Bacon Cheddar Chive Biscuits

I was watching the Wednesday April 14th episode of Top Chef Master’s. The main challenge was to create an unforgettable soul food inspired meal for actor Mekhi Phifer. You know you are a southern girl at heart when you crave grandma’s cooking after watching this episode. So I came across this recipe, and it may not be my grandmother’s recipe, but it is just as good as if she came up with it herself. It is comfort food at its best, so eat this sparingly.

Recipe:
6 thick slices of bacon
3 ¾ cups bread flour
1 ½ Tablespoons of baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons of baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons of salt
½ cup (1 stick) frozen unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
Extra melted butter for brushing
2 ½ cups (packed) coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (about 12 ounces)
1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
1 ¾ cups chilled buttermilk

Position Rack just above center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain, then chop coarsely.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Add butter cubes. Cut butter into flour mixture until it forms a coarse meal. Add cheddar cheese, fresh chives, and chopped bacon; toss and blend. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring to moisten evenly (batter will feel sticky).

Using a scoop, drop about ½ cup batter for each biscuit onto prepared baking sheet, spacing batter mounds about 2 inches apart.

Bake biscuits until golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Brush biscuits lightly with melted butter. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve biscuits warm or at room temperature.

Recipe yields about 16 biscuits. Recipe was adapted from Bon Appétit, February 2010.

Bon Appétit

The Three Little Piggy Sandwich

After seeing the “The Silver Palm Restaurant” on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations Chicago segment, my pork loving husband and I had to try this place. And no I haven’t found a pork only restaurant, but it’s just as good. This low key joint has a locals' only vibe, but welcomes anyone who walks in their doors. It is a refreshing change from the chain restaurants down the street in the more touristy areas of Chicago.

The Silver Palm uses an old train car for a dining area. The bar and entry way which is unpretentious, and has a “Cheers” vibe with a spunk that says “hello I am in Chicago.” There are no out of towners here, the night we were there, it was full of locals.

I can only tell you about one thing on the menu. Since the only thing my husband and I ate was the massive Three Little Piggy Sandwich. Which includes your choice of Gruyere or Cheddar, with Fried Pork Tenderloin, Smoked Ham, Bacon, topped off with a fried egg and onion rings, all between toasted buns. I could only eat half, and wished so desperately that I could get this back home. It not only is good, but one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.

There is a wide selection of beer as well. Something my husband thought was an added plus for the restaurant. Overall you will not leave hungry here. I can’t wait for my next visit to Chicago and to “The Silver Palm.”
Silver Palm Restaurant, 768 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL 312-666-9322. Only open for dinner Tuesday thru Sunday, call for reservations since the dining car is small.

Low Fat Chili Cheese Sloppy Joes

Several people have asked me for my Low Fat Chili Cheese Sloppy Joes. An old time favorite that has fewer calories and fat then the original my mom use to make. Choosing a lower fat content in your ground beef, draining off the extra fat with a paper towel after cooking can actually lower the calorie and fat content.

Recipe:
8 ounces 95/5 Ground Beef
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 1/2 Cups chopped Red onions
2 ½ divided teaspoons chili powder
4 to 6 garlic cloves pressed
1- 15 ounce can kidney beans, with juices
½ cup drained canned diced tomatoes
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 whole wheat bread rolls, toasted in the toaster/toaster oven.
½ cup (packed) grated low fat extra –sharp cheddar cheese

In a medium saucepan add ground beef and half of the chili powder. Cook the ground beef through, breaking up with a spoon, about 5 minutes. Drain juices and transfer ground beef on a plate with a paper towel to help absorb excess juices/fat. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes, then add remaining chili powder and garlic. Sauté for 1 minute. Add the cooked ground beef and mix together. Add beans with liquid and drained tomatoes. Simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Mix in cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place toasted rolls on plate and top with chili, cheese, and remaining ½ cup of chopped onions.

Bon Appétit

Fresh Macaroni Salad

One of my favorite places to go for a relaxing vacation is Hawaii. And one of my favorite things to eat while I am there is macaroni salad. Aloha Mixed Plate on the island of Maui makes the best macaroni salad I have ever tasted. But this calorie and fat packed item isn’t something that I can eat all the time. So I came up with a healthy and fresh macaroni salad. That lets me eat my macaroni and get some vegetables in me as well.

8 oz bag of whole wheat macaroni noodles
1 pound of broccoli crowns cut into small pieces
16 oz of cherry tomatoes
½ of red onion, diced
1 cucumber, chopped and peeled
Salt and Pepper for taste
Low Fat Organic Italian dressing for flavor

Cook Macaroni noodles and cool. Steam broccoli and cool. Once the noodles and broccoli are cold, mix in tomatoes, onions, and cucumber. Season with Salt and Pepper. Add Italian dressing before serving. Use sparingly.

Tip: You can also use carrots and celery (which is often found in Hawaiian style Macaroni salad); I was using what was in my refrigerator.

Bon Appétit

My New Love

I know, I know, I know!! I am supposed to be buying American made cheese from my local farmer’s market. Note: what I wrote in the previous blog. But I was examining the gourmet cheese section at my local specialty grocery store and found a cheese called, ready for this? Drunken Goat. I smile, and read one thing that causes my hand to drop the cheese wedge in my basket. “Semi-soft goat cheese Immersed in Red wine.” Semi-soft goat cheese; never had that before. Ok, Check. Immersed in Red Wine, OK, Sold!

Ok so that isn’t why I am writing about it. It is some of the most superior cheese I have ever tasted. It just might be my new favorite cheese. Move over Feta, we have a new love for Cristy. It comes in wheels. Has a purplish rind outside from being soaked in red wine for 3 to 4 days. It is semi-soft, like cheddar. And the rind is soft and edible (See tasting with my eyes). Smells like goat cheese with a sweet hint (tasting with my noise). Taste is creamy, almost like a good chèvre but doesn’t have the flaky texture I am use too with goat cheeses. The flavor is not strong, but not too weak that you will not forget the piece of cheese you just ate (tasting with my mouth). So despite that it is imported from Spain, I just wanted to recommend a good cheese when I can across one. I will come up with a recipe later.

Bon Appétit

American Cheese

I love cheese. And if you love cheese I believe we can all remember when our love affair began. Mine has two distinct events. Both happened to be when I was traveling overseas. The first was in Greece, and I fell in love with this white stuff called Feta. It tasted like earthy mushrooms and meadows filled with wild flowers. I could picture an old Greek man with his wishing beads in one hand, a cigarette hanging from his mouth while churned cheese with his other hand. My second epiphany with cheese was while I was in Paris. I had bought a baguette sandwich with brie and butter for 3 Euros from a street vendor. The brie was like butter in my mouth and the flaky baguette was falling all over my shirt, but I didn’t care, because it was simply heaven in my mouth. And possible the best meal I had while in Paris.

So when I came across the book titled “The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey through the Making and Selling of Cheese in American, From Field to Farm to Table,” by Liz Thorpe, I had to read it. Why not educate myself and understand my love affair with cheese just a little bit more. Who is Liz Thorpe you ask? Well she is the vice president of Murray’s Cheese in New York City. She is the women top chefs like Thomas Keller call to get the best cheese for their restaurants. But you ask is there good cheese in America?

That was the first thing I asked myself when reading the book’s cover. All I know of American cheese is well American Kraft singles. You know the pre-packaged stuff your mom would buy along with bologna and white bread. The stuff that was suppose to taste good, but didn’t. That’s my image of American cheese. Other cheeses like Parmesan and Ricotta came when I worked in an Italian Restaurant during college. But those cheeses still didn’t wake me up to the essence of cheese. I am still not certain that America can produce good cheese like the Europeans, but this statement comes from my lack of tasting or finding good American made cheese to date.

The book is a page turner, a learning experience, a cultural cheese awakening, and for me just downright full of knowledge I didn’t have before. Without boring you to death with details because if you want the details you should read the book. The book not only opens your mind to the world of cheese, but also opens your mind to the world of cheese in America. Thorpe tells us how to identify cheese. Step One: Where is your cheese from? Cow, Goat, or Sheep’s milk. Step Two: Taste (Taste with your eyes first, noise second, mouth third). Step Three: Cheese Families. Fresh, Bloomy, Washed Rind, Uncooked Pressed, Cooked Pressed, and Blue. Once you have the basics, it’s a journey through America’s history and pioneering with cheese and making it. Thorpe often gives personal stories of cheese makers she has met along her travels to find good cheese. These stories are entertaining, and informative.

By the end of the book it almost makes me want to leave my 3 bedroom suburban home in Orange County, California and buy some land and goats in Northern California or Vermont. Once there I can make my own feta cheese to sell at the local farmers' markets. And maybe, just maybe one day my cheese will make it on a plate at Thomas Keller’s restaurant. But that will not be happening. Realistically I am going to pay more attention to the cheese makers pushing cheese at my local farmer’s market or any farmer’s market that I visit in my travels. I will look for Artisanal American made cheese when I shop for cheese at the grocery store first, instead of going straight for the imported cheese from France and Greece.
American cheese makers, some good and some not so good start out small. Selling and marketing their cheese on their own. Hoping to get someplace like Murray’s to buy their cheese then to resale their cheese to restaurants like the French Laundry. While others are just happy to sell it at the Farmer’s Market, American cheese makers are like artist, they are just happy to make it. Thorpe said this in her book “American cheese is one of the cornerstones of preserving responsible agriculture, respectful animal husbandry, and all-around good eating in this big country if ours.”

So go out there and buy a wedge of something. Something made in America. Something that we hope will taste good, but if not it is the experience we are after not the hype. And yes read Liz Thorpe’s book as well if you want to deepen your knowledge of cheese. ISBN 978-0-06-145116-4.

How to pick the best looking sausage?

It might seem like an easy thing to do. But picking the right sausage for your recipe can be very important in the flavor and texture department of your end result.
Sausage originally was a way to preserve extra meat back in the days before refrigeration. Almost every culture has some type of sausage. The different types of sausage include fresh, fresh smoked, cooked, cooked smoked, and dry. The varieties are endless and they can include veal, beef, pork, lamb, turkey, and chicken. Spices are also added to enhance the flavors of the meat.
So when shopping for good sausage, make sure it is at least 70% meat. Gluten-free sausages are often 100% meat and don’t contain any fillers or preservatives.
Good sausage should look plump and should have a shiny skin.
Supermarket sausages typically have more fat and tend to shrink.
Bon Appétit