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Savory Bites: Meals You Can Make in Your Cupcake Pan
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang (April 9, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1617690198
ISBN-13: 978-1617690198
Cover price $27.90
ABOUT SAVORY BITES: MEALS YOU CAN MAKE IN YOUR CUPCAKE PAN
Salmon, lamb, gruyère, and mango in your cupcake pan? Hollis Wilder, three-time champion of the Food Network’s smash show Cupcake Wars reimagines what can be done in smaller, uniform servings with Savory Bites. Cupcake-size portions make it easier to avoid overeating, and the meals are perfect for making ahead of time and freezing for the week in single or family servings.
Wilder gives you nearly 100 exciting recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including:
- Apple-Sausage Breakfast Cake
- Curried Chicken with Mango
- Pumpkin Risotto
- Grape-Leaf Purses with Couscous & Lamb Stuffing
- Jalapeño Lime Bites with Shrimp
- Salmon Mousse with Asparagus
- Fig & Blue Cheese Tarts
She provides tips for having children help with the cooking to make a more enjoyable family mealtime. With beautiful photography, and step-by-step instruction, Savory Bites is the cookbook to keep your taste buds singing while helping to trim your waistline in 2013.
About the Author
Hollis Wilder is the first three-time Cupcake Wars Champion and owner of the bakery SweetbyHolly, with location in Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida. A former L.A. based private chef, she has appeared on Food Network, the Cooking Channel, CBS, NBC, and Fox News. She lives in Florida.
MY THOUGHTS
Chapters in this cookbook include:
- Breakfast
- Egg & Cheese
- Pasta & Rice
- Vegetables
- Seafood
- Poultry
- Meat
This cookbook is great. The beginning of ech chapter has a list of recipes within it. The recipes are easy to use, even the font choice is appealing and easy to read. The recipes include cooking and prep time, which I feel are two things a cookbook should have with every recipe. While there’s not a photo for every recipe, there is a number of colorful, appetizing photos scattered throughout the book. There’s a number of recipes in here that I’m looking forward to trying, including Apple Sausage Breakfast Cakes, Pasta Bolognese Al Forno, Classic Lasagnas, and Vermont Chicken Pot Pies. The only thing that would make this cookbook even better is if it had more pictures. This cookbook would be great for anyone that entertains, because the use of the cupcake pans allows for a large quantity and variety.
Here’s a sample recipe from the cookbook.
Mexican Breakfast Rolls Recipe
Oven: 350°f (175°C) > Prep Time: 40 minutes > Baking Time: 45 minutes >
Yield: 24 rolls
Ingredients
- 1 pound (455 g) spicy pork sausage, or turkey sausage, casings removed
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound (455 g) frozen hash browns
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- Pinch each of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (15-ounce / 430-g) package ready-made pie dough (2 rounds), at room temperature
- ¼ cup (20 g) fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, or ¼ cup (60 ml) cilantro from a tube
- 1 cup (225 g) refried beans
- 2/3 cup (150 ml) ready-made salsa
- 1 cup (225 g) grated pepper Jack cheese
- Nonstick cooking spray, for the pan
Variations:
Filling and rolling up breakfast rolls is a great project for children. You and the children can try these filling variations or make your
own signature rolls.
• Sage Breakfast Sausage, sautéed onion with diced apples, and cheddar
• Crispy Bacon, sautéed mushrooms and peppers, tomato sauce, and
provolone
• Thin Slices of Serrano Ham, pesto, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes
• Nutella with a layer of your favorite granola, some raisins, and a sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar
My savory breakfast rolls evolved from a childhood love of making cinnamon rolls. My mother had her own special recipe for sweet rolls, and she almost always included me in the process. She’d let me help roll the yeast dough, then sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar. I never have time to make yeast dough now, but I like how well savory ingredients rolled into dough works with the cupcake pan. At my home, this savory roll recipe is a
child-friendly adventure in baking, especially since it calls for several store- bought items. Present the ingredients in individual bowls—or in the wells of an extra cupcake pan—to make layering fun and easy for your children.
Make Ahead
These rolls should not be prepared the night before and baked the next day—the liquid in the salsa will prevent the pie dough from baking correctly. They can, however, be baked the night before and reheated, wrapped in tin foil, for 15 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Cook the sausage in a 12-inch (30-cm) nonstick skillet over medium heat, using a wooden spoon to break up the sausage, until it is well browned and
crumbled, about 15 minutes. Drain the meat in a fine-mesh colander over a bowl, continuing to break up the sausage in the colander to release additional grease. Transfer to a medium bowl. Wipe the skillet out with a paper towel when cool enough to handle. Add the oil to the skillet, then add
the hash browns in an even layer. Press down firmly with a heatproof spatula, then let the potatoes cook undisturbed over medium heat until they begin to brown on the bottom, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the hash browns with the chili powder and salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes longer, using the spatula to occasionally scrape the bottom of the pan and turn over the hash browns, until they are browned on all sides. Transfer to another medium bowl.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a 12-well classic cupcake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Unroll one of the rounds of pie dough onto a cutting board large enough to fit the entire round. Leaving a ½-inch (1-cm) border, sprinkle the dough with 2 table-spoons fresh cilantro, or using a table knife, evenly spread the cilantro paste onto the dough. Top with half of each of the following: refried beans, browned sausage, salsa, hash browns, and grated cheese.
Roll the pie dough into a log, starting on one side and rolling tightly to keep all the filling inside. With a serrated knife, gently slice the log into six 2-inch- thick (5-cm) pieces, making sure not to lose any of the filling as you cut.
Arrange the pieces of filled dough, cut-sides up, in the wells of the pan and press down gently to fill each hole. Repeat the process with the second round of dough and remaining ingredients.
Bake until cooked through and golden brown around the edges, 35 to 45 minutes. Let the rolls cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then loosen the sides of
each roll with a table knife and pop them out of the pan. These break- fast rolls can be eaten out of hand, plated with a side of guacamole, sour cream, and additional salsa, or served as a brunch alongside your favorite morning eggs and sliced fruit or a yogurt parfait. My children enjoy them as a meal with a side of beans, guacamole, and a salad of fresh corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
Store the rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat, wrapped in tin foil, for 15 minutes at 350ºF (175ºC).
MORE INFO
@HollisWilder (Twitter)
Facebook.com/HollisWilder
Facebook.com/SavoryBitesCookbook
Facebook.com/PotluxeDinner
Pinterest.com/HollisWilder
Pinterest.com/SavoryBites
Instagram.com/HollisWilder


Nancy
Saturday 28th of September 2013
These would be great for parties or tapas type events.
patricia Marsden
Saturday 8th of June 2013
Wish recipes had super-sized options.