Five Minute Hummus

One of the questions I get a lot is, how do I make and photograph and then EAT all this stuff and not weigh 500 pounds?  (The questions usually are asked in a much nicer way than that, but that's the general drift.)  And while I'm not as slender as I was before I got-married-had-a-baby-started-a-food-blog, I'm so far still fitting into the same size Levi's I've been wearing for the last 10 years or so.  One of the answers I always give (and it is very true) is this: small plates!  I'm a great believer in eating things that are truly delicious, and I'd rather have a little bit of bacon then a whole lot of celery.

However, from time to time I have to resort to, shall we say, a more strict eating regimen?  Just for a little while until the Levi's can be buttoned without the whole lie down on the floor trick.  And this time, I am going for Mark Bittman's routine which he calls Simple Till Six.  The basic gist is this: you eat like a vegan from the minute you wake up until 6pm...and then you eat the way you always eat, maybe watching things a little more carefully, but in general, going your usual bacon-loving way.

So I've been doing this for the past month or so, and it's actually been pretty great, both for my Levi's and in terms of coming up with some interesting recipes that rely exclusively on veggies, fruits, whole grains, nuts and anything else that doesn't involve meat/poultry/fish/dairy/eggs/bacon.  And that I, food-worshipper that I am, actually LIKE.  So, I am going to start a new "vegan" tag on these recipes so I can keep track, and the first one I made and adore is this one.  I can't believe I have been buying overpriced, pre-packaged, not-as-good hummus at the supermarket when I can literally make it in LESS than 5 minutes at home.

I'll put the recipe in formal form below just to be all official, but here's basically what it is: Dump the following items in your food processor: one can of drained chick peas, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons tahini (this is optional but I like the taste).  Press the on switch and let it rip until it looks like hummus.  You can thin it down with a tablespoon or two of water if you like your hummus really smooth.

After that, feel free to garnish it with a little paprika, maybe an extra swirl of olive oil, and then it's just a matter of deciding what you will be scooping it up with.  Pita chips, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices and your finger all work equally well.

And at 6pm, I'll be breaking out the bacon.

Five Minute Hummus, from  Real Simple

• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 clove garlic
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil, plus more for serving
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste; optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

1. In a food processor, puree the chickpeas and garlic with the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini (if using), cumin, and ¾ teaspoon salt until smooth and creamy. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons water as necessary to achieve the desired consistency.
2. Transfer to a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the paprika before serving.

Click here for printable recipe

Egg Sandwich with Spinach, Brie and Maple Bacon

Things I love in life:

1. Bacon

2. The Southern husband

3. Brie

4. English muffins

5. Baby Spinach

6. Noisy, disobedient but lovable dogs

7. Eggs, over easy

8. Noisy, disobedient but lovable teenagers.

Five of these things are part of the sandwich we had for dinner tonight.  (And by the way, don't you love sandwiches-for-dinner night? I do.  Add that to the above list.)

I won't lie to you, this is a messy one to eat, but man, is it worth every single drip and spatter.  You toast up the muffins and while they are still warm, spread on some nice soft Brie.  Yes, on both sides.  Let them sit there while you slather some maple syrup on the bacon and cook it in the oven.  While the bacon is cooking, saute some baby spinach until it is nice and soft, and then cook up some eggs, over easy - as hard or soft as you like.  I like soft, myself.  

Now slide the egg onto the bottom half of the muffin, lay some spinach over the egg, and a couple of maple bacon pieces over the spinach.  Pop the other muffin half on top.  At this point, the heat of everything is going to start turning that cheese into a melty sauce of molten Brie, and you may start to weep a little in anticipation.  This is normal.   Now sit down and get ready to eat the best egg sandwich in the world.

The best!

Egg Sandwich with Spinach, Brie and Maple Bacon

• Two strips bacon, each cut in half
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups baby spinach
• One English muffin, split
• 2 large slices of Brie cheese, softened
• One egg
• 1 tablespoon butter

1. Preheat oven to 425.  Cover baking sheet (use one with sides) with foil and lay bacon on top. Brush with maple syrup.  Bake for 10 minutes or until bacon is done to your liking.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet and saute spinach until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Cover with skillet cover and set aside.

3. Toast English muffin and as soon as it is toasted, spread both sides with cheese.

3. Heat butter in second small skillet over medium heat until melted.  Fry egg until yolk is soft set. Flip and cook another minute longer.

4. Lay egg on bottom of English muffin.  Top with spinach.  Cover spinach with bacon.  Cover with top of English muffin.

Click here for printable recipe

Vermont Cheddar Soup

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know a bit about my love and affection for Vermont, and if you don't and really want to know you can click here and here.  And love it I do...but I love it most of all when the wildflowers are blooming, the corn is in the meadow, and it's warm enough to dance on the top of your car.

Disclaimer: that is NOT me.  It may or may not be someone who is related to me who got bored while I was shooting pictures on the side of the road, put some Aerosmith on the car stereo and entertained herself while at the same time thoroughly confusing all the cows in the vicinity.

I promise I am getting to the point.

The point is that for much of the year in Vermont, you don't want to be anywhere near the top of the car.  You want to be inside with a fire in the woodstove and a pot of nice warm cheese soup on the table.  Made with Vermont cheddar cheese, please.  We like Cabot cheddar and have gone to buying it in big (of course) chunks at Costco.  This quick and easy soup involves sauteeing just a little bit of onion and garlic in a little butter, adding in some flour as a thickener and a mixture of chicken broth and milk as the soup base, and then a nice helping of that shredded cheddar.  Done!  Now all you have to do is think up some garnishes...I used some roasted cherry tomatoes and some croutons.  Bacon would of course be fabulous.  (Because bacon on anything is fabulous.)

I think that's all I have to say about this one, except give it a try asap!

Vermont Cheddar Soup, adapted from Simply Elegant Country Foods : Downhome Goes Uptown 

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespooons chopped onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 cups milk
• 3 cups grated Vermont cheddar
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcerstershire sauce
• Pinch dry mustard and salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Croutons

1. Melt butter in soup pot and add onion and garlic.  Stir for 3 minutes.

2. Add flour and whisk until mixed, then slowly pour in broth and then milk, whisking until blended.  Bring to a slow boil and cook until slightly thickened, 5-10 minutes.

3. Add cheese, Worcerstershire sauce and mustard, stirring until cheese is melted.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Now either carefully pour into a blender and puree, or even better, puree right int the pot with an immersion blender.

4. Make roasted cherry tomatoes by tossing with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, spreading on a baking sheet lined with foil, and roasting in a 425 oven for 10 minutes.

5. Ladle into bowls (heating the bowls beforehand in a 200 degree oven is nice!) sprinkle with paprika and garnish with the roasted tomatoes and some croutons.

Click here for printable recipe

Pulled Pork Sliders with Blue Cheese Slaw

Okay, so it is a long, long, long time until summer.    My yard is covered in about two feet of snow as we speak, and my Southern-born hound dog is not happy about it.  She seems to forget from year to year that snow actually exists in the universe, and so the first time it reappears each winter she seems, well, confused.  And extremely devoted to the fireplace.

But just because the weather outside is frightful, does that mean we can't have a little hint of summertime in the form of some good old BBQ?  Of course we can, and this recipe comes from an annual cookbook tradition in my house, and that is the CHRISTMAS WITH SOUTHERN LIVING cookbook - this time the 2010 version.  This book comes out every year, full of scrumptious recipes and decorating ideas, and while I found a number of things that were perfect for the holidays, there were also a handful of ideas for meals that are pretty tempting all year long.  Because who wouldn't want a pulled pork slider pretty much any day of the year?

Now, this recipe assumes that you already have some of the fixings pre-made, such as the actual pulled pork.  And because you know I am mainly a "make it in 30 minutes or less" girl, I was perfectly happy to pick up a vat of already-prepared pulled pork, cooked and ready to be turned into sliders, at my local Costco.  (Of course, while I was there I also had to buy their awesome chocolate chip cookies.  And a 12-pack of Scotch tape.  And a few hundred other things that I absolutely needed.

The other thing you will need is some fabulous BBQ sauce.   In our house, that means one thing and one thing only and that is Stubbs.

But you feel free to be you, BBQ-sauce-wise.  That's what makes the world go round.  So once you have the bbq all warm and mixed with sauce, this recipe is all about making the slaw.  I go right for the already shredded coleslaw mix at the supermarket, although you can certainly chop up your own cabbage, and then it is just a matter of mixing that up with some ranch dressing, some crumbled blue cheese and some cooked and chopped bacon.  Grab some slider buns (I like to warm mine up first), spoon on some bbq, a little coleslaw, toss a dill pickle slice or two on top, and you are ready to rock.  Take that, never-ending winter!

Pulled Pork Sliders with Blue Cheese Slaw, from Christmas with Southern Living 2010

• 3 cups shredded coleslaw mix
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 cups warm pulled pork BBQ (usually available in the supermarket near the bacon.  And at Costco!)
• 1 package mini slider buns (you can also use side-split hot dog rolls cut in thirds)
• 1/2 cup warmed BBQ sauce
• Dill pickle slices

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl and mix well.

2. Mix meat with BBQ sauce.  Place 1/4 cup BBQ on bottom half of bun, top with 1/4 cup slaw.  garnish with pickle slices, top with bun and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Mud Hens

One of the many things I have learned as a photographer is that it is pretty impossible to take a pretty picture of anything that has to do with a chicken, unless it is an actual live chicken.

I had my first experience with this when I tried (and miserably failed ) to photograph some really scrumptious fried chicken that I made one day.  If you are interested in what a photographic food blogger resorts to when she needs to blog about something she actually CANNOT photograph in any decent way, click here.

In the case of these little babies, which are called Mud Hens, the photographic-chicken-rule continued...but because I couldn't bear not to share them with the world, I did the next best thing and put these not so pretty mud hens on one of my grandmother's very pretty plates.  

Now since I know you are going to ask, here is my FAQ about Mud Hens.

1. I have no idea why they are called Mud Hens.  

2. They are a Southern dessert made up of a sugar cookie dough that is sprinkled with chopped pecans, chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows, spread with a brown sugar meringue, and baked.

3. I live with a Southern man and while he had these growing up, he also has no idea why they are called Mud Hens.  He can, however, tell you anything you want to know about any player on all the Division One college football teams in the state of Georgia.

4. The Southern husband pronounces these the following way: "Mud Hins."  I love this about him.

5. Even though I am NOT from the South,  I routinely catch myself saying "y'all."  This come from years of living with the Southern husband, and has nothing to do with Mud Hens, but #4 reminded me.

6. You must, must, must make these, because even though they are not pretty, they taste GORGEOUS.

You now know everything I know about Mud Hens.

Mud Hens, adapted from Southern Plate: Classic Comfort Food That Makes Everyone Feel Like Family

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 stick butter at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 whole egg
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg white

1. Preheat oven to 350 and butter a 9x13 inch baking dish.

2. Cream the shortening, butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Beat in the whole egg and the two egg yolks.

3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.  Combine the creamed mixture ith the flour mixture, blending thoroughly.  

4. Spread the  batter into the baking pan.  (If you are having trouble getting it to reach the edges of the pan, rinse your fingers in cold water and gently push the batter where you want it to go.)

5. Sprinkle the nuts, chips and marshmallows over the top of the batter.

6. Beat the 2 leftover egg whites plus the one extra egg white until stiff, fold in the brown sugar and spread over the top of the batter.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until browned on top.  Cook completely, then cut into bars.

Click here for printable recipe

Shrimp with Beer

Now, it occurred to me that the title of this recipe could reasonably make you think that we were eating shrimp while swigging down beer.  Which was not the case.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I am a merlot type of girl.

No, the beer in this super-easy dish is the liquid that you cook the shrimp in.  That and a little bit of whole allspice, a clove of crushed garlic, and some fresh parsley and dill.  You throw all of these ingredients into a skillet, boil it all for two minutes, and you are done.  Yes, TWO MINUTES.  I barely had time to make the dipping sauce, which is melted butter with some lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and another crushed garlic clove.  That's it, folks.  It just may be a new indoor record in terms of getting a pretty great-tasting dinner on the table in as little time as possible.

A couple of things to mention here.  First and most importantly, this is from the fabulous 60 Minute Gourmet Cookbook by Pierre Franey.  For all you youngsters out there, this is a simply wonderful cookbook collection of a feature that used to be in The New York Times...recipes that were elegant and delicious and fast.  Well, under 60 minutes, anyway.  I have several books in this series, and for some reason I forget them from time to time, and then remember they are in my bookcase and then it is like Christmas, recipe-wise.   Anyway, to Pierre Franey, wherever you are, I lift my glass of merlot in love and appreciation.

Second, this dish is messy, and I mean that in the best way.  One of the reasons it is so fast is that you don't peel the shrimp first (yes!!!) - they cook in the shell.  You dump the whole thing into one big bowl, have another empty bowl on the table for the shells, give everyone their own personal little container of the lemon butter dipping sauce, and go to town.  Peel and eat, baby...no forks involved anywhere.  At my house, this always results in a merry, festive attitude during dinner, and that in itself is worth the butter spatters all over the table.  I put a plate of buttered toast on the table as a "side dish," but this is one of those meals where you are in it first and foremost for the shrimp, and we'll worry about getting our veggies at some other meal.

Now, I couldn't find my actual old battered copy anywhere on Amazon, but the link that's with the recipe is for a book that looks like it is an updated version...and so long as it is from the 60 Minute Gourmet, it's going to be great.  Especially the recipes that are really actually TWO minutes.

Shrimp with Beer, from Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet: 300 Rediscovered Recipes from Pierre Franey's Classic New York Times Column 

• 3 pounds shrimp in the shell (get the large kind)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 whole allspice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 sprigs fresh parsley
• 2 sprigs fresh dill
• One 12 ounce can beer

1. Combine all ingredients above in a heavy skillet and cover.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer and remove from heat.  Meanwhile assemble dipping sauce (recipe below).

2. Serve in the shell, letting people peel their own and giving them individual

Lemon Butter Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 pound butter
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon Worscestershire sauce 
• 1 clove crushed garlic

1. Heat the butter until hot and bubbling.

2. Add remaining ingredients and stir.  Serve in individual containers for each person.

Click here for printable recipe

Mustard Chicken Salad

These days my house pretty much either looks like this, is about to look like this, or has just looked like this:

So you better believe that if I am going to have a SALAD for dinner, it is going to be a nice, hearty, substantial salad that gives me the strength I need to shovel the driveway again.

Okay, so I don't personally shovel the driveway.  Ever.  But you get my drift.

This scrumptious chicken salad fits the bill perfectly, and in addition the recipe has forever convinced me that if you needed pieces of cooked chicken for something, you MUST roast it in the oven.  I used to be a poach it on the stovetop girl, and all these years I never realized that roasting it makes the cooked chicken taste one million percent better.  One million, not kidding.

Anyway, after you have roasted the chicken and gotten your fabulous-tasting cooked chicken, you quickly dunk some broccoli in some boiling water, just until it is cript-tender and a lovely bright green.  After that it is just a matter of mixing up the mustard dressing and tossing the whole thing together: the chicken, the broccoli, the dressing, some cherry tomatoes and a little tarragon. 

Now THAT'S a salad that a person can eat in front of a fireplace.

Mustard Chicken Salad, from Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips 

• 4 bone-in chicken breast halves
• Olive oil
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 5 cups small brocolli florets
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup whole grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken in a baking pan lined with foil and rub with olive oil.  Sprinke liberally with salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes.  Cool, discard skin and tear chicken meat into bite-sized pieces.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add broccoli to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about one minute.  Drain and place the brocolli in the bowl of ice water.

3. make the dressing by whisking the mayo, mustards, vinegar 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt together.  Add enough dressing to the chicken to moisten well.  Add the tarragon, broccoli and tomatoes and mix gently to combine.  If you have time, cover and let sit in fridge for a couple of hours so the flavors can develop even more.  Serve at room temperature.

Click here for printable recipe

Ham and Egg Crepe Squares

I am a complete sucker for any recipe that does something out of the ordinary with eggs...provided that it stays within my weekday "must be able to be made in 30 minutes or under rule."  I love and adore eggs (which works out so conveniently with my love and adoration of bacon), but there's only so many poached/fried/scrambled eggs a girl can eat, and variety is the spice of life, and all that.

So when I happened on this recipe for crepes that are baked with ham and an egg inside, I moved straight to the top of the recipe pile.  I have to admit, I was a teeny bit intimidated by the whole making of the crepe part, but as I was getting ready the Southern husband commented that it was probably like pancakes...the first one would be a bust, and then I would get the hang of it and it would all go just fine.

I snippily reminded him who the food blogger/expert chef was in the house, and he smartly retreated to the other end of the house.  Then I started making the crepes.  The first one was a complete bust, and then I got the hang of it.   At which point I went to the other end of the house and said he kind of maybe had sort of been right, and kissed the top of his Southern head.

Anyway.

Once you are finished making the crepes and are incredibly proud of yourself for actually MAKING crepes, you lay them on a baking sheet, and line each one with a thin slice or two of ham.  Then crack an egg into the center and fold up the sides of the crepe so you have a little square package with the egg yolk peeking out.  The egg white will act as a kind of glue so the sides pretty much stay put.  Sprinkle some coarse salt and pepper on each one and pop them in the oven for about 10-12 minutes - you want the white to be set but the yolk to still be a little runny.  When they are done, sprinkle with a little parsley and you have a scrumptious, handsome little egg dish.  I made two per person and that was perfect.  And the happy recipient of that first crepe - the one that was a bust?

And they all lived happily ever after.

 Ham and Egg Crepe Squares, from Everyday Food

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 9 thin slices ham
• 9 eggs
• Chopped fresh parsley

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt, milk, four eggs and the melted butter in a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds.  Let rest for 15 minutes.

2. Heat a 12 inch non-stick skillet over medium heat and lightly coat with butter.  Add 1/3 cup batter and swirl to completely cover skillet.  Cook until underside of crepe is very lightly starting to brown, about 2 minutes.  

3.  Loosen edge of crepe with spatula and then either using large spatula or your fingers, lift it up and flip it over.  Cook another minutes and then slide out of skillet onto wax paper.  Repeat until all crepes are done.  You should have about 9 when you are done.

4. Preheat oven to 350.  Place crepes on a rimmed baking sheet (you can fit 3-4 per sheet).  Place am slice in center of crepe and carefully crack egg onto ham.  Fold edges of crepe toward center, using the egg white as a kind of glue.  Season with salt and pepper and bake until egg white is set, about 10-12 minutes.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve at once.

 Click here for printable recipe

Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil

Okay, so I have to admit that it was the alternate name of this recipe that first sucked me in.  The regular title was Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil, which isn't too bad either, but in Italian it is called Spaghetti a LIMONE.  Just saying it out loud made me feel all cosmopolitan and exotic and international.  Then I read the description and was even more sold on it: spaghetti tossed with a light sauce of lemon juice, shallots, lemon zest and just a touch of heavy cream, thinned out with some of the pasta cooking water.  A little freshly grated parmesan and some fresh chopped basil and you are done.  I used a handful of globe basil from my Aerogarden...

...because the globe basil section of my Aerogarden is now so big that it needs its own zip code.  (You can read about my Aerogarden adventures by clicking here.  I am in herb heaven.)

Anyway, back at the LIMONE, which is a quick and delicious weeknight supper with just enough zing to keep you lively all through dinner.    Grab some lemons and give it a try!

Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil, from Cooks Illustrated

	Table salt
1	pound spaghetti
1/4	cup extra virgin olive oil , plus more for serving
1	medium shallot , minced (about 3 tablespoons)
1/4	cup heavy cream
2	teaspoons finely grated zest and 1/4 cup juice from 3 lemons
1	ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup), plus more for serving
	Ground black pepper
2	tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta to boiling water; cook, stirring frequently, until al dente. Reserve 1¾ cups cooking water, drain pasta into colander, and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add shallot and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Whisk 1 1/2 cups of reserved pasta cooking water and cream into pot; bring to simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat, return pasta, and stir until coated. Stir in remaining 3 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
3. Cover and let pasta stand 2 minutes, tossing frequently and adjusting consistency with remaining 1/4 cup reserved pasta water if necessary. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, drizzling individual portions with oil and sprinkling with cheese.

Click here for printable recipe

Frosted Meatloaf

Every once in a while I get an unstoppable craving for meatloaf.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does, there's nothing to do but drop everything and make meatloaf.  Good old, plain old, reliable meatloaf.  And usually with this craving comes the need to have mashed potatoes and peas-and-carrots with the meatloaf.

This morning the craving struck...but with a twist.  I read somewhere about the concept of frosted meatloaf, with the frosting being the mashed potatoes.  And the more I thought about it, the more I had to go for it.  I'm completely devoted to shepherd's pie, and frosted meatloaf is pretty much the exact same thing in meatloaf form, when you think about it.  So I started out with a good basic meatloaf recipe - in this case, The Pioneer Woman's recipe which has been on my list to make for ages.  It's a nice simple meatloaf that is glazed with a topping of ketchup mixed with brown sugar and dry mustard.  Yum.

When it came out of the oven, I had the mashed potatoes all ready to roll.  Now, if I had been feeling REALLY energetic I would have made them from scratch, but I will be totally honest and tell you I bought a tub of the already-made variety at the supermarket.  I like the Simply Potatoes brand - they are usually in the refrigerated section next to those rolls of tube biscuits that I secretly adore, and they are pretty dang good for pre-made mashed potatoes.  Anyway, when the meatloaf came out of the oven I took my handy spatula and frosted that baby up with the mashed potatoes.  Then I brushed the top with melted butter and put the whole thing under the broiler for about 3 minutes, just enough to brown the potatoes in a few teeny places here and there.  It came out looking like a mashed potato cake.

The Southern husband suggested putting a candle in it before I took its picture, but frankly, I was too eager to actually EAT the thing to get too fancy with the photography.  And you know what?  It was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be.  Warm and wonderful and comforting meatloaf with a coating of creamy mashed potatoes, and yes, some peas and carrots on the side.

All is now right with my world.

 Frosted Meat Loaf, adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl

• 1 cup Whole Milk
• 6 slices White Bread
• 2 pounds Ground Beef
• 1 cup (heaping) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• ¼ teaspoons Seasoned Salt
• ¾ teaspoons Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• ⅓ cups Minced Flat-leaf Parsley
• 4 whole Eggs Beaten
• 1-½ cup Ketchup
• ⅓ cups Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
• Tabasco To Taste
• 2-3 cups prepared mashed potatoes (I used the Simply Potatoes brand)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour milk over the bread slices. Allow it to soak in for several minutes.

Place the ground beef, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs.

2. With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat to drain. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil to avoid a big mess!)

3. Make the sauce: add ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir together. Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the top of the meatloaf. Spread with a spoon. 

4. Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another 1/3 of the sauce over the top. Bake for another 15 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let raise oven temperature to 450.  

5. Cool meatloaf for 10 minutes, then "frost" top and sides with warm mashed potatoes. Brush with melted butter and return to oven and bake until potatoes are slightly tipped with brown, about 5-10 minutes.  Slice and serve!

Click here for printable recipe

Butternut Cider Bisque

Okay, so this is one of my blog posts that has a long involved back-story, and since there is nobody here to tell me to cut to the chase except for the dog (who can't talk) and the Southern husband (who is WAY too smart to say anything of this nature) I'm going to go ahead and tell it.  Take comfort in the fact that it will be broken up with some entertaining pictures.  At least I think they are entertaining.

So to start at the beginning, a while back I was invited to take a series of pictures of chefs from restaurants in our area.  For a food groupie like me, this was a fabulous assignment, and I met a bunch of terrifically talented people this way (and got to sample some rocking good food along the way.)  Here's the first chef I photographed for this project:

Chef Chris Calcagno.  I know, it was a hard assignment, but someone had to do it.

Anyway.

Part of the assignment was to photograph each chef holding a copy of their favorite cookbook, which worked out to be double bonus points for me, because what better recommendation can a cookbook have then to be a chef's favorite?  So of course, I followed the directions and asked Chef Calcagno to please bring a copy of his favorite cookbook to be photographed with.  He selected THE NEW RED LION INN COOKBOOK.

Now on this particular shoot the Southern husband was helping me.  Which he is great at, and which has the added benefit of me being able to order him around and not get any back-talk.  Anyway, he was browsing through this book while I was doing the rest of the shoot, and he must have liked what he saw because lo and behold, I came home to find my very own copy sitting on my desk a couple of weeks later.  (Which made me feel a little tiny bit guilty about the whole ordering-around thing.)

I promise there is a point to all of this and here it is: this fabulous butternut soup is taken from this great cookbook.  It's a thick, delicious soup that involves cooking up chopped onion, carrots, celery, fresh thyme and a whole lot of butternut squash in a mixture of chicken broth and cider, and then pureeing the whole thing.  When you have it all nice and smooth and pureed, the recipe gives you the choice of thinning it down with either more broth, more cider or heavy cream.  I had about 1/4 cup of heavy cream in my fridge and it seemed like destiny to  me, but honestly, it would have been pretty much close to perfect even without that.  I swirled a teeny bit of cinnamon on the top and got this:

But I couldn't leave well enough alone.  No, I knew in my heart of hearts that there was one more thing that could push this soup over the edge to true greatness.

Yep.  Popcorn.  (Red Lion Inn people, if you are out there, I hope I didn't just horrify you.)  But it brought just the right amount of salty crunch to this sweet and scrumptious soup.  I put the popcorn in a bowl right there on the table and we scattered it on top as we ate...the popcorn will sink pretty quickly as it absorbs the soup, but trust me when I say this is a GOOD thing.

I will be quiet now and give you the recipe already.

Butternut Cider Bisque, adapted from the New Red Lion Inn Cookbook

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional but great)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cinnamon sugar for garnish
• Popcorn for garnish (also optional and also great)

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat and saute onions, carrot and celery for about 5 minutes.  Add squash and thyme and saute, stirring, for another two minutes.

2. Add stock and cider and simmer until squash until very soft, about 30 minutes.  Remove from heat.

3. Puree with immersion blender or in blender until smooth.  Return soup to pot and add cream if using, and salt and pepper to taste.  Reheat over low heat.

4. Serve, garnished with cinnamon sugar.  Put popcorn on table for diners to add as desired.

Click here for printable recipe 

Herbs From The Aerogarden!

I love cooking with fresh herbs.  Not that my spice cabinet isn't a hazard to anyone who opens it up and thereby puts themselves in serious danger of being bonked on the head by a bottle of star anise...but there is nothing like a nice big aromatic bunch of the real thing to make any recipe sing.  So all through the summer I grow big wooden barrel-fuls of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme right outside my back door.  Along with mint and tarragon and lots and lots of basil.  The basil gets its own personal barrel.  

And I merrily cook all summer long with the fresh herbs right outside my back door.  And then sooner or later comes this.

And not only are my herbs not growing happily in my barrels anymore, I can't even SEE my barrels.  So from about November until late May, there I am paying for outrageously priced limp bunches of herbs in the supermarket.  This year, I decided to take matters into my own hands and give  myself a birthday present of one of these:

This is an Aerogarden, and this seems like a good place to say that the Aerogarden people have never heard of me or my blog and that I bought and paid for my Aerogarden my own self.  So you know that the story you are about to hear is true and unbiased.

The Aerogarden basically works like this: that top part has special lights in it that are on a timer so they know when to come on and off.  The bottom part you fill with water and a packet of "nutrient liquid" that comes with your seeds.  There are 7 little holes in the center of the Aerogarden, and you pop whatever seed pods you ordered into these little holes.  I ordered the herb package.  The pods are filled with the seeds and a tiny amount of dirt, all pressed into a little plastic holder.  When the pods are in place, all you can see is the label on the top - everything else is in the water, and there is a little pump swirling it all around.  This all took me about 10 minutes to set up.

After about 2 weeks, my little herbs were springing up.  Here is my 2 week old thyme.

 And here is my two week old basil.  Isn't it adorable?  It's about one inch high.

It is now four weeks after I set the whole thing up - four weeks, mind you - and that cute little basil now looks like this:

The mint is very pushy and taking over the joint.  Which is slightly problematic, since I don't really have many mint recipes.

Hello, mint.

The dill is much more dignified.  Tall, but dignified.  I have plans for this dill in a chicken fricassee later this week.

This is globe basil.  I have no idea what globe basil is.  If any does, please tell me because it is getting bigger by the second.

And here's the thyme.  Also four weeks old, and this is after "harvesting" it twice.  (Harvesting is what the Aerogarden brochure calls it.  I feel very farmer-ish.)

And just to give you the full sense of how the whole thing fits so adorably on my counter, here's a picture of the full 4 week old Aerogarden. 

I'd like to say that water bottle is in the shot to give you a sense of perspective as to the size of the thing, but honestly, it's there because people leave half-full water bottles all over the dang house.

Anyway, I'm an Aerogarden groupie now, and as a result am planning to make something that involves fresh pesto in the middle of February.  Just because I can.