Kalamata Bread with Tomatoes, Onions, and Ham

I recently purchased a 5 lb tub of kalamata olives.  It was a real deal, only $20.  It's shaped like a barrel and it takes up half a shelf in my fridge but it was well worth it.  WELL WORTH IT.  Thus far I've enjoyed my olives with cheese and crackers, in salad, on pizza, and now in a tasty bread.  This won't be a very detailed recipe because Breadman did most of the work. But you'll get the idea and, if you're lucky, I'll give you some tips as to how to successfully make this in your own home, with or without a bread machine.

Not the best picture but please understand.

Kalamata Bread with Tomatoes, Onions, and Ham

Step 1- Prepare a batch of dough per your bread machines directions.  I used french bread dough.  Follow your own dreams.

Step 2- Whilst the bread machine is doing the dirty work, roughly chop up an onion and a handful of deli ham and saute them in a nice drizzle of olive oil.  You'll want them to start to brown and even get crispy.  It's better that way.  Toss in about a cup of roughly chopped cherry tomatoes.  Cook them all together until the tomatoes start to melt.  Roughly chop about a cup of kalamata olives and heat them with the rest of your goodies.  Season with salt, pepper, and some dried basil to taste. 

That's what it looked liked before uniting with the dough.

Step 3- Let the goodies cool.  Just before the dough is ready for the oven, knead the goodies into the dough and shape into loaves.  

Step 4- Bake the bread following the bread makers directions. Let it cool and you're good to go.

This would also be really delicious if made with some asiago cheese or another delicious cheese.  

So my tip for making this without a bread machine is:  Find a recipe for french bread, follow it, add your goodies, and bake away. 

Rosemary Garlic Chicken with Roasted Potatoes

It's fall and that means it's time for hearty meals cooked in crock pots and such.  Fall is my favorite time of year for just that reason.  I also love the crisp fall air, drastic changes in weather from morning to midday, and fun fall activities like hayrides and bobbing for apples.  Now that I live in Atlanta, fall means a break from the unbearable heat and humidity and a chance to do things outside again.  I've taken up running and enjoying my hammock on the front porch.  I've also taken up cooking hot and satisfying dinners. This week I had a craving for rosemary.  I love her.  She goes with everything; from bread to chicken dishes to rice crispy treats.  That last one was only minimally successful.  My craving for rosemary turned into the creation of a slow cooked whole chicken drenched in lemons, garlic, and rosemary.  Ta da.

Morganne's plate; she enjoyed it immensely

Rosemary Garlic Chicken

1 whole chicken (any size)

1 lemon

a bunch of fresh rosemary

2 Tbsp diced crushed garlic

1/2 cup of white wine (cooking or drinking*)

salt and pepper, to taste

assorted vegetables (carrots, cabbage, onions- any quantity)

Chop vegetables in large pieces and place in the slow cooker/crock pot.  Rinse and dry the chicken.  Pat or rub the garlic, salt, and pepper on and inside the chicken.  Roughly chop a few sprigs of rosemary and sprinkle over the chicken and shove some inside as well.  Nestle the chicken amongst the vegetables.  Slice the lemon thinly and arrange on top of the chicken.  Drizzle the wine all over everything.  Turn the crock pot on low and cook for approximately 8-10 hours.  (I went to work and left it for about 9 hours; it was cooked by then.)

*Drinking wine is also acceptable for cooking so that you can drink it while you cook.  And during and after.  If that's what you want to do.  

Potatoes would have been a nice addition to the crock pot but I chose to make them a different way.  Thanks to Pinterest!  I pin a lot of recipes because I like the look of them but this is one of the only ones I've made.  Successfully!  

Mmmm, taters

Roasted Smashed Potatoes

1-2 pounds of tiny potatoes (1-2 inch diameters work best for smashing)

olive oil, to taste

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper, to taste

Boil the potatoes in a large pot of salted water until they're nice and tender.  Drain the water and place the potatoes on a baking mat or foil covered cookie sheet.  Smash the potatoes about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick with the bottom of a sturdy glass.  Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and thyme.  Bake in a preheated 500 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  

Fantastic.  Just fantastic. 

Millet Granola with Currants and Dates

I may have stopped writing about food but I haven't stopped cooking and eating.  I'll never stop eating.  For a while I stockpiled photos on my computer with the plan of one day becoming a regular blogger but hey, let's face it.  I didn't.  I deleted all those photos because I don't write down recipes and I didn't even know what half of them were.  Now I suppose it's time to start fresh.  I have new good intentions and hopefully enough motivation to actually do this.  Time to follow through.

My mom made a lot of granola for us when I was growing up.  I didn't like it.  There was something about the flavor or texture or who knows what that somewhat repulsed me.  I've never been one for cereal or granola but lately I've come to love Trader Joe's Cashew Ginger Granola with some good ol' plain non-fat yogurt.  The plain yogurt cuts the sweet granola (I tasted the granola alone and thought it was much too sweet), the chunks of ginger add a pleasant zing, and overall it's healthy and filling and easy to bring to work.  That's what got me started on granola.  Since then I've bought a few kinds and posted a number of recipes on Pinterest.  But now it's time to follow through (my new theme of sorts).  Time to make my own.

My friend Jessica introduced me to granola made with millet and now I think of it as a crispy crunchy granola staple.  It adds one more dimension of deliciousness.  My favorite thing about granola is that the options are endless.  I'm a huge proponent of throwing everything one can find into whatever one is cooking.  And that's exactly what I plan on doing with my granola.  Tonight's creation: classic oats and millet with what I found in the pantry: almonds, dried currants, and dried dates.

Millet Granola with Almonds, Currants, and Dates

 3-4 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup millet

1/2 cup (a good handful) slivered almonds

1 Tbsp flax seeds

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup mixture of honey, molasses, and orange juice 

(other options include: agave nectar, different juice flavors {or get creative and try things like coffee or rum}, corn syrup {only if you're nasty}, or maple syrup)

a good handful of dried currants

a good handful of chopped dates

Step A: Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  

Step B: Mix together all your dry ingredients 

(excluding the currants and dates- though I'm not sure if they would be considered dry or sticky)

Step C: Whisk together the sticky ingredients.  

Step D: Drizzle the sticky stuff over the dry ingredients and mix well.  

Step E: Spread your granola on a cookie sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Step F: Mix in the dried fruits and return to the oven for a few more minutes.  Basically until everything is lovely and golden brown.  

It's so easy.  It's so good.  And super cost effective because all of the ingreds are pretty reasonable and store bought granola is expensiver than cereal.  So please always make your own.  Love, Rachel

Pesto Zucchini Quiche-Pie

What is the difference between a quiche and a pie you ask?

A quiche is an oven-baked dish made with eggs and milk or cream in a pastry crust. Other ingredients such as cooked chopped meat, vegetables, or cheese are often added to the egg mixture before the quiche is baked. Quiche is generally an open pie (i.e. it does not include a pastry covering), but may include an arrangement of tomato slices or pastry off-cuts for a decorative finish. Quiche may be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, depending on local customs and personal tastes.

A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savory ingredients. Pies can be either "filled", where a dish is covered by pastry and the filling is placed on top of that, "top-crust," where the filling is placed in a dish and covered with a pastry/potato mash top before baking, or "two-crust," with the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell.

The previous information is from Wikipedia so it must be true.  The following recipe is probably most likely quiche because it fits the description of quiche but I put a top crust on it when I made it so then it turned into a savory pie.  We'll never really know what it is.  The important thing to remember is that it tastes good.

I'm very sorry to say I didn't take a single picture of this cheesy golden gem. 

Pesto Zucchini Quiche-Pie

3 medium sized zucchs

1 Tbsp chopped garlic (bottled or fresh)

2 Tbsp pesto *

2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup frozen artichoke hearts **

1/2 cup crumbled feta

1/2 - 1 cup mozzarella cheese (to taste)

6 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup milk or half and half or cream

salt and pepper

1- 2 crust- pkg (yes, I am that lazy) pie crust

* The simplest choice would be to use pre-made pesto.  Not everyone has pesto lying around so you can make a quick faux pesto by combining a handful of chopped basil leaves, a generous scoop of Parmesan cheese, and a hearty pour of olive oil. 

** Available at Trader Joe's  This is an optional ingredient.  I added them because I thought they would be good but I could just as well live without them.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Step 2: Shred the zucchini in a food processor or finely chop it up.  Chop up the spinach (and basil if you're home-making your pesto). 

Step 3: Place the vegetables in a big mixing bowl with the garlic, pesto, artichoke hearts, cheeses, eggs, milk or cream, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir it all up real well.  It should be real soupy but not a soup. 

Step 4: Place a crust in a pie pan.  Pour in the filling and top with the second crust.  Pinch the edges together and cut slits in the top crust for ventilation.  

Step 5: Cover the pie loosely with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue baking for another 30 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden color.  Let it cool for about 10 minutes after you take it out before you dig in.  It's got to set up a bit. 

There you go Jocelyn! Now you can make it.

Truffles

Truffle time!  Truffles have been a huge hit this holiday season.  These truffles are not in fact true truffles.  They are not a fungus and they're not the complicated chocolate candy either.  These are cheater-cookie-filled-chocolate-coated-truffles.  And they are delicious.  And super easy.  And impressive looking. 

These photos were taken when Jordan-Ann and I made truffles for the Aaron Scorch/Molly Parden birthday party/house show.  Flavors included white chocolate lemon, chocolate peanut butter, white chocolate Oreo, and chocolate Oreo.

Lemon and Oreo cookie balls

Instructions:

Place 1 package of Oreos (or equivalent amount of any type of crunchy-ish cookies) and 1 package of cream cheese in a food processor (a food processor really works best for this.  I tried it with a blender and I tried it with my hands and neither worked very well). 

Blend thoroughly until you have creamy cookie goodness.  Form into bite size balls.  Dip balls in melted chocolate (we microwaved it but a double boiler would work nicely too). 

White chocolate Oreo truffles

Dipping process; peanut butter and Oreo cookie balls

The orange coating was a white chocolate/candy corn kisses combo

At this point Jo and I sprinkled cookie crumbs on the sticky chocolate to differentiate between fillings and it also looked cool.  When I made these in NY I drizzled chocolate on the cooled truffles (just because I like to seem fancy).  Cool on wax paper or foil covered cookie sheets (in the fridge or freezer).

My NY truffles: Dark chocolate almond Sandies (cookies) and peppermint Oreos with white chocolate coating

Banana Oat Cookies

November and December were cookie months in my household.  With the thought of Christmas coming and a lot of time on my hands, I decided it'd be a good idea to try out as many cookie recipes as I could handle.  So I went to the library and got Betty Crocker's cookie cookbook.  There were dozens of wonderful sounding recipes but my budget, schedule, and stomach couldn't accommodate all the ones I wanted to try.  There's always an abundance of frozen rotten bananas in our freezer so I decided to make cookies using them rather than the standard banana bread way of getting rid of them.

I forgot to take pictures of the entire process but hey, they're cookies; nothing very epic. 

1 cup sugar

1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)

¾ cup butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

2 ½ cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats

1 cup AP flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground allspice         

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease cookie sheet. Beat sugar, bananas, butter, and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed or with a spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Drop by rounded tbsp about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet (or make balls). Bake 10 minutes. Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost with vanilla frosting.

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 ½ tsp vanilla

2 to 5 tbsp milk

Mix all ingredients until smooth and spreadable. 

Frosting note: You could probably get away with only making half a batch depending on how badly you want diabetes.  I also used a can/jar of store bought frosting the second time I made these and it worked well also.  I wouldn't recommend store buying when you can make your own but it saves some time.

These are (I think I can safely add 'easily' here) my favorite cookies ever.  I love a good oatmeal cookie and these are just that.  Throw in a little banana for a slightly more complex flavor and also a potassium punch and top with extra sugar; you can't go wrong with these little gems!  These cookies were such a hit with everyone who tried them.  The second time I made them I added some chocolate chips to half of the batch.  I'm not a chocolate fan so I don't know how they were but my friends liked them a lot.

Dinner with Ryan Knowles

This entry of Food Feats features the company and expertise of Mr. Ryan Knowles.  Ryan is married to my cousin Leah and while not a professional chef, has much experience in the field and a passion for the culinary arts.  The following meal was created mostly by him with some input from me during his recent trip to Atlanta.   

The menu: Pan-seared quail with a Mediterranean spice rub, puree of Jerusalem artichoke and apio root with pancetta, sautéed broccolette with pancetta, and roasted red peppers. 

No recipes were used so I’ll do my best to remember what we did and how we did it.  There won’t be amounts for anything but you’ll get the idea.  

Phase 1: We began our adventure at the Dekalb Farmer’s/World Market.  It’s a great place for anyone who likes to cook because of the amazing variety but I also like it because it’s so affordable.  We browsed, found interesting things, and planned our menu around the odd things we found.  After creating our menu and making our purchases we headed home to begin the feast. 

Phase 2: We roasted our red pepper and set it aside.

Phase 3: We boiled our roots, pureed them in the food processor, and added cream and crispy pancetta.

Phase 4: We sautéed the broccolette with more crispy pancetta in the pancetta grease.

 I flapped its tiny featherless wings.

Phase 5: In the meantime I rubbed the quail with a special top-secret spice blend.  It’s special and top-secret because I don’t remember what was in it.  Delicious though.

Searing quails and bending the frying pan.

 Phase 6: The quails were pan seared and finished in a nice hot oven.

Phase 7: Then we plated our masterpiece, took pictures for this purpose, and enjoyed.  

It was one of the greatest meals I’ve ever had.  I truly loved the puree of Jerusalem artichoke and apio root with pancetta and sautéed broccolette.  The quail was tender and well flavored.  The roasted red pepper added a completely different dimension to the meal and a splash of red to the plate. Success! Although I still smelled like pancetta a week later.