meat

8 Cinco de Mayo Recipes from Willow Bird Baking


Thanks, Foodie, for sponsoring this post, 8 Cinco de Mayo Recipes from Willow Bird Baking!

Mexican and Tex-Mex food is my all-time favorite. I love Thai, Indian, Japanese, Greek, French, Cuban — I could eat my way through just about every country — but Mexican is the cuisine I always crave. Want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo this year with a Tex-Mex feast? Above are some of my favorite recipes from around the webz, and below are 8 of my own Tex-Mex creations! Enjoy!

Easy Taco Grilled Mini Pizzas
Easy Taco Grilled Mini Pizzas

This is the quick and easy way to get Tex-Mex deliciousness on your table. Difficulty level: Easy.



Sweet Tater & Chorizo Hand Tarts
Sweet Tater & Chorizo Hand Tarts

Tender pie pastry with a delicious sweet potato and chorizo filling! Difficulty level: Intermediate (includes a quick and easy adaptation using ready-made crescent rolls!)



Creamy Chicken and Green Chile Enchiladas
Creamy Chicken and Green Chile Enchiladas

I made this recipe a LONG time ago before I took very good photos, but trust me: these things are so good! A ready-made rotisserie chicken makes this a quick and easy choice. Difficulty level: Easy.



Naked Vegan Tacos with Corn Relish and Cilantro-Lime Slaw
Naked Vegan Tacos with Corn Relish and Cilantro-Lime Slaw

Bright, healthy, and so delicious! Difficulty level: Easy.



Taco Stuffed Crescent Rolls
Taco Stuffed Crescent Rolls

Again, don’t let the old photo fool you. This is one of the BEST recipes on Willow Bird Baking! So quick, easy, and incredibly delicious! Difficulty level: Easy.



Cheap and Simple Taco Pockets
Cheap and Simple Taco Pockets

Want some taco pockets, but don’t want to use ready made dough? Here’s an all-homemade version! Difficulty level: Intermediate.



Savory Sweet Potato & Chorizo “Cinnamon Rolls”
Savory Sweet Potato & Chorizo 'Cinnamon Rolls'

These savory cinnamon rolls are so delectable with dinner! Difficulty level: Intermediate.



Sausage & Corn Chile Con Queso Taco Ring
Sausage & Corn Chile Con Queso Taco Ring

My all-time favorite Willow Bird Baking Tex-Mex recipe! The filling in this baby is INSANE. The ring itself also looks impressive but is so easy to make! Difficulty level: Easy



Tres Leches Coconut Cake Trifle
Tres Leches Coconut Cake Trifle

Don’t forget dessert! If you love coconut cake and tres leches cake, you’re gonna want to throw yourself face first into this. Difficulty level: Intermediate.



Flan Tres Leches Cake
Flan Tres Leches Cake

Can’t decide between flan and tres leches cake? I got ya covered! Difficulty level: Intermediate.


Easy AND Delicious Sunday Dinners

Okay, no judging. But I asked you guys what you were eating for dinner, and while I got a few “spaghetti carbonaras” and even one full Thanksgiving-style turkey dinner (!!), I also got “leftovers,” takeout, and my personal favorite, “Thin Mints.” (I happen to know that one comes from a gal who loves fresh vegetables — even really horrible ones like celery — so I’ll let her off the hook.) But seriously, let’s chat about easy AND delicious Sunday dinners.


Thanks, Foodie, for sponsoring this post.

Lately, my dinners are frozen meals. If I’d given up freezer food for Lent, I’d have already starved. Of course I bake like a fiend all weekend, but the closest I’ve come to cooking in quite a while is making avocado toast. So I’m in no position to tell you how to live your life.

But recently I started thinking about all the easy weeknight dinners I made last year. Even though those meals were simple enough to make on a weeknight, I realized that many of them were also snazzy enough for a special Sunday dinner. And even I can manage to cook ONE night a week. I think.

I thought I’d gather those easy AND delicious Sunday dinner recipes in one spot. In the slideshow above, you’ll find some amazing options from my friends around the web. And here are a few of mine:

Hot Sausage & Tomatoes Over Fried Polenta
Hot Sausage & Tomatoes Over Fried Polenta. This is one of my favorite simple meals. I can’t believe how great it tastes considering how easy it is!

Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Oven Baked Macaroni and Cheese. This is my favorite macaroni and cheese recipe in the world, and you don’t have to cook the pasta first OR make a roux — and adding breakfast sausage makes it a hearty dinner!

Sausage & Corn Chile Con Queso Taco Ring
Sausage & Corn Chile Con Queso Taco Ring: looks fancy, but super easy to create!

Warm Chickpea Salad with Shallots & Red Wine Vinaigrette
Warm Chickpea Salad with Shallots & Red Wine Vinaigrette: serve this with a big arugula salad, some fresh melon, and some crusty bread.

Lasagna Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Lasagna Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms. Forget the fuss (and the carbs) of a full lasagna.

Easy, Healthy Couscous Tabbouleh
Easy, Healthy Couscous Tabbouleh: serve this with warm pita, tahini and hummus, and a big salad.

Magnificent Cream of Mushroom Soup with Crispy Leeks
Magnificent Cream of Mushroom Soup with Crispy Leeks: you won’t believe how great this soup is! Serve it with crusty bread and a salad and you’re all set for dinner.

Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie

Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie
Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie

Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie



Recipe by: Adapted by Willow Bird Baking from my mother-in-law’s recipe
Yield: 8 servings

Oh my gosh, pie crust and sausage, y’all. This breakfast pie is the bee’s knees. Mike’s mom always makes it for Christmas breakfast and we dream of it all year long! I added a little jalapeño (which you can adjust to your taste) to give it a slight kick, but it won’t make your nose run or eyes water. I recommend serving this with a sweet side — maybe fruit and some coconut meringue dip, which I’m sharing on the blog later this week — and mimosas for a special Sunday brunch.

Ingredients:
9-inch pie shell, unbaked (homemade or store-bought)
1 pound breakfast sausage
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese (or other Swiss cheese)
4 eggs
1 cup half and half (or light cream)
1/4 cup chopped orange/yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 medium jalapeño, finely chopped (adjust to your heat preference — this gives a slight kick)
1/4 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out the pie dough and place it in a pie plate, crimping the edges. Place this in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Brown the sausage and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Mix the cheese and sausage and place into the pie shell. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs and cream together. Mix in the peppers and onion. Salt and pepper the mixture. Pour it into the pie shell over the meat and cheese, adjusting to be sure all the ingredients are spread out. Bake for 40-45 minutes until set and golden. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. I love to serve the pie with Frank’s Hot Sauce, which complements the flavor perfectly!

Insane Chili Cheese Dip (with an emergency quick adaptation!)

Insane Chili Cheese Dip
Insane Chili Cheese Dip

Insane Chili Cheese Dip



Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking, with chili recipe adapted from Cooks’ Illustrated, as found on Brown Eyed Baker
Yield: serves 4-6 people

If you want a quick (and still delicious) version of this dip, use a can or two of Hormel Chili without beans in place of homemade chili. But if you have the time, it’s so worth it to make this incredible homemade chili. It’s the best I’ve ever had, hands down. It looks complicated, but it’s actually a cinch to prepare and can be made a few days ahead and refrigerated until you’re ready to assemble and bake your dip. The recipe below makes about twice the amount of chili you need, but I make the whole batch because I know I’ll want to freeze some for other uses.

Chili Paste Ingredients:
6 dried ancho chiles (about 7/8 ounces), stems and seeds removed, and flesh torn into 1-inch pieces
2-4 dried árbol chiles, stems removed, pods split, seeds removed*
3 tablespoons cornmeal
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided

Chili Ingredients:
Table salt
2 medium onions, cut into ¾-inch pieces (about 1 cup)
3 jalapeño peppers, stems and seeds removed, cut into ½-inch pieces
2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 teaspoons light molasses
1 pound chorizo, with casings removed
3 strips of bacon
1 (12-ounce) bottle beer (I’ve used Red Stripe and Guinness before and both have come out perfectly)**
1 tablespoon flour

Other Dip Ingredients:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
green onions for garnish (optional)
tortilla chips for serving

Directions:
NOTES: *Make sure to wear gloves when working with chiles and avoid touching your eyeballs (or other people’s eyeballs. But why would you be doing that? Weirdo.) You can substitute 1/2 cup chili powder and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper if you don’t want to use the dried chiles, but I highly, highly recommend you give it a try. It’s so easy, and very gratifying.

**If you don’t cook drink alcohol, you should know that according to this chart, only about 5-10% of alcohol will remain in the entire dish by the time you’re done. The beer is very important to the flavor and I don’t recommend skipping it.

Make the chili: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Begin to prepare the chili paste by toasting ancho chiles in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until they’re fragrant (4 to 6 minutes). Reduce the heat if they start to smoke. Place the chiles into the bowl of a food processor and let them cool. Leave the skillet unwashed for future use.

Add the árbol chiles, cornmeal, oregano, cumin, cocoa, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the food processor with the ancho chiles and pulverize for about 2 minutes, or until finely ground. Then, with the food processor still running, slowly add 1/2 cup of chicken broth until a smooth paste forms (about 45 seconds). Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer the paste to a bowl and set aside.

Put the onions in the food processor and pulse them until they’re chopped (about 4 pulses). Add the jalapeños and pulse until the mixture reaches the consistency of a chunky salsa, about 4 more pulses, scraping the bowl if needed.

In your stock pot or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are softened and the moisture has cooked off, about 7 to 9 minutes. Then add the garlic and saute until it’s fragrant, just about 1 minute. Add the chili paste, tomatoes, and molasses and stir to combine thoroughly. Add the remaining 2 cups of chicken broth and bring the whole mixture to a boil before reducing the heat to simmer.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon over medium-high heat in your skillet to your desired crispiness. Remove it to drain on a paper towel lined plate. In the same skillet, cook the chorizo until browned through (add 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil if needed to supplement the bacon grease). Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chorizo and bacon to the Dutch oven. Discard any liquid in the skillet (but don’t rub off the stuck-on bits!) and return to the heat. Add the bottle of beer to the skillet, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits, and bring it to a simmer. Pour the lager into the Dutch oven. Stir to combine and return the mixture to a simmer.

Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until the meat is fully tender and the flavors have melded, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. About an hour into cooking, ladle some of the hot chili liquid into a small bowl and whisk the flour into it until smooth. Add this to back to the chili pot and stir together. Continue cooking.

When the chili is finished, let it stand, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Stir the chili well and season to taste with salt. (Afterwards, you can store it in a tupperware in the refrigerator if you’re not using it right away.)

Assemble and bake the dip: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the cream cheese evenly over the bottom of a baking dish (I use a 2-quart oval one). Pour 2 heaping cups of the chili over the cream cheese and top with grated sharp cheddar. Bake the dip until the cheese is melted and the dip is bubbly, around 20 minutes. Top with chopped green onions and serve immediately with tortilla chips.

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns
The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns



Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking; idea first created by Amanda at Treasures of the Phoenix
Yield: 24 servings

These are straight-up incredible. They’re worth every bit of butter, every egg, and every minute spent making them — which is considerable. They’re definitely a special occasion treat! They would be perrrfect for Christmas breakfast! You can prepare them the night before, wake up early to preheat your oven and set them out to rise, and then just pop them in the oven 15 minutes before you eat.

Roll Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups milk minus 2 tablespoons, room temperature
5 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup cold shortening
2 tablespoons butter, melted, for after baking

Filling Ingredients:
2 cup plus 2 tablespoon milk, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup stone-ground grits
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 cups plus 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds pork sausage
2 cups frozen shredded hash browns
20 eggs
2 tablespoons diced green chiles
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) melted butter
maple syrup for drizzling

Directions:
Note: I don’t recommend halving yeast recipes; instead, if you don’t want 24 rolls at once, consider freezing some for later. Sometimes I even make two types of rolls (savory and dessert), by making the full amount of yeast dough but halving the filling recipe for both. To freeze unbaked rolls, just wrap them well before the second rise and freeze them. Once frozen, pop them out of the pan all together and store in the freezer, wrapped in plastic wrap and in a zip top bag. When you want to bake them, stick them back in a greased pan, thaw them in the fridge overnight, proof for the instructed amount of time, and bake like usual.

Make yeast dough the night before: Mix the warm water and yeast in a medium bowl and let the yeast foam for about 10 minutes. Put 2 tablespoons white vinegar in a measuring cup and then add milk up to the 2 cup line. Set this aside. In a separate large bowl (or the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook), whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and cut the shortening into the mixture with two knives or a pastry cutter until the shortening looks like small peas. Stir yeast mixture and milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well, kneading just a few turns. Transfer the dough to a large bowl (keep in mind that it will rise) lightly sprayed with cooking spray, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and store in refrigerator overnight.

Make grits: The next morning, in a medium saucepan, boil 2 cups of milk and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in the grits with a whisk. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until all the milk is absorbed (see the directions on your package for how long this should take. Mine took 15 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, heavy cream, and 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. Season to taste with pepper (and salt if more is needed; I didn’t need to add any). Cover these and set aside.

Make sausage, egg, hash brown mixture: In a large skillet, brown the sausage over medium-high heat. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. In the sausage drippings (add a little butter if there isn’t enough), brown the hash browns by spreading them over the bottom of the skillet in a flat layer. Cover the skillet and let them cook without stirring for around 6 minutes (double check the directions on your hash browns package). When one side is browned, flip the hash browns and brown the other side. Remove these to the sausage plate to drain. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1 tablespoon milk until fluffy. Scramble these in the sausage drippings (or some butter if your sausage drippings have run out) over medium heat until they’re almost done but still wet. Transfer them back to the bowl where you scrambled them. Add the sausage, hash browns, and chiles into the bowl and mix gently. Set aside until you’re ready to assemble your rolls.

Roll out the dough: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lightly spray two 9 x 13-inch baking dishes with cooking spray. Turn the chilled dough out onto a well-floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle about 1/8-inch thick (I carefully cut the dough in half and worked with half at a time to make it more manageable; if you do this, just spread on half of the filling ingredients for each half you roll).

Assemble the rolls: Spread the melted butter all over the top of the dough. On top of this, gently and evenly spread the cheese grits and egg mixtures (I use two spoons to spread the cheese grits mixture. It doesn’t have to be perfect — just get it here and there all around). Sprinkle on the remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese. Gently roll the dough up into a spiral (I use a bench scraper to help me roll) and cut it into 2-inch rolls, placing them close together in your prepared baking dishes (at this point, you could wrap and freeze the rolls for later if you wanted).

Bake and serve: Cover the rolls with a clean dish cloth and let them rise in a warm spot (I set them on my oven’s heat vent) for 1 1/2 hours. Bake them for about 15-20 minutes or until browned on top (if you take them out at just lightly golden brown, they may still be doughy in the center). Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter and return to the oven for 1 more minute. Pour a light drizzle of maple syrup over the warm rolls. Serve immediately.

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