Posts Tagged ‘cheese’

I love having guests. Whether it be for an evening or a weekend, taking care of those temporarily staying at my place has always been a favorite past time. During high school my nickname was “The Hostess with the Mostest” for my love of party-throwing and general affection to having people stay at my house. In college I found myself cooking for our newspaper’s fellow staff workers and making dinners every weekend at my friends’ apartments. Now, being the grownup I am (/sarcasm), I get to entertain guests staying at my apartment!

My oldest sister D visited me last weekend for a little overnight getaway and I had this delicious and light appetizer waiting for when she arrived. Creamy ricotta mixed with pungent goat cheese and lemon zest spread on garlic toasts. Something great to nosh on while she freshened up after her car ride but not too filling with the knowledge we’d be going out to dinner in a few hours. Not too fancy but the perfect thing to make your guest feel special.

Well, hey there! Long time, no real post. I am finally back up and running, however, so here we go!

My new job is amazing and everything I wanted it to be, but one of the side effects of testing and developing recipes is, well, being full from eating all day. I don’t eat real dinners or bake for the office too often now, but I do like to snack, and these fit that craving just perfectly. They’re also great to set out for munchies during any kind of gathering, which I did for a mini housewarming soiree this weekend.

These cheddar crackers are akin to Cheez-Its, Cheese Nips, Goldfish Crackers, etc, etc, but far yummier and more fun to make. You can really add anything to change up the flavor profile once you get the basic dough down, such as sprinkling them with sesame seeds, using other cheeses, or adding fresh herbs. They’re addictive and easy and oh-so-delicious, even after a day of eating, I’ll still eat them by the handful.

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Quick post/Quick Friday dinner time!

I actually made this on Sunday for Easter lunch/dinner, but it also happens to be one of my favorite fast go-to dishes. My sister Valerie is nuts about this goat cheese tart and it’s the number one thing she requests when I’m home and cooking, and it’s easy to understand why. The tart is light and delicate, but also rich and satisfying, making it the perfect dish for brunch, lunch, or dinner. The dressing I threw together since I had leftover dill from the tart and buttermilk from making cinnamon rolls.

I cut time by using a prepared pie crust (which I had leftover from a previous baking adventure), but you can easily just use refrigerated pie crust and roll it out. The rest of the dish comes together in just a few minutes and then it’s just waiting for it to bake, which can be torturous but hey, just treat yourself to a glass of wine (a nice crisp sauvignon blanc is to die for with this dish) and relax. It’s the weekend!

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Fennel is one of those odd, underused vegetables in an everyday kitchen. It looks like celery, tastes like black licorice, and changes like a chameleon depending on how it’s cooked. But it’s a wonderfully versatile and healthy thing to work with – you just have to give it some time and love.

Incredibly high in vitamin C and fiber, fennel can be served crunchy raw, boiled, braised, baked, and everything in between. The cool thing is, once you bake it, the flavor can change dramatically from pungent and bitter, to sweet and aromatic. If you’re one of the many out there who dislikes its natural black licorice flavor, blanching and baking it is your road to fennel happiness, which you can follow below.

I saw this side dish of baked fennel with parmesan in the latest issue of Everyday Food, and immediately decided to make it. As I wandered around my grocery store trying to come up with something to serve it with, the idea of fennel = fennel seeds = sausage popped into my head. Since Italian sausage traditionally has fennel seeds in it, why not take a plain or non-Italian chicken sausage and bake it with this yummy fennel side dish to get that flavor profile, but in a much more elegant, muted way? Tender and velvety fennel with the rich and robust sausage, the dish is all-season friendly. Plus, the whole thing comes together in under 45 minutes, using only 2 pans, and could easily be served for a hearty lunch or light dinner.

Words cannot describe how much I love this stuff.

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There’s nothing quite like being home and indulging in all those favorites you only eat once a year. (Well, for one week a year…)

We have quite a few culinary traditions in my family for the holidays, and this is probably the most indulgent of them, next to the insane amount of Usinger’s sausage and cheese we eat in the next 2 weeks. I affectionately call this dip “fat and fat and fat and fat with artichokes and spinach” because that’s honestly what it is. In theory, you could make this healthier by using low fat cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, etc, but really… what’s the point? Just embrace the fat here and dip carrots in it if you want to fool yourself into feeling okay about eating it.

The other great (lazy) thing about this recipe is it’s made in the microwave and comes together in about 15 minutes using things you can keep in your fridge and pantry all the time. We like to have this around to dip tortilla chips and Ritz crackers in, and since it makes so much, you can just keep setting it out whenever someone stops by, reheat it, and then put it back in the fridge until next time.

Fat and fat and fat and fat with artichokes and spinach…

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