Coffee Julep

Nate's sister came to Colorado for a conference and was able to spend not one but TWO weekends with us! We had such a blast hanging out with her and trying a few new recipes, including this one. She recreated it last Saturday in honor of the Kentucky Derby, so she must have approved!

Coffee Julep

Ingredients:
12 fresh mint leaves (about 1 oz), plus additional for garnish
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces bourbon of your choice, divided (can you guess what kind we used?)
4 cups coffee, brewed and chilled
ice cubes

Directions:
Muddle mint leaves with honey, vanilla extract, and a splash of bourbon. Divide remaining bourbon evenly between two glasses filled with desired amount of ice. Divide muddled mint mixture between the two glasses, using a sieve if you do not want the leaves to go into the glasses. Top with cold coffee and stir gently. Garnish each glass with a single mint leaf and serve.

ditching cable

We gave up cable a few years ago and really haven't missed it. We find that we can catch most of our favorite shows online. We're big fans of Netflix and the Roku, too. OK occasionally when one of our teams is playing on ESPN, we wish we could catch it at home, but we can usually head down the street and watch at the bar. Hey, we love an excuse to walk down to the bar.

Plus there are plenty of cool public access channels we can still watch through the basic connection. One of our favorites is Create. If you've never watched it, it's mostly travel, DIY, and cooking shows with hosts like Lidia Bastianich, Ming Tsai, and Julia Child. Sure it's corny sometimes, but if you can get past that there's some great content.

Recently we were inspired by Jacques Pepin, who made a quick leeks au gratin. After watching, we decided to make a similar version with potatoes. Jacques uses swiss cheese; we, of course, used Vermont cheddar. It was crunchy and flavorful, and since this recipe doesn't use any milk or cream it wasn't too heavy. We paired it with a simple salad dressed with a shallot cream sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super Crunchy Potatoes au Gratin

 

Ingredients:

2 large new potatoes (or sub what you have), sliced into 1/4" discs
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 c grated mozzarella
1/2 c grated Vermont cheddar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter, cut into 1/2" cubes

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Bring a pot of salted water to boiling. Parboil the potatoes for 5 minutes. Remove the potatoes from heat and drain.

Combine the panko and cheeses in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Add thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Stir again. Add olive oil and stir again.

Lightly grease a 9-inch round baking dish. Sprinkle a small amount of the panko mixture in the bottom of the dish. Arrange half of the potato slices in the dish. Sprinkle half of the remaining panko mixture over the potato slices. Repeat with remaining potato slices and panko mixture.

Arrange butter over top. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before serving.

fried horseradish grits with poached eggs and braised beef

 

You know what's great for breakfast? Leftovers. This weekend we had a lot of leftovers - mostly from a dinner get-together with friends. So we threw in some eggs and called it breakfast.

 

 

First we fried up some grits...

 

 

Then poached the eggs, added leftover braised beef, and chowed down.

 

Simple but so, so delicious. Do you get creative with leftovers in the morning?

 

 

Fried Horseradish Grits with Poached Eggs and Braised Beef

 

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp horseradish

2 cups leftover cooked grits

1 tbsp butter (we used salted)

4 large eggs

about 1 oz braised beef using this recipe from Add a Pinch

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Combine the grits and horseradish and form the grits into four equal patties. Melt the butter in a pan on medium. Fry the grits patties just until they begin to brown and form a crust.

 

While the grits are frying, poach the eggs in a separate pot.

 

Using a spatula, remove the grits patties from the frying pan and place two each on a plate. Add the beef to the pan just to rehaet. Top each patty with a poached egg and season with salt and pepper. Divide the beef and arrange it over the tops of the eggs. Serve immediately.

 

 

pimento cheese fit for a yankee

No southern upbringing is complete without plenty of pimento cheese sandwiches.

Like all Americans, southerners take a helluva lot of pride in their food traditions. When it comes to the most cherished and storied of southern recipes, pimento cheese is right up there with barbecue and buttermilk biscuits. Much debate surrounds recipes for this beloved spread, and variations are plentiful. Some variations are regional (hot sauce may be added in New Orleans, Worcestershire may be added in Savannah). Robert Stehling of Charleston's famed Hominy Grill even adds bourbon to his recipe (and we're certainly not complaining about that). Some variations are related to technique: fine grated vs course, mashed with a fork vs grated in a food processor.

A controversy arose this year at The Masters tournament after the clubhouse changed the supplier (and therefore the recipe) for its famed pimento cheese sandwiches.

Even the cheese itself is up for discussion - some recipes include cream cheese or even havarti - but one ingredient is always a constant: cheddar. Usually sharp. Which brings us to today's recipe. Where southerners take pride in their pimento cheese, Vermonters take even more pride in their cheddar. Any good Vermonter will tell you that cheddar cheese should be white, white, white.

Like so many long-standing American food traditions, pimento cheese comes from humble beginnings. That's the beauty and that's why the creative variations are such fun. Personally, we think it comes down to an appreciation for the spread's history and - more importantly - personal preference. This recipe draws on the tried-and-true basics, but we encourage you to experiment a little. Do you love jalapenos? Toss in a few! Big fan of crab meat? Maybe it's the perfect touch!

We usually eat our pimento cheese on Nate's homemade bread or with crackers, but it's also great as a filling for deviled eggs or in a grilled cheese sandwich. For a real indulgence, try it slathered over a burger hot off the grill or in your best mac-and-cheese recipe.

What are your favorite ways to prepare and eat pimento cheese?


Pimento Cheese Spread

Ingredients:
1/2 lb Vermont sharp white cheddar cheese
1 (4-oz) jar pimentos, drained and finely chopped
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper to taste
1/3 cup mayonnaise

Preparation:
Finely grate the cheese into a large bowl. Combine pimentos, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a separate bowl. Add pimento mixture to cheese and combine with a fork. Stir in mayonnaise and mix until desired consistency is achieved.

Store refrigerated for up to 1 week (if it lasts that long).

don't worry, it's just pimentos

the consistency should be spreadable but can otherwise be as chunky or creamy as you like

good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies

When April brings you snowstorms, nothing beats a warm chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven. These cookies are made using the tried-and-true Nestle recipe, only we used a crushed bar of 60% baking chocolate instead of chocolate chips (sorry Nestle).

and now for the cookie porn...

 

 

 

 

oven-dried tomatoes

We love our vegetable delivery service, but we can't always use everything before it's too late. So it's good to have a few techniques for preserving or at least elongating the useful life of some of the fruits and vegetables we receive. Here's a technique we tried and loved: oven drying the tomatoes. We adapted this recipe from Big Girls Small Kitchen.

Oven-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients
5 plum tomatoes, cut into quarters lengthwise
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp herbes de provence
Preheat the oven to 200°F.

Place a dish towel or a layer of paper towels over a cutting board and arrange the tomatoes wih the cut sides up. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt. Lay another dish or paper towel over the top of the tomatoes and weigh them all down with another cutting board and something heavy such as a small pot of water or a large cookbook. You don't want to squish the tomatoes - just press them a little to release some of the moisture. Let the tomatoes rest this way for about 20 minutes.

Place a wire rack on a baking sheet. Remove the weight layers and towels from teh tomatoes and arrange the slices on the wire rack, leaving about 1 inch between each slice. Sprinkle with the herbes de provence.

Note: don't arrange the tomato slices as shown in the top right photo above or they will fall between the wire as they start to dry! #smrt Arrange them across the wires as shown in the bottom left photo.

Bake the tomatoes for 5 hours. They should be wrinkled and dry to the touch. If you want plumper tomatoes, shorten the drying time. If you want wrinklier tomatoes, leave them in the over longer. It's really up to you. In our dry Colorado climate, 5 hours got us to the consistency pictured above.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Place them upright in a clean jar with an airtight lid and store in the refrigerator. These should keep for several days.

We used these for one of our hut trip recipes and for a seriously yummy loaf of olive bread - stay tuned for future posts on both of those!

super simple artichoke bean dip

This is a good quick-and-easy dip that is easy to throw together at the last minute if you have drop-in guests or just a craving. It's made with ingredients we usually have on hand, so it was a no-brainer snack this afternoon.

Ingredients:

1 15-oz can white beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 14-oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained (reserve the other half of the can for another recipe)

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

Directions:

Combine the beans and artichoke hearts in a food processor and blend for 30-45 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and blend for another 30-45 seconds. Transfer dip to a serving dish. Serve immediately.

Honey Oatmeal Bread with Chia Seeds

We've been hearing a lot about chia seeds; we know you have, too. They're supposed to be full of all sorts of good-for-you stuff. So we thought we'd try a recipe and see what the fuss is all about. This bread recipe is adapted from a blog called A Little Bit Crunchy. We found it on (where else?) Pinterest and tested a few versions until we found one that worked. Not too dry, not dense. Read: baking at altitude is testy!

The recipe is pretty simple and requires no kneading - gotta love that. Just a few simple, basic ingredients aside from the chia seeds (which we found at Sprouts, by the way).

thanks to Brad Buchanan for the delicious honey!

rising dough

It's a hearty bread with a crusty crunchy surface that you'll want to smother in butter and dredge through a hot bowl of thick chili or stew. You don't really notice the texture or taste of the seeds, but when you rescue your trapped grandmother from a burning car the next day you'll know they're working.



Honey Oatmeal Bread with Chia Seeds

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups warm water
1 Tbsp honey
1 package of Fleischmann's active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup quick cook oats
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp chia seeds
3 Tbsp melted butter (optional - omit if you're allergic to dairy)

Directions
Combine dry yeast with warm water and honey. Allow yeast to bloom (5-10 minutes).
Combine flour, oats, salt, and chia seeds in a large bowl. Add the bloomed yeast and stir well.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Butter an 8-cup loaf pan, add the dough, cover w/ plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
Remove the plastic wrap.
Pour the melted butter over the top of the bread (this step is optional).
Bake for 35-40 minutes.