Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Pinterest will be the death of me...

Hello Friends!

Happy Sunday!  House is smelling delicious due to my crock pot cooking... House is sounding loud due to my husband watching foot all... All in all, its a good day (though will be a better day if the JETS can win today...but right now... 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter - I'm not thinking so...).

So - Have ya'll been on Pinterest?  I've heard about it...and had zero interest... 

That is, until I spoke to my sister in law who described it to me in such a way that I said to my self, "Emily - you have to at least look at this thing".  And Look I did... and looked... and looked... and created boards... many, many boards... and now I because I spend a lot of time looking on Pinterest - Its been weeks since I wrote my blog! 

But in Pinterests and my defense ... I'll have some great things to share with you because of it!  :) 

For instance... tonight's dinner was fully inspired by this nice, cool autumn weather and Pinterest.

Crock Pot Broccoli & Cheese Soup.....with Cheddar Bay Biscuits!

This morning, about 9am .. I got all my ingredients together...
One Onion - Minced
2 cloves of garlic - smashed
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
3/4 of a bag of shredded carrots
2 cups of milk ** Read my "redo" below
1 qt of chicken stock (low sodium)

Dump all of this stuff into the crock pot...
Add in one 10 oz box of chopped broccoli and one 10 oz box of broccoli florets or spears (or another of chopped broccoli)

Cover the crock pot and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours... (or on high for 4 to 6)

30 minutes before you are going to serve - use an emerson blender to very briefly (like 3 seconds) to thicken the soup and grind up some of the veggies (cut some of the broccoli spears if you used them like I did... you want chunks but not too much).  Let it continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

Re-DO!!!! **Do NOT add the milk before cooking. Hold it until you are adding the cheese...then add the milk!Add in your cheeses..

1 cup each of:   Cheddar (I used a sharp) ... Gruyere ... Jarlsberg

Stir together and cover again and let cook for another 20 minutes....



** Reason for the RE-DO... I wasn't thrilled with the texture/taste of the soup.  After some research... I realized that adding the dairy in the beginning and cooking it so long....curdled the milk!  So if you add the milk with the cheeses...and cook for 20 - 30 minutes (vs. 7 hours) completely changes things!!

The Cheddar Bay Biscuits I'm serving (another Pinterest specialty) were super easy to make... And what I like about them - you can make the dough and portion them out...and freeze them!  The night before you want to eat them - thaw in the fridge and bake at the below temp/time.  Or you can bake them right from the freezer, it'll just take a bit longer.

So the ingredients are:

1 3/4 cups of AP flour
1 tablespoon & 2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoons of salt
3 tablespoons of vegetable shortening
4 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/2" pieces
6 oz of sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup of milk

for the topping
3 tablespoons of melted butter (I used salted)
1 garlic clove smashed
1 teaspoon parsley (fresh or dried)
**redo - garlic powder too!

Preheat your oven to 425 and put your rack on the top 1/3rd of the oven.

Combine in the food processor all your dry ingredients and pulse 2 to 3 times.  Add in your shortening and pulse again to combine.  Add the butter and pulse 4 to 5 times until you get pea sized crumbs.  Add your cheese and pulse 2 or 3 times.  Add the milk and pulse again until moist and sticky.
Flour, Baking Powder, Sugar and Salt













Shortening and Butter

Pea size dough











With Cheese & Milk

Drop 1/4 cup measure dough balls on a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. 

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden.


Meanwhile, make the garlic butter by melting the butter with the smashed garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat... cook together for about 2 minutes.  

Remove from heat and add parsley.  Brush biscuits with garlic butter *and sprinkle with some garlic powder and serve warm.



The meal was good ... with the 're-do's ... much better! I've got many a recipe on my boards on Pinterest that I want to try!!  You have any?  Let me know!!

Follow me on Pinterest ... Emily (quill964)! 

Until Next Time...
EAT