Cheese Filled Birds Nests Recipes

CHEESE-FILLED BIRDS' NESTS

Steps:

• Make syrup:
• Bring water, sugar, honey, zest, and juices to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then simmer until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. Cool syrup.
• Make filling:
• Stir together cheeses, honey, zest, and cinnamon.
• Assemble and bake nests:
• Preheat oven to 350°F and butter 2 shallow baking pans (about 1 inch deep).
• Gently pull apart strands of kataifi in a large bowl to loosen, then toss with all of butter. Pack a 1/3-cup measuring cup with strands and invert into a baking pan to form a mound. Make 36 more mounds (18 in each pan) in same manner.
• With your finger, make a 1-inch-deep depression in top of each mound to form a nest. Spoon filling into holes, then sprinkle pine nuts over filling.
• Bake birds' nests in upper and lower thirds of oven, rotating pans halfway through baking for even browning, until nests are pale golden, about 35 minutes. Discard zest and drizzle all of syrup over nests (syrup will gradually be absorbed). Cool birds' nests in pans on a rack.

BIRDS' NESTS IV

Steps:

• Separate the eggs. Chop the nuts fine.
• Cream together 1 cup softened butter and sugar. Add the yolks, and beat well. Add the flour, and mix well.
• Make small balls out of dough. Roll balls in egg white, and then in the nuts. Place balls on greased cookie sheets, and press center of cookie with thumb. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8 minutes. Press center of cookie again, bake until lightly browned 4 to 6 minutes. Cool cookies on racks.
• To make frosting, begin by blending the water, shortening, vanilla, and 1/4 cup softened butter or margarine together thoroughly. Slowly add confectioners' sugar, and mix until smooth and creamy. More water may be needed to make desired consistency.

BIRD'S NEST BREAKFAST CUPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups.
• Mix hash brown potatoes, salt, black pepper, olive oil, and 2/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese in a bowl. Divide mixture between prepared muffin cups and use your fingers to shape potato mixture into nests with hollows in the middle.
• Bake in the preheated oven until hash browns are browned on the edges and cheese has melted, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove hash brown nests.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Whisk eggs and water in a bowl until thoroughly combined; season with salt and black pepper. Pour equal amount of egg mixture into each nest; sprinkle with bacon crumbles and 1 teaspoon Cheddar cheese.
• Bake in the oven until eggs are set, 13 to 16 minutes. Let cool in pans and remove by sliding a knife between potato crust and muffin cup.

BIRD NESTS

Steps:

• Prepare mashed potatoes according to package directions. Remove from the stove and let cool slightly while making the meat mixture as follows:.
• In a large frying pan, cook each slice of bacon on both sides until crispy. Remove from the pan, place on a paper towel and let cool, Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat in the pan. Next, brown and crumble the ground turkey or beef in the bacon fat until no longer pink. Drain off the liquid and add the following to the meat: the 1/2 cup water, 1 package taco seasoning mix - minus 1 tablespoon, and 1 cup shredded carrots. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer, cover and let cook approximately 5 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Drain all of the liquid from the pan, then add 1/2 of the crumbled bacon, the drained sundried tomotoes and 3/4 cup each of the cheddar and goat cheese. Mix well. Set on the lowest heat to keep mixture warm and proceed to make the nests.
• To Make the Bird Nests: On 2 cookie sheets, place 4 six-inch squares of foil on each cookie sheet. Using a paper towel, grease each foil piece lightly with the olive oil drained from the sundried tomotoes. Fill a gallon-sized ZipLoc bag with half of the prepared Simply Potatoes Traditional Mashed Potatoes, close and seal the bag while removing as much air from the bag as possible. Cut off one lower corner of the bag to leave an opening of approximately 1/2" and squeeze the mashed potatoes onto each piece of foil in a spiral - starting in the center - to create a base of potatoes about 4" in diameter. Add one more outer circle of potatoes to create an outer wall for each nest. Repeat with the second batch of mashed potatoes to create a total of 8 nests. Lightly sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of taco mix on top of each potato nest with your fingers. Spoon the meat mixture into the center of each nest and top each nest with some of the reserved cheddar cheese, goat cheese and remaining crumbled bacon. Remove each nest from the baking sheet using a spatula placed under each piece of foil. Serve with a green salad and enjoy!