Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events and Recipes

Who is ready for some of the best food days of the year?! Today we celebrate National Doughnut Day and tomorrow, National Cheese Day. Get your palate and your kitchen ready for our weekend recipe guide.

• Cheesy Chile Rice (courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked rice

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1 cup chopped scallions

• 4-ounce can chopped green chiles (drained)

• 1 cup shredded cheddar

• salt and cayenne to taste.

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Butter a casserole dish and sprinkle with parmesan.

3. Spread the rice mixture in the dish, sprinkle with more parmesan and dot with butter.

4. Bake 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Enjoy!

• Bacon-Tomato Cheese Toast (courtesy of foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients

• 2 ripe tomatoes

• Kosher salt

• 8 strips bacon

• 4 slices Texas toast or other thick sandwich bread

• 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

• 3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise

• 5 scallions, finely chopped

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

• 1/2 small zucchini, very thinly sliced

• Freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Core the tomatoes and thinly slice. Place in a colander in the sink and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt; let drain for at least 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off and reserve the drippings, leaving 1 tablespoon in the skillet; toast the bread on one side in the drippings until golden (do this in batches, adding more drippings as needed). Place the bread, toasted-side down, on a baking sheet.

3. Combine the cheeses with the mayonnaise, scallions and parsley in a bowl. Spread the cheese mixture on the toasts, reserving about 1/3 cup. Crumble the bacon on top. Shake any excess liquid from the tomatoes; distribute the zucchini and tomatoes among the toasts. Dot with the reserved cheese mixture and season with pepper. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.

• Simple Homemade Sugar Doughnuts (courtesy of letthebakingbegin.com)

Ingredients

Combine:

• 2½ tsp active dry yeast

• 2 Tbsp warm water

• 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

Mix with a mixer

• 3¼ cups all purpose flour

• 1 cup whole milk warm

• 2 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

• 3 large egg yolks

• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

For coating

• 1 cup granulated sugar

Directions

1. Proof yeast: Stir 2 tbsp warm water, 1/2 tsp sugar & 2 1/2tsp active dry yeast in a tall glass. Leave to rise for 5-10 minutes or until doubled in volume and foamy. If it does not rise and foam up, discard the yeast and buy a fresh batch of yeast before you proceed with the recipe.

2. Make donut dough: Mix together 3 1/4 cups flour, 1 cup warm milk, 2 oz room temperature butter, 3 yolks, 2 tbsp sugar and the proofed yeast mixture in mixer on low speed, with the dough hook attachment until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Slightly increase the speed and knead for another 15-20 minutes or until the dough is tacky to touch. If you continue kneading past the point of smooth and stretchy dough, the dough will overknead and make doughy donuts, so keep a close eye on the dough.

3. Shape donut dough: Pick up the dough, form it into a ball. Butter a large bowl (for proofing), place the dough ball back in the greased bowl, then grease the dough ball itself to prevent it from forming a crust.

4. Proof: Cover with a clean kitchen towel, place in a warm draft-free place and allow to rise for 1-2 hours (depending on how warm it is) until at least doubled in volume.

5. Cut out 5"x5" squares of parchment or wax paper.

6. Punch down the dough, turn it out onto the greased surface (can use nonstick spray) and roll it to ½ inches thickness. Cut out as many rounds as possible with a 3 inch round cookie cutter and place 1 dough disk on 1 piece of prepared parchment paper. Keep re-rolling and cutting out as many donut disks as you can until all donut dough is used up.

7. Cover cut out doughnuts with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 45 min to 1 hour or until doubled in size.

8. Heat 1½ inches oil in a heavy pot (cast iron) to 350F. To fry donuts, drop several of them at a time and allow to become golden before turning to the other side, about 1-2 minutes per side.

9. Transfer to paper towels or wire rack to drain. Let cool.

10. Once the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, roll them in granulated sugar or powdered sugar.

Enjoy!