Potato and Cheese Tart

229 days. That’s how long it’s been since I’ve sat down and tried to write anything here. Is it laziness? Writer’s block? A lack of interest? I suppose it could be all of the above. Hmm. 

Anyway… I was scrolling through my food pictures from 2019 when I stumbled on the pictures of this blue cheese potato tart, and I thought, “if there’s a recipe worth putting on the blog, it’s this one.”

I mean, this one ticks all of my food boxes: bread / pastry, potatoes, and cheese. If I could live on this combination AND still fit into my pants, I’d eat it 3-4 days a week. (My choice for the rest of the week? Tacos.) 

I’d originally planned to make the Parmesan / potato tart from the same issue of Cook’s Country, but I was running low on parm, so I went with the blue cheese version instead. I have zero regrets about that choice.

The tart takes a little while to bake, but that means you can have the dishes done (and a salad made, if you’re interested in balanced meals) by the time it comes out of the oven. It will smell incredible, and, if you’re anything like us, you’ll cheat the 20 minute cooling time by at least 10 minutes.

Blue Cheese and Potato Tart

For the tart dough: 
7-1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces and chilled
6-7 tablespoons ice water

For the filling: 
4 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled, divided
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated, divided
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary, divided (I was out of fresh and subbed dried with no issues.) 
1/4  teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, separated
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8″ thick
1 shallot, thinly sliced

First, prepare the tart dough. Process the flour and and salt in the bowl of a food processor until combined, just a few seconds. Scatter the butter on the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses or so. Add 6 tablespoons of ice water and process until almost no dry flour remains, about 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining tablespoon of water if the dough won’t come together.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and shape it into a 4″ square. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for an hour. (If you’re a planner, this step can be done ahead of time – the dough can hang out in the fridge for up to 2 days.) 

When you’re ready to make the tart, remove the dough from the fridge and preheat the oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or a silicone baking sheet). Let the chilled dough soften on the counter for about 10 minutes, then roll the dough into a 14″ x 11″ rectangle on a lightly floured counter. Transfer the dough rectangle to the prepared baking sheet.

In a large bowl, microwave the cream cheese until it’s softened, about 20 to 30 seconds. Whisk in 1/4 cup of blue cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, olive oil, mustard, 1 teaspoon rosemary, pepper, and salt. Add the egg yolk and whisk until combined. Add the potatoes and shallot to the cheese mixture and stir until the potatoes are thoroughly covered.

Pile the filling in the center of the dough. Spread it an even layer, leaving a 2″ border on all sides. Sprinkle the rest of the blue cheese, 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, and the rest of the rosemary over the filling.

Fold one long side of the dough about 1-1/2″ over the filling. Do the same thing on the other long side of the tart. Fold in the short sides of the dough and overlap the corners to secure the dough. Lightly beat the egg white and brush it all over the folded crust. Sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan cheese all over the crust.

Bake until the crust and filling are golden brown and the potatoes test done when poked with a fork, about 45 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack, and let the tart cool for about 10 minutes. Use a metal spatula to loosen the tart from the parchment paper and slide it onto the wire rack. Let tart cool until warm, then slice and serve.

from Cook’s Country, December / January 2020 

Looking for a printable version?

Go-To Pizza Dough

Pizza night is a fairly regular thing  for us. Whether it’s take-out from Glass Nickel (we like the Boaris Karloff and the Sacre Bleu) or a homemade favorite, pizza gets five stars in our kitchen. And ever since Fester came into our lives, homemade pizza has gotten an upgrade.

In my never-ending search for ways to use sourdough discard, I stumbled on a recipe for sourdough pizza crust from King Arthur Flour. Not only does it keep me from pouring my sourdough discard down the drain, but it mixes up easily, AND it freezes well. Plus, KAF includes the weights for the ingredients, so I can use my kitchen scale and not million measuring cups and spoons. It’s a win-win-win all the way around.

The sourdough gives the crust a flavor boost that takes homemade pizza to the next level. It’s a great crust for traditional pizza toppings (pepperoni, pineapple, onions, and banana peppers, please), and it’s just as good with less traditional fare.

I’ll mix up a batch when I feed Fester, and then freeze it until our next pizza night. And with crust like this, pizza night happens a lot more often. 😉

Sourdough Pizza Crust

8 ounces (1 cup) unfed sourdough starter (discard)
4 ounces (1/2 cup) hot tap water
10 1/2 ounces (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast (KAF calls for instant, but I have the active dry yeast in my fridge, so that’s what I use.) 

Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Turn the mixer on low to combine all of the ingredients. Then knead the dough on medium speed until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky.

If you’re making pizza that day, place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in bulk. This usually takes a few hours, but it could be shorter or longer. (A lot will depend on how warm your house is and how active your sourdough starter is.) You can also put the dough in the refrigerator to slow down the rise. When the dough has risen, gently shape the dough into a pizza crust. (This usually makes enough dough for one regular (not deep dish or thin crust) pizza for me.)

Preheat your oven to 450°. If your crust is on the thicker side, you can par-bake it for about 7-8 minutes to give it a head-start, then remove the crust from the oven. Top the par-baked crust with your desired sauce and toppings, and then return the pizza to the oven and bake until it’s done.

If you’d like to freeze the dough, wrap it well in plastic wrap and place it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. To use the dough, simply let it thaw and then bring the dough to room temperature. Shape the dough as desired, and then proceed with your pizza recipe.

Note: KAF suggests letting the dough rise in the pan after you’ve shaped it. I generally don’t do that, but I do par-bake the dough before topping the pizza. Check out the KAF page for additional pizza tips. 

From King Arthur Flour

Click here for a printable version.

Squash with Stuffing!

I don’t remember eating a lot of squash when I was a kid. I remember my mom sauteing zucchini sometimes in the summer, but that’s about it. Fall and winter squashes weren’t really on the menu as far as I can recall. Especially acorn squash. Apparently my mom had a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad experience with acorn squash when she was a kid, so she never served it to us. (Ironically, I suffered a similar experience with meatloaf, and now I never serve that…) So, when we started receiving all kinds of squash in our CSA, I didn’t know what to do with it.

I started with the least intimidating ones: butternut and spaghetti squash. They’re easy to prepare, and butternut squash has quickly become one of my favorite fall foods. Of course, with a CSA, you don’t always get butternut squash. Sometimes, you get a new-to-you vegetable, and you have to find a way to fall in love with it. Thank you, internet. (Seriously. What did we do before Google? I would have had to use my cookbooks.) 

In my experience, there are a few sure-fire ways to fall in love with a new vegetable.

1. Roast it.
2. Add meat (ideally bacon or sausage).
3. Add cheese.

This recipe uses all three methods. You halve the squash and roast it with garlic, sage, and butter. Once the squash is tender, you fill each squash with a sausage-apple-onion-parm-bread crumb mixture. In other words, you fill the vegetable with my all-time favorite Thanksgiving side – the stuffing. What’s not to love?

The original recipe calls for acorn squash, but when our CSA didn’t deliver acorn squash, I decided to see how it worked with other squashes.  (I’m a risk taker, I know.) Turns out, it works just as well with delicata squash as it does with acorn squash. Now, we’re not limited to one type of squash, which means we can have this more often. Win-win!

Not my best photography, but it’s one of our favorite meals. 

Apple and Sausage Stuffed Squash

2 large acorn squash, cut in half, with the seeds removed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground sage, divided
12 oz. bulk Italian sausage
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup) 
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1 apple, cored and finely chopped
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, garlic and 1/4 teaspoon sage. Brush the insides of each squash with the butter mixture. Place the squash on a cookie sheet, cut side up, and bake until fork tender, about an hour.

While the squash bakes, prepare the filling. Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat. (I use either my 10″ or 12″ cast iron skillet.) Once the sausage is brown, take it out of the pan and drain it on a paper towel-lined plate. Put the onion and celery in the now-empty skillet, and cook it until the vegetables begin to soften, about 3-5 minutes. Add the apples to the pan and cook for a couple minutes more.

Put the drained sausage back into the skillet, and then take the pan off the heat. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon sage and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in the panko and Parmesan cheese, and then add the beaten egg. Stir until the mixture is completely combined.

Evenly divide the stuffing mixture among the four squash halves. Return the squash to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Originally seen on Peace, Love and French Fries, which has since gone under. However, PL&FF adapted the recipe from Prevention RD,  who adapted it from Food.com.

Click here for a printable version.

Cabbage and Noodles 2.0

Once upon a time, in the very early days of this blog, I wrote about our favorite way to prepare cabbage. The post has a terrible picture and is more of a “guideline” than an actual recipe, but it’s one of my most popular posts. People like cabbage, apparently. (Or, maybe they’re just here for the bacon.) 

While cabbage and noodles is still a popular option in our house, sometimes you need something a little different. I’ve been flipping through old issues of Everyday Food lately, and I stumbled on this recipe. I’d obviously made it before, since I’d put four stars on the top of the page. I had a head of Savoy cabbage from one of our last CSA shares, so I thought I’d put it on the menu again.

It’s a fast, easy meal, which is just what we needed this week. The Savoy cabbage seems to cook up faster than regular green cabbage, and I used angel hair pasta instead of spaghetti, which shaved off a few minutes of prep time. We really liked the flavor that the sausage added to the dish too.

So there you have it, cabbage and noodles 2.0. And both Andy and I agree with our original four-star rating. This one’s a keeper. Just like him. 🙂

Spaghetti with Sweet Sausage and Cabbage

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 head Savoy or green cabbage, halved, cored and thinly sliced
8 ounces angel hair pasta
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil, optional (I didn’t use this – I felt like my sausage released enough grease on its own.) 

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to the pan, if using. Brown the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon. When the sausage is browned and cooked through, remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the rendered fat in the skillet. Drain the cooked sausage on a plate lined with paper towels.

Add the two tablespoons of water to the hot skillet, scraping any of the browned fond off the bottom of the pan, and then add the onions. Place as much cabbage into the skillet as you can fit and season it with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet and cook until the cabbage is tender, tossing it occasionally. Add any remaining cabbage to the pot as the cabbage cooks down and makes more room.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until it’s al dente, then drain the pasta, reserving about one cup of pasta water.

Return the sausage to the pot with the cooked cabbage and stir in the pasta. Add enough pasta water to the pot to create a thin sauce. (I used about half a cup.) Add the vinegar to the pan. Stir to combine, then season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately .

From Everyday Food, November 2009

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I’m Back… with Burritos!

Editor’s Note: This might be the longest drought in my blog-writing history. Between vacation and giant projects at work, I barely know what happened to August, September and most of October. Which meant, of course, that things here took a backseat to everything else in life, unfortunately. I did keep taking pictures, so hopefully I’ll get through them and share things with the world sooner rather than later. Until then… enjoy some burritos! 

I had the privilege of borrowing The Best Mexican Recipes for a few weeks earlier this summer, and it was fun. I didn’t love everything I tried, but there were definitely some home runs (and I had to return it to the library before I tried everything that I wanted).

This is one of those hits. We liked it so much that I made it twice in three weeks, which is saying something, especially when I had the book for a limited time. (We really liked the Swiss chard and pinto bean burritos from the book as well, in case you’re looking for a meatless Monday burrito option.)  

I was a little worried that these would be too spicy for Andy, since they use chipotle chili powder instead of regular chili powder, but, Andy, in true Goldilocks fashion, declared that they were just right. He thinks they’d be better without the sour cream, but I completely disagree.

This recipe also introduced me to my new, go-to Mexican rice. Unless it’s a risotto, I struggle with rice. It always seems kind of blah to me. America’s Test Kitchen called for chicken broth in the rice, instead of water, and that makes a world of difference! It was good enough where I caught myself snacking on the rice while I finished making the rest of the burrito components, and that never happens in my kitchen.

I did discover that these are MUCH easier to roll / fill when you buy 10″ tortillas. The first time I made these, I just grabbed the next size up of the tortillas that I normally buy. They had a large “10” on the package, so I figured they were what I was looking for. (This is what you get when you shop in a hurry after work.) Turns out the “10” was the quantity, not the size. Whoops.

Burritos aren’t the easiest thing to photograph, especially when you just want to eat them. Trust me, they taste so much better than they look.

Beef and Bean Burritos

1 3/4 cups chicken broth, divided
3/4 cup long grain white rice, rinsed
6 garlic cloves, minced, divided
salt
1/4 cup minced cilantro, plus extra for garnish if desired
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
12 ounces 90% lean ground beef
1 15-ounce can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
6 10″ flour tortillas
10 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 1/2 cups), divided
6 tablespoons sour cream

First, make the rice. Combine 1 1/4 cups of chicken broth, rice, three minced garlic cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a small-medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until all of the broth has absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let sit, covered, for about 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork and adding the chopped cilantro. Set rice aside, keeping it covered to stay warm.

While the rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the filling. Heat the oil in a 12″ skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. (ATK recommends a non-stick skillet; I used my 12″ Lodge.) Add the onion to the pan and cook until it softens, about five minutes. Stir the tomato paste, the rest of the garlic, cumin, oregano and chili powder. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the ground beef to the skillet, breaking up any large pieces with a wooden spoon, and cook until no longer pink, about 10 minutes.

Place half of the pinto beans in a small bowl with the remaining broth. Use a potato masher to coarsely mash them into a chunky paste. Stir the mashed beans into the skillet with the cooked beef. Cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid evaporates from the skillet. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining beans, lime juice and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

Place oven rack 6″ below the broiler and heat broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Microwave tortillas until warm and pliable, about 30 seconds to one minute. Lay tortillas out on the counter. Divide rice evenly among the six tortillas, placing it toward the bottom edge of the tortillas. Divide the beef and bean mixture evenly among the tortillas, then divide 1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese between the six tortillas, topping each one with about 1/4 cup of cheese. Put a tablespoon of sour cream on the top of the filling in each tortilla.

Next, roll up each tortilla. Fold the sides over the filling, and then fold the bottom up over the filling. Pull the edge tight, then tightly roll the tortilla into a burrito. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Place the burritos seam side down on the prepared cookie sheet and top with the remaining cheese. Broil until the cheese melts and starts to turn golden brown, about three to five minutes. Serve warm.

From The Best Mexican Recipes

Click here for a printable version.

Quick & Easy Shrimp Dinner!

Things have been pretty quiet around here (again). Whoops. Let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about fast, easy dinners instead.

Thanks to Zaycon, I have a stockpile of shrimp in the freezer. And since shrimp thaws and cooks quickly, it’s perfect for nights when I really don’t have much of a game plan for dinner. (Which, if I’m being honest, are happening more often than I’d like to admit lately. I need to get back on the meal-planning wagon.)  Anyway…

I found this recipe in an old issue of Everyday Food, and it met all of my criteria for the evening:

1. Cooks in less than 30 minutes.
2. Dirties minimal dishes.
3. Uses everyday pantry items.

Win-win-win. Oh, and it tasted good! That should go without saying though. I’m not going to share something that doesn’t taste good. 😉

Potatoes are one of my favorite things, but I would have never thought to pair them with shrimp (or curry powder) before. The potatoes get extra crispy, which is my favorite part, and the curry adds the right amount of spice and flavor. Since I don’t own a nonstick skillet, I used my cast iron skillet with no problems, which shouldn’t surprise anyone by now.

Shrimp with Scallions and Crispy Potatoes

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
2 baking potatoes, approximately 1 pound, scrubbed and cut into 1/2″ cubes
2 scallions, white and green parts separated, thinly sliced
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 teaspoons curry powder
coarse salt and pepper

In a large skillet (nonstick or cast iron), heat two tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are browned and crispy, which should take about 12-15 minutes. Add the scallion whites to the pan and cook for one minute more. Scoop the scallion-potato mixture out of the pan and onto a plate. Set aside.

Add the remaining teaspoon of oil to the pan, and then add the shrimp and curry powder to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are cooked through, about two or three minutes. Slide the potato-scallion mixture back into the skillet and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, and then top with the scallion greens. Serve immediately.

From Everyday Food, November 2008

Click here for a printable version.

Upgraded Hamburger Helper

I did not grow up eating Hamburger Helper, or Tuna Helper, or any of those “add a pound of meat and enjoy” type meals. It just wasn’t something my mom bought. My dad did make his own version though, adding ground beef, onions and peas to mac and cheese. While I haven’t had that in a really long time, it was always a hit in our house growing up, and it’s easy to see why: cheese, pasta and meat, all in one pan.

Now that I’m responsible for making dinner every night, I can totally appreciate the convenience of a one-pot meal. Especially one that’s full of pasta and cheese. If I’m really on the ball with things, I can have all of the prep dishes (which are just a couple measuring cups / spoons, a cutting board, cheese grater and a knife) washed before dinner’s ready.

When I first saw this recipe, I thought it had a lot of potential. I mean, we love pasta, beef, cheese and Tex-Mex flavors. The sour cream and cream cheese worried Andy at first, but he was hooked after one bite, and now it’s one of our favorite comfort food dinners. Sometimes I take a page from my dad’s playbook and throw in frozen peas for a true, one-dish dinner. It’s also great with a side salad if peas in your Tex-Mex sounds weird to you. 😉

Creamy Taco Mac

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 green (or red or yellow) pepper, diced
1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes
3 cups beef broth
4 tablespoons taco seasoning (I always make my own.)
8 ounces small / short pasta
3 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups frozen peas (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped cilantro

Brown the ground beef in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the meat is close to being browned, add the onion and chopped pepper. Cook until the onion had turned translucent. Drain any extra fat off of the pan, if necessary.

Add the diced tomatoes, taco seasoning and beef broth to the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and then stir in the pasta. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender (about 7-10 minutes).

Add the cream cheese to the pot and stir until it has melted into the broth. Add the peas, if using. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sour cream. Stir until the sour cream is well-incorporated. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Ladle into bowls and garnish each serving with cheese and cilantro. Serve immediately.

Barely adapted from Elly Says Opa, who adapted it from Delish

Click here for a printable version.

Mid-Week Winner

A few weeks ago, I was looking for some inspiration. I was in the mood for fall food, and I needed some fast, easy meals. I pulled several issues of Everyday Food off the shelf and started leafing through the pages. Nothing seemed to catch my attention until I hit page 44 of the September 2012 issue. (And this is why I hang on to my cooking magazines. If I’d recycled that one, we’d have missed dinner!) At a glance, it looked like something that I could make without going to the grocery store. The recipe also promised one-dish ease, something I am always down with. 🙂

I swapped the sweet potatoes for carrots, since that’s what we had from our CSA. One orange vegetable is as good as another, right? I decided that no roast is complete without onions, and some fresh thyme seemed like the perfect complement to the fall flavors. And while the recipe called for a roasting pan, I saw no reason not to use my favorite skillet.

I was amazed at how incredibly easy this was to throw together. I made it the evening before we left for our most recent adventure (a backpacking trip to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore), and I had enough time to make dinner, make cookies for the trip AND pack my backpack. Win-win.

Cast Iron Pork Roast with Apples, Onions and Carrots

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 2-1/2 lb. pork roast
3 Gala apples, quartered and cored
3 medium-large carrots, cut into 2-3″ chunks
1 red onion, cut into wedges
2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 to 1-1/2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 475°. Coat the bottom of a cast iron skillet with two teaspoons of olive oil. Place the pork roast in the center of the pan, fat side up, and generously season it with salt and pepper.

Roast until the top of the pork is golden, about 15-20 minutes.

While the pork is roasting, toss the apples, carrots and onion together in a large bowl with the remaining two teaspoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the pork from the oven and place the vegetables in the pan around the pork. Sprinkle the thyme on top of the vegetables and pork. Return the pan to the oven and roast until the vegetables are tender and the pork registers 140°, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.

Let the pork rest for 10 minutes on a cutting board, and scoop the vegetables into a bowl. Place the pan on a burner over medium heat. Whisk 1 tablespoon of flour into the drippings and cook for a couple of minutes. Slowly whisk the chicken stock into the roux and cook, whisking constantly, until the pan sauce has thickened.

Slice the pork roast, then return the meat and vegetables to the pan, coating them with the pan sauce. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine, September 2012

Click here for a printable version.

Brought to you by Cook’s Illustrated

Andy was worried when he saw this recipe on the dinner menu. Not because he doesn’t like barbecued chicken (especially barbecued chicken with bacon!), but because it was a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. In his mind, that could only mean one thing: We were going to eat dinner at 8 p.m. I told him that it didn’t look too involved, and, by the way, there’s bacon in it, but he was still skeptical. When I told him that the side dishes were CI recipes too, he revised his original estimate. Forget eating at 8 p.m. Dinner wasn’t going to be ready until 10.

I suppose I can’t blame him too much for jumping to that conclusion, especially after my other CI experiences. I’m not completely unrealistic though. I stuck with easy side dishes – “Perfect Boiled Sweet Corn” and “Sauteed Swiss Chard.” And yes, true to form, dinner did take a little while, but it wasn’t ridiculous. We ate well before 10 p.m. Plus, I got to use my new food processor, so that was fun. 🙂

The chicken cubes are tossed with salt while you make the sauce and prepare the bacon paste. Yes, I said bacon paste – raw bacon is whirled through the food processor and then mixed with sugar and paprika. The chicken chunks are coated with the paste before being threaded onto the skewers. They’re brushed with sauce and grilled to perfection. Using thighs instead of breasts helps keep the chicken moist, and the sauce is sweet and tangy, all at the same time. It’s a definite keeper here.

We did have sweet corn with dinner too, but it didn’t last long enough for the picture. 

Barbecued Chicken Kabobs

For the sauce:
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup light or mild molasses (I used whatever molasses was in my pantry, so it was a little darker than they recommended.)
2 tablespoons grated onion (I used the large holes on the side of my box grater.)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar

For the chicken kabobs:
2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1″ cubes
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
4 teaspoons sugar
2 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2″ pieces

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens to a ketchup-like consistency and has reduced to about one cup. Remove the sauce from the heat and transfer about 1/2 cup to a small bowl to serve with the chicken. Reserve the remaining sauce for brushing on the skewers.

To prepare the chicken, place the chicken cubes in a large bowl and toss with salt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30-60 minutes.

While the chicken is chilling, prepare the bacon paste. Mix the sugar and paprika together in a small bowl and set aside. Place the bacon in the bowl of a food processor and process until the bacon becomes a smooth paste, about 30-45 seconds. Scrape the bowl down twice during the process. Mix the bacon paste into the sugar-spice mix. (This is my deviation from the recipe – I see that CI says to mix the bacon in with the chicken and then add the sugar-paprika mix. I think either would work.) 

Prior to threading the chicken on the skewers, preheat the grill to high for at least 15 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and pat the pieces dry with a paper towel. Add the bacon paste to the chicken and mix until all pieces are thoroughly coated. Thread the chicken onto skewers, rolling or folding pieces as necessary to keep them all in 1″ cubes.

To grill the chicken, turn one of the burners off (on a gas grill) and leave one on high. Place the skewers on the lit side of the grill. Grill the skewers, turning them one quarter turn every 2 1/2 minutes, until they are well-browned and slightly charred, moving the skewers to the cool side of the grill if flare-ups occur. Brush 1/4 cup of sauce on the top of the skewers, then flip and cook until the sauce is brown in spots, about 1 minute. Brush the second side of the skewers with the remaining 1/4 cup of sauce and flip again, cooking until the sauce is brown in spots, about another minute. The chicken should read 175° on an instant thermometer (if you used thighs; breasts will read 160°). Remove the skewers from the grill and allow them to rest for 5 minutes. Serve with reserved sauce.

From Cook’s Illustrated, May 2011

Click here for a printable version.

Cheese Pie? Yes Please.

Andy is pretty easy-going about 99% of things in life, so when he does have an opinion, I try to pay attention. It usually works out well too. That’s how we ended up with one of our favorite chicken dishes and our go-to Meatless Monday meal. So when he commented on a delicious-looking “impossible” ham and cheese pie from Cook’s Country, I figured I’d should probably check it out. I saved the recipe before it became “subscriber only,” but that’s as far as it went. For months.

It’s not that I meant to ignore it, but other things kept popping up (such as EVERYTHING in this book). Plus, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about that much Gruyère. Swiss isn’t my favorite cheese, so I tend to be apprehensive about Gruyère. But I kept remembering how excited he seemed about it, and really, could something full of cheese and ham be bad? And the whole “impossible” pie concept intrigued me. Instead of lining the plate with a standard crust (which never goes well for me), you coat it with Parmesan cheese and wait for some scientific magic to create a crust while the pie bakes.Fun, right?

Of course, I took so long to  make it that Andy had completely forgotten about it by the time I served it for dinner. Whoops.

I’m glad I did make it though, because oh my goodness, it was so good. Looking back, that probably shouldn’t surprise me, since it’s basically a pie full of cheese, but seriously. We could not stop raving about it. Or eating it. Andy declared it a five after one bite. I wanted to keep the leftovers all to myself. In fact, giving Andy the last piece for lunch may be the most selfless thing I’ve done in our entire marriage. Kidding. Mostly. 😉

I used a smoked Gruyère, since that sounded better to me than regular Gruyère, but that was the only change I made. It was really good with the ham, but I don’t think you could go wrong with bacon either. It took a little time in the oven, but it was easy to put together, so this is definitely going on the favorites list. And next time, I won’t wait almost a year to try something.

Notice the giant salad in the background? That’s my attempt at balance. A giant plate of greens means I can eat cheese for dinner, right?

Impossible Ham & Cheese Pie 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus another tablespoon softened for the pan
3 tablespoons finely shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded smoked Gruyère cheese
4 ounces of ham, cubed
4 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup half-and-half
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Place the oven rack in its lowest position, and preheat the oven to 350°.

Butter a 9″ pie plate with the tablespoon of softened butter. Evenly coat the pie pan with the grated Parmesan cheese.

Combine the shredded Gruyère, ham and scallions in a large mixing bowl. Mix together and then evenly spread in the prepared pie pan.

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper together in the now-empty mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs, half-and-half, melted butter, mustard and nutmeg into the flour mixture. When the batter is smooth, pour it over the cheese-ham-scallion mixture in the pie pan.

Bake until the pie is lightly golden brown and the filling is set, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve warm.

From Cook’s Country

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