beer, bacon and cheddar cornbread

Recently I made cornbread in my cast iron skillet. If you've never done that, try it. Assuming you have a cast iron skillet, of course. It makes a nice crust, and it's even better if you're making a recipe that uses bacon. You fry the bacon in the skillet, take out the bacon and pour off most of the bacon grease leaving only enough to coat the skillet. Then you put the corn bread batter in that same skillet and pop it in the oven to bake. Yum!

So, what did I change in the recipe? (You know I always change something.) I added scallions since I had some in the fridge to use up, and I doubled the cheese. That's it. Oh, and I greased the cast iron pan with bacon grease left over from frying the bacon. This particular recipe doesn't call for that; however, I like the crust it produces.

It was delicious, just like I knew it would be. It was salty and a little smokey because of the bacon, and tangy because of the sour cream and beer. I used Yuengling Premium since that's what was in my husband's camping cooler outside. He says he couldn't taste the beer, but what does he know?? I tasted it right away, because I don't actually like beer. It gave the cornbread a good flavor, though.

My only gripe is with the shredded cheese I used. Lately I've been shredding my own cheese from a bigger block; however, I had some packaged shredded cheese I needed to use up. What a difference! As you can see, it looks kind of dry on top and almost seems like it didn't melt. It didn't taste cheesy either. Considering I doubled the cheese on top and the amount I mixed in the batter, that's really disappointing. There's nothing wrong with packaged shredded cheese, it just doesn't really melt the same in some recipes.

Here's the recipe I used:  Beer, Bacon and Cheddar Cornbread

my first spanakopita

I'm always looking to try a new recipe around the holidays or when I'll have family over for a big meal. This year I decided I wanted to try making spanakopita, which is Greek spinach pie.  I likely wouldn't have ever attempted making this; however, a coworker recently made it for a potluck we had at work before Christmas.   The filo pastry was flaky and buttery, the filling was rich, and overall it was just SO DELICIOUS!!!

I started searching for recipes since my coworker was on vacation and I couldn't ask for hers. (Actually, it's her grandmother's recipe.) I wanted THE authentic Greek recipe--I often agonize over this aspect when searching out a recipe and it drives me nuts--however, I quickly realized that there are so many recipes and they all purport to be "traditional" or "authentic." But like any other recipe, there are always variations and it all depends on how YOU make it. That's what makes it traditional or authentic to YOU and your family. I noticed that the difference the various recipes was the herb mix. Some used parsley only, others were a mix of parsley and dill, and others had parsley and mint. Measurements were all over the place. I found a few that called for a "bunch" of parsley and/or dill (that is A LOT of dill!), while others called for 1/2 a cup of parsley and 2 tablespoons of dill or mint. It was really frustrating to figure out which one I should use in order to get similar results to the one my coworker made. (I later found out that she used parsley only, though her mom and grandmother use parsley and fresh mint.)

I decided on this one since it seemed pretty easy, plus I didn't have to buy a bunch of special ingredients. Overall it was pretty easy, but I have to say that working with filo dough is tedious and tricky, and you have to work quickly otherwise the dough dries out before it can even make it to the pan. I used tips I found during my recipe search:  lay the dough out on a cookie sheet, cover it with a damp paper towel, cover that with plastic wrap, and work quickly!  This worked pretty well. My only issue was pulling the first piece of dough off the pile. It didn't want to come apart and it tore easily; however, it was going on the bottom of the pan so it didn't matter what it looked like. I made it through the next nine layers easily (there are 10 on the bottom, then the filling, and then another 10 layers of dough), brushing on lots of melted butter as I went along. The other trouble spot was separating the second to last piece from the last piece, and I wasn't able to save that one. Filo dough is paper-thin, though, and doesn't puff up, so I didn't notice that the finished baked product had 19 layers of dough rather than 20. Yes, spanakopita has 20 layers of filo dough!

I made the filling before pulling the dough out of the fridge. This ensures that the dough is fresh and everything is ready to go once you open the package. As I said, it dries out FAST, so you need to have everything ready before assembly. After I finished the painstaking work of layering the dough sheets, then the filling, then the remaining dough sheets, I cut it into 15 large pieces--this makes it much easier to portion out after baking.  I then baked it for about an hour and voila!

I waited until it cooled down a bit before trying it. OMG it was awesome! Rich, buttery and cheesy. My only complaint, which really isn't a complaint, is that the filling was very chunky. The one my coworker made had a very fine filling--I couldn't even tell there was feta cheese in it since it was chopped and blended so well. If I make this again, I will make sure to crumble up the feta more and put the spinach through a food processor. Even though the spinach was pre-chopped, it was a little stringy. I wish I'd thought about the food processor when I mixed everything and saw it was chunky.

It's safe to say I blew through this whole pan in a matter of days, all by myself; I basically ate it for every meal for three to four days. I just popped it into the toaster oven at 400 F for about 12 minutes.I should add that I ended up NOT making this for the family's annual "Christmas in January." The crappy weather that weekend prevented half the family from travelling. It worked out, though--more for me!! (Sorry, guys!)

Here's the finished product. Look at all that yummy feta and cottage cheese!  And here's the recipe:  Spanakopita. One change I made is to bake it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, rather than baking it in a casserole dish or baking pan. The filling really doesn't ooze out since feta doesn't melt all that much, and I found this method worked well for me.

bbq chicken cauliflower casserole

When I recently went through my big freezer, I realized I have a lot of riced cauliflower in there. A LOT. I have six bags of plain riced cauliflower, four bags of riced cauliflower stuffing, and two bags of rice cauliflower stir fry--all from Trader Joe's. I can't even remember why I originally bought it.  So, the question became:  WTF am I going to with with all this damn cauliflower?

I got an email from The Kitchn recently, which contained a group of five-ingredient casseroles. As I looked through I noticed one, BBQ Chicken Casserole, that called for a bag of plain riced cauliflower. Also:  shredded chicken breast, onion, eggs, salt, pepper and BBQ sauce. Since I had two rotisserie chicken breasts in the freezer from a few weeks ago, I figured this would be a good recipe.

The verdict?  This was so easy and came out great. How did it taste? Like BBQ chicken. You can't taste the cauliflower at all.  Even my husband, who doesn't eat cauliflower, liked it. I made a couple modifications to it: I used store-bought BBQ sauce and used two cups rather than two and a half, used a 12 oz bag of riced cauliflower rather that 16 oz (that's what I had on-hand and didn't want to open another bag), and added about two cups of shredded Mexican cheese to it.

Assuming you're a weight loss surgery post-op and divide the casserole into 12 servings, one serving is about 240 calories, 9g fat, 26g carbs, and 15g protein. If you want to leave the cheese off, which is how the recipe was written, you'll save yourself 75 calories per serving.

bulgarian mish mash--my version

Tis the season for fresh garden tomatoes! 

I used to be a tomato-hater, but in recent years I've begun to like them. So much so that I now grow them in my garden every year. I've got bunch growing now and a whole bunch that are ready to be used. What to do with all these tomatoes?

It used to be that I wouldn't eat tomatoes except in pasta sauce, salsa, and ketchup. I gradually started to enjoy them in their sundried form. Then eventually I would be OK with chopped tomatoes in a taco, although there better not be any seeds or tomato slime! I then moved up to tomatoes cooked on a pizza. One day I was brave enough to try caprese salad. I still hated sliced raw tomatoes; however, the addition of mozzarella cheese made it OK. I then decided I could deal with grape tomatoes, as long as they were with the mozzarella cheese. To this day, though, I still can't bring myself to eat a sliced raw tomato.

I've settled on a few ways to use up the tomatoes. The easiest is to make fresh salsa. It's so much better than the stuff in the jar! I just throw all the ingredients in the food processor, pulse it until it's the consistency I want, and it's done. I use my own tomatoes and jalapenos to make it. I used my own cilantro this year; however, my cilantro isn't doing well so it was kind of a one shot deal. I don't think I'll grow it again.

Another thing I make is caprese salad using the cherry and grape tomatoes I grow. I'm finding that I much prefer grape tomatoes, so I'm thinking of eliminated cherry next year and just growing grape.

And then there's this delicious dish: Bulgarian mish mash. A coworker told me how to make this; however, I've discovered that there are many variations for this and everyone makes it a little different. The base doesn't change, though: tomatoes, peppers, eggs and cheese. I made this last year, but never posted about it, so I figured I would this time around because it's so delicious and easy. I like to eat it with some crusty bread or maybe some crackers. It can be eaten anytime.

This is the base recipe I used, very loosely I might add: Bulgarian Vegetarian Mish Mash

Here's how I actually made mine (this makes about 8 one-cup servings):

2 TB olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 red peppers, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional; remove the seeds)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 oz. roasted red peppers (jar), chopped
8 tomatoes, chopped (you can peel them if you want to, but don't have to)

Fresh parsley
Fresh basil
Fresh oregano
Dash of crushed red pepper flakes, optional
Pepper
4 eggs
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Salt, only if needed (be very careful how much salt you use since the feta cheese is very salty)

In a pot on medium heat, sauté onions in the olive oil until they start to soften. Reduce heat to low and add green peppers, red peppers, jalapenos (if using) and garlic. Continue sautéing for about 15 minutes or until soft.

Add the tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and herbs. Cover and cook until the tomatoes break down and it looks like a stew. 

Add the eggs and stir until they dissolve into the tomato mixture. You will see pieces of egg white. This is normal. If you prefer, you can beat the eggs together before adding into the tomatoes. Feel free to add more or less to make it thinner or thicker.

Remove from the heat and add the cheese, pepper, red pepper flakes (if using) and salt, if needed.

Notes: 

1. I used fresh herbs, because I have them in my garden. I used very roughly about 2 TB of each, but add whatever you like, to taste. Used dried herbs if that's what you have; however, if using dried herbs, make sure you reduce the amount you use since the flavor is much stronger than fresh herbs.
2. You can use any hard cheese you like, but I find that feta gives it a lot more flavor. Just make sure you use a cheese that doesn't melt, otherwise it all just disappears into the mix.  The standard cheese is a Bulgarian cheese called "sirene", but I don't know if that's something readily available.
3. You can cook this to whatever consistency you like. I prefer it more like a stew, whereas my coworker likes it more chunky.

 

homemade flavored goat cheese

I think by now everyone knows I LOVE goat cheese. I spread it on toast and top it with a fried egg. I put it in my sausage and goat cheese egg muffins. I spread it on crackers. I even make paninis with it.

Recently I found myself with three (THREE!) 11 oz. logs of plain goat cheese. What to do?

I also recently started growing herbs outside:  parsley, rosemary, sage, lavender and basil. While the others are growing nicely, the basil plant has pretty much exploded with leaves. That's normally great, but I typically only use basil when I make caprese salad. Since my tomatoes aren't ready yet, and I don't want to spend a small fortune on buying grape tomatoes and mozzarella (and there's really only so much caprese salad I should be eating--very caloric because of the oil and cheese), I decided to Google and see if there are any recipes for making flavored goat cheese. Of course, there are many.

I found a recipe similar to the one below; however, it's supposed by be a coating for the goat cheese log, not really a mix-in. (I prefer the cheese to be flavored throughout.) But I wanted to use this one, because I could use up some of the lemon I have in the fridge as well as some of my basil. It calls for fresh oregano, though. I loathe buying fresh herbs, because I never use them all before they wilt. However, our neighbors up the road, who moved in last year, have a huge garden and are selling their harvests. Guess what they have this week? Fresh oregano! They also have dill and cilantro; I bought both.

I made two goat cheese spreads with the herbs I got today. One is based on a recipe I found online and the other I just made up and totally guesstimated the amount of lemon and dill. You'll need to taste and see what works for you. I'd say there's a strong lemon tang in both of these, so if that's not your thing just use less lemon. Also, if you want to use dried herbs instead, that's fine. Just use roughly 1/3 of what the recipe calls for below and let the finished spread sit longer in the fridge.

Goat Cheese with Basil and Oregano

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 TB fresh lemon juice
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 to 12 oz. of plain goat cheese, room temperature
(if you like the herb flavor really strong, use 6 oz. of cheese; if you like it less potent, add more cheese)

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for a bit to develop the flavors. Spread on crackers, crusty bread, etc.

Goat Cheese with Lemon and Dill
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 TB chopped fresh dill
6 oz. plain goat cheese, room temperature

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for a bit to develop the flavors. Spread on crackers, crusty bread, etc.

Lemon and dill on the left (make sure you chop your dill a little more than I did.); basil and oregano on the right.

today's breakfast

I'm happy to say I'm 100% on track with eating AND exercise this week. I'm sticking with 1,200 calories per day, and that's not a lot of food. Even for someone that's had weight loss surgery. In order to feel like I have more food, I've cut out my delicious beloved homemade iced mocha latte I was drinking each morning. For now I' going to allow myself to have it once or twice per week. But once I'm done with surgery and it's time to maintain my weight, I plan to go back to them. At that point I'll be allowed about 2,000 calories and can afford it calorie-wise.

So, anyway, here's today's breakfast which is 195 calories (the same as my latte!).  It's half of a Fiber One 12 Grain Sandwich Thin--toasted--with an ounce of herbed goat cheese and a hard-boiled egg. Very yummy and something different; I'm usually eating a Greek yogurt with dry roasted peanuts mixed in, or a couple hard-boiled eggs.

Note:  This picture was taken and then uploaded with my phone, so it's dark and also upside down. :)

today's breakfast

Well, actually Friday's breakfast. But who's keeping track?

I went to Stew Leonard's Wednesday night and bought some of their awesome 9 Grain Bread. It makes the best grilled cheese. Although it's not very often I eat that anymore.  Nowadays I buy it maybe once a year and usually use it for toast or as a base for an egg and cheese open-faced sandwich.  That's what I did Friday morning since I had the day off from work.

I just toasted a slice of bread, added some goat cheese and a couple slices of tomato (tomato is courtesy of a co-worker's garden), and then topped it with a fried egg. It took some extra time because I toasted the bread first--I didn't want it to be soggy.  Then I added the goat cheese and tomato and put it under the broiler. Once that was done, the egg went on top along with a ton of cracked pepper and a little salt.

It was delicious, but messy.  Juicy tomatoes and runny egg yolk.  This is a fork-and-knife kind of breakfast.

cranberry white cheddar cheese

Here's something new I found at Whole Foods a couple weekend ago:  white cheddar cheese with cranberries.  I'm always up for trying a new cheese, so I grabbed a small block of it.  I picked up a couple other cheeses, also. I really like that they sell tiny little blocks of cheese.  It makes it less expensive to try new cheeses.  Plus, it's just enough for a snack or two, so no waste.

It was every bit as good as I thought it would be!  A little salty with nice fruity sweetness from the cranberries. This is a cheese that I would eat by itself, without crackers or anything else to compete with the taste.  I just hope I'm able to eat it in moderation!

goat cheese, pumpkin butter, and pecans

This weekend I checked out the Whole Foods store a couple towns over from me. A coworker said it's a big store and beautiful.  The one near work is good, but it's extremely busy. To be fair, all Whole Foods stores are busy, but the one near work seems exceptionally so. There's a second store down the road from that one, but it's smaller and the hot food bar isn't great.

I don't typically go to Whole Foods unless I'm looking for something in particular; they're prices are higher, especially for meat.  I also go when I'm looking to stroll around and soak in some food porn. And food porn is something they have plenty of.

Bob was camping this weekend so I decided to go.  I had breakfast from their hot bar:  scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, home fries, eggs Benedict with pesto, and eggs Florentine flat bread, which is basically spinach, tons of garlic, cheese, and a fried egg--delicious! Obviously I couldn't eat all this in one shot.  It broke down to about four meals.

I bought a couple beers for Bob--he loves trying different beers.  I bought a few cookies, two items from the cold bar--spaghetti squash with feta and basil, and heirloom tomato Caprese salad--and this goat cheese spread.  Capricho de Cabra with Pumpkin Butter and Caramelized Pecans.  (I'm a sucker for anything goat cheese.)

You can't see it, but there's a nice layer of goat cheese underneath.  The top has a thin layer of pumpkin butter and is topped with caramelized pecans.  I put it on some Ritz crackers.  Not glamorous, but it got the job done. I wanted to by some wine crackers, but I thought the bold flavor of the crackers wouldn't mix well with the pumpkin butter. 

I thought this was a good product, but the combo of pumpkin butter and pecans just isn't for me. I think I would have been happier with a layer of fruit jam.  The cost was OK, but I wouldn't spend it again on this product. It was about $5.00 for 1/3 of a pound, which translates to $15.99 a pound.

I think next time I go there I'm going to try a cheese from their cheese counter.  There are lots of different kinds.  Some look a bit scary, and even fuzzy, but I'm game. I like to try different things.  I remember the best cheese dish I ever had was in Lake Placid, NY. My sister and I went there to visit with my brother. We then went to dinner and I ordered the baked brie.  A wheel of brie was wrapped in a flaky pastry and baked, then drizzled with honey and melted butter, and topped with apples and sliced almonds.  So delicious!

So, what's your favorite cheese or cheese dish?  Are you a plain Jane that likes the old stand-bys, or do you like to try the really funky cheeses?