A Return to Hilton Head...

Once upon a time there was a Princess who decided, oh let's say around 1994 or so, that she needed to leave the comfort of her home town and embark upon a new land.  A land filled with new people, new sights and sounds and new adventures!  So, she packed up and left for this new land.  Where did she go?  Hilton Head, South Carolina:)


Yea - ok so it didn't go exactly like that.  It went more like this...I had a friend who moved to Hilton Head, I went to see her and decided this place is pretty cool!  Got home, found a job in Hilton Head and packed up and left.  Not quite as story-book, but oh my time in Hilton Head had many a story. *as she looks every so innocently into the heavens* Stories, that should probably forever remain in the "vault".  :)


So, as luck would have it - I had a friend that wanted to sell a week of her timeshare, I bought it and ended up in Hilton Head.  I knew it would be quiet this time of year - cold even.  But oddly enough, that sounded heavenly to me.  So off I went!

I stayed at the Marriott Grande Ocean which I HIGHLY recommend. It was a fabulous property and the villas were huge!  This property had several pools, nice courtyards and a great piece of real estate on the beach.  Although there were other guests staying at the property, you certainly wouldn't know it.  It was so quiet - something I desperately needed.

My favorite ATL gal-pal accompanied me for the first two nights while I was there and like always, we had a great time.  Now to us, a great time doesn't mean two days packed full of activities.  It means jammies, sleeping late, coffee, maybe a little shopping and for this trip one purpose....one activity that was a must.  Lady and Sons in Savannah:)  Now, said friend is quite the wimp when it comes to cold weather so she wasn't for exploring much of anything on the island -- so our Saturday started with a 10-minute trip to the beach primarily so we could say that we saw the beach.  Then a few turns around the shopping area and then off to Savannah to experience Paula Dean.


We were both expecting Lady and Sons to be packed and had prepared ourselves for a good wait.  But the January vacation gods were smiling down on us and we walked right in!  Interesting place Lady and Sons.  It has three floors and for lunch it's a buffet.  Now, this princess generally doesn't do buffets but I thought I would give a pass to Paula Dean:)  The lunch menu is pretty limited....you can get the buffet or 2 other entrees.  That's it - which I found interesting.  I ended up with the buffet and it was pretty darn good.  Especially if you're in the mood for home cooking.  Definitely worth a go - especially if you don't have to wait in a line!  :)  I know, I know, I know.....I'm spoiled and probably a little lazy - but I hate waiting in lines!

So, cut to Sunday - I'm dropping my friend off at the Savannah airport and decide I need to take a trip to Beaufort.  I managed a drug store here for a while too, plus I figured heck.....maybe just maybe I'd get a glimpse of a few thousand Marines at Parris Island:)  Actually, Beaufort is a great little town - perfect for leisurely walking around just for the heck of it.


As for my culinary adventures while in Hilton Head, I ventured out a few times, cooked in a few times - but really kept it pretty simple.  The quiche (as mentioned in an earlier post) and then one of my favorite finds a restaurant called "A Lowcountry Backyard".  It was a really cute place which brought a little bit of Charleston to Hilton Head.  Charleston of course being my favorite Southern city:)


I had Lowcountry's shrimp and grits (because you KNOW how I love my shrimp and grits) and their fried green tomatoes.  Of the two - gotta say that the friend green tomatoes were my favorite.  The shrimp and grits were good - but they were in a white gravy and I prefer the other...the red/brown gravy.  But definitely still good:)


All in all a great trip.  Some may not find going to the beach in January at the top of their list, but if you're looking for quiet and relaxing and don't mind it being a little chilly, it's worth a go.  

Presto!!! Pasta and Pesto!

Pasta and pesto is one of my favorite "go to" meals.  Not only does it taste great, it's quick and easy! It's REALLY quick and easy if you have some pesto on hand - which I normally do thanks to my garden:)

The formula?   Cook pasta, add pesto, top with cheese.  

Now because I really can't do anything simple, (story of my life!) I added a little to this one today.  I knew I had some frozen pesto in the freezer, but I also had some spinach I wanted to use up so I knew what I wanted to do.

Let me talk just a minute about the pesto.  Making your own pesto is really easy (I'll save this for another day) but the best thing - it freezes great.  I have my own garden and patio and I always have 2-3 basil plants for this express purpose.  Throughout the summer I pick basil and make small batches of pesto and then freeze them in sandwich bags.  Then whenever I need some pesto, I've got it on hand.

OK back to the pasta.  Provided you have your pesto pre-made, go ahead and get your pasta water going on the stove and cook your pasta.  As with almost all my recipes it seems, I started with diced onion and garlic in some olive oil.  Cook these over a medium low heat until translucent.  I added just a few red pepper flakes. At this point, you could easily skip to adding the pesto but today I decided to add some anchovy paste.  Anchovies add a great saltiness to the dish and unlike what you may think...it doesn't make your dish taste like fish:)  As mentioned, you can easily leave this step out.  I added about 1 tsp of anchovy paste and stirred it about with my onion for a minute or so.  At this point, I would taste it to determine if you need salt and pepper.  The anchovy paste is pretty salty, so I wouldn't add it unless your personal taste requires it:)

Tip:  Anchovy paste may not be the easiest thing to find so 2 small anchovy filets = 1/2 teaspoon.

Once the onion mixture was ready I added my pesto.  Today, it was probably 2/3 cup.  But it again, it's a matter of preference.  Sometimes I want A LOT of pesto...other days I want just enough to lightly coat my pasta.  Today I didn't go with to much because I knew I had a lot of other things going on in the pasta - my onion mixture and my spinach primarily.  Make sure the pesto is incorporated well with the onion mixture and then add the spinach.  I'd start with about 2 cups of coarsely chopped spinach.  Stir this well and cook for about 30 seconds to a minute.  It really depends on how you like your spinach.  In the above recipe, you can see I didn't cook my spinach too long because it's still holding its shape pretty good.  However, if you like more wilted spinach (some days I do!!) cook the pesto/spinach mixture just a bit longer.

Once my pasta was ready I ladled it out of the pasta water and directly into my skillet.  Don't drain it, ladle it into the skillet.  (With a pasta ladle mind, you....not the regular kind...thought I better mention that!! :)The starch from the pasta and the little bit of water will enhance your pasta.  To top if off - I grated some Parmesan cheese and topped it with some lemon zest.  The lemon zest just gives it a little pop of freshness when you take a bite.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can easily tweak it to suit your personal taste preference.  Want more onions?  Add them.  More spinach? Add it! No chili flakes? Fine!  There's no hard line recipe to follow here, which is what I love about it.

And there it is...Presto!  Pasta and Pesto!

...and then the Heavens parted and angels began to sing....

FINALLY!  After much "ado" (and through contributions of family as my Christmas presents) -  I finally got a Kitchenaid stand mixer!   *Jodie doing the happy dance*

After doing my research I landed on the Pro 5 Plus.  5 Quarts, bowl that lifts and three attachments.  (the spiral dough hook, paddle and wisk) But let me tell you..... I love, love, love it!  Of course I had to go with a sassy red:)  I've been using it to work on my perfecting homemade bread and it is so much easier than kneading that stuff by hand.

I'm sure you'll be seeing more posts regarding this baby, but for now.......isn't she pretty????  Maybe I need to find a good name for her.  Hummmmmm....

Quiche

I LOVE quiche...and have for years!  When I was very young....probably early teens, my Grandmother lived in Parkersburg, WV and every Saturday we would go shopping and then have a super fabulous lunch...and then shop some more. :) I guess, looking back, I can blame HER for my obsessive shopping disorder!!  Occasionally we would have lunch at the cafe at Stone and Thomas and I thought I was pretty darn special because of it.  It was there that I first had quiche and it's been a love-affair ever since:)

Quiche is a great thing to have in your cooking repertoire for several reasons:

1) It's Yummy! And what makes it yummy is that you can put pretty much whatever you want in it!  It's a great "clean-out-the-fridge" dish.  That is, whatever you got - is what goes in it.  Veggies, meat --- you name it.  The only must haves in my opinion...Eggs (Duh) - Cheese (Gruyere) - Heavy Cream and half and half - and nutmeg.  (I guess a pie shell) Everything else is up to you. :)

2)  It's Easy!  Mix it up, throw in a frozen pie crust and poof! It's done:)

3)  It Can be Made in Advance!  It can be made ahead of your event, stuck in the fridge and forgot about:)

Now in terms of being a purist......yeeeeeaaaaa - I'm not! --when it comes to the crust:)  Although homemade pie crust is one of those things I'm determined to master one of these days!  But for now, I see no reason not to use the WONDERFUL frozen ones:)

So for this quiche I began by frying up some bacon.  In actuality we could stop here and I'd be a happy girl - but for the sake of this blog I'll keep going.  :)  Fry the bacon on medium heat until nice and crispy - remove and let it drain on a paper towel.  How much....eh - up to you and the type of bacon (whether or not it's really "meaty").  But I'd say pack the bottom of a skillet and go from there.  If you have extra left over.....DANG - I'll guess you'll have to eat it!

In the same skillet, saute up some some onions and garlic (like any good dish!).  I'd go with 1/2 cup diced sweet onions and 1-2 cloves of garlic.  Add a little s/p and saute on medium heat - constantly stirring to get a good carmelization on the the onions.  Dump the entire skillet into a sieve to drain off the bacon grease and set aside.  Save your skillet and all the yummy stuff in the bottom --- you're gonna need it. 

For this quiche I decided to go with the bacon, spinach and cheese -- classic.  So I prepped my cheese (grated) and rinsed my spinach.  Give the spinach a rough chop and throw it in the skillet with the bacon left overs....on very low heat wilt the spinach for about 30 seconds and remove from the heat or dump it onto a plate or something...set it aside.

For the eggs, I use 6 large eggs cracked into a bowl.  I use an electric mixer to whip them up for just about 30 seconds or so on high.  You want them whipped, but not over whipped.  Once the eggs are whipped - throw it all together.  Eggs, cheese, spinach, bacon and onions. (I crunch up the bacon in my hands).  Make sure your onions are drained of a crazy excess of bacon grease...but some is OKEEDOKEE. 

Give everything a good stir and dump it in the pie shell.  I bake it at 425 for about 40-50 minutes..or until a toothpick or inserted knife comes out clean. 

Then you can either eat that sucker, or cover it in saran wrap and stick in the fridge.  It really is easy and will save you valuable cooking time in the morning, especially if you have quests!  Heck I made it and blogged about it and I'm at the beach:)

Happy eatin'

Jodie

One of My New Favorite Things...Electric Teakettle!

This little baby is one of bestest new favorite thingys:)

Considering I have in my opinion a raging case of adult ADD - this electric teakettle is a life saver for me.  OK - so I've burnt up three regular kettles because I put on my tea water in the afternoon (like any good princess) and well....then the ADD kicks in, I'm working in the office - next thing you know I smell burnt metal.

I got this at Costco for $20 and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!  It heats boiling water in about 3 minutes and BONUS for ME...and automatic shut-off:)  SCORE!!

Snowpocalypse 2011 ---- What's left in the cupboard?

As of 730p EST tonight I have not left my apartment in 4 1/2 days and like most Atlantans I'm down to the dry goods and frozen goods;) Solitude doesn't really bother me - I enjoy my "space" and I work from anyway so quite frankly it's not a stretch for me.  That being said, I might....MIGHT be feeling the little tingles of what to some may be cabin fever'ish...maybe. Maybe.  We'll see what the daylight brings;)

As mentioned, getting down to the dry goods and what's left in the freezer so I decided in the midst of Snowpocalypse 2011 I'll just have a little taste of summer! So after a survey of the freezer and pantry I decide on Turkey Burgers and Bulgar Wheat salad.  Why you say?  Why not meesa say!  (For my Star Wars people)

I have to attribute the rise of the turkey burger in my house to Bobby Flay.  OK he's a bit of an arrogant somebody - but grill boy can cook --- so I deal, and I support him by buying his cookbooks.  (All of which I highly recommend!)  I have Boy Meets Grill, Boy Gets Grill, Grilling for Life and Bobby Flay cooks American.  (The latter is eh....)  Bobby flay has a thing for poblanos and those flavors that compliment it so well...cilantro, lime, cumin ---- AND all his stuff is easy to make.  Anyone can do it --- so give him a chance and overlook the attitude;)

OK - so turkey burgers.  After I started making these turkey burgers, believe it or not I rarely have a big urge for beef burgers.  RARELY I said...not ever:)  These turkey burgers are great.  I end up tweaking it a bit based on what I have in the frig, but definitely give his turkey burgers a shot - especially the one in Grilling for Life....delicious!

I generally start by dicing up a small onion, garlic and any chili pepper I happen to have laying around and I ALWAYS have a chili pepper - even if it's in the freezer from the garden:) Add s/p of course and saute those in a little olive oil..just for about 2-3 min to help along in the cooking process and then mix them in with some ground turkey.  Depending on how much oil was in my skillet I may also drizzle about 1-2 tablespoons of oil into the ground turkey.  Turkey as you know has very little fat and these burgers will dry out on you fast so a little oil helps....doesn't prevent...but helps:) Throw in some cumin and today I chopped up some cilantro and squeezed a little lime into the ground turkey as well.  Patty them up and fry them in a skillet with some olive oil on med low heat.  VERY IMPORTANT ---- if the heat is to high the inside of your burger will be rare and with turkey...that's not a good thing;)  Next, I prepped my toppings...little onion, tomato and a "lettuce" of cilantro.  I also took a little cilantro and onion, lime juice and mayo and spun it in the food processor for a couple minutes to make me a cilantro-lime mayonnaise:)

Because I'm on the summer thing and knew I'd have some bulgar wheat in my cupboard I thought I'd make my favorite summer salad.  Once again, this salad can have many variations - but today I used cucumber, red onion, fresh parsley, feta and cranberries...topped with a citrus vinaigrette.  The bulgar salad recipe is in my blog for 2010, so I'll not repeat the recipe here - as for the vinaigrette...lemon juice, lime juice, honey, olive oil and a smidgen of Dijon.....wisked all together and then poured over the salad.  Eeeezy peezy:)

So it's not summer, but my lunch sure made me think about it and BONUS it's pretty darn healthy too:)

A Tip:  Bulgar wheat may not be the easiest thing to find; some substitute couscous or orzo (but they're pastas) - some may even use brown rice.  If you find the bulgar...use it:)

Not Your Everyday Pasta....

Being that I find myself in a position to consider all carbs to be evil pound-inducing tools of the devil (is that too harsh?? :) I try - mind you I don't always succeed - but I do try to avoid them.  However...and a very big however we do find ourselves in the midst of the 2011 Atlanta winter storm --- so guess what?  We eat what we got and today....it's pasta!

I decided an everyday run-of-the-mill pasta wasn't going to cut it, so the fridge comes open and I go on a hunt.  What rabbit can I pull out of my hat on this one?  What ingredients do I have that would produce this super-fantastic winter pasta?  The result:  Butternut squash, onions, swiss chard.  Done!

Pasta truly has endless possibilities, but you really have to get out of the "marinara" state of mind to really get that.  Gone are the days are canned pasta sauces; here are the days of well...pretty much what you want.

So while we're on pasta - let's chat about actually cooking it.  Here are some guidelines when actually cooking your pasta:

• Water to Pasta Ratio.  The rule of thumb is 5-6 quarts of water for each pound of pasta.  Bottom line: think lots of water.  Not having enough water will cause the pasta to stick and uneven cooking. 

• To Add Oil or Not to Add Oil?  NO!!  If you've got plenty of water, you don't need oil.  

• To Add Salt or Not to Add Salt?  YES!!  I generally throw a small handful in; but the rule is 1 TBSP for every quart.  Seems a bit much to me; but you're not consuming the stock so don't worry about the sodium content.  

• To Rinse or not to Rinse?  NO!!  I never, ever rinse my pasta.  The starch that attaches itself to the pasta helps make a great sauce!  I don't even DRAIN my pasta....I use a pasta ladle to fetch it out to retain as much of the starch as possible.  

•  When is it done?  How do you know how long to cook it?  Well - matter of choice here really.  I like my pasta just past the al dente (firm but not hard) stage.  The best thing I've heard about testing the pasta - throw it against a pan, a wall - whatever - is to simply taste it:)  Know that even once you remove the pasta from the water, it will continue to cook slightly.  To me - overcooked pasta is a mushy, horrible mess.  So I'd be safe, not sorry:)

• Add the Sauce to the Pasta or the Pasta to the Sauce?  My choice here is to add the pasta to the sauce.  The extra heat from the sauce in the pan will help infuse the flavors throughout the pasta and help coat the pasta - especially if you're using pasta shapes that "hold" sauce.  (shells, etc) 

OK - on to our creation...

Our Dish:  Penne with Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard

1. Preheat the oven to 350'ish.
2. Food Prep.  Squash, Onions, Garlic, Swiss Chard (see below) 
3. Peel a butternut squash; cut in half and then cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.
4. Put the squash into a large bowl; drizzle with olive oil; add s/p, 1/2 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg; 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.  (Vary these amounts if you have a large squash.) Toss the squash to ensure all cubes are well coated. Spread the squash on a cookie sheet and roast until a fork pierces the squash easily, but not mushy.  Do NOT overcook it - err to the side of a little undercooked than overcooked here.  Remove the squash when finished; set aside.
5. Start your pasta.
6. Saute some finely sliced onions and garlic in a mixture of olive oil and butter.  Add s/p. Key here is to do this on medium-low heat.  If the heat is to high your onions will not caramelize; they'll burn.  Constantly stir the onions to ensure even browning.  
7. Remove the stems from the swiss chard, finely dice and add to your onion mixture.  Coarsely chop the green leaves of the chard and set aside.
8. Once you can see your pasta is about 5min from being done; toss your squash in with your onion mixture and stir to incorporate; add the green leaves of the chard and cook for about 1 min or so -- just enough to wilt it.
9. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chicken stock to get all your ingredients incorporated and reduced down nicely.  Ladle in your pasta to the vegetables and toss.  Top with Parmesan :)

Keep in mind, this ain't no marinara pasta:)  This dish is savory and the nutmeg and cinnamon just make it.  (Another alternative here is fresh sage)  Allow this dish to sit overnight and it's even better the next day.  Keep in mind when re-heating you may need to add some chicken stock to it just to give it a little more "sauce".

So there ya go ---- enjoy:)  I am!