Bacon Cheddar Whoopie Bites

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I found this recipe while searching for new party food ideas. The name caught my attention first...bacon cheddar whoopie bites?! Whoopie pies are sweet, right? Ok so they're not actually anything like a whoopie pie but they kind of look like a whoopie pie so why not? After reading through the recipe, I thought they sounded  like a Southern style cheese straw, kind of a cheesy savory shortbread.  These cheese straws have one up on ordinary cheese straws. These are sandwiched together with a cream filling. It sounded like a great combo to me. Besides they have bacon in them so they're already "Winning"....(hmm maybe it's the whoopie part that brought that Charlie Sheen quote to mind...;)  

 

Bacon Cheddar Whoopie Bites

Source: Teresa Smith, Santa Rosa, CA, Bake-Off 2012 (adapted) 

Printable recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup ricotta cheese, room temperature
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
2 cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
2 to 3 tablespoons ice water

Method:
Heat oven to 400°F. Spray large cookie sheets with no-stick cooking spray or line with cooking parchment paper. To make filling, in medium bowl, beat ricotta cheese and cream cheese with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Add milk; beat on medium speed 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Stir in lemon peel. Cover; refrigerate.

In food processor, add flour, baking powder and red pepper. Process until well blended. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cheddar cheese, pecans and bacon. Process with on-and-off pulses until mixture is consistency of fine crumbs. With food processor running, gradually add enough water through feed tube and process just until dough pulls away from side of bowl and forms a ball.

Shape dough into 1 1/4–inch balls; place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Using fingers, press each ball into about a 2-inch round.

Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.

Spread or pipe about 1 tablespoon filling on bottom of half of the rounds. Top with remaining rounds, bottom sides down. Store covered in refrigerator. Assemble these bites a couple of hours before you plan to serve them to let the flavors blend.

These savory whoopie bites just maybe the hit of your next party!

Asparagus, bacon, quiche

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I love brunch. It's the best of both breakfast and lunch so the food combinations are endless. I also like the fact that I've never heard anyone say they were going to "grab a quick brunch". Something about the idea of eating in between two meals says there's no need to hurry.

Brunch food tends to be easy to prepare, which makes it a great option when feeding a crowd. When my family gets together there's always a crowd. So for Mother's Day this year I had brunch at my house for Mom. I had some really nice asparagus so I made an asparagus, bacon, quiche. It's a quick easy crowd pleaser. Great for anytime but I love quiche is a great brunch option.

I cheated a little and asked mom to make me a recipe of her pie dough. She makes the best pie crust and can whip up a recipe in 5 minutes. Really, maybe less. So I pulled that out of the fridge and rolled it out to fit a 9 inch pie pan. If your mom isn't making your crust use your favorite Pate Brisee recipe. (Or you could use a store bought crust. *hugh collective gasp of horror*)
At this point you can prebake your crust or leave it uncooked. I've done both and really don't think it makes a huge difference. I made this quiche without prebaking the crust. I only got this one picture of the quiche because it was devoured shortly after coming out of the oven!

Method
serves 6

Preheat oven to 475 degrees

Filling
The Custard:
4 ounces bacon cut into 1 inch pieces and cooked.
10 or so spears of asparagus roasted. Roasting removes some of the moister from the asparagus and keeps it from making your quiche to soupy. I also like the flavor that roasting gives the asparagus. I then cut off the top of the spears to about three inches long. Cutting the bottoms that were left into 1/2 inch pieces.
Whisk together:
2 cups milk or cream or a combination of both
3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
a fresh grating of nutmeg
1/2 cup of diced Swiss cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Stir in the bacon and chopped asparagus pieces and pour into prepared crust. Arrange asparagus spears in decorative pattern on the top.
Cook quiche 40-45 minutes or until center of quiche is set.

This is my submission to this month's In the Bag. Asparagus, eggs and Parmesan are the ingredients In the Bag. In the Bag, a seasonal food blogging event, is hosted this month by The Real Epicurean.