Thursday, July 7, 2011

Recipes: Jen's Crab Rangoon and Chocolate and Cheese Danishes

With all of the traveling we've been doing lately, I haven't spent much time in the kitchen in the last week; however, I did try Jen of Peas and Crayons (aka Woods' future mother-in-law because he and Madison are dating) Crab Rangoon last night and even managed to take some pictures.

You can find the full recipe here but here's what our dinner preparation looked like last night:


J lining the muffin tins

We made six open faced (pictured above) and six closed, dumpling style ones to see which way we liked better.  The open-faced variety looked prettier and were more crispy but the dumpling style ones stayed warmer longer.  We'd love to make open-faced ones for a party since the presentation is so lovely--we will just have to make sure they get eaten quickly.  Somehow I don't think that will be a problem! 


We used crab (or Krab if you want to get technical) because we also made California rolls to accompany the rangoons.   The best part was that I was able to pack a few boxes up while I made dinner, first while the rice soaked and then while it simmered away on the stove.  Woods even got in on the action.


The picture's a little grainy because I had to take it quickly from my iPhone.  Woods is notorious for running away before I can snap a picture of him (case in point: he jumped out of the box as soon as he realized what I was doing).

As I got out the cream cheese last night, I realized I hadn't shared the recipe for the cheese and chocolate danishes we had on our date night last week.  The recipe is so easy and tasty I couldn't not post it here.  I halved Giada's original recipe and made a few substitutions so that I could use what I had on hand instead of buying more ingredients at the store.  The results really got my wheels turning as to what else I could stuff inside danishes--they were that easy and that good!


Chocolate and Cheese Danishes, modified from Giada at Home

Ingredients:
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator for 4 hours or on the counter for 40 minutes
2 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla yogurt--we used whole milk vanilla yogurt from Trader Joe's but fat-free would also work
1/2 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 egg, beaten


Kitchen Supplies:
Cutting board
Sheet pan
Small bowl
Ramekin
Pastry Brush
Knife
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray sheet pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together cream cheese, yogurt, flour, sugar and salt, mixing until smooth.  Fold in the chocolate chips and set aside.

Unfold the puff pastry and cut into fours.  Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of the mixture into the center of each piece of pastry.  Fold one corner of the pastry diagonally over the mixture, leaving yourself a one inch border around the opposite edge.  Brush the egg wash over the folded part of the pastry.  Take the point of the triangle shape you made and fold it on top of the danish for an open-ended danish and a crisp look.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden and puffy.  Remove from oven and cool for five minutes before serving.

Serves: 4

We waited a bit longer than five minutes to eat them since we had dinner reservations before the concert.  However, they were just as good a few hours later with a glass of crisp white wine! 

Have you ever tried to make danishes?  What about sushi?  They both are definitely way easier than they look!

20 comments:

  1. Those danishes look super flaky! yum! ahhh and your wonton cups are beautiful!!!!! Madison is wondering why woods is in HER box (shes queen of all the boxes, duh) and would like to invite him over for some catnip. bahaha! <3

    love you girly!

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  2. sounds delicious, especially the cheese and chocolate danish! yummy yummy

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  3. Wow ... what an incredible spread. I feel like I better start bringing my "A" game to my meal plans :)

    {I seriously can't wait to try that crab rangoon ... yum!}

    ♥ Cat brideblu

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  4. Sounds (and looks) delicious!

    -Chic Done Cheap

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  5. Like the crab recipe, I haven't tried doing anything with crab yet but it is available at my fishmongers. Might give this a spin, thanks.

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  6. How cute are these! What a fab recipe.

    xo

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  7. I JUST developed a shellfish allergy so I cant try this recipe without my face looking like someone took a blow torch to it - BUT THESE LOOK AMAZING!! yum yum!

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  8. I've never made sushi or danishes but I love eating them both, so I guess I should try them out in my own kitchen!!

    I love how your cat runs from you & your camera! Too funny!

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  9. @ Chic: Thanks! They are definitely tasty, even the leftovers I had for lunch today :)

    @ Andrea: You really should! They are surprisingly easy! J and I joke that Woods thinks photos take a part of his soul, hence his running away :)

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  10. Oh goodness, everything looks SO delicious! I love Giada's recipes (and her name ; -) )
    I'll have to give those danishes a try sometime soon! Yumo!

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  11. Yum! These look delicious, can't wait to try it out!

    http://blog.badjoan.com/

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  12. Oh my gosh do those danishes look divine! I've never made sushi or danishes. I get a bit intimidated by recipes I'm not familiar with! I should try, though, since they're easier than they seem! Eep!

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  13. Oh these look so delicious! I am ready to try these like right now!!

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  14. I've never made danishes before, but I've made banana empanadas before with roll out pie crust dough (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/banana-empanadas-recipe/index.html). So easy...so delicious!

    I have all the stuff to make sushi accept for the rice...but I'm such a chicken! (pun not intended) I need to just do it already!

    Love that Woods and Madison are "dating"! Tee hee!

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  15. those look SOOO DELICIOUS!! I have to try it one day :)

    <3 Belly B

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  16. Come back to NE and cook for me. K, thanks. :) Those crab rangoons just made my mouth water!

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  17. Holy moly, these both look scrumptious! I love crab rangoons, and I never thought to do open-faced ones, but you're right, they do look really pretty!

    Hehehe, Woods is very stealthy- he's like a ninja cat!

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  18. Oh man - next dinner party I'm having, I'm making those rangoons. They look AMAZING!

    And I totally get the Woods thing. My kitty Gwen runs away every time I whip out the camera. It's like she KNOWS...LOL

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  19. We just got a sushi making kit, and are going to try it out next weekend! Any tips?

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