Baked Garlic & Rosemary Fontina

This could possibly be the simplest recipe ever!  And it was so yummy, I can see this appetizer becoming a regular!  Recipe adapted from Smells Like Home. 

Ingredients

    1/2 lb italian fontina, cubed into 1-inch pieces
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
    3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
    1/2 a french bread baguette
    olive oil to drizzle

Instructions
First I made the homemade crostini.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice a half of a french bread baguette, spread out evenly on a baking sheet and drizzle both sides of each slice with olive oil.  Bake for 5 minutes on each side.

Adjust top rack of the oven so that it sits about 5 inches under the broiler unit. Preheat broiler on low setting.  Spread cheese out in the bottom of a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the cheese. Sprinkle the garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper evenly over the cheese. Broil for 6 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and melted through. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and set it on a heatproof surface - the pan will be hot! Serve immediately. Enjoy!

New! Featured Recipes

I am going to try to post a monthly featured recipe (see above tab) in the hopes that it will encourage me to try some of the awesome looking recipes I have pinned on Pinterest.  Last night, John and I had a date night except that I wanted to cook. So, I made some yummy Fried Goat Cheese (one of our favorite tapas at Isabella's!) and Shrimp and Grits, both were delicious!  I need to work a little more on the sauce for the Shrimp and Grits though.  Enjoy!

Crispy Fried Goat Cheese
(adapted recipe from The Hungry Mouse)

Ingredients:

8 oz. goat cheese log

½ cup panko bread crumbs

1 tsp. fresh parsley

1 tsp. dried thyme

2 cloves minced garlic

½ tsp. ground white pepper

pinch of salt

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup of flour

olive oil

honey

Directions:

Pop the goat cheese in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm it up so it’s easier to slice. 

While you wait for the goat cheese to firm up, put together the stuff you need to batter the cheese. Put the panko breadcrumbs in a medium-sized bowl. Add the parsley, thyme, garlic, ground white pepper and salt to the breadcrumbs and stir to combine well. Crack the eggs in a separate bowl and beat to scramble them. Put the flour on a plate or in a shallow bowl. 

Take the cheese out of the freezer and slice it into 1/4 – 1/2-inch pieces. Use a sharp knife. Next, put the cheese in the flour. Flip it gently to coat on both sides. Then, drop the floured cheese into the beaten egg. Flip it gently to coat with egg on both sides. Lastly, put it into the seasoned panko breadcrumbs. Flip it to coat on both sides. Put the battered goat cheese on a clean plate and repeat with the remaining slices. 

Coat the bottom of a nonstick pan with olive oil and set it on the stove over high heat.  Allow to heat up, you can test if it is hot enough by flicking a little water into the pan, if it sizzles it’s hot enough. Take one of your slices of breaded goat cheese and set it down gently in the hot oil. It should start to bubble around the edges immediately. Repeat with the rest of the cheese.  Keep an eye on your cheese…it cooks fast. When the cheese is brown on the bottom (this will happen very quickly), flip it over carefully with a spatula. When it’s brown on the second side, remove the cheese from the pan. 

Drizzle with honey. Enjoy!

Shrimp and Grits 
(adapted recipes from Paula Deen and Lauren's Latest)

Ingredients:

For The Shrimp:

5 slices bacon, chopped
½ diced onion
1 diced green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ lb. peeled & deveined medium shrimp
salt & pepper, to taste
butter

For The Grits:

5 cups chicken broth
¾ cups grits {not quick cooking!}
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup grated medium cheddar cheese
salt & pepper, to taste

For the Sauce:

1 to 2 tablespoons white wine
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

Garnish:

parsley

Directions:

Start by cooking the grits. Bring chicken broth to rolling boil in large pot. Whisk in grits, salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally (or per package instructions).

While the grits are cooking, heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté bacon, onions and peppers together until bacon starts to crisp and onions/peppers have browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, shrimp, salt and pepper. Stir another 3 minutes or so until shrimp are bright pink and thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat.

Deglaze the pan with a little white wine. Slowly add the cream and let reduce until thickened. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

Finish grits by melting in butter and cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Divide grits among 2 serving plates. Top grits with shrimp and sauce. Garnish with parsley.

Still Haven't Figured Out How To Do It All

Including blogging....but with Fall coming (my FAVORITE season), I will have more free time to explore the things I love doing and maybe finally figure out how to balance it all.  Spring and Summer are always quite hectic in my family, between keeping the horses fit, going to tournaments/shows, traveling for work plus the barrage of various other commitments, we are always on the go and never at home.  Maybe that's why I love Fall so much, life seems to settle down into a slow routine.

Following on my previous post, 2013 really has been the 'Year of the Foodies' for John (my husband) and I.  We've been back to our two favorite Frederick restaurants, Isabella's Taverna and Sumittra multiple times in the past few months.  But we have also tried some new ones as well, the latest being Acacia.  We went to Acacia during Frederick's Farm to Fork week, during which local restaurants showcased locally sourced products.  The food was quiet good, albeit a bit on the pricey side, but definitely put on the list for special occasions!

Now, lately I have been getting deliveries from South Mountain Creamery, a local dairy farm that not only delivers dairy products (glass bottled milk, butter, ice cream, etc.) but meats and eggs as well.  I have recently been trying to buy more local and/or organic foods, as not only do they taste better, you feel better eating them!

Recently we made these delicious burgers with Ground Beef and Provolone Cheese from South Mountain Creamery and Fresh Buns purchased at a local farmer's market.  We paired them with fresh corn and tomatoes from the same market.

2013: The Year For Foodies!

My husband and I have had a great 'foodie' start to 2013, visiting numerous amazing restaurants.  Surprisingly, our little town of Frederick is home to many excellent restaurants, including three 'Top Chef' restaurants. We are also close to DC and Baltimore!

Urban Dictionary defines a 'foodie' as: A person that spends a keen amount of attention and energy on knowing the ingredients of food, the proper preparation of food, and finds great enjoyment in top-notch ingredients and exemplary preparation.  Although the second definition was less polite:  a douche bag who likes food.  There has been a 'foodie' explosion lately, due to the success of shows like Top Chef and new fad diets like Whole 30.  So, we have recently jumped on the foodie bandwagon per se.....

Our foodie year started off on John's birthday outing, every year since I can remember we go down to DC and visit one of the FREE (my favorite word) Smithsonian Museums (this time, the American History Museum, my husband is a huge history nut).   While we were down there I planned for us to go to Top Chef (Season 4) Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery (www.goodstuffeatery.com/).  Now we set the bar pretty high for this restaurant, did it meet those expectations? Not really, however the burgers and fries were still pretty damn good!  I had the Prez Obama Burger (Applewood Bacon, Onion Marmalade, Roquefort Cheese & Delicious Horseradish Mayo Sauce) and John had the Farmhouse Bacon Cheese (Applewood Bacon & American Cheese).  I'd say they were a bit better then another local favorite, Five Guys, but comparable.  The burgers were moist and well cooked, but nothing special.

For dinner, we had reservations at Family Meal (www.voltfamilymeal.com/), Top Chef (Season 6) Bryan Voltaggio's third restaurant in Frederick (there is also Volt and LunchBox).  Again, the bar was set high, however this time it was amazing! For an appetizer, we had the Chicken Potpie Fritters, which I wish was a entree, because they were sooo yummy!  Light on the batter and gooey in the middle!  For entrees, I had the Fried Chicken, which was 1/2 a chicken!  It was moist, lightly battered (again), not greasy and nicely cooked.  John had the Pork Shoulder BBQ Sandwich, he said it was amazing, and he even ate it with the coleslaw on it!  For sides, we had the Duck Fat Fries and the Mac and Cheese, both very yummy.  Loved the sauces that came with the fries, reminded me of the Indian sauces that come with Poppadoms.  And we both had a few drinks and the whole meal cost about the same as a visit for the 2 of us to Longhorn Steakhouse, and the food was much better! The atmosphere is different than most restaurants, it's in a converted car dealership, it has a very open quality and is reminiscent of 1960s diners.  Needless to say, I would definitely come here again (and we did several weeks later with John's family).

We've also been to Isabella's Taverna, a tapas restaurant (www.isabellas-tavern.com/), and Sumittra, a Thai restaurant (www.sumittra.com/), both of which are in Frederick, have excellent food and we've been to multiple times. 

Next up, a girlie brunch with friends from high school at Founding Farmers in Montgomery County (www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/).

First Pinterest Project!

I am so proud of my first pinterest project! It turned out so well and only took me under 15 minutes to make and cost me absolutely nothing! And here it is:

Items You Need:

• Small Picture Frame (4x7)
• Coordinating Colored Ribbon and Fabric
• Bling
• Hot Glue Gun
• Small Nail and Hammer

Best thing was, I had all these things already! The picture frame was lying in the closet with a ton of other unused frames, the ribbon was off a bag of Lindt chocolates I got for Christmas, the fabric was from when I re-upholstered our dining room chairs and the bling was leftover from making my Maid of Honor's hairclip.

I took out the glass from the picture frame (and saved it for a future project?!), then cut the fabric to the size of the back of the frame and hot glued  it on (around the edges)...burning myself as I did so.  Then I tied the ribbon in a bow and hot glued the bling in the middle, then glued the ribbon to the fabric.  Then I put the frame back together (minus the glass).  Lastly I nailed a small nail beneath the bow to hang the rings from.

Easy!