Girl......That's a French name!

 Alright, I already know what you're thinking. That this croissant recipe is going to have a million steps and ingredients and that in the end, it might "pop" and you'll end up with a flat piece of bread. To be honest with you, that's what I thought about croissants the first time I saw a recipe for them. Plus, they used so much butter and a small batch of them would turn out to be pretty pricey, not to mention not artery-healthy.

Well, contraire monfreir.........

As I was flipping through an old issue of Food and Wine Magazine, I came accross this recipe that had only four ingredients, and none of them were butter! So, I figured I would give it a try, and they turned out delicious!

Start out by combining 3/4c of hot water with 1 envelope of active dry yeast. Wait for it to do it's magic, then sir that in with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 3-3 1/2c of any all-purpouse baking mix (I used Bisquick).

Turn that dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until dough is soft and elastic.

Roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle; cut the circle into 12 wedges.  Roll up wedges, starting at the wide end, to form a crecent shape. Place point side down into a lightly greased baking sheet.

I decided to add some pizzaz, so I lightly brushed them with butter and sprinkled them with an Italian seasoning mix. You didn't think I could make a croissant without using any butter, did you?

Cover and let rise in a draft-free place for about an hour or until they double in size. Bake in a 425F oven for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!
          -G

Winner, Winner... Green Bean Dinner

OK, so my family and I really enjoy occasionally eating at this local Chinese buffet. I'm not sure how legit it is, seeing that they also serve beef enchiladas on the menu, but they make the most bomb shizzle green beans I have ever tasted. So, Dad decided to try to replicate their recipe, and even though they don't taste the same, they are still UH-MAZING!

When I make them, I take the liberty of tweaking with the ingredients, like I did for this post, and I've come to realize that when you cover a whole bunch of beans in butter and garlic, anything else added can only make it better! Almonds was a new addition for this recipe, but I bet bacon bits would also be really good.

I start this off by sauteeing lots of mashed garlic in some butter and olive oil, and I add a pinch of ground ginger just so I can call it "asian." When using almonds, I also throw those in there so they can get toasty!

In the meantime, I start cooking the beans. I always buy them fresh, and make sure to cut the dry ends off, and also in half so we don't have humongonous pieces.  Place them to boil in a medium sized pot. Once the water begins to boil, place a timer for 4 minutes. I like my beans more crunchy, but if you like them softer, obviously, boil them longer.

Once you get them to the desired tenderness,  blanch the beans in some cold water to keep them from cooking any more.

Drain the beans, and dump (don't you like that technical term?) them into the garlic and butter mixture. Give them a quick toss to incorporate everything, and, TADA, you have amazingeness in a pan!

I served these babies with some baked chicken, a creamy corn pudding, and a green salad and it truly was a winner, winner, grean bean dinner!

Happy Cooking!

-G