Rollin' and Whippin'

This past Saturday, my fabulous friend Catherine invited me and the girls over for Girls' Night In Potluck--a night of good company, good wine, and of course, good food! I immediately knew what I was going to make: Asparagus Roll-ups and Whipped Potatoes. The girls loved them SO much that I'll tell YOU how to make them too!

ASPARAGUS ROLL-UPS

Ingredients:
White Bread (1 slice of bread makes 2 roll-ups)
8 oz package of cream cheese (softened)
Asparagus
2-3 tbsp melted butter
Finely grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper
Herbs de Provence

First, decide how many roll-ups you want to make. Like I said earlier, 1 slice of white bread makes 2 roll-ups. I decided 4 per person was a good number, so I would need 8 slices of bread. It helps if the bread is not super-fresh.

Once you decide how many you want to make, get your bread out and start slicing off the crusts. Aim to end up with a square-shaped piece of bread, or something pretty close.



Now, get your rolling pin out. Roll each slice of bread out until it is about 1/4" in thickness. It may end up a little wonky-looking...



So get out your paring knife and slice off those crooked parts. Then slice all the slices of bread in half DIAGONALLY!



Next, prepare your asparagus. If you are using canned, make sure you drain it really well or else everything will end up soggy. I used frozen, and you just throw them into boiling water for a few minutes. Don't let them boil too long or they will be mushy! You can also grill your fresh aparagus or flash boil them and then shock them in ice-cold water to stop the cooking process and retain their color. Whatever floats your boat! Then cut them to about 2-inch-long pieces.



Now prepare your cream cheese. I usually add around a 1tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper (you can use freshly ground black pepper or white pepper), and about a tablespoon of Herbs de Provence. I like HDP because it has a great mix of a bunch of herbs like Rosemary and Thyme. If that's not enough, keep adding seasoning to taste.

Now GET ROLLIN'.

Smear each triangle of bread with your cream cheese mixture.

Place 3-4 pieces of asparagus on the cream cheese-coated bread in the middle. Fold over the left side of the bread.


Now fold over the right side. The cream cheese MAGICALLY makes the roll-up stay rolled!



After you have rolled all of your roll-ups, place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Make sure your oven is pre-heated to around 400.

Brush a little bit of the melted butter onto each roll-up and then dust each one with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake those little suckers for about 20 minutes, or until the tops of the roll-ups are golden brown.
Enjoy! They are great!



WHIPPED POTATOES

There's only one small trick to these. I just started these potatoes like you normally do: peeled and chopped potatoes in salted, boiling water and boil until fork-tender.


Now BEFORE you drain your potatoes, combine about a cup of your cooking liquid with about 1/3 cup dry milk. Mix it really good. Drain your potatoes.


Put your potatoes back into the pot and gradually add the milk as you beat them with a hand mixer. Adding the mixture gradually helps avoid ending up with potato soup!

Now beat the potatoes with your mixer on the highest speed, until they look soft and light. Add salt, pepper, and a few tablespoons of butter and that's it!




Try them out, I hope you enjoy them!

Billy helped, too. Thanks babe!

Now off to go shopping with my mom and brother. Bye!

mg