards are the perfect addition to your casual get together with friends, or your family gatherings, or an easy dinner at home. Luckily, you still have time to add this to your New Years Eve or New Years Day party. Let everyone prepare that perfect little bite! Here are some easy steps for an epic board!!

Step 1: Find the right boards to build your platters. Large cutting boards, marble slabs, slate boards or ceramic platters are great options.

Step 2: Choose a variety of cured meats and salame. I’ve included Sopressata, a dry salame, prosciutto, pancetta, and dry coppa.

Italian meats are favorites for a board. Here’s an example of some:

Step 3: Use a variety of soft and hard cheese options. I’ve used a blue cheese, triple cream brie, aged cheddar, and gouda. Add your favorites making sure you have soft and hard cheeses, and they are at room temperature. Here’s some other cheeses that would be great:

Step 4: Add some cured olives. I have Kalamata and Castelvetrano. I had a hard time finding the Castelvetrano olives. Here’s a link that may help: https://www.amazon.com/Sanniti-Castelvetrano-Olives-FRESH/dp/B004X9IN9Y.

Step 5: Add some spreads if you like, jams, honey and mustards. You can add some roasted red peppers, artichokes, and a nice pate. On this tray I added honey and a spicy mustard.

Step 6: Mix in grapes, dried fruits like apricots, and some nuts. I have Pistachios, seedless red and green grapes.

7. Add some nice crackers and a sliced baguette and you are all set!

Be sure and include this in your holiday gatherings! Enjoy!

Always a Favorite! Charcuterie and Cheese Board

There’s so many trays or boards you can use. Here’s some photos of different types:

These are from Pottery Barn but you can find so many different shapes and designs from quality stores.

Always a Favorite! Charcuterie and Cheese Board

Something I like to serve along side a charcuterie and cheese Board are my cheese straws. They are delicious and the perfect addition. Here’s the recipe: https://the2spoons.com/easy-so-cheesy-puff-pastry-cheese-straws/.