knock-off recipe: cheesy cauliflower

Over 4th of July, Vance and I went to Chattanooga for the weekend. We are doing a Southern tour this summer and have hit Atlanta, Chattanooga and Knoxville - next up, Birmingham!

In Chattanooga, we had a great brunch at Tupelo Honey. I took myself to lunch at the Knoxville location this past Saturday (while Vance slaved away at a conference).

We had delicious salt-roasted beets with pistachio & goat cheese. Actually, Vance wanted french toast and I can't seem to get enough beets these days - so I inhaled this dish.

I had a fantastic cauliflower dish too - mashed with cheddar. Gave that a spin last night at home (and had leftovers this morning with an egg and tomato atop - yum!)

1 head of cauliflower

1/4 cup milk 

4 ounces white cheddar, shredded

S&P to taste

Steam cauliflower florets until tender (about 8 minutes). Pierce with a fork - when soft, drain. In a food processor, place cauliflower and milk. Pulse a few times, season with salt and pepper. Pulse until the cauliflower is a mashed potato-like consistency. Remove to a bowl and incorporate shredded cheese - serve (devour) immediately.

This is dish is a like a cross between mashed potatoes & cheese grits, but MUCH healthier. Enjoy!

"the best guac you ever made"

Happy belated Cinco de Mayo! Vance could barely get his hands out of this guacamole for me to snap a few photos. Chipotle released their guacamole recipe online earlier this week - made at home, it is even better!

Vance claims this is the best guacamole I have ever made - I agree. 

Other festive food for the week included tofu, black bean & corn soft tacos and white turkey enchiladas.

1 package extra firm tofu, pressed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed

2-4 ears of corn off the cobb

1.5 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon cumin

8 small flour or corn tortillas

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 purple onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

optional toppings:

chopped lettuce, chopped tomato, avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream

In a medium bowl, mash the drained tofu with a fork and add the four dried spices and mix well. In a large saute pan, add the oil, saute the onion for about 3-4 minutes. Add the corn, and saute for another few minutes, add tofu. If the mixture seems dry, add a bit more oil. Add the black beans, season with salt - heat all the way through. Warm the tortillas and serve in taco bar style. This is also very good as a taco salad over lettuce.

I used pulled turkey instead of chicken on these enchiladas by Ree Drummond - they are delicious! Great way to use up leftover roasted chicken or turkey. 

Summer is starting!

our april ham

We only have ham once a year - Easter. Well growing up, we always had a holiday dinner at our neighbor's house, the Wilson's - and we had ham then too. It was always so delicious!

Easter has become one of my favorite holidays because I don't have to cook a main dish - Honey Baked does that for me. This year, we were lucky enough to have Kayla and Peter join us for the holiday weekend!

We toured Yazoo Brewery - very fun.

spent an afternoon at Radnor Lake...

Peter was a crane.

In addition to lots of other good food and drink, we went to Hattie B's for hot chicken. And then Peter cried because his chicken was so hot - it was very funny for the rest of us.

After a great long weekend (and lots of leftover ham), I made a delicious split pea soup.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 chopped medium onion

4 carrots, thinly sliced

3 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves

Kosher salt and ground pepper

1 quart chicken stock, homemade is preferable

1 bag (16 ounces) green split peas, picked over and rinsed

ham bone plus 2 cups reserved ham cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In a large stock pot with a lid, heat oil over medium. Add onion, carrots, celery, and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables begin to soften, 5 to 8 minutes. Add broth, split peas, ham bone, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and partially cover; simmer until peas are soft, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove and discard bone from soup. Use an immersion blender to blend about half of the soup (or carefully remove half to a blender). After it is the consistency you like, add ham cubes, and simmer until heated through. If necessary, thin with water. Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Serve topped with croutons. 

Top with some croutons, yum!

no place like home for the holidays

How is that Christmas comes and goes so fast? We had a great time in Pennsylvania, celebrating with family and friends, eating and drinking too much and just enjoying the comforts of home. This is the first year we have been home for Christmas since we got married! A few holiday treats to share...

sour cherries (either fresh or canned - cans are roughly 14.5 ounces)

Maraschino liquor

You will need about 1 cup of liquor for a pint (or can of cherries). If using canned cherries (which I did), rinse in a colander. Bring liquor to a boil, add cherries, remove from heat and allow to cool. The cherries are much tastier than the jarred variety at the grocery store. Keep cherries in the refrigerator and enjoy for the next few months on your sundaes or in your favorite cocktail. 

Speaking of cocktails - try your cherry in an apple & bourbon cocktail.

1-2 shots of bourbon

apple cider

Stir together with ice and garnish with lemon peel and a cherry.

Before we left for the holiday, I had a luncheon with some of my Nashville girlfriends. We had Ina's butternut squash soup and some delicious almond chicken salad. This recipe looks a bit festive with the red grapes, and it is delicious in a sandwich or atop fresh greens.

4 chicken breasts, bone-in and skin on

1 tablespoon EVOO

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

extra S&P for seasoning chicken

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 cup roughly chopped almonds

1 cup red grapes, halved

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1/3 cup honey

1 and 1/3 cup Hellman's Olive Oil Mayonnaise

3-4 celery stalks, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, rub the chicken breasts with olive oil and season with S&P. Assemble on a baking dish and bake for about 45-55 minutes until cooked. While chicken cools, mix together mayo, honey, chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Remove chicken skin and shred chicken into a large mixing bowl. Add celery, nuts and mayo mixture - stirring to incorporate. Add in grapes and mix gently. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes at least 6 servings.

a snowed in Thanksgiving

A belated Thanksgiving post!

We headed to meet family in Asheville, North Carolina for Thanksgiving this year - where winter had arrived already. We stayed in a fantastic cabin in the Smokey Mountains at Wolf Ridge Ski Resort, about 30 minutes north of Asheville. 

On Friday, we enjoyed downtown Asheville - so many good spots to eat and drink!

Vance, Grandma-ma Helen & Kayla at Salsa's for lunch.

Peter with him pom-pom-pom for lunch.

Vance & his memorial.

Enjoyed exploring a few great breweries including Lexington Avenue Brewery, Wicked Weed and Asheville Brewing Company. We also toured the Biltmore and had a great brunch at Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village. 

Of course, we also visited French Broad Chocolates. 

The weather actually ended up keeping us in our cabin on Thanksgiving day so we dined on pasta bar with a few sauces I had frozen in the fall. It was no turkey dinner but still hit the spot. Getting up the mountain - in the snow - and darkness - and ice - and wind - was on the stressful side, but it made me realize that the most important thing is just being together. Doesn't really matter what you eat or where - just spending Thanksgiving with family was great. But...I am craving a nice holiday turkey dinner and can't wait until Christmas!

you are special today

Growing up, when it was your birthday or something special happened like you got an award  in school you were given the red plate at dinner. This Clark family tradition is one of my favorite, and it's something that lives on in the Clarbaugh household. 

Vance is very special today (well, it was yesterday, but I think he is special everyday) – 34 years of being special. To celebrate I made a sage spiced pumpkin hummus and a fall dinner including Ina's slow roasted beef.

Sage Spiced Pumpkin Hummus

1/2 can packed pumpkin

1 can chick peas

1/4 cup water

2 tables chopped fresh sage

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 cloves minced garlic

Juice of one lemon

1/4 cup tahini

2/3 tables EVOO

Mix all ingredients (except the olive oil) in food processor until incorporated. Drizzle in the olive oil until desired consistency – nice and smooth. Serve with pita chips, crudités, apple slices or whatever other vehicle you use to get hummus to your mouth.

Along with the hummus, Vance tried a sampling of pumpkin beers (not all of them - but a couple!)

Sam Adam Harvest Pumpkin Ale was my personal fav.

Speaking of beer, Courtney, Jill and I were enjoying a fall pint at the Taproom this week, and it was mentioned how brussel sprouts are one of those foods you grow to enjoy as you become an adult. For me, other foods in this category include meatloaf, cauliflower and fish (outside of fried flounder).

Vance (who perhaps has always had a little adult streak in him) has loved brussels since he was a wee Albaugh. Along with tenderloin and mashed potatoes, I made shredded brussel sprouts with pancetta for his birthday dinner.

1.5 pounds brussel sprouts

4 ounces pancetta, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon butter

S&P to taste

Cut off the hard end and peel away top layer of sprouts. Rinse and dry well. Pulse the brussel sprouts in the food processor until they are all shredded. You might have to do this in two batches. In a large sauté pan, lightly brown the pancetta - remove to a paper towel. Add 1 tablespoon butter to the pancetta fat and then add the garlic. Saute until just fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the shredded brussel sprouts to the pan and mix well. After about 5 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar - cook for another 10 minutes until brussel sprouts are tender (add the pancetta back in during the last few minutes). Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Lastly, we enjoyed two great desserts (little much? agreed.) One, I will post on later this week, but the other was a delicious apple pie from The Loving Pie Co. in Berry Hill. Nothing says fall like apple pie!

well if this is 30...

I'll take it. I am 30 years old. I actually feel older on this birthday. I also feel happy, loved, appreciated, strong and a bit wiser than I was on my last birthday. For example - it is 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning and I am up, on my second cup of coffee (instead of feeling the pain from too much wine last night). I do believe birthdays are about doing what you want - which is exactly what I did this weekend. Starting with a new recipe (to come later this week) and an old favorite - turkey pumpkin chili. Nothing says "you're 30" like a bowl of chili and a beer. Vance and I had a full day of eating yesterday at the Southern Artisan Cheese Festival and a great dinner at Husk.

Delicious samplings of cheese, meats, beer and wine - Broadbent Rose Vinho Verde just became a new favorite. Vinho Verde - Portuguese for cheap & cheerful, like me!

I mean come on...a cheese festival with this guy? I couldn't be any luckier.

In addition to a delicious soft peach & jalapeño cheese and garlic cheese curds, we also picked up some delicious made in Nashville goodies. Soberdough (all you need is one bottle of beer like a delicious Yazoo brew added to the mix), Nashville Jam Co. Sweet Onion & Garlic, Eli Mason Mint Julep simple syrup, Hog Heaven White BBQ sauce, Provence Bakery Cheddar Chive Sconces & Tru Bee local honey.

We had some of these goodies already, but I wanted to give a nod to a number of our local favorites.

Before heading off to dinner last night, I mixed up a new cocktail.

A favorite of Hemingway, the Josie Russell cocktail.

1 shot light rum

juice from about a 1/4 of a lime

1/2 teaspoon sugar

hard apple cider

In a shaker, combine rum, lime juice and sugar with ice. Pour into a glass and top with hard apple cider, garnish with an apple slice.

Yum.

On to a new decade.

if I don't blog about

...it's like it never happened. This blog has become a photo album for us - more recipes to come, but a quick snippet about summer 2014!

Summer has basically ended, but Vance and I did have a fantastic few months. Including trips to see friends and family and a great vacation.

Fourth of July weekend was spent in Pennsylvania, celebrating with friends at Jen & Rob's wedding reception.

 

 Later in July, we headed off to vacation in Destin, FL.

We did a lot of this...

and had a lot of these...

so happy!

We had great dinners in Florida including a visit to Bud and Alley's in Seaside and amazing Puerto Rican food at Ricon Boricua.

 

On our drive home, we spent a night in Birmingham and had delicious ribs at Dreamland.

We also spent a weekend in Cleveland to visit Vance's family. And what do you do when you are in Cleveland? Visit the Christmas Story House!

Glorious.

We spent last weekend in NYC, where we saw great friends, Eva, Liz & Luke.

As the summer winds down, work travel has picked up. I do intend to do a fair amount of cooking in the coming weeks so keep an eye out for new recipes!

 

 

a fuzzy bunny.

I gave ham a whirl this year for Easter. We typically always have Honey Baked ham because it is so good and not cooking a meat totally changes Easter day - you get some much time back to relax with family and friends. We celebrated Easter on Saturday this year as Vance worked Sunday. The ham was good - but next year, I think we're back to Honey Baked; it's just nice to have a short cut!

sweet & hot glazed ham

3 tablespoons honey mustard

2 tablespoons brown mustard

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2-3 tablespoons warm water

20 cloves

Mix all ingredients except cloves and set aside. Place ham in baking dish, stick in cloves, cover tightly with tin foil. Follow instructions for baking ham (likely 350 degrees for about 1 and 1/4 to 1 and 1/2 hours). When ham is warmed all the way through, remove from oven and paint on glaze. Turn up the heat to 475 degrees - return uncovered ham to oven for about 10 minutes until glaze just starts to darken in some areas. Remove from oven, recover and allow to rest for 20 minutes.

In keeping with tradition, we started with deviled eggs - I can't get enough of these. Vance made fuzzy bunny cocktails that were delicious.

 

fuzzy bunny

1 part lemonade

1 part vodka

dash or so of grenadine

float soda on top

garnish with a lemon slice

or

 fuzzy bunnarita

1 part tequila

1 part lemonade

dash or so of grenadine

shake with ice and pour into salted glass, float soda on top and garnish with lemon