Posts Tagged ‘cheese’
Gouda and Dutch Beer Fondue
August 10th, 2012 | 
Author: No, let me rephrase that…
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE cheese (well okay I loathe bleu and goat cheese. They SMELL like moldy feet and I refuse to put anything that foul smelling in my mouth!) but I HATE beer. No, I really hate beer. With Mr. Fantabulous being a beer snob I’ve been exposed to the buy-a-bottle–get-a-car-house-butler-and-baby-elephant style of beer to the OMG-you-paid-WHAT-for-that???-I’m-going-to-kill-you-for-spending-that-much-on-a-friggen-bottle-of-beer! To me they all taste nasty.
But…. I like stuffed cooked in beer. Corned Beef, my BBQ Beer Chicken or my Yuengling Cheddar Bacon Bread.
Wait, let me rephrase that. I don’t like desserts with beer in them. I’ve had a few cakes and pies with beer in it and uh uh.. don’t like it.
But this…
This that is LOADED with amazing cheese … and beer… is FANTASTIC! It’s simplistic, 3 ingredients actually, but I think it’s the things you dip into it that honestly help make it.
So if you want something really awesome for a party, movie snack, romantic date night indoors or just for you cause it’s Tuesday; make this!
| Gouda and Dutch Beer Fondue |
- 1 pound of Gouda, grated
- 2 Tbl flour
- 1 cup of Heineken
- Toss the cheese with the flour in a bowl and set aside.
- In a fondue pot, bring the beer to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the cheese mixture, ½ cup at a time, stirring until melted after each addition.
- Serve immediately with Irish brown soda bread cubes, toasted wheat or sourdough bread cubes, apple chunks, boiled red or gold potatoes, cooked sausages or bacon, cut into bite-size pieces.
*note: trust me on the bacon! Gouda is a very mild cheese, almost kinda sweet. The saltiness from the bacon… you will want to go to church and thank the heavens for this!
*note part deux: if you’re lucky enough to find smoked gouda, USE THAT! TRUST ME!
Posted in Appetizers, CrockPot Wonders, Side Dishes, Snacks n'at | 
Tags: bacon, beer, Bread, cheese, dipping, dips, fondue, parties, snacks | 
6 Comments »
You say potato, I say “potahto”… Caramelized Onions Potato Croquettes with Chives and Cheddar
So that brings us to taters. You can mash ‘em, bake ‘em, puree ‘em, deep fry ‘em, stuff ‘em, boil ‘em, saute ‘em… I best stop as I can hear the Bubba Gump Shrimp voice coming out (SUCH an awesome movie by the way!). Back to taters… I like ‘em and yes I eat them. But not that often as they are loaded with carbs. And God knows my thighs LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE carbs! And just like most foods there are ways to make them healthier (if that’s your schtick) and ways to make them heart-stopping (and no, not in a good way either). We’re talking the batter dipped, deep fried, wrapped in bacon and smothered in cheese, sour cream and more bacon… *God I miss my college days… LOL*
But I digress back to plain ol’ taters. See I had made Mr. Fantabulous stuffed peppers the other day. And as a rule, no I actually think it’s a law, you must serve mashed potatoes with it. It has to do with some red gravy to meat to pepper ratio and needing something to act as a binder to make that stuff all adhere to the fork. LOL It’s all good though as truth be told, I love dipping my fork in a bit of mashed potatoes then picking up a smidge of the meat and sauce and yes ketchup (did I ever tell you that I have an unnatural love of ketchup? Um yeah, I do… big time!).
So aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway… I’m looking in the fridge yesterday figuring out what to make him for dinner when I see the lowly bowl of left over taters sans the peppers. I kind of tend to always make too many mashed potatoes. I think it stems back from my childhood years of watching my mother make 5-7 pounds of potatoes for a meal (having 4 older brothers that played football, they be growing boys and needed much sustenance). Since I knew Mr. Fantabulous wouldn’t want them again (I was making the Oat Crusted Chicken again since he loved that so much) I had to figure out something to do with them.
I ended up rendering some caramelized onions in butter and bacon grease (no that won’t stop your heart.. much) then adding chives and cheese to the taters. Sounds awesome stopping right there, right? But wait, there’s more! LOL I turned just a plain old bowl of fabulous mashed potatoes (my mashed potatoes are a God-send… really! They are THAT good!) into bite sized Caramelized Onions Potato Croquettes with Chives and Cheddar. It’s okay, you can hate me just a smidge right now. You really needed to be here and try these…
| You say potato, I say “potahto”… Caramelized Onions Potato Croquettes with Chives and Cheddar |
|
- 2 cups cooked potatoes (boiled) and cooled
- 2 Tbl melted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, warmed
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbl chives, minced
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar
- 2 Tbl butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onions
- 1 Tbl bacon grease (optional but it makes the dish!)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- Olive oil for frying
- Pass the cooked potatoes through a ricer or food mill.
- Add 2 Tbl of melted butter, heavy cream, chives, salt and pepper to the potatoes. Gently combine.
- In a skillet over medium heat, melt the additional 2 Tbl of butter and bacon grease.
- Add the onions and sauté for 5-8 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Scoop out the sautéed onions and add them to the potato mixture. Be sure to leave the butter and bacon grease in the pan.
- Fold the onions in to the mixture.
- Add the cheddar cheese and mix just until incorporated.
- Using a teaspoon, scoop out a generous scoop of the mixture. Gently shape them into balls about 1” round.
- Place each formed ball on a clean plate.
- Once all the balls are formed, cover the dish and put it in the refrigerator for 15- 30 minutes.
- When you’re ready to make them beat the egg in a shallow pan.
- In a separate bowl add the flour.
- In a third bowl, put the bread crumbs.
- To the butter/bacon grease pan, add enough oil to reach 1/4” of the pan and have the heat at medium.
- Roll the croquette into the flour, then the egg (you may have to gently smooth it on) and then in the bread crumbs.
- Add the croquettes to the pan, a few at a time. They will only take a few minutes per side at most. Watch them closely.
- Place on a paper towel and season with salt.
Posted in Appetizers, Recipes, Side Dishes, Snacks n'at |
Tags: appetizer, bacon, cheddar, cheese, chives, leftover, mashed, onions, Potato, side dish, vegetable |
4 Comments »
Got cheese??? Stuffed Parmesan Crusted Grilled Ham & Cheese…
I’m gonna keep this simple… cheese.
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE cheese. I mean LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE cheese. Well okay, I despise bleu cheese and goat cheese. Sorry but if smells like butt and feet, I’m not gonna eat it. Yes, I’ve tried it and it’s icky *as she makes that crinkled nose 7 year old yicky face*.
This was lunch today. It was bad, soooooooooooo bad for me so don’t lecture me. I make this *maybe* once a year.
Stuffed Parmesan Crusted Grilled Ham & Cheese…
Yes… yes read that right, STUFFED grilled cheese.
Go on and stare, I’ll wait. It’s pretty isn’t it? I mean absurdly pretty. You are in shock someone ate this yet you secretly are jealous that you didn’t have it. C’mon admit it. You want it. You wanna feel that ooey gooey melty cheeses on your lips. The crispness of the bread and the sweet saltiness of the ham.
Don’t hate..
Don’t judge…
How’s that work you ask? Well normal grilled cheese that your mama used to make was what.. 2 slices of white bread, butter on the outsides and a few slices of sandwich cheese in the middle. Placed in a hot pan, cooked for a few minutes on each side until they were browned (if you’re like my Mom, sorta more than browned on 1 side). She was an awesome cook but she couldn’t make grilled cheese without burning on side.
I had some thick sliced leftover bread from making Mr. Fantabulous French toast again this morning so I made a pocket in each slice. Stuffed them with various smoked cheeses. Buttered the outsides very lightly. Placed one buttered side down in a medium heat pan. Added more cheese and ham then topped with another lightly buttered stuffed piece of bread (butter side up).
Now here’s the key.. STEAM! I placed a lid on the pan to allow the cheeses to melt first. After a few minutes I took off the lid and flipped it. Now the one side was slightly browned. So while the bottom was grilling I made Parmesan paste-type mixture and slathered the top with that. After a couple of minutes I re-flipped the sandwich. Slathered some of the Parmesan paste on the top. Waited a minute and flipped one more time.
This was awesome. Yes my arteries clogged slightly on this but every once in a blue moon, you just need to cheese binge.
The ONLY thing this was missing was pickles. *sigh*
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go work out for 6 hours!
Time for comfort food – Zucchini Lasagna
We were having family stop up Saturday night so I made dinner for us – Pollo pomodoro con peperoni e spinaci ( which my sister, niece and her bf loved), Yuengling Bacon Cheddar Chive muffins, Angel food cake and ‘Hostess’ cupcakes. The food was awesome (or so I’m told) but I wasn’t too keen on the outcome of the cupcakes. The filling didn’t set so while it tasted awesome it still was too thin for my liking. I know what I did wrong which is good so I’ll definitely give it another shot.
Our friends stopped over too and we had game night with them. Have you guys ever played the card game “Golf“? Totally fun and honestly about the ONLY way I will ever play anything named golf! I just do not have the patience or attention span to play the real game. I would be that one wandering around on the green in the golf course in the cart 
We also played ‘Phase 10′ . Our BFF’s introduced us into the game and totally love it! Definitely check it out. Since I knew they were coming earlier I had whipped up a batch of pizza dough and set it in the bucket to rise as I knew, even though I was making a big dinner, we would want snacks later. Trust me, if you ever visited me, you would NEVER EVER starve! The pizza was a huge hit.
Today, I was a true lazy butt. Yep… got up at 6am, brushed my teeth and crawled back in bed until… you ready for this? 2pm! Yep.. 2pm! I didn’t go back to sleep, instead I laid in bed watching movies and musicals. I mean I honestly did NOTHING and it was AWESOME!!!
AWESOME I TELL YA!
Since Mr. Fantabulous’ birthday is coming up this week, we went out for lunch at a quasi-local American-Mexican place. Now we’re home with full bellies, he’s off napping and I’m going through my orders for this week.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted some recipes so I am sorry. Just work (my real job) has been SUPER busy and it’s left me with no free time. But I’ve realigned my schedule to give you guys more ‘TKW’ attention
So for today, since it’s cooler weather again, I’m going comfort food for you. I’m mixing it up a bit and making it healthier. Even Mr. Fantabulous who HAAAAAAAAAAAATES zucchini really likes this! I’m talking Zucchini Lasagna.
| Time for comfort food – Zucchini Lasagna |
- 3 Large Zucchinis
- 2 Packages Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained
- 1 jar marinara sauce
- 1 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
- 1 cup baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
- 15oz Ricotta Cheese
- 4 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
- ½ cup Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded (reserved for end)
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2 Tbl parsley Flakes
- Salt and Pepper
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Peel zucchinis and slice into thin strips – this is where a mandolin comes in super handy. If you don’t have one, use a cheese slicer.
- Lay flat on foil-lined baking sheets.
- Brush each side of sliced veggie with 3 Tbl olive and top with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 20 minutes until slightly crispy
- In large sauce pan sauté the red peppers and mushrooms in the remaining olive oil for about a minute.
- Add the garlic and sauté until slightly golden; about a minute.
- Add the sauce, cover and simmer for 15 minutes
- Spray large lasagna pan with olive oil spray
- Mix ricotta cheese, eggs (slightly beaten), ½ cup mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup parmesan cheese and parsley in a bowl. Set aside.
- Spread 1/2 cup sauce on bottom of lasagna pan.
- Layer enough strips of zucchini to line the bottom of the pan.
- Next add a thin layer of spinach followed by the ricotta cheese mixture, ¼ cup mozzarella cheese and sauce – evenly distributing enough so you can have enough of the fillings for each layer.
- Repeat layers with remaining ingredients. Top with Parmesan cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for about 35 minutes.
- Remove foil and sprinkle on reserved ½ cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Increase temperature to 350.
- Bake for 15-25 minutes or when a knife is inserted that the zucchini is soft.
- Let cool 15 minutes before eating.
Posted in Daily Soul Fuel, Vegetable |
Tags: cheese, italian, lasagna, ricotta, vegetable, zucchini |
3 Comments »
Nooks ‘n Crannies Part Deux…
So if you saw yesterday I made English Muffins for the first time. They came out beautifully but we hadn’t tried them yet. After consuming the 12 layer lasagna and the sourdough bread, we decided to save the muffins for a midnight snack.
The taste is AWESOME but I still need to tweak the recipe. I think I need to add baking soda to the batter right before I put it on the griddle. That should allow for them to have uber nooks ‘n crannies and allow them to be less ‘dense’. I’ll make another batch next weekend. If they turn out, perhaps I’ll share the recipe.
So for Mr. Fantabulous he wanted a TKW McMuffin… I don’t think he actually chewed it but rather inhaled it
For mine I kept it simple with some sweet butter and some of the most awesomest Orange Apricot Marmalade from Sarabeth’s Bakery. I SOOOOOOOOOO need to figure out how to make this! My GOD it is phenomenal!
So if you recall from yesterday I’m wasn’t a fan of these type of muffins, at least the store bought ones. After trying these, I’m thinking I may actually really like them. These are really good! Just have to get my nooks on a little bit more
Posted in Daily Soul Fuel |
Tags: cheese, egg, english, english muffins, ham, muffin, sandwich |
2 Comments »
