rachelle

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

Did you have your black eyed peas?

 

 

 

 

And your collard greens?

 

 

 

 

What about pork and sauerkraut?  (you can’t see the pork ribs underneath but they are there)

 

 

We did.

 

 

I don’t like any of these things, but I am not willing to risk a run of bad luck by shunning lucky food.

 

 

So we had it all.

 

 

 

 

I threw in some mashed potatoes so there would be something that I like.

 

 

Regardless of what your lucky food traditions may be, I wish all of you health, happiness and prosperity in 2015!

 

I saw a clip of this video on CNN the other day and had to go watch the whole thing.

 

 

 

 

It was hilarious.  You should totally check it out.

 

 

It also made me want some hummus.

 

 

 

 

The video is a parody of Meghan Trainor’s All About That Bass.  I heard that for the first time recently too. Chris and I found it amusing.

 

 

 

 

Have you watched the video yet?

 

 

 

 

If not, you should.

 

 

 

 

Or what I am about to say may not jive.

 

 

 

 

I really do like hummus.

 

 

 

 

I like it quite a lot.

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure how I feel about it on pumpkin pie.

 

 

 

 

Or how I would feel about it on my Lucky Charms.

 

 

 

 

But I sure do like it with crackers, pita or raw vegetables.

 

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Ingredients:

Roasted Garlic:

6 whole garlic bulbs

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

 

Hummus:

2 15 oz. cans chickpeas, drained and liquid reserved

1/3 cup olive oil, plus another tablespoon or so for garnish

1/4 cup tahini

6-8 tablespoons lemon juice

1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus another 1/8 – 1/4 for garnish

 

Instructions:

For the garlic:

Preheat oven to 350.  Cut garlic about 1/4 from top crosswise.  Line a baking sheet with a large piece of foil and add the garlic. Coat with olive oil and seal up like a package.  Roast for about 35-40 minutes until soft.  Let cool slightly.  Squeeze the cloves out of the bulbs into a bowl and make sure no garlic paper is in there.

Note:  I often use extra olive oil when I do this then reserve it to cook with garlic infused olive oil later.  I keep it in the fridge.

 

For the Hummus:

Toss chickpeas, tahini, garlic and lemon juice into a food processor.  Pulse until somewhat combined. Turn on low and slowly drizzle in olive oil. Add smoked paprika and combine.  Thin it out with the chickpea liquid until it reaches the thickness and consistency you like. (I like mine smooth and thin so I used about 1/2 cup of liquid).

Transfer to a serving bowl, drizzle with the additional olive oil (or any extra garlic infused olive oil) and sprinkle with some smoked paprika.

Serve with pita, crackers, raw veggies or Lucky Charms.

Note: If you like things spicy, you can add some hot sauce, cayenne, more paprika or Sriracha.   

Note: You can add some roasted red peppers if you like that too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may be wondering where in the world I have been.

 

 

 

 

 

Not to worry.  The clown did not get me.

 

 

I actually published three new posts last week.  Unfortunately, there were some problems with an update that broke my site and those were lost.

 

 

 

So if you visited BGC, you may have seen some posts for Pumpkin Bisque, Lasagna, and Roasted Garlic Hummus.  If you were waiting for an email notification of a new post, that was one of the features that was broken.  It seems to be fixed now — fingers crossed!  (There also seems to be some weird underlining going on that was not my doing, so I guess there are still some kinks to work out.)

 

 

 

 

I hope to recreate the ones that were lost — even if they won’t be exactly the same — and return to our regularly scheduled programming.

 

 

 

 

In the meantime, Holly says goodnight!

Jennifer always has my back.  She knows about my love affair.

 

 

With beets.  She knows how much I I LOVE LOVE LOVE beets.

 

 

Sorry.  I didn’t mean to shout.  I just got a little worked up.

 

 

 

 

I’ll settle down now.

 

 

Jennifer gave me the November issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray because there was a recipe in there for Creamy Beet & Goat Cheese Risotto.

 

 

You can imagine my excitement.

 

 

 

 

Just look at those perfect little purple pieces of heaven!

 

 

But as we all know, I am not a rule follower.  So I was inspired by Rachael’s recipe, but I had to be true to my inner rebel and go do my own thing. I think she would approve. Rach?  Feel free to chime in here.  You are always telling me to make it my own.

 

 

Rach and I go way back.

 

 

But our friendship is somewhat one-sided, as I have never actually met her.

 

 

 

 

So Rachael said to grate a large raw beet and add it at the end.

 

 

I prefer my beets roasted, so me and my beets went that direction.

 

 

 

 

I also used shallots instead of onions.

 

 

 

 

And added some Thyme.

 

 

 

 

I would like to say thanks to Rachael and Jennifer for the inspiration.  It was delicious.

 

 

 

 

Although they may just tell me to beet it.

 

 

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Risotto

Inspired by Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

6-8 beets, peeled and cut into 1 – 1 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

salt

pepper

4 tablespoons butter

2 shallots, halved and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

2 cups arborio rice

6-8 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon thyme

4-6 ounces softened goat cheese

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Whisk together, balsamic, olive oil, honey and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Toss beets around until coated and lay flat on a foil lined baking sheet.  Bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until tender.  Give them a stir every 10 minutes or so or they will stick and create an unholy mess.

While beets are baking, melt butter and add shallots and rice.  Cook while stirring for 5-6 minutes.  Add 1 cup of chicken stock and Thyme.  Stir until stock is absorbed.  Continue adding chicken stock 1 cup at a time until it is all absorbed by the rice.  Keep stirring and let each addition be absorbed before adding more.

Transfer rice to a bowl and top with beets and goat cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Happy Day!

 

 

 

 

There are no words.

 

 

 

 

For the happiness in my heart!

Who doesn’t love macaroni and cheese?

 

 

 

 

I normally use medium size shells and a ton of extra white sharp cheddar for macaroni and cheese.  I don’t do anything special with it — just boil the pasta and layer it with cheese in a casserole dish and bake it for a half hour or so.

 

 

 

 

It’s the way my mama does it.

 

 

Today I wanted to make French Onion Soup for lunch, so I went to the Publix and asked the nice deli lady for a big block of Gruyere.  I didn’t realize until I was making the soup that said nice deli lady gave me Hickory Smoked Gruyere.

 

 

 

 

What in the world was I going to do with 2 pounds of Hickory Smoked Gruyere?

 

 

 

 

What else do you do with a ton of cheese?  Raid your pantry and see what kind of past you have.  Then create some cheesy deliciousness to make your life complete!

 

 

I had Penne Rigate, so I went with that.  I also had some Smoked Gouda on hand, so he joined the party.

 

 

I consulted my good friend, Alton Brown over at the Food Network and he recommended I try this.

 

 

 

 

Well, that really only happened in my crazy head active imagination.

 

 

 

 

I also used some smoked paprika.

 

 

I’m starting to see a theme here.

 

 

 

 

Maybe I should have just called this Smoked Mac ‘n Cheese?

 

 

Smokin’ Pasta?

 

 

Smoke Some Cheese?

 

 

 

 

Maybe I was smoking the cheese getting a little excited.

 

 

 

 

I do have to say that I was horrified somewhat skeptical about the egg (see recipe below) and the mustard (which I have never used but have in my cabinet), but trust me.

 

 

Actually, trust Alton Brown.

 

 

 

 

Dude knows food science.

 

 

Smoked Gruyere and Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:

1 pound pasta (I used Penne Rigate)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon ground mustard

3 cups whole milk

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 bay leaf

1 large egg

1 1/2 pounds of Smoked Gruyere, grated

1/2 pound of Smoked Gouda, grated

1 – 2 teaspoons salt

1/4 – 1/8 teaspoon white pepper

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, generously salt and add pasta.  Cook to package directions (depending on what kind you are using).

In a second pot, melt butter over low to medium heat, add flour and mustard and whisk constantly for about 10 minutes.  Be careful not to burn it, but cook it long enough to get rid of the raw flour taste — usually 5 – 10 minutes.  It should turn a dark brown color.  Keep the whisk going to get rid of all the lumps.

Add milk, bay leaf and paprika.  Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Beat the egg with a fork.  Take a 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture and slowly add it to the egg while constantly whisking to temper the egg — you don’t want to scramble the sucker!  Add the egg/milk mixture back to the milk in the pot.

Add the all but about a cup of the cheese to the milk mixture and stir until melted.  Add salt and pepper — use more of less depending what you like.

Add the pasta to the cheese sauce and stir to completely coat each noodle.  (I did not use quite the whole pound of pasta, but that’s because I have a very serious pasta to cheese ratio requirement).

Transfer the whole thing to a baking dish coated with cooking spray or butter.  Top with the remaining cup or so of cheese.

Bake for 30-35 minutes and let rest for 5 minutes after removing from the oven.

 

 

My sister Molly and I used to spend a lot of time with our grandparents.  We used to go to their house for a couple of weeks in the summer — which undoubtedly gave my mom a break!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t remember a Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthday or any other holiday that our grandparents weren’t there.

 

 

 

 

They used to make everything seem so fun and interesting.

 

 

 

 

They lived in a woodsy area and we used to go for nature walks.  My gram landscaped her entire backyard herself and turned it into a really cool natural playground.

 

 

 

 

There was a sandbox, lots of trees and giant boulders to climb on.   Actually, said boulders resulted in the scar on my chin.  But that is a story for another day.

 

 

 

 

I wish I had a picture of her yard to share — Mom?  Are you there?  Do you have any?

 

 

One of the fun things my gram used to do was make Molly and me special drinks.

 

 

A drink that I now know is called a Shirley Temple.

 

 

 

 

Only she called it a Harvey Wallbanger.

 

 

Molly and I found this hilarious, but also it was the only name we knew for this wonderful concoction.

 

 

So you can imagine everyone’s surprise when we went out for some occasion to a fine dining establishment and the waitress asked what everyone wanted to drink. She took orders around the table and when she got to my 5 year old sister she said, “and what would you like to drink, sweetie?”

 

 

Molly very seriously said, “I would like a Harvey Wallbanger, please.”

 

 

Zoink!

 

 

I realize that this story has nothing to do with roasting a chicken, but for some reason I remembered it when I made this chicken the other day. So to me they are connected.

 

 

Or I’m just weird.

 

 

On that note I think I will go make myself a Harvey Wallbanger.

 

 

The real kind.

 

 

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole 3 (ish) pound chicken

5-6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 -2 inch chunks

2 onions, peeled and quartered

1 garlic bulb, cut in half crosswise

4 garlic cloves peeled

4 Tablespoons butter melted

1 orange, zested and cut in half

15-20 pieces of Thyme, divided

2 Rosemary sprigs

Salt and Pepper

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and generously salt and pepper inside and outside.

Zest and juice orange into a bowl.

Stuff garlic cloves, orange, rosemary and all but 5 Thyme pieces inside chicken.  Tie legs with butcher twine.

Arrange carrots, onion and garlic bulb halves in a casserole dish or roasting pan.  Sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Melt butter in microwave or on stove and add Thyme leaves, orange zest and juice from the orange into the bowl.

Place chicken on top of the vegetables.

Note:  I normally use a rack to roast meat, but I saw Ina just put the chicken on top of vegetables the other day, so I decided that was good enough for me.

Brush the butter/herb mixture all over the chicken.

Roast for 1.5 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 170F.

Remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil and let rest for about 20 minutes before carving.