Jalapeno Puffs

Ingredients
1 package Pepperidge Farm very thin sliced white bread
1 package cream cheese
1/4 cup pickled jalapeno slices or nacho slices
1 stick of butter
Parmesan cheese

Trim all of the crusts off of the white bread. Melt the stick of butter. Let the butter cool in a bowl. Put the parmesan cheese in another bowl. Run the cream cheese through a food processor with the nacho slices. With a knife, ‘butter’ a slice of bread with the cream cheese and nacho mixture and put another slice of bread on top making a sandwich. Continue doing this with all of the bread. Then cut each sandwich into four – either diagonally or lengthwise or into squares – whichever you prefer. Dip each section into the butter quickly and then coat with the parmesan cheese. Place each dipped section on a cookie sheet. Its best if you designate one hand for the butter dipping and another for the parmesan cheese dipping so you don’t make the cheese too lumpy with excess butter. When all of the sections are completely dipped, place the cookie sheet in the freezer. When frozen, place in a quart sized plastic freezer bag until ready to use.

To cook: Set your oven to broil and place a cookie sheet with the desired quantities of jalapeno puffs on it. Broil each side. This will happen quickly so watch carefully so avoid burning.

The original recipe called for canned asparagus instead of jalapeno. If you don’t like spicy foods, you may prefer the original version. If you use canned asparagus, squeeze out the excess water of the asparagus before placing in the food processor. If you experiment with other things in this recipe, please let me know! I’d be interested in trying it myself if you think it's good! I have thought about using smoked salmon instead of jalapeno but haven’t tried it yet.

Questions or comments about these recipes? Please e-mail fwr@globalviews.com.

Fred Bread

Ingredients
1 40 oz. Box Store brand biscuit mix
Butter
Buttermilk
Sesame seeds

Melt 2 sticks of butter for each 9 x 13” pan of bread you want to make. Pour into the bottom of the pan. Meanwhile, pour biscuit mix into a large mixing bowl. (Store brands turn out better Fred bread for some reason than Bisquick). Start with about ½ the box for a 9 x 13 pan. Pour buttermilk into the mix, slowly, and stir. You want the dough to be dry enough to roll out onto a floured surface. If the dough is tacky to the touch pour in a bit more mix. Flour your work surface and press out the dough with your hands until you have a large square of dough that’s about ½ thick. Take a knife and cut the dough into squares. Take each piece of dough and dip into the butter in the baking pan and then turn it over and place in the pan. Continue until you have a filled baking dish of bread. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Bake at 350 degrees on the top shelf of the oven until brown – about 35 minutes.

This is just the guidelines for how to make Fred bread. Naturally you can vary the recipe by adding more or less butter if you prefer. Also, you may like to add different types of herbs and spices to the top. Fennel or anise seeds are a nice way to vary the recipe.

Questions or comments about these recipes? Please e-mail fwr@globalviews.com.