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

First Day of Autumn + Sunday Football =

The first pot of Sauce for the season!! (though I'm posting this a tad bit late)

Hello Friends!

There is nothing like the smell of a pot of simmering goodness on the stove as the air turns cool and crisp...any pot of goodness is fine, but on the first day of autumn (last Sunday), my pot of choice was tomato sauce.  I was lucky enough to get a mess of fresh tomatoes from my brothers garden and decided to toss them in as well.  So - let me share with you this version of sauce.  I say 'this version' because I don't have a real written down recipe for sauce so I never make it the same way twice! 

So, Lets begin.  I started off with browning up my meatballs, sausage and pork ribs.  I brown everything but do not cook it through... it will finish up in the sauce.

While the meat is browning, I chop up one onion, a mess of carrots, a bunch of stalks of celery, all those luscious tomatoes and 5 large cloves of garlic.

 

When the meat is done and out of the pan, add a bit more olive oil to the pot and toss in those veggies.

 

 

Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flake and Italian seasoning and let them cook down...add in some tomato paste at this point as well.

 

De glaze the pan with about a cup of red wine and some chicken broth...and a can of whole tomatoes and their juices...(I crush up the tomatoes by hand before adding them in).

 

Let this cook down for at least 30 minutes, until all of the veggies are tender. 

 

At this point, I'll use the immersion blender to break down the vegetables a bit and then add in two (or three, depending on how much I'm making!) of crushed tomatoes. I season with salt and pepper, dried oregano and three heaping tablespoons of pesto (I use classico).  I then will add all the meat back to the pot and let this simmer on the stove for ... oh.... three or four hours.  The longer the better!

 

 

A bowl of pasta, some meatballs, this rich and delicious sauce... and a win for the Jets.  A perfect start to this autumn season!

The colder it gets...the more I cook - I see soups in my future!! Have a good soup recipe? A Favorite soup?  Let me know!

Until Next Time...

EAT

 

CheeseCake Catastrophe



Hello Friends,

So a few weeks ago, I was watching the Create channel and Martha Stewart Bakes.  I was never really a fan of Martha's...but I do have to say her cooking shows I find very intriguing.  Anyway - She was making all sorts of cheesecakes... Ricotta Cheesecake and NY Style Cheesecake and even one with a fruit Jelly kind of thing. 

I was curious about her NY cheesecake as her recipe called for some flour.  Any cheesecake I've ever made didn't have any flour in it... and hers looked so good...

Martha Stewart's NY Style Cheesecake

I decided to make it!  Now, I'm sure I've said in the past... but I'm a terrible baker.  I hardly bake anything because it is too precise for me when I'm a 'handful of this' kind of a girl. So even though I've decided to bake this cheesecake...it took me about three weeks to work up the gumption to actually do it. 

So...here is the recipe...

Ingredients:
12 Graham Crackers
6 tablespoons of melted butter
2 tablespoons of sugar
a pinch of salt

7  eight ounce packages of Cream Cheese - room temperature
2 1/4 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of flour
1 cup of room temperature sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
5 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Take a bit of extra butter and butter your spring form pan and then wrap the pan with aluminum foil (this goes in a water bath to cook, so this will protect the cake from getting water in it).

Put into your food processor the graham crackers, melted butter, salt and sugar...process until a fine crumb.  Press the crumb into the bottom of the pan and compact it down.  Put the pan into the freezer for 15 minutes to set.  Then bake the crust for 15 minutes until golden.  Let it cool.

Beat the cream cheese for about 3 to 4 minutes to combine it and make it creamy.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour.  Slowly add a bit of the dry mixture into the bowl and a bit of the sour cream and then let it beat for about a minute.  Repeat until all the dry mix and the sour cream is incorporated.  Add in the vanilla...and then one at a time add the eggs.

Take the mixture and pour it into the cooled pan.  Place that pan into a large roasting pan and fill with hot water so it goes up half the side of the cake pan. Place the cake into the oven and bake for 45 minutes.  Then - reduce the oven temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 30 minutes.  After the 30 minutes are up...shut off the oven but leave the cheesecake inside for one hour.  Remove and let cool.

This is what mine looked like when finished:

Not as pretty as Martha's ... but a good first time effort!

I cut a piece and I will have to say - it was delicious!!  Very moist and creamy, very light and fluffy.  I really do recommend making this cheesecake.  I was so excited - and looked forward to sharing it with Dave and even bring some to my brothers house as they all love cheesecake.

This is what happens when you don't take the bottom of the spring form pan off the cake and then try to wrap it up to put it into the fridge:

Splat

Catastrophe.

'Nuff Said.

Until Next Time...

EAT

A Lazy Dinner turned into a Great Breakfast...

Hello Friends!

Well - I said vacation was over, didn't I??  So surprise, surprise... another post!  I really meant it when I said I'm in a cooking mood - the weather cooled just enough... (I mean like 5 degrees???) for me to feel like making something for dinner.

(Honestly - it was either I cook so Dave had something to eat when he gets home from work other than a Pb&J sandwich - or...I order Chinese, which Dave loves and is my least favorite food.)

So - I cook! Plus...who knows how long I'll be inspired for - I have to jump on these things while I feel them!

Tonight's dinner - Crust less Vegetable Quiche!

What is an easy dish to make... I'm horrible at baking - so crusts are so beyond me... and I know I can do store bought, but it still seems so soggy to me.  When Dave was doing Atkins - I discovered using Ham for a crust, or going crust less...and for my lazy at heart self - crust less is perfect!

To start - preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

First, rough chop into bite size pieces:
1/2 a medium onion
1 medium zucchini
a bunch of asparagus (ends removed)

Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and a good splash of Olive Oil into the pan and lightly sautee the vegetables with some salt and pepper to taste.  You'll cook this for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender.

Place into a greased baking pan (no crust!) to cool for a bit.

Then crack into a bowl:
6 eggs
add 1/4 cup (about... I eyeball it) of milk (any type)
and about 1/2 a cup of heavy cream...  (don't worry...you don't have a crust, you can afford the cream!)
Mix well with salt and pepper to taste and some fresh ground nutmeg (I do about a 6 count when grating it).

Grate:
about 3 oz of Gruyere cheese
and 4 oz of Sharp Cheddar Cheese...
and about 3 oz of Crumbled Goat Cheese...

*Yes, its alot of cheese...<um...have you met me??> but again, not having a crust gives you a little leeway to not feel guilty into using the heavy cream and cheeses...  and if you do feel guilty - please feel welcome to join me in the Emily-verse - no guilt here!

(Or, get your own Emily-verse where you cut down on the portions until you feel comfortable...but you can't call it an Emily-verse....it has to be a You-Verse ... but admit - it doesn't sound as awesome as an Emily-Verse, does it??   I told you so. )

But I digress... Lets continue...

Sprinkle the goat cheese over the vegetables and add a little over a half of the Gruyere and Cheddar cheeses on top.

Pour the egg mixture over the pan and allow the liquid to settle in. 

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and put into the oven.

You'll bake this for about 30 minutes until the mixture is just set (it may have a bit of give to it, that's OK) and the cheesey top is golden brown. 

Let the quiche sit for about 10 minutes before serving.



I admit...I didn't wait 10 minutes...

Best thing about this quiche (or any quiche, really) is it can be served hot, warm, room temperature and yes... I'll eat it cold too.  Its great to have hanging around the house for Breakfast, Dinner or a snack.  You can even bake it in muffin tins to have a quick 'grab and go' breakfast or snack that is already proportioned.  (Yes, its a great idea.  It's not mine...someone else thought of it...but I use it often!)

I'll also make quiche with just about anything.  You can use the base mix and put in any veggie or meat or cheese that you like.  Its a perfect go to for me when I have extra veggies from the night before - I just throw it in some eggs and poof... a great quiche!

Until Next Time...

EAT

Summer Vacation is OVER!

Hello Friends!

As you might have guessed, since my last post was in June ... I took the summer off from Blogging...from cooking...from rating restaurants... from a lot!  Reminds me of the good old days, when I could be less responsible and would quit my jobs for the summer!  I did that for about three or four years straight - right around my birthday at the end of June, put in my notice and then bum around for the summer ... on the boat...at the lake...in the back yard in the pool or on my hammock ... and not look for a job until after Labor Day.  Oh I Wish!

Of course I can't do that any more...(but of course when we win the Mega or PowerBall - I will!) but with getting a third week of vacation and some lovely summer Fridays...I didn't work a full week all summer - so that's just about the peaches for me!

Dave and I spent many a Sunday or (but mostly and!) Monday at Overlook Beach - having a ball in the water and sitting in the sun... people watching and of course commenting on all the idiots ..I mean people... who don't have an ounce of Beach Etiquette and feel the need to sit right on top of you with three of their screaming kids when there is a whole empty beach to sit on.


A calm day at Overlook Beach - a few hours before the crowds!

Dave and I spent a gorgeous week upstate with my Mom, my sister and some of my nieces and nephews... There is nothing like relaxing at Keuka Lake!

 A Day shot...

A grainy night shot

Sam and Lilah with their little cousin Dottie

Waiting at Bully Hill for lunch...

The Bully Hill View

 

Rachel, Julia and Andrew at Lunch

On our last night of our stay at the Cozy Cottage - my sister Kris got Chinese lanterns for us to light...let fill up with the heat...make a wish and let it go - we all got one to set free and made our wishes... How Beautiful!

Lighting and filling Dave and my lantern

Our wish...set free



Ah...No... I will not be telling you our wish... I want this one to come true!! 

But as it does when I have to leave the Emily-verse and get back into real life...Vacations come to an end... as slowly does Summer, as Labor Day has come and gone and while the heat and humidity are still around - they will slowly ebb into the cool, crisp days of Autumn ... and as my mind goes - to cooking soups and stews and Sunday sauce... Going out east to the farmers markets and pumpkin picking...and eventually cutting down a tree (Oh My!).

So - for the first time in just about forever - I decided to cook a new dish for Dave for dinner.  We'd just had a large red meat meal the night before ... and fish for lunch - so we decided on pork.  I searched the net for a fun, different, interesting meal to make for us - and decided to share it here with you!  Your Welcome. :)

I found a recipe on the food network - so of course I couldn't just follow it, I had to add my own touch and flavors to it... so here goes:

Pork Chops Stuffed with Spinach, Mushrooms and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 a large onion, diced
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
• 1 (10-ounce) bag of frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
• 1 container of sliced crimini mushrooms, broken into pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat cream cheese
• 4 (4-ounce) center-cut pork chops
• 1 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white whine
• 1/2 lemon, zested
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Whole Ground mustard

Directions

Warm the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, salt and pepper. Cook until combined, about 2 more minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the goat cheese and the cream cheese. Stir to combine and set aside.

 

Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the thickest portion of the pork chop. Carefully move the knife around to create the pouch then use your finger to widen it (ew..my least favorite part!).

 

Stuff each pocket with 1/4 of the spinach, mushroom and sun-dried tomato mixture and close the pork around the stuffing.  Season the outside of the pork with salt and pepper.

 

.

In a small bowl combine the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, and mustard.

 

Warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the pork.

 

Cook until golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the chop - mine took about six minutes).

 

 

Transfer the pork to a side dish and tent with foil to keep warm. Add the chicken broth mixture to the skillet over medium-high heat. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan as the chicken broth simmers. If you overstuffed your pork chops like I did mine - you'll have lovely bits of flavor and chunks from the stuffing, which just adds a great dimension to the broth.

 

 

Reduce the broth by half to make a light sauce, about 8 minutes. Nestle the Pork Chops back into the broth and simmer for about 2 minutes, spooning some sauce over the pork before serving.

We served over pasta - but any rice or potato would work too - you want something to sop up that fabulous sauce!

 

It felt good to cook again - and I'm scouring the net, my cook books and even Pinterest for some fabulous recipes to share with you.  I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things on this blog ... I hope you are too!

 

Until Next Time...

EAT

 

A New Favorite Recipe!

Hello Friends!

I saw this on (of course) one of the many, many cooking shows I watch... and it was a "must try" in my book. 

So much so - that I've made it twice in one week...Yes, that's how much I loved it!!

SO...  Brussel Sprout Gratin!

I altered it a bit (surprise!) so I'm posting the original recipe and adding my 'notes' of what I did or didn't do so you can choose to doctor the gratin to your liking!

Ingredients

• 1 pounds brussel sprouts, cleaned and trimmed
• 3/4 cups grated sharp Cheddar  (I actually used the entire stick of Cracker Barrel Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar... as well as about 1/2 a wedge of Gruyere Cheese...do this.. it was Delic!)  

1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon picked fresh thyme leaves (did this the 1st time...forgot it the 2nd... go with the flow)

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced (I added also about 4 stalks of Scallions)

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (I used regular Italian as that's what I had in house)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Shave the brussels sprouts horizontally into 1/8-inch slices with a sharp knife or mandolin. (I used my food processor).  Add to a bowl.  Add the Cheddar (all cheeses, garlic and scallions were also grated/minced in the food processor), flour, thyme, garlic and some salt and pepper to the bowl. Toss to combine. Add the mixture to an 8- by 8-inch baking dish, packing it in. Pour over the heavy cream.

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan and oil and pour over the brussels sprouts mixture.

Bake uncovered until the brussels sprouts are tender, the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden, 30 - 40 minutes. Let sit about 10 minutes before serving.

Its a bit liquid as I was so excited to try it that I didn't let it sit!

The next time I make this... I'll do it pretty much similar to how I did it this second time... however.... 

I will first render down some slices of bacon cut into pieces... put them on paper towel to drain when they are nice and crispy... drain 3/4ths of the oil - leaving a bit of that lovely bacon grease in the pan... then flash saute the brusssel sprout mixture (sans the flour/cheese) for a few minutes... then let it cool & mix with the flour and cheese mixture.... Then - put it in a quiche pan with a quiche mixture of 5 eggs, about 3/4 to 1 cup of heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste, a bit if fresh graded nutmeg... and make a lovely Brussel Sprout Bacon and Cheese quiche!

Try it... Let me know what you think!
Until Next Time...
EAT

You've got to love Versatility...

Hello Friends!

I saw this recipe done on Food Network the other day and just HAD to try it... it looked so delicious!!

But of course, you know me (or at least you should by now...!) I don't do very well with following recipes so I just created my own version of the actual recipe I saw.

The one thing I loved about this (other than the cheese) is that it can be so versatile!  I'll put some variations at the bottom to show you what I mean... but here goes..

No Boil Noodle Lasagna!

What you'll need:

For the white sauce:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Lasagna:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds bulk of Italian sausage (spicy or sweet.. your choice)
• 3/4 cup sliced button mushrooms
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 15 ounces whole milk ricotta
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan
• Coarse salt
• 1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 small zucchini, finely sliced on the bias (2- to 3-inch pieces)
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the white sauce: Bring a medium saucepan to low-medium heat and add the butter.

Once the butter is melted, stir in the flour with a wooden spoon; cook for 2 minutes (do not let it color).

Add the milk and bring to a boil, continuing to stir. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 minute. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add in the Parmesan, whisking to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper.

For the lasagna: In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and cook the sausage until just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and continue to saute until golden brown and the sausage is cooked through, 4 to 6 additional minutes.

Season with kosher salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Stir well, and then shut off the heat and set aside to cool.

In a small mixing bowl, combine ricotta, egg, Parmesan, about 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and a few rounds of cracked pepper.

Spread 1/4 cup of the white sauce in the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch nonreactive baking dish.

Begin layering with 3 noodles, followed with about 1 cup ricotta mixture.

Layer about half of the sausage and mushroom mixture in the pan.

Follow with half of the ricotta mixture and a layer of the zucchini rounds.

Add the white sauce to coat, sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat.

Top the second layer with 4 noodles, white sauce and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Bake, covered with foil, for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and remove the foil cover. Heat the broiler to maximum temperature. Broil until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 1 minute.

I will admit to a few issues with my 'not following the recipe'... I used only one pound of sausage and that definitely was too little.  Next time I'll do the two full pounds or maybe even split it with ground turkey.    My second issue was the cheesy white sauce....I used too much (gasp!).  The recipe above makes about 3 cups of the white sauce..  I made about 4 and a half (I mean, come on - we all know I love a good cheesy sauce!).  It ended being too much by far - so next time, I'll stick to the three cups!

Other than that - this dish had good flavor and was incredibly easy to make!  While I was putting it together, I thought of how many different ways this could be made!

Vegetarian:  eliminate the sausage all together and substitute several different kinds of mushrooms (shitake, portobello, crimini, porchini).

Mexican:  in the white sauce - use queso fresco.... for the meat...I'd use 1 lb of ground beef and 1 lb of spicy chorizo sausage.  Rather than Mozzarella, use cheddar or a combo of Monterrey Jack and Cheddar.

Greek:  I'd use a well spiced ground lamb (with garlic, oregano and mint) and in the ricotta mixture - I'd use chopped cooked spinach with 1/2 the amount of ricotta and the other 1/2 cottage cheese and lots of Feta Cheese.

Try this out and let me know what you think!  If you have any ideas on variations - let me know... I'd love to try it out!

Until Next Time...

EAT